For anyone like me who take interest in the concept of parallel worlds, director Russell Emanuel embraces the found footage sub-genre while also dodging the gimmicky trappings in favor of a much more intelligent genre title involving the scientific idea. “Occupants” explores the theory of parallel realities, and how it’s theorized our lives can align with alternate versions of ourselves. Much like “Paranormal Activity,” Emanuel sets his film primarily in one setting, but the similarities end there. Emanuel has his finger on the pulse of science fiction, exploring a realm where every movement is intricate and our characters begin to dabble in the God Complex resulting in some absolutely horrendous consequences.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
The Tall Man (2012)
Pascal Laugier’s “The Tall Man” is one dry heave of a drama that paints itself as a horror movie. Worse more it pretends to be a take on “The Slender Man” when really it’s just one heaping helping of melodrama about kidnapped kids and altruistic nurses taking their love for them one step too far. It’s a shame, too, since the opening montage isn’t only creepy, but seems to be setting us up for one hell of an eerie and haunting horror film built on a scary premise. I wanted to invest time in the film once the initial hook runs its course. It’s just sad that the film itself never lives up to any of its promise.
Teen Witch (1989)
“Teen Witch” is one of the last relics of the eighties that isn’t just a fantasy for teen girls based around the joy of superficiality and empty popularity, but something of a cheesy comedy that absolutely embraces its idiocy time and time again. The unapologetic cheesiness and truly awful values of “Teen Witch” is often so bad, and yet so damn charming to endure. You almost have to admire it for building up to an anti-climax that boasts about how great it is to have the guy of your dreams, even if he’s as deep as a Koi pond. Dorian Walker’s film also dares to embrace the hip hop genre with a trio of young white men from the suburbs. Thank goodness for Larry Weir.
The Revenant (2015)
With “The Revenant,” Alejandro González Iñárritu pulls off a wonderful vision with amazing cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, posing the wilderness of South Dakota as something of an omnipresent force that works against every single character from the moment we step on to the snow covered woodlands. “The Revenant” works around a simple tale of revenge and enduring the elements all to convey the sheer unforgiving world that protagonist Hugh Glass has to venture across simply to avenge his own son. The weather and terrain holds no prisoners and garners zero bias, enduring the war of man and being covered in the blood of the violated while offering as much punishment as it’s dealt. Director Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” is a grueling epic that views what lengths main character Hugh Glass is willing to go through to ensure justice is served.
The House Where Evil Dwells / Ghost Warrior: Double Feature [Blu-ray]
Scream Factory offers movie fans a double feature on Blu-Ray with the theme of Asian culture driving the plots for both films. For folks that love Asian films, these two films offer up a helping of Asian genre entertainment with slight twists to them. The first feature is 1982’s “The House Where Evil Dwells,” a supernatural thriller that is basically “Amityville Horror” with a Japanese twist. It’s also just as goofy as the former ghost film. The Fletchers have migrated from the US to Japan in hopes of taking a long needed vacation. Writer Ted is intent on finishing his novel and is anxious to relax. The trio along with Ted’s friend Alex ends up at a small house in the woods of Kyoto where they’re told by Alex’s friend that the house’s rent is cheap due to suspected ghosts.
Batman: Bad Blood (2016) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
Bat people! Bat people! So many Bat people! Back when I was a young lad, there were only two or three Batman oriented characters. Now there is practically a whole legion of masked vigilantes by the time “Bad Blood” comes to a close. Who even needs the Gotham Police Force, anymore? It’s admittedly kind of ridiculous, but also kind of fun to see how many people have been influenced by The Dark Knight to keep going forward and fighting crime. Gotham needs as much as help as it can get, obviously, so why not have a Batgirl, a Batwoman, a Nightwing, and a Batwing, amiright?
The Martian (2015)
It’s been quite a while since director Ridley Scott brought a film so rich and entertaining to the big screen and it’s a thrill to see Scott bring audiences what is one of the more riveting tales of a castaway trying to survive in the wilderness. Adapted from the novel, Scott delivers a truly compelling drama about lone astronaut Mark Watney left stranded on Mars, who spends his time trying to survive and build his own ecosystem in a harsh alien world incapable of supporting life. What’s most exceptional about “The Martian,” is that it tells the tale of a very motivated hero who spends all of his time trying to solve his problems and very little of it moping around and fearing death.







