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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Geostorm (2017) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
I have written many times in the past how the Disaster movie has long been a staple of Hollywood. We had the Irwin Allen classics of the 70s that were loaded with stars and in recent years, we had Volcano and Asteroids to contend with along with a new wave of monsters and alien invasions.
In the new movie “Geostorm” we are given a threat lifted directly from the headlines, the weather. It is revealed that a series of natural disasters ranging from flooding, heat waves, and climate change have left humanity in serious peril. As such the leaders of the world agree on a costly and ambitious plan to save humanity.
The resulting program is called “Dutch Boy” and it is the brainchild of Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler), and his team of international scientists and technicians.
The project is a global satellite system that controls the weather, and when a threat is detected, it is able to stop it in its tracks.
All has gone well for years under the program and humanity is now safe from weather related threats and continues on as usual. Jake has run afoul of the politicians overseeing the project and is removed from it by his brother Max (Jim Sturgess), who is tasked as his replacement.
Years later as the U.S. prepares to hand over control of Duty Boy to the international community, a series of odd things happen from unexplained weather incidents to an accident on the space station overseeing the system.
With the clock ticking before the handoff and Election Year politics playing a factor, Jake is tasked with going to the space station and getting to the bottom of the system issues.
The film cleverly switches gears at this point as it soon becomes clear there is a conspiracy at work that wants the system to fail and when it is learned that this may result in a mega-storm called a Geostorm, Jake and Max must put aside their differences and find out who is turning the salvation of humanity into a weapon of ultimate destruction.
The film has some really good effects and the weather disasters bring out some impressive visuals as do the scenes set in space.
The film does take some serious leaps of logic and science that requires the audience to simply follow along for the good of the story, but the strong cast and winning effects make the film more enjoyable than I expected it to be and I was entertained from start to finish.
http://sknr.net/2017/10/20/geostorm/
In the new movie “Geostorm” we are given a threat lifted directly from the headlines, the weather. It is revealed that a series of natural disasters ranging from flooding, heat waves, and climate change have left humanity in serious peril. As such the leaders of the world agree on a costly and ambitious plan to save humanity.
The resulting program is called “Dutch Boy” and it is the brainchild of Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler), and his team of international scientists and technicians.
The project is a global satellite system that controls the weather, and when a threat is detected, it is able to stop it in its tracks.
All has gone well for years under the program and humanity is now safe from weather related threats and continues on as usual. Jake has run afoul of the politicians overseeing the project and is removed from it by his brother Max (Jim Sturgess), who is tasked as his replacement.
Years later as the U.S. prepares to hand over control of Duty Boy to the international community, a series of odd things happen from unexplained weather incidents to an accident on the space station overseeing the system.
With the clock ticking before the handoff and Election Year politics playing a factor, Jake is tasked with going to the space station and getting to the bottom of the system issues.
The film cleverly switches gears at this point as it soon becomes clear there is a conspiracy at work that wants the system to fail and when it is learned that this may result in a mega-storm called a Geostorm, Jake and Max must put aside their differences and find out who is turning the salvation of humanity into a weapon of ultimate destruction.
The film has some really good effects and the weather disasters bring out some impressive visuals as do the scenes set in space.
The film does take some serious leaps of logic and science that requires the audience to simply follow along for the good of the story, but the strong cast and winning effects make the film more enjoyable than I expected it to be and I was entertained from start to finish.
http://sknr.net/2017/10/20/geostorm/
Darren (1599 KP) rated 3 Days To Kill (2014) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
Story: 3 Days to Kill starts as we meet CIA agent Ethan Renner (Costner) who along with his team is about to take down one of the biggest threats in the world The Wolf (Sammel) by eliminating his closest associate The Albino (Lemarquis) only the mission gets compromised when Ethan’s health catches up with him as he learns he only has 3 months to live.
Released by the CIA Ethan sets out on cleaning up his own personal affairs wanting to build a relationship with daughter Zooey (Steinfeld) through his ex-wife Christine (Nielsen) after years of times apart working. With everything going badly Ethan knows that it will become difficult but when fellow agent Vivi Delay (Heard) offers him a chance to live longer Ethan comes out of retirement for one last assignment.
Thoughts on 3 Days to Kill
Story – The story for this film tries to balance a dying man’s final months with his family and his CIA life that he has meant to have walked away from. The CIA story does feel very generic of this modern day slick hitman style which is all fine. The dying man’s wish story ends up feeling like an awkward comedy in places. The story also feels very long and doesn’t seem to end up deciding if it wants to be serious or not.
Action/Thriller – The action is all very good and entertaining with the opening sequence looking like it set the tone but in the end if just turns into another slick hitman film.
Characters/Performance – I can’t find anything wrong with Costner’s performance as well as Steinfeld or Neilsen, it is the Heard performance that doesn’t make sense because she doesn’t suit the character and the character doesn’t suit the movie. The movie tries to make all the characters fit into everyday experiences but for some reason Vivi character is wildly over the top for no apparent reason.
Settings – The settings are mostly all in Paris which all works for the film which is trying to make us have a location we want to visit but showing that crime can happen there I guess.
Special Effects – The Special effects are mostly used for the action sequences and they all come off to the level you need them too.
Final Thoughts –This is an overlong action thriller that ends up getting caught up in the middle of comedy too often for its own good.
Overall: Solid action film that starts too strong for its own benefits.
Released by the CIA Ethan sets out on cleaning up his own personal affairs wanting to build a relationship with daughter Zooey (Steinfeld) through his ex-wife Christine (Nielsen) after years of times apart working. With everything going badly Ethan knows that it will become difficult but when fellow agent Vivi Delay (Heard) offers him a chance to live longer Ethan comes out of retirement for one last assignment.
Thoughts on 3 Days to Kill
Story – The story for this film tries to balance a dying man’s final months with his family and his CIA life that he has meant to have walked away from. The CIA story does feel very generic of this modern day slick hitman style which is all fine. The dying man’s wish story ends up feeling like an awkward comedy in places. The story also feels very long and doesn’t seem to end up deciding if it wants to be serious or not.
Action/Thriller – The action is all very good and entertaining with the opening sequence looking like it set the tone but in the end if just turns into another slick hitman film.
Characters/Performance – I can’t find anything wrong with Costner’s performance as well as Steinfeld or Neilsen, it is the Heard performance that doesn’t make sense because she doesn’t suit the character and the character doesn’t suit the movie. The movie tries to make all the characters fit into everyday experiences but for some reason Vivi character is wildly over the top for no apparent reason.
Settings – The settings are mostly all in Paris which all works for the film which is trying to make us have a location we want to visit but showing that crime can happen there I guess.
Special Effects – The Special effects are mostly used for the action sequences and they all come off to the level you need them too.
Final Thoughts –This is an overlong action thriller that ends up getting caught up in the middle of comedy too often for its own good.
Overall: Solid action film that starts too strong for its own benefits.
Darren (1599 KP) rated 100 Bloody Acres (2013) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story: 100 Bloody Acres starts as we meet one of the brothers Reg (Herriman) who is a part of an organic fertiliser business, after Reg picks up a dead body, he finds himself drawn into picking up three hitchhikers, Sophie (McGahan), James (Ackland) and Wes (Kristian) who are heading to a music festival for a binge filled weekend.
Once Reg arrives back to his brother Lindsay (Sampson) the hapless brothers must decide to kill the three to continue to produce the highly popular fertiliser and keep their reputation up or let them go.
Thoughts on 100 Bloody Acres
Characters/Performance – Reg is the simple-minded brother who is always out to impress his brother, he brings the victims back to the factory. Lindsay is the brains of the act and he must clean up the mess Reg has left him in. He will go through with any killing. Sophie is the main reason Reg stops, she is travelling with her boyfriend but been cheating on him with their other friend. James just believes he is going to have the life he planned with Sophie. Wes is the traveller who enjoys a drug or two finding himself high through the whole film.
Performance wise, Damon and Angus are both good as the brother showing good chemistry as they do come off very different. Anna, Oliver and Jamie are all fine in the victim roles without coming off as interesting characters.
Story – The story has moments that feel fresh in places but in the main it is all just another version of group of travellers get taken by isolated people who must fight to survive or become the latest victims. It has good moments but doesn’t end up being the most memorable story in the genre.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy is good in places and does add to all the events of the film as it is almost what could go wrong does go wrong. The horror works in places too as we get the gore from it.
Settings – The Australian outback always makes for a good setting as we know how isolated the places are when it comes to the horror.
Special Effects – The effects work when needed without being used too often, the highlights come from the wild trip Wes is going through.
Final Thoughts – You want to see an Australian version of Tucker & Dale versus Evil, then this is for you but it doesn’t quite live up to the levels of that one.
Overall: Enjoyable horror comedy.
https://moviesreview101.com/2017/10/18/movie-reviews-101-midnight-halloween-horror-100-bloody-acres-2012/
Once Reg arrives back to his brother Lindsay (Sampson) the hapless brothers must decide to kill the three to continue to produce the highly popular fertiliser and keep their reputation up or let them go.
Thoughts on 100 Bloody Acres
Characters/Performance – Reg is the simple-minded brother who is always out to impress his brother, he brings the victims back to the factory. Lindsay is the brains of the act and he must clean up the mess Reg has left him in. He will go through with any killing. Sophie is the main reason Reg stops, she is travelling with her boyfriend but been cheating on him with their other friend. James just believes he is going to have the life he planned with Sophie. Wes is the traveller who enjoys a drug or two finding himself high through the whole film.
Performance wise, Damon and Angus are both good as the brother showing good chemistry as they do come off very different. Anna, Oliver and Jamie are all fine in the victim roles without coming off as interesting characters.
Story – The story has moments that feel fresh in places but in the main it is all just another version of group of travellers get taken by isolated people who must fight to survive or become the latest victims. It has good moments but doesn’t end up being the most memorable story in the genre.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy is good in places and does add to all the events of the film as it is almost what could go wrong does go wrong. The horror works in places too as we get the gore from it.
Settings – The Australian outback always makes for a good setting as we know how isolated the places are when it comes to the horror.
Special Effects – The effects work when needed without being used too often, the highlights come from the wild trip Wes is going through.
Final Thoughts – You want to see an Australian version of Tucker & Dale versus Evil, then this is for you but it doesn’t quite live up to the levels of that one.
Overall: Enjoyable horror comedy.
https://moviesreview101.com/2017/10/18/movie-reviews-101-midnight-halloween-horror-100-bloody-acres-2012/
Darren (1599 KP) rated A Monster Calls (2016) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story – The story here is clear for everyone watching, this is one family a son, mother, grandmother and dad dealing with the impending death of a loved one. We get to see how Conor the son deals with everything in his own way that means he doesn’t get punished for anything, we get to see how the mother must stay strong for her son until the very end and how the grandmother must deal with the upcoming death of her daughter while being the only one there for grandson. This will make you cry it is as simple as that because his is one of the hardest hitting emotional punches you will ever receive.
Fantasy – We are thrown into a fantasy world that Conor creates to help him deal with the tragic events that are happening within his life, we are left to decide for ourselves which side of the story is real or not with the fantasy element too.
Characters/Performance – Conor is a character that we could see in so many situations when a parent is terminally ill, he struggles to find his place when he knows his future but can’t face it. When we look at the adults we get to see the struggling mother with her health, the father who isn’t around and the grandmother who doesn’t really know how to act because she will be losing her daughter but needing to be strong for her grandson. The tree monster is a great character in its own right, even if it is created to help Conor deal with the problems in his life.
When you look at the performance youngest Lewis MacDougall is brilliant in this role going through the full range of emotions while the bigger name actors let him take the centre stage.
Settings – The settings used make us feel like this is just a normal family that has had to deal with its ups and downs but now it will be taking on the biggest down. We don’t get any iconic settings but we get everything we need to feel the pain the characters go through.
Special Effects – The special effects here are brilliant making us fully believe there is in fact a monster with Conor helping him through this difficult time.
Final Thoughts – This is easily one of the most heart-breaking films of the year but shows just how difficult the situation would be for a young boy.
Overall: Bring your tissues to this film that will leave you emotional exhausted by the end.
https://moviesreview101.com/2017/01/26/a-monster-calls-2016/
Fantasy – We are thrown into a fantasy world that Conor creates to help him deal with the tragic events that are happening within his life, we are left to decide for ourselves which side of the story is real or not with the fantasy element too.
Characters/Performance – Conor is a character that we could see in so many situations when a parent is terminally ill, he struggles to find his place when he knows his future but can’t face it. When we look at the adults we get to see the struggling mother with her health, the father who isn’t around and the grandmother who doesn’t really know how to act because she will be losing her daughter but needing to be strong for her grandson. The tree monster is a great character in its own right, even if it is created to help Conor deal with the problems in his life.
When you look at the performance youngest Lewis MacDougall is brilliant in this role going through the full range of emotions while the bigger name actors let him take the centre stage.
Settings – The settings used make us feel like this is just a normal family that has had to deal with its ups and downs but now it will be taking on the biggest down. We don’t get any iconic settings but we get everything we need to feel the pain the characters go through.
Special Effects – The special effects here are brilliant making us fully believe there is in fact a monster with Conor helping him through this difficult time.
Final Thoughts – This is easily one of the most heart-breaking films of the year but shows just how difficult the situation would be for a young boy.
Overall: Bring your tissues to this film that will leave you emotional exhausted by the end.
https://moviesreview101.com/2017/01/26/a-monster-calls-2016/
Darren (1599 KP) rated Crank (2006) in Movies
Oct 31, 2019
Characters – Chev Chelios somehow survives his mile high fall from the first film, he is given a new artificial heart which he must keep charged or he will die, he goes in search of his own heart which will see him go against another gang in LA, Eve now knows about Chev’s career, she has become a stripper and will supporting him trying to get his heart back. Doc Miles will do everything he can to help Chev giving him advice on how to keep his heart going. Venus is the brother of Kaylo who goes on to help Chev to get revenge for his own brother’s death. We have more gangs that are working against Chev this time, some return others are new.
Performances – Jason Statham does what he can with the leading role, he handles the action with ease, only he just doesn’t reach the same levels as before, this does affect the rest of the cast who do struggle to make an impact in this film.
Story – The story does follow the next chapter of Chev’s life, the one after he should have died, only for him to get a new chance which sees him needing to race against time to get his own heart back. This side is simple enough at does work for what the film is doing, Chev take on endless amounts of enemies, the problem here with the story is that we dive too much into the side characters of what is going on and end up getting too many completely random scenes which just seem offensive on too many levels. This story does end up becoming messy and just has one of the worst scripts out there.
Action/Crime – The action does try to become bigger, only for it to be shot in a style which doesn’t make it easy to connect. The criminal world does feel bigger, but now everything does seem more personal rather gang controlled.
Settings – The film remains set in LA which does continue to show the crazy gangs that are meant to operate in this city.
Special Effects – The effects do feel like they are being more ambitious, only for some to be so farfetched they only seem to make things look confusing, including an insulting looking Godzilla like fight.
Scene of the Movie – Final showdown.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Godzilla like fight.
Final Thoughts – This is a wildly over the top sequel which only ends up becoming too much to handle for the crazy nature of everything going on.
Overall: Too wild.
Performances – Jason Statham does what he can with the leading role, he handles the action with ease, only he just doesn’t reach the same levels as before, this does affect the rest of the cast who do struggle to make an impact in this film.
Story – The story does follow the next chapter of Chev’s life, the one after he should have died, only for him to get a new chance which sees him needing to race against time to get his own heart back. This side is simple enough at does work for what the film is doing, Chev take on endless amounts of enemies, the problem here with the story is that we dive too much into the side characters of what is going on and end up getting too many completely random scenes which just seem offensive on too many levels. This story does end up becoming messy and just has one of the worst scripts out there.
Action/Crime – The action does try to become bigger, only for it to be shot in a style which doesn’t make it easy to connect. The criminal world does feel bigger, but now everything does seem more personal rather gang controlled.
Settings – The film remains set in LA which does continue to show the crazy gangs that are meant to operate in this city.
Special Effects – The effects do feel like they are being more ambitious, only for some to be so farfetched they only seem to make things look confusing, including an insulting looking Godzilla like fight.
Scene of the Movie – Final showdown.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Godzilla like fight.
Final Thoughts – This is a wildly over the top sequel which only ends up becoming too much to handle for the crazy nature of everything going on.
Overall: Too wild.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Flight 7500 (TBD) in Movies
Oct 31, 2019
Characters – Chev Chelios somehow survives his mile high fall from the first film, he is given a new artificial heart which he must keep charged or he will die, he goes in search of his own heart which will see him go against another gang in LA, Eve now knows about Chev’s career, she has become a stripper and will supporting him trying to get his heart back. Doc Miles will do everything he can to help Chev giving him advice on how to keep his heart going. Venus is the brother of Kaylo who goes on to help Chev to get revenge for his own brother’s death. We have more gangs that are working against Chev this time, some return others are new.
Performances – Jason Statham does what he can with the leading role, he handles the action with ease, only he just doesn’t reach the same levels as before, this does affect the rest of the cast who do struggle to make an impact in this film.
Story – The story does follow the next chapter of Chev’s life, the one after he should have died, only for him to get a new chance which sees him needing to race against time to get his own heart back. This side is simple enough at does work for what the film is doing, Chev take on endless amounts of enemies, the problem here with the story is that we dive too much into the side characters of what is going on and end up getting too many completely random scenes which just seem offensive on too many levels. This story does end up becoming messy and just has one of the worst scripts out there.
Action/Crime – The action does try to become bigger, only for it to be shot in a style which doesn’t make it easy to connect. The criminal world does feel bigger, but now everything does seem more personal rather gang controlled.
Settings – The film remains set in LA which does continue to show the crazy gangs that are meant to operate in this city.
Special Effects – The effects do feel like they are being more ambitious, only for some to be so farfetched they only seem to make things look confusing, including an insulting looking Godzilla like fight.
Scene of the Movie – Final showdown.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Godzilla like fight.
Final Thoughts – This is a wildly over the top sequel which only ends up becoming too much to handle for the crazy nature of everything going on.
Overall: Too wild.
Performances – Jason Statham does what he can with the leading role, he handles the action with ease, only he just doesn’t reach the same levels as before, this does affect the rest of the cast who do struggle to make an impact in this film.
Story – The story does follow the next chapter of Chev’s life, the one after he should have died, only for him to get a new chance which sees him needing to race against time to get his own heart back. This side is simple enough at does work for what the film is doing, Chev take on endless amounts of enemies, the problem here with the story is that we dive too much into the side characters of what is going on and end up getting too many completely random scenes which just seem offensive on too many levels. This story does end up becoming messy and just has one of the worst scripts out there.
Action/Crime – The action does try to become bigger, only for it to be shot in a style which doesn’t make it easy to connect. The criminal world does feel bigger, but now everything does seem more personal rather gang controlled.
Settings – The film remains set in LA which does continue to show the crazy gangs that are meant to operate in this city.
Special Effects – The effects do feel like they are being more ambitious, only for some to be so farfetched they only seem to make things look confusing, including an insulting looking Godzilla like fight.
Scene of the Movie – Final showdown.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Godzilla like fight.
Final Thoughts – This is a wildly over the top sequel which only ends up becoming too much to handle for the crazy nature of everything going on.
Overall: Too wild.
Darren (1599 KP) rated The Midnight Man (2016) in Movies
Oct 31, 2019
Characters – Chev Chelios somehow survives his mile high fall from the first film, he is given a new artificial heart which he must keep charged or he will die, he goes in search of his own heart which will see him go against another gang in LA, Eve now knows about Chev’s career, she has become a stripper and will supporting him trying to get his heart back. Doc Miles will do everything he can to help Chev giving him advice on how to keep his heart going. Venus is the brother of Kaylo who goes on to help Chev to get revenge for his own brother’s death. We have more gangs that are working against Chev this time, some return others are new.
Performances – Jason Statham does what he can with the leading role, he handles the action with ease, only he just doesn’t reach the same levels as before, this does affect the rest of the cast who do struggle to make an impact in this film.
Story – The story does follow the next chapter of Chev’s life, the one after he should have died, only for him to get a new chance which sees him needing to race against time to get his own heart back. This side is simple enough at does work for what the film is doing, Chev take on endless amounts of enemies, the problem here with the story is that we dive too much into the side characters of what is going on and end up getting too many completely random scenes which just seem offensive on too many levels. This story does end up becoming messy and just has one of the worst scripts out there.
Action/Crime – The action does try to become bigger, only for it to be shot in a style which doesn’t make it easy to connect. The criminal world does feel bigger, but now everything does seem more personal rather gang controlled.
Settings – The film remains set in LA which does continue to show the crazy gangs that are meant to operate in this city.
Special Effects – The effects do feel like they are being more ambitious, only for some to be so farfetched they only seem to make things look confusing, including an insulting looking Godzilla like fight.
Scene of the Movie – Final showdown.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Godzilla like fight.
Final Thoughts – This is a wildly over the top sequel which only ends up becoming too much to handle for the crazy nature of everything going on.
Overall: Too wild.
Performances – Jason Statham does what he can with the leading role, he handles the action with ease, only he just doesn’t reach the same levels as before, this does affect the rest of the cast who do struggle to make an impact in this film.
Story – The story does follow the next chapter of Chev’s life, the one after he should have died, only for him to get a new chance which sees him needing to race against time to get his own heart back. This side is simple enough at does work for what the film is doing, Chev take on endless amounts of enemies, the problem here with the story is that we dive too much into the side characters of what is going on and end up getting too many completely random scenes which just seem offensive on too many levels. This story does end up becoming messy and just has one of the worst scripts out there.
Action/Crime – The action does try to become bigger, only for it to be shot in a style which doesn’t make it easy to connect. The criminal world does feel bigger, but now everything does seem more personal rather gang controlled.
Settings – The film remains set in LA which does continue to show the crazy gangs that are meant to operate in this city.
Special Effects – The effects do feel like they are being more ambitious, only for some to be so farfetched they only seem to make things look confusing, including an insulting looking Godzilla like fight.
Scene of the Movie – Final showdown.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Godzilla like fight.
Final Thoughts – This is a wildly over the top sequel which only ends up becoming too much to handle for the crazy nature of everything going on.
Overall: Too wild.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Within (2016) in Movies
Oct 24, 2019
Characters – John is the father of the house, we know he has been on hard times and this house is all he can afford for his family. He does love both his wife and daughter and is trying to teach his daughter a lesson after her mistakes have led them to this location. Hannah is his daughter of John that has been getting herself in trouble which caused the move, she is grounded and is the first one to notice the strange events around the house. Melanie is the new wife and step-mother to Hannah, she doesn’t do much beyond the normal, which is mostly trying to be the best friend in her time of need. Ray is the creepy neighbour that offers to help change the locks, less we say about him the better.
Performances – When we look at the performances in this film we must be praising Erin Moriarty as she is excellent in her role, the weaknesses come from the parental characters, Michael Vartan and Nadine Velazquez who both don’t seem to do much with their roles in the film.
Story – The story here follows the family that move into a new home only to start seeing strange things happening and we fall in the, ‘creepy person living in the attic’ sub-genre, which is one that I feel is getting tiresome, there is only so much you can do while telling this story and if we are being honest we have seen it done on better levels before. The build up follows the checklist and by the end of the film the story just feels like it is trying to hard to be different, rather than good.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from the idea that someone could be living in your house, it is an easy idea for because being haunted in your own home should be working, though this misses the tension required for the film.
Settings – The film is set entirely inside the one house, which is all we need as this keeps the film contained for the maximum levels of horror, even if they don’t use it well.
Special Effects – The effects for the most part are good with the kills looking extra brutal when they hit.
Scene of the Movie – The first meeting of David.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We have seen this too much.
Final Thoughts – This is a by the books horror that doesn’t test the audience enough, it has an easy out which doesn’t get used at all, though the killer does look creepy throughout.
Overall: Been here seen this.
Performances – When we look at the performances in this film we must be praising Erin Moriarty as she is excellent in her role, the weaknesses come from the parental characters, Michael Vartan and Nadine Velazquez who both don’t seem to do much with their roles in the film.
Story – The story here follows the family that move into a new home only to start seeing strange things happening and we fall in the, ‘creepy person living in the attic’ sub-genre, which is one that I feel is getting tiresome, there is only so much you can do while telling this story and if we are being honest we have seen it done on better levels before. The build up follows the checklist and by the end of the film the story just feels like it is trying to hard to be different, rather than good.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from the idea that someone could be living in your house, it is an easy idea for because being haunted in your own home should be working, though this misses the tension required for the film.
Settings – The film is set entirely inside the one house, which is all we need as this keeps the film contained for the maximum levels of horror, even if they don’t use it well.
Special Effects – The effects for the most part are good with the kills looking extra brutal when they hit.
Scene of the Movie – The first meeting of David.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We have seen this too much.
Final Thoughts – This is a by the books horror that doesn’t test the audience enough, it has an easy out which doesn’t get used at all, though the killer does look creepy throughout.
Overall: Been here seen this.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Fear, Inc. (2016) in Movies
Oct 24, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
Characters – Joe is a stoner that has been promising to find a new job while living off his girlfriend, he loves horror movies and is looking for real fear from a horror event, which leads him to make the mistake to call Fear, Inc, this is easily one of the most unlikeable characters I have ever seen in the leading role in horror. Lindsey is his girlfriend, she seems to have a successful job which we never learn and has been putting up with Joe’s problems, the two have no chemistry and seem like complete opposites. Ben is the best friend that gives the warning to Joe about what will happen if they get involved with the game.
Performances – Lucas Neff in the leading role gives us one of the most annoying characters I have seen in horror. Caitlin Stasey is usually a good actress to watch, but in this film, it just doesn’t connect with what we are meant to see from them. Chris Martquette is solid enough in this role without doing anything truly memorable.
Story – The story here follows one man that wants to experience fear in this life and decides to get involved with a shady company promising to give him an experience unlike anything he has had before, how far will they go to get the scare? This is the question asked in this movie which doesn’t reach the potential it could as the led is the most unlikeable character you will see in horror, he makes everything out to be a joke never making us believe anything that is going on, even with the film having a great twist which should save it.
Comedy/Horror – The film tries to give us moments of comedy to mix with the horror, but the horror doesn’t hit the peril feeling moments you need from what could be going on.
Settings – The film tries to keep us around the house which clearly looks out priced for the couple involved, once we escape the house the film does become more interesting.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are good for what is created and could easily be the only highlight of the film.
Scene of the Movie – The final 30 minutes are the most interesting.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Joe is annoying throughout.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror comedy that fails to deliver on the levels it needs to, making us not care about the characters in this situation.
Overall: Terrible and boring.
Performances – Lucas Neff in the leading role gives us one of the most annoying characters I have seen in horror. Caitlin Stasey is usually a good actress to watch, but in this film, it just doesn’t connect with what we are meant to see from them. Chris Martquette is solid enough in this role without doing anything truly memorable.
Story – The story here follows one man that wants to experience fear in this life and decides to get involved with a shady company promising to give him an experience unlike anything he has had before, how far will they go to get the scare? This is the question asked in this movie which doesn’t reach the potential it could as the led is the most unlikeable character you will see in horror, he makes everything out to be a joke never making us believe anything that is going on, even with the film having a great twist which should save it.
Comedy/Horror – The film tries to give us moments of comedy to mix with the horror, but the horror doesn’t hit the peril feeling moments you need from what could be going on.
Settings – The film tries to keep us around the house which clearly looks out priced for the couple involved, once we escape the house the film does become more interesting.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are good for what is created and could easily be the only highlight of the film.
Scene of the Movie – The final 30 minutes are the most interesting.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Joe is annoying throughout.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror comedy that fails to deliver on the levels it needs to, making us not care about the characters in this situation.
Overall: Terrible and boring.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) in Movies
Aug 8, 2019
Back in the 80’s, razor-fingered Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) became an iconic figure of horror and mainstream pop culture with the film “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. Thanks to great special effects, macabre humor, and the charismatic Freddy, audience flocked to theaters and launched a highly successful series that spanned several films. Eventually the series ran its course, but the title character remained a mainstay of horror fans everywhere. Last seen in “Freddy Vs. Jason”, the terror of teenagers’ dreams has returned in a new take on the film from the Platinum Dunes production team, the same team behind the successful relaunch of the “Friday the 13th Series”.
The new film stars Jackie Earl Haley as the title character, and once again he is dispatching the teens of Elm Street in all manner of bizzare and grisly fashions in their dreams. Soon the town is full of dead teens and their insomniac peers anxious for an answer to the madman. Their parents are no help as they are quick to downplay any questions about Freddy and quickly disregard any concerns raised by their kids, even when the body count continues to rise. As their numbers dwindle, a group of friends starts to uncover the reason behind the unresloved deaths and band together to solve the mystery of Freddy Krueger and survive.
Freddy is only able to menace the teens in their sleep, so they take all manner of precautions in an attempt to stay awake and plot a defense, but sleep is something one can only postpone, never fully avoid, which means Freddy is always lurking, just waiting for his chance to strike.
What follows is a fairly by-the-numbers horror film that is sadly is lacking much suspense and horror. I was a big fan of the series and I found myself wanting to watch the original Wes Craven classic rather than what was unfolding on the screen. Haley does a great job as Krueger, blending menace with gallows humor, but Englund left a very large Fedora and razor gloves to fill and Haley comes up lacking. I also missed the elaborate effects that defined the series, greatly underwhelmed by this film’s attempts. The gore, suspense, and thrills were restrained compared to the previous films.
This is not to say this is a bad film, but the generic cast headed by Thomas Dekker gives us very little to root for and left me wanting more. Here is hoping that the next offering gives fans more of what made the series so popular and less of the formulaic predictability that has become so common in horror.
The new film stars Jackie Earl Haley as the title character, and once again he is dispatching the teens of Elm Street in all manner of bizzare and grisly fashions in their dreams. Soon the town is full of dead teens and their insomniac peers anxious for an answer to the madman. Their parents are no help as they are quick to downplay any questions about Freddy and quickly disregard any concerns raised by their kids, even when the body count continues to rise. As their numbers dwindle, a group of friends starts to uncover the reason behind the unresloved deaths and band together to solve the mystery of Freddy Krueger and survive.
Freddy is only able to menace the teens in their sleep, so they take all manner of precautions in an attempt to stay awake and plot a defense, but sleep is something one can only postpone, never fully avoid, which means Freddy is always lurking, just waiting for his chance to strike.
What follows is a fairly by-the-numbers horror film that is sadly is lacking much suspense and horror. I was a big fan of the series and I found myself wanting to watch the original Wes Craven classic rather than what was unfolding on the screen. Haley does a great job as Krueger, blending menace with gallows humor, but Englund left a very large Fedora and razor gloves to fill and Haley comes up lacking. I also missed the elaborate effects that defined the series, greatly underwhelmed by this film’s attempts. The gore, suspense, and thrills were restrained compared to the previous films.
This is not to say this is a bad film, but the generic cast headed by Thomas Dekker gives us very little to root for and left me wanting more. Here is hoping that the next offering gives fans more of what made the series so popular and less of the formulaic predictability that has become so common in horror.