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Haunted (2013)
Haunted (2013)
2013 |
1
1.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
About As Scary As A Trip To Seaworld
Contains spoilers, click to show
Haunted, a film Directed by Steven M Smith is an unusual addition to anyone's 'film' collection, as instantly you question whether this is even a film to begin with, the content is very documentary based, opening with factual accounts and a history of an abandoned railway museum. All of the opening shots are filmed in documentary format and this continues throughout the film even when found footage elements are introduced.

A TV crew will film a paranormal investigation and obtain evidence that proves we are not alone. Something Evil awaits them! They will all discover the truth, that we are not alone.

The above quote is taken directly from the synopsis on the website, contestants are invited to visit a haunted railway as part of the show of which they are filming, they are all packed into a limousine and taken to the event. The whole scenes within the limo following the group around SHOULD of been filmed by a professional camera and a professional cinematographer but it looks as thou the entire film has been shot on someone's mobile phone.

Budget constraints aside, decent camera's should of been used to document the entire film from introduction to the actual paranormal investigations, rather than Sony handycam's that cost £120. The only time still camera's are used is to document an almost news style report at the start of the film and a few segments in between. Using handycams this instantly brings us into frustrating territory of moving shaky pictures, blurred images, and camera operators with shaky hands. Very poor quality recording even for a documentary style shooting as you're watching a black screen for the duration, has anyone ever heard of night vision? Next the acting, now the contestants themselves are not in on the game, they are not aware of what's going on or what they have signed up too, however Jon our 'medium' gives the game away at every opportunity. The strategically placed actor in the movie is Jon Paul Gates a supposed 'medium' who describes what he is feeling and how strong a presence is in a particular area. I personally would of caught on very easily to this poor display as not only was the acting questionable, but his descriptions of certain ghosts and characters were so detailed that it was obvious they had been memorised from a script or prior knowledge. There is one scene where the ghost is apparently on top of Jon as he is weighed to the ground, I found this scene hysterical, I was literally crying with laughter of how poor he not only acted it out but how a ghost was piggy backing a ride around the railway yard.

For the first 30 minutes of the movie, the group have arrived, walked around some railway tracks and picked up some weird force that only Jon can feel yet no one around the group has even felt or experienced anything out of this world. Now Most Haunted the popular paranormal TV show would of thrust the audience into some action by now but for the opening 30 minutes of Haunted, nothing of the sort has happened, as it stands the documentary as I refuse to call it a film has displayed more history about the railways than anything remotely paranormal. Maybe a title change would be for the best? I am neither scared, nor intrigued at this moment in time, quite frankly I'm hoping this heats up and soon.

I feel as thou if this film was cut shorter, much shorter, with a voice over documentary style about where each group is going and what they are doing it would be much more easier to watch. Cut the best bits in, jump scares, certain happenings, instead of mundane walking around a railway yard, because as it stands I could grab a camera, head off out tonight and shoot an identical piece of footage, its neither scary nor intriguing. It needs to have production value and Haunted is really suffering from a lack of it as a result.

There is one event throughout the whole movie which is the main talking point and then the film has the audacity to kill people off towards the end after a whole run time of nothingness, no build up, no real meaning or reason why. It was basically like watching the worst episode of Most Haunted to find one of your group dead on the floor at the end of it, planned, boring and drawn out far too long.

Shorten the run time, have a voice over, documentary coverage and film, DON'T kill anyone off at the end with some cheesy fake characters who no one now believes and have a genuine vigil, no pranks or set ups and this could of been a cool little paranormal programme.

Sadly none of the above happened. What a shame. A few sequels are in the works, shorten the duration, fix the countless problems and maybe, just maybe show some true paranormal / experiences and I guarantee it will be more of a success !
  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated 1408 (2007) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019  
1408 (2007)
1408 (2007)
2007 | Horror, Mystery
Story: With the story of a sceptic investigating paranormal events but then ends up stuck in these paranormal events he so very much doesn’t believe in, is a very clichéd story. This has most of this and adds in that he is a writer with a dark past involving loss you know where this is going. Mixing it all together we get the idea of redemption for the mistakes we may have done in life. One weak point of this film is that there are two endings that paint a very different picture of the events that happen in the film, I personally prefer the Director’s Cut as I find it has more answer than the Theatrical Cut. (8/10)

 

Actor Reviews

 

John Cusack: Mike Enslin after suffering a personal loss Mike travels around writing about so called haunted hotel and location, bringing out a string of top 10 books looking at his experiences or lack thereof. Mike gets a postcard and against all the advice of the hotel manager he enters the room 1408, were he really gets put to the test. Mike starts off being distant from people, be it fans or his general style of conversation, but soon after the events start happening he changes too quickly for what his character has been through. John does a good job with the role as most of the film is solely around him. (8/10)

 cusack

Samuel L. Jackson: Gerald Olin the manager of the Dolphin hotel trying to protect Mike from entering the room with all kinds of bribes, he tells the full history of the room but unfortunately lets him stay in the room. Good supporting performance from Jackson rarely seen, he is the dominant persona you would expect to see. (8/10)

sam

Director Review: Mikael Hafstrom – Creates some very good scares and keeps you guessing on what is going on, add in what I think is the better ending you get a very good piece of direction. (8/10)

 

Horror: Has some solid scares and some you really don’t see coming along with some nicely built up ones. (9/10)

Mystery: You are constantly wondering what is going on, but a lot is explained at the end. (9/10)

Thriller: Keeps you at the edge of your seat just wait to know what happens next. (9/10)

Settings: The hotel room feels very ordinary but once things starting to happen it turns into a nightmare, working very well for the genre. (9/10)
Special Effects: Strong special effects used throughout. (9/10)

Suggestion: If you are a fan of horror you will enjoy this, if you are a fan of Stephen King you will enjoy this otherwise this one isn’t really for you. (Horror Fans Watch)

 

Best Part: The vents scene.

Worst Part: The two different endings can confuse when talking about this film with others.

Scariest Scene: Vent scene.

Believability: I give this a one because there are people like Mike you investigate the paranormal, but what happens isn’t believable. (1/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

 

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $131,998,242

Budget: $25 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes

Tagline: Based on the terrifying story by Stephen King

 

Overall: Good Atmospheric Horror

https://moviesreview101.com/2014/06/28/1408-2007/
  
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Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated Ashley Bell in Books

Feb 19, 2018  
AB
Ashley Bell
10
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was the best Dean Koontz novel I've read since the first Odd Thomas. I loved Bibi, and there was a great cast of supporting characters, including her parents, her best pal Pogo, and her fiance, a Navy Seal named Pax. Not everyone was on Bibi's side, however, and once again Mr. Koontz proves that sometimes the scariest monsters are those who wear human faces.

This is one of those stories that is very hard to talk about without giving too much away, and I would not want to ruin the surprises for anyone who might choose to read the book. With that said, here's what I can tell you without spoiling anything.... The novel starts out with Bibi, a novelist, discovering that she has brain cancer. After hearing that she has less then a year to live, she surprises everyone (except maybe herself) by waking completely cancer free the next morning. As a celebratory gift, her parents send a psychic to Bibi, and during her reading, she discovers that her life was spared so that she could save someone named Ashley Bell. The journey that Bibi has to make in her quest to locate Ashley forces her to revisit places and experiences from her own past that she has long since forgotten.

The buildup in this novel started out slow but constant, and once it got moving I couldn't put it down. Any Dean Koontz fan, or any thriller fan for that matter, will love this one. While Dean Koontz may be thought of as a horror writer, and there are some paranormal elements to this story, non-horror fans should enjoy this one also.

<i>Note: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest </i>review.
  
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated Darkness in Books

Dec 14, 2018  
D
Darkness
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My rating: 3.5

<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

Erin Eveland is known for her short horror stories but she has moved onto writing novels with <i>Darkness</i> being her first of a series. It was not scary in the way that horror books are generally perceived to be but it did contain a good deal of paranormal ideas.

It begins when the main character, Catherine, is six years old and living with her grandmother. She is constantly haunted by an unseen presence, a nameless terror, which worries her grandmother immensely. Very suddenly, Catherine’s grandmother suffers a fatal heart attack and Catherine ends up being removed from her well looked after home to a dirty trailer park to live with her alcoholic mother. The novel then fast-forwards ten years to a time when Catherine is mostly fending for herself and her mother never goes a day sober. The terrors of her childhood have all but been forgotten but Catherine is beginning to remember and have similar experiences all over again. These incidents increase with the mysterious appearance of a man named Jorgen who insists he wants to protect Catherine. Meanwhile, Nathan, a friend of Catherine, comes into contact with an intriguing man in black who begins to teach him about colours and Darkness – something which could have done with a little more detail. Unbeknownst to Nathan, his dealings with this man may result in harming Catherine, especially as the two friends begin to see odd moving shapes – shadow creatures.

For a while there appeared to be a very thin line between heroes and villains as it took some time to work out the intentions of Jorgen and Artros (the man in black). The novel would have benefitted with more description about these characters: who they are or more importantly, what they are, as well as the significance of the shadow creatures.

Although it was good to be introduced to the paranormal aspects right at the start, this resulted in lessening the amount of foreboding and dread throughout the main bulk of the novel. Even though <i>Darkness</i> is the first in a series, it did not feel that it was properly starting until nearer the end. On finishing, the reader still does not know much about the shadow creatures or what the Darkness is. Presumably the sequel will be more enlightening.

<i>Darkness</i> is sub-titled “An Interactive Novel” and includes Quick Response codes at the beginning of each chapter to heighten the reading experience with the interactive addition of art and music. Of course to benefit from this a smart phone is required (I do not have one therefore cannot comment further on this feature).

Overall, <i>Darkness</i> is a well-written book full of originality that has the potential to become an exciting young adult series.
  
Truth Seekers - Season 1
Truth Seekers - Season 1
2020 | Comedy
Enjoyably British
Truth Seekers is the latest collaboration from Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, and centres around employees of a network services provider who run a YouTube channel as amateur paranormal investigators.

The series follows Gus Roberts (Nick Frost), the top installation engineer for network provider Smyle. He lives with his dad (Malcolm McDowell) and investigates paranormal activities in his spare time, running his own YouTube channel as ‘The Truth Seeker’. His boss Dave (Simon Pegg) pairs Gus with a new employee Elton John (Samson Kayo), and Truth Seekers follows the pair as they increasingly encounter paranormal and mysterious entities as they go about their daily work, including a haunted young woman called Astrid (Emma D’Arcy).

Truth Seekers starts off as a case by episode series, with a new spooky encounter every time (think Supernatural but very British) and then mid-way works into a bigger overall plot involving Julian Barratt’s Dr Peter Toynbee that seems to tie all the earlier elements together. As a supernatural horror show, this works really well. It doesn’t rely on typical jump scares, and instead uses well known horror situations to be as creepy as possible. Admittedly this is a tad cliched – think of all the known supernatural experiences you’d expect to see (psychiatric hospitals, hotels, demons and satanic books to name a few) and you’ll definitely find them here. However this doesn’t matter as they’re done well and in such a smart, creepy and very British way. Even the special effects are impressive for something that looks like it should be fairly low budget.

Whilst this is made out to be a horror comedy, it’s the comedy side that appears to be a little lacking. Don’t get me wrong, this has its’s funny and witty moments and seems to relish all of the pop culture references it throws in at every opportunity, however it doesn’t seem quite as edgy and quick witted as Frost and Pegg’s previous collaborations. Frost delivers his usual deadpan style well and is ably supported by Samson Kayo’s Elton as his rather adorable and unwitting partner. The standout though is unsurprisingly Malcolm McDowell as Gus’ dad Richard. Right from the first episode McDowell shines and is an absolute riot. Every scene he’s in gives rise to so many laughs and in particular there’s one scene featuring him going upstairs on a stair lift so slowly that nearly had me crying with laughter. But despite this the humour is maybe a little lacking from what we’d expect. I also felt like some of the pop culture references were a little forced and unnatural, which is a shame as there were also a lot that worked quite well – nods to Aliens and The Shawshank Redemption were particularly appreciated.

Truth Seekers may be lacking a little in humour, but what is there is adeptly delivered by a rather stellar cast. Pegg takes a backseat as boss Dave with an atrocious hairpiece and there are some small roles for Kelly MacDonald, Susie Wokoma and Julian Barratt, but everyone puts in a great performance no matter the screen time. McDowell undoubtedly steals the show, but the main trio of Frost, Kayo and D’Arcy carry the show well between them.

What surprised me the most about Truth Seekers is how short it was. A mere eight episodes running at 30 minutes each doesn’t seem like enough – by the end of the eighth episode I was shocked to see there wasn’t any more, although the final scenes do at least set this up for a second series that will hopefully come to fruition. I was a little concerned about the main plot involving Toynbee as it did get a little convoluted towards the end, and the final scenes do nothing but add to this and hint at a much bigger story going on. This could end up being rather good, but it could also turn what is by and large a very enjoyable British supernatural series into something rather crazy and confused. Only series two will tell.