Horror movies have been a love of mine since childhood. The first movie I remember falling in love with would be Jeepers Creepers (2001). Which means, my love started at the tender age of 5... pretty young. Ever since then the urge to watch horror movies have taken away any change of me having a social life. So if I don't have a social life I might as well write about what I love.
A refresher for indie horror films… The
Remaining is a shocker in all the right ways.
They always say “don’t judge a book by
its cover” and it is completely true when it comes to The Remaining. Almost all
of the reviews that I have read were negative and that stopped me from watching
The Remaining when it came out last year. Thankfully, it was on Rogers On
Demand and I decided to watch it since I wasn’t doing anything for Thanksgiving
and what I have to say about The Remaining is…
Your eyes will be glued to screen;
whether you find The Remaining scary or not. The storyline and biblical influence
fascinated me and getting to see how Casey La Scala portrayed his vision
through his film was beyond amazing. La Scala’s choice of actors was perfect
for this style of film. Since it has a touch of found footage, the choice of
actors needs to be underrated for that realness factor. With mainstream actors,
they unfortunately aren’t as versatile. With the main actors of The Remaining, though
I’ve watched them in various other films their previous characters never popped
in my head because they still have that realness in their talent. I was so attached
to each character and I was rooting for them make through to the end.
Every disaster that took place seemed
as real as it could; I even forgot at one point that it was an indie film. The characters
dialogue and storyline was not cliché opposed to what other reviews might say. The
special FX was jaw dropping from beginning to end and I am honestly annoyed at
anyone who wouldn’t give The Remaining a chance.
The Remaining is not a mainstream movie
with no mainstream actors and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Watch The Remaining On Demand or even
purchase it on Amazon or YouTube. You will not regret it.
Rose and her husband, Christopher Da Silva, are
concerned about their adopted daughter, 9-year old Sharon, who has been sleep-walking
while calling the name of a town, "Silent Hill". Desperate for
answers, Rose takes Sharon to Silent Hill. As they approach the town, she is
pursued by police officer Cybil Bennett. A mysterious child appears in the
road, causing Rose to swerve and crash the car, knocking herself unconscious.
When she awakens, Sharon is missing, while fog and falling ash blanket the
town.
My Thoughts
I have watched Silent Hill numerous amount of times
before even thinking of making a blog.Obviously as I get older my mind will get desensitized to the fear that
Silent Hill is hoping to inflict but the truth is, I still get frightened when
the siren begins to ring. The siren makes everything all the more frightening.
If you thought a monster jumping out of nowhere was scary, imagine hearing an
air raid siren and knowing exactly at that moment, dozens of monsters and
crawlers will come out to attack. In Silent Hill, the siren represents a lot.
It represents the darkness taking over, Alessa’s dreams/the cult’s nightmares,
and lastly revenge.
What I loved most about Silent Hill is the
atmosphere. Silent Hill is foggy and first you think it is snow but when you
look closer you realize that it is not snow, it is actually ashes. The way that
the creator made the shy grey and then transition into pure black as the siren
rings is pure genius. Even the way the creators made the walls peel like skin;
it makes you cringe and yet you cannot stop watching. I also loved the different point of views that was
shown. I got to see the point of view of Rose, Christopher and Alessa.
I detested the way Officer Cybil acted in the beginning
of the movie. She was so ignorant and did not give Rose a chance to explain the
situation with her daughter. But I have to admit that I actually did like
Officer Cybil and her bravery.
What I would change about Silent Hill is the film
score. I felt as though the sole purpose of the film score was to accompany a
certain scene but it actually did the complete opposite.
One thing I urge you to do if you are planning to
watch Silent Hill, remember the name tag Colin. It is a quick scene but also a
disturbing one.
RATING: 5/5
Don’t let the demons bite or do, YOU FREAKS!!!
Synopsis
Sharon Da Silva (Adelaide Clemens) and her adoptive father Christopher (Sean Bean), currently hiding behind aliases of Heather and Harry Mason, have spent the past few years moving from town to town and assuming different identities. Heather believes that they are on the run from the police because Harry killed a man in self-defense and that her adoptive mother Rose (Radha Mitchell) died in a car crash. In fact, Harry has been protecting her from the Order, a cult of Silent Hill, a town haunted by shifting dimensions. Rose was able to free Heather (then Sharon) from one of the alternate dimensions using one half of a talisman called the Seal of Metatron, but Rose remained trapped in Silent Hill.
My Thoughts
Silent Hill: Revelation is so much better than the first Silent Hill. Yes, the dialog sucked but the monsters are where this movie excelled. The choreography that was created for the monsters were so precise to each individual monster that you cannot help but forget that they are not real and it is just a movie. Even though the nurses in Silent Hill are considered part of the monster clan, the creators did not have a problem with making them sexy which in retrospect made them all the more creepy. I also loved the film score in this installment of Silent Hill; more than the first installment. It tied everything together from the way you are supposed to feel, to the way the monsters are supposed to move.
One thing that I worried about before watching this movie was the siren. If you have not watched any of the Silent Hill movies or even played the games; there is a siren that is provoked before the town of Silent Hill transitions into its nightmare state or rather that the darkness is coming to take over and no one in its path is safe. The siren was only heard once but at least it was not forgotten.
If there is anything that I could have changed about Silent Hill: Revelation it would be the storyline. I understand that the movie was about Sharon’s return after the ordeal in the first installment but the storyline was not amazing, I cannot say that it was unbearable but it was no 5 stars either. Silent Hill: Revelation is 100% centered on Sharon and discovering her forgotten past.
The monsters might have been what I loved the most about Revelation but the monsters that are in the movie make maybe a 2 minute appearance and then vanish. Unlike the first Silent Hill where there were numerous different monsters that actually got adrenaline pumping in your body. I basically had to revel in what little I got to see of them.
I know that it may seem as though I did not like this movie but the truth is that I watch this movie all the time. Silent Hill: Revelation was originally a 3D movie and it would be so much better if I watched it that way first. Silent Hill: Revelation is a movie that I will still recommend but I urge you to watch the first installment of Silent hill before jumping into this one.
The film begins with Jerry Hartfield (Ben Wilkinson) the producer of Grave
Encounters, a famous ghost investigation television series. Jerry
introduces the host, Lance Preston (Sean
Rogerson). Hartfield explains that Grave Encounters was cancelled
after the fifth episode, when the footage for episode six mysteriously went
missing. The footage was finally recovered in 2010 and brought to Hartfield.
The film stars Lance Preston, Sasha Parker, an occult specialist, Matt
White, cameraman T.C Gibson and Houston Grey. They are investigating the
abandoned Collingwood
My Thoughts
I was very excited when I finally got the chance to watch Grave
Encounters. When I began watching it though I could tell that I was not going
to like it; but I still had hope. For a majority of the movie, nothing scary
really happened. The Grave Encounters crew searched throughout the entire hospital
for paranormal activity; nothing that interesting. What I did like about Grave
Encounters is the parody-like humour towards their job and their audience/fans;
but it did not suit the genre that this movie identifies as.
Some of the characters in Grave Encounters were not my favourite either.
Houston Grey for example, I felt as though his character was very dramatized
and maybe that was the whole idea in the script for him to be like that to
bring some humour into Grave Encounters, but Houston Grey was a little over the
top; if he had toned it down just a little bit I might have liked his character
more. Now Sasha Parker, apparently she had a lot of roles as a crew member. She
was the camerawoman, she asked the spirits questions, she did a lot. I just
felt as though Sasha Parker did not fit into the movie, if she was not in the
movie there would not be any difference. Plus she was the weakest in the group
so that did not help in my fondness of her.
Towards the last twenty minutes of the movie is when the scare begins. Finally
I got scared, yes they were cheap jump scares but I could not complain because I
knew that it was all I was going to get. The angry spirits were actually the
best part of the movie because I felt like they were the best characters. They were
frightening but I was so bored since the beginning of the movie that when they
finally did appear I was not even in the mood to jump from fear.
RATING: 1/5
Synopsis
Film student Alex Wright and his friends want to produce a film about the original Grave Encounters movie. Alex believes that the first film was real. He posts an online plea for any information about the film and receives a message from someone named "DeathAwaits666." The message leads Alex to Lance's mother, the original movie's director, who states Lance's real name is Sean Rogerson, the actor who played Lance in Grave Encounters. She believes that Sean is still alive but they discover that she has severe dementia.
My Thoughts
I can say that the second installment is much better than the first. The demonic entities did not take that long to make an appearance and it also did not take that long to get to the core of what Grave Encounters 2 was going to be about.
I felt as though the first installment got too much hype which made me hate it more; and since I did not know much about Grave Encounters 2 I was not as disappointed. When I do not know much about a movie I tend to like it more because all of the scares are so unexpected.
I liked how the Vicious Brothers brought comedy into this installment and actually involved their own name to tie everything together. It was not like any of “camp” horror film out there; it was subtle humour that did not distract from terror in the rest of the movie. I also appreciated how the Vicious Brothers tied the second installment from the first; it did not seem pushed or random from the rest of the dialog.
Opposite from my review on the first installment of Grave Encounters; What I like the most about this installment is the characters. The characters were twisted, manipulative, vulnerable and cruel. The characters had a purpose whether they had a role in the crew or not. There was a reason for them to be in the movie; which I did not feel for some of the characters in the first installment.
Last month I posted my "Top 10 upcoming movies of 2014" so, I
came up with the idea to post reviews entitled "Bucket List" because
the movies that were on my list are just like a bucket list in a way, at least
for a horror movie fan like me. This is my sixth most anticipated horror movie
of the year.
Synopsis
Mia, Gavin,
and Luis are a documentary team set to create a documentary about Deborah, an
elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Deborah is reluctant to be
filmed, but agrees to the project after her daughter Sarah reminds her that
they need the money to keep the house from being repossessed. While they are
filming, Sarah and Deborah talk about earlier years when Deborah worked as a switchboard operator for her own answering
service business to make ends meet, as her husband had died when
Sarah was very young. Deborah details how she would receive calls for some of
the most rich and powerful people in town and how she would have to keep
various secrets for them or risk losing their business.
My Thoughts
I recently
watched The Taking of Deborah Logan and there are a few things I want to
discuss. Reading the synopsis I did not know what to expect other than it being
a found-footage horror flick about an elderly lady with Alzheimer’s disease;
which was interesting enough since I had minimal knowledge about the disease.
With physical/mental
illnesses being so real and having found-footage directing for a horror flick,
it can only intensify fear within you. Also having the film crew be young
adults made it very relatable which in turn made the film even more frightening.
What I want
to mostly shed light on is how I felt after watching The Taking of Deborah
Logan. Firstly, I really liked the plot; it was something new, fresh, and real.
As the movie progresses you find out more about the demon and its victim (Deborah).
Secondly, the demons back story is not one you will find in a horror movie; it
is gruesome, vile, and involves rattle snakes. Thirdly, the way they
transitioned a physical/mental illness into a demonic possession was amazing
and flowed perfectly. For someone who does not know much about Alzheimer’s, I found
it frightening how well they were able to combine the two opposites together
without making it cliché. There was however one scene that made me laugh a bit
because it looked very amateur. It happens in the kitchen and involves the
countertop but that is all I will say about the scene so I do not give much
away. Lastly, I want to discuss the action sequence and the final clip in the
film. Now, the action sequence was horrifying especially since it involved a
snake-like demonic appetite and a cancer patient who happened to be a child. Even
though the action sequence kept me on my feet, the last clip in The Taking of
Deborah Logan was so cliché and was not even needed in the film and if it was
it should have at least been altered in some way.
Hours
before the annual Purge commences, security system salesman James Sandin
returns to his home in an affluent Los Angeles suburb to prepare for holding
out the night with his wife Mary and their two children, Zoey and Charlie. The
family is assured that the security system from James' company, which his house
as well as many of the homes in the development are outfitted with, will keep
them safe. Zoey sees her boyfriend Henry, an older boy whom James dislikes. James
enables the security system, which includes a remote camera monitoring system
and metal plating that seals the home. The Purge begins, and the family
disperses in their home to go about their normal routine.
My thoughts
When The
Purge first released into theatres I was more than excited to watch it. The
concept itself was original and made so much sense logically that I had to see
what it was about. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to see it when it
released.
Even though
The Purge got bad reviews, at least from the people I know, I still watched it
a few months after it released.
I have to
say that the first time I saw The Purge I thought that those people were wrong
but now I understand why they feel that way. After I watched The Purge I thought
it was great but when I did my research and read why people hated The Purge, I
realized that they had a point. The Purge was centered in a house and was based
on a family; it was not about The Purge itself or how a variety of people
celebrated it.
After
realizing that, I understood more why people hated The Purge and with watching
The Purge a variety of times after the first I myself began to feel the same
way too. I will never say that I hate or detest The Purge but I do feel like
the plot could have been improved or slightly altered; at least enough to
involve some of the history of The Purge or a little more action like having
multiple locations (e.g. go from being inside the house to being chased into
the backyard).
The Purge
is a recommended horror action movie and if you care for my opinion you will
have an open mind and check it out. I also watched The Purge: Anarchy about a
week ago and that review will be out right after this. By the way, anyone who
hated The Purge for the reasons given above, you will love Anarchy; my thoughts
have definitely changed 100%. So, make sure to check out that review after this
one.
RATING: 4/5
Synopsis
It is March
21, 2023, hours before the annual Purge event. While television programs credit
the Purge for record low unemployment and poverty levels, people across the
country are preparing either to commit acts of violence or to barricade themselves
indoors against the mayhem. Meanwhile, an anti-Purge resistance group
intermittently hacks into television programs to broadcast their own messages
that challenge the system.
My Thoughts
If you have
not read my review on The Purge than
I suggest you do, so you will know my thoughts.
The Purge: Anarchy is a complete upgrade
from what was seen in the first installment. I assume that James DeMonaco took
note to all the criticism The Purge got
and wrote something that no one could hate. Every critique that The Purge received either got wiped out
or altered in Anarchy; from The Purge being house-oriented and based
on a family to Anarchy being
city-oriented and based on multiple individuals.
The Purge: Anarchy is fast-paced,
gruesome, and more original than the first; they have upgraded weapons, rebels,
high-tech paramilitary men, rich people playing gruesome biding games, and much
more. Anarchy is everything for a
modern action-horror fan.
Jason Blum
and James DeMonaco did a fantastic job with The
Purge: Anarchy so much so that numerous people dressed up like the main,
face-painted gang member for Halloween. DeMonaco and Blum have a lot to live up
to now, with adding to the franchise and pleasing its huge cult following.
Now they cannot screw up when creating the
third installment which is supposedly coming out in 2015. I am guessing in
either June or July because the other two came out around that time. But you
never know since it will revolve around the history of The Purge they may release it in March since that is when annual
purge actually happens in the movies. Just a thought.
I 100%
highly recommend The Purge: Anarchy;
way more than I recommended The Purge.
It is a must see for anyone who has not and if you did not like The Purge but loved the concept than Anarchy is what you should watch.
