Horror Movies Blog - Daily Horror Movie Reviews

Everyday - Any Genre - From Anywhere

Thriller

Open Grave (2013) Review

by Leave a Comment

open grave reviewSynopsis: A man wakes up in the wilderness, in a pit full of dead bodies, with no memory and must determine if the murderer is one of the strangers who rescued him, or if he himself is the killer.

My Quick Review: I had forgotten about Gonzalo Lopez Gallego, the director of Open Grave, despite him being the man behind El Rey de La Montana, a very exciting thriller with some awesome POV shooting scenes. The problem is that since that movie he also directed  Appollo 18, one of the worst found footage of recent memories (according to critics, so maybe I should go and watch it to make my own opinion soon).

The early scenes in Open Grave are gorgeously shot and demonstrate all the technical ability of Lopez-Gallego. What could have been another variation of the “strangers waking up in a locked place” genre ends up quite elevated by the direction and a story that shows some originality.

To say more about the story would spoil the fun and I’d suggest to stay clear of any trailer or promo materials if you wanna enjoy Open Grave to its fullest.

There are only 2 main issues with the movie: the pacing is a little bit off at time,  there are some lackluster scenes when I did have a look at my watch. And the script, while entertaining, keeps the cards too close to the chest and prevents us, the viewers, to be totally concerned or involved with the characters (who are not being helped by poor dialogues). This is a case of keeping the viewers too much in the dark.

Open Grave has been out in Europe for a few months now and will be stateside in early January. It’s the perfect little thriller to start 2014 in style.

My Rating: 6.5

Director: 

Origin: US

Click Here to Watch Open Grave Online Now!

 

House at the End of the Street (2012) Review

by Leave a Comment

house at the end of the street reviewSynopsis: When a teenager and her mother move to a little town, the girl finds that an accident happened in the house at the end of the street. But things get complicated when she befriends a boy who is the only survivor in the accident.

Quick Review: Unfortunately, I don’t have much to say about House at the End of the Street since it is an average run-of-the-mill pshycho-killer story.

Everything here is generic (victimized loner, cute heroine showing cleavage in tank top, clueless adults, jackasses school students, pointless friends of the heroine….) and the only redeeming factor is the presence of both Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Shue. They provide strong performance amongst other weak cast members and despite a very poor script.

I don’t want to spoil much here but needless to say you won’t be much surprised or shocked by the few twists in the movie and you will wish that House at the End of the Street actually had a shorter running time since the last 30mn is an overlong game of cat and mouse between Jennifer Lawrence and the killer, that seemed to have been designed for the sole purpose of placing the camera where Jennifer’s cleavage would be at her most advantageous.

This movie was probably produced with young teens in mind as the perfect target market and is a really disappointing effort from Hush director Mark Tonderai.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: 

Origin: US

Click Here to Watch House at the End of the Street Now!

Body Double (1984) Review

by Leave a Comment

body double reviewSynopsis: A young actor’s obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.

My Quick Review: I have recently decided to revisit some Brian de Palma’s horror/thriller movies that I haven’t watched since I was a kid/teenager. Most of the time as you grow up, your perception or appreciation of certain movies change. It was the case with the Fury (very disappointing rewatch) and it’s the same with Body Double, a failed attempt by De Palma to mimic 2 Hitchcock’s classic: Vertigo and Rear Window.

I first watched this movie when I was about 13 years old. I was aroused by the eroticsm of the borderline softcore story , impressed by the main killing scene and shocked by the ending.

More than 20 years later, there is almost nothing left to please me anymore. The script is quite weak and drag for too long (especially with the foot chase scene in the middle that just would not end), the acting is weak (especially Craig Wasson as the lead man), the makeup risible (as a kid The Indian impressed me, not so much today) and you can see the ending coming from miles away.

Only 80’s nostalgic will find many things to be happy about (the fashion, the music, the whole movie’s mood), everybody else would spend their time better revisiting some other De Palma’s classics.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: 

Origin: US

Click Here to Own and Watch Body Double Now!

Naboer (2005) Review

by Leave a Comment

naboer next door reviewEnglish Title: Next Door

Synopsis (from IMDb): John has just been left by his girlfriend Ingrid. That day he allows himself to be seduced into a mystical and scary world, where it is impossible to separate truth from the lies

My Quick Review: I have to admit that on second viewings, Naboer left me perplexed. I had forgotten that I already watched this film a few years back. On one hand I remember now that I found Naboer to be great, but if I had all but forgotten about it, maybe it wasn’t so memorable.

The truth lies in between.Thanks to great performances from the 3 main actors and a great use of the sets on display, Naboer is a captivating movie with a couple of disturbing scenes that won’t release its tense grip until the end credits are on screen (and with a quick 75mn running time, there is no time to have a look at your watch).

On the other hand, the biggest fault of Naboer script is that it tries to be smarter than it actually is. Using some visual clues and some key dialogues, director Pal Sletaune wants to play with the audience while showing off big time.

I would of course still recommend the movie to fans of psychological thrillers, John’s descent into madness is indeed an enticing ride worth spending 75mn.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: 

Origin: Norway

Click Here to Watch and Own Naboer (Next Door) Now!