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Body Cam (2020)
Body Cam (2020)
2020 | Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
6
7.0 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I'd been seeing this floating around for a while and finally decided to give it a go, I was intrigued by the mix of genre with Mary J. Blige in the top spot.

An unexpected death on what should have been a routine traffic stop leads a cop down a dangerous path to uncover the truth within her own department.

Body Cam is where cop thriller meets horror... in an intriguing and slightly disappointing way... as I write that, disappointing doesn't feel like the right word. Maybe it is just unusual, I don't remember seeing anything like this combined before.

The combination of footage works very well, it added to the suspense for me and I liked the cuts between body cam/CCTV, real life and unexplained. It allowed for a lot to be held in reserve for later in the film.

If you combine that with the effects it gives quite a strong foundation for everything. The palette was dark, but that helped to make some of the effects shine with drama and suspense. The one scene that particularly liked was set in the convenience store, but I don't want to spoil that for you. As a warning, the film is rather gory and there's the appearance of bugs at one point, it doesn't feel like it holds back.

Normally I'd talk about the acting early in my reviews, but if I'm honest, this is where the film seems to be lacking. I can't really pick out anyone to mention as being standout. That and a slightly uninspiring script didn't do this story justice.

The one thing that I take away from Body Cam is the idea of it, and that one particular scene. It makes me think, but about what I would have liked to see rather than what I did see. I'd be interested to know what you think if you've seen this one... I would have liked to see the film in silence apart from the cam footage and music... but that's just the weird feeling in my head.

Body Cam has the basis of something great, and the execution of the technical aspects felt impressive, but it lacked a spark to elevate it above everything else.

Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/02/body-cam-movie-review.html
  
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
1988 | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Contains spoilers, click to show
A shooting star passes over a small American town, when a couple of teens go to investigate they find a big top circus tent that is not from this planet. When the occupants of the tent, a group of extra-terrestrial clowns (or Klowns if you will) start running amok and killing people it’s up to a group of young adults to stop them.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a goofy B movie from the late 1980’s that really doesn’t take itself too seriously. The effects are actually quite good for a film with such a low budget (Only $2 million) with the Klown costumes being just creepy enough not to come across as being too ridiculous, which takes some doing being as the Klowns are busy cocooning people in candy floss and shooting them with popcorn.
As with most B movies (and a lot of mainstream movies) the plot is quite simple, the Klowns have landed and are killing people and storing them as food and this goes in the films favour. If the plot was overly complicated, then it would not fit the feel of the effects.
Killer Klowns is one of those cult movies that has a few really good stand out scenes. My personal favourite being the encounter between the midget Klown and the biker gang. It also has memorable villains. Clowns as villains are quite common, but these are Klowns with alien technology and an interesting weakness. As the Klowns are alien they don’t speak English but this doesn’t mean they are mute, in fact they have a very creative way of bridging the language barrier and it is good see that the film doesn’t fall back on the old ‘communicator’ trope. It does fall back on other tropes though, we have the old isolated figure as the first victim, making it hard to prove that anyone has died, we have the young cop who is trying to make his way but coming into conflict with the older cop. The older cop doesn’t like the kids, he thinks they are just out to cause trouble. All this is ok though as it fits the low budget flow of the film and makes Killer Klowns feel as a cross between ‘Invasion of the body snatchers’ and ‘night of the living dead’.
  
Extinction: Jurassic Predators (2014)
Extinction: Jurassic Predators (2014)
2014 |
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Michelle is the presenter of the documentary and we barely see her do any presenting, we have a small moment early on but otherwise the camera spends a lot of time to following her ass on screen. Professor Howson is the expect in the field and meant to be the star alongside Michelle in the documentary, he must lead them to safety through the rainforest. Rob is the second in command being a lot more laid back when dealing with any danger believing in his own abilities. James is the cameraman that at one moment states the obvious, another moment does all the stupid things and somewhere along the lines becomes the bravest member of the crew.

Performance – The performances from the whole cast are fine, where the cast are not big-name actors which brings us into the found footage idea perfectly and nobody seems to overact through the film.

Story – Documentary crew heads into the rainforest to look for new species and they find some, but they are deadly, this is all we need from the film as a story, there are no major twists but it does take a while to get going as we must watch, walking, collecting moss, running and rocks for a lot of the time.

Adventure/Thriller – The adventure comes from the idea that we could be finding new species in the deepest darkest corners of the world and we are kept guess just who will make it out of the rainforest alive.

Settings – The rainforest is filled with species we might not have discovered yet, so this works for the settings needed for the film to take places.

Special Effects – The effects are a mixed bag, some parts of them are good while others feel like someone just stuck a dinosaur into the shot with CGI.

Scene of the Movie – Can’t sense us if we don’t move.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Camera crew inside the tent ‘there is something out there, I can’t see anything’ this dialogue is why films get a bad name.

Final Thoughts – This does feel like a long-found footage film that could have been cut down by a good 20 minutes to fit the idea of a found footage concept that works, short sweat and plenty of fun.

 

Overall: Watchable found footage.
  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Puzzle (2018) in Movies

Sep 13, 2019  
Puzzle (2018)
Puzzle (2018)
2018 | Drama
Characters – Michelle is the presenter of the documentary and we barely see her do any presenting, we have a small moment early on but otherwise the camera spends a lot of time to following her ass on screen. Professor Howson is the expect in the field and meant to be the star alongside Michelle in the documentary, he must lead them to safety through the rainforest. Rob is the second in command being a lot more laid back when dealing with any danger believing in his own abilities. James is the cameraman that at one moment states the obvious, another moment does all the stupid things and somewhere along the lines becomes the bravest member of the crew.

Performance – The performances from the whole cast are fine, where the cast are not big-name actors which brings us into the found footage idea perfectly and nobody seems to overact through the film.

Story – Documentary crew heads into the rainforest to look for new species and they find some, but they are deadly, this is all we need from the film as a story, there are no major twists but it does take a while to get going as we must watch, walking, collecting moss, running and rocks for a lot of the time.

Adventure/Thriller – The adventure comes from the idea that we could be finding new species in the deepest darkest corners of the world and we are kept guess just who will make it out of the rainforest alive.

Settings – The rainforest is filled with species we might not have discovered yet, so this works for the settings needed for the film to take places.

Special Effects – The effects are a mixed bag, some parts of them are good while others feel like someone just stuck a dinosaur into the shot with CGI.

Scene of the Movie – Can’t sense us if we don’t move.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Camera crew inside the tent ‘there is something out there, I can’t see anything’ this dialogue is why films get a bad name.

Final Thoughts – This does feel like a long-found footage film that could have been cut down by a good 20 minutes to fit the idea of a found footage concept that works, short sweat and plenty of fun.

 

Overall: Watchable found footage.
  
The Apparition (2012)
The Apparition (2012)
2012 | Horror, Mystery
Characters – Kelly is a trainee vet, she moves into one of her parent’s rental properties with her boyfriend where she starts experiencing the haunting events. Ben is the boyfriend of Kelly, he is a good handy man and searching for his career. It is his past that comes back to haunt them. Patrick is part of the team that did the experiment with Ben back in the college days and now he will help right the wrongs.

Performances – The performances, well this is fun and this is not just the actors performances that hold them back, the characters are written one dimension which gives the actors nothing to work with. If we look at the main three stars, they all struggle to make an impact and it shows through the film.

Story – The story here follows an experiment gone wrong and now there is an entity haunting the people who released it from whether it came from, it plays into the idea that you shouldn’t mess with the dead because they will come to haunt you. Anyway this story is simple enough, it is a survival horror against a ghost figure that doesn’t have too much going on about it. We have plenty of just dark sequences that seem to go nowhere or lead to false jump scares and before long it is over, I think. I can’t say the story offers too much for the horror fans or just film fans and it feels like it is flat by the end of the film

Horror/Thriller – The horror is mostly false scares which just frustrate throughout, you are now looking to be on the edge of your seats, well this doesn’t give you any of that.

Settings – The settings just feel like they went and grabbed the Poltergeist location and thought this will do, nothing makes sense for the entity and the hauntings though.

Special Effects – The effects look poor throughout, it all looks like CGI which is poor to see in a modern horror.


Scene of the Movie – Credits were good.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Kelly criticising people who work in stores, these people work hard and deserve praise.

Final Thoughts – This is a poor lazy horror that just doesn’t do anything for the genre and becomes dull quickly.

 

Overall: Boring horror that has no scares.
  
Bound to Vengeance (2015)
Bound to Vengeance (2015)
2015 | Horror
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Eve is one of the victims of the sexual predator, planning her escape she learns there are more girls being held captive. She sets out with her capturer to save the other victims determined to make him pay along the way. Phil is the sexual predator, he has the girls locked up in different locations and uses them as leverage to keep himself alive. We do meet the other girls, but rarely see much from them.

Performances – Tina Ivlev is the star of the show here, she uses every emotional encounter as fuel to drive her character, showing us determination and toughness through her ordeal. Richard Tyson is great too as the predator, showing us just how far one would go to stay ahead of the game.

Story – The story here does give us a revenge thriller that shows us what one woman who escapes her prison only to go on a mission to locate the other victims before handing in the predator. The story does turn the revenge thriller on its head because we only get a small glimpse at the suffering she has been through as we focus on her decision to do the right thing for the other victims. We do have twists along the way and unlikely reaction to being rescued too. While the jumps to the original life on camera can be frustrating and not needed the rest of the pacing of the story does feel like it keeps you going without any problems.

Horror – The horror in the film comes from just seeing what Eve and the other girls have gone through feeling and looking just as brutal as it should be.

Settings – The film takes us to different safe house like location to see where the girls are being kept, each one has a different look and style to how they will be used for the girls.

Special Effects – The effects through the film are good, they show us the attacks both sides will be dealing with and making it all look like it was real throughout.


Scene of the Movie – The escape seems planned as well as showing the panic.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The camcorder material.

Final Thoughts – This is a good revenge thriller that does everything you want, it is blood soaked and does give us a fresh approach to handling the story.

 

Overall: Revenge Thriller for all.
  
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.
  
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