Writer: Nicolas Winding Refn, Mary Laws, Poly Stenham (Screenplay)
Starring: Elle Fanning, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Desmond Harrington, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves
Plot: When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: UMMMMM ZZZZZZ I Think
Story: The Neon Demon starts young naïve model Jesse (Fanning) who at the tender age of 16 moved the LA to make a name for herself, striking up a friendship with make-up artist Ruby (Malone) she finds her way to model agent Roberta Hoffman (Hendricks) who starts her on her trail to stardom.
As Jesse stars to rise up the ranks in the modelling world she meets all the other models that have all gone to their own lengths to get into the world, but will she let this new world consume her.
The Neon Demon is a film I can honestly say I really just didn’t understand or of the bits I did understand I feel it comes off like a poor version of Starry Eyes. The film is full blown artsy with lots of long shots of pretty much nothing happening other than music. In the end I found myself wanting this to be a lot shorter and have a more rounded story.
Starring: Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jeremy Sisto, Kevin Zegers, Lindy Booth, Julian Richings
Plot: Six people find themselves trapped in the woods of West Virginia, hunted down by “cannibalistic mountain men grossly disfigured through generations of in-breeding.”
Verdict: Still Want to go to the Woods?
Story: We start by seeing two students being taken from the rock climbing exercise followed by the news clippings of all the disappearance over the years. This makes the backstory of the cannibals complete. We then get to follow one of our heroes as he is desperately trying to make his way across country for a big interview, before crashing into five friends who have had a tire blowout. The group split up to try and find help but soon find themselves the latest targets of the cannibals.
When this first hit the screens the genre of cannibals was nowhere to be seen, this put everything back on the map. Though the story is very much the same as the whole stuck in the woods idea of previous times. We do get to see the survival attempts mixed in with the fight against an enemy they didn’t expect to go up against. It is good that we don’t get any silly horror mistakes, with the group trying to stay together; it is also good that we don’t see too much detail about how long everything had been going on, though I would have liked to have seen some potential warning ignored by the groups. In the end it is a solid horror story that never really challenges the audience. (7/10)
Actor Review
Desmond Harrington: Chris on his way to a big interview when he gets caught up in traffic, he tries to find a back road but ends up crashing into the other group of people. He has to work with these people to find help but ends up join forces fighting to survive. Desmond gives a solid performance as the leading horror man. (7/10)
Eliza Dushku: Jessie our leading lady who is on the trip with her friends because she has broken up with her boyfriend. She looks out for her friends but if left helpless to help any of them against the cannibals. Eliza does a good job in the leading lady role putting up a fight when she needed too. (7/10)
Support Cast: With the support cast comprising of the disposable friends and the cannibals themselves, each member does a good job to help keep the story rolling.
Director Review: Rob Schmidt – Solid direction to bring the cannibal genre back into the modern horror world. (7/10)
Horror: Not holding back on the kills as well as showing what the cannibals do with their victim’s works very well for horror levels. (8/10)
Thriller: You do end up getting near the edge of your seat wondering who will make it. (8/10)
Settings: The settings are used very well to create isolation without the completely trapped side for the story. (10/10)
Special Effects: Good effects used to create the kills and what the cannibals do. (9/10)
Suggestion: This is one for the horror fans out there, they will all enjoy this one. (Horror Fans Watch)
Best Part: The group escaping the house.
Worst Part: The supporting friends are too disposable.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: Start of a franchise
Post Credits Scene: Near the beginning of the credits there is one.
Oscar Chances: No
Box Office: $15.4 Million
Budget: $12.6 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
Tagline: It’s the last one you’ll ever take
Trivia: Desmond Harrington broke his ankle and Emmanuelle Chriqui dislocated her shoulder making this film.
Overall: If you go down to the woods today, you will become their breakfast
Starring: Julianna Margulies, Gabriel Byrne, Ron Eldard, Desmond Harrington, Isaiah Washington, Alex Dimitriades, Karl Urban (Priest), Emily Browning (Sucker Punch).
Story When a team of salvagers lead by Captain Sean Murphy (Byrne) also having Epps (Margulies), Dodge (Eldard), Greer (Washington), Santos (Dimitriades) and Munder (Urban). After completing a difficult job they look to head their separate ways until the next jobs comes up. Before they go Jack Ferriman (Harrington) approaches the team with a job for a cruise liner drifting in Open Ocean.
The team take the job and head out to locate the cruise liner. As they arrive at the cruise liner they discover it is a ship that disappeared forty years ago. Upon boarding the ship strange things start happening starting with Epps seeing a little girl (Browning) in the middle of the main floor.
With the strange goings on will the crew be able to salvage the ship before its too late or will the events on the ship take there toll on the crew?
Verdict
This horror thriller poses a lot of similarities with such films as Event Horizon and Lost Voyage. Having lots of attempts at jumps that don’t really surprise it’s the story that really keeps you guessing. Having twists right up to the end, which is the best thing about the whole movie. Most performance are pretty routine with nobody really standing out but saying that most of them have gone onto bigger and better things.
Some of the special effects are pretty average with the exception of the open sequences on the dance floor won’t put in what happened in case it ruins the surprise. Overall if you like a horror film that gives you twists through out this one is well worth a watch.
Story Mark 8/10 The twists save what is a pretty routine story.
Action Mark 7/10 Good sequences but nothing that really shines out as proper action.
Horror Mark 8/10 Good horror levels nothing that should scare too much but could get a few shocks.
Character Development Mark 6/10 The characters in the crew are hard to develop, as they don’t need to tell back-story to each other. The ghosts have the best back-story on what happened on the ship.
Friendship Chemistry Mark 9/10 The crew are very tight knit and it shows.
Special Effects Mark 8/10 Simple stuff after opening sequences.
Star Performances Guess you could say everyone no one really stands out.
Favourite Character Jack only character that has some mystery about himself.
Poor Performance Gabriel Byrne really shouldn’t be making these average horros with his past in great films like Usual Suspects.
Least Favourite Character Greer whiny character annoying through out.
Best Part open sequences and twist at the very end.
Worst Part Lack of real scares.
Best Quote Epps (after Jack says he found a ship while flying over ocean) ‘Congratulations. You found a boat in the middle of the ocean of all places.’
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
