Takes certain cues from such greats as Halloween and Friday the 13th as well as Carrie but fails to create any sort of sustainable atmosphere. In the end it's nothing better than alright and only recommended for completists, it falls short of enjoyable.
Highlight: the disco music and dancing at the prom event.
Some people disliked this film because of the slow pacing and the fact that it takes a long time to get to the kills, but for me this wasn't the case. I enjoy my slashers with atmosphere and characterization, so for me this film was fantastic. I love dialogue heavy scenes when the writing is good and this movie had great dialogue. It does borrow a lot from Halloween but in this case that's more of a pro than a con.
Final Exam is a lot of fun and also somewhat campy so if you're a big fan of 80's horror and slashers you'll love this.
Interesting film.
Just Before Dawn is sort of a slow burn slasher, it isn't what I expected. It has deliberate pacing which helps to create a slow atmosphere and characterization.
Some of the dialogue is a bit weak but overall this film is pretty good.
As many have noted it's similar to The Hills Have Eyes.
Not as bad as I thought it would be. Bad dialogue but sustainable and creepy atmosphere throughout. Truly disappointing ending. The beginning reminds me of the Child's Play series which is why i decided to have another go at it (I couldn't finish it the first time).
Very derivative of Scream but that doesn't stop this from being a great movie. The humor is actually funny, helped along with knowing winks at other horror movies. Imho this movie is almost just as good as the original.
More focused on the dark comedy facet that was less overt in the first but it's still a lot of real fun. Just classic 80's horror and a wonderful sequel.
a Wes Craven classic.
Deadly friend is really good despite its obscurity, boasting a tight and thrilling storyline, several good kills, and Craven's ever transparent influences, including the sequel to his own earlier A Nightmare on Elm Street.
As far as (somewhat cheesy) 80's horror you really can't get much better than this without veering into the art field.
I never hear much about this movie when talking about Hitchcock which is a sad thing because this film is quite good.
It's not particularly complex but it has some great performances and is a quality example of Hitchcock's 50's output.
I expected a lot more out of this movie. For one thing it's John Carpenter.
He obviously didn't write the script for this film but even though it was weak and trite I still felt that he could have done something more with it.
For one thing the special effects are almost all CGI and bad CGI at that. Lovers of The Thing will be highly disappointed.
The story is a simple romantic one at it's core and while I'm not completely adverse to that I can't say that this one ever really drew me in enough to care for what happened between the characters.
The beginning especially felt really cobbled together, the story really lacks cohesiveness and it goes beyond believability. Not because it features aliens but that the things that happen don't even make sense within the sphere of plausible credibility within the story. The atmosphere is non-existent, the dialogue is weak and boring.
It has some nice cinematography, as always with Carpenter, but it's not enough to save the movie.
The soundtrack did not fit this movie at all and completely ruined a lot of otherwise not bad scenes.
I was disappointed with the 'feel good hollywood' vibe and acting methods of a lot of the actors. Although this movie boasts some pretty renowned names (De Niro, Connery), and they did not give mediocre performances by any means, the weak and trite script coupled with their delivery style (surely the fault of the director De Palma) resulted in a piece of generic hollywood fluff. Really the only thing saving this movie from being a complete and utter disaster, in my eyes at any rate, is the stunning cinematography and the inclusion of a few visual De Palma tricks of the trade.
In the end I just feel let down, especially in light of what could have been had he opted for a more serious vibe like Carlitos Way, although The Untouchables is still ahead above The Black Dahlia- his worst film in my opinion.
It's just sad when a director you hold in high esteem releases something so bland.
watching this movie feels like being inside one of wes craven's dreams... he probably should have edited it a little for the big screen tho. a guilty pleasure.
Idk, I didn't like this film as much as I wanted to. I love John Carpenter but this one, while not a bad movie really, just doesn't match up the the standard of a lot of the rest of his movies.
The homo-eroticism in this movie is so strong that I constantly felt as though everyone was about to undress and the paper thin plot would collapse into the obvious gay porno it was always meant to be. Unfortunately for me, this did not happen, however it did feature many scenes with Scott Eastwood shirtless.
Also the cinematography is fairly good, so that paired with Eastwood's constant lack of a top did keep me looking at the screen around 70% of the time the movie was streaming. I don't recommend this unless you're extremely bored, probably drunk, and find Scott Eastwood's features pleasing.
As a side note I am 99% sure that 'general's son' boy is extremely gay with a huge fucking crush on Eastwood so he was the most relatable person in the entire movie.
Reminiscent of the work of Cronenberg, particularly his pre- 2000's era, I Am Not a Serial Killer was a much better watch than I had expected.
As some have pointed out, it is a slow burner, but I think that's necessary to give us insight and character development. At it's core, IANASK is a character study of our protagonist, John Cleaver.
Is John Cleaver destined to be a serial killer? Is he a sociopath? Is he good, is he evil?
These are the questions we find ourselves asking time and time again throughout the film as his words and actions contradict themselves and each other over and over.
John Cleaver is a teenager and with all of the issues that face any normal teenager he also has to deal with some extremely difficult and strange problems. He is misunderstood, he doesn't know how to express himself, he is unsure of his feelings and his identity.
If this movie had been gutted of the sci-fi aspect I am perfectly confident that this would have been a wonderful quality drama focusing on John's school and home life and how he deals with his father's absence and his homicidal ideations.
That being said, I think the film works just fine as it is- really much better than it sounds on paper.
IANASK has an organic feel in it's material that is hard to find and much sought after by many cinephiles, and that is the artistic vision of its creator.
Not having seen any of O'Brien's other films I can't tell you if this elusive vision is that of the director or moreso of the source material, the novel by Dan Wells that it was based on; or, of course, a perfect marriage of the two.
What I can tell you is that this film is not only fresh and interesting in way of the story but also the cinematography, shot beautifully on 16mm film, which gives the film a much more stately and artistic feel than this sort of material would have easily afforded shot digitally with the increasingly common voyeuristic hand-held style.
All in all IANASK is a perfect example of modern film that still has heart, soul, and style; and as such it is a breath of fresh air in today's Hollywood climate.
One of the scariest horror movies I have seen in a long time. I put off watching this one for a quite a while because when I first started it I noticed it had dim lighting which is a pet peeve of mine. Once I decided to watch it at a later date however, I realized that the cinematographer actually made very effective use of light/dark contrasts, highlighting what we need to see and using the dark spaces to create a cloistering atmosphere of dread and claustrophobia.
The performances are also very good, especially the lead, although I feel as though they could have given us more background on the rest of the family.
Also the ending isn't what I expected at all and I feel there could have been more action but it did fit in with the rest of this movie which can be quite slow at times, but you hardly notice because of the way this film draws you into it's world.
The super 8 sequences were terrifying, they had me on the edge of my seat.
In my opinion Sinister is probably one of the best horror films of this decade.
This was, quite simply, a generic little thriller. Not very good but not outright terrible either. It was decent and Hillary Swank did a great job in her role.
It played out like a lifetime movie, nothing surprising, nothing frightening, nothing new. An alright movie for a rainy day when you want some background noise.
Pretty standard horror film. It might be fun to watch with a few friends, beers, and some popcorn, but expect to laugh at a lot of things that weren't intended to be funny. A ridiculous plot that goes for shock value over quality, flimsy and boring characters, and the cinematography and set are mediocre at best. It wasn't absolutely awful, as it had a passable atmosphere that kept it from falling completely on it's face, but about halfway through that becomes obsolete. All in all, watch it if you're a big fan of cheesy 00's horror, not that there's really all that many of you out there.
The beginning of this movie was great; it started off with a very interesting atmosphere that kept me watching and allowed me to forgive the films faults, even if the acting was sometimes over-the-top and cheesy (especially Stephen Macht's scenery chewing performance). It held this riveting style almost all the way through but fell short in the last third, collapsing into something more standard fare.
I still enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to any fan of King, creature features, or plain cheesy horror.
Comments 101 - 125 of 206
Movie comment on The Slumber Party Massacre
nick121235
my favourite part was the soundtrack. it reminds me of giallo flicks.Movie comment on Prom Night
nick121235
Takes certain cues from such greats as Halloween and Friday the 13th as well as Carrie but fails to create any sort of sustainable atmosphere. In the end it's nothing better than alright and only recommended for completists, it falls short of enjoyable.Highlight: the disco music and dancing at the prom event.
Movie comment on The Mutilator
nick121235
So bad it's goodMovie comment on Final Exam
nick121235
Some people disliked this film because of the slow pacing and the fact that it takes a long time to get to the kills, but for me this wasn't the case. I enjoy my slashers with atmosphere and characterization, so for me this film was fantastic. I love dialogue heavy scenes when the writing is good and this movie had great dialogue. It does borrow a lot from Halloween but in this case that's more of a pro than a con.Final Exam is a lot of fun and also somewhat campy so if you're a big fan of 80's horror and slashers you'll love this.
Movie comment on Just Before Dawn
nick121235
Interesting film.Just Before Dawn is sort of a slow burn slasher, it isn't what I expected. It has deliberate pacing which helps to create a slow atmosphere and characterization.
Some of the dialogue is a bit weak but overall this film is pretty good.
As many have noted it's similar to The Hills Have Eyes.
Movie comment on Dead Silence
nick121235
Not as bad as I thought it would be. Bad dialogue but sustainable and creepy atmosphere throughout. Truly disappointing ending. The beginning reminds me of the Child's Play series which is why i decided to have another go at it (I couldn't finish it the first time).Movie comment on Bride of Chucky
nick121235
Very derivative of Scream but that doesn't stop this from being a great movie. The humor is actually funny, helped along with knowing winks at other horror movies. Imho this movie is almost just as good as the original.Movie comment on Child's Play 2
nick121235
I enjoyed this just as much as the original.Movie comment on Sette note in nero
nick121235
The perfect introduction to giallo for someone unfamiliar with the subgenre.Movie comment on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
nick121235
More focused on the dark comedy facet that was less overt in the first but it's still a lot of real fun. Just classic 80's horror and a wonderful sequel.Movie comment on Deadly Friend
nick121235
a Wes Craven classic.Deadly friend is really good despite its obscurity, boasting a tight and thrilling storyline, several good kills, and Craven's ever transparent influences, including the sequel to his own earlier A Nightmare on Elm Street.
As far as (somewhat cheesy) 80's horror you really can't get much better than this without veering into the art field.
Movie comment on Stage Fright
nick121235
I never hear much about this movie when talking about Hitchcock which is a sad thing because this film is quite good.It's not particularly complex but it has some great performances and is a quality example of Hitchcock's 50's output.
Movie comment on Starman
nick121235
I expected a lot more out of this movie. For one thing it's John Carpenter.He obviously didn't write the script for this film but even though it was weak and trite I still felt that he could have done something more with it.
For one thing the special effects are almost all CGI and bad CGI at that. Lovers of The Thing will be highly disappointed.
The story is a simple romantic one at it's core and while I'm not completely adverse to that I can't say that this one ever really drew me in enough to care for what happened between the characters.
The beginning especially felt really cobbled together, the story really lacks cohesiveness and it goes beyond believability. Not because it features aliens but that the things that happen don't even make sense within the sphere of plausible credibility within the story. The atmosphere is non-existent, the dialogue is weak and boring.
It has some nice cinematography, as always with Carpenter, but it's not enough to save the movie.
Movie comment on The Untouchables
nick121235
The soundtrack did not fit this movie at all and completely ruined a lot of otherwise not bad scenes.I was disappointed with the 'feel good hollywood' vibe and acting methods of a lot of the actors. Although this movie boasts some pretty renowned names (De Niro, Connery), and they did not give mediocre performances by any means, the weak and trite script coupled with their delivery style (surely the fault of the director De Palma) resulted in a piece of generic hollywood fluff. Really the only thing saving this movie from being a complete and utter disaster, in my eyes at any rate, is the stunning cinematography and the inclusion of a few visual De Palma tricks of the trade.
In the end I just feel let down, especially in light of what could have been had he opted for a more serious vibe like Carlitos Way, although The Untouchables is still ahead above The Black Dahlia- his worst film in my opinion.
It's just sad when a director you hold in high esteem releases something so bland.
Movie comment on Shocker
nick121235
watching this movie feels like being inside one of wes craven's dreams... he probably should have edited it a little for the big screen tho. a guilty pleasure.Movie comment on Diabel
nick121235
beautiful filmMovie comment on Christine
nick121235
Idk, I didn't like this film as much as I wanted to. I love John Carpenter but this one, while not a bad movie really, just doesn't match up the the standard of a lot of the rest of his movies.Movie comment on Mercury Plains
nick121235
The homo-eroticism in this movie is so strong that I constantly felt as though everyone was about to undress and the paper thin plot would collapse into the obvious gay porno it was always meant to be. Unfortunately for me, this did not happen, however it did feature many scenes with Scott Eastwood shirtless.Also the cinematography is fairly good, so that paired with Eastwood's constant lack of a top did keep me looking at the screen around 70% of the time the movie was streaming. I don't recommend this unless you're extremely bored, probably drunk, and find Scott Eastwood's features pleasing.
As a side note I am 99% sure that 'general's son' boy is extremely gay with a huge fucking crush on Eastwood so he was the most relatable person in the entire movie.
Movie comment on I Am Not a Serial Killer
nick121235
Reminiscent of the work of Cronenberg, particularly his pre- 2000's era, I Am Not a Serial Killer was a much better watch than I had expected.As some have pointed out, it is a slow burner, but I think that's necessary to give us insight and character development. At it's core, IANASK is a character study of our protagonist, John Cleaver.
Is John Cleaver destined to be a serial killer? Is he a sociopath? Is he good, is he evil?
These are the questions we find ourselves asking time and time again throughout the film as his words and actions contradict themselves and each other over and over.
John Cleaver is a teenager and with all of the issues that face any normal teenager he also has to deal with some extremely difficult and strange problems. He is misunderstood, he doesn't know how to express himself, he is unsure of his feelings and his identity.
That being said, I think the film works just fine as it is- really much better than it sounds on paper.
IANASK has an organic feel in it's material that is hard to find and much sought after by many cinephiles, and that is the artistic vision of its creator.
Not having seen any of O'Brien's other films I can't tell you if this elusive vision is that of the director or moreso of the source material, the novel by Dan Wells that it was based on; or, of course, a perfect marriage of the two.
What I can tell you is that this film is not only fresh and interesting in way of the story but also the cinematography, shot beautifully on 16mm film, which gives the film a much more stately and artistic feel than this sort of material would have easily afforded shot digitally with the increasingly common voyeuristic hand-held style.
All in all IANASK is a perfect example of modern film that still has heart, soul, and style; and as such it is a breath of fresh air in today's Hollywood climate.
Movie comment on Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud
nick121235
This movie could have been a lot better had they managed to give the audience any reason to have a shred of empathy for any of the characters.Movie comment on Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes
nick121235
Miles above the second at leastMovie comment on Sinister
nick121235
One of the scariest horror movies I have seen in a long time. I put off watching this one for a quite a while because when I first started it I noticed it had dim lighting which is a pet peeve of mine. Once I decided to watch it at a later date however, I realized that the cinematographer actually made very effective use of light/dark contrasts, highlighting what we need to see and using the dark spaces to create a cloistering atmosphere of dread and claustrophobia.The performances are also very good, especially the lead, although I feel as though they could have given us more background on the rest of the family.
Also the ending isn't what I expected at all and I feel there could have been more action but it did fit in with the rest of this movie which can be quite slow at times, but you hardly notice because of the way this film draws you into it's world.
The super 8 sequences were terrifying, they had me on the edge of my seat.
In my opinion Sinister is probably one of the best horror films of this decade.
Movie comment on The Resident
nick121235
This was, quite simply, a generic little thriller. Not very good but not outright terrible either. It was decent and Hillary Swank did a great job in her role.It played out like a lifetime movie, nothing surprising, nothing frightening, nothing new. An alright movie for a rainy day when you want some background noise.
Movie comment on Lake Dead
nick121235
Pretty standard horror film. It might be fun to watch with a few friends, beers, and some popcorn, but expect to laugh at a lot of things that weren't intended to be funny. A ridiculous plot that goes for shock value over quality, flimsy and boring characters, and the cinematography and set are mediocre at best. It wasn't absolutely awful, as it had a passable atmosphere that kept it from falling completely on it's face, but about halfway through that becomes obsolete. All in all, watch it if you're a big fan of cheesy 00's horror, not that there's really all that many of you out there.Movie comment on Graveyard Shift
nick121235
The beginning of this movie was great; it started off with a very interesting atmosphere that kept me watching and allowed me to forgive the films faults, even if the acting was sometimes over-the-top and cheesy (especially Stephen Macht's scenery chewing performance). It held this riveting style almost all the way through but fell short in the last third, collapsing into something more standard fare.I still enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to any fan of King, creature features, or plain cheesy horror.
Showing items 101 – 125 of 206