THE RETURNED. 2013


The returned are basically humans that have contracted a "zombie" virus but have been healed, as long as they maintain daily doses of a special protein.

When the availability of that protein becomes compromised, a doctor struggles to save her "returned" husband.

Quite compelling.

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Boring.

* ½


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Dull.

* ½


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Slow burner, but makes for some compelling viewing. Major part of the film is the investigation and courtroom drama of the trial, but it has enough to keep the viewers uneasy. Worth a watch.

BTW, it looks like Reese's spoons have really withered.

* * *


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Average, despite Stephen Lang's best efforts. Poor Charles S Dutton is completely wasted.

* *

How did you convince yourself to watch 13/13/13?

Thought it won't be half as bad as the reviews.

BREAKDOWN (1997). Pretty good Kurt Russell flick that deals with Kurt looking for his missing wife. The late JT Walsh shines in here as a truly creepy reprobate. ***

The Den (2014) - I found it more than predictable, but I've seen a lot worse than this.

Well, the audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes STILL isn't as low as Hellraiser:Revelations. Ik still trying to find of that's lower than 5%.

Pretty epic in it's scale, but it somehow doesn't come off as an Aronofsky film, neither does it allude much to the Bible's tales of the Ark and it's famous creator.

Fans of CGI would have a ball, but for the ones growing up on story-telling and performances, not much to see here. Everyone pretty much sleepwalks through most of the film, which lays more stress on the dramatics and less on interactions. Too bad.

* * ½

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed in it, too. It could have been so much better.

That's disappointing. I really like his movies. Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and Black Swan are my personal favorites.

Okay, here we go.

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"The Purge: Anarchy" 7/10

Pretty entertaining sequel, tho I gotta admit i liked the first one better. Not a big home invasion fan, but I just found it more exciting altogether.


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"Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead" 8-9/10

More comedy and less horror compared to the first one, but just as good. I was laughing my ass off several times. To me both movies are very clever horror and comedy wise. Totally a fan of this director and his crew, altho it's only for this franchise. The rest i've seen is either not very good or too low budget and cheesy to be really enjoyable.


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"Father's Day" 6-7/10

Speaking of cheesy.
How many dicks can there be in 1 movie? A lot. It's Troma.

The cover alone made me think of "Hobo With a Shotgun" and actually it wasn't far from it. Just crazier and lamer.

The Story: A priest, a homo and a hobo goes on a hunt for a disgusting fat fella who rapes and eats dads. Jup, but that's just the first half. Then the writers ran out of their medication... The ending was hilarious.


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"The Signal" (2014) 5/10

A very slow moving syfy thriller with Laurence Fishburne playing his usual calm old self. Seriously, has there been a movie since King of New York where Fishburne hasn't played the role as Morpheus??
Oh well, the movie does have a big twist ending, but at that time that just isn't enough to make it all worthwhile.


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"Under the Skin" 5/10

The days in the life of a man-eating alien.

Very Kubrick indeed. Just not the good Kubrick. This is more like "Eyes Wide Shut" Kubrick, which I personally really, really disliked.

From beginning to end this artsy experience moves in snail pace, with Scarlett Johansson in the lead role having half as many lines as Ryan Gosling did in Drive. The movie does have a couple of nice "horror" scenes, tho both are within the first 35 minutes.
But if you wanna see Scarlett Johansson naked, this is certainly the movie for you. ;) ::love::

Olympus Has Fallen
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So unrealistic but so much fun. Gerard Butler really should stick to action movies like this. I really liked it.

4/5

Snowpiercer
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This was incredible. Such a great story that could not have been played out better. I couldn't look away from the screen I was so enthralled by this film. The performances were excellent, especially from Chris Evans who pulls out an Oscar worthy performance. Easily one of my top 20 favorite movies of all time.

5/5

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
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This was really good. I still can't get over how good the CGI was. Some of the best I've seen. There were a lot of awe inspiring moments and the movie does a great job at making you care about Caesar. Some aspects of the plot are nothing new but they're played out in a fun exciting way especially the action packed ending. Koba makes a great villain.

4/5

Where can I find The Signal? I really wanted to see it, but no theaters near me were showing it.

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7/10

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7/10

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6/10

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9/10

I watched American Psycho again today. It's in my top five movies :P

Great reviews, Angra and Villain. That's a good batch. Thanks for taking the time. Now I really want to watch Dead vs Red and Snowpiercer.

Locke

Excellent one man show. One of the more engaging films I've seen in a long time. This flick really excelled at making a minimalist plot something huge. Well worth a look.

Big Bad Wolves

Darkly humorous and twisted. I really enjoyed it.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

A solid entry to the series that didn't disappoint at all although I thought the film before it was better. Looking forward to seeing more.

Been meaning to check this one out

Definitely check out Snowpiercer.

Agreed.

Although not a whole lot in here think it's all that. Might just be the two of us, so far.

If Netflix has it, I'll add it to the queue.

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7/10

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5/10

Who didn't like it? I know ChronoGrl liked it too

Sure about chrono?

Only read meh comments except for mine.

I remember at least 2 wasn't impressed. One of them Roshiq.

I didnt like it but it seems a lot of people do.

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7/10

Not in here they don't.

I shall stand with the people who dug it.

Well, welcome out of the closet, my friend. ;)

Yeah she posted on Facebook that she liked it.

Glad there's more of us

Nope, it doesn't have it. Best bet is a DVD rental store. The online rentals are more expensive ($7) on this film for some reason.
I'll definitely check out snowpiercer. Story is right up my alley.

I was a fan of the 60/70s Planet of the Apes, but I so disliked Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), the only way I watch the sequel Dawn is if it's on netflixs and Im really in the mood.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was better than Rise. I liked Rise, though, so I'm not really sure if you'd like it.

That would be me.
I wouldn't say it's that bad I just think it's overrated.

Underwhelmed for some reason. Maybe it's because of the nosedive the film took in the second half. There was a nice horror/sci-fi angle mid-story the makers could have exploited, if they had went in that direction. Instead, virtuousness wins and the film becomes so-so. Even the Lawnmower Man angle could have been good, but it was not to be.

This could have been a good 60s/70s film with Vincent Price in the lead, but it doesn't come off as a Depp vehicle. Both him and Burton need something fresh (like Ed Wood or Sleepy Hollow) to get back into the groove.


* * *

Prowl (SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR THIS MOVIE AS WELL AS THE COLONY, THE DESCENT, AND HIGH TENSION) -










I saw part of this movie originally on Syfy. The characters were in the back of a trailer truck. I thought it looked fun so it went on my list. Little did I know how dumb the setup to get to that scene would be. I had some deja vu from the last movie I reviewed here, which was The Colony. Prowl is one of those movies that feels like it got ideas and scenes from other movies. The monsters are very close to the modern generic vampire seen The Colony and other movies. And I try not to call directors hacks, uncreative, or anything else. But this movie is one of those where you just see why those terms are used. The movie starts with a scene similar to High Tension with the character running. It was a good scene in High Tension even though I still say the twist doesn't make sense in that movie. It could be a good scene in Prowl. The lead actress does a lot of running. But many of these scenes are too artistic, pretty blonde girl running though the fields, and should be darker. Perhaps have the sky getting darker behind her. As she's running from her nature. At least that's what I got from the first scene.

There is a good movie here, it just required more thought and care. The lead actress gives a strong performance despite all the other junk going on. It's like everything that made The Descent a good movie they took out and did the opposite. Where The Descent developed characters in the beginning so you knew their names and cared about them. Prowl just makes the characters stereotypes. There is a funny review of this movie on IMDB. They mention and give names to all the stereotypes and notice that only the "token ethnic" was missing. And it's true. The other characters are wiped out so quickly it's just an "oh well" when it happens. The Descent also decided not to do something in the early hospital scene. Well Prowl does the opposite and does it in the main character's bedroom scene. She is only person given any attention in the movie too. But at times even her situation doesn't make much sense. She's leaving or running away from home. From a dead end job in a small town and a Mother that drinks herself to sleep and ends up passed out on the floor. But are you so desperate to leave that you'll really take a ride in the back of a trailer truck? Also when one of her friend's is so well off that his parents have a large home with a pool that they couldn't wait and find another apartment in the city for her to take? Doesn't make any sense. So instead of being smart like The Descent and with a good although scary twist, Prowl ends up being stupid people, make stupid mistakes, and run into generic vampires. And at the end the people in charge seemingly have the nerve to ask to make a sequel.

* This movie does have one other good thing besides the lead actress. It has one of the best cheesy lines I've heard in a horror movie in a while. "Can't you feel the dark energy in here?"




Wes Craven's New Nightmare on Elm Street (I think that's what it's called) -

This is the first time I've seen this movie. I was going to watch all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies together. But I figured since this one really isn't part of the others and it's up for free, I'll check it out. I think at the start I kind of liked it because it has Nancy. Yes I said Nancy because I think most see Heather Langenkamp as Nancy even though in this movie she's supposed to be her real self. Except for at the twist. I can see how this movie influenced Scream with the real people aware of horror movies. The movie was ok for a while until movie Freddy showed up at a talk show to make him even more of the joke he's become in modern Nightmare movies. Also once the references to the classic movies started appearing it became a game of spot the reference shot, death scene, or actor cameo. It just wasn't that scary or "new." The wiki has a quote that the Freddy in this movie is supposed to be "darker and less comical." But he still does similar stuff as the original and isn't as scary as the original. I just don't know why this movie was made.




The Devil's Curse (also called Credo) -

I watched this because an actress that was in The Descent and Doomsday starring in it. I guess it an ok movie. A decent watch during dinner. Nothing great. They do use a twist that should never be used. Ever. There was one movie that did it that I can't remember. Thankfully. That movie sucked because of the twist. Devil's Curse actually makes the twist work a bit in that if you were paying attention, small clues were left during the movie. And something a character does has to have a payoff other than him being desperate geek. However, I still think the twist is a bad thing to do. As soon as it happened, I shouted "No" at the screen. Because it's really cheap and will make you angry.




ATM aka Jason Lives at the ATM (or any dumb area that should be secure in a public area but isn't for this movie) -

Start off with the good. Alice Eve. She looks her best in this movie. Usually I just find her pretty but in this movie she jumped up a few levels. She looks a lot better here than in that poor Star Trek Wrath of Khan remake - Star Trek into Darkness. She's the only character you might care about in this mess.

That's is, everything else about this movie is bad. No logic at all. I'm glad this failed at the box office. Back to Alice Eve for a second. The guy who finally gets to go out with her character parks far away from the ATM to punish his idiot friend who tagged along. Now what guy when he's alone with a beautiful girl would then leave her in the car, at night, far away from the ATM. No logic. He would honk, flash the headlights, drive up to the ATM, honk again, and rev the engine. The last thing a guy would do is leave the girl far away from the ATM and alone in his car. Just not happening.

Also, Alice Eve plays a shy girl. Yes a woman as beautiful as her is supposed to be shy. Totally not believable. I have never met a beautiful girl that is truly shy. Never. Unless it's an act and they are the Kim Kardashian type and most know what she is. And sadly I've met that type before. Remember this - FOUL LANGUAGE WARNING.





I saw this when I was young and didn't get it. I thought he was talking about a horror movie when he mentions ravens and graveyards. But he's talking about past activities. Anyway, ATM also adds the usual horror tropes. Incompetent police force, minority rent a cop, "I'll be right back" to signify the horror is about to start. Midway through the movie it becomes a bit of a comedy then goes back to supposed horror.

Please anyone who hasn't seen this movie, even if it's free, don't watch it. Totally not worth the time. You can search for Alice Eve ATM pictures and see how pretty she is. No need to watch this mess.

You should. I think you'll really like it.

Fair enough

Absolutely FABULOUS sig pic! Love it.

Thanks!

"Lucy" 7-8/10

Luc Besson's newest high paced action flick starring Scarlett Johansson as Geena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight, Morgan Freeman as Morgan Freeman and Min-sik Choi (mr. Oldboy) as the bad guy.

The story is downright brilliant, but the whole thing could and should've been executed better. Maybe the movie needed to be an hour longer, I don't know. I just feel that I didn't get to see enough of Johansson's capabilities in between changing/advancing.