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Reviews
The Boy (2016)
There is a twist and then there is this.
The boy is a horror film that, once again, orbits around a doll that seems to be possessed. This type of tale has been played out in recent years but still manages to entertain a lot of horror fans out there.
The boy goes in a slightly new direction with the "doll genre." Which is a welcome sight I'm sure. The boy focuses on a rich family in the UK that tragically lost their son in a fire 20 years before the film is set. On the same day as the tragedy a doll had appeared and the family believed it was their lost son. Our main character has taken on the task of watching the boy whilst the parents go on holiday. Interesting enough plot slightly different to the usual.
The acting is good and contains a decent amount of character development, which is something you don't always see in horror movies. You don't have to wait to long before things start going bump in the night which, again, I feel is a welcome sight. The middle of the film is entertaining and contains some jump scares but the film mostly relies on the tense atmosphere and the viewers apprehension.
The finale...leaves a lot to be desired I'm afraid to say. It appears that writers seem to have an obsession with twists, which isn't always a bad thing. However this writer decided to go a bit to far and seemingly sprints off in a different direction leaving the viewer disappointed and wondering what the hell just happened. To be honest I'm still trying to wrap my head around it as I'm writing this.
We find out that the doll is not actually haunted but is being moved around by the real and very much alive son who has been living in the walls. Now we are shown that the walls are hollow and he has access to the entirety of the mansion. But, for me at least, it still leaves a lot of questions for example: How fast is he? There are several scenes where the doll moves in a matter of seconds yet we are given no sign of how a man could do that. Whats worse is that the notion of this ending wasn't even hinted at not in the slightest.
It always disappoints me when an ending screws up the film when the writer/s decide to "keep us on our toes." In a ridiculous way that doesn't seem to match the story what-so-ever. However despite the finale I did still very much enjoy the bulk of the films content. I do still recommend watching this film if you have little else to watch or just simply bored.
The Hallow (2015)
Slightly dragged out.
The hallow is a fairly typical horror movie, family stays in a secluded house surrounded by a forest and strange things start to happen. Despite this however it is still an enjoyable film to watch and the monsters are somewhat original. The atmosphere of the film is tense and is mildly scary for those of us horror fanatics. The acting was decent although at some stages the script leaves a little something to be desired. The make up and special effects teams are both to be applauded, great effects. There wasn't any real character development besides seeing how the characters react to the situations thrown at them.
I did feel that the film was slightly dragged out and could've done with a few unimportant scenes being edited out. Overall though its a good one watch film.