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note reviews by Wes Bennet are at Dr.
MovieMovie and Xavier Morales are at Unfashionable Observations. Film Reviews
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Cloverfield Poor Rob is having a bad night. He’s leaving New York for a
great job in Japan in the morning and his friends are throwing him a going
away party. But there’s all sorts of drama going on. There’s
the girl he likes, there’s the pressure from his brother and soon-to-be
sister-in-law and the whole thing is being recorded by his best friend (who’s
not all that bright). We get to see the rest of the night through the friend’s recording as the group tries to escape New York while something horrible attacks it. In other words think Blair Witch Project done by Toho films. It works quite well. Cloverfield works on several levels. It is a bit slow at first as it introduces the main characters, but this background really helps the audience feel for them later on. Also because we see everything from just the friend’s camera the suspense is really ratcheted up. You see bits and pieces of what’s going on and the camera is not always pointed where you want it to be, it’s pointed where the character wants it to be. This dichotomy not only helps the movie by not showing too much but also keeps it personal. It’s also nice that this isn’t used too often otherwise it would be really annoying. After the slow start the movie’s pacing is very quick. Things go to hell quickly and we have enough plot to stay interested beyond the next shot of the monster. The acting is fine and the special effects are quite good. As the entire story is told through a hand-held camera it does bounce around a lot and the angle of the picture is sometimes way off. If you’re highly susceptible to motion-sickness this could trip it, but it is not nearly as bad as some other ‘documentary’ style pics. Cloverfield is well worth watching on the big screen in a darkened theater. It’s a tight suspenseful monster movie. You’ll also want to get a hold of the DVD when it comes out as there are parts you’ll want to freeze frame to see what you missed. Transformers Be careful the next time you yell at your car. It might get
angry. If this is sounding familiar it should. Transformers came out as a toy line in the early 80s and have been around in toys, cartoons and comics ever since. There was even an animated movie in 1986. This film is a new version of the characters with a slightly tweaked background. It stays true to the original premise, especially the whole “robots in disguise” bit. Fans of the other versions will also be pleasantly surprised by the number of callouts the film has. The plot is paper thin. The two factions are fighting over a cube called the “all-spark” while the humans are trying to figure out what the heck is going on. It’s not exactly original (in fact some scenes are very reminiscent of Terminator 3, Armageddon and even Pump Up the Volume) but it works. There are also way too many human characters for a giant robot movie. But I digress. The reason to see the film is to watch giant heroic robots beating down big bad killer robots. In this the film does a very nice job. There are a ton of action and fight scenes, and the energy level is very high for most of the film. The only problem with the fight scenes is the editing. The camera is too close and the over-edited fights can leave you momentarily confused instead of appreciating what is going on. The special effects are very well done and the film can easily expect an Oscar nomination for them. The robots transform smoothly and move around with a realistic feel. The voice actors do a fine job as well, especially Peter Cullen (who was the voice of Optimus Prime in the original cartoon). Transformers is worth seeing and should be viewed on the big screen
if you want the full effect. But if you’re not already a fan of Transformers
you may want to wait until it hits the Somerville. Also please note the
film is a good two and half hours (in part because of the “too many
humans” problem) so be careful on getting that large drink. Grindhouse Grindhouse is an homage to the old “grindhouse” style
movie theaters that would show b-grade films (usually bad scifi, exploitation
or horror films) continuously, literally grinding the films until they weren’t
playable anymore. This led to weird films being shown with obvious
damage and sometimes even losing whole reels. Grindhouse is well worth seeing. You should see it on the big screen and with a large audience if possible. You’ll have a great time. (just keep in mind that warning about the large soda…) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Some of the biggest news stories are the vicious attacks on Elm Street,
Camp Crystal Lake and the infamous Halloween holiday killings. The killer’s
names are mentioned with dread: Krueger. Myers. The interviews go in depth while the preparations begin. One must have a backstory, preferably with child abuse, mob justice and/or a gruesome death. You have to have a female virgin as your main target: one who will be the last survivor and fight back against the evil. Oh, and you should also target a girl who has stoner or slacker friends. They’re good for padding your death count. Things go along smoothly until the big night approaches. Leslie isn’t setting things up or scaring people anymore, now the documentary crew is facing the fact that several people are about to be viciously murdered. Behind the Mask uses two very different styles of filming. We
have documentary style with hand-held cameras, talking heads and
first-person. But we also have scenes that are very Hollywood, with
polished light, third-person and full score backing up the killer. The
two styles provide the two stories, the ‘real life’ of the
documentary the and horror film that Leslie is living in. These styles
alternate from the beginning of the film, with the ‘Hollywood’
providing scenes where the documentary wouldn’t be able to film. The plot is your normal slasher and horror-documentary fare. This makes the film predictable but since Behind the Mask is supposed to be about a ‘typical’ slasher that’s not a major hindrance. Additionally some of the elements get a new slant as the documentarians try to rationalize what’s happening. Horror fans will get a kick out of the interviews and setup that Leslie makes for his big night. We get comments about computers, how teenagers will act, a pretty funny ‘gratuitous’ shot and of course the assorted rules on who dies and who lives in a slasher flick. There’s a look at slashers from the 60s and 70s. We even get cameos by Robert Englund and Zelda Rubinstein (the psychic from Poltergeist). Behind the Mask is a decent film but there are some things that hold it back. The main problem with Behind the Mask is that while it’s providing an interesting angle it stays on very familiar ground. No boundaries are getting explored or pushed here. Combined with the previously mentioned style switches these issues rob the movie of a lot of impact. The film is worth watching, especially if you’re a horror movie fan. But you’ll probably want to catch it at a matinee or as a rental. The Host One would think running a small South Korean river-side snack shop would
be a pleasant experience. Sure you have to deal with tourists and you’d
smell of fried squid all day, but still it wouldn’t be bad. The Host takes your basic monster movie adds human drama and then pours in a good amount of comedy. Comedy-horror mixing rarely works, but The Host does it well. The comedy is well done, a lot of slapstick but also parody as the bureaucracy goes from ineptitude to near insane levels. But when the comedy looks like it’s going to over the top then we get a scene of dark seriousness, usually involving the giant hungry monster. The special effects are well done with some nice scenes of the
monster. The fight scenes, including a climactic battle at the end are
riveting. Not only nice action but some beautifully tragic
imagery. There are a few points where the plot is weak but it never truly fails. The Host is well worth seeing on the big screen. The Host is Korean with English subtitles. (although if you miss it this time around Universal has already announced that it has bought the rights for an American remake) DVD
Reviews
Creepshow III Sometimes being a reviewer is fun. You can tell people about the big
movies coming (Hot Fuzz), or gems they might otherwise miss (Daywatch).
Then there are times when you are taking a bullet for your readers (Urban
Evil). The Creepshow series was never high-brow. They were movies
about bad people doing bad things and something horrible happening to
them. Usually with zombies or man-eating plants. Creepshow
I did this with skill and humor and managed some very interesting
characters into its short stories. Creepshow II was
weaker, but still managed some effective stories. While most of the five shorts are bad there are a couple that strive for
mediocre. There is a story of a call-girl who murders her clients, but
the last client turns out to be more than she expected. This is helped
immensely by some nice make-up and gore work. Secondly there is a story
of a vile doctor who is haunted by a homeless guy he let die. The film does have a cute gimmick with devices and characters from other stories showing up in the films. Usually they’re just a cameo. It’s handled well although there’s not much payoff for it. One could probably construct a timeline of the events of all the stories, but that would involve watching the film again. This film is bad, bad, bad. Unless you’re a collector and absolutely have to have the full set the disc is worth picking up if you can find it cheap. Otherwise just leave it on the shelf and walk away slowly. It’s not even worth catching on cable. The DVD comes with one bonus feature: a behind-the-scenes documentary. Brick There are certain facets of the Noir genre. You have your hard-boiled detectives, femme fatales, crime lords and riff-raff. People die, get beaten up and hidden secrets get dug up. Now take all of that and set it in a high school. Sound interesting? That’s Brick, and it is not a parody. It is a murder mystery with a few twists and turns in the plot. Our main character is Brendan who gets a scared call from an ex-girlfriend. Brendan is not well-liked, he’s an outsider who’s known for working with the law and the malcontents at various times. When his ex disappears he decides to investigate. Despite being told, repeatedly, to stay out of it but he struggles on to unwind the mystery. Remember those facets of Noir? The beatings and the secrets? Brendan is about to give and receive plenty of these before the movie concludes. To accommodate the feel of the film Brick has some interesting sylistic choices. The differences between the standard high school cliques (jocks, nerds, drama geeks, etc.) has been heightened. Each exists in its own little world with it’s own rules. We never see an actual classroom, all the activity takes place on the school grounds or out in the city. Plus, with few exceptions, the adults are never seen either. They exist, teachers and coaches are mentioned, but they’re on the fringe of our characters reality. While the atmosphere of the film is important what makes Brick really enjoyable is the writing and the acting. The plot moves quickly and works around the various stories well. A few parts are predictable but there are some genuine surprises. The actors do an excellent job and give their lines in a serious and believable manner, which is very important to keep the movie from getting silly. If you like dark detective stories Brick is well worth picking up. The DVD comes with several deleted scenes (most of which are actually extended scenes), a behind-the-scenes on casting and commentary tracks. Tales from the Crypt: Ritual Ritual is the third movie based on the Tales from the Crypt HBO series (itself based on the classic horror comic). Unlike the first two films (Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood) this one went straight to DVD. And it deserved too. It’s not that Ritual is a truly bad film. This time
around Dr. Alice Dodgson (Jennifer Grey) has gone to Jamaica to treat
an ailing plantation owner. As she settles into her lodgings she
finds herself knee deep in voodoo, conspiracies, odd diseases and even a
couple of zombies (voodoo zombies, not the brain-eaters). The film does have some redeeming qualities. The acting is acceptable and it’s nice to see Grey getting work again. And even in a lower-budget DtD it’s great to see the Tales from the Crypt series continuing. Also there is plenty of blood and boobs to satisfy the light horror fans. With a better script and a bit more money this could have been a very enjoyable film. As it is now, it’s worth a rental if you’re a fan of the series. Keep the credits rolling for a blooper reel. The DVD is a bare-bones release with no special features. One Missed Call One day a teenage schoolgirl hears an unfamiliar ringtone. Investigating she finds out that somehow it was her cell. There’s one voicemail waiting for her. Adding to the strangeness the message is dated for tomorrow evening. Curious she plays the message and it’s her own voice. The message makes no sense and it ends with her scream. Freaked she tries to ignore it and soon begins rationalizing it away. Big mistake as the time of the call comes around the girl gets thrown of a bridge into an oncoming train. She screams as she falls..just like the phone message. And right as she dies a friend of hers gets a message on his cell. This message is dated about a day in the future… One Missed Call is a vicious little Japanese ghost movie.
This time the ghost is using cell phones and address books to stalk its
victims. As the number of characters begins to drop our heroine must find out
who the ghost is and what is going on. Hopefully she can put to the
ghost to rest before she ends up dying in a horrible fashion. If you’ve
seen the movies The Ring, The Grudge or Cell then you have a
pretty good idea of how this is going to go. (for the record One
Missed Call is better than Cell, equal to Ringu but not
quite as good as Ju-On) . One Missed Call does have some pretty brutal scares and also does a nice job with the secondary characters. Some are scared, others don’t believe it. But when you get a message suddenly everybody wants to be deleted from your address book The ending of One Missed Call, like a lot of j-horror films, is totally messed up. “Vague” is one way to put it. It definitely stays with you. The 2-disc edition comes with behind-the-scenes interviews (including a few hints on what the ending means), trailers and a bit on the fake TV show from the film. One Missed Call is a worthy addition to a horror library and worth a rental for casual fans. Pray The plan was to kidnap a little girl, demand the ransom and make a quick buck
with nobody actually getting hurt. This was the brainchild of Mitsuru
(Tetsuji Tamayama) and Maki (Asami Mizukawa) and at first it all goes fine. It should be noted that although Pray came out from the Tartan “Asia Extreme” line it is not an over-the-top ghost flick like Ju-On or Cell are. Instead we do have a haunted school, and the survival rate of the characters is low the film is much more of a character study, specifically Mitsuru. The film centers on him and his tragic past as characters die and the plot begins to twist back and forth on itself. Although jhorror fans will be happy to know that the staple “creepy messed-up schoolgirl ghost” is present and accounted for. This type of film depends deeply on the acting and the plot to keep the film interesting. While the acting is fine, the plot is weak. As noted before horror fans will be disappointed in the relatively tame scares from the ghosts. Also the problem of “why don’t the characters leave?” is never adequately answered (although it is addressed). The dialogue can be very heavy on the exposition at times, although that may be due to subtitle translation issues. Pray tries hard to tackle the horror/drama/crime angles and while there are problems the film is not a disaster. The premise is great and some of the plot twists work well. Also the film has a great atmosphere to it, especially with some interesting sound effects. Pray is well worth renting or dropping in your Netflix queue but isn’t worth buying. The DVD comes with limited extras: A couple of “Making Ofs”, the trailer and previews of other Asia Extreme titles. Star Trek Fan Collective: Borg Paramount has begun releasing special collections of Star Trek episodes on DVD organized by theme. The collections take episodes from all 5 of the television series (not counting the cartoon). Considering that each season of these series runs $50-$130, the collections are a good deal for the casual collector. The first release is “Borg” and contains the following episodes:
The collection has the best episodes (and a few silly ones) for the
topic. It can be an enjoyable watch, but as the episodes jump around different
series and seasons it can be confusing if you’re not up on your
storylines. The collection is a good buy if you want some interesting Star Trek episodes. If you’re buying more collections please note that some episodes appear more than once. For instance “Endgame” is also included in the Time Travel collection. The Hazing For such a cliché horror setting The Hazing is a surprisingly amusing little horror film. It follows one night for a group of pledges (fraternity and sorority) who must complete a scavenger hunt and spend the night in a spooky old house. As I said, this is not an original plot and nobody is pretending it is. Instead the film mixes in a fair amount of action and comedy into the mix and even manages a few plot twists. While the comedy-horror isn’t up to Evil Dead standards most of the jokes do actually work. Plus the horror elements aren’t completely drowned in jokes or winking at the audience. Plus the movie has Brad Dourif! The Hazing has everything you want in a silly Horror film. There are plenty of b-grade actors. There is lots of TnA. There is blood and violence it is not an over-the-top gore-fest (which may actually disappoint some horror fans). And it knows enough of the conventions to have some fun with them. The DVD comes with several extras including behind the scenes (including a ‘documentary’ by actress Tiffany Shepis), bloopers, deleted/extended scenes, commentaries and trailers. It is well worth renting or buying if you’re a fan of horror-lite films. |
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material ©2006 Chris DeKalb unless otherwise noted