Review: Sinister (2012)

Sinister

IMDB rate: 6,8

Genre: Serial Killer

I was very curious about this movie since the IMDB rate is quite high for a horror movie. And the trailer was also really impressive, so that's why I decided to finally watch it. Let's start of with saying that you shouldn't watch the trailer, because a lot of the scary moments are already shown in the trailer, which is not so fun when watching the movie. It isn't really a bothering thing because the movie it self was very frightening, so I did not really notice it. But some people might think it's annoying.

Ellison (Ethan Hawke) is a novelist of true crimes. He is looking to publish another bestseller after his book 'Kentucky Blood'. To achieve this, he moves with his family (a wife and two children) to a house where a crime happened several years ago. When moving in, Ellison finds a box full with super 8 films in the attic. On the snuff tapes are the murders of the family who previously lived in his house and four other murders dating back to 1966. The connection between these films is a symbol that keeps showing up and the disappearing of the youngest child in every family. Ellison is trying to connect the dots and possibly solving these crimes.

You actually see these snuff films that he found, and in my opinion, are those the best part of the entire movie. They looked so real and were truly frightening. The music that played when showing a film is so incredibly scary and weird that the entire feeling changed when watching. 

This movie is great with the tension building moments, and every time something scary happens, you just know that this isn't it yet, because there still wasn't that 'big scare' that is building up. The things that are supposed to be the scary things aren't actually as scary as you might think, but the road leading to this scary moment is scary enough, you are not afraid of what is on screen, but what is about to be on screen. 

The thing I didn't like is the part of the children. You know that there is something wrong with them, but in my opinion there is not given enough attention to that aspect. And also, the plot was a bit weird and sudden in my opinion. The cause of all this was explained a bit yes, but the fact that this all seemed to happen suddenly in 1966 is not really explained, but that is just my opinion. Also, I saw a lot of resemblance between Insidious and this movie, and I know they are both from the same producer, but that is not a reason to copy so many things. I didn't really like Insidious, because it's a bit the same story, a good scary story, and suddenly, the story goes a completely different way, not a good way in the case of Insidious. I must say that Sinister was a lot better than Insidious. Again, this is just my opinion, I know many people will disagree with me, but it's just something I noticed.

Overall, this movie wasn't that bad. The acting performance was great, of everybody. The scary moments were quite good. The snuff films were really disturbing, so that's a good thing. The music was good. The end plot could be a bit better, but overall, this movie was really scary.

For everybody that likes a good mystery horror, with a bit of gore, this is an excellent movie for you. 

My personal rate: 6,5/10

Short non-horror reviews

I saw a lot of good movies this week, but none of them are horror movies. I liked all of them and I think they deserve at least a short review. Next weekend I'll hopefully watch Sinister, so I'll write a review about that movie after it. 

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

IMDB rate: 8,3

This is not just an ordinary high school movie, this movie is simple yet complicated, because of the many different things that are going on. The way this movie unfolds is sad and beautiful, while there are funny moments, it's mostly goes through many dark topics like drugs, homosexuality and death.

The story is about a shy kid named Charlie who just wants to get along with people. Behind every one of the characters there is a heartbreaking story that you'll get to know through the movie. There is so much emotion in this movie, which makes is just incredible.

Logan Lerman did an amazing job playing the simple, shy boy Charlie. I've seen almost all his movies, and he mostly plays a simple character, which doesn't mind, because he plays them always very well. Emma Watson played the character Sam, and while her American accent was good enough, the British slipped back in a few moments. Not disturbing though.

 The best of all the actors was Ezra Miller, he plays a gay character named Patrick, who is not afraid to show who he is, and he played it so well! I'm not familiar with his other movies, but I think he is a promising actor.

With no doubt, I think this is in my opinion the best movie of 2012. I loved it so incredibly much, and I can't say anything else than please go watch it. 

My personal rate: 9,5/10

Men In Black 3 (2012)

IMDB rate: 6,9

I was afraid that Men In Black 3 would be a disappointing movie, because MIB 1 and 2 were already made a long time ago. But that wasn't true. It was a nice movie and maybe even nicer than MIB 1. In my opinion the action and the funny moment are a lot less compared to the former parts, but that didn't mind after all, because the story of MIB3 was a lot better. MIB 1 and 2 were fun to watch, but didn't had a 'deep going story' in it, which doesn't matter, but part 3 did have this story and I really liked it. 

Also, you finally learn a bit more about 'K' (Tommy Lee Jones) and Will Smith's character 'J'.

What I even liked more was the great resemblance between Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones. You see, Josh Brolin plays a young 'K' in 1969, and he looks so much like him that it's a bit scary. And besides that, he acts amazingly well. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones didn't lose their charm either.

A lot of people did not like MIB 2, and in my opinion it was a fun movie to watch, but not really a good movie or something.

I definitely recommend watching this one, since it's a lot more enjoyable than MIB 2, and in my opinion it's even better than MIB 1.

My personal rate: 7,5/10

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

IMDB rate: 8,3

I first have to start with saying that I'm not entirely sure what to think of the Lord Of The Rings, I like the movies, but sometimes the movie just takes too long, especially The Two Towers in my opinion. I'll also have to say that I don't really like long taking war scenes or anything, so that might me the reason why. However, I did like The Fellowship Of The Ring and The Return Of The King. My boyfriend is a huge LOTR fan, and he always explains a lot about the movies and that's why I did start to appreciate the movies more, because when you know the story a bit better, the movie gets better too of course.

Well, yesterday we went to see the Hobbit, and I really liked it! At first I was afraid that the movie might take too long, because it lasts 169 minutes, but when seeing the movie, the time flew by. I haven't read the LOTR or the Hobbit books yet, so I don't know a lot about it all, but that didn't mind, because everything was explained well enough. I really liked how the Hobbit starts on the same day the Fellowship Of The Ring also starts, I have no idea if it's the same in the book, but it was a nice reference.

The animations and the landscape where of course breathtaking just like in LOTR, every detail is perfect, so amazing. Also, I liked Martin Freeman as the main character Bilbo Baggins, he also looks a bit like Ian Holm (the old Bilbo) in my opinion. I actually want to write a lot more, but because this is supposed to be a short review, I'll quit now, before I start giving spoilers or something.

Anyway, if you're into fantasy, adventure or the LOTR movies, this movie is perfect for you. 

My personal rate: 8,5/10

Review: Chernobyl Diaries (2012)

Chernobyl Diaries 

IMDB rate: 5,0
Genre: Survival

Before I start writing this review, I want to say that I have a thing with abandoned cities, not only in movies but also in real life. When I was in Prague I visited a sort of abandoned theme park (see my archive 'Prague' for pictures), it wasn't really abandoned anymore, but you felt the glory that used to be there, many many years ago, at least, I suppose there was some glory a long time ago. The theme park wasn't really abandoned, but the atmosphere was sure strange when I visited it, and I just love that feeling of loneliness and the feeling of profound glory. I also had this fascination with Chernobyl, I've always wanted to go there and take pictures of the same profound glory, the loneliness and silence of the city of Pripyat. I know there is a certain danger when going there, but abandoned cities are so incredibly fascinating to me. That's why I wanted to watch Chernobyl Diaries so badly, just to see how they made the city look like and I really liked it. I know the movie isn't actually filmed at Pripyat, because that won't be safe for the crew, but I did like how they made the city look. I must say that I don't know for sure if it resembles anything in Pripyat, so I can't say anything about that. 

Anyway, that's what I wanted to say before starting the review.

Chernobyl Diaries is a movie about a tourists doing a Eurotrip, when visiting a brother of one of them in Ukraine, they decide to hire an extreme tour guide to take them to the abandoned city of Pripyat.

While they're walking through Pripyat, they're discovering that they're not alone. When they want to return to Kiev, it appears that the car they came in was made unclear, and because one of them is hurt, it is impossible to walk all the way back to the civilized world. 

I read a lot of bad reviews about this movie so my expectations weren't really high, but eventually I thought the movie wasn't that bad. It wasn't really good either, but I liked the concept. 

It wasn't really scary, just some good tension building moments, and after those moments, there didn't really happen much after it, but still, it wasn't that bad.

Because of the abandoned city the tension is always a bit higher in my opinion, because you have no idea what to expect. There can be wild animals, homeless people that are secretly killers, wax statues that have living people inside them or cannibals or whatever other horror movies have already show you. So, you just can expect anything. In the case of Chernobyl Diaries there where radio active patients, escaped from some weird hospital. They where bald, scary, fast and they have really good trained dog that didn't seem affected by the radiation. 

Of course, every watcher of horror movies have a different feeling about what they find scary or not. In this movie you don't see a lot, the people that are terrorizing the tourists are only briefly shown, and other scary/shocking moments have already happened and you only see the outcome of it. 

I find it a very frightening aspect in a movie when you don't see what actually happens, because you start to imagine yourself what happened, and that's most of the time, in my opinion, the scariest thing. When you didn't see something happen, everything was able to happen. The most cruel things, or maybe not at all, that's up to the watchers imagination. 

I almost never watch horror movies with good intentions, because I know most of the time, they will suck anyway. The amount of real good horror movies is just not much, and going to see every horror movie with a good expectation is just dissatisfying, because you will get disappointed most of the time. When you expect the worse of a movie, it can only get better in my opinion, and so was it with this movie. I didn't expect much of it, and it got better than I expected.

There were some predictable scenes in this movies and the acting wasn't the best, but overall, the movie wasn't that bad. The only thing that I didn't like, was the ending. It seemed unfinished and it was like the writers just threw in another random idea to make an end to the movie. If the ending wasn't like this, I probably liked it a bit more, so that's the bad part of this movie. 

Overall, if you're into abandoned city movies, this movie is really nice. I know it has a lot of bad reviews, but honestly, it wasn't that bad at all. If you're into gore and violence, don't watch it, you'll be disappointed. 

My personal rate: 6,5/10