truehorrorfan Reviews

The Crimson Rivers (2000)

mis match of ideas gone awry

[5/10 · 6 June 2010]

People can comment on camera work, imagery, and acting quality of a film, but all of that does not matter if the writing is...well...crap. Perhaps something was lost in translation here but the film had so many plot holes that bowling balls would fall through it. I wont explain specifics to avoid spoilers but by the time the facts, twists, and the killer was revealed I just didn't care. It was not "Oh my god," but "Ok, sure, whatever." This was due to a poor story development which meanders and looses it's audience, not to mention poor pacing which made it quite anti-climatic.

I gave it a five out of 10 because the story had potential, however it was told poorly, acting and imagery aside.

One last rant: What was the deal with the transplanted fight scene in the "paintball club?" The choreography there was terrible and did not look real. It appeared to be a feeble attempt at making it seem like an action movie.

I know that the french can do better than that, considering "high tension", and "frontiers" to name a few.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)

better than the first remake

[7/10 · 8 October 2006]

First and foremost, I still pay homage to the original, which no sequel or remake will be able to touch. With that aside, it is a decent modern flick, better than the one before it. All elements are there to make it a TCM, which fans will know what I mean; most all follow the same pattern. The background explanations and military tie-ins give a better and plausible picture of the apparent psychosis the Hewitt family exhibits. One thing that sets it apart from the others, is more scenes that elicit a sense of hope for our characters. TCM the beginning also has a predictable, yet glad they did it that way, ending. For those who prefer the classics over the remakes, this one has shown better than others and I rate it a seven out of ten.

Hostel (2005)

ehhhhhh....

[5/10 · 8 January 2006]

To begin with, I just saw the cut version of the movie, so perhaps the uncut version was much better.

I am most disappointed with the first 30-45 minutes of the film. This is where Eli lost his way from cabin fever. The time was wasted mostly on T and A and partying scenes. In most effective movies of this genre, and I feel three things were missing in this movie in the beginning.

First, is something to jump start the movie, such as the gunfight in the devils rejects, or the opening murder in Halloween.

The second is character compassion. What I mean by this, is the characters are well developed and a personal or intimate moment is revealed to the viewer. This in turn draws the viewer in more to the character's pain when something unfortunate happens to them. Kind of like in the first saw, I could care less thanks to the Princess Bride idiot, despite whatever was happening to him. So despite these guys getting tortured, it was not that effective.

Finally, are certain hints or elements that bind the movie together as they go along, other than the kids who kill for candy. Given, the only one I picked up on was this, which began half way through the movie. Question for you all.... Would have the one surviving character still have gone back to save the Asian girl, if he had not witnessed a girl drowning in his youth? The movie needed more of those character traits. But the whole guy on the train thing, I figured him to be a torturer right off the bat.. They were showing way too much of him to not be involved.

The non-lethal euthanasia involving the girl's eye was a nice touch.

As far as the second half is concerned, it wasn't that bad. It had the whole Last House on the Left feel, where an unlikely killer returns the favor for all those involved in his friends deaths and his tortures as he comes by them.

All and all, I gave it right down the middle: because the beginning was almost useless, and the end was good.

My advise for those who are into this genre: Stick with more Indy films, like Eli's first one.

The Ring Two (2005)

wait for video

[4/10 · 28 March 2005]

I loved the original and couldn't wait for the sequel. It turned out to be a big disappointment.

First of all: the ring was much better than ringu hands down. So why would the sequel have the director of the lesser quality film? Beats me.

I wanted to know more about samara, didn't happen. Reminds me of Nightmare on Elm St part 2, where the story changed when there was no need.

There were a few cool special effects, but were no saving grace.

The "jump" scenes were not effective, and the music was not compatible or scary The end was nothing special, and the possible hint of the return of samara was lame.