Daily Archives: October 10, 2019

Oct 10 2019

Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018)

Director: Crispian Mills

Writer: Crispain Mills, Henry Fitzherbert (Screenplay) Luke Passmore, Crispain Mills, Henry Fitzherbert (Story)

Starring: Michael Sheen, Hermione Corfield, Simon Pegg, Asa Butterfield, Finn Cole, Nick Frost, Jo Hartley, Hanako Footman

 

Plot: An illustrious British boarding school becomes a bloody battleground when a mysterious sinkhole appears at a nearby fracking site unleashing unspeakable horror.


Tagline – Bloodius. Hellius. Maximus

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Fun Enough Horror

 

Story: Slaughterhouse Rulez starts when Don Wallace (Cole) gets set to a illustrious British boarding school which has produced most of the world leaders a successful businesspeople, while Don is coming from a hardworking family, he is sharing a room with Willoughby Blake (Butterfield) who is the guy that fills in the gaps and knows the ins and outs of the school.

The school headmaster, The Bat (Sheen) has been taking money from a local fracking company who are working just outside the school grounds, which unleashes evil creatures to the school grounds, with the students that haven’t returned home for the weekend, needing to fight back.

 

Thoughts on Slaughterhouse Rulez

 

Characters – Don is the new student being sent to a boarding school, he comes from a common family where he has a close group of friends which he would prefer to be around, he does stick out around the rest of the students, easily breaking the rules around the school. Willoughby is the student that must show Don around the school, he fills in the blanks, has a secret and will be the one that helps Don be prepared for everything in the year. Meredith Houseman is one of teachers, he once attended the school, feeling the pride the school embodies, he will end up helping the students against the evil in the school grounds. The Bat is the headmaster, he has been taking bribes to let the fracking happen and isn’t willing to lose the money coming his way.

Performances – Michael Sheen and Simon Pegg both look like they are having a lot of fun playing the stuck up British stereotypes which are here for the supporting roles. Finn Cole takes the lead in this film and he does all he can because this film does try to introduce too many different types of characters, not giving the lead enough time to shine, Asa Butterfield does well with his role too, getting to become a supporting character for once, instead of having the weight of the film put on him.

Story – The story here follows the time at a private British boarding school which sees monsters unleashed on the students, who must fight to save themselves. The weirdest way to describe this film would be to say this is the British boarding school version of ‘Attack the Block’, I say this because we are trying to play into a lot of stereotypes for added comedy to the situation. When we break down this alone we get to see how the British private school system comes off, with the student classes, the students believing they are better than anybody else and how the teachers are trapped in their own illusions. Add in the monsters which is what they feel like, which again disappoints along with one serious side to the story which is almost played out for jokes.

Comedy/Horror – The comedy only works if you find taking the piss out of upper-class English funny, this is what the film is set around getting laughs from. The horror is what the monsters do to the people, it would have been nice to get more time with them, once we do it does work well for blood splatter.

Settings – The film is set on the grounds of a private boarding school, this is put in an isolated location which does help make the film get added horror elements involved.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are mixed because it does feel like the thrown buckets of blood which for the budget isn’t what you want to see, though the creatures do look frightening at times.


Scene of the Movie – Monsters unleashed.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too much upper-class British jokes.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun enough horror comedy, it will get the laughs in places and has well created creatures.

 

Overall: British Ripped apart

Rating

 

 

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Oct 10 2019

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – J – The Jacket (2006) Movie Rob’s Pick

Head over to Movie Rob’s site for many more reviews

“You can’t break something that’s already broken.” – Dr. Thomas Becker

Number of Times Seen – Twice (5 Mar 2006 and 6 Oct 2019)

Brief Synopsis – An Iraqi war veteran who is suffering from bouts of memory loss is accused of a murder and is sent to an asylum where they perform strange treatments on him using a strait jacket and a claustrophobic drawer in a morgue.

My Take on it –  This is a film that I recall seeing on video not long after it came out and it freaked me out so much that I never wanted to revisit it.

For this month’s ABC Challenge, I figured it was the right opportunity to try and see if my thoughts on the film would change after 13 years especially given the fact that I didn’t recall much about the story besides the “drawer”.

AS many of you already know, I’m not the biggest fan of films of the horror genre and I do my best to stay as far away from them as possible.

This film actually has a very intriguing idea that works because of the way that they present the mystery of it all.

As a fan of time travel stories, I was curious to see what they would do with the story.

It was a bit frustrating that they don’t even attempt to try and explain the science of the story yet it still helps make things feel even more mysterious due to the way that things play out.

Adrien Brody is a great choice for the lead because he finds a way to make his character feel quite disconnected with every other character that he encounters during the course of things.

The scenes that take place in the “drawer” come across as being quite intense because they film them in a way that makes us feel the claustrophobia of it all.

This helps make the story even more effective as a thriller/horror.

The story is actually a pretty simple one that is effectively made more complex by the way they film it.

This helps make things feel even more dis-ambiguous along the way and in some cases more confusing than necessary.

Bottom Line – Great idea that works because of the mystery of it all. Brody is quite good in the lead even if there are some very strange scenes where his character shows how distant he is from the other characters. The fact that they don’t even try to explain the science of things is a bit frustrating but that actually helps make this feel even more mysterious.  The scenes in the “drawer” are quite tense because they shoot those scenes in a way where we get to feel the growing claustrophobia of the event which can be somewhat disturbing to watch; hence making it quite effective.  The story itself tries a bit too hard to seem much more complex than it truly is and that helps make things feel more dis-ambiguous than it really needs to be. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Shots of Adrien Brody sobbing in the body drawer were real. Brody had asked Director John Maybury to keep him locked in, even when they weren’t filming, so he could get the feel of the character’s despair. Eventually, Brody lost it during filming, and Maybury caught it on tape. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)

Oct 10 2019

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – J – Jackals (2017)

Director: Kevin Greutert

Writer: Jared Rivet (Screenplay)

Starring: Stephen Dorff, Deborah Kara Unger, Johnathon Schaech, Alyssa Julya Smith, Jason Scott Jenkins, Nico Roux, Chelsea Ricketts

 

Plot: Set in the 1980s, an estranged family hires a cult deprogrammer to take back their teenage son from a murderous cult, but find themselves under siege when the cultists surround their cabin, demanding the boy back.


Tagline – Family First

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Disturbing Home Invasion Movie

 

Story: Jackals starts as Jimmy Levine (Dorff) is hired to help the Powell family, Kathy (Unger), Andrew (Schaech) whose son Justin (Sullivan) has turned his back on his family including his girlfriend Samantha (Ricketts) and daughter, has joined a cult. Jimmy is hired to help deprogram him for the beliefs he now has.

The cult Justin has joined aren’t going to let one of their brothers be taken so easily, which sees them target the house, with Justin claiming that they have come for the baby, the family must put aside their differences to work together fighting for their loved ones.

 

Thoughts on Jackals

 

Characters – Jimmy Levine has been deprogramming cult members for years, after being part of one before, he will push Justin, but this time he may have met his match. Kathy is the mother of the family, she has turned to drink after her marriage fell apart, she does enjoy the grandmother role though. Andrew is the father that brings in Jimmy, willing to face his own mistakes to save his son from the cult. Justin is the son that joined the cult, he believes he is part of a new family and they have come in search for his baby daughter to join the cult.

Performances – We do have a couple of well-known actors in this film, Stephen Dorff, Deborah Kara Unger and Johnathon Schaech being the big three, the problem is with the story, the three actors struggle to make the impact in this film they could have. Nobody gets to make the most of their work in this film apart from the cult members that makes us feel like we are watching the creepy crazed figures.

Story – The story follows a family try to save their son from a cult he joined, only the cult isn’t accepting one of their members to leaving, even if he doesn’t want to leave. This does take a spin on the home invasion film because we have a ready made established member of the cult being taken against his will, the cult size is scary big with the action against being deadly. The problems with the story come from the idea that we don’t learn the true motives of the people in the cult, why he joined them in the first place and with the ending feeling like they just ran out of money. This story has so much more potential, it feels like something was just missing in the execution as the ending is completely rushed.

Horror – The horror in the film comes from just what the cult is willing to do, they will make you feel uneasy every time they are just stood in the shadows, this is easily the highlight of the film. we are left to keep guessing on just what will happen in the film too.

Settings – The film is set in a cabin the woods, we have no signal, the cars are the only way out, but taken away early meaning the family is isolated and trapped, perfect for what the cult want to do to them.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are solid enough, we see most of the aftermath of any damage, which the one time we get to see the shocking damage we can easily turn away from that.


Scene of the Movie – The figures in the shadows.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ending.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror film that was filled with potential, we could have seen so much more even if the horror side of the film is the highlight of the film.

 

Overall: Disturbing, yet unfulfilling horror.

Rating