Reviews

Yes, it is a webcam- and chat-based movie. Which makes me wonder how well packed it is with action, that keeps you edge-seated. One third of the time are action scenes, shot again on webcams of all kinds.

Poster on IMDB page contains the poorest possible screenshot from the movie, please just disregard it. You may have your answer why this exact 3D is so rubbish when you watch the movie.

Key strength is a script. It's hard not to give away any detail, let's say the story contains ethical questions around religion, conspiracy theory, and several solid twists. Couple of gory scenes. No horror at all to my personal standards. Performances are better than one would expect.

My only criticism would be around final scenes, when it all breaks loose.. those could have been more.. spectacular, but I believe this is owing to budget limitations only.

Btw, don't skip final titles, the story is continued there.

Here we go again - bunch of young guys go to the middle of a rural nowhere to meet other guys and they find old house. Cool thing is that it is not fully true or completely not depending on how you'll see it. There is a decent couple of twists to keep you involved.

Straight to the point - Haunted/Dark House is kind secondary to Jeepers Creepers, and hear what - I won't complain about this. I would like to see more horrors (and scares scene directors) of this quality and consistence. Strong chasing scene, axes, effects, dark woods - thanks, Mr.Salva. No corn fields this time though.

It's not a completely repetitive exercise though - there are new sweets as well. E.g. I loved choreography (sic!) not to give away much. Loved new angles the team attempted to tension build-ups.

What is missed? Real scares, real dark, and depth. Otherwise it is quite simple, and well-done dish at a fair charge. Apparently overlooked and underestimated.

Again, if you liked Jeepers, you'll definitely love this honest roller- coaster too. I did.

The most beautiful part about horror movies, the very essence is whether you've experienced that eerie feeling on a brink of "I just can't see it any further" and of course shivers. To summarize, this one delivers both. Couple of scenes are real, real creepy.

New words to the genre? Yes - I'm following horrors quite closely and still have found new tricks. Visual candy - yes, I've liked a lot the way camera played about dimensions, 3D-oriented scenes were also likable. Derivative to The Eye, Insidious and Re-cycle - also yes, quite unfortunately. But! I'd l-love to see more derivatives to Insidious.

Well, one can complain also about full-straightforward story, which is not so to say. So-so direction - here I can agree, but did you ever see stronger performance from teens in Asian horrors? (Pals, this is not a J-horror, it is from Thailand/Hong Kong) Not likely, so why complain too much?

I can mumble a while around longish scenes, but I can also cease it on the fact that this is quite typical for pan-Asian movie school and well, this is not a Transformers franchise anyway.

All in all this is a solid, quite creative 6/10 effort well worth watching for those who seek for new tricks on the horror arena. Give it a shot - at least to your exploratory agenda.

The trailer may leave you with a taste of a Gothic horror, which Haunter is definitely not. Closest resemblance is probably Others, and I'd also name Saint-Ange and Awakening for some similarity in its atmosphere.

I may safely agree with the other reviewer that Haunter is not scary at all, just couple of very primitive boom-based jumpers.

Keep in mind that the Haunter director (Vincenzo Natali) once shoot such gem as Cube, and it shows through all 97 minutes. The movie is claustrophobic and weird,it's cheating you on time and dimensions, and that's the best part. Very solid directing, script and acting yet nothing that can leave you thinking further or wondering.

As soon as you realize that lots of ideas are brought from Cube the Haunter loses on IMDb stars instantly.

Still don't get me wrong, it has its own developments, and I personally liked the way Vincenzo Natali delivers moody look, creative frames, and elaborated sets in a very contrast to minimalistic Cube.

To sum up: a solid 6/10 - not impressive but very fair dish for ghost genre lovers.

Bottom line - deeply atmospheriс, very touching, mystic and dramatic movie with a horror flavor. Close by the aftertaste to Insidious and Sinister, little below on the horror scale, and a bit up on intellectual. Don't expect massive effects, it is definitely not about it.

I loved this slow pace, rich decorations, brave camera angles and the sound work. Finally not only boom-sound effects! Just a subtle squeaking wood under one's feet in an old empty house - that's a kind of scare I was looking for. The art of attention to details is here again.

I can agree that The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh didn't untap all the potential it has uncovered. Surely not because of lacking substance.

I rather believe that the author wanted to say way more than runtime allowed to - on religion, obsessions, mother-son relationship, on religion and loneliness.. Or may be he left the space for our imagination by intent. Whatever the reason the more interesting it will be to see next works from Rodrigo Gudino I'm definitely subscribing to.

Disagree with the rating and most of the reviews.

Being surprised by the rating I decided to carefully check IMDb reviews before I go witness this "crash" myself. Before diving into movie merits let me first address most frequent criticisms expressed by reviewers.

Each review starts with "Will Smith bluntly promotes his son". I guess everyone is happy with Coppolas, Sheens, so I do also feel nothing sinister in Will's deeds. What does this have to do with the movie and its rating?

"Jaden's performance is stiff and wooden". Disagree again - I was watching carefully. For 14 or so kid he is acting very decently, although yes, his palette is currently limited. My son is 14, I know what I'm talking about - try getting better performance from your kid before blaming Jaden. I personally loved the work of Shyamalan and Will on Jaden's performance. Just wondering - what were the expectations from his acting in this movie, based on this exact script? Did you see any more vivid kids performances in Shyamalan's movies? For the task he had on hands Jaden deserves his A mark fully. Let him grow up a bit before comparing with Heath Ledger.

"This is the worst Shymalan's movie". OK, I am a big fan of his work, so I love everything from his desk except Airbender, of course. I can safely say that After Earth is true Shyamalan's experience, and he was given the full control. Very scrupulous work on the frame (color, tone), small details (jamming plastic curtain after crash), gentle Indian touch to imagery (bird). Couple of trademark Shyamalan scares from Sixth Sense. His touch in the script is also there - check silent scene after Kitai gets frozen.

"This is not Sci-Fi". Well, depends on which standard you apply. Benchmarked vs. Star Wars or Aliens fascination element is underdeveloped. If The Signs and The Happening are enough sci-fi for you - After Earth is a solid sci-flick.

Although honestly I'd categorize After Earth rather as a adventure-survival movie.

Enough with reviewing reviews. Just a Quick check on AE merits:

FX - very solid piece of work, no complaints here. Just keep in mind that Shyamalan is not very keen in showing monsters in very detail (check The Village), and this movie is not about monsters as well.

Soundtrack by James Newton Howard is absolutely fabulous. As usual. Not your typical Shyamalan's movie, you say? Huh.

Script... Original idea and premises are interesting, dialogs are believable, which is rare. My main criticism would be around underdevelopment of characters, not poor performances. It is most likely due to limited running time, which prevented better granularity. Drama element was also undercooked to my taste (Leap of faith without any struggle from kid? Was he real scared like he should be?). Put in simple words: the Sixth Sense was truly heartbreaking, this one did not touch that deep.

Still struggling on whether to go see/rent The After Life? If you have a boy of 9-14, if you liked Signs and Happening, if you do not expect Aliens, Star Wars or Avatar and ready for solid survival movie under light sci-fi curry - enjoy together with you kid.

Bottom line: Not the best Shyamalan's movie, but well on par with the rest of his gems.

Finally, after a long while I've got everything I love about horror movies - scares, tension, twists and solid drama underneath. Accept this, you rarely get all of these in one title. And I've seen them all - from Blair Witch to Grave Encounters, as well as European and Australian efforts. It's not a found-footage by the way, as such, it's just a footage. The most I loved about Emergo is that the genre was finally taken very seriously, backed up with absence of overacting, two interesting dramatic twists, and solid mystery behind with the finale completely delivering on evilness scale. Two major points - I believed all the experiments they were running and by the end of the night I've caught my scares. Gosh, I was missing this feeling of goose-bumping on every noise for a long time. I would compare the title with "Exorcist", "Absentia", "Los sin nombre". So disregard the IMDb score, it's highly recommended for horror lovers.

To make a long story short: it's not scary, and is poor in every aspect - script, camera, directing, acting.. Moreover it tries (poorly again) to be a grotesque in a way of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. So Simon says: "Do not watch this movie".

Good news is that it has got a spark of creativity, i.e. some of the scenes/effects were way beyond my expectation like one with a dog, and with flying blonde. Brutal, cold blooded, blunt, not too detailed - right to what it should be.

Well, simply avoid this Simon unless you are a horror fan with some exploratory streak.

There is only one reason to see this movie, and this is Jim Carrey doing some serious playing or, say, rather playing for serious.

I was intrigued by local reviews telling this so I decided to check out myself. Well, in fact I'm really impressed by the palette and the depth of what he can portray as an actor. Thank almighties, Ace Ventura is dead. Jim is very convincing in this new emploi so I'd bet he'll become popular for dramatic roles from now on.

As for the rest of The 23.. It was OK. No revelations, but certainly not a disaster. Watchable. It could have been way more interesting if they've tuned it up to Lynch's wave.

I wish there were separate votes for performance/script/camera/etc. This would produce 6.5 instead of plain 6 I gave.

It could have been an independent Babel unless it was so naively girly. Men are bad - they're maniacs, sex-obsessed, cheating, careless. Girls here are good - they're strong, they suffer, they're victims, but still they forgiving, and so on. Sonds pretty like Almodovar, but don't be confused, this Dead Girl has no sense of humor and self-irony.

Anyway, apart from this "girls' power!" theme and multiple clichés the movie deliver some top-notch performances, as well as some brave ideas like one of "tie me up" in the first novel.

If you're convinced that all males are evil by default, then it's yours, otherwise it may bore you as it delivers nothing new or special.

If you've skimmed other reviews I must say then, that it has nothing to do with Hostel. At all. It's not Tarantino's style either, no brilliant lengthy dialogs here. It's a pure exercise in film noir style, and this exercise is about tension. One thing I may agree is that it is somewhat close to Hitchcock's style with creating tension in the minds of viewers, not on the screen. And sure it bears the marks of both Georgian and French cinematography schools as well.

The concept is as simple as a group of men playing Russian roulette. This is it, no gore (amendment of color stripped the remainders of it) or sadism (no coercion) mentioned here. The idea lays in between the rounds (or bullets) of the game. In something, what other film-makers skip. What players feel, how does it feel to be there. No morals drawn, no lessons or points - it's film noir. Just photography and, of course, your feelings about what you see. I've heard my heartbeats between shots, so if you up to this exercise, you may probably hear yours.

Three cops from anti-sorcery department one day find that one of them (Itty) went too far with black magic. Having escaped from high-security prison Itty now looks for revenge being confronted by young police officer (Santi). Will occult powers bring any luck to those with good and bad intentions?

What pleased me most about this movie is that creators relied more on imagery, rather than dialogs, surprising me with how little has been spoken having told so lot.

As for the imagery itself it was full of style and sometimes stunning (in a way of Re-Cycle and Eye), being well infused with cultural motives (ceremonies, temple sequences) and genuine nuances (lunch scenes, hierarchical relations).

I always praise the sense of proportion and Necromancer didn't disappoint me. No excessive gore, and effects were used right to the necessary. In fact, in this aspect it was quite an opposite to the Arts of Devil already mentioned here.

In contrary to what have been written here the story wasn't confusing or demanding a deep Asian background, it was even not without some dramatic value (how far one can get with good intentions), and a good thought-provoking twist. Again nothing in common with the Arts of Devil, which was nothing more to me but an exotic Hostel-like slasher.

Acting and obviously directing were strong, nothing to complain. Even soundtrack was pleasing all the way with a relevant new-age-like background.

Making a decent horror movie about black magic is tricky by definition so I was eager to see the final stand. Surprisingly, although not without some minor reservations Necromancer passed even this test having delivered quite an impressive battle scene and not so easy to guess finale.

So, although Necromancer doesn't offer anything new in horror-making and doesn't scare much it nevertheless delivers as a high-quality exotic thriller with some stunning imagery and involving story. It's well worth seeing.

For me the movie went down the drain pretty fast after and due to the lack of scriptwriting talents few obviously infected convicts were forced to the canteen, so the hell surely broke loose. Nevertheless the idea of zombie epidemic in a high-security prison was still interesting to follow.

Apart from the script, the camera, most of the acting and especially sound work were killing the concept frame by frame. Ten repetitions of guts being pulled out of the bodies... Constant green toning of the picture, why?.. Gunshots poorly synchronized with video.. I don't know what was making me follow - I guess it was the concept itself again.

But somewhere in middle of this bad taste pride parade I was brought back to life by one totally brilliant scene. It was a shotgun slaughter with classic piano concert in the back (something from Tchaikovsky's "Seasons", I guess). It was so perfect match of time, picture and sound, although this trick is not a novelty (check e.g. The Silence of the Lambs). So while making your mind please take into account that I added one extra star for Thaikovsky.

The first one third of the movie was just to build up something. The second third consisted of purposeless hanging around seasoned with naturalistic vet scenes. The ending third was filled with, say, fight scenes, puzzling you on what they were actually doing and what they were doing it for. This was it.

Some points made me really wonder. I've never seen a movie, where people went on fighting creatures without even a kitchen knife in their hands. Never seen people deciding to fight without even a trace of escape planning. Finally, I've never seen a movie with such space disproportions. Small barns suddenly turned to be enormous from inside. Two heroes in the same barn staying still and calling each other by shouting suddenly appear to be barely two meters apart.

Generally I liked the actors, although there was nothing to perform except some harsh vet duties. Generally I liked sets as well. Hanging chains, pumps, huge desolated barns were atmospheric by themselves, although poorly used to develop on the mood of the movie. The only sets elements used properly were mud and cows.

There is nothing in this movie - nothing fresh, no emotions, no scares. Even the process of watching itself doesn't deliver anything except wonders on how poor the directing can go given with a good crew, actors and sets. Save your time for something else.

Having read local reviews on the Phone, I didn't expect much. An excessive use of phones in Asian horror-making made me believe this one to be another derivative of Ringu's and Co. To my utter surprise this hidden gem was not about phones and rotten babes, but what any horror movie should be in the first place - the solid drama.

The second trick the Phone played on me was cheating my guessing. The first 1/5th of it seemed to follow the Ring or Missed Calls canvas, the second part looked to me like borrowed from, say, Ju-on, but closer to the climax it appeared to be pretty close to pretty alike to the Stir of Echoes with a stronger and deeper dramatic background.

My other surprise was about that weird kid, better say her ability to instantly change from innocent child from a postcard to some really scary demon without any make-up of FX. I've never seen a kid scarier than that, her look will haunt me for long. Special thanks for putting wit and explicit lines in her part. Another convincing performance was delivered by an actress playing Ho Jung (sorry for my Korean if.. ), again rather her upside down change in portraying a character.

Final and very special thanks are for minimalistic approach. The Phone is built on nuances rather than on quantities. Just can't help falling in love with Korean horror-making.

The only warning is that it's quite slow in development, although this slow pace is building to it's charm. So be patient. Probably one may call it secondary, but it's worth remembering here, that using same ingredients not necessarily leads to the same result.

My final verdict will be minimalistic too - a definite must-see for horror gourmands

Made of clichés and borrowings from the best pieces of modern American and French action/thriller movie-making, EDL, nevertheless, does the job. It's a solid action experience with mood, political edge and stylish imagery.

What really spoils it is that it doesn't offer anything new, so if you've seen Leon, 5th element, Crimson rivers, Wasabi, and/or Vidocq you may skip this one having lost almost nothing.

I only hope that some sunny day French directors will stop reproducing old tricks, creatively mimicking Hollywood, and find their own path again. No doubt, they can do much better than this.

Oh, yes, EH's language is safe for kids. No f-, d-, b-, s-words at all. General ideas of taking care about parents, and believing in yourself are OK. Yes, Finding Nemo or Bug's life were about the same points, but that's the only thing, which they have in common.

Animation is visually plain and poor in design, nothing to compare with Pixar's production. The most disappointing thing about EH was animation of stunts. When animators didn't have a clue how to solve a stunt they just added supernatural abilities to realistic heroes. Stretching limbs, twisting spine, etc. Dialogs and lines were at level of that garbage animation on Nickelodeon, times inferior to Pixar's scripts.

There is one thing I found weird about the Hero as a parent. 7 year old 3D-boy easily jumps between moving trains, dangles at 20-meter height, runs from home, talks to homeless people, and this is served as right things to do, no doubts or warnings. As my 6 y.o. son likes to repeat after heroes I'm not sure it's perfectly safe to show him this flick. No, I'm not a cuckoo parent obsessed with safety. While watching Incredibles or Harry Potter he knew that they were supernatural, so he didn't want to repeat after them. But together with EH's finale message of "despite of you're small, you can do everything" I'm not that sure.

And the last point - it's absolutely not enjoyable for adults, so calling it a family movie is a big exaggeration.

Short self-applied questionnaire to start with. Is it really necessary for B-rate thrillers to make all ends meet? Not likely, I guess, it's rather about atmosphere. Do we only like horrors for being them profound? If yes, "thanks for participation" and see ya. Of course, no. What for are you watching such movies? To be thrilled, so I'm checking answer "Emotions" (for "Knowledge" I rather read books).

Let's roll with the Rest Stop. What does it offer?

Serial killer, who doesn't show much and doesn't say a word. Wow, irrational evil always gives me additional creeps. - Yes, I'm buying it.

Playing cat and mouse games with victims giving them false hopes? Sounds well, if it's a serial killer of such type he should like the process rather than the result. Oh, yes, put this in my basket too.

Atmosphere of inevitability? Yes, fine. Where the hell is cashier...

What didn't work? Idea with ghosts in fact was nice, puzzling, but generally pointless. Fun with a family in the van was also nice, but misplaced as well, although it didn't spoil anything.

Camera - very decent, soundtrack - fine. Gore? It's not gore-centric. Acting was questionable, but quite enough to run the movie. The only thing I can't forgive is that pathetic scene with family photo - too long, too fake.

To sum up - not top-rank solid thriller definitely worth it's run time, and delivering right to it's promise. Deserving extra marks for the sense of proportion and some good ideas inside.

For those who estimate movies on GREAT!! / AWFUL!! scale it's rather AWFUL!!, means skip it.

It's not a big deal being cynical nowadays. There are plenty of funny stuff on TV, and as for gore... you know better. The trick is in making it work all at once. The Feast does.

It starts ripping off cynically and witty all horror clichés in the first 10 minutes so it leaves you guessing on what happens during next 1 hour given that everything you could imagine had already happened. Most of the flicks would deflate at this point, but the Feast will ride till the last frame and even some more.

Didn't see for a long a movie so rich in ideas that it didn't need much any plot, meeting ends, and stuff. So don't even bother with getting a clue where did those monsters come from, just relax.

If written above hurts your aesthetically please kindly stop reading here and avoid The Feast. Thanks in advance.

Surprisingly, apart from showing blonde's way of loading gun, there was also some psychology in theatrical meaning, even some satire on corporate management. Well, together with some genital level humor, although thanks it didn't concentrate on it.

To complain, the only thing they didn't find a place was horror. It's not scary, only spooky at times. Man, if after doing all the above they could also build up a serious tension and scare, they would have get a bunch of Oscars instantly. As a matter of fact they didn't.

Hint: If you like this one (given that you're still reading I'm pretty sure you will) check also the Severance, an English cocktail of scares and wit.

In fact I loved the first half. Modern editing, good eye, slow pace, some humor, good soundtrack selection, as well as good color processing. Sweet and cleverly employed references to 80s horror flicks. So, there was a style.

Then suddenly they lost it, when buckets (literally), fountains of artificial blood and bloody porridge came to scene. To be honest, I wouldn't call this a gore fest either - there were only two buckets poured, somewhat three fountains and one bloody porridge. Hell, who let the youngsters into the kitchen? Check, please, I'm leaving.

If you're a gore fan - go for it, but don't complain then about slow pace and longish shootings on landscapes and buildings. If you're looking for some genre inventions or surprises - miss it, there're hardly any. It's not spooky either.

I would only recommend to genre lovers of high tolerance, who can stand the absence of plot and unnecessary gore for the sake of style. Camera is worthy most of the time, sounding is nice sometimes as well. Views of abandoned jail are very moody.

BOne of the best Korean horror? ... Are you kidding? Let's disassemble this train.

Acting was so poor and naive, like one in a B-class 60-s, say, Chinese communist comedy about countryside life.

Camera panning was weird and again naive... Looked like the only editor they could afford had taken a lifetime vacation so they just cut the film with kitchen scissors without any idea of transitions.

Sound is fine... if only one can live with a full-silent background in cabin of a high-speed train on the move.

Naivety of the script was shining bright in the climax full of pathetic (around 15-minutes) dialogs sort of "Oh, daughter, forgive me" "Oh, father, we will stay together forever". Oh, man, it was so damn romantic.

The other thing I liked about this train except decorations and the only somehow impressive scene with a girl out of the pool of blood were weak exploitations of claustrophobic fears with shots in dark tunnel, classic trick with lights turning off one by one and so on.

I would rate this as a B-class Asian horror, nothing in common with higher-class Ju-on, Ringu and more representative genre specimens from Korea like A Tale of Two Sisters or Doll Master.

Most people complain of pointless story and little development on heroes, who appear and disappear in numbers. I agree, but this reminds me that "screen-saver" with white dots, and I'm quite sure this resemblance is not coincidental.

The second surprise I want to praise Kairo for is that imperceptible turn from shallow rings-class horror to apocalyptic setting.

I also agree that the editing is pretty weird, but there was one scene worth forgiving those awkward transitions. Remember one ghost scene, when all background noise was suddenly cut off and those "help me" words became very clear and spooky. Fresh, simple and creative.

The last thing I would like to praise Kairo for was depicting loneliness and depression by the means of showing gray concrete buildings. Although not fresh (check original Dark waters), this idea still works better for me than creating depressive mood by employing rain, which I'm personally quite tired of.

I ended watching Hard Candy with a sad disgust of being cheated and forced. It tried to imply too many tricks at once, and failed in each of them due to numerous exaggerations.

Sentencing of pedophilia? No, you end sympathizing to the Wolf. Sure it was the big idea, nothing special though. Hyper-intellectual 14-old victim wins the mind game? I see at least two exaggerations here so I'd rather believe in teletubbies. OK, I can still accept even this for the sake of the art. Sick girl obsessed with punishment leads pedophile to deathbed repentance? Again it's something self-excluding here. Controversy of good intentioned evil eating evil? Man, isn't this too much? Finally, 32-old cynical guy is so pathetic to do what he did in the name of a big love? Sorry, I'm fed up.

Girl's acting is false although the initial idea of playing naive yet overly intellectual lolita was quite promising. Camera and editing were both very impressive. Well, at least the eye candies for 2 hours of torturing my patience. Finally, it provokes thinking, which is good whatever you may think out of it.

Worth watching to make your own mind, but do not expect a surprise of your life. Better watch again American Beauty or Magnolia.