Posts Tagged ‘scary movies’

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Don’t Breathe (2016)

October 12, 2016

Starring: Jane Levy, Stephen Lang, Dylan Minnette
Director: Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead [remake])

Bottom Line: Somehow, years after Eminem shared his vivid and sometimes scary tales of life in the slums of Detroit, horror filmmakers had the brilliant idea that these lonely projects are the perfect backdrop for a scary movie. Much like last year’s amazing and unique It Follows, Don’t Breathe once again takes us into the depths of Detroit, where a young girl named Rocky (Jane Levy) and her friends hatch the perfect plan to rob an old, blind war veteran that lives alone in an abandoned neighborhood. This plan is able to come to fruition mostly because Rocky’s friend Alex (Minnette) has a father that works for a security company and they are able to use that connection to gain access to people’s homes. Obviously, things don’t go as planned and the old man is far more capable than they ever could have imagined.

Detroit is such a good city for horror movies. It’s hard to imagine many settings where a film like Don’t Breathe could work, but an abandoned neighborhood in the Motor City, where there is absolutely no human traffic, is the perfect place. And it’s easy to believe this is a man that wants to be secluded. What’s not as believable is that this is a man that would have a security system in the first place. He had a daughter that was killed by a motorist (possibly drunk, I can’t remember) and you get the idea that her death was the end of any connection he had to society. So why does he have this system? I guess living in an abandoned area would raise anyone’s paranoia, but he’s well prepared for intruders and has Cujo for a guard dog. I’m not really buying it and you kind of realize the security system only exists for plot purposes and that it doesn’t really make sense for the character. Of course, pointing out plot holes in scary movies is a silly practice…

…but Don’t Breathe is a good scary movie. Once you can get past some of the silliness (like the team finishing off a joint just before breaking into the house – nothing like a good high when performing an occupied home invasion!) Don’t Breathe is a solid thriller – it’s crazy tense with lots of good scares. And the poor, victimized blind man is even scarier than you can imagine. I’m yet to see the remake of Evil Dead but the team of director Fede Alvarez and Jane Levy as the star are a good match here and that project is now on my must see list.

Don’t Breathe is currently the best horror film of 2016 and one of the best films in the genre of the last several years. It’s a must see for fans of scary films and an all around good time at the movies.

Replay Value: Not as good as It Follows, but definitely worth seeing again.
Oscar Potential: Can’t imagine any.

Grade: 6.5/10 (Recommended/Must See)

SPOILER ALERT: Okay, so the big surprise of the movie is that the blind man has the woman that accidentally killed his daughter locked up in his basement. She was found not guilty of vehicular manslaughter and was able to go free. And now she’s in his basement. Think about this for a second. How difficult would it be for a blind man to not only find out where and when to find this girl, capture her by surprise, and do so while making sure there are no witnesses.

Really?

Sequel Potential: Spoiler alert! Maybe. The blind man lives.

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The Conjuring 2 (2016)

June 29, 2016

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson
Director: James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring)

Bottom Line: Director James Wan’s The Conjuring was so good and scary that I forced my wife – who hates scary movies – to watch it. She just had to; it was an absolute must see. Unfortunately, The Conjuring 2 loses quite a bit of luster. The story isn’t as interesting and the scares aren’t as original or nearly as startling. It’s like most sequels: a subpar rehash of something that worked really well the first time around. There are some cool sequences that involve the painting seen in the poster above, but most of what happens in the actual haunted house is substantially more boring and redundant.

The Conjuring 2 is an okay horror movie, but far from the must see that the original was. Nothing you need to see in theaters and it can really probably just be skipped. Fans of the original are probably more likely to be disappointed than not.

Replay Value: Probably won’t ever see it again.
Sequel Potential: James Wan movies usually becoming unkillable franchises.
Oscar Potential: None.

Grade: 4.5/10 (Watchable/Forgettable)

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The Babadook (2014)

April 19, 2015

Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman
Director: Jennifer Kent

Bottom Line: The Babadook is an extremely strong horror film from first time director Jennifer Kent. It’s a story about a mother and her young, troubled son dealing with grief several years after her husband died in a car accident driving her to the hospital to give birth. In the midst of the mother struggling to keep her son from acting out in basically any public setting – particularly school – a mysterious children’s book appears in their home, filled with disturbing pop out pictures and a sinister message. Soon after, the son becomes obsessed with The Babadook and the mother begins to unravel as the book’s monster begins to haunt their home.

Kent utilizes atmosphere and a slow build to create scares and tension in The Babadook and the result is quite easily the best horror film of 2014 and one of the better movies overall. The film feels like a cross between A Nightmare On Elm Street and Jumanji, but back when Freddy Krueger was still scary and a bit of a mystery. The monster is pretty unique but, although it gets title billing, mostly takes a back seat to the relationship between son and mother and Essie Davis’ remarkable transformation. Davis was so good in The Babadook that I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better performance in a horror movie. In fact, I was so impressed that I kept thinking about how much her acting reminded me of Ellen Burstyn’s work in Requiem For A Dream, which is one of my all-time favorite performances. Davis genuinely steals the show.

The Babadook is smart, unique, and genuinely scary. It ranks up there with The Conjuring and It Follows as the best horror movies of the past five years or so. Complete with a knockout performance from its lead actress, it’s a must see film for horror fans and highly recommended for all but the most squeamish filmgoers.

Replay Value: I’d watch it again.
Sequel Potential: This is the kind of strong film that typically launches a franchise that eventually becomes completely watered down.
Oscar Potential: No Oscar attention, but lots of accolades from everywhere else – particularly as a debut film and for Davis’ acting.

Grade: 7/10 (Must See)

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It Follows (2015)

April 5, 2015

Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe
Director: David Robert Mitchell

Bottom Line: It Follows is hands down the best horror movie I’ve seen in a movie theater in many a year. That’s partly because I’ve been mostly skipping horror movies for the past decade, but mostly because it was very good. The concept is unique – a curse is passed on via intercourse and the monster follows that person until it kills them or they pass the curse on to someone else, but if that person dies, the monster follows the previous again. The film gets most of its scares out of building tension and the fact that literally anyone could be a potential threat – the monster has the ability to look like anyone, including friends and family, so any person in the background shot is worth keeping an eye on. It’s admittedly creepy and plenty fun.

It Follows benefits from the fact that everyone involved seems to be taking things seriously. Often in horror movies the actors seem to be playing caricatures of people rather than actual human beings, but the kids in It Follows feel like genuine teens and, although they occasionally make questionable decisions, they don’t come across gregariously dumb. Maika Monroe, who plays Jay, the girl with the curse, is especially good and this movie should propel her to future stardom. While her acting range remains to be seen, she certainly can crush the horror genre and I’m looking forward to whatever she does next.

It Follows is essentially director David Robert Mitchell’s debut film and he will be another name to look out for. It Follows is one of the more original horror films to come out in years and Mitchell deserves all of the credit as writer and director. The monster is scary and quite a bit ambiguous – everything is pretty mysterious here. Mitchell also creates plenty of tension through his wide lens shots and a score so prominent it might as well be part of the cast. It Follows takes a big cue from John Carpenter’s Halloween, relying on small scares, music, and a slow, methodical threat.

I thought this movie was great. It’s everything you’re looking for in a scary movie and it delivers on all levels. It Follows is the first must see film of 2015 and has potential to be a classic in the horror genre.

Replay Value: I think this will be good over multiple viewings.
Sequel Potential: There is a lot left to be explored here – it’s perfectly set up for both sequels and prequels.
Oscar Potential: I would say no.

Grade: 7.5/10 (Must See/Excellent)

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