Review: Devil (2010)

Devil

IMDB rate: 6,3

Genre: Supernatural, Religious

I've seen the movie Devil once before and I must say that if you know the ending the movie is not very surprising anymore. I think Devil is a decent movie but it also has some annoying parts. I remember that I was very surprised at the end the first time, but seeing it a second time... meh, just a normal movie.

In Philadelphia, Detective Bowden is still grieving for his wife and son, killed in a hit-and-run five years ago. When someone jumps from a skyscraper onto a truck, Bowden is sent to investigate. Meanwhile, five strangers are trapped in an elevator in the building where the jumper committed suicide. The communication radio in the elevator is broken but the guards, Lustig and Ramirez, observe the individuals via CCTV as events unfold. Tensions run high among those trapped, so Lustig calls the police and Detective Bowden assumes the case. Without being able to contact the individuals, he tries to work out who they are, but he can only account for four of them. Time is running out for the occupants of the elevator, as Bowden realizes he has to get them out quickly.

When a movie mostly plays in an elevator there are not many options to go. It's easily being compared to the movie Blackout even though that's about a psychopath and this about something supernatural. When a movie is set in a small room, like an elevator, it gets kinda predictable, there will be a lot of tension between people, people get hurt etc. My point is, it's never really surprising.
The movie Devil is actually exactly like that but the only thing that keeps you curious is to find out who the bad guy is. Devil really puts you on the wrong foot, which makes the movie good.

Things that I did not like so much was the acting. Jenny O'Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine and Geoffrey Arend are not really good actors. But I must say that the dialogues also makes them look bad. The movie is partly written by M. Night Shyamalan and some of the dialogues really resemble the dialogues of The Happening a lot. For those who did not read my The Happening review, I thought the dialogues of The Happening were terrible. The dialogues are almost childish, just awful.
The one good actor was Logan Marshall-Green, even though he does not say a lot in this movie.

I was surprised to find out who the bad guy was, but as I already said, when you've seen this movie once, it's not very surprising anymore.

Another thing that I disliked of this movie was that bad things only happened in the dark. So when the screen went black, you knew that something bad was going to happen. But of course, that's what kept the mystery. A bit of a difficult case.

Devil is a decent movie. Very surprising at first but a bit predictable. It's fun seeing it once but when you know who the bad guy is it's not very surprising anymore.

My personal rate: 6/10

Review: The Descent 2 (2009)

The Descent 2

IMDB rate: 5,8

Genre: Monster, Survival

Finally a new review again! I say this like it's ages ago since I wrote my last one but to be honest it's not even less than a week ago. For me it feels like a long time ago, and well, I did not watched any horror movies for the last two weeks I guess? I always have a few reviews spare so I can post things when I can't watch a movie. Anyway, I'm glad that I can continue watching movies again this week, I really missed it. Today I watched The Descent 2. I don't really liked the first part but it was definitely not a bad movie. The sequel is a lot less good, it's quite unbelievable and does not really contain an interesting story.

Distraught, confused, and half-wild with fear, Sarah Carter emerges alone from the Appalachian cave system where she encountered unspeakable terrors. Unable to plausibly explain to the authorities what happened - or why she's covered in her friends' blood - Sarah is forced back to the subterranean depths to help locate her five missing companions. As the rescue party drive deeper into uncharted caverns, nightmarish visions of the recent past begin to haunt Sarah and she starts to realize the full horror and futility of the mission. Subjected to the suspicion and mistrusts of the group and confronted once more by the inbred, feral and savagely ruthless Crawlers, Sarah must draw on all her inner reserves of strength and courage in a desperate final struggle for deliverance and redemption.

The movie is very unbelievable. It's plays two days after the previous movie and Sarah is found. They bring her to the hospital where she is in a huge shock and remembers nothing. Because the rest is trying to save the other girls Sarah is forced to go into the cave again with the rescuers. Here is where the unbelievable part starts, because a woman that's in shock because of a huge climbing accident is not able to go hiking once again, after two days. Not only is it unreal to take her back to the place of the accident that fast, it's also unreal because she's in a huge shock. Also, there are only 3 real hikers and two cops with her. No medical assistants for the case if they find someone alive, no weapons for defense (besides a gun, very smart in a cave). Also, they did not even interrogate Sarah, they immediately took her to the cave, while they did not know what happened in the cave. The girl could have killed everyone, and it might even be the case that they took a psychopath with them. 

A scene that I liked was when the mouse crawled out of Rebecca's mouth, it made her look alive. It's also cool that they used the same actress again. The special effects don't look as good as in the first movie, the creatures looked a bit different but that might be because of the lightning. But the creatures are still scary as fuck! There are definitely a lot more jump scares.

The plot is a bit useless, only a rescue action that goes wrong. You know exactly what will happen so it's very predictable. The sheriff is a very annoying character, who will handcuff someone in a cave? It's so unrealistic. Also a very light woman makes the rocks creak, who will ever come to the idea to walk over the rock with two people at the same time? The handcuffs are so useless and makes the movie very annoying.

The ending is a bit weak, it gives the option for another sequel which is definitely not necessary. 

Not an excellent movie. The first part is a lot better and this movie is very useless. The acting is not very special and there are some annoying characters in it. I don't recommend watching this movie, the first one is a lot better.

My personal rate: 4,5/10

Review: Wrong Turn (2003)

Wrong Turn

IMDB rate: 6,0

Genre: Survival

Yesterday I decided to watch Wrong Turn. While I was convinced that I've seen it already, I apparently had not. I did see Wrong Turn 2: Dead End once, which was not a very special movie. Mainly just nasty people. Well the first Wrong Turn is not very different from the sequel but it does have a much better storyline. You see, the sequel seems to be made only to shock people, it does shock people but a movie is almost never good if it's only made for the shock. It hardly contained a reasonable storyline and that's why the first one is a much better movie. Still not the greatest movie ever, but I did enjoy watching it.

Chris Flynn is driving his car for a job interview in another city. However, an accident with a trunk transporting chemical products blocks the highway and Chris looks for an alternative route through the mountains of West Virginia to accomplish his schedule. Due to a lack of attention, he crashes another car parked in the middle of the road with flat tires. Chris meets a group of five friends, who intended to camp in the forest, and they decide to leave the couple Francine and Evan on the place, while Chris, Jessie, Carly and her fiance Scott tries to find some help. They find a weird cabin in the middle of nowhere, where three violent cannibalistic mountain men with the appearance of monsters live. The two couples try to escape from the mountain while chased by them.

There are some big names in this movie, the biggest one being Eliza Dushku, I've seen her in Buffy a few times and I did not really like her. I did like her in this movie though, she was really badass and not one of those whining girls that can only cry and scream. That brings us to Emmanuelle Chriqui, the one who is the whining crying girl in the movie. One of the most annoying girl I've ever seen. First of all, you go to a strangers house, you break in and keep whining that you need to pee. She can't search for herself apparently and holding it up is also impossible. Then, when she sees a dead body in a bathtub she finally sees that she can't pee in that house. Well, from that moment time gets a bit tough en she needs to start running, after a few meters (max. 100?) she starts whining that she can't run anymore. You just saw a fucking dead human, two in fact, you run instead of whining! That she is whining is one thing, but unfortunately, she also has an incredibly annoying voice which makes it even harder to tolerate her. I did like the acting performances of Desmond Harrington and Jeremy Sisto, both excellent actors

The special effects look quite well. The incest people look really scary and nasty. They really freaked me out eventhough you hardly saw them in this part. Also the chopped off body parts looked quite real. Excellent job.

The storyline is believable. The beginning reminded me of The Hills Have Eyes, only with a crash involved. 

Also, the movie is not all about sex. In Wrong Turn 2 it's about some TV show and while filming everybody is having sex with each other... even the monsters... a bit of a lame horror cliche. 

I recommend watching this movie for those with a bit of a stronger stomach. It's not an excellent movie or something but it is an enjoyable horror to watch. The creatures resemble The Hills Have Eyes a bit but instead of mutants, this are scary people that came from a lot of incest. I enjoyed watching this movie a lot more than the sequel, but eventually I will watch the third, fourth and fifth part too. 

My personal rate: 6,5

Review: Warm Bodies (2013)

Warm Bodies

IMDB rate: 7,0

Genre: Zombie, Comedic

Yesterday I finally watched Warm Bodies. I have not read the book yet, but I hope I will someday. What I thought of the movie? Well it was not exactly what I expected, but I loved it. It was very funny, cute and creepy at the same time. I expected it to be funnier and I expected not so much romance but after I finished watching it I was really impressed by it. I'm definitely not someone who enjoys romantic movies normally, but when a zombie is thrown in the story it's definitely a lot better. It's very cool to see a movie from a zombies perspective. It's not something I've seen before. The creepy part of the movie is of course that a girl falls in love with a zombie, which is basically necrophilia... at least, at some point in their relationship it will be. 

Many people compared Warm Bodies with Twilight, as if it was the zombie version of Twilight. I definitely have to disagree with that, the acting is so much better, and the story is as well. Of course, in this movie the zombies are being shown like brutal creatures that slowly turn into humans again, this makes them look a bit soft and weak but it's actually a really cool twist, very original.

With much of the world's population now an undead horde, R is a young and oddly introspective zombie. While fighting with and feeding on a human scavenger party, R meets Julie and feels an urge to protect her. What happens next is the beginning of a strangely warm relationship that allows R to begin regaining his humanity. As this change spreads through the local undead population like a virus, Julie and R eventually have to face a larger issue when the very nature of their friendship is challenged. Caught between the paranoid human forces and the ferocious "Bonies", zombies who are a mutual threat, R and Julie must find a way to bridge the differences of each side to fight for a better world no one thought possible.

Like I said, the acting is very good in this movie. Nicholas Hoult is an excellent zombie and it's very nice to see how he slowly becomes human again. I think he portrayed the role of R very well. Even though I did not read the book, I was really impressed by him. 

Teresa Palmer is also very good, she's a great actress and I loved her in every movie I've seen so far of her. She does look like a blonde Kristen Stewart, which might also cause the Twilight reference, but I think Teresa is much prettier and she is at least able to show emotions which makes her much more enjoyable than Kristen. 

Dave Franco plays a small role but I don't really like him as an actor. He resembles his brother James Franco a lot, but for some reason he's missing that thing that James has. 

Another well known actor is John Malkovich who plays the father of Julie. His part is also not very big but I did like him a lot being the father figure. I think John Malkovich fits the zombie genre quite well.

The one that I did not really like was Rob Corddry. He also plays a zombie but he doesn't really fitted the role. As a zombie R and M (Rob Corddry) were constantly groaning to each other and sometimes they could speak a word, R did this very choppy and made it seem like he had trouble with it, Rob Corddry's character said the words a bit to fluent I thought, since he's being a zombie.

The humor is very good in this movie. For instance, R is mocking himself being a zombie, about the groaning, the slow walking and stuff like that. There are also other funny moments in the movie. I don't like romantic movies and while the main story is of course the romantic story, it did not feel like a romantic movie. Some of the romantic moments were a bit lame, for example when the girl got attacked by a horde of zombies but when she's holding hands with R the zombies suddenly stop attacking and let them pass, because of the 'beautiful' romance. Or perhaps it's better to say that the whole story of 'love heals zombies' feels a bit weak. It makes the zombies look weak which is a bit lame. I would have liked a different twist where romance wasn't the primary reason. 

The bad guys in this movie were the so called Bonies. These are walking skeletons. They also used to be zombies but they can not be saved anymore. This is because they lost all hope in their 'lives' or something like that. These guys were quite scary and for a mild story like this it was a nice addition. 

I really recommend watching this movie. I absolutely enjoyed watching it. It's not really a horror movie but it does contain a lot of zombies. I personally liked it a lot to see the world through zombie eyes. It gave a really cool twist. Great acting, beautiful images and a very funny movie.

My personal rate: 8/10

Review: Dead Snow (2009)

Dead Snow

IMDB rate: 6,4

Genre: Comedic, Zombie

I really enjoyed watching this movie. I've seen it once before and I must admit that I thought it was a weird movie. It is a weird movie, but an excellent one.
I think it look a lot of courage to make a movie about nazi zombies. It's brilliant.

Several friends take off to the mountains and shack-up in the wilderness of back-of-beyond to enjoy a little R & R together, their peace is soon interrupted by a mysterious old man, warning them of a local curse that during the German occupation of the local area that these Nazi invaders were brutal and harsh in their methods of control. Telling of the legend of the villager's revolt that drove them up into the cold, dark mountains where they perished, that is until rumour of their return in the form of zombies, evil Nazi zombies.

The first 40 minutes of the movie are kinda slow. Nothing really happens and you never get a look of these intruders. And when you finally get to see them it almost feels like a serious zombie movie. Luckily it switched very quickly to a comedic zombie movie that feels a lot like Shaun of the Dead.

The movie feels a lot like an old zombie movie, something like Night of the Living Dead. The zombies are not infectious I believe, also they are rising dead zombies, instead of virus zombies. A nice throwback to the past!
My favorite part is when a filmfreak character mentions to not get bitten by one of the zombies, and when one of them gets actually bitten in their arm he chops of his arm to prevent infection (if that's indeed infected at all). Right after he cuts of his arm he gets bitten in his balls... well, this was hilarious as you can imagine, especially his look on his face.
The acting is good, I don't know any of the actors but I liked them.

The zombies look very scary but are also a bit funny. They are slow and very patient. Violent as hell and they look a lot like angry dogs.

The images are very beautiful, the blood mixed up with the snow gives a very nice look. The music is very cool. And the humor is brilliant.

I absolutely recommend watching this movie. It's very funny and scary at the same time. For those who enjoyed Shaun of the Dead might enjoy this one too.

My personal rate: 8/10

Review: The Descent (2005)

The Descent

IMDB rate: 7,3

Genre: Monster, Survival

I've seen this movie a couple of times already and I never really enjoyed it. It's not a very bad movie but it's a bit slow sometimes. Also, because it's in a cave, it's very dark the entire movie which makes it very hard to see what is happening. I think that the 7,3 on IMDB is a bit too high, but that's just my opinion. I think it's should be a 6 or something.

After a tragic accident, six friends reunite for a caving expedition. Their adventure soon goes horribly wrong when a collapse traps them deep underground and they find themselves  pursued by bloodthirsty creatures. As their friendships deteriorate, they find themselves in a desperate struggle to survive the creatures and each other.

The acting in the movie is decent but there was one person that bothered me endless; Saskia Mulder. She's from The Netherlands and she has a horrible english accent, which is very bothering I think. I also come from The Netherlands and I know from experience that almost everybody here has a horrible accent (of course not everybody, for example, Famke Janssen, Rutger Hauer and Carice van Houten). Not a big deal, but when hearing it in a movie it's very annoying.

What I also found annoying was the fact that three of the six females in this movie look a lot like each other, they are all blond and tall which makes it very hard to separate them from each other in a dark movie like this one. The movie itself is also quite confusing because it's in the dark, this is not the worst thing because it's logical in a movie like this. But when the main characters resemble each other a lot, it gets really difficult to follow.

The girls are really badass and it's a nice touch that the movie only contains girls. This makes it differ a lot from the standard movies. But the bad thing with a girl movie, girls scream a lot, they argue a lot and they have really high voices. A bit unpleasant at times.

The creatures are what I really liked in this movie. They are really scary. Especially the first time you see them clearly, it scared me shitless.

I think many people will like this movie, but I personally did not enjoy it so much. I thought the acting was decent with exception of one person. The monsters are really scary but the movie itself is kinda confusing sometimes. Tomorrow I will watch The Descent part two so expect a review about that one coming up as well!

My personal rate: 6/10

Review: American Horror Story [Season 1]

American Horror Story

Season 1

IMDB rate: 8,3

Genre: Haunted House, Ghost, TV Show

It took a while, but I finally decided to buy American Horror Story two weeks ago. I've only watched the pilot before buying it and while it seems like a very weird show, it made me incredibly curious. So, of course I had to buy it so I can watch the rest of the season. Like almost every other TV show, it's addicting as hell. You need to keep watching and it was a good thing that I needed sleep sometimes or else I would have watched all 12 episodes in one day. Also, halfway through my boyfriend started to watch but he was a few episodes behind and I had to re-watch a few episodes to he would catch up with me.

American Horror Story is definitely not a TV show that everyone will enjoy. It has quite a few scary moments, but also an amazing storyline and a few excellent plot twists. What I like about this show is that it's different and takes so many risks with it. Another thing that's different is that each season is entirely different. So season 1 is called Murder House and when the 12 episodes where over, it really came to an end. Season 2 is an entirely different setting and has a different cast (well, maybe not a different cast but they play different people I believe). This is very original and I'm quite excited to start watching it.

The acting in this TV show is simply brilliant. Dylan McDermott plays Ben Harmon, his wife Vivien is played by Connie Britton and their daughter Violet is played by Taissa Farmiga. They play the family Harmon just brilliant, you really notice the tension between everyone. Vivien hates Ben for what he did and Ben searches for forgiveness. Vivien is the typical teenager but with a dark twist.
One of the other main characters is Tate played by Evan Peters. Personally he's my favorite character in the entire show, even though he's a real bastard sometimes. His acting is simply brilliant. It does not matter if he's being psycho, sweet, normal or sarcastic; it's all perfect.
The neighbor of the Harmon's is Constance Langdon, played by Jessica Lange. Another one who is mainly evil but is excellent at it.

Short review of each episode, I tried avoiding giving any spoilers!

Season 1, episode 1: Pilot

Obviously, this was the first episode I watched. I did not know what to expect. When I finished watching this episode I was like 'WTF?!'. It was kinda a lot of information for just one episode and even though I had a huge WTF feeling, I was curious about it. I think this episode is an excellent start. Showing the drama and horror immediately. Also introducing almost every cast member of this season. Telling the story of the family. It was all done in this episode and like I said, it's a lot of information. It was brilliantly done, I just had to order the series on DVD immediately. 

Season 1, episode 2: Home Invasion

A very weird episode. But also a very good one. I think I've had this feeling with every episode this far. Weird, but good. Maybe a bit of an unbelievable story, but it had some good elements in it. Personally I liked this episode the least.

Season 1, episode 3: Murder House

I love how you learn episode by episode a new story about the house. More details are being revealed but still not enough to know everything yet. Also there are coming more and more questions. I really start to dislike Hayden in this episode and I think that she became an useless addition the cast now I've seen every episode.

Season 1, episode 4: Halloween pt. 1
Sad episode, but a good one. I love the story about the first residents of the house. You knew parts already but not yet the entire story. I like how the death can walk around on Halloween, I watched this episode twice and only the second time I understood the whole thing. Everybody is trapped! It was only now that I realized this.

Season 1, episode 5: Halloween pt. 2
Another excellent episode. It's a follow up for Halloween pt. 1 and some parts were a bit more explained but further there were not many additions to the story in this episode.

Season 1, episode 6: Piggy Piggy
More information about Tate! I really like Tate for some reason, even though he's the biggest bastard on the show. The Urban Legend part was a bit stupid since the guy is terrified of Urban legends and he's going to the well known murder house for his therapy, why is he not afraid for the house... Now I finished watching it I wonder why the ultra sound part was important, sure the guy is bad but not the devil.

Season 1, episode 7: Open House
I would have liked to know a bit more about the monster child but I think that the mystery also gives a nice touch. I also would like to know who Constance's fourth child is but unfortunately you never see him or her. Good episode.

Season 1, episode 8: Rubber Man
Huge shock for me to find out who the Rubber Man is. That's what I love in this show, it haves so many surprises. A typical ghost episode, which is very interesting since there hasn't been an episode like this one before. It shows a bit more of the abilities of the ghosts.

Season 1, episode 9: Spooky Little Girl
I'm not sure what use the addition of Mena Suvari's character was, I did not find it interesting. Also, a very cool twist is what happens to Vivien's baby's. Did not see that one coming. But after hearing what could happen in a case like this, I would have expected a different ending.

Season 1, episode 10: Smoldering Children
My favorite episode of this season. You've heard so many stories about Larry's scars and finally you learn the truth. And then, the biggest plot twist of the entire season. I was devastated when I found out but it was also an excellent twist.

Season 1, episode 11: Birth
This episode is more to tie all the knots together. Most secrets are being revealed and Vivien is getting her babies. There are not too many special things in this episode but it's a nice episode to watch.

Season 1, episode 12: Afterbirth
I expected much from this episode; the ultimate ending but that was not what I got. Afterwards I did not find that frustrating anymore because the way it ended was actually beautiful too. Everyone is happy now. Afterwards you see the a quick look of 'a repeating past'. Personally, I liked the way it ended, this way you can think for yourself what happens next.

I really recommend watching this show, especially as a horror fan. This show has the excellent mix between drama and horror. Filled up with an impressive soundtrack and excellent acting. American Horror Story is full of surprises. American Horror Story does not feel as an TV show, it feels like a movie chopped into pieces. This is excellent because it's too much information to be given in a movie. Putting it all in a TV show gives people a break from watching. I would not have liked it if it was a movie because it would be too standard I think. 

I was very curious about the rest of the season after I finished the Pilot, I suggest you start watching it too because I'm almost a 100% sure you will enjoy it!

My personal rate: 9,5/10

Review: Dead Silence (2007)

Dead Silence

IMDB rate: 6,0

Genre: Ghost

I remember when I first saw the trailer of this movie in 2006, I was maybe 14 years old and I could not be more excited for this movie. The first time I saw it I almost pissed my pants because it was so damn scary. I believe I watched it with some friends and I really liked the movie. Personally, I'm terrified of dolls, so this movie was the ultimate scare-source for me. I really think there are too little killer doll movies, or clowns whatsoever. Useless information but I remember that after the first time I watched it my friends put a doll on my bed when I went to the toilet, so as you can imagine, I screamed my lungs out (my tongue would have been eaten by Mary Shaw if she was real).

Every town has it's own ghost story, and a local folktale around Ravens Fair is about a ventriloquist named Mary Shaw. After she went mad in the 1940s, she was accused of kidnapping a young boy who yelled out in one of her performances that she was a fraud. Because of this she was hunted down by townspeople who in the ultimate act of revenge, cut out her tongue and then killed her. They buried her along with her "children", a handmade collection of vaudeville dolls, and assumed they had silenced her forever. However, Ravens Fair has been plagued by mysterious deaths around them after Mary Shaws collection has returned from their graves and have come to seek revenge on people that killed her and their families. Far from the pall of their cursed hometown, newlyweds Jamie and Lisa Ashen thought they had established a fresh start, until Jamie's wife is grotesquely killed in their apartment. Jamie returns to Ravens Fair for the funeral, intent on unraveling the mystery of Lisa's death.

I know that many people dislike Dead Silence but I really like the movie. It contains dolls, is scary, good acting, impressive music and an interesting story. In most of these movies there's always something wrong, or terrible acting or it's absolutely not scary. Or whatever else. What I mean is, I don't think there's anything wrong with this movie, but I must admit since I've seen this movie a thousand times already, that it's not that fascinating anymore. It's still a good movie though.

The acting is amazing. I'm not very familiar with Ryan Kwanten but I think he was excellent. Also Amber Valetta and Bob Gunton were both amazing. Donnie Wahlberg was good too but I think someone else would have fitted the role better. 

I like the way the movie is made, it's a very dark movie where almost everything is in black and white and the only noticeable color is red. It gives a very cool effect on the movie. 

The buildings chosen for the movie are very beautiful. Especially the abandoned lake house looks amazing, it's sad that it's not a real house. 

The dolls are scary as hell, especially the clown doll. It's the ultimate scary combination: dolls and clowns. Also, the doll Billy from the Saw movies makes a small appearance too. 

Brilliant movie, really recommendable. I think it's the ultimate scary doll movie besides the Child's Play movies. Great movie that's quite scary when watching it the first time.

My personal rate: 9/10

Walking Dead Season 4 trailer released!

Fresh from their panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, the first trailer for "The Walking Dead" Season 4 has just been released! Check it out below!

The series returns on Sunday, October 13 at 9 p.m. on AMC.

I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE!

Review: Red Dragon (2002)

Red Dragon

IMDb rate: 7,2

Genre: Thriller

So I stumbled across Red Dragon today. And I realized that I had not seen it yet!

I've seen Silence of the Lambs probably a hundred times already, Hannibal maybe twice and I even watched Hannibal Rising. But Red Dragon, nope. I also own all the books but I also did not read it. It's quite strange because I did read all the other ones so I wonder why I never read it before...

Anyway, Red Dragon is not really a horror movie, but it does contain the legend Hannibal Lecter, so a (short?) review is almost necessary on this blog :).

FBI Agent Will Graham has been called out of early retirement to catch a serial killer, known by authorities as "The Tooth Fairy". He asks for the help of his arch-nemesis, Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter, so that he can be able to catch "The Tooth Fairy" and bring him to justice. The only problem is that "The Tooth Fairy" is getting inside information about Graham and his family from none other than Dr. Lecter.

I was not very surprised that I enjoyed watching Red Dragon a lot. It's a very good movie. I've seen the original Manhunter but I personally did not like it. I'm glad they made a remake of it because Anthony Hopkins is just simply Hannibal Lecter. Brian Cox... not so much. 

Anthony Hopkins does not have very much screen time, and while that's a sad thing, it was not very bothering in the movie. The movie itself is very tensive, also Hannibal is not very scary in this movie, since he does not try to impress Will Graham, so I don't think that more screen-time would have made a difference. 

Of course, the movie is not only about Hannibal Lecter which forces me to discuss other people too. Not that this is a bad thing because the acting is simply flawless. Edward Norton plays Will Graham and as always he's amazing. I think he's an excellent choice to play Will Graham. 

Next to Norton were also other brilliant actors like Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, Harvey Keitel and Philip Seymour Hoffman. 

I would like to read the book someday because there were some points that were a bit unclear for me. I think a bigger story of the Tooth Fairy would have been nice. The motives were a bit unclear for me. I also found that the Tooth Fairy was quite a weak character. 

At this point I would rate Silence of the Lambs as the best one, followed by Red Dragon and followed closely by Hannibal. I enjoyed the movie Hannibal Rising but it hardly felt as a Hannibal Lecter movie, so that one comes last for me.

Recently I saw one episode of the TV show Hannibal, and I did not like it at all. Of course, it's only one episode and I will continue it someday but Will Graham (played by Hugh Dancy) was portrayed so annoying and weird. And then Hannibal, played by Mads Mikkelsen, he does not even resemble Hopkins for one bit! The choice for Mads Mikkelsen is just as terrible as choosing Gaspard Ulliel for Lecter. But again, I've only seen one episode and maybe I'm judging it all wrong, I will come back to it eventually when I continue watching it. But until then, this is my opinion about Hannibal.

Red Dragon is a very good movie. Brilliant acting and a good plot. Though it's definitely not as good as Silence of the Lambs, it's still an excellent movie. Absolutely recommendable. It does not even bother if you haven't seen Silence of the Lambs yet since Red Dragon is a prequel, but I must advice that you watch Silence of the Lambs afterwards since it's an amazing movie.

My personal rate: 8/10

Review: Dead End (2003)

Dead End

IMDB rate: 6,7

Genre: Supernatural

Today I finally came across a movie that I haven't seen before. For those who don't know yet, I'm trying to watch every movie that I own in alphabetical order. I must admit that I skipped a few movies, Alone in the Dark, American Psycho 1 and 2, Children of the Corn IV, Seed of Chucky and Dawn of the Dead. I will watch Dawn of the Dead one of these days but I was not really in the mood to watch it since I've seen it a thousand times before. Anyway, I watched Dead End. A bit of a strange movie and I must admit that I had to search for an explanation later. The rating for the movie a bit too high in my opinion. I think the plot is reasonable but like I said, at first I found it hard to understand. 

For the past 20 years, Frank Harrington has grudgingly driven his family to celebrate Christmas with his mother-in-law. This year, he takes a shortcut. It's the biggest mistake of his life: The nightmare begins. A mysterious woman in white wanders through the forest, leaving death in her wake. A terrifying black car - it's driver is invisible - carries the victims into the heart of the night. Every road sign points to a destination they never reach. The survivors succumb to panic, to madness; deeply buried secrets burst to the surface, and Christmas turns into a living hell.

I did not like the acting in the movie. It's about a family but there was absolutely no connection between them. I've never seen a more awkward family than this one. Their reactions were so retarded and they suddenly started to hit each other because of a stupid reason. And out of nowhere they give a bunch of useless confessions. Ray Wise plays the father and he's the first person that sees a dead body of a beloved one, and he shows no shocked reaction at all. It was so lame. To be honest, none of the others gave a human reaction besides Marion played by Alexandra Holden. I think she was the best actress but in this cast it's not a very special accomplishment. The most annoying one was Lin Shaye, I did not like her at all. Her acting was horrible and the role she played was even more horrible. Very annoying woman, at every part in the movie.

The plot reminded me a bit of Triangle at the beginning, eventually not anymore because it was finally cleared up a bit. The way I see it is like the woman in white was taking revenge on everyone, and the man in the black car is taking souls or something. They are in a sort of purgatory I think. I find it a bit hard to describe. Some parts were very unbelievable, like the part where they led to woman in white in their car, someone who doesn't speak at all. And even worse, who will let their daughter/girlfriend walk  all the way to the cabin in a dark forest. Why would nobody walk with her?

There was one jump-scare, the one with the baby carriage. Besides that you never see anything, and not much happens. Even the corpses are not shown, this is not a very bad thing, because it's not necessary. It can become very mysterious this way which could be a good thing. The story became a bit predictable after a while, they are driving, start to arguing, then yell to each other and stop the car. When they stop the car, shits going down!

Not a very good movie in my opinion. I heard many people like it but I can't see the beauty of it. No good acting, not a very good plot and very unbelievable moments are in it. I did not really like it, but I had fun watching a new movie *finally ;P*.

My personal rate: 5/10

Review: The Craft (1996)

The Craft

IMDB rate: 6,0

Genre: Supernatural

Ah, The Craft, I think I've seen this movie a thousand times already. One of the very first horror/thriller/fantasy DVD's that I owned I think. Since I was quite young back then, I've watched this movie over and over. I always liked it but after seeing it that many times... well it gets boring. Don't get me wrong, it's a good and nice movie to watch. Just don't watch it too much ;).

A new girl moves to a new city with her family to start a new life. She meets up with the girls who are very interested in the occult and together, the four of them have a seemingly unstoppable power. They can do anything, their possibilities are limitless.

The acting in this movie is quite decent. It's funny because at the time of the release of this movie, nobody of the cast was very familiar yet. Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Skeet Ulrich, Christine Taylor and Neve Campbell are part of the cast, names who are quite big now but were unknown back then. Even Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich were not famous yet because the first Scream movie was only released later in 1996. It's funny because we know Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, the main character from Scream, but in this movie she plays a shy girl who can also be an enormous bitch. A very different character compared to Sidney. I don't find her acting very good in this movie to be honest, it sounded a bit fake at times. I do like her in Scream though.
I've never been a big fan of Skeet Ulrich, I don't know why but I really dislike the guy. He has a typical 90's head, if that's even a thing. I would have been much happier if he also was a 90's actor, but unfortunately he had to continue acting ;). Robin Tunney is the main character in this movie, she plays her parts fairly good but nothing special. I only know her from The Mentalist besides The Craft so I can't compare much. I do know that I also did not find her special in The Mentalist so... I guess she's just a 'decent' actress.
The one that stood out was Fairuza Balk, who plays the biggest bitch and creepiest of them all. She's not much around in movies anymore, which is quite sad because I really liked her in this movie. Her parts are quite annoying but she was so damn scary. She's simply brilliant at playing the crazy one.

The special effects were not very good, I've seen worse but it's 1996 and I know that you can do better than this. I think that the plot is decent but it can get boring at times. The Craft is not really a horror movie, it doesn't really have any scary stuff in it. A few nasty moments with shit-loads of gross bugs but that's about it.

I think the movie can be called a thriller teen-flick. Carrie meets Clueless. It felt like I was watching both movies at the same time, this is not a bad thing because I enjoyed the movie. Especially the first time I watched it.

The Craft is not really a horror movie, but it's a very decent teen-flick mixed with thriller elements. It's a movie about witchcraft and friendship, a very predictable combination, but that doesn't make the movie bad. The acting is quite decent. The storyline and special effects could have been better. I think The Craft is an enjoyable movie to watch.

My personal rate: 6,5/10

Trailer: Frankstein's Army

Review: The Crazies (2010)

The Crazies

IMDB rate: 6,6

Genre: Virus

I remember when I first saw this movie in the cinema, it was advertised as if it was a zombie movies, but when the movie has ended you came to the conclusion that this movie is definitely not a zombie movie. Some people might say that the people are in fact zombies and while they are indeed infected because of contaminated water, they do not really have the 'typical' zombie behavior. The people that are infected in the movie are getting extremely violent and aggressive and do not react normally anymore, this is of course a bit of zombie behavior, but they do not bite people. They rather shoot other people. Also I believe that the people can't get infected because of each other.

As a toxin begins to turn the residents of Ogden Marsh, Iowa into violent psychopaths, sheriff David Dutton tries to make sense of the situation while he, his pregnant wife, and two other unaffected townspeople band together in a fight for survival.

To start with, I have never seen the original of this movie. So I have no idea how that movie is. I personally thought this movie was a bit boring. I've seen it a few times already and I can not keep focused on it. The story is reasonable but I thought the violent people could have been a bit more violent. Or more violent people. I could not really see what the real impact was of the virus. Sure, many people died, but you saw almost nothing of it. 

The acting in the movie is quite good but I did not feel any chemistry between the four main characters. The four main characters are actually quite familiar people; Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson and Danielle Panabaker. Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell are definitely good actors but they don't really make a good couple. Timothy's character David came back for Radha Mitchell's character Judy but there was not much love. Well, of course they loved each other, but you did not feel it when you watched it (not literally of course). I liked Joe Anderson, his acting is quite good and he's very badass but a bit under-appreciated my opinion. I would have liked seeing him in a bigger role. I absolutely do not Danielle Panabaker. Not ever, in any movie. I think she's a terrible actress with a weird face. The weird face does not influence her acting abilities of course so I won't continue complaining about that. I actually somewhat liked the remake of Friday the 13th, but again, Danielle Panabaker... grrrrr. I'm sorry but I think she's terrible.

The movie itself has quite a few jump scares, very tensed moments and excellent use of soundtrack. At one point where the woman is going to the harvester (?) I was hoping there was someone behind the wheel and suddenly started to drive the thing. Wouldn't be to surprised since she was standing there in front of the rotating blades, it was kinda stupid. Anyway, if it would have happened it would look a lot like one of the missions in GTA: San Andreas, which is kinda cool.

I did not find The Crazies a very special movie, it's definitely not bad but I found it hard to keep focused on it. The acting is quite good and it's has a few very good scenes. I hope I can watch the original someday so I can compare the two. I'm very sure that the original is a lot better than this, but time will tell!

My personal rate: 6/10

Twixt Nightmares

Someone send me this link of a really good website with amazing, twisted images. A great disturbing place for you horror lovers! It's also possible to post your stuff on it, so go check it out!

Twixt Nightmares

Review: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

I Know What You Did Last Summer

IMDB rate: 5,5

Genre: Slasher

Last weekend I watched quite a few movies, including I Know What You Did Last Summer. I thought I've already seen the movie but while watching it I figured that I never saw it before. Perhaps I've seen a few scenes but that's about it. Of course I recognized a lot of the scenes from the first Scary Movie, since the storyline of I Know What You Did Last Summer is the biggest storyline in Scary Movie.

I liked watching it, the movie is not that bad. I think the movie deserves a better rate than 5,5. It's not the greatest movie I've ever seen but I sure had fun watching it.

When four friends accidentally hit and kill a man on a road at night, they start to panic and decide to dump the body into the sea. A year later, they all try to settle don again, but one of the friends receives a note in the post, with the words 'I know what you did last summer'. As each of the friends gains their own reminder, they finally accept the one thing they feared the most; someone knows what happened that night, and now they're out for revenge.

I think the acting in this movie was great. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddy Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe are all well known and very good actors. I'm especially a big fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar as you might know, for her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I liked how big the contrast was with her role as Buffy. Here she is the helpless beauty queen, while in Buffy she is the tough fearless girl. I liked the chemistry between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe's character, they really matched well and I would have liked to see them in the leading roles. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddy Prinze Jr. are both good actors but had no chemistry which made it a bit unbelievable.

I also liked the movie itself, but I must admit that because of Scary Movie, I kept imagining the scenes that way. The movie felt a bit like Scooby Doo, unraveling the mystery of who the killer is (Fun Fact: Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. both played in the movie of Scooby Doo as Daphne and Fred). 

The storyline is nice, but not great. At some point it might get a bit confusing when the killer is revealed. Also, too many screaming at that point. We know it, you're scared, now shut up please.

The movie was not really scary, it actually does not offer anything new but it's just a nice movie to watch. 

Another slasher movie! We've seen thousands of them already and true, this movie is hardly any different from the other ones. Why it's worth watching? Well it has a decent plot. An original murder weapon and pretty people who act reasonably good. I know that I enjoyed watching it, though I was not surprised by it.

My personal rate: 6,5/10

Review: Cloverfield (2008)

Cloverfield

IMDB rate: 7,1

Genre: Found-footage, Survival

I really love the movie Cloverfield, the more I watch it, the more I like it. I keep noticing new things which makes it always a fun to watch. I think it's a very good found footage movie. The acting is good and there's actually quite a good view of the monster. This is quite rare for a found-footage movie.

Cloverfield follows five New Yorkers from the perspective of a hand-held video camera. The movie is exactly the length of a DV Tape and a sub-plot is established by showing bits and pieces of video previously recorded on the tape that is being recorded over. The movie starts as a monster of unknown origin destroys a building. As they go to investigate, parts of the building and the head of the Statue of Liberty come raining down. The movie follows their adventure trying to escape and save a friend, a love interest of the main character.

The acting in this movie is excellent. Main characters are being played by Jessica Lucas, Odette Annable, T.J. Miller, Lizzy Caplan and Michael Stahl-David. Jessica Lucas is also seen in the remake of Evil Dead and in the horror movie Amusement. I haven't seen Evil Dead so I can't judge that movie but I have seen Amusement and that's quite a shitty movie. Her acting performances were absolutely not good but I quite liked her in Cloverfield. I've seen Lizzy Caplan in a few comedy movies so I was not sure how she would be in a horror movie, I found her personally quite boring and not very special. I like her better in a comedy. Another familiar comedy actor is T.J. Miller, a character that is unfortunately not much seen since he operates the camera, you do hear him a lot though. I liked his character in the movie, he was funny and constantly talking to himself. He was complaining about running while he was running from a monster, not very believable but he gave the movie a tiny bit of comedy. I think that the romance in the movie wasn't necessary. I found it a bit frustrating at times but it gave them a reason to travel to the other side of Manhatten. I would also have liked another storyline were they tried to escape Manhatten. I do like the storyline the way it is though, but the romance was a bit cliche.

The big monster looks very real in the movie. I think it's very difficult to make a monster look believable and real in a found-footage movie, but I was quite impressed by it. Apparently the monster is some sea creature. He looks like a giant salamander. There are also a lot of tiny monsters who look a bit like spiders. They look very awesome.
My favorite moment in the movie was the moment where the head of the Statue of Liberty was thrown of and landed right beside them (shown in the picture above).

At some points in the movie it's very confusing what is happening, but that's the risk of a found-footage. I think that it's very likely that some people might get sick because of this. I normally don't notice it that much but some moment were a bit too shaky.

I really enjoy watching this movie, I think it's really good. The acting is magnificent and you actually cared about the characters. The monsters look amazing and are truly scary. The scariest scene in my opinion was the scene in the subway where Hud uses night-vision on the camera.

I really recommend watching Cloverfield, for those who haven't seen it yet. It's an enjoyable movie with a touch of science-fiction. Excellent acting and a good plot.

My personal rate: 8,5/10

Review: One Missed Call (2008)

One Missed Call

IMDB rate: 3,8

Genre: Supernatural, Ghost

Let's start of with saying that I've never seen the original movie. I've heard that it's a lot better but I can't compare the two unfortunately. I think that this movie did have some potential, but at some point it was just messed up. I've seen the movie a few times before but every time I can't remember what happened in it. The movie is just not that good.

After the death of their friend Shelley, Leann Cole receives a voice mail from the future of the date and time when she would die. On the scheduled day, Leann sees weird things and in the precise informed hour, Leann is attacked by a supernatural force on a footbridge over a train station while talking to her friend Beth Raymond. Beth meets Leann's boyfriend Brian, who also received a call, and witnesses his death on the street. When her roommate Taylor Anthony receives a call, Beth befriends Det. Jack Andrews, who tells her that his sister was the first name of Marie Layton, who apparently abused of her daughters. Jack and Beth run against time trying to save Beth from her fate.

So in the beginning I said this movie had some potential. I liked the idea of hearing your own death and knowing the exact date and time. Being called by a death person made it even more exciting. The beginning reminded me of Final Destination, which can be good. 

Where it went wrong: Well at first the exorcism thing. What was that and how did the guy know about that? Why film it? It was just useless. Then there is the story itself, very weak and eventually very confusing. Won't give out any spoilers so I'm afraid I can't discuss it.

What was the deal with the dead people? How is it that those who received their call, can see those weird faced (dead?) people. What was the use of it? They also looked very fake by the way.

Also, when someone knows the exact date and time of when they will die, why does nobody try to prevent it? Why not barricade yourself or whatever?

And then there is the main character's story, also it had no use for the movie. It seemed like it was random thrown in so you could see how bad her life was. Ok nice, but it has nothing to do with the story!

The acting was horrible. The only reasonable actor was Ed Burns but his dialogues were so lame that even he became a disappointment. And the main character, how dumb can you be? Terrible character development. 

The storyline is so confusing. When you think you have finally figured out everything they just change everything again and make it even more confusing. The happenings are unbelievable and are just very lame. And I don't know what it is but this is the fourth movie in a row that killed an animal! I think the cat listened to the voicemail too. Anyway, you don't score points in a movie when you're killing of an animal.

Absolutely not recommended. Very strange movie with a terrible plot. The cast is even more terrible. I don't know about the original version of the movie, but I've heard it's a lot better. 

My personal rate: 3/10

Review: The Divide (2011)

The Divide

IMDB rate: 5,8

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Survival

Today I broke my movie watch schedule to watch The Divide. I've watched the movie once and I was not sure what to think of it. It has some good moments but also some bad moments. Some parts of the movie are very slow and annoying, but it also has brutal and touching moments. It's a difficult movie to watch.

After a nuclear attack, seven dwellers of an apartment building seek refugee in a bunker in the basment of the building where the super, Mickey, lives. He rations water and supplies among the group formed by Eva and her boyfriend Sam; two guys Bobby and Josh and his brother Adrien; Marilyn and her daughter Wendi; and Delvin. When five invaders break into their shelter wearing protective clothing and breathing apparatuses, they abduct Wendi but the survivors succeed in killing two of the men. Josh wears the only clothing that was not damaged and discovers a strange research center where he find Wendi dead. He shoots at three men and returns to the shelter. Soon the group learns that the invaders have welded their acces door from outside and they are trapped inside the bunker. Marilyn and Sam get crazy and the tense situation and the lack of water and food brings friction among Mickey, Delvin, Bobby and Josh. When Delvin finds a panic room hidden in Mickey's room, they fight and Delvin is killed. Bobby and Josh subdue and torture Mickey to get the combination of the room and they discover that the place is a store of supplies. Now the two perverts control the situation and submit the other survivors to sick games and humiliations. 

I'm still not sure what to think of it. The movie is more annoying than good I think. The music is quite good, it fits the movie quite good and makes it very tensed. But there are also so many irritating parts, constant yelling and repeating of words. It makes the movie not only hard to follow but it also makes you lose interest. 

I'm not sure what to think of the acting. Milo Ventimiglia acted very well, but he plays a real asshole which makes you hate him. That might be a good sign because he played the asshole character very well. Another good actor was Micheal Eklund, who also plays one of the assholes. I really hated him in this movie, again because he played such an asshole. He played the fucked up role very well and when he was finally bald he looked creepy as hell. I think he reminded me of one of the creatures of I Am Legend. The main character Eva, played by Lauren German, was not too impressing. She was like a blank canvas the entire movie, I had not idea what to think of her. I know that I disliked her at the end of the movie because she abandoned her boyfriend. I liked her boyfriend Sam played by Ivan Gonzalez, he was very cute and innocent. I think he was my favorite character in the movie.

What I liked in this movie were the effects of isolation on people. They go insane, get horny, lose hair because of not enough vitamins. I think the movie got the right image of that. You really saw them decay. Also, in the beginning of the movie you saw that the people were fairly nice at each other, but sometimes showed a few nasty traits, in this movie you really see those nasty traits improve. It's done very well.The movie is not really a horror movie, I think it's better described as a drama/thriller. The movie is very brutal because it shows human nature. 

Unfortunately you never know what the cause is of this disaster, you don't know what experiments the people were doing and you don't know why they kidnapped the girl. The movie leaves a lot of questions behind. I think the moviemakers did that on purpose to really show human nature instead the story behind the disaster.

It's really hard for me to decide what was more important; the annoying yelling/screaming/talking or the very well shown truth of human nature. As I mentioned, the movie has good sides and bad sides. The location of the movie is very claustrophobic since it's only a basement. It's annoying that you don't know the reasons behind everything, but I most confess that after a while of watching you don't really notice that anymore. The music in the movie is excellent en gives me goosebumps because it's at exactly the good time. The acting is decent.

I don't think everyone will like this movie. Also it's not a real horror movie, even though it shows some brutal images.

My personal rate: 6,5/10