Horror Movies

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Dark Summer (2015)


Relative snoozefest. For the first half hour all you get to enjoy is the camera following the main character around the house as he "senses" things while he's on drugs. It is like watching something in slow motion and you will understand what I mean IF you watch the film. But apparently his senses turn into the fear of the supernatural, which didn't make much sense to me, but ok, moving along. Also don't expect much of any sort of backstory or explanation of the plot. You are thrown into it with the assumption that you will gather everything on your own. Like what happened to the girl in the first place. The character development is awful. You are forced to learn things about each character in "all of the sudden" fashion. Like you have no clue that the main character is a super hacker genius, or that the lady "friend" knows Latin. The characters seem dull and there doesn't seem to be anything in the film to make you sit there and enjoy it. Once the climax starts to peak is when you even start to give a damn about anything at all. Literally you could watch the last 10 mins and still get the same amount of entertainment that I got. The climax was ok, and the plot twist was pretty cool but left a lot of holes. Some of the filming was cool, but ultimately got overlooked because of how boring the progression was.

Feel free to pass up on this one... 4/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Chosen (2015)


This one surprised me. I went into it with lower expectations since it is a relatively unknown film, but I thought it was a good movie. The plot was semi-original, even though I've seen it on tv shows, but not necessarily a movie. The progression & suspense are good. It successfully keeps you hinged on the story. If the film had a better budget it could have used the addition of a few more "rounded" characters to thicken the story-line. There wasn't a whole lot of meat on that bone to begin with, so-to-speak. Plot came off a bit raw, pun intended. The acting was ok, teetering around believable. The cgi/fx were right for the budget, and they were used more effectively since they didn't have the money to go crazy with it. And it worked just fine! Some parts came off as a bit confusing, but I think that is because the producers chopped down the dialogue to make it more viewer-friendly.

Low budget entertainment! 7/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Headin for the hills this weekend for a short vacation with the wifey... We've rented a shit load of horror films. Expect a hefty load of reviews next week!

PS. Don't worry, we brought a lot of booze in case all of them suck.

 

[jakedog56]

I watched Session 9 from 2002 with David Caruso, Josh Lucas, others. It is about a crew that go into clean up asbestos from an old insane asylum that is going to be renovated.

Decent flick but quite slow moving. It was definately psychological horror. Not a slasher or jump-scare type by any means.

The story was good but a bit convoluted. The acting was good but the director purposely made the characters a bit confusing which was a bit of a turn-off (might have been necessary for the story though).

Worth watching if you are into a slow moving that requires you to pay attention and think a bit. Don't watch if you want action.

 

[Psych-Ward]

Watched last night....
Zombie movie with a twist. People thinking they are safe where it is cold and the snow is on the ground.
I mean hey, why not... when I first read up on it, even I thought it was a good idea. Well in the movie, even the zombies have evolved.

I thought it was a damn good movie, the story line was even pretty damn good around the main characters. It even had one moment that actually surprised and scared the shit out of me.......

I'll give this bitch an 8/10

 

[Chef99]

Dark Summer (2015)


Relative snoozefest. For the first half hour all you get to enjoy is the camera following the main character around the house as he "senses" things while he's on drugs. It is like watching something in slow motion and you will understand what I mean IF you watch the film. But apparently his senses turn into the fear of the supernatural, which didn't make much sense to me, but ok, moving along. Also don't expect much of any sort of backstory or explanation of the plot. You are thrown into it with the assumption that you will gather everything on your own. Like what happened to the girl in the first place. The character development is awful. You are forced to learn things about each character in "all of the sudden" fashion. Like you have no clue that the main character is a super hacker genius, or that the lady "friend" knows Latin. The characters seem dull and there doesn't seem to be anything in the film to make you sit there and enjoy it. Once the climax starts to peak is when you even start to give a damn about anything at all. Literally you could watch the last 10 mins and still get the same amount of entertainment that I got. The climax was ok, and the plot twist was pretty cool but left a lot of holes. Some of the filming was cool, but ultimately got overlooked because of how boring the progression was.

Feel free to pass up on this one... 4/10

Judging from that image, she needs to lay off the weed!

 

[Melman]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before but it looks interesting:

"Goodnight Mommy is an Austrian thriller directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz with a premise to die for: A famous television actress returns home after a stay in the hospital for cosmetic facial surgery — and her twin 9-year-old sons believe that she is an imposter. And they plan on doing something about it."

 

[jakedog56]

I watched the remake of Poltergeist last night. It was basically what I expected in that it was decent but fell well short of the original.

The production values were good. The fxs were good. They did a good job in making the tree pretty spooky.

The big problem was character and story development- Everything felt rushed. The back story was not followed through well. They just randomly mention a few things here and there to round out the details. The characters were ok but (again) not well rounded enough to connect with them. Basically it felt like they said "Let's squeeze this into 90 minutes", when maybe 2 hours of material with additional story and character work would have been a much better movie.

I like Sam Rockwell as an actor but he just was not given enough to really pull it off here. I blame the director for this. The rest of the actors were just ok.

All in all, it would have been a decent horror flick if it was a stand alone work, but when it is based on an all-out classic like the original Poltergeist it fell far short. Pretty much all aspects of the story were done better in the original, from the father with the mirror to the bodies coming out of the ground. The only part that I would say was more interesting was when they actually went into the "other dimension", which was not really shown in the original.

Bottom line: Worth watching if you have nothing better to do but suffers heavily when comapred to the original. Better to get the 1982 version and watch that again if you have a choice.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

The Cutting Room (2015)


If you follow my posts then you know I'm on a British Horror kick of sorts so I was eager to give this one go. But this one fell very short of expectations. This movie was extremely boring for the first 45 minutes, offering literally nothing to the viewer to keep them hooked. It is overloaded with soap opera dialogue, where nobody opens their mouth except to deliver an insult or utter the f-word. The characters are deeply irritating from the start and the plot is simply juvenile. Only 73 mins, but it feels like hours. The camera work is the worst that I have literally EVER seen from a "first person" shooting technique. More than 75% of the dark scenes the camera doesn't even line up with the flashlight so you have no fucking clue what the hell you are watching or supposed to be looking at. Once the "scary" parts start its more just about a creepy dude in a mask chasing dumbass delinquents around a dungeon of sorts. Then it abruptly ends and everyone is dead. Sorry for the spoilers, but I just saved you 70+ minutes of your life. I usually refrain from using the term garbage, but this one is worthy of such an adjective.

Hot garbage... 2/10

lol ....I don't think I have seen a 2 from you before. Ouch.

 

[DJ]

This looks badass, Eli Roth is a Horror film God.

 

[DJ]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before but it looks interesting:

"Goodnight Mommy is an Austrian thriller directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz with a premise to die for: A famous television actress returns home after a stay in the hospital for cosmetic facial surgery — and her twin 9-year-old sons believe that she is an imposter. And they plan on doing something about it."

Mel!!!

 

[DJ]

The Cutting Room (2015)


If you follow my posts then you know I'm on a British Horror kick of sorts so I was eager to give this one go. But this one fell very short of expectations. This movie was extremely boring for the first 45 minutes, offering literally nothing to the viewer to keep them hooked. It is overloaded with soap opera dialogue, where nobody opens their mouth except to deliver an insult or utter the f-word. The characters are deeply irritating from the start and the plot is simply juvenile. Only 73 mins, but it feels like hours. The camera work is the worst that I have literally EVER seen from a "first person" shooting technique. More than 75% of the dark scenes the camera doesn't even line up with the flashlight so you have no fucking clue what the hell you are watching or supposed to be looking at. Once the "scary" parts start its more just about a creepy dude in a mask chasing dumbass delinquents around a dungeon of sorts. Then it abruptly ends and everyone is dead. Sorry for the spoilers, but I just saved you 70+ minutes of your life. I usually refrain from using the term garbage, but this one is worthy of such an adjective.

Hot garbage... 2/10

That's 70 minutes one can never get back.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

This looks badass, Eli Roth is a Horror film God.

I've been waiting for this one for a long time... Eli Roth finally got this one pushed through to production. The filming has been done for over a year now.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Torment (2014)


Watched this movie a while back, but forgot to post about it. This movie may not be as classy as The Strangers, or as fun as other 'home invasion' horror movies, but it was very well done and I thought it was very entertaining! The film is shot well, the acting's is believable, there's some genuine suspense with a little twist or two along the way. As an avid horror fan who wades through piles of crappy movies weekly looking for the hidden gems, I'd say this film will please most genre fans. Could have used a little more imagination, but too much can be a bad thing sometimes. Definitely worth the watch!

Straight-forward horror... 6.5/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Tormented (2015)


Originally named "Berkshire County", but later renamed prior to its release. I don't believe this movie was supposed to have any connection to Torment from 2014, but the same plot & title were used so it makes you think it is supposed to be a sequel. If it is, then this one was done much better. Another home invasion film with the same purpose as the first. Most films like these have an inability to portray a good scare but this was great. And the special effects were good, and the details were great. A classic thriller with some great chase scenes, the script is good, the performances are good. If you're a fan of suspense, you will want to watch this movie. This movie should develop a following of sorts, because it really is a gem to the genre.

Revamping the classic home invasion films... 8/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Pact (2012)


Netflix movie! This movie was, simply put, brilliant. First of all, the cinematography is awesome. It has very nice camera work, using unusual angles, and it shows us great editing of the filmed scenes. Second, the progression is consistent, and suspenseful. It builds up, as it should, by the start of our story then adds the exact amount of information and depth to the storyline and characters to leave the viewer with an eerie sense of unease along with a yearning to find out what's going to happen next. Simply put, it invokes the viewer. The plot has more originality than anything I've seen in a long time. The score was classic, and there are a few scenes with no score at all which gives it a classic 70's feel. If you like movies that call upon your intelligence and emotions then this film is for you. But if you like mindless Hollywood-popcorn horror, then pass on this one because you're not equipped to appreciate this movie.

Underrated indie gem... 8/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Apollo 18 (2011)


Netflix movie! I had pretty low expectations for this one, but I ended up not agreeing with its low rating. I thought this movie was pretty solid! It winds up being a pretty effective little conspiracy theory chiller. The director & producers really do a great job of building tension in this closeted, isolated atmosphere, to a great climax while delivering some truly horrific imagery. The concept was pretty interesting, but it could have been easily slaughtered like most thrillers that come out of Hollywood. Happy to report that it didn't! The actors were solid. They didn't need to deliver academy-award-winning performances because the plot delivered itself effectively. It wasn't ground breaking, but bringing a 1st person shooting film to the outerspace thriller genre was pretty cool. The cgi/fx were good, and they delivered some quality jumps.

Solid! 7/10

 

[cezero]

Just rented It Follows from Amazon. Will be watching it tonight.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Dark Touch (2014)


The movie started out at a fast pace, which basically promised to be really interesting. Especially if it could manage to uphold that level of intensity and interest. Unfortunately, it couldn't. The movie got winded and I lost interest half way through. It had great potential. The concept was cool, the settings were great, and the acting was solid. After the quick escalation, you get the feeling that it is building up to another intense part towards the end. But it didn't deliver that second climax, sadly. Or at least if it did, it didn't surpass the first so it fell short. There were obvious holes in the plot, and the director/producers didn't do a well enough job tying things together. The atmosphere is really good. It is dark and gloomy, and it has all the right ingredients for a true horror movie. In the end the movie failed to uphold the intensity and spooky atmosphere that it started out with.

Potential, but couldn't tie it together... 6/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Delivery: The Beast Within (2014)


No matter how you feel about this movie in the end, you have to admit the filming style and production values were awesome! Delivering a movie that is documentary based, but filmed like a tv show with side takes was very original, and was very entertaining. I have to admit, this one will be on my 'watch again' list! The mood that was entailed with each scene was great! It went from sweet & warm (tv show), to spooky and intense (side takes & interviews). The suspense was built from the very beginning and ended up progressing perfectly. My only problem was the climax. I thought something a little more intense was going to happen, but it still delivered a crazy surprise. Kind of wished for more, but it sufficed! The trailer quote, "Rosemary's baby meets Paranormal Activity" is a perfect definition of this one. The acting was good, and the cgi/fx were well played.

Suspenseful & creepy! 8/10