[Workshops] [Take our Survey]
[Mike Hayes Resume and Portfolio] Username: Password: Sign Up!


Arcade in the Sky Blog: Movie Reviews for Halloween

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Movie Reviews for Halloween

Gearing up for the season, I have rented a bunch of horror movies, and thought I'd share my thoughts with you all.

The Burrowers

This is one of those rare horror movies that you can only see at film festivals. I had read much about it, and was intrigued. If for no other reason that I'm a fan of Tremors, seeing another movie about underground monsters was interesting. And setting it in the old west would give it a new edge as there are no concrete or steal structures to hide above.

The movie has many strong points like good acting, settings and great monster effects, but ultimately it falls flat due to pacing. I have never seen a movie with worse pacing than this one. Even after all the good monster stuff happens, you're left pondering whether it was worth sitting through all of that stuff.

If it does work, this movie works as a "heart of darkness" tale. The characters keep venturing deeper in the monsters territory and further from civilization and aid, and their party keeps dwindling in number. It succeeds at giving you a sense of dread.

Re-Cycle

When I see a Pang brothers movie doing a dark take on an "Alice in wonderland" story, I had to pick it up. I'm a huge fan of the original "The Eye". So much in fact, that I purposely avoided seeing the remake, because I didn't want it to spoil the memories I had of the Asian horror classic.

This movie has much twisting and atmosphere, but is more story driven. There is a lot of great imagery, but I just wasn't feeling it. Normally, I love a movie with lots of puzzles to solve, but this just wasn't speaking to me.

If this movie does have strong points, its in the reveals. I'll leave the review at that to avoid spoilers. If you want some surprises, check this out. If you're just looking for another "The Eye" or "The Ring", perhaps you should pass.

Trick 'r Treat

I've been watching trailers for this for years. When I first saw the trailer, I thought "this has got to be the worst horror movie ever made". But when I learned that the release was pushed back more than 2 years, I started to get some sympathy for the film. When I started reading rave reviews about it online, I was interested. Now I find myself rushing out to Best Buy and getting it on the day of its release.

This is a good movie. I wouldn't catagorize it as a classic, but It's a must have for a Halloween Party. It reminds me of the scary stories they used to show on Nickelodeon on "Are you Afraid of the Dark?". Only they don't suck. Mixing the innocent motifs of Halloween like candy and costumes with real horror elements like monsters and murderers makes for a great mix. I highly recommend this and I'm sure it will be the cult classic it deserves to be.
Buzz this

No comments:

Post a Comment