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Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated No One Gets Out Alive in Books
Mar 15, 2018
It has been a while since I read anything scary, so I decided to give this one a go. Unfortunately, while this wasn't exactly a bad book, for being horror it was pretty light in the scares department. Following a very down-on-her-luck girl who rents a room from a rather shady landlord in what turns out to be a haunted boarding house, it would seem like a good set-up for creepy goings-on, and there are all manner of upsetting things that happen. The problem lies in the way they are presented. Most of the situations that have the strongest potential at building suspense are set-up, and then suddenly told after the fact. In doing so, it removes pretty much all fear from the equation, as we already know more-or-less what transpired before reading about it in grisly detail. Nevermind that the protagonist's actions require some extreme suspension of disbelief, at least try to scare me from time to time. Things do improve in the markedly different (and better) second half, but by then it's a case of too little too late. A decent enough read that I might check out some more of this author's books, but I can't say I recommend this one.
Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Amityville: The Awakening (2017) in Movies
Jan 27, 2019
Not much (2 more)
Stays within the Amityville realm
Shows footage from DeFeo's crimes and mentions the Amityville history/"haunting"
Slow and drags on (8 more)
Boring
Tense in a teen angst way
Poor character relationships
One-dimensional characters
Vague plotlines
Visually too dark to see most action
Unoriginal
Flat acting
Drags on and on and on and blah.
If you expect a family to move into the Amityville house where DeFeo murdered his family in the 1970s and be haunted or possessed by a ghost, demon, poltergeist, etc., you are 100% correct. That premise could be interesting but unfortunately, this film falls short. It is tense because of the relationships between the characters and not from suspense. It's pretty boring and relies on a few jump scares and flashes of horror. The storyline is unoriginal and poorly done. The lighting is so dark that it's difficult to see the last 30 minutes of the action. You might as well be listening to an old-fashioned radio show or horror podcast instead. This movie is problematic from beginning to end. There are much better films out there with a similar premise so unless you're extremely bored and like to torture yourself, avoid this one.
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Sarah (7798 KP) rated Haunt (2019) in Movies
Jul 24, 2020
Better than expected
I love watching horror films, however the majority of them end up rather poor and lacklustre. Yet I cant say this for Haunt, which was actually a rather pleasant surprise.
This starts off very slowly, almost too slowly and this means it doesn't get off to a good start. However once this actually moves into the haunted house it really starts to come into it's own and actually becomes a rather enthralling film. Storywise it isn't anything particularly new, however it's the execution that makes it stand out. It's creepy and full of blood and gore, without relying on too much CGI or jump scares. Whilst a few of the characters are rather irritating and deserve their comeuppance, it's refreshing to see some of the main protagonists actually act sensibly and don't run around like brainless idiots like most horror film victims do - although they do still make the odd silly decision or action, they are human after all. Even the acting was pretty decent. And the ending was a refreshing change and not what I was expecting at all.
Overall this was such a pleasant surprise and one of the better recent horror films I've seen in quite some time.
This starts off very slowly, almost too slowly and this means it doesn't get off to a good start. However once this actually moves into the haunted house it really starts to come into it's own and actually becomes a rather enthralling film. Storywise it isn't anything particularly new, however it's the execution that makes it stand out. It's creepy and full of blood and gore, without relying on too much CGI or jump scares. Whilst a few of the characters are rather irritating and deserve their comeuppance, it's refreshing to see some of the main protagonists actually act sensibly and don't run around like brainless idiots like most horror film victims do - although they do still make the odd silly decision or action, they are human after all. Even the acting was pretty decent. And the ending was a refreshing change and not what I was expecting at all.
Overall this was such a pleasant surprise and one of the better recent horror films I've seen in quite some time.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Thir13en Ghosts (2001) in Movies
Jun 30, 2021
I absolutely get why this has become a bit of a cult classic, but for everything I like about Thir13en Ghosts, there's something I dislike.
I enjoy the setting. The "modern day" haunted house is an inspired design, and the fact that the set was practically built to film on is quite something. I also enjoy the titular ghosts. Each one has a unique look, and the make up work is superb. I also love that the legendary F. Murray Abraham is in this, as well as Matthew Lillard, doing what Matthew Lillard does best, hamming things up to the max.
Other than that, it's all a bit flaccid. There's a whole lot of characters-walking-around-and-getting-lost going on, and it's honestly a drag. It doesn't help that precisely none of these characters are easy to care about. There are multiple instances of laughably huge exposition dumps, in a narrative that's needlessly overstuffed with unnecessary plot elements.
Personally, it just about coasts by due to the nostalgia of being 13 years old and just getting into horror when it originally released, and I always have a good enough time with it. Also a dude gets vertically bisected which is pretty rad.
I enjoy the setting. The "modern day" haunted house is an inspired design, and the fact that the set was practically built to film on is quite something. I also enjoy the titular ghosts. Each one has a unique look, and the make up work is superb. I also love that the legendary F. Murray Abraham is in this, as well as Matthew Lillard, doing what Matthew Lillard does best, hamming things up to the max.
Other than that, it's all a bit flaccid. There's a whole lot of characters-walking-around-and-getting-lost going on, and it's honestly a drag. It doesn't help that precisely none of these characters are easy to care about. There are multiple instances of laughably huge exposition dumps, in a narrative that's needlessly overstuffed with unnecessary plot elements.
Personally, it just about coasts by due to the nostalgia of being 13 years old and just getting into horror when it originally released, and I always have a good enough time with it. Also a dude gets vertically bisected which is pretty rad.