Just Watched Movies (2015)

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Kaidan-After falling in love, a salesman allows his wife's death to occur igniting a powerful ghostly curse that befalls him and whomever he loves that carries on through the years and must find a way to break the curse. Overall this was a pretty disappointing effort that should've had a lot going for. What is so enjoyable about this one is the fact that this one manages to perfectly expose the time-period setting here as feudal Japan in the background serves as quite an impactful location for all the ghostly activities. The cramped villages, the formal society and the countryside air provide a spectacular place for a traditional old-school ghost story to take place and that makes for a chilling setting here when they start occurring in the second half. That's really where this gets good as the fruitions of the curse start coming into play as the ghostly hauntings that prevent his search for normalcy are incredibly enjoyable and truly chilling, as the encounter at the lake with his second wife are quite creepy with the stomping footsteps of someone approaching, the ghostly eyes and the possessed attempting to strange him resulting in the chilling realization of his actions being a fantastic encounter along with the a later scene of him appearing to his son only to realize his cursed ghost is in the room with him and drags him into a ghostly portal and emerging at a lake where he falls victim to another chilling ghostly trap that continues on the curse. The finale works well with the action-packed chasing and brutal slashings on his pursuers allowing for plenty of graphic bloodletting to go along with that frantic action to end this on a high note, but otherwise this was pretty troubling. The biggest issue here is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of interesting horror elements going on here, for the first half of this contains absolutely nothing at all beyond setting up the doomed romance that starts the curse. That this takes up to fifty minutes before even starting the situation, there's plenty of times here where it just doesn't get going with any sort of urgency or immediacy in signalling the ghostly activities that crop up, and it tends to feel more like a tragic romance than out-and-out horror even throughout the later half when he finds himself continually struck under the confines of the curse. This drags on for quite a few times here as the time and period setting here undermine the horror efforts with their strictly rigid society and completely impersonal approach which tends to let this go for the truly chilling set-ups. The other big flaw here is a completely confusing and unnecessary prologue that tells of a samurai's actions leading to a curse involving a mysterious lake in the area which has no part in the rest of the film at all for their familial status doesn't impact them, the lake isn't shown until the finale and it's his actions that drive the curse more than anything so to put that there is a little awkward. These tend to lower this one enough when it could've been great.

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Disaster L.A.-Following a meteor crash into Los Angeles, the release of toxic fumes turns the citizens into ravenous blood-crazed zombies and forces several unaffected friends to try to make it to safety against the increasing swarm of creatures. This was quite a disappointing zombie effort that didn't have a lot of worthwhile elements to it. One of the few areas this gets right is the opening intro to the aftermath throughout here which manages to come off incredibly well as there's some great times to the group awakening the night after and seeing the chaos unleashed in the aftermath, as the devastated buildings, smoke and fires, emergency contacts and even the concerned citizens left alongside showcase a pretty real-life scenario that almost plays it off too much like a disaster movie rather than a horror effort. Still, the effectiveness of these scenes delves right into the panic of the situation and how to get out safely, leading in turn into the race to get out of the city with the swarming zombie hordes getting put into the story with some nice scenes here with the realization that takes place in the apartment, the race to overcome the hordes of dwellers in the parking garage while getting off the film's best suspense scene as the one roommate must get around his zombiefied housemate without alerting the rest of the zombies on the floor to his presence while retrieving the keys to a working car and finally the mad dash to escape at the end where the film really makes the action work nicely in the mini-confrontations that occur resulting in some nice gore as well. However, there's still a lot wrong with this one starting with the utterly inane characters on here who are some of the biggest morons in the genre. Despite ample opportunities shown that they're dealing with zombies they still manage to think that there's no way possible for any of their friends to become one which leads them into rooms and opening up doors for the zombie masses to appear when it was more appropriate for stealth and ignorance to keep them out of harm's way which puts them into danger for nearly every one of the encounters throughout here. Likewise, the fact that they're introduced at a party with all manner of aggravating, annoying behavior and uninteresting storylines means that for the most part we're not following anybody all that interesting and most of their deaths are more euphoric than depressing based on the circumstances surrounding them. That also leads into the film's biggest problem which is the rather halfhearted attempt at zombie films in here by focusing more on the disaster scenario of the meteor strike in the first half, their refusal to believe the danger in the second half and basically make the film's few zombie encounters throughout here the product of their own stupidity with this only having a handful of attacks anyway, forcing them into the backlog of their own film. It's the single biggest mark here that drags this one down.

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Devil's Due-After returning home from their honeymoon, a newlywed couple's unexpected pregnancy causes him to grow worrisome that her strange behavior is not normal and gradually comes to believe a more sinister purpose is behind it. This turned out to be quite a disappointing supernatural effort. One of the main issues against this one is the rather bland and uninteresting premise that brings in the found-footage aspect simply for no purpose as this falls into the conventional trap so many similar efforts utilize here in that way too many scenes here would have little use to be filmed as there's no real concern for either the safety of the videographer at the time or the need to be incognito during filming so there's a large amount of scenes here that really don't need to be filmed in here. Likewise, the film also makes a cardinal mistake of not making the footage pertinent to the main storyline here since this one tends to feature the husband up on murder charges yet never once uses the footage shot in that case, tending to leave it a question as for why that was included in the first place as well as where and how the footage got edited together to make the film. there's little about this that makes sense as for why it was a found-footage movie other than being a gimmick to start with and it tends to leave the film really lacking. Another big flaw here is the first half is just not that scary in the first half here with this one really taking very few enjoyable turns here to really showcase any kind of enjoyable scares which this one seems to think it's full of. The scenes at the grocery store are just lame with her being a committed vegetarian and then scarfing down raw steak, a completely ill-focused freak-out on another vehicle shown through the security cameras from the store and her general crankiness and volatility towards her friends and family which are just not all that scary or thrilling and really causes the first half to feel far more drawn-out and dull than it really should as there's some decent material to work with here. The concept of the cult's activities on tourists by taking them willingly into their hideout to impregnate them with something sinister is a pretty unique and enjoyable take on the concept by making it appear to be done through their own voluntary means to allow them to operate in secret. The burgeoning pregnancy allows for the use of the cult symbols to really come out of nowhere and be a rather creepy motive that's quite unexpected and really draws a lot of unnerving storylines in here, and there's the final half hour which shows off all manner of enjoyable supernatural action with the encounter in the abandoned house, the race to get home and the attacks within as the birth is under way in a truly chilling and fantastic sequence. Still, there's more problems here that tend to lower this one.

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As Above, So Below-Hoping to uncover a mysterious artifact, a woman leads a team of explorers into the miles of catacombs beneath the streets of Paris only to find the forces that guard the treasure far more dangerous and deadly than anticipated. This was quite an enjoyable and truly chilling effort with a lot of impressive elements about it. One of the best ones is the fact that this one really goes all out with it's premise which is a pretty chilling tale in it's own right before even setting foot at the location. The concept of the historical alchemy and clues to the treasure found through all the different research in here makes for a solid enough exploration cause in here then manages to go even further inside with the revelations about the burial and the different puzzles that crop up throughout here that tend to let this one play off more like a tomb-raiding adventure rather than a horror film but the set-up is still quite enjoyable. Then once down in the catacombs themselves it's all kinds of fun with the locations and layouts of the area being just utterly chilling and perfectly suited to such an intense trip with this one really letting the series of cramped tunnels, bone-littered walkways, endless dark corridors and hidden passageways that continually yield a genuine claustrophobic experience that lets the supernatural manifestations really take hold. Those come in the form of truly chilling action scenes from the numerous descents and spelunking trips through the caverns, a spectacular trap against the treasure trove where the entire tunnel collapses in on them and the different encounters with their past fears that really help to sell this one so well. The confrontations with the father are quite dark and moody, the discovery of the piano is a marvelous sequence due to how it got so far below the surface and the phone-ringing also makes for quite a dark, ominous situation though the singular best sequence here is the discovery of the burning car in the tunnels which is just mind-blowingly chilling and really makes for quite a spectacular showcase scene with the fact that it's there in the first place and then the action that occurs following that is absolutely amazing. As well, the final race to get out is filled with even more great action as the crumbling statues come to life, the chase through the long corridors and the team retracing it's steps back to the surface is pretty harrowing and makes for a truly enjoyable time. Overall, the this one really only has one minute flaw in that there's such a long time in the beginning before they even get to the tunnels that it seems to be useless time to pad out the film which is exactly the amount of extra time it lasts here, but this is mostly ignored with all the other positives on display here.

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- The loft (2014, dir. Erik Van Looy). Five men share the titular location, a high-rise bachelor's flat that they can use for extramarital affairs. Their already not very ethical scheme falls to pieces when one of them arrives to find a dead woman handcuffed to the bed. As the five friends gather to decide what to do and to figure out whodunit, resentments and accusations fly. When all is said and done, there will be more than one dead body in the vicinity...

Remake of the Belgian 2008 movie from the same director. This erotic thriller (well, "erotic"; there's just a lot of "not really showing anything" sex scenes on display) is mostly a passably entertaining film. As a mystery it mostly works, bar a couple scenes that stretch credibility in retrospective (and that require some of these characters to be exceptionally good actors). As a thriller, these five dudebros are hard to root for when assorted flashbacks cement that they are basically a bunch of scoundrels at best (more accurately, one is a chauvinist pig, one is a violent sociopath and the other three are well-intentioned narcissists) --their respective wives and mistresses are actually pretty interesting characters, however. Nevertheless the plot has enough intriguing twists and turns to remain entertaining for the entirety of it's running time. In conclusion: Average, but you could do worse.

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Spiders-When a satellite falls into the New York subway, a transient worker and his family find the unit housed a race of mutated spiders in a secret government project and must race to stop the creatures from overrunning the city. This was quite a decent overall effort that turned out quite average overall. When this works, it's the early build-up of the disaster that strikes the city and the chaos that ensues trying to get everything back in order, which is the first half to this as it's all quite good. The damage to the station and the resulting inspections bring about a rather intriguing series of scenes with the enjoyable action-film scenario present, and with the slowly-unfolding mystery about the eggs and spider-webbing down there it turns nicely into a true-horror effort. The quarantine procedures and the follow-up to the viral outbreak story make for quite an enjoyable time as well which brings about the film's main enjoyable scenes in the spider attacks on the soldiers. Still under the false story about the viral outbreak, the unprepared soldiers fall victim to the human-sized spiders out on the abandoned streets in fine fashion with enjoyable shootouts and action scenes against the creatures who utilize their speed, size and numbers advantage to great effect leading to a lot of good as the battles are ongoing against the rush to get to safety and stop the creatures from getting to the rest of the family. As well, the finale here is the total fun of the traditional monster-on-the-loose creature feature about the gargantuan-sized creature being attacked on the streets by the military with soldiers, bazookas and tanks as well as helicopters all coming together to get the creature while there's still plenty of other thrilling action with the more human-sized ones dealing with their efforts to keep the family alive in the wake of it's destruction, and the overall effect is quite exciting. Combined with the actually-decent CGI for the creatures as well as their enjoyable and creepy design overall, there's a lot to like here but it does have a few problematic areas. The biggest issue for this one is the first half being more covert-spy film than straight up horror as the vast majority of time is spent with the government cover-up about the secret project and getting the two contained that it never really bothers to get a lot of exciting moments in here. The secretive nature of the project makes no sense, as well as the explanation offered for the initial crash as it's clearly seen to be dislodged from a meteor strike yet is continuously claimed as a malfunctioned piece of equipment from an obsolete piece of technology, and the fact that there were numerous witnesses who seen the object fall into the station really makes the viral outbreak story quite illogical for a cover-up to begin with. All told, these tend to drag this out quite readily in the first half and really reduces the spiders' screentime. The other problematic area is the totally unimpressive 3D effects, which are just so lame and hamfisted into the story that there's almost no reason for it to be shot in the format anyway with so little screen-time you actually forget it was filmed that way. These are what really hold this back.

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Dark Tide-After an accident forces her out of the water, a traumatized shark expert finds a possible chance at redemption guiding a thrill-seeker through shark-infested waters only for her worst fears to come back and haunt her. On the whole this was quite a disappointing and barely worthwhile killer shark thriller. That is the biggest issue here with this one, the fact that far too much of this one is an overblown drama about her experience and condition that it stops the film cold to deal with an endless series of uninteresting scenes that do nothing but eat up time. The endless scenes of everyone worrying about her and the stubbornness to get help from them or others really just end up going nowhere as it's not until the cliched storyline of overdue bills that brings about the end of the funk which is really quite a common theme that it's completely unsurprising to see it being the catalyst for everyone. The scenes of her leading the tour for the group are hardly any more enjoyable and there's a large slew of scenes that are just painful to get through as they banter and tease each other which really shouldn't occur in such a situation as many of the jokes there could potentially lead to injury or death in an accident so there's a lot of questionable motives in place there which just continues the excruciatingly long time this one takes to actually do anything. On top of that, this one again goes for the drama with the out-of-nowhere revelation about the reason for being on the guided tour and really just overall taking this one so far out of the horror realm that it's well over an hour before there's any signs of shark attacks going on. The few glimpses seen here are nothing more than spliced shots from a number of National Geographic-style show specials relating to the creature and generally make for a more engaging and coherent watch than the clumsy way they're edited in here with the action occurring and them re-acting to it from another camera edit, and altogether this makes for some wholly uninteresting and bland experiences. There's a few somewhat decent elements here with this one really showing off a much more realistic and positive image of the creatures than would normally be the case for such a film here, really getting a good chance to look at their lifestyle and grace that they portray in real-life which is a rather enjoyable experience rather than painting them up to be flesh-crazed monsters. It still delves into that territory quite readily with the early attack proving to be completely understandable in terms of setting up her fears and the final half hour is full of great fun with them being forced to survive against the elements and the sharks continually around them, but it's still not quite enough to make it against the other flaws here.

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Hellbenders-After a rash of reports about possessed people, a group of blasphemous priests intent on bringing deadly demons back to Hell find their greatest challenge in a resurrected demon attempting to reopen the gates of Hell. Overall this one was quite an enjoyable and entertaining effort. What really tends to work the best in here is the utter joy this takes in warping the traditional take on the pious priests by here completely revealing and even encouraging others to partake in sinful behavior in order to do their jobs better. That's the fun of seeing them curse every other word, steal, cheat and engage in numerous acts that would be considered too profane for most normal priests. In turn, the film's best feature is the fact that these scenes are usually there to base off the main exorcism and possession scenes that occur here as there's several rather impressive ones from the opening scene showing them taking out a demon while having him throw them around the darkened basement where he's chained up while also finishing off the exorcism rites. Even later scenes where they try to save the possessed son who in turns starts the film's main plot makes for a great scene with the failed rites and generally enjoyable action allows the escaped being to really get a lot of impressive elements out by showcasing all the frantic action in the confined space with the failure of their performances for a wholly enjoyable sequence altogether, and the finale in the burning pit manages to evoke quite a large amount of fun with the fury of the demonic hordes ripping into the priests attempting to stop it, the violence against them in an attempt to halt the demonic incantations and the fun of having the whole thing done with firelight for a generally impressive and enjoyable offering. Along with the impressive demon make-up for the possessed creatures and rather frantic storyline that keeps everything moving along nicely that really works here, these are more than enough to hold out the lone flawed part of this whole thing in it's incredibly lame and stupid one-note comedy. The fact that all this has to rely on for it's comedy is the general rule-breaking and sinful behavior of the target priests, it soon grows old after realizing all they're doing is just that. It doesn't feature any real variety, doesn't take as much chances as it thinks it does, and worse off plays out better as a straight-forward horror effort without much need for comedy than it does as a horror/comedy, despite the ingeniousness of it's premise. Otherwise, this one was a lot of fun.

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Afflicted-Documenting their travels through Europe, a pair of friends find that a strange encounter with a mysterious woman is the cause for one's series of transformations and tries to end the vampiric affliction. Overall this one was a highly enjoyable and entertaining found-footage effort. One of the better efforts within here is the fact that this one actually manages to make that technique quite enjoyable here with this one really going all-out to display the kind of frantic scenarios present here, especially along the way it goes about the first half here with the slowly-burgeoning realization of his changes. The decision to really wring out the changes over time gradually means that the sudden illness-like symptoms and behavior exhibited gradually turn into much more physically realized situations, such as the hyper-strength, speed and jumping abilities which are all realized through the first-person viewpoint so the shots of seeing him leap thirty feet in the air manage to put the action right in front of us and there's plenty to enjoy from that. When those tendencies give way to the full-on behavioral change in the second half, the fun really comes into full-effect with a series of exciting and intense action scenes based around the chasing and encounters of the police to try to apprehend him for their belief in his involvement with the crimes while he uses those vampire qualities to continually escape at high-speeds through the city streets and deep underground, resulting in frantic encounters at his hotel, the roof of a hotel complex and finally the massively fun and enjoyable brawling through the underground maze of bunkers with both the remaining police force and finally the vampire who turned him to begin with, which for once puts the found-footage aspect to good use throughout these scenes. Along with the fine gore on display, these are enough to make this worthwhile while fending off the one lone problematic area that crops up throughout here in the changes done to traditional vampire lore here. This is based on the scenes of him merely blistering when exposed to sunlight instead of instantly bursting into flames and the inability to kill himself which could've easily been accomplished by following through on the previous action quite easily. Still, these two issues don't really hold this one back all that much.

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- Avengers: Age of Ultron. (2015, Dir. Joss Whedon). After a mostly-sucessful mission in Europe, Iron Man and the Hulk (well, Bruce Banner, rather) decide to take a gamble and secretly work on a project that will help them design a global security system, to protect the Earth from another alien invasion. Instead, they create a whole new menace, the titular Ultron, who decides to help mankind evolve by bringing it close to extinction. So the Avengers will have to group up again, and bring in every ally they can.

Entertaining sequel that is heavily weighted down by relying a little too much on other movie and television installments of the so-called "Marvel Cinematic Universe". There has been plenty of debate about the flaws in this particular movie, so I think I will stick with just two or three points: One, the team presented at the very last scene is way more interesting than the one we have been following for two movies, would have definitely preferred a story about them. Two, Quicksilver was okay, though I definitely liked the "X-men: Days of future past" version better; the Scarlet Witch was okay, though. And beyond that? I repeat: Entertaining, not good. I'll leave it at that.

- Ernest and Celestine (France, 2012). A bear and a mouse, the titulars Ernest and Celestine, develop an unlikely partnership, which eventually develops into an even more unlikely friendship. But in a world where beard and mice are raised to be natural enemies, how long can these two hold on to their bond while being on the run from both laws? Then again, there is something to say for inherent nobleness...

Charming animated movie loosely based on a Belgian series of children's books, with gorgeous animation and a witty sense of humor. Powerful message bout loyalty, too.

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Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort-Learning he has inherited a family-owned hotel in Virginia, a man and his friends arrive there to find he is related to a clan of inbred cannibalistic killers who are trying to ingrain him into their society and continue their legacy. Overall this one turned out to be an interesting if slightly flawed franchise effort. As per usual in the franchise, among the better qualities is the high-impact action and chasing on display, which manages to get some rather enjoyable marks here with this one really working some impressive action scenes. The chase through the woods while out hunting offers some pretty dark moments due to the intoxicated state throughout which makes for a great scene, the big brawl through the hotel kitchen makes for some great times here with the cramped location providing some frantic action scenes and tons of extremely fun kills and there's the final chase through the underground spa that gets in some rather decent and enjoyable action throughout here as there's all these scenes built into the finale for a fast, exciting finish. That also leaves this one with plenty of graphic and demented kills which is all sorts of fun in here with this one offering up a large assortment of varied kills that range from the graphic to the downright cheesy, but are still delivered with a brutal edge that makes this one quite bloody. As well, the opulent location of the hotel and it's grandiose size lend itself as a great setting for these kinds of slashers with plenty of lavish settings within for great stalking and chasing but also features well in the second half as the setting for plenty of great action while having the traditional woodland setting here be quite appropriate backyard. Combined with the creepy make-up for the cannibals and a demented streak to the festivities, these are enough to hold this off from the few small flaws here. The biggest issue is ironically one of the better parts here in the backstory for their visit and his family legacy in the area. There's nothing about this one that makes any sense, as their contact information wouldn't make any sense if they kept tabs on him to begin with, the manner of bringing him out to the hotel doesn't make any sense and there's no sure-fire way to guarantee he'd join in with them which is what the whole plan rests on. Likewise, this manages to crowd out the film unnecessarily by making so much of the first half here covered in the backstory that there's very little action on display here and that tends to make this first half crawl by very slowly with barely any action carrying this along. Sure, there's plenty of nudity to keep it interesting but beyond that there isn't much to this one and it becomes quite noticeable. These are what hold the film back somewhat.

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Deliver Us from Evil-Following a series of bizarre encounters, a New York police detective gradually comes to believe that the afflicted he's dealing with are possessed by a strange demon and unites with a priest to deal with the situation. Overall this one was an enjoyable if slightly flawed effort. One of the better elements on display here is the fact that there's some rather genuinely creepy scenes throughout here from the first half's well-done mystery build-up. This one manages to get a lot out of the series of strange behaviors on display, from the household-call to the antics at the zoo with the possessed woman and finally around to the different visits with the priest that seem to eventually confirm themselves to be supernatural activities as each one is just off enough from reality that there's something going on. Likewise, the zoo scene provides some great moments with the suspenseful tracking throughout the grounds while also dealing with the scenes in the lion's den which is pretty chilling. That all these lead into the dawning supernatural mystery is where this one really works as that gives the final half a lot of great moments with the encounter at the apartment and finally the abduction from his own house that strikes far more of a nerve than anything else presented in here. Lastly, it all builds up to one of the finest on-camera exorcism rituals ever which takes place in the police's interrogation room and really gives it a chance to work through a large assortment of incredibly impressive sayings that are quite fun and allow for plenty to like with the demon cutting into himself during the proceedings and growling in Latin all make for a truly harrowing scene that really sells the supernatural force at play here. Finally, it never seems to really make the extended pace all the more obvious here as this one really takes a long time to wrap itself up as there's a never-ending series of scenes here that could've made this feel even longer than it really is yet the fine pace and building mystery are enough to hold this up until the main action scenes follow through with the encounters of the different possessed individuals come in throughout here. That makes this good enough to get through the few small problems on display. The biggest issue is easily the lack of focus for the supernatural occurrences, as there's a minor note given about the cursed writing in the opening prologue but yet that's never tied into anything significant for a determining factor. All we get is a single line about it bringing about grave evil, but not the purpose of why they're possessed or what the intent behind them is and it just seems to go about it quite awkwardly. That lends into the second flaw here, the rather overblown supernatural elements that couldn't possibly be meant for a realistic situation. Being presented as a realistic story, it's far too grandiose and specific about the supernatural to ever feel that way, and it sticks out way too much in the film. Otherwise, this one was quite enjoyable.

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Patrick: Evil Awakens-Signing up to work at a mental health facility, a nurse finds the growing attachment of a brain-dead patient with her is causing him to lash out with his supernatural powers at those around her and forces her to stop his deadly games. This turned out to be quite an enjoyable and overall entertaining remake. What really works for this one is the fact that so much of what happens here comes off as genuinely freaky and quite chilling, as the completely comatose person laying there gives off an utterly freaky look here that never really looks normal yet is given quite a large amount of happenstance to prove otherwise. From his initial reactions around her that aren't quite right yet perfectly within the realm of realism which happens to make their continued time together all the more creepy by how far it veers off into that kind of dangerous territory. From the inconsequential marks of how he warps into her life by stealing away all the different parts of her to force her to keep coming back, it takes the sudden use of technology of how he communicates to get the point across that something's really wrong and that sets up the fine final half here which is all sorts of fun. With the action coming from his manipulation of not only the objects around him but also possessing people to continue his bidding, it makes for quite the frantic series of events here with tons of fantastic encounters trying to get past the possessed minions, playing his deranged games to save everyone and finding all the charred bodies and extremely graphic kills first hand makes for a truly enjoyable, thrilling series of events to really end this one on a high. As well, the general sleaze and depravity here makes for a much nicer watch than expected with a bit more going for it in that regard than would normally be the case here which altogether causes this a lot of fun and more than enough to hold off the few small problem areas. The biggest issue to overcome here is the completely bland and banal backstory given here that's supposed to make us side with him and his obsession with her yet does nothing in terms of making him into a sympathetic figure. Showing the treatment from his mother isn't so much a sympathetic ploy but instead one that completely justifies his condition by being such a deranged lunatic, and one that also never manages to account for his supernatural powers here which is quite shocking since that's such a major part of the story that never gets fully solved. The last problematic area here is the rather lengthy amount of time here before any kind of supernatural activity manifests itself, since this is so based on that it tends to lose focus for the first hour or so here by letting the storyline develop yet it doesn't really give off much of a hint about it's supernatural origins for much of the time in doing so which lets this wander along until finally coming out with such scenes at the end. While this isn't too bad as these first half scenes are quite watchable without stumbling too badly, it is noticeable here.

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The Monkey's Paw-After receiving a mystical paw from a friend, a man's life is turned upside down finally culminating in his best friends' resurrection from death and his continual stalking of his friends to get the powerful object. On the whole this one was quite a decent enough effort without too much really affecting it. One of the few positives on display here is the rather demented manner in which this one goes about the resurrection of the friend, slowly but surely turning him away from the calm and level-headed friend into a gleeful and inhuman slasher that takes advantage of numerous opportunities to really get some great suspense in this. Not only is the behavior change here responsible for that but also the rather obvious physical changes abound as there's plenty of different marks and scars that give away his appearance quite readily that makes the slow transition all the more obvious and creepy to match that newfound psychotic behavior. The scenes where he gets to show that off, mainly the stalking scene in the grocery store, the freeway chase after his friends and the final brawl in the house all manage to get some nice action in here as well as allowing for the performance of superhuman feats which is quite a bit of fun and really manages to get that transformation across as best it can here with a lot to like. Finish it off with some solid gore and it manages to come off nicely, but still flawed as there's a few rather distressing elements present. The biggest issue here is easily the fact that there's just no way to take the plot seriously or even find a great deal of creepiness from it as the majority of the time here is spent on doing nothing but the two arguing over whether or not the resurrected friend should have the paw in question, resorting to bullying and tormenting tactics to get it but never showing anything that deserves why he should have it. That really tends to force him into being far more psychotic than he really should've been and tends to render a vast majority of the scenes here into a repetitive manner of requesting it, denial and then a vicious murder only for it to start back up again which gets very old very quickly. It doesn't do anything for the pace of the film and none of these scenes are different from the previous ones only the location has changed and the people still alive in that world. The last problematic effort here is the fact that there's never any real backstory on the paw as for how it got it's powers from in the first place, really tending to just be around and never really offering anything on what it is or how it got that way which was all given in the original story but dropped here which is quite confusing. Otherwise, this one wasn't all that bad.

[slayrrr666]

The Toolbox Murders-Following a spate of brutal murders, a young man and his friend set out to find the culprit in the crimes when his sister gets abducted by the maniac and held hostage to prevent her from following in the victims' footsteps. On the whole this was a decidedly disappointing effort that doesn't really have all that much going for it. When this one was right, it's unbelievably effective and grisly which is what basically amounts to the first few minutes here which is about as prime exploitative fodder as can be expected at a time like this as the series of kills in this section is outright brutal and shocking. The chase around the apartment with the drill that cuts up her arms before finally delivering the knockout blow to the back of the head, the shockingly casual scene of another victim is knocked out and carried into a stairwell where she has her head smashed in with a claw hammer, dragged back into her apartment when a friend finds the body, tries to flee but is grabbed, bashed to the floor, and has a screwdriver slowly pushed into her. That all these murders happen with absolutely no let up is what's unbelievably shocking about these, letting the gore flow freely and easily here through the merciless scenes before getting to the infamous assault on the nude bather who traps her in the apartment and dispatches her with utterly cruel and deadly nail-gun shots that show truly exploitative full-frontal shots with a relish for the more exploitative aspects of the victims' suffering. The pedestrian-like nature of these kills is such that it really does feel that the psychotic handyman is going about his everyday duties, humming peacefully as he goes, and nothing is out of the ordinary. Sadly, this is the first half-hour of the film and from there the film goes so down-hill the drabness that follows slows the film down to such a crawl that barely anything here is worthwhile. The fact that the torture scenes are incredibly tame and result more in his sweet-natured disposition to the situation of having her tied up that the torture actually comes from his rather lame singing and actually holding her hostage while none of whatever else happens to her is all that terrifying. Likewise, the slasher movie elements end and settles into a police procedural rut with a subplot between the lead detective and her mother which ultimately goes nowhere as her brother plays amateur sleuth when he agrees to clean the crime scenes, ultimately turning up evidence in the case but is altogether ignored with most of his findings being dismissed until the finale when it becomes altogether obvious. As well, despite the one murder it's not really all that nasty as the action is handled listlessly, being brutal but with zero suspense that they actually have little real impact. This really could've been something special but otherwise it's pretty drab overall.