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4/20 Massacre (2018)
Grab a bong, snacks, and enjoy 420 Massacre
I had a lot of fun watching 420. The film opens with a couple stoners in search of hidden weed fields to steal the product for themselves. After attacked by a killer/creature one of the stoners is killed and the film's tone is set that those protecting the fields will brutally take out anyone near their crops. In reality, guerilla growers are in a number of states including the mountains of California and it's not uncommon to hear about killings by growers protecting their crops, so is 4/20 Massacre farfetched, not necessarily.
We then meet the five girls as they are heading out on a camping trip for some fun, bonding, and potentially elevating relationships to the next level, or hearts may be broken. Each girl is unique and the audience gets to know them very well, including Rachel's (Justine Wachsberger) passion and knowledge of marijuana. They're all fun and laid back which makes them likeable and enjoyable to watch.
As they hike to the campsite they run into Ranger Rick (Jim Storm) who is funny, creepy, and you have to appreciate how he makes the girls give him a beer before he delivers his warning and "or else," speech. Now that the girls know to avoid any field, they go on their not so merry way to the campsite getting lost and the hike taking forever raises the tension amongst some of them.
The surviving reefer robber from the opening scene crosses paths with the girls. He's so freaked out and traumatized that he gives all the weed he stole to the girls and disappears into the forest. They're not done with run-ins as they bump into a hunter that refuses to stop shooting and an argument escalates. Once he's given some of the stolen weed, and told by Rachel to "puff puff and not bang bang," everyone is happy again.
When the girls finally reach the campsite it's set up camp and have fun. They party hard, but Jess (Jamie Bernadette) is a bit more responsible and knows when to quit. Now heavily baked, they want to check out some old spots they remember when camping there as kids and they head into different directions, except for Rachel who's enjoying her alone time with her bong.
The girls are paired up and this is when we learn more about them and some intentions. As we learn more about each girl, the killer has now found their camp and starts attacking. The girls and a couple others are taken out one by one. There's a twist at the climax which explains quite of bit and in retrospect sounds very logical for the killers actions, but regardless it's still wrong to go around beheading people.
4/20 Massacre is a must see as it has a classic late 70's early 80's horror vibe and that's not only because of the portable radio and cassette player the girls bring with them camping. The film has a lot of funny one liners, some classic ones that I thought I only still used like, let's blow this popsicle stand. There's quality kills and even though it's grotesque, you just have to laugh at the victim trying to put things back together, so to speak. All the actors do an excellent job and Jamie Bernadette once again is a pleasure to watch and provides some kick ass fight scenes. Lastly, good ole Rachel will share some 4/20 facts and history behind why 4/20 is a marijuana holiday. Including the tradition of once the time is 4:20 on 4/20 you must pass the bong and everyone get as many hits as possible in one minute.
What Other Couples Do (2013)
My wife and I loved it and could relate to the couples
Personally I truly enjoyed the movie, as each couple reminded of friends. The four couples are at a different point in their lives: one couple is childless, one has been married a while and has two young children, one of the couples is trying to get pregnant, and another has a young son and is going through a divorce.
The movie touches on many different topics that couples talk about in real life, including sex. When the men and women hang out away from each other, the conversations get more interesting, especially when each camp talks about their spouses. Things are disclosed that may have the audience scratching their heads, wondering if that's what's going on in their own relationship. Like, when the women tell their girlfriend her husband is amazing, she says she would never reveal that to him, because she's afraid it'd give him too much power! And when the women talk about their sex lives, you sigh in relief, knowing it's not just you experiencing what they describe. Fun is poked at both genders and everyone in the group even rips on themselves a bit, making the characters genuine and fun to watch.
They all decided to spend the night, which means they can drink more. To make it even more interesting, Michelle suggests they play Seven Minutes in Heaven, in which each person draws a name and gets to spend seven minutes in a closet with that person, kissing or doing whatever they want. A few are reluctant, but eventually they end up going along with it, since everyone else is. To insure no one discusses the game afterward, they all sign an agreement. When they start to play, it's a bit nerve-wracking for them, wondering who they will be matched up with and what will happen in the closet. While in the closet, some talk, some get right to the making out, and some find it comfortable and safe enough to disclose personal details about their relationships.
Overall, the movie is quite entertaining due to the excellent acting, intriguing story, and the interesting and comical dialogue, which includes lines like, "Rich people have problems, too. They have to worry about guests ejaculating on their wallpaper." If you're married, engaged, divorced you definitely will enjoy this movie!
Something Sinister (2014)
Chilling film worth watching!
Something Sinister went well beyond my expectations and frightened me many more times than I anticipated. The film is reminiscent of a lost 70s horror film. The baby cries, door knobs turning, voices from beyond the grave, figures in the background combined with the tense music will have you on edge. It gets your mind racing and wondering, similar to the films The Changeling and Burnt Offerings. Christopher Dye wrote and directed a film that did an excellent job at raising your curiosity and heart rate. Another quality of the film is that many things transpiring and going through Amelia's head were explained to us visually, so there was no overkill of dialogue telling us what's going on.
When the film opens we meet Amelia (Rachel Appelbaum) and Rachel does an astounding job. She plays such a sweet girl, that's scared, a bit crazy, and even suicidal, but through all those behaviors she's still lovable. Then you have her not so lovable Aunt Helen (Maria Olsen) and right off the bat we know that Helen is one mean controlling woman! Maria's character is a combination of Cinderella's stepmother and the mother in Carrie. What impressed me with her character is she's so threatening with her cold looks and expressions in lieu of screaming at Amelia.
Besides being scary Aunt Helen doesn't look good when she locks Amelia in the closet or ties her up to a tree, and she when she
well that's enough spoilers the rest you can watch for yourself. Check it out Something Sinister when it's released. From start to finish you'll be engrossed with Amelia's eerie life and enjoy a frightening time with her.
Avengers Grimm (2015)
My new personal favorite princess action movie!
Avengers Grimmis one of the best action princess movie of the year. It begins during a fierce war happening between good and evil in the kingdom. The evil Rumpelstiltskin needs an unwilling Snow White to open up a portal leading to the real world. His plan is to use his powers in the real world to take it over. Snow White has no option due to his threats and she opens the portal. When she tries to stop Rumpelstiltskin, he drags her with him through the portal. Wolf and Red who have their own personal battle going on also go through the portal. Once the other princesses, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, find out what happened they have to go find Snow White and kill Rumpelstiltskin in order to end the war and stop his plan for world domination.
In the first ten minutes of the film the entire story is set up very well and all the characters that are critical to the story are introduced. The visual effects, acting, conflict, and watching the princesses kick some serious ass, will have your engaged in the film and all the way till the last second. The cinematography stands out above the rest and Jeremy had nothing but praise for his Cinematographer John Defazio. Jeremy shared that when he demanded specific shots that John always accomplished it and numerous times improved the shot.
Regarding the cast, Jeremy was very fortunate to work with the exquisite princesses that made up Team Unicorn, Rileah Vanderbilt (Rapunzel), MilynnSarley (Cinderella), Lauren Parkinson (Snow White), Marah Fairclough (Sleeping Beauty), Elizabeth Peterson (Red)and Casper Van Dien did an outstanding job as Rumpelstiltskin. They all brought a more exciting fairytale character to life and personally I'd say much better than the ones we knew when growing up. An additional character that significantly increases the entertainment value is Iron John that was played the one and only Lou Ferrigno. Who at one point revisits his Hulk days and wears body paint.
When Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty find Snow White in the real world, Snow White has already adapted to modern life and styles. Snow White has to get the princesses accustomed to the current times so they blend in.Meanwhile, Rumpelstiltskin's plan of taking over the world is in full swing and he already has the police force under his control.
The movie does an excellent job at maintaining and increasing the conflict. There are well placed roadblocks in the story as Rumpelstiltskin consistently ramps things up and conjures up bigger and more dangerous creatures to stop the princesses. That results in thrilling battles that the princesses endure. When they get within striking distance to take out Rumpelstiltskin, the action intensifies and there are well-choreographed fight scenes that alone make the film worth watching.
All the fights scenes took a lot of time and careful preparation. Jeremy shared that during preproduction, him and stunt choreographer Daniel Hernandez had discussions about how each character fights including stance, style and attitude. Then Daniel along with his team built a lot of depth into the action during the filming. Daniel and them are a highly regarded stunt coordinating team and have worked on numerous films,one recently being John Wick which stars Keanu Reeves. During the climatic fights Daniel brought in stunt woman Heidi Moneymaker (who doubled for Scarlet Johansson in The Avengers) and Heidi's expertise resulted in some incredible fight scenes.
Throughout all the fights, action, drama, and fun scenes, the emotions are enhanced by the score which was composed by Chris Ridenhour. Jeremy commented that Chris nailed the tone through every moment, which kept the movie moving along at a brisk pace.
Just as the movie began during wartime in the kingdom, now there is a war on the streets in the real world. To stop Rumpelstiltskin, each princess has to take on their own battle and if any of them fail, Rumpelstiltskin will dominate both worlds. Defeating him will include personal sacrifices.
The movie flies by because from start to finish the princesses, evil creatures, thugs, and power hungry Rumpelstiltskin will keep you engaged and highly entertained.With so much going on, Avengers Grimm can be re-watched multiple times and you may catch details you missed the first time around. The only possibility to make the fans happier would be a sequel.
review by bmovienation
What They Say (2011)
What Can I Say? Great film!
Yes I voted 10 of 10 because occasionally a film comes along that is evident the story derived and evolved from something deep inside the filmmakers heart and mind. The amount of passion and hard work poured into it makes for an awarding winning film. What They Say won about a half dozen awards at horror film fests including Best Director, Best Editing and Best Actress. Heather Dorff who won the best actress award also wrote the film. When she wrote the story it was during a dark time of her life, so it was only fitting for her to play the main role as she already was submerged into the character and what is going through the characters mind. Heather's role (casted as "Unnamed") is dark, sad, and even brutal, but the scariest part is that in reality there are elements of her character that are deep inside each and every one of us, whether you admit it or not.
Her sensual relief comes from cutting herself with a razor, but she also gets the pleasure of when her inner demons visualize slicing up the people around her with a straight razor. Those scenes are gruesome and creative making it obvious why this film won multiple awards
The Family (2011)
I grew to love this family!
I read about The Family on horror sites and checked out the trailer. It grabbed me so I had to order the DVD. After researching the film, I saw there was an overseas version that was released earlier and was mostly a rough cut, a bad one from what it sounds like. The newer USA version apparently is much more complete with more footage and must be significantly better, because I truly enjoyed this version.
What I liked about it was the characters, directing, story and editing grab you from the start. The acting is just psychotic enough to make them truly appear crazy without over acting. Each character brought something special to the film. Here's just a few that stood out. The way they acted as brothers, Mark Hanson and Joe Hollow must be brothers in real life separated at birth. Devanny Pinn, what a whacko role, yet strangely sexy, bravo Devanny! Angie Savage did an excellent job in her role and was the extra eye candy. The entire cast fed off each other and they must have had fun making this film! Some horror films draw out the kills for that extra drama, but "The family" skips the drama and gets right to it. Though, there was one dramatic scene. Jonathon (Joe Hollow) shares his troubles with Carmen (Angie Savage). Both Joe and Angie were convincing and Angie showed the right amount of affection to appear genuinely concerned. That scene ended up being a critical moment, because from that point on the family members become likable and you root them on.
There were some quality kills with gruesome effects, but some scenes are set up for the audience to use their own imagination. Tactically, the film shows you up to the last millisecond before a horrific torture or kill, which can be more chilling when your mind visualizes. If I see anyone using a curling iron, I'm screaming bloody murder and throwing the thing out the window! There are quite a few artistic scenes too. One being two girls basically giving a guy a lapdance while he's tied up, then he's cut, then he's jerked off (and literally "OFF"), then smashed, aaaaaand CUT. In the film they're making a movie, but it's not done in a found footage style so there's no talking or yelling at the cameraman to turn it off.
The films has twists and turns and there's more than one story going on, which keeps the momentum up and you glued to the screen. Also, if you're a metal head, you'll love the soundtrack, there's heavy metal in the background through a lot of the film.
"The Family" ends leaving it wide open for a sequel and despite their sick minds and killings, they all become likable in a disturbing way, making an ideal situation for a sequel.
I loved this movie!!!
13/13/13 (2013)
Fun Wild Horror Film
Written and directed by James Cullen Bressack who brought us "Hate Crime," "To Jennifer," and "My Pure Joy." Knowing and enjoying James' style, I anticipated a lot of insane moments and he didn't let me down.
"For millennia, calendars have added an extra day every four years. In doing so, they have violated the ancient Mayan calendar. Now, we are in the 13th month of the 13th year of the new millennium, and the few who survive will battle a world of demons." The demons basically have infected almost everyone and turned them into crazies. The infected are insane killing machines, but they're alive and not zombies.
The sky was the limit for James to go ballistic and he sure did. Horror movies like this are typically slash em up, but James added some fun characters to make the movie even more enjoyable and you may even snicker during some disturbing scenes.
It begins with us meeting the guys on a camping trip. When Jack (Trae Ireland) returns from the trip everything appears normal
..sort of. His twelve year old daughter Kendra (Tiffany Martinez) smashes a spider in her hands and eats it. His wife Marcy (Calico Cooper) is compulsively scratching all the skin off her arm. Jack takes her the hospital and experiences the doctors acting all hard ass dropping F bombs left and right on him. Meanwhile back home, his daughter is in a heated and distressing argument with Jack's friend Trevor (Bill Voorhees). Spoiler, Kendra wins.
It's pretty whacky and disturbing in many ways and I have to admit funny at points. Simple things, for example, Quentin (Jody Barton) and Joe (J. Scott) are sitting on the couch drinking beer and you can hear crunching of Trevor's head being smashed on the concrete outside by Kendra, all while Quentin and Joe zone out watching TV. In one scene Quentin stabs Joe and they laugh as if they smoked a pound of marijuana, and then laugh even harder when they smear his blood on the wall. Quentin and Joe definitely are the Beavis and Butthead of psycho killers.
Jack and Candace (Erin Coker) are the only sane people and meet in the hospital while the world around them is full of crazies. They team up to escape the hospital and get to Jack's house to save his daughter. Yeah, the daughter who eats spiders and smashed a guy's head on the concrete.
The film maintains the insanity throughout as Jack and Candace struggle to make it to 13/14/13. What would be more dangerous than "13/13/13"? James Cullen Bressack and Jared Cohn teaming up to write "14/14/14" On the DVD be sure to check out the bonus features which includes a "Making Of" and "Gag Reel."