Nothing Left to Fear (2013) - Lisa's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

For the most part watching movies of my choice has been a good experience this October, but this one would rank amongst the worst movies I have ever sat through.  Let me make that clear from the start.  There is NOTHING positive to say about this movie.  No redeeming features.  There is nothing to be achieved by watching it.  There you go.  I won't make you suffer even reading this review if the only reason you're reading it is to see if this movie is maybe worth watching.  Let me save you the trouble.  It isn't.

So that cleared up, I suppose I best give you a premise of sorts.  Although can I say, that even though I had absolutely NO idea what was going on until the movie was over, I still had to wiki the movie to get a clear idea of what I just watched.

Pastor Dan, his wife, his 2 beautiful teenage daughters and his young son move from their city life to a small town in Kansas as the pastor is taking a new job there.  We have the usual getting to know the family, seeing the new house, settling in and pleasantries with neighbours.  Quite early on, the elder of the daughters, Rebecca becomes quite enamored by a local boy Noah.  Now this is the ONLY thing of note in the movie.  This boy happens to be Gregory Pecks grandson and his voice is amazing.   So there you go, there is actually something positive to say about the movie!  Who'd have thought!

So Rebecca digs Noah, even though he is VERY wierd.  It becomes very clear to the viewer that there is something f*cked up about this town and its inhabitants  In fact everything is a bit wierd.  Problem is, it never tells us what, so we're looking in all the time wondering what the hell is going on.  We see odd behaviours and we know some people are fundamentally bad and some are just odd and 'in on' whatever it is that's going on.  I'm sorry to appear so vague, but honestly I had no idea what was going on throughout and saying anything more would give away what small piece of storyline there actually is.

Something that did surprise me though is that the effects in the movie are big budget.  They are quite similar to what you'd expect in Japanese horror.  Effects that have passed over to American horrors in the last 5-10 years.  I'm thinking 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' as somewhere I saw similar effects.

So, we plod wearily on and the familys other daughter Mary is suddenly very ill.  This blows out of all proportion overnight and we are thrown from "WTF is going on?" to our final 20 minutes or so and the big reveal of what's been happening.  We end somewhat as we start with the mindless, unexplained cycle repeating itself.

So, there you have it.  Good effects.  Crap movie.  BIG FAT AVOID.

The Crazies (2010) - Will's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Opening with a wrecked town, demolished and burning, we cut to 2 days ago, and see the soon-to-be destroyed Ogden Marsh, as thean idealic, quiet, town it has always been... But something started infecting the residents, making them irrational and violent. The first of these "crazies" is shot by the police after walking onto a baseball pitch, apparently drunk, sporting a shotgun. Before   first shot is even fired, we see that someone is watching the town via satellite.

Week 179 - Nothing Left to Fear (2013) / The Crazies (2010)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Lisa's Pick	Will's Pick
Comments due: 25/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:	Comments due: 25/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Double Pack with 1973 version TRAILER:

Carrie (2013) - Lisa's Review

I chose this movie to watch for Shocktober as it was one I hadn't seen as yet and as it was a remake of a favourite of mine, I thought I'd give it a go.

Growing up, I watched A LOT of horror movies.  My dad was a big Stephen King fan, so we had a lot of VHS copies of his movies.  Before school (secondary school), I would pass half an hour or so watching bits of the movies, until I had been through the collection time and time again.  Being of a certain age, Carrie really resonated with me and still today remains amongst my favourites.  So what of the remake?

I'm not going to talk about a premise, as if you haven't see the 1976 version of Carrie, what the hell are you doing reading a blog dedicated to horror movies?  Instead I'll discuss my feelings about this movie, which I'm afraid means inevitably I'll be comparing it to the original movie.

For the first 20 minutes or so, I was pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail with the scenes and how they replicated the original movie.  Even subtle hand gestures and specific strong sections of dialogue are kept identical.  Something I noticed early on though, was that Chloe Grace Moretz just wasn't going to portray the complex character of Carrie with enough depth.  The sweetness and frightening innocence is lost and replaced by a misfit that's a bit shy.

Let the Right One In - Will's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

ADDENDUM: Due in large part to idiocy, Will reviewed a movie which was already on the TimeOut 100 as his "reviewers Choice" movie. In Penance, He owes you a review of the remake, and this shall stand as his Week 193 review.

This isn't my type of movie at all. Although one of its main characters is a vampire, it has very few horror elements; indeed, it could only be called a Horror Film in the very loosest definition of the sense. Mostly, it's a romance; the leads may be 12 years old, but it's clear early on that their relationship is destined to go beyond friendship, into romantic love. And yet, I was blown away by this film.

If you haven't seen this movie, go and watch it. Although the following review qualifies as spoiler-free, I implore you not to watch it. Don't read the DVD case,  don't read anything, just obtain and watch this movie. I went in blind, knowing only that it's a vampire movie, and I strongly recommend that you do the same.

I have friends who read my reviews, but don't actually like horror movies; if you are one of those people don't be put off; go and watch this movie anyway.

Week 178 - Carrie (2013) / Let the Right One In (2008)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Lisa's Pick	Will's Pick
Comments due: 18/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:	AKA: Låt den Rätte Komma In Comments due: 18/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:

Antisocial (2013) - Lisa's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

This weeks movie is one I hadn't seen as it has been sitting on my shelves for a while sent over from Australia by a friend of the hubbys. A need for a multi-region player meant it has sat there for a few weeks. So is it any good?

Antisocial comes to us from little known director Cody Calahan.  It follows a group of friends who gather together in one of their homes to celebrate New Year.  The movie predominantly follows Sam, who has been dealing with a less than enthusiastic boyfriend.  She seems very subdued and almost aloof as we start the movie, but as it goes on we realise why she seems preoccupied.  We publicly see her boyfriend announce his new status of singledom on a social media site, here called Redroom, but clearly a parody of Facebook.

*** Mild Spoilers ***

Rage (2010) - Will's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

While parking his car, Dennis inadvertently cuts up a biker. It proves to be a far bigger mistake than he could have guessed.
Starting with childish baiting, and working his way up, the baker spends the day stalking and terrorising Dennis from behind his tinted visor, taking a simple disagreement way beyond road rage, and turning it into a terrifying ordeal.

Week 177 - Antisocial (2013) / Rage (2010)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Lisa's Pick	Will's Pick
Comments due: 11/10/2014 More Info: No Wikipedia Entry, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:	Comments due: 11/10/2014 More Info: No Wikipedia Entry, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:

Afflicted - Lisa's Review (2013)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

So, in this break from the lists of movies we review.  The first choice of this month for me is canadian movie 'Afflicted'.  This movie follows friends Derek and Clif (who just so happen to have directed this movie as their directorial debut) as they set off on a venture for their "Ends of the Earth" web travel series.  For this reason most of the movie is done in that ever popular 'Camcorder style'. They set off on the journey against the advice of Dereks doctor.  He is suffering from (wait.... must google) an AVM (cerebral arteriovenous malformation) which could end his life at any moment.  They don't know enough about it to understand what could happen to him and how they will cope with any unexpected developments.

Curfew (1989) - Will's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

2 brothers on death row escape from prison and decide to punish the men they hold responsible for their sentence.
They quickly dispatch the psychiatrist who testified against them, and the judge who passed down the sentence, but for the District attorney, they have bigger plans.
Stephanie, the DAs daughter, gets home just in time to be embroiled in the brothers' violent revenge.

If I'd been aware of this one, I'd I've probably scheduled it as part of our "Beyond Nasty" season of banned or controversial movies; it was banned by the BBFC from release in 1989 until 2002, when it was passed uncut.