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DeaditeGaz92
I’m one of the hosts for Horror. Cult. Trash. Other, a weekly podcast discussing all the masterpieces and trashterpieces of genre cinema. The show’s available to listen to on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud.
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Reviews
Malignant (2021)
James Wan introduced modern horror audiences to Giallo
Five years after he directed the fantastic The Conjuring 2, James Wan is back with what I believe to be his best film yet. Malignant was marketed to be something similar to Wan's very own Insidious, this film couldn't be any further from that description. Whilst people going into this film expecting what the trailer promised will no doubt be disappointed and it's certainly not a film that's going to be for everyone in general, this love letter to the horror genre as a whole immediately won me over and I truly believe this is a modern horror masterpiece that needs to be seen by all horror fans. It's always obvious when a horror film is made by a horror fan and that's very much the case here as Wan goes on to use the formula that Tarantino does with all of his films; he takes his influences and works them into something incredible and something that feels very original despite wearing its influences on its sleeve.
There are elements of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1 & 2) to be found here as well as various other camp 80s classics but the most noticeable influence that really shines through is Giallo. It's a bold move to release a mainstream modern Giallo film considering a lot of modern horror audiences won't get all the nods and the deliberately over the top and camp performances, and might dismiss this as being a bad film but it's far from it. There's a certain amount of humour surrounding so much that happens here to the point that it borders on satire and it worked so well, blending in with the more serious scenes brilliantly. What Wan has done here truly is a work of genius. Opera, Tenebrae, Blood and Black Lace, Suspiria, The Washing Machine, Phenomena, there's little homages to so many classic Giallos and as a fan of the Italian sub genre, this was incredible to see on the big screen at my local Odeon; it's really something I wasn't expecting.
Influences aside, as it's own film, it works perfectly, providing a mind blowing twist that I'm sure will go down as one of the most unpredictable twists in horror history. I didn't see it coming at all and I loved how over the top it was, such a ridiculous yet brilliant idea. The cast provide melodramatic performances that all look like they've been delivered straight from any of the films this is influenced by. Out of everyone, I'd say both Annabelle Wallis and Maddie Hasson provide the best performances which basically means they have more scenes that can be taken seriously than everyone else. Michole Briana White is another standout as Regina Moss, a character who I really hope returns for a sequel if one is ever made. Gabriel, played by Ray Chase, is one of the best horror antagonists we've had in such a long time.
Speaking like if Freddy Krueger was in a Giallo flick and looking absolutely horrific, this chilling villain comes completed with a gold dagger, black gloves and a big black coat, looking very menacing and creepy at all times. The kills are insanely gory, fully earning its 18 rating in the UK, starting out with some offscreen kills and graphic aftermaths before going all out for its third act in a scene that goes from being reminiscent of The Terminator to a fantastically choreographed action scene that is jarringly stylish. It's not all blood and guts, Wan's signature style shines through and we get more than a few scenes of slow building dread that had me on the edge of my seat. The cinematography is stunning, making excellent use of stylish lighting and shadows to create so much eerie atmosphere throughout. It's through the cinematography where we see the Dario Argento and Mario Bava influences are very visible. The soundtrack is used very effectively with a phenomenal score from regular Wan collaborator, Joseph Bishara who continuously heightens the tone and often provides little nods to classic scores by Goblin.
Anderson Falls (2020)
This is 2020's answer to The Room. Tommy Wiseau would be proud.
Anderson Falls is a thriller following Detective Jeff Anderson who, after his wife's suicide, becomes convinced that she has been murdered. Obsessed with his investigation, he finds out that his wife was the victim of a team of father-and-son serial killers and sets out to stop them.
I've officially found 2020's answer to The Room. Anderson Falls contains raspberry blowing, lots of snot, plenty of out of focus shots and gloriously awful acting; this is immediately trash royalty. Upon seeing the poster, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but I knew my expectations weren't very high and after the film had to be rearranged to the end of the day due to a corrupt file meaning it had to be streamed via a private link on Vimeo. All of the latter was shown on the main screen whilst they were trying to get it to work and the audience was in the room. The lack of professionalism lowered my expectations even more. The final nail in the coffin was director Julien Seri introducing the film with a very Tommy Wiseau-like speech and describing Lin Shaye as "gorgeous but she doesn't have a lot of energy". Little did I know, nothing could prepare me for the next 84 minute trashterpiece that was to follow. I watch a lot of bad movies, I love a so bad it's good film and every once in a while a film like this comes along that is just so terrible that it has countless rewatch value. This genuinely is up there with the likes of The Room, Troll 2 and Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2. Right from the get go, the script is so badly written to the point that no one actually talks like real human beings in this movie. This is also thanks to the horrendous line delivery by each actor in this film.
X-Men star, Shawn Ashmore is an absolute scene stealer as lead character Detective John Anderson but, of course, a scene stealer for all the wrong reasons. Ashmore quite frequently goes from providing a half hearted performance and looking like he doesn't want to be there to providing a performance so over the top to the point that it looked like his character was about to explode at any given second. My best example of the latter is a scene in which he pins loads of photos up to a wall in his old apartment, starts writing on them and starts screaming "I hate you" at them. This is then followed by a strange edit with multiple versions of Ashmore pulling stupid faces in black and white. Even his more subtle scenes, including him sitting in his car for five minutes whilst the background regularly changes or having a full conversation with his 8/9 year old son about the suspects of his wife's death and then telling his mother that he didn't know he was speaking to his son because he didn't check his caller ID, are an absolute blast to watch because of how awful the performance is. Poor Lin Shaye gets dragged into this disaster too as Jeff's mother. Shaye gives one of the better performances but it's moments like a terrible dub of her shouting "Yeah! Go on! Go get that boy!" at her grandson in the park that demonstrate she's also no exception when it comes to this movie's dreadful performances. Gary Cole and Richard Harmon play the movie's big bad guys and their performances are almost just as bad as Ashmore's performance. Neither are intimidating and that's hardly surprising considering their motives are dumb and a lot of the scenes of them "suiciding women" (yes, an actual term used in the movie) are just the same scenes being shown over and over again.
As much as a lot of the issues come from the acting and writing, there are also huge issues with the filmmaking skills. The opening credits use the most boring and basic font you could possibly use for a movie. The editing is so strange and ham fisted to the point it's quite jarring. The camera work is an absolute mess with some of it being so lazy that it contains extended sequences of the camera being left in just one place, making it feel like someone accidentally left it there during a shot rehearsal, and far too many out of focus shots to the point it started to look like no one on set knew how to focus a camera. A lot of the time, it comes across as though no one actually paid any attention to this film before saying it was okay to be released. It was the out of focus scenes, the random fart noise that may have been Ashmore blowing a raspberry or just a random fart that was left in and multiple scenes of big bits of snot flying from Ashmore's nose that had me questioning why on earth the director thought this was okay. Even Jeff's wife's paintings (that were described as dark) look like a child had painted them for a school project. Usually with bad movies, it's easy to tell if the director's heart is in the right places but with this movie, I'm not even sure. It's incredibly rushed and incredibly messy.
Overall, Anderson Falls was one of the worst yet most entertaining movies I watched at Glasgow FrightFest this year. Everything about it was so terrible yet I laughed more than I've laughed at any comedy movie in such a long time. Congratulations Julien Seri, this is a milestone in so bad it's good filmmaking.
I piccoli maghi di Oz (2018)
Makes The Room look like an Oscar worthy cinematic masterpiece
I'm not usually one for writing IMDb reviews, I'm more of a Letterboxd kinda guy but I watched this movie today at the Starburst International Film Festival and noticed there are no other reviews on here yet so I thought I'd give my opinion.
The Little Wizard of Oz doesn't really have a plot in particular, we just get an hour and a half of kids reading their interpretations of The Wizard of Oz with a pointless side story of their teacher and her day to day life that doesn't really go anywhere.
This is by far the worst film I have ever seen in my life. There was absolutely nothing redeemable about it. The audio was embarrassingly bad, the CGI makes Playstation 2 game graphics look like the work of a James Cameron movie, the characters are extremely uninteresting and it doesn't help that the acting is awful but worst of all, the movie is completely pointless and makes no sense. We get a random montage of Italy complete with funky music, far too many repetitive scenes and a scene in which a character fails at doing a magic trick accompanied with tragically sad music.
I hate this movie with a passion and would rather watch Birdemic on repeat for 48 hours than have to sit through this disaster of a movie again. Avoid at all costs.
666: Kreepy Kerry (2014)
What on earth did I just watch?!
Okay. Let me start this review by saying I love low budget horror movies that are so bad to the point they're hilarious and fun to watch. This low budget horror movie however wasn't even funny and if I'm honest even the word bad doesn't begin to describe it.
Now let me explain a bit about the plot. There isn't one. The end.
I have just wasted 75 minutes of my life on this garbage, 75 minutes I will never get back. The entire movie consisted of the director perving on young guys. Seriously at times I was questioning whether I accidentally put on some gay porn instead of a horror movie. WHO GREENLIGHTED THIS?!?!?! I'm sure there are a ton of great horror films that could have been greenlighted instead of this junk.
Overall, save yourself the torture, go watch videos on YouPorn for 75 minutes instead. They're guaranteed to have more of a plot and be more entertaining than this. 0 of 10
The Mirror (2014)
What's with all the bad reviews?!
Okay so upon watching this movie I checked the IMDb page and saw bad reviews and a very low rating of 4.3 out of 10 and I must say I am VERY confused. This was easily the best found footage movie since the first Paranormal Activity. Before I go into more detail about why it's so good I'll explain a bit about the plot.
The film is based around three flat mates who are entering a Paranormal competition. For their entry they move a creepy mirror into their flat and begin documenting any weird happenings surrounding it. That's all you need to know for now.
When I decided to watch this film I knew only what I just wrote above, I knew absolutely nothing else about the film at all. The first thing I want to mention that makes this film so great is the acting, it is some of the most believable and realistic acting I have seen in a long time. One character in particular that stood out for me is Matt, his transition between normal happy young guy excited for the Paranormal competition to what he eventually becomes is incredible and terrifying.
The suspense building up throughout this film was crazy, I watched it on my own in the dark and during the last 20 minutes or so I genuinely found myself covering my eyes and turning on the lights, the last five minutes in particular were unbearably scary. This is definitely a film that must not be watched alone
Overall I have gave this film a solid 10 out of 10 for genuinely intriguing scaring me like no other horror movie has done in a long time. Loved every second of it and really hope to see more stuff from the makers of this film.
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)
The most disturbing and darkest entry in the series so far... This time they've pulled out all the stops!
If you asked me before today which order I would put this series in from good to bad I would have said 3, 1, 4, 2. If you ask me now I would say the same except there would be a full title at the start of the list before 3, not a number, this title would be The Marked Ones.
The film is about Jesse, an ordinary teenager who is marked by the same demon who torments Katie and Kristi in the earlier PA films after he and his best friend, Hector discover weird black magic material in his murdered neighbour's apartment.
For the first 20/30 minutes this movie plays out like a comedy, showing the day to day activities of Jesse and Hector (which is mostly them getting up to mischief) and even when Jesse is marked there is still a fair amount of comedy until he realises that what he has is a cure, not a gift. The actors in this film are brilliant and make it very believable. They're also very likable so you actually care when bad things happen to them.
There are a lot of scares in this entry some of which are very unpredictable and some which are very effective (especially one scene involving the main character's dog). There is also more blood used in this entry than there is in all 4 previous films put together but it isn't just placed in the film for the sake of gore there is actually reasons for it.
This film's ending is genuinely shocking, unpredictable and mind blowing and has created a perfect set up for PA 5 which is being released in October this year. The only problem now is, after releasing one of the strongest entries in the series to date, how are they going to top it with the fifth entry? Guess we'll have to wait till October to find out.
Absence (2013)
Everything you can expect from a found footage movie and more
First of all before I begin this review, I would like to say I watched this movie expecting an average found footage movie and weren't expecting an amazing blockbuster movie so if you're a fan of the found footage sub genre then check it out, if not then stay far away.
With the recent wave of alien movies hitting our shelves/big screens (such as Unaware, Dark Skies, Tape #4 in V/H/S/2, etc.) I was excited to see what directors could offer us next. Here we have Absence, a brand new immediately underrated creepy and suspenseful found footage sci-fi horror movie, before I say anymore, here's a quick rundown on the movie's plot:
The movie begins with Evan, a camera obsessed student filming his sister, Liz and her husband, Rick in hospital where they have just been told that the previously pregnant Liz is no longer pregnant which soon becomes a missing child case which leads to Liz and Rick being the talk of the town and being hassled by the media, etc. so to get a break from it all they decide to go to Rick's family cabin in the woods for a while and it's from this point on where things start to get really weird...
After the hospital scene at the start of the film it does become very slow moving which in my opinion is a good thing because whilst the film is at a slow pace it gives you time to get to know the characters better so when the bad stuff does happen to them you'll care more about whether they live/die. It also adds a great sense of realism to the film when you see them cooking, playing pranks on each other, etc.
When the scares do eventually show up it's worth the wait as this film has some very creepy moments, one in particular with a visitor at the back door at night time, which is a very quick but effective scare. I don't want to spoil anything but as with most found footage endings the ending is also very effective and the least I say about it the better.
Overall I've gave this movie a solid 9 out of 10 because I thought it was a great found footage scare-fest that fans of movies such as Paranormal Activity, Unaware, The Fourth Kind and Dark Skies will enjoy, however, as I mentioned at the start of the review, if you hate found footage films and are expecting a blockbuster movie with amazing special effects and amazing actors then stay clear, this isn't for you.
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
"This Ain't No Casper The F**king Friendly Ghost"
Just got back from a screening of Paranormal Activity 3 and I am stunned. I expected this film to be good as I am a HUGE fan of the first two and I have been following all the viral marketing for this film but I never thought it would be as good as it was, if anyone has gave this film a bad review they need to check that they saw the right film, I can't see why ANYONE would not like this film (unless they don't like horror films, that would probably be understandable). First of all don't expect to see most of the scenes that are in the trailer, but even though those scenes are not in the film, it doesn't make it any less scarier.
The film starts in 2005 when Katie asks Daniel and a pregnant Kristi if she can store some boxes in their basement. They go through the tapes, which, although there are loads of them, the ones that stood out the most were the ones that said September 1988 (which is the rest of the footage of the film), Katie 1992 and Katie 1993. One year later Kristi's house is trashed and Daniel and Ali realize the tapes are missing. We are then taken back to 1988 when Katie is celebrating her birthday party and we are introduced to the main characters, Katie and Kristi, the girls from the first two movies, Julie, their mother, Dennis, their stepfather and Lois, their grandmother. Shortly after this scene the activity begins.
The actors in this film are outstanding, Julie strangely looks like a long haired version of Kristi and she even acted like the older version of the girls in PA 1 & 2, although the only difference is she is a skeptic and doesn't believe anything is going on in the house until she has a shock (bit of an understatement) in the kitchen, the stepfather who looks strangely like Micah is a great new character and actually likable too! Randy is a great new character who, like Dennis, believes there is something going on in Dennis and Julie's house, the grandmother is EXTREMELY creepy, even in the scenes where she isn't meant to be! She has a really eerie look about her and finally the younger versions of Katie and Kristi are amazing, they would actually make you believe that it was them when they were younger, the casting directer of this film has done a great job.
The scares in this film are seriously out of this world, even the fake scares (such as the Mother jumping out of the closet with a mask on and the babysitter jumping in front of the camera). This film is way scarier than the first two movies and to be honest it's one of the scariest films I have seen in years. The thing that makes it so scary is that no matter where the characters are in the house, whether it's night or day and even if they're out of the house, Tobi, the ghost, will find them and if you say anything nasty to Tobi or if you offend Tobi in anyway, then you're in big trouble. Two of the most effective scares (not counting the ending, I'll get to that in a minute) is a scene where the babysitter is stalked by a sheet wearing Tobi and the (should I say alternative) Bloody Mary scene.
Now, the ending, I saw a TV spot saying "The Last 15 Minutes Will Mess You Up For Life", the guy who said that couldn't have been any more right. For the last 15 minutes of the film I found myself sweating like it was a hot summer's day, shouting at the screen, jumping out of my seat, screaming, fiddling around with my fingers and looking away from the screen...no film has EVER made me do that, this is one of the most messed up and suspenseful endings in found footage horror history. The twist is unreal and I don't even wanna spoil it because you HAVE to see it to believe it.
Overall, it's an amazing film that answers a lot of questions and opens a lot of questions
10/10
Fright Night (2011)
If you're expecting a great modern vampire flick then watch it, if you're expecting it to be like the original then stay far away...
*THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS*
I've just came back from seeing this film in 3D and I have really mixed feelings about it, first of all I will start off by saying the things that I disliked about it.
It was basically nothing like the original, and my main proof of this is the characters, at what point in the original did Peter Vincent act like Russell Brand? At what point in the original was Charlie Brewster a complete dick? At what point in the original was Ed the guy who started realizing that Jerry is a vampire? It just never happened so why did it happen in this?! The only character that really stayed the same was Jerry! Another thing is the time setting, I really would've preferred if this was set in the 80's so it would've been more like the original I mean seriously what was with the damn Twilight references? If you're gonna reference a vampire film then reference a proper vampire film like one of the old hammer horror vampire films or even the Lost Boys. Another thing I hated was the ending, I mean seriously what was with the ending?! They basically showed it in all the trailers and there was no point to it, nothing happened! I'm pretty sure with most horror films something interesting has to happen in the ending not just a couple making out in a vampire hunter/magician's hotel room.
Now with the good stuff. The characters (although nothing like the old characters) work great as new characters, especially Peter Vincent he was a great addition to the film. One of the best actors in the film was definitely Colin Farrell because he was just like the original character that he's supposed to be and better, he was really creepy. The 3D in this film is awesome, especially the scenes that include ashes, they actually look like they're right in front of you. Another great thing was the suspense of the film it really does keep you on edge in most parts.
Overall it really works as a standalone film and if they just called it Fright Night 3 and changed the names of the characters then I would've gave it a solid 9/10, but due to it being classed as a remake I'm gonna give it 7/10.
Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2 (2011)
Pretty Good Sequel!
OK so this is gonna be a short review, I watched this film a few days back and I really liked it, I didn't think it was quite as good as the first film but still an enjoyable sequel. It had some great kills and some great new characters especially the new victim, she plays a great part in the film. One thing I didn't really like was the plot about ChromeSkull being part of an organisation being added a lot more into the film, I didn't really think there was any need to add that into the plot, I don't think that worked out very well. I really liked the way ChromeSkull was brought back to life it made it a lot more realistic, plus I think he's a great villain he's definitely up there with the great horror villains such as Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees, Pinhead, Victor Crowley, etc.
Overall a great sequel that has some things that it could've done without but still a great film though. I'm hoping they're gonna make a 3rd one.
8/10
Extreme Movie (2008)
Average, Some Scenes Are Genuinely Funny and Some Genuinely Ain't...
When I watched this movie I didn't really expect much from it to be honest, so I wasn't shocked that it was just an average American teen comedy with plenty of dirty humor. There were some laugh out loud moments (such as the next level scenes, the Michael Cera rape scene, the portable vagina scene and most of the scenes with Ryan Pinkston in, mainly because he really plays the average teenager trying to get with the hot girl really well) and unfortunately there were some really not so funny scenes (mainly the Matthew Lillard scenes).
Anyways to sum this film up, it's a middle of the road comedy with a few good laughs so if you're expecting to see a great comedy film with funny moments throughout I strongly advise you go and watch The Hangover films or The Inbetweeners movie instead.
5/10
Final Destination 5 (2011)
The Best of the Series So Far
Just got back from seeing this film in 3D and I am totally stunned by how good it was. I mean I obviously expected it to be good but not THAT good. First of all I'll start off by talking about the deaths. They were a LOT more gorier in this one than what they were in the previous four, great examples of this are the opening sequence, the gym scene, the lazer eye scene and the massage pala scene. These scenes really use the 3D effect as much as they can and whilst we're on the subject of 3D, if you have a choice to see this in 2D or 3D, I strongly suggest you choose the 3D option as the 3D in this movie was some of the best 3D I have ever seen.
*SPOILER ALERT* The ending is my personal highlight of this film. For those who have not seen it I strongly suggest you do not read this and see the film for yourself. Basically it reveals that the first hour and 20 minutes is set before the first movie and the final five or ten minutes is at the same time as the first movie so basically we get to witness the plane crash after Alex and his friends got off the plane.
Overall I think it's one of the best entries in the series and if you're a fan of the series you won't be disappointed, and if you ain't a fan of the series I still recommend you check it out
10/10
Paranoid Activity 2 (2011)
To say this film is awful would be using the understatement of the century...
I own a collection of low budget horror movies that are so bad that they are funny, this collection includes films such as Troll 2, Camp Blood, Killjoy, Don't Ring The Doorbell, Ghost Lake, Spiders 2 and many more...this film is worst than all of the low budget horror films that I own put together, this is by far one of the worst horror movies EVER made.
It's basically about these three students who move into this house, they have a party, a psychic turns up, tells them there house is haunted, the party finishes, a few pots and pans move into the same position for the next few days, we see a shadow what is meant to be a ghost, something else happens which I can't remember because I was most likely asleep at that point then the film FINALLY ends.
It is truly unbelievable how bad this film is, it must've been made on no budget what so ever, I mean what was the director thinking?! and as for the actors I have NEVER seen acting as bad as this before especially the psychic, where the hell did they get that idiot from?! Oh and another thing, there isn't actually a Paranoid Activity 1, so why is there a number 2 in the film's title?!
Watch it if you wanna have a laugh at a few people wasting their time making the worst film ever made, if you wanna watch a genuinely good horror film then go watch Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Grave Encounters, Halloween, The Shining, etc
0/10
Grave Encounters (2011)
Best Found Footage Horror Movie Since Paranormal Activity
Grave Encounters is a 2011 found footage horror movie about a team of Ghost Hunters who go to investigate an haunted mental asylum, the team intend to fake stuff to make it look like they have captured a ghost, but things go horribly wrong when some real paranormal activity starts to occur
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON
The film starts off slow with the investigation team checking out the asylum and talking to people who have worked there, or have had some sort of connection with the place. I think this really works for the film because it adds to the buildup, makes it realistic and lets you get to know the characters more. The actors do a great job of playing the characters in this film to make them really believable.
After the buildup the paranormal activity begins, and this is not like you're average stuff that you see in found footage movies, this contains things such as hands coming out of walls, people thrown down corridors, tables thrown into the air, people pushed down stairs and MANY more things
Now means I'm limited to 1,000 words I'll just cut the review short and tell you that this film is very VERY unpredictable and will have you on the edge of your seat from about 25 minutes on-words, it's dark atmosphere and sense of being trapped is very claustrophobic. The best thing about this movie is that you get to see the ghosts, which tend to appear at the most unexpected of times. The ending of the film is very shocking and unexpected, especially the part where the main character kills and eats a rat, I never saw that coming and when it happened I found it very hard to watch, I won't spoil anymore scenes because this is a film that you need to see for yourself to believe how good it is.
So overall the film is like a mixture of REC, Paranormal Activity, 8213: Gacy House (known as Paranormal Entity 2 in the UK), The Last Exorcism and Blair Witch so if you liked those films and if you like horror films that will genuinely mess with your head and scare you then I recommend you check this out.
10/10