Tag Archives: Horror

Apr 29 2021

Wrong Place, Wrong Time (2021) Movie Review

Director: Justin Price

Writer: Justin Price (Screenplay)

Starring: Mike Markoff, Franziska Schissler, Chase Garland, Alex Ryan Brown, Bianca Stein, Olivia Rivera

Plot: An elite team of vigilantes plot to steal 14 billion dollars of laundered money from a notorious mob boss. After being double-crossed, they find refuge in the middle of nowhere with a mysterious family carrying an unsettling secret. They discover that the man of the house is a creature of the dark and they must fight to survive the night.

Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Wrong Place, Wrong Time starts when a group of mercenaries Sage (Schissler), Gabriel (Markoff), Solomon (Brown) and Kira (Rivera) complete a heist of laundered money, which turns sour, leading to them to need to go into hiding.

The group take shelter in a home which seems to have an unsettling secret going on within its walls, one that will lead the group to try their best to survive the new terrors waiting for them.

Thoughts on Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Characters & Performances – Sage is one of the mercenaries, she is the one that will think more about getting the job done without leaving bodies behind, trying to stop the others committing deadlier crimes, looking for the peaceful solution. Solomon is the brother of Sage that has put the team together for the job and is starting to lose control of the situation. The rest of the team fill the traditions ideas for mercenaries out for themselves, with a loose cannon in the mix. In the house we get to meet the mysterious people that we learn more about as the story unfolds, each one having their own story. The performances in the film are solid with Franziska Schissler being the standout of the cast.

Story – The story here follows a group of mercenaries who bank heist goes wrong, leading them to take shelter in a home that ends up being filled with a bigger mystery for them to try and survive. This does follow a couple of stories we have seen before, the mercenaries or criminals in hiding is one that is always fun, see ‘From Dusk till Dawn’ for one of the best examples. Mixing that with a ‘Collection’ with the own spin on the horrors, gives us everything we need for this film. Each scene does seem to offer up a new potential mystery to what is going on, which will lead to the bigger picture being revealed.

Themes – Wrong Place, Wrong Time is an action horror that does start with the big action set piece of the escape, before turning into the mystery behind the horrors, not stepping away from the bloodshed going on. Once inside the house, we don’t leave it, which will give us the contained environment for the story to unfold within.

Released 4th May on Demand & DVD

 

Wrong Place, Wrong Time is a fun action horror filled with plenty of mystery.

Apr 26 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Action – Z – House on Willow Street (2016) Movie Review

We are under Z because of star of the movie Zino Ventura.

Director: Alastair Orr

Writer: Jonathan Jordaan, Alastair Orr (Screenplay) Catherine Blackman (Story)

Starring: Sharni Vinson, Carlyn Burchell, Steven John Ward, Gustav Gerdener, Zinoe Venture, Gina Shmukler

Plot: After a young woman is kidnapped, her captors soon come to realize that in fact they may be the ones in danger and this young woman has a dark secret inside her.


Tagline – Evil has an address.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fresh Action Horror

Story: House on Willow Street starts when a group of criminals, Hazel (Vinson), Ade (Ward), Mark (Ventura) and James (Gerdener) look to target a house for a diamond robbery, they kidnap the daughter Katherine (Burchell) who promises bad things will happen to the criminals if they don’t let her go.

As the night continues, the criminals each get haunted by something from their past, where they slowly learn the truth about the house and just what will happen if they don’t fix the problem they have created.

Thoughts on House on Willow Street

Characters – Hazel is one of the criminals, she has chosen to make this latest job personal leading her team into a house which she knows more than she lets on about, she is damaged, like all the criminals in this film, taking charge when she learns more about the truth about the person they kidnap. Katherine is the young woman who gets kidnapped, she promises to make them pay, showing the truth about what has happened to her in the most twisted way possible. Ade is looking for this job to be his chance to escape certain life in prison, he becomes the most desperate to get out with the diamonds, even though he will stay loyal till the end. Mark is the leader of the gang, he lets others do the work, only to show his true nature when things become too tough.

Performances – Sharni Vinson in the leading role does well as the broken criminal who wants to clean up her own life, while the rest of the cast fill the generic roles with ease never being tested to be more than this.

Story – The story here follows a group of criminals that kidnap the daughter of a family in hope of getting diamonds, only for the person they kidnap to have a much darker secret about them which will put them all in a fight to survive. While on paper this looks like it will be a run of the mill crime story, the twist it takes going into the new direction shows us a horror story about fighting demons. It is different it does work for the film, though it does seem like it goes too far into making a point that the possessed person if evil with no cure, rather than an innocent person in need of rescuing.

Action/Horror – The action in the film comes from seeing how the team operate to get the kidnapping happening in the first place and then how they must deal with the horror, with the horror being around possession, which for once seems to focus on the idea of not having a fix, where the evil has already won the body who is now looking for more souls.

Settings – The film uses an abandoned warehouse as the main setting, this does work because criminals would take a hostage there and it only adds to the horror of being along in this location.

Special Effects – The effects in this film are used well, they do know how to make everything effective when it comes to seeing the possessed dealing with their hunt.


Scene of the Movie – The final battle.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Mark and Ade seems to have a character swap which isn’t implied in their early nature.

Final Thoughts – This is a nice spin on the kidnapping genre, it enjoys adding the possession horror to this, keeping it fresh with the battles and motivation behind the characters.

Overall: Nice Spin.

Apr 25 2021

Pipeline (2021) Movie Review

Director: Emily Aguilar

Writer: Emily Aguilar (Screenplay)

Starring: Yvonne Bowser-Caballero, Keaton Ray, Justin Sisk, Ashna Sharan, Cristian Linares, Mikayla Kelley, Shannon Scully, Marc Goodman

Plot: A family residence is taken over by a blood thirsty pipe monster who awaits those who step inside. Without the ability to leave, the family must do what they can to survive in this blood-ridden home luring in “renters” as bait.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Pipeline starts when seven friends Nicole (Bowser-Caballero), Chris (Ray), Kyle (Sisk), Jena (Sharan), Justin (Linares), Erica (Kelley) and Alexis (Scully) head off to a music festival, renting a home nearby for the weekend of Merlin (Goodman).

When the party starts before the festival, the friends find themselves starting to get picked off by an unknown force that has been feeding on the renters in the house for years.

Thoughts on Pipeline

Characters & Performances – Nicole is the one that is hosting the weekend for the friends, bringing her friends along the way. She might well be the leader in the group, but deep down we do end up going through the generic group of young adults looking for a fun weekend, none of the characters get any real development, other than a few drunken stories along the way. There does seem to be a lack of natural chemistry between the friends, which can reflect in the performances that are mostly just fine, never getting into the levels required to make this anywhere near a terrifying experience.

Story – The story her follows seven friends who look to have a fun weekend away at a music festival renting a house to get through the weekend away, only nothing goes to plan as an evil presence is in the home. This does the build up of meeting the friends and creates the moments of the unknown looking to pick off the friends through the pipes with a twist in the story that will lead to a more difficult horror in life. While this story is a simple one to watch for a horror, it makes sure to give us more of the unknown over than just spoon feeding the outcome.

Themes – Pipeline is a horror that keep the evil within the darkness, while also putting them in locations you think would be safe, which is a hard trick, we get the blood involved for what is happening, without showing us aftermath rather than the attacks. The location keeps us in the singular home which is new to the people that has something involved to keep the evil contained.

 

Pipeline is an easy watch horror that gets the blood splatter and suspense.

Apr 23 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Action – W – Wolves (2014) Movie Review

Director: David Hayter

Writer: David Hayter (Screenplay)

Starring: Lucas Till, Stephen McHattie, John Pyper-Ferguson, Merrit Patterson, Jason Momoa, Janet-Laine Green, Melanie Scrofano

Plot: A boy is trying to find out about his family history and stumbles upon a town of lycans.


Tagline – Unleash the beast

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Wolves starts when Cayden Richards (Till) a high school student learns about a new set of abilities, ones that make him need to leave town, drawn to another town, one filled with werewolves, where John Tollerman (McHattie) takes him in, learning Connor (Momoa) has created a deadly pack of wolves that live in the hills, hunting, waiting for his time.

Once Cayden learns his true identity, he learns he has a place in the war between the two sides as a potential leader and game changer in the war, one that could bring peace between the sides.

Thoughts on Wolves

Characters – Cayden starts as the normal high school sports star with a perfect girlfriend, being the typical jock figure, until one game he unleashes an animal side, which sees the beginning a change in his body, forcing him to escape his home town where he is drawn to another town, one that has other werewolf figures. Cayden must learn to fight for his own position in this world, one where he could change everything. John Tollerman is the man that took Cayden in, he knows his history and knows that he could help them end the war between both sides. Connor is the leader of a deadly pack of werewolves that hunts in the hills where he is waiting for his chance to take power and run riot over the area, he is feared by many because they know he will kill people that cross him. Angelina is the local bartender who holds the key to what everyone is fighting for

Performances – Lucas Till in the leading role is strong and will keep us engaged with the ever changing character through the film, Stephen McHattie brings the calm, cool delivery of the bigger picture, while Jason Momoa brings the imposing figure that will dominate the screen.

Story – The story here follows a teenager that learns that he is in fact a werewolf and an important part of a battle between two packs. This does bring a different approach to the werewolf genre, instead of focusing on the slow transformation, we are looking at the full pack mentality, much like how we have seen vampires get done in the past. We do see the traditional story of one person needing to learn their place in the world suddenly. The gang mentality works too, with seeing how both sides have their own story, even if the main story does look for an extra twist.

Action/Horror – The action is in the film does give us over the top fights, which uses the expected abilities of werewolves, only for the horror to be more about the potential ritual situation.

Settings – The film uses the small town setting to show how the locals could make this battle happen, without anyone ever looking into the truth.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are the weakest part of the film, because when the characters talk, they look completely out of place.


Scene of the Movie – Final fight.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The talking in wolf mode.

Final Thoughts – This is an entertaining werewolf movie that is filled with plenty of action and show the deadly nature of the werewolves in the world.



Apr 22 2021

The Deep Ones (2020) Movie Review

The Deep Ones – Lovecraft Fantasy

Director: Chad Ferrin

Writer: Chad Ferrin (Screenplay) H.P. Lovecraft (Writings)

Starring: Gina La Piana, Robert Miano, Johann Urb, Silvia Spross, Jackie Debatin, Nicolas Coster

Plot: A married couple rents a beach side Airbnb only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. They soon discover to be in the grips of a mysterious cult and their ancient sea god.


Tagline – See the light

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Deep Ones starts when Alex (La Piana) and Petri (Urb) arrive at a beach side Airbnb for a romantic weekend, despite meeting the strange owners Russel (Miano) and Ingrid (Spross) who seems to get a hold of Petri bringing him into the mysterious cult they seem to have around the beach.

Alex finds herself feeling left along by the strange goings on, which will see her starting to see her husband acting strange, with the community acting closer than she could imagine, bringing her towards their desires of the cult latest member.

Thoughts on The Deep Ones

Thoughts – The Deep Ones brings a couple to a beach house for a holiday, which will soon turn into a nightmare as the cult surrounding the area looks to take advantage of them. This does continue a trend in horror that will see a group of people wanting something from a couple, one that is getting tiresome now, this one does have an interesting build and is looking to bring the creations of Lovecraft mind. When it comes the effects, we get some strong moments, as we wait to see what we are going to see, but it never reaches the levels of other Lovecraft visions we are seeing. We could have gone a lot deeper into what is going on with more creepy moments involving the creatures from the imaginations.

Final Thoughts – The Deep Ones gives us a look at the imagination of Lovecraft, but only a glimpse of what we could see.