In Fear - Mini Review

 From the UK, comes "In Fear".  It is about a couple on a somewhat "date" to a hotel in the remote countryside.  Things start going wrong on the way, and soon they feel they are in mortal danger!

The film is good at building the tension.  There are some very creepy moments in the film.  The ending was a little bit of a let down.

There is a behind the scenes feature on the Blu-ray, that explains the interesting way the film was made.  Basically, the actors didn't know what was going to happen to them.

I like the film.  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Blast Vegas - Mini Review

 Another Syfy produced film, like the movie, Scarecrow, that I just reviewed.  This is the better film between the two.

  A group of friends in Vegas, steal a sword and initiate an ancient Egyptian curse.  Soon, devastation is set upon Sin City.   This was a fun movie.  While not taking itself too seriously, it was a fairly good horror/disaster flick.

  Though not totally perfect, the visual effects / CGI was done well.  It was cool witnessing Vegas landmarks get annihilated time and time again.  The acting was great and the writing was intelligent.

 I would give the film 4 out of 5 stars.

Scarecrow 2013 - Mini Review

 This is a mini review for the Syfy channel original movie, Scarecrow.  First off, you might be enraged to learn that this movie does not contain a single crow, whatsoever! 

  The story involves a teacher taking a bunch of trouble teens to a farmhouse, where there is a legend about a killer scarecrow.  The film suffers from lazy writing, the kind many a horror flick falls victim to.  An old legend that no one believes- check, cell phones don't work- check, troubled, sex-crazed teens- check, truck won't start- check, etc.  My favorite part was when five of the characters were knocked unconscious at the same time, and awoke a few hours later, all at the same time.  The characters don't act realistically at all.  They behave irrationally and many times when they are being chased, they take their time and frequently pause to assess the situation.  The movie also doesn't explain many things about its plot.

  There is a lot of overacting in the cast, although, Lacey Chabert and a couple of the others in the cast do a fairly good job.  The creature is not a typical scarecrow.  It is created using Syfy's typical "discount" CGI.

  I did like some of the locations, particularly, the boat graveyard.  In summary, it was an adequate movie, just a typical straight forward kill the teens movie.  I would give it 2 out of 5 stars.

 

Ticks - Mini Review

  From the pre-CGI early nineties, comes Ticks!

  This campy horror film is infested with a  good cast, with many familiar names, including a young Seth Green.

  The story is about a group of troubled teens who are sent to a wilderness camp (filmed in Big Bear, California), to confront their inner demons.  Little do they know, they are about to encounter real monsters, like mutated ticks and worse... crazy locals! 

  The movie is fairly good.  The practical effects are mostly well done.  There were some issues near the end, where there were jumps in the editing.  It was like they rushed through some of the ending shots. 

  I enjoyed the film.  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Random Acts of Violence - Mini Review

This is a documentary style film about a British man who casually kills people in New York. His main motive for this murder spree is to drive out all the pretentious rich people, so the artsy, real people can return to New York City.

The film has a dry sense of humor.  I think it is inferior to similar films, like "Behind the Mask".  It has a few twists, but I found it hard to stay interested in the film.  Despite being listed on the cover, Kirsten Dunst only makes a very brief cameo, as herself.  I thought she was going to be one of his victims, but no.  A loss of a cool opportunity.

The DVD has no extras.  I would give the film 2.5 out of 5 stars.

I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Mini Review

 This is a dark, horror movie with a dash of romance.  It is very reminiscent of the 1998 movie "What Dreams May Come".

  Mischa Barton plays a woman questioning her faith in religion, after enduring a tragedy.  She starts experiencing some strange phenomena in her life. Someone she cares about disappears and evidence seems to indicate he went, willing or otherwise, to the top floor of his apartment building.  The only problem with that, is the building used to be a mental hospital and the top floor is an abandoned, haunted hellhole.  After the police don't believe her, she and three friends must brave the eerie hallways to try to find him.

  The movie is very slow paced, during its almost two hour length.   The first part of the movie is the build up to the horror-filled second half. 

  The acting is good, and in a rare feat for a horror movie, the characters are actually intelligent.  They don't foolishly do stupid things, to create further plot complications due to lazy writing.  The story was interesting and unpredictable.  The movie doesn't dumb itself down to explain things to the viewer.      

  Where the movie shines is in its build up of the horror on the top floor and the creepy atmosphere / cinematography
of those hallways.  Once the four characters get off the elevator to start the search, the dread in the air and the danger they face is apparent and equally felt by anyone watching the movie.  These are the qualities that really make a good horror movie.

  While very well done, the movie is not perfect.  At times it gets a little too crazy.   It also might not be for people with attention deficit disorder.  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

House of Bad - Mini Review

 House of Bad... Acting?  Sound?  Filmmaking?  Yes, all that and more.

  This is a low budget movie about three sisters who steal from a drug dealer and hide out in an abandoned house where two of the sisters grew up.  Of course, it hides a dark secret from their past.  Can you guess what it is?

  The movie actually starts off somewhat promising, story wise, and then slowly goes off the deep end.  The movie gradually gets worse with continuity errors, absurd action scenes,  nonsensical plot twists, and wacky acting, until in the final 15 minutes, it gets so bad, it is good.

  I would give the film 1.5 stars out of 5.

Die Monster Die! - Mini Review

  Die Monster Die was one of the earliest film adaptations from an H.P. Lovecraft story.  It was also one of Boris Karloff's last films.  Made in 1965, the film is very loosely based off of Lovecraft's story, "The Color out of Space".

  It is a decent horror film.   The two things that keep the movie interesting are the acting and the atmospheric film locations, particularly the cool mansion in which most of the story takes place.

  The Blu-ray was recently release from Scream Factory.  It is not a special edition release, the only extra is a trailer.  The trailer is made up of all the action scenes in the movie, including the ending.  It is kind of like fast-forwarding through the entire disk.

  I did enjoy the movie.  I would have preferred that the film had followed Lovecraft's story more faithfully, but I guess the special effect technology at the time wouldn't allow it.  I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.

You're Next - Mini Review

   I originally saw this film at its showing during last year's San Diego Comic Con.  After the film, there was a Q & A with actresses Barbara Crampton and Sharni Vinson, and the writer (Simon Barrett) and the director (Adam Wingard).  The pictures of the event are at the bottom of this review, including one in 3D.

  This movie takes place during a family reunion between a couple and their four adult children, who each bring their significant other.  The whole film takes place at a country house.  It is not long before they are attacked by men wearing pagan animal masks.

  The film is very good.  The story is not that great or very original.  What really makes the movie, is the acting, the dark humor in the interactions between the characters, and the execution of the action scenes.  They are all top notch.

  The only downsides to the film are one irritating shakey cam scene, which was done that way because the filmmakers were out of time to do it properly, and characters some times doing things they would never do in real life, to set up the story the way the writer wanted to, a la "The Purge".

  The Blu-ray is slim on extras: two commentary tracks and an eleven minute "making of" feature.

 I give the film 4.5 stars out of 5.

Barbara Crampton, Sharni Vinson, the writer (Simon Barrett) and the director (Adam Wingard)

The Picture on the right is an anaglyph 3D image.  You need the standard red/cyan glasses to see it in 3D.