Oct 24 2020

Tokyo Home Stay Massacre (2020) Move Review

Director: Kenta Osaka, Hirohito Takimoto

Writer: Kenta Osaka, Hirohito Takimoto (Screenplay)

Starring: Alex Derycz, Diana G, Will Harrell

Plot: Three American late teens travel to Japan to escape a sad past and have some fun but end up trapped in a house with a demented Japanese host family who plans to offer them to their gods in a sick ancient Japanese ritual.

Tagline – You’re not in Texas anymore. Welcome to Japan.

Runtime: 1 Hour 15 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Tokyo Home Stay Massacre starts as three America students, John (Derycz), Sarah (G) and Spencer (Harrell) travel to Japan to learn more about the culture, they are staying with a host family that opens them with arms wide open.

When the three start to explore the house in secret, they learn the terrifying truth about the family, who have arranged to have their own sacrifices to their God.

Thoughts on Tokyo Home Stay Massacre

Final Thoughts – Tokyo Home Stay Massacre falls into the category of film that is trying to be something very edgy, only to fall short, with the delivery, the story leads up to much of the torture sequences, which are off screen, relying on blood squirting over anything else. The lack of subtitles to the Japanese side of the characters is a massive problem too, even if it does seem to want to be part found footage and part properly shot movie. The American characters feel like they are meant to have more development, but turn into the generic nosey characters who end up getting more than they deserve for their own intrusion and lack of respect for the culture they are entering, leaving us not caring about anything going on, not being shocked by the shots that are meant to be shocked filled and left feeling empty by the end.

Oct 24 2020

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – X – 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019) Movie Review

We need to find a difficult letting of X, so with Corinne Foxx, we are clutching at straws here.

Director: Johannes Roberts

Writer: Ernest Riera, Johannes Roberts (Screenplay)

Starring: Sophie Nelisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, Sistine Rose Stallone, John Corbett, Nia Long

Plot: Four teen girls diving in a ruined underwater city quickly learn they’ve entered the territory of the deadliest shark species in the claustrophobic labyrinth of submerged caves.

Tagline – The Next Chapter

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Improvement

Story: 47 Meters Down Uncaged starts as we meet stepsisters Mia (Nelisse) and Sasha (Foxx) who have different status in their school, Mia being the outsider, while Sasha doesn’t want to put her group of friends are risk.

Mia and Sasha are joined by Alexa (Tju) and Nicole (Stallone) as they look to go diving in the underwater city beneath their city, which does seem like an adventure, until they discovery themselves trapped in the city, with a blind great white shark hunting them down.

Thoughts on 47 Meters Down Uncaged

Characters – Mia is the bullied teenager, she has a close relationship with her father and stepmother, while still looking to build one with her stepsister, she agrees to join Sasha on a trip away from the planned one, with her friends, which sees her join the cave diving, needing to use her diving experience to help survive once they become trapped. Sasha is the more popular stepsister, she has her group of friends that doesn’t include Mia, she does encourage Mia to stay away from the bullies though, getting her to join her on the cave dive adventure. Alexa and Nicole are clearly going to be the disposable friends in this, with one Nicole being the most naïve through everything, while Alexa claims to know what to do to survive.

Performances – We have a young cast, who spend most of the film underwater, some of it screaming or panicking, which does make it hard to believe the performances, it doesn’t help that certain characters change through the film too.

Story – The story here follows 4 teenagers that decide to go cave diving in an underwater system only to find themselves trapped down there with a great white shark hunting them down. While we do have improvements on the first film, by having the idea of a secret underground structure, along with the idea that we are going to be dealing with sharks evolving to the underwater world, this is all good, but by the end it is mostly just the panicking, with Mia needing to prove how brave she is, almost giving us the point of the film to impress the most popular girl in school.

Horror – The horror in the film comes from seeing how the shark is hunting down in the claustrophobic environment, it does show the situation to be difficult.

Settings – The film uses the settings to keep the action tight, confined and with plenty of peril throughout, making this different to most shark movies.

Special Effects – The effects are a mixed bag because the environment looks great, but not all the shark moments seem as real as they should be.

Scene of the Movie – The open water.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Characters seem to change with their actions in the film.

Final Thoughts – This is an improvement on the first film, that does seem to have a confusing title though, if we are looking for just a tight shark horror film, this is everything you would like to see, even if the characters are not very strong.

Overall: Shark Fun.

Oct 24 2020

I Hate New Year’s (2020) Movie Review

Director: Christin Baker

Writer: Kathryn Trammell (Screenplay) Ashley Arnold, Christin Baker, Danielle Jablonski, Kathryn Trammell (Story)

Starring: Dia Frampton, Ashley Argota, Candis Cayne, Andrew Brennen, Kelly Lynn Reiter Tamiko Robinson Steele

Plot: Rising music star Layne heads home to Nashville for New Year’s Eve to break her writer’s block, but sometimes you find inspiration – and love – where you least expect it

Runtime: 1 Hour 18 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: I Hate New Year’s starts when rising music star Layne Price (Frampton) decides to visit home in Nashville for New Years as see her best friend Cassie (Argota) who has been waiting for her to return to home to tell her how she feels about her.

As Layne is looking to find a creative spark, she starts to look at a former love and her old band, while missing what was right on front of her, which will also see her fame continue to rise, with her in-person performances.

Thoughts on I Hate New Year’s

Characters – Layne Price is one of the hottest rising stars in music with her debut year, she is struggling with finding inspiration for a new song, needing to return home to Nashville, where she started her rise to fame in the music industry, she gets to spend time with her best friend, and spend the time trying to find her lost love, only building on her celebrity status with her random appearances performing. Cassie is Layne best friend, they grew up together and is a country singer in her own right. She wants to tell Layne how she feels about her, only she can’t bring up the courage to and decides to help Layne look for her lost love over the night, however much that will hurt her seeing her being left alone. On the journey over the night we meet a overly wise driver that always knows what to say, connections in the music world that have help Layne reach the level she has and her manager who is struggling with the sudden trends about her.

Performances – Dia Frampton and Ashley Argota in the leading role are both great to watch, they both show how down to Earth two musicians can be, how love with haunt them and how hope of love can leave someone wanting more.

Story – The story here follows a rising musician that returns home for inspiration for new songs by seeing her friends who helped her get to where she is, along with dealing with an old love in her life. This is a story that shows us how musicians will need to take a break to find inspiration and that you could find love from the people closest to you in life. This does everything that makes you feel happy, with music performances, seeing all the positive moments on life and will leave you with a smile.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy in the film comes from the different moments that are going on through the night, with moments from Cassie flirting often getting a few extra laughs, with the romance being a lot of looking back at what could be, while not taking advantage of the opportunity right on front of you.

Settings – The film is set in Nashville, which helps us feel like we are in the home of country music, showing us the community will be open to everything positive.

Scene of the Movie – The New Year’s performance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Nothing.

Final Thoughts – I Hate New Year’s is a fun rom com that will get plenty of laughs, delightful musical performances and a love story you want to succeed.