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Interesting fable, resembling Dragonheart a bit. If only the lead didn't stand so gawky in every frame he was in.
Robert Carlyle and John Malkovich look terribly out of place.
Maybe role-reversals between John & Jeremy Irons could have made this a bit more interesting.

* *


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Male re-telling of The Craft, which I think is a much superior film. That being said, this one has it's moments.
Lack of character development (except the leads) affects this badly, as does the overdose of CGI.
One wonderful scene of a car smashing into a truck stands out.
Laura is a hottie.


* * *

Loved it, had some deep elements that were easy to overlook if you wanted to just have fun. Buddy thought it was the best of the 3, wife thought it was better than Shaun and right up there with Hot Fuzz, and I share your opinion on the matter.

Tonight's veiwing. 'The Rite'. Which is a movie about exorcism.. I would give it 3. It was a pretty good movie and starred Anthony Hopkins which is usually a good thing in my experience. I would definitely recommend this one to people.

The second movie I watched tonight was 'The Devil Inside'. Another movie about exorcism. This movie was .. horrendous. I was frightened by how crap the acting was. I think you could save yourself $7.99 and just watch the trailer on youtube which displays the only scary (slightly scary) part of the movie. I give this movie a 1. I wouldn't recommend watching this movie.

A bit of a binge this week;

Lords of Salem - Not bad, but imo definitely the weakest of Rob Zombie's output so far. I love his other films but this is one I'm not fussed about seeing again.

The Cabin in the Woods - I was expecting just another modern slasher flick, so was pleasantly surprised to be, er, surprised. Quite an enjoyable watch.

Evil Dead (2013) - No surprises but overall a pretty good film I thought.

The 7th Hunt - A good plot and some enjoyable moments but, while I really to hate knock an indie flick, the acting and dialogue are pretty awful. And not even in a good way.

Eden Lake - Loved it. Picks up the pace quickly and avoids every possibilty of a happy outcome. Bleak and brutal Brit horror at its best, one of those films that left me rather silent through the credits and with an acute need to watch something with lots of fluffy bunnies in it.

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It's In The Blood (2012) - A quintessential Lance Henriksen film: spooky environment, disturbing undead sh*t, and lots of drinking. Recommended.

"The Conjuring" 8/10


Not too many original scares, but can't complain too much as it was a well made movie in my favorite horror genre.

Dead Silence and Insidious are still Wan's best movies, imo.

Watched "V.H.S 2" last night On Demand. WOW! It was freaky good. Loved he original but this kind of blew it away. Found it very creative in the use of camera work and picture quality. I mean it's called VHS but who the hell wants to watch grainy camera footage.

One story had a guy with a prosthetic eye with a camera in it to give him sight cause he lost his eye in a car accident and he saw everything in HD....story was he was seeing ghosts, but it was HD.

Another one was a first-person zombie story from the zombie's perspective. Dude is mountain biking in the woods with a helmet camera and he gets turned into a zombie.

Another was a Jim Jones story with a camera crew inside the compound...that one was freaky as hell and pretty disturbing.

The final was an alien story, this didn't get the HD treatment but the SFX were pretty wild.

Watched the 2005 Amityville remake last night. Made me jump a couple of times but other than that it left me unimpressed.

Just watched Piranha with Elisabeth Shue. Not a bad movie, it was much better than I expected it to be. Had some campiness to it, but also a lot of action and, of course, it was a major boobfest. I just don't know how Shue manages to get sexier as she advances in age! She was in her late 40s when she made this movie and now at age 50, Shue is still a hottie!! WOW ;)

The Haunted Dollhouse, which i learned was just clips from actual horror movies, though Worrydolls intrigued me. Plus i'm not ever getting a worrydoll.

"The Paperboy" 6/10

Nice to see John Cusack as such a disgusting character.

I liked Piranha as well, very underrated in my opinion.
Versus was the last that I watched, but the most recently made horror I saw was The World's End. It was pretty awesome, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers if it had been a British comedy. It's easily the best comedy I've seen all year, and I'd recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor who loves science fiction apocalypse movies.

I have watched the following films for the first time:

The Orphanage: 9/10 An excellent film, but it did not adequately build the scares. Horror movies do not require this, but in this film it seemed to partially build the suspense, but not carry it through. I did enjoy the performances, especially of the mother and the main kid. It was pretty easy to identify with the characters. Furthermore, the story was pretty interesting. It was interesting how the film very effectively explored the idea of being a child. For instance, the references to Peter Pan (which deals heavily with the idea of being a kid) and Santa Clause. On a sidenote, I thought the main kid was kind of cute.

Iron Sky: 9/10

Think Nazis from the Moon invade Earth. It is pretty good and quite funny. Additionally, while being funny, there is some deeper serious points brought up about modern politics.

I watched the following films that I had seen before:

The Devil's Rejects: 10/10

One of the best sequels from the 2000s. It was nearly almost as good as House of 1000 Corpses. I especially liked the moral ambiguity. Meaning that the "good guy" was almost as bad as the "bad guys". Thus, as interesting discussion on good and evil, human nature, and the nature of revenge. A great continuation of the first film.

The Fourth Kind: 9/10

A very creepy alien abduction film. The acting in this film was really excellent, especially Milla Jokovich. I also liked liked the documentary feel of the film that adds to the realism of the film. Additionally, while some questions loom, I think that it was still a compelling narrative. One other thing that I liked was that there was virtually no physical forms shown (biological beings), which greatly added to the creepiness of the film. Anyway, another excellent film.

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Monster Brawl

This has two of my favorite things: Wrestling, and Monsters. Its like a wrestling pay per view only at a cemetary and with monsters. Definitely awesome.

5 out of 5

'The uninvited' . Yas! Just yas! Loved it

The 1944 version or the 2000s remake of A Tale of Two Sisters?

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Fantastic. Worth a watch just for the chase sequences and stunts alone. Film's overcrowded with stars yet doesn't feel like it - just one linear storyline and the characters fit right into it (have to compliment the director for this).

And I didn't see that ending coming! Statham's coming for part SEVEN!

* * * ½

Below is what I enjoyed. They are all classics and fun to watch.
Above the Law (1988)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Otis (2008)
Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994)
There all bad ass movies and they were all watched on labor day.

You have a strange definition of classics

Agreed.....

I have not seen most of these, but they hardly seem like classics. I will say, while I do not regard it as a classic, I appear to be one of the few that really enjoyed Terminator 3. The first two were obviously better and could even be considered classics, but I really enjoyed this one. Now, Terminator Salvation, I could not stand that film. There were virtually no redeeming values in that film, in my opinion. It would make the third one look like an Academy Award material film, in my opinion.

I found on epic hd (on the ps3) Cabin in the woods... entertaining. IF you havent seen it its worth catching for free good laugh here and there and not bad of a plot/story...

also Devil Inside... It was... Okay. I guess? For free.

Panic (1978), a British short by director James Dearden who later went on to make several feature films including Fatal Attraction.

I first saw it when my parents took me and my sis to see Saturday Night Fever, it was the support film. I was only ten and it scared the pants off me :-)

Zero blood and gore, instead a suspenseful tale of a woman who while driving on a dark, rainy night, stops to offer a lift to a creepy old woman at a bus stop. It's on Youtube (search "Panic 1978") if you want to know what happens...

And The Devil's Business (2011), another British film. Two hitmen go to do a job in a house which turns out to belong to a practioner of dark magic...

Almost entirely character and plot driven, to the extent that I'm sure this would make an excellent stage play... some great lines and the two hitmen (one older and well experienced, the other young and green) have an enjoyable dynamic.

In fact the only let-down for me in this film, was actually seeing the monstrous child ... I think this is one instance where less would definitely have been more.

Great film anyway, no real surprises but a very diverting watch.

The World's End (2013)

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Was obviously super-pumped to see this, but was ultimately a little let down. However, Wright and Penn's films have always rewarded repeat viewings, so maybe the next time around it'll do more for me.

The Act of Killing (2012)

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See it. See it see it see it see it.

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We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

The "evil child" theme has certainly been done before, but I've got to say, this film was remarkably engaging and impactful. Definitely more drama than horror, although not far off due to its horrific centerpiece event, constant psychological torment, and overall feel-bad storyline. Stellar performance by Tilda Swinton, and also by the kid who played the son during his teenage years. Highly recommended.

10/10, and for me that's rare.

Now You See Me
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Alot of fun with an ending I didn't see coming.

Last night's viewing...

August Underground
August Underground's Mordum
August Underground's Penance

Nasty. And while the first film is bad enough, it's Disney compared to Mordum.

Enjoy definitely isn't a word I'd use here, but I couldn't help myself watching all three (partly because I was curious to see if the title "Penance" meant that these sadistic killers would get their come-uppance). I guess that in part there's a compulsion to see just how bad it's going to get, how far it will go. I've never seen a real-life train wreck or motorway pile-up, but I'd imagine the complusion to watch that people describe ("I couldn't turn my eyes away..") is somewhat similar.

The degraded analogue film, the shaky hand-held home-movie footage (accompanied often by incessant, sadistic laughter and giggling), the exceptional realism and convincing acting (a lot of which is unscripted I gather) all make it very easy to forget that you're watching a fiction rather than real events unfolding, while also making for an uneasy sense of involvement in the events depicted.

The inclusion of "down time" (as one reviewer calls it) - i.e. everyday home-movie footage of principle sadist Peter (played by producer/director Fred Vogel) and his assorted friends/victims doing everyday stuff - only adds to the immersion. The fact that a lot of stuff happens wholly or partly out of shot does nothing to mitigate the horror and revulsion either. There's a fair amount of black humour which in other films might be entertaining, but in August the realism is just too intense for me to find any of it funny.

Absolutely no plot, other than the debatable exception of Penance where we get to see the deterioration of the relationship between Peter and his girlfriend Crusty.

I read an interview with Vogel, where he said something about people feeling uncomfortable being in the same room with him after seeing August... can't say I'm entirely surprised.

Although I've since quit, I was still a smoker when I saw this movie. I sat down to watch it with a full pack of cigarettes and when I looked down after it finished, I had smoked over half my pack. This was an incredible film and no one ever believes me when I tell them.

----------------------------------------

Tonight I watched American Mary (2012).
It was better than I expected it to be. However, the most disturbing parts for me were more or less the faces of the women who were supposed to have had extensive plastic surgery. They reminded me of Paris Hilton's botched look in Repo.

Katharine Isabelle kicked some ass. I enjoyed it.

I watched The Conjuring last night. It wasn't as good as I expected, but I didn't hate it. It seems like there is a tendency for people to immediately hate something if it doesn't blow them away. This movie gets a lot of hate, mostly because it was so hyped up, but it seemed ok to me.
I don't see how it's any more scary than Insidious, which was rated PG-13, while this was rated R for being "too damn scary for kids".
I don't believe a minute of it ever actually happened, which I guess could be part of the hate that this movie gets, considering they try to pass it off as a true story.

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Dull as heck. Avoid, unless you are high on yet another unsurprising teen slasher.

* ½


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Predictable thriller. Bruce Payne was the best of the lot. Decent time-passing fare.

* * *


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Leave it to Arnie to bring that wonderful 80s ass-kicking action alive on gorgeous 720p HD. Still loving it to bits.

* * * *

Agree on Prom Night. They should show that in film school on how not to make a horror movie.

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Put this on with really low expectations, even though it's directed by a fantastic Asian horror maker.

Surprisingly, I loved it.

There's enough to satisfy the ardent action fans, with a generous dose of gorific kills dotting up the pacy plot, a thrill ride across the roads of Arizona in a spanking new state-of-the-art ZR1, a superb chase and gunfight in the climax, all this coupled with some of the worst acting you can see in Arnie's films.

But let's admit it - how many of us see Arnie's films for the acting, or for any seriousness in the plot/details for that matter?

Arnie does remarkably well in his role in which he does his best - he doesn't try to pull off a younger, macho version of himself but plays his age as a retiring old geriatric who's just about ready to pack up his bags and call it a day. He pulls a page out of Eastwood's Unforgiven book here, and tries his best to making his retiring Sheriff role look good. He wheezes, he groans, he complains, he looks tired, and his dialogue delivery is terrible as always, but trust him to deliver what he does best - thundering action served on a platter.

And for those of you who have an orgasm every time you lay your eyes on a racing car, there's a mouth-watering chase sequence between a brand new ZR1 and the classic Chevy Camaro in red. Can't beat that for geeky awesomeness - none of the Fast & Furious films had that in them, did they?

5/5 for effort and execution, and umm...maybe 3/5 for the end result.

Will I recommend it? Heck, yes! Specially to all the old school Arnie fans, and to fans of car movies in general.

BTW, check this out.


* * *

Looking at the top box, was that a remake of Prom Night you saw? Seems like these 2000 remakes all aren't improvements, or just suck.


Agree on Commando. When I first saw it, I wasn't expecting much, just an action flick, but it was actually rather good.


Escape from NY is a classic, but I recently saw Escape from LA on netflix, and was very disappointed. Russell really didn't have anything to work with, but he was a pale caricature of Snake. Script/plot was really just a big step down from NY. Hope I don't offend anyone who liked it. I watched the whole thing, but would never recommend it.


Sounds like something I'd like to check out. Did you rent that?

I know Arnold's acting is strange, but he's actually very good in many aspects of acting - specifically expressing the basic emotions and other queue's that the character is asked to do. He's able to evoke empathy from the audience, which also assists him with comedy; and then likability. (not in every role)

Classic case study is Total Recall. If you watch the remake and compare it to the original, you see the intrinsic value of Arnold. The remake barely had a hero at all -- I didn't know him, and I didn't care about him. Arnold's character I believed and cared about. Which is a bit impressive considering he played a duo good and bad-guy role, and the film had classic 80's tongue-in-cheek humor about it (though it was 1990 film).

I agree on American Mary, that was a damn good movie. I also liked The Conjuring and plan to get it when it comes out, but I still like Insidious more.
The last one I watched was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I like Terry Gilliam, but I did not expect much from this film, and it ended up surprising me quite a bit. I loved its unapologetic absurdity. Some highlights for me were Lancelot's raid of the castle, the bunny, and the very end where Gilliam trolls his audience by giving them a plain black screen with music playing instead of credits.

Paranormal activity 4 . Not quite as good as the others but still pretty effing good. :) Definitely recommend that one. I would give it a 3 out of 5.

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...with my kid. She watched in awe at the stampede.

Martyrs (2008)

Nicely shot, some good performances etc etc, but at the end I was left with a dissatisfied "What the hell was that all about then?"

For the first part of the film I thought I was getting into a half-decent psychological/supernatural horror, but then that's abruptly replaced by some brutal violence and torture justified by some half-baked pseudo-philosophical nonsense and an ending that has holes you could drive a bus through.

It's as if it tries to be two stories in one, which works for some films but not this one imo.

Either idea I think, might have worked well as a single story... the supernatural horror could have made an enjoyable if unoriginal film, and the martyrdom idea might have worked out okay with more thought, examination, and detail.

A good film visually, but for me the enjoyment didn't really go any further than that.

*Edit; Just been reading a forthcoming US remake by the producers of Twilight. A quote from director Daniel Stamm - "[The original film] is very nihilistic. The American approach [that I'm looking at] would go through all that darkness but then give a glimmer of hope. You don't have to shoot yourself when it's over.".

Oh goody, can't wait.

X-Men 2

.................................................. ..........................

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Fantastic film, with some awesome chase sequences. Right up there with the best in car-chase movies. A must-watch to all fans of Bullitt and The French Connection.

Not to mention, the smoldering Isabelle Adjani looks her loveliest in this as well.

* * * ½


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Worth a watch just for the sheer number of jaw-dropping twists in one single movie alone. Not to mention, it's an excellent example of a film noir in the pattern of Sin City, Memento and the like. Josh Hartnett has outdone himself in this, ably supported by an all-star cast. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it yet.

* * * *

The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)

This one has been sitting on my instant queue collecting dust for awhile. It was unlike most anything I've ever seen before, I'll give it that. Not for impatient viewers, though. It's definitely a mumblecore movie and it definitely takes awhile to actually do anything.