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Reviews
Blood Machines (2019)
Visionary science fiction!
I was thrilled to see that the team behind the TURBO KILLER music video/film was coming out with more of their stylish goodness and I was very happy with the results. I got what I wanted - a stylish space opera with TONS of amazing, mind blowing visuals, and interesting story through-line for the three segments, and a surprising, well done, and welcome message about female empowerment. One review here said that this was a slap in the face to male viewers and I disagree whole heartedly. I thought it was extremely well done.
The visual effects was the star here. The amazing score paired with the over the top, delicious sci fi scapes and vehicles made this an eye popping ride and I enjoyed the way I hoped to.
If you are looking for straight sci fi/horror, you may want to avoid this and save yourself some sadness. Toss on ALIEN again and knock yourself out. However, if you are looking for a film bringing something new to the table in a very interesting way and are able to accept a new way of looking at things, you're sure to enjoy this wondrous experience.
Slit (2015)
Giallo love
SLIT is a solid little 11 minute short from 2015 that I recently caught on Amazon Prime. It really made me want to see more from writer / director Colin Clarke. It's a super tight and well put together giallo exercise that is done extremely well. We have our lovely ladies, stalker cam elements, and a black gloved killer, but the real goodness is in the smaller giallo flavor goodness.
The lighting is fantastic. Over the top reds, blues, and greens in true giallo style. Even the whiskey featured is J&B. That made me happy.
While the short is only 11 minutes and much if that is a lingering sexy scene, the short is well worth the time investment when it delivers up the more horrific elements.
Lillian Lamour, Miranda Cox, and Aley Kreinz turn in good performances even if their screen time is limited to the 11 minute production.
Fun stuff. Well worth the viddy!
A Floresta das Almas Perdidas (2017)
A fantastic, horrific, slow burn drama that delivers
If you are looking for a fast paced gore fest...don't watch this one. Just move along. Nothing for you to see here. :::grin::: This film takes it's time to tell a story and gives you visually stunning images to go along with it's deep, philosophical discussions as things build and build.
This is the first feature film for writer/director José Pedro Lopes and it's a fantastic effort bringing in three awards to date from the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Fant, Bilbao Fantasy Film Festival, and Triple Six Horror Film Festival and the awards are well deserved.
It tells it's story and lets you figure things out. And, it gives you everything you need to do so.
As I said, the film is shot beautifully. The black and white is perfect for the subject matter. It plays off like a modern day Bergman film - moody and dark and full of things lurking in the corners. There's a richness to the visuals that I found to be very pleasing. The cinematography was stunning.
The film is a foreign language film...unless you're from Portugal, of course. However, the film isn't heavy on dialogue, so those who fear subtitles need not be too scared. It's a drama with horrific moments that hits every point it makes an effort to hit. The acting is fantastic and all the characters seem real and well rounded.
I highly recommend this...I'm going to say it again... "thinking person's horror film". I believe film lovers, horror lovers, and mystery lovers will enjoy this immensely. Well worth a viddy!
Hank Boyd Is Dead (2015)
A fantastic watch! Great, dark fun!
The small cast in a single home is so much fun. It has Serling and Hitchcock elements and a great dark comedy edge that's never overplayed. No, this isn't a straight up comedy, but it has some moments that made me giggle and grin for sure. The acting is super solid as well, which really helped pull this "bottle episode" style film together nicely. This is Sean Melia's first feature film and I can't wait to see more from him!
Do yourself a favor - avoid the trailer and just dive into this film head first. It's a fun watch that's well worth a viddy! I really dug it.
V/H/S (2012)
A return to good old horror!
The visuals are still stuck in my head. Firmly and darkly branded onto my brain like a tattoo under the skin. I feel like an experiment. A test subject that's just been subjected to something very bad. Very wrong.
I LOVE IT!
We have a collection of stories here. An all "cinema verité" style anthology, so if you get sick from shakes, avoid this one or take your Dramamine before seeing it. There's a whole lotta shaking' going' on.
We have a classic set up. A group of thugs get hired to go snag a VHS tape from an old man's house. How many tapes? Just one. One, small VHS tape from an old man. How hard can that be? Difficult when there are many to choose from. Which is the right one? Better watch some...and check 'em out.
Five...was it five? Stories. The stories roll and we slip from "watching" various tapes to seeing what our thug buddies are up to in the old man's place. I'm a sucker for this setup when done correctly and V/H/S nails it. The last film I saw that did this brilliantly was the GLORIOUS Trick R Treat.
No, I'm not going to ruin things by going into details. That would be telling.
Suffice it to say that the weakest two shorts in the V/H/S assault are still grand and thought provoking works of creepy goodness. Shocking, twisted, chilling and visually delicious - this is a fun movie that gets a lot of things right for sure.
There are downsides. I should reiterate that this is shot like it was shot on hand held, VHS cams. Small and twitchy. The jerking motion and shakes are rough at times, but it added to the realism. Another thing of note is a strange mix of empowering females and exploiting them. It wasn't bad, but it was noticeable and sometimes...distracting. (At times, in a good way...wink wink, nudge nudge) I did find myself thinking, "Why did she just take her top off there. Kinda odd," a few times, but I got over it when all hell broke loose yet again.
They got a LOT right in this film. Story was still the main focus. They didn't get too wrapped up in the "See what we're doing? They're tapes. VHS tapes. We're watching them, see?!" gimmick. They came at this film with great material FIRST, then executed - so to speak. :) They also got the "person shooting with camera" right. Things were not framed perfectly. Things moved like people shooting home movies. And most importantly, the actors were able to pull off the complex job of acting like they are not acting in all but one case of note. Pretty impressive.
I loved this film.