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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Happy Death Day 2U (2019) in Movies

Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)  
Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
2019 | Horror, Mystery
Hands up if you laughed your way through this one? *throws hands up in the air*

This is where I love the horror genre, although I wouldn't really say this is horror. It's light-hearted and knows it doesn't need to take itself too seriously. It's sort of a horror comedy... A homedy? A corror? Definitely a homedy.

The trailer was a little misleading, I went in thinking that we were going to see them all stuck in the time loop which isn't the case. I'm probably happy that it ended up being different because I couldn't work out how they were going to do it otherwise.

When the original came out I was so happy to have discovered it. Horror is probably my least favourite genre but throw some homedy (it's happening people, go with it!) at me and I'm there for it. It's why I love the Screams and Final Destinations. HDD2U took it to another level, or should I say dimension?

While I loved this we could now have a potential problem, the third one could step over into Sharknado territory and become the parody but we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it... and if I'm honest, this one was pretty close to that line anyway.

There's no way to deny the fact that 2 is riding on the coattails of its predecessor. It concentrates more on solving the cause of the loop rather than the mystery of who the killer is now and it isn't quite as compelling to watch. Neither is the fact that in this new loop we're given altered versions of the existing characters. We see a lot more of Danielle which if I'm honest isn't a good thing. She's still totes annoying but this time she brings a thespian side that leads to a truly terrible slapstick scene.

For sheer enjoyment as a follow on film it's brilliant but taken on its own merit it wouldn't get such high praise, but I had fun and that's what counts. I did see this for a second time and it unfortunately gave me more time to consider all the slightly dubious bits of it. It really hits hard on the sci-fi side of things, particularly in the mid-credit scene, and it doesn't feel quite right... now I'm wondering if it has already become its own parody...

What you should do

If you enjoyed the first one then you should totally see it, it's entertaining and much less serious about itself than the first but it's also much more ridiculous. Do remember to stay for the credit scene, you'll be able to see why I'm a little worried about any future endeavours.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

I'd probably still want Tree's fearlessness and resilience, but without having to die repeatedly to attain it.
  
Leprechaun Returns (2019)
Leprechaun Returns (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Characters – Lila is the daughter or Tory (from the original) she is moving back to the same house in the vents of the original to be part of a college sorority, she is clearly the outsider of the group desperate to make new friends after a lifetime of looking after her mother. She learns to start believing what her mother did and proves to be resourceful throughout the film. Katie is the slutty of the friends, Rose is the one trying to make a change and Meredith is the drunk one, while they are meant to be portrayed as smart, they are painfully generic and dumb throughout. The Leprechaun has returned looking for his gold and this time he isn’t going to be a friendly, trying to get his power back. He uses rhymes to try and scare the characters and new powers to make object move to kill.

Performances – Taylor Spreitler does every she can in the leading role, trying to step into the shoes of Jennifer Aniston isn’t going to be easy for anyone, Pepi Sonuga, Sai Bennett and Emily Reid are the basic supporting performances, playing confusing characters. Linden Porco does well as the leprechaun being evil enough.

Story – The story picks up 25 years after the original film where we follow a new group of students that head to the house from the original only to find themselves being haunted by the leprechaun who just wants his gold back. The idea that we are taught to forget any of the sequels is a good thing and arguable the only good thing about the story, the rest just makes the characters seem confusing, with the story wanting to say these girls are smart with what they are doing, but as soon as the horror starts they just become screaming messes. It does keep the tone of a slasher story though it just never captures the tone of the first film enough.

Comedy/Horror – The comedy comes from the painfully rhymes that the leprechaun gives, they are very pun heavy which will often make your eyes roll. The horror does come from the kills which are bloody and one is in fact an original one too.

Settings – The film is set in the same house as the original film, it needs to be rebuilt so people could live there, it shows the evil hasn’t left this place after 25-years.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are easily one of the better parts because we get the unique looking kills that don’t shy away from the camera.


Scene of the Movie – Solar panel

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The characters being confusing.

Final Thoughts – This is a disappoint horror sequel reboot, it is filled with too many puns and tries to be self-aware of everything going on.

Overall: Leprechaun is better off dead.
  
The Charnel House (2016)
The Charnel House (2016)
2016 | Mystery
5
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Alex Reaves is the man behind the refurbishment of the building, he sees this as a fresh start for his family which will give them financial support for life, he starts having visions which will bring the connection back to the previous owner. Charlotte is the artist and designer (I think she did this too) who has help turn the building into the apartments and soon becomes the one that needs to fight to keep her family together. Mia is the daughter of the couple who starts seeing the little boy haunting the building, treated like the imaginary friend for the most part, she has behavioural problems and follows in her mother’s artistic nature. Devin Pyles is the man that has a connection to the previous use of the building, he is here to investigate just what happened here and knows about the darker side of the building.

Performances – Callum Blue in the leading role is fine without ever standing out in the leading role, which is going to be a theme when looking at the performances, nobody does anything to make themselves feel stand out in the film.

Story – The story here follows the re-opening of an old slaughterhouse as luxury apartments, but the ghosts of the old building are still there haunting the people that move in. this does give us the limited characters as the building isn’t officially opened, but will let people move into the property they have purchased early, this helps the story because an over crowded building would have only dragged the film down. The story is trying to be clever with certain connections only to fall mostly short with this side of the story telling. Once you do work out where the story wants to go you will work out the ending pretty easily which again disappoints and as for the supporting characters they seem to have no connection to the actual hauntings and are here just to give us a body count.

Horror – The horror in the film comes from the ghost visits and the technology not following the rules it should be, again simple scares which don’t give us anything to be frightened off.

Settings – The film is set in one house, we have an apartment building with history which gives us the haunting side of the film. it works well for the most part too.

Special Effects – The effects are not over used, they are simple when needed but nothing that becomes clear to what is happening in the film.


Scene of the Movie – Butch the Yorkie.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The pointless disposable supporting residents.

Final Thoughts – This is a very simple horror, it does the basics right without ever being put in the position of being anything special or standout, nothing is terrible, it is just average throughout.

 

Overall: Average horror.
  
Perfect Creature (2006)
Perfect Creature (2006)
2006 | Action, Drama, Horror
4
3.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Silus is the vampire from the brotherhood, he has a connection with his brother Edgar and will not let him take over once he becomes the blood thirty infected version of himself. Lilly is the nonsense cop that has suffered her own share of heartache with the viruses in the world, she doesn’t take any shit from anyone she believes to be guilty. Edgar is the brother of Silus that has become infected while trying to find the next cure for the human and Brotherhood medical problems which makes him the first member of the brotherhood to kill a human.

Performance – Dougray Scott is fine without being that impactful in the leading role and the same could be said for Saffron Burrows, the highlight of the film would be Leo Gregory as the Edgar the bloody thirsty crazy vampire.

Story – The story does feel like it could be another chapter of the Underworld saga, it has the vampires of the world living in peace with the humans but when one goes rogue it becomes personal. This isn’t the most original and strays too far into the middle of the fantasy world we are trying so desperately to head towards. We don’t find enough time to create the fantasy world that could become a franchise let alone a new story because in the end this could have just been a crime thriller.

Action/Fantasy/Horror – The action is fine, it mostly contains fights that try to offer an extra punch where needed but isn’t the most original, while the fantasy world doesn’t click for the story we are experiencing, the horror is tame too with it only being a couple of vampire like moments.

Settings – We have murky settings which is designed to show us the different in class between the two races.

Special Effects – The effects are all fine and at least the film doesn’t turn into a bad CGI moment film.

Scene of the Movie – The special gun that instant sleeps and enemy.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It just doesn’t seem to feel fresh in any way.

Final Thoughts – Disappointing movie that doesn’t connect with the audience on the levels it could have because it wants to be a fantasy film but plays out only like a dark crime thriller.

 

Overall: Disappointing film.
  
Mongolian Death Worm (2010)
Mongolian Death Worm (2010)
2010 |
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Daniel is a treasure hunter searching for the burial grounds of Genghis Khan but has made his own enemies in the land but also knows how to handle himself, he isn’t the kindest of people always doing things for money over the right reasons, Alicia is a doctor that has been helping the locals of Mongolia with a virus outbreak and she is willing to die to save these people. Timur is the sheriff that is one of the few people that enjoys the company of Daniel and understands that he is harmless at heart.

Performance – Sean Patrick Flanery does seem to have fallen from the graces where he was about to make it to the big time but he is the star of this show. Victoria Pratt is fine in the supporting role with the brains and beauty needed for the film and George Cheung gives us the laughs when needed.

Story – The story does mix myth with legend when it comes to dealing with new inhabitants to a land that must face the idea that a myth isn’t just a myth and must work together to defeat a creature in this case a Mongolian Death Worm. This is an easy to watch story as it is mostly a group of people needing to battle an unknown enemy before they take over the local area.

Action/Horror – The action is mostly chases through the film which works when it comes to the enemies the people are facing with the horror side of the movie all coming from the creature feature idea which is always a lot of fun to watch.

Settings – The film is set in Mongolia but this looks like it could be anywhere in the USA or anywhere that has dirt roads.

Special Effects – The effects are better than I was expecting but still within the budget of a TV movie.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The film could have been filmed in any location it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Final Thoughts – This is a simple creature feature that is a lot better than what I was expecting without being one of the best creature features you will see, I do think the fact it isn’t laughably bad does hinder it though.

 

Overall: Solid creature feature.
  
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
2015 | Drama
Victor Frankenstein is basically a prequel to Mary Shelly’s book, Frankenstein, where we get to meet Igor and a younger Frankenstein as they get to meet each other.

We start off with our story teller, Igor played by Daniel Radcliffe, and how he came to be rescued by our movies namesake, Victor Frankenstein played by James McAvoy. The movie begins showing the trials Igor went through, growing up, as the lowest sideshow freak who just happened to learn how to read and become a self-taught medic for the circus that keeps him. Victor came to the circus to find more animal parts to make his homunculus, which he is building out of various animal parts he has been able to procure from zoos, as his prototype for his ultimate endeavor, making a human and bring it back to life.
 
Igor and Frankenstein are brought together when Igor’s paramour Lorelei falls from her trapeze and they both run to help her. Victor is about to give up and let her die when the Igor’s genius shows through and is able to save her with his quick thinking and knowledge of the human anatomy. Victor’s shrew perception bring him to offer Igor a new life and to escape from the circus.
 
I give Victor Frankenstein 4 out of 5 stars only due to the fact that being a prequel to the novel and not the many movies about Frankenstein and his Monster will confuse many. If you go in expecting an action movie instead of a film done in the noir horror genre in the styles before the 1950’s, you will be disappointed.
  
The Fly (1958)
The Fly (1958)
1958 | Classics, Horror
Vincent Price (0 more)
Vincent Price isnt The Fly (0 more)
Help Me! Help Me!
The Fly- is a great movie. Its scary, horrorfying, suspenseful, thrilling, mysterious, and above all great. I thought Vincent Price was the scientist who turns into the fly, but no instead he is the brother who investigations his brother. Other that its great.

The plot: When scientist Andre Delambre (Al Hedison) tests his matter transporter on himself, an errant housefly makes its way into the transportation chamber, and things go horribly wrong. As a result, Delambre's head and arm are now that of the insect. Slowly losing himself to the fly, Delambre turns to his wife, Helene (Patricia Owens), for help. But when tragedy strikes, Delambre's brother (Vincent Price) and Inspector Charas (Herbert Marshall) are forced to pick up the investigation.

Years later, Vincent Price recalled the cast finding some levity during the filming: "We were playing this kind of philosophical scene, and every time that little voice [of the fly] would say ‘Help me! Help me!’ we would just scream with laughter. It was terrible. It took us about 20 takes to finally get it

The film's financial success had the side-effect of boosting co-star Vincent Price (whose previous filmography featured only scattered forays into genre film) into a major horror star. Price himself was positive about the film, saying, decades later, "I thought THE FLY was a wonderful film – entertaining and great fun."

American Film Institute Lists:

AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – Nominated
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
"Help me! Help me!" – Nominated

Like i said its great.
  
Countdown (2019)
Countdown (2019)
2019 | Horror, Thriller
A group of teens are playing a game of cards at a house party when they discover an app which tells you when you will die, they all download it for a bit of fun. Everybody gets dates years or months from now, except one teen who only gets several hours. They all laugh it off and continue with their party. After the party this girl gets into an argument with her boyfriend and ends up walking home alone where she is eventually killed in her bathroom by an unseen force.
Fast forward to a hospital student nurse going about her duty, she speaks to the first girls boyfriend who is due to go into surgery after his car crash. He had downloaded the app and had been given hours to live and was scared he wouldn't wake up from his surgery. The student nurse laughs it off and downloads the app herself which tells her she dies in 2 days. When Evan (the first victims boyfriend) dies right when he was due to, Quinn realises it isn't just an app and sets about how to stop it.
I quite enjoyed the movie even though it was very predictable at times, and sometimes characters were so face-palm stupid! I liked that it has a final destination feel to it, I do think it should have stayed serious though as the scene with the priest was over the top with its silliness, and the way Quinn opens Evans dead body eyes to unlock his phone was laughable. These aside though, it is a fun horror movie which I recommend you watch at least once.
  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated 13 Sins (2014) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019  
13 Sins (2014)
13 Sins (2014)
2014 | Horror, Mystery
7
8.0 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: 13 Sins starts as Elliot Brindle (Webber) about to get married to Shelby (Wesley) and start his own family but because he isn’t as ruthless in his salesman job he loses his job making it difficult to supporting his mentally disabled brother Michael (Graye) and his bitter father (Bower).

Running out of options a chance phone call promises him money for doing something as simple as killing a fly once complete Elliot gets a second phone call with the promise of more money for a task. With two challenges down Elliot get offered a chance to enter into a game to complete in 11 more challenges to get more money that could change his life forever.

When the challenge starts to become very twisted it grabs the attention of Detective Chilcoat (Perlman) but just how far will Elliot will go for the money.


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13 Sins gives us a horror thriller that pushes our character to the limit which is why I do think this is a very enjoyable. I will say it starts out slow and puts the character in a position that you would expect them to take the challenge by not knowing how far they would be pushed. This helps us think this would be hard to say no to. I will say this really pulls you in but I do think the certain moments at the end feel forced.

 

Actor Review

 

Mark Webber: Elliot Brindle is a down on his luck salesman who is about to get married, have his own child all while supporting his mentally disabled brother and alcoholic father. When he gets phone call he gets a chance to end all of his money troubles by completing a set of challenges, this will test Elliot to the very limits leaving us to wonder how far he will do. Mark is great in this role making us feel like he really is an average man struggling.

Devon Graye: Michael Brindle is the mentally disabled brother of Elliot who is about to find himself back in a home if his brother doesn’t find money to support him. Devon seems like an important character that just seems to get forgotten through the final outcome of the film.

Rutina Wesley: Shelby is the fiancée of Elliot who is getting ever so upset with Elliot on the day of the challenges because he is coming off distant but her relationship is important to everything that is happening. Rutina is basic in this supporting role because we don’t get the screen time.

Ron Perlman: Detective Chilcoat takes the case that Elliot finds himself causing him to discover what has been happening for years. Ron is solid in this supporting role that has a moment that is worth the wait nearer the end.

Support Cast: 13 Sins has a supporting cast that is included in the game in ways you have to figure out how they are involved.

Director Review: Daniel Stamm – Daniel gives us a thriller that is shocking in places as we just have to see how far we see our character go.

 

Horror: 13 Sins has gore moments that shock but filled with suspense around the gore.

Thriller: 13 Sins keeps us on edge as we wonder what will happen next in the game.

Settings: 13 Sins doesn’t have the most iconic locations which helps make us think it is in a small city but with the bigger picture of the game doesn’t work.
Special Effects: 13 Sins has great special effects used throughout with the gore factors.

Suggestion: 13 Sins is one for the horror fans to watch. (Horror Fans Watch)

 

Best Part: Final twist.

Worst Part: Slow starting.

 

Believability: No

Chances of Tears: No

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

Similar Too: Would You Rather, Cheap Thrills

 

Oscar Chances: No

Budget: $4 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

Tagline: You don’t play the game. It plays you.

Overall: Surprisingly entertaining horror thriller keeping us guessing throughout.

https://moviesreview101.com/2016/10/03/movie-reviews-101-midnight-halloween-horror-13-sins-2014/
  
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
2006 | Horror, Mystery
5
7.3 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane starts with a teenage house party where one of the cool kids tries to hit on the beautiful Mandy Lane (Heard) but when one of the boys chasing her dies in an attempt to impress her we see how close Mandy is to Emmet (Welch). 9 months have passed since the accident and Red (Himelstein) is arranging a party at his family’s ranch which will include the invitation of Mandy Lane.

We watch as a group of high school friends head off to a ranch for a weekend off fun with plenty or drinks, drugs and sex with all the boys after Mandy Lane. We watch as the friend go through the traditional high school relationship issues and adding in the alcohol we get everything elevated to the next level. The weekend away takes twist when somebody starts picking off the friends before we learn that there is a bigger motive behind everything that happens.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane really is just a bogged standard slasher film for the most part, but it does have an interesting twist you don’t see coming. The characters are very painful generic and the story just follows everything you would expect to see in a slasher film. The film tries something different with the ending which is the only positive about this film otherwise it really is just offer nothing new. (5/10)

 

Actor Review

 

Amber Heard: Mandy Lane is the gorgeous girl that all the high school guys want to be with but she is very independent not falling for any of the guys lines. She strikes jealousy between the friends who each believe they are in the driving seat to get her. Amber does a solid job in the role but clearly only works because of how beautiful she is. (6/10)

 mandy

Anson Mount: Garth is the ranch hand on the ranch that all the girls fall for but he ends up planning babysitter to all of the high school kids who can’t handle their drinks. Anson does a basic job as the older wise protector of the film but doesn’t do enough with the whole story. (4/10)

 

Whitney Able: Chloe is the insecure member of the friends who thinks all the girls need a perfect skinny body to impress the guys. Whitney does end up being the very generic character that we are all expecting to get what is coming to her early on. (5/10)

 

Michael Welch: Emmet is Mandy’s old friend who is the guy picking off the popular kids to make them pay for what happened after the party incident. Michael plays the killer well using no remorse through the film. (6/10)

 

Support Cast: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane has a supporting cast that is basically there just to be disposable and only become helpful to make Emmet look more crazed.

 

Director Review: Jonathan Levine – Jonathan does a solid job with the horror film because it follows the same old routine but throws you out of the comfort zone with the ending. (5/10)

 

Horror: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane follows all the slasher ABC style very easily. (8/10)

Settings: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane puts our characters in an isolated location for the horror to take place where the killer can get away with whatever they wants. (7/10)

Suggestion: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is one for the horror fans to enjoy otherwise it will just end up being very average. (Horror Fans Try)

 

Best Part: Final Twist.

Worst Part: Nothing new in the opening part.

 

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

Similar Too: Most Slasher films.

 

Oscar Chances: No

Budget: $750,000

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Tagline: Everyone is dying to be with her. Someone is killing for it.

 

Overall: Just another slasher that we have seen too many times before.

https://moviesreview101.com/2015/10/02/movie-reviews-101-halloween-midnight-horror-all-the-boys-love-mandy-lane-2006/