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It boggles my mind that there are websites that will give the recent The Thing prequel a negative review for repeating the beats of the John Carpenter original, but will give Paranormal Activity 3 a positive review. Now don’t get me wrong, Paranormal 3 brings a good amount of scares and jumps, and is mostly successful, but the movie rips off everything from the old BBC TV movie Ghostwatch (worth seeking out) to Poltergeist, Halloween:The Curse of Michael Myers, and even the first two movies in the franchise.
The thing about PA3 is that it’s largely effective as a scary movie. Until the last fifteen minutes, the film actually does a good job of racketing up tension and throwing a good jump scare at you every couple of minutes. The problems with the movie actually don’t come from the acting or the scares, but from the very basics of the story and the direction. It’s hard to go into too many details without spoiling things, so let’s talk a bit more after the jump, shall we?
Remember…SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP!
Remember “Paul’s Horror Flix?” It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any horror films for the site, and I kinda miss talking about films in my favorite genre, especially with Pauloween coming up in just a month and a half (as long time readers know, Pauloween is a month-long event, not just October 31st!). Well, it’s about damn time we brought the tradition of chatting about our favorite scary flicks back to IoM, starting each Friday with FEARFUL FRIDAYS (check out previous horror reviews here).
First off, Grave Encounters, a “found footage” horror movie due out October 18th on DVD. In the movie, a group of paranormal investigators, similar to television’s popular Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures shows, investigates a haunted hospital. Though the site housed some pretty tragic events when filled with the living, since it’s been abandoned, folks have been seeing eerie apparitions and hearing odd noises. As we’re told, this is the sixth episode of the aborted “Grave Encounters” tv series, and gathered from the raw footage filmed during their visit there.
Full review after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
I have a confession to make.
I didn’t like “The Walking Dead” anywhere near as much as everyone else seems to have. I mean, it was a good series, but I felt it dragged, and got unnecessarily repetitive … not good for only 6 episodes. Still, it’s strength (I felt) came from series showrunner Frank Darabont, who also directed the awesome pilot. Well….
This is a quite a bombshell — I have learned that Frank Darabont, the creator, executive producer and director of AMC’s smash hit The Walking Dead, is stepping down as showrunner of the series, which is now in production on its upcoming second season. The news is even more surprising given the fact that Darabont was on hand for Walking Dead’s Comic-Con panel just this past Friday alongside fellow executive producers Robert Kirkman, on whose graphic novel the series is based, and Gale Anne Hurd and appeared excited about Season 2. There is speculation that Darabont might be off the show completely, but I hear talks are still ongoing about him possibly staying on in some capacity. Darabont, who spent five years trying to get a TV version of the zombie saga off the ground and wrote and directed the AMC pilot, hails from the feature world, and I hear that he never quite adjusted to the daily grind of producing a TV series. (more at Deadline)
That’s very curious, really. I’d imagine he’ll stay on in some capacity, as Frank seems to be really into the series. I mean, at one time he fired the entire writing staff in favor of taking more control over the writing. I think Darabont probably just wants to get back into feature directing, and a series just doesn’t allow for that kind of time. I’d expect to see him in a producing job on the series when it finally drops this October.
What say you? Does this give you fears about “Walking Dead” season 2?
Well, technically the first official trailer for the upcoming prequel/reboot to The Thing. I love the original. It’s in my top 5 horror films of ALL TIME. The way they are approaching this new film … it’s impressive. They hired a pretty girl/guy lead combo, but aren’t making the film (at least from the trailer) all about skin, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre did (though I enjoyed the hell out of that one). Not only that, they seem to have successfully tried to capture the essence of the time period of the original, save for one glaringly obvious CGI shot in the trailer (you’ll see it). Damn, I can’t wait.
I applaud any director who goes through the effort of using creature effects to create their monsters, rather than going the CG-route. It seems like CG is used for pretty much everything nowadays, even so far as using it instead of squibs for blood in movies. Director Jon Knautz is big on the same line of thinking – his Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer features tons of great looking creatures that were done using makeup and prosthetics, not a computer.
The problem with Jack Brooks ultimately boiled down to one main issue: it was boring. It was a short film, but it took way too long to get to the punchline and, despite the punchline being pretty darn good … the slow parts just weren’t interesting enough to make it worth the wait. Did The Shrine fair any better? Read the rest of this entry »
So not many people know that, concurrent with production on Paranormal Activity 2, there was an alternative sequel being filmed in Japan, entitled Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Night. Released in November 2010, and directed by Toshikazu Nagae, the film follows a brother and sister in Japan who are dealing with strange happenings very similar to those from the American movies. Pretty odd, huh? Well, it’s an officially sanctioned sequel!
In Tokyo Night, a young man named Koichi is welcoming his sister back from her trip to America. While she was there, she was in a car accident that left both of her legs broken. Their father heads out on a business trip, and, not long after, the strangeness begins.
With “two bedrooms…twice the fear,” does Tokyo Night live up to the standards set by the American films?
Insidious, the new flick from Saw and Dead Silence director James Wan, has had kind of an odd marketing campaign, in my opinion. I don’t get the slogan they’ve been using…”Insidious is…Insidious.” Ummm….okay? Not only that, but the trailer appeared to give away what I assumed was intended to be a twist – “it’s not the house that’s haunted…it’s your son!”
With a reported budget of just under $1M, and a cast featuring Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson and 28 Weeks Later’s Rose Byre, Insidious comes to us from the producers of Paranormal Activity, and is written by Leigh Wannell, who also wrote the first three Saw movies, Dead Silence, and also stars in the film.
So with a healthy horror pedigree, Insidious really should knock it out of the park right?
Well…..
Ya know, I just can’t bring myself to write a long review of 51, another entry in the new series of After Dark Originals that had a recent premiere on SyFy Channel. Unlike the first entry, Husk (review here), which was pretty damn great, 51 feels like what you’d expect to premiere on Saturday night on the SyFy Channel. I really expected a Mega Shark or a Croctopus or whatever the hell to show up at any moment in all tv-level CGI glory. Yes…it’s that bad.
Starring a tv-level cast including Bruce Boxleitner, Rachel Miner, Jason London, and John Shea, and directed by Jason Connery (who also directed a pretty crappy flick called The Devil’s Tomb), 51 has tv-level everything … production values, acting, special effects and writing. I think the only one who comes out of the flick relatively unscathed is Boxleitner, and maybe that’s just because, no matter how many people love the guy (present company included), I don’t think we really expect too much out of him to begin with.
So what’s it about? Well, the government has allowed a group of reporters “exclusive” access to Area 51, with the intent of making people think that there are no actual aliens there. But then the aliens get out (duh) and there’s a midget alien, and a shapeshifting alien AND a Giger-esque alien … all in one movie! Of course, by just throwing every cool thing you’ve ever seen in an alien movie, you end up not having any real rules, and just leaving your audience feeling like you’re making it up as you go along … hell, they probably were. Skip this piece of crap.
Paul's Awesomeness Score - 1 out of 10!
You know, usually the words “SyFy Channel Original Movie,” are not indicative of any kind of quality. In fact, they’re more indicative of a lack thereof. However, they’ve teamed up with After Dark to produce a series of After Dark Originals. Since 2006, After Dark films has put on an annual horrorfest, featuring “8 Films to Die For,” with varying success. Some shining moments have included great horror flicks like The Abandoned, Frontier(s), and Mulberry Street. Of course, After Dark has also produced stinkers like The Hamiltons and Unearthed (with Charlie Murphy!).
After a run in a couple of movie theaters in the middle of nowhere (seriously, it was pathetic), these After Dark Originals are now premiering on SyFy Channel and also being released on DVD, starting at the end of March. The first out of the gate? Husk, a scarecrow horror film and one of my most anticipated of the bunch. But was it any good?