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Star Trek Into Darkness 2013
The first thing I want to say is that I'm not a massive Star Trek fan. Over the years I've been passively entertained by some episodes of The Original Series, The Next Generation and a handful of the earlier motion pictures, but on the whole, I never found the franchise overly accessible. I never felt part of the club.
So with regards to Into Darkness being a "good" Star Trek film, or even if the franchise reboot (or rearmament) is… -
Black Sunday 1961
"Now you mustn't be afraid of the dead. They sleep very sound".
Fantastic Italian Horror with great set and costume design, excellent framing with a foreboding and shocking-for-its-time opening sequence.
The visual effects are outstanding when considering this film is now 53 years old. A considerable head and shoulders above its peers.OK, so the lip sync is abysmal and the film sags in the middle, but the performances are great and the look and feel hold many similarities to…
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The House by the Cemetery 1981
Good grief. I was hoping for so much more. Loved Zombie Flesh-Eaters, adored City Of The Living Dead, so I figured The House By The Cemetery would be a sure bet.
How wrong was I?!
The dubbing and lip sync are atrocious.
The leading man looks like Michael Bay.
Bob is so irritating I wanted him mortally wounded.
Walter Rizzati's score is lazy and repetitive and repetitive.On the whole, I found the whole film quite lazy and no matter…
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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 1986
Michael Rooker: Man. Monster. Murderer. Actor.
Nothing seems to register at surface level with Henry in this movie. Calm on top but boiling underneath. He's positively a marvel to watch. The manner in which he manages to rope in Tom Towles' Otis is weirdly seductive. One can imagine that this is how killers actually recruit their subordinates. Rooker behaving as the dominant, silverback, Towles as the Robin to his Batman.
The relationship between Henry and Tracy Arnold's Becky is both… -
Paranormal Activity 2007
"I see stupid people"
The opening shot shows an incredibly large television obscuring their living room window. My initial thought was, "what kind of morons would obstruct the trajectory of natural light with a behemoth-bastard-sized telly"?
Oh...
... these kind of morons.I tried. I really did. I'd given this franchise a wide berth because I personally don't really dig found footage movies and I was certain that everything I saw here would be derivative of The Blair Witch Project…
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Eden Lake 2008
What a thoroughly unpleasant, deeply disturbing and jaw droppingly tense Horror Movie. I could literally hear my heart beating in my ears during the final 15 minutes.
I've seen some fairly divisive reviews about this film which is why it's taken so long to get to it, but James Watkins' film does not disappoint. Sure, it could be viewed as Right Wing Propaganda, turning the lower classes into the real-life über violent bogieman... but... do you know what? It's bloody…
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The House on Sorority Row 1983
Grossly unoriginal storytelling with massively crappy practical effects but there are one or two scenes which lift this above being a complete waste of time.
What struck me as odd is the outstanding score from Richard Band which reminded me a little of John Williams' Raiders score. More than just a little out of place in a mediocre Slasher movie.
Shame really, as the miserable old bitch House Mother at the beginning is scarier than the antagonist. The clown room…
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The Burning 1981
Brutal and gnarly addition to the slasher cadre. Once again, Tom Savini's artistry totally makes what would otherwise be a fairly standard genre flick. Unlike The Prowler, which I watched earlier tonight, there's some actual characterisation, with baby-faced Fisher Stevens, Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander contributing to an enjoyable watch.
Rick Wakeman's score is pretty mediocre but there are a couple lovely flourishes which compliment the feature rather well. Also director Tony Maylam utilises some interesting transitions which caught my…
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The Prowler 1981
A bog-standard slasher flick with some pretty outstanding practical effects and a great Scooby Doo ending. It's just a shame the rest of the film is so average.
Seriously worth a watch just once for Tom Savini's gruesome makeup and gore. Even by today's standards it's impressive. Alas... the rest of the film contains too much plodding and prancing around. The leads are as vanilla as they come and the kill'ees don't get enough time to develop for you to give two shits about them when they get 187'd.
A bit meh
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Halloween II 2009
"Are you a giant?
... Can we be friends"?Seems like I should be careful what I wish for.
My biggest concern with Rob Zombie's remake was that it stuck too close to the original with very little of the directors trademark stylistic mental'ness.
Here we have all manner of weird and wonderful shit that just doesn't gel with what's come before. Its all very nonsensical and throw-away.
Add to that the fact that this wholly original sequel to the… -
Halloween 2007
Halloween II
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Halloween Resurrection
... Rob Zombie's remake is better that ALL of these!To my mind, the biggest issue with this movie is that it treats the original with too much reverence. Not an easy thing for me to say considering John Carpenter's original is one of my favourite films of all time.…
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Sightseers 2012
Definitely preferred this to Kill List.
A pitch dark... bastard bleak comedy that while although short of laughs, left a murderous smile on my face from start to finish.
Alice Lowe and Steve Oram are wonderful as the incredibly beige couple with a kinky/ murderous bent. It isn't necessarily what is said that sticks with you but instead, it's the moments of silence, or the words unspoken that give you pause for thought.Enjoyed this from start to finish. Although I could've done with a nervous chuckle or two to ring out in the misty desolation.
Worth a watch.
