I have never been to a magic show, not even seen a whole Joe Labero show on tv. I know, he is a legend magician, but i suppose i have never really been interested in magic tricks. Magicians have a way to especially get kids belive in miracles, and i that sense i think it´s great they still exist. Maybe they are needed in a world full of misery and sadness, to at least give some hope. So what would you say, if the director of 30 Rock tv series, came out with a comedy filled with magicians, with the most gay outfits you have ever seen ? Sounds like a promising concept. But the question is, with a great cast and a fun idea, does The Incredible Burt Wonderstone give enough laughs, or would this work much better in a tv special ?
1982. A young boy named Albert is a bully victim. On his birthday his mother gives Albert a magic trick set by legendary magician Rance Holloway ( Alan Arkin ). While Albert is trying to learn to do magic tricks, his class mate Anthony becomes interested in learning magic tricks. As the boys become better at magic tricks, and grow up, they are so good they get their own headlining act at the Bally´s Casino in Las Vegas. Their real names have been changed to Burt Wonderstone ( Steve Carell ) and Anton Marvelton ( Steve Buscemi ). 10 years later, after running the same show, Anton is fed up with Burt´s ego. Anton decide that a change is needed and put the production assistant Jane ( Olivia Wilde ), as the new magic assistant Nicole. To get the audience back, and to keep the show going. While watching street magician Steve Gray ( Jim Carrey ), he does a very special card trick for his Tv show Brain Rapist, Anton have an idea. Their own show needs a big number, so the audience comes back. Burt does not agree, he feels they can still deliver a solid show without help, but is that really true ?
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone have had a lot of negative critisim, and it is easy to see why. The comedic moments are not strong enough to make the characters shine brighter. There are good ideas here, unfortunately they don´t match all the way. But i have something to say. If you are looking for a comedy with silly characters, with a gay hair style, that Boy George would fall in love with, then you have found the right place. There are some scenes where you simply enjoy the silly moments, just because of the comedic timing of Steve Carell ( even if this is not one of his best performances ). The magic tricks are not that impressive, what i mostly like are the silly characters, almost like they are a version of Sigfrid & Roy, remember those guys ? Director Don Scardino should have worked deeper on the comedy scenes, but i like his ideas. In the end The Incredible Burt Wonderstore entertains for the moment, and you at least get a fun night. The recently deceased James Gandolfini can be seen here, as Doug Munny, the owner of Bally´s Casino. And check out Jim Carrey´s hair, does it not remind me you of Jesus ? I guess he still feels like Bruce Almighty.
Rating: DDD
måndag 24 juni 2013
onsdag 19 juni 2013
Jack The Giant Slayer
The 90´s had a lot of great movie releases, with great casting and production value. And then we have those releases you never expected to be anything, but turned out to be very good. Just like The Usual Suspects. A thriller with so many twists, and very hard to predict how it would end. Director Bryan Singer proved that even if you make an ordinary story about criminals, you can still make it original, as long as you have a good idea. As the years walked on by, Bryan Singer signed up to direct both X-Men and X-Men 2, including Superman Returns. By all means a very talented director, with a vision of how to make comics come to life. After making the nazi movie Valkyrie with Tom Cruise, Bryan decided to do something more old fashioned. He decided to make a fresh update of Jack And The Bean Stalk, as well as Jack The Giant Killer. Kids and teens all over the world have read these stories, or seen the cartoons, know what the stories are all about. So with a classic fairytale in our hands, is Jack The Giant Slayer a family adventure everyone can enjoy, or is this fairytale just as thin as The Jonas Brothers ?
When Jack ( Nicholas Hault ) grew up in his fathers farm house, he loved to hear the fairytale about the legend of Erik, an ancient king who defeated an army of giants, with the help of a magic crown, made from a giants heart. This crown could let you control giants to do whatever you wish, as long as you wear it. 10 years later, Jack is still at the farm heping his father. While trying to sell a horse into town, watching a theatre play, he tries to help a girl who is attacked by a group of thugs. It turns out she is the princess Isabelle, who is very thankful for his help. While trying to sell his horse, a monk offers him a good amount of Money for the horse, if he agrees to get money from the monastery. As a gift, for the horse, the monk leaves him a small bag of beans. The monk says they are special beans. Jack agree and gives the monk the horse, and take the beans with him. His father is furious, and say the monk tricked him. One rainy night, while considering to go outside, Jack is visited by princess Isabelle, she run away from the castle, since her father King Brahmwell ( Ian McShane ) is trying to force her to marry Lord Roderick ( Stanley Tucci ). While Jack and Isabelle talk, one of the beans become wet, as the plant begin to grow. The whole house is lifted of the ground, with princess Isabelle trapped inside. Jack falls down, but manage to survive. Jack wakes up, and is questioned by the King Bramhwell army, where Isabelle is. Jack tells them she is stuck up there in the beanstalk. A team is assembled to rescue Isabelle, and Jack is told to go along. On their journey up in the sky, they are about to meet a new world no one thought existed.
As an adventure movie, Jack The Giant Slayer delivers enough action to please both a younger audience as well as grown ups. The biggest problem i constantly feel while watching, is that the acting could have been better. Especially from Nicholas Hault, he only made one movie i can remember, About A Boy, and he was just a young boy then. While he plays Jack, you get a sense that he must have had problems on the set, developing his character. The best part is when we finally get the giants attack, down on earth, where we get some nice battle scenes. The CGI effects are a bit messy sometimes, but overall it looks ok. Evan McGregor is one of the few actors in here that tries to fill the empty holes, and does a pretty good job. Overall, Jack And The Giant Slayer is what you expect it to be, an adventure for those who know the fairytale. Even with some flaws, i have a feeling this might work at the family dinner, or with your grandparents, if they still love old classic stories.
Rating: DDD
When Jack ( Nicholas Hault ) grew up in his fathers farm house, he loved to hear the fairytale about the legend of Erik, an ancient king who defeated an army of giants, with the help of a magic crown, made from a giants heart. This crown could let you control giants to do whatever you wish, as long as you wear it. 10 years later, Jack is still at the farm heping his father. While trying to sell a horse into town, watching a theatre play, he tries to help a girl who is attacked by a group of thugs. It turns out she is the princess Isabelle, who is very thankful for his help. While trying to sell his horse, a monk offers him a good amount of Money for the horse, if he agrees to get money from the monastery. As a gift, for the horse, the monk leaves him a small bag of beans. The monk says they are special beans. Jack agree and gives the monk the horse, and take the beans with him. His father is furious, and say the monk tricked him. One rainy night, while considering to go outside, Jack is visited by princess Isabelle, she run away from the castle, since her father King Brahmwell ( Ian McShane ) is trying to force her to marry Lord Roderick ( Stanley Tucci ). While Jack and Isabelle talk, one of the beans become wet, as the plant begin to grow. The whole house is lifted of the ground, with princess Isabelle trapped inside. Jack falls down, but manage to survive. Jack wakes up, and is questioned by the King Bramhwell army, where Isabelle is. Jack tells them she is stuck up there in the beanstalk. A team is assembled to rescue Isabelle, and Jack is told to go along. On their journey up in the sky, they are about to meet a new world no one thought existed.
As an adventure movie, Jack The Giant Slayer delivers enough action to please both a younger audience as well as grown ups. The biggest problem i constantly feel while watching, is that the acting could have been better. Especially from Nicholas Hault, he only made one movie i can remember, About A Boy, and he was just a young boy then. While he plays Jack, you get a sense that he must have had problems on the set, developing his character. The best part is when we finally get the giants attack, down on earth, where we get some nice battle scenes. The CGI effects are a bit messy sometimes, but overall it looks ok. Evan McGregor is one of the few actors in here that tries to fill the empty holes, and does a pretty good job. Overall, Jack And The Giant Slayer is what you expect it to be, an adventure for those who know the fairytale. Even with some flaws, i have a feeling this might work at the family dinner, or with your grandparents, if they still love old classic stories.
Rating: DDD
tisdag 18 juni 2013
The Last Exorcism Part 2
If someone mentioned the name Eli Roth, most people would probably think of Hostel. At the time upon the release, he got a lot of publicity and critisism, about his movie about americans being butchered in a Hostel, located near Bratislava. Personally i enjoyed it, for the most part. 2 more sequels followed, wow....what a surprise. But it was not until Eli Roth decided to change path, and work as a producer on the low budget motion picture The Last Exorcism, where he really hit the right spot. Together with talented director Daniel Stamm, they managed to create an exorcism movie, that looked very different from many others in this genre, and still managed to deliver something fresh. Let´s not forget to mention the lead actress Ashley Bell, she was fantastic as the posessed girl Nell. The movie became a huge box office hit, and critics applauded, i was one of them. Finally an exorcism story we could be proud of watching. A while after all the success, rumours about a sequel started to circulate round the internet. And now it is finally here. This time Daniel Stamm did not stay as the director, instead Ed-Gass Donnely took over. Quite an interesting choice, since he directed the decent Small Town Murder Songs with Peter Stormare, where he did one of his best characters in a very long time. So, with a talented director taking on a sequel of a acclaimed motion picture, does The Last Exorcism Part 2 manage to find the right balance to be a worthy sequel, or is this another proof what happends when you become desperate ?
Nell Sweetzer ( Ashley Bell ) is taken to a hospital. After being found squatting next to the refrigerator, a decision is made to help her. She is placed in Frank´s Home, a place where Frank Merle ( Muse Watson ), help teenage girls with problems to get back on their feet. Nell gets a job, cleaning hotel rooms, and seem to be doing better. She even have a boy named Chris ( Spencer Treat Clark ), who says he likes her. Nell feels better than ever, finally she have some new friends, and possibly a new boyfriend. But suddenly strange things begin to happen again. At a costume parade, she notice masked men is watching her. As more events are happening, Nell begin to feel that the demon Abalam may have come back.
It is such a shame. Ashley Bell once again delivers a solid performance on screen, but this motion picture is way too predictable and ordinary to be happy about. I was hoping that director Ed-Gass Donnely would give us a interesting story of how Nell can go on with her life, but this is way too simple to be a sequel. Some interesting ideas are here, but not very effectively put together. I am very dissapointed. I really enjoyed the first motion picture, and Ashley Bell is a very talented actress indeed. Too bad they could not give her something better to handle than this. I suggest you watch the first one, it is without a doubt one of recent years better exorcism movies released. I really hope Eli Roth does not produce a third one, if he does he better make sure we get something better than this.
Rating: DD
Nell Sweetzer ( Ashley Bell ) is taken to a hospital. After being found squatting next to the refrigerator, a decision is made to help her. She is placed in Frank´s Home, a place where Frank Merle ( Muse Watson ), help teenage girls with problems to get back on their feet. Nell gets a job, cleaning hotel rooms, and seem to be doing better. She even have a boy named Chris ( Spencer Treat Clark ), who says he likes her. Nell feels better than ever, finally she have some new friends, and possibly a new boyfriend. But suddenly strange things begin to happen again. At a costume parade, she notice masked men is watching her. As more events are happening, Nell begin to feel that the demon Abalam may have come back.
It is such a shame. Ashley Bell once again delivers a solid performance on screen, but this motion picture is way too predictable and ordinary to be happy about. I was hoping that director Ed-Gass Donnely would give us a interesting story of how Nell can go on with her life, but this is way too simple to be a sequel. Some interesting ideas are here, but not very effectively put together. I am very dissapointed. I really enjoyed the first motion picture, and Ashley Bell is a very talented actress indeed. Too bad they could not give her something better to handle than this. I suggest you watch the first one, it is without a doubt one of recent years better exorcism movies released. I really hope Eli Roth does not produce a third one, if he does he better make sure we get something better than this.
Rating: DD
Star Trek: Into Darkness
While i was a kid in the 80´s, a friend of mine called Martin was a true Trekkie fan. He had almost all the Star Trek movies on VHS, i remember i borrowed some of them. Even if i enjoyed some of them, i still loved Star Wars movies even more. Maybe because Star Trek felt more like drama, than sci fi action. When the 90´s kicked in, Star Trek developed with more action and more special effects. And even with much more darker characters than in the earlier productions. Still, i prefered Star Wars, for many reasons. When Patrick Stewart left his character Jean-Luc Pecard in 2002, many fans waited for a new Star Trek movie. After years of speculation, director J.J Abrams decided to make a more updated Star Trek movie. In 2009 a new Star Trek Movie hit the streets and became a huge box office hit. In fact, it did so well it took in 385 million dollars at the box office, now thats a great number for a sci fi movie. Now we have a sequel in our hands, Star Trek : Into Darkness. I enjoyed the updated version of Star Trek, so this time around is this still a solid sci fi sequel, or is it more about serving special effects ?
Captain James T. Kirk ( Chris Pine ) have now lost his command of the USS Enterprise, since he violated the Prime Directive. Instead, Admiral Christopher Pike ( Bruce Greenwood ) is chosen to be the commander officer to USS Enterprise. Thankfully, Admiral Pike manage to persuade that Kirk should be assigned as his first officer, wich is approved. Suddenly a big tragedy strikes London, where the city is bombed. Pike and Kirk attend a meeting with the Starfleet commanders, to discuss the manhunt of John Harrison ( Benedict Chumbercatch ). But the meeting end in tragedy, when Harrison attack the Starfleet commanders, killing almost everyone with his jumpship. Kirk manage to survive and injure Harrison´s jumpship, as he manage to escape to the homeworld of Kronos. Pike does not survive. A new decision is made, Kirk is back as commander of USS Enterprise, as he prepare his crew for a journey, to find Harrison and revenge Pike´s death. But plans does not turn out the way Kirk hoped, and he has to face some more problems along the way. Also, Kirk is informed that James Harrison´s real name is actually Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman. Khan is finally captured, and Kirk is about to take him to earth, to let him stand trial for all his crimes, but they are suddenly attacked by the Federation warship, the USS Vengeance. Kirk is determined to take Khan to a trial, no matter what he has to do.
I admit, i surrender. How can you not love this ? Some of the best special effects i have seen in a sci fi movie in many years, acting on top level, and a story that actually works suprisingly well. Most of all i really love the evil Khan ( played fantastic by Benedict Cumberbatch ), he really knows how to make a villain in a very emotional way. Simon Pegg is actually really funny this time, and let´s not forget Chris Pine. I have never really taken time to see that he is a very talented actor, as Commander James T. Kirk, he knows exactly how to bring this character to life on a big screen. Looking back at the old Star Trek movies, i always felt most of them were slow, uninspired. But then something happened. In the 90´s the budget became bigger, the actors at least tried to deliver something more than the usual content. But it was not until in 2009, i found Star Trek to be inspiring, a fresh new start of something improved, in many ways. So i am happy to say, today the Star Trek franschise have a much better future ahead, and with Star Trek: Into Darkness, you get more of everything the older movies did not have. If you love intelligent sci fi action, you will guaranteed love this sequel. By the way, great to see Peter Weller in a big budget motion picture again, he should be offered more roles hopefully. Time to put the Star Trek uniform on, make a salute, and maybe someone will beam me up.
Rating: DDDD
Captain James T. Kirk ( Chris Pine ) have now lost his command of the USS Enterprise, since he violated the Prime Directive. Instead, Admiral Christopher Pike ( Bruce Greenwood ) is chosen to be the commander officer to USS Enterprise. Thankfully, Admiral Pike manage to persuade that Kirk should be assigned as his first officer, wich is approved. Suddenly a big tragedy strikes London, where the city is bombed. Pike and Kirk attend a meeting with the Starfleet commanders, to discuss the manhunt of John Harrison ( Benedict Chumbercatch ). But the meeting end in tragedy, when Harrison attack the Starfleet commanders, killing almost everyone with his jumpship. Kirk manage to survive and injure Harrison´s jumpship, as he manage to escape to the homeworld of Kronos. Pike does not survive. A new decision is made, Kirk is back as commander of USS Enterprise, as he prepare his crew for a journey, to find Harrison and revenge Pike´s death. But plans does not turn out the way Kirk hoped, and he has to face some more problems along the way. Also, Kirk is informed that James Harrison´s real name is actually Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman. Khan is finally captured, and Kirk is about to take him to earth, to let him stand trial for all his crimes, but they are suddenly attacked by the Federation warship, the USS Vengeance. Kirk is determined to take Khan to a trial, no matter what he has to do.
I admit, i surrender. How can you not love this ? Some of the best special effects i have seen in a sci fi movie in many years, acting on top level, and a story that actually works suprisingly well. Most of all i really love the evil Khan ( played fantastic by Benedict Cumberbatch ), he really knows how to make a villain in a very emotional way. Simon Pegg is actually really funny this time, and let´s not forget Chris Pine. I have never really taken time to see that he is a very talented actor, as Commander James T. Kirk, he knows exactly how to bring this character to life on a big screen. Looking back at the old Star Trek movies, i always felt most of them were slow, uninspired. But then something happened. In the 90´s the budget became bigger, the actors at least tried to deliver something more than the usual content. But it was not until in 2009, i found Star Trek to be inspiring, a fresh new start of something improved, in many ways. So i am happy to say, today the Star Trek franschise have a much better future ahead, and with Star Trek: Into Darkness, you get more of everything the older movies did not have. If you love intelligent sci fi action, you will guaranteed love this sequel. By the way, great to see Peter Weller in a big budget motion picture again, he should be offered more roles hopefully. Time to put the Star Trek uniform on, make a salute, and maybe someone will beam me up.
Rating: DDDD
lördag 15 juni 2013
Evil Dead
Let´s make something clear. If you think vampire teenage movies are scary, you are way out of your league. Recently while sitting at the bus station, i heard some teenage girls talking about how scary the Twilight movies are.....hum....huuuum. No one should even say these words, because Twilight is not scary, it is just pure shit. Now, Evil Dead on the other hand is a true classic from the 80´s, with one of the best actors named Bruce Campbell. His character Ash is a legend in motion picture history, the first movie was great, the sequel was even better. In fact, on my top 5 list of best movies ever, you will find Evil Dead 2. And let´s not forget to say Army Of Darkness was one of the greatest classics from the 90´s, and i actually went to watch it in the cinema in Gothenburgh. The Evil Dead trilogy proves that Sam Raimi is one of the greatest horror directors ever, because he knows how to both entertain the audience and make really funny gore scenes, so twisted you simply sit there and feel more than pleased. Speculations about Evil Dead 4 have been going on for many years, and no one knew if Bruce Campbell would return as Ash, or at least be a part of the project. After many turns, a decision was finally made. A remake would be directed by Fede Alvarez, making his first motion picture. With such a classic brand on his hands, does the new Evil Dead feel like a worthy remake, or did mr Alvarez lost the magic along the way ?
Harold´s ( Jim McLarty ) daughter is possessed. The only way to kill the demon is to burn her alive. After this ritual took place, a group of friends are on the way to the cabin, where this event took place. Mia ( Jane Levy ) is here for a special reason, she needs to get away from her drug abuse, and in these woods, her friends and her brother David ( Shiloh Fernandez ) are trying to help her. While looking around, they find a cellar door, and go downstairs. There they found burned cats hanging all around, and what seems to be something else has been burned here. A book is also found Naturom Demonto, also known as The Book Of The Dead. Eric ( Lou Taylor Pucci ) decide to open the book, and begin to read some of the words. What he does not know, is that these words will summon a demon back to life. The door to hell have just opened, where no one will escape.
I think that one of Dolph Lundgren´s classic quotes says it all :- Dying is easy, rock and roll is hard. In fact, you are not going to see a more disturbing horror movie this year. And the best part is, the special effects are really disgusting, just the way we like it old school. Here we get lots of body parts torn off, so much blood you would think this must be Thanksgiving Day, the only thing missing is the turkey, instead it´s replaced with very gory flesh scenes. I can´t remember since i fell so in love in a movie, so many wonderful scenes, like when one of the girls arms is possessed and she cuts the whole arm off, it´s like you are a kid in the biggest candy store, you simply can´t get enough of the sweets. Director Fede Alvarez may not have a powerful technique with the camera as Sam Raimi have, but in his own way he finds the ingredients we all know from Evil Dead, and make sure we all get a feast of flesh. The only problem i have is some of the acting in different scenes. But then again, back in the 80´s some of the actors from the original movie did not do much better either. Evil Dead grab onto your balls, and make sure you dont´want to leave your seat. Finally we get a slasher that satisfy in many ways, all the mistakes so many horror movies does these days. The plot may not be very interesting, but this is Evil Dead, and we expected it to be more gore than storyline. Make sure you go see this one on the big screen, you will have a hell of a good time.
Rating: DDDD
Harold´s ( Jim McLarty ) daughter is possessed. The only way to kill the demon is to burn her alive. After this ritual took place, a group of friends are on the way to the cabin, where this event took place. Mia ( Jane Levy ) is here for a special reason, she needs to get away from her drug abuse, and in these woods, her friends and her brother David ( Shiloh Fernandez ) are trying to help her. While looking around, they find a cellar door, and go downstairs. There they found burned cats hanging all around, and what seems to be something else has been burned here. A book is also found Naturom Demonto, also known as The Book Of The Dead. Eric ( Lou Taylor Pucci ) decide to open the book, and begin to read some of the words. What he does not know, is that these words will summon a demon back to life. The door to hell have just opened, where no one will escape.
I think that one of Dolph Lundgren´s classic quotes says it all :- Dying is easy, rock and roll is hard. In fact, you are not going to see a more disturbing horror movie this year. And the best part is, the special effects are really disgusting, just the way we like it old school. Here we get lots of body parts torn off, so much blood you would think this must be Thanksgiving Day, the only thing missing is the turkey, instead it´s replaced with very gory flesh scenes. I can´t remember since i fell so in love in a movie, so many wonderful scenes, like when one of the girls arms is possessed and she cuts the whole arm off, it´s like you are a kid in the biggest candy store, you simply can´t get enough of the sweets. Director Fede Alvarez may not have a powerful technique with the camera as Sam Raimi have, but in his own way he finds the ingredients we all know from Evil Dead, and make sure we all get a feast of flesh. The only problem i have is some of the acting in different scenes. But then again, back in the 80´s some of the actors from the original movie did not do much better either. Evil Dead grab onto your balls, and make sure you dont´want to leave your seat. Finally we get a slasher that satisfy in many ways, all the mistakes so many horror movies does these days. The plot may not be very interesting, but this is Evil Dead, and we expected it to be more gore than storyline. Make sure you go see this one on the big screen, you will have a hell of a good time.
Rating: DDDD
tisdag 11 juni 2013
V/H/S/ 2
Found footage movies, how many have i seen lately ? So many you begin to forget about the titles and if its a sequel or a prequel. Even if i enjoy most of documentary stylish horror movies, it is very easy to get bored with some releases. That is unless they have tried something different, and not using the same ingredients. V/H/S was a fresh take, on a horror genre used in so many usual ways. With different stories to be told, and different directors to work together, does the concept work a second time, or should someone have pressed a stop button before production begun ?
Phase I Clinic Trials
A man is visiting a doctor for help. Since he was in a car accident, one of his eyes was badly injured. A new eye is placed in him, but strange sightings are happening around his home. A visitor he met at the doctor, suddenly appear at his house. She claims she know about these strange events in the house, as dead people appear in different rooms. Why are they here ?
A Ride In The Park
A biker is out in a forest, driving on biker paths. A woman runs infront of him, to ask for help. As the biker looks around, he soon realise there is a zombie invasion. The few remaining human beings are prepared to fight back.
Safe Haven
A team of documentary film makers, talk to cult leader known as the "Father " for a exclusive interview. As the interview begins, one of the film team members decide to take a look around the cult family´s building. She see some strange events, and manage to tell one of the film team members. But the " Father " understands something is wrong, as he call out to all of his family members to prepare themselves to a final journey.
Slumber Party Alien Abduction
A group of friends head off to a vacation near a lake. While playing pranks on each other, strange lightnings appear out in the lake, as strange visitors appear in the cabin. And they don´t seem to be from this planet.
The first V/H/S motion picture had some interesting ideas about VHS tapes, with strange events caught on tape. The sequel may follow the same pattern, but something has happened. The stories are more well made, with very disturbing footage. If you did enjoy the first one, this sequel is more improved, with better special effects, better acting, i have to say i am very impressed. With 7 different directors, who all work together on 4 stories and the opening scenes, you get lots of gore, blood and nasty details, just like we were back in 1985 with The Return Of The Living Dead. The most positive change is the acting, while the first movie had some problems with the acting results, V/H/S/2 gives you more of everything. My personal favourite is the short story called Safe Haven, about an indonesian cult. We all know how disturbing cults can be, the difference with this one is that they have no limits. I suggest you check this one out on VOD, until we get a release date on dvd in Sweden. If you think Paranormal Activity might be better, i suggest you need medical help, as soon as possible.
Rating: DDDD
Phase I Clinic Trials
A man is visiting a doctor for help. Since he was in a car accident, one of his eyes was badly injured. A new eye is placed in him, but strange sightings are happening around his home. A visitor he met at the doctor, suddenly appear at his house. She claims she know about these strange events in the house, as dead people appear in different rooms. Why are they here ?
A Ride In The Park
A biker is out in a forest, driving on biker paths. A woman runs infront of him, to ask for help. As the biker looks around, he soon realise there is a zombie invasion. The few remaining human beings are prepared to fight back.
Safe Haven
A team of documentary film makers, talk to cult leader known as the "Father " for a exclusive interview. As the interview begins, one of the film team members decide to take a look around the cult family´s building. She see some strange events, and manage to tell one of the film team members. But the " Father " understands something is wrong, as he call out to all of his family members to prepare themselves to a final journey.
Slumber Party Alien Abduction
A group of friends head off to a vacation near a lake. While playing pranks on each other, strange lightnings appear out in the lake, as strange visitors appear in the cabin. And they don´t seem to be from this planet.
The first V/H/S motion picture had some interesting ideas about VHS tapes, with strange events caught on tape. The sequel may follow the same pattern, but something has happened. The stories are more well made, with very disturbing footage. If you did enjoy the first one, this sequel is more improved, with better special effects, better acting, i have to say i am very impressed. With 7 different directors, who all work together on 4 stories and the opening scenes, you get lots of gore, blood and nasty details, just like we were back in 1985 with The Return Of The Living Dead. The most positive change is the acting, while the first movie had some problems with the acting results, V/H/S/2 gives you more of everything. My personal favourite is the short story called Safe Haven, about an indonesian cult. We all know how disturbing cults can be, the difference with this one is that they have no limits. I suggest you check this one out on VOD, until we get a release date on dvd in Sweden. If you think Paranormal Activity might be better, i suggest you need medical help, as soon as possible.
Rating: DDDD
tisdag 4 juni 2013
Dark Skies
Being a director, you have to make a choice. Try and make a concept that works for the audience, or just make a movie to get a box office hit. I prefer directors that find different ways to make interesting motion pictures, without borrowing too much from other classics. James Wan is a perfect example. His first movie was groundbreaking, but it did not stop there. Dead Silence showed us once again why he is such a talented director, and then we were served Insidious with such great acting. It´s not easy putting a script together and make your vision look good. You have to have a clear image of what the audience would like to see. Director Scott Stewart tried to find an audience with both Legion and Priest, with very different results. And now he is back with a 3rd movie, in a completely different genre. Is Dark Skies a box office winner, or is Scott Stewart ready to throw in the towel ?
Daniel Barrett ( Josh Hamilton ) and his wife Lacy Barrett ( Keri Russell ) are hosting a barbecue. Their 2 sons Jessy Barrett ( Josh Hamilton ) and Sammy Barrot ( Kadan Rocket ) are pretending to sleep. while talking in walkie-talkies. That night as Lacy walks downstairs to the kitchen, she finds the fridge door open and food all over te floor. Thinking that this was an animal, they leave this behind. Next day Daniel have a job interview. He does not get the job, and since he is worried about the family economy, he does not tell Lucy the truth. That night Lucy walks down into the kitchen and is shocked. All of their canned and packed food are stacked up in towers. Worried that someone broke into their home, Lucy contact the police, just to make sure. No signs of anyone being in the house, police can´t help the family, but suggest they switch the house alarm on, just in case. Next night the alarm system goes wild, no signs of anyone breaking in, Daniel and Lucy are worried about what is going on in their home. For each day, more strange things happen, and no one seems to know why. Is someone responsible for this, or is there another explanation?
Comparing this movie with Legion and Priest is very easy. You could say Scott Stewart seem to be interested in the unknown, since these influences are clearly seen while you are watching Dark Skies. And i have to say, i had no expectations, and still this turns out to be surprisingly good. Maybe a bit slow at times, but still a descent try to take on a supernatural story. Instead of using lots of special effects like in the previous movies, the plot is more focused on the events around the family. At first i felt like this was another version of Insidious, but thankfully the storyline changes along the way. Dark Skies may not be very original, but the ingredients put together gives us a steady piece of work, for those who appreciate horror made with a heart, instead of horror made for boxoffice profit only. Not much more to say, but you should give Dark Skies a chance, and you might also be surprised.
Rating: DDD
Daniel Barrett ( Josh Hamilton ) and his wife Lacy Barrett ( Keri Russell ) are hosting a barbecue. Their 2 sons Jessy Barrett ( Josh Hamilton ) and Sammy Barrot ( Kadan Rocket ) are pretending to sleep. while talking in walkie-talkies. That night as Lacy walks downstairs to the kitchen, she finds the fridge door open and food all over te floor. Thinking that this was an animal, they leave this behind. Next day Daniel have a job interview. He does not get the job, and since he is worried about the family economy, he does not tell Lucy the truth. That night Lucy walks down into the kitchen and is shocked. All of their canned and packed food are stacked up in towers. Worried that someone broke into their home, Lucy contact the police, just to make sure. No signs of anyone being in the house, police can´t help the family, but suggest they switch the house alarm on, just in case. Next night the alarm system goes wild, no signs of anyone breaking in, Daniel and Lucy are worried about what is going on in their home. For each day, more strange things happen, and no one seems to know why. Is someone responsible for this, or is there another explanation?
Comparing this movie with Legion and Priest is very easy. You could say Scott Stewart seem to be interested in the unknown, since these influences are clearly seen while you are watching Dark Skies. And i have to say, i had no expectations, and still this turns out to be surprisingly good. Maybe a bit slow at times, but still a descent try to take on a supernatural story. Instead of using lots of special effects like in the previous movies, the plot is more focused on the events around the family. At first i felt like this was another version of Insidious, but thankfully the storyline changes along the way. Dark Skies may not be very original, but the ingredients put together gives us a steady piece of work, for those who appreciate horror made with a heart, instead of horror made for boxoffice profit only. Not much more to say, but you should give Dark Skies a chance, and you might also be surprised.
Rating: DDD
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