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MisterMovieMan
Reviews
Kolobos (1999)
The only thing "Kolobos" delivers is annoyance.
Nearly everything about Kolobos is poor. The direction is mediocre and the acting, dialogue and script are so incredibly bad that the film becomes a real test to sit through. The filmmakers have literally lifted ideas and scenes directly from other great horror films and placed them in theirs merely to fill up time in the silly plot. I don't mind when a film pays homage to others but this one often enters into artistic plagiarism. Even the opening song is a near-copy of the witch theme in Suspiria. There are also many scenes in the film that have no relevance and/or make no sense once the "surprise" ending is revealed. If you actually look back at it after viewing the film, you'd see this. If I was Dario Argento or Claudio Simonetti and found out about this film I'd want to file a lawsuit. Even so, despite the filmmakers using the lighting of Suspiria and a key scene in Opera, they screw it all up by making it obvious where they've placed the lights (instead of mysterious and supernatural)and adding strobe lights and laser optic beams shooting through the air. It may as well be a 70's disco club. The main actress is the best of the bunch but since every actor/actress overacts (though some appear to not be acting at all), spits out bad lines, and manages to not even create a character, it could have been improved if it starred puppets. I don't mind some weak low-budget horror acting but this is well below that level. Nothing is quotable in the movie because the dialogue is typically generic though sometimes exaggerated, pointless and/or laughable. The plot and ending aren't as original or fascinating as people would have you believe either. In fact there is hardly anything original about this film that is good at all except that it's perhaps the first 'reality show' horror flick made
but is that really a good thing? Gore you say? Yes it has some low-budget gore but these scenes usually are not even shot or edited right to where it should shock you. Regardless, if you want to see Argento films (including the gums-to-shelf corner scene in Deep Red), Candyman, Cube, The Beyond and much more crammed into an incoherent amateurish mess then this is the film for you. I kept watching it just hoping they would stop stealing constantly from other horror films to enhance their own weak storyline about a teenage girl who sees strange faces (including a man who removed the skin on his face) while hanging out with some other teen idiots being filmed ala The Real World at a 'Cube-like' house. This isn't a 'fun' low-budget horror film they actually tried to make a scary hour-and-a-half showcase. What they ended up with is a hardly seen flick doomed to collect dust at the video store on the bottom shelf
and that's exactly where it should stay.
Identity (2003)
This is the only review you should read.
Identity? Who is who or what(?!), not so much who is the killer. I will not give away any of this film or run pointlessly through every scene like other people who review movies on this site will do so read on...
You can say this movie is over-cliched with horror elements like other reviewers have stated, but it is quite intentional and that is the best part of this film. It's typical slasher setups and scenes are well designed for scares and/or suspense and you will find yourself engrossed in the first half of this film. The direction and well crafted scenes are good enough here to blend suspense and confusion into good entertainment.
To all those who claim this movie is only for "intelligent" viewers please don't write another review ever again. Scenes in the first half of this film may be standard to modern horror but because of the acting talent of most of it's stars, it comes off far better than many films of this genre. But when it comes time to blend all of this films confusion and mystery with a meaningful, satisfying resolution it falls flat. You may be surprised, but if you don't feel had, you weren't really paying attention. So all of you who claim this to be a highly intelligent psychological thriller, you apparently don't realize the writer of this was also responsible for Jack Frost and its sequel. It must have been about time for him to create the next thriller/surprise film and try to break into the money-making theatrical market.
James Mangold is not without talent and he tries terribly to make this bad script work and it may have, if only he treated it less seriously. The disorder you will see in Identity is turned cartoon-ish by Hollywood yet again here and if you are a Psychology major like one reviewer here claimed, you shouldn't be thrilled by this film but insulted. It's only there for the surprise not coherency. We don't actually know anything about the surprise character either, so when the story turns down a different road it doesn't really work and destroys everything there was good about the movie (unless of course your mind is too locked in "WOW - I - AM - SUR-PRISED" mode). The other plot twist is predictable if you are used to "who-dun-it horror" and ridiculous as well in flashback scenes shown near the film's climax.
Cusak turns in an expected good performance here. Liotta plays another defiant/angry character as he usually does these days but still remains beleiveable and the remaining members of the cast do a good job as well except...
Amanda Peet is not a great actress. Please don't base your review on whether someone is cute or not - it's insulting to those who know and appreciate good filmmaking. Go watch Blind Date. She should stick to bad comedies because when she acts out any real emotions in this film it's usually unintentionally funny. Nevertheless she wasn't as terrible as I expected she would be. Pruitt Taylor Vince was clearly miscast but since his character was poorly underwritten as well it didn't matter. His performance was barely acceptable.
Identity is not a total waste. In fact, it is an improvement over many recent horror outings of the past few months (if I mentioned any of them I'd be too scared someone would respond that they were actually good) though it could be skipped without loss just as well. See it merely to be entertained, but don't think about it too long to the point of delusion or you'll make it into a masterpiece (like others here have) which it clearly is not. ** out of ****.
25th Hour (2002)
Good character study
Do not see this film if you are expecting to watch a straight-forward story complete with a beginning and end. It is a character study shot in a gritty NY setting that has its flaws (overlength of final speech on one note) but is not Lee-typical and is well acted. Pepper turns in the best perfomance here and should, but probably won't receive an Oscar nod.