Oct 9 2017

Movie Reviews 101 Midnight Halloween Horror – Horsemen (2009)

Director: Jonas Akerund

Writer: Dave Callaham (Screenplay)

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ziyi Zhang, Lo Taylor Pucci, Clifton Collins Jr, Barry Shabaka Henley, Patrick Fugit

Plot: A recently widowed detective still grieving over his wife’s death discovers a shocking connection between a serial killing spree and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Dark Mystery Thriller

Story: Horsemen starts as Detective Aidan Breslin (Quaid) a widower raising his two children Alex (Pucci) and Sean (James), but his quiet life gets thrown wide open when a dish of teeth is found on an ice-covered pond and a woman tortured to death left hanging.

When the bodies continue to be discovered Aidan learns that there is a connection to the four horsemen of the apocalypse, making this or these serial killers a major threat to the city. When one of the killers makes, themselves know Aidan must find the rest of the killers before too many people become their victims.

Thoughts on Horsemen

Characters/Performance – Detective Aidan Breslin is your 101 detective, he is grieve his lost loved one and not being there as a father, but he is a brilliant detective. Kristen starts off being one of the victim’s family but soon we learn her true part in everything. Alex is the eldest son of Aidan who has taken the responsibility within the house while still dealing with his own grief of losing his mother.

Performance wise, Dennis Quaid is always a solid lead actor and in this film he goes well throughout the story. Ziyi Zhang does well in one of her first English movies with Lou Taylor Pucci also doing well with his final third of the film being the highlight.

Story – The story is a dark crime thriller which involved tracking down a serial killer that full believes in their cause. We have seen this style of film before and playing into the religious side of thing isn’t the most original either, but it is all a good watch and has plenty of twists along the way.

Mystery/Thriller – This film does keep you guessing to just what will happen next and this gets a brilliant payoff in the final act, this does also keep us on edge with some horrific looking kills.

Settings – The town is fine but doesn’t get used to the full level other than the shock of it happening in the town.

Special Effects – Mostly all practical effects we get great effects to show just how methodical the killers are.

Final Thoughts – I do like a good crime serial killer hunting film and this does everything I want without being on the very best level, it kept me guessing until the final moments.

Overall: Good little thriller most people missed.

Rating

Oct 9 2017

The Bye Bye Man (2017)

Director: Stacy Title

Writer: Jonathan Penner (Screenplay) Robert Damon Schneck (Book)

Starring: Douglas Smith, Lucien Laviscount, Cressida Bonas, Doug Jones, Michael Trucco, Carrie-Anne Moss, Faye Dunaway, Jenna Kanell

Plot: Three friends stumble upon the horrific origins of a mysterious figure they discover is the root cause of the evil behind unspeakable acts.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Well This Sucked

Story: The Bye Bye Man starts in 1969 as we see a man Larry (Whannell) going on a killing spree in a small neighbourhood asking each person who they told about something before someone arrives.

Move to modern day times we meet Elliot (Smith), John (Laviscount) and Sasha (Bonas) three students who find themselves getting a new house to stay in for their time in college. When noises happen, Sasha gets scared and calls for Kim (Kanell) a fellow student who claims to have psychic abilities, but what she witnesses in her visions strikes fear in her as she gives the three a warning about what Elliot had discovered earlier that night about the Bye Bye Man, Don’t Think it, Don’t Say It.

When the three friends start seeing strange events it becomes clear the Bye Bye Man (Jones) is haunting them, forcing them through horrific visions that make them all question themselves on everything they see or hear, can they figure it all out before it is too late?

Thoughts on The Bye Bye Man

Characters/Performance – Elliot is your typical leading character, he has had emotional trauma in his past but that doesn’t play into where the film goes, he does fit the paranoid boyfriend but we never learn what he is studying to be at this college, John is the best friend and that is all we learn about him. Sasha is the girlfriend who spends most of the film sick and nothing else. The figure of the Bye Bye Man looks creepy but doesn’t get used well. The rest of the character are also from the generic textbook of strange friend, family, person from the past and smart person that dies quickly.

Performance wise, well, there isn’t much to say here, Smith is solid without excelling with Lucien and Cressida also doing nothing fancy in this role. Faye Dunaway turns up, good for her same goes for Carrie Anne Moss. The only good performance in this film is in fact Doug Jones as the creepy looking Bye Bye Man.

Story – Story time, well you know how certain films do ‘the don’t read something’ but they do and spend the whole film getting haunted by a ghostly spirit or vision. That is this films story borrowing heavily from Nightmare on Elm Street and the Slender Man or Grim Reaper. This is nothing fresh and by the end you will not be surprised by what happened.

Horror/Thriller – There are easy jump scares going on here but the most part comes from the creepy coat in the corner, doors slamming and the old favourite BOOM sound effects, we are also not kept guessing because the story doesn’t make us care enough.

Settings – The film doesn’t offer any memorable settings for anything to take place that you will remember.

Special Effects – The special effects are nearly all bad CGI which disappoints when we see them.