Annabelle:Creation, A Vast Improvement

Annabelle:Creation is the follow up to the 2014 horror, Annabelle. A spin off from The Conjuring franchise. Although Annabelle was a hit at the box office, it wasn’t well received by both fans and critics. But as we saw last year with the Origins of Evil, an underwhelming first entry can be saved by an impressive second outing! Can Creation do the same for Annabelle?

Creation is directed by David F. Sandberg, who also directed Lights Out, which was a fascinatingly created horror using a unique concept and managed to not fall into most of the usual horror troupes! So expectation was raised for Creation, and it’s nice to say, that Creation makes up for the lackluster original.

The sequel tells the story a group on orphans, who are moving in with the Mullins family, who have kindly offered to take in the children following their eviction. The Mullins however are still dealing with the loss of their young daughter, following a car accident, a daughter that they are unwilling to let go off. It’s not long before the orphans realize not everything is as it seems in their lonely, isolated home out in the middle of nowhere….

Janice (Talitha Bateman) & Linda (Lulu Wilson) are two of the orphans, who the film follows throughout the movie. It’s this friendship that they have that makes the movie feel a lot more immersive than random no name characters who are simply there to be killed off! Janice, who suffers from polio, causing her to require crutches for walking, was a different way to add tension. The moment it’s revealed she has a condition, the entire theater reacted all the same, she will be the poor girl who gets the unwanted attention of our demon! Lulu Wilson also appeared in Origins of Evil, and is already making a promising career in the horror genre. Both young actors do a strong job with their roles.

The film is very much a game of two halves. The first half is very much at a serene pace, all about the fear the girls are going through, and the presence of the Mullins, especially Mrs Mullins (Miranda Otto), who happens to never leave her room, and is never seen by the girls, or the nun looking after the girls. Whereas Mr Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) appears to be a stoic person, who displays very little affection towards the children. The movie does a great job in building up the suspense, and there are always something happening in the background! So pay attention! Personally I preferred this part of the film more, as the Annabelle doll really did a wonderful job of being disturbing, irregardless of the fact it never actually moves!! The scenes involving the tea party and Linda firing her toy gun into the darkness, are very unnerving!

The entire tone of the film changes as soon as the reveal of the demon is made, and it starts going on a rampage! The demon looks pretty generic, and it does talk, which really does take away some of it’s mystique. But, as a horror movie, the intense panic of the 2nd half is required, and it does a fairly good job. It does get surprisingly graphic at times, considering the subtle tones of the earlier scenes, it does feel slightly out of left field! But the characters are rather well made, and you do root for their survival, rather than hoping they just die for their stupid decisions.

The film still suffers some inconsistent details. Considering the main group of orphans are all young girls, they really don’t act like a young child facing a demonic presence, yes there are some screams and terror at points, but some other parts, they act rather calm, considering the situation they are in! There are also scenes where things feel like you have to just accept the moment. Considering the home is filled with various other children, the Mullins, and Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman), the home does feel very empty at times suiting the moment! There are scenes were both Linda & Janice would most likely call for help, rather than just going it alone for the sake of the drama!

Overall, the positives do outweigh the negatives. Creation gives us a solid horror movie, with intriguing characters, and some genuinely creepy moments! It also give us a look into fan favorite Valak, who will have it’s own spin off soon! If you enjoyed Origins of Evil, you will definitely want to give this a watch too!

August 19, 2017 0

The Mummy, Should Have Stay Buried

The Dark Universe, which is looking to rely on Universal Studios back catalogue of classical Horror icons such as Frankenstein, Dracula & The Phantom of The Opera to name a few. In order for this to succeed, it is crucial that the first instalment entices the audience for future releases! In this case, it’s the freshly rebooted The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella & Russell Crowe, which has been given the job of getting the franchise to hit the ground running.

So this time around, we have Nick Morton (Cruise), a US military officer who with his close friend Sergeant Chris Vail (Jake Johnson), use their military duties as a cover to ransack ancient temples in order to sell onto the black market. After one operation goes wrong in Iraq, they end up uncovering an Egyptian burial site, with the assistance of archaeologist Jennifer (Annabelle Wallace). Things quickly go downhill as they end up releasing vengeful soul of Princess Ahmanet (Boutella) into the modern world,

If it was the role of The Mummy to get the audiences enticed, than unfortunately, it’s failed spectacularly. What we end up with a story, which is all over the place, where The Mummy ends up playing somewhat of a support role! Universal Studios seemed way too keen to start setting up its future movies during the entire middle 3^rd of the film, with character reveals and plot details for the future. The film had a total of 6 different screenwriters that can explain the lack of cohesion in the plot. The Mummy opens pretty well, with the initial burial site discovery and the dramatic airplane crash scene, which featured prominently in the trailers, is by far the best scene in the entire movie.

Ahmanet is set up as a menacing foe, with the power to revive the dead and literally suck the life from anyone it touches. The plot for Ahmanet also seems very archaic, after the inspiring Wonder Women, here, Ahmanet’s main goal, to find her chosen one. We end up with the Mummy playing second fiddle as the film decides to explain the appearance of other characters, and loads of dialogue. It’s here where the film sadly loses its momentum. If it had continued the action packed opening half hour, we could have ended up with an entertaining ride, but the film screeches to a halt, and never really picks up again.

The cast are a mixed bag. Tom Cruise is of course box office, but his character here is arrogant and unlikable, which isn’t a bad thing, but his character arc never goes anywhere, and pretty much stays the same throughout. His action scenes of as always, great, so it’s a shame the film really didn’t have more action packed set pieces. Although Cruise is a huge name, even then, it feels like the movie is so focused on him, it feels like Tom Cruise ft. The Mummy!

Jennifer is pretty much just there to get into trouble, and be the love interest for Nick. The problem is, the two never show any kind of interest in one another, nor do you ever really care what happens between them. You barely see them have any meaningful dialogue, bar a few scenes. A very forgettable & bland persona. Boutella is by far the best of the bunch, following her captivating roles in Star Trek & Kingsman, she is proving to be a well accomplished star. Russel Crowe’s character is purely there for the sake of future movies, and really could have been cut out entirely, or be reduced to a post credit scene if needs must.

The film does try to include a lot of comedy, mainly with the interactions between Nick & Chris. These scenes don’t ever feel comfortable here, as this movie is much darker than the 1999 version. It really felt like a move to follow the banter that Marvel movies seem to revel in.

The scenes that show the full mercy of The Mummy across London, makes you expect an action packed finale across the London backdrop, but instead, it all concludes in a dark, underground cavern. Taking away the awe factor of what could have been a far more dramatic conclusion.

To sum it all up, The Mummy is simply boring. The sad thing is, the Egyptian lore and backstory has great material to work with, and if the film was solely about The Mummy v our hero for the entire runtime, that probably would have worked better. What we get is 3 stories attempting to be told at once, with The Mummy barely featuring in a turgid middle act, removing the most interesting part, in an effort to try and get us interested for what may come.

With big names like Johnny Depp & Javier Bardem already signed up for future Dark Universe movies, it is unlikely the franchise will be affected by the lukewarm reviews to The Mummy, but it has a lot of work to do in the run up to the next planned release in 2019, Bride of Frankenstein.

June 13, 2017 0

Covenant, Lacks Any Fear

The 6th instalment of the iconic Alien franchise has landed in cinemas, Alien: Covenant. Picking up following the developments from 2012’s Prometheus, is Covenant a throwback to the original horror, or a follow on from the lore heavy Prometheus.

Covenant, is the story of the Covenant, a vessel travelling to a far flung planet, its mission, to find an alternate planet for colonisation. Each ship is overlooked by an android assistant, while the human crew are in deep sleep. The android maintaining the Covenant is Walter (Fassbender), but due to an emergency, the crew are forced to wake up. Following the loss of a fellow crew member, and with the reluctance to get back inside the pods, our team decide to respond to a distress call, from another potential viable planet for life, which is far more closer to get to then the remaining 7 years left to reach their original destination.

Upon landing on the new planet, things inevitable unravel and the blood starts flowing! You don’t really need to watch Prometheus to enjoy Covenant; the movie does refer back to the prequel, and does a good job in doing enough explanation to not leave anyone who hasn’t watched Prometheus, totally out of the loop.

Director Ridley Scott has been accuse of losing his magic in recent times, but The Martian showed that he still has the ability to deliver great work. Covanent follows that up with another strong showing here. By far the best aspect of the movie is the performance of Fassbender, who performs a dual role here. As already mentioned, he plays Walter, on board the Covenant, and also David, the older version of himself that was abroad the previous Prometheus mission. There are several scenes which involve both characters on screen at the same time, and he pulls it off with great intensity. He also plays the role of a synthetic being well enough to not sound completely wooden, which is a trap many who play robots fall into.

The human crew on-board though, are a very mixed bag, and a majority of them come off as pretty unlikable. Katherine Waterston is Daniels AKA New Ripley, but she simply doesn’t have the presence to play a role such as this, she looks lost and confused for large parts of the movie, and being the supposed lead human, is overshadowed by Fassbender’s presence. The captain of the crew, Oram (Billy Crudup) is written to be somewhat antagonistic, and his traits are very dis-likeable, not even allowing his crew to mourn the loss of a colleague! It was strange to make him somewhat of a secondary antagonist, as the aliens are enough of a threat as it is. Everyone else of the team is largely bland or unremarkable, and make several stupid decisions throughout the film! The only real endearing figure is Tennessee (Danny McBride) as the pilot of the Covenant, surprising, as McBride isn’t usually known for these kind of roles!

It’s down on the planet where the film really shines though, the opening 3rd seems to drag on for a long time, before we get into the nitty gritty, the Aliens! One thing to understand, is as this is a prequel to the original, this is the story of how the fiends known as the Xenomorphs came into existence, so the threats don’t look like what you expect them too! The film does not hold back on the violence and blood! It’s not just the chest the aliens surprise us from, and some of the deaths our crew suffer are pretty graphic. It may be slightly over the top, but it also empathises how destructive these creatures are. One of the criticisms of Prometheus was that it was very dialogue heavy, and didn’t have enough Xenomorph action, fair enough; as they are the main reason we go to watch these movies! Having watched Prometheus may help you enjoy the film more, but not watching it won’t ruin the experience. The alien saga is explained with careful detail, and it does get us curious in seeing where the next movie goes with all the revelations unearthed here.

The film though does lack the feel of the originals, there isn’t that build up that tension, that feeling of being alone and trapped. The film is very linear in that regards. It is very obvious which character will bite the dust, and the twist reveal at the end is so, so predictable, that it disappointed me they actually went ahead at did it! Also, the trailer pretty much revealed all the set pieces, a damaging habit most trailers seem to fall into nowadays. . It’s a shame that the movie just isn’t as scary as it could have been, as it’s all so telegraphed in its story. Yes some of the scenes can be rather brutal, but is it scary? Not really.

Covenant is no way a bad movie, if you’re a fan of the Alien franchise, or Sci-Fi is generally, it’s an entertaining ride, which gives more plot into how the Xenomorphs came to be, and has the usual Alien tropes. On the other hand there’s isn’t anything new and original to shout about. The film does have some homage to the original movies, but it very much feels like a part of the new trilogy, and not the old.

May 17, 2017 0

Life Thrills!

Life, follows a star studded cast, as a group of astronauts on the International Space Station. who happen to bring on a surprise visitor, who happens to be a lot more sinister than first presumed!

The crew on the ISS manage to recover a capsule, containing various samples from a recent Martian mission. Amongst all the specimen of rocks is one curious sample, it turns out that the crew have managed to successfully find life on Mars! With the news relayed back to Earth, they honour the new organism with the name Calvin, which seems innocent enough, before Calvin wakes up from his slumber!

On board, we have Dr Miranda North (Ferguson) & Dr David Jordan (Gyllenhaal) as the medical officers of the station, and also the main characters the movie follows. Also on the team is Adams (Reynolds) the ISS pilot, Derry (Bakare) the stations British biologist. Murakami, the teams Japanese engineer and Golovkina, the Russian commander. It’s only fair the International Space Station has an International cast!

It’s our biologist that develops a close affinity with Calvin, and it’s his curiosity that ultimately leads our Martian friend on its warpath! After some mild experiments to monitor the growth of Calvin, it’s the electrical stimulation that sets off its survival instincts, and from that point on, the movie becomes an intense thriller!

Calvin is most certainly the highlight of this well-made space chiller, as the film progresses, it gets more and more advanced, not just physically, but also its intelligence. Our astronauts have to get more tactical against its threat, as the crew gradually starts to get taken out. Speaking of the deaths, the film is pretty graphic at times, as our alien fiend starts absorbing its prey in various gory methods. It does feel a bit over the top at times, but it does well in showing how weak our crew is, up against this relentless threat. Could there be a greater fear than drowning…in Space?!

As with most recent films set in Space, such as Interstellar, Gravity & The Martian, Life is incredibly beautiful, the shots of Earth, the Sun, and various other scene out of the station are gorgeous, and makes the whole movie look so much more polished. If the CGI looks bad in a Space movie, it would have a hugely negative effect on the whole project.

It’s clear that the film takes a lot of inspiration from Alien, which is no way a bad thing! Daniel Espinosa directs a wonderfully eerie set piece. Where the movie excels, is in the stalking aspects of the film. As Calvin slips away, all our crew can hear is the various thuds as our predator crawls around the metallic interiors of the station. This is extremely well executed when Calvin is in its earlier phases, as its smaller body allows it to sneak around in all manner of places, and jumping out from the smallest of gaps! As it grows, it does get a bit more comical, as it grows a face and limbs, along with a cheesy ‘monster vision’ scene.

So how do our crew preform here? Reynolds is obviously the most charismatic, with his jovial nature and comic relief. Upcoming British actor Ariyon Bakare is great as the Scientist who develops an almost family like affinity to his new discovery, his character also has a disability which plays well into the story-line. Our two medical officers don’t’ really have much to shout about. Gyllenhaal’s character hates life back on Earth, and prefers the solitude of Space, though they don’t really go into too much detail on why this really is. His pretty much grumpy throughout the movie, where a bit more emotion would have been better, considering the situation they found themselves in. Rebecca Ferguson character is fairly bland, and probably shouldn’t have been the main focus of the film, her role in Rogue Nation was far superior.

As a whole, the movie succeeds in what it attempts to do, Calvin steals the show wherever it appears, the sheer terror the crew faces every time they are confronted with it is well captured. The nature of the deaths also makes the audience feel nervous and uncomfortable, which only helps build the suspense. The dull nature of of main protagonists does hold back the movie from being a truly memorable, and the utterly predictable twist at the end is so expectant, it’s almost funny when it happens! Life isn’t the perfect space thriller, but it’s definitely worth checking out if you love Space movies, especially ones containing savage aliens on board!

March 28, 2017 0

A Cure for Wellness, Something New!

Finding an original film nowadays can be quite a challenge, it seems most big releases are either a sequel or remake! A Cure for Wellness aims to be a fresh new spin on the horror genre.

Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) is your typical high rolling Wall Street banker, who has earned himself a place at the top table at his firm. His employers uncover the underhanded methods he was using to close his high profile cases, which if reported to the SEC, will most certainly lead him on the path to prison. But there is a way out, if he can retrieve the company’s CEO, Pembroke, from a retreat in Switzerland, they can pin the blame on him. Though Lockhart may not be clean, his employers realise the potential for more money to be made, and in the process, get rid of the CEO who they believe has lost his mind.

It’s at the Swiss retreat, where Lockhart suffers an accident, waking up to find himself with a broken leg, and having been admitted to the facility. The trailer for the movie gave off a definite Shutter Island vibe, and that can only be a good thing! The Spa retreat at the centre of the movie’s plot is magnificently eerie. From all the endless rooms, corridors and gardens, the Spa is a great setting for this film. It’s here where our protagonist encounters Dr Volmer (Jason Isaacs), the director of the Spa, and a mysterious young girl, Hannah (Mia Goth) who spends her time wondering the facility grounds.

The film does wonders for Swiss tourism! As this has to be one of the most beautiful looking films I’ve seen. The castle is a spectacle, and some of the visuals that are obtained with the stunning Alpine backdrop is divine. One scene is which Lockhart & Hannah are talking by a water fountain, with the Alps reflecting off the waters surface is one of the many wonderfully shot scenes spread throughout. The cinematography here is outstanding. Director Gore Verbinski has executed a visual treat for movie goers!

The first two acts of the movie are pretty well done, DeHaan does a fine job as the unlikable money hungry executive, though he does a few things out of character during the film. Would someone as meticulous as him, just randomly sign a document without reading it through? As impatient as he may have been, it seemed strange to just sign something off, though I suppose, plot development! The entire Spa has a creepy vibe to it, all the patients here, seem to be more than happy to be here, a bit too happy! and its not long before Lockhart eventually discovers the hidden secrets behind everything. The movie does good to avoid relying on too many jump scares, preferring to slowly build up to the reveals, though at times, it feels like it’s dragging on. The film is pretty graphic, warranting it the 18 certificate. If your not a fan of the dentist chair, you may want to look away during one specific scene!

It’s at the end, where the film totally goes off the rails, and almost feels like a parody. Whereas the everything before the finale, was a wonderfully shot, enticing horror. The inevitable plot twist, is the twist that anyone paying any attention during the film would have called. The fact this is pretty much spoiled to us in a scene earlier on in the film makes it just that much more annoying.It’s disappointing that there wasn’t a swerve, and they went with what everyone thought they were going to go with this. From a macabre mystery, the film turns into an all out action finale, including the final showdown in the backdrop of flames! It feels very much out of place in a movie which spent so much time building things up.

Speaking of time, Wellness is full of filler. A run time of over 2 hr is certainly excessive, and the film could have been cut by 30 minutes easily. One scene spends about 5 minutes, in which Lockhart stumbles into a dark room and discovers what resides in there. There’s building suspense, but then there are scenes that could have easily been reduced significantly.

The ending aside, Wellness is still one of the better movies out this year, and you have to give the director credit for trying something new and original. Personally, the final act of the movie did taint it somewhat, but that’s all down to personal opinion. If your looking for something different to watch, and don’t mind being freaked out, by all means, give this a try!

February 28, 2017 0

Ringzzzzzzz

It was back in Summer, I noticed a poster for Rings while at the cinema. Even back then, I was sceptical if this was even worth making, for a franchise that’s been dead in the water for years. My doubts were proved right, as Rings has to be one of the dullest horror movies I’ve seen for a very long time!

Rings is a reboot of the original 2002 release The Ring, the successful American remake of the cult Japanese horror Ringu. For anyone not familiar with the lore, The Ring revolves around a mysterious videotape, anyone who happens to watch the tape receives a phone call soon after, a voice telling them that they will die in 7 days’ time. The film is iconic for the vengeful spirit Sadako/Samara (depending on the region of the movie!) emerging from within the TV screen of the victim. The latest release aims to bring the movie into the current generation, a decision that takes the edge off what made the original so great.

So the plot, our main character, Julia, sees her boyfriend Holt, move to college. After losing touch with him after a couple of days, she decides to go to the college he attends to see what’s going down (instead of simply calling the college and finding out what has happened!). It is never explained why his mates are angry at her, but they are! For some reason. It’s here she discovers a morbid experiment that is being run on campus by one of the Science professors in secrecy, and Holt has been dragged into it. After Julia ends up watching the tape too, it’s a race against time to save herself before the 7 days are up!

For anyone who hasn’t watched the previous films, the only way to avoid your inevitable death, is to pass the curse on to someone else, by making a copy of the tape and making someone else view it, a selfish move, but one you make out of desperation. This concept plays a central role to the film, and while it’s a nice twist, it just feels abit rushed. We start off by seeing the Professor discovering the tape, and the next time we see him, not only has he converted the VHS to digital media, but he has uncovered the trick to getting past it, how exactly did he know this? We don’t know, it’s never explained!

The second half of the movie is incredibly dull & sluggish, as it becomes a mystery movie, we follow our couple to a town in the outskirts, as they dig up clues to unveil the truth. It’s here where the film just goes into 2nd gear and cruises along, the characters are just not charismatic enough for us to be bothered about their journey, and it’s a lot of talking, with random lazy jump scares thrown in every now and again.

The switch to modern media has definitely hurt the franchise. There is just something incredibly eerie when it comes to VHS, with its static and poor audio & image quality; it simply gives off a far creepier vibe than a high def movie file on a laptop! The CGI in this movie is another downer, it’s shockingly bad. It’s so overdone, that Samara loses her aura, and looks like a character from a PS3 game! When she first appears out of a plasma TV, it’s so poor, you will end up laughing at how this quality was deemed OK for a big Hollywood release! The abundance of CGI across the entire movie looks cheesy, and ruins the atmosphere.

The characters are utterly forgettable, Julia goes from ‘you’re so stupid for getting involved in this mess’ to ‘risking her life for this guy’ in one night! We don’t even know how long they have been together! The boyfriend is entirely useless in the movie; Julia does all the work. He hardly contributes anything, and even in the final showdown, he gets knocked out and plays no part whatsoever! Johnny Galecki aka Leonard from Big Bang Theory seems miscast as the devious professor, and you just can’t take him seriously! Vincent D’Onofrio does what he does, and is probably the best character in the movie; at least he got some backstory to his role!

Though it may not be intentional, the move does rip off a scene from Don’t Breathe, which reminds you off a far superior horror film! The plot is predictable, you know when there will be a jump scare, and the choice of music is a curious one. A good score can make a good film great, but here, the soundtrack is overdone. It feels more like a video game than a horror movie. The opening scene on the plane is pretty hilarious, which sets the tone for the film! It would have done better to have more scenes with Samara, and less time seeing our couple wonder around digging up clues.

One other flaw is the blatant sequel baiting at the end, the film could have ended without it, and to end it with a nod to more potential films is poor form, considering how disappointing this film is. The ending is also shown in the trailers, which was a strange decision. So if anyone watched the trailer, they would know what scene is yet to come, another damaging hit to the films credentials. The trailer is also misleading in how the film is portrayed. We don’t see her suffer through 7 days as the curse develops, instead, she seems fine as she goes carries on with her mystery adventure, with no idea how many days have passed.

Rings is by far one of the worst horror films to come out in recent years, even beating The Forest from last year! Even The Forest had an original concept to play with; Rings had some great source material to work with, which is what makes it so crushing to see the movie stumble around.

February 6, 2017 1

Split Shines

“Directed by M. Night Shyamalan” is a phrase that’s been associated with several cinematic disasters. The less said about the likes of Avatar, The Happening, After Earth and The Lady in the Water have all been savaged by the critics & fans alike. A roll of dishonour! It wasn’t until The Visit (2015) that his slow climb back up to redemption started. Split is the latest release by the eccentric director, will this movie prove that Shyamalan has still got it, or if The Visit was just a one off?

Split, as the name suggests, is about Kevin (James McAvoy), a person with split personalities, 23 of them to be exact! Kevin abducts 3 girls, and it’s via his interactions with his therapist, that we come to find out the sinister workings of our conflicted figure.

McAvoy is by far the strongest aspect of the film, and does an outstanding job in portraying his various alter egos. Obviously the movie doesn’t show all 23 egos in the film, but the ones that do get screen time are wonderfully unique in their own way. We have ‘Dennis’, the intimidating alpha male, ‘Ms Patricia’, the caring mother, ‘Hedwig’, the immature 9 year old boy & ‘Barry’, the colourful fashion designer. It’s not just the simple costume changes that convey each character, but the body language and mannerisms that McAvoy manages to assign each persona. It’s a great shame the film missed out on the Oscar nominations for this year.

The supporting cast is a mixed bag, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) our main protagonist, and the wisest of the three kidnapped girls, does a solid job as the calm, collected, yet emotionally scarred heroine. As her past is slowly revealed, you do feel for her, and care for her survival. Her other two friends though, feel disposable, and their lack of smarts pretty much makes them forgettable. Betty Buckley as Dr Fletcher makes a challenging foil to Kevin, it’s her interactions with our psychotic kidnapper that really opens up the clashes within his mind.

The film is essentially told in 3 segments. Kevin, Dr Fletcher and the girls. The scenes with Kevin & Dr Fletcher are the most intriguing, and provide the best parts of the movie. It’s the scenes featuring the trapped girls, where the film tends to fall into the horror cliches. It’s pretty predictable what will happen to them in their scenes, and slows the movie down a lot.

Split is by far the best movie that Shyamalan has released in well over a decade, after a string of disasters; it’s relieving to see a throwback to his earlier movies, such as Signs, Unbreakable & The 6th Sense, when his directing was more visionary than sporadic. Split builds up the suspense in is tremendous ways, and this is mostly due to the charisma of McAvoy, the plot does well to weave in the multiple personalities, but the ending is quite hit & miss. It’s not as dramatic as The 6th Sense, the finale is a lot more subtle. I can see viewers either loving the ending, or being disappointed by it. Long term fans of Shyamalan will be delighted by the cameo at the end, so stay seated after the final scenes!

January hasn’t been a stellar month for releases over here in the UK, and Split isn’t the perfect movie, but it is by far the best film to hit our shores at the start of this year!

February 3, 2017 0

Worst of 2016 : The Forest

With the year coming to a close, it’s an opportune time to take a look back at the best and worst of 2016!

Obviously there are several films that come out over the course of a year, and we can’t watch everything, but one film that I did watch, which left me horribly disappointed, was horror film, The Forest.

2016 has been a stellar year for the horror genre, films such as Lights Out, Don’t Breathe, The Conjuring 2 & Origin of Evil have bucked the trend in the cheap jump-scare filled flicks from years prior. Currently standing at 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, then film not only managed to be one of the worst horror films of the year, it’s one of the worst films of the year full stop!

The story is based on the infamous Aokigahara Forest in Japan, more commonly known as the Suicide Forest, where twin sister (Jess) of our main protagonist, Sara, has gone missing. So Sara flies over from the States to Japan to find her missing sibling, who she refuses to believe is dead. Natalie Dormer plays the role of both twins here. The film does well initially, in setting up the journey into the forest, but once she sets foot inside, with the help of an American reporter (who isn’t suspicious at all!) & a local guide, the film starts to fall apart.

The film never gets around to explaining why there are ghosts in the forest, or any reasoning to why the suicide forest itself exists. Maybe there are spirits that lure venerable people to it? But nope, we get nothing. Instead we just get a story filled with plot holes. And a very lazy hallucination plot device, which is used a few times to cover shoddy storytelling! The missing sister also just happens to randomly appear in the final few moments of the film, as if to say, “don’t forget about me!”, with next to no explanation on what happened to her before the events of the film, apart from what we already knew.

The Forest could have been a lot more suspenseful, similar to The Grudge series, but we just got a bland story with cheap scares! Luckily we got more than enough excellent horrors out this year to make us forget about this!

December 7, 2016 0

Halloween Review-Ouija:Origin of Evil

Director: Mike Flanagan

Starring : Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson, Henry Thomas

The marks of a good horror film are that you leave the cinema reeling from what you just witnessed, heart racing, dreading the long, dark walk home. If you are looking for a thrill this Halloween, then I would highly recommend this Prequel Ouija (Origin of Evil), as this film does not disappoint for these reasons. I am told it’s a huge improvement from the first film, which in itself is an unusual anomaly.

Set in 1965, a recently bereaved wife Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) enlists the help of her two children Lina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson) to scam the locals with their Séance act. After catching Lina using an Ouija board at a house party, Alice brings this classic prop into the scheme. Unknowingly this time, the evil spirits through the Ouija board, speak through Doris and eventually gain full control of her. With the help of the School Head teacher who is also a priest (of course he is a priest!) a series of gruelling, nail biting scenes unfold as Doris starts to take over the little suburban house.

From great recent Netflix shows like Stranger Things, we know that an all-star child cast can lead the way ahead, however I couldn’t quite get to grips with Lulu Wilson’s transformation from a sweet innocent girl to her work as a mediatory. I would assume any child would be pretty petrified if they started hearing the deceased! What lets the film down even more is how quickly Alice believed in the paranormal, for a scammer she shows little cynicism. I am a great believer in taking time to build an incredible storyline before anything jumps out at you! I felt the most convincing performance was played well by Annalise Basso, her journey was reflective of the viewers own, from distrust of the other worldly phenomena, to her sweet romance with the dreamy Parker Mack (who plays teenage heartthrob Mikey).

The shivers do set in when Lulu Wilson’s acting is enhanced by the CGI effects. Seeing the innocent Doris becomes engulfed by evil spirits, watching her bright doe blue eyes turn deep white and the cracking of her vertebrae itself, would be enough to make a cat’s hair stand on end. The film strongest point was building tension between scenes. Whilst the audience lets their guard down with some off beat comedic scenes, the ghouls come out to play. I know I was scared!

When I hear the words Ouija board, it conjures fear into me. I am a big fan of this amazing horror prop. Think Exorcist and Paranormal activity. As far I am aware, not other film has inventively used the board in this many ways. I loved how the writers used the board not only to summon spirits, but used the pointer as a looking glass to see into the spirit world, creating another visual dimension to the film. In the final scenes we see that the board itself isn’t necessary, as Lina discovers a way to transform to board through blood and her spectacles as a pointer. This continues the fear, as the medium of the board can be transformed.

Having watched the trailer, admittedly I was most excited to see this horror film because its set in 1960’s! Visually I enjoyed watching the late 1960’s design styles with the sleek flicked our hair, bright pastel tones and long ruffled dresses. As an avid horror fan, I very much horror set time periods without modern technology. It’s not scary when you can phone or email a friend with your smartphone. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule like The Ring.

The ending of the film encompassed many clichés of horror films, spooky basements, historically haunted houses but hey you could argue that this is what audiences are paying for, to see a story arc that had predictable scares in it. Overall, picture this, a group of your best mates sitting down this Halloween, clutching their popcorn tightly and enjoying this good horror film. It’s a thumbs up from me.

October 31, 2016 0