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Make me Shudder (2013) Review

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Make Me Shudder reviewOriginal Title: Mor Hok Tub Ha (มอ6/5 ปากหมา ท้าผี)

Synopsis: (from EnjoyThaiMovies) A group of Grade 12 students break into an abandoned building believed to be haunted by a student who killed himself over bad grades and also a teacher who was murdered. The students decide to challenge the ghosts by teasing and irritating them.

My Quick Review: As a new entry in the popular Thai Horror Comedy style, and being directed by Poj Arnon, the man behind the popular Hor Taew Tak movies, I was expecting to spend a good time in my local theater yesterday.

Unfortunately Make me Shudder did not bring me one laugh and/or scare for its whole duration. I was actually so bored, I happen to look at my watch more than once.

The movie feels cheap (there is mainly one location used during the entire time), whole scenes are stretched ad nauseam, and after 20mn I was fed up to hear the main characters fake shouting/moaning all the time.

I’m sorry to say that make Me Shudder does not bring anything new to the table and is just trying to surf on the success of Pee Mak, the king of Thai Horror Comedy. Unfortunately, a tired formulaic script, bad sense of timing the scares, and poor cheap 3D effects do not make for an enjoyable experience. To avoid at all cost.

My Rating: 3/10

Director: 

Origin: Thailand

Severed Footage (2012) Review

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Severed Footage ReviewSynopsis: Twelve severed feet in running shoes found on the shores of Western Canada have baffled the Police. A videotape is leaked anonymously from the authorities. This paranormal thriller may solve the mystery of the severed feet.

My Quick Review: If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while now, you already know that I’m a fan of Found Footage movies. So I was looking forward to watching  Severed Footage, a canadian horror movie based on actual events.

With that being said, while I’m much more patient with the format than most of my fellow horror critics, I have to admit that it takes way too long for anything to happen on-screen and I’m afraid by then, most people would have already turned their TV off.

I did not, thanks to likable characters (Mathieu Lessard is a hoot) and an acceptable and believable use of the camera throughout the movie (this is supposed to be a student documentary and it works this way). But still, more than 2/3 of the movie is just a few college students having fun and trying to get more information and footage for their school project. And if the characters are likable and believable, some of the acting is too amateurish not to notice (it becomes a real problem when the tension rises and the victims are clearly acting, especially the 2 girls).

In terms of scares, Severed Footage does deliver in the last 20mn or so. There is nothing you haven’t seen in other similar movies (Blair Witch being the most obvious here) but a couple of jump scares are efficient. The fact that all the background information and location are true add to the eeriness of the story as well.

As far as Indie horror movies go, and despite a very limited budget and no real professionals behind or in front of the camera, Severed Footage does its job. It is nevertheless a movie that only fans of the found footage/mockumentary genre might appreciate. If you’re not into this type of movie, Severed Footage will definitively not change your mind.

My Rating: 4.5/10

Director: 

Origin: Canada

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The Conjuring (2013) Review

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the conjuring reviewSynopsis: (from IMDb) Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

My Quick Review: I have to admit I wasn’t as impressed by The Conjuring as most of my fellow reviewers/critics.

Is it an efficient horror movie that provides a few scares and thrills? Most certainly so. Is there anything original about the proceedings? Unfortunately not.

Of course I did enjoy the 70’s settings and how James Wan is paying homage to some of the biggest classics from this period (The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror come to mind of course). He is crafty enough to give it a modernized style inspired by Asian Horror Cinema.

Therefore, the movie relies on tense build-ups, rare ghost/demon sightings and convincing performances to provide the goods, and you will find yourself looking for things in the dark more than once. But this is where the main problem lies. By not wanting to show us much,  the scares are few and far between.

James Wan is improving as a movie director with each of his movie and the Conjuring is probably his best-made film so far. Unfortunately it’s not the scariest (Insidious was) or the most horrific (Saw). It’s an extremely decent hollywood horror movie but for horror fans there is something lacking.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: 

Origin: US

Apartment 1303 (2007) Review

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apartment 1303 reviewSynopsis: (from IMDb) A modern ghost story which turns a love hate relationship between mother and daughter into a tale of horror.

My Quick Review: I can’t believe that they actually made a remake from Apartment 1303, a subpar entry into the Japanese Horror Movie genre.

There is nothing fresh about this haunted apartment ghost story and the usual tricks are being deployed, this time with poor camera work and atrocious acting.

Except for the main actress, Noriko Nakagoshi, everybody’s acting is extremely laughable, especially in the first 15mn of the film. As for the “scares” I was unimpressed and the ending is just plain silly.

Apartment 1303 is a pale copy of far superior movies such as Ju-On and Dark Water, and it seems that the recent american remake is even worse. Bravo!

My Rating: 4/10

Director: 

Origin: Japan

Art of the Devil 3 (2008) Review

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Original Title: Long Khong 2 Synopsis: The youngster Ta returns to his hometown. He misses his mother Daun, who was poisoned by his father Prawase, and soon he learns that his family will use black magic to bring her back. However, Ta's family will quickly discover the price of the black magic. My Quick Review: I was a bit confused while watching Long Khong 2 until I realized this was actually a prequel to the first Long Khong (Art of the Devil 2). The problem with a movie like Art of the devil 3 is that it actually deserved to be b called a Torture Porn movie since we can actually fast forward through most of the movie just to watch the good stuff. With no characters to relate to or empathize with, and a messy script, Art of the Devil 3 only exists for its Black Magic scenes. And then again there is nothing we haven't seen in Art of the Devil 2, and usually not as impressive or gruesome.Original Title: Long Khong 2

Synopsis: The youngster Ta returns to his hometown. He misses his mother Daun, who was poisoned by his father Prawase, and soon he learns that his family will use black magic to bring her back. However, Ta’s family will quickly discover the price of the black magic.

My Quick Review: I was a bit confused while watching Long Khong 2 until I realized this was actually a prequel to the first Long Khong (Art of the Devil 2).

The problem with a movie like Art of the devil 3 is that it actually deserved to be  called a Torture Porn movie since we can actually fast forward through most of the movie just to watch the good stuff. With no characters to relate to or empathize with, and a messy script, Art of the Devil 3 only exists for its Black Magic scenes. And then again there is nothing we haven’t seen in Art of the Devil 2, and usually not as impressive or gruesome.

My Rating 4.5/10