The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow (2009) - Horror

The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow (2009) - The original "The Messengers" was a flawed film with a fairly decent premise that children are more inclined to see ghosts than adults. In that story the Solomon family through this device find out what happen to the former owners of the farm. Although not a great film it did create an atmosphere and focused the story on the teen and child's story that then included the family. In the NON sequel the Messengers 2 the entire premise of the first movie has been dismissed. The house is the same but that is the extent of the similarities.
It is a story focused on farmer John Rollins (Norman Reedus), who has a family makeup which mirrors the original a teen daughter(Claire Holt) and a younger son (Laurence Belcher) and a pretty wife Mary (Heather Stephens). This is where the similarities end, the kids are barely used in the script by Todd Farmer. The wife is the secondary focus but only as a way of driving the character journey John goes on. He is a down on his luck corn farmer who has a bad crop, lots of bills and a crow problem. He finds behind a hidden door in the barn a scarecrow and when he puts it up his luck changes.
Of course these things a a bit monkey paw-ish, the real estate guy from the bank who wants to foreclose on his farm, and the friend of his wife who wants to take her from the troubled marriage are taken out of the picture for him. Good luck for John but bad because they are both killed after seeing him. The stress is also getting to John and there are several scenes where he runs out into the cornfield and hears childrens voices. Is he losing his mind? Is the scarecrow taking care of his problems. Will director Martin Barnewitz stop swing the camera around him in the corn field?
Unfortunately the writing by Todd Farmer , who SO obviously has never been a farmer, gives too much away. Instead of letting John's story unfold and the audience try to figure out what the hell is going on, insanity or supernatural we get a character to fill in the blanks. Jude Weatherby (Richard Riehle) and his lovely naked wife Miranda (Darcy Fowers) are there to basically tell us exactly how everything works with the scarecrow so no worries about having to do any thinking.
The climax where a cross scarecrow comes after the family is so not worth the time put in to get to that point. Oh and it has absolutely nothing to do with that last movie. Nothing Nada. WTF! Stop, breath....
The story as a stand alone was not well executed as every time something is seen it is immediately used in the next scene and resolved, only the tractor idea made it to the climax. This could have been a psychological thriller about how stress drove one man to insanity but instead we get an evil scarecrow.
Rating (3.2) 5.0 and above is recommended Zombiegrrlz rating Skip It!

My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) Horror

My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) - In a mine collapse miner Harry Warden survived by killing the other eight men trapped with him thus leaving more air for himself. He is found in the mine with the dead and in a coma. The person who caused the collapse, young Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles) is at a party in the mine four years later when Warden awakes from his coma looking for revenge. What follows is a gruesome killing spree with a pick axe. Warden is wounded and is lost in another mine collapse stopping the nights killing. Tom survivor of the massacre returns to the town of Harmony ten years later, to close the book on the chapter by selling the mine. Reconnecting with other survivors including his girlfriend Sarah (Jamie King) he strives to close a disturbing chapter in his life. Soon though people start dying again in the small town and it seems Warden is back. The town folk struggle for survival from the Valentine killer. He leaves the hearts of victims in heart shaped candy boxes.
All this and more in 3D, The writer (Todd Farmer and Zane Smith) attempt to create dynamics between the characters, setting up that Axel (Kerr Smith) does not like Tom since he caused the mine collapse and then in the present having Axel the local sheriff be the husband to Sarah. They also take some time to wait to reveal a secret about Harry Warden and Tom. Using stares and circumstances to lead suspicion away from and to characters. They attempt to make it hard to know who is really behind the killing, Warden or some copycat.
Unfortunately 10 minutes into the part of the story that was in the present I knew exactly who the killer was. So the rest was watching the impressive 3D and gore. The gore is plentiful and gruesome so be prepared. This is an R rated movie and does include a woman (actress Betsy Rue) running around naked for 5 minutes.
What I liked: The special effect were excellent, 3D very enjoyable with the new technology very easy to watch without that motion sickness feeling. Jensen Ackles brought a bit of life to a somewhat poorly written part. The body count, impressive and unrealistic just like a slasher movie should be.
What I did not like: The interpersonal storyline was a drag on the movie. I know there has to be something there to make characters have conflict but it all sounded a bit cliche. Still it did move the movie forward. I knew who the killer was in the first half hour. This is never a good so any twist that came later did not matter. Stupid ending leaving it open for the sequel on purpose so if this movie hits they can make another.
Rating (5.7)