Daily Archives: October 4, 2018

Oct 4 2018

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – D – Don’t Blink (2014)

Director: Travis Oates

Writer: Travis Oates (Screenplay)

Starring: Mena Suvari, Brian Austin Green, Joanne Kelly, Robert Picardo, Fiona Gubelmann, Zack Ward

 

Plot: Ten people arrive at a secluded mountain resort to find it completely deserted. With no gas for the return trip, the visitors are forced to stay and investigate the mystery surrounding the abandoned lodge.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Good Mystery, Not Solved

 

Story: Don’t Blink starts as our group of friends including Tracy (Suravi), Jack (Green), Claire (Kelly) and Alex (Ward) arrive at the ‘Last Stop’ lodge during the off season in a remote mountain top location, but the lodge is abandoned, food left on the table in a condition where it looks like everyone just vanished.

When the friends start disappearing from right under the noses they try to remain together but things only continue to get worse as the friends start to turn on themselves as the answer just continue to add to the mystery.

 

Thoughts on Don’t Blink

 

Characters – Tracy is the partner of Jack, she wants to use the weekend to announce big personal news as well as enjoying her time with friends. Jack is the partner of Tracy he also has an ex on the trip and must take control of the group keeping them calm when the friends start going missing. Claire provides the brains behind the logical side of everything going on as she understands what could have caused the problems. Alex is the loose cannon of the group being the panic side of everything, while the rest all fit the generic decisions that don’t go down well.

Performance – Mena Suvari is arguable the biggest name in the movie, she gives us a solid performance but doesn’t reach the levels we know of her, Joanne Kelly is most famous for her work in Warehouse 13 and this film doesn’t show her in the best light following the strong female lead from that show. Brian Austin Green is solid too and does bring the calm when needed.

Story – The story revolves around the ten friends who find themselves in an abandoned lodge where they get picked off one by one as they just vanish. The story does test the friendships as everything unfolds and the pasts bring up moments that can have fingers pointed in all directions but it could be fair to say if you want a full answer you might not be satisfied by the end.

Horror/Mystery – The horror side of the film comes from seeing you friends just vanish from literally under your nose, the mystery about it does point in one direction but we don’t learn the truth.

Settings – The whole film is set in and around the lodge, they have no petrol which does create the isolation needed for the film.

Scene of the Movie – Amelia’s disappearance is sudden and shocking.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Casting Mena Suvari only to get rid of her within the first 20 minutes.

Final Thoughts – This is a very good mystery film but doesn’t give enough answers to what has been going on.

 

Overall: Good mystery that needed to be solved.

Rating

 

 

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Oct 4 2018

Don’t Kill It (2016)

Director: Mike Mendez

Writer: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen (Screenplay)

Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Kristina Klede, Tony Bentley, James Chalke, Miles Doleac, Toby Bronson

 

Plot: An ancient demon terrorizes a tiny Mississippi town.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Fun Action Fantasy Horror

 

Story: Don’t Kill It starts as with number of domestic homicides start happening in a small Mississippi town, demon hunter Jebediah Woodley (Lundgren) heads to the town, just as FBI agent Evelyn Pierce (Klebe) returns to her home town to investigate the murders.

The two must team up to track down who the demon has possessed next because if you kill the host, you will become the demon, meaning they must capture the demon alive.

 

Thoughts on Don’t Kill It

 

Characters – Jebediah Woodley is a demon hunter, he has been hunting demons his whole life, he is used to being chased out of towns before being called back to rescue them. Agent Evelyn Pierce has returned to her home town to investigate the goings on, she must put a side her beliefs to help the demon hunter save the people. We have the generic town’s folk which include the sheriff and religious leader that don’t believe everything going on.

Performances – Dolph Lundgren is fun in this leading role, he gets to be the mysterious stranger turned demon hunter about everything he does in this film. Kristina Klebe is good too in her role which does show us how a returning figure would act.

Story – The story follows a demon hunter trying to save a town from a demon that is terrorising the town, he does need to work with FBI agent who doesn’t believe and will need to learn to believe. This sounds by the book which is fine that is what we know works and this could easily be the start of a franchise around the demon hunter. This is fun to watch and wildly over the top giving us a tone which would work for any future films.

Action/Comedy/Fantasy – The action is big because we have bodies flying everywhere in this film, there is a comic tone but it just doesn’t work that often, the fantasy side of things comes from the demon in the world.

Settings – We are in a small Mississippi town which is fine, we could have been in any small town because it shows how shocked the people would be in the town if a murder happened.

Special Effects – The effects are a mixed bag, we have good kills while also having bad one you can see are fake.


Scene of the Movie – The meeting.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Some effects you can see are models.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun fantasy horror, you can enjoy this if you are a fan of the genre and should be looking forward to seeing the next adventure.

 

Overall: Fantasy Horror for al to enjoy, like My Name is Bruce

Rating