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boykinb
Reviews
The Conjuring (2013)
Horror by the numbers
Saw The Conjuring last night. It's a movie I've looked forward to for some time. I was somewhat familiar with Ed and Lorraine Warren and the IMDb reviews on the film have been superb. So...does it live up to expectation? Well that depends entirely on what your expectations are...if you are hoping for an Amityville Horror, Haunting in Connecticut, Poltergiest, straight up, bump in the night, haunted house movie...then you wont be disappointed. It certainly deserves it's place on that top ten list. If however, you like horror movies that drag you into the dark rather than using it as a cover for spooks, those psychological gems such as The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, The Omen, then The Conjuring will disappoint greatly. If you look back on The Exorcist...it would be hard to imagine anyone replacing Jason Miller as Damian Karras and that's because we understood him so well that Miller WAS Karras. The same could be said for Max Von Sydow as Fr Merrin or Ellen Burstyn as Chris McNeill and even Lee J Cobb as Bill Kinderman. We even got under the surface of Pazuzu, the demon.
Demon: What an excellent day for an exorcism. Father Damien Karras: You would like that? Demon: Intensely. Father Damien Karras: But wouldn't that drive you out of Regan? Demon: It would bring us together. Father Damien Karras: You and Regan? Demon: You and us.
Demon: Mirabile dictu, don't you agree? Father Damien Karras: You speak Latin? Demon: Ego te absolvo. Father Damien Karras: Quod nomen mihi est? Demon: Bon Jour. Father Damien Karras: Quod nomen mihi est? Demon:La plume de ma tante.
The Conjuring also deals with issues of possession and the manipulation of a child, but this spirit isn't Captain Howdie and this movie isn't The Exorcist (1973)...or The Omen (1976) or The Changeling (1980) and therein lies the problem. In the 70s, it wasn't the kiss of death to make a horror movie with an 18 cert and evil could be examined as a study. Now, it's one bloody puke and you're a slave of Satan....one touching memory later and you're free from his shackles. Horror by the numbers. When audiences first sat through The Exorcist, they wanted to run from the cinema and splash their face in holy water...the only time I was on the edge of my seat during The Conjuring was when I contemplated popping out for a coffee. Along with The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Possessed, The Rite and three decades of drivel, this was another opportunity wasted. William Friedkin/William Peter Blatty where the hell are you???
Vittra (2012)
What the Evil Dead remake should have been
I had heard good things about this movie and was delighted when I got the opportunity to see it today. The film was made for just under 35,000 euro so I was factoring that in when I sat down to watch it. I didn't need to. The movie looks great. The cast were believable, it was extremely well directed, the cinematography was superb, it was scary, it was clever and it ranks alongside Dead Snow, Let the Right One In and The Troll Hunter as yet another indication that Europe is definitely snapping at the heels of Asia when it comes to creative film making. Yes, it's a rip off of The Evil Dead but it's certainly the best copy to date and, regardless of the budget, it leaves the recent Evil Dead remake looking tired and dull. An excellent horror movie.
Between the Canals (2011)
Children Please
This....'movie'...was recommended to me by a friend. I wanted to like it, I really did. A young director trying to do something authentic....this was said to be Mean Streets with a Tarantino twist. This is film making of the poorest level, its simply drivel.The writer/director Mark O Connor substitutes character development with the idea that calling your embarrassingly amateur cast names like Limbo and Foot and Mouth can somehow make this 90 minutes of torture seem raw and powerful....this is a truly terrible...film..for the want of a better word. Its on youtube in its awful entirety because it, thankfully, never made it to mainstream distribution....the one positive of this sorry mess.
Dear God No! (2011)
10/10 for sheer entertainment
Over the past few years, and largely thanks to Tarantino/Rodriguez, there has been a welcome revival in Grindhouse. Movies like Planet Terror, Death Proof and Machete have reminded us just how much fun it was to recoil in horror and laugh out loud all in the same scene. Movie trends vary. We are coming to the end of the reign of the zombie flick but during its tenure we were treated to such gems as Zack Snyder's 'Dawn of the Dead', The Ford Brothers 'The Dead' and, to a lesser degree, the hugely successful Ruben Fleischer 'Zombieland'. With the revival of Grindhouse we are, once again, trawling the net for the next talking point of modern cinema. Well, look no further folks. 'Dear God No!' is 21st century Grindhouse at its most shocking and its insanely fun. James Bickert has managed, on no-doubt a very limited budget, to create a movie that is 'The Devils Rejects meets Doctor Moreau' with an originality that is stunning in itself. It is a movie that will stay with me and that is the hallmark of a fine film maker. It was a film that I expected to hate but, as the final credits rolled, I was struggling to pick out a moment that didn't work perfectly. The movie is over the top so far that I'd expect to find mist on the DVD cover. The central cast push their characters to the the limits of debauchery and there are moments in the movie where I almost felt guilty enjoying but this mix of Grindhouse and Powerhouse simply wont let you rest. A huge achievement and I trust that this gem of a film will have CULT stamped all over it when it hits the shelves. See it once, talk about it many many times. Congratulations to all involved.
Let Me In (2010)
Is America the celluloid thief?
Let The Right One In was a wonderful, original and thought provoking movie.......so why the 2nd class remake. Ju-On The Grudge was a terrifying,edge of the seat horror....so why the 2nd class remake. The Eye was a Pang Brothers horror classic...so why the 2nd class remake. The Magnificent Seven was a remake of The Seven Samurai, The Blair Witch was a remake of Noroi The Curse, Zatoichi has been remade as every dud 2nd rate hero with a hang up movie over the last 10 years. Whatever happened to originality, where is the spirit that gave us The Exorcist, The Omen, Salems Lot, The Innocence, Dawn Of The Dead, The Entity? Oldboy is possibly the greatest movie of the last ten years...now Spielberg is remaking it with WILL SMITH in the lead role.....Hollywood...stick to the Waltons for Christ sake!!