What I'm Watching: July, 2010

Hello, horrorheads!

Probably the biggest news is that I saw Predators this weekend.  What a movie!  Light, popcorny fun, a good guilty pleasure type of movie, and definitely a worthy sequel to the original.  There's a few issues with it, but overall I was thoroughly entertained for 90 minutes and change.

The acting was pretty good from everyone involved, and it was fun to watch the characters trying to figure things out and not get dead.  If you're a fan of the movies, I definitely say you gotta see this movie.

In more closer to home stuff, right here in Trisk Labs, as has been obvious, I have something old and something new in the Puppet Master movies.  I've already covered the new remastering of PM1, and I want to write up my thoughts now that I've actually watched the whole thing instead of just looked at images.  That's a post in and of itself.

But the something new is Puppet Master: Axis of Evil, the first, new PM movie in ten years.  Since it's brand new, I don't plan to do a full on look at the movie like my other reviews, but I do have some thoughts on it.

Sigh, it's not bad, for a Puppet Master movie, but it's not great either.  There've been worse PM movies, that's for sure, but it doesn't quite reach the greatness of those first few films.

The movie just looks weird, for starters.  The movie starts off with some new footage spliced in with scenes from the first movie, notably William Hickey's role as Toulon and Blade's scampering around the grounds of the Bodega Bay.  But the differences between the original and new are VERY noticable.  I don't know what they filmed the new movie on, but it has a very digital look, and it just doesn't mesh well with the classic, filmic look.  It becomes very noticable when people are supposed to be in the same hallway, but in two different movies.  I could get really geeky and talk about the depth of field, and the compression artifacts, but you get the idea.

The plot is pretty standard, as a kid who was friends with Toulon discovers the puppets, and just so happens to run into the same Nazis that chased down the puppet master when he returns home.  How coincidental.  Oh, and they're also trying to blow up the bomb factory the guy's girlfriend works at, as well as come between the boy and the girl.  Convenient.

The acting isn't that great either, and the making of features on the disc probably explain why.  This movie was filmed in 13 days.  That's very fast for a movie, and they could have used a little more time to finesse the perfomances some more.

But I don't hate it.  It's got some nice kills, the new puppet isn't so bad (Although he's a bit on the nose with the plot), and the plot may be standard, but it gets the job done and is a solid kind of standard.  Stick with what works, right?  But then the movie fails to end.  It is all setup for the next movie.  Ugh.  I hated it when Puppet Master 4 was the first half of Puppet Master 5, and I hate it now.  I want a complete story from my movies, not a setup for the next film which may or may not be made.

In fairness, this is a Full Moon movie, and they'll surely shove it out sooner or later.  They crank these puppies out like a cor...meat grinder. ;)

Maybe I'll be happier once the next chapter is out and I can see the 'whole' film, but that is a huge beef of mine.  Definitely worth seeing for fans of the series, but not the best entry, with some weird visual touches.

Now I gotta get back to the dungeon and watch the next movie for review, which just arrived the other day!  Keep an eye out for more snakes, and more puppets shortly.

J

What I'm Watching: February, 2010

Been awhile since I posted up something new over here, and I've got a few movies sitting around.  I also want to post up some thoughts on the last few reviews, so I should get to that in the next few weeks.  I've also got the next Trisk movie sitting here ready to go, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

So anyways, what have I watched of note lately?

Well, I finally got to see Zombieland, yay!  This is a *really* good movie.  I wouldn't call it the best horror movie of recent years, like I have a number of others that I've mentioned here, but it is absolutely rock solid.  I thought of saying that it's the American answer to Shaun of the Dead, but it's not quite that good, but oh it so wants to be.  But just because it does not reach those heights doesn't mean that it isn't worth watching.  It is a very close #2 to Shaun, which is no bad thing, my fiends.  It creates a very believable, well thought out world that I totally buy as a post-zombie apocalypse land.  The characters pop, and the writing is very clever.  It also has a great gimmick; we're all familiar with the rules of zombies, but what about the rules of surviving in a zombieland?  The ongoing runner of rules is a great addition, good advice, and incorporated so well into the movie.  If you've not seen Zombieland yet, you gotta check it out, if you read this site.  For a low budget film, its very well done, and this is the Dawn of the Dead for the 21st Century.

Besides that, I've also seen another low budget independent film, House of the Devil.  Sadly, this is not as good as Zombieland.  I had high hopes for this one, and in some ways it gets there, but for the most part, it is going to turn a lot of people off.  If I ever need to explain to someone what a slow burn movie is, I'll just show them House.  There's not a lot of dialogue in the movie, and not a lot happens until the last 20 minutes, and that is no joke.  There is a lot of walking around, sitting, staring, and poking around a more or less empty house.  Now, it does take that time to establish the world and characters, as well as being pretty atmospheric and a little creepy in the empty house, but it's a little TOO slow.  If it had been ten minutes shorter, or more things happened, this would have been a great film.  This is very much a throwback to late 70s/early 80s horror films. There's a wonderful simplicity to it which I quite like, and it even uses a lot of that classic style for the credits and direction, in much the same way that Planet Terror was a loving recreation of grindhouse films.  Sadly, it's closer in storytelling to Death Proof, where nothing happens 'til the very end.  The movie is well cast and acted, it just didn't quite reach where it wanted to go, I think.  It's absolutely worth a look though, but it may disappoint many people, if they don't reach for the fast forward button.

And that's it for the moment.  Now it's back to the grindhouse grindstone for me!

J

What I'm Watching: January, 2010

Happy 2k10, everyone!

We had some nice holidays here, and the viewership numbers were pretty decent for December as well, and so far so good for January.  Growth is slow, but we're getting a steady trickle of visitors.  Spread the word folks, tell everyone!

Anyways, it's been awhile since I've posted a journal entry, so thought I'd take a break from the next review, and toss up some comments on what other stuff I've been entertaining myself with.

Probably the highlight of the entertainment has been District 9.  Such a very well done movie, and amazingly so for the budget.  They did a nice mix of regular movie style, and the resurging trend of documentary style footage.  I love stories where the scifi is mixed with a blend of reality, and District 9's and South Africa's prejudices aren't a very overdone topic in entertainment, so I really enjoyed seeing that.  Definitely worth a rental, and I'd say add it to your shelf.  Or hard drive, if that's the way you roll.

Coming in a close second is the very docustyle Paranormal Activity.  I love this movie.  They really knew how to dole out the tension, and just how much time to spend on characters and exposition.  The behaviour and actions didn't seem overly forced or mindnumbingly stupid like they did in Blair Witch project.  I could nitpick a few things, but these characters seemed very real to me, and reacted in mostly real ways.  Micah was maybe a little thick, but his actions were pretty understandable.  They're more or less what I would do in a similar situation.  If you enjoyed Blair Witch Project, well first of all what's wrong with you?? ;)  Second of all, then you'll probably enjoy this movie quite a bit.

Also, I sat back and waded through the second season of the Showtime anthology series, The Hunger.  It's basically Twilight Zone, but with more adult situations, language, and skin.  Also, they tended more towards the horror than scifi, but that's splitting hairs on these types of shows.  The main problem with anthology shows is that the quality of stories from one episode to the next can be wildly random and uneven, and that's just the case here.  There are some absolute gems though in both seasons.  Terrence Stamp hosts the first season, and David Bowie replaces him in the second, and both bring the show up considerably from where lesser hosts could have left it, and even in a meh episode, then they're fun to watch.  Even if they're only in a few minutes per episode.  And hey, they are FAR less annoying than the Cryptkeeper.  If you can find these seasons cheap, then they might be worth your time for the good episodes scattered in there.

Now, back to the next review!

J

What I'm Watching: December, 2009

Hey, horrorheads!

(Where did I steal that from?  I know I've heard it somewhere.)

Not much of interest, actually.

A few weeks ago, I watched set 16 of the MST3K DVDs, and it was quite the set.  Probably one of my faves of the Shout! Factory era.

Currently I'm working my way through Lost season 5, since that just came in, and the Dharma Initiation Kit limited packaging is freakin' huge and I want it out of my way.  If not for that, I'd be watching the Hunger.  More on that later.

I've been going through DVDs slower than normal due to my writing that book from November still.  I normally watch two or so hours, but with the writing going on, I've cut it back to one hour, unless it's a movie.  So I'm waaay behind.

I'm also still recovering from Blood Freak.  Hoo boy.  But don't worry about upcoming reviews, I have three I'd LIKE to do.  Sadly, I've developed this amazing ability to pick a movie just as it goes out of print, so that's making it a pain to aquire the others I want to do.  But fingers crossed, there will be at least one more review, but I'm really hoping to do even more, to make up for my vacation from November.

More to come!

J

What I'm Watching: November, 2009

Hey horrorheads!

I'm still undead over here.  I've completed the 50k goal in NaNoWriMo, and while I still have a ways to go on the book, I can at least take a break and do some other stuff, like watching and reviewing bad movies.  It always feels good to reach that goal, and I did it in record time for me, this year.

To take my mind off writing, I've been watching the second season of the Canadian detective/vampire series, Blood Ties.  I really love this show, and hate that it never lasted.  It was way better than Moonlight was, and the second set of episodes is much better than the first.  Being Canadian-made it has a little bit of a cheesy look to it, and the effects aren't great, but the writing and acting is pretty rock solid.  Anyone who is a fan of shows like Angel and Forever Knight should absolutely check it out.  Even better, check out the books the series was based on.

I've also just watched the new movie Franklyn, which looked kinda scifi action adventure, with a bit of Dark City flair to it.  It's kinda none of the above.  I'm not going to get into spoilers, but the movie is very much not what it looks like from the trailers, which was a tad disappointing.  It's still a very good, thoughtful movie, just not what I was sitting down to watch.  Still worth checking out.

I've found the movie I wanted to review next at a sane price, I just have to wait for it to get here, so keep your eyes peeled, the reviews will be back soon!

J

What I'm Watching: Devil's Night Edition

If you get the reference, you can probably guess what movie I've recently watched.  For those that don't get quite get it; I've rewatched the original Crow movie.

I do this once a year, on October 30th, or as it's known in certain parts of the US, and in the film, as Devil's Night.

The Crow is, flat out, probably my favourite movie.  I remember going to see it with friends in 1994 in the theatres, and I was totally enthralled.  None of the other films ever captured the magic the original did, although the tv series?  Not half bad.

The action, the emotion, the music...it's a really well told film.  It has a few weird moments, some corn, but as a whole, it is a really solid piece of storytelling, that has at it's core a lot of heart, and something to say.

Lately, I've also been rewatching with others the tv miniseries (For lack of a better term), Harper's Island, from earlier this year.  At the time it aired, I thought it was ok, with some cool moments, but rewatching it?  I'm really enjoying it.  The first few episodes are a little slow, but around episode five or six, things really hit the fan, and the show reaches a whole new level.  For those unfamiliar with it, HI was a 13 part series on CBS, that was a murder mystery/thriller about a wedding party that got caught up in a new string of murders on a remote island where the reception and week-long event of the wedding was being planned.  It's got some classic horror tropes, and once it is all said and done, is a very complete story, and the big twists actually hold up and supported by the earlier episodes, so it's not exactly out of nowhere.

And tonight, was a very fun episode of Medium.  Medium's not my fave show, and I probably watch it out of momentum more than anything, but tonight's episode was Halloween themed, with the lead character having frequent dreams based in the original Night of the Living Dead, using copious amounts of footage, with Patricia Arquette edited into the Barbara role.  This was a blast to watch, and if you didn't see it, it might be worth folks catching it on Hulu later.  Or wherever it can be found.

Well, have a safe and happy Halloween everyone, and I'll be around.

J

What I'm Watching: October, 2009

This is a regular feature I plan to do on occasion.  Since not every horror movie deserves a spot on this site, and I do watch a lot of them, I'd like to at least highlight some other movies that cross my desk from time to time, things that might be of interest to the readers.

I'm currently watching (Literally, I paused the DVD to type this up) Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell.  Raimi is a veteran of the horror genre, one of the great old ones, and this is a true return to form after getting distracted with the Spider-Man movies for awhile.  Alison Lohman is so likable and gorgeous in this movie, that you can't help but root for her.  The movie has some classic scares, both the genuinely frightening kind, the ickily disguting kind, and the loud noise making you jump out of your seat kind.  Raimi is a master at these films, and he knows exactly how to draw out tension and the perfect moment to spirng his trap.  The audience can see these moments coming, and Sam can pace out that scare at the precise right time that it still gets you.  You know it's coming, and just when you can't take the wait anymore, it hits you.  The movie is far from perfect though, and some of the scares come off really cheesy, rather than scary.  Usually when CGI enters into the mix.  The CGI looking out of place and fake doesn't help any.  However, this is a Sam Raimi film, and you almost expect a little cheese, and that's ok.  It just felt so out of place, both in the look of the effects and the overall tone of the film, that there were moments where I was pulled out of the movie.  Overall, an enjoyable gem that harkens back to older times and is one of the better horror movies of the past decade, even if it is flawed.  The DVD is a bit light, sadly.  Oh, and this movie really gets to me because it plays with the simplest thing that is the easiest way to freak me out; creeping shadows.  *shudder*  Raimi knows just how to play with half-seen imagery, just the right sounds (or lack thereof), to really draw a person to the edge of their seat.

Also, earlier this week I watched Trick 'R Treat, which I've made mention to a few times.  I really enjoyed this one, too.  Like Drag, it harkens back to an earlier style of movie.  Whereas that film was shooting more for classic horror stylings, this one goes more for the anthology genre from such films as Creepshow, and Tales from the Darkside.  The film is a bit uneven, and I wish it had been longer to give characters more time to develop and shine, but on the whole, it's pretty good.  It has a few creepy moments, and nothing that's outright scary, but it's a solid anthology movie with Halloween themes, telling stories around the traditions and tropes of the holiday.  While I would have liked some more real scares packed in, I can't complain about what I got.  It's a shame this movie took so long to come out, since the two years of anticipation may have built up unreachable expectations, as well.  I'm sure this film will grow on me over time.  The cast was good almost all around, giving solid performances, and the writing was pretty sharp, and delivered a number of laughs keeping the tone light.  It's an intricate movie, with every segment weaving in and out of every other one, and each one unfolded a wider picture of Halloween in this sleepy midwestern town.  A great way to tell all these stories and still have it seem like a cohesive whole.  Sadly, if the Drag Me to Hell DVD was light?  This one is practically floating.  I would have loved some bonus features beyond the short that was included, especially with all the time the movie took to come out.  It practically screams 'special edition coming soon!' to me.  However, since the movie probably needs support, because it struggled so long to even get this out the gate, I'll more than happily pay now to encourage a better version down the line.

Later today, I'll be catching the sixth of the Saw films, which started off brilliantly with an amazing little independent film that has a lot of flaws but deserves some slack for being a first time film from it's creators.  Sadly, the more recent ones have not lived up to that greatness, but the overall tapestry of the story still intrigues me, and I go to each one every premiere.  My local theatre recently shut down, but I'm not letting that stop me.  Even though they've tended to be disappointing lately, I still enjoy my yearly Saw tradition.

That's about all on the slate for the moment.  The next full review should be done soon, so keep your eyes peeled to the reviews section of the site, and right here for my usual ramblings.

J