Just Watched Movie (2011)

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Rest Stop: Dead Ahead-Stopping at a seemingly-deserted rest stop while on their way to California, a woman finds the area stalked by a vicious killer intended to torment and torture her and anyone else that comes along to help, forcing her into an extreme battle to escape the building alive. A marginally-enjoyable slasher effort, rather curiously seems to straddle several different lines and manages to make some work and some don't. The Survival horror and tormenting here are pretty good, as the ever-escalating series of confrontations with the killer, the singular-location setting being used to great effect and the gradual increase of gore makes for some good times. Then, it seems to descend into parody with several scenes where instead of exploiting the brutal they represent in concept, the execution is utterly laughable and silly, completely clashing in tone and feel. There's also hints of the supernatural at work here, especially the subplot about the girl in the room, but it's not nearly all that bad and somewhat subtle anyway, and overall this one does seem to be enjoyable more often than not.

Rest Stop II: Don’t Look Back-After hearing of the disappearance of the victims at the rest stop, his brother and friends journey out to find him only to come across the same supernaturally-powered killer and must try to put an end to his reign of terror at before others fall victim to his wrath. A thoroughly uninviting mess, literally filled with lots of different issues that are nowhere near interesting enough to really carry itself out of the mire it utilized previously in the original. One of the biggest issues here is the fact that it gives the killer a decided supernatural presence, complete with loony backstory and motivation, which isn't a threatening motivation for a killer and makes no sense as, in part 1, it was merely hinted at and clashes now with the realism depicted there. As well, this one tends to trade in confrontations with the killer for having the group wander around trying to investigate what's going on, leading to large sections of time without anything going on, leading to even more problems with the boredom setting in at the worst times. While the gore and violence present do make for some good times and it's got a tense scene or two, it's not enough to mask the overwhelming flaws present.

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The Eves-Getting stranded while in the middle of a road-trip, a group of friends follow the advice of a local to stay at a supposedly-abandoned shack in the woods, only to find it's actually the home to a group of demented, devout religious followers intent on saving them from their sins, forcing them into a deadly struggle to survive. Absolutely generic slasher in every sense of the word, as the fact that the twisted, warped views on religion provide so many agonizing moments of stupidity to come forth that it alone amounts for nearly all the film's problems right there, then take into account that it follows a time-honored tradition of a group of friends getting stranded in the woods and the locals with a hidden agenda that just seems so common a set-up that, by not doing anything radically different here, it tends to feel very cliched and repetitive after a while. Added together with the very slow and drawn-out beginning here and it's got a lot to overcome. There's some nice brutality in the kills and the treatment of the prisoners that does go some way toward redeeming this one, but all that religious stuff really can't be overcome and drags this down a lot.

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Red Eye-Agreeing to participate in a scavenger-hunt game for her college, a troubled woman learns that her and her friends are being targeted by a vicious maniac who may or may not be responsible for her past and try to figure out his connection to the game to save the others. An incredibly bland and uninteresting slasher, if it really could be called one as this one is just a rather dull and agonizingly slow thriller masquerading as a horror film. By making the kills all pop up in the last half-hour, that forces us into the boring game for the first hour, and it's not in the slightest bit interesting to watch as this one just tends to wander around to each of the contestants not doing anything to hold our interest, as there's no unfurling mystery to be found in the clues, they just so happen to get along with the game and overall it just comes off as weak, uninteresting and even misses several prime moments of excitement (messing up a couple screwing in the woods being the prime example) before it gets to a rather lame, bland finale that's imminently predictable and not in the least bit interesting. The kills are bloodier than expected (yet don't deviate from a brandished knife as the weapon) and the central premise has some legs, but this one just isn't worth it.

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Mask Maker-When a couple move out to a new house in the countryside to start their lives together, they learn that the house's curse of a murderous deformed being has been brought to life and killing off their friends during the housewarming party, forcing them to fend off the killer to get out alive. A shockingly fun and enjoyable slasher effort, which is all the better since this one starts off so surely as a haunted-house effort before segueing into a brutal slasher effort is something that's to be commended as the switch-off isn't expected right away. With the build-up done through some nice suspense-generating tactics, it's got a nice dose of suspense to go along with a nice atmosphere generated from the house itself, furthering the haunted house sentiment before and making for a nice setting here, as well as providing the perfect fodder in the party for the rampage later, which is lots of fun with it's brutality and implementation of sharp objects. About the only thing that doesn't work is the rather cliched and overdrawn backstory, which is done thousands of times over and really doesn't make much of a difference on the film as a whole, as well as the rather curious decision to film the majority of the film with a washed-out look that gets old fast. Otherwise, this was pretty entertaining.

The Last Resort-When a group of girlfriends on a bachelorette party in Mexico get stranded out in the desert, they find themselves seeking shelter in an abandoned shrine built by a deranged madman and his psychotic followers and slowly find themselves succumbing to the whims of the spiritual followers still residing there. A pretty disappointing effort, mostly hurt by the fact that this one's so short it really can't get a whole lot in or explore the potential of it's ideas by it's brevity and extremely short amount of time actually at the location due to the fact that the girls'-out-on-the-town hijinks takes up the first thirty-forty minutes in a movie barely over an hour, which when coupled with the second subplot about the left-behind friend trying to rescue them, makes even less scenes in the location which compiles barely fifteen minutes of screentime, the majority of that coming from the rescue attempt at the end. That leaves us to see the results of what happened in the location but the desired actions, as the aftermath makes it look highly enjoyable had we seen it played out. With a weak backstory that's hardly explained and a decided lack of on-screen help from others beyond merely repeating the same thing over-and-over again, this one doesn't have a lot going for it.

The Mummies of Guanajuato-When a strange curse brings the mummified remains of a group of warriors back to life in a small Mexican town, a group of masked wrestlers are called upon to save them from the ever-growing menace. Immensely enjoyable and entertaining Mexican luchador film, this time graced by a triplicate of popular heroes as the three biggest stars in the genre band together to save the town, and that in turn leads to a lot of greatness in the film. From the opening scenes in the museum where the mummies are on display to their eerie rampages through town and a series of rather fun and impressive stalking scenes with their victims, this one manages to compile a nice atmosphere at times from the situation, since the central storyline and what goes on are a lot of fun from time to time. There's also a never-ending series of action in here, with the wrestlers called upon to brawl and fight with the creatures pretty constantly, and by utilizing their wrestling moves against the lumbering creatures, there's a lot of good cheesy fun to be had from the situation and that is well-served in the finale, where it's highly enjoyable and packed with action as the three unite together to fight off the invading horde with more than just fists, which is cheesy-heaven. The look of the mummies might be the only flaw here, since they obviously look pretty bad and easily-discernible as fakes, but the designs are cool enough to be overlooked. All in all, this turned out to be a fairly enjoyable entry.

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Deadgirl-I'm not going to say a whole lot for this one, I don't really see it as worth it to do so when I didn't care about the film one way or another. Frankly, after watching it, I don't know what to think of it, it's just "there" and no matter how I want to look at it, there's a few features I'm not sure how to rank. As a normal horror film, the film is bland, dull and contains numerous flaws (lack of explanations, completely unnecessary actions, flawed logic, etc.) and while I can appreciate gore and nudity like most guys, the lack of really feeling like this was a true horror film with scares, jumps and atmosphere really aren't there which sometimes makes me question it's place as a horror film. Not too sure about this one overall.

[Fenril]

- The nanny. 10-year-old Joey is discharged from a psychiatric institution where he was sent after the mysterious death of his toddler sister. He remains convinced that the family nanny was the real culprit. Whoever it was, they are determined to keep certain facts a secret. Even at the cost of another two or three deaths in the family...

Superb thriller from Hammer, great performances all around and complex character interactions. The best scene has Jill Bennett, as Joey's aunt, finally figuring out the real killer, followed by an explanation that is both seriously disturbing and heartbreaking and then a prolongued (trough blodless) murder scene...

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Ong Bak 3-Having escaped from a brutal tyrant's capture following the unjust incarceration for the murder of a high-level official, a young warrior relearns a series of ancient fighting techniques to put to use on the ruler and his army as they try to hunt him down and finish him off once and for all. An unmitigated mess of a story here, though I fear that is mainly due to my accidental watching of these films out of order since I don't own part 2 but have seen 1 and now 3 in this series so that means there's some scenes that play into what happened in Part 2 I have no knowledge over which makes for an excruciatingly confusing watch at times since, being a direct sequel, it's all over my head as to what's going on. That there's several other problems here (namely in the fact that there's far too many stunts of a person falling off an elephant's head during the fighting which grows somewhat tiring after a while) but the fact that there is a lot of fighting in the second half makes up for a rather slow beginning, which is built around him escaping and then re-learning his martial arts, not exactly bad but not really all that thrilling. An experience I figure should carry more weight when I can finally watch the series as a whole.

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In their Sleep-After coming home from work, a troubled woman meets a stranger frantically trying to escape from a deranged serial killer and soon becomes entangled in a deadly, violent game with the killer now targeting her as well as someone who can't be trusted with what their saying. Not all that great of an entry, especially since this one tends to really meander around all over the place with the incredibly illogical manner of featuring backstory segments within the main storyline, making everything so jumbled around and hard to really understand that there's almost no way of ensuring that the film is coherent in any way. As the main plotpoint here isn't all that great to start with, and tends to be incredibly predictable anyway, that just leaves an even more-pronounced sour feeling with the film. While the twists and turns do give it somewhat of a watchable-feeling as it goes along, that there's not a lot of other elements to keep it interesting are a major downfall, although several scenes are enjoyable enough and provide enough action and suspense to not make it a total loss, but it is a flawed experience overall.

The Iron Rose-After getting stranded in a strange cemetery, a woman and her boyfriend find themselves in a nightmarish world of illusions and deranged fantasies and must try to survive in order to escape. Somewhat disappointing effort, mostly due to the fact that there's just something missing from this one that really hurts it overall. The main thing here is Gothic atmosphere, and it's the old-school kind where it takes place in a cemetery so there's a lot to do with the gravestones and monuments all over the place, as well as the huge amounts of fog rolling in all over the place make for some incredibly chilling ideas and images. There's also a lot of pretty fun sequences running through the whole landscape, but the main problem here is the very over-done and incredibly irritating manner of yakking on about everything with a very philosophical manner, almost like it's an art film instead of a sleazy horror film which continues throughout the whole film and gets old very fast, and combines with the slow, dragged-out pace to lower it but otherwise this isn't that bad of a film.

The Violent Kind-After gathering together for a party, a group of bikers realize something's wrong with one of their members when they start behaving erratically, but that's only the start of their troubles when Satanic demons arrive at the party looking for one of their own. Really interesting effort, mostly due to the fact that it's not deciding what it wants to be works in it's favor remarkably well. Initially starting off as a biker film, it turns into a rather fun and enjoyable enough possession film about one turning into a demonic creature before turning into another film for the last half with a plot by Satanic demons in '50s hipster outfits which makes for quite an interesting and jarring look that it works. The slang and taunts eventually grow thin since these scenes eventually add up to untold amounts of time doing nothing, which is only afterward in thinking about it so it's not so bad but is definitely fun enough. Had it stayed in one style, might not be worth it but as a continuous series of change-overs, it works and works well.

Plus upgraded to an uncut copy of the 2002 version of Carrie.

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Dream Home-Desperately trying to own a fabled flat in a high-rise apartment in Hong Kong, a woman begins a deadly rampage against those that try to keep it from her and try to make her fantasy come true of living in the building. Supposedly a horror-comedy but frankly none of the scenes here were funny and it's mostly played straight anyway, making the labeling even more puzzling especially during the last half where it feels more like a drama with the subplot about the dying family member and the care given, which is mixed in with the backstory about a troubled childhood and the struggles between them, which makes it feel all the more like a true horror instead of a mixture. The stalking scenes in the rampages are a lot of a fun anyway, really making for some great gore set-ups, a series of bloody murders and a lot of action within to make for some real highlight moments, especially at the stoner's loft where there's a huge rampage against the inhabitants which is just a total blast. The motive for the rampage is somewhat weak and the finale is a little tame, but it's still a lot of fun when it gets down to what it wants to do.

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Night of the Demons-After a canceled Halloween party in a supposedly haunted mansion, a group of stranded revelers find a race of deadly demons have possessed their friends and looking doing the same to them, forcing them to fight off the beings in order to get away alive. An absolutely fun and enjoyable entry, this one has a ton of things going for it and barely any flaws. Taking place in a creepy Gothic mansion, the atmosphere here is incredible and makes great use of secret passageways, hidden markings along the rooms, and the decorations for a Halloween party strung up all over the house all make for some fantastic scenery, which is a lot of fun and really gives the film a lot of tension during the chase scenes. The chases themselves are a big reason why this works, as the continuous series of confrontations by the deformed, grotesque beings in a creepy location makes for a great time, and with the overflowing gore also makes for a great time in addition to all the nudity and sexiness featured throughout are certainly worthy additions. While it spills enough about the particular demons in here, a flaw that it comes so late into the proceedings might be something for some to take, but it's not too serious of a flaw that the other good stuff overcomes it.

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Alien Raiders-Following the daily shift, a team of commandoes enters and overtakes a supermarket looking for the one employee infected by an alien parasite that will soon infect the world and try to stop the creature when it escapes and runs rampant across the store. An extremely disappointing and underwhelming effort, this one just doesn't have enough to keep itself going at all, with the first half built around the team's mysterious reasons for being there, the curious actions they undertake with the people there and efforts to keep everything contained inside as the hostages begin grumbling and thinking of their motives. That nothing is ever given until the thirty minute mark, which is just a passing line in dialog and not an actual explanation just makes it all the more frustrating, and it makes this section of the film so hard to get into. That it's also nearly an hour long before the alien first appears doesn't help at all, mainly due to the lack of information given which makes all the actions taken difficult to grasp and understand and making it all the harder to get into the film and care. That the last part of the film is decent enough with a couple decent stalking scenes and some bloodletting in the kills is nice and good, but it can't make up for the flawed beginning.

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The Reef-Getting stranded in a remote section of water while on a cruise, a group of friends find their journey to sanctuary interrupted by a large rogue shark intent on stalking and eating them one-by-one and must try to get to safety before they all fall victim. This was a massively dull and overblown film that never really made an impression on me one way or the other. The main problem with this one is the fact that it's just got way too many scenes of the friends looking into the water with their goggles and not seeing anything, effectively making it seem like ninety-percent of the film has nothing happening. By taking so long to have them stranded and then taking what seems like an eternity to get them into the water away from the wreck, it even gives off the feeling of a suspense/thriller over a full-on horror film which is a massive mistake and a total let-down almost as much as the utterly disappointing method of the attacks as it's edited in such a way as to make it impossible to tell what happened, who got hit or what was done, and then to have all the attacks finished off-screen is just a huge waste, leaving off the gore which is a real hurdle to get over. That there's some suspense derived from these attack scenes is the only real positive point really doesn't do much to help the film, and overall this was a massive let-down.

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Alone in the Dark II-After coming upon a mystical dagger, a paranormal enthusiast learns of it's deadly heritage with a vengeful witch and a family curse and tries to help stop the witch from carrying out her evil plans before they come to fruition. An absolutely overblown and rather disappointing effort, as this was pretty hard to get into for the majority of the film with him merely suffering from the effects without really developing a sense of fear from what's going on. Though the witch attacks are pretty fun and engaging when they kick in during the final half, the fact that they're so tame and lifeless by the rating restriction really ruins whatever this could've had by not really reveling in what it could've done, which is especially true in the house attack due to the number of fallen during the scene, but the supernatural elements and a nice atmosphere keep it afloat somewhat. While it has a pretty decent mystery unravelling in the middle of the film, this also takes too long and really could've gone by much faster to get to the witch's attacks, which again are fun and pretty much all that works for this one. A pretty big disappointment.

Plus, my usual birthday ritual of the complete Zombi 2 DVD, with the movie, movie with commentary and the bonus-disc making-of documentary.

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Sutures-After barely surviving an account with a group of black market organ snatchers, a woman recounts the experience of her friends' encounter with the maniacs and how they took them from their vacation for the business and how she managed to escape before being targeted by their lunatic head surgeon. An absolutely boring and really irritating Torture Film style effort, based solely upon the group being attacked in the remote area and then the rest of the time taken with the different torture tactics practiced on the victims. It's all the same stuff done over and over that hasn't changed all that much, from slicing people open while still alive to the removal of limbs, disfigurement and such that, along with the posturing and endless yakking by those in charge about the futility of escape, it all just drones on and on in an endless sea of irritating scenes that don't get any better. On top of that, the fact that this cuts away from the action to the hospital interview so many times it really kills the flow and pace of the film, which is already short to begin with, so all that's really left here is the bloodletting and gore to really get any positive elements from.

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Supreme Champion-After realizing his girlfriend is in terrible debt to a notorious criminal kingpin, a boozing kickboxer tries to fight his way through the henchmen to get her free from his domineering reign. Not really all that bad of a film, yet not too great of one either. Mostly due to the fact that this one is more like a mixed martial arts style of fighting than what is normally showcased in a martial arts film, and while it's apparently obvious that the combatants are skilled in the style, it's just not a great showcase in a movie due to the different style of combat featured throughout, and the more realistic tone in the brawls is a bit of a let-down. This one also suffers pretty majorly from the cliched story and incredibly over-the-top manner in which it seems to think it is, as if this was a highly original story and really worthy of being better than it is, which ends up failing the film in a very big way. The final fight gets a small measure of redemption in being a pretty nice, rousing fight, but overall this is a pretty middling affair.

Enter the Ninja-After heading to the Philippines to relax after graduating from Ninja training, a war veteran gets mixed up with a land grabber targeting an old friend and his wife with the rival ninjas from his training school. Another in a long line of traditional Golan/Globus ninja movies, so if you've seen one of the dozens they've made already you know what to expect here: lots of fights with what appear to be barely-skilled fighters in head-to-toe black garb yet are told they are the deadliest warriors in the land, lots of weapon-throwing, a never-ending supply of bad guys, acrobatics and many more similar-styled antics to be found from their glory days, and in the end this turns out to be a middle-of-the-road effort due to one incredibly unfortunate tactic: placing such a poor fighter in the main spot as a skilled fighter when it's obvious from the fights he's not that skilled. It seems more like a name-grabbing ploy for him to be there instead of someone who actually can fight, and his decided lack of skills makes it somewhat challenging to get through. If it doesn't bother you, then this is a pretty entertaining effort.