Steneslore Reviews

Don't Knock Twice (2016)

Formulaic and forgettable

[4/10 · 5 February 2017]

The special effects are nice and the acting is passable, but this film is way too cliché and formulaic to be enjoyable.

The plot is the same as every single other "chick horror" movie ever. A pretty girl pisses off a ghost, has lots of scary visions, people don't believe her, she freaks out and acts crazy, at the end she discovers "a terrible secret". Bonus points if there's an old house and a mysterious magical person who knows all about the demon/ghost/spirit.

It's disappointing that a team of clearly creative and talented British people chose to use this tired clichéd formula instead of writing something fresh and new.

Too many horror films do this, it's predictable and boring and it needs to die. I refuse to believe that teenage girls are the only worthwhile demographic for horror.

The Sunderland Experiment (2014)

Surprisingly good indie movie

[8/10 · 20 April 2015]

I wasn't expecting much from this but was pleasantly surprised, this movie is quite a gem. It's very original and interesting, the pacing is good and the practical effects and CGI are quite competent. Unlike a lot of other indie films in the same budget range it's never boring, and it always shocks and intrigues you into wanting to see what happens next.

The characters are very well written and believable. There's a lot of bizarre and frightening things happening, but they seem to accept it all as normal because they don't know any different. They have no understanding of the outside world because they've been isolated and kept ignorant. You actually care what happens to them as their characters develop and they learn horrible truths about their existence.

If you like indie sci-fi or horror films you'll probably like this one. It's relentlessly weird and bleak, and it will keep you interested till the end. I will definitely be watching the next film these guys make.