Sep 16 2019

Isabelle (2018) Movie Review

Director: Robert Heydon

Writer: Donald Martin (Screenplay)

Starring: Amanda Crew, Adam Brody, Zoe Belkin, Sheila McCarthy, Krista Bridges, Alison Brooks, Booth Savage

Plot: A young couple’s dream of starting a family shatters as they descend into the depths of paranoia and must struggle to survive an evil presence that wants nothing more than their very own lives.

Tagline – Desire can get you past anything, even death.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Leaves You Feeling Empty

Story: Isabelle starts when the Kane couple Larissa (Crew) and Matt (Brody) suffer the tragedy of losing their unborn baby, Matt returns to work to help him through the events, while Larissa is left alone in their house, where she starts hearing the cries of a baby.

The more time Larissa stays in the house, the more she notices the eyes of the neighbour Isabelle (Belkin) watching over her, even visiting her, despite being wheelchair bound.

Thoughts on Isabelle

Characters – Larissa is the mother that loses her baby, she has experienced a personal trauma, one that is impossible to understand unless you have experienced, she does become paranoid after her neighbour starts watching her and seeing her around the house, leaving her wondering if she is being haunted or whether she is being haunted for real. Matt is the husband and lawyer that is starting a new job, he works to get over the loss, with it getting heavily teased that an intern is trying to seduce him. We could have seen him getting more stressed out at work, which does start to get hinted about. There is a lot we have had with Matt’s character that does seem to get forgotten in places. Isabelle is the neighbour who watches from the window, disabled being left wheelchair bound, she appears to be haunting Larissa despite her condition. Ann is the mother that is very quiet keeping to herself for the most part.

Performances – Amanda Crew in the leading role is the best of the performers, she does make us understand just how much trauma she would have been through. Adam Brody does start the film well, but the less we see from the character the less he has to do, Zoe Belkin might bring the creepy look, but most of the actions are difficult to take seriously, mainly because of the CGI around it.

Story – The story here follows a family that suffer the loss of an unborn child and the trauma they have been through sees the wife start to question whether their neighbour is haunting them or not. For the most part the story is a pretty routine horror, it would pass on the it is watchable even if you know where the story will go, the problem comes from the final act which just leaves you scratching your head more than feeling like we got an ending to the film. Certain side stories that get hinted at early on, just don’t seem to come to pass either which leave them feeling like we had a couple of needless scenes too.

Horror – The horror does fall into the idea that there is nearly always something behind Larissa, we have elements of possession, but not enough to bring any true scares.

Settings – The film does use the home settings for the film, which does see how Larissa is getting haunted in a place that should be safe.

Special Effects – The effects in the film do feel clunky too, most don’t look like they are on a strong level in anyway, looking like a stretch picture rather than actual effects.

Scene of the Movie – Meeting the priest.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The final act.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror that does follow a routine, only for it to become predictable and when it tries to take a risk, it only confuses.

Overall: Routine Horror.

ISABELLE will be available on Sky Store, iTunes and UK digital platforms from 30^th September

Sep 16 2019

ABC Film Challenge – Thriller – P – President Under Siege (2016)

Director: Erik Van Looy

Writer: Erik Van Looy, Carl Joos (Screenplay)

Starring: Koen De Bouw, Tine Reymer, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Dirk Roofthooft, Stijn Van Opstal, Saskia Reeves

Plot: The Belgian prime minister is kidnapped. If he wants to be released, he must murder the American president.

Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Tense Thriller

Story: President Under Siege starts as the Prime Minster of Belgium Michael (De Boew) is ambushed and kidnapped by a group of criminals. They have his family, threatening to kill them if he doesn’t follow the instructions to kill the American President (Reeves).

With Michael following his instructions, his wife Christine (Reymer) must protect her children with her daughter Laura needing medical attention, which throws the plans from the criminals into turmoil.

Thoughts on President Under Siege

Characters – Michael is the Prime Minister of Belgium, he is about the close one of the biggest deals of his career with a meeting with the President of United States of America, but he must show his levels of commitment to his cause and his family, when he gets blackmailed into killer the President. We get from this character a man that is pushed to his limits to do the right thing and protect his family. Christine is Michael’s wife, captured and forced to wait for her husband to complete his tasks while caring for their children. Eva is the assistant that has a secret with Michael and forced into playing into the games that are being played.

Performances – Koen De Bouw is great in this leading role, we see his desperation to keep his family safe and the turmoil he is feel inside about which decision to make. Tine Reymer is good as the wife which is shown to be strong for the children. Charlotte makes for a good supporting character too. The performances from the whole cast are good because they all play their part in the puzzle.

Story – The story follows the idea that a person in power is blackmailed into committing a crime which will ruin their career, life and legacy. We see how he tries to figure out a way to allude the enemies, while playing along with the game. As for twists and turns we are kept on edge wait to see where thing could go next, this is a highlight of the film and like all time-based movies, this story works for everything we are seeing.

Thriller – This movie does keep us on the edge of our seats from start to finish, we are left to see just how everything will unfold.

Settings – We do get multiple settings for this movie, this shows the life of the Prime Minister when it comes to having guests from America over for big announcements.

Scene of the Movie – Alone with the President.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Strange decisions being made by the Presidents staff.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting thriller that does keep us guessing, it shows how politicians can be pushed to limits, even the good ones and throws up a story which would leave us wondering if it could happen in real life.

Overall: Thriller that truly does keep us guessing.

Rating

Sep 16 2019

Killer Sofa (2019) Movie Review

Director: Bernie Rao

Writer: Bernie Rao (Screenplay)

Starring: Piimio Mei, Nathalie Morris, Jim Baltaxe, Jed Brohpy, Angelica Thomas, Stacey King, Grant Kereama

Plot: A killer reclining chair becomes enchanted by a girl and starts committing crimes of passion

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Best Killer Sofa Movie Ever

Story: Killer Sofa starts when Francesca (Mei) gets sent a recliner, a recliner with a past, it completes her apartment, while one of her stalkers has been found dismembered. Inspector Gravy (Brophy) and Inspector Rosane Grape (King) are looking into the murder, which means learning more about Francesca and her past.

When it becomes clear the sofa is trying to kill people, Francesca must find a way to stop the killing spree before it is too late.

Thoughts on Killer Sofa

Characters – Francesca is a dancer that has had problems in the past with the men in her life, most have become stalkers, with her needing to put restraining orders on them, she is left a recliner from one, as the police look into her past to see if she has a connection to the murder of one of them. Maxi is the best friend of Francesca, she supports her on a daily basis and will stand with her in her fight against the sofa. Inspector Gravy is leading the investigation into the crimes which sees him spending time with Francesca learning about her past. Rabbi Jack is Maxi’s grandfather that gets an uneasy vision from the sofa and starts trying to figure out how he could stop the evil behind it.

Performances – The lead in the film is Piimio Mei and she does well in the leading role, as the one being haunted by the soda, seeing her friends taken from around her. The rest of the cast are strong with what they are doing, they do know this does have elements of cheesy horror, which does work for the film.

Story – The story here follows the unusual event surrounding a sofa that starts killing people at the woman that finds herself the main target of the evil needing to stop it before their friends get taken. This is a film that knows exactly what it wants to be, a wildly over the top story that isn’t afraid to go into the full cheesy area, which will get the story over to the level it needs to. For a horror it is a film that follows the traditions when it comes to picking off the victims one at a time, with an element of the story behind the having a supernatural feel.

Horror – The horror side of the film does pick up like most serial killer style slashers, with one victim being alone getting picked off by the killer, in this case, the sofa, which does it look creepy throughout.

Settings – The film uses the apartment settings to show how the sofa can move around without looking completely out of place, using the environment to help with its kills.

Special Effects – The effects are mixed with the fact they make the sofa look terrifying being a huge plus, it is the CGI moments that look like the weakest part of the film.

Scene of the Movie – The sofa look.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The CGI moments.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror comedy that understands completely what it wants to be, it will get laughable kills from a sofa that uses its how frame as a weapon.

Overall: Funny horror comedy.