Recently watched movies!

[Benjamin Haines]

Don't Breathe - This is a knockout horror movie! It's a simple premise with a twist, a home invasion thriller where the would-be protagonists are the invaders and boy did they pick the wrong home. The film hits a delicate balance with characters who all possess varying degrees and versions of loathsomeness, thanks to strong performances from the cast and sharp character development, making it possible to identify with each of them as their situation spirals all over. Really good flick.

Blair Witch - This one was interesting. It's a direct sequel to The Blair Witch Project set in the present day with the grown-up brother of the woman from the first movie trying to find out the truth about what happened to his sister. It's well done. I liked it more than the first movie. The tension is real and the found-footage gimmick doesn't hinder the proceedings. The four main characters wear tiny cameras on their ears that allow for quickly alternating POV shots, using modern technology to really sell the you-are-there illusion whenever the horrific weirdness kicks in.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension - The sixth final entry in the series that began with a micro-budget independent horror movie that hit theaters in 2009. If you've never cared for this series, this one won't mean anything to you. I liked the first three movies and thought the third one was the best, with its creative use of home videotapes to offer a late-'80s setting that casts the events of the first two films in a dark new light. Neither the fourth movie nor The Marked Ones spinoff added much of significance to the mythos built by the first three movies. The Ghost Dimension is more of a return to form. Without going into detail, the story here manages to develop a new family cast and tie their present-day plight into the lore of the first three movies while pushing it all toward a rather organic conclusion. I found it satisfying and I really wish this had just been the fourth film. Now I hope Paramount and Blumhouse don't make any more, but they will here in about six years. Lionsgate is already making another god damn Saw movie.


On a side note, I think it's amusing that directors Fede Alvarez and Adam Wingard basically traded places this year. Alvarez previously helmed the in-the-woods Evil Dead redux and Wingard directed the home invasion thriller You're Next. Now Alvarez is the one tackling the home invasion sub-genre with Don't Breathe while it's Wingard who's reviving a known horror brand in the woods with Blair Witch.

[Dr Kain]

My only problem with Don't Breath was that the

Anyway,

The Forest - There is nothing worse than having a horror movie that is just flat out boring. This movie is full of non-stop jump scares and more than half of them are fake jump scares. For being based on Japanese mythology, it sure as hell didn't even do anything with the lore. It could have just been set in America and would have gotten the same result. It also didn't help that the movie felt like a rush job as if it was severely edited down and the ending was utter garbage. Don't even waste your time with this trash. 4/10.

[GhostMachine]

[Dr Kain]

Pit and the Pendulum - I don't believe I have ever read Poe's original tale, so I have no idea how accurate it is, but the movie was quite enjoyable. I loved how Nicholas broke down into utter madness throughout the entire movie. Right now, this may be my favorite Price movie I've seen thus far as it was solid all of the way through. I'm giving it an 8/10.

[Benjamin Haines]

[Dr Kain]

Anyway,

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - I've been wanting to see this movie for years and now that I have, all I can say is this movie was down right dreadful. The pacing was absolutely atrocious as it had no sense of when to skim through some areas at high speeds and when to slow down to actually develop things. It was nice to see a movie that was accurate to the book, but the translation was done so poorly it feels like it was meant to be some cliff notes version that was meant to just skim through each chapter to get to the end as quick as possible. In fact, it felt like they just stiched everything together with the cheapest threads possible. The costumes were gorgeous, but the editing was headache inducing and there were times where it felt like a TV made movie. Not to mention the acting was awful. Both Branagh and Carter were horribly miscast for Victor and Elizabeth as their acting was wooden beyond comprehension. I coud have easily overlooked this had the rest of the movie actually been competently made, but it wasn't, so I can't. Deniro did a good job with what he had to deal with, but again, scenes were way too quick. He just fully fluent in speaking and reading overnight (no really, the editing makes it seem like it was over night) and just when things were starting to slow down when he made friends with the blind man, the movie just blows through the next bit at the speed of light. And then we have Victory's brother's death, which was done off screen and poorly edited. In the end, I can not believe I had been wanting to see this turd for years becasue it was not worth the wait. It isn't anywhere near the worst adaptation of the source material, but it sure as hell is not anywhere near being a good one. What should have been the Bram Stoker's Dracula of Shelley's novel ended up being the equivalent of Dracula 2000. I give it a 4/10.

[lhb412]

Bride of Frankenstein

One of my all-time favorite movies: just wall-to-wall insanity! The Shellys/Lord Byron opening! Doctor Septimus Pretorius and his homunculi in jars! Talking burn-victim monster befriending the blind man! The Bride!!! And the always appreciated (though frequently under-appreciated) nervous energy of Colin Clive's Dr. Frankenstein!

[Dr Kain]

X-Men First Class - They rebooted the series but still couldn't get the mythos right. Thankfully, this movie is so well written, well plotted, with loads of great character moments, especially from Magneto (who they finally got right), that I can easily overlook all of its flaws. Not only that, but it has what is by far the best X-Men score to date for any of the movies. I loved the time that was spent on training the team and especially the fact that they worked like a team. All of the movies before it never really felt they were team outside of the name. Here, they ARE a team. Shaw was a great villain and written like the character from the comics. The only downside is that his team was pretty lackluster. Azazel is a one trick pony and the weather dude was never even called by his name. Angel also betrayed the others way too quickly. Nevertheless, we get a really great final battle and one that shows no matter how powerful you are, common cents will win out in the end. Overall, this is an X-cellent film and gets a 9/10.

[Dr Kain]

The Wolverine - Well this movie certainly made up for that Origins crap. The first 2/3rds of this movie is really nicely done, the story is interesting (and feels reminiscent to the Claremont/Miller mini series from the 80s), the characters are really well written thanks to the small cast, and some of the cinematography is excellent. The scene when Wolverine is battling Mariko's father just looks gorgeous thanks to its blue lighting. In fact, so does the entire scene beforehand when the ninjas are taking out the Yashida guards. Unfortunately, everything that happens after Wolverine wakes up from all of the arrows that were stuck in him is where the movie falls apart. The final villain was lame as hell and they totally under utilized Viper. Not to mention the bone clone bit at the end was just terrible. It does a nice little lead in for Days of Future Past, but it is kind of a shame that this movie no longer exists in the canon, but oh well, that's what happens when you have too many cooks in the kitchen. I give The Wolverine an 8/10.

Prince of Darkness - This is no where near Carpenter's greatest work as the plot is convoluted as ****, but it is still one hell of a good movie. It is just really really weird with a really great cast (Donald Pleseance rocks!!) and excellent music that really drives its shortcomings. I'm going to give it a 7/10 because it is just a hair short of being an 8.

Manchurian Candidate - Kind of interesting to watch this when it is so close to the elections. This is just a great movie all around. I love the whole playing card aspect even if hypnotism is such an oudated concept. All of the actors are great at their jobs and Lawrence plays Shaw so well that even Scrooged would yell, "DAMN!" I give it an 8/10.

[lhb412]

^ I think the important thing people often forget when they use the term 'Manchurian Candidate' is that the film's actual Manchurian Candidate is a loudmouth, bullying uber-patriot who's motives are purely self interest, not one of the brainwashed characters.

Son of Frankenstein

The underrated third Frank film, introducing awesome new characters like Ygor and Inspector Krogh and laying a whole lot of the foundation for what became the movie mythology of Frankenstein - maybe most importantly being the direct inspiration for Brooks and Wilder's Young Frankenstein. Gotta love the complete abandonment of visual continuity for the village/lab/Castle Frankenstein, as all become these totally bizarre German Expressionist sets in this movie.

[Dr Kain]

Victor Frankenstein - Holy "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!", I knew this movie was not going to be very good, but I didn't expect it to be THAT bad. Radcliff felt like he was the only actor in the damn thing who was trying to play his part to the best of his abilities while everyone else was just phoning it in. I'm especially disappointed with MacAvoy as he came off here as a low rate amateur you would expect to find in some cheaply made horror movie schlock. Everyone was so over the top that it was hard to take any of this seriously, and yet, it also made everything down right boring. Since when are there a constant stream of explosions in the Frankenstein story? Since when can Victor pull of Spartan-like attacks? The ending had no payoff and nothing was even learned throughout the thing. There have been bad Frankenstein movies before, but this was a total insult to Mary Shelley's brilliance. I give this monster that should have never even been born a 3/10.

10 Cloverfield Lane - Okay, I was impressed, really impressed. It was far superior to that joke that was Cloverfield. The actors all did a great job and trying to figure out whether or not the man is crazy was done really nicely. Everytime you think you had the movie figured out it does something to make you question it. That was well done. My only complaint is that I felt it could have been about 10 minutes shorter because there were a few parts that dragged on. Neverthless, i'm going to give it an 8/10.

[Rody]

I needed a tokusatsu fix recently, so I watched Gamera: Guardian of the Universe again. I love this movie so much. It's serious, but not too serious, so there's a strong sense of awe and adventure permeating the film with spices of thrills/horror, courtesy of the Gyaos. This film just captures everything that's good and fun about the genre, and I just can't get enough of it.
Oh, Kow Otani's Gamera theme is one of my favorite monster themes - and, dare I say, even one of my favorite superhero themes.
A-.

A couple days later, I watched Gamera 2: Advent of Legion. While I think GotU has a stronger plot & (maybe)characters, G2 is loads of fun as well. It plays out like a classic 50's monster flick, but refined to near perfection in every way. The pacing is brisk, the music and effects hit far more than they miss, and the characters - actually, I really like the cast of characters. It's refreshing, somehow, to see how well they all work together. If this were an aforementioned 50's film, I feel like there would be a certain level of antagonism between the scientists and the military, with the scientist's monster notion being scoffed at until the thing actually shows up, and only then could military/scientific might come together with a solution. Not so in G2. Everyone's seen Gamera and Gyaos already, for starters; but the sense of comradery is strong throughout the film, and it's heartwarming to watch how closely Honami and Obitsu work together and even bond with Colonel Watarase and Hanatani. That's probably my favorite part of the film now, at least besides the phenomenal Legion effects-work. I don't think I have words to describe how freaking awesome of a monster the Legion are, especially the queen. She has to be one of the greatest monsters ever conceived for the big screen.
B+.

...And I sat down and watched my Blu-ray of The Return of Godzilla today. I'll write more detailed thoughts in the appropriate thread, but to sum up: I liked it, but found it neither underwhelming or particularly impressive. Right now I'd give it a B-.

[Dr Kain]

Yeah, the Heisei Gamera Trilogy is fantastic, but I do have to say that Legion is probably the best of the three. The first movie has a few moments of fluff in it and the third movie has some characters that were utterly pointless and made the movie convoluted. Legion, on the other hand, does not have one wasted scene, keeps it main characters to a minimum, and has a lot of great monster action and effects in it.

Anyway,

The Visit - This movie started out with two big things against it, being a found footage type movie and a Shamylan one. Thankfully, neither one of those effected the enjoyoment of it as it was a fairly entertaining, if predictable, movie. I mean, I saw the plot twist coming a mile away, but for what it was, it was well made and plotted. The pacing wasn't bad and the two kids were likable as they didn't get annoying as a lot of movies tend to do with their child characters. Overall, good stuff, so I give it a 7/10.

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

^Huh. That's interesting. Did Shin Kishida make for a decent Dracula substitute? He's got the look for it.

The Ghost of Frankenstein

Huge decrease in quality, but fun in its own way. I mean, there are far worse (more boring!) Universal Monsters sequels out there. Still, even with less resources I think they could have wrestled a better movie out of what is a pretty great cast.

[Dr Kain]

Nightcrawler - Holy ****, this was one damn good movie!!! The scenery from the cinematography was breathtaking and gorgeous with a radiant color pallete. It really showed both the beauty and the disgusting of LA, which not many movies can capture. The plot was really well done and excellently paced. The only negative comes down to how much of a low life the main character was, and Gyllenhal played the role precisely as the character was intended to be. I loved him and hated him at the same time. It just goes to show that you can be a scumbag and still be successful. I give this outstanding masterworks a 9/10.

X-Men Days of Future Past - Not as good as First Class, but a worthy movie in the roller coaster that is the X-Men franchise. I still don't get why Singer put Kitty and Bobby together, or how Kitty even developed these powers to begin with, how Trask suddenly went from a 6 foot black dude to a four foot midget, and a million other things, but the execution more than makes up for its short comings in explanations. The cast is solid and gives it their all with their characters, which is what makes everything work so well. Add on top that the story is well told, well paced, and all of the main characters get their chance to shine on screen, especially Magneto, and you have one entertaining film. My favorite scene is easily the one where both Magnetos set out on their objective in the past and present day to retrieve his helmet/Rogue. Love how that is edited together. Ottman's score is better than his previous iterations at the X-Men movies despite still lacking the earful bliss that First Class provided. In the end, I give Days of Future Past an 8/10.

[Dr Kain]

Ratchet & Clank - I went in expecting a really terrible video game movie and what I got was a generic, but funny, space adventure. I can definitely see why this got panned by critics becasue it does feels like they just took the cutscenes to one of the games and spliced them together without putting in the gameplay footage that really helps iron out the story. It also doesn't help that you really have to know who the characters are from the game to understand the jokes. Fortunately, I have played one of the games, so most of it was easy to follow, but my g/f was lost the entire time. There isn't anyt special to be found here though as it doesn't try to do anything new for the science fiction genre nor the video game adaptations. It could have been a lot worse though and it certainily is no where near being a terrible movie, just an average at best one. I give it a 6/10.

Halloween - And horror movie season has officially kicked off with my viewing of this masterpiece. I don't think there is anything left for me to say about this classic that I haven't said in the past. 10/10!

[lhb412]

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Pretty good Wolf Man sequel segues into kinda half-baked Frankenstein stuff. I'd love to see all the cut footage with the Lugosi Monster who's supposed to be blind and speaking with Lugosi's voice (both the result of now having Ygor's brain after the end of the last movie). Still, fun meat-and-potatoes Universal stuff: graveyards and crypts, vague Europey villages, mad scientist lab with all sorts of sparking equipment - and as always Chaney Jr. delivers another heartfelt performance as Larry Talbot.

[O.Supreme]

[lhb412]

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

Halloween II - A good, although flawed, follow up to the original movie. It isn't anywhere near as brillaint or intelligent, but it does have suspense, tension, and a great use of music, making it an 8/10.

[Dr Kain]

Ninja Turtles 2 - You know, the first one wasn't as bad as I was expecting, so I was hoping this would be more of the same. Well, it was more of the same, when it came to the plot. There was barely anything new to be found here. That is not to say it was all bad, as the first 20 minutes or so was pretty solid. Everything started to fall apart the first time Shredder met Krang as that scene felt out of place as if he was tacked on at the last minute. The voice they picked for him was pretty terrible too and his whole plan was lame. I did like the scene when Mikey introduced everyone to Casey, but Casey was a total moron. Steve Amell was not a good fit for that character. Vernon was utterly pointless as were Bebop and Rocksteady, who were there for nothing more than fanservice. They were a total waste of screen time. Shredder and Karai also got gypped again and what the hell was up with Baxter Stockman? When did he become the nutty professor? The CGI was pretty rough in areas as well. Everything about this movie screamed sequel and it didn't do anything to be better than its average predecessor. I gave the first one a decent 7/10 rating, and while this movie was most definitely better than Batman vs Superman and Independence Day 2, I'm going to give it a 6/10. Let's hope they actually put effort into the next iteration since I know there is going to be one.

[lhb412]

The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb sees Hammer trying to do the classic mummy formula but with a few twists like a whodunnit element and acknowledging the real-world Victorian phenomenon of displaying Mummy's before audiences with great fanfare. It's just doesn't quite come together.

[lhb412]

One week 'till Shin Godzilla! I begin a week of Godzilla with the ultimate nostalgia trip; the US version of King Kong vs. Godzilla! The first Godzilla film I saw, my first Godzilla VHS tape.