This movie turned out to be a true scare-fest. And it’s not just about the cheap, jump scares which were mostly appropriately done here.First, there were the sound effects which nothing this loud or scary has ever been heard in a cinema before.

What Raimi and his sound department have achieved was so eerie and sharp that they cut straight into your core and you could feel it in your bones. Even those shriek whenever the eye appeared in the original version of Ring, or the lengthy croak whenever the creature was approaching in Ju-On, they were nothing as scary compared to the bone-chilling sounds from Raimi.

Then there was the highly stylised horror combined with bizarre humour which only Raimi can mix it up in such over-the-top extravaganza. The best example of a mesh up between shocking, terrifying, disturbing and hilarious, was the first big “action” sequence in and around Christine’s car with Mrs Ganush involving dentures and staplers. That certainly set a high standard for the rest of the movie to follow.

The cast were all very capable in their portrayals. Alison Lohman was perfect into her role, Long is his ever-likeable self playing the supportive boyfriend, Paymer and Lee provide some mild comedy, and Raver is fantastically scary as the unforgiving old woman. Only the housefly and the handkerchief don’t really tie in properly into the story.

As mentioned before, there was nothing new in terms of storyline for any horror movie-goers. But with Raimi to bring in his own spin to things, he was able to cleverly insert flourishes to each scene, making them something different from what’s been done so many times before.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7 / 10

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So without the help of other writers, Goyer seems to be a little lost, both in writing and in direction. And the beauty of Odette Yustman couldn’t help save this unoriginal movie from becoming another typical Hollywood horror flick.

A big question mark surfaced when the exorcism was performed because Yustman wasn’t being possessed yet. If she was, then the demon spirit would have won since that’s his goal. So why exorcise Yustman in the first place?

Either Goyer has confused himself with his own writing or the reason just didn’t come through enough for the audience.

Goyer also looked like he was going for that Japanese horror-movie feel, like so many other imitators before him. And so far not many have done it right.

Even after Goyer has done his research, he only managed to include the dybbuk from Jewish mythology and the perverse experimentations performed on Jewish twins in World War II by the Nazis as a background story.

Everything else has zero originality as Goyer recycled ideas used in other recent horror movies. His execution however left a lot to be desired as the scares and frights landed with a big resounding thud. Haven’t we seen enough mirrors usage in horror movies? There’s even one called Mirrors recently which was much better.

And Goyer decided to throw in bugs and other creepy crawlies at some point but really now, what’s the point or the significance of it all? It’s old and served no purpose to the storyline.

And Cam Gigandet, playing the supposedly supportive boyfriend, somehow disappeared throughout the middle of the movie with no good excuse.

In the end it boils down to one question and one question alone, how did the writer who co-wrote The Dark Knight think that this was a good idea for a horror movie? The Joker must still be pulling a prank on him.

Rating: 3 / 10

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And whether it’s newly inspired script with new writers, or the director and writer for the previous two movies Len Wiseman getting the boot; this third instalment is by far the most entertaining.

But without Wiseman’s stylishly over-the-top execution, however misguided as it was, as well as Kate Beckinsale’s star power, the entire outlook of the movie initially was very much in limbo; especially with what happened to a Rachel Weisz-less “The Mummy 3”.

Director Patrick Tatopoulos, who did the special effects for the previous two, came in with more modest ideas in terms of direction without all the stylised effects that Wiseman had so freely flaunted.

And this actually worked to his advantage because all that futuristic movements a la “The Matrix” would have been very out of place in the middle century. Also, due to a limited budget set by the producers, there were less special effects going on.

However, the downside with said limited budget was that when there was any special effects (the werewolf transformation for example), it looked really old-school and cheesy. And the fight scenes were unimpressive and even confusing without proper choreography. The final fight scene was most disappointing to say the least.

Those who were unfamiliar with Sheen during his first two forays into big-budget Hollywood-vehicle may not know he is actually a very good actor. All that should change as we finally see Sheen (if not in The Queen or Frost/Nixon) in the leading role, giving life to Lucian with brooding and compassionate complexity that is both feral and human.

Rhona Mitra replaced latex-laden Beckinsale as the strong female Vampire. Virtually an unknown, she generated much less expectation than Beckinsale and brought with her a fresh face and a fresh performance.

Though this instalment wasn’t the smartest or the most exciting fantasy flick, it does give this franchise some hope and is certainly the best of the series in all and every aspect.

Rating: 6 / 10

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Back to topic. Saw 5 is made for the fans. Because if you’re still watching Saw, you’re definitely a fan. If you’re not a fan, you won’t even bother with anything about it. Much less this review.

And if you haven’t watch the previous Saw movies, you won’t find this fifth instalment interesting. You won’t even get it. Also, Saw V is the first one without Darren Lynn Bousman directing since Saw II.

By now, the story just keeps adding in more bits and pieces and expanding its characters’ storyline (those which are not dead). It’s no longer interesting, just going through the motions for the audience. As for the writers, I guess they should be credited for their creativity in expanding the series to thus far. However, things were getting more and more elaborated.

The ending no longer has the kind of kick the first two instalments had. This particular ending however was the weakest of the series. I think it’s time the writers forget the twist in the future endings and just focus on the storyline.

Yes, there’s already a sixth in the making.

Rating:  5 / 10

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I always have my reserves for horror flicks. The ridiculous scares that make no sense, the thin plot, weak storyline – all compromised just for the sake of making the movie. This movie, although comes with multiple plotholes that the story has ignored for the sake of development,  does have a solid story.

Perhaps it’s because this movie is a remake but I didn’t know it. While watching it, I kept thinking, this doesn’t feel like a Hollywood storyline, it’s too Japanese or Korean – like Ring and Ju-On. And sure enough, it’s a remake of the Korean Into The Mirror.

 

The first half as the story was developing, the scares were aplenty and not lacking in gore but it felt it dragged on for a little too long. It was the usual story of discovering, denial, unconvincing to frineds and family, acceptance and solving the mystery.

Some will dislike the revelation and the way it ended, but I thought those were the best parts as I didn’t see it coming. And it wasn’t a typical happy ending that I was dreading.

Rating: 5 / 10

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I’m somewhat appalled and disgusted by scenes in the movie especially those children and what they were portraying. The younger actors better had some serious psychiatric reviews after making this movie because it really could be life changing.

And that’s not the reason that this movie shouldn’t be made. While I appreciate that it did have a story to tell, but there’s a fine line between it being brilliant and it being gimmicky and exploitative. And unfortunately this felt like it belonged to the latter.

The movie felt a little self-indulgent and didn’t feel all that realistic sometimes, which contributed to being not genuine – and for a movie such as this, the genuineness is very important. So when the movie opened up with “Based on a true story”, I have to wonder how much of it is based on facts.

The woman conducting the torture, although gave a good performance, didn’t come off as real and believable enough. How could she trust the boy next door to keep all those secrets just by providing him free booze? Worse is, she then invited so many other kids to participate and trust them all to keep to themselves and not go reporting to their parents?

How stupid could she be and to be so wickedly brilliant at the same time? That just wasn’t realistic enough and became gimmicky for what this movie was trying to be.

And most of the kids in here didn’t have enough psychological depth in their acting, made worse when the boy next door kept coming back for more of the torture “pleasures”.

I’m not sure who’s to blame but I’m guessing it’s the screenplay guys. This should be one of those that worked better in books than on the silver screen. Though I did read somewhere the author was really proud of the movie.

Rating: 5 / 10

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This Hollywood version wasn’t great or fantastic in any way. But it did entertain, only because it stuck to the original concept and the main plot. There were a few cheap scares but not so much for me to hate it obviously. All the scary moments were from the original so the makers were wise enough to keep them.

I remembered the ending to the original had more of an impact than this, and that’s not because I know how it was going to end as I have completely forgotten. So the directors didn’t do a better job here than the Pang brothers originally did.

And what’s with the old man in the lift creeping up on Alba like that? There should have been an explanation for that. Major cheap thrill.

Rating: 5 / 10

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a) Death Proof

I preferred Death Proof over Planet Terror mainly because of the dialogue in Death Proof had more substance and was a reminiscent Pulp Fiction.

The first half was just great but the action in the second half was a bit irritating as there were a few times I would have stepped on the brakes but for the sake of the action, they just went on and on.

I would have rated it higher had the action sequence changed a little bit. But I do understand Tarantino was paying homage to some of his favourite movies.

Rating: 6 / 10

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Planet Terror on the other hand was a reminiscent of From Dusk Till Dawn, and how good that was compared to this. Logics aside (well, logic was never included in these projects), the entertainment value fell a bit short.

It’s just about the gore and thrill of a B-grade cult movie, but ultimately more like something done as a hobby by Tarantino and Rodriguez to satisfy themselves.

Rose McGowan to suddenly become an action heroin just wasn’t believable at all.

Rating: 4 / 10

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Only problem I had was how Samuel L Jackson was marketed into the movie just to pull in audience. He only had a few scenes and only one that’s memorable. I also wondered why he wanted to be in this movie in the first place. He played a role that any other average actor could do without problem.

In terms of scare, I didn’t mind the popping up of faces once in a while. There weren’t too many of them so it wasn’t so bad for a little lame and cheap thrill. And it wasn’t exactly a “scary” movie per se. But the story was haunting and chilling enough for a get-away horror / suspense entertainment.

Rating: 6 / 10

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First, to get the bad out of the way. The movie could have been 15 minutes shorter. I know that doesn’t sound much but at certain instances, it just felt too draggy. The songs and lyrics have been scaled down, but certain songs could have been cut shorter still.

And there was one song by Helena Bonham Carter fantasizing about what life could have been with Todd, where everything turned bright and colourful. It just clashed with the whole dark and grey setting of the movie and felt very out of place and unnecessary. But this is coming from someone who has never watched the original musical before.

The singing would have been another issue, had not been the wonderful direction of Burton and the cinematography of the movie. The camera zooms in and out, making you forget the vocal qualities as the lyrics and music told the story instead.

But don’t get me wrong, the singing was never appalling. Far from it. Depp has a certain quality when he hit the higher notes that sounded very contemporary and very impressive. Bonham Carter did sound weak but she has never claimed to be a singer. Still a job well done.

The songs were already great pieces in their own right. But in the movie they were delivered with class as well. Even Sacha Baron Cohen, and I never thought I’d say this, was respectable. But all the credit should go to Burton. After all, he did make Depp and Bonham Carter sing and brought out another best in them.

No one can play dark characters opposite Depp as well as Bonham Carter can. And here she complements him as if she was born to. Her performance was heartbreaking right till the end.

All other actors deserve praises too. They contributed greatly to the success of the movie. But most of all, it is Depp who still can’t seem to do any wrong. He is the most magnetic and versatile contemporary actor, and definitely the most fun to watch.

This movie has set the bar for the rest to follow for the rest of the year.

Rating: 8 / 10

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