Evil_Fred Reviews

The Admiral (2015)

A step in the right direction...

[7/10 · 26 February 2015]

Firstly , let me start of by saying i am dutch and therefore my opinion mite be slightly biased.Secondly , although the story is of grand importance to our history and epic of scope, i was worried (mainly by the choice of director, who's previous track record includes a whole lot of terrible sequels to B movies), and the choice of dutch movie producers to almost always (like 95% of the time) go for the safe picture, that being a not too artsy or original film (mostly being comedies, romantic comedies or family films). This film looked like it was going to be another Nova Zembla, the first big scale dutch epic (not counting of course Paul verhoeven en black book, but thats different, cos its verhoeven who is more known as a Hollywood director than of dutch films) that resulted in a total yawn fest. What a terrible waste

But this one turned out to be better than expected. Tho at times the over use of Bay-isms (such as over extended slo mo shots or using the story to support the visuals and action scenes rather than the other way around ,which did make it feel like a second rate pirates of the Caribbean at times) the flow and tone of the movie worked and it was never really boring at over 2 hours. Tho from time to time the story was obviously embellished for dramatic purposes, which resulted in it again looking more like a Disney adventure movie than a true historic epic. But , with overall good performances by the entire cast( and a gorgeous soundtrack) , the movie was quite good/worked well. A pleasant surprise.

Enjoy! Evil fred

Snowpiercer (2013)

A flawed Gem

[7/10 · 13 February 2015]

Though this movie is well crafted and i enjoyed it over all, there were still a number of things wrong with it. One being style over substance. The story is a bit predictable and it seemed like more time was spent on the look than the story. Even tho this is a sci/fi, it lacked credibility. Some things just seemed veeeery hard to believe ( like a train staying on track for years on years when in a few hours they nearly derail). Better to have left these out or to work them out in the story better.

This movie is adapted from a French short (apocalyptic) story , also like 12 monkeys. Tho an entirely different movie, the concept( end of the world, how do we survive) is the same. In 12 monkeys it seemed like the story fitted the narrative perfectly, when in this one the pieces of the puzzle didn't seem to fit as well, with many characters who we don't care for and added visuals who just seemed they're there for the view. A few of the actors stand out, most notably Tilda swinton, but the rest seems like they-re there just for added star power. Also, the pacing was not all that, since IMO it could have been 15 minutes shorter.Tho it was a nice portrayal of class difference. An entertaining watch.

Enjoy Evil_fred

Begotten (1989)

What you don't see is what you get

[6/10 · 29 March 2014]

Unfortunately you first have to make sense of the movie in some way to understand what you are seeing, and in this film thats near impossible. When making a film the idea is (i thought) to make a firstly a compelling story/plot. Tho this movie did (sorta) achieve that it failed to bring it to the audience in such a way that it is either compelling of even comprehensible. At first i wondered whether the look of the movie was because of budget, then i found out it was intentional and took hours upon hours to make a single minute of film. So the idea was to make it look as gritty and abstract as possible. That the film makers gloriously achieved.

But besides that, what exactly was the point? Hardly any entertainment , perhaps only shock value even tho that got old rather quick. At the end of the movie I was left confused , asking myself whether it was an visually abstract original , unique film or a piece of art overdrawn with one or two moments of shock value repeated over and over. This is probably the most subjective movie i have ever seen, tho i haven't seen many films like this, closest that compare would be ERASERHEAD and TETSUO. Those both had at least story lines you could (sort of) follow , this movie ,if you don't watch out, could just easily be a bunch of awkward,bizarre , incoherent mumbo jumbo. For a selective audience.

Enjoy_ Evil_Fred

Fright Night 2 (2013 Video)

All in all much of the same, unfortunately

[5/10 · 4 October 2013]

Tho i am a massive fan of horror movies and my opinion might be slightly biased, this "horror" movie wasn't all that i hoped for. The story, like the original from the 80's, is exactly the same as the first part. Main character meets suspicious vampire looking person( in this case, a woman) , goes on to investigate which evolves into a showdown between the pro and antagonist.

Lack of budget means we get lesser known and lesser experienced actors, which is not necessarily a bad thing if only the story or the directing or the pacing or at least SOMETHING is done well and/or original, but nope This one was made purely to cash in on the genre fan base and the fright night name.So unfortunately its a step backwards in the series. If there is going to be a part 3, i would be surprised.

Enjoy. Evil_fred

Dark Skies (2013)

Sinister meets Poltergeist... meets Paranormal Activity.. meets Insidious

[7/10 · 12 March 2013]

*6.5/10*

Saw this at a sneak preview and without knowing anything about it, i quite enjoyed myself, tho its not really a good movie. Though not entirely a bad movie either, it is still flawed on many levels. It basically takes the best scary bits out of some spooky movies ( namely the ones above) and put it together in one movie. So yes, it had its scary shriek moments, but not much else.

A mediocre back story , decent acting and very standard directing/scripting.Nothing original ,nothing unpredictable.Seriously lacked any depth or feeling of involvement. If they had put more thought in the story instead of the scary bits it would have come out ( most likely) for the better. Tho the bad guys/force/power ( not to give anything away) was done quite well. At my cinema people jumped outta their seats first time they saw it. For the bored nights or the fans of the (sub)genre

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (2012 Video)

If ya liked the first four...

[5/10 · 17 October 2012]

Your probably gonna enjoy this one. Was expecting another mutants in the wood variation, but in this one they took the gore to a town, which makes for a different movie entirely. The premise is a bit silly, there's a Halloween party in town so our mutated killers can just walk around unnoticed, and kill at random. The story's quite simple, a group of horny teenagers camping and take a wrong turn. Tho from the first couple of scenes you can see they cut the budget yet again in this one, though it doesn't hurt the film all that much. Plenty of gore ,well effected kills and decent acting make for an entertaining watch. For the fans of the splatter movies or horror flicks in general, cos in this seres all the remotely scary/thriller stuff was all in the first, being continued afterwards as a splatter fest horror porn series a la saw or hostel.A definite step up from the last one ! Enjoy the_evil_fred

The Heineken Kidnapping (2011)

Pretty good...

[7/10 · 3 November 2011]

For a dutch film, this is a must see. The aging icon of dutch cinema, rutger hauer, gives another solid performance. This movie was pretty good n all, but still some things wrong with it, mostly the pacing... acting,scripting, suspense building, all top notch. The cinematography is good,and the music makes a good atmosphere. But from time to time i was still looking at my watch... scenes are drawn out too long and the interesting bits are unfortunately, infrequent. Overall a decent attempt with a good outcome of a film.

Enjoy -

The_evil_fred

Scream 4 (2011)

Craven and Williamson do it agan

[7/10 · 14 April 2011]

To be honest i thought this was gonna be a stinker.Craven is getting old, and known for not always making a solid , good movie. Scream 1 was good, 2 was less, and 3 was laughable ( mostly due to a different writer) , but thank god Craven and Williamson paired up again for this (sort of) reboot, because it worked. The style and feel from the first 2 are captured well,the scares and jumps are excellently timed and the dark humor (which didn't work for part 3, and so much of it, making it more of a bad comedy then a good horror) adds a nice touch, and works a lot better. Overall entertaining as balls. the 2 hours flew by. The last 2 movies i saw in the Cinema - Sucker punch an green hornet - i couldn't stop looking atmy watch to see when it was gonna end. If ya a horror fan like me, or just like going to the movies for a good time! Go see this one! - And what a KICK ASS intro!!

Enjoy!

The Evil Fred

Alice in Wonderland (I) (2010)

Tim burton's extravaganza

[7/10 · 14 March 2010]

Ill keep it short as usual, since it is always better to see a film without any prior judgments or opinions, with an complete open mind.

This movie is a Tim Burton wet dream. Tim always makes a better movie (in my opinion) when he keeps to his own/original material ( scissor hands, big fish, mars attacks) not when hes taking ideas from other people ( planet of apes, Sweeney Todd, charlie % the chocolate) , but , strangely for me this one hits the mark. Charlie wasn't that bad, but it wasn't good either. this movie is like seeing charlie on speed. The time flew by, and what a ride it was! If you like Burton's surreal storytelling, and if you ever read alice in wonderland as a kid, your gonna love this one! And of course an awesome score from Danny Elfman yet again.

Enjoy!- the_evil_fred

Shutter Island (2010)

If anything a decent movie!

[8/10 · 23 February 2010]

I'll keep it short as i hate these movie fanatics who think its necessary to explain the entire plot or to state all their opinions on every aspect of the film. Its always better to see a movie with as less information about it as possible, see it with an open mind . All i got to say is this ; shutter island is a decent if not good movie. with all the schlock coming out nowadays this one definitely belongs in the higher echelons. Its better than gangs of new york, but not quite the departed of aviator. of course there are a number of things wrong with it, but Scorsese is a masterful director, one of the best , and it shows.Great cinematography with creepy music makes good tense scenes. Add sme top notch acting and you get Shutter Island. Overall a strong piece with a few flaws. Not one of Scorsese's best ( it be in his top 10 , not top 5) , but definitely one of DiCaprio's.

Enjoy - the_evil_fred

The Fall (I) (2006)

So Beautiful it Hurts

[8/10 · 3 June 2009]

I had never heard of this movie and after putting it on , in the first 5 minutes i was quite amazed and I went and looked it up on IMDb. Not a fan of the cell, (the previous movie this director )i was a bit skeptical but i decided to be patient and see. And let me say it was worth it. Tho i wasn't paying full attention for some of the movie, the last 30 minutes even though i wasn't fully watching i could almost feel myself about to burst in tears, the visually stunning cinematography and gripping imaginative script , the emotions on screen , i could not contain myself, it was so beautiful it just hurt. Add to that some excellent acting ( the finest young actress I've seen in a long time - dakota fanning could learn book loads from this girl!) and you've got a littl gem of a movie . It was easy to say i liked the movie, but i definitely have to see it again for a total synopsis. I read earlier that this movie is a sort of remake from a Bulgarian movie 25 years ago, but ill bet that movie didn't have the cinematography and music of this one, which were the most important parts of the music ( and the little girls acting).

This is the second time i write a review for a movie, and the first was for Jesus Christ Vampire hunter. If you haven't seen that movie yet , go and see it. Its a love it or hate it thing, like fear and loathing or the big lebowski, like Britney or Bush, like diet Coke or Pepsi max.

And so is this movie, but the general opinion swings towards the love. Its one of the most original movies i have ever seen, and i watch a good 2 to 3 movies a day , and originality is the hardest quality to find in a movie,especially with all these garbage remakes and endless sequels coming out.

Ill leave it at that. So i recommend this movie to anyone who likes gorgeous cinematography mixed with a clever script , and some good acting here and there.

Enjoy - the evil fred

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001)

"i suggest we go harvest another lesbian"

[7/10 · 25 March 2009]

too be honest after 5 minutes of watching i was thinking - wow, this was made in 2000/2001 but they somehow fashioned it in one of the most low budget 70 's B movie . grind-house productions I've ever seen. it was quite an eye fest , and to be honest quite a feat as well.

And since i love B movies and grind-house flicks, i enjoyed myself quite a bit during JCVH.

if you enjoy low budget movies (and i mean low low budget) with a zing and some original scripting i totally recommend this one!

Enjoy - .

evil Fred