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Christmas Bounty (2013)
Its ...fine i guess. Just don't expect much
I came upon this one very randomly. I knew The Miz made some movies during the 2010s (The Marine 3 to 6 for instance) but i never heard about this one.
So where do i start? The movie is very short. It was made for TV and you can litterally see where the commercials are supose to be with those tv shows fade away sequences. It run at only 70 minutes or so.
Everyone in this seem to be a caricature, especially the parents of the main protagonist. Speaking of wich, Francia Raisa is absolutely stunning in this movie. I was not familiar with her. Guess ill have to see what else she done.
The movie overall is very watchable, but its so short that it seem to really just chain action scenes together and minimal plot advancement. The action is "ok". Nothing great but not terrible, exept that everyone shooting a gun seem to be a Storm Trooper in this.
Where the movie really missed for me is with the romance. The Miz character feel more like an afterthought and i felt 95% of the movie could happen without him and be just the same. I didn't find much chemistry between them at all. And the whole love triangle was poorly done.
As others said it seem to be more a movie happening during Christmas rather than a Christmas movie.
Aleks Paunovic is an overall charismatic actor that i enjoyed in many projects. Having his familiar face as the main bad guy is nice but the character itself is so poorly written and one dimensial that nobody could had made him that interesting.
You never get to know much about him. Simply that he is a bad guy, was arrested by Tory, and now he want payback after having escaped prison. You don't know what he does, why he got money to have so many goons, how he escaped and so on.
Basically this movie was probably written in 1 afternoon over a beer at a bar. Yet despite all of this its not "annoying to watch" or "so bad you want to turn it off". It let itself be watched ...once.
The Princess Switch: Switched Again (2020)
By the book sequel
After watching the first one earlier in the night, i saw there was actually 3 of these movies. Having enjoyed my time earlier i decided to go for the second one right away.
First movie was more focussed on Stacy and her side of the story, so this time they focussed more on Margareth and changed the localisation to her homeland.
Not only this, but they add another character also played by Vanessa Hudgens. Honestly at first i didn't even recognized her with the wig. I wasn't exactly sober to be honest but still. The character is highly different so it add a new element.
While this one also keep the "cute charm" of the first, i felt it tried harder to be funny and "mess" more with the unrealistic concept of a royal switch.
Maybe i was just in the right mood having watched the first one a few hours before, but i enjoyed it equally as the first.
Its really a typical by the book sequel wich will not reinvent anything, but is a good time.
The Princess Switch (2018)
Cheesy romantic fun
I was looking for Christmas movies on Netflix yesterday and after a little while i stumble upon this one and realized i never saw it. Looked in my alley so gave it a shot.
Overall the movie is nice if you looking for some light Christmas romcom. Its not as "funny" as you may expect at first glance with the switcharoo thing, as its definately more of a romance movie, but it work very well at that.
Gonna keep this one short as i don't have a lot to write. Its exactly the type of movie you will expect it to be. Obviously don't look for realism here with the whole royal familly stuff.
Vanessa Hudgens is good at both role and the supporting cast as well. Simple feel good movie.
Plan lekcji (2022)
Polish version of The Substitute
I just typed "Martial Arts" on Netflix and this showed up. I had never heard of it before, probably because it is a Polish movie, but it has a french dub so i gave it a shot.
Overall the movie is very close to The Substitute. If you looking for originality, this is not it. Yet it was interesting to follow when it comes to the story.
The movie also has plenty of fights but i am gonna echo some of the other peoples there. I dunno if its the camera work/direction that was the problem, but the hits seem way slower than they should be for a martial arts movie. It also lack some usual sound effect and while it keep it more "grounded in reality", i feel these sounds effects really help make hits look more hurtful.
That said, i think it was a perfectly serviceable movie, especially if you consider Polland does not have near the kind of budget Hollywood has.
Our Little Secret (2024)
Good little Christmas movie that deliver on the rom
Good little Christmas movie that deliver on the "rom" but is a bit more sparse on the "com". That was my initial feeling.
The script remind me a bit of Anyone but You with Sydney Sweeney exept this time its Christmas Holliday and the exes don't actually hate each other at the beginning.
Overall the dynamic with the 2 leads is good and the side characters are fine, but at the same time you kinda wish there was a little bit more anemosity to make the situations funnier.
This is my little "issue" with the movie. It does have some chuckles moment but it could had been more funny in my opinion.
That said Lindsay Lohan is lovely, charismatic and fun to watch and i apreciate seeing her do these Netflix movies. It was a decent time but simply not one i will revisit as a classic or anything.
Greenland (2020)
Decent disaster movie with emphasis on characters rather than SFX
I was surprised to see this came out in 2020 and i didn't even heard about it when i suddenly stumble upon the trailer on Prime Videos. Seeing Gerard Butler as the main character, it picked my curiosity.
Overall the movie is pretty decent. It focus more on the characters and familly drama rather than big action set pieces, and despite some obvious clichés of the genre, it does a good job.
There is a few "disaster scenes" but you saw the majority of it in the trailer and don't watch this expecting "2012" , San Andreas or anything of that level. Its really focussed on the journey the characters take and other humans interactions.
Movies also has its fair share of science errors wich you can read about in the IMDB errors list, but most average peoples won't notice the majority of them.
Overall its a decent movies that i enjoyed fairly for 1 watch. If you got Prime Videos its surely worth a shot.
Nobody (2021)
Almost as good as John Wick and pure fun !
I watched this movie in theaters when it released and i had a blast. Yesterday after the disapointing Armor (Sylvestor Stallone) and having been gaming for a while and being very tipsy, i was just in the right mood to watch something like that.
I had bough it physically a while ago but had not rewatched it yet. The joy of just going to my shelves and picking the bluray instead of having to figure out on wich platform it stream on (and if i am a member of that one), or having to pay outrageous rental prices. Thats priceless.
Anyway the movie is a blast. It does surf on the John Wick wave of the ultimate badass who is now retired and trying to live a normal life but somehow is brough back into the life (it even also feature Russians as bad guys), but it has its own twist.
Firstly "Nobody" Mansel has a more "realistic" approach in the fact that when he takes punishment, it show a lot more and he seem to "feel it" more than Mr Wick. Yet the movie has its fair share of unrealistic or over the top (but fun) scenes wich i will let you discover.
The "word building" is not as developed as John Wick, but we only have one movie at the moment and its very self centered so that make total sense.
I think i heard a sequel was in the plan but its been a little while. I do hope they make it. I would give a solid 8.5 to Nobody but due to this website metrics i will settle for an 8 (or 4 stars if you read this on Letterboxd). Its probably the best "John Wick style" movie after ...well John Wick itself.
Armor (2024)
Stallone drive his inner Bruce Willis for this...
Alright ... I know some peoples may say its a bit of in bad taste as Bruce Willis may had known he was sick and just decided to make as many movie (and dollars) as he could before it was too late, but he often had low effort performances in low budget DTV movies in the last 7-8 years of his career and that whats Stallone in this remind me.
Don't get me wrong. I love Tulsa King and i do think Stallone can still be pretty good on screen even tough he is approaching 80 years old. Of course at one point at that age the action roles may dry up, but he still has presence. He still look cool and badass.
But this movie... it just feel like they knew putting his name on it would sell it because otherwise NOBODY would had watch this.
The movie is not horrible ... Its not an action movie at all, more like a "thriller" (and i use it loosely) and there is some interesting parts between the father and son dynamic. But despite these characters being somewhat likable, you wonder how they could stretch this into a 90 minutes movie.
This could had been a 40 minute short (or an episode of a TV show) and it would had made sense. But the plot is way too thin to go 90 minutes and there is obvious flaws you gonna spot on the bad guys not being able to break in.
Very minimal use of CGI but you can spot it very easily when it happen, wich show the budget was VERY low.
If Stallone's name was not on it, this movie would had hardly be rent or bough by much peoples. Fan of him or not, you can skip it.
Hot Frosty (2024)
It is exactly what you expect it to be, wich is fine with me
Lacey Chabert had a bit of an unusual career. She was one of my "young adult crush" during the early to mid 2000s. I would had expect her career to follow a similar path as Megan Fox or such. Surprisingly after Black Christmas 2006 (wich i really love) i only saw her once in a cheap horror movie about a scarecrow and it was made for TV.
TV movies is where she find her niche i supose, as her filmography from the 2010s and up is almost only that, with 90% being Halmark movies and another 50% of those seem to be Christmas movies.
So lets just say doing another Christmas movie, but this time for Netflix, is not stepping out of her comfort zone.
That said, being a Netflix movie, it does feel a little step above your usual cheap TV movies. For better or worst, depending on your view, this movie blend romance with comedy and obviously goes in a "over the top direction" with caricature characters.
The Sheriff played by Craig Robinson is the "most" of them. He is so absurdly over the top that it does get a bit too ridiculous at times, but he is also essential to the plot.
Outside of that, you got typical romance and "feel good" moments. Its not much original, but it is satisfying if you know what you getting yourself into and thats what you wanted.
I enjoyed the chemistry between the 2 main actors and the overall feeling of a small town during Christmas time where everybody knows everybody. The visuals are also nicely done with plenty of snow. I live in Quebec, Canada and we lucky if we get snow for Christmas these days. So i kinda find some "nostalgia" from my childhood in that.
In the end personally i enjoyed this movie. I knew exactly what it was gonna be and it delivered just that.
Take Cover (2024)
Entertaining direct to VOD action movie for Scott Adkins fans
Everytime a new Scott Adkins movie comes out, i have to watch it. Really enjoy the guy type of action since i discovered him in Undisputed 2. This movie surprisingly was only available to buy/rent on Apple TV in Canada (not Prime, not Xbox, not Google), a place i sometimes forget to check, so it took me a little while to watch it. Still waiting on The Killing Game to release here but thats another story.
Scott plays an American in this movie, and altough you can pick some trace of his native British accent, it was overall very easy to understand for me in original English language (i usually watch movies in French dubbed when possible). Some of the other characters have a few foreign accents but overall had no issue understanding everything.
The intro has a lot of friendly bickering between the 2 leads and it does not backpedale on F bombs, wich is probably just to let us know they good friends and establish chemistry, but was a bit too much at times for me. But once the action start in the penthouse, the movie becomes very entertaining.
There is obviously a lot of "suspend your disbeliefs" moments in this. For instance a sofa would not be very useful to cover against sniper bullets. And the whole plan is very elaborated to eliminate Adkins and his pal when a simple dose of poison would had done it easily.
But thats a standard for pretty much every action movie and its not something i can fault the movie for too much. You don't watch a direct to VOD Scott Adkins movie for elaborate plot and cleaver writing. You want to see him kick some butts in good action sequences and you got it in this movie.
Alice Eve fans be warned, even tough she appear on the cover, and her role is not hidden in the trailer, she spend most of the movie her back against the camera and she felt very underused.
I really liked the character of Mona the massage girl and her chemistry with Adkins. The movie does not have a lot of side characters but beside Alice Eve i feel the others were well used.
Ultimately its just a fun action movie to enjoy with a few beers. I bough it for 9.99$CAD, wich was barely a little more than the rental price, so its gonna stay in my digital library and i could see myself watching it again in a few years. But its mostly one of these "Saturday Night disposable action movies" that you watch once, enjoy, and move on. At least to me.
If you are a big Scott Adkins fan, i totally recommand it. Action junkies? Also recommand. But if you only watch movies ocasionally and need a great story, clever dialogues etc, it may not be for you.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
Silly but actually fun !
I never saw or read Pride and Prejudice, wich i think is both a movie and book, because i heard the name before. Obviously this is putting a twist on a love story by adding Zombies of all things !
Honestly the background of the zombie apocalypse is left pretty vague. They do give you an explanation but then the movie is confined to England so you have no idea really if its the same everywhere.
For the girls to kick butts, they came up with this whole thing about then learning with Shaolin in China and Karate masters in Japan, wich... ok? Honestly exept giving a pretext for the fights to look good, its only brough once again briefly in the film.
Basically the whole context has you suspend your disbeliefs a lot, but if you can do that, its actually pretty fun. I got this bluray out of a sales bin in a video store in a ziploc bag, no cover or anything, for 1$. I just saw a bunch of hot women in robes and the word zombies and i was like ... for 1$ why not.
And the movie end up pretty entertaining. The characters, especially Lizzy and Darcy, are in their own way compelling. There is also a few good jokes in there and they put a little spin on zombies that kinda make it a bit different, even tough if its underused (in my opinion).
Overall its a silly but fun movie. Just turn your brain off and enjoy the action and fight, and you should have a good time.
Urban Explorer (2011)
Does some right but man these characters are too dumb
The premise of this movie looked interesting. I never heard of "Urban Exploring" before. I am a small town guy. But in a country like Germany with its past, it make a lot of sense. Sadly this movie altough good in some aspect, didn't manage to be nearly as good as "As Above So Below" wich is set in Paris Catacombs and that i watched early this spooky season.
So first of all the movie takes so much time to start off. Yes suspense and story building is important, but i never felt it achieved either. The movie is well directed and the camera angles, lights etc are on point, and the acting felt very decent too, but i was just hoping that it would eventually start to be an horror movie.
It eventually does, but you understand quite fast what is going to happen and i felt its where it dropped the ball.
The main issue is how STUPID the characters are. Yes horror movies characters are often cliché and for a movie to work, you got to have these characters make a few "dumb decisions". But in this case its again and again and as many other reviewers said, i wanted to yell at my screen because of how dumb they were and i knew exactly what they should had done to avoid what happened.
Is the "torture porn" at least worth it? Not really. You got one solid scene for sure but thats it. The movie is mostly a thriller and a "cat and mouse" type of movie but again leading to the aspect that these characters were so insufferably dumb to me, that i couldn't care ultimately if they died or not.
In the end the movie bored me at times. Despite the short runtime i looked at the time remaining multiple times. That said i do feel a lot was very well done on a technical side of things so i am gonna bump it from a 4 to a 5 out of 10. It is also a German "indy movie" from my understanding, not an Hollywood production.
My version was dubbed in French and there was 0 German or other foreign languages. They all spoke in french so i had no need for subtitles or anything. French is my native language. The dubbing was surprisingly fine for a low budget horror movie.
The Pumpkin Karver (2006)
This was rough ... as in rough to watch.
I always like an Halloween themed movie. I am always on the lookout for them. Despite being 18 years old, i had never heard of this one until a few years ago wich i stumble across it randomly on some "website" if you know what i mean. I had it in my Halloween season backlog for a few years and finally decided to have a go.
Lets start by the good. The movie happen all on Halloween and does feature several carved pumpkins. Costumes are rather lame but at least peoples are costumed. The actresses are for the most part fairly attractives. Yup... think it sum it up.
Sure this movie is very low budget but there is no excuse for the mess that it is. First of all there is so much time spent with characters dialogues that could had gone to stalking or killing. The movies has a ton of characters and just forget about some of them. As in litterally they don't even die or participate in the "horror parts".
Speaking of characters, this movie has some of the worst ones i seen in a long time. Loud, obnoxious, annoying to an insane degree, especially the 2 in the white robes, you wish they would be written off as early as possible.
Amy Weber plays one of the few decent character. I remember her from WWE Diva Search and i know she done a few movies but i am not familiar with them. Minka Kelly altough never getting an A status achieved some popularity over the years and was the other character i cared for. The rest were absolutely horribles.
They try to establish some kind of romance between the main male character and Minka's (Tammy if i recall correctly) but it feel so off, as in why would she care about this weirdo? You never feel a reason why she would be attracted to him.
The movie goes the mystery masked man route and have us playing the guessing game, but the payoff was not satisfactory at all.
The kills themselves were for the most part started on-screen but finished off-screen, probably for budget restrain. There is a few post-mortem gore but its not enough to justify enduring the rest.
Overall this is a VERY mediocre movie. I juggled between a 3 and a 4, but ultimately this is not "slightly below average". Its worst. Im sure i will rate other movies a 4 that i will have enjoy way better.
Its possible to make a good horror movie on a tight budget (first Terrifier comes to mind). And if i would judge only the kills and horror i wouldn't be so harsh. But there is no excuse for these terrible obnoxious characters and for not showcasing more kills/horror/stalking instead of lame dialogues and juvenile terrible "jokes". And the general plot is nothing special or original.
So yeah 3 out of 10... can't go higher.
Time Cut (2024)
Slasher aspect kinda fail but has moments for other things
The first thing that comes in mind when you see the synopsis is Totally Killer from last year. Apparently this was written before and its just a coincidence but its impossible to not make the connection.
Set in the early 2000s instead of the 80s, and trying to save a sister she never knew instead of a mom are the differences but the rest is very close.
I personally left high school right around 2003 but in my opinion the movie missed the mark on the time period it try to portray. There is maybe one line that made me smile (mentioning Twitter, Facebook and then MySpace wich had a few great years in the late 2000s but disapeared very fast) but altough they use some stuff wich were still popular at that time like discman or Buffy posters, i never got much of the 2000s vibe. If anything it feels like they trying to portray the late 90s instead.
When it comes to slasher aspects, the movie has very few kills and it almost seem like an afterthought at times. They could had done so much with the mystery killer but it was pretty easy to figure out. The mask once again look pretty similar to Totally Killer and can't say anything was very memorable with this character.
With all of that said, there was other aspect i liked. The whole idea of Lucy (the main character) life pretty much living in the shadow (and dark cloud) of a sister she never knew with parents that could never move on, but then experiencing how it could had been. Bonding with that sister had its moments too.
Im gonna go with a 6 out of 10 because the movie is easy to watch and didn't bored me. But its a movie that would likely get the "not gonna remember it in t-minus 1 day" by Jeremy Jahns.
Certainly worth a watch as its included with your subscription if you enoy this genre. But will not become a cult classic or anything.
#AMFAD All My Friends Are Dead (2024)
Scream meet Hostels on a budget
The trailer for this movie looked interesting so i gave it a shot. The intro is a bit confusing and goes on for a while but once we finally introduced to the main characters, the movie pick a better pace.
Most of the characters were extremely annoying and most viewers will probably be eager to see them meet their demise, but i think it was mostly done on purpose.
The "hostel-light" scenes were interesting and i kinda wish there would had been more of them. Eventually the movie turn more into your regular slasher but it make sense storywise. The kills are overall gory/bloody enough but some of the practical effects were a bit amateurish and looked kinda fake.
The Scream part about the mystery killer is fine but i figured most of it way before the ending. Keeping this spoiler free, was the payoff worth it? Kinda... but part of the ending felt a bit wonky.
Overall its a decent enough slasher flick. Won't break any ground but enjoyable for fans of the genre wich are always on the lookout for a new one.
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
Don't look for logic or story, just enjoy the "pop corn"
Right away this is a dumb movie. There is no other way i could say it. The plot is ridiculous to a point i feel Tom Hardy probably was having diner with the other co-writer (wich also direct the movie) and they put the general plot on a napkin.
Lots of it make little sense and even right as the event unfold you scratch your head. Like why does the ennemy creature can detect them wherever they are if they are in humanoid form, not any other form? The movie give you a 2 sec "explanation" that it can only see "the codex" in their "true form" or something like that, but why is the "humananoid form" the true form?
The whole thing about the "codex" and how it came to be is also extremely dumb, making no sense. And i could go on and on about bunch of plot points that are either rushed, extremely convenient (too convenient) or are down right dumb.
That said the movie never stop for long, you got plenty of big action set pieces and when it does slow down, you get the "bromance" between Eddie and Venom that is once again enjoyable.
This is a movie that you turn your brain off, and you should enjoy it decently. Altough it does contain a bit of blood, its also something kids can watch in my opinion so a good time for the familly.
Personally i came out of the theatre satisfied as it was exactly what i expected it to be. I wasn't expecting this to be clever or such. After 2 movies in this franchise, i knew what i was going to see.
Pitch Perfect (2012)
That was surprising fun ! Even if im not the target audience.
I recently bough the second and third movie on bluray for 1$ each in my video store final clearance sale, but either the first one sold to someone else (we were a bunch of peoples ready to jump on the movies once we got the "ok" from the boss) or they simply didn't had it, i can't say. Lucky for me, Amazon Prime had it included with the subscription and even with the french dub, altough i think it was a France dub due to some term used.
In any case i decided to watch it today because i spot a bluray of the first on ebay on sale rather cheap and i wanted to know if it was worth buying or would i just resale 2 and 3 when i would had watch them.
Turn out the movie was actually good fun. I am not really the demographic for this as i am not really into musicals usually but i do love an university comedy and altough the emphasis is obviously on the music, the characters were fun and it had some good jokes. Music in itself was also pleasant and catchy.
Anna Kendrick always manage to be "charismatic" in her roles. Rebel Wilson play the fat girl trope perfectly with all you would expect and the majority of the main characters had something unique to offer.
Now i have not watched 2 and 3 yet, but since i ordered this first one on ebay, i do plan to keep the trilogy unless for some reasons the other 2 turn out not as good.
Haunt Season (2024)
Really wish i had loved it ... But its just ...alright.
When i saw the poster/cover for this movie on my Xbox i was immediately drawn to it, and the trailer reminded me of one of my favorite Halloween movie, Hell Fest. I really expected this to be a slasher happening in one big Halloween attraction like it.
But that was not really it. You do get some nice scenes/set pieces in the haunted house but the atmosphere and such is not used to its full potential or set up enough of the kills.
I understand this was a low budget movie from a passionate team, and there was a few nice kills for these standards but after having seen Terrifier 3 recently, this is nowhere near it when it comes to what is shown. Could it be budget limitation or simply rated related? I can't say.
But while the kills are very acceptable, and the performances from the actors "alright" for the most part, its really when it comes to atmosphere and music i wish the movie had done better. For instance blending more actual real kills with fake attractions ones.
I know the old school synth is a throw back to horror movies of the 80s and such, and its a deliberate choice, but you can't just throw that randomly and call it a day. I felt the music didn't fit much with what was going on screen.
The movie is very crowded and lots of the actors are in costume or make-up so it took me a little while to really set everyone apart. We do spend more time with certain characters than others. These one were better fleshed out, but some others i kinda forgot at times they were even part of the attraction.
Without spoiling anything, i was underwhelmed by the killer's reveal. It happen so anti-climactic and their motivations remain pretty vague.
That said, it was not a bad time for me. Its rather short at standard 90 minutes or so and if you watch it in mind its done on a small budget for the love of the genre, its an alright movie.
In my case i am just a bit disapointed because based on the trailer i really taught it would be my coolest surprise of 2024 Halloween Season, like Hellfest was a few years back.
Girl Haunts Boy (2024)
A beautiful movie that can move peoples
Lately i been watching a few movies out of my "Halloween Season Marathon" because of circonstance or simply feeling like watching them. So i wanted to go back to it but then out of the blue saw this movie pop up on my Prime Video screen and it looked right up my alley. Im a sucker for these romantic comedies and the ghost aspect looked interesting. Starring Peyton List (Cobra Kai) was a bonus. Therefore being a movie centered around a Ghost (and around Halloween too in the movie) i will count it up in the Marathon.
Now, is this movie "perfect" ? No. If you start deconstructing it, you could pick many plot holes or "convenient" stuff. But its not about this as much as just enjoying the relation between the 2 main characters. I felt it had a lot of heart.
Its not a comedy by any means, even tough the concept could had go that direction and insert a few laugh moments. For instance having a 100 years old ghost that is not aware of our current technology could had really made it easy.
Its more of a drama and a relationship movie. I understand some peoples could think its a bit too slow pace and that it had down time, but personally i didn't saw that. I was interested in every scenes the characters were in.
And ultimately the movie did "moved me" wich is probably what it aimed to do.
I would recommand it for anyone that enjoy romcoms or "love stories" centered movies.
Canary Black (2024)
Entertaining if you can suspend your disbelief
Kate Beckinsale is no stranger to action movies. She was the star of one of my favorite movies, Underworld, and since then has done a couple more including Jolts also on Amazon Prime Video. Now when she plays a vampire its easier to believe this small lady can kick butts.
Thats a point that came in a lot of reviews and i will also touch on this. Kate Beckinsale is a very small lady, and even tough still looking amazing, she is 51 years old. To have her play a "Girl Boss" super spy that can take down multiple buff dudes like nothing do require you to suspend your disbelief a lot.
The action sequences are overall well filmed and use enough camera tricks to make them look good, while also hiding the obvious of what i just said about her stature, or lack off.
That being said, when it comes to story and intrigue, altough it goes into spy cliché that you seen a million times, it is overall effective and the movie is pace well enough that i was never "bored".
Overall what we get there is an effective, well filmed, decently written spy movie that don't bring anything new to the genre, but will entertain most peoples, especially if you like Kate Beckinsale.
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
I get why some peoples like it but its not my style
Heard a lot about this movie over the years and finally watched it. I am a huge fan of the Halloween remake directed by Rob Zombie but i can't say i saw a ton of his movies yet. This one has a weird style and vibe wich didn't do it much for me. It was his first one tough.
Let me start by the positives. Some of the set pieces are really cool. From the "mad house attraction" at the start to the actual "house of 1000 corpses", by way of some Halloween thematics, i think some parts visually were good.
The antagonists had different personalities and for the most of them stand out. Otis and Baby being the most interesting.
With that said, the rest didn't worked for me. First of all the protagonists and blend and i couldn't care less what happen to them. You spend a little time with them at the beginning but never enough to really wanna root for them. I barely could differenciate the 2 girls apart. They look similar and don't have much of a personality.
The gore and torture is actually not that numerous. You do see lots of bodies but its often either after the fact or its shown in some flashbacks with weird filters that look out of Plumbers don't wear ties.
I praise some of the sets earlier in the review but the camera work and filters really left more to be desired.
The movie is also very crowded with tons of characters, some wich are just there to be bodies without any personality or interest, while others seem to be there just to be "cool creatures" or something.
With all of that said, yes there is some vibe of the 70s "experiments" movies and everything seem to be done in practical effects. And the "weirdness" of the movie is probably why some consider it a cult classic. But personally, i just had the impression of being confused and not understanding what should had been a simple story.
Whats the background of this crazy familly, why they all insane like that, why does they manage to kill so many peoples (its call house of a 1000 corpses) and the police never catch up to them? They don't seem particulary clever.
I will probably watch the sequel at some point as apparently it shows a lot more violence and looks more "professional" in term of movie, but for this one i can say i watch it now and don't see myself watching it ever again.
Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
It knows what it is and play fully on it
This movie an 8? Yes some may think i am rating this movie higher than i should but the reason why is that this movies know its a ridiculous one and just play with it.
The very concept of a voice behind the music telling peoples to buy stuff is absurde in itself, like it would really work immediately like that... of course not. But in the context of the movie its funny and the product placements are EVERYWHERE, basically capitalizing on the satire and self-awareness of the movie's message.
Having been made in the early 2000, its also a bit of a time capsule with stuff like CD players, and the whole craze on Boys/Girls bands. The nostalgia is there.
The soundtrack is also amazing, even for someone that is not really into pop music like myself. Its very catchy and there is plenty of it.
All 3 lead actresses are adorable and the supporting cast, including the vilains, are over the top caricature but thats precisely the point, and it work very well.
I did read Archie Comics as a kid, but you don't need to for enjoying this movie. Now would a teen from 2024 enjoy this as much as i did back then and still do? I dunno. What i consider nostalgia and throwbacks would simply look like outdated stuff for them i suppose. But im sure they would still enjoy the characters.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
They found the perfect tone with this one
I saw this movie in theatre twice when it release. Second viewing was toward the end of its run and a bit of an unexpected one as i had a few hours to waste in town and happened to be right beside the movie theatre. But i still enjoyed it greatly again.
I always wanted to get it on bluray but was waiting to find a decent deal wich i did recently so i rewatched it and the movie is still as great as i remembered.
I can't say i particulary love the first 2 Thor movies. They are alright but nothing crazy. This one is a lot more colorful, has some humor that fit well, excellent music, and the plot is well paced with tons of action.
Now sadly when it came to the follow-up, Love and Thunder, they turned Thor into such an idiot and pushed the jokes and cartoonish characters to such an extent that the movie at times was insufferable. So retroactively some peoples been blaming Ragnarok as it was the first to bring this style and both are made by the same guy.
But the key thing to remember is more is not always better. And as i said earlier, they found just the right ammount of jokes and humor in this one that it worked perfectly.
Demons Never Die (2011)
Even for a low budget, it miss its mark
Had this one in my Halloween Season Marathon for i think 2 or 3 years and somehow could never get to it, but this year i finally did. I had rewatched the trailer in September and i felt it look very low budget and such and i was not wrong, but sometimes it does not mean bad. Sadly in this case ... it kinda was to an extent.
The general idea of a group of peoples wich at first appear to not have anything in common, from outcast to what look like the head cheerleader, somehow ending up planning a group suicide is pretty ridiculous. But lets say you roll with it...
There is a few characters that stand out more but the majority of them were kinda flat. The movie take its time a lot for a while, barely having any horror/kills but then suddenly it pick up and you feel its just going too fast and they kinda ran out of budget and had to wrap up.
Kills themselves are underwhelming. Just a regular knife and very little blood or special effects. I get that this was shot for roughly 1 million $, wich is not a lot, but for that i would had expect a bit more on the horror side.
The guessing game on who is the killer or why is the better side of the movie, one of the few actual things i enjoyed, but sadly without spoiling anything the payoff was very underwhelming.
Arch and Jas relation was the other thing i enjoyed and they were in my opinion the only interesting characters.
In term of cinematography the movie is dark, gritty, it feel very amateurish, but then again for the small budget i can let that aspect slide.
Overall tough its a very forgettable slasher. I will be generous with a 5 if only for the small budget. If this would had been made on a regular budget it would had been a 4.
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
Worst Die Hard? Sure. But not as bad as they say !
It had been years since i watched this movie. I saw it in theater but i don't think i saw it again afterward. Often i came close to picking it up on DVD in the Walmart bins or such to complete my Die Hard "set" but for some reasons never did. Recently tough i was able to get the bluray for 1$ at my local video store last clearance sale as they closed the video store section for good (well its 2024...). At 1$ why not...
I put the Extended Cut because i never saw that version i guess, but i found very little differences from my memories beside the lack of Lucy (Mary Elisabeth Winstead). Movie is still pretty short at 1h40.
Overall sure its the "worst" Die Hard out of the 5 but its still a decent action movie. Its main issue in my opinion is that the plot is a bit convoluted. Even tough it does bring a few twists and surprises, it also mean a lack of focuss in the story. I want to keep this spoiler free so i won't say more.
John McClane also feel not as "entertaining" in this one. He does have some one liners, but its not as funny as the other movies and even tough he tag along his son, the chemistry is really not great compare to the last one with Justin Long's character.
With what we know about Bruce Willis now (his illness) it does put a different perspective that i had about him doing just about any movies regardless of quality in the last 10 years or so and often "phoning in" his performances.
That said, the movie has a bunch of very good action set pieces that are pretty entertaining. Its rather short as i said above, and it move fast. There is only so few dialogue focus scenes and when an action scene end up, you can be sure the next one is not far.
Overall i would not rewatch this one like i would the original or Live Free or Die Hard (wich is my second favorite, believe it or not), but i am glad i saw it once more and would probably do it again in the futur (but not until 5 to 10 years have pass tough). Its worth a 6 out of 10 for sure.