Release Date: 30 May 2008
My Rating: A
Good for: Horror junkies, those wishing to see a horror film with fear and suspense
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482606/
When this film hit theaters I was a bit skeptical. Hollywood had taken their sweet time to come up with a true horror film. For me, a true horror film is one that makes you think twice before you turn out the lights. The bottom line is that no film had been made in the past five years (maybe longer) that scared the pants off of me. This was it. The Strangers is a good old-fashioned terrify you kind of film that still haunts me every now and then.
The plot is pretty typical- guy and girl are in a topsy-turvy relationship, they head out to his family's vacation house and are terrorized by three unidentified people in masks. This has been done before, the plot is nothing new. However, the writer and director Bryan Bertino added his own flavor in the way that our masked assailants strike fear into the lead characters James and Kristen (played by Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler respectively).
One of the first psychological conflicts for the viewer is at the beginning of the film. There is a narrated portion that claims the film is "inspired by true events" and then leads into information from the FBI about violent crimes. There were rumors that Bertino had experienced something similar to the events preceding the attack. Before the masked attackers begin their torture, one of the masked people (Dollface- Gemma Ward) knocks on the door and asks if a girl named Tamara was home. According to several different sources, Bertino was home alone one day and a couple of people came to his house asking if a specific person was home. These “real life” people were petty thieves looking to rob houses. If no one answered the door, they would break in and steal from the home. If someone did answer the door, the robbers would leave and go to the next house.
The Strangers thrives on obvious illusions. Simple cues from the score allow the viewer to take in more of the surrounding features than just the main focus on screen. For instance, the viewer would hear the cue music for something scary and would look around for whatever was supposed to be frightening. Most horror films like to have lots of terrifying events all at one time or events that pop out at the viewer. The Strangers is not like that at all. Throughout the entire film there is a constant state of suspense. Bertino plays with your mind by changing the surroundings and keeping the characters in a constant state of flux.
Another frightening factor is that we, the viewer, are never allowed to see the assailants’ faces without their masks thus keeping them unknown to us. Shaky camera work and creepy music played on an old-school record player add to the overall effect.
Overall, The Strangers kept me, and the two people I saw the film with, on the edge of our seats. This film will keep you in suspense and force you to think a little harder than some other “horror” films.
The reason I decided to review The Strangers is because The Strangers 2 is currently in production and set to be released in 2011. Interested? I am!
Happy Watching!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Upcoming films
Hey guys!
So here's the deal, I have a TON of movies that I own that will be added to the review list. Some of these films are not new by any means but they are (almost) all amazing in my opinion. The logic behind this is that I can only afford movies at the theater every now and then (like once a week to every other week).
Here is a list of new films coming out that I can't wait to see and tell you about:
- Eat, Pray, Love (release date: 13 August 2010)
- The Last Exorcism (release date: 27 August 2010)
- Salt (release date: 23 July 2010)
- Vampires Suck (release date: 18 August 2010)
- HP 7 (release date: 19 November 2010)
- Black Swan (release date: 1 December 2010- SUPER excited about this one!)
- The Social Network (release date: 1 October 2010)
- Easy A (release date: 17 September 2010)
- Resident Evil: Afterlife (release date: 10 September 2010)
If anyone has any requests just let me know and I can give you an impromptu review and hopefully will be able to provide a full review later. Since I am sick today I will try to get out two separate reviews for movies I own.
Happy watching!
So here's the deal, I have a TON of movies that I own that will be added to the review list. Some of these films are not new by any means but they are (almost) all amazing in my opinion. The logic behind this is that I can only afford movies at the theater every now and then (like once a week to every other week).
Here is a list of new films coming out that I can't wait to see and tell you about:
- Eat, Pray, Love (release date: 13 August 2010)
- The Last Exorcism (release date: 27 August 2010)
- Salt (release date: 23 July 2010)
- Vampires Suck (release date: 18 August 2010)
- HP 7 (release date: 19 November 2010)
- Black Swan (release date: 1 December 2010- SUPER excited about this one!)
- The Social Network (release date: 1 October 2010)
- Easy A (release date: 17 September 2010)
- Resident Evil: Afterlife (release date: 10 September 2010)
If anyone has any requests just let me know and I can give you an impromptu review and hopefully will be able to provide a full review later. Since I am sick today I will try to get out two separate reviews for movies I own.
Happy watching!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Scott Pilgrim VS. The World
Release Date: 13 August 2010
My Rating: A-
Good For: Geeks with a sense of humor; date night
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/
When trying to locate a review for Scott Pilgrim VS The World that actually discussed the movie, I was fairly shocked at the consensus. Most of the reviews I have read seem to cover the audience's reaction more than the reviewer's. As a movie fiend, I will try to review Scott Pilgrim VS. The World with as little mention of the audience as possible.
Scott Pilgrim VS. The World brings geek humor to the foreground through the use of exceptionally able actors, good directing and a well written script. The formula is a little different than most geek centered films which was a welcome relief. Scott Pilgrim (played by Michael Cera in his typical role) is an overwhelmingly geeky persona who knows trivia about PacMan and rocks at arcade-style video games. Pilgrim, in an effort to get over his only major girlfriend, pretends to date an equally awkward highschooler named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). While in this fake relationship, Pilgrim falls for the new girl in town, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Pilgrim is then forced to break up with Knives in order to pursue his new love interest. Once Pilgrim and Ramona begin dating, trouble comes calling for Scott embodied in the 7 Evil Exs of Ramona. The rest of the film should be fairly obvious, although the film has many twists and turns.
Scott Pilgrim VS. The World is based on a comic book series (which I have, admittedly, never read) and features old-school gaming throughout the film. The fight scenes are amazingly well-choreographed and features onomatopoeiae to describe the force of the action. In a sense; watching the fight scenes were similar to watching the previews (computer play) on an arcade screen complete with K.O.s and life/health bars.
The score was also awesome. Featured in the film was old-school punk rock (think The Clash-The Misfits, not NOFX). This added great effect throughout the film, particularly during the fight scenes.
Overall, Scott Pilgrim VS. The World was a really good film. Geeks should be encouraged to see it since the humor is geared toward them. However, there is enough non-geek humor that even the most non-geeky person should have a few laughs. The cast play the characters flawlessly and the characters themselves are incredible.
If you've seen it OR are going to see it let me know what you think!
AJ
My Rating: A-
Good For: Geeks with a sense of humor; date night
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/
When trying to locate a review for Scott Pilgrim VS The World that actually discussed the movie, I was fairly shocked at the consensus. Most of the reviews I have read seem to cover the audience's reaction more than the reviewer's. As a movie fiend, I will try to review Scott Pilgrim VS. The World with as little mention of the audience as possible.
Scott Pilgrim VS. The World brings geek humor to the foreground through the use of exceptionally able actors, good directing and a well written script. The formula is a little different than most geek centered films which was a welcome relief. Scott Pilgrim (played by Michael Cera in his typical role) is an overwhelmingly geeky persona who knows trivia about PacMan and rocks at arcade-style video games. Pilgrim, in an effort to get over his only major girlfriend, pretends to date an equally awkward highschooler named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). While in this fake relationship, Pilgrim falls for the new girl in town, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Pilgrim is then forced to break up with Knives in order to pursue his new love interest. Once Pilgrim and Ramona begin dating, trouble comes calling for Scott embodied in the 7 Evil Exs of Ramona. The rest of the film should be fairly obvious, although the film has many twists and turns.
Scott Pilgrim VS. The World is based on a comic book series (which I have, admittedly, never read) and features old-school gaming throughout the film. The fight scenes are amazingly well-choreographed and features onomatopoeiae to describe the force of the action. In a sense; watching the fight scenes were similar to watching the previews (computer play) on an arcade screen complete with K.O.s and life/health bars.
The score was also awesome. Featured in the film was old-school punk rock (think The Clash-The Misfits, not NOFX). This added great effect throughout the film, particularly during the fight scenes.
Overall, Scott Pilgrim VS. The World was a really good film. Geeks should be encouraged to see it since the humor is geared toward them. However, there is enough non-geek humor that even the most non-geeky person should have a few laughs. The cast play the characters flawlessly and the characters themselves are incredible.
If you've seen it OR are going to see it let me know what you think!
AJ
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