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EvilSimen
Reviews
Halloween (2007)
Flawed but Enjoyable.
Rob Zombie's Halloween is a flawed but extremely enjoyable film about the life and death of Michael Myers. From start to finish the film never lets up with engaging us with Michael's psychology and personality. Michael as a child is something that no director has ever explored before, and in my book, Zombie did it extremely well. I loved the chemistry between Michael, His Mom and Dr. Loomis. The first half of the movie which set place in Michael's Childhood was probably highlight of the film and the most engaging because it was where Zombie's heart lied, and you could tell.
The reason Halloween is flawed mainly comes from the fact that movie attempts to combined two separate movie ideas into one. The first movie it attempts is the origin of Michael myers leading up to the psychology of why he does what he does. The Film concludes in this section that Michael is not simply a product of his environment as much as he is a product of a child with a horrible psyche fused with a bad environment.
The second and (less engaging) film it tried to be was a semi-direct copy of the original movie, starting from Michael's escape and leading up to the finale of the film with Laurie Strode. Thankfully, while this second half is lesser than the first, it is saved by the fact that the performances from Laurie, her friends, Dr. Loomis and Michael himself are all top notch. Laurie is incredibly like-able and I was incredibly happy with how Zombie wrote her. I also like how his writing style changed between who he was writing, definitely showing the difference between Michael's home life and Laurie's.
However, what Zombie managed to accomplish was still a enjoyable and fun Halloween film. Probably the best Halloween film since the original, on par with Part 2. In the end, I'd say I'm glad that this film was given to someone like Zombie with a true vision of a movie, it's just unfortunate that he was torn between his own vision and trying to completely remake the original.
Seuseung-ui eunhye (2006)
One of the best slasher movies I've ever seen...
Woah. Like seriously, wow. I bought this movie at Borders Books a couple weeks ago because the cover looked cool and it's been shitting on my shelf since then building up a good weeks worth of dust before I decided to put this into my DVD player tonight and by god, I wasn't expecting to be hit this hard by this film.
This movie, no, masterpiece managed to hit me at every level possible. It was gripping, it was scary, it was gory, it was disgusting, it was suspenseful, it was daring. I haven't felt this amount of uncomfortable edgyness while watching a movie in a long time. It really scared me. The strange part about this? All it simply is is a slasher movie. At it's core, that's what the movie tries to be... But it manages to be so much more than simply your cut and dry slasher movie.
It manages to defy slasher movie convention at every turn. Instead of a bunch of assholes who you could never care about at all, this movie is casted with characters that each manage to go through their own ups and downs throughout the film and each manage to come together to form a cohesive whole of a character. They aren't cut and dry jocks or cheerleaders like you'd find in a modern, every day slasher. No, no, no. These are people, people with problems, people with lives, people who are tortured by their own lives. I managed to be gripped with each of their stories as they were told, including that of the most despicable of them.
Then the ending occurs, and really manages to surprise me. I wasn't expecting it. I thought it had already gone through it's "twist" by then, but that twist turned out to be a red herring. I'm being vague simply because, well, I don't want to spoil it for anyone else who decides to pick up this brilliant slasher masterpiece. I'd say it's the best slasher I've seen since Halloween, my personal favorite horror movie and one of my two favorite movies ever made. It's that damn good. I'm definitely adding it to my top 10 horror movie list. I recommend you all pick this up, it was one of the best damn blind buys I've ever had.
Hostel (2005)
Eli Roth is a horror genius!
Eli Roth is essentially the Quentin Tarrantino of Horror. There. I said it. The man takes influences from all over and fuses them together into his own, creative projects and Hostel is no different. You got the Torture from The Audition and Reservoir Dogs, you got the basic premise of American Werewolf in Paris (two American tourists in a foreign country find themselves in a bloody situation) and of course Eli Roth's own creative spins (those little kids rocked!).
But the cherry to this very tasty Cake has to be the inner social commentary Roth laid under the subtext. He tackles the subject of "getting a high." Essentially, basically Hostel asks what happens when you can no longer find a high to reach. What happens when drugs, sex, extreme sports and just about any other method to achieve that state no longer brings you there? What will you turn too? What will some people be willing to do in order to feel that high again, or at least a new form of it? And it's true, our society is a violent on in nature, so it's not that hard to believe that someone in that state of mind would be willing to PAY to kill someone else.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for this film. It was a brilliant film, one of the best horror films of the last decade. Eli Roth and the splat pack are bringing the balls and feeling back into Horror. Long live Eli Roth, Alexandre Aja, Rob Zombie, Neil Marshell and James Wan! The new horror gods!
Fantastic Four (2005)
This was a very fun, summer, popcorn movie!
I have to say I was skeptical about this film like everyone else, but I found myself enjoying the movie through and through when I was at the theater. Sure, it's no masterpiece like Spider-man 2 or Batman Begins, but it's definitely good. I give it an 8, and I have high hopes for the sequel. I may be a bit biased seeing as I am a long time comic book fan, but let me tell you that everyone I saw the movie with (7 of my friends) thought it was a kick ass film. Sure it has it's cheesy and corny moments, but most of them are for humor. I suggest you see this and decide for yourself. Bottom Line: Don't go in expecting the next Godfather, go in expecting a fun, family, summer popcorn film and you will most likely enjoy it.