Daily Archives: July 21, 2020
Boo (2005) Movie Review
Director: Anthony C Ferrante
Writer: Anthony C Ferrante (Screenplay)
Starring: Trish Coren, M Steven Felty, Jilon VanOver, Dee Wallace Stone, Happy Mahaney, Nicole Rayburn, Josh Holt
Plot: A handful of college students get trapped in a haunted hospital on Halloween.
Tagline – You Don’t Have A Ghost Of A Chance
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Simple Fun Horror
Story: Boo starts on Halloween night, four friends Jessie (Coren), Kevin (VanOver), Marie (Rayburn) and Freddy (Holt) head to the old abandoned haunted hospital, where Emmett (Mahaney) has rigged a few tricks for the night to scare the girls. Little do they know that Allan (Samluk) has recruited his father’s old partner Arlo (Wayne) to help search for his missing sister in the hospital.
As the friends split up in the hospital, they start to learn about ghosts that haunt the hallways, with Jessie getting flashbacks from her past and the killer which once walked the halls.
Thoughts on Boo
Characters – Jessie is the reluctant girlfriend to go into the haunted hospital, she sees a ghost on the way in and it isn’t long before she has living memories of what happened in the hospital, she starts to put the pieces together about the truth. Jacob is the murderous ghost walking the halls of the hospital, he has been killing visitors for years waiting for his own release from his own nightmare. Kevin is one of the friends that has been planning this haunted night for the year, he is the boyfriend of Jessie, though he isn’t a good boyfriend with his actions behind her back. We get the generic group of people outside of this group inside the cast, the slutty friend, the quiet one, the defensive brother and the one trying to make up for his mistakes.
Performances – Trish Coren in the leading role is fine, she isn’t as convincing as you would like in a horror lead, but this is a problem with most of this film, none of the acting reaches the levels you would expect to see in a film that is meant to be a haunted horror film that can always create colourful characters.
Story – The story follows a group of people that end up locked inside a haunted hospital with ghosts that want out and they will kill to get their freedom. This story does fall into the haunted hospital generic storytelling process, it is watchable, though it is filled with generic characters, it does have the idea of haunting being clues to the truth, which slowly builds to a final showdown, only most of the story to be the errors of most horror films, splitting up being picked off, though we do get a unique way to show how the ghost possession people can be shown.
Horror – The horror in the film is hauntings and exploding bodies, it does work for the film, making it entertaining for the horror audience, though the fake jump scares don’t help this film.
Settings – The film uses the singular location of the haunted hospital, this gives us plenty of long corridors and creepy rooms for the characters to wonder through.
Special Effects – The effects are surprisingly interesting with the first shock value of what the ghost is capable of and then the ghostly characters work for the creepiness of the film.
Scene of the Movie – The first revel of what happens with the ghost.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The characters aren’t flushed out enough.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun easy to watch horror movie that gives us simple haunting moments and a unique spin on the haunted hospital idea.
Overall: Easy to Watch.
Impetigore (2019) Shudder Movie Review
Director: Joko Anwar
Writer: Joko Anwar (Screenplay)
Starring: Tara Basro, Ario Bayu, Marissa Anita, Christine Hakim, Asmara Abigail
Plot: Maya with her best friend, Dini, tries to survive in a city without a family. She realized that she might inherit a property from her rich family. Maya returns to the village with Dini and unaware of the danger was waiting for her.
Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Twisted Horror
Story: Impetigore starts when two best friends Maya (Basro) and Dini (Anita) are working in their tollbooths during the night, when Maya gets an unwelcomed guest who begs her to take back something which was given to his family that has caused him such pain.
After the incident, Maya and Dini look to investigate Maya’s past in the Harjosari village being the location where Maya’s parents are from, they need to find the village elder Ki Saptadi (Bayu) to learn why somebody has finally come in search of Maya.
Thoughts on Impetigore
Characters – Maya is a bubbly young woman living in the big city, strolling to make ends meet with her best friend, when her routine job takes a turn for the worse one night, when an unknown man tries to kill her claiming her family is behind something in his village. Maya learns that her family might be rich and she might be in line for a big inheritance, which sees her making a trip to the small village, unaware of what her family has done, with her true identity being the person the villagers have been searching for, for years. Ki Saptadi is the village elder, he welcomes visitors, performances rituals and shows the leadership the village requires, he has been leading the search for Maya and now he might finally be able to achieve what he has been aiming for. Dini is the best friend of Maya who joins her for the journey, she brings humour to the film with her reactions being the most natural, knowing this isn’t a good place, wanting out, showing that her raising was against the traditional ideas the village is offering.
Performances – Tara Basro in the leading role show great chemistry in the friendship with Marissa Anita, this is important for the film, while she also handles the horror well being a strong final girl figure we all know from horror. Ario Bayu does bring the confidence his character requires to make us see the respect he demands in the village and power he has over the people to fix the problems.
Story – The story follows two broke friends who go in search for the history behind one of their past, a past which will take them to a remote village that has been attacked by a curse the villagers are desperately trying to break and now they might have found a way. When it comes to the story we must fist dive into the culture of the people, they have a belief which will see them follow certain rituals in which they believe in a good and an evil in their lives. Where this story does seem to have the influence from other cultures is in how the haunting moments play out like the best sub-genre, an investigation with ghosts guiding the way. We get the story that could easily parallel The Ring and The Grudge with how it deals with uncovering the truth. We do get more flashbacks than we need, with one sequence that cuts between way too often instead of just showing a singular flashback. Other wise this is a horror story that does everything it needs to without becoming anything more than it can be.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in the film comes from the creepy environment, the mentality of the villagers dealing with the curse and the truth being given through the hauntings, which only adds to the mystery we are given through the film, as to why the curse in on the village.
Settings – The film uses the settings to add creepiness in the village, with the dark environment, lighting adds to the tension which will see how everything is being held back to add to the bigger moments, add in the remote isolation making things feel even more alone for the friends.
Scene of the Movie – The complete truth.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – One flashback cuts back and forth too much, while trying to get to the big moment in the reveal.
Final Thoughts – This is a twisted horror that does play into the culture of the village, bringing the curse idea to life and doesn’t hold back on the reality of the horror.
Overall: Great Horror That Brings the Atmosphere to Life.
ABC Film Challenge – Romance – U – The Ugly Truth (2009)
Director: Robert Luketic
Writer: Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah, Kirsten Smith (Screenplay) Nicole Eastman (Story)
Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner, Eric Winter, Nick Searcy, Jesse D Goins
Plot: An uptight television producer takes control of a morning show segment on modern relationships hosted by a misogynistic man.
Tagline – The battle of the sexes is on.
Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Enjoyable & Funny
Story: The Ugly Truth starts when an uptight television producer Abby (Heigl) sees her ratings on her morning show getting beaten by nearly every show, her show manager Stuart (Searcy) wants to change the show, his idea is to hire Mike Chadway (Butler) a misogynistic man who hosts a show known as ‘The Ugly Truth’ which tells the brutal truth about relationships.
As the two learn to work together, Mike helps Abby in her pursuit for the perfect man who just so happens to move in next door Colin (Winter), where she must learn what men want, while we learn more about Mike real life away from his brash personality.
Thoughts on The Ugly Truth
Characters – Abby is the uptight television producer that has put her career ahead of her dating life, where she has always been searching for the perfect guy, which sees her scary most away. When she does meet the perfect guy, she must learn to change working with new host of the show. Mike is the brash host of a show called The ugly Truth which calls out relationships and how men should get women and how women should let men in. He sends the ratings for the show way up and helps Abby come out of her shell, showing you can’t judge a book by its cover. This film mostly focuses on the two main characters, we get the assistant, the news anchors and Colin the doctor that Abby starts dating.
Performances – Katherine Heigl is an actress that did make an impact in the romantic comedy genre, she does a do well in this role, it is Gerard Butler that gets the most interesting performance because we believe his character and just how he has the broken heart in his character with each glance he shows. The supporting cast do add to the comedy in this film for the most part.
Story – The story follows two career man, with a female television producer and a male talk show host that both have different views on love and they teach each other about how to open their eyes to the other’s view point. While it does follow a traditional storyline it does all work to make the extremes of love feel believable. The only negative side from the story comes from just how the rest of the characters don’t seem to have lives outside our main two characters.
Comedy/Romance – The comedy comes from seeing how the two characters believe in different versions of love which only gets reactions from the characters, this helps with the romance because seeing different views of love could change them.
Settings – The film is set in a small city that shows that both of the characters want to be away from the busy cities which can see people lost in the shuffle.
Scene of the Movie – Balloon time.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Why order drinks and leave the table before they arrive?
Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable, fun comedy that lets the cast shine and shows love.
Overall: One to enjoy for rom com fans.
Rating
