Reviews
Skinned Deep (2004)
mint film for all the wrong reasons
This film sucks but is so bad its hugely entertaining. Wait till you see Brain for the first time - don't be drinking cos you will spit it out all over yourself.
The family in the film must be the dumbest bunch of people ever assembled cos for them to believe the story that's fed to em is just ridiculous.
The acting is so bad it rocks, the plot is off it's head and special effects are not special. The Surgeon General in it has the strength of ten tigers too.
Watch it and love it for all the wrong reasons.
Telling it like it is there.
Janghwa, Hongryun (2003)
confusing? yes, but it's meant to be.....
Having recently become interested in Asia horror films I decided to buy this film after reading good things about it. I was not disappointed.
The film deals with our ability to cope with tragedy and the confusion this can cause. Superb performances are given by the cast and the lighting and camera work is perfect too for creating a dark foreboding atmosphere.
The film takes your emotions and mind on a roller-coaster ride from hell, building up suspense perfectly and keeping you right on the edge of your seat.
This is the second scariest film I've ever seen and was playing on my mind long after the film had finished, which interestingly, is what the director aimed to do, according to the film notes in the DVD case.
Watch this film and prepare to be scared witless.
My rating: Super Scary Stuff
Pôn (2002)
Superb horror flick
I recently saw this movie and was blown away by it.
If you've seen other Asian films such as the grudge or ring you will like this. Its creepy to say the least and there are some genuinely scary moments in it (made me jump out of my skin at one bit...not gonna tell u which bit though....).
Special mention must go to the little girl in it. She is an amazing actress...ultra cute one minute then evil itself the next. I have never seen such a convincing performance by a child before.
There are some similarities between this and the film What Lies Beneath and at first I thought it was gonna be a copy of that - it's not.
I recommend this film to anyone that likes to be scared and I mean genuinely scared, not disgusted at loads of gore on the screen. Watch and enjoy. I did.
My rating: Scary horror with excellent storyline.
Creep (2004)
Not very good at all.....maybe even dirt
I expected big things from this British horror movie after having seen the trailer for it. Super scary stuff I thought as I bought my ticket....I was wrong.
Here is an outline of the plot (don't blink or you'll miss it)...Girl at party decides she wants to sleep with George Clooney, leaves the party to catch a tube train and ends up falling asleep and thus getting locked in the underground system. There's a killer on the loose down there with her, which of course she doesn't know at first, till her friend from the party who's followed her gets killed by it. She runs around screaming a lot and making friends with homeless people, all the while trying to find a way out.
The main problem with the film was that it attempted to scare you through the use of gory effects and jumpy loud bangs/music. These are both cheap ways to create fear and should be binned and forgotten about as they're tired and dated methods. To make matters worse, the film failed to scare me or any of my friends who saw it.
The killer is a bloke that has been experimented on by a doctor - why I have no idea. Also, why would the doctor have a surgery (which by the way despite the dirt and filth on everything else, spotlessly clean surgical lights....) in the underground system?? Anyway the killer can't speak he just squeals, which somehow he also manages to do even when he's had his throat completely cut....go figure. I found myself laughing at him, not being scared by him.
To top this off, one of the guys in it used to be in a children's TV show called Spatz, a sort of children's comedy about a burger bar. I kept thinking about him in that while I was watching crap, sorry I mean creep. Or do I.... ?????? Anyway - see this movie if you like but you have been warned it's toss.
My rating: wasted effort
Nikos the Impaler (2003)
Very, very entertaining, but for all the wrong reasons
Nikos the Impaler is pure dirt. It has the most bizarre plot ever involving a barbarian, Hitler, ninjas and a vampire.
A robbery in an art museum goes terribly wrong which results in an ancient barbarian being bought back to life (as you do), who then goes on to create havoc and mayhem all throughout the modern city.
Special mention must go to the camera work in this movie, it's the most screwed up I've ever seen, they keep cutting the tops of people's heads off. It's hilarious.
Also, for some reason in this film, Hitler is a right fatty! It's a very good film because it's so bad that you have to keep watching it to find out what will happen next. There's a brilliant scene in video store where a young couple are trying to choose a film for the night and Nikos (the large barbarian) is walking round, happy as Larry with no-one noticing him....classic! If you watch this movie I guarantee you will never have seen anything quite like it before.
I would give this movie dirt/10 for production values, but for entertainment value 8/10.
Undead (2003)
Aussie horror at it's best
Undead is a great film, if you like your films to scare you that is. It's the first Australian film I've ever seen and I have to say that I think I will be watching more from now on.
The plot of Undead revolves around meteorites that fall to the earth and bring the dead back to life. This ultimately results in the devastation of a town and a small band of people club together to try and get to the bottom of the mystery.
Along the way there are awesome special effects and jumpy moments galore. Also, this film contains the coolest ever method for shooting a shotgun (if you've seen it you'll know what I'm talking about).
I don't know much about the actors/actresses in this movie, because like I said, this is the first ever Australian movie I've seen. However, I would really like to see them in other work they've done as the quality of acting was excellent.
The film has a low budget look to it, but as a viewer, you can tell that production crew intended it to be that way, and everything is carefully worked out and used to maintain the effect.
One word of warning.....watch out for the bit where the guy is in his fishing boat...
Overall, if you like horror films about undead things you will enjoy this movie. Roll on the next Aussie blockbuster.
Overall I would give this film 10 out of 10. Really enjoyed it!
Honogurai mizu no soko kara (2002)
Good film, not that scary, but good anyway
Dark Water is an enjoyable film, but it's not as scary as other Japanese horrors. However, I did enjoy it. Everyone else has outlined the plot so I'm not going to. The ghost in the movie is quite creepy but nowhere near as creepy as the ghosts in say Ring or The Grudge. I am quite interested to see if the forthcoming Hollywood version of this film ups the scare factor any.
I think the overall tale trying to be told in this film is that a mother will do anything to protect her child. Which is nice if you think about it.
Roll on the next Japanese horror film. I love em. I like American ones too, but Japanese ones usually have a better story.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
Top notch entertainment
I was really looking forward to seeing this film. I quite liked the original, but knew they could improve on it and in this sequel they have.
Events centre around Racoon city being quarantined after the T-virus is leaked into the atmosphere causing everyone to mutate into zombies and the like. A small group of survivors are assigned the task of retrieving Dr Ashford's daughter (the guy who invented the T-virus) who is trapped in the city. However, umbrella are hellbent on killing everyone in order to contain the outbreak and they deploy their top-secret bio-weapon NEMESIS into the disease ridden city. Cue lots of action scenes all held together by a decent storyline.
Sienna Guillory is taste and plays the Jill Valentine character well and Milla Jovovich returns in the lead role and is pleasing on the eye too. I look forward to a third film, if they make one. Should be good.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
A highly polished, highly developed sequel
As sequels go Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is a good film. It's plot is a highly contrived, and tightly interwoven blend of modern day American youth struggling to combat the pressures and stresses forced upon them by outside influences. In this cinematic production, a great deal of that pressure is forced upon them by the cunning media moguls that closely follow their every move. I believe that this successfully conveys the pressures we can all feel from time to time from ones close to us, like our parents, for example. Teen angst is also explored thoroughly in this film when Velma (the intellectual one of the group) begins to doubt her sexual appeal to the males present in her life, in particular Patrick whom she meets during an exhibition being held at the city's museum.
Through adversity Velma battles to forge her place on the plain of existence within the very real world in which she dwells.
Shaggy and Scooby are the real centrepieces of the performance. They are ideally placed for illustrating to us all how each of us tries to 'fit in' with society, even though society itself can sometimes not be what we're looking for and can appear both bland and boring. Through these 2 characters alone the director, Raja Gosnell, takes his viewers on a roller-coaster of emotions, including self-doubt, lack of confidence, a wanting to please others and ultimately a triumphant return to form and the adoration and respect of those closest to us in our lives. Something I believe we are all striving for.
Scooby Doo 2 justifies the use of modern day cinema as a medium for conveying to us, the public, the difficulties of living and coping in today's world. But, it also shows us that with a little bit of self-belief and the support of others, we can achieve our ultimate goals and be accepted as an individual within society as whole.
The special effects rocked too.
The Grudge (2004)
Super Scary Stuff
This film is the scariest movie I have ever watched. There's something just not 'right' about it. I have seen the Japanese version of it too and think that the Hollywood production is the better film. The Japanese seem to make the best horror movies.
Gellar is taste - natch and the rest of the cast are good actors. The little boy in it is just wrong. It made me jump a lot and kept me right on the edge of my seat all the way through the film. I have no idea how long the film was because I was so engrossed in it. You probably already know the plot by now so I won't go into the details of it. Suffice to say that I really hope they do an American version of The Grudge 2 (which is also excellent).
I don't scare easily and have seen hundreds of horror films but this film really scared me and played on my mind after I'd returned home from the cinema. Do not watch this film if you don't like horror movies because it will screw your heard up.
The one thing I liked about it the most is that it's not a gore fest. Most of the time you don't actually see anything happen to anyone its all left up to your imagination.
This is the best horror movie I have ever seen - and yes that includes both U.S and Japanese versions of The Ring. Go see.