Ed's Review Dot Com

Launchpad Productions, A Bigger Boat, RCN Films & e-nnovva,

Peter Facinelli, Sophia Myles, Nathalia Ramos

David Reynolds (Peter Facinelli), an American widower heads to Columbia to retrieve his daughter who went there on a trip and did not come home. He is driving her and her friends, when a friendly police officer stops to tell them the road they are driving is not safe. There is a terrible storm and the road is very dangerous with flash floods and the like. One of the girls suggests that she is native to the place, and that she knows the way, but the press on, only to get stranded in the middle of nowhere. They are lucky to find an old closed up Inn that is nearby and they beg the owner to let them stay until they can get some help. But when the find a young girl locked in the basement, they determine to set her free. But when they find out that the little girl is not really a little girl, and they have unleashed hell, none of them may survive the night in this horror movie.

This is a so-so, low budget horror film. There are moments, and it’s rather scary, but it is totally low budget and there are no really good acting and the story is rather tame. It’s not a bad B film as long as you know what you’re in for and realize this is not going to be a classy film. It’s certainly a decent low budget horror flick, and wasn’t hard to watch, and is certainly worth streaming. I was glad to get this movie for nothing, but if I paid for it, I would have been a bit discouraged. If you’re a fan of horror, and don’t mind the <> prompts from time to time, this is a decent time waster of an amateur scary movie, so don’t expect too much, but don’t hesitate to stream this one or catch it when it’s on the Saturday Night late movie!

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Cliffbrook Films, Onset Films,

Melanie Papalia, David Schlachtenhaufen, Matt Riedy, Adam Shapiro

Elizabeth Benton (Melani Papalia) is a young woman who takes on the task of studying what people do on chat rooms and web cams. She joins up and basically keeps the camera on all the time. But when she realizes she has witnessed a murder, and tries to notify the police, she realizes that she is in way over her head and has lost control of the situation. She gets her boyfriend to help her try to solve the case, but as the bodies start to pile up, she can see it’s way out of hand.

This is a relatively creepy psycho thriller much like many others of this “computer hacker terror” horror film, and it is relatively scary. Even the acting isn’t all that horrible, even though this is real low budget. The biggest problem I had with this one is that the vast majority of the movie is either a computer screen, and smart phone screen, or video from a web cam, and it’s all very hard to watch and keep up with. It’s more of a cyber horror film that might be more suited to watch on your smart phone. It’s available for streaming, but I can’t see much more value. The tiny screen might actually help this one out a bit. If you are a big fan of horror films, and you can sit through things like this, then you have nothing to lose, but just don’t be expecting to be wowed by this movie, as it’s really only half way there. I have seen much worse, but I’ve also seen a lot better.

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Blumhouse Productions, Chapter One Films,

Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, Lucy Fry, David Mazouz, Ming-Na Wen, Paul Reiser

The Taylor family comes home from the Grand Canyon bringing something back! The family consists of the Father (Kevin Bacon), and the Mother (Radha Mitchell) and two children, anxiety ridden drama queen Stephanie (Lucy Fry) and autistic son Michael (David Mazouz). An ancient curse has befallen the family causing havoc and destruction unless the find out the cause of the curse and rid themselves of it before it’s too late.

This is a solid horror film with surprisingly good acting from all the major characters. I expected, walking in, a cheesy B horror movie with no budget and no special effects. That’s not what i got. Surprisingly, the acting was good, the effects were really well done, and the suspense was on point. What is holding this movie back is the fact that there are only so many horror films to write and it’s really, really hard not to look like a rip off of something else. The plot of this film has been done many times over. Still, I enjoy a good horror film, and this one satisfied me. I did not run out screaming it’s praises as the best film I’ve ever seen, but it was exactly what I wanted. The suspense was real, and the story made sense. There was a general feeling of dread over what would or could happen to this poor family that grew and built up until the end. Meanwhile, there was some good old fashioned scares that came from things you didn’t expect heightened by a loud sound at the right moment. I typically call these cheap scares, but in this case they worked, although I’m not sure I could put a finger on why. There are a lot of haters out there toward this film, mostly because of the similarity to other films of the same genre, but I don’t see how this could be helped. I enjoyed the film, I admit to it’s flaws, but I didn’t really case as I had a good time and that’s all that mattered. If you’re a fan of horror, then this is not a bad investment of your time.

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Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, Material Pictures,

Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston, Maggie Siff, Alex Roe-Brown, Maria Bello, Maika Monroe, Liev Schreiber

Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a typical high school girl who is experiencing the last normal day of her life. An alien ship arrives and parks over Ohio and begins 5 waves of attacks in increasing severity to destroy life on Earth. Not knowing what they’re after, survival becomes extremely hard as the world changes forever. When Cassie’s parents are lost and her little brother missing, Cassie sets out to try to stay alive avoiding the “Others” while trying to rescue her little brother.

I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for good alien movies. I’ve been a fan of them all my life. And this is a pretty good one. Some people are going off about how this is the greatest film of all times. I suspect these are younger folks who haven’t seen a lot of these over the years. The classics going back to the 50’s and even before have already used all the gimmicks in this plot, and it is all too familiar. That’s what’s keeping me from giving this a super high rating. There aren’t any real surprises here for all of us who have been through these films over the years. But what’s different about this is the character that Chloe Grace brings to her portrayal of Cassie. She really nailed it, and this is totally her movie, for sure. Cassie is brave and strong and unafraid, but yet we have lots of emotion from her character from horror to sadness, to loneliness, to desperation. She carries the film with the help of some other strong performances as well. The story is well woven around the different twists that the plot takes, and though they’re easy to see coming, they are still fun to watch develop. The biggest issue I had with the DVD is simply that most of the middle of the movie is so dark, that I really thought I was watching the radio. I suggest if you don’t have a dark room, to watch this dvd after nightfall. It’s scary, and very suspenseful, and well put together. The scenery is really nice (when it’s daylight!). The action is hot and heavy, and as I mentioned before, the suspense is very high. I really wanted to catch this in the theater, but was never able to find the time, but watching the DVD was a good experience, so if you haven’t seen it, and you like a good little sci-fi space creature thriller, give this one a spin in your DVD player. It was well worth it.

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Broad Green Pictures, Film Science, A24,

Kai Lennox, Patrick Stewart, Mark Webber, Imogen Poots, Macon Blair, Callum Turner, Joe Cole, Alia Shawkat, Eric Edelstein, Anton Yelchin

A young punk rock band in the Pacific Northwest is having a rough time making a go of it. When they get an opportunity to play a gig for a remote location owned and run by a gang of skinheads, their plan is to get in and get out in a hurry. But a fluke causes them to see something they shouldn’t and the group is locked in a room with no change of escape until they are put out of the way because of what they have seen. What should have been a simple show turns into a desperate fight for survival.

This is one of the most unusual horror films I’ve seen in quite a while. This is a very graphic and gory film. It’s quite intense. Patrick Stewart plays the owner of this club and it certainly an interesting role for him. This guy is unlike anything you have seen from Patrick Stewart in the past. This movie was in limited release is certain theaters, and we were lucky enough to catch this in L.A. The suspense is crushing. Your heart is in your throat through much of this film. The suspense is extremely intense. It’s a very powerful story. But aside from the tension of the capture and escape, there is still a lot about the lives of the band members and what they are going through. And of course there’s the music which fits the movie very well. The music adds to the suspense as it’s very unsettling. There are a lot of additional characters that are very well developed and quite interesting. There’s a lot going on for this low budget thriller. Due to the extreme intensity of this movie it’s not for everyone, but it was an interesting and a suspenseful experience for sure.

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