28 | June | 2019 | Movie Reviews 101

Director: Cuyle Carvin

Writer: Justin Hawkins, Josh Hawkins (Screenplay) Jeff Miller, Justin Hawkins (Story)

Starring: Thomas Downey, Dee Wallace, Trinity Simpson, Bret Green, Elise Muller, Melinda DeKay

Plot: A struggling children’s book author and his rebellious teenage daughter move into a house they’ve inherited and find mysterious dolls in the attic. The father and daughter soon learn that the dolls have a sinister – and deadly – past.

Tagline – When You Look Away They Play

Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Creepy Dolls

Story: Dolls starts when alcoholic children’s book author Robert Holbrook (Downey) moves into his recently deceased mother’s home to start work on his latest work, when he is joined by his teenage daughter Sammey (Simpson) who wants to get away from her mother.

When Robert and Sammey discover three creepy dolls in the attic, Robert decides that he wants to use these characters to create his latest story, known as the Attic Dolls. When a sister of a former patient Margaret (Wallace) appears, she warns Sammey about the evil inside the dolls that come out to play when you look away.

Thoughts on Dolls

Characters – Robert is an alcoholic children’s author, he has made mistakes in his life which has left his family facing financial ruin, his daughter struggle to be able to face a college future, he has moved out to focus on his new book, which will see him being joined by his daughter. The latest book idea uses the creepy dolls found in the attic of his mother’s home, which will see him suffer nightmares as he looks to withdraw from his drinking problems. Sammey is his 17-year-old daughter who wants to live with him over her mother, she has been on certain medications, though it is unclear what is wrong with her to need them. She first gets scared by the dolls believing the story she hears about them, while trying to remain rebellious about her future. Margaret was the sister of one of the patient’s of Robert’s mother, she warns the family about the evil from the dolls which might be connected to the deaths.

Performances – Thomas Downey is strong through the film, we believe that he is going through troubles. Trinity Simpson is entertaining in her role, she brings the fear of what is going on to make us believe everything happening. Dee Wallace is the biggest name in the film, she is in a supporting role, which lets her bring the experience to the film.

Story – The story here follows a family that move into a house of a deceased relative only to discover three creepy dolls in the attic, soon strange things start happening around the house as it appears the dolls come to life when people aren’t looking. This story does play into the creepy dolls genre of horror which does to use mental health and addiction to try and reflect the situation going on through the events of the film. It does start by going in one direction, but it does feel like it is going to target on a rampage, then throws another twist to them in and it does seem to rush a lot of the story going on through the film. it does end in a very confusing manor which could make most of the film feel almost redundant.

Horror – The horror in this comes from the dolls which do feel creepy and make us feel uneasy wondering what they will be doing next.

Settings – The film is set in the one location which is the house, it is filled with locations where the dolls could sneak around without being seen, only heard, which does play into the rules created.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are only used when they are needed, they are simply with certain small movements which does help the film unfold.

Scene of the Movie – The dolls appearance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ending.

Final Thoughts – This is a new creepy doll movie, which has been the it feature at the moment, with Child’s Play and Annabelle in the cinema, this one does have a creepy feel to it even if the story does seem to be rushed.

Overall: Creepy Fun horror.

Rating

Director: Jason Mills

Writer: Jason Mills (Screenplay)

Starring: Chris Walters, Jackson Berlin, Darren Andrichuk, Stephen Kloppenburg, Robert Allen Hughes

Plot: It’s the close of World War II. Unwilling to surrender, rogue German forces shoot down a returning British squadron leaving Sydney Baker wounded and lost with the enemy closing in. He’s saved by American soldier and the duo must face their fears, both internal and external, to defeat the enemy and make it back to friendly territory alive.

Tagline – Never Give Up

Runtime: 1 Hour 18 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Survivors Story

Story: Beyond the Line starts with the German’s surrendering in World War II, only certain forces of the German’s aren’t going down without a fight, as they shoot down a British squadron with the lone survivor Sydney Baker (Walters) finding himself trapped behind enemy lines, rescued by American William Summers (Berlin) the two team up to try and get to safety against the large number of German soldiers still in the woods.

As the number of German bodies piles up, the more German soldiers go in search for the enemy taking out their own, with the two-man army needing to face impossible odds to survive.

Thoughts on Beyond the Line

Characters – Sydney Baker is a nervous soldier that is on his final mission, he is involved in a plane crash after being shot down, being the lone survivor, needing to find his way through enemy lines woodland area. He must learn to be a soldier that will fight if he has any chance to survive with the help of William Summers. William Summers is an American soldier that is out for revenge against the Germans that took out his whole unit, he will kill anybody that gets his way and even pushes Sydney to become stronger in the field.

Performances – We only have two actors who get any real screen time, Chris Walters is our British solider that shows us how many soldiers weren’t ready to be in war, while Jackson Berlin does show how prepared a soldier would be to fight for the right thing. Both actors don’t put a foot wrong through the film which is nice to see, even if they don’t get challenged as much as they could be.

Story – The story here follows to soldiers that are trapped behind enemy lines, where they must fight to survive against the Germans looking to hunt down any remaining soldiers left in their land. This is a very simple story when it comes to a war story, we get the basics of surviving done without feeling like we are facing threat that you feel will put them in danger, even though they are in extreme danger. The story is told in the form of a flashback which does give us heavy vibes about how Saving Private Ryan did everything, even if it goes in its own direction. It does show us how two different people will need to work together to make it through the tough situation they find themselves in too.

War – When it comes to the war genre, one of the major factors we see a lot, is just how difficult the situation the soldiers found themselves in and how many odds they needed to overcome as well as how not everybody was in the right condition to be fighting in the first place, this give us all of that.

Settings – The film is set within woodland area, this shows us the struggles the soldiers are facing, while giving them enough cover to make it out of the situation, if they play it correctly.

Scene of the Movie – The barn.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The lack of feeling of peril.

Final Thoughts – This is a strong look at how the war did make things difficult for the soldiers fighting, how they must overcome the odds if they want to survive.

Overall: A strong war survival story.

Rating