Ed's Review Dot Com

Millennium Films, Gerard Butler Alan Siegel Entertainment, LHF Film,

Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Alon Aboutboul, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Jackie Earle Haley, Sean O’Bryan, Waleed Zuaiter

President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) is in London along with many other world leaders to attend the funeral of the British Prime Minister who mysteriously died. Suddenly a major terror attack breaks out killing many and destroying most of the cultural landmarks of London. The President has been captured and his only protection is a secret service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) who was with him when he was taken. Terrorists have taken the upper hand and the forces of good have to try to foil their attempt to bring chaos to the world.

I can imagine the thrill the folks had at the close of World War II watching great films about the bravery of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who defeated the Axis powers in this horrible war. These movies were built around the real events of the great battles of that war. Today, things are much different today. We chip away at the enemies day by day, but we don’t have the great victories to cheer like they did in the past. So today we get fictional accounts of grand events that have not really happened. We don’t have much to celebrate anymore, it seems, and our brave heroes are out there, but we are much more concerned about what’s happening with JayZ and Beyonce or Kim and Kanye, and the rest. This is a grand adventure, very graphic with lots of blood and gore, but with lots of excitement and suspense. The acting of the good and bad guys is very good, and the action is non-stop. It’s got a great soundtrack, and super explosions and special effects. This is a very good film, if you like adventure, and well worth checking out.

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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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Grindstone Entertainment Group, Emmett/Furla Films, Cheetah Vision,

Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens, Radha Mitchell, 50 Cent, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Dean Norris

Jack Halcombe (Nicholas Cage) is an Alaskan Policeman who is ready to move to a desk job to get out of the cold, when he runs across a young runaway stripper Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens) who managed to get away from a man who tried to rape, torture, and kill her. But the Anchorage police are not interested to follow up the case because of who/what she is, and the fact the the subject she named, Robert Hansen (John Cusack) is a respected religious man. But Jack stumbles across an old case that is so similar, that he suspects Hansen may be responsible for the deaths and disappearances of dozens of girls in this crime thriller that is based on the real events that happened in the 1970’s and 80’s.

This movie caught me by surprise. It sounded like an interesting story, but not one that would stand out by any means. I was really surprised at the performances given by all the leads in this story. One of the strongest characters is the Alaskan wilderness which was stunning. But the intensity that Nick Cage brought to this work was really good. John Cusack was perfect as this dual person who has obvious problems. Vanessa is the weakest of the three, but she is supposed to be a confused kid with a very difficult past that has never done anything but run away from her problems, and she pulled that off pretty well too. The story is the kicker, as it’s very suspenseful, and the fact that it’s a true story is even better. In the closing credits they show the real victims and characters in this story. It’s one of those amazing stories.

If you’re a fan of a good crime novel, this is a great one. I was very impressed with the job they did with this film, and it’s hard to find anything to criticize. All aspects of the story are very well done, and it’s an edge of your seat experience watching this one. Newly released on DVD, I recommend it for those who would care for a story of a real serial killer.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Davis-Films, Konami, Silent Hill 2 DCP,

Carrie-Anne Moss, Deborah Kara Unger, Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Malcolm McDowell, Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Martin Donovan

Heather/Sharon (Adelaide Clemens) finds herself starting her first day at a new school in a new town. All her life she has been running, new names, new towns, new schools. She and her Dad are running from something she doesn’t understand, but it’s in her nightmares. It’s Silent Hill. When her Dad disappears and she finds a cryptic message telling her to “Come to Silent Hill” she knows she must. There are chilling secrets from her real past that she has to work out before it’s too late for everybody. This is a truly frightening sequel to the original 2009 Silent Hill film both based on the video game by Konami.

The original Silent Hill was one horrific movie. It really scared the crap out of me, more than any film I had ever seen. I was not aware of the video game, nor the plot of the game, so I had no idea what was going on. But I was looking forward to this sequel, and I was not disappointed. It did not have the confusion for me that the first one did, as I know who Rose and Sharon are from the first movie, but it still has a lot going for it in the horror and terror department. I saw this in the ETX theater with fabulous sound, big clear digital picture, and in 3D which was awesome, and all that technology really helped me enjoy the film. The sound is really crisp and LOUD and is enough to make you jump out of your seat time after time. But the true suspense of this strange and evil town, especially the carnival, are enough to give you nightmares for weeks. The actors were good, and the special effects and monsters are awesome. There are some scenes that will make you marvel at how technology has grown in these times. All in all Silent Hill: Revelation is true to the original, very creepy and downright terrifying sometimes, and it has a well wrapped up ending with a chance to do another sequel should it need to be made, but complete enough in itself that it’s not mandatory to end the story. All in all, it was an enjoyable night out at the cinema, just before Halloween, and a good film I won’t forget right away. I had a blast with this.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Overture Films

Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker, Christie Lynn Smith, Brett Rickaby

You’ve seen this movie.  You’ve seen this movie time after time after time.   It’s the same old thing.  There are NO surprises.

Why take a 1973, George Romero film that is not very good, and remake it into a brand new 2009 movie that’s not very good?  I can’t think why, as at least the original was set in Evans City, Pa, (outside Pittsburgh) and had that going for it.  Filmed right near Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” which was in Zelienople, Pa.  I think I’d prefer the original to this boring overused plotline.

Let’s see, is it suddenly aliens, mutant spiders, or radioactive undead zombies?   It doesn’t reallymatter.  It’s all be done.

Good guy local sheriff,  evil government/army,  misunderstood monsters, evil military commanders,  all the same characters are still here, and this could be a half way decent 1959 Twilight Zone episode in 30 minutes, but to try to stretch this out to a feature film is torture. There is no reason to rent this movie unless you’re a fan of really awful B movies.

Trouble is, they had somewhat of a budget, and it’s somewhat modern movie making, so it’s hard to make fun of it just for the sake of how bad it is, cause I don’t think it’s supposed to be bad.

Now some Netflix people loved it and rated it very high.  Why, I’m not sure.  Perhaps they haven’t seen a lot of movies, or maybe they were in a really good mood when they watched it, but for me it just didn’t even come close.