So up until a month ago almost no one knew that this movie even existed.  Going along with the original Cloverfield theme of viral marketing, secrecy, and misdirection, 10 Cloverfield Lane comes out tomorrow.  No one knowing what it is about, or will we be seeing more for the world famous monster from the sea.  All we know is John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr. are in it, and there is a bunker.  That is about all we know.

Well I saw it last night and this is what I will say about it.   When the first Cloverfield came out there were so many questions.  J.J Abrams replied with, we only know what the people on the ground are seeing.  We know only what they know.  10 Cloverfield Lane is the same in this regard.  We only know what those in the movie experience, and it is genius.  While the first Cloverfield was a wonderful explosion of viral marketing and small details and shots that do not show us enough to answer questions and make us want more.  10 Cloverfield Lane perfected it.  This is a very well put together movie that keeps you wondering what exactly is happening right until the end.

Let me say however this is a very scary movie.  It is not fun horror like Cloverfield, or even action thriller.  This movie is very chilling, is more a psychological thriller than any other type of movie and it is will cause you to jump and stop breathing, so be warned.  This movie is carried by John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead who are amazing.  They really made this movie, without their stellar acting this movie would of not been as good as it was.  I left the movie smiling and in shock.  It was such an amazing, scary experience.

I am giving this movie 5 stars, but that does not mean I think you should go see it directly in the theater.  If you can not handle horror that feels real, like it could happen to you, then this movie is probably not for you.  It is one of the scariest movies I have seen in a long time so be warned.  If that sounds good to you, go see it tonight if you can, you want to talk about this movie with your friends as soon as you can.

One Sentence: That doll was creepy even before it was possessed.

Rated: R

Nudity: None

After Credits: None

Is this movie scary.  Yes.  It actually has some scenes that are quite scary.  It has a slow build at first and then it all leads to some very scary scenes.  The audience in my theater seemed to have a good time with it.  Nothing felt gory or cheesy.   It felt a little bit more like a classic horror movie with some new angle shots that are popular now.  Background movement and things like that.  So as a horror movie, where you are going to go see it to be scared, I think it works.

As a movie, I didn’t like Annabelle.  This lady leaves her baby all the time, the baby that is being chased by a demon doll.  They do not get rid of the doll.  They make all kinds of poor decisions and then the ending is just awful.  So as a movie where you have to think about suspension of disbelief, and structure and the words that people say, Annabelle is not a great movie.  So I am torn between caring about the bones of this movie and the fact that it is a scary movie.

I think it is safe to say that you do not need me for this movie decision.  You already know if you are going to go see a movie about the origins of a demon doll.  So trust your gut.  You are going to a horror movie that was directed by the guy you directed Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.  I think you know what you are getting into.

One Sentence: I wish the movie has as much style as this poster.

Rated: R

Nudity: None

After Credits: None

This reboot makes sense, classic story, a movie that isn’t a cult hit that most kids born after 1990 would not have seen.  The topical issue with bullying today.  It all fits for a reboot of Carrie.  So what do you do with a reboot, do you try to retell the classic story and not change too much, or do you turn it on its head so it is not recognizable from the previous movie.   This reboot of Carrie went with the former, being almost the same exact movie.  I think I was hoping for something a little different.

Outside of the addition of cell phones and You Tube, this movie feels so similar to the original that it didn’t need to be made, except for the fact that you can’t get a 20-year-old to watch a movie made in 1976, so why not cash grab it.  I am not saying this movie is bad, outside of some weird choices for some of the effects, like some weird large rocks in a scene that made you wonder where they came from and Chloe’s slight odd Jedi hand movements, the movie is as satisfying as it was in 1976.  The justice of revenge courses through you as it does through Carrie, and the rage boils inside of you.  Director Kimberly Pierce seems to capture this rage well.

The movie builds with a slow eerie feeling, that leaves you in knots through most of the movie.  Chloe does ok as the tortured Carrie, especially in the shower scene, but some of her direction comes off a little awkward later in the movie.  Not awkward like Carrie the character, awkward in another out of place way.  You are satisfied with the ending, and the very last shot I think is done better than it was done in 1976.  So if you are old enough to have seen Carrie I don’t think you need to go again.  For all the new kids out there, go check out this classic, redone.

One Sentence: I don’t know if I believe what is on the poster.

Rated: R

Release Date: 05-Apr-2013

Nudity: None

A lot of remakes and sequels going on right about now.  Some of them are good, some of them not so good.  I have Red Dawn coming today from Netflix and all I have heard was not good things.  I really had not heard much about the Evil Dead remake, except that Sam Rami was a producer, so you would hope he would try to keep it in the spirit of the original Evil Dead, which if you have ever seen Evil Dead, has a tree raping a girl in it, and is generally a very odd movie.

This new Evil Dead is a better movie I think if you were comparing it to the original.  This is from a purely film point of view and doesn’t take into account the blasphemy from fans that I just made by writing that sentence.  The plot makes more sense, the whole movie in general is a lot easier to follow and it is solidly scary, while having that slight tongue in cheek feel to it.  I really had a very very fun time with it.  I hid my eyes, laughed out loud, and was cheering during this one.  It felt like Sam and Bruce got the hint from Cabin In The Woods, along with their own great ideas on improvement of the original and made a very good remake.  It is no replacement for the original Evil Dead, but it is a good remake and I think it is worth checking out.

To see it in the theater.  I am going to say yes on this one.  I think the cultish vibe this movie has behind it and the quality of this horror movie along with the lack of good horror as there always is.  I think you should pay to see this one this weekend.  I mean if you are not going to Jurassic Park.  I think this one is great for a group of friends and I think you will have a lot of fun with it.  If you can handle a lot of gore.

One Sentence: I wouldn’t read this review if you want a 100% fresh experience with this one, and you might.

Rated: R

Release Date: 12-Oct-2012

Nudity: None

Sinister opens with a cold, shocking opening with a 8mm reel sound playing.  The clicking and silence display a chilling scene that is well shot and leave you wondering what you are about to see.  For the first hour, I didn’t know if this was a crime drama or a horror movie, and it was wonderfully well done.  To not feel like a horror movie, but still have you be scared, to have writing and dialogue that is interesting and to make you want to know what happened to these people from the opening scene is something that rarely happens in a horror movie.   The way it unfolds you are looking at the clues, looking at what is happening and just wanting to know more.

Then shit gets all evil.

Sinister is a well balanced horror movie that builds to a point that is rarely done right in the genre.  This has story, crime elements, a family that is interesting, a back story that is huge, and some scary supernatural stuff.  All mixed together.  It doesn’t feel rushed, or like, suddenly dead people. It takes a slow pace and freaks you out the whole time.   I am not saying the movie feels slow, it does not.  It just takes a much smarter pace to get where it was going and the movie is better for it.  It is rare that I find horror to be this well written, but I enjoyed “Sinister,” very much and I thought it was quite scary.

This is a great movie for Halloween coming up and is a recommended horror movie if you are into that.  There is a lot to pick from this weekend, but I would go for this one if that is what you are into.  It is rare that horror is so good, and it is always fun to see this type of movie with a bunch of other people in the theater.  So I would go check it out if you can at night with a group.

One Sentence: This is the last place for a vacation.

Rated: R

Release Date: 25-May-2012

Nudity: None

I saw a short preview for this movie early in the day, and I knew nothing about it.  I was pretty sure it was a horror movie, but the name does throw you off.  Like it might be something a little bit more like, sci-fi, or maybe even a period piece about the explosion.  It’s a horror movie, a shaky cam horror movie.  Done by the guy who made Paranormal Activity.  So it had that skill of just showing just enough.  Or maybe not showing enough.

The writing, acting, and story are all pretty bad here.  The idea of these 20 somethings doing the things they do and the decisions they make, is Darwinism at it’s best.  I would expect bad things to happen to them with the decision making these idiots do.  They deserve what they got.  Along with the bad acting, it was hard to take at first…then, it got scary.

Once the scary kicked in, it was scary.  Good, almost non-stop shaky cam fear making.  It worked very well and it was almost good enough to make you forget these idiots kept making horrible decisions that were making their situation more and more dire.  You got pulled into it, and my heart was pounding and Idid just and was scared.  So it was good for scares, bad for everything else.  It was enough to say that you should go see this one however.  If you are a horror fan I think it is worth checking out this weekend, during the day.  But not if you are planning a trip to Russia anytime soon.

One Sentence: The everyone makes dumb choices movie.

Rated: R

Release Date: 16-Sep-2011

Nudity: None

So Straw Dogs, is a remake of a controversial movie made in 1971 starring Dustin Hoffman. I have not seen the original. The remake I think could stir the same kind of controversy due to some of it’s more aggressive scenes and choices of the characters. I do not find it as such, I find it disappointing and lacking in substance. That these people, were so devoid of good judgement that it isn’t even realistic. It is nothing more than an attempt at ultra-violence and some sort of statement, that fails to convey anything besides slow movie making that leads to some hard to watch scenes.

It is literally a downward spiral of choices that are not what any normal human being would do that lead to worse things and more bad choices. I found the decision making processes of characters in Jason X or any 80’s slasher movie, far superior to anyone in this movie. So we have an hour of slow set up where nothing happens, except these bad choices. They lead toward some messed up scenes, that leads to a final scene which is tense and messed up. That is the whole movie. I can’t get behind it in any way. I found it to be a waste of my time and I think it would be a waste of your time as well.

Sometimes it is hard for me to tell you to skip a movie. Not this time, you do not need to see this movie for any reason. You can pretend it never existed, never spend time on it, and let it fade away into the void of bad movies.

One Sentence: Fantasy horror that worked for me.

Rated: R

Release Date: 26-Aug-2011

Nudity: None

A horror movie with Guillermo Del Toro touching it in some way is going to have a certain feel. Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark is no exception. Even with Guillermo in a producer role, it still has that twisted, fantasy feel of a world between worlds where demons and magic and horror all collide in a wonderful way that is both beautiful and frighting. This is something you have come to expect with the name Guillermo Del Toro and Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark doesn’t miss the opportunity to make those little perfect touches of fear.

With those little touches and the fantasy aspect of this movie, it is going to get a mixed review from me. It feels like it could be a scary movie, but I am not sure if it is. It has some scary parts, but the story, and the bad guys almost ruin it for you. It just feels a little too cheesy. It just misses the mark somewhere. I am pretty sure it is the “evil things.” I liked the little girl, played by Bailee Madison, she did great for as young as she was. It all felt like it should of been great, but it was just ok.

I want to love this movie, but I just can’t, and I can’t tell you why. I wish I could but it just didn’t feel complete. However I think that it is still good enough to watch. It felt original and inventive, and with everything coming out, sometimes that is enough to go to the theater. So I would say this is a matinee movie if you can make it out for it, just don’t expect the best horror in the world.

One Sentence: A reboot worth checking out.

Rated: R

Release Date: 19-Aug-2011

Nudity: None

The battle of the 80’s reboots starts tonight. In one corner, a remake of a horrible movie with a lot of boobs, a huge guy who doesn’t speak very well, with a sword vs. a remake of a vampire movie that gained cult status the first time around and a co-star that ended up doing gay porn.
I saw the Fright Night reboot this week and I do have to say that I thought it was good vampire fun.

First of all, thank god for bringing back the killer vampires. The movie gets extra credit for making that vampire Colin Farrell, who I know a lot of people do not like, but who I have always thought was a fun guy to watch on screen. The reboot is very much the same movie as the original, just tuning it up for 2011. It feels small, personal, cramped, fun, and evil all at the same time, which is why the original Fright Night was such a success. It made it feel like it could happen to you. It felt real, and the reboot feels real enough to be successful. Successful enough to be a fun horror movie, which I have been missing lately.

Fright Night is nothing amazing, but it is enough to take notice and say, that was a fun movie. I would rent it for sure. If you are a fan of the original, I think you could be ok checking this movie out in the theater. I don’t think you will be disappointed. I didn’t even notice the 3-D in this movie, so you can skip that 3 dollar up charge easily and if you are really dying to go see Conan this weekend, you can just add Fright Night to the DVD queue and catch it in 6 months.

One Sentence: Don’t believe the hype.

Rated: R

Release Date: Now on demand

Nudity: Woman butt

Maybe the E-mail blast by the Alamo Drafthouse was genuine. Maybe the writer really loved this movie and really wanted everyone to go see it. That it is was a must see movie. Maybe it was marketing, getting me to pay to see it instead of just downloaded it on demand. I don’t know which is real but I find it hard to believe that tons of people were texting everyone else to go see this movie and that, this is worth of a theater release. The dead silence after the lights came up in my screening was an indication of how slow, boring and sleepy this movie was. Everyone just woke up with the lights came up and has nothing to say about the movie to the people they saw it with.

The idea was sort of neat at first. I liked the tire puppetry or whatever you will call it, and the off-beat nature of the idea of a killer tire. An hour later I was fighting to keep my eyes open and was wondering if it was ever going to do more than what it was doing now. Which was a very slow, boring journey down a dusty road, literally. It never did, it never went anywhere or did anything worth talking about. You have seen the trailer you get the movie, there is no more to it. I think there might have been an idea to make it more, but it never happened. It just rolled along slowly and occasionally blew up people, with an attempted multi-layer universe of characters that never worked. This is one of the most disappointing movies I have ever seen, probably thanks to that original e-mail I got from The Alamo Drafthouse. From now on I know they are just marketing and I should not trust them as truth.

So should you go see Rubber, I have people asking me already, and it is a very strong, NO! You do not need to pay, or even download this movie on demand. It is not worth the time. If you are having problems sleeping, then download this and you will be out in less than an hour. I see no reason for anyone else to check this one out. Just watch the trailer and you will get enough of the movie to be satisfied.