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Deadly Friend (1986)
6/10
Mixed Feelings
9 May 2006
Warning: Spoilers
My girlfriend told me of a movie she saw when she was little, about a robot who starts killing people. She couldn't remember much of it, but as I searched for it, she kept telling me how much it impressed her... Obviously this is, as with a lot of child's movie memories, a film which is over-romanticized but in actuality less good then you remember... Though after seeing it I was not really impressed, it left me with some mixed feelings..

GOOD FEELINGS: Positive aspects of the film are in my opinion the idea behind it, Kristy Swanson, Wes Craven and the sometimes eerie music score by Charles Bernstein. Not really knowing what to expect, the film's opening of a car thief being stopped by BB (the robot) made me laugh immediately. The movie made me sad in a way, especially when BB gets blown to bits and the scenes with Kristy Swanson in her zombie form, desperately longing for Matthew Laborteaux' love. Wes Craven's signature is all over the film. With some scary dream sequences (I WAS scared when the father squirted blood all over the place while laughing like a madman) and some sets which looked extremely familiar to me (the cellar in which the father dies for instance, did anyone else got flashbacks of A Nightmare on Elmstreet?)

BAD FEELINGS: On the other hand, there were numerous things which I found annoying. A at times very laughable plot, a basketball as a murder weapon and most of all an extremely lousy ending... I've read that Wes Craven wasn't particularly happy with this, wanting another ending and less mindless gore for gore, but the President of Warner Bros. thought differently. Too bad, as it doesn't do ANY good to the movie, which could have been so much more...

CONCLUDING: Mixed feelings... Deadly Friend could have been a real cult classic, but doesn't reach for it in my opinion. Though there are some memorable moments (though the basketball-murder is absolutely ridiculous, I'll probably remember it for the rest of my life) and some good emotional moments (how did I feel for poor Kristy Swanson.) The BB robot is cute and you really feel sorry for Matthew Laborteaux when it gets destroyed, but all this barely saves the movie. Though I do not blame Wes Craven, who probably did everything he could to make the best of it, Deadly Friend is JUST good enough... The ending is a real downer, as it left me with disbelief and almost made me forget all the positive aspects of the film and I think the added gore doesn't add much to it as well... 5,5/10!
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7/10
Good enough!
5 May 2006
If you don't mind a crappy storyline and if you are in need of some mind blowing action, then 'M:I 3' won't let you down. Whereas 'M:I 1' was a blaster and 'M:I 2' a disaster, 'M:I 3' brought a big smile to my face once again... I expected a film with heavy action, incredible stunts and a not too serious plot... It gave me exactly that!

The film kicks off with a high tense opening sequence in which you immediately know what you're in for: excitement, excitement and more excitement. Ever wanted to see a helicopter chase through a windmill park? 'M:I 3' will give it too you, along with more mind blowing action sequences in which I got sweat in my hand palms. It keeps a very high pace going up until a few minutes before the end, in which I thought the film became a little too cheesy, but all in all: GREAT FUN!

Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames are wonderful again, whereas Philip Seymour Hoffman makes a nice and quite believable bad guy... Combined with other good performances and some humor, this cocktail will make your head spin enough to have a great time. A good way to celebrate Ethan Hunt's tenth birthday! 7/10
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The Descent (2005)
8/10
Horror at a very high level
26 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This film reminded me on a view concepts which were used earlier.. When I began watching I thought about "Open Water", so I prepared myself for a lot of grief and a very nasty feeling throughout the film. As I somewhat expected, the first 45 minutes gave me this feeling.. This feeling was completely reversed in the second half, in which the gore and scares multiply by a factor 10 in a "From Dusk Till Dawn" kind of way..

The story is quite simple. Six girls in their twenties go on a vacation, one year after a tragic accident occurred involving one of them. As a way to move on with their lives, they decide to go on a vacation in which they go cave diving. Panic breaks out when the expected happens, they find out they're in the wrong cave! This first part of the film has an extremely claustrophobic atmosphere which contributes immensely to the suspense..

The second part takes the story to a straightforward horror-level, in which the girls find out that they are not alone.. The cave holds a danger far beyond their imagination and is out to get them.. Although this is quite standard horror stuff, the scares are very effective.. One of the great aspects to generate some of the best scares, is that one of the girls only has a infrared camera to see what's happening.. As the cave is pitch black and the girls get separated from each other, the suspense and gore come together in a nice even way..

There are off course some aspects which I don't like about this movie. The thing that bothered me most is that the girls are presented as being very good close friends. The decisions being made by them are in my opinion very strange.. If you would imagine yourself in their situation with some of your best friends, who could do the things they do? I couldn't, and that is what makes this movie a bit unbelievable..

All this said, my main point here is that this movie should be watched with an open mind, like most horror films.. It's easy to criticize on almost all movies out there and though I do not consider this a classic, it has a higher level than most horror films produced lately.. Very watchable and very enjoyable, this film gets my vote! 7,5/10
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Battletruck (1982)
7/10
Simple, but Effective
22 February 2006
"Warlords of the 21st Century" aka "Battletruck" (as it is known to me) was a movie that I saw once when I was about eleven years old. It came on late night television and it left an extremely good impression on me.. Since then I've been trying to obtain the film on VHS for nearly eight years. It was so hard to get, even when I was in New Zealand I couldn't get my hands on it, as it was only for rent and no one would sell it to me.

Seeing it again it didn't give me the same rush as I was little, but still, it was very entertaining. This low budget "Mad Max"-like action flick is no blockbuster, nor is it surprising since the storyline is very straightforward.. But the battletruck itself looks scary, the music is a little creepy and the acting performances are good enough.. Great for an evening on the couch with some friends, IF you can get your hands on a copy.. 7/10
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Event Horizon (1997)
9/10
The Shining in outer space
23 December 2005
This movie freaked me out of my chair many times! A friend of mine recommended this movie to me years ago. He saw it at the theater and was stunned. I remembered seeing a trailer of the film and wanting to see it badly. Fact is, the film only stayed in the cinema for about five weeks in my country. I was too late, I had to rent it on video. I can imagine that "Event Horizon" has a scary effect in the cinema, but watching it home alone made me probably feel more shocked then ever before. What I thought to be a mediocre "Alien" ripoff, turned out to be something completely different. It scared the hell out of me..

For those of you who saw "Ghost Ship", this movie has a lot of similarities, only "Event Horizon" is way better. I'll start with the opening credits. Nothing really special, but the music score that comes along with it; absolutely terrifying! Great work by both Michael Kamen and Orbital, who use a sublime mixture of techno, orchestra music and all kinds of chilling sound effects. At that moment I knew I was going to be scared, which didn't take long to actually happen.

The acting in this movie is quite well. My credits go to Sam Neill in particular, who plays a role in which I never saw him before. Watch and see for yourself. The story is the worst thing in this movie, although I like the concept of a spaceship that creates black holes to travel faster than light. But the whole 'rescue mission that goes awry' is done so many times before, it didn't impress me much. The same goes for the ending which is in my opinion a bit of a letdown. On the other hand, it probably had a more lasting effect on me just because I was still confused with what actually happened.

For those of us who can't stand any gore, don't watch this! Although most of the gore in "Event Horizon" comes in flashes, there are particular scenes which do not leave much to the imagination. Shocks will be there plenty for the most of us, as everything hits you right in the face over and over again.

Adding everything in this film up: special effects, music and the atmosphere are the best things here. The storyline is the worst, but is still enjoyable as long as you don't take it too serious. So what's my conclusion? If you want to be scared, do as I did and watch "Event Horizon" alone in the dark with loud sound.. If you enjoyed "Ghost Ship", go and see this movie as it is the same concept, only way better and more believable.. If you liked "The Shining", you might consider looking at "Event Horizon" as well because a good description is "The Overlook Hotel in outer space". It's chilling, it's shocking and it stays in your head for a very long time. Liberate tutemae ex inferis! (Safe yourself from hell!) 8/10!
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Halloween II (1981)
7/10
One of the better slasher sequels
23 December 2005
This is one of the better slasher sequels I've seen. It doesn't reach near the level of the first Halloween, but it's fun nonetheless.. It starts off exactly where we left the first film, right after Loomis shoots Michael Meyers and discovers that he's gone. This film has a frightening atmosphere, especially the scenes in the hospital corridors. The plot is OK, but mostly Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence keep the film going, together with the horrifying Halloween theme, which still brings shivers to my spine. In my opinion the series should have stopped here, considering the ending. More gore than the first film, but lots of scares as well.. If you're a fan, make sure you check this one out. If not, leave this on the shelf. 6.5/10!
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