Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

Orphan - Jaume Collet-Serra

Rating:

Movie: Orphan (2009)

Studio : Warner Bros.

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 123min

Website : orphan-movie.warnerbros.com

Trailer : http://www.dailymotion.com/videox8qjbh

Review:

Movies about creepy kids have long been a reliable box office draw. Usually consisting of some seemingly angelic little boy or girl who starts out all wide-eyed and innocent but in the end is revealed to be a granny-mangling demon from the bowels of pre-pubescent hell, this sub-genre has given us such nightmarish cinematic icons as Regan from The Exorcist and Damian from The Omen.

The Orphan probably sits somewhere between the above classic examples of how to do creepy kid movies and Children of the Corn (as an example of how not to). Essentially it’s a domestic horror tale centering on the troubled Coleman clan and the swirling black-hole of loss and guilt that resides at the core of the family. We soon come to learn that the black-hole is the result of the tragic loss of Kate and John’s unborn baby. Kate is in therapy for her drinking problem while John deals with things by wandering around the house in a near perfect state of semi-consciousness. And so, to fill in the hole they decide to adopt another (older) child. Enter Esther.

Believed to be born in Russia and possessing prodigious musical and artistic abilities, the delightfully polite Esther immediately impresses Kate and John with her quiet and sad demeanor and they quickly decide to take her home from the orphanage. What was interesting at this point was that Esther was not simply being depicted as a one-dimensional mini -monolith of evil, but rather seemed genuinely vulnerable and moved by her introduction to the Colemans’ (relatively) stable family life.

It wasn’t long however before the creepy kid clichés began to pile up. But still, I reassured myself, that’s okay – heck, you could argue that all genre movies are just a series of orchestrated clichés! It was in the final act though that I finally gave up on The Orphan. Back-pedaling furiously from the complex position of having created an almost sympathetic killer kid, the film-maker instead took the easy way out by inserting one of the most ridiculous “twists” to come down the pipeline since Bobby Ewing came back from the dead in Dallas. Yes, the “twist” did answer a few (unimportant) questions – but it also provoked a new one: why did I spend $10 dollars on this crap?

In the end, despite the strong first half, the only person I would recommend this orphan to is Madonna.

-Paul Meade

Drama, Horror, In Theaters, Mystery, Thriller Drama, Horror, Mystery, orphan, Thriller

The Haunting in Connecticut - Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner

Rating:

Movie: The Haunting in Connecticut(2009)

Studio: LionsGate, Gold Circle Films

Info: Click Here

Runtime: 102min

Website: hauntinginconnecticut.com

Trailer:http://www.dailymotion.com/videox8q9ui

Review :

Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe must have brooded a thousand nights before coming up with a storyline like this. Thankfully, their dark vision is beautifully translated to cinematic brilliance by Peter Cornwell’s direction.

The Haunting in Connecticut revolves around a supernatural thriller vibe. It is the story of a family that is compelled to shift to Connecticut for the treatment of their son. Soon after their arrival, they begin to witness events that are not explicable. They assume the events to be caused due to stress but soon find out that the house really has a dubious past. To their great fear, they sit through the revelation of the house’s past. They come to know that it was a mortuary.

With a priest’s assistance, they gather that the former house owner’s son Jonah had a clairvoyant past in which he could reach out to the dead and help the spirits in crossing over. Having this been said, the home was essentially being used as a funeral parlor. Now, with a new family again populating the barren house, Jonah returns to create panic and terror in the minds of its residents. The demonic messenger wields such strong superpowers that the family simply gets blown away. They unite against the curse and somehow bring themselves to fight it.

Erik. J. Berg’s enactment of Jonah and Virginia Madsen’s portrayal Sara Campbell are riveting illustrations. The first gives the impression of a torturer and second exudes anguish. The despair and cold rage are beautifully etched out by Virginia.

The film is loosely based on the Snedeker family’s encounter with the supernatural forces, and smartly brings to light what we like keeping to the dark.

The Haunting in Connecticut is due to be released on March 27th, and shall get its deserved prize from the box office. Here is to wishing the movie all the best.

-Edited by Cole G. & Trent M.

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Taken - Liam Neeson

Rating:

Movie: Taken(2009)

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox

Info: Click Here

Runtime: 93min

Website: takenmovie.com

Trailer:http://www.dailymotion.com/videox73bds

Review :

Pierre Morel’s Taken was released on January 30th, 2009, and since it’s unveiling it has created a beautiful world of magic realism. People nationwide are flocking to their local theater in order to escape the economic recession and watch something worthwhile.

A former spy finds out that his estranged daughter is being captured for an illegal slave trade operation, and uses all of his perfected skills from the past to get his daughter out of slavery’s grasp.

Bryan, the protagonist, permits his daughter, Kim, to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. He feels that it is the trip of her dreams, and he would not play a role in preventing her from going. Upon Bryan’s contacting her in Paris, Kim finds that an Albanese gang has laid its tentacles on her and her Amanda and forcibly induced her into human trafficking. The retired spy vows to avenge her daughter’s kidnap and kill the abductors.

The remaining plot is a tireless adventure of a father ready to walk on cinder for saving his daughter and taking revenge on the Albanese gang.

Luk Besson’s screenplay is frighteningly taut and gives us no room to yawn. The entire aura of intrigue is beautifully built up, and Brian’s revenge is worth traveling miles to see.

Liam Neeson, who plays Brian, portrays many different shades of a human face. This thespian uses his powerful acting skills to portray an abject father, a resolve-filled father, a cold avenging father, an emotional father, and lastly a relieved father. Neeson did a brilliant job and has done justice to each shade. While Neeson was a well cast character, Magi Grace as Kim and Katie Cassidy as Amanda could be better cast.

If the heroes have done well, so have the villains. Overall, the movie beautifully builds up menace and lets us live in its shadow until the final credits roll. Pierre Morel is certainly not unknown to the art, and does complete justice the beautiful vision he had.

-Edited by Cole G. & Trent M.

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Friday the 13th - Jared Padalecki

Rating:

Movie: Friday the 13th (2009)

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Info: Click Here

Runtime: 97min

Website: www.fridaythe13thmovie.com

Trailer: http://www.dailymotion.com/videox7m8xu

Review :

Friday the 13th is a slasher film about a serial killer named Jason Voorhees who sports a hockey mask and slays teen victims around Camp Crystal Lake. The film takes elements from the first three films, “Friday the 13th”, “Friday the 13th Part II” and “Friday the 13th Part III”.

The film starts off with young Jason Voorhees witnessing his mother’s death by the last surviving camper during his mother’s murderous rampage throughout the camp. It then speeds up to present time to see a group of teens looking for marijuana that was grown around the area. Unoriginal deaths follow their appearance at Camp Crystal Lake and after a good thirty minutes the words “Friday the 13th” appears and the movie finally begins.

Because there is no real plot development throughout the entire film, I will tell my rendition of the plot: A man named Clay is trying to find his missing sister Whitney, who Jason has kept alive because she resembles his mother at a young age, and Jason’s killings are either because the teens are trying to save Whitney or Jason is protecting his weed stash.
Friday the 13th is nothing special nor does it bring anything new to the slasher genre, it’s consistent with killings that we have all seen before, it uses the technique of “pop-up”, which means it’s very quiet until Jason strikes his victim.

This is a film you have to see in theatres because the full effect of the film relies on scaring you with loud, unexpected sounds. I would also recommend watching the original film if you would like some sort of story to follow. There is some great positive sides to this movie: There is a ton of gory deaths and a decent amount of action does take place, Jason looks like one hell of a scary badass, and unlike in other slasher films…Jason does run.

If you like horror movies, you may enjoy Friday the 13th although you might say it is bad remake of the first three films but, in my opinion they weren’t great movies to start off with.

The film gets 2 out of 5 stars being that Jason is badass and the special effects were very well done.

- Travis W. / Trent M.

Horror, Just left Theaters cystal lake, friday the 13th, hockey mask, Horror, jason