fuzzbringer Reviews

Hold the Dark (2018)

A well made adaptation of the book's atmosphere

[8/10 · 13 September 2022]

If you've read the book - you're going to appreciate the careful adaptation of the atmosphere, and perhaps the some of the slight changes in the story telling that better fit the cinematic story telling. If you haven't read the book, you'd probably like to concentrate on this, and approach it as you approach a book - you can never judge a piece of literature either by the covers.

The movie adaptation is categorized as a thriller and it kind of fits the bill, but - the adaptation doesn't serve you a Hollywood thriller with a industry standard blueprint plot and characters. And that's a good thing too, since the book doesn't either, it would've been a shame to ruin the narrative and atmosphere by having it "hollywoodized" for easy pastime. This one isn't one of those movies. If you suspect it turns into a thriller with supernatural horror tropes - no, it's not. And if you think it's going to be an action packed revenge story - it's not that either. Sure, there's bloody action and revenge tropes, sure there's hints at wolf myths from ancient cultures. The movie adaptation actually drops these few nods to genre fiction and uses some trope scenes and motifs - as the book narrative does - and that's perhaps misleading some unsuspecting genre movie consumers leading to frustrated expectations and inevitable bewilderment. As said, you'd probably want to "read" this movie, as a unique story outside genres.

The Gray Man (2022)

Promising start ruined with too much money to blow on

[4/10 · 15 August 2022]

From the very beginning of the movie you're introduced to a father formulaic plot. Which isn't necessarily always bad for an action film, if it delivers any original twists and interesting characters on the ride. Because even an action file might stand up from the simply mindless formulaic entertainment and explosions. And I'm always ready to applaud a movie for good music alone. Things that even low budget movies can pull off you know. This time the movie budget was apparently spent on something complete else: when the gear shift changes to action we've simply got more and more of uninteresting explosions, car crashes, ridiculous escape jumps, and mind numbing shooting and boring hand to hand fights that make decades old Bond movies look cultural heritage status worthy.

Perhaps, with only a 25% of the budget, the director could've been been forced to concentrate on something more original and interesting.

Naples in Veils (2017)

A veiled mystery play

[7/10 · 18 December 2020]

A mystery play set in the Naples with unmistakably European flavor, if you've watched Italian giallo it's hard not to see gentle nods to that direction. The plot mystery and hints at side plots however don't get exhausted can feel frustrating for more straight forward Hollywood oriented storytelling perhaps. Some audience might not get that. In here every shown picture and each piece of mystery isn't used and explained and they're not really ment to satisfy curiosity - but rather add to it. Veil it, instead of unveiling, if you please.

Primitif (1978)

Savage waste of time.

[2/10 · 25 May 2020]

I tried to think about a positives things to say and come up only with Kraftwerk playing in the opening titles. That's the best thing in this one, and the reason I gave this 2/10. Honestly, every minute after the opening titles is waste of time with this bad clone of a not-that-interesting original. This is absolutely cannibals killing your time savagely. Even the suspected gory entertainment of cannibals doing gruesomely what they're known for from the other cannibal movies is boring and simply bad.

What We Become (2015)

same old, and... still better than any CGI zombie movie

[6/10 · 23 May 2020]

What is wrong in 90% of zombie movies, what makes them SO bad usually? Running zombies, faster-than-eye-super-beast zombies, bad make up day zombies, CGI zombies. Here the crappy zombies simply are not the problem, though it has to be said, they're not that interesting either.

Sure, this one's got really nothing much to add to the sub-genre of zombie movies. But it manages to focus for a good deal on the characters and flesh them out discreetly far better than many other horror movies do. Enough to make them feel familiar, like people we all know.

Trying not to watch this as a zombie movie might actually help the movie. It focuses in the first half on the tension between the state and the small societies, families, and relationships. One could claim the focus is like from the opening of the Dawn of the Dead but with reversed roles - the main characters are not armed military here, they're unarmed naive civilians, and the military isn't any more sympathetic to them as it is towards the unknown viral threat. Also, like in the Dawn (...) the story line setting changes drastically after the first act, but... what could have been a commentary on how dangerous a thing a sudden power vacuum can be, the direction seem to stubbornly now... run towards the typical run of the mill modern zombie movie to please or embarrass the wide zombie sub-genre audiences. Depends completely on how you like your horror and how you watch movies. The latter half even comes with jump scares to add to the predictable remains of the plot. Which is a shame. There's also an afterwards added possibly optimistic ending that clearly contradicts an earlier scene and doesn't play well to the atmosphere.

The sound design is about as good as you can get, though there's no memorable OST. A zombie movie simply should not be released without a memorable OST, we owe that to Fabio Frizzi and Claudio SImonetti & Goblin.

The Child (1977)

a ghoulish story that really could have deserved more original direction

[4/10 · 22 May 2020]

The first ten minutes or so can intrigue you enough to watch it once through perhaps, probably not twice though. This could've been a crazy mix of Sixth Sense, the Others, Omen, and Zombi Flesheaters. But no. Run of the mill 70's genre horror treatment and trying to please the audience expectations doesn't really do any good to this film in particular.

The low budget shows in a lot of things and the acting and presentation is uneven throughout the film. Sometimes the shift in atmosphere and directing is noticeable between lines in one scene. You can easily get the distinct feeling the crew is learning their trade by making their first movie here.

But when the cinematography and soundtrack play well together, and the uncanny suspense builds, it's pretty good actually! I was tempted to give this film a better rating just because of the occasionally super eerie atmosphere, but alas the moments at cemetery etc can't quite carry the whole movie.

And though the idea has refreshingly original flavor to it and it mixes well the otherwise old horror tropes (a creepy child, undead, cursed cemetery or such, remote houses & countryside helplessness) into something of its own, the plot runs still so predictable it's hard to not press fast forward and you kind of come up with all the possible directions the movie scenes could have gone and find a more interesting flow. The weird and creepy elements are wasted in boring direction and script.

Love Me Deadly (1972)

An original and well made movie

[8/10 · 20 May 2020]

This is actually an original movie, unless you expect modern horror genre tropes and themes and motives. This isn't perhaps a horror movie at all, though it borrows from the horror genre narrative occasionally. Strangely enough it's really closer to a serious drama, or a tragedy in the very sense of theater theory. A love story, with a bit of gore and a sad, somewhat nasty theme of necrophilia. And though the theme makes us all uncomfortable when left to meditate for more than one minutes seriously, it's a tastefully presented, and with the help of actually good actors, the characters and their motives are actually easier to identify with than you might want to admit. So don't expect to sit comfortably through it, to be disgusted only a little (ooooh slime and gore, eww) with horror (yay gore) genre necrophilia (omg she does CORPSES) tropes of our times. This isn't that easy, how could it be, considering the uncomfortable theme and how close the actors and the un-rushed pace of the movie can bring it to you.

The worst thing in this film really is how the main character's background issues are brought up a bit too frequently - though tastefully - to explain her character but - it's still not half as bad as mainstream cinema nowadays.

Oh and the theme song and the music? Yes, they're actually pretty good, as many other viewers here have pointed out. That's the ninth star.

Shame this remained the brave director's only movie, but - perhaps it's better that way. It's better to do just one significant original movie remembered after you have already passed yourself, than to direct ten easy-to-chew-easy-to-forget blockbuster movies in your life time if they're equivalent for elevator music in their originality.

Stage Fright (1980)

Score by Brian May, shame even that isn't great

[4/10 · 17 May 2020]

I certainly didn't have very high expectations and I still was disappointed. Production wise pretty good, actors were not bad, the plot wasn't any worse than in any other movies of the kind, but.... no. It was tiresome to watch through, waiting for anything at all to redeem this movie, but ... no, nothing really. Only psycho sexual slasher thriller cliches used a million times already in the early 80's, following unoriginal plot to the uninteresting end. Even the nudity and sex was was boring, and though I had hoped Brian May score would've been interesting, even that was unfortunately generic and merely ok.

Let Me In (I) (2010)

Another lame remake

[6/10 · 7 May 2020]

There's really little to defend this one when compare don't to the original, that actually was a good adaptation of the book. This one is a let down, and simply doesn't reach the original. If you can read and turn on the subtitles or if you speak Swedish - do not hesitate and hard pass this one, choose the original.

Demon Wind (1990)

pull my finger and a demon wind answers

[4/10 · 6 May 2020]

Demon Wind clearly is inspired by the 80's legendary Evil Dead but doesn't really get anywhere near, failing to read the map. Which is shame, really, this didn't have to be a bad movie. Raimi managed to use the shoe lace budget really well, and Evil Dead has all around the atmosphere of being something special. Demon Wind just doesn't.

Basically there's plot enough for an enjoyable horror movie, there's some money spent on the special effects which are not all bad, and there has been some attempt. What little is original in the plot is minor details which however fail to save the movie from the disappointingly unoriginal execution and lamentably unimaginative special effects. As if the crew was asking why should they even try.

It's apparent that this is one enjoyable cheese block for those who either saw it in tender age or didn't see too many of it's kind in those years, judging by surprisingly good reviews. I think I remember some of the scenes so I have probably seen this back in the day, or I mistake it for any of it's kind from back then. Doesn't do it for me.

Titans (I) (2018–2023)

This should've been a short, bad movie.

[4/10 · 25 January 2019]

There's Something wrong in entertainment industry when you can say things like "one of the main problem with series is how to make it last through lord knows just how many episodes too many." And nobody finches. And if keeping a series season running from an episode to an episode even is a "problem" for the director to address ... then why shouldn't it be made into mini series instead, or a 20 minutes short film instead. Even if it turned out a bad one, it would be shorter. But this one isn't.

Here we have it ALL: Getting lost with the plot after the first three episodes and a promising start. Check. Regurgitating flashback /imagination /dream sequences /pointless person based subplots for nearly a full episode instead of moving on. Check. Tacky character relationships developments in mentioned regurgitated episodes. Check. Awkwardly bad "plot twists" in the last episodes, hanging on the mentioned character "reveal" their true self. (Oh please) Check.