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Indie Horror Movies

Frankenstein’s Army (2013) Review

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frankensteins-army-reviewSynopsis (from IMDb): Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein’s work to assemble an army of super-soldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades.

My Quick Review: I’ve got mixed feelings about Frankenstein’s Army. On one hand it did entertain me and I just loved the whole universe they created, especially the monsters looks and overall design, really brilliant stuff. On the other hand I’m on the fence regarding the use of POV style shooting, barely justified in the film.

The strongest elements of Frankenstein’s Army are the undead super-soldiers. I just loved each and every one of them and wished we could have seen more of them actually. Found footage style can increase the tension and some of the shocks (and it certainly does a few times in the movie) but it also does render the whole happenings quite chaotic. We never have the time to really get a good look at each menacing soldier and while it can work in a 1-monster movie such as Cloverfield it’s a bit of a waste in Frankenstein’s Army.

What the POV style brought to the table though, is a bit of a video game flair. At times I felt like I was watching somebody playing Bioshock or Wolfenstein and it surely added to my overall enjoyment. But this came at the price of losing focus and creep factor.

So, would Frankenstein’s Army have been better if it had been shot the traditional way? Probably. But as it is, Frankenstein’s army is a real indie gem that deserves to be watched. And who knows, if it makes enough money we might get a follow-up with even more inventive undead soldiers!

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: 

Origin: Netherlands/US

Click Here to Watch Frankenstein’s Army Online Now!

Jug Face (2013) Review

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jug face reviewSynopsis (from IMDb): Jug Face tells the story of a pregnant teen trying to escape a backwoods community when she discovers that she may be sacrificed to a creature in a pit.

My Review: I did not enjoy watching Jug Face. Not that it is a bad movie (it isn’t) but there is something about such backwoods community that just rub me the wrong way.

Jug Face in this regards is more a drama movie with a few supernatural elements that a full on horror movie. The true horror is human so those expecting a fast paced gorefest will be disappointed. Jug Face is a slow burn,  and is therefore quite boring at times to be honest.

I believe the movie would have actually worked better as a hillbilly’s family drama and did not need the ghostly stuff at all. By keeping the action focused on Ada’s battle against her family’s tradition and her attempts to escape the community, we might have had an Indie Gem worth winning prizes at sundance. Not my kind of movie but most definitively a better one.

My Rating: 5.5/10

Director: 

Origin: US

Click Here to Watch Jug Face Online Now!

Beneath (2013) Review

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beneath reviewSynopsis: Six high school seniors celebrating with day’s excursion find themselves on rowboat attacked by man-eating fish and must decide who must be sacrificed as they fight their way back to shore.

My quick Review: I have to say I’m extremely surprised at how bad Beneath turned out to be as soon as our group of teenagers start to jump in the water. Indeed, It all starts very wrong from this point forward with the director’s decision to actually show us the Lake monster. And trust me it was a very bad idea.

I remember telling myself after the dream scene at the beginning of the movie:” this is actually creepy and well shot”. The way we could see the monster’s fin sowly approcahing the girl, unaware of what was going on behind her, actually gave me big hopes.

I also liked the fact that they mixed some POV shots here and there without making it the main attraction (quite refreshing after a slew of bad found footage movies). Finally the acting looked decent enough. But then, we see the monster…

So far, for an indie movie, Beneath had looked good and the cinematography was great so why would they ruin everything with a cheap looking, non scary, ridiculous monster is beyond me. To make things worse, most of the characters start to act stupid and become total assholes while there is absolutely no tension whatsoever left until the end of the film.

I have seldom seen such a screwup after a promising start and even had to fast forward some scenes (that’s how annoyed and bored I was).

My Rating: 4/10 (2/10 if it wasn’t for the first 10mn)

Director: 

Origin: US

If you really need to, Click Here to Watch Beneath Online Now

Nine Dead (2010) Review

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Nine Dead ReviewSynopsis: Communication is the key for the survival of nine strangers who have been kidnapped by a masked gunman and told that one of them will die every ten minutes until they discover why they are there.

My Quick Review: Usually in this kind of Game movies, the film starts with the strangers in a locked space (Cube, Saw movies…)so it was a nice little change when in Nine Dead, we actually see a bit of the killer’s preparation before the game begins, like the room set-up and the kidnappings.

The concept of the game here is very similar to Fermat’s Room where, in order to win/survive, they have to figure out what they have in common. Obviously the characters here are very distinct and quite cliches but it somehow worked and the director manages to keep the tension going for the whole movie (I never looked at my watch) despite the fact that me almost never go outside of the room (apart from some flashback and exposition scenes). As far as the guessing game is concerned, it was mainly resolved by the middle of the movie but there was some nice missing pieces that kept on coming until the end.

Talking about the end, this one was a huge disappointment for me. Once the reason of the game has been found out, there is no real final twist and one of the character’s fate is left in suspense without making too much of a sense.

Nine Dead is an entertaining movie with a simple but efficient plot that will keep you guessing. With a better end and some better acting it could have deserved a better rating but I had a good time watching it and this is already more than I can say for many recent movies I’ve seen.

My Rating: 6/10.

Director: 

Origin: USA

Click Here to Buy and Own Nine Dead or Watch It Online Now!

 

Absence (2013) Review

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absence reviewSynopsis: Doctors are baffled when an expectant mother wakes to find her nearly-to-term pregnancy apparently disappear overnight. Police investigate the situation as a missing child, and only her husband and brother trust her version of events.

My Quick Review: I don’t have much to say about Absence except for: “Please stop releasing found footage movies as an excuse for a lackluster script and lack of budget“.

I have always been defending the POV style horror genre because I believe, when properly done, it can generates some of the best scares seen on screen. Unfortunately, too many directors rely on the gimmick to cut budget and expand a script that would be best suited for a short.

This is the exact case here with Absence. Would that movie have been part of an anthology, I would have possibly rated it higher (there are 2-3 decent scenes and the acting is not too rough). As it is, Absence is a borefest.

The characters are uninteresting (especially the brother who is borderline misogynist and obnoxious), and worse, the whole film is scare-free.

The fact that we can quickly guess what happened to the baby just adds insult to injury when we are being shown one “kidnapper” during the end credits (did the writers/director believe we would be shocked by this big reveal?).

My Rating: 3/10

Director: 

Origin: US

Click Here if you want to watch Absence Online (really?)