Review: Stake Land (2010)

Stake Land

IMDB rate: 6,6
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Vampire

So last weekend I saw the movie Stake Land, and I was not really sure what to expect from it. I linked it a bit to Zombieland (because of the name) but with vampires. This is not what Stake Land is about. Stake Land is about vampires, yes, but it's nothing like Zombieland. Nor does it need to be. 

I was not really sure what I thought of this movie, after finish watching it. I think I liked it, but there were also some small points that I didn't like. 

I don't think this movie should be considered a horror, because it didn't seem mend to be scary or anything like that. It was more something like a good thriller, but with vampires. The vampires where a bit of a side story in this movie. The story seems to be going more about growing up, and being able to defend yourself for the world outside. 

This movie is a bit of a mix between I am Legend, The Mist and The Road. There are cannibals, vampires (not of the sparkly kind), and religious cults popping up after the 'apocalypse'. Nothing is explained about how everything happened, nor does it need to be explained, because watching the movie is satisfying enough. The acting is good, the story is different than a regular horror/thriller story, the music is exactly right and the camera shots are also well taken. 

Stake Land is about Martin who was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in a empty pit of economical and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned towns and cities, and it's up to Mister, a vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent New Eden.

What I disliked about this movie were the vampires, they seemed a lot like zombies, only they are still sleeping during daytime and are still killed with a stake. This is not really bothering though, but the main reason why I disliked them was the make-up. It reminded me of the vampires from Buffy the vampire slayer. They looked a bit odd too, especially when you start watching the show again. 

When I started watching this movie, I thought the movie had skipped a part, because the action starts immediately. Eventually it appeared that it didn't skip any part, it's just the way the movie goes. Also, the ending was a bit unsatisfying, because no information was given about what happened at the end, but it was also a bit the mystery that fitted the story. It's really a 'you decide what happens' ending.

Overall, this is a good movie. Don't expect any real horror, because then you will be disappointed. It's more a drama thriller, with some horror effects. There is some blood yes, but it's nothing close to a gore movie. If you liked the movie 'The Road', then I'm quite sure you'll like this movie too, because they're quite similar (in my opinion).

My personal rate: 7,5/10

Review: A Serbian Film (2010)

A Serbian Film (Srpski Film)

IMDB rate: 5,6
Genre: Survival, Thriller

Let's start this review with saying that this is absolutely not a movie for people with a weak stomach. I think it's one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. And I know many people will disagree with me, but I think I actually liked the movie. It's definitely not the best movie I've ever seen, it's way too disturbing for that, but I don't think it was that bad at all. This is, if you can get through it.

There are a lot of gore movies, and the one movie is even more disturbing than the other, but I think A Serbian Film topped them all. I saw the movie once, and it was quite some time ago, I bought it, but I still can't get myself to seeing it again. Simply because the content of it is way too disturbing. Although it has been some time since I last saw it, I still remember almost everything, because you simply can't 'unsee' it.

As I already said, many people will disagree with me about liking this movie. But I'll explain why I liked it so much. The acting in this movie is incredible. Playing with this kind of content, and still acting like these actors is amazing. I almost thought it was all real, instead of a movie, it was just that good. The camera work was very impressive, a good dialogue, and some very disturbing scenes. There are about four scenes in this movie, that are unforgettable. There is a music playing in this movie, and every time you hear this music, or something that sounds like it, you'll think of these disturbing scenes.

The movie is about a retired porn star Milos, he is married with Marija and they have a little son together named Peter. The family is facing financial difficulties, but Milos get contacted by the porn actress Lejla that offers him a job opportunity in an art film. Milos is introduced to the direct Vukmir that offers a millionaire contract to Milos to act in a film. However, Vukmir neither show the screenplay nor tell the story to Milos. Milos discuss the proposal with Marija and he signs the contract. But sooner he finds that Vukmir and his crew are involved in sick snuff films of pedophilia, necrophilia and torture and there is no way back to him and maybe it's too late to protect his family.

I thought a lot about this movie, mainly because of the disturbing scenes, and it made me think that this movie is not only about the nasty scenes. It actually has a message. It had something to say about, money, art and mainly about family. How far are you willing to go for your family? And of course, this goes very far, mainly without the knowledge of Milos himself. But this movie says it all, only on a very other way than any other regular movie. 

This movie looked so real to me, that it made me uncomfortable. The gore effects are incredibly well made. And that's why it's hard to watch. It's almost a real found footage film.

I am not sure if I can recommend this movie, simply because it's more than that. If you're going to see this movie, you'll have to do this with an open mind. I think many people don't appreciate (which is understandable) the message of this movie. Also, you need to have an incredibly strong stomach when watching this, because it's not just another gore movie. This movie contains torture, pedophilia and necrophilia, a lot of sex and a lot of nastiness. Be aware of this when you start watching this, because there are a lot of scenes that you won't forget that easy.

My personal rate: 7/10

I think it's better if I don't put a trailer up for this movie ;).

Review: The Devil Inside (2012)

The Devil Inside

IMDB rate: 4,0
Genre: Possession, Found-Footage

When I first saw the trailer of this movie I thought it would be a really good movie. Boy, was I disappointed. The trailer shows ever reasonable scare in the movie, so everything that happens, is not surprising anymore. I already thought the scary moments where very rare, but because of the trailer, they were also predictable, which is quite a shame.

The 'found footage' genre is really popular right now, and I really enjoy those movies most of the time. But because of the increasing popularity, everything is becoming the same. Most of the found footage movies are about a invisible spirit or demon, and this becomes a bit boring. Every story line is the same,  the scares are becoming predictable, just because of the overusing of this concept. We all know the found footage movies are fake, so why bothering for found footage when you can make a good quality movie? Maybe there are still surprising found footage movies, I only know that I haven't seen one in a long time.

The Devil Inside is about a woman (Isabella) who travels to Italy to do a documentary about her mother who in 1989 supposedly killed three clergy who were performing an exorcism on her at the time. When she gets there she meets two priests who also perform exorcisms on possessed people. Isabella has a camera man with her who films and documents everything. They soon find that Isabella's mother is still possessed, but when they try to do the exorcism, they find that the demon inside Isabella's mother can jump from one to another.

When I watched this movie, I thought there was a lot of resembling between The Exorcist and this movie. To the point that some things seemed literally stolen from it. I saw a funny quote on IMDB and I think it's quite relevant: 'Just watch the exorcist and shake the tv around'.
I think that this movie wouldn't be that bad if the story wasn't that predictable, unbelievable and boring. They can make a lot of this movie, but they kinda screwed it up in my opinion. The acting was not even that bad, besides from the character Isabella. But there still wasn't any chemistry between the characters, so you couldn't care less what happens to them.

And I didn't even started about the ending yet. I won't give any spoilers, but seriously? That was the best you could do? The ending seems like it was made this way so people are wanting to see a part 2, but the complete movie was so bad, that they failed miserably at it. It seemed like the idea came from that scary youtube ghost movie in the car (search for it if you don't know what I'm talking about).

Luckily this movie only lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes, so it was not a complete evening ruiner. All I can say is, don't waste money or time on this movie. Maybe if you're a die hard fan of exorcism movies, or you like the found footage genre, you might like it.

My personal rate: 2,5/10

Review: Halloween (2007)

Halloween (2007)

IMDB rate: 6,0

Genre: Slasher

I have to start this review with saying that I never saw the original Halloween. I have seen a bit of Halloween H20: 20 years later, but never the complete movie. I also the original Halloween and H20 on dvd, but I still didn't get around seeing them. I probably should have watched the original before I watched the remake but okay, a bit too late for that. At first I also wanted to watch Halloween 2 (2009) after the first one, but I knew it wasn't really a good movie, so it didn't happen. But eventually I'll watch it, and the review will still come.

I only know Rob Zombie from his band, and I always like his songs a lot, but when I heard he made a remake of Halloween I was quite curious, because somebody who is that crazy on stage, well, he must have an interesting view on movies, I thought. Well, I liked his view of Halloween, although the movie did take a bit longer than I expected. I still haven't seen any other movies of him other than Halloween 1 and 2, so I can't really say anything specific about his style, but in Halloween 1 I think he did a good job. As I said, I'm not an expert of the Halloween series, because I never saw any of the older ones, but in my opinion this movie is reasonably good for a remake.

I loved the story of Michael Myers and how he became like this. I think Daeg Faerch is a perfect actor for playing the young Michael Myers, so good, that I never like his character in other movies, just because of this character. The older Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) is never actually shown without a mask, so I can not say a lot about him, since you never see any emotion, and he doesn't talk a lot either.. I think the past of Michael Myers is shown very well, and you don't really know if you need to feel sorry for him, or hate him for everything he does.

I still liked the part where Malcolm McDowell gave up on Michael Myers, he didn't speak for 15 years, so you can't expect the man to do anything other than that. I also liked Danny Trejo's part, he is really trying to be a sort of friend for Michael Myers, he tries to make a bound between them (unsuccessfully unfortunately), but at least he tried.

While the past story was very good, the present story was not. You see Michael Myers as a very tall grown man, with an obsession for masks. But when some guards decide to go into Michael Myers room, to fuck some other prisoner, and mess with Michael Myers, it became a bit unbelievable. I can't believe there are no camera's, other guards or anything of that sort to prevent something like this. I feel like it's a bit of the standard horror cliche, nobody will be that stupid, really nobody, except in a horror movie. Also, when Laurie sees a stranger with a mask outside the building staring at her, it wouldn't be believable to don't say anything about it to her friends. No in this case, she just continues the conversation while looking a bit confused, not really convincing.

I also thought the acting was terrible, the most disturbing being Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie) and her friends. Not everybody was terrible, like Malcolm McDowell, Daeg Faerch and Sheri Moon Zombie. They made this movie look like a promising movie in my eyes, but unfortunately was this not right.

Somebody who is not familiar with the original Halloween, might actually like this movie. I thought it wasn't that bad, except for the acting. But someone that liked the original Halloween, will probably not like this remake.

For anybody that likes remakes, or psycho killer movies (Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elmstreet), you'll probably enjoy this movie. I like remakes most of the time if it's a reasonable movie, but that's probably because I never have seen a original. A review of Halloween 2 will also come eventually.

My personal rate: 6/10