Let the Right One In

Let the Right One In is a Swedish film about a young boy,Oskar, and his love for his neighbor, Eli, who ends up being a vampire. The film is very interesting and different from most horror movies. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a horror film. Despite the violence and mild gore, there was nothing remotely scary about the film. It was more of a love story than a horror film. However, the lack of scariness doesn't make the film any less enjoyable.

The movie is one that many people may find boring. However, I feel that the way everything is drawn out really adds to the suspense of the film. Nothing is really in-your-face and nothing will make you jump, but seeing a young girl brutally attack a man and drink his blood is in itself completely terrifying. The scenery also adds a eeriness to the film. The movie is set is Sweden in the winter, so the entire film takes place in white snow. All the colors, especially the red of the blood Eli drinks, stand out brilliantly against the white background.

However, the blood, the murders, the woman bursting in to flames, and all of the other intense sequences are not what made the film. The acting was incredible. Not the acting of the adults in the film, but the acting of the children was incredible. Both of the children were around 13 when the film was released which means they were even younger during the making of the film. However, the acted as if they had been acting for years. The movie was so intense and passionate, the love between Oskar and Eli so deep and hard to portray, but the two children truly made the film believable. They both out acted the adults and I think if anyone else had been chosen to play either on of these roles the entire film would not have been as good. The bond between Eli and Oskar was shown beautifully by the children and the audience will truly believe that these children are in love.

Let the Right One In is a deeply moving movie. It is not only a film, however, it is a work of art. I would recommend this movie for horror fans but also for fans of romance movies. Just be prepared to witness a very unconventional romance.

-H

Paranormal Activity

Hey everybody! There's a new movie coming out called Paranormal Activity. It is supposedly the scariest movie since The Exorcist. Even Stephen Spielberg was freaked out by the movie, claiming it was haunted and returning it to the place where he got it. Unfortunately, this is an independent movie so it will not be released in most cities. But you can go to this website and ask for it to appear in a town near you: http://www.paranormalmovie.com. I ask you all to go this website, click the yellow demand it button, and type in Spartanburg, SC. J and I would both love to watch this movie and write an amazing review about it for you. It will only take a few seconds to demand this movie and you can even demand it near you. Thanks for your time!

-H

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

When I started this post, I almost wrote Monsters Vs. Aliens in the title, instead of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. This mistake would have been understandable, given the similarities between the two. Both are 3d, family-friendly titles with a cast of excellent actors. Monsters had Seth Rogen and Reese Witherspoon, Cloudy has the more underrated, but just as good Bill Hader, Anna Faris and Bruce Campbell. Both movies have well done action sequences with slightly ridiculous elements, though Cloudy ups the ridiculous factor with man-eating chickens and a massive "foodalanche." Overall, the two movies are a lot alike, and almost equal. I would rate Monsters Vs. Aliens slightly higher, but only by a small margin.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' strongest point is its voice acting. All of the cast turn in strong performances, even with the smallest parts. Neil Patrick Harris is funny as Steve, the hero's talking monkey, Mr. T is excellent as an overenthusiastic cop, Bill Hader is wonderful as Flint. But voice acting, normally isn't what you go to see a movie for, so for the rest of the film, the 3d was enjoyable, but not really worth the extra money to see. I was surprised how much the studio downplayed the 3d in this movie. I was happy to see that they didn't use it as a gimmick in the film, intentionally making things fly at the screen, like so many movies do. Instead they used it more to just enhance the viewing than anything else. It reminded me of Up, which is just as good, and almost identical in 2d as it is in 3d. Perhaps movie studios are finally getting over using 3d as a gimmick and just maybe we'll see a movie that actually uses the format to its full potential. I'm still hopeful Avatar will be that movie, but I'm skeptical it will ever happen. 3d is most likely doomed to be a gimmick and to die a slow death like it did back in the fifties.
But back to the movie, coming out of the theater, I had a good time, but the movie was still a little forgettable. Apart from the 3d element, I would say that this movie is only a small cut above the average CG movie that comes out every week. Perhaps seeing Up earlier this year spoiled me, but I want something a little more in my movies, even if they are intended for kids. Up was amazing mainly because it was about something and it had a purpose. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is just there. I did enjoy this movie, but only as something fun to take my mind off of life for a little while, nothing more.

-J

Black Christmas

Black Christmas is another horror remake that J and I have watched recently. I have never seen the original so I cannot compare the two, however, I can say that the remake was completely pointless. The story was stupid and way too confusing for a horror movie of that type. Black Christmas tells about a young man who kills his family after years of abuse, goes to an asylum and the breaks out on Christmas eve to return to his house and reek havoc upon the young sorority sisters who now live in the house.

The movie was extremely gory and shallow. Because of some weird obsession with eyeballs, we get to see many character have their eyes ripped out of the sockets or gouged out or have something horrible happen to them. However, none of the gore was truly satisfying. Everything happened much too quickly. None the murder scenes were drawn out and nothing was very suspenseful. And on top of that, we know who the killer is the entire time. He wears no mask and his face is clearly seen almost every time he pops up. There is absolutely nothing mysterious or creepy about him despite his yellow skin that was caused by a liver disease, and even that bit of information is offered up early on in the film so there is truly nothing disturbing about this supposedly terrifying killer. I must say, however, that there are a few scenes depicting cannibalism that are quite disgusting. I still would not call them creepy though. There was nothing in this movie that was anything close to creepy.

Going into this movie I expected the acting to be the most terrifying aspect of the film. However, the acting wasn't as terrible as I expected. Michelle Trachtenberg and Lacey Chabert have starred in decent films, but horror doesn't exactly seem like their cup of tea. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Kristen Cloke, on the other hand, have both acted in The Final Destination films that I have seen and enjoyed. However, even a cast of young, pretty girls can't redeem this film. The majority of the acting feels very unreal and shallow, while the actor who played the notorious killer Billy overacted every scene he appeared in.

Black Christmas was only an hour and a half long, however, it felt like it took forever to watch. The ending was unoriginal and the entire plot was completely predictable. It wasn't the worst movie I've

ever seen, but it was no where near being the best.

-H

Eraserhead

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of finally seeing the cult classic Eraserhead. I first became intrigued by this movie when I saw that it came in at number three on a list of the most disturbing horror films of all times. Released in 1977, Eraserhead is a movie that is far beyond it's time, in some since. Despite the fact that it was made in the 70's, it was filmed in all black-and-white and lacks the dirtiness and grittiness of most horror films from the era. However, it does not need that grittiness to be on of the most disturbing films I have ever seen.

The beginning of the film is very strange. It feels like a very bad acid trip minus all the bright colors. The film begins with the floating head of a young man and some sort of lumpy, rocky looking structure in the background. On top of that, there is absolutely no dialogue for the first 10 and a half minutes of the film with the only noises being odd, carnival-like music. Not that this movie needed much dialogue at all. IMDB's trivia section on this movie even stated that the film even had trouble with funding because the script for the entire film was twenty pages long. But for anyone who goes to watch this movie, do not be discouraged by the lack of dialogue and the weird beginning. This movie gets much, much, much better.

I really don't want to say much about the plot of the film because I feel that this movie is more entertaining when you are not expecting what will happen next. However, I will say that the movie tells the story about a young man named Henry and his struggle with parenthood and that it will make you never, ever, under any circumstances, want to eat chicken again. But, anyway, it's not just that the movie is better when you don't know what's coming, it's that I couldn't tell you what this film was about even if I wanted too. I have absolutely no idea! Director David Lynch has never revealed to anyone what the meaning of the film is and I doubt he ever will. He has, however, come out and said that no one has even come close with guesses about the meaning. If I had to make an educated guess I would suggest that film is promoting abstinence and displaying the common fear of parenthood. But that's just my guess.

The style of the film is incredibly artsy so if that's not your thing, don't even bother with this film. If you don't mind thinking deep and terribly disturbing thoughts then you may just enjoy it. Many of the scenes are shockingly thought provoking and will make even the most fearless person squirm in their seat. It's not that the images are truly terrifying, the concept of the film (or at least what I believe to be the concept of the film) is on a completely different level than most horror films. It is so much deeper and will truly make you think about life, love, and how sometimes mistakes are made that cannot be fixed and how they can haunt you for the rest of your life.

Eraserhead is by far the most disturbing film I have ever seen, but I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys deep, thought-provoking movies. But be warned, once you see this film you may never be able to erase it from your mind.

-H

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

I suppose you could say that J and I have been on a horror remakes kick. First it was My Bloody Valentine and now The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. However, my review for this movie will be very different from the one for My Bloody Valentine. Partly because I have actually see the Chainsaw Massacre (and it is one of my all-time favorites) but mostly because this movie actually made sense, unlike My Bloody Valentine. But enough of that. I'll spend the rest of this review comparing the new and old Chainsaw Massacres. I will not bore you with taking a paragraph to summarize the plot because if you do not know this movie then you must have been living in a hole for the last thirty years, but I will say this. The plot in the new movie has been slightly changed. In the original film, the teens are driving through Texas when the meet a strange hitchhiker and pick him up. He goes crazy, pulls out a knife, and then the teens kick him out. After that all hell breaks loose and the bloody mess known as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre ensues.

Now I will discuss the changes made to the remake. The first scenes of the new film are similar to those of the original, however, there are a few minute differences that hardly make a difference to the film. For those of you who've seen the original but not that new film, the brother and sister characters have been replaced by a boyfriend and girlfriend and the crazy guy hitchhiker from the original has been changed to a crazy girl. The change made with the relationship between the characters does absolutely nothing for the plot except for gives it that modern cliche that insists that all relationships are doomed in the horror world. The change from male to female crazy hitchhiker actually worked quite well to escalate the tension of the scene. There is also one more major change that I think actually truly helped the film. This may be considered a spoiler so be warned......okay, for those of you who decided you don't give a crap about spoilers so here it goes: the hitchhiker in the new film actually pulls a gun out from between her legs and shoots herself through the head. This may sound very random, but the girl had previously been sobbing and saying things about "never going back" and other completely terrifying things. Maybe it's because I'm a woman, but the fact that this woman was holding that gun between her legs was equally disgusting and disturbing. But more than that, this suicide actually makes a lot of sense by the end of the film and it really helps to make the characters actions make sense. In the original film, the teens stumble upon this house while looking for gas, then the just walk inside without waiting for anyone to invite them in, the proceed to run around and scream in terror. Now, I'm not dissing the original film: it's one of my favorites and it's a classic. However, I do think that the characters got what they deserved in the original. They were idiots. They trespassed in a strange house in the middle of the country and didn't even think about the fact that they could be walking into the house of a crazed, cannibalistic, chainsaw-wielding family. In the new film, however, the teens come upon the house because they are sent to look or the sheriff so that he could look at the body of the suicide victim. And then when they couldn't find him, they saw the house and went to ask for a phone, where they actually talked to the man who lived there and went inside. Then, the only reason they went inside without permission was to look for their missing friend. So, while their actions were not completely intelligent, they weren't being down-right stupid either.

Okay, moving on. For a horror film of this type (the cliche slasher film) the acting was actually quite impressive. Jessica Biel was the only actor in the film that I recognized and she was the leading role. And she did surprisingly well in this role. Her fear was believable and her screaming was amazing. I mention this because, in the original film, the girl's screaming drove me insane. She didn't even sound scared, she just sounded somewhat bored and possibly even psychotic. So, Jessica Biel was a large improvement.

Now, for the most important subject: Leatherface. In the original, Leatherface was terrifying. He was a purely evil psychopath who choose his victims at random and feasted on them with his half-dead grandpa and other family members. However, the new film gave him a little more depth. We find out in the new film that Leatherface wears his masks made of other people's faces because of a horrible skin condition that he had as a child. While this does explain a lot, I think it takes away from his terrifying demeanor. Watching the film, I found myself feeling quite sorry for him and almost cheering him on. He has always been made fun of because of his skin so he deserves to wear the face of the pretty, young Jessica Biel! It may sound odd, but I think I liked him better when I thought he was just crazy and hungry for some human flesh!

The film also added in some other characters that were kind of strange and irrelevant. Leatherface is given some new family members, including an odd looking young boy and some random women. The women don't play much of a role in the film other than adding some strange sub-plot about the young hitchhiker from the beginning having a daughter who was kidnapped by Leatherface's family. The young boy, however, plays a pivotal role (*spoiler*) by helping Biel's character escape from Leatherface's house.

The ending of the movie was quite exciting. It was a little different from the original but it still worked. All in all, I think The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake did the original film justice. Those who enjoyed the original film should still enjoy the remake, maybe just not as much as the original. And for those who haven't seen the original, the remake can stand alone and be enjoyable for anyone.

-H

My Bloody Valentine

Okay, so I'll admit. I have never seen the original My Bloody Valentine. I am not sure if I was so confused by this movie because of that fact or if it is just a downright confusing movie. My Bloody Valentine starts out with a series of pictures and newspaper clippings that tell about a mine collapse and the one man who survived. Then it cuts to a hospital where this one many come out of a coma and begins to kill all the nurses. And then it cuts to the mines where a bunch of teenagers are partying on Valentine's Day and we get to see them all killed by this same crazy guy. Now, you would think that this would all be spoilers to this movie, but it's not. All of this happens within the first fifteen minutes of the film. J and I actually thought we may have accidentally skipped to the end of the movie because of all the blood and gore in this first scene, but, no, that's really how the movie starts.

Now to talk about the actual quality of the movie. I'll start my saying this: the dialogue was terrible. Maybe even beyond terrible. The script was so cliche and the presentation of the horrible script was done in an excruciating manner. However, the acting wasn't all bad. The majority of the acting was mind-numbing, but Jensen Ackles, from the TV series Supernatural, did a reasonably okay job. However, I think that even A-list, big name stars couldn't have made this dialogue worth listening too.

Despite all of this, however, the gore was absolutely beautiful. It seemed like throughout the entire film there was extreme violence then about ten minutes of cliche drama then another random scene of extreme violence. It was all slightly random but it worked in this confusing mess of a movie. The violence was brutal and gory and almost redeems this movie. Almost.

My Bloody Valentine was extremely confusing and cliche, but the violence was beautiful. I'm not entirely sure if I would recommend this movie, but I suspect that horror fans who enjoy psychological thrills might at least find the movie somewhat entertaining. I didn't particularly enjoy the movie myself, but it did make me want to see the original to see if it made any more sense than the remake.

-H

Darkon

I learned something new this week. I have always been a little disdainful of documentaries. I considered them something that old people, like my parents, enjoy watching on PBS. But yesterday was the first time in my life that I watched a documentary purely for enjoyment. I learned that watching a documentary can be a very enjoyable experience, given that you are interested in the film’s subject.

The film that I watched yesterday was Darkon, a very enjoyable documentary centering on the grown men and women that play LARPs, or Live Action Role Playing games. The games are relatively simple in rules, yet complex in execution. All the players are split into nations and races, each player has their own character that they have personally created, and the nations form alliances, go to war with each other, or just peaceably live together. Basically, the game is like creating a separate life for yourself in a fantasy world that you can influence through your actions. The land of Darkon meets one weekend every two weeks with a continuous story and characters. The film Darkon, especially focuses on two men, the leaders of the two major imaginary nations in the play world . These two nations begin at peace, but through the course of the film, relations begin to strain, until it seems like war is the only option.

The first time I was ever introduced to LARPs was when I saw last year’s Role Models. At the time I thought it looked like a fun way to spend your weekends and wondered why I had never heard of it, being the nerd that I am. I’m not so much of a geek that I do not recognize the pathos of a grown man being immersed in a fantasy world like this, but that does not deter me from wishing there was a group around town that I could try out. That is what makes this film so endearing, it is intelligent enough to recognize the humor in the game, yet does not make fun of or in any way look down upon its players. The film shows us both the real life and the in-game lives of the players in such a way that we see them as people, not some caracatures of friendless nerds living in their parents’ basement.

The story in this documentary is compelling, I found myself rooting for the nation to win their battles, even though I had never met these people and had never played any kind of game like this before. The drama in this film is more compelling than anything a writer could dream up, and it’s all the more compelling since it’s real. The camera work was excellent, getting all the action at all the right angles. The music especially stood out as well done. Normally, a documentary has little music, and if it does have some, it’s the kind that you barely notice as being there. In Darkon, the music complimented the action well and I found myself humming a few bars long after watching the film.

Overall, I thought this little film was endearing, emotional, and excellent for those people who don’t enjoy documentaries.

The Best thing about this movie is that you can enjoy it for free online, at snagfilms.com

-J