Terry's Reviews Page |
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Movie Reviews: |
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Fangoria
FrightFest
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Like any grouping of movies together in one package, you get some good with some not so good movies. The combo put together for Fangoria's FrightFest is right along that line. Overall, you get a little something for everyone. The qualities differ and the subject matter is not all the same, which I think is good. |
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Fragile
– 2005 Directed by Jaume Balaguero Written by Jaume Balaguero & Jordi Galceran Starring Calista Flockhart Elena Anaya Richard Roxburgh |
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This leads to the night call nurse leaving and dying a mysterious death. Enter Amy Nichols (Cellist Flockhart) who takes over the night shift nurse job. After she does, odd things start happening while she is at work and later you find out the reason why. It's all put together with skill and imagination. The top notch cinematography, editing, music and production design greatly contribute to the sinister mood and overall feel. FRAGILE is rooted with all the elements that make it a classic ghost story. I'd put it in the same league with THE FOG, THE CHANGELING, THE SIXTH SENSE and THE OTHERS. Jaume Balaguero has made some interesting films so far but this is his best one. I'm surprised this took so long to get released because it should have been out a long time ago. There is no special features, which is the only thing missing on this excellent DVD.
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Road
Kill – 2010 Directed by Dean Francis Written by Clive Hopkins Starring |
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Mix the nihilism of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE with a little pinch of ROAD WARRIOR and you've got the overall ingredients of this Australian supernatural shocker. Two young couples travel the back roads of Australia, when a giant mysterious semi-truck (called "Road Train") chases them making their lives a living hell. The desolate barren, hot landscape suitably symbolizes the bleak outlook for the characters. There is a lot of screaming, bloodshed and little hope of escaping the otherworldly force that controls the truck. The vehicle is called "Road Train" because the large semi-cab pulls two huge trailers connected together like a train. The cast is fantastic with each actor leaving a strong impression. Bob Marley plays Craig like a deadly centipede who has his arms around the evil that drives the truck at the same time not letting go of his friends. Sophie Lowe makes Nina sexy at first and then resilient fighter who confronts a nearly impossible situation. Xavier Samuel has a ton of charisma and makes Marcus very likable and grounds his character. Georgina Haig makes Liz a double crossing cheater and not someone you root for to survive. I'm impressed with Director Dean Francis' vision. The movie has a great look and I chalk that up to Carl Robertson's cinematography and the unforgettable Australian locations. So far out of the eight films put together on this Fangoria FrighFest, this is the second best one. I still have two more to watch.
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Pig
Hunt – 2008 Directed by James Isaac Written by Robet Mailer Anderson & Zack Anderson Starring |
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| I A young man John Hickman (Travis Aaron Wade) takes a hunting trip with his city friends to the backwoods where he grew up. They want to snag a wild boar. But the legendary "Pigzilla" is on the prowl, tearing people up limb by limb. Plus they must contend with a family of inbreeds and a pot growing hippie clan. PIG HUNT's strong suit is the understated charismatic performance of the two lead actors Travis Aaron Wade and Tina Huang. Also Jason Foster stands out as Jake, the inbred boyhood friend of John. Foster looks like a young Chris Sarandon with messed up teeth (I'm sure make-up) and long hair. Jim (JASON X) Isaac does a pretty good job, though I didn't love the cinematography and I didn't buy some of the characters, but that should be pegged on the writers. The first time I saw the hippy lesbians in the wardrobe they were wearing, I couldn't help but laugh. The wooded California locations were beautiful but made less so by the grainy, dirty looking visual approach. This movie does feature some gore abut I would have liked less blood and more suspense. I do give credit for the production team for going the physical effects route, though it was hard to make "Pigzilla" believable. So all and all, PIG HUNT mostly misses it's mark but not for a lack of trying.
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Dark
House - 2009 Directed by Darin Scott Screenplay by Darin Scott Starring |
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An attempt at making a haunted house movie Hi-Tech. I wasn't crazy about this one. Stereo type characters, bland CGI effects, flat direction and uninspired story pretty much make this a tepid viewing experience. The film does have Jeffrey Combs and he chews up some scenes. Darin Scott, who was much more successful producing Rusty Cundieff's FEAR OF A BLACK HAT & TALES FROM THE HOOD didn't have a good enough script, probably not enough time and a limited budget, which all worked against him. But the production was too predictable to leave anything other than a lukewarm experience.
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The
Haunting – 1985 Written & Directed by Elio Quiroga Starring |
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I didn't know if I was going to like this movie after the first 15 minutes, but it got better in a hurry. THE HAUNTING is a ghost story (of course the title tells you this) set in Spain. A young family moves into a huge new house on a hill, near the sea. As they get settled in, the mother who's recently had a baby, starts hearing loud noises within the house. Her husband is oblivious to the sounds and thinks his wife is just having trouble letting the new baby sleep on his own in the crib. He feels this because she had lost a baby girl ten years prior. The deceased daughter starts showing up trying to tell her Mom about the dark secretes that took place within the house. This is happening the same time the entities still in the house make their presence felt. During the rest of the movie, the past is revealed with the help of a Catholic church representative. The story is pretty routine for a ghost story, the film's real quality is the subtle moments where the ghosts let the mother know they are there. The movie is supposedly based on real life experiences documented by the Catholic church. There's references to the No-Do (New Documentary) films that recorded experiences were considered miracles both good and bad. The film recreates these black & white films and uses them as a transitional device between now and then. The actors who did the voice performances for English language for the male characters were terrible. They were flat, emotionless and complete stereotypes which made each one of the male characters simple and dumb. The No-Do films and their transitional use were hit and miss. The ghostly CGI effects were a little over the top for me and took away from the film when used. But because THE HAUNTING has some nice creepy moments, I'd probably call this the third or fourth best in this FrightFest collection. www.fangoriafrightfest.com |
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The
Tomb - 2009 Directed by Michael Staininger Written by John Shirley Based on Short Story Edgar Allen Poe Starring |
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THE TOMB is the best looking movie in the entire FrightFest line-up. The movie has some exotic European locations and features a solid cast. Wes Bentley plays Jonathan Merrick a college professor who teaches writing focusing on the macabre. A raven haired student Legia Romanova (Sofya Skya) makes her way into his life pushing aside his blonde haired fiancé Rowena (Kaitlin Doubleday) and even his job at the school. Legia is dying of a disease, she targets Jonathan as her soul mate and brings him into her dark gothic world. Though the film jumps around in terms of story, location and it is predictable, I still enjoyed it. What made it cool was the little artistic touches like the drawings, paintings and CGI use of the Grim Reaper. The cloaked angel of death pokes his ugly mug into the frame every once in a while. Wes Bentley was born to play this kind of shady character. I didn't like Sofya Skya as Legia because her Russian accent made her English lines sound monotone and flat. I did like Kaitlin Doubleday as Rowena. There is a charm about her and for the life of me I can't see why Bentley's character would have left her. THE TOMB moves pretty fast (sometimes too fast in terms of story) and I rank it as the third most watchable movie in this set.
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Hunger – 2009 Directed by Steven Hentges Written by L.D. Goffigan Starring |
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HUNGER is about five people being held against their will in an underground cave like structure. None of them know each other or why they are there. They are kept in this dungeon for almost two months, with no food and little water. I completely disliked the first 15 minutes of this movie. Virtually no lighting, annoying characters and uninspired direction. I struggled to just keep watching. THE HUNGER gets better after the first 17 minutes. During the course of the film, the person responsible for putting the people in this dire situation, sits at a computer controlled video surveillance set up. He is never threatening as the antagonist because he was too far away and has little contact with his captives. Some people might like the tension between the strangers trapped together in close quarters.
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Grimm
Love – 2006 Directed by Martin Weisz Writer by T.S. Faul Starring |
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An odd, offbeat horror film about a cannibal Oliver Hartwin (Thomas Kretschmann) whom Katie Armstrong (Keri Russell) becomes fascinated with. Katie is a graduate student who studies Hartwin by retracing his life, even going to the places he lived, the schools he attended to get an understanding why he become a flesh eating killer. The movie has a similar feel to Bryon Singer's APT PUPIL. The movie doesn't rush to any conclusions and is artfully edited. I particularly liked how it's cut between current time and flashbacks to what exactly happened in the same locations. The performers are good and I like how the film was made for a mature audience (it's not just a bunch of teeny boppers having sex and getting killed). I did have trouble absorbing the subject matter. The scenes of homosexual torture and cannibalism are not my thing. Because of this I didn't enjoy the film as entertainment, but maybe that was the director's intention. It was interesting to see that Steven Gutheinz scored the film. He actually scored three of my short films SARAH (2000), WASHINGTON ROAD (2001) and HELP ME (2002). I'm glad to see that he's working on feature films. I would not say GRIMM LOVE was made poorly by any means. But because of the subject matter I didn't enjoy it as much as some people might.
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All and all I did overall enjoy this set of eight films. I do think it was a mixed bag of things to offer an audience, which i don't think we could expect differently. I hope Fangoria and Lightning Video continues to make this a seasonal thing. |
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