Misogynist hits DVD March 3rd!

I already posted about Misogynist earlier this year with a link to the trailer, now there's finally a release date known for the DVD which is March 3rd 2015. Director Michael Matteo Rossi's Misogynist is a dark looking thriller with an interesting synopsis:

Trevor is an extreme misogynist who campaigns underground seminars, teaching his ideology of women. Only through referrals and word of mouth, he provides bizarre, offensive, and outlandish strategies to young men, with the promise that they can control any woman. His best student is Harrison, a young man Trevor took under his wing when he was most vulnerable. Viewing Trevor as a father-figure, Harrison will do what Trevor instructs him to do. Soon Harrison starts to realize that he is just a pawn in Trevor s plot to get even with the woman who made him who he is.

With great actors such as Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls, Van Wilder 2), Eve Mauro (Osombie, Land of the Lost) and Jon Briddell (Past Impulse) this promises to be an interesting movie. Interested? Go pre-order Misogynist at Amazon.com!

The Babadook (2014)

 The Babadook

IMDB rate: 6,9

Genre: Drama

Starring: Essie Davis, Daniel Henshall

A few weeks ago I read an article about a very well known horror movie director (shamefully, I can't remember who it was, but trust me if I tell you he is well known), who thought The Babadook was one of the scariest movies he had ever seen. Coming from this director I thought it was definitely something worth checking out. I had no idea what The Babadook was about, but the poster looked promising. 

What The Babadook is about:

Amelia who lost her husband in a car crash on the way to the give birth to Samuel, their only kid, struggles to cope with her fate as a single mom. Samuel's constant fear of monsters and his violent reaction to overcome the fear doesn't help her cause either which makes her friends distance themselves. When things can not get any worse, they read a strange book in their house that talks about the 'Babadook' monster that hides in the dark areas of their house. Even Amelia seems to feel the effect of Babadook and desperately tries to destroy the book, but in vain! The nightmarish experiences the two encounter form the rest of the story.

I wouldn't necessarily say that The Babadook is a very scary movie, there are no jump scares at all and every time something does tend to happen, it doesn't exactly reach that scary point. I would more say that The Babadook is a psychological horror movie. It's a very sad movie. I think it's a bit comparable with We Need To Talk About Kevin, only I thought this movie was more exciting.

Unlike other horror movies this one isn't infested with fear and terror of the unknown creature, there's also a human element in it; that of a mother who is on the edge of losing her mind after losing her husband, dealing with her somewhat crazy son and with this unknown creature called The Babadook. 

I also want to add that I admire the actress Essie Davis tons for this movie, she did an amazing acting job. Her depression, anxiety, fear and slowly shifting madness are all very well shown. You can't help but feel incredibly sorry for the poor woman. Daniel Henshall plays her son, not really sure what to think of him to be honest. At some moments I thought he was good, but at times I also thought that he wasn't very good. Sometimes when he was mad or sad, it was almost as if he was smiling. A bit of an annoying character as well, very loud and asking for attention all the time. 

Small spoiler alert!

I must admit that when I finished watching it I wasn't exactly sure what to think of the ending. It just didn't feel right. I don't have much imagination, so I searched IMDB for some explanations. I found tons of interesting explanations, the most interesting one being that Amelia is the one who wrote the book, this is because she already told that she wrote children's books and when she arrived at the police station her hands were black. The Babadook stands for all the problems she and her son have, and they have to conquer them together, or die together. The Babadook eventually living in peace in their basement could mean that they learned to live with their past.

With this being said, I think it's clear that this movie shouldn't be viewed as just another horror movie of a family that gets haunted by a creature. I did watch it like that and that will make the ending look stupid and unsatisfying, while in reality it's something to think about. I would say it's a bit comparable with The Orphanage. 

When I first watched this movie I must admit that I did not like it a whole lot, mostly because of the ending. I started looking around for more information about the movie and it gave me a whole new perspective of the movie which made me like it a whole lot more. Great acting and incredibly terrifying pictures in The Babadook-book.

My rate: 7,5/10

Divergent (2014)

Divergent

IMDB rate: 6,9

Genre: Adventure

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Kate Winslet  

Ever since the first Hunger Games movie was released there arose a new trend of movie type: The young adults in a broken world type. All coming from young adult books, and all coming in quadrilogy's (I'm not even sure it's the right word). The four part series are the new hype, three movies aren't good enough anymore. The strange thing about this is, all the books are trilogies. Ever since the last Harry Potter movie it became a thing to split the last book in two parts, even though the book is just as thick as previous books (the Hobbit exaggerated this even more by making a trilogy from one thin book). While it seems like an odd thing to do, I don't necessarily mind since I pretty much LOVE these type of movies. I'm a big fan of the Hunger Games, read all the books but still need to see Mockingjay part 1. I've seen The Maze Runner which was equally amazing, and now I watched the movie Divergent. 

I love post-apocalyptic movies, and these type of movies are somewhat post-apocalyptic in an interesting way, each in their own sort of way. At first I did not know what Divergent was about, I knew there was a big hype about it but for some reason I thought it would be something like Twilight. Not really sure how I came to that thought, but I was definitely wrong about that. Ever since I watched Divergent two weeks ago, I couldn't help but watch it again this week. I wouldn't say it was the best movie I've ever seen and I certainly don't think it's better than The Hunger Games, but it's definitely intriguing and an amazingly interesting concept. 

Here's what Divergent is about:

Set in a futuristic dystopia where society is divided into five factions that each represent a different virtue, teenagers have to decide if they want to stay in their faction or switch to another - for the rest of their lives. Tris Prior makes a choice that surprises everyone. Then Tris and her fellow faction-members have to live through a highly competitive initiation process to live out the choice they have made. They must undergo extreme physical and intense psychological tests, that transform them all. But Tris has a secret that she is Divergent, which means she doesn't fit into any one group. If anyone knew, it would mean a certain death. As she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly peaceful society, this secret might help her save the people she loves... or it might destroy her.

Overall, Divergent isn't much appreciated by film critics, and I admit that there are many things wrong with it, but I'm just a real big fan of how people, and in these types of movies the government, react in a broken world (dystopia). In The Hunger Games there are the districts, who eventually will stand up against the government (the Capitol). In the Maze Runner it's somewhat more simple because it's just about a bunch of boys being surrounded by a maze. But in the end of that movie you see that it's in a broken world as well, which we probably learn more about in the next movie (or just read the book). In Divergent there's 5 different factions, all with their own specialty, and of course, in the end it's about rebelling against the controlling government. It's an interesting and refreshing take on how people react towards different situations. 

I think the acting is pretty good in this movie, never seen Shailene Woodley before but I think she acted pretty good in this movie. Very cool character as well, love how she grew till that badass girl. Also loved the chemistry between her and actor Theo James. Great couple. It was also cool how Kate Winslet played the bad guy in this movie, suits her well. 

Perhaps the story is a bit silly, but if you look past that it's a pretty cool movie with lots of great action and touching drama. I really enjoyed the movie, I don't really get why most people have so many problems with it. Something what was also notable was the music, normally I'm absolutely not a fan of the type of music that Junkie XL (he's Dutch as well by the way) makes, but it fitted the movie perfectly. If you're a fan of movies such as The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner I certainly would give Divergent a chance. I definitely had fun watching it! 

Oh, and sorry for the non-horror related review :).

My rate: 7/10

Housebound (2014)

Housebound

IMDb rate: 6,8

Genre: Comedic, Ghost

Starring: Morgana O'Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Cameron Rhodes

Sorry for my absence, I promise I'll be updating regularly again from now on :).
 A few weeks ago I watched the movie Housebound, a movie from New Zealand. I've seen only one other horror movie from New Zealand, which is of course the magnificent Black Sheep, so well, I had high expectations of this movie! The poster of this movie looks pretty hilarious, so based upon the good looking poster I decided to watch Housebound, without any knowledge of what it was about. When I finally learned that the movie was about a girl trapped inside the house because of a warrant, I was afraid that the movie would be something like 100 Feet, thank god that wasn't the case.

Here's what Housebound is about:
Kylie Bucknell is forced to return to the house she grew up in when the court places her on home detention. Her punishment is made all the more unbearable by the fact she has to live there with her mother Miriam - a well-intentioned blabbermouth who's convinced that the house is haunted. Kylie dismisses Miriam's superstitions as nothing more than a distraction from a life occupied by boiled vegetables & small town gossip. However, when she too becomes privy to unsettling whispers & strange bumps in the night, she begins to wonder wheter she's inherited her overactive imagination, or if the house is in fact possessed by a hostile spirit who's less than happy about the new living arrangement.

The first thing that's noticeable about Housebound is the atmosphere, it's somewhat dark but also not very serious. This feeling is being highlighted by the many sarcastic remarks made by the main character Kylie Bucknell. There's not a whole lot of music playing in the background, and when there is music it's very dark. It's gives a bit of a crazy vibe over the movie, because it's so sarcastic and somewhat comedic and yet so dark.

Great acting, Morgana O'Reilly plays the rebellious Kylie Bucknell and she did a great job doing so. I liked her character as well, mainly a rebel but also with a nicer side. I felt sorry for her mother many times, great character writing. The mother played by Rima Te Wiata did an amazing job as well, the role of a sweet caring mother who isn't turning her back on her rebellious daughter was perfect for Rima Te Wiata. I wished to have seen more of the character of the stepfather tough, played by Ross Harper. 

The ending was slightly confusing because there suddenly was a whole lot going on, but overall I really enjoyed watching Housebound. It wasn't a standard ghost movie like we normally see and it wasn't necessarily predictable either. Normally comedic horror movies are more funny than scary, but this movie was actually somewhat scary as well. For example, the toy bear, creepy as hell. It did a great job at combining the two I think. Housebound was an entertaining movie, on moments it was a bit weird, but overall I enjoyed this movie from New Zealand!

My rate: 7,5/10

Bates Motel [Season 2]

Bates Motel

Season 2

IMDB rate: 8,2

Genre: Thriller, Serial Killer

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Vera Farmiga, Max Thieriot

A while ago I finally finished season 2 of Bates Motel. It's a bit crazy because I really like this show a lot, but after I have watched an episode I don't necessarily have the urge to go watch the next episode. I do really love this though.

As you may or may not know, Bates Motel is a prequel to the amazing Psycho. I'm still doubting though that Bates Motel will eventually fully follow the Psycho storyline. Norman Bates is pretty messed up in Bates Motel, but on a different level compared to Psycho. At this point I can't really see him take over his mother after she would die, but perhaps season 3 will give us something different. Who knows.

The storyline is still going different directions compared to Psycho. For example, there's more and more focus on the weed industry and Norman's brother Dylan. There was also a few episodes about Norma's brother who apparently is the father of Dylan, while this is pretty messed up itself there was only just a short focus on that part. Again, perhaps there will be more about it in the next season.

What I did miss this season was focus towards Norman. This season started focusing more on Dylan and Norma, and Norman was more the background story. There was an incredibly annoying character added this season, which was a girl named Cody. She is Norman's new love interest, but she was very annoying and a pretty ungrateful unmannered cunt. Not played by a great actress either. Thankfully she  disappeared at the end of the season. Don't really understand her purpose in Bates Motel.

I still like the actors a lot in Bates Motel, Freddie Highmore is still doing an excellent job playing the eccentric Norman Bates. Vera Farmiga is also still doing an amazing job as Norma Bates, the mother. Overall there weren't many permanent additions to the cast, only a few people who weren't very likable or interesting and whom stayed only a few episodes.

Bates Motel is definitely a fun show to watch, it's tensive and there's a lot happening. Great actors with interesting characters. After watching two seasons of Bates Motel I'm not sure if it will ever become like Psycho. There are only small things that are similar to Psycho such as the names of characters and that Norman loses his mind sometimes. It's a excellent show if it's not a prequel to Psycho, but since it is you keep hoping it will become something more like Psycho, which it isn't so far. I loved these two seasons and I'm hoping season three will be just as good. A bit less Dylan will be appreciated though ;).

Interested in reading my review of season 1? Click here!

The Walking Dead: Season 5, episode 8: Coda

This review will NOT be spoiler free!

The mid-season finale has aired! Now we'll have to wait until 8 February '15 to be further bored with this show. Of course I'm exaggerating a bit, this episode wasn't too bad. But was it really spectacular? No. It was pretty much like I predicted it would be, the only thing that surprised me somewhat was the person who died this episode. Yes, someone died this episode, and if you're bothered with me mentioning it you should know that I warned you on the top :). Now, if you really don't want to know anything further then I suggest you stop reading now because names will be mentioned.

I think it's pretty important to warn people about spoilers, because this morning I was scrolling through Instagram and the Instagram page of AMC The Walking Dead decided to post 2 or 3 pictures of that one person with R.I.P. written next to it, meaning I knew this morning who died already when I haven't seen the episode yet. That sucked pretty hard because this was finally an episode that finally could be something interesting, but well, that was pretty much crushed for me. So, again, last warning, spoilers will follow!

This episode wasn't necessarily good, but it wasn't bad either. I think what made it most exciting was the fact that something badass finally happened again, this being that one of the main characters died. It's actually somewhat stupid that they wait until the finales to kill someone again, I hope they won't make this a regular thing because things would become boring and predictable very easily that way.

Even though I saw spoilers before seeing the episode, I was glad to see who the person was who died. This being Beth, the most useless singing character on The Walking Dead. It was actually somewhat sad in the episode because Maggie and co. came back from their 15km trip to nothing and she heard that Beth was still alive, so she was happy and went along with the others on the saving trip. When arrived at the hospital though, Daryl carried the body of Beth outside leaving Maggie heartbroken. It was a sad happening when Beth died, Rick and Daryl both cried and it was a pretty good scene all together.

The rest of the episode was mostly talking though, Gabriel got himself in a mess but got out alive. The others in the church were in danger as well for a short period of time, but it was obvious that the focus of that episode wouldn't be on the church so you already knew that nothing bad was going to happen to any of those characters.

Even though the episode wasn't very exciting, although I must admit that there's a possibility that I would've liked it better when I didn't read any spoilers, I was glad that this episode happened. Beth is finally gone meaning the group doesn't have to hang around anymore to save someone. The whole Beth scene was a bit lame though, the moment before she got shot I mean. Her character was trying to be tough again (which she is definitely not) and for some unknown reason she stabbed the leader Dawn with a scissor which had the immediate reaction that her head was blown off. It was all going very fast and it was somewhat confusing actually.

Now the first eight episodes have been aired I can't say I'm looking that much forward to February again. It's just that there were only 2 really good episodes this season, 1 episode was reasonable (this one) and the other ones were just shit. Fact is that the quality of The Walking Dead has been bad lately and I think that won't change anymore in upcoming seasons. It was nice that someone finally died again for the mid-season finale, but unfortunately that was the only good part about this episode. Apparently at the end there was a shot about Morgan again, but I haven't seen it unfortunately. I guess we'll learn more about him in the second half of the season.