Deadgirl (2008) - Horror

Deadgirl (2008) - This movie is not what you would expect. Two high school boys find a girl who can't die chained to a slab in an old abandoned mental hospital. The boys were obviously poorly cast, with each looking way past high school age. Ricky (Shiloh Fernandez) is 24 and J.T. (Noah Segan) is 26, of course this is a common Hollywood issue. Once the boys find the nude woman (Jenny Spain) instead of calling the police like any sane person would do, J.T. pushes for a free sex slave arrangement. The rest of the movie for the most part is J.T. fucking the dead girl and Ricky struggling with the immorality of it. To create tension we learn that J.T. has experimented killing her, but she comes back to life. Ricky has a second and third plot line in the girl at school he likes and her dickhead Boyfriend, and his shitty home life. Another friend is brought in by J.T. so he does not have to rape alone creating the risk of discovery. Mostly this movies is boring, at least to me. I found the dead girl parts repulsive and the rest unoriginal. The climax builds as others learn of the dead girl and we learn her bite is going to make the bitten like her. She starts to rot, I am not really sure why, she was locked rot free in the room for years but maybe it is a side effect of being repeatedly harmed and raped. J.T. wants to take a giant step and continue his rape fest and Ricky wants it all to end, how will it turn out?

Rating (3.7)

Los Cronocrimenes (Time Crimes) (2007) - Sci-Fi / Thriller

Cronocrimenes (Time Crimes) (2007) - A man accidentally ends up traveling back in time an hour. Realizing that events that lead him there must happen the same way they did for him; Hector (Karra Elejalde) sets about trying to recreate the circumstance for his passed self. The consequences of his action are far greater than he expects as he struggle to make things right.

Writer/Director Nacho Vigalondo does a fine job with the design of this film. This smart time travel feature holds up well in a genre that easily muddles the time space continuum. Keeping the story small but only revealing the needed information has created a taught and exciting film. Is Hector is faced with a horrible decision, or do the time travel limits and rules make his crime forgivable? Is he a selfish man or just completing what has already happened?

Vigalondo is working on a English version of this film slated for 2011. I think it is not necessary since the dubbed version from Spain is quite well done. If you like time travel and thrilling stories this is the movie for you.
Rating (8.5)

Repulsion (1965) - Thiller

Repulsion (1965) - Roman Polanski's first film in England stars Catherine Deneurve as Carole a sexually repressed young women who suffers a breakdown when her older sister leaves her alone for a weekend. This fall from functioning adult to crazy woman is a good work. Polanski' use of simple effects and Deneurve's small mannerisms show the slow slippage of Carole's mind. At first you see her seemingly disconnected at her job as a manicurist. Her sister (Yvonne Ferneaux) Helen’s boyfriend, Michael (Ian Hendry), sets the mood saying “She’s a bit strung up, isn’t she?". We see the stress of life working on Carole, repulsion to being touched, auditory hallucinations on the street, and a need to clean herself. We realize that this is a woman just holding on to reality. When Helen and Michael head off leaving her alone she quickly deteriorates, with consequences on men who come in contact with her. The pleasant apartment is fortified creating a claustrophobic cave. Carole hallucinates being attacked in her bed. The use of no sound in these instances really works at reinforcing the isolation Carole is feeling. Carole may have been quietly mad in the apartment without horrid consequences if not a suitor Colin (John Fraser) shown up, if not the Landlord (Patrick Wymark) needed to get the rent. After the damage is done and the sister returns home we have this great juxtaposition of the apartment being full of curious neighbors, these people who did not even notice Carole now fill the apartment to see what has happened. This commentary on how we live private lives until things go tragically wrong is a nice point to leave this film.

Rating (8.1)

[Rec] (2007) - Horror

[Rec] (2007) - The inspiration for Quarantine (2008) rated here as 5.0 this is a slightly better version of a somewhat scary movie. Angela (Manuela Velasco) is a young reporter doing a piece on firefighters on night shift. When a call comes in they go to a house and find and film as the firefighters and police are attacked by a screaming women. Things get worse when the authorities seal everyone in the apartment building without explanation. Later it is revealed that the dog who went to the vet before the movie was carrying a new form of maybe rabies that caused it to attack and infect other animal. Knowing the contagion started in the building everyone was sealed up tight.Biting and killing fallow this as new infected attack the remaining survivors until at the end the last two find the source of the infection.

The reporter style of this film works to an extent but like in Quarantine, I wondered why the camera man didn't just refuse to keep shooting. Sure they have to document for their future lawsuits but eh. It was better in that all the sexist additions of the American version were not really part of this one. The end was very good and I enjoyed it fine.

Rating (6.0)

Red Mist (2008) - Horror

Red Mist (2008) - Also called Freakdog this movie is a tales of a group of medical students who through there cruelty put a fellow med school student into a coma. Feeling guilty our lead Catherine (Arielle Kebbel) attempts a radical unproven treatment on him (Kenneth - Andrew Lee Potts) but instead of bring him back she opened the door for him to travel out of his body, take over others and commit revenge killings. The characters are pretty standard, with each for this or that reason willing to let Kenneth go into the coma instead of seeking immediate care for him. All promising doctors to be there is too much at stake to have this weirdo go from being the brunt of a joke to the reason they are kicked out of medical school. So Kenneth seeks his revenge and Catherine is slow in picking up on that is going on. Finally she does and the movie rushes to a climax.

The acting was better than some of the "pretty people" acting we got in The Final Destination. Still there was scant development of anyone except Kenneth and Catherine but still I need to give it a pass on that because it was not really needed. The mood of the movie was good even if the scares were not really there. Arielle Kebbel was decent in the lead as the guilty student trying to make things right. Potts was good as the strange traumatized victim. He had some back story I wish could have been developed more. It was interesting but the story was not used to the fullest. Overall a decent little story.

Rating (5.9)

The Final Destination 3D (2009) Horror

The Final Destination 3D (2009) - So here we are at the 3D version of the Final Destination series of films. Each of these movies are basically the same, someone in a group has a horrible vivid vision of death and destruction just before it happens and saves a group from death. Then death tracks them down one by one, the only thing that can save them is if they see the signs and avoid the individual destruction also. Not as easy as you might think. In this case the accident is at a car track and not all those saved are friends. Also our lead has individual premonitions as well as the initial saving one. What makes these movies are the little things that add up to the incident that causes the death. The formula is tried and true in this 3D version of the franchise. There is nothing particularly new in this film, but that's okay it is not why I was there. I was there for the 3D ride and the gross deaths and the movie delivers. I always want more effects but this one used the 3D well and I was satisfied.

Rating (5.3)