The Awakening
(2011) Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Shaun Dooley, and Joseph Mawle
Despite the good acting and atmospheric location, I couldn’t quite get into this film. It seemed, to me anyways, that it was just trying so hard to be dark and moody that it forgot about doing a lot of other stuff, like making us care for the characters. The lead actress just wasn’t very likable, nor was anyone else, for that matter. And, to be perfectly honest, it got a little confusing at times, especially around the end. Are they all dead? Are they all alive? Who can see who, and why? It just got a little too twisty turney for my liking. Reminded me of Demi Moore’sĀ Half Light and that’s not really a good thing. Still, it had a decent story, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time. It gets an average 6/10 from me.
This film is currently streaming on Netflix. Enjoy! š
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
(1988) Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, Kenneth Cranham, Imogen Boorman, Sean Chapman, William Hope, Barbie Wilde, and Doug Bradley
I was sure I had seen this film ages ago, at around the same time that I saw the first one. But about 30 minutes in, after not recognizing anything, I realized that I had never seen it after all. And really, I wasn’t missing all that much. It wasn’t bad, it had some good plot devices and some cool practical effects, but man, what on earth were the film makers smoking?? From the moment Kirsty enters the Hell dimension, things start to get weird, and they just keep getting stranger as the film goes on. There’s a sadistic doctor who wants to see the Hell dimension, there’s a very Escher-like labyrinth, crazy looking Cenobytes, an incestuous uncle, and no one can seem to keep their skin on. Everything is very, err, moist. Those who like blood (and other fluids usually regulated to the inside of the body) will appreciate this. Those that don’t will likely spend a lot of the time with wrinkled noses, like I did. All in all, it wasn’t a complete waste of time, I don’t want my 97 minutes back, but I won’t ever be spending another 97 minutes on it. It gets a not bad 5.5/10.
This film is currently streaming on Netflix. There’s also a version on YouTube, but it’s dubbed in Spanish.
Hellraiser: HellWorld
(2005) Katheryn Winnick, Christopher Jacot, Lance Henriksen, Henry Cavill, Khary Payton, Anna Tolputt, Stelian Urian, and Doug Bradley
So, I’m not sure what exactly prompted me to watch this film. I’ve never really been a Hellraiser fan, and, until recently, I’ve always hated it, save for the fourth installment, Bloodline. But I decided to give the first film a try again after many years, and I found that it isn’t all that bad. It’s still not as great as a lot of people say, but it’s not bad. That said, I’ve seen one or two of the other sequels, number 3 and number 5, if I’m not mistaken, and they were god awful. Beyond god awful. So I really had no intention of ever watching another one. And yet, here I am. The good? It had a slightly more intriguing story, different from the “usual”. Lance Henriksen does a good, creepy job, as usual, although to be honest, he’s more than a little wasted in this picture. And there’s plenty of eye candy, including a very young Henry Cavill. The bad? Everything else. Almost all the actors are dreadfully bad, the characters make the stupidest decisions, and Pinhead, who should be one of the main players, is relegated to a few hazy scenes. It tries to play the “is it real, or isn’t it?” card, but it doesn’t manage very well. The ending was rather interesting, reminding me of Criminal Minds and Hannibal, but then they kinda ruined it by “ending” the film like four times. Just when you’re sure the credits are going to start rolling, there’s one more scene. Then another. And another. It was quite aggravating. All in all, it wasn’t completely awful, but it wasn’t very good, either. I give it a mediocre 4.5/10. And that’s mainly for the eye candy :-p
This film is currently streaming on Netflix. Enjoy, at your own risk, hehe.
The Ward
(2010) Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Laura-Leigh, Lyndsy Fonseca, Mika Boorem, Jared Harris, Susanna Burney, Dan Anderson, and Jillian Kramer
A surprisingly good haunted asylum flick. It had been on my to-watch list ever since it arrived on Netflix, and I finally got around to watching it. I really wasn’t expecting all that much from it, so I was plesantly surprised when it turned out to be quite good. Strong acting all round, some good ideas, even a few scares make this movie fun to watch. The ending I found to be a bit of a cop out, but I didn’t figure it out until close to the end, so that’s saying something. All in all, it was a fun watch, and it gets a 7.5/10 from me.
This film is currently streaming on Netflix. Enjoy!
Frankenweenie
(2012) Charlie Tahan, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, James Hiroyuki Liao, and Conchata Ferrell
So I finally saw this film. It’s been months now that I hardly watch movies anymore. I used to watch a few a week, now I’m lucky to watch one a month. But I digress… This film is a breath of fresh air coming from Tim Burton. His films have just been so tired lately, all style and no substance, so despite how cute the trailers for this film looked, I was reluctant to watch. But I’m glad I finally did, because it was quite fun. It’s a touching story of a boy and his dog… his undead dog, hehe. There are winks to classic horror films all over the film, from the obvious main plot and character names, to smaller things, like the way the science teacher looks and sounds like Vincent Price. Like the Asian kid making a giant reptile who stomps on cars. Like the poodle with Bride of Frankenstein fur. And etc, and etc. It had a few really sad scenes, and I actually laughed out loud a few times, they got some good gags in there. All in all, a fun little film, I reccomend it if you like weird stuff. And if you don’t, well, I reccomend it anyways. Who knows, you may be surprised! I give it a solid 8/10.
This film is not currently on Netflix, nor did I find it on YouTube. But if you’ve got Video on Demand, it’s playing there. Enjoy! š
Warm Bodies
(2013) Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Analeigh Tipton, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, and John Malkovich
So, Iām not the biggest fan of zombie movies. I’ve seen the original Night of the Living Dead, and while I enjoyed it, itās definitely not my favorite anything. I just find the whole genre a little dumb. It has to be really good, and contain a lot more than just shambling dead folks to keep my attention. When I saw the trailers for Warm Bodies, I almost peed myself. A zombie comedy that also has a love story? I definitely had to see this. It was way funnier than I had even expected, while still managing to have some good, tense moments, and the romance, while really being the whole point of the āhumanizingā thatās happening to the shufflers, is not shoved in your face. Anyone saying that this is just Twilight with zombies needs to shut up and actually go see the movie. It was well written, well acted, and well filmed. And it was really awesome to be able to pick out Montreal landmarks! Had I known it was being filmed in my home town, I may have enjoyed hanging around to catch a glimpse of the zombies in action. All in all, it’s a very entertaining film, and I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up! (And 10/10, hehe.)
This film isn’t currently on Netflix, nor did I find a version on YouTube, but it’s more than worth the price of a rental, or even to buy. The novel it’s based on, by Isaac Marion, is also worth your time. Enjoy!
Alright, now that that’s out of the way, on to the review! The story reminds me a lot of Arthur and the Invisibles, which is not a bad thing at all, since I loved that film. Epic isn’t quite as good as that one, but it’s not far behind. The animation is lovely, in a slightly different style than we’re used to seeing, and the voice-acting, in the french version anyways, is good. It’s a wonderful tale of fighting to preserve nature, kinda reminiscent of Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, which is also not a bad thing. My son loved it (he’s the reason I sat down to watch it in the first place, he absolutely wanted mommy snuggles while watching the film, so I put aside my dislike of translated films to please him, hehe), and I enjoyed it enough that I’m going to go ahead and watch the original version, to catch all the things I may have missed in the translation. The characters are all likable, and there were a few laugh out loud scenes that had both my son and I guffawing. I was a little disappointed at the end of the film, (SPOILER ALERT!!) because I really wanted MK to stay with the little people. Actually, what I was hoping for was that she and her father would be welcomed into their world. The new queen didn’t even ask if she wanted to stay or not, and so MK and Nod had to say their goodbyes super fast, and only got a single kiss because of it. The romantic in me felt gypped, hehe. But all in all, it was a very entertaining film, and I give it a solid 7.5/10. And who knows, maybe once I see it in english, the rating will go up a bit š
The film is currently streaming on Netflix. Enjoy!
The Lost Boys (1987) Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Keifer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Barnard Hughes, Edward Herrmann, Jamison Newlander, Alex Winter, Billy Wirth, Brooke McCarter, Chance Michael Corbitt, Folsom the Dog, and Cody the Dog
This is one of my top 10 movies of all time. Actually, it’s probably my number 1 favorite of all time. It was the first vampire movie I ever saw, and was the beginning of a life-long love affair with all things that go bump in the night. I was 6 years old when this film came out, and when my mom brought it home on VHS, she hid it saying it was too scary for me. So of course I had to see it. I probably saw it a dozen times already by the time she caught me, and since I hadn’t had any of the nightmares she promised I would have if I saw scary movies, she just sighed and let me watch whatever I wanted from that point on. The story isn’t really anything new (I’m not even sure there’s any original ideas left anywhere), but the ride is so fun that it doesn’t matter. Their vampires are the “real” deal; they’re strong, fast, sexy and oh so evil, just the way vamps aught to be, hehe. If for some strange reason you haven’t seen this little classic gem yet, go do it now!! I obviously give it 10/10 š
This film isn’t currently on Netflix, nor did I manage to find a full copy on YouTube, but it’s definitely worth the 10 bucks or so it costs on DVD. Go ahead, don’t be cheap!! hehe
Rock & Rule
(1983) Don Francks, Susan Roman, Paul Le Mat, Dan Hennessey, Greg Duffel, Chris Wiggins, Brent Titcomb, Catherine Gallant, Martin Lavut, Samantha Langevin and Catherine O’Hara
One of my very favourite cartoons is the greatly under-rated Rock & Rule. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic future where humans are extinct, but the animals have mutated into human-like beings. Think Goofy and Mickey Mouse, just… sexy :-p . It’s a musical extravaganza about an aging rock star who kidnaps a beautiful young singer when he finds out that her voice is the key to opening a hell-portal, releasing malevolent demons. The music is great, too, performed by some of classic rock’s greatest bands: Blondie’s Deborah Harry, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Earth Wind and Fire, and Cheap Trick. If you haven’t seen it yet, I reccomend it very much! 10/10!
This film is not currently on Netflix. I located a copy on YouTube, but it’s not the best quality. It might be a little hard to find a physical copy of the original, but if you can find one, it’s definitely worth the price. But I’ll be nice and link the YouTube version anyways, hehe. Enjoy!
Jennifer’s Body (2009) Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, Kyle Gallner, Sal Cortez, Ryan Levine, Juan Riedinger, Chris Pratt, JK Simmons and Amy Sedaris
Looking past Megan Fox’s “acting”, I actually quite enjoyed Jennifer’s Body. No, obviously, it’s not Shakespeare, but really, it wasn’t trying to be. This a story about a teenage girl who gets possessed by an evil spirit and starts eating the high school boys, for heaven’s sake. What on earth were you expecting? Taken as what it is, it’s quite a fun little film. The perfect popcorn flick. With the added bonus of a lot of eye candy. Seriously, where do all these kids come from? There were no Megan Fox’s or Amanda Seyfried’s, or Kyle Gallner’s even, in my high school! But I digress… So yeah, put your brain on pause, make a giant bowl of popcorn and give it a whirl. It’s a fun 7.5/10.
This movie is currently streaming on Netflix. Enjoy! š
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