[REVIEWS] Films: Horror
Jul. 26th, 2011 06:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thewlisian_afer.
The Last Exorcism (2010)
Ready to expose his miraculous deeds as mere trickery, Rev. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) invites a documentary crew to film his final exorcism. But when the devil actually possesses a girl's body, Marcus must regain his faith and engage in the fight of his life. Produced by Eli Roth and directed by Daniel Stamm, this frighteningly realistic horror movie also stars Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr and Louis Herthum.
I watched this mostly based on the recommendation of someone whose opinions I trust but for some reason I was still surprised by how much I liked it. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I knew Eli Roth was involved, so I had somewhat different expectations. He's not exactly known for his ties to subtle horror, you know? But that's what this was. No blood or guts or even pea soup. The ending fell a little flat for me, honestly, but it wasn't bad and everything leading up to it was good, so ... I liked it. [Rating: 4 stars]
The Haunted House Project (2010)
Over the past 42 years, six people have gone missing, eight people have died "accidentally" and eleven cases of murder have occurred in a haunted deserted house somewhere in Gyeonggi Province. The home is now banned for all persons to enter. Nevertheless, 3 members of an abandoned house exploring club and 3 staff members of a broadcasting company go into the deserted house. All of them disappear without trace. Only a video is left behind...
Imagine a Korean Blair Witch Project, only even more boring. Voila: The Haunted House Project. It's an 84-minute movie. It was 55 minutes before anything even mildly creepy happened. The last ten or fifteen minutes were good but it was far too little far too late. [Rating: 1.5 stars]
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
Doors slamming shut, shadows moving across the floor -- the unexplained, terrifyingly real supernatural forces are back, and this time, Dan (Brian Boland), Kristi (Sprague Grayden), Ali (Molly Ephraim), baby Hunter and dog Abby become part of the nightmare as the cameras roll. Tod Williams (The Door in the Floor) directs and Michael R. Perry ("Persons Unknown") writes this spine-chilling sequel to the wildly popular 2009 flick.
I didn't like this quite as much as I liked the first one. It definitely scared me less, but I loved getting more of the story and the ending has me really looking forward to the third one. [Rating: 3.5 stars]
Cropsey (2009)
Directors Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio explore an urban legend that always disturbed them while growing up in Staten Island, N.Y. -- a rash of child abductions that struck the area in the 1970s and 80s -- in their gripping documentary. The legend became real when a handyman and drifter named Andre Rand abducted numerous young kids, setting off myriad motive theories, frightening residents in the community and tripping up the legal system.
It feels extremely strange to watch a documentary that's called an "investigative-crime horror-documentary film" and see archive news footage with anchors and reporters who I now, twenty-five years later, see on the news I watch daily. Anyway, this was interesting and informative but it was lacking ... something. I'm not sure exactly what. It held my attention very well while it was on and I'm glad I watched it but I'm not sure I'll remember it very far down the road. [Rating: 3 stars]
Let Me In (2010)
When 12-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) befriends his mysterious next-door neighbor, Abby (Chloe Moretz), the two outcasts form a tight-knit bond that gives Owen the courage to stand up to school bullies. But he slowly begins to suspect his new friend has a secret. Matt Reeves directs this uncommon coming-of-age thriller based on the award-winning Swedish film Let the Right One In. Richard Jenkins co-stars.
Okay, the first thing you need to understand here is that I think the original Sweish film is perfect. So it's not contradictory for me to rate this one four stars and still say it didn't hit my emotional buttons or impress me as much as the other. This remake was far better than I had hoped, though. I adored Chloe Moretz, the music was amazing, and it definitely did justice to both the Swedish film and the book it was originally based on. I was very very pleased. [Rating: 4 stars]
The Last Exorcism (2010)
Ready to expose his miraculous deeds as mere trickery, Rev. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) invites a documentary crew to film his final exorcism. But when the devil actually possesses a girl's body, Marcus must regain his faith and engage in the fight of his life. Produced by Eli Roth and directed by Daniel Stamm, this frighteningly realistic horror movie also stars Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr and Louis Herthum.
I watched this mostly based on the recommendation of someone whose opinions I trust but for some reason I was still surprised by how much I liked it. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I knew Eli Roth was involved, so I had somewhat different expectations. He's not exactly known for his ties to subtle horror, you know? But that's what this was. No blood or guts or even pea soup. The ending fell a little flat for me, honestly, but it wasn't bad and everything leading up to it was good, so ... I liked it. [Rating: 4 stars]
The Haunted House Project (2010)
Over the past 42 years, six people have gone missing, eight people have died "accidentally" and eleven cases of murder have occurred in a haunted deserted house somewhere in Gyeonggi Province. The home is now banned for all persons to enter. Nevertheless, 3 members of an abandoned house exploring club and 3 staff members of a broadcasting company go into the deserted house. All of them disappear without trace. Only a video is left behind...
Imagine a Korean Blair Witch Project, only even more boring. Voila: The Haunted House Project. It's an 84-minute movie. It was 55 minutes before anything even mildly creepy happened. The last ten or fifteen minutes were good but it was far too little far too late. [Rating: 1.5 stars]
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
Doors slamming shut, shadows moving across the floor -- the unexplained, terrifyingly real supernatural forces are back, and this time, Dan (Brian Boland), Kristi (Sprague Grayden), Ali (Molly Ephraim), baby Hunter and dog Abby become part of the nightmare as the cameras roll. Tod Williams (The Door in the Floor) directs and Michael R. Perry ("Persons Unknown") writes this spine-chilling sequel to the wildly popular 2009 flick.
I didn't like this quite as much as I liked the first one. It definitely scared me less, but I loved getting more of the story and the ending has me really looking forward to the third one. [Rating: 3.5 stars]
Cropsey (2009)
Directors Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio explore an urban legend that always disturbed them while growing up in Staten Island, N.Y. -- a rash of child abductions that struck the area in the 1970s and 80s -- in their gripping documentary. The legend became real when a handyman and drifter named Andre Rand abducted numerous young kids, setting off myriad motive theories, frightening residents in the community and tripping up the legal system.
It feels extremely strange to watch a documentary that's called an "investigative-crime horror-documentary film" and see archive news footage with anchors and reporters who I now, twenty-five years later, see on the news I watch daily. Anyway, this was interesting and informative but it was lacking ... something. I'm not sure exactly what. It held my attention very well while it was on and I'm glad I watched it but I'm not sure I'll remember it very far down the road. [Rating: 3 stars]
Let Me In (2010)
When 12-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) befriends his mysterious next-door neighbor, Abby (Chloe Moretz), the two outcasts form a tight-knit bond that gives Owen the courage to stand up to school bullies. But he slowly begins to suspect his new friend has a secret. Matt Reeves directs this uncommon coming-of-age thriller based on the award-winning Swedish film Let the Right One In. Richard Jenkins co-stars.
Okay, the first thing you need to understand here is that I think the original Sweish film is perfect. So it's not contradictory for me to rate this one four stars and still say it didn't hit my emotional buttons or impress me as much as the other. This remake was far better than I had hoped, though. I adored Chloe Moretz, the music was amazing, and it definitely did justice to both the Swedish film and the book it was originally based on. I was very very pleased. [Rating: 4 stars]
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no subject
Date: 2011-07-26 02:06 pm (UTC)But did you see how I was saying the movie went from a sedate 20 miles per hour to 150 mph for the ending?
no subject
Date: 2011-07-26 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-27 01:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-27 05:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-27 08:34 am (UTC)Let the Right One In on Netflix!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-30 10:09 pm (UTC)And ... hahaha ... yes. At the end I did a Leo!squint and was like "Wut."