Oh dear oh dear HAMMER..where do I start with this appalling bit of unimaginative garbage. Lets says a few words for the actors because they are the only good thing in the whole film. They struggle and probably held back their laughter at some of the appalling lines that had to be delivered, and Helen McCrory, why Helen why?? You're an excellent actress especially on stage and you've severely wasted your talent here, your reputation can only be damaged by agreeing to be in this poor excuse for a film.
Did they dig up a BBC TV cinematographer who lit an episode of Dr Who in the 1980's??? It was like a watching some lousy cheap xmas special that was knocked out within few days and ZERO thought was given to "atmospheric lighting", this is a meant to be a horror film, you have to create atmosphere to keep the mood of the film, to keep an audience scared, enthralled, intrigued, and most importantly make it look COMMERCIAL, not light it in the style of below par art house knock off for a personal showreel, having lens flares and portions of the frame out of focus do not make you artistic DUMMY, they make you look incompetent which this DOP is, did this person just sleep their way through the project, did this silly DOP think for more than 5 minutes, are they capable of one creative thought in their brain?? What on earth is Hammer thinking when they are making a sequel to the biggest hit they've had in years and they employ talentless unimaginative incompetents like this??
Just look across the pond at the US horror films, some may be bad but pretty much all of them at this budget level all look slick, moody, atmospheric and COMMERCIAL not sub par art house.
Now lets get on to the director, never heard of him before but again this person shows such a deep lack of understanding of the horror genre that you'd think he just stumbled on the set by accident from a heavy night out and started directing this silly piece of nonsense. He keeps using a scare technique that when you see it the first time you think OK, not bad but then he goes on to repeat it about 11 times more, and by the 11th time you think. PLEASE STOP, GET A CLUE! Along with the useless DOP who probably dominated the director with their appalling shots, this director was just walking through the production for the pay check, hang your head in shame, this was a chance of taking the franchise in new directions but its wasted by a lack of imagination of the horror genre.
In summation, this film could have been so good but Hammer in their haste to cash in have misfired and shot themselves in the foot, backside and face.
A ROYAL STINKER, AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Did they dig up a BBC TV cinematographer who lit an episode of Dr Who in the 1980's??? It was like a watching some lousy cheap xmas special that was knocked out within few days and ZERO thought was given to "atmospheric lighting", this is a meant to be a horror film, you have to create atmosphere to keep the mood of the film, to keep an audience scared, enthralled, intrigued, and most importantly make it look COMMERCIAL, not light it in the style of below par art house knock off for a personal showreel, having lens flares and portions of the frame out of focus do not make you artistic DUMMY, they make you look incompetent which this DOP is, did this person just sleep their way through the project, did this silly DOP think for more than 5 minutes, are they capable of one creative thought in their brain?? What on earth is Hammer thinking when they are making a sequel to the biggest hit they've had in years and they employ talentless unimaginative incompetents like this??
Just look across the pond at the US horror films, some may be bad but pretty much all of them at this budget level all look slick, moody, atmospheric and COMMERCIAL not sub par art house.
Now lets get on to the director, never heard of him before but again this person shows such a deep lack of understanding of the horror genre that you'd think he just stumbled on the set by accident from a heavy night out and started directing this silly piece of nonsense. He keeps using a scare technique that when you see it the first time you think OK, not bad but then he goes on to repeat it about 11 times more, and by the 11th time you think. PLEASE STOP, GET A CLUE! Along with the useless DOP who probably dominated the director with their appalling shots, this director was just walking through the production for the pay check, hang your head in shame, this was a chance of taking the franchise in new directions but its wasted by a lack of imagination of the horror genre.
In summation, this film could have been so good but Hammer in their haste to cash in have misfired and shot themselves in the foot, backside and face.
A ROYAL STINKER, AVOID AT ALL COSTS!