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    Timo en het toverboek

    Timo en het toverboek

    Book and Education

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    App

    Timo and the Magical Picture book An interactive picture book Timo receives a picture book made by...

    Soothing Sounds

    Soothing Sounds

    Medical and Health & Fitness

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    App

    Soothing Sounds is the ultimate soundscape app that and can help reduce stress and provides a...

    Cheetah Simulator

    Cheetah Simulator

    Games and Education

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    App

    Enter into the wild savanna and live the life of a Cheetah! Explore a vast grassy plain filled with...

    iMini Synthesizer

    iMini Synthesizer

    Music and Entertainment

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    App

    iMini offers a level of sound quality never before found on the iPad, as well as over 500 sounds by...

The Little Stranger (2018)
The Little Stranger (2018)
2018 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Thoughts on The Little Stranger

 

Characters – Dr Faraday is a young doctor who takes a fondness of an outcasted family, he wants to help the injured brother, wants to save Caroline, while being left in the middle being able to help them or a potential supernatural presence in the house. Roderick is the injured war hero, he was left with a limp and burns to his face, which make him feel outcasted from the rest of the village and useless to his family, he is struggling with the mental side of everything too, leaving him to make rash decisions. Caroline is the daughter of the household, she is the one that they family has hope of seeing escape their impending poverty and becomes the ones that Faraday takes an interest in. she comes off unsure of what to make of her own future. Mrs Ayres is the mother of the house, she wants the best for her children and is still haunted by the one that she lost.

Performances – I don’t think any of the performances in this film are bad, Domhnall Gleeson does everything he can in the leading role, as does Will Poulter in his supporting role, Ruth Wilson and Charlotte Rampling don’t disappoint with what they try to bring to the film, the problem with most of this film, comes from the characters be so bland and the story not going anywhere.

Story – The story here follows a doctor getting close to a family that are seen as outcasts only to start to fall in love with one member of the family just as the strange events start to happen within the mansion. This is where the story just doesn’t get going, we are promised a horror element to this film which just never comes to life, which makes the story feel like more of a class position story. if that sounds confusing, well that doesn’t change from the story in full, because we have very little happening here and end up just shrugging our shoulders at the end, wondering if anything was actually meant to happen.

Horror/Mystery – The horror in this film does seem to be non-existent, where anything supernatural does seem to only be part of the mystery over anything else going on in the film.

Settings – The film is set mostly in the mansion in a village in the English countryside, it shows how the family can be seen as outcasts and how people can look out at these types of buildings hoping to be part of this society.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are down the practical additions to Will Poulter, they look great, everything else just seems basic.


Scene of the Movie – The dog attack.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The aftermath of the dog attack.

Final Thoughts – This is a film that seems to hint at something big, only to end up feeling dull and uninspiring.

 

Overall: Just fails to deliver.
  
From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000)
From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000)
2000 | Action, Horror
5
5.0 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Thoughts on From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter

 

Characters – Johnny Madrid is one of the most feared outlaws in the west, about to be executed, he is rescued and returns to his gang to continue his life of crime, he will kill some people, while protecting others, making him a morally confusing figure. Ambrose Bierce has come from America where he has survived a shooting, he wants peaceful life only to find himself in the middle of the battle. The Hangman is trying to eliminate the threats in the gang world including Johnny, mostly to protect his daughter, only it isn’t for him to choose. Esmeralda is his daughter that has been getting controlled for too long and is in love with Johnny, she goes on the run with him only to be left questioning his choices.

Performances – The performances here are poor once again, Marco Leonardi overplays is role in the film, while Michael Parks does the best he can with his role. We do end up meeting too many random characters that just seems to make everything struggle to get going in the performance side of the film.

Story – The story does return to the original format only in the western era, we have the outlaws, the victims and the authorities all ending up in the bar which is crawling with vampires and must put their difference aside to survive. This style did work first time, it doesn’t fail this time, but it is hard to become invested in the characters. the build up before the bar is a lot of filler because we do have a lot of people to learn their place and mentality which makes it hard to figure out who is the good and bad guys for the piece. We try to have a connection to the original movie with the creation of one of the vampires which better than the last time out too.

Horror/Western – The horror involved in the film is returning to the vampire outlet which again doesn’t feel scary as it could have been. The western side of the film just uses the criminal side of the last one only making it a prequel to the original.

Settings – The film is set in the western area, we do eventually hit the saloon made famous from the first film and this time we get to dive into the larger scale of the building.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are not at the best, we do get a couple of good moments only nothing that reaches the levels of the first film.


Scene of the Movie – Escape.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – To many characters.

Final Thoughts – This is a solid enough prequel, at least it does feel connected to the previous film which helps build on the legacy of the bar.

 

Overall: Simple prequel.
  
From Dusk Till Dawn: Texas Blood Money (1999)
From Dusk Till Dawn: Texas Blood Money (1999)
1999 |
3
4.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Thoughts on From Dusk till Dawn 2 Blood Money

 

Characters – Buck is a thieve that has claimed to have gone clean after his recent stint in prison, the cops do still watch him, only now he gets a chance at a new job which will see him put his crew together, he has a way to work with his men, well that is about it, his character doesn’t have much more to him, Sheriff Otis Lawson has been waiting for Buck to make a mistake for years now, using the latest former member of his crew as hope that he could catch him in the act once again. Luther is the one that brings the job to Buck, only on his way back to the crew, he ends up at the Titty Twister grabbing the attention of the vampires, looking for spread the curse to a new selection of victims. C.W. is another member of the crew and just like the rest they don’t get much to make them stand out.

Performances – Robert Patrick does try to make the most of his character only he doesn’t get anything to work with here. This is the big problem for the rest of the cast, nobody gets a chance to make anything from their characters who all end up being painful bland.

Story – The story follows a group of criminals that are looking to head to Mexico for their latest job, only to attract the attention of the vampires using the Titty Twister becoming the latest target, can they survive the night? The story here is very weak, we get five criminals with little to no character development, not making us care about what is happening. We get thrown into another direction with the story which doesn’t help because we know what is happening, while certain members of the crew don’t, this does against what we learnt about the vampires in the first film. this story just feels like a forced sequel nobody really asked for.

Crime/Horror – The crime side of this horror comes from seeing just how the crew is operating, how they plan to get the job done, the horror comes from the vampire side of the film, it does have darker moments, only it still doesn’t feel like a scarier film.

Settings – The film is set between Mexico and Texas, no location involved does make us feel like we are in iconic location the first one did.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are not at the same standard either, with most of the attacks being from bats which seem to be extreme close ups that just feel too difficult to watch.


Scene of the Movie – A helping hand?

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The lack of interest around the characters.

Final Thoughts – This is a disappoint sequel that pulls the quality level right down to just a basic sequel that just so happens to visit the same bar, having no connection to the previous film.

 

Overall: Bland sequel.
  
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
2008 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Characters – Jared is the out going of the twins, he is the one that reads the book and must convince the rest to fight back against goblins, his nature means people are less likely to believe him through any of his decisions though. Simon is the quieter and smarter brother that must look for the solution to the problems being caused. Helen is the mother that is dealing with raising the three children after her marriage has fallen apart and she needs to start a new life, one she isn’t prepared for. Mallory is the older sister that must be the warrior for the twins. Mulgarath is the goblin king that wants the book to kill any species in the surrounding area.

Performances – Freddie Highmore takes twin roles here and handles them both very well showing how he can be the smarter kid and the adventurous one too. Mary Louise Parker in the parental role works well as we need her to bring the serious side to the story now. Sarah Bolger is strong too needing to be the strongest member of the children.

Story – The story takes three siblings into a battle with goblins with fantasy creatures being used to guide the way in this battle. This will bring the broken family back together, well back to the level they are going to need to get used too. The scale of the book doesn’t give the story enough credit because it feels like this book has created a massive world only for us to get a snippet into everything. this story doesn’t re-invent the wheel because we can see the formula unfold without needing to guess to much on just how thing go on. We do deal with a big family change which should be the focal point through the film too.

Adventure/Fantasy – The adventure side of the film takes the family into battle against the creatures of the forest which are invisible to most of the world, this plays into the fantasy side too because of the creatures we see at war.

Settings – The film takes the family to a new house that is in the middle of the forest, which shows us the finical change the family must take, as well as the adventures waiting in the forest for people to experience.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are strong for the most part because we get to see the different creation looking like they would fit in the normal world.


Scene of the Movie – Come with me.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not getting a full grasp of the scale of the fantasy world.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun fantasy adventure that brings the characters into a world which will unite them as they deal with the biggest change of the children’s life.

 

Overall: Simple and enjoyable.
  
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.