Just Watched Movies (2014)

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You know the drill, what have you been watching this year?

Traditional New Years eve marathon with Godzilla:

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

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Prince of Darkness-After discovering the contents of a long-hidden canister may be the Devil incarnate, a group of students studying the device along with a priest find themselves subject to nightmarish attacks as the possessed locals try to free him in order to reign over Earth and must stop the harrowing situation. This here is one of the more enjoyable and undervalued efforts in this particular genre and really has a lot to like about it. The extended set-up here in the beginning allows for a pretty involved storyline to come through quite naturally with the historical significance given through the dialogue which is where this really gets it's power from. The main factor in enjoyment, though, comes from the exceptionally tense and well-crafted series of sequences in the later half that show the possessed attempting to free the captured canister in a slew of siege attacks and encounters that work two distinct storylines, not knowing which among them are possessed thus fighting within each other, and fighting off the swarm of people outside trying to get in. That leads to a ton of fun here, with scenes such as the hallway confrontation, the race to get out of the confessional before it's dismantled and the final battle in the basement where the constraints of time and space are bent as the team battle to stop it from fully crossing over into the world from another dimension in a harrowing series of intense moments that really makes for quite a thrilling time. Added together with some great kills, grisly possession make-up and a sense of class about it for such a cheesy storyline, there's a lot to like here but it still has a few faults. The constant need to switch in a series of distorted, dreary visions that serve no purpose to the action is a big one here, as the only clue we get to it's purpose is given at the end which means the rest of the time is used to mainly serve as jump-scenes to show the dreaming character startle themselves away and it gets rather old quickly when, like the majority of the film itself, doesn't spend a lot of time really utilizing any sort of explanation for what's going on. There's a lot of inference that must be made here, and that tends to leave this one feeling rather confused easily.

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Night Wolf-After returning home to catch up on the family, a woman and her brothers find the house stalked by a vicious creature that serves as the embodiment of a deadly curse upon the family and must find a way to stop it's deadly rampage. Frankly, this turned out to be quite a decent and potentially above-average British horror effort that really off-sets the series of rather disappointing efforts they've produced lately. One of the better efforts about that is the fact that it manages to incorporate the traditional aspects of the werewolf genre into a film that doesn't quite belong there despite showing a lot of the hallmarks of such a film series. We get the family curse turning someone into a ravenous creature at the dark of night after being inflicted with the wounds of such an animal, the animalistic behavior exhibited afterward and the use of stopping the transforming into one by killing the individual who passed the curse on, which are all quite popular examples of such a film genre and generally work well here as there's a lot to like with this section of the film. That said, the fact that this is almost nothing like a traditional werewolf in appearance as the coat of fur, canine features and huge, hulking body are all gone as this one gives off the general look of a deformed humanoid with fangs, claws and savage teeth and an attitude to match. This can be off-putting but the fact that something new was tried is certainly commendable enough here, and works quite well in the later half where the film really gets into high-gear with the extreme pace that features a strong series of stalking scenes throughout the elaborate mansion filled with suspenseful chases down long corridors, trapped beneath walls and crawl-spaces as it tries to break in and a general air of indifference towards doling out the deaths which gets rather bloody and gruesome at times for some good times. The only other problematic area here is the fact that the decision to include the two hunters outside tracking down the creature's rampage beforehand doesn't mean much of anything with them being wiped out without any difference at all and that they take so long to get to the obvious conclusion to be dismissed like that makes no sense. That said, this is still a highly enjoyable and entertaining effort.

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Sinister-Moving into a new house to get in a proper head-space for his next book, a writer and his family find themselves under attack by a strange serial killer that struck previous families in the house and that in fighting him may be more difficult than imagined when he finds out it may not be human. This here turned out to be quite decent for the most part and really above-average at times. The main thing that really hurts this one is the fact that there's just so much time going by of fiddling with the cameras and not doing much of anything here. The build-up takes far too long to get going that there's an air of boredom at times when it's just him by himself viewing the tapes, and while it does focus on the creepy images at the appropriate times the fact that there's no other true scare-inspiring device in the film beyond the home movies tends to make the whole thing go into repeat especially with the spousal arguments that continually creep up and knock this one down a bit for the feeling of extending the length because it has to. That said, there's a lot to like elsewhere in here as the tapes do get progressively creepier and creepier with their rather haunting and hypnotic images, managing to make them feel like true voyeur pieces despite the heinous actions being committed and there's a real sense of enjoyment it gets from this feeling that's quite contagious at times. The spill-over into real life with the assaults on the family make for quite a creepy telling, and the final half is just insanely good with a lot to really like there with the revelation of the murders, the crime spree in the house and the final twist which is quite good. Coupled with one of the more inventive and genuinely creepy monsters that's actually helped by his back-story and there's a lot of good stuff here to overcome the few flaws.

[Fenril]

Prince of darkness: Agreed; I think this underrated movie is actually one of John Carpenter's best, at least in terms of atmosphere [for that matter, I don't think he gets enough credit as to how good he is at creating dreary atmospheres], and some really effective eerie scenes. For example the part where the girl whispers "Faatherr" while looking at a mirror. It's true that the story is a bit confusing at times, not to mention that there is part where the movie seems to want to be sci-fi instead of supernatural [ex. when they explain what those grainy scenes actually are], but I think the well-executed jump scares save the movie from becoming muddled in those moments.

Sinister: Again, agreed; I saw this movie in theaters a while ago expecting another ho-hum supernatural thriller, and instead got a pretty intense and nasty horror movie. I, too, thought they overdid the domestic drama, but like in “Prince of darkness”, some of the jump scares saved the movie for me. The use of snuff films did seem overdone at first [it kept reminding me of all those "found footage" movies that are rarely that good], but the way they keep becoming nastier and nastier definitely surprised me [ex. the "lawn party" one and especially the part with the "deleted scenes"]. The mythology used for the villain was also very good, and IMHO one of the best cases of a movie modernizing old folklore.

For my part, I saw:

- Vertigo. After a traumatic incident that leaves him with the titular condition, a detective is hired by a business tycoon to follow his wife. Madeline, it seems, has grown obsessed with the story of her great-grandmother Carlotta, who at 26 (the same age Madeline is) lost her mind and committed suicide. As Scottie follows and falls for the enigmatic Madeline, he starts suspecting there is more to her obsession than just a morbid fascination for the past. But is it a case of ghostly possession or is there something altogether different (and even more cruel) going on?

Started the yearly movie-watching (and re-watching) with this classic thriller that is considered one of Hitchcock's masterpieces (it not THE masterpiece) and has itself inspired countless movies, among then the majority of Brian de Palma's film career. The original remains as hypnotic a film as either, with its elaborate use of colors and framing sequences [the psychedelic nightmare scene alone remains as startling as ever nowadays]. Then there is the cynical, ultimately pessimist ending, which was quite unusual back in the 50's but which went on to become nearly mandatory in subsequent decades.

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Glad you agreed on both counts. I've been impressed as well with Carpenter's innate ability to craft atmosphere (look at The Fog, this one, In the Minds of Madness and Ghosts of Wars for the best proof) which was really impressive to match the emerging tone with the discovery and subsequent revelation before they go under siege from the possessed followers.

So, I know I was gone for a while (more major computer issues, like what I had previously) but I'm back now and will deliver rapid-fire responses to what I've seen since I was gone:

A Good Day to Die Hard-Fun, enjoyable, action-packed romp with an endless supply of quality chases, shoot-outs and fights, some of the best action sequences in the franchise and a total fun time all around. Too much CGI but you can't have everything I guess, and the two biggest scenes, the car chase through Moscow and the final encounter in the burned-out bank more than make-up for whatever flaws present.

Valley of the Dragons-Cheapo monster movie about men transported onto a meteorite from the past alive with dinosaurs and cavemen. Not nearly enough Dino action as to be expected since they're done with live lizards but this is still quite fast-paced and has a cheese element present that makes it tolerable.

The Valley of Gwangi-Fun and enjoyable Dino movie that still holds up today due to the classic special effects that look as good as they did to this day. A fast and frenetic finale with tons of action and a middling amount of suspense make-up for a pretty bland intro that takes a long time to get going and a finale that really seems too heartless considering the care and attention given to the star up till then.

Monster Island-Engaging send-up of 50s monster movies where a group of teens partying with Carmen Electra on a tropical island find the area overrun by giant creatures and must save her to get off alive. Cheesy special effects, goofy action, skirts with sleaze that never descends into outright slimy territory and a generous helping of action make for a fun time if you can tolerate the genre and style.

Spirited Killer-When a small village is under attack by a seemingly immortal killer, they band together with a band of travelers in the area to fight him off. Sounds horror, in reality this is a fantastic Thai kung-fu offering from the same group of guys behind Ong Bak and The Protector, only this is the debut and they weren't quite there yet. Successfully mimics the HK style more than their more-respected Muay Thai offerings now as the fights are simplistic and feature too much backyard-wrestling-style choreography, but the energy and enthusiasm, combined with the sheer amount of fighting in here, gives them something to hang their hats on.

Spirited Killer 2: Awakened Zombie Battles-Really not all that connected to part 1 beyond being done by the same crew, but for some reason this one is just insanely good fun and manages to surpass the first one in nearly all categories. Again dipping it's toe into the horror genre with exorcisms, black magic, zombies, vampires, ghosts, possession and blood transference among the themes presented here, but the focus is still on the action which is even more frequent, varied and enjoyable this time around with an indescribable amount of cheese and goofy humor thrown in for what might be the most insane, wild experience ever with so many different elements blended together.

Spirited Killer 3: Ghost Wars-Much like the previous, not a whole lot to do with part 1 but still manages to follow in that one's footsteps with the insane amount of elements thrown together as there's more black magic, ghosts and demonic possession this time around which results in more fighting and longer brawls between the participants. The comedy is a little on the intolerable side with it not being as imaginative this time around, but there's still a few solid gags and a fun enough time that this becomes a pretty enjoyable effort.

[Fenril]

- ¡Ahí está el detalle! (aka You're missing the point). Down on his luck hustler Cantinflas visits his maid girlfriend, who convinces him to kill a rabid dog in exchange for dinner. Then the master of the house catches him and mistakes him for his wife's lover. She claims it's actually her long-lost brother --whom they need around to cash in on an enormous inheritance. And then the brother's spurned wife and swarm of kids arrive. As does the wife's lover, who is them mysteriously murdered...

Impressive rapid-fire comedy, and the one that cemented Mexican comic Cantinflas as a cinema legend, when he had previously made his fame in improv theatre. The "comedy of errors" script is buoyed by the cartoonish yet effective dialogue [sort of a 40's prototype of David Zucker comedies]. The morally corrupt yet lovable cast is a plus; the highlight is the murder trial sequence, which Cantinflas manages to turn into a circus by sheer virtue of language --it turns out the dog and the lover were both named "Bobby", and, see…

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Paul-Attempting to work their way through the US on a science-fiction tour, a pair of British enthusiasts find an actual alien on the run from the government and try to get him to safety before they can bring him back. A funny and quite silly offering that really makes for some good times with the amount of care given to the different genres and franchises which could've been given far worse treatment considering this type of movie. There's some great fun to be had as well from the fact that there's plenty of humor coming from the alien himself who's far more human-like in behavior than expected with his affinity for immature pranks and frat-boy approach to life, which doesn't get old because they have the decency to make him far more human with a tender side as well that's not overblown or gets to the point of being schmaltzy as another gag comes around the corner to keep it firmly rooted in this style. While it does feel overly long with a few too many subplots seemingly made for all the guest supporting actors to have something to do here which really clutters the final half of this one, it's still funny enough to make up for the rather few flaws.

[Fenril]

- Ai no corrida [aka In the realm of the senses]. During the late 30's, former prostitute Sada and her employer, Kichizo, start an affair that transcends the definitions of "tumultuous" --the couple grow addicted to sex and to each other; no amount of experiments can satiate their lust. Until the only thing left is destruction...

Very loose retelling of a notorious real-life case, and this movie is itself notorious for the un-simulated sexual content; basically, this is one of those movies that elicit discussions as to the limits between "erotic movie" and "pornography". Beyond that, this is a surprisingly lyrical study of an all-consuming obsession. Most definitely not for all tastes, but certainly a unique viewing experience.

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So Close-Attempting to solve a series of high-end assassinations, a police officer works together with the sister assassins out to stop a corrupt businessman and his army of henchmen looking to move in on China's political stage. Decidedly overlong but quite enjoyable action movie that incorporates far too much sibling drama at the beginning to showcase the sisterly bond between them that is overplayed to the highest degree and lets this one take so long to get going it almost becomes unwatchable despite two insanely hot sisters as the primary focus. Once it gets back to the action stakes, this is prime-era HK-style through and through with a multitude of car chases including one which starts as the assassin as the chaser but soon turns into her being the chasee mid-way through, a fantastic brawl in the parking lot of a multistory garage, plenty of frenetic and fast-paced shoot-outs and an impressive martial arts fueled finale that really handles itself really well. Again, a bit too long to really harvest it's full potential but there's a lot of good in here anyway.

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Resurrection County-Going through rural Arkansas for a camping trip, a group of friends inadvertently offend the locals with their disregard for local laws and are forced to defend themselves from their murderous intentions as they try to get away alive. This is about as cliche and predictable as it can get in the genre, and there's really no surprises at all in this one. It goes through the predictable notion of the civilized city people running afoul of the inbred rednecks and then getting turned on for their actions, which makes sense in some regard about whether or not to mess with the locals, but the fact that it's been done so much and so often really doesn't leave any room for originality left in this particular scene and that puts this one through the motions of ignoring their warnings, getting caught in the fray, getting captured and tortured only to fight back in the end as the survivors try to escape, and this has been done so many times recently it's rather hard to get interested in this one due to being so close to a lot of other types of films. What also hurts this one is the fact that, regardless of the familiarity here, it's nearly impossible to get invested when the people here are gigantic, colossal morons who really have no business surviving for the blatant, utterly nonsensical scenes which start off the furor against everyone as that tends to be so cliche and lifeless that making us want to be around them is really hard to accomplish. That said, there's a nice level of brutality that runs throughout this one as the tortures inflicted are shockingly brutal and twisted, all the more so for the fact that it seems entirely possible people like them came up with such a series of scenes to accomplish this, and that leaves a high blood-splatter throughout which is quite fun. As well, the final half is easily the best with a strong series of chases and encounters that tends to really get some involvement going in their quest for survival and race to escape, and that makes for some intense times there. It's enough to rise it up slightly, but there's still too much wrong on a philosophical standpoint to help this one.

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John Dies at the End-After accidentally ingesting a strange drug, a man joins his similarly-disposed friend in a war to prevent an evil, animalistic force from invading our world as well as evade the misunderstanding policeman on their trail. There's surprisingly a lot to like about this one, which turned out to be quite fun and utterly crazy in most regards. The entire premise based on a single drug from a parallel world allowing travel between the two which would allow the species from that one into ours is a rather insane concept that comes through quite effectively as the build-up to this is based on inverting the classic stoner-film cliches and bringing it into more of a horror realm with shocking ease. With the whole plot resting on inter-dimensional travel and communication on both sides, it's got some problems in working between the two angles at first with a lot of weirdness for the sake of being weird and not really doing anything really all that interesting with the material, yet the fact that the second half works out the kinks and makes it make more sense than it really should as the true nature of the strange drug comes into play here with the full revelation about the past events and utilizing the weirdness angle far better with plenty of utterly freaky and whacked out ideas, from a race of people wearing human-skin masks with the mouth cut out so their lips move independently of the facial expressions, a cartoon depiction of a war between different species and talking dogs, just to bring a small portion of what goes on in that one to light. This all starts the fun as well with endless slaughter sequences that provide a multitude of gore and carnage, lots of exciting creature confrontations and a demented mind-set that works rather well for the type of story presented here. There's some flaws as well, besides the aforementioned early-on story problems, as the film tends to skip around in terms of allegiances and who's-who for a long time, as this is mostly built around the inclusion of the police officer chasing after the group for their involvement in the crimes committed trying to stop everything. His involvement really hampers the storytelling and it really takes a lot out of the film to constantly feature him when he doesn't do much in the film anyway and gets disposed of quite readily, but overall this is the only real problem here.

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Blue Sunshine-Wrongly convicted of murdering his friends, a man sets out to find the truth and learns that a group of friends who took a tainted batch of drugs are responsible for the deaths and tries to stop their rampage before he gets caught by the police. This here turned out to be quite an excruciating, and at times, barely-passable horror effort. One of the biggest issues with that is the fact that the majority of the film plays off as an investigation movie into the mysterious habits of the murderer who had already struck and was himself put down earlier in the movie, so that means very little screen-time is spent on the lead actually being in danger throughout. It's around a half-hour between the last attack at the party and the second scene where the next victim comes into play, and then it's another twenty-plus minutes again after that before we get to the finale so there's so much searching going on that it really takes a toll on where this one gets its scares from since it's all about who's infected and who isn't, but yet it does nothing to assure that the hero is in any danger throughout by not having others out there just like it. Overall, this creates an immensely plodding, boring film that doesn't have much of anything going on here until we get to the three big scenes in this which are the attack at the cabin, the mother's sudden turn and the final stalking in the department store. Each of these are great fun for their own individual reasons, as the cabin attack is far more gruesome and intense than anything else in here which results in quite a jolt, the mother's attack is based on a continuing storyline that gets paid off nicely, and the finale in the store is just a good-old-fashioned stalking scene in a massive layout with plenty of room to hide and sneak attack on the victims. These here save it, but it's still not as good as it should've been.

[slayrrr666]

Night Wolf-After returning home to catch up on the family, a woman and her brothers find the house stalked by a vicious creature that serves as the embodiment of a deadly curse upon the family and must find a way to stop it's deadly rampage. Frankly, this turned out to be quite a decent and potentially above-average British horror effort that really off-sets the series of rather disappointing efforts they've produced lately. One of the better efforts about that is the fact that it manages to incorporate the traditional aspects of the werewolf genre into a film that doesn't quite belong there despite showing a lot of the hallmarks of such a film series. We get the family curse turning someone into a ravenous creature at the dark of night after being inflicted with the wounds of such an animal, the animalistic behavior exhibited afterward and the use of stopping the transforming into one by killing the individual who passed the curse on, which are all quite popular examples of such a film genre and generally work well here as there's a lot to like with this section of the film. That said, the fact that this is almost nothing like a traditional werewolf in appearance as the coat of fur, canine features and huge, hulking body are all gone as this one gives off the general look of a deformed humanoid with fangs, claws and savage teeth and an attitude to match. This can be off-putting but the fact that something new was tried is certainly commendable enough here, and works quite well in the later half where the film really gets into high-gear with the extreme pace that features a strong series of stalking scenes throughout the elaborate mansion filled with suspenseful chases down long corridors, trapped beneath walls and crawl-spaces as it tries to break in and a general air of indifference towards doling out the deaths which gets rather bloody and gruesome at times for some good times. The only other problematic area here is the fact that the decision to include the two hunters outside tracking down the creature's rampage beforehand doesn't mean much of anything with them being wiped out without any difference at all and that they take so long to get to the obvious conclusion to be dismissed like that makes no sense. That said, this is still a highly enjoyable and entertaining effort.

[slayrrr666]

The Lords of Salem-Receiving a strange record in the mail, a radio DJ in Salem, Massachusetts discovers that the record is the ongoing culmination of a strange curse from a band of witches executed centuries ago and slowly succumbs to the draining effects of the devastating curse. This turned out to be quite an entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable effort, and it all starts with the film's very idea of the curse coming into fruition. Rather than deal with the typically clichéd notion of the resurrected witches allowing for the curse to come true, the concept of this being done by a record delivered to a worker at a radio station which starts all the action makes for quite an unusual affair that really takes some unusual turns that it's not quite expecting. It's not as cheesy as it sounds like due to the fact that the effects need specific requirements to be fulfilled and they finally happen now with this present-day configuration, and that makes for quite a new-found twist. In addition, there's just so much to like about the way it builds to the realization of the curse here that it makes for highly enjoyable and chilling experiences as the whole film essentially boils down to her suffering from the freaky visions, nightmares and the growing realizations of the curse on her, as the disheveled look, complete lack of care for her appearance and the frankly haunting nightmares really take the contents off into a twisted, demented vision that really works so well here in generating the proper atmosphere quite effectively and properly that when the film moves into the final act it's just as grotesque, nightmarish and beyond demented that it truly becomes flat-out horrific. Starting with the treatment of the old ladies all the way through the consecration in a Satanic church in a different plane of existence and the eventual aftereffects that are unleashed due to what happens there, the film is just a dark, disturbing ride that really sets this movie apart from so many others in that there's just no way to predict what's going to happen is it gets darker and creepier and that's a rather chilling atmosphere to pull off. There's a few flaws here, as the film goes through several days before she succumbs to the curse so this one takes a while to get going as well as the rather curious ploy about why the residents were shown to be under a hypnotic spell when the song's played over the air yet the one guy doesn't seem affected at all, nor is there any follow-up to show them being possessed by this at all, but these are really minor flaws that don't hold this one from being immensely enjoyable.