Tag: Thriller

REVIEW: Despite A Lack Of R-Rated Slasher Moments, ‘Happy Death Day’ Is Still Plenty Of Fun

Did the film “Groundhog Day” start a genre? With films like “Edge of Tomorrow” and now “Happy Death Day,” it’s starting to seem so.

The latter was just released this past weekend and follows the story of Theresa (Jessica Rothe), who goes by the nickname Tree. A college student and a sorority member, Tree is a very much a partier and enjoys living life rather promiscuously.

Her life comes to a screeching halt, though, when she’s murdered on campus on the night of her birthday. However, instead of dying, Tree wakes up on the morning of her birthday and relives it all over until she’s once again murdered. After waking up again on that same morning, it becomes apparent to her that she’s reliving the same day and sets out to solve her own murder.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Despite A Lack Of R-Rated Slasher Moments, ‘Happy Death Day’ Is Still Plenty Of Fun”

Halloween Horror Fest 2017: Honoring George A. Romero

The concept of zombies existed long before 1968.

The first known film related to zombies was actually released in 1932, which was “White Zombie.” However, the zombies at that time were more related to magic and voodoo and it wasn’t until the late 60s that the modern zombie movie was created.

It was all thanks to George A. Romero (Feb. 4, 1940-July 16, 2017) who came along and thrust the genre in a whole new direction with the film “Night of the Living Dead.” Romero’s indie film, which introduced the concept of a plague that turns people into flesh eating zombies, didn’t just create a new idea for filmmakers to use, though.

Continue reading “Halloween Horror Fest 2017: Honoring George A. Romero”

REVIEW: ‘Blade Runner’s’ Return Is Remarkable

There have been a lot of sequels lately that have revisited properties that were long left dormant, including “Jurassic World,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Creed.” This sequel to the 80s cult classic “Blade Runner,” though, might be the best one yet.

The new “Blade Runner” takes place 30 years after the original, hence the title. Replicants, the bioengineered humans that were featured in the original, are once again present in the movie and this time more integrated into society. The main example of this is the movie’s protagonist, K (Ryan Gosling). K is a replicant who works for the Los Angeles Police Department and is tasked with hunting down older replicant models.

In his latest investigation, K discovers a clue that relates to events in the first film. As a result, K is sent down a rabbit hole where he finds out information that could change the entire world.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Blade Runner’s’ Return Is Remarkable”

REVIEW: ‘Mother’ Is One Of The Year’s Most Extreme Films, And For The Most Part It Works

Perennial cinematic risk taker Darren Aronofsky, who’s previously helmed films such as “Black Swan” and “Requiem for a Dream,” is at it again with this year’s “Mother!”

The movie opens rather mysteriously before introducing the audience to the two lead characters, named only Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) and Him (Javier Bardem). Their married life is a simple one, Him being a writer and poet who’s trying to find his next breakthrough while Mother works on restoring sections of the house they live in.

Tensions begin to rise as two guests show up on their home’s doorsteps, though, played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer. That tension only continues to build as the situation at the house becomes more and more unsettling.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Mother’ Is One Of The Year’s Most Extreme Films, And For The Most Part It Works”

REVIEW: ‘IT’ Is A Horror Movie That Has Heart, But Still Provides Chills

The simple verdict? Go see “It.”

“It” is a film based on the 1986 horror book of the same name written by Stephen King and revolves around seven kids who live in Maine. Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), Ben (Jeremy Taylor), Beverly (Sophia Lillis), Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Mike (Chosen Jacobs) Eddie (Jack Grazer) and Stanley (Wyatt Oleff) are the protagonists and find themselves coming together and becoming close friends.

Driving forces that bring the group together are the actions of a group of bullies in their small town and an evil entity that takes the form of a clown named Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard). With the torment from Pennywise increasing for all of them, the seven start to research how they can survive.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘IT’ Is A Horror Movie That Has Heart, But Still Provides Chills”

REVIEW: ‘Annabelle: Creation’ Is An Effective, Fun Horror Flick

“Annabelle: Creation” is a prequel to “Annabelle,” which itself was a prequel to “The Conjuring.” When considering the poor track record of sequels or prequels to horror films, there’s no way “Annabelle: Creation” should’ve been any good, that’s why it was surprising to see the movie turn out to be rather enjoyable.

The film takes place decades ago and follows the story of an orphanage that’s relocating to a house out in the country owned by a couple. The couple, Samuel (Anthony LaPaglia) and Esther (Miranda Otto), lost their daughter in a car accident a few years a before the start of the movie, but have opened their home to allow the orphanage girls to stay at the house.

While there are numerous orphan characters featured in “Creation,” the film focuses specifically on two, Janice (Talitha Bateman) and Linda (Lulu Wilson). The two are close friends and also happen to be the first to discover some paranormal activity at their new home.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Annabelle: Creation’ Is An Effective, Fun Horror Flick”

REVIEW: Visually Impressive ‘Atomic Blonde’ Ruined By Convoluted Story

Beneath all of the style, colors and visual flair that “Atomic Blonde” offers to audiences, this late cold war spy thriller is unfortunately convoluted and dull.

The film follows special agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron), who’s sent by the British government to Berlin at the last moments of the cold war. Her mission is to investigate the murder of another operative and recover a list of agency information that may have fallen into the wrong hands.

To do so, Broughton has to work together with a less than professional British agent named David (James McAvoy) who’s been working in Berlin for the agency for years.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Visually Impressive ‘Atomic Blonde’ Ruined By Convoluted Story”

REVIEW: Universal’s Attempt At New Monster Series Crashes With ‘the Mummy’

Ever since Marvel made the prospect of a shared universe successful, allowing for numerous crossovers, many other studios have been trying to jump on the bandwagon. The latest attempt is the Dark Universe by Universal, which is trying to recreate its 1940s classic monsters with a new series.

Unfortunately, its debut in “The Mummy” is awful.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Universal’s Attempt At New Monster Series Crashes With ‘the Mummy’”

REVIEW: Second ‘Alien’ Prequel Hampered By Foolish Characters, Faux-Intellectualism

Director Ridley Scott has once again ventured into “Alien” prequel territory, but like the 2012 picture “Prometheus,” his new sci-fi “Covenant” has too many flaws and doesn’t come close to the level of the 1979 horror film.

Scott’s latest endeavor in the genre tells the tale of a colony star ship on course to set up a society on a remote planet. Their trip to this new planet, which has been properly vetted and researched to ensure that it’s completely safe, hits a snag, though, when a space phenomenon causes a malfunction.

Not only does this result in awakening the crew from their hyper sleep, it also causes the death of their initial captain. In the immediate aftermath while the crew is checking the status of the ship, which is carrying roughly 2,000 passengers, they discover a signal being sent from a remote planet that’s closer than the one they’re going to that has breathable air and water.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Second ‘Alien’ Prequel Hampered By Foolish Characters, Faux-Intellectualism”

REVIEW: ‘Phoenix Forgotten’ Had A Nice Premise, Poor Execution

UFOs, aliens and government cover-ups can all be pretty entertaining stuff. When a film just uses that premise for a rather generic found footage flick, though, it can be rather dull.

“Phoenix Forgotten” is such a film.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Phoenix Forgotten’ Had A Nice Premise, Poor Execution”