So, as I’ve mentioned a million times, I’m a hardcore slasher fan. Aside from being a hardcore horror fan, I also am a fan of the sub-genre, and director Alex Pucci and writer Draven Gonzalez really seem to know their stuff when it pertains to slashers, and that’s one reason why I was smiling throughout the entire film. The film opens as you would expect any slasher to. Dark creepy camp, a camp sing-along with a ridiculously catchy hook, and then death. And then more death. The ending though is very similar to the opening of “Friday the 13th”, hell even the score and opening title nearly make it almost identical, and my attention was caught. I loved the opening simply because director Pucci captures the mood very well and almost copies the original film to the tee.
Tag Archives: Mystery
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
Was there a point of a sequel to a movie that was just decent after all? This has all the makings of the usual crappy Disney film. Black and white heroes and villains, goofy characters, determined heroes and heroines, and even dance numbers on occasion courtesy of Julie Andrews which would have been a very nice homage, had it not been brought down by the non-talents of Raven Simone. No one here comes out unscathed, every character is goofy, irritating, and mind-numbing. They even make Ms. Andrews looks overly goofy among this funny farm.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
Okay, readers, pop quiz from yours truly. You’re a Hollywood exec (sorry to insult you, but bear with me, I’m getting somewhere with this), and you help get a movie in to theaters that’s barely watchable, what do you do? Do you a) leave it alone to rot on shelves and move on? b) do you remake it? or c) do you give it a crappy sequel? If you chose A or B then you know nothing about Hollywood, because inevitably all this is is basically a crappy sequel to a crappy movie, the problem is while the first film was without a doubt crappy, it was mildly entertaining, but this, this is just brutal.
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
While “The Prisoner of Azkaban” was a critical success, I’ve discovered a lot of the hardcore fans disliked this movie a great deal. As for the financial success it’s pretty much a no-brainer; these films are made because there’s automatically a built-in audience, but as far as critical success, critics loved the work done by Alfonso Cuaron, and I’m one of them. While it may be true I’ve never read the book, I prefer looking at it from a perspective of an outsider and this is the best installment of the franchise so far. I liked the first film, was on the fence for the less than exciting sequel, but this happens to be the best I’ve seen for this so far. As for the “Harry Potter” franchise, I’ve never clicked with this or its less than–how shall I say–sane fans, but this is a great cinematic marvel.
American Gun (2002)
“American Gun” is two things. First, it’s a fascinating examination of how one event in your life, one simple mistake can change the course of events and alter your life forever. Second, it’s a fitting send-off to one of America’s great actors. James Coburn, the great James Coburn plays Martin Tillman, a retired man whose family is falling apart. The woman he fell in love with is all but a stranger to him, his daughter Penny is living with them to get away from her life, and her daughter has just run away. Martin is a good man, a man who is doing everything to keep his family together. Weekly he meets with his grand daughter secretly, sneaking her money and conversing with her as she confides with him, he attempts to communicate with his almost non-communicative wife, and he keeps Penny together, but one night she’s killed by the bullet of a gun, and the family shatters further.
Cypher (2002)
“Cypher” has an excellent concept presented to the audience on-screen, and that’s what’s disappointing. The film is a socially relevant observation of two (what I can assume are) humongous corporations fighting for dominance in a futuristic world of greed and deception, these two humongous companies are shifty and cold and use their employees to represent them in apparently mundane meetings about stock and products. This is an excellent topic and brilliant concept that could have made for one of the most thought provoking gems that went undiscovered. When the film ended (I was so happy when it did) I was left boggling my brain wondering how good this film could have been.
The Machinist (2004)
“The Machinist” is such an accomplishment, an accomplishment that, big surprise, went almost unnoticed in Hollywood. It’s utterly refreshing in this day and age to watch a movie so intellectually stimulating, it’s fulfilling to watch a psychological thriller that demands the audience watch, pay attention, follow along, and decipher for themselves without falling in to the usual Hollywood conventions. Brad Anderson instills a lot of atmosphere and slow paced tension here for the audience, creating such a brilliant Lynch-esque labyrinth of a murder mystery.