What Was I Thinking?

I'm going to pull something that I know men hate about women, I'm changing my mind...again. I almost deleted my last post a couple of times, but decided against it just before my finger twitched too much. This is why I have decided not to give up on my blog just yet: my dad. See, he got me into horror movies. Even though he didn't watch them much over the last few years, it was something that we still talked about. Months back I went to where he worked to pick up what remained of his personal stuff there. When I walked into his office, I had this overwhelming sense that I would see him sitting in his chair, and of course he wasn't there. I'm not sure how long I stood there, seemed like several minutes though, and stared at the chair. I was remembering him sitting there like I had seen him so many times before. While I didn't get upset over it, I did feel sad. I guess that feeling has stuck with me, and horror movies just reminded me more of him, so I pushed them off to the side. My dad didn't like when I did stuff like that, and I could hear him in my head telling me not to do that all week because he liked that I was taking my love of horror films to a new level with my blog. Who am I not to listen to my dad? So, I am back to give it another shot. If I only get one review a month in, then so be it. I'm not going to worry about that anymore.

Back in March when I went to this years Horrorhound Weekend Indy, there were a few guests there from Laid To Rest (2009), and the upcoming sequel. Since at the time I had yet to watch Laid To Rest, I didn't go up to any of them. I thought about getting their autographs as part of a giveaway, but as a general rule of mine, I don't usually talk to the guests if I have never watched any of their movies. I don't really want to say, "To hell with your movies! Just give me your autograph," if they start asking what I thought of their movies. Not that I would...maybe. Speaking of giveaways, another reason I came back since I had yet to do that. Anyway, several months later, I sat down to watch Laid To Rest, and was pretty surprised by it.

A woman (Bobbi Sue Luther) wakes up in a casket, and doesn't know how she got there. Once she manages to get out of the casket, we soon learn that she doesn't know who she is, or even where she is. She finds herself locked in a funeral home. The only door she finds open goes into the room where the funeral director prepares bodies. She manages to find a phone and knows enough to at least call 911. The police try to trace her call (which is actually a lot quicker than it is shown in movies), but manages to pull the cord out of the phone before it can be traced. She then sees an older man (Richard Lynch) killed before her eyes by some guy wearing a chrome mask. She manages to get away before being killed herself, and is picked up by Tucker (Kevin Gage), who takes her home. But Chromeskull (Nick Principe) manages to find them, and no one is getting in his way of killing this woman.

Laid To Rest surprised me because it reminded me a lot of slasher films of old. Back in the day when no one cared who the killer was or why he was going around killing people. Outside of Chromeskull's real name, which doesn't help at all, we know very little about him. One of the things we know is that he has killed a lot of women. He isn't above killing a guy, but women tend to die in more horrible ways. He also has a shoulder mounted camera, and sends the tapes to the police. We never even get to see what he looks like, his face anyway. It was really the whole mystery behind the killer that kept me into it more than anyway else. Forget the details, just give us some awesome kills.

That doesn't go to say that Laid To Rest has its share of problems though. A big part of the plot calls for no phones, or not enough gas to get very far with. If things like that manage to happen once or twice it isn't above reason, but writer/director Robert Hall manages to stretch this paper thin. This did bother me, but I didn't let it get to me all that much. Another thing that Hall manages to run paper thin is no matter how far someone walks or drives, they always seem to end up in one of three places. That isn't completely true, but it sure feels like it at times.

If you are looking for a pretty gory film, this one will be what you are looking for. There are some very cool kills to be found. Slicing off one's face, knife behind the eyes (and can see the eyes bulge out some when the knife movies). There probably could have been more blood for some of the effects, but they still looked very good. The acting was okay. I didn't completely care for Bobbi Sue Luther, but then her character was a bit dumbed down after taking a blow to the head. I liked Kevin Gage better actually. Lena Heady plays Gage's wife in the movie, and doesn't have a real big role. You can also find Sean Whalen, who's character did make me chuckle at times.

The combo of the gory effects and the mystery of the killer really sold Laid To Rest for me. Chromeskull seems unstoppable at times, but there were also times that he would get knocked over easy, or seemed very human as well. Not saying he is anything more than a human, but it reminded me of Micheal Myers for example. You think he is down and then he is up and chasing you again. These things helped me get pass the low points of the movie, but it didn't for everyone. Laid To Rest gets average scores on both IMDb and Netflix. If it wasn't for the effects, that is probably where I would have put it as well. For me though, the effects managed to raise the level of enjoyment, so it gets a little higher than average score from me. Worth a watch if you manage to find it.
4 out of 5 Would gladly watch just for the kills again

Hearing Voices In Static Part Two

I have had one busy week. Work has been either busy or super busy for me all week so I am very happy to see the weekend. I have a short week this next week. Only working three days since I will be going to a concert on Thursday. The weekend also means that I have time to write, and I have a lot of writing to do. By the time I get home and get a few things I want to get done around the house and on the net, I have time to work in a movie or do a review. Since I had three movies being taken out of Instant Watch, and I discovered a movie I wanted to see at the theater was going to get pulled Friday, all I had time for was watching movies. Hopefully I can get all four reviews done this weekend so I can start a series review on Monday. I'm also nearing my 900th post and I have no idea what movie to watch for that. Time will tell I suppose. I will start things off with the first of four movies that I watched, White Noise 2: The Light (2007).

Abe Dale (Nathan Fillion) is out with his family having dinner together. As his wife begins to act strange, and his son says that he isn't feeling well, a man (Craig Fairbass) comes up and pulls a gun. Abe's wife and son are both killed. Abe eventually tries to kill himself with pills. As the doctors rush to save him, Abe passes away. The doctors do manage to bring him back, but not before we see Abe going through a tunnel where his wife and son are waiting on the other side. Now that Abe is alive once again, he starts to notice that some people have a bright white light around them. He is told that is a normal thing for someone that is brought back from the brink of death, but then he notices that the people he sees with this light around them are being killed. Not really murdered, just some sort of accident usually. Abe decides that he will try and save the people that he sees with the light around them, and hopes that the next leap will be the leap home. Opps, sorry. Wrong show.

I remembered watching White Noise years back, and thought I had done a review for it. I didn't see it on my list though, so I am assuming I watched it just before I started doing reviews. I remember liking it a lot, even if I don't recall most of what happened in it. It doesn't matter with White Noise 2 though. Even if you have yet to watch the first movie, White Noise 2 doesn't try to connect itself with the original film. It is a stand alone movie, so it did lose some points for that. The only way this movie connects itself with the original film is through the use of white noise, which doesn't play much of a part of the plot. Abe can see things in the static of a TV station, or hear voices through it and other devices. There is a quick explanation of what white noise is, and the voices will usually single to Abe when someone around him has the light, but it is never used like it was in the original film.

Even though White Noise 2 has nothing to do with the original film, it is still a good movie. The plot moves a little slow at first. When Abe decided to try and save people, it became a little repetitive for a bit there. Each situation was different, but the end result was the same. Once it gets pass that part though, it because a really interesting movie. Abe discovers that he isn't supposed to save these people after all, because if he does...well, I will let you discover the reason. I had to wonder what the point was if he wasn't supposed to save these people, and the answer surprised me. It goes off in a direction that I wasn't expecting. I loved the plot, but there were things that bugged me to the point that I ended up not loving the movie. Abe could see ghosts for whatever reason. Some seemed to be rather random, while other ghosts were those of the people he didn't save. At times they are rather hostile, not that they hurt Abe in any way besides give him a scare. I guess I would be a little pissy too if someone knew I was going to die and didn't try to stop it. I don't really know if that was the whole point of it or not though. I thought they could have used the white noise in a better way, and the ending got a bit silly.

I am assuming that the ghosts were real people with a digital effect to make them look ghostly. Outside of that though, not many effects were used. There was more blood when someone got beat up than there was when people got shot. The acting was at least pretty good. Nathan Fillion does well in the lead role. Some people complained his character was a bit too dark and never smiled much. If I had lost my husband and son, I probably wouldn't be all that cheerful either. Katee Sackoff plays the part of Abe's possible love interest. Her character is the opposite of Abe's. She is more perky and happy. There is also Adrian Holmes, who plays the part of Abe's best friend.

I have to give credit to Matt Venne for keeping the story interesting. He could have written a script where Abe just goes around saving people, or trying to anyway, but it became much more interesting than that. Director Patrick Lussier also puts together a good film. I think I would have loved this one more if the ending had been different. Maybe more open, keep us wondering what would have happened instead of showing us. Even so, White Noise 2: The Light is well worth checking out. In a way it is nice that it isn't connected to the first movie since anyone can watch this one and enjoy it without wondering what they missed from the first movie. Currently it is no longer on Instant Watch, but maybe it will be back. If you are interested in a plot driven movie, check this one out.
3 out of 5 Wondering who will meet me at the end of the tunnel

Possessions Gone Bad

My plan for today was to start a new series review. When I checked the other day on Netflix, I noticed that The Exorcist Chronicles (2007) was going to be taken out of Instant Watch. No big deal, I could still get my series review in. But that didn't work out too well since I messed around and took a week to get two reviews in. When I checked on Netflix last night, there were a few more movies going to be taken off Instant Watch, so the new plan is to get those watched and then, hopefully, get to the next series review. Over Labor Day, I did manage to watch Shark Night 3D. If you would like to know what I thought of that movie, just head on over there. Don't forget to come back here though.

A reporter (Deitre Courchesne, I think) is looking for Doctor Eric Forester (Richard Cross). Forester was a renowned psychiatrist who was granted permission by the Catholic Church to document and prove the validity of demonic possession back in 1983. Over several months he visits four cases where it is believed a person has been possessed. Being a person who doesn't believe in possessions or the Devil, he first interviews each person and/or people related to the case. He also talks to the priest that is doing the exorcism. In the first case, he just talks to everyone and listens to a tape of the exorcism of a young girl. From there though he does get to see what happens during on in person. After the last case, Forester calls it quits and is never seen or heard from again. The film that was made was later turned into The Exorcist Chronicles. Now the reporter is hot on his trail.

I thought that The Exorcist Chronicles might be a pretty good film. The majority of the movie is shown in documentary style, with the story about the reporter mostly being book ends. In truth, the story about the reporter didn't even need to be there. I think it was included to give the movie more of a shock ending, but it could have been done even without the present day story. Some people who claim to get this movie, when most didn't it would seem, say that the film was trying to show what a real exorcism looked like. I don't know if that is what director/writer Will Raee, with Paul Cama also getting a writing credit, was going for though. I didn't have a problem with the story, even though there seemed to be more talking than exorcisms going on. The movie itself seemed rather grainy, maybe to reflect it being films in 1983, and a little too dark in places. There was some annoying music being play during the majority of the movie. It wasn't that the music was bad, I've heard better but still wasn't bad, it was more that it was being played almost all the time. The exorcisms should have been enough to up the tension levels, no real need to have music trying to do it for you. Another big problem, for me anyway, was the way it was edited. Forester could be talking to three different people and the conversations would jump back and forth between them. I didn't have a problem following it, sometimes the conversations were related, but I just found it very annoying at times.

Outside of the lights flickering at times, there are no special effects. I don't know if turning the lights on and off qualifies though. The acting wasn't all that great. I thought that Richard Cross was okay in the lead role at least. I didn't care for his acting all the time, but for a small budget film, he did okay with it. The rest of the cast wasn't so good. As someone else mentioned on Netflix, I wasn't sure if they were trying to act like normal people, or if they were just that bad of actors.

It didn't take long really before I realized I wasn't going to like The Exorcist Chronicles. I didn't give up on it, like I have some other movies I have watched, but I knew it wasn't going to turn around enough for me to like it. There is a mixed reaction on Netflix on rather the exorcisms were realistic or not. The characters will throw out that the exorcism can take days to complete, but every one that is in this movie seemed to only take minutes. I just wasn't buying into it very well. If you happen to be interested in watching this, if you have Netflix, then it will still be around for a couple of more days. Even though I can't recommend that anyone rush to go see it, it might appeal to people that are really into this type of sub genre. Then again, since next to no one is talking about it IMDb, I don't think too many people ended up liking this one.
2 out of 5 Being possessed apparently makes you pee a lot

That Weird Indian Guy

One has to love a three day weekend. I just got back to work last week, went a lot quicker than I thought it would, and I already get a three day weekend. I will be working the rest of the week, all next week, and then only three day week after that. If my plans don't fall through, which they tend to do for some reason, then I will be heading out for a Foo Fighters concert that week. I'm excited about going, as it will be my third time going to see them. Meanwhile, I watched The Manitou (1978) and Apollo 18. I also plan to go see Shark Night 3D in a couple of hours, and hope to get that review up tomorrow night. At least for now The Manitou was the last film that was being taken out of Instant Watch, so I will be getting back to a series review soon.

Karen Tandy (Susan Strasberg) has a problem. We meet her while she is in a San Fransico hospital having a lump on her back just below her neck checked out. Doctor Hughes (Jon Cedar) doesn't believe that the tumor is what it seems at first. Having examined it, and looked at it thanks to x-rays, they do know that it growing at a very fast rate, and even think it looks like a human fetus. That can't be what it is though, right? Karen goes to see her ex-boyfriend Harry (Tony Curtis), who happens to be psychic (or so he says anyway). Harry tells her that he believes everything will be fine, but doesn't like what his tarot cards has to say. After trying three times, he gets the exact same cards. That night Karen says things that are not in English. The next day Karen is going to operated on, but when Hughes gets ready to start his first cut, Karen wakes up and starts to chant. This causes Hughes to cut his own hand. At the same time, Harry is meeting with an older woman, telling her what she wants to hear, when she suddenly starts to chat as well. She begins to float across the room, and then throws herself down the stairs. Harry begins to believe that what is inside Karen is a 400 year old medicine man who is being reborn. To make matters worse, he is supposed to be the most powerful of his kind, and he isn't a very nice guy. Harry gathers some friends to help, but will they be able to stop the Manitou?

The Manitou is a movie that I have had in my DVD queue for a good while now. It has been moving up my list for some time, I believe it was sitting in the 20s before I watched it, so I probably would have gotten around to it soon so I could remove it from the DVD queue. Why have the DVD sent to me when I can just watch it through Netflix? I was a little worried about this one, so I kept putting off getting around to it. The plot sounds very strange, but the movie ends up being even more strange than that. This was one of those movies where you may not really like the movie, but you still end up at least enjoying it because of how weird it is. Legends had it that a full grown man would be born, killing the host. I don't want to say what it was that comes out, but it wasn't what I was thinking of, that is for sure. Throw in some special effects that look like they come out of a sci-fi film, and it gets even more weird. The Manitou was based on a book by the same title. Word has it that director William Girdler, last film he made as he was killed while scouting a location for another film, was so excited after reading the book by Graham Masterson that he started making phone calls as soon as he could. Those that have read the book, and watched the movie, say that the book took things much more serious than the movie did, but the movie is worth watching for the camp alone.

Since it has been a while since I watched this one, I don't recall anything real gory happening. There is at least one person that does end up with a lot of blood on him though. The effects are mostly used for the last half of the movie. There is a hospital floor that has lots of fake ice in it, and it looks very fake. There are also a lot of...I guess you could call them lasers towards the end as well. If you thought an Indian coming out of another person was weird, you haven't seen nothing until the end of this movie. The acting is about the same as the effects. Some of it is pretty good, while some of it isn't. Tony Curtis is the main attraction I would guess. He does a good job, but he does manage to really ham it up in some scenes. He does manage to inject some humor as well. Burgess Meredith has a small role that is almost funny as well. Stella Stevens plays the part of the person who taught Harry everything he knows, and also looks like she has a really bad fake looking tan going. Michael Ansara plays the part of an Indian on Harry's side who tries to stop the Manitou.

The first thing that I noticed about The Manitou is how slow the movie starts off. We learn about Karen right away. It also doesn't take long to figure out what it is inside her may not be a tumor after all. She knows she will be going under the knife very early in the movie, but it takes 20-30 minutes later before that actually happens. We do learn a little more about the characters that are involved in the story, which I appreciated, but it just seemed like a long time to advance the plot forward. I can't say that I enjoyed the story line all that much, but it was weird enough to make it a fun movie. Makes me wish I had not put it off for so long. If you have yet to watch it, you should give it a try. I think The Manitou is odd enough to get most people to enjoy watching it, if for no other reason than to poke fun at it.
3 out of 5 If I ever have kids, I hope it is the normal way

Roleplaying Nightmare

I was hoping to avoid three months with less than ten posts three months in a row, but it just didn't work out that way. Hopefully I will avoid having four months in a row. With my current obsession, Facebook games, and now being back at work, I will need to find a balance that will allow me to work movies and reviews in. I have managed to watch a few movies though. Even one review. Last weekend I went to go see Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark in the theaters. But before I did that, I managed to watch Girly (1970), or Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly, the original British title, but Girly is much easier to type so I will just stick with that. Hopefully I will just have one other movie I will review after this before getting back to doing a series review.

Girly (Vanessa Howard) and Sonny (Howard Trevor) are out having fun and looking for someone. They eventually find a homeless guy in the park and convince him to go home with them to Nanny (Pay Heywood) and Mumsy (Ursula Howells). The man is given the name Soldier (Robert Swann), and is told that he has to follow the rules. Basically the rules are that they have to act like one big happy family, and play any game that they are asked. If they don't follow the rules, then they aren't sent to the angels. Eventually Girly and Sonny meet "New Friend" (Michael Bryant). They manage to kill the woman that New Friend is with in a way that makes New Friend think that it was his fault. They get New Friend home and he plays along with the game for the most part. He also comes up with a new game, creating tension between the happy family members and turning them against each other.

Even though Girly has the label of horror movie attached to it, I didn't feel like it was much of one. I'm sure I would feel differently if I was one of the people that they took home with them. From what other fans have said, Girly was based off a play by the same (original title) name. In the play, Mumsy is the mom of Girly and Sonny. She is looking for more children since she can no longer have any. The movie version, by writer Brian Comport, these things are not so clear. It is never really said why they go find guys to join their family. I guess in the play they find both men and women, but in the movie it was always guys as far as I could tell. I was also never sure if they were related to each other. It is never said that they are, and one line from Mumsy made me believe they were not related. When speaking to Nanny, Mumsy says: "Remember Nanny, you are just the Nanny and I'm the Mumsy." This could have only been to put Nanny in her place, which it did, but it also made me think that this had been going on for a very long time, and Mumsy wasn't always Mumsy. Then again, I could just be over thinking it all. Girly had some interesting moments to it, but as a whole I found it to be a bit slow. The violence is suggested more than shown. Even when it is shown, it felt rather tame. It lacked the attention grabbing kick that it needed to really put it over the top. I understood why New Friend didn't try to leave on his own, in a way anyway. With his believing that the death of his girlfriend was his fault, there was that hanging over his head if he did leave. There wasn't anyone else that knew about it, so the secret was safe as long as he stayed. They showed what happened when someone had tried to run away, but not what happened at the time they did try. Because of that, I had a hard time trying to figure out why they didn't just up and leave.

The highlight for the movie was Vanessa Howard. She manages to find that balance of crazy, yet glimpses of sanity. Innocent and childlike, yet sexy and mature. It is easy to write off Vanessa at first, but as the movie went along she really won me over. If it wasn't for her, I probably would have gotten bored with the movie and given up on it. Not to say that the rest of the cast didn't do a good job as well though. The only person I didn't care for much was Michael Bryant. That had to do with his character more than his acting though. For being thrown into this bizarre situation, he seemed to handle it very well. The only time he doesn't handle so well is when he first gets there, but he was also drunk at the time.

Girly has managed a nice following over the years. While it has an average rating on Netflix, IMDb users give it a 6.8 out of 10 on average. I guess this is just another movie that some might call a classic that I just didn't connect with. Even though I loved the performance by Venssa Howard, it wasn't enough for me. With the story moving slowly, and with not a whole lot going on most of the time, I didn't feel bored by it, but I did feel it was missing something. The horror wasn't there for me, even though one person does lose his head. I was waiting for the end of the movie to help me decide how much I would like this one, and to see how it was going to wrap up. The ending seems to be a big problem for a lot of people. It doesn't wrap up, but instead leaves things open just as the order has been mixed up and things felt like it could get even more interesting. I don't mind open ended films, but this was left a tad too open. It was worth the watch, but I don't see myself going back to it anytime soon.
2 out of 5 I could easily be the character of Girly!