Cast aside all PG-13 biases folks, you’ll be glad to know that even with the rating, “Drag Me to Hell” is one of the finer horror movies released this year. It marks a come back for Sam Raimi who finally returns to the genre that made him and reminds us why he’s one of the greats. While gore is always fun, most times horror excels because of good storytelling and Raimi doesn’t dole out the gore, instead opting to tell a very good horror story that hearkens back to “Thinner.” It’s a classic horror comeuppance tale with themes of karma and revenge that takes advantage of old horror tricks without ever really trying too hard to scare us.
Tag Archives: Revenge
Punisher: Warzone (2008) (DVD)
What Lexi Alexander and Lions Gates attempts to accomplish with this new title in the Marvel movie lexicon is a complete restart of the Punisher franchise and they do this by completely forgetting any and all of the events from the Thomas Jane version and in some respects it’s nice to have a movie that pays due attention to the original origin of madman Frank Castle. Hell, I loved the John Travolta vehicle and still do in spite of fans belly aching, but god help me, “Warzone” is a better film. Why? Frankly because there are very few liberties taken with the mythos and we get down to the nitty gritty.
Friday the 13th (2009)
I think the only people who hold grudges more than Jason are the religious and it’s a known fact that Jason is one angry bitter man whose mom is taken down at the first five minutes of the 2009 reboot called simply: “Friday the 13th.” A combination of the first, second and third films in the series, “Friday the 13th” seek to completely redo Jason and start over with a clean slate. This is a great idea especially after desperation from studios forced the masked killer in to deep space and the future of mankind. This is a stripped down reboot that director Marcus Nispel handles with care, because it’s a task liable to be screwed up once he and the writers decide on fitting an origin, a motivation, and the discovery of the hockey mask in only ninety minutes. But he rises to the occasion and actively keeps the story moving with a body count of almost ten people and an admittedly uneven pace. Despite the caveat and probably because of it, Nispel’s treatment of Voorhes makes for the first enjoyable experience at the movies in a long while.
Taken (2008)
Whoa, who knew Liam Neeson was such a hard ass, but then his parental tendency to kick ass and take names when his daughter is kidnapped is never an element that distracts viewers with the believability, mainly because it’s Liam Neeson, a man in his fifties who struts around the film as the hero who is a change of pace from young male models and wrestlers who normally dominating the big screen. Neeson is an antidote to all the barely past puberty action pukes and convinces us that he’ll kill anyone and everyone if you take from him. It’s a true testament that Neeson simply knocks this role out of the park.
The Dark Knight (2008) (Deluxe Edition DVD)
There have been almost two editions of “The Dark Knight” on both DVD and Blu-Ray. I’m happy to admit that they’re all warranted releases. Not only does Warner give us one of the best comic book movies ever made along turning Batman in a tragic tale of becoming a hero in situations he’s just not sure he handle. Take for instance the explosions in the hospital. What I love about the joker here is not that he has a distinct love for violence and doesn’t come with a sub-plot where we’re supposed to sympathize for his life story unlike the “Spider-Man” movies where villains couldn’t just be villains.
Shutter (2008)
Here’s what I learned from watching the remake of “Shutter”:
1. Even purely Asian women look Caucasian only because they should.
2. There are such things as spirit photography magazines.
3. There are experts in spirit photography.
4. Ghosts love a good game of piggyback!
5. And Maya Hazen is a stone cold fox.
Death Race (2008)
The world is in shambles. The country is on the brink of depression. Millions are out of work. Violence is now considered entertainment. Convicts are now reduced to television stars for our own sick amusement. And we’re now on the brink of revolting against a corrupt disgusting government run by a madman. But enough about modern times, right now we have “Death Race”! A film that barely covers any of those issues beyond using it as a back drop for the basis of the death racing, where as Corman’s original was so ahead of its time, it perfectly encapsulates what this generation is all about and it was made in the seventies!