“Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.”
― Ingmar Bergman
Jay, combat veteran hooks up with his friend, Gal, to do a job. As contract killers, the two have a list of people who need to get gotten. The jobs start out fairly run of the mill but become more bizarre as they work their way through them. This film is tense, funny, gruesome, and surprising. Mr. Wheatley, who also directed Down Terrace as well as he upcoming A Field in England, is definitely one of my new favorite directors.
A teenage party is turned upside down when doubles of every person start appearing. This film is not very suspenseful or scary. It is entertaining and amusing and turns the whole 'teenage party out of control' on its head. For a smaller film trying to do something different, it is good, not amazingly good, but good.
When the patriarch of a Mexican family dies unexpectedly, his family is left to carry on in his wake. And the way that they carry on is quite brutal. The family are actually cannibals who are obligated to reenact some sort of ritual. I watched this because I'd heard there was an solidly made American remake of it. Since I personally prefer originals over remakes, I went right to the source and was not disappointed.
There are so many things to love about this film. The story is crazy good. One of the biggest things I love about the narrative is the sheer mystery of the family's actions. The story is also very compact and tightly told. The creepy, off-kilter feel of the film is constant.
Michael leaves the city to help his friend Chris, a drug addict, to get clean. As expected, Chris is very reluctant to comply. But Michael does his best to help. Meanwhile, some really bizarre things start happening and Michael believes that someone is watching them and leaving clues for him to follow. I've read comparisons between this film and Joss Whedon's Cabin in the Woods. Some traits might be shared such as both of the films deconstructing the horror genre. For a very small indie horror film which has very little in the way of in your face horror, this is a very good film. Resolution gets 4.5 out of 5 stars!
Gilderoy is an English sound effects man working in the film industry. An Italian filmmaker hires him to do sound for his new film, but Gilderoy is having a hard time getting used to the way things are done in Italy. And he can't seem to get reimbursed him for his plane tickets.
Set in the 1970s, this film is an interesting look at the way films were made in days gone by, when sound engineering was a bit more involved and a bit more analog. I found this through a list on Fearnet.com for 2013's best horror films. The visuals in this film are very striking and the editing is phenomenal. Toby Jones is pretty great in this 'fish out of water' story which is really not a horror film, but more like a black comedy which is concerned with the process of making a film.
When the four grown children (with significant others in tow) come together to celebrate their parent's anniversary, the sweet little family reunion turns into a bloodbath. Stalked by masked killers, people start getting picked off one by one. Except for Erin, the girlfriend of one of the sons, who decides to defend the house and fight back. The rest of the film is pure badass action.
My thought after finishing this film was, This is about as close to perfect as a film can get. The next thought was, I've got to see this again. Which is why I didn't send it back to Netflix the next day, but instead I watched it again the next night. That is something that very rarely happens, maybe once or twice a year.
Why is this film so great? Numerous reasons - The story was very tightly told, the pacing was phenomenal, the acting was great, the action was outstanding, and the cinematography was awesome. On top of all that, I love how the filmmakers turned the home invasion sub-genre completely upside down. This is the type of film that The Purge wanted so hard to be. In fact, this is the type of film that so many films want to be like. In short, this film is amazing.
A family moves into a house and things start going bump in the night. The family tasks a couple of paranormal experts to investigate and things get crazy. Based very loosely on the story of a real life haunting, this film doesn't add much new material to the horror genre. It has echos of The Exorcist and Poltergeist, but in a good way. The best scares and thrills in this one are the old school ones - lights going out, things falling off the walls, things like that. This film is really we'll shot. Near the beginning of the film there is a super cool long shot that made me day wow. I'm not a big fan of horror films, but I did enjoy this one.
People start turning into zombies. Worldwide chaos ensues. Brad Pitt helps to save the day. Having read the book and loved it, I was skeptical about a film being made from it. And while the film version is very different than the book, it is still pretty great. It is rare than a big budget Hollywood action film keeps my attention like this one did. The first and third acts of this film were dripping with tension. The story was great, the acting was great, the zombies were great, everything was great. The high caliber scribes and very able director deliver a very satisfying addition to the zombie genre. And even though the zombie craze may fade away someday, this film will remain a great film which will stand the test of time.
David and John try to help a young woman in need, and then things get supernatural. David meets with a reporter to tell his story, which is quite unbelievable. And there is a drug called Soy Sauce which has given David psychic powers. This is a weird, wonderful film which will be either loved or hated. It you like things such as Shaun of the Dead, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, or Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, you will love this one. Filled with comedy, bizarre supernatural occurrences, and miscellaneous mischief, this film is thoroughly enjoyable.
John Dies at the End freaks everyone out, in a funny way, to receive 3.5 out of 5 Poblanos!
When the zombie apocalypse hits Cuba, Juan and his compadres have an interesting way of dealing with them. The government refuses to acknowledge the real situation and refers to them as 'dissidents'. I'm pretty sure this is the first Cuban film that I have ever seen. It holds it own against Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland (sorry folks, those are my gold standards for zombie comedies).
A well known American geneticist takes a position in a German research lab. There he reconnects with an old friend and meets a new enemy. A very intriguing, well written, and beautifully shot film. I've not seen a story with this type of storyline that wasn't extremely unrealistic or cheesy or both. Michael Eklund (who I loved in Xavier Gens'The Divide) does a superior job of carrying the lead role. He is supported by fantastic cast.
Errors of the Human Body makes few mistakes and gets 4 out of 5 Poblanos!
Young Arthur is budding lawyer sent by his firm to finalize paperwork on a property. When he shows up in the village, tragic things begin to happen. Arthur soon realizes that all the strangeness is connected to the property. And the rest is mildly thrilling. The film does manage to capture a good bit of eeriness. It also has some quality British actors. Daniel Radcliffe is doing a fair job of trying to break out of the Harry Potter pigeonhole (Although it will always be hard for me to think of him as anything else). This film is a respectable, if not memorable, addition to his filmography.
Woman in Black gets a less than thrilling 2.5 out of 5 Poblanos!
When a group of young tourists signs up for a tour of the Chernobyl nuclear accident sight, they get more than they bargained for. Just reading the description of this film lets you know it won't turn out well for anyone. Bradley Parker makes his directing debut and does a very respectable job with this genre film. Co-written by Oren Peli, the man behind the Paranormal Activity film, Chernobyl Diaries has a lot of great things going for it including the fact that it is very creepy.
A group of friends go off for a weekend in the woods. The cabin they're staying in seems a bit creepy, but the group chooses to make the most of it. Then the zombies come. The rest, could be fairly predictable, even cliche, if not for Joss Whedon doing a bit of reconstruction on the horror genre. This is one of those great genre films that manages to pay tribute to the genre while exceeding it at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed this film.
Its not what you said...
A morning radio host and his crew get some interesting reports of weird happening around town. As things get more and more weird, the radio host and his two person crew find themselves trapped in their station building. And then come the zombies. This film is very tongue in cheek and very funny. Pontypool offers a totally different take on the whole zombie genre. Definitely worth watching.
Eat more chicken
Dan owns a dairy farm. When one of his cows is giving birth, the vet is bit by something in the birth canal. Things go from bad to worse in this as Dan discovers that the whole thing is a genetic experiment gone wrong. A cross between Alien and a nature show, this mildly creepy Irish mini-monster movie is better than it sounds. There were a couple of good thrills and some creepy little creatures.
Isolation is thrilled me for a respectable 3 out of 5 Poblanos!
Invasion of the body snatchers
Arthur Blake is scheduled to be guillotined. A priest is sent to hear his confession. Arthur narrates the tale of his life leading up to how he ended up in the current situation. With some humorous moments, I Sell The Dead is light popcorn fare. As always though, British comedy always seems to be way funnier than American.
Seriously?
Sally is sent to live with her very inattentive father and his girlfriend who live in a big old house. The house has a history which Sally discovers, but no one believes her. Much to everyone's dismay, she's not making any of it up. This film skips from cliche to cliche and whilst doing so manages to be not be scary or even interesting. I watched the second half mostly in fast forward. It is doubly disappointing since I am a big fan of both Guillermo del Toro and Guy Pearce. Verdict: seriously not scary and quite disappointing.
I thought vampires were supposed to be cool
The world was once overrun the world by vampires. Then the Church trained a special group of priests to subdue them. Vampires who have been mostly conquered and live in reservations. This film could have been good, but it is not. It is convloluted, confused, and cliched not to mention a rip-off of Blade Runner and other films. I only made it about halfway through. The best part of the film (that I saw) was the animated back story at the beginning. After that, I either didn't care or was unconciousness. I finally stopped watching because it was unwatchable. Who let this out for public consumption?
Priest made vampires boring with only 1 out of 5 Poblanos!
Can't we all just get a long?
A group of college kids go camping in the Appalachians and are terrorized by two hillbillies. At least that's what they think. But Tucker and Dale are not trying to scare them or even kill them. These kind and well meaning country boys try to communicate with the college kids, but send the wrong messages. For me this the new Shaun of the Dead (and that's saying a lot). And like SotD, it pokes fun at the genre without being cliché; it's a horror film that also happens to be funny, very funny. I've wanted to see it since it came out earlier this year, but it was not released in my area. Thankfully, Netflix has it now. This is Eli Craig's first full-length film as writer/director, and I can't wait to see what he does next.
