Category Archives: Reviews

Feb 24 2012

Fright Night

Viewed – 23 February 2012  Blu-ray

I was a big fan of the original Fright Night, which if I am correct starred William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon and the late Roddy McDowall.  It was a great concept, that of a kid who is obsessed with a TV show hosted by vampire hunter Peter Vincent (McDowell) and then finds out his new neighbour is a vampire.  So naturally, as with Hollywood’s growing trend for remaking classic horror movies of late, we come to this … and to be honest, I quite liked the idea of revisiting these characters.

Anton Yelchin plays school kid Charley Brewster, currently dating the hot girl and leaving his nerdy past behind him, by ignoring former best friend Ed (the wonderful Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who is convinced that Charley’s new next door neighbour Gerry (Colin Farrell) is a vampire.  Of course this turns out to be true, and before long Charley is turning to renowned magician and vampire expert Peter Vincent (David Tennant) for help.  This sticks fairly close to the original story (no shock as its penned by Tom Holland, who wrote the original) but deviates in several areas, perhaps to make it more up to date by having Peter Vincent as a Vegas magician than a TV show host, and by having the character of Ed the paranoid vampire obsessive.  Charley is portrayed somewhat more heroic than in the past, which surprised me, as this pretty much makes David Tennant’s character pointless, who as a result seemed mostly in the way.  Thankfully Farrell delivers the goods as charismatic vampire Gerry, and although much of his actions are a little stupid (such as killing two teen guys in a car in the middle of the neighbourhood) and with no actual depth (he’s a vampire – that’s it), he still made for a great villain down to pure screen-presence.  Christopher Mintz-Plasse naturally steals the show every time he appears, and he continues to be one of my favourite young comedy actors.  I didn’t like how quickly Gerry was accused of being a vampire though, and a throwaway line connecting him to Peter Vincent was clearly tacked on.  Thankfully such shortcomings are masked well with quality vampire effects, lots of blood and several memorable lines (watch out for the reference to Ebay).

Overall then, this was an enjoyable ‘tribute’ to one of the best horror movies of the 80s, and even if the script has its limitations and some of the casting doesn’t exactly nail it – I still had a good time.

Verdict:  3 /5

Feb 20 2012

Catfish

Viewed – 19 February 2012  Television

Oh the horrors of the internet age.  Social Networking has become a major way for many to communicate with friends, family, and to some extent, complete strangers … so much so that relationships can be formed even if you never physically meet up.  It’s a strange and dangerous new world, and one that photographer Yaniv Shulman discovered all too well in late 2007 / early 2008 when he became friends with a family and their art prodigy 8-year-old daughter, Abbie.

This absorbing documentary exposes just how easy it is to get drawn into a friendship with someone you have never met, and how what you are told and what you believe can become something else entirely.  Directors / documentarians Henry Joost & Ariel Shulman have crafted a shocking and at times disturbing portrait of social networking and the caution we all should have whenever speaking to another person online, especially if you don’t really know them.  It’s put together from a wealth of footage shot over the eight month online communication between Yaniv and the mysterious family, and along with some good editing, lots of hand-held camera and good use of Google Earth – this is one documentary I think anyone involved in the likes of Facebook etc should seek out immediately.

I thought some of Yaniv’s actions were kind of reckless, and when you consider how many weirdos and nutters prowl the internet, what he gets up to doesn’t send the best message.  Also the final reveal and what has actually been happening, is portrayed with sympathy, when I felt like shouting at the screen.  Yaniv handles things well towards the end though, but I felt he was almost as guilty as the other person involved for allowing what transpired to go on for as long as it did.  Still this was gripping and thought-provoking, and to some extent, opened my eyes.

Verdict:  4 /5

Feb 16 2012

The Roommate

Viewed – 15 February 2012  Blu-ray

Before you even sit down to this, you know what’s going to happen.  It’s one of those thrillers that has almost become a sub-genre of its own – the _____ from hell (fill in blank with baby sitter, nanny, flatmate, girlfriend etc).  Movies like Fatal Attraction and Single White Female made this easy fodder for Hollywood, and there’s been dozens of carbon copies over the years.  So what’s this one all about?

A girl arrives at University, and soon falls for the local hot drummer and befriends the local hot chick.  Then her roommate turns up, who seems all sugar and spice, until she grows jealous of the girl’s other friends, boyfriend and pretty much anyone who gets in the way … and soon turns into a nutter.  There is nothing here that hasn’t been done before, and better.  The cast is full of pretty stereotypes, the cool teacher who turns out to be a letch, the cool best friend who may or may not be a lesbian … and the seemingly nice roommate who clearly has a few screws loose.  Yet none of these characters are presented with any actual depth.  Just why the roommate is a nutcase is not explained, other than a suggestion she may be skitzophrenic or have bi-polar disorder, and the main character’s sister died, supposedly giving her some sort of characterisation, but it’s never elaborated on.  Oh and something horrid happens to a kitten – that’s just wrong!

To be fair the movie is shot with a degree of style, has a decent soundtrack and given less formulaic material, I am sure the director could come up with something much more memorable.  Yet as it stands, this occasionally entertaining (in a movie-of-the-week kind of way) movie just doesn’t have enough to make it stand out in a crowded genre, and therefore doesn’t come with my recommendation.

Verdict:  2 /5

Feb 11 2012

RIO

Viewed – 10 February 2012  DVD

It would be easy to pass off many animated movies these days as simply more of the same, and although this likable entry has the same old themes, such as believing in yourself, fish out of water etc, it has enough comedy, lush visuals and all round ‘fun’ to make it worth your while.  Blu is a rare breed Macaw, who having been captured by poachers as a baby, soon becomes the pet of a young girl.  Over fifteen years they become inseparable.  Then one day a wildlife expert spots Blu and offers to take him and his owner to Brazil where he knows about a female Macaw, and if they hit it off, it could mean the saving of the species.  That is until a band of ruthless smugglers intervene.

From the guys behind the Ice Age movies, this is a vibrant and instantly enjoyable movie.  The voice acting, whilst nothing special adds personality, with Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway delivering the goods as the two Macaws.  The relationship between Blu and his owner is pretty much the same as that seen in other movies such as Bolt, and as a story, it’s fairly predictable.  Thankfully the gag factor is more hit than miss and the increasingly entertaining situations (with a memorable carnival chase) mean it never gets tiresome, and support characters like a rapping bird voiced brilliantly by The Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.AM. and a salivating bulldog, brought more than a few giggles my way.  The Rio de Janeiro setting is also gorgeous and enhances the whole movie, meaning that all in all – this is one to see.

Verdict:  4 /5

Feb 5 2012

City Of The Living Dead

Viewed – 04 February 2012  Television

In the early eighties, a bunch of horror movies were deemed, at least here in the UK as too shocking for public consumption, and were banned outright.  In subsequent years these so called ‘video nasties’ began to slowly emerge, more often than not in a censored form.  Thankfully these days many of them can be found uncut, and one of the pioneers of such movies was late Italian director Lucio Fulci.  I have only seen a couple of his movies, but can attest they do live up to his moniker of ‘the godfather of gore’.

This 1980 release has a priest hanging himself in a cemetery whilst at the same time a psychic see’s the incident in a vision during a séance.  Soon after weird things start to happen, and recently deceased persons start coming back to life.  The psychic and a group of other people then journey to Dunwhich, where the priest hung himself to hopefully prevent the end of the world … as you do.

This is typical 80′s horror fair, with questionable acting, a couple of pretty females, and stand out moments of gore.  Lucio Fulci was a skilled director that’s for sure, even if his stories were usually wafer thin and incoherent.  This movie is no different, as the plot is mostly left unexplained (like what was the priest all about?) and the characterisation non-existent.  The movie is very creepy however, with some decent atmosphere and the soundtrack certainly works to crank up the tension.  For a Fulci movie the gory moments are a bit hit and miss (the drill sequence is stunning, but the vomit-up-ones-own-guts bit, is just ridiculous) and whatever interesting ideas it has to start with, just degenerates into your average zombie movie towards the end.

This was entertaining though, and I’m glad I have finally managed to see it.

Verdict:  3 /5

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