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A Noite Amarela (2019)
Couldn't get past the nose ring
Although slow paced to begin, the atmosphere was decent enough, even though the dialogue was strained. A bunch of teens take a boat to a mysterious island where the grandfather of one of them resides.
All sorts of dreamlike imagery gets thrown into the mix, along with some apparent dabbling in quantum physics as it pertains to photography. Toss in a pack of Tarot cards and we begin to sense what might be coming.
Unfortunately, I gave it the old college try, but try as I might, I couldn't get past the cow ring through the nose adorned by the young female lead. Whoever convinced her, or the director, that this look works, could sell ice to an Eskimo.
Each close up, it got worse. I abandoned the movie after 40 min. 3 stars for the attempt.
Blackwood Evil (2000)
Two attempts in two years, still couldn't watch it all the way through
I'd forgotten I gave this movie a go a while back, but only made it ten minutes in before turning it off. I tried again, this time, begrudgingly, I made it 46 minutes before calling it quits.
It's not the terrible lighting, poor sound, or dismal VCR quality footage, that was on purpose, I presume. It's the script, and actors. I realize this was a found footage attempt, and as such, some of the dialogue might have been adlibbed. But there had to be a script somewhere. And with novice writers, and just terrible writers, the desperate need to insert 'conflict' in each and every scene seems to be ingrained in their very soul. Screenplay writing 101.
It worked in Blair Witch, unfortunately, almost every found footage knockoff that came afterwards, tried it, and failed. Blackwood Evil failed miserably.
I did not mind the lead woman nearly as much as the property owner. His character, his constant interruptions and insults, killed any chance I had at finishing this film. His snide commentary and the ensuing back and forth was tortuous. Completely unnatural.
Here's a nugget for those aspiring horror screenwriters out there: conflict is good, but when it's forced, and rampant, it's not.
The Plan (2017)
Subtitles would have been preferred
Not only is the movie poorly written, plagued by silted and on-the-nose dialogue, but it's also in English. The actors are all Italian, with varying degrees of accent, so the use of Google translate or whatever program they accessed to tweak their 'English', makes this an even more difficult film to watch. The movie, although basically plot-less and non-sensical, would be have much better off if they stuck to their mother tongue and subtitles. It would not have saved this film by any means, but I may have added a star.
The location is decent enough, a castle in Italy, that's what initially pulled me in, but it stops there. The actors are are all mostly attractive, and none, have acting experience. Amateurish script and high school production value, it's as if they wrote the scenes on the fly. Unfortunately, I couldn't endure any more and had to abandon the film an hour in, I may one day, perhaps, force myself to watch the remaining 24 minutes.
Killer Ratings (2019)
Intriguing, but guilty as charged.
I don't usually watch true crime documentaries, but I'm running low on decent Netflix content, so I gave it a try. The series was interesting, intriguing, and well scripted for the most part. I will say they could have trimmed it down by at least 1-2 episodes. I also found the repeated unflinching support by the relatives a bit tedious. It was used for effect, I understand, especially to push the persecution narrative, but it was overdone. We know the son and sister will defend Wallace to the very end, no need to go there every other segment.
Having said that, after watching this, I have no doubt in this man's guilt. It was evident for me at the outset, when he denied ever knowing 'Moa'. It's difficult to recover from such a major lie.
And there are other instances, including his clandestine meeting with a known trafficker captured on camera, that cannot be sufficiently explained, as well as the results of the search warrant executed at Wallace's residence. Instead, we focus on heavy-handed police tactics, forced statements and confessions, unreliable witnesses, and so on. I get that this builds suspense and challenges the credibility of the investigation. I'll also add that the documentary does do a good job at steering the audience in one direction (guilty/not-guilty), then dropping a bombshell and causing us to suddenly rethink our position. That device worked well throughout the series.
If you were not yet convinced, the testimony of the Canal Libre reporter in the final episode was powerful. Yes, she said she was 'forced' to provide a statement or be arrested, but what she told the documentary crew, on camera, of what she witnessed, rings true. She was not making that up. And, if the task force had evidence that she'd been present during the capture/torture of a rival drug dealer (as she admitted she was), they likely would have had the grounds to arrest to her, if she refused to cooperate. It's a tactic that would likely deem the statement inadmissible in my corner of the world, but not necessarily in Brazil.
Everyone has their own judgement and opinion. I also understand the extent of political and police corruption, especially in a south American country fraught with drugs and violence. Also, when assessing any investigation into well-known personality or person of power, any potential 'political' or 'alternate' agenda should not be dismissed, and this is why the documentary is so compelling. There was sufficient grounds to pursue the political persecution angle, no dispute there.
In the end however, despite questionable investigative tactics, unreliable witnesses, and a media frenzy, as the lead investigator stated in the final episode, you do not rely on 'one' fact to prove a case. And the fact that Moa recanted his statement in front of the jury, does not negate all the other corroborating evidence.
Having said that, did they have sufficient evidence for a guilty verdict? Here in North America, likely no. Proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is a high threshold, and Wallace's defense did a good job calling much of the prosecution's evidence into question. In a fair trial Wallace likely would have been acquitted.
But, like OJ, it doesn't mean he didn't do it.
Definitely worth a watch.
Night at the Hotel (2019)
44 Minutes in Did it For Me
I enjoy paranormal investigations, especially when the main players are not over-the-top. This "documentary" fit that bill. The location was excellent, although I was puzzled at how great the condition of the premises was, many rooms completely habitable, other the lack of electricity or running water.
The pace was slow, the back & forth flat, unemotional, and not especially realistic (along with their reactions). The few 'paranormal' events captured early on were uneventful; a couple of audibles and a 24" tube tv that mysteriously crashed to the floor (not the wind, they checked). It wasn't until the slamming shut of the walk-in freezer door, that any hope this film had of convincing an audience it may be legit, dissolved into the Galician night.
Not the worst I've seen, but I can't recommend it either.
Soul (2020)
No, no. Not a Pixar classic.
I'm sorry, but the reviews and the current 8.1 star rating for 'Soul', perplexes me. Our family loves Disney & Pixar. But watching this film, we were unanimous; this flic was sub-par.
While the dialogue and voice over acting was well done, the general storyline and animation was a huge disappointment. At times, I felt like I was watching a computerized version of 'Casper the Friendly Ghost'. I often found myself yearning for a flashback to traditional Pixar imagery-- which did come, but always too late.
This is the first Pixar feature I didn't watch until the end.
I hope this film isn't nominated for an Oscar. It ticks all of Hollywood's boxes, but falls flat.
A Quiet Place (2018)
Not nearly as bad as the 1 &2 star ratings suggest.
Okay, I will admit that during the first 15 minutes of the film I was shaking my head; there's no way this family could have survived so long under the circumstances. Heaven forbid they had to share an expired can of pork & beans as a meal, they'd all have been dead within hours.
But I let it go, suspended disbelief, and watched. The acting was very good, the premise (somewhat) unique, and the creature, although a conglomeration of a few past sci-fi/horror monsters/aliens we've seen in the past, was decent.
I began shaking my head once again during the scene in the flooded basement, when the creature was lurking within a few feet of mom and the newborn. It was a day later that it hit, (I'm sometimes slow on the uptake). The waterfall scene explained this away. If you could scream and not be heard near a waterfall, the constant sound of running/flooding water in a basement, might be sufficient to prevent the creature from detecting mom's breathing or heartbeat, or even the baby cooing. A bit of a stretch perhaps, but plausible.
You can over analyze this film s many have; the decisions made by the characters or the rationality of the entire premise.
But in the end, while certainly not a 9 or 10, the movie is equally not a 1 or 2 either. In fact, I hadn't realized my 15-year old daughter purchased and watched the movie on Apple TV a month prior.
She loved it. Gave it a 10.
Patient Seventeen (2017)
Interesting, but falls apart near the end.
The concept is interesting, and one I've delved into before. The shooting style of the documentary itself, as well as the off camera narration, is good. The editing however, was a little lean; too many extended shots of subjects who were either too emotional to speak, or completely lost on a response. Having said that, as other reviewers mentioned, the evidence presented is highly questionable, as is the credibility and impartiality of some of the scientists. Patient 17 himself, although seemingly genuine, is likely working out some psychological demons, hoping like hell for answers in the form of the confirmation of alien life.
For me, it all fell apart once we learn who patient 15 actually is. Add to that his comment that he 'lost his marriage' due to the ordeal, and the deal was sealed. Credibility - lost.
Otherwise, the documentary's not a terrible go. I didn't' mind watching.
The Open House (2018)
Decent beginning that plummeted to the depths of abysmal.
This may be a a long-winded one, with lots of spoilers, but I'll give it a go.
I'll start off by explaining my 3-star rating; which according to numerous prior reviews, is high. I give one star for each of the main characters, and one for the setting. But it ends there.
First off, although I'm a fan of horror, I'm not a huge fan of psychological thrillers, especially ones with rampant stalkers/murderers; I prefer a paranormal element, or at least something clever or unique. Having said that, the movie looked compelling and I gave it a shot. I watched the entire film, even though the last couple of minutes hinted at a disastrous ending.
I wasn't disappointed.
Let's start with the positives. Both main characters were decent actors; and the setting, this monstrous palazzo, was beautiful. I'm a sucker for secluded houses or cabins in films. The husband is killed at the beginning in a somewhat baffling and curious manner, that really had no connection or tie-back to the story.
And what was the deal with the camera reminding us he forgot to get milk? I filed this away, thinking it would come back and be significant, but it never really did, other than the hesitation when mom also bought milk later in the story. Were we supposed to think that had the husband remembered the milk, that extra 5-10 seconds delay would have prevented him from being run down in the parking lot? We will never know.
Thankfully, the movie quickly moved past dad's death, and we were on our way to the mansion. But again, we know mom is having huge financial problems, and with the husband dead, it's gotten worse. Could not her sister, the one who owns a second (vacation) home the size of a small castle, throw her a couple of grand?
They arrive at this gorgeous home, by my estimation, several million dollars worth of real estate. And it isn't an 'old' house, it's a new modern build, so mom saying the noise in the basement is just the 'old pipes' doesn't register. Sure it may have been built atop an older structure, but it's not likely. And what's with the rotary phones? It's not like the decor was from the '70's. The basement was also is curious. The stone walls, which was very obviously faux brick/stone, actually looked quite cool, and I thought 'nice choice' for whoever added that touch to this wonderful. It wasn't real though, as I think the director had intended. And why did we get a glimpse of a basement passageway that led to a dead end, stoned piled up to the ceiling? They never followed up on this, or even revisited this creepy basement hallway. Another red herring? Was it a hidden tunnel that led underground to their crazy banana bread making neighbor? Your guess is as good as mine.
And I'm sorry, but a 6000 square foot mansion does not have one 60-gallon water heater. Not even close.
The whole 'Open House' concept was never fleshed out. If you name your movie after something as specific as this, there should at least be some connection, explanation, or clever plot twist. There wasn't. There was just a couple of random open houses with non-nonsensical characters running the show.
Even though I liked the character they met in the clothing shop, his actions are completely ridiculous. First of all, anyone who pulls up to that house saying they're interested in purchasing it, better be at least driving a BMW 7 series, and have a $25,000 Rolex on their wrist. No looky-loos. This guy did not strike me as a person who had a few million burning a whole in his pocket. Also, later on, the fact that he volunteered to spent the night with complete strangers, was even more ridiculous. But I imagine his re-arrival at the house acted as another potential red-herring, keeping the audience guessing if in fact he might be the killer.
Past reviews mentioned the continuity issues of their arrival at the home (day/night/day) so I won't add to that. However the ending went abruptly from night to daylight, and the boy was still running with his flashlight on, miraculously, not yet succumbed to hypothermia.
Having Police tell you there's nothing more they can do when your home has quite obviously been broken into, is baloney. This was clearly a break and enter, they would have fingerprinted, photographed, etc. Also, one officer cannot check a 6000 sq. foot home for intruders. Even with both of them searching, clearing that house properly would taken hours. One person clearing (the other Officer was apparently keeping the mother and son company), doesn't work. Anyone hiding could just move room to room, and avoid detection.
I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the movie, I would have given it 6 stars. But it quickly deteriorated into a free-fall. We never know who the killer is - is he the plumber (looked a lot like him); the crazy neighbor or her (dead/not dead) husband? Was the plumber the husband? Was it someone who sneaked inside during the Open House and never left?
There is no tie-in, no attempt to dispel any red herrings, no sense to the ending. Brutal violence, a killing spree, crazy neighbor lady wandering through the woods in the middle of the night, the killer pouring water on the unconscious boy (inducing hypothermia?), removing the kid's contacts.
All absurd.
The director/writers can't claim they intentionally left an ambiguous ending because they wanted the viewer to draw their own conclusions. Conclusions based on what? Random red herrings that never panned out? Nothing made sense, there was no attempt at unifying 90 minutes of confusing plot, wrapping it up so that we'd walk away thinking, "oh, I get it now.".
Never happened.
I agree with the 1-star reviewers on the ending. cheap cop-out. This was a non-conclusion. It's as if they had filmed an ending, than said, you know what, we're fifteen minutes over, just cut it here.
Just cut it here.
Full of promise that abruptly fizzled.
Jack's Apocalypse (2015)
Pleasant Surprise
I watched this movie on the Android box. Right off the bat I could see the quality of the feed was not great, and normally I won't watch a movie if that's the case, but as I watched the intro scene and credits, I was already drawn into the movie. The protagonist is an alcoholic and drug addict, well acted, believable. I especially liked that the storyline moved quickly, sparing us any long drawn out set-up of the impending apocalypse. The clan of characters who eventually ban together are a unique blend, no real duds in the group, and some fine acting. An excellent soundtrack accompanies several key scenes, and the writing invokes some powerful emotional scenes as our protagonist confronts his inner demons. The film is only 80 minutes long, it could have been much longer, but I like that the writer/director chose to narrow the parallel story lines in favour of a tighter script. Interesting ending, all in all a satisfying apocalyptic film, sans zombies or gruesome disease riddled mutants.
Die Präsenz (2014)
Not entirely original, but worth a watch
Like the others, I've seen my share of found footage films. Despite the Netflix rating of 1 star, I gave the movie a whirl. It was not terrible. I don't mind subtitles, so that aspect of the movie did not bother me. High marks for setting and location, one of the key elements that pulled me in straight away. The acting was good for the most part and the pacing worked fairly well.
As for the negatives, the most common of all flaws 'why don't they leave' jumps out. The writers attempt to quell this by portraying the main dude as being so passionate about capturing proof of the spirit, but it doesn't fly. They get their proof early on, yet continue to tempt fate. No one, not even an entire professional crew would have stayed beyond the initial incidents. Also, I realize conflict is the secret ingredient, but to have the main guy accuse his buddy of trashing the place (as only an evil entity would), after having already witnessed multiple paranormal events, was ludicrous.
But enough of the negatives. All in all, a decent attempt at horror, some creepy camera captures ala 'Paranormal Incident', with a few twists.
Lost in the Pacific (2016)
I'm not sure who's writing these reviews, but don't be fooled.
While I managed to watch the entire film, it took effort. The film is not completely terrible, but despite what some of the raving reviews state, here's my take:
CGI creatures and effects almost comical, I can't recall anything so bad in years. Acting is not great, but largely due to the poor script. Plot is completely illogical, fraught with stereotypical characters, and clichéd pseudo relationships, nothing flowed, there was no chemistry to speak of. The Chuck Norris wannabe with his slicked back hair was terrible. And the killer for me, landing a futuristic, largest of its kind airbus, on a 300 meter long aircraft carrier. That pretty much summed things up. The movie is almost worth the 90 minute investment just because it is so hokey and filled with the cheapest effects this side of Hong Kong. Someone affiliated with the production must be writing these rave reviews, this is not that movie.
The Dead Room (2015)
Better than the negative reviews suggest.
I don't quite understand some of the low reviews for this film, except perhaps that some people only appreciate fast paced, gore infused, CGI blockbusters. I thoroughly enjoyed this film. While the premise is not unique, the acting was very good, the dialogue well scripted, and the setting was excellent. Shooting a movie with only three primary actors is difficult, this movie pulled it off. While suspense builds slowly, it works well. With the onset of supernatural occurrences, the characters, for the most part, react like real people.
The ending was unexpected, and from my perspective, added an interesting twist I did not see coming.
All in all, I was not disappointed by this New Zealand addition to the horror genre. I rarely am when it comes to international horror. If you like a simple 'haunted house visited by paranormal investigators' film, I recommend this one.
Silent Retreat (2016)
Not good.
So I did watch this all the way through, as difficult at that was. Most of the previous 5 reviews hit the major points. Poor acting, nonsensical dialogue, annoying characters. Nice setting, and a few of wilderness shot were pleasant, but that's about it. I lost it, and almost turned the movie off when I realized, that as day passed and turned into evening, the group was sitting around enjoying a glass of wine and some scary stories - that the one female character who left for a morning walk, never returned? Really, after warning everyone not to venture outside because of bear sightings, the host, and most of the others just forgot about this girl (who also missed the entire day of meetings I presume), and better yet, thought they'd wait until morning to look for her. Ridiculous, and the remainder of the plot, the actions of the characters, make no sense. The British girl decides to put on headphones to listen to tapes, while people are missing, some presumed dead, and she's alone in the house. The headphones conveniently drown out the noise of altercations and murders one floor below - great writing. I could go on. I enjoy B horror, even C, this one as hard to watch. One more item, when they check on the caretaker's place, the one dude is sure the missing girl is behind the locked door. But the other dude says you need more than suspicion to force the door, so they leave. If you look at the scene, there is an un-draped window almost directly behind the tied up girl, had they stepped outside and peeked in, they would have found her.
The Corridor (2010)
Not bad
First off, once I realized the opening music was by the Great Lake Swimmers, I realized I was watching a Canadian flick and very keen. Overall I was not disappointed. Acting was fair to good for the most part. The story itself was somewhat unique and each character had sufficient personal baggage to keep things interesting.
Here are my pros/cons
Pros: not your typical story, Setting was excellent (nothing like a real snowy landscape to add an air of realism), Dialogue for the most part was well written, nice little scare scene when watching the video tape, Some not anticipated brutality
Cons; confusing ending, possibly meant to be that way, The jock's balding scalp. Come on, this was ridiculous. When we first see him about to come out of his house I actually truly thought he was wearing a cheap Halloween fake bald head. I thought maybe it was a joke, but evidently not. It is hands down the worst make up blunder I've seen, quite obvious this guy had a full head of hair.
So, playing off the Great Lake Swimmers soundtrack against the worst fake bald head ever, I give this movie a 5.