My Mission Statement is to bring you positive reviews of movies that I see. There is far too many reviewers out there that Have nothing nice to say about the films that they review. I am here to help you find a movie that you will like and not to tell you what not to see.
Does anyone out there know what happened to the Independent
Film Channel?
Where is the Independent Films or has it just moved to just
IFC? Now I know that IFC is owned by the same people that own AMC and for that
matter what happened to that channel as well? Both of these channels have gone
so far from their original premise. AMC which used to mean American Movie
Classics and now it is best known for its Television content. That being said
there are still some great television shows on IFC as well but I admit that I
have not has all of that time to check them out but what I find interesting is
that the channel is now showing mainstream movies and what I find is the most
interesting is that the films are uncensored but they also have commercial
breaks during the films.
They always said Always on Slightly Off and I have to wonder
about the status of this channel.
I do like the fact that they remain uncensored and the
Horror programing with the fact that the shows remain uncut however the
commercials have a tendency to get annoying.
IFC has also began to
produce their own films under the IFC Films banner. Is it safe to assume that with the technologies of the
current day and age there are so many different ways to seek distribution.
IFC Films has recently released Cam2Cam and I am giving this
flick the “Not Bad” Look. This film is clearly distributed by IFC Films.
Helmed by genre veteran Joel Soisson and utilizing current technologies
Cam2Cam follows a Horror Flick premise with the suspense aspect as a young
American woman is murdered in Bangkok while
on the internet chatting with who she believed was another woman. The opening sequence
is quite disturbing and suspenseful for the viewer reminding us that with the
current technologies we aren’t safe in our own homes.
Soon her younger sister Allie
arrives in Bangkok searching for the answers in regards to the death of her
sibling and the fact that only her body was found and not her head.
Quickly becoming aquatinted of
the other residents in the building that her sister was murdered in Allie is
soon introduced to Cam2Cam which is a variation of Social networking and cam
porn. Soon Allie becomes the target of her sister’s murderer but many twists
are abound for Allie and us the viewer as well.
I have to admit that my
expectations were low with this flick but it wasn’t bad. This flick is a low
rent hostel flick and despite the lack of named actors with the exception of
young Australian up and comer Tammin Sursok there really isn’t any other
mainstream talent in this flick. This I feel works for the film.
While the movie maintains that
shot in a 3rd World Country feel as well as the American far from
home aspect the flick still takes the Hitchcockian approach to suspense in a
modern setting.
Netflix Subscribers this flick is
definitely worth a look.
5 Dead Bodies
6 Breasts
One shot that will make you think
of the Crying Game
In 2012 I brought you a look at a new direction of Horror
with V/H/S which was an amazing utilization of Found Footage and recent
technology with a look at both the supernatural and the darkest sides of Human
Nature.
Featuring works from some of the upcoming directors in the
genre V/H/S gave us a glimpse of Amateur porn gone demonic, an ill-fated reconciliation
on Vacation, a Halloween night of terror as well as aliens on Webcam.
An instant hit on the festival circuit V/H/S was met with critical
acclaim as well as massive fanfare and a year later V/H/S/2 arrived on the
scene.
This time the film showcased the works of many established
directors telling the stories of a GoPro filmed Zombie outbreak, a camera
implant that allows the patient to see the dead, a Asian cult, and an alien
abduction.
Now I have admitted here on The Video Creep that I was not
too much of a fan on V/H/S/2 as with many sequels I had high intentions but
being that V/H/S is a tough act to follow and there were many that were fans of
the film and I say that to each their own. I am pleasantly surprised to say that it was
not the final entry in the series.
That being said V/H/S Viral was announced this past Summer with
a premiere at the 2014 Fantastic Fest. Now I have to admit that I am late in
bringing you this review as I made the decision to wait for the BluRay Release
of the film as it featured a short film and special Features that were
exclusive to the release.
Like it’s predecessors Viral features a wraparound story
following characters that are shown the videos and the chaos that ensues. Viral
however takes a different direction with Vicious
Circles helmed by Dead Girl director Marcel Sarmiento.
As the title suggests the videos featured in this film are
in fact viral. Now for those of you that aren’t aware what is viral video?
“A viral video is a
video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing,
typically through video sharing websites, social media and email.”
Primarily following a young Videographer Kevin and his
girlfriend Iris that he spends most of his time filming until one night a
police chase of an Ice Cream Truck goes through his neighborhood and looking at
the chance for 1,000,000 Hits video on the net at first decides to pursue the
chase.
However after the truck passes him Iris soon goes into a trance clearly
hypnotized by a video on her phone and begins to follow the truck with Kevin in
hot persuit.
This story is told in between the segments however occasionally
the narrative shifts to different characters that Kevin encounters in his
persuit of the truck and these characters are followed leading into the next
film.
As for the Films, They take a different direction than their
predecessors as the films while maintaining the Found Footage format are more
documentary films or feature GoPros among other cameras allowing for more edits
and cutaways.
Dante the Great the
first film directed by Gregg Bishop is one of my favorites. Following a Magician
who acquires a magic cloak that allows him to perform real magic however the
catch is that the cloak has to be fed humans and it is not too particular or
who it is fed to keep the magic going.
The film follows the authorities trying to stop the Magician
who has become too powerful to stop and his assistant is the only one that can
stop him.
Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo contributes Parallel Monsters. Another interesting
tale treated to us internationally in which an inventor invents a machine that opens
a doorway to another dimension where he meets another version of himself
however he finds that this is not what he thinks it is. Trust me this one is Fd
Up! Fans of ABCs of Death will like this
one.
The directing duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead bring
Bonestorm to the Table. Following a
group of teens in Highland Park who head to Mexico to film a Skateboarding
video where they encounter a group of the walking undead where they must fight
off to return to the border. The effects of this piece is amazing with the use
of practical effects along with the occational CGI and the use of the GoPro
cameras make you at times think that you are playing a first person shooter
video game.
Finally after the film and you stay after the credits you
are treated to Gorgeous Vortex.
Tulsa native Todd Lincoln gives us a strange film about a unknown organization
of faceless masked strangers that are stalking a female serial killer for
unknown purposes.
While visually amazing I had trouble following the film’s
plot and narrative which I think was the point but it was still a great film.
I really liked V/H/S Viral and I hope that it isn’t the last
in the series but it would be a great way to end the series in a trilogy.
35 Dead Bodies
4 Breasts
14 Beasts
Arms Breaking
Compound Fractures
Exploding Skeletons
Skateboard Bashing
Penis with teeth
Stomach Vaginas with teeth
Skeleton Fu
Skateboard Fu
Camera Fu
Taxi Fu
As I said Earlier fans of ABCs of Death will like this
Many of you
know that I am a massive fan of The Universal Monsters and especially of the
Trinity which consists of Frankenstein, The Wolfman and Dracula, and we all
know that the classic monsters are resurrected far more times than their
namesakes and I am loving every minute of it.
Now as far
as vampires go there have been some interesting interpritations in recent years
and some are better than others.
I am not
even going to try to tell you how many times or incarnations that Count Dracula
has taken on the silver screen or how many interpretations of Bram Stoker’s
original novel have been adapted over the years, which I find quite ironic
considering what the first film Nosferatu went through when Bram Stoker’s widow
ordered that all copies be destroyed as she would not allow for any screen
adaptations of her husband’s work.
Needless to
say There have been plenty of adaptations of the novel and personally I prefer
Bela Lugosi’ performance in the 1931 Film and have been highly loyal to the
film.
Film audiences
in recent years are not stupid. Along with the invention of the internet which
is referred to as “The Information Super Highway” for a reason and we are all
aware that Dracula actually existed, therefore most of the incarnations in the
past decade have featured not just Dracula but Vlad the Impaler as well.
Prince Vlad
III, Prince of Wallachia is an interesting character in history. In College I
dated a young girl from Romania and was interested to learn that where Dracula
is viewed as a villain in both history and film he is regarded as a hero in
Romania and in my time with her I found some other interesting facts about the
“Son of The Devil” such as that there is no real Castle Dracula in Romania
and…well Vlad’s real method of Impaling his victims.
The fact of
the matter is that when I first learned of Dracula Untold I really wasn’t all
too interested since as far as I was concearned I had seen the films 1,000
times over and this just looked like just another merging of the Legend of Vlad
the Impaler with Vampires.
Honestly
since the fire I have been seeking to reclaim my movie collection and I soon
learned that The Universal Monsters were receiving the full DVD boxset
rerelease and I went ahead and ordered the set rather than pay what the going
price for the set that I lost would have cost. (Trust me that was a being talked
off the Roof experience)
When I did receive
the boxset I noticed that it came with a free ticket for the film and I did
some further research and I soon found that Dracula Untold is to be the first
in a series of films that will reboot the Universal Monsters films for the
current age and that all of the films will be Rebooted. (Including the Wolfman
and Mummy films but We will discuss that later).
Needless to
say I decided to check out the film and I did go in with expectations low especially
after some good folks at the Alamo Drafthouse were bashing the film while MCing
some of the events and I have to tell them that they were Dead Wrong.
This movie
is Awesome!
I honestly
think that with the exception of Love at First Bite and The Munsters this flick
is the first time that Dracula is portrayed as the protagonist rather than the
antagonist in a film.
Once Again
merging the legend of Dracula with the Vampire mythology the film shows Vlad as
a devoted husband, father, and ruler of Transylvania where after growing up
with the Turks and learning Warfare and strategy returns to his home where he
maintains piece.
When the
Sultan that Vlad grew up with refuses to honor a peace treaty and demands 1,000
boys to use as solders in their army along with Vlad’s son the prince defies
the Sultan’s orders and begins to create a full scale war on his people. Out of
desperation Vlad Returns to a cave where earlier He and his men were attacked
by what was later revelaed as a Vampire in which Vlad was the lone survivor.
This
particular Vampire is trapped in this cave until he can find a willing
replacement to be turned and will take his place and looking the strength to
defend his people Vlad chooses to take this position temporarly if he can avoid
feeding on Human Blood that will permanently turn him.
Trust me you are going to get to know this Character in more films and I am looking forward to them.
Armed with
this new power Vlad soon becomes a formidable opponent for the Sultan and his
armies but must still defend his wife and son from his childhood nemesis.
There are
many twists in this flick that I am not going to spoil for you here but this
flick is definetly worth a look.
The scene
where Vlad fights an army of 1,000 troops is worth watching alone and fans of
the Underworld films will like this film for the NEO Goth aspects and
characters.
Also Sarah Gadon is both Hot and great in the role of Vlad's devoted wife.
The film has
received the fill Blu-Ray Treatment as it is available in a set that included
DVD BluRay and Digital copies from both ITunes and Ultraviolet avalibility.
In what is a
rare treat today the film also features Extras that make the purchase worth the
price with a special Video Commentary from Star Luke Evans where he discusses
the film and the experience as an actor.
Also
included is a day in the life of Luke
Evans where a day of shooting is shown for the actor as well as the History of
Vlad is shown and Deleted that show a slight subplot that was cut from the film
and Much More In the set.
Many people have asked me about my thoughts on Women in the
Film industry. To which I have often replied that I have no issue with women
directors. Women do in fact bring much to the table as Filmmakers. I have to
admit that I was trained by a woman Filmmaker and I have to admit that I am
surprised that there aren’t more of them in the industry working in the
mainstream. This goes for both narrative and documentary filmmakers alike.
I had the pleasure of meeting and shooting a QnA with Jen
& Sylvia Soska this past May at Texas Frightmare Weekend and I had to admit
that I wasn’t a fan of theirs going into the QnA but I definitely became a fan
afterwards especially when I found out that they were the directors of See No
Evil 2.
I am also familiar with some of their other works with the
films Dead Hooker in a Trunk and American Mary, as well as their contributions
to the Drafthouse’s ABCs of Death.
Glen Jacobs aka Kane is one of my favorite wrestlers and
that is not a new revelation. Naturally I am a fan of his “Brother” so
naturally I would become a fan of the other half of The Brothers of Destruction.
The truth is that Kane has come into his own especially in
the past few years. As for the man behind
Kane, Glen Jacobs has become his own man away from the WWE, which would explain
the direction that his character has taken in recent years.
Glen Jacobs is 7 feet tall and a monster of a man and I have
stood next to him on a few occasions and I can tell you that he is
intimidating. Add in the fact that he has been playing the character of the
Demonic Sadist Kane and you have the perfect antagonist for a horror film.
Kane debuted the character of Jacob Goodnight in 2006’s See
No Evil which was the first film to be produced solely by WWE Films and
released by Lionsgate.
Needless to say as a Fan and Shareholder in WWE I was there
on the highly pushed date of May 19th where in order to keep fans
knowing the date the WWE did a storyline where Kane would savagely attack
anyone who would say the date as it reminded him of the Fire that was his
origin.
Well I was there and even I as a filmmaker, Movie critic and
fan had to admit that this flick wasn’t one for the books. Not that it wasn’t
bad because it wasn’t it just didn’t make an impact like I would have liked it
to.
The plot of the film follows Jacob Goodnight (Kane), a
powerhouse of a serial killer who after his childhood being abused by his religious
crazed mother becomes God’s interment of Death wielding an Axe and a Hook on a
Chain while ripping out his victim’s eyes.
Officer Frank Williams finds Goodnight and after shooting
him in the head when Goodnight kills his partner, Williams while on leave of
absence assembles a small group of troubled teens to help restore a hotel on a
work release program.
Needless to say this Hotel happens to be where Goodnight has
been hiding and seeking his revenge against Williams and the sinners that have come
with him. All of this leads to the twist in this flick is that the community helper that is
involved in the restoration is revealed to be Goodnight’s mother who is the one
using her son for her own agenda.
After Goodnight comes to terms with his abuse and what he
really is he turns on his mother before being stopped by the lone trio of
survivors and the loss of his eye.
I felt that despite having a good story the other characters
weren’t too likable…As a matter of fact the only likable character was Kane.
Now this is an issue for me when it comes to Horror and you find yourself
rooting for the killer.
I will give credit in the fact that the kills were amazing! With
kills like the girl being dropped outside of the building where she is soon consumed
by a pack of starving dogs and my personal favorite where Goodnight shoves a
cellphone down a woman’s throat.
While making constant references to the film on WWE as well
as the film’s frequent appearances on the On Demand services it was announced
in 2013 that the film would receive a sequel where Kane would reprise his role
as Jacob Goodnight and would be joined by Genre veterans Danielle Harris, and Katherine
Isabell as well as upcoming directorial talent of Jen & Sylvia Soska.
The first film was directed by a former porn director with
his own agenda The Twisted Twins are not just Genre Fans but wrestling fans as
well.
I knew that this film was in good hands when I was filming
the QnA and the Twins and the crowd broke out into chants of “YES! YES! YES!”
Now the reason that this is relevant is because there is that
respect for not just the genre but the built in fanbase from both Horror and
the WWE.
With the film Picking up basically where See No Evil left off follows Amy (Danielle Harris) a young Medical School Dropout working as a Coroner
on her birthday when the bodies of the victims of the first film arrive at the
morgue. to which Amy decides to pass on her birthday plans and stay with her love interest to aid with the large order.
Amy’s friends decide to arrive at the morgue to celebrate
her birthday along with her brother who disapproves of her life choices. This leads to a great deal of drama for our characters.
Amy’s friend Tamara and her boyfriend leave the party and
with Tamara being turned on by the Macabre choose to have sex near Jacob’s
corpse and soon Jacob awakens and for those of us that remember the original
film will know that this is a trigger for Jacob’s homicidal rages due to his
upbringing and …Well the film becomes a Cat and Mouse story of survival as Jacob
pursues the partygoers around the morgue leading to a final showdown.
While this flick is a basic Slice and Dice there are a few
areas to take into consideration that make the film unique for genre fans.
Let us begin.
One area that I really like about this film is that while
the original film featured many quite unlikable characters that you honestly
could not wait to see Kane take out in this film the characters are very
likable and you care for them and don’t want to see them die.
Looking at the characters we as the viewer are given glimpses into their lives and their characterizations as well as their relationships that make us identify with them and want to see them survive the ordeal that they are about to encounter.
If we want to see them get killed that takes away much of the horror of the film and well there are few scares and suspense to make the film worth watching.
This brings me to the next area in many horror films when a
character dies that is literally the end of the character and the other
characters don’t react to the death with the exception of the fact that they
are now in immediate danger at the hands of the villain. This film the other
characters react to the death of their friends and family members and even take
the time to grieve as well as try to attack the killer after he makes the kill
despite the fact that they are clearly outmatched. I really liked this fact.
Again we are shown the more human areas of our protagonists and that is a bonus for the film.
To sum up the film I have to say that it is a great step up
from the original and well worth the look and I am looking forward to seeing
more from the Twisted Twins in the near Future.
The film is definetly worth a look with it's talented and experienced cast and direction.
The lighting and editing is great as well and there is little in the film not to like.
Special Features include a Bio of the Twisted Twins and how
they are to work with on set. Also includes a special effects feature on how
the kills were created and finally a feature on Kane.
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