horror movie

atthequillsmercy

October Loot Crate: Horror

  • Interior is Walking Dead (insert gasp of shock here)
  • Camp Crystal Lake pennant
  • Leather Face plushie
  • Freddy Glove Chopsticks
  • Regrettable Supervillians book
  • Halloween pin
  • Negan slugger tshirt

Yeah, if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you are familiar with my opinion on The Walking Dead. Doesn’t mean that shirt didn’t give me a giggle. But to me, the real stars of this crate are the Leather Face plushie and Freddy chopsticks. I want to eat everything with those chopsticks. Those are just damn hilarious. I didn’t even look at the book yet!

Despite Walking Dead being overrated, predictable, nonsense at this point, this was a well put together crate. It covers all the best franchises and whoever came up with those chopsticks needs to know they just made my day. Absolutely brilliant.

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atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: Cube

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A group of people wake up in a prison with no memory of how they got there. Each new room they enter reveals horrible traps and they try to figure out the mystery of why there are there and how they can escape.

This movie struck me as a nerdy version of Saw; focusing more on strategy and math as opposed to outright gore. The way this movie is constructed with minimal music and believable actors make it more tense to me than the Saw franchise or most horror movies I see these days, honestly. I totally understand why this became a cult classic. It was smart, eerie, and bleak. I wish more horror movies took the time to really get inside people’s heads like this movie does. I’m glad I watched it and I have the sequels ready to go!

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atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: One Missed Call

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Whenever there’s an American remake of a foreign movie, I make it my business to track down the original; which is how I found out about the REC series. When I heard about the American movie, I skipped it and went for the Japanese version. I just assume it’s better on principal now.

The premise of this movie is that this group of young people start getting calls from their own numbers. Upon listening to the voicemail, its the audio of their own deaths; essentially making it a call from the future bout how they will die. Obviously, they all run around trying to avoid their fate and solve the mystery.

What I like about films like this is the slow build, the quiet, the dark lighting, and thoughtful dialog. It is just simpler and – to me at least – more frightening than all the fancy CGI, slow-mo, and dramatic music. It makes everything feel so much more unsettling. It can drag a little sometimes but it’s nice to see any media take it’s time with you rather than inundate you with images for instant gratification.

I don’t particularly want to inflict the American version on myself to compare the two but if repeatedly asked, I may do so.

As I work through these movies (I have a list!) I am hitting more good movies than not, and I’m grateful for that. I’m sure I’ll come across some duds but seeing these has been awesome.

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atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: REC 4 Apocalypse

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Unlike REC3, this installment in the franchise picks up from where the second movie left off with the reporter, Angela, being taken onto a quarantined ship with the soldier who rescued her and an elderly woman who survived the wedding in REC3. While Angela is there, the found footage is not, remaining in third person with shaky cam… Sadly disappointing as the found footage worked so well in the first two.

Anyway, the way this works is the survivors are on the boat with some scientists trying to work on a cure. The idea is that if something goes wrong, they can just blow up the ship and any infected people with it. Having a lab on the ship drains the power so the lights go out from time to time. The scientists and doctors believe that since Angela survived and keeps testing negative for the virus despite being exposed to it, they can use her blood and the blood of the infected monkey they keep on board to develop a vaccine.

I hate to say it but I hope this franchise is over. Not because this movie was overtly bad, it’s just the same story beats as every other horror movie out there. Don’t get me wrong, demon possession as a virus is a cool idea, the characters were entertaining, the actors were competent (at least in my opinion), but with the first two being so different I can’t help but feel let down by these last two. If they do another one, I’m not sure I’m going to bother watching it.

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atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: REC 3

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Like the others, this movie follows an outbreak where the people are trapped inside with the infected. This time, it happens at a wedding and the bride and groom keep trying to get to one another.

I can see why they picked a wedding for this part as these days, everyone has some sort of recording device at an event like this. It wouldn’t be just the professional photographer’s point of view. However, midway through the  movie, it switches to third-person! Just out of nowhere; as if telling the story from first-person would be too hard after that so they gave up. And when I say gave up, I mean in every aspect. This movie just descends into the typical horror movie tropes with all the generic stupidity that makes you want to scream at the screen. An hour in all I cared about was when I was going to get the chainsaw I was promised on the cover but by the time I got it, it didn’t feel as if the movie earned it.

Despite the practical effects not being too bad, I felt so disappointed by this movie. The first two held together so well that this one feels like a cop out. It’s just not as tense and scary as the first two and it just gave in to all the typical zombie tropes of any other formulaic movie.

And this may be a bit spoiler-ish but my final word is… RIP; Sponge John. You were absolutely my favorite thing about this movie.

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Finally Watched It: REC 2

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I never really have much faith in horror movie sequels but… Wow. REC 2 is just amazing. I watched REC a while ago and when they heard they made more, I jumped at the chance to see it.

This film picks up pretty much where the first left off, with a backup team going in on the same mysterious emergency call. They go in with who they think is a doctor to find a cure for whatever contagion is in the building and face the horrors within the doomed building.

Holy shit, this movie is creepy. It’s well written, well paced, and the ending was satisfying. These movies really do follow the ‘less is more’ track and it makes for a really tense movie. It was almost as good as the first but it certainly didn’t take a giant step back like some other sequels. People make derpy decisions, sometimes the camera work can make you a little dizzy, and the twist as to what the infection is had me rolling my eyes a little but I can’t say it ruined the movie for me. But obviously, don’t watch this one before you watch REC.

There is a third and fourth movie and I really wonder if they can keep up the quality. I’ll be reviewing those in the coming weeks.

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