RobsBottin Reviews

Halloween Ends (2022)

Long Live The Original.

[16 October 2022]

John Carpenter and Debra Hill produced a very quirky and punky horror movie in 1978. It has its flaws but it remains one of the most effective slasher movies ever made.

It did not warrant a sequel let alone a franchise all of its own and with each and every sequel comes diminishing returns which comes as no surprise to me since there is no story left to tell.

Blumhouse are no longer a credible film studio they are simply eking out as much cash as possible and exploiting a gullible fan base who hang to the absurd notion that 'this one will be better than the last'. Dreadful uninspiring nonsense.

Upgrade (2018)

Unexpected gem.

[17 February 2019]

Upgrade reminds me of Blade Runner and the Terminator (specifically SkyNet), the cinematography is outstanding and the special FX are superb considering the budget. There are plenty of nods to some of our favourite films but they are never over emphasised.

I must give a huge credit to Jed Palmer who composed the score, it is absolutely stunning, there are hints of Vangelis littered throughout the movie but it has its own identity and presses all the right buttons during the climatic scenes.

The message I got from Upgrade is simple; Be careful what you wish for..

Downrange (2017)

Better than I expected.

[8 December 2018]

My only problem with this movie is the utterly ridiculous decisions the armed police made when they arrive at the scene.

Specialist units do not behave like that, and they certainly wouldn't expose themselves so readily. It was an idiotic sequence. Overall I enjoyed Downrange, the villain is somewhat intriguing he reminded me of Michael Myers, no back story, no explanation he just kills without reason or conscious. The final act is a tad ludicrous but I won't spoil it here.

Halloween (I) (2018)

A missed opportunity.

[26 October 2018]

First of all it should be noted that most of the scenes that are featured in the trailers are not in the final cut. This suggests that after the test screenings Halloween was in big trouble and that is evident by the haphazard editing.

Going in to the cinema my expectations were reasonably high thanks to the aforementioned trailers but they are misleading to say the least.

Set forty years after the night 'he came home' Halloween attempts to highlight the debilitating condition known as PTSD. Apart from Laurie Strode anxiously sipping a glass of wine and exclaiming to her daughter that she can't cope the script jettisons this part of the narrative and before you can say he's behind you we are back in Haddonfield although it doesn't look like Haddonfield and it doesn't feel like Haddonfield...

The cardinal sin with this iteration is the total lack of suspense, we are with Michael far too often and it feels like a documentary. I was half expecting Louis Theroux to come in to view and interview Michael just before he kills another hapless victim off screen. The shape is nowhere to be seen, he is simply a masked lunatic walking (not stalking) the streets of Haddonfield.

Ultimately there is no story, it's as close to a remake without actually being a remake, nods to the original franchise are in plentiful supply but they actually do the film a great disservice after all if you're going to tell your story then do it on your terms and stop pandering to Halloween purists who obviously feel aggrieved that their beloved franchise, with the exception of the original, has been erased in this time line at least.

Halloween 2018 is a frustrating mess, there are some good ideas that were never fully realised, it feels as though McBride and co were in the midst of an identity crisis, unsure of what their version of Halloween actually is. It's a shame they didn't have the courage to take all of the themes they dabbled with and run with their own movie rather than constantly paying tribute to 'the master'.

Get Out (I) (2017)

Don't believe the hype.

[26 June 2018]

I'd heard great things about Get Out but I decided to put it on the back burner until last night. Get Out is nothing more than a rehash of Brian Yuzna's Society but without the grotesque physical transformations. It has its moments but ultimately it's all been done before.

Deadly Friend (1986)

A Friend indeed

[4 September 2004]

***SPOILERS***

Deadly Friend has received a lot of bad press over the years. It's far from accomplished I agree, but then so are a lot of todays contemporary offerings, which have budgets the size of Mars.

Much was expected from Craven after the success of A Nightmare On Elm Street, it was by no means an easy time for Craven. When you're faced with a $30,000,000 law suit and a marriage on the verge of total disintegration I would imagine it's quite a task to commit yourself 100% to a film which had also adopted a dozen or so wannabe producers, all with their own 'unique' ideas of where Craven should take his next 'blockbuster'. *Sighs heavily*

Despite these interferences Craven, and screenplay writer Bruce Joel Rubin, manage to inject a certain amount of genuine heart and humour in to an otherwise troubled project. Casting was spot on in my opinion, particularly Kristy Swanson, my first ever movie crush!!. Anne (Throw Momma From The Train) Ramsay makes an appearance doing what she does best, looking mean and evil! And Matthew Laborteaux is absolutely perfect as the boy genius. Michael Sharrat lends support as Tom, Pauls friend and partner in crime. Richard Marcus plays the part of Samanthas abusive alcoholic father.

I won't go too much in to the plot but suffice to say DEADLY FRIEND is quite an emotional journey, particularly when Samantha appears as herself for a brief moment, we take her POV during the final moments of the film, where her vision returns to normal and the old Samantha appears to be alive and well, of course BB overrides her, and the final act was a bit of a tear jerker for me, well when I was a kid !!!!

Bottom line; DEADLY FRIEND had it's moments good and bad, it just goes to show what happens when studio bosses think they're film makers, if you can get past these minor discrepancies you'll find a half decent tale of love trying to survive beyond the grave.....

(Whatever happened to Matthew Laborteaux?, highly underrated actor!)

6/10