vocklabruck's reviews

This movie was a torture, really. I watched it only because I liked the first installment and wanted to follow-up the guys' careers. The first movie was cheesy, yeah, but at least it had some heart and a storyline, it was enjoyable and you eventually started to like the characters, it made you feel good at the end. This one... well... it has no plot at all, it has a thousand of characters who don't really add anything and the worst fact is that it's actually a bunch of choreographies one after the other without any cohesive story. It's so obvious it can't be explained. At least in the first movie the dances were somehow part of the story, here they are not. The scenes where the 'Electro Rock' gang appeared made me laugh, because right at the end of the first movie those guys actually befriended the main characters. So what the heck were they doing now? 'the villains' were totally meaningless and forced. EVERYTHING was forced, even the use of little children. As if nonsense wasn't enough you get to know Kelly's parents who are VERY wealthy people! What's up with that? Overall it looks like there was no writer for this movie.

Now I understand why they made such a joke of the 'Electric Boogaloo' line. This movie is a joke in itself.

I admit I was wary about this film because it started as a typical made-for-teens movie in the school and stuff. So at first I thought I was watching a Beverly Hills 90210 episode, but since I love Kristen Stewart I kept watching and I am glad I did. The movie was very touching.

Some parts reminded me Carry by Brian De Palma, for example when the school director confused Melinda's name. Maybe it was a kind of homage? Kristen Stewart's acting was superb and made me love her character. I think only good actresses/actors can do that with the audience. Her acting is probably the 90% of this movie. It's a sad film but not as depressing as I had thought: Sometimes the Melinda's narration and the music lifts you.

This movie has a message about the rape, its effects on a girl and why is so important to talk, but there is another message also: There are so much people immersed in their own worlds who just ignore others or never have a friendly word and only say "He/She is a freak" while actually that "freak" is the person who needs help so badly. And I am not talking about Melinda only. I mean, it is also sad that most girls (like the ones in the movie) are prone to ignore hearts of gold like David (the only Melinda's supporter) and go after the Andy (the jerk) model instead, not knowing that the handsome one could be the most worthless person around.

It's amazing to see the rating this movie has or to read some of the other reviews here claiming this film was brilliant, realistic, etc. I don't understand how someone can give it more than 3 stars.

The plot is simple: One afternoon a guy next door meets the love of his life, at night he loses a date with her and accidentally he receives a call in a pay phone saying that a nuclear attack is going to happen in about one hour. He panics and goes desperately doing stupid things to find his girl and save her and himself.

OK. The panic in this movie was well depicted but there were MANY implausible things that made me laugh... Just from the start what would a normal person do with that phone call? Anybody would just hang up the phone and continue his/her life. A normal person would go after someone that met just a few hours ago while the world is going to end? These are just examples but the movie was full of things like that, one by the other. The decisions these characters took were far away to be realistic.

The movie was not boring at all, it is quite suspenseful but the characters behavior and the acting was pathetic. The only redeeming feature of this film was the music and the atmosphere. You will also smile when you see some of The Terminator supporting actors appearing here. This film would have been great as a comedy, but it was sold as a drama about nukes.

If you want to get some fun rent it. I think you will enjoy it if you set you up for a comedy/hilarious film. Now if you want to watch a realistic and chilling nukes movie go for The Day After, Threads or Testament.

Well, you know... Rutger Hauer and Robert Patrick both are really good actors. But WTF with this movie? The story was lame and the script was just terrible. The poor actors didn't have material to work with!

The DVD cover invited you to a flight action flick. You would expect something like Top Gun... Huge disappointment! The flight action in this movie is so cheap that makes you puke. The aerial scenes are clearly taken from documentaries and some other footage sources, not made for this movie. And they didn't even care about the marks or the fighters models, taking for granted the audience will not notice it.

As I said the story was lame. With a little effort from the writer and director it could have been very interesting. In short, it seems a B-movie made in the 70's.

I feel very sorry for these actors who put their names here. They sure must be ashamed.

It's strange this was a movie made for TV and it wasn't released in DVD yet! It was extremely good! The story was original and touching, the atmosphere throughout the movie was just perfect and don't let me tell you about the acting: EVERYONE in this movie portrayed its role exceptionally. I think the best were Bubba, his mother and the mailman, but as I said, everyone even the kid was just perfect.

This movie had several and tremendous creepy moments! It's interesting to see those moments were not based in gore or special effects. Instead, they were based in suspense, atmosphere and acting. That makes this movie better than many others of its genre. And the ending? Well... I will just tell you it's one of the most chilling endings I have ever seen. It's VERY haunting. The first time I had seen this movie was 20 years ago and today I still remembered it!

Recommended 100% for all horror and suspense lovers. You won't be disappointed! If you see the VHS at your club or library go for it!

I had read this was an experimental, controversial and interesting movie so I decided to watch it. What I found was a sick movie probably made by and for sick people. It's literally a torture. I don't mind about the nude children, but this was a bunch of stupid and random sequences put together. No writing, no direction... At some point I chose to put the x2 fast forward. At least I could get some laughs that way. Do film makers know movies are made for entertainment? And I don't mean comedy, I mean entertainment! And don't give me that "you didn't get the depth message" crap. I am sure even children in YouTube make better films.

Don't waste your time. If you want a good experimental surrealist film go and watch Eraserhead.

I am glad I didn't have to pay to see Dark Water. I got a huge disappointment watching it. It's not bad but I was expecting a HORROR movie! The trailers are probably the most lying ones I have ever seen. This movie was marketed as horror and surprise, surprise, it is a drama with a pinch of "ghost" salt. That's why I rated 2 out of 10. I hate to be sold a pig on a poke.

Other than that the pace is VERY slow, there are no thrills at all. Since it was marketed as horror you expect a jump throughout the movie. Well, the only jump is in the last 10 minutes. Also there are TOO MANY similarities with The Ring, and it seems they had a problem with the editor: Almost every scene has it sound 5 seconds forwarded and there are plenty of short and quick cuts that gave me headaches. The movie is also quite predictable.

OK, not everything was bad. The atmosphere was intense (it reminded me the atmosphere you got in Seven, based on stormy and cloudy weather) and very good acting with Ariel Gade almost outshining Jennifer Connelly. I have to mention that Perla Haney-Jardine portraying the Young Dahlia was a terrible miscast. She doesn't look one bit like Jennifer Connelly. And by the way, I am tired of creepy kids in movies. Give it a break!

The story was OK. The plot is a little screwed up because Jennifer character's own demons are mixed with the story of the girl's ghost who haunted her and her kid, so that is very confusing. Also the ending was frustrating and depressing but it's well done.

If you are looking for horror, this is not the movie. Now if you would like to watch a drama with a bit of a ghost story, go ahead, but be prepared for the depressing feeling you will left.

I should have followed my feeling when I saw this ugly photo montage on the DVD cover where they increased Kristen's cup size for no reason! But since I love that girl I decided to give it a try. The movie started with a good B&W sequence and an even better credits opening but soon after it became a terrible experience. Why? Because it was NOT scary! The reason? When you're too familiar with something that stuff doesn't move you anymore. The Messengers is a potpourri of a dozen horror movies you have seen before, including The Amityville Horror, The Shining, The Sixth Sense, The Birds, The Grudge, The Others and What Lies Beneath.

Not only the jump sequences were taken from those other films, but this movie was full of clichés: Haunted house in the middle of nowhere, family with past problems trying to start over, little kid seeing strange things, rebel and beautiful teenager being attacked, weird animal behavior, strange things in the cellar, cracking doors that open and close themselves, mysterious stranger coming to help, and OF COURSE the twist near the end (because nowadays it seems a movie without a twist is not considered a movie).

I have to admit the only reason I watched this movie was Kristen Stewart. She was OK, but not as good as in other movies like Speak. The twins who played the little brother were OK too, but the rest of the cast was wasted, and there was no character development other than the girl. Music, editing, direction were OK, nothing special. I must mention the music they used for the opening credits is clearly the same music from another horror movie called Desperation (2006). I wonder what happened there...

Anyway, the most important thing in a movie is the story and its originality (at least for me), and this story was boring... The Messengers is not a bad movie but it is only enjoyable if you are a Kristen's die-hard fan or never saw a horror movie before.

When I started watching this film I wasn't expecting too much. I thought I was going to hate it according to what I had read, but I decided to give it a try. It surprised me! It was a really good film with a very original story. Being an Italian low profile production it managed to be suspenseful and interesting.

The acting was good enough, especially the actress portraying the mother. And I loved Simona, the kid, and rooted for her all the time. By the way, the piano score was very nice and followed the story perfectly.

I don't want to spoil the movie because I think it really deserves to be watched. So if you like good drama with an original story (something hard to find these days) go for this one!

I read many other comments comparing this film with The Day After and Threads, saying this film is more powerful or less than those others. If you make that comparison you are wrong. Why? Because Testament has a very different point of view about the disaster. This film is not a ground zero flick, it is not focused on blasts or Cold War exchange. Some people say it is more realistic. I don't think so. Some people say the others are more realistic. I don't think so either.

This film is actually symbolic. It was not made according to science knowledge. Otherwise everything would have been devastated, no trees, no sunlight, no water, no nothing. This film is focused on the family and their feelings, not in the nuclear disaster itself. In fact, if you watch it with a science point of view you will be disappointed because what it happens looks more like an epidemic, not like a nuclear winter.

Testament is intended to capture your feelings, not to show you shock waves or gore. It's drama, not sci-fi or documentary.