Douglobacki Reviews

Grave Encounters 2 (2012)

Okay I guess?

[5/10 · 1 October 2012]

I think the fact it's a sequel really hurt the movie, but then again the movie wouldn't exist without the first one. First off you must know going into this I knew what to expect, a "found footage" horror film sequel. Though I enjoy both types of movie those two combined just doesn't sound too great (except REC1 and REC2.. REC3 was an abomination). I got what I expected and was alright with it.

The Bad: Normally movies in this category if not always have acting rated a C (normal) which is fine. I'll give the acting here a C-, it wasn't on par but not bad enough to make the movie experience dreadful The plot really struggled to connect with the first movie, and the movie's own plot was good but poorly executed. The characters were not likable and showed no growth but I think I could say that for every 'found footage' film. Some of the scares were the same from the first movie which took away from the surprise factor. I could foresee a lot of what was going to happen just based of the first movie but I guess when you're basically recreating the same film that happens. The characters make stupid choices which always bothers me though

The Good: It wasn't terrible? Some of the scares were creepy nothing to dramatic. In the end I got what I expected, an alright found footage film and a probably 'worse than the first' sequel.

Conclusion: If you're bored yeah I'd suggest it.

Who should watch it: Grave Encounters Fan? Sure. Found footage fans? Sure. Horror fans? Maybe. None of the above? No.

Juan of the Dead (2011)

Not horrible but close

[4/10 · 22 September 2012]

I read some reviews that made this movie seem just as good as it's English counterpart "Sean of the Dead" and went into it expecting something pretty good. It started off solid but quickly got worse and worse as the movie went on. Why people enjoyed this movie is beyond me.

The bad: Poor CGI, all of the CGI was just utter crap, I've absolutely seen worse but wow; they should have just cut all of those scenes out, it was just unnecessary. The plot was my biggest problem, nothing made sense. I don't want to spoil anything but the things they say/do completely contradict the plot, even the plot contradicts the plot! Acting was bad, the zombies made very fake noises, and the background screams are the same scream over and over I've heard before in a video game. The dialog was stupid and sometimes even contradicted the plot. The charters had no depth to them, they bring up certain things that leave you with a feeling that it will become a large role in the movie but it never comes up again. The humor was not very humorous and mostly lost on me. Almost everything about this movie was bad, not horrible but just plain bad.

The good: There was a nice pair of boobs at one point but only for a minute or two. There were a few brief moments of actual humor.

Conclusion: I must have seen a different movie than everyone else but this is a bad movie. Only watch it if you really enjoyed "Sean of the Dead" and are extremely bored. Otherwise just don't. I gave it a 4 because I've seen worse, this movie is watchable and it didn't kill me but "Sean of the Dead" is a 9/10 compared to this.

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT: Sean of the Dead fans? Ehh maybe. Zombie Fans? Ehh maybe. Action fans? I'd advise against it. Comedy fans? No. Anybody else? NO.

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

Great for zombie lovers

[7/10 · 15 September 2012]

If you like zombie movies you will like this movie. If you just like action you will most likely like this movie. If you like neither action or zombies do not see this movie.

The bad: The acting is on par for most major charters, but for minor charters the acting is sub par; it's not horrible or bad just not good. I would give the overall acing a: "meh". The plot is okay for a zombie movie though it does have a few things and leaves something to be desired. The script can be cheesy at times but its nothing that would make me not like the movie. The action was never bad but it was standard for non-realistic movies; the bullets never ran out unless the script called for it and even though there was some cool flips/kicks I did feel like I wanted more.

The good: The CGI is great giving a bonus to the movie. I am zombie fan so I enjoyed all of the undead, there where not many just regular undead people mostly mutated monsters though. The action had a few good parts, some cool face kicks and heart stopping "palm thrusts". There wasn't anything amazing bout the film I can think of except for the CGI, most of it was just okay.

Bottom line: as I said before if you like zombies you will like this movie. Zombie movies are rare, there are tons of horrible movies about zombies but those are just no fun to watch. If you're like me and a fan of these movies you will understand that an "okay" zombie film is a "great" zombie film because of the rarity. A "great" zombie film is a "classic" zombie film. Because of the scarcity of these movies anything that is watchable becomes enjoyable. This movie is absolutely an okay film id say even a good film which in the zombie lover world makes it a great film to watch so all zombie lovers GO SEE THIS FILM. If you are looking for an action flick this movie could go both ways, the action is decent and almost constant but if you are not interested in zombies, well that's what the movie is all about so I am not sure what to say to you. And again if you neither like zombies nor action and are just looking for a film to watch don't see this film. There are a few bad parts but I expected those knowing the Resident Evil franchise, and a few good parts since it was a big budget picture but mostly everything was just plain old okay. I enjoyed it and wished it was longer but again I'm a zombie fan. I'm giving it a 7 because I think a 6 is too low, but a 7 is too high. 6.5 would be perfect.

TL;DR: Zombie fans: Yes. Action fans: Maybe. Neither: No.

Crowsnest (2012)

Not as bad but not as great either

[5/10 · 12 September 2012]

First the bad and okay stuff: The movie's plot is unoriginal, the going on a camping trip and die plot has already been used plenty of times and the found footage idea has been used a lot as well. The actors are portrayed as real mid twenty "just out of college" kids, which they did a great job at portraying (the acting was okay) though it became very annoying because kids like that can be very annoying. At first I wanted them to die but then I was hoping they would make it out alive once the action happened. The ending... well watch it yourself I don't want to spoil anything. There wasn't really any twists, there was a few cheesy moments in the beginning and a few bad lines in the script which I cringed at. The plot was straightforward and simple, these "camping trip" movies are not normally known for their great plots so I didn't go in expecting anything shocking.

The good stuff: The word "horror" absolutely applies to this movie, I was horrified during certain scenes. My heart was pumping and I felt like I was there, it actually gave me a twisted feeling after the movie. Once the action started it was a complete on the edge of you're seat thrill ride till the end. If you've seen "yellow brick road" the horror is similar, I guess I would call it "psychological gore". Besides one or two lines the acting was fine, bad acting is something that could ruin a movie and that wasn't the case here (not saying it was great though).

My conclusion: This movie isn't great, its by no means bad though. I watched this on a day when I was relatively bored and I wasn't disappointed. There are a few good things and a few bad things about this movie, the problem is there is nothing GREAT about the movie. If you're looking for a horror/psychological thriller movie and can't find anything you're overly interested in you should give this a watch, I'm glad I did. I think a 5.5 rating is good for this movie, I wanted to give it a 6 but it just didn't made the cut, I gave it a 5 because the rating is already 5.8.