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pattiffany5
Reviews
Haunted Trail (2021)
Felt more like a drama than a horror movie
CW
No nudity or sexual content, constant cursing, very mild gore / not explicit.
I feel like aside from the excessive cursing this movie doesn't deserve an R or higher rating. Everytime I expected to see something even remotely interesting they just cut away or film the death from a bad angle to keep from showing anything horror related. There is a brief mention of a character possibly suffering from diabetic shock and at a somewhat pivotal point in the film when she would be needed she passes out only to casually wake up moments later. The ending is so unsatisfying which is such a bummer since I was actually excited in the beginning of the movie. The characters felt real, they had backstories and I loved how familiar and natural the dialogue was. However those wanting to see a movie with a majority black cast and I'm assuming this includes the writers considering the correct use of aave, I'd recommend you watch something else. Not worth in, no payoff.
White Water (2015)
Ballsy for a PG movie
I read the description and was enamored by it. This could either be extremely ignorant or a child friendly way of educating kids about segregation. So I checked the ratings and to my surprise it had a high rating but no actual written reviews, which is really weird. I had never seen anything like it before. The acting wasn't the best but there were a few funny moments. The description, while it represents the dream of the main character, doesn't feel super overwhelming which is good since there are about two other mini subplots going on. For a PG movie I didn't expect it to be so explicit. Seemed more like a PG - 13 movie. It has the N- Word with the hard ER just so you know. I did truly love the pictures of Jesus constantly changing to represent what Michael is feeling. I think this movie did a great job at recreating a lot of the people I used to see when I went to church as a kid. Speaking of church despite seeing many scenes with pastors and people in church, pictures of Jesus it didn't feel preachy and didn't depict "sinners" as the devil however in the beginning it did depict them as bad people. Lastly I really liked the bond that Michael formed with another kid who happened to be white (while they obviously couldn't hang out as much) I did like what the movie was trying to say. You aren't born racist, you have to be taught. Both the little boy and his mom know that their father / husband wouldn't appreciate seeing white and black people in any type of relationship. The ending was a bit unbelievable but I still expected it from the very beginning.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
Wouldn't mind a sequel
I had a hard time telling whether or not this is a real documentary or a well crafted and researched horror movie. The way the actors act feels real but the killings and torture are also shown which doesn't seem like a very tasteful thing to do outside of a fictional story and since I haven't seen a serial killer documentary before I can't tell if this is typical. Either way I enjoyed it. There was never a dull moment. The acting is high quality and the sets were constantly changing. The way the killer abducted people felt very simple and believable. Like a stereotypical danger that you were taught to avoid (getting into a stranger's house or car) was somehow performed in a way that made it seem less frightening.
The Prowler (1981)
Slow at points but good kills
Aside from the deus ex machina ending (which still doesn't make sense to me) and the at times slow pace. I love how this movie was written and shot. However it did feel like the night in movie would go on forever. I couldn't tell how much time had passed which probably helped the movie since I didn't have a chance to think about how the killer could be in so many places at once since I once again couldn't tell how much time had passed. The movie had some moments that I thought was genuinely funny. Despite the many characters the script had to choose from only a few died, however I did like the death scenes, they were creative. I deeply enjoyed the first 10 minutes, the story was set up very quickly yet very believably. The following story, our main story, doesn't quite make sense to me and how they killer moved the bodies is besides me. This is my first watch and I'd say this movie still holds up years later.
Scarecrows (1988)
Heard good things, disappointed
Rating - F
I'm not sure if the budget held it back or what? Bert for the first couple of minutes only has dialogue in his head which was weird when everyone else spoke out loud. Speaking of dialogue it was very cringy. I can't tell where anyone is and how much time has passed. So much time could pass by before I realized what the movie was trying to portray. The chemistry between the cast is bad but I will say the scarecrows actually looked scary and well designed, not generic. Something that really bothered me about this movie was how out of order it felt. Like how all men jump out of a plane leaving one of their allies in said plane which doesn't make sense since they'll have to land it just a few minutes later so why split up? It literally served no purpose. Later on when they are still looking for Bert they casual take their time walking around in the field when they discover a dead body I thought it was Bert's but later on Roxanne (the one they left in the plane but they caught up) says she saw Bert in front of her alive so who was the dead body?
Big Ass Spider! (2013)
Alex became more annoying as time passed
The first 10 minutes kind of tricked me. I genuinely thought I was going to enjoy this movie and its sense of humor. The cast looked familiar and the acting wasn't bad most of the time but omg once certain characters were added in I started to realize that I was going to be in for a lot of racially motivated jokes and a main character practically harassing every woman with speaking with speaking roles. It became this over and over again. It felt like someone new took over just 10 minutes in and started writing the script. I didn't realize that this was a parody movie but I think that's what this is. Of course there are a few things that don't make sense and the budget was clearly not there. I will say however, the movie wasn't boring. Time flew by pretty quickly.
Play or Die (2019)
Maybe I'm being generous
The first 45 minutes were so captivating and easy to follow. The characters felt like real people and I was intrigued to learn about their relationships. The following 30 minutes were filled with your typical jumpscares, unsensical twists and unstable world bending to fit an ending that makes absolutely no sense. So, the last 20 minutes were literally spent trying to clean up loose ends they created to fit a twist ending regardless of if it created many plot holes. The reason I gave it a semi decent rating is because it was shot well, the acting was good, it didn't look cheaply made and the main characters had decent chemistry.
Kill Game (2016)
I should've dnf'd
Pros
It's shot semi competently
The acting could be worse.
Main Cons (without spoilers)
It felt like at least 50 scenes were missing from the movie despite it being so long. Someone would do something or die and then in the next scene everyone would know about it despite most of the time not even a day had gone by. The flow of time was absolutely terrible.
Even if you wanted to try and guess the killer you can't since the movie is edited terribly. It's absolutely terribly paced.
The movie isn't scary, aside from one gruesome scene.
Scenes linger a bit too long.
Characters make a decision then 30 seconds later do the exact opposite.
The audio fades or isn't very clear at times.
Forced or awkward expository dialogue.
The ending (as well as most scenes) makes absolutely no sense and you could easily remove the last 20 minutes and it would make no difference.
The main story / plot doesn't make sense and technically shouldn't have been logically possible.
Dead Body (2017)
Great acting and cinematography with a believable motive
I'm surprised that this movie has such a low rating. The camera work and acting were above average IMO. The character's are given realistic and consistent personalities that foreshadow their future decisions. If a small detail gets mentioned it actually comes back into play later on. Another thing that I really liked was that the first 30 minutes were used to set up the characters. The next 45 minutes follow a traditional who done it slasher movie. Yes The killer does retrace their steps to explain their motive and how they carried out the murders. While that was very cliche I actually didn't mind it mainly because it revealed a plot twist that I totally missed. The only reason this doesn't have a higher rating is because of the unbelievable last 5 minutes.
Teardrop (2022)
Why did I expect something better?
I think I officially gave up on this movie when there was only 40 minutes left. The character's motivations for doing things and saying certain things went completely out of the window. The acting wasn't good but it was better than this film deserved. The movie unfortunately builds up the story of the town so slowly that the first kill happens in the last 20 minutes. The more you think about this movie the less it makes sense. Did someone or something send out random letters but not any information on how to get to the town? Were their other's like Chris that thought he was unique? If they knew these people were innocent then why kill them? Even though the movie has a bunch of cursing the deaths aren't explicit. I truly had faith in this movie to do something special because the concept is unique, the acting isn't bad and the way it's shot is fine. The dialogue is a bit forced and lastly they show us the same flashbacks that we've already seen TWICE in the last 10 minutes. Of course they split up in the last 20 minutes for no real reason.
Keep Watching (2017)
Good cast, average horror movie
The first 30 minutes were great. The visuals and acting were handled with care but after that it slowly starts playing into the tropes you already know. The character's logic goes out the window and it's only shot it Shakey cam or slow and low lighting. The build up is great. I actually believe that this film wrote teenagers pretty well. Their dialogue and routine made sense. It was hard to ignore that they were trying to confuse you with how much time had past / what people were doing at the same time a killer might be doing something. C-
Sink Hole (2013)
I was optimistic
So about 10 minutes in I realized that the special effects wouldn't be good as well as the acting but I told myself that it couldn't get worse. But then a few minutes later I realized that the dialogue is extremely expository and forced. I did get a few chuckles but everything about the middle of this movie is rushed and illogical.
Number 1 - if the sinkholes are anywhere from 150 -200ft deep then how did they not all die immediately and ... their bus kept slipping?
Number 2 - A kid tries to throw a note that was written on a piece of paper from the inside of the sinkhole ... to the outside ... and it worked.
Number 3 - Regardless of if you're inside or outside of the sinkhole you shouldn't be able to hear the other side say anything... but somehow both sides communicated by yelling ... very loudly while being at least 150ft in height apart.
Also teenagers don't talk like that.