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johnmelmoth-20342
Reviews
WolfCop (2014)
Fun concept
How can you not love a film about a werewolf named Lou Garou?
Lou is the worst deputy in his tiny town of Bloodhaven and mostly has his job because people feel too sorry for him to fire him, but one day he wakes up with a pentagram carved in his chest and enhanced senses. And nothing in this town turns out to be as it seems.
Amusing horror comedy, feels retro in the best B-movie way possible. Also the most hilarious and awkward sex scene ever put to film (at least on purpose). Overall, a fun romp and the perfect thing to watch when you want something light.
Most Beautiful Island (2017)
We make our own luck
An undocumented immigrant in Manhattan attempts to make some quick cash when her friend invites her to get paid to beautify a party.
Drawn out as it follows her throughout the day, her multiple jobs, her landlord's threats, and one ice cream shopping trip not to be forgotten we spend more time getting her to the party than there. The anxiety builds throughout, because isn't just about the party so much as the circumstances that make the desperate decisions made there by all the women involved completely understandable.
The intimacy of the view of this woman's life is the best part of the film. People going for a straight horror/thriller film (as this was labeled when I watched it) are probably going to be a bit put off, but there is certainly the more mundane type of horror in abundance.
Can't say I loved the film (the ending feels a bit out of place and hokey in comparison to the lead-up), but given that this is Ana Asensio's first writer and director credits I have to say I am deeply impressed. This is a director that I'm going to keep an eye out for in the future.
Perempuan tanah jahanam (2019)
Worth watching
A woman down on her luck goes with her best friend to visit the village of her deceased parents in hopes that there remains an inheritance that can help their ailing business. If only the villagers didn't view her as the cause of a decades old curse.
The opening sequence alone makes this film worth watching. Fortunately, the rest of the film, while not as perfect, is still excellent. The chemistry between best friends Maya and Dini is great and it almost made me sad that this wasn't a slice-of-life film instead because I would watch an entire series about these two women trying to get their clothing business up and running.
Delivers up plenty of traditional scares, dread, and ghosts in this folk horror tale as well. Casting and acting is on point, story is good, camera work is effective and effects were well done. Pacing at the end was knocked off a bit with some information overload and flashbacks, but the climax makes up for it. Keep watching until the end for the last scene.
Highly recommended.
A Field in England (2013)
Bizarre and trippy, but interesting
Set during the English Civil War, a group of deserters are captured by an alchemist and forced to locate stolen alchemical secrets that he believes have been buried in a field. Having feasted on the mushroom's growing there, the world becomes increasingly influenced by what could be hallucinations or what could be magic.
Bizarre and trippy (quite literally, given the magic mushroom's relevance to the plot), this is one of the more interesting horror films I've seen. Filmed in black and white (likely for budget reasons), this invokes the previous cinematic age to the film's benefit. A Field in England manages to make a single location and a small number of actors work extremely well.
No big budget horror or traditional scares for those into that sort of thing, but if you want a bit of a change from the usual, you won't feel you've wasted your 1.5 hours.
Brimstone (2016)
Well made film with disturbing subject matter
Woman is chased by a vengeful preacher with time jumps and anachronistic storytelling. This Western-thriller is disturbing in its subject matter (rape including of children/child abuse/suicide) in addition to the regular murder and violence one expects from the genre. The cast in this film acted their hearts out and drawn out lead up to the confrontation is incredibly tense. Guy Pearce's character is a monster of the human kind and just gets worse with every revelation. The reveal of the narrator at the end ties the film together. The film itself is well shot and and the locations well-chosen. Time jumps can get a bit confusing and tend to break the pace, but do give the revelations time to breathe. If you can stand the premise, you certainly won't be bored.
The Crow (1994)
THE 90s CBM
I recently re-watched this movie and it is everything I enjoy about this era of horror/fantasy film and probably one of my favorite CBMs. Watching it is like stepping back in time. The music, the style, the set design, even the cinematography, are all quintessential 90s. Brandon Lee shows what a star he could have been, crackling with on-screen charisma. Early pacing isn't perfect, the villains are gimmicky, but who cares? That's part of the charm. If you're not sure what to watch on Halloween, this is worth throwing on. Or better yet, on Devil's Night.
Vuelven (2017)
Beautiful and heartwrenching
Children survive against the backdrop of the Mexican drug wars. If magical realism can be said to be hard hitting, this is it.
Told from the POV of orphaned children armed with stories and magical wishes against the cartel that killed their parents this film is a mix of beautiful and heart-breaking in the darkest type of fantasy imaginable.
Comparisons with Del Toro's earlier work are apt (esp. Pan's Labyrinth). Though all the main cast are children, the acting never falters and the execution of every scene is meticulous adding up to a powerful finale.
More dark fairy-tale than horror, this will tug at your heartstrings. Be prepared to bring your tissues.
Housebound (2014)
Quirky and entertaining
A woman is forced into house arrest and must move back in with her mother, and if that wasn't bad enough, she starts to think that her mother's superstitions about the house being haunted may not be entirely in her head.
An unexpected and quirky NZ horror-comedy (more comedy than horror) with just enough thriller to keep things interesting and preventing it from falling into repetitive tropes. Genuinely funny moments (mostly around family and bureaucracy) that enhance rather than undercut the story. Even the things I predicted didn't happen the way I expected. Having her monitor (for her ankle tracker) being an amateur paranormal investigator who completely buys into the premise more than the lead does was a great choice to lead this story down an unusual track. The cast chemistry is great and the mother-daughter relationship is not only believable, but a highlight.
Worth a watch even for people who don't like horror films.
Sinister (2012)
Genuinely creepy
Broadband Choices' Science of Scare Project found that this film produced the highest heart-rate of all the horror movies they studied and concluded it was the scariest movie ever made. I didn't need to measure anyone's heart-rate to reach an agreement with their hypothesis. Is there anything scarier than a monster that goes after children when told from the POV of the parent? This movie says the answer is yes by proceeding to make everything worse.
Ethan Hawke moves his family to a murder house (without telling them, of course) in order to be inspired for a new book that he hopes will live up to previous successes and finds out that he may have made his family the target of a serial killer. Or something worse (it's worse, of course).
So absolutely watch this if you like horror. Just don't watch it like I did -- late at night alone when everyone else was out of the house. It will better if your kids are home ;)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
This film was a little too timely for 2016
"The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world."
DC's two biggest heroes face off, but this film is closer to a political thriller than a punch-fest. If you go in expecting the latter, you'll probably be bored to tears. Instead, we have the philosophies of Batman and Superman face off while Lex Luthor plays puppet-master in the background. Thinking back, the evil billionaire manipulating the media against an illegal immigrant feels incredibly timely in retrospect. And given the cultural division of its home market, should it be any wonder that it is a figure of controversy?
The casting for this film is perfect and has been one of its greatest gifts to the DCEU. Henry Cavill *is* this generation's Superman. Ben Affleck delivers both the suave yet broken Bruce Wayne and a physically intimidating Caped Crusader. This is someone I believe can charm women and put fear in criminals. His introduction is that of a horror film, signalling that he is not the hero. However his encounter with Superman leaves him reborn, able to walk back the path to the light and justice that years of fruitless work have let him stray from.
Amy Adam's Lois Lane is the true hero of this film. She follows the thread of the bullet she retained by chance in Lex Luthor's trap (probably not the first, but the first successful) for Superman with tenacity that reminds us of why she represents the best of humanity. And her intervention is his downfall. And Adam's carries this vital energy that conveys how smart and driven Lois is while not sacrificing her tender and intimate relationship with Clark. Gal's entrance as Wonder Woman is incredibly memorable (and that smile) and it is a shame this was spoiled in the trailers. Her Diana is elegant and deadly.
The most controversial casting is Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Chris Terrio's dialogue and the word play Lex uses to project dominance are a gift and Eisenberg delivers every line -- selling a terrible anger centered in the character even as Lex plays at being harmless and builds his alibi of a mental breakdown in case things go wrong. There are so many quotable lines, but the entire rooftop scene confrontation with Superman gives me chills even on re-watch. I cannot help but resonate with every rage-filled word as he lays out his grievances based on his projection onto Clark. An mirror of Bruce Wayne's arc, Lex confronts Superman and finds his worst nature rather than his best, made more terrible by him *knowing* and taking advantage of the fact that Clark is just a man. His manipulations in the background are three steps ahead of everyone (except Lois Lane) making every action into a Xanatos gambit and I came to really appreciate this incarnation of my all-time favorite villain.
Cameos from characters from Man of Steel make the entire universe feel connected and appropriate in dealing with the consequences of the destruction wrought by humanity's first contact with another advanced civilization.
Unfortunately, the theatrical cut is weakened by a significant missing portion of footage and almost feels like the viewer should have done the background readings in advance. The Ultimate Edition fills in many of the connective gaps rather than force viewers to infer them. The film itself improves on rewatch (I only truly fell in love with it after seeing it multiple times). Zack Snyder often excels at background visual detail that is missed on first viewing and the Ultimate Edition only enhances that feeling.
Visuals, as expected from Zack Snyder, are iconic and the action scenes couldn't be better. Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL also outdo themselves with the score.
Overall, this is the movie I always wanted to see with these characters. Unlike many CBMs, this isn't an action-comedy but a revenge tragedy given a blockbuster budget. Dark, brooding, and almost religious in tone, this take on our modern myths requires you to buy that the footsteps of the gods can shake this earth as a serious concept. But it rewards the viewer who is willing to put that effort in.
TLDR Summary: I liked it.