Category Archives: Horror Movie Reviews
Sinister (2012)
Sinister (2012)
Sinister is a very dark film. It is unique because the tension in the movie never really dissipates. Most horror movies have an attention grabber in the beginning, and then they have a few scenes that lighten the mood throughout the film. Sinister takes a firm grip on your mind and then twists. At best lightening the mood in the movie is slightly loosening the grasp that it holds on you.
Ethan Hawke plays a true crime author who moves his family to a property where an unspeakable murder has taken place. His goal is to write a book about what happened and hopefully find evidence in order to solve the crime in the process.
The film has all of the necessary elements that a great scary movie possesses. It has a solid main character portrayed by a very capable actor. There are disturbing images, and spine chilling spookiness. A number of surprises are thrown into the mix to keep you on the edge of your seat and sometimes catapult you somewhat above that edge. The villain is totally wicked, and the movie will stay with you long after it actually ends.
Sinister is Ethan Hawke’s best movie since Lord of War (2005).
James Ransone, Fred Dalton Thompson, and Vincent D’Onofrio all have very minor supporting roles. Ethan Hawke does a tremendous job of carrying the majority of the film on his shoulders.
One thing that I did notice is that the film was a bit scarier on the big screen and obviously that will probably always be the case. When I watched it at home, it was not as horrifying as I remembered. I did not jump as much during the jumpy scenes. This was not because I knew that they were coming, I just think that it was because the film was tailor-made for a larger screen. If you are going to watch it, then watch it on the biggest screen in your house, preferably at night and with the lights off to get the full effect.
Sinister means suggesting or threatening evil. The title fits the film like a glove. Although the movie was very well-made, it was hard to like it more than I did because of the subject matter. It is the best scary movie that I have seen in a long time.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
If you liked Sinister (2012), then you will probably like The Purge (2013).
Mama (2013)
Mama (2013)
Mama was a sophisticated attempt to terrify with a lack of follow-through. The film got my attention right out of the gate. The story grabbed me and sucked me in. As is standard with most scary movies, there were a few lulls as events unfolded on screen. But, for the most part my eyes were pretty much glued to the screen. I wanted to know who this Mama character was.
I am not afraid to admit that I was a little jumpy when Mama made her appearance. I actually did get chills running down my spine.
The movie was effectively scary. It did an excellent job of toying with my emotions; letting me know when something frightening was going to happen and then taking its time to get to that point. When it was finally time for something to jump out at me, I was not ready for it because my anticipation had ceased. It waits for you to let your guard down and then it attacks. After using this maneuver successfully a couple of times, you might think that I would get used to it, but I couldn’t.
The special effects in this film were incredible and I think that is a major contributing factor in why the movie was actually able to be horrifying. It was very realistic. It was so real that it was creepy, literally.
In my previous horror movie review of The Possession (2012), I mentioned what seems to be the basic horror movie outline these days. Mama was refreshing because it only very loosely followed that outline and that was a nice change of pace.
As the film reaches its climax, the story begins to unravel. Things stop making sense and many questions go unanswered. Amidst all of the confusion, the movie as we know it up until that point, basically takes a nosedive off of a cliff and kills itself. It was a shame because it really had a lot going for it until then. In my mind I was starting to compare it to The Ring (2002). The Ring was probably the last movie that scared me the way this one did. Except that The Ring had a quality ending. The ending of Mama was a travesty to the movie as a whole. It took something really good and destroyed it.
I rate this movie a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
Maybe if we are lucky, the DVD will have an alternate ending. Maybe the theatrical ending was just a joke. It was really that bad.
Side note: Jessica Chastain was hardly recognizable in Mama. Because of her short, cropped black hair, tattoos, and punk rock clothing, I didn’t even know that it was her until the credits were rolling at the end.
Frankenweenie (2012)
One of the darkest, creepiest Disney kids movies that I can recall in recent years.
The awesome, unique animation was obviously influenced by the warped brilliance of Director Tim Burton. It is basically the love child of The Nightmare before Christmas (1993) and Corpse Bride (2005). Ever since Burton made a name for his crazy self when he directed Beetlejuice (1988), every one of his movies has been a visually stunning work of art.
Burton takes the classic Frankenstein (1931) and puts it in a blender with Lassie Come Home (1943), Pet Sematary (1989), The Mummy (1932), Dracula (1931), The Wolfman (1941), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Gremlins (1984), and Godzilla (1954). The monster that is created from this movie concoction goes by the name of Frankenweenie.
Frankenweenie is a touching, heartfelt, twisted tale of a boy’s love for his dog, Sparky. After a Sparky dies in a terrible accident, the boy cannot cope. He tries to use science to bring his beloved dog back from the dead. His classmates think that he is doing the experiment to win the trophy at the science fair. In order to compete, the students try to raise dead animals of their own.
The entire film has a classic old-movie feel that is incredible. It is the first full-length animated film that I have seen that has achieved the sense of an earlier time in such a realistic way.
The movie has a handful of big names (Martin Short, Martin Landau, Catherine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder) that supply some of the characters voices.
Fun facts: O’Hara and Ryder played stepmother and stepdaughter in Beetlejuice. The character that Ryder voiced actually looked a lot like she did in Beetlejuice. Landau was in Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Ed Wood (1994).
The movie is rated PG. Parental guidance is suggested. I highly suggest that you view this movie before you show it to your little ones. It was pretty frightening for a Disney movie. That being said, you might just get pulled into this funny, clever, tender, superbly crafted film.
I rate this movie an 8.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
The Possession (2012)
The Possession (2012)
It is not often that I watch a horror movie. My reason behind this is not because I have anything against the genre. I watch a horror movie because I want to experience the rush of being scared. I crave the feeling of chills running down my spine as something eerie is taking place in front of my eyes. I long for the moment when I am so absorbed in what is happening in a film that when something jumps out at the screen it causes me to shoot out of my seat like I was fired from a cannon. When the show is over and there is complete and utter silence, I desire the paranoia that ensues as I fear that something is out there in the murky darkness and coming to get me. That is the whole point, right? A scary movie is meant to scare you.
Scary movies do not scare me anymore. At least most of them don’t. They just are not made like they used to be. The Possession is no exception. The film did not frighten me in the slightest. At best, the little girl in the movie who was supposed to be possessed (Natasha Calis) did a pretty good job of acting creepy. There were a few scenes that had things jump out at you, but they were too predictable. Not only was the movie predictable, but it was also not very original or surprising. As the film neared the end, it became more and more impossible.
The movie followed what seems to be the basic horror movie outline these days. It starts out at a scene that tries it’s best to be intense and attention grabbing. When that scene is over, the mood lightens and the story starts at a snail pace. Characters slowly develop and after a while, little by little, weird crazy things start happening. These things are often overlooked as a fluke until they get more and more intense. Usually not everybody realizes that there is some sort of problem until it is so blatantly obvious that you would be stupid not to see that something is wrong.
Finally when everybody understands that there is a predicament, somebody actually gets the idea to run from it or do something about it. This just makes the issue worse and it becomes more powerful. When the story reaches its climax, the problem gets solved. Everyone starts feeling better and they go back to leading their normal lives. Or do they?
That outline just about sums up The Possession and the majority of all of the other horror movies that are out there. There is the occasional scary movie that will surprise you. This was not one of them. It did not make me jumpy, nor did I get the chills. I never felt scared during the film at all. After the movie was over I did not get paranoid. I went to bed and slept like a baby.
I rate this movie a 4 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Run.
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