Insidious

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Movie: Insidious (2011)

Studio : Alliance Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 100 min

Website : insidious-movie.com

Rating : PG-13

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

In the same spirit, pardon the pun, of Poltergeist and Amityville, comes the story of a family of five who moves into their new residence, eager to start their new life, but the house isn’t all that welcoming towards one particular member of their family. Their eldest son Dalton is being stalked by the residence and the old spirit that lives there. At first, it’s just little things like books falling off shelves and strange noises, but when Dalton goes up to the attic to investigate, he slips off a broken ladder and falls. But starts screaming at something he sees. But after calming him down and tucking him in, his parents Josh and Renai (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne) believe he is fine. But the next day, they find him comatose in a state that doctors can’t explain, even after spending three months in the hospital. Believing that home would be a much better place for him, they bring him back to the house, but the spirit has just begun to use him for it’s own agenda. Even moving doesn’t free them from the terror that has become their boy.

Lately horror movies have depended on a lot of gore and violence, each one topping the previous one. And one of the main purveyors of portraying the sick and twisted is the makers of Saw (writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan). In this film, however, they show that they have just as much talent at suspense as blood and guts with what is a scary film of the imagination, toning it down so much, it actually got a PG-13 rating instead of R. The fright though works very well and there are truly some horrific moments that will surely make you jump out of your seat. And there is even some funny moments thrown into balance out the film, which are not overly hilarious, but light hearted.

The weakest part of the story has to be the introduction of the ghost hunters headed by actress Lin Shaye. One of the most classic techniques in thrillers is that unknown, which can be very effective in keeping the mystery alive, around the horror movements. The geeky logical and scientific explanations, in our opinion, took away from the fun of questioning what was going on in our own minds. Of course, you don’t want the audience confused, but on the other hand, what they don’t know scares them, which is the purpose of the film. It just seems that the film gets sidetracked from that point on and is not as stylistic and clever as the first part.

Still though, the film is well acted and really brings on the horror, which is why we go to see such a movie. It shows that you do not need a lot of disgusting imagery to provoke the kind of frights that are of the mind, just as Alfred Hitchcock didn’t need to show the stabbing at the Bates Motel. Even though not one drop of blood or knife was shown plunging into skin, the film managed to keep people out of showers for a long time. We think that this movie will have that same type of effect on people, which makes it a whole lot of fun.

While we didn’t like the second half near as much as the first, because the reality didn’t live up to the promise, we still give it 4/5 stars. It’s creepy, funny in parts, and an all around good time and the kind of film that may actually follow you out of the theater like a good horror movie often does.

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Orphan - Jaume Collet-Serra

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Movie: Orphan (2009)

Studio : Warner Bros.

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 123min

Website : orphan-movie.warnerbros.com

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

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The Haunting in Connecticut - Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Movie: The Haunting in Connecticut(2009)

Studio: LionsGate, Gold Circle Films

Info: Click Here

Runtime: 102min

Website: hauntinginconnecticut.com

Trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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: 5 out of 5 stars

Movie: Taken(2009)

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox

Info: Click Here

Runtime: 93min

Website: takenmovie.com

Trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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: 2 out of 5 stars

Movie: Friday the 13th (2009)

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Info: Click Here

Runtime: 97min

Website: www.fridaythe13thmovie.com

Trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

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The Unborn - Odette Yustman

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Movie: Unborn (2009)

Studio : Rogue Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 87min

Website : http://www.theunbornmovie.net/

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

This was a great movie. But I must say it was the “typical” horror movie. Teenage girl babysitting and some creepy stuff happens which then leads to other scary things, the story is explained, the ultimate ending scene, and room is made for a sequel.

One thing I did really like about this movie was the excellent environment and camera shots; they stunned me to bits! Meanwhile being frightened I can see the amazing sense of detail put into each bit of scenery. I must say great job to the scene setup crew!

The cast was great as well! We did get to see Meagan Good in another horror PG13 horror movie (Prom Night) in which she ends up dying in both movies. Coincidentally odd! Meanwhile I couldn’t get over Cam Gigandet being in this movie. Honestly in every scene I saw the man I thought to myself “Twilight! Twilight!” It’s as if the Twilight movie had used him a little too well and with his character traits even being different it just shouted out to me. Maybe I’m just ragingly addicted to the vampire fleshing movie still, who knows.

Aside from that, this movie had some odd creatures that were used to scare the audience very questionably. I found some people laughing at the old man’s rotating head as you can see in the trailer. As well as the upside-down dog’s head. I think if there was an actual reason for their heads to be upside down the director should have explained it.

But overall this movie does give you the thrills and chills every PG13 horror movie does, if it were R rated I think it couldn’t have done much else to add more graphic scenes to it. I mean how much can a ghost do to you right?… (hope i won’t be haunted for saying that)

- Trent M.

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