Showing posts with label Knife (weapon). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knife (weapon). Show all posts
20 Oct 2012
SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: Last House On The Left (2009) - Lisa's Review
*** SPOILERS ***
Another remake this week for the month of October. I was interested to see how this remake would compare to the original 1972 movie reviewed here. I had heard much about the original and had always been advised to avoid due to the horrendous violent and brutal scenes and graphic rape depicted. I myself found the movie to be very sympathetically shot and well put together. When I heard similar comments about the remake, I wondered whether it would be palatable. I hadn't rushed out to see it, so tonight was my first watch.
Again, I was pleasantly surprised with this movie, as with the original. I won't go into too much detail about the storyline of the movie as its still quite fresh and raw in my head. I did find it disturbing in places and difficult to watch, so don't think any amount of waffle could convey my feelings on the movie in full. While the movie started rather typically and wasn't much different to your typical modern horror movie, around the middle it shifted gears dramatically.
We have 2 girls again (Mari & Paige) as with the original who get into the company of a criminal gang who are on the run for murder. The movie actually started with the 'rescue' of one of the criminals by his 2 compatriots and the murder of the 2 cops transporting him to prison. The death of the second officer was particularly horrid and left me with a bad taste in my mouth as they held a photo of his children in front of his face as he died, telling him he'd never see their faces again. As a mother, I found that one difficult to bear and wondered whether I was going to be able to watch this movie.
Back to the 2 girls. In short, the gang take them deep into a forest where Paige is viciously stabbed and left to bleed to death due after shouting insults to the gangs leader (Krug) to save her friend Mari from being raped. Sadly all this facilitates is her own death and the slightly delayed rape of her friend. This is where the entire movie changes and even the cinematography ramps it up a gear. The rape scene is (as with the original) very difficult to watch, it is brutal, nasty and heartbreaking. For me the word heartbreaking sums up the entire mid section of this movie. I sat transfixed with the horror in front of me feeling loathing, empathy, disgust, fear, regret and deep sadness. In my eyes, even though, to give the whingers their dues; it is sick, it is disgusting, but it's real! It happens and if it is to be depicted, it should be for what it is. I feel this movie does this well. This is thanks to the direction, but mostly for me due to the amazing acting of Sara Paxton. This is an actress that hasn't come to my attention before, but I was remarkably impressed by her. She is stunningly beautiful in an innocent, naive, almost child-like way, which makes what she endures all the more heartbreaking. Its almost as if her eyes were made to illustrate the expression doe-eyed. Her portrayal of a young girl destroyed is captivating and horrific all at the same time. As in the original Mari manages to escape and is pursued through the forest. In the remake however she is a champion swimmer, so as we watch her swim across the lake towards her parents summer home, we have everything crossed she'll make it. The scene showing her swim and the eventual hit with a bullet is beautifully shot. (no pun intended) One scene where she rolls over in the water (which is all shot in slow motion) and lays on her back bleeding out, I have to admit made my eyes water. It is just so heart-breakingly sad. A rainstorm starts and hammers off her still body and upturned hands. It gives me shivers even now. I found myself intensely sad for some time after watching this scene.
In this remake, there is a major difference with regards to Mari, but I won't give it away. I had no idea and it made a VERY pleasant surprise for me.
Following these scenes, the movie goes back to its starting pace and loses its shine for me. That's not saying it was bad. It still stands as a solid horror movie. The acting is good, the effects are good, but that special something had gone. I felt some scenes were dragged out longer than they needed to be and not enough time was spent on the kills (especially the lead thug Krug, although it was spectacularly done).
I liked the ending. I can't say what happens as it would completely give everything away and I think I've given more than enough away above.
I would recommend this movie, but not for anyone who finds it difficult to watch disturbing scenes or who isn't a fan of horror. You have to have a strong stomach and a strong head to watch this one and not have it stay with you. I have no doubt it will stay with me for some time, but hey, to me that#s the sign of a good movie.
Thumbs Up and a Lisa Recommends from me.
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
6 Oct 2012
Visiting Hours - Lisa's Review
*** SOME SPOILERS ***
I struggled this week with why on earth this movie found its way onto the Nasties List. It would be much better suited as a Sunday afternoon movie. There is little in the way of gore or graphic scenes in the movie to complain about, so I'm at a loss. There is a scene which sexualises a knife torture and rape, which I suppose is a bit in bad taste, but I've seen worse before the watershed I'm sure.
That's not saying its a bad movie. It's not too bad. I found it remarkably easy to watch and there wasn't that much in the way of irritation for me. It had crazy inconsistencies, most notably a scene at the start of the movie where our lead lady (Deborah) is on air (she's on a talk show) making her views clear on the conviction of a woman who finally fought back against her abusive husband. As she pulled no punches and her comments were close to libelous, her boss advised her they would be unable to air the episode. Whats odd about this is at the same time as we are watching the scene, we are shown our movie villain who is at home watching the airing of this same show???
Anyways, if you can put that aside that glaring inconsistency, its watching this show that sparks our killer (Colt Hawker) off to stalk Deborah. Seems he has followed her work for years and he is not her biggest fan as she is a big female activist and he is something of a misogynist (getting to be a remarkably familiar thing in these movies). What I also failed to mention is that the woman in question who was being defended by Deborah for fighting back against her husband (by throwing a pan of hot oil around him hence disfiguring him for life) is actually Hawkers mother. The husband is of course his father. He has never forgiven his mother for what she did to his father and basically just thinks that she should put up and shut up.
The movie follows Hawker tracking down Deborah. He finds her, manages only to wound her (we have another knife through door scene here) as they are interrupted so she is taken to recuperate in hospital, hence our title. Hawker keeps up his pursuit and a young nurse Sheila is dragged into the mix, probably mostly because she shares Deborahs feminist views. There are a few kills, including of the wrong person. Breathing tubes are cut to detract attention away from him.
The story which follows is pretty normal for a murder thriller and is very predictable, but like I said its easy to watch as the acting is pretty solid. The ending is very TV movie, but I wasn't left feeling like i'd wasted an hour and a half which I have with other movies.
I wouldn't say don't watch this movie, but I would say, if you're looking for gore, horror, shocks or anything remotely graphic, this isn't the place to look.
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
29 Sept 2012
Unhinged - Lisa's Review
*** SPOILERS *** (but not the one that matters)
Well after 2 weeks of good movies, I couldn't expect another good 'un and indeed I didn't get one. It wasn't a 'bad' movie as such, mainly the acting irritated me. I found it very hard to get past the actors in the movie appearing like they were reading (very slowly) from a sheet without any prior reads or practise.
When the movie starts with 3 pretty girls (Gloria, Terri & Nancy) happily heading off to a concert in a car, hearing about the disappearance of lots of pretty young women, it doesn't take a genius to work out where the movie is headed. The weather takes a turn for the worse and they come off the road and into a ditch.
We then move to a mansion in the middle of nowhere. An elderly woman in a wheelchair (Mrs Penrose) and her very wierd daughter (Marion) live there. There is also a rather odd man who seemed to be a jack of all trades, including a medical professional? They have taken them in. Terri & Nancy are fine and should be ok to leave in the morning, but Gloria is unconscious and the old woman and her daughter suggest the girls wait until they can leave with their friend.
It becomes very clear that the old woman is not a very nice person. She spends the entire time she is on film lambasting men and how evil and nasty they are. It seems to stem from her hatred of her ex husband, her infidelity and the suggested interference with a child. She also seems to think her very odd looking daughter is having it away with a never-ending list of men (chance would be a fine thing). We are also shown her son, who is presented as a wierd, unkempt man who lives outside and likes to peep at ladies taking showers. We find out he is Mrs Penrose's son, who she refused to acknowledge when her hatred of men started. Marion looks after him.
So, the scene is pretty much set. Most regular horror viewers could write the rest of the story with ease. Slot in some whispered 'Things don't seem quite right' from the 2 conscious girlies (No sh*t Sherlock!).
The inevitable need to go for help which leads to the obvious death of 1 girl (which has so many disappointments, I won't even start).
The 'coming to' of our unconscious lady and repeat of our 'Things don't seem quite right' conversation.
A slightly less disappointing death of a second girl (perhaps because it happens off screen).
Hinting to the possible murderer.
A bit of back story.
1 remaining girl getting to the bottom of everything and a bloody ending.
That pretty much has it covered, anything else that happens is incidental, except that is for the ending! Yes its bloody and yes our murderer is revealed, but the twist when it comes is one that surprised me. I loved the twist and I'm surprised I didn't consider it before. I was finding the movie pretty hard going, in that the acting was really getting to me and the storyline was achingly predictable, so perhaps I wasn't engaged enough with the movie to be 'thinking' about possibilities.
In short, this was a poor movie with terrible acting, but it is saved from being absolutely awful, to being just about watchable with a clever and dark ending. Is it worth sitting through an hour and a half for the ending? Hmmm I'm not so sure. For those of us who are doing 'The Nasties' challenge, certainly. For die hard horror fans, probably. For people wanting a bit of gore for a nights entertainment, probably not.
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
Well after 2 weeks of good movies, I couldn't expect another good 'un and indeed I didn't get one. It wasn't a 'bad' movie as such, mainly the acting irritated me. I found it very hard to get past the actors in the movie appearing like they were reading (very slowly) from a sheet without any prior reads or practise.
When the movie starts with 3 pretty girls (Gloria, Terri & Nancy) happily heading off to a concert in a car, hearing about the disappearance of lots of pretty young women, it doesn't take a genius to work out where the movie is headed. The weather takes a turn for the worse and they come off the road and into a ditch.
We then move to a mansion in the middle of nowhere. An elderly woman in a wheelchair (Mrs Penrose) and her very wierd daughter (Marion) live there. There is also a rather odd man who seemed to be a jack of all trades, including a medical professional? They have taken them in. Terri & Nancy are fine and should be ok to leave in the morning, but Gloria is unconscious and the old woman and her daughter suggest the girls wait until they can leave with their friend.
It becomes very clear that the old woman is not a very nice person. She spends the entire time she is on film lambasting men and how evil and nasty they are. It seems to stem from her hatred of her ex husband, her infidelity and the suggested interference with a child. She also seems to think her very odd looking daughter is having it away with a never-ending list of men (chance would be a fine thing). We are also shown her son, who is presented as a wierd, unkempt man who lives outside and likes to peep at ladies taking showers. We find out he is Mrs Penrose's son, who she refused to acknowledge when her hatred of men started. Marion looks after him.
So, the scene is pretty much set. Most regular horror viewers could write the rest of the story with ease. Slot in some whispered 'Things don't seem quite right' from the 2 conscious girlies (No sh*t Sherlock!).
The inevitable need to go for help which leads to the obvious death of 1 girl (which has so many disappointments, I won't even start).
The 'coming to' of our unconscious lady and repeat of our 'Things don't seem quite right' conversation.
A slightly less disappointing death of a second girl (perhaps because it happens off screen).
Hinting to the possible murderer.
A bit of back story.
1 remaining girl getting to the bottom of everything and a bloody ending.
That pretty much has it covered, anything else that happens is incidental, except that is for the ending! Yes its bloody and yes our murderer is revealed, but the twist when it comes is one that surprised me. I loved the twist and I'm surprised I didn't consider it before. I was finding the movie pretty hard going, in that the acting was really getting to me and the storyline was achingly predictable, so perhaps I wasn't engaged enough with the movie to be 'thinking' about possibilities.
In short, this was a poor movie with terrible acting, but it is saved from being absolutely awful, to being just about watchable with a clever and dark ending. Is it worth sitting through an hour and a half for the ending? Hmmm I'm not so sure. For those of us who are doing 'The Nasties' challenge, certainly. For die hard horror fans, probably. For people wanting a bit of gore for a nights entertainment, probably not.
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
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