Honorable Mention
Try to imagine taking everything awesome from Aliens, except the Aliens and cross it with some rather nasty ghosts you get the sci fi epic Spectral. This movie came out of nowhere and grabbed me and didn't let go. Its been a long time since I have watched a movie back to back. Every part of this was awesome.
The story takes places in a generic eastern war torn country. Some soldiers in a special operations group have been noticing weird visuals in their new thermal goggles. And when these visuals start attacking the soldiers and killing them, they call in Clyde played by James Badge Dale, who invented most of the new tech these soldiers are testing. So he comes and gets embedded with the soldiers to hopefully find out what these things are. Shortly into their first mission to find a missing squad, things go sideways fast. More of these things show up and pretty much make short work of military. The visuals are amazing and the props are over the top. Clayne Crawford of The Bay Town Outlaws plays Sgt. Toll. Pretty much the Hicks of our story. Bruce Greenwood plays the commander who wants to pull his troops back, but realizes too late that's not a option. Over all this is not Aliens but you can tell the filmmakers definitely had it in mind when they wrote and filmed Spectral. It's showing exclusively on Netflix.
#10
When the most socially awkward girl in town apparently hooks up with the hottest guy at the bar, on the eve of forth of July; you normally get the beginning of a great romantic comedy. But here you get that very thing wrapped in a zombie apocalypse. What else could ask for?
When Deb wakes ups up in Ryan's bed she has no idea of how she got there and quickly finds out that he doesn't either. Things go from a walk of shame to full on bad day when they realize they have woken up to a full on zombie outbreak. Now this is defiantly a horror comedy, but I absolutely love this movie. And Maria Thayer who plays Deb is probably going to be one of my favorite actress. Ray Wise, of Reaper fame, plays Ryan's father and also the owner of the big company in town that just might have something to do with the dead returning. Night of the Living Deb is filled with gore, over the top humor and witty one-liners. Please take time to check out this gem of a film.
#09
Ok, I have to admit that even though I have heard of the Japanese suicide Forrest and it did intrigue me, I never really gave much of a thought of a move about it. Now I see the poster and yes it caught my eye. I'm a visual kinda guy sometimes.
Our story starts with Sara hearing of her twin sisters death, Jess. She was teaching in Japan, so Sara flies over because they have a twin connection and she just feels that Jess is alive. Once there she is told by the local authorities that her sister walked into the suicide forest and more than likely she has perished. It is very disturbing that these locals just wanted to write this girl off so fast. Sara will not hear of it and finds a guy, as all good looking girls do in movies, and then a guide to take them into The Forest. There is some nice visuals and some really disturbing content in this film, as they search for Jess. As they travel deeper into the forest things progressively get worse and scarier. I have to be honest, the woods have always kinda creeped me out and especially with one actually called the suicide forest. That just makes me want to stay in the urban jungle even more. This movie has a few twists and it kept me on my toes.
#08
True Story, one time I helped my best friends band load in for a gig at a tattoo shop in downtown Greensboro, NC and had to carry everything up a flight of stairs that would rival a Egyptian pyramid. For them to play 30 minutes and then carry it back out. Even saw a hot chick doing a suspension show during the gig. If you have ever done something similar for a friend or are in a band yourself, then this is a must watch. Not for the glory and money that comes with being in a small band, but the dives and sketchy as hell bars you have to play at.
This is the story of a small, punk band just trying to make it from show to show, when they finally land a paying gig. But it just happens to be at a skinhead headquarters. The band winds up seeing something they shouldn't and that's where the story really starts. The cast includes Anton Yelchen, of the new Star Trek films, and Patrick Stewart as one of the most down to earth and scary individuals to ever grace a screen. He's not over the top terrifying, but just the way he plays the character. Like I said anyone who has ever been in a band or around one should check this out. What happens in this doesn't happen all the time when bands play, but it's something to think about.
#07
Sequels, yea that's a good word and sometimes it's a bad word but this time it's a very good word.
The Conjuring 2 follows Ed and Loraine warren after the events of the first movie with the Amityville house. They are called to England by a mother who is at her wits end because of the thing terrorizing her children. Now, this story is based on the Warrens case and this one did get a lot of attention back in 1977. It was referred to as The Enfield Haunting and affected Peggy Hodgson and her children. There is a subplot of a demon that has attached itself to Lorraine on a previous case and she deals with this during her time in London. The movie has some very disturbing visuals and has a damn good story. There were a few jump scares, but to me they were well placed the sound effects were very disturbing. All in all The Conjuring 2 delivers, for what it is, especially a sequel.
#06
Ok let's have a house in the middle of Detroit that is surrounded by derelict homes. Add three house thieves, and a blind resident. Now make the resident an old, ex military blind man who lives all to himself in one of the many abandoned neighborhoods in Detroit.
Our story starts with a small crew of house thieves that use one of the members family, who works for a security firm to gain access to homes. Well, they hear about this old guy that is sitting on a small fortune due to a law suit from his daughters death in a car accident the previous year. They think he's blind, so this should be a breeze and they can finally retire. Well things go wrong from the beginning, when they encounter the old man in the house and see that his blindness has only enchanced his other senses. He must have been into other than normal, everyday military, because he has skills and knowns how to use them. They quickly get trapped in his house and are at his mercy. Oh and did I mention he has a very loyal dog? Don't Breathe is one of those movies that comes along and makes you cheer for the bad guy. Only because the other bad guys are a hundred times worse. There is some other twists that I won't bring up, that are well played and just wrong, but fit this story. This movie should remind you to not underestimate anyone, ever.
#05
This is one of my favorite horror franchises of all time. This goes back to my days in the 80's and trying to explain the creepy posters all over my bedroom walls to my parents. Phantasm is one of those movies that just keeps getting better with new installments and five is no different.
Starting off with one of the most iconic characters to grace the genre, Reggie Bannister comes walking out of the desert carrying the four barrels of doom and dressed in his ice cream truck outfit form the previous movies. And not too far behind him is the tall man, Angus Scrimm comes back one more time to play the villain of this series. Sadly, for the last time, as did fall victim to the year that will be known as 2016. Reggie doesn't waste time as he starts to get visions again of terrible things coming and' of course, in true Reggie fashion he finds a hot girl in the middle of all this craziness. This movie has demons, hell, and The Tall Man, what else could you want in a sequel? Especially a fifth sequel that has been in limbo for awhile.
#04
I went into this, not with the best intention. It came from an internet gimmick, so it had that going against it and to be honest it freaked me out. But my daughter bugged me till I caved and watched it one day. I was generally surprised.
The movie starts off just like the small vine video it came from. A woman in a dark setting turns off a light and in the background we can see the out line a humanoid form. The woman quickly turns the light back on and this thing disappears. Now in the original its in a house, but this is in a warehouse and she quickly tells her boss, who is played by Billy Burke. He goes to investigate and is at the mercy of what I call "the reason I don't like to get up at night and have to pee". Let's move our story a little forward and we are introduced to Rebecca, played by the lovely Teresa Palmer of Warm Bodies and I am Number Four fame. She is the daughter of Billy Burke's character, Paul. She is living alone and it is very apparent that she likes it that way. We are introduced to her little brother Martin, played by Gaberial Bateman, when he seeks out his sister because of the things happening at his house where he lives with his mom, Maria Bello. After the death of the dad, which gets breezed over if you ask me, things start to get very weird and dangerous at home. Rebecca confronts her mom over the safety of the little brother. I have to say this movie really surprised me. Now the boyfriend is played by Alexander DiPersia and is kind of guy that really wants the girl for one thing in one scene and then wants to be the night in shinning in armor. Now the whole movie does revolve around the creature, and it is a really nasty one. Lights Out uses some top notch effects to make this thing come to life. I'm serious that just writing this, I am kinda looking over my shoulder just thinking of the creature. The story is well written and has a very likable cast. To me this story wraps up nice and ends on a good note. No sequel is needed.
#03
What do you get when you have a secluded cove in the middle of Mexico, a beautiful blonde and a killer shark? You get The Shallows. Every once in awhile a movie comes along that reminds us of our natural fears. This all started for me way back in the 70's with the release of the classic Jaws. This not only introduced the public to the dangers of the evil great white shark but made everyone feel like that they were not even safe in a bath tub. Know these days we know that sharks are just animals and are not the evil creatures from below the waves that Hollywood wants us to believe.
The Shallows starts off with Nancy played by Blake Lively on a trip to Mexico to find a cove her mother visited when she was a young girl. She hires a guide to take her and surf board there. After arriving she finds that other surfers are already there. This does not stop Nancy as she hits the waves and try's to enjoy her vacation. Soon she comes across the carcass of dead whale and finds why a great white shark would be anywhere near this picture perfect setting. She is quickly cornered on a reef and the real tension begins. There is a few scenes of the shark interacting with surfers that make anything you have seen in previous shark movies look like a guppy attack. The effects in this movie really surprised me on every level. Blake Lively puts forth a great performance and look super sexy doing it. The tension gets worse as we see she is wounded from her first encounter with the shark is that she winds up completely alone over night on a reef with not much besides a bikini. The bleakness is there and puts you right there with our heroine. This film will remind you we have no business in the ocean, at all. It really gives me the creeps that there is creatures out there like this shark. I know that they are part of nature and needed but it doesn't make me feel any better.
#02
Directed by Rob Zombie this film follows a group of carnival works when they abducted by a group of psychos and forced to fight for this lives in a sadistic game.
Sherri Moon zombie plays Charly, her and the rest of the carnies face some of the most sadistic villains to grace the screen. Zombie once again brings his unique brand of film making to the genre that has become his home. Some of the other actors in this are Jeff Daniel Phillips,Malcolm McDowell, and Lawerence Hilton-Taylor of Welcome Back Kotter fame. New to me is Pancho Moler in the role of Sick-Head, one of the vile characters the carnies face in the game. He is a wonderful actor and I look forward to him in other films. Now Richard Blake plays Doom-Head. The guy that gets called in when stuff goes bad and the bad guys need things fixed. This movie is probably my favorite of Rob Zombies films to date. Love everything about it. From the twisted story to the props and to the down to earth nasty and evil of the whole thing. Please give his a watch, but remember to bring your popcorn.
#01
OK we've had snakes on planes and we have had Keanu on a bus and now we have Zombies on a train. Yes, its true, but this is no run of the mills b-movie jumbling of creatures together just to get a quick buck off the masses. This movie is an over the top action horror movie of, dare I say, epic proportion, yes it is.
Train to Busan starts slow, but quickly gains traction and does not let go. The story follows business man Seok Woo and his daughter Soo An as they are traveling to meat her mom who lives in another town. Seok is your typical business man and is working all the time, so there is some tension between him and Soo an. Now early on we hear that there is trouble brewing somewhere in town but not to sure if its big enough to worry with. Seok decides that he should travel wit his daughter on the train and this is where the story takes off. I'm not to familiar with Asian cinema, so I don't think I have seen any of these actors before, but that did not stop me. Normally I stay away from subtitles but this was just to good. From the first day I saw the trailer I was hooked and the movie is a continuation of the feeling I got from the trailer. Pure cinematic joy. Its amazing that even in a movie from a country I will probably never visit with a language I do not understand I could enjoy so much. Once on the train our travelers meet Sang Hwa and his very pregnant girl friend Sng Gyeoung. There is also a baseball team traveling on board too. Batter up, zombie movies always need bats.
Now all this starts when one teenage girl sneaks on board the train who has been bitten. And the infection is crazy fast. Some of the best zombie movements I have ever seen on screen. Fast, nasty and fracking scary. When the action takes off it sky rockets and dos not stop. There is a group of core characters that we follow through this nightmare on rails. From our father and daughter to the evil business man (every movie needs one) to the young couple of teenagers. A baseball player and a cheerleader. At least I think she was a cheerleader. This movie moves fast but does not lose its story at all. You never stop caring for these people during it. Which to me is remarkable seeing that I did not understand the dialog and I know reading the subtitles is not always a accurate translation. Once the train reaches its first stop, well the only station they come across safe enough to stop at they stop for a breather, but only for a short while. This where they learn that the trouble is more wide spread than they knew. There are a lot of zombie movies out there and I have probably seen most of them, but they are mostly just zombie movies. Movies about the zombies and not much about the people who have to fight for their lives surviving this apocalypse. Now we do have some exceptions to the rule like The walking Dead and Dawn of the Dead just to name a few, but mainly its a constant revolving door of boom, bite, die. Don't get me wrong, I love some carnage just much as the next guy, but sometimes I want a damn good story and believe and lovable characters and Train to Busan delivers. Just as or heroes think they might have a moment t themselves all hell breaks loose. After a narrow escape from the station everyone gets separated in to different compartments and this makes for a even more tense situations. Now there is a power struggle going on between the srvivors with a basic good vs evil as Eui-sung Kim makes his play to rally what few survivors are left to fortify one care and keep all out. Survivors and the dead. One of the most visually pleasing things in this film is the use of practical effects. I am old school and CGI is fine but there is a art to practical effects that computer can't quite grasp yet. Also the stunt work with the zombies is incredible. The jerky movements and the way these performers jumped and ran literally gave me the creeps. Movements like this have not creeped me out like this since The Ring. I don't want give away to much of the story. I will say this, Train to Busan came out of nowhere and hit me like a, well a train and did not let go. There is pain, scares, emotion and great story telling wrapped in one of the best damn zombie movies I have ever seen, and I cant wait to own it. Also I might have to check ot some of the other these actors appear in. I'm not saying that I've been come a fan of Asian cinema but this movie has opened my eyes to that there is movies other than the ones playing in our neck of the woods. I give Train to Busan a solid 10 out of 10 This movie grabbed me by the neck and didn't let go, not once.
No comments:
Post a Comment