Day: October 19, 2015

Director: Eli Roth

Writer: Guillermo Amoedo, Eli Roth (Screenplay)

Starring: Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Aaron Burns, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Magda Apanowicz, Ignacia Allamand, Daryl Sabara, Nicolas Martinez, Sky Ferreira

Plot: A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Best Cannibal Film Ever?

Story: Green Inferno starts when an activist group ACT lead by Alejandro (Levy) wanting to take a team to Peru to stop the deforestation happening in the rainforest. He recruits Justine (Izzo) a first year student to join their team which includes Lars (Sabara), Amy (Blanton) Samantha (Apanowicz), Daniel (Martinez), Jonah (Burns) and Kara (Allamand) there are a few more but these are the main few we meet and get to know.

With the campaign being a success the group head home but when their plane crash lands in the middle of the Amazon we lose members of the team in the crash but they are the lucky ones as a local cannibalistic tribe find the remaining survivors and take them back to the village to feed them, who will survivor that is the question left to be asked.

Green Inferno really does what a good cannibal film does but more importantly you can feel the Eli Roth effect on the film. This could be a good or bad thing depending on how you like you horror but his style always starts by introducing us to the main characters making everything feel safe before the third act all the horror is finally unleashed. The pacing of this film really works because it all starts by giving us enough time to build the characters before putting them through the horror. This story has bought the cannibal sub-genre back to light and could easily be up there as a best.

Actor Review

Lorenza Izzo: Justine is the first year student who joins the activist group making her the least experienced on the mission which helps us as the audience have the questions answered, she puts up a fight in her own way. Lorenza gives us a good performance from start to finish as we watch her character change.

Ariel Levy: Alejandro is the leader of ACT who comes off as a potential saviour of the world but he is willing to sacrifice anybody to get his message out, he slowly changes as the film unfolds and fills the complete asshole role. Ariel gives a performance that truly makes you hate him even next to cannibals.

Support Cast: Green Inferno has what you would have to call very generic supporting characters which include the one that shouldn’t be there, the stoner, the brave one, the over friendly one along with the cannibal tribe. They all help with the final outcome of the film and are all easily identified by their actions.

Director Review: Eli Roth – Eli gives us one of his best films and one of the best cannibal films we have ever seen.

Adventure: Green Inferno makes the first half of the film feel like an adventure to save the rainforest.

Horror: Green Inferno has the second half in the horror genre as we see the survivors having to wonder if they can make it out of the cannibal’s village.

Settings: Green Inferno has great settings being used because by the end we see the pure terror of where the survivors are.
Special Effects: Green Inferno uses practical effects for the gore and they all come off looking very good and realistic throughout.

Suggestion: Green Inferno is one for the horror fans to watch. (Horror Fans Watch)

Best Part: Plane crash.

Worst Part: It does take a while to get to the cannibals.

Funniest Scene: Getting the cannibals high.

Believability: Elements of this film feel very real, but the cannibals side is not.

Chances of Tears: No

Chances of Sequel: It doesn’t need one.

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: No

Budget: $6 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

Tagline: Fear will consume you

Trivia: When the villagers were shown Cannibal Holocaust, since they never saw a movie before, they thought it was a comedy.

Overall: The best cannibal film this century.

Rating

Director: Ciaran Foy

Writer: Scott Derrickson, C Robert Cargill (Screenplay)

Starring: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan, Dartanian Sloan, Lea Coco, Tate Ellington, John Beasley

Plot: A young mother and her twin sons move into a rural house that’s marked for death.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Dull zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Fell Asleep on keyboard

Story: Sinister 2 starts Ex-Deputy So & So (Ransone) returning from the previous film turning to church for advice on how to stop the demon from striking again from a priest. Time to meet our new family the Collins mother Courtney (Sossamon) and twin boys Dylan (Robert Daniel Sloan) & Zach (Dartanian Sloan) who are on the run from somebody.

As we know the story goes video tapes are discovered only this time it is by the twins who both watch the family videos before the shock and scream murder image of what happens when Bughuul selects his latest family. The house they have moved into had one such incident happen years before and along with So & So who is investigating the string of murders search for answers to the latest of the hauntings on the Collins’ family, while dealing with an abusive ex-husband who wants to take the children away.

Sinister 2 brings us back into the world where a demon with children follows makes a new family become his latest victims while collecting a new child to join him. Well this is simple story how do you mess this up really? You have a single parent isn’t that against the blood lust of the demon? We have an idiot now ex-cop coming back to figure out what is going on well that doesn’t help does it and now he has some brains. I have to give the positives against these negatives, I liked how we had twins making it look like it could be either and I also like how the children were more involved. It doesn’t help that I wasn’t a fan of the first one but I feel this gets even worse and feels like an excuse to try and show an horrific set of murders.

Actor Review

James Ransone: Ex-Deputy So & So returns from the previous film as he is investigating the activity of Bughuul, this brings him into the lives of the Collins who have just moved into the house where one of the killings once took place. James becomes the lead in this film and looks very lost in this role throughout.

Shannyn Sossamon: Courtney Collins is the mother of the boys who is on the run from her ex-husband, they have moved into the house where one of the crimes took place putting them all in danger. Shannyn gives her ‘ I’m in a horror movie’ performance.

Robert Daniel Sloan: Dylan Collins is the shy one of the twins who lets Zach push him into everything, he gets scared in the very presence of his father, he gets picked by the children to watch the videos and become the latest member. Robert gives standard performance with nothing stand out.

Dartanian Sloan: Zach Collins is the brave on of the twins who is happy to investigate what has been happy with the video tapes, but isn’t picked by the children to become their latest member. Dartanian like his brother gives a standard performance.

Support Cast: Sinister 2 has a small supporting cast with most being the dead children and the ex-husband.

Director Review: Ciaran Foy – Ciaran doesn’t give us the best horror, bringing us a standard at best horror film that gets worse than the original.

Horror: Sinister 2 doesn’t have any original scares with most just being basic jump scares.

Settings: Sinister 2 uses the isolated looking house for the most part of the setting which works for creepiness in the story.
Special Effects: Sinister 2 has basic effects for the creations but you can see the CGI throughout.

Suggestion: Sinister 2 is one to avoid really because it is offering nothing new. (Avoid)

Best Part: Seeing it from the kids angle.

Worst Part: Same story.

Scariest Scene: Don’t look to close.

Believability: No

Chances of Tears: No

Chances of Sequel: Most likely

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: No

Budget: $10 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

Overall: Boring basic jump scares

Rating

Director: Ralph S Singleton

Writer: John Espoito (Screenplay) Stephen King (Short Story)

Starring: David Andrews, Kelly Wolf, Stephen Macht, Andrew Divoff, Vic Polizos, Brad Dourif, Robert Alan Beuth

Plot: In a very old textile mill, with a serious rat infestation, the workers discover a horrifying secret deep in the basement.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Creature Feature

Story: Graveyard Shift starts inside an old textiles mill that is getting over ran by rats but there is something else inside the shadows something a lot deadlier to pick off the first victim. The mill brings in the Exterminator (Dourif) to clean out the mill. John Hall (Andrews) a drifter comes to town looking for work which falls perfectly into Warwick’s (Macht) hands as he needs someone to clean up the mill.

John gets the job on the graveyard shift where he works along with the Exterminator. With a new group of employees this just gives fresh meat to the creature living in the basement. The clean up job is going on and the creature only attacks when people are alone making the safety in numbers idea mean that much more.

Graveyard Shift is a true creature feature, it has all the ideas of a town being terrorized by an unknown creature. We have all the elements needed without getting confusing and most importantly we are left to guess what the creature will be. I will say the characters a re very generic for the style of film but that just helps us know who will end up making it to the end. It doesn’t offer to much to the genre but still makes everything simple to follow. (7/10)

Actor Review

David Andrews: John Hall is a drifter who has come to this small town to for work and he gets the role in the graveyard shift. He isn’t welcomed into the town as the locals know he is just a drifter but he is hard working and ends up battling the creature in the basement. David makes for the standard lead never looking like he will carry the film but will the hero of the story. (6/10)

Kelly Wolf: Jane Wisconsky is the young lady who works on in the mill to make ends meet, she is being punished by Warwick for not folding to his ways but she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty when it comes to work. Kelly does a good job in the role without really excelling. (6/10)

Stephen Macht: Warwick is the seedy boss of the mill who makes people do whatever he wants thinking he can get away with anything. Who hires anyone who wants a job before making them do all the jobs no one wants to do. Stephen does a good job making a truly unlikeable character. (7/10)

Brad Dourif: The Exterminator who enjoys killing the rats more than he should, he has been doing it for too long which makes he feel like he know show to handle all of them but he will face the ultimate enemy here. Brad adds his own style to the character and one you would expect to see from him. (7/10)

Support Cast: Graveyard Shift has the generic supporting cast that all become the disposable characters in the end.

Director Review: Ralph S Singleton – Ralph brings us a great little creature feature here. (7/10)

Horror: Graveyard Shift ticks every single box in the creature feature horror box. (8/10)

Settings: Graveyard Shift uses a small town and the mill for the most part, the mills makes for a great setting because it creatures the extra scares needed. (9/10)
Special Effects: Graveyard Shift uses great practical effects to create the creature that is made to be extra scary with its appearance. (9/10)

Suggestion: Graveyard Shift this is one for the old school creature feature fans. (Creature Feature Fans)

Best Part: Final scene feel so terrifying.

Worst Part: Basic supporting characters.

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $11.5 Million

Budget: $10 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes

Tagline: Stephen King took you to the edge with The Shining and Pet Sematary. This time……he pushes you over.

Overall: Blood soaked creature feature

Rating