It's been a while...

But join me in a ramble about "cultural appropriation" in horror flicks right over HERE. Feel free to put in your two cents!

Woohoo!

Finally caught up!

Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: Oscar is a young boy picked on by his classmates. He entertains himself with his knife and fantasties of stabbing things. Eli is a young girl who moves into his apartment building. They take a shine to each other, but will Eli's secret come between their friendship and love?

Scariness factor: It's not a jump in your seat type movie. So though I'm going to say it's low on the scariness scale, that's not a bad thing.



Gross-Out Factor: Nothing overwhelmingly horrid. Some throat-slittings and a few attacks.



Complaints: Honestly, this movie is amazing. So I'm more than willing to overlook this singular complaint. Nonetheless, it needs to be said, as the movie would've been flawless if they hadn't kept this one scene in: The cat scene. CGI out the ass. And terrible. I like the idea. And it could've been done subtly. But instead, they jerked out a bit of CGI and just made it look silly and incongruous in comparison to the realistic cinematography in the rest of the movie.



High Points: Jesus. Where to even begin?

• This is THE best vampire movie I've seen. Hands down. It perfectly captures what's so haunting about the folklore of the vampire and doesn't vamp it up (no pun intended) with the sexy-vampire twist that seems to be all the rage nowadays.


• The acting is amazing. The young boy is wonderful, and the young girl: Jesus. She will knock your socks off.


• It's a love story, and a beautiful love story at that. The funny thing is that this came out at about the same time as Twilight, and yet, this flick is what Twilight only WISHES it could be. I haven't seen a love story this great (horror or no) in a long long time.


• It's delicate and tender, which is all the more strange given that it's a horror flick.


• It's haunting. The story itself is haunting. And some of the scenes will just blow your mind with how haunting and strange and surreal and spooky they are.


• I could go on and on. Really, it's an amazing film, horror or no. N/A and I saw it in the theater, and it was funny because it seemed like every 10 minutes or so, I'd find him just looking at me with this look like "I cannot even believe what I am seeing and how good this is." And during the car-ride home, he called at least three people JUST to tell them to go see the film. And he remarked to me, "I think that movie is in my top 6 films OF ALL TIME."

Overall: I had high hopes for this film since the trailers were so promising. And normally, I end up disappointed when that happens. But not with Let the Right One In. This movie is amazing, and not even just as a horror flick. It's a love story like none you've ever seen. It's beautiful. It's haunting. It's spooky. It's fantastic. I'd have to agree with N/A: This is definitely high on my list of Favorite Movies of All Time.

Grade: A+

From Hell

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: Someone is killing prostitutes in London, and his name is Jack the Ripper.

Scariness factor: Moody. But not scary.



Gross-Out Factor: I think some throats are slit. And you might see innards. But other than that, nothing is really strongly standing out to me.

Complaints: Two words: Heather. Graham. No wait. Six words: Heather. Graham. With. A. Cockney. Accent. *shuddering* I don't like Heather Graham. She's cute. But she plays Rollergirl in like EVERY movie she's in. She doesn't exactly have range. I think the only roles I've ever really liked her in are Boogie Nights and when she was on Scrubs. Other than that, UGH. So yeah: #1 complaint. #2 complaint: This movie just leaves me pretty much indifferent in every which way. I don't hate it. But I don't love it. There's nothing particularly noteworthy or remarkable about it. And the big reveal at the end? Wah wah wahhhhh. Lame.

High Points: Johnny Depp's good in pretty much everything. And the mood is nice at times.



Overall: Meh. Don't love it. Don't hate it. Could live without ever having seen it.

Grade: C

The Signal (2007)

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: What appears to be bad tv reception is apparently much more sinister--a transmission that, filtered through tvs, cell phones, and the like--is turning people insane and causing them to kill one another.

Scariness factor: There were some good tense moments. And the idea--as it played out--was spooky (though not terribly original).



Gross-Out Factor: Pretty gross. It's definitely not left up to the imagination.

Complaints: There was a jarring change in mood about midway through the movie--it went from really kind of intense to weirdly funny. And although the funny parts WERE actually funny, it felt kind of inconsistent in comparison to the beginning. Also, it was a bit TOO cloyingly artsy fartsy at times. (It had moments where it felt like it was really trying too hard to be indie.)

High Points: There seriously are a couple really good white-knuckled, OMGTHEY'REGONNAGETHER scenes, and I was impressed by those. There are also some haunting scenes--the way the transmission takes over people is blunt and disturbing. And spooky.



Overall: I enjoyed this. N/A (my dude) said it was terrible, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. It's no classic, but it's definitely tons better than a lot of the garbage coming out (*COUseriouslydowereallyneedanotherremakeofaclassicGH* *SNEFridaythe13thEZE*), and thinking back, I'd recommend it.

Grade: B/B+

Pitch Black

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: A space transport-vessel crash-lands on a seemingly deserted planet. The survivors (one of which is an escaped convict with eyes that just happen to be able to conveniently see in the dark) are forced to fight for their lives as the planet slides into darkness and its predators awaken.

Scariness factor: Should've been. But wasn't.



Gross-Out Factor: Ugh--I can't even remember. I don't think it was anything TOO nasty though.

Complaints: SO. BORING. Really. I just didn't find this movie interesting. At all. I mean, the interesting part of the premise (having to fend off predators in the dark) doesn't even begin until halfway through the movie. And Vin Diesel is annoying as FUCK.

High Points: There was like ONE scene where you see the people moving through the pitch black, and when one of them waves a light-source around them, we see the RIDICULOUS number of predators just waiting for them in the dark. THAT was cool. The rest: boo.



Overall: Quite frankly, I thought this was boring and sucked. It could've been an interesting premise. But it wasn't.

Grade: D-

Night of the Living Dead (1990)

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: Something strange is going on and the dead are coming back to life.

Scariness factor: Nothing too special.



Gross-Out Factor: Nothing TOO terrible.

Complaints: I didn't really have any overriding complaints--I mean, it's a zombie flick, and I heart zombie flicks. And it's a pretty good zombie flick at that. Then again, it's a remake of a DAMN good zombie flick, so that taints it just a TINY bit for me.

High Points: The special effects are great in this. And it was enjoyable cataloguing the differences between this version and the original--for example, in this version, the female lead is actual a strong character with agency, which was nice to see, as that's something that's always bothered me a bit about the original. It's also a bit more high-paced than the original. But at the same time, it kind of foregoes the interesting character development of the original to make way for this high pacedness. The difference in endings also makes this a lot less interesting as a social commentary. Nonetheless: it WAS a fun movie. I won't discount that fact. Oh, and the zombies are cool.



Overall: This is a fun flick, especially for a remake. What makes it decent as a remake is that it doesn't try to maintain the intense seriousness of the original--it has a sense of humor about itself, and in a remake of such a good movie, that kind of fends off bitter comparisons between the two.

Grade: B

The Feast

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: It's a typical weeknight at the local dive bar, that is until a man busts in with tall tales of vicious, man-eating creatures headed their way.

Scariness factor: It's got some high-tension moments, though the humor saps out a lot of the build-up of tension (though not in a bad way)



Gross-Out Factor: Pretty damn high. A dude gets an eyeball pulled out, in full-on, graphic grossness. And that's just one example.

Complaints: Really, I'm hard-pressed to think of any.

High Points: I'd seen this movie at the library dozens of times and thought nothing of it because it looked like a shitty straight-to-video flick. And then I saw it on someone's TOP 100 HORROR MOVIES list. And then I saw it on someone else's TOP 100 HORROR MOVIES list. So I decided perhaps I really needed to check it out. And there's a reason that it made it onto these people's list: It's is a goddamn fun and funny horror flick. I rarely enjoy new horror flicks, but this movie was seriously a blast. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and it also doesn't take the horror genre too seriously, so it's an enjoyable self-deprecating ride. It's high-paced throughout, never a slow moment. The 90 minutes will breeze by with action-packed momentum. It's got strong female characters--in fact, they're the only ones who really seem to have their heads on their shoulders throughout. And they kick ass and explode the "helpless female" horror movie trope. But most importantly, this movie is funny as HELL. I found myself laughing out loud in parts. It sets you up to expect certain things out of it, and then it very cleverly undercuts all of your expectations.



Overall: I really really enjoyed this movie. It is funny, fast-paced, has great special fx, and is surprisingly underhyped. Go check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Grade: A

I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW...

I owe you all like five reviews.

They're coming. Promise.

Hopefully sometime this week if all goes well.