Insidious Chapter 2 Review

Taking place immediately after the first insidious, is Josh possessed by the women that haunted him as a child.

Director James Wan

Writer James Wan - Leigh Whannell

Cast

Patrick Wilson - Josh Lambert
Rose Byrne - Renai Lambert
Ty Simpkins - Dalton Lambert
Steve Coulter - Carl
Barbara Hershey - Lorraine Lambert
Lin Shaye - Elise Rainier

FilmDistrict - Runtime 106 minutes

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The Lambert family are looking to discover the truth about the haunting and why the family seem connected to the afterlife and to discover whether their nightmare is really over.

Taking place immediately after the first installment with Josh possibly being possessed by the women spirit who haunted him as a child and with Elise mysteriously dying.

As you would expect Insidious Chapter 2 has a very similar look and feel to the first instalment and it's probably best watched immediately after watching the first movie. Insidious chapter 2 continues with the same creepy atmosphere as the first, there is some nice shock scares throughout which managed to be effective even when I was expecting them, all the scary moments were executed well with good timing, many of them were memorable and likely to stick with you for awhile. There is a decent amount of humour which breaks up the tension nicely giving us a break from the terror.

The acting is decent, Patrick Wilson does a great job and so does the rest of the cast, the story is a little more complex than the first movie which requires a bit more concentration from the viewer to keep up with events. It's definitely worth the effort if you give it a chance, however you could easily lose track of the story if you don't concentrate.

While I did enjoy this second instalment, I didn't think it was as scary or as creepy as the first movie. I didn't find the main entity in this anywhere near as terrifying as the demon from the first movie, or the scenes as memorable.

Overall a very good horror movie which should definitely be enjoyed by most people and fans of the original. However I was just a little bit disappointed it wasn't scarier and the main villain wasn't creeper.

6.5 out of 10

I Am Legend Review

I Am Legend review, a virus is turning the population into zombie like creatures, a scientist remains in the infected area to try and find a cure.

Director Francis Lawrence

Writer Mark Protosevich - Akiva Goldsman

Cast

Will Smith - Dr. Robert Neville
Alice Braga - Anna
Charlie Tahan - Ethan
Dash Mihok - Infected alpha male
Salli Richardson - Zoe Neville
Willow Smith - Marley Neville
Abbey & Kona - Sam, the dog
Emma Thompson - Dr. Alice Krippin

Warner Bros, Running time 101 minutes

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Dr. Alice Krippin (Emma Thompson) creates a cure for cancer, but the cure has a terrible side effect, a virus is born that turns those that are infected into vicious fresh eating creatures. Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) is immune to the virus and remains in New York which is infested with these creatures, he stays behind to try and find a cure.

I Am Legend creates a great sense of isolation, atmosphere and survival, this is partly due to the very good cinematography. The deserted city looks great, the visuals are impressive which really help set the mood. We also get to see wild animals roaming the city, including lions hunting dear, however the CG on the lions is not the best.

The acting by Will Smith is solid, he does a very believable job of a man spending years in isolation and going slowly insane. The creatures themselves are fast, strong and scary, they're CG creations rather than actors. Using CG seems to work well in this case, it makes them seem less human and also more terrifying.

I became very immersed in the whole experience, this is definitely one of my favorite movies of 2007, and possibly my favourite Will Smith movie to date. I Am Legend may not be a true Zombie movie but it creates the same kind of feel as some of the best Zombie movies, it should be enjoyed by most zombie and horror movie fans.

6.9 out of 10

House At The End Of The Street Review

House at the End of the Street Review, mother and daughter move into a new house near where a family killing occurred.

Release date 21st September 2012

 
Director Mark Tonderai

Writer David Loucka

Cast

Jennifer Lawrence - Elissa
Elisabeth Shue - Sarah
Max Thieriot - Ryan
Nolan Gerard Funk - Tyler Reynolds
Gil Bellows - Weaver
Krista Bridges - Mary Jacobson
Allie MacDonald - Jillian
Relativity Media - Running time 101 minutes

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A mother and her daughter move to another city, while there they discover themselves living next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents. The daughter soon ends up befriending the one remaining son, it becomes clear what ever happened there is not over.

I have finally got round to watching House at the End of the Street. After seeing mixed reviews online, most of which were not great which led me to having fairly low expectations.

I actually found the first half of this movie immersive and enjoyable, Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) and Ryan (Max Thieriot) are interesting and likeable characters especially Elissa, all of the other characters are underdeveloped with little depth to the characters.

There are a few nice shock scare tactics used which are effective, however they're mostly predictable, much of the movie is in fact predictable. As the movie progresses it just becomes more and more predictable, the characters also make stupid and predictable decisions that makes you want to shout at them. We have just seen this kind of movie so many times now, the writers just haven't made much effort to give us something original.

There is some good tension building going on, the music and sound effects are effective and it does have a fairly good atmosphere throughout the movie, however this becomes less effective because of the predictable plot.

House at the End of the Street is worth watching if you enjoy horror/thriller movies, just don't expect anything great or original.

6 out of 10

10 Greatest Horror Villains

What are the 10 Greatest Horror Villains?, including the most well known and memorable monsters in movie history

There are plenty of great horror villains and we all have our favorites, the best villains are not necessarily the scariest villains. The below list includes many of my favorites, some scary and others not so scary. I would also like to hear from you, you can submit your own Greatest Horror Villains at the bottom of this page.

10 Greatest Horror Villains

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1. Freddy Krueger

Movie - A Nightmare on Elm Street

Freddy is a disturbed spirit who attacks his victims while they sleep, he is well known for his disfigured burnt face, red stripy jumper and this razor blade finger glove.

Freddy lived in Springwood and he was known for being a child killer, the victims parents decided to take matters into their own hands, they tracked him down and set him on fire, burning him alive. While Freddy was in hell he was given power by demons which allows him to invade and kill people in their dreams.

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2. Xenomorph

Movie - Alien

The Xenomorph is the perfect killing machine, also referred to as the perfect organism, the xenomorph has many weapons, it has two sets of teeth, four sets of claws, a lethal tail and acid for blood. It's believed the xenomorph was engineered by an alien race known only as the engineers, one of these engineers can be seen in the first Alien movie, it's commonly referred to as the space jockey.

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3. Jason Vorhees

Movie - Friday the 13th

As a child Jason Vorhees was taken to camp crystal lake where he was tormented because of this disfigurement, he ran off to avoid the torment but accidentally fell into the lake, unable to swim he disappeared into the water and his body was never found.

Jasons mother went on a killing spree, killing those she considered responsible for her sons death, eventually Mrs. Voorhees was killed herself. Shortly after her death the towns folk realize Jason is back and out for revenge.

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4. The Thing

Movie - The Thing

The Thing is an Alien which is capable of shape shifting, it tends to take the form of the last thing it killed. The Thing is vulnerable to fire.

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5. Pinhead

Movie - Hellraiser

Pinhead was once human and lost his faith in humanity after witnessing horrific events. He is now one of many extradimensional creatures known as the Cenobites, they seek to harvest souls.

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6. Leather face

Movie - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Leather face suffered from a terrible skin disease which is the result from being inbred, as a child he was tormented and bullied for his appearance.

As an adult he is very disturbed and he has an obsession with mutilation and he wears a mask made out of human skin.

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7. Hannibal Lector

Movie - Silence of the lambs

Hannibal Lector's sister was eaten by starving Nazi's which sparked his own cannibalistic obsession. He's intelligent and articulate but deeply disturbed because of his sisters death.

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8. Michael Myers

Movie - Halloween

Michael Myers murdered his own sister and was committed to a metal hospital. He manages to escape after 15 years and immediately goes on a killing spree.

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9. Jaws

Movie - Jaws

Jaws is simply just a very aggressive larger than normal great white shark with a taste for people. Jaws terrorizes the waters of Amity Island.

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10. Jigsaw

Movie - Saw

Jigsaw (John Kramer) suffers from a terminal illness. One night Johns wife and unborn child were killed by a man breaking into a clinic.

After this, John decides that people who don't value their own lives and the lives of others need to be taught a lesson,which is usually a gruesome lesson. 

Halloween Review (1978)

Halloween Review, this movie inspired many sequels and is one of the best slasher movies ever made.

Director John Carpenter

Writers John Carpenter - Debra Hill

Cast

Jamie Lee Curtis - Laurie Strode
Donald Pleasence - Dr. Sam Loomis
Nancy Loomis - Annie Brackett
P.J. Soles - Lynda Van Der Klok
Brian Andrews - Tommy Doyle
Charles Cyphers - Sheriff Leigh Brackett
Sandy Johnson - Judith Myers
Tony Moran - Michael Myers
Kyle Richards - Lindsey Wallace
John Michael Graham - Bob Simms

Trancas International Films, Running Time 91 Minutes.

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Michael Myers killed his sister when he was just 6 years old, since then he was held in an insane asylum for 15 years until he escaped. After escaping he begins to stalk a girl and her friends before going on a killing spree. he is a man without remorse or regret, simply put he is pure evil.

Halloween is a great example of how to make a horror movie on a small budget, simple but well told story and a simple but very effective score.

The pacing of the film is perfect, the cast is good with good dialog. Unlike many other slasher films the killings are realistic and believable.

Halloween was the first of the modern day slasher type horror films, which had many sequels and remakes in 2007 and 2009, none of them matched up to the original.

Slasher films are not my favorite type of scary movie, normally I find them quite irritating because of all the stupid decisions the victims make which ruins my enjoyment. However the original Halloween is one of the few exceptions.

8 out of 10

Grave Encounters 2 Review

Grave Encounters 2 review, an obsessed student seeks to spend a night in the hospital where the first movie was filmed.

Director John Poliquin

Writer The Vicious Brothers

Cast

Reese Alexander, Officer
Stephanie Bennett, Tessa Hamill
Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, YouTube Guy
Richard Harmon, Alex Wright
Howie Lai, Jared Lee
Sean Rogerson, Lance Preston
Leanne Lapp, Jennifer
Meeshelle Neal, Cop
Dylan Playfair, Trevor Thompson

Death Awaits Cinema.

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A student named Alex Wright is completely obsessed with the original Grave Encounters movie, and he is determined to prove to everybody that the psychiatric hospital that the first movie is based in, is in fact haunted for real. Alex and a group of this friends perform their research and then visit the hospital hoping to find some evidence of a real life haunting. What the group discovered was far worse than anything they could ever imagine.

I was pleasantly surprised by the first grave encounters, it provided some genuinely creepy and scary moments, despite the fact that in recent years we have been inundated with these types of first person perspective, reality type movies.

I liked the idea and approach of this movie with regards to the idea that the first grave encounters was only a movie within grave encounters 2 and that Alex the main character is performing research on the actors and director from the first movie looking for some evidence that the first movie was real and that it showed real footage of the haunted psychiatric hospital. This idea may not be completely original, however I did find it refreshing and different enough to keep me interested and immersed in the movie.

As the film progresses and we get into the psychiatric hospital the movie just goes downhill, the acting and dialog becomes very cheesy and it completely ruins any tension or potential scares. At times it felt like they were trying to make a comedy, a spoof of the original, other times it felt like it was trying to be a genuine horror movie, the whole movie became very confusing and a bit silly. Towards the end of the film I completely lost interest and I couldn't care less how it ended and to be honest I can't actually remember how things finished.

When I first heard about grave encounters 2 I was excited to watch it, I was hoping they would make it scarier than the first, the end result is a confused grave disappointment.

4 out of 10

Grave Enounters Review

Grave Encounters Review, A group of reality show ghost hunters lock themselves in a old hospital.

Director The Vicious Brothers

Writer The Vicious Brothers

Cast

Sean Rogerson - Lance Preston
Juan Riedinger - Matt White
Ashleigh Gryzko - Sasha Parker
Mackenzie Gray - Houston Gray
Shawn Macdonald - Morgan Turner
Arthur Corber - Dr. Friedkin
Merwin Mondesir - T.C Gibson
Michele Cummins - Ghost
Luis Javier - Gardener

Twin Engine Films, Running time 94 minutes.

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A bunch of ghost hunters have their own reality TV show, they're investigating an old hospital that is supposedly haunted. At first the ghost hunters are more interested in creating an entertaining TV show rather than seeking the truth, even bribing staff to say on camera they witnessed a ghostly experience.

The grave encounters team lock themselves in the hospital for the night, hoping to pick up some ghostly activity on camera but they get far more than they were expecting.

Think of Paranormal Activity but set in a large hospital, the film is partly shot using fixed cameras and the rest in the first person perspective. The first person perspective works better in this film than most, mainly because they have a good reason for holding the camera. Although as the film goes on and things get more serious and their lives become at risk, it becomes a bit silly that they're still filming which I feel destroys some of the tension, but this is a flaw all these types of movies have.

The story is simple to follow, the hospital is a great setting, very creepy and atmospheric. The acting and dialog is a little rough around the edges at times but good enough to keep the tension, a nice sense of panic sets in when the cast realise they can't get out of the hospital adding to the tension.

We have seen a few to many films like this now and I think they're starting to lose there appeal. However this film does offer a few new ideas and some genuine scares, grave encounters is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. If you like paranormal activity you'll probably enjoy this.

6.4 out of 10