+ 5-Minute (*No-Spoiler) Mini Movie Reviews + by R.J. Cavender 02/22/2010 +
RATINGS KEY
Shutter Island (2010)
I’m going to be really brief on this one, being a *No-spoiler* review and all. But, I’ve got to recommend this film and recommend it highly!
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a film with quite as much atmosphere as this one. To me, “Shutter Island” almost felt more like a David Lynch or Stanley Kubrick film, but I think Martin Scorsese was really playing around with ideas when he made this movie. It was as if he was returning to some of the sly darkness you witnessed in movies like “Bringing out the Dead” and “The Departed”. This film was a lot of fun to watch.
I’ll also say, it’s nice to see a film that has some twists and turns but isn’t solely reliant upon these devices alone to tell a story. And that’s what set this movie apart, I think. Just good old fashioned storytelling. There’s a hell of a good story in here and if you stick with some of the slower parts, I can guarantee that the ride is worth it.
4 SKULLS
The Wolfman (2010)
While I usually avoid other critic’s opinion of films before I see them, I found myself drawn in by some of the complaints I saw about this movie online. I noticed that people were saying it was slow and that the effects were weak, but overall it just seemed like there was a low dull rumbling about this film without any real specific complains.
So, needless to say I was very pleased with my decision to see this film at the theaters after all. Perhaps people didn’t realize this was remake. Maybe they didn’t understand that it was a period piece. Maybe…they expected packs of werewolves instead of a singular Wolf Man. Personally, I’m not sure what all the bitching and moaning was about. This is a really good film.
I’m not sure I’m going to call this one a Classic anytime soon, but it entertained for the entire running time and I found myself really engaged in the action and involved with the characters. And, I’m not even that much of a fan of the lycanthropes.
Another complaint I read online was that the transformation scene from man to Wolfman weren’t that great. Are you kidding me? In fact, I read several places people saying that the effects weren’t nearly as good as the transformation scenes in “American Werewolf in London”. I find that kind of curious, considering the effects for both films were done by FX’s guru Rick Baker. Sure, I found the transformations very similar between the two films, but I surely thought that this newer version was the better of the two, even as revolutionary as ‘American Werewolf’ was at the time.
But, all-in-all this film delivers on the action and suspense and even brings some pretty deep plot points in to round it out. A smart film for the adults and not just another dime-a-dozen formulamatic PG-13 affair. The film score by Danny Elfman was great, too.
4 SKULLS
Dread (2010)
Based on a Clive Barker short story, this film really packs a punch. As much a character study as it is a contemplation of fear itself, “Dread” inflicts some pretty heavy duty nastiness on its audience, to great effect.
The premise is simple: Three college students embark on a thesis project to examine their classmates worst fears. From this point on, though, the story just gets really wicked and goes into some deep and disturbing areas. I loved it.
Although I don’t really recall reading the story that this was based upon, I have to say that the dialogue and situations have a distinct Barker feel to them. The characters are complex without having to prove so, and the situations seem to escalate at an alarming, yet believable pace.
A really smart and haunting film.
4 SKULLS
Paranormal Entity (2009)
Well…what can I say? The folks at Asylum Entertainment (“2012: Doomsday” and “666: The Child”) have finally made a Mock-buster that is actually much better than the original film. Sure, it’s plagued with some of the same logic issues as the first one, and while I’m not a fan of blatant plagiarism…but this film is superior to “Paranormal Activity” in almost every way.
First, I felt the acting in this knock-off was a lot easier to take. The characters in the original film just weren’t all that likable. In this one, at least I sort of cared about their outcome. Also, I feel this film covered the footage of chronicling the events much better, without the outside intrusion of music and effects. In short, I just felt this film was a lot more entertaining and engaging.
Sure, it’s still a first-person home video looking production, but one better than “Paranormal Activity” and probably done on the same kind of budget. So, if you like to watch people set up video equipment and booby-traps in their homes and have the bejezus scared out of them over very little…this film is for you!
3 SKULLS
Trunk (2009)
See! A woman talking to inanimate objects while inside a car’s trunk compartment. See! A man drive a car while crying and masturbating! Wow…was this ever a weird little film. It’s bad in so many ways that it just may be a new cult classic, but it truly does have a few fleeting moments of brilliance. Were these moments worth wading though an entire film to see? Absolutely not. But, if you’re a fan of horrible cinema you might enjoy this. But, I only recommend this in a purely ‘it’s so bad it’s good’ sort of way. Not to be viewed in any sort of other context.
1 SKULL
