Cabin in the Woods

Modus Anomali (2012) Review

August 14, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: A guy wakes up in a shallow grave in the woods with amnesia and has to work out what’s going on. He finds a cabin and the mystery begins to unfold. (from IMDb)

My Review: Modus Anomali is a strong entry into Indonesian horror cinema. Joko Anwar’s (The Forbidden Door, Dead Time:Kala) 4th movie has a simple but efficient pitch that maintains the tension high throughout the whole movie.

By keeping the camera very close to him, Anwar creates a suffocating feeling making us as lost and wary of the surroundings as his main character. While some of the scenes in the forest tend to be a bit on the lengthy side, as soon as something is happening, we are right back in the middle of the action.

On the negative side of things, I wasn’t a big fan of the use of english throughout the film since this is not the actors first language. Why make such a decision, especially since there aren’t that many lines in the film anyway.

The violence in Modus Anomali is raw and sometimes unexpected with the right amount of gory effects while the mystery surrounding the killer(s) in the woods offers a satisfying conclusion. The last reel actually kept me on the edge of my feet.

Once again Joko Anwar is proving that he is a director to definitively keep an eye on and, together with the Mo Brothers (Macabre, Killers) and Gareth Evans (The Raid:Redemption) belongs to an exciting new wave of young directors out of Indonesia..

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Joko Anwar

Origin: Indonesia

Absence (2013) Review

July 30, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: 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: Jimmy Loweree

Origin: US

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

Truth Or Die (2012) Review

July 21, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: Young British boys and girls travel to an isolated cabin after being promised a night of heavy partying. Instead of the fun they hoped for, they meet a killer out to reap vengeance on them for the death of his brother.

Quick Review: What started as an interesting take on a classic Truth or dare game ended up being a lackluster movie, too afraid to go all the way with its own concepts.

Truth or Dare is a UK import with really good production values and subpar acting that starts on solid grounds but somehow loses its way around the 1hr mark. There is a gruesome game involving battery acid but from this point on, the script shies away from any graphic scenes and kind of goes into typical crazy-guy flick territory.

Even a “supposedly” shocking double twist can’t save the end, especially when once again the writer have decided to not go all the way with their own story concept.

More a thriller than a Horror Movie, Truth or Dare starts with a good premise but ultimately fails to deliver.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: Robert Heath

Origin: UK

Click Here to Own and Watch Truth or Die Online Now!

The Hills Run Red (2009) Review

July 14, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: A group of young horror fans go searching for a film that mysteriously vanished years ago but instead find that the demented killer from the movie might be real.

Quick Review: The Hills Run Red is a breath of fresh air amidst the horde of average to bad slasher movies that make it to VOD or DTV.

First, it has an original script, second, the acting is way above average for this kind of movies and third, everything is aptly put together by Director Dave Parker.

All the codes of a slasher movies are being deconstructed in The Hills have Red and, as a result, you won’t see most of the twists and turns coming at you. Of course a few of them are a bit contrived but at the end of the day it will keep you guessing until the end.

Sometimes the movie can get a little bit too self conscious (“nobody cares about that subtextual shit, get to the kill!!” utters one character during the movie) and having characters reacting like “real people” used to watching horror movies is nothing new (Scream and more recently, The Cabin in The Woods are the most famous examples) but the script is still smarter than your average horror movie.

Because the movie is well paced, it’s definitively a fun ride and there is plenty to enjoy for gore and T&A lovers. And let’s not forget the killer, “Babyface”, who is hands down one of the most memorable killer in recent memories (what a great mask!!).

P.S: Don’t stop when the credits roll, you’ll miss one creepy last scene.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Dave Parker

Origin: US

Click Here to Own and Watch The Hills Run Red Now!

Hatchet II Review

June 16, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: Marybeth escapes the clutches of the bayou-butcher Victor Crowley and returns to the swamp with an army of hunters and gunmen, determined to end Crowley’s reign of horror once and for all.

My Quick Review: Victor Crowley is back and the killings are nastier than ever.

The second Hatchet movie starts right where the other one left off with Marybeth barely escaping from the swamp just to go back there and finish the job.

Right away, I was glad to see Tony Todd in a much proheminent role than in the first Hatchet. He’s got such a great presence that everybody around him pales in comparison. With the exception of Crowley of course.

The group of people led to the butchery are even more generic and dull than in Hatchet and, therefore, things get quite uninteresting when Crowley or Reverend Zombie are not on screen.

Of course the killings are still very gruesome and make up for the rest of the story. But I sincerely hope that Hatchet III will bring something new to the table. As it stands, Hatchet II is like a porn movie where you’re waiting for the next sex (here gore) scene and everything else is just boring filler with bad acting.

My Rating: 4/10 (sober), 6/10 (drunk)

Director: Adam Green

Year: 2010

Origin: US

Click Here to Own and Watch Hatchet II Now!