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Reviews
Ink (2009)
I was just looking to be entertained...
...and I was. The recognizable elements of dialogue from other films was never anything that pushed it into the realm of being a rip of those other movies. Sadly this is something I pick up on in other flicks all the time. The special effects, although somewhat limited, were very well used and done. The effect of the goodies pooping into our reality was excellently thought up and I really did enjoy the industrial Devo- esquire baddies chosen look. The creepy nerd in school meets black clad medical examiner is a disturbing image. The story did work for me as did the fight choreography but the two oddballs I could have done without and you'll recognize them as out of place here too I suspect upon viewing. It almost looks like the film was shot then these two scenes done at a later date. The conclusion to the whole shebang was both expected and accepted.
Bottom line is if you need your sci-fi wearing more digital makeup than it takes to make Hugh Hefner look truly alive, this is not the film for you. Anyone else should get a kick out of "ink". Its well worth a look-see.
Låt den rätte komma in (2008)
Beyond anything I had even hoped for.
A coming of age love story tucked into a horror movie staying both true to the innocence of the awkward boy finding his first love and the centuries old vampire having once more found the girl she started off as. That's about all I'll spill as it would be a grave injustice to spoil a single moment of this film. Oddly I started off wishing for an English version and ended up thanking my lucky stars for what I now think is the finest subtitled movie I have ever had the absolute pleasure of watching, reading and thoroughly enjoying. This is the maturest rendition of vampire lore yet which I don't doubt for a second could only have been accomplished outside of Hollywood.
Any remaking of this will not be able to help being an insult to this truly wonderful film. There is a flow to this picture rarely ever realized by modern cinema and that should be appreciated as it stands.
Note: Having now seen the Americanized version, I appreciated this original that much more. In most horror films I see the need for gore as an admission of failure. The fountains of CGI blood and Golem like leaping about fails to chill at all when compared to a single framed apathetic look from the centuries old child, Lina Leandersson, just going through the motions of existing.
Quarantine (2008)
Gives new meaning to the term "too stupid to live".
The first 15 minutes worked then the "horror" part kicks in and by the end of the flick you're thinking the afflicted were doing a public service. I'm guessing the writer saw Rabid as a youth then years later 12 Monkeys and 28 Days Later. Sadly, all of those movies were vastly superior and yes I'm including Rabid. By the end of the movie I was thinking, "I've never seen a movie entirely populated by the expendable imbecile character who sticks his/her head into the air duct to see what's making the strange noises after having already lost half the cast... well at least that's a novel concept!"
The premise was way out there but could have worked. The camera work was a little too much trying to out-handycam "Cloverfield" but at least that partially hides the idiotic way our "heroes" handle their situation. The ending had me oddly thinking of sending the premise to Myth Busters.
Nobody (2007)
Half of a very good film.
Cast is excellent as is the way it was shot. Very well put together for the first half then it just for lack of a better word loops. There's no progress to make up what should be the second half of the movie and maybe that's its attempt at karmic balance. If anything in the storyline had actually evolved from the earlier repetitions we'd have ourselves a whole movie and a very good one. As it is the enthusiastic beginning just barely escapes being canceled out by the artsy fartsy ending.
This film is worth watching if only because there's a terrific half done film which was better executed than a lot actually possessing an ending. Worth a look if you are a film junkie like myself but dabblers will be holding this one against you so make sure their viewing was voluntary.
Gabriel (2007)
Well worth the time.
Caught it on DVD and didn't regret a minute. Infinitely better than watching the idiot box praying for something remotely entertaining to cross your path and all made for the cost of a high end commercial... amazing! Sure its a mishmash of genre favorites old and older yet but still it has enough interesting characters, atmosphere and flow of its own to carry itself the distance. There are a lot of big name DVD titles in my collection that I have yet to drag myself to the end of in spite of my artsy-fartsy friends "explaining" how to appreciate them. This is absolutely not one of those flicks! I dropped my hard earned coin to get my hands on it and consider that well spent.
Shane Abbess' work here and that of his actors really does shame a lot of other 2008 DVD releases which I unfortunately purchased too.