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Premise: A seemingly crazed gunman strolls into a crowded diner, and guns down the wife and son of Abe Dale (Nathan Fillion) before saying "I'm so sorry" to Dale and turning the gun on himself. Guilt-ridden, Abe attempts to overdose on painkillers and alcohol, and dies momentarily before being revived in hospital. After his near death experience, Abe finds that he has become a transceiver for paranormal transmissions, and can tell when people are about to die by a mysterious white light. He then attempts to overcome the grief of losing his family by saving others... but soon discovers that saving people is not as simple as it would seem.
I was at the video store, and decided that today was the day... I couldn't resist any longer... and so, giddy with anticipation, I walked over to the TV-on-DVD section, barely able to contain my excitement...
Shock! Horror!
Firefly was nowhere to be found. Confused, angry, I demanded an explanation from the cashier. Alas, someone had beaten me to the proverbial punch, and I wouldn't be able to rent it. Doubly awful, my housemate loves her sci-fi and after seeing Serenity demanded that I watch this series with her... except she left this morning to go home for 3 weeks.
Devastated, I browsed mindlessly through the rest of the videos, my hopes and dreams shattered. Then, out of the corner of my eye... was that my beloved Nathan Fillion I saw? It was! Desperate for a fix of what is fast becoming one of my favourite actors, I rented out The Light. I knew it wouldn't compare to Firefly, but I needed something, anything!
Acting: Nathan Fillion is, as always, a pleasure to watch, and carries the movie. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the gorgeous Katee Sackhoff
(Starbuck, if we have any Battlestar Galactica fans out there?) co-starring as Sherry Clarke, a nurse caring for Dale after his overdose, whom he saves from a murderous abductor. Both put in good performances, and are enjoyable to watch.
Script: The first half is definitely stronger than the second. It was straightforward, if a little predictable. The romance between Fillion and Sackhoff can be seen coming from a mile off, but both are good performers and help convey the story of two people who have loved and lost finding hope within each other. The twist concerning the gunman is also relatively predictable, but I suppose that could just be because I watch far too many movies.
However, after Fillion begins investigating the Gunman's past, the script kind of falls apart. The writers kind of decide that they want to have a semi-plausible explanation for what occurs, but half-way through decide that they've had enough and stop. What we are left with is mess of theology and action. Don't get me wrong, the idea is kind of cool, but if you have a supernatural-based movie, you either explain it or you don't, and half-hearted explanations often overshadow an otherwise good movie. For example... Transformers 2 and that stupid, stupid dream sequence.... Anyway, I'm going to spoil the movie here, so...
Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert!
After investigating the gunman, Fillion discovers that he is in fact still alive. He visits him in hospital to find him driven insane by the ghosts of the dead. Apparently, if you save people, the ghosts of the dead haunt you... and after 3 days, the people you saved get possessed (or something like that) by the devil and commit mass homicide... and that's about as full an explanation as you get. Bit of a lame duck, right? The rest of the movie after that involves Fillion running around trying to stop the people he saved from going all Linda Blair and killing everyone. Other than the half-hearted explanation, the script is ok, and despite my qualms with it, the plot holes and lame explanations are not enough to spoil the movie.
Effects: What you would expect from a medium-to-high budget affair like this. It's a ghost movie, so don't expect any gore... but plenty of flickering lights, TV static, and a few BOO! moments.
Direction: Not great, but not terrible either. We get a few hits of tension, but nothing that will have you clinging to a loved one.
Now, I haven't seen the first White Noise, but from what I have read it's plot has very little to do with this sequel... and I really do respect that. Much like how Aliens departed from Alien, I have great respect for sequels that attempt to cover new ground using the same franchise, as this one does. Yes, it is not a perfect movie, and some parts of it were a little bit offputting/lame... but overall, worth watching, even if it's just to tie you over until you can rent out Firefly
Here I will list all of the movies I have available but have yet to review. Please, if you would like me to review one before the others, feel free to leave a comment and I will probably make it my next (re)viewing.
Also, if you have any movies that you would like to see me review that aren't listed here, just leave a comment and I will do my best to review it as soon as I get the chance.
COMING SOON:
Quarantine
Event 16
The Hive
Seed of Chucky
The Deaths of Ian Stone
My Name Is Bruce
Solstice
Against The Dark
Red Mist
Midnight Movie
The Zombie Diaries
Swamp Devil
Feast 1, 2 & 3
Blackout
The Vanguard
Carnivorous
Larva
Scourge
Dead Noon
Ghouls
Nessie
Mutant Chronicles
Anaconda: Offspring
Nite Tales: The Movie
Alien Raiders
Waterborne
Seeds of Death
The Entrance
Brotherhood of Blood
Dark Floors
Red Sands
King Of The Hill
Dorothy Mills
Trackman
Invasion Of The Pod People
Pulse 2
Alien
Aliens
The Outpost
2001 Maniacs
Severance
Premise: A jaded paranormal investigative author (John Cusack) travels around debunking supposedly haunted locales, despite the fact he has never seen a ghost. That is, until he decides to stay at the notorious room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel, despite the strong protests from the hotel's manager (Samuel L. Jackson).
First up, I am a huge fan of both John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, so my perceptions of this movie may be a little biased. However, I don't think that is the reason I like this movie so much.
Acting: This movie is basically a one man show, centered entirely around John Cusack's character Mike Enslin. Mr Jackson puts in a suitably ominous performance as the hotel's manager, but the focus is firmly on Cusack, who puts in a fine performance.
Script: I've read a few reviews that say this movie is illogical... and to these naysayers, I have this response: You can find flaws in anything if you look hard enough. However, the flaws in this movie's script are not nearly enough to ruin it for me. Another thing I like about the script is that it doesn't even attempt to explain why the room is 'haunted'. Alot of movies fall flat when they venture off into crappy explanations, and I'm glad 1408 isn't one of them.
Direction: the directing from Mikael Håfström is pretty excellent. The movie is a tension-machine, and in several scenes it is so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. As I've mentioned in other reviews, I generally like a good mix of tension and gore in my horrors, but this movie shows that you don't need alot of gore to make a great horror. My housemate watched this one with me, and she reckons she'll have trouble sleeping tonight.
Score: I was surprisingly impressed by the musical accompaniment to 1408. A tension-based movie can sometimes fall flat with a dull and lifeless score, but the music used in this one adds immensely to the tense atmosphere... especially the use of The Carpenters' 'We've Only Just Begun'...
Effects: This one is high-budget, and the effects are pretty top notch. CGI is used, but quite sparingly compared to other high budget films I've seen recently. However, it is effective when it is used, and the more traditional effects are also effectively used.
Overall: I have a growing fondness for tension-based horror, based on excellent movies like this one. I'm even thinking about revoking my gorehound status and becoming a terror-maniac. Who would have guessed?
Hey, is that a pig flying past my window?
Premise: Van Helsing kills Dracula, but while he is doing so another vampire turns his VH's into the undead. In revenge, VH makes a pact with the church: He shall be immortal, until he has killed all of the vampire princes
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First of all: an apology. I have been neglecting my duties as your source of crappy B-grade horror, but I have a fresh batch of (terrible) movies, and as a recent university graduate who has yet to find work, I have a feeling that time to watch them shall not be lacking
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Premise: Santi (Julio Valverde), a boy with an allergy to direct sunlight, and his mother (Mar Sodupe) move to an isolated village, where the geography means less direct sunlight and more freedom. When they get there, Santi realizes that there is someone, or something, lurking in the woods. When it starts murdering people, Santi is accused, and must prove his innocence before either the thing in the woods or the villagers target him
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This is not a review, oh no. This is an order.
If you haven't seen The Hangover, go and watch it. If you've already seen it, go and watch it again
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A: Because they have shown the commercial on tv every second ad for the last few weeks. Good movies don't need that kind of exposure, they generate their own buzz. The last movie I saw with advertising overdone this much was Push, and that was just terrible.
A: Because I am a funnier writer than their writers. Let me give you an example
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Premise: 10 convicts are offered a full pardon and 50 million dollars if they can win a game show. They are split in to teams of two, and placed on a remote island with one goal: to reach the other side of the island. Sounds simple, except the island is crawling with zombies
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Premise: A bank robber abducts a girl and hides out in a motel, with the intent of driving to an airport in Canada the following day. During the night, the bank robber and the girl are both themselves taken hostage by an escaped convict. As events unfold in the motel room, we begin to learn about each of the characters, and discover that no-one is what they seem
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on John Doe’s Infinitely Expanding Film Log Game
Evil Pleasures
Random Musings on Life, Love and Everything
Let's Get Down To Business
Hannibal (9/10)
Identity (8/10)
1408 (9/10)
Transformers 2 (6/10)
The Thing (10/10)
Alien (10/10)
Aliens (9/10)