Sunday, January 31, 2016

Quick Movie Reviews

...I'm back!


The Scribbler (2014, USA) | Rating: 1/5

Katie Cassidy is probably best known for her time on Supernatural and Arrow. She's generally better on those shows than in this low budget scifi graphic novel adaptation. Suki has recently been released from treatment for Dissociative Identity Disorder and placed in a halfway house with other former mental patients. There is one male patient among all the females living in the halfway house. Of course, all the ones he's slept with are turning up dead. Does Suki have something to do with this? This film takes itself too seriously especially with the dialogue. Much of it is far too heavy handed along with the general premise. At one point, I was fairly sure that the director and writer had simply pieced together things they thought would be neat to add in.


Another Me (2013, UK/Spain) | Rating: 2/5

Game of Thrones fans will recognize Sophie Turner from her role as Sansa Stark. Another Me is based on the novel by Catherine MacPhail. Fay is a stressed teen dealing with her father's illness, her mother's affair and the usual teen drama. It's not long before she begins to think she's being stalked by a doppelganger.  Rather than really developing the characters, it seemed as if the director was more concerned with trying to set up the next scene. Most of which were very ineffective. I found myself quite a bit bored through this one although I predicted what the twist would be. Overall, I felt as if the genre was a little off on this one. It wasn't quite horror or suspense, yet it wasn't set up as proper drama either.


Burying the Ex (2014, USA) | Rating: 1.5/5

The trailer on this one gives away pretty much everything. Max has a girlfriend he thinks is amazing...until they move in together. He decides he wants to break up with his now overbearing girlfriend, only to have her die in a freak accident.  Eventually, he begins to move on with a girl more suited to him. The premise wasn't terrible. A geeky horror fan in a dark romcom with two attractive women could have been quite good in the right hands. The problem was that the characters were mostly unlikable. If you're looking for a movie about a zombie girlfriend, give Life After Beth a try instead.


Apartment 1303 3D (2012, USA/Canada) | Rating: 1/5

Save yourself some time and check out the original Japanese release instead of the Hollywood remake. Better yet, pick up Kei Oishi's novel instead. Janet moves out of her family home to live in the first apartment that she finds. When something terrible happens to her, Janet's sister decides to investigate by moving in. The acting was simply terrible with far too many cheesy jump scares. Hollywood can't seem to grasp that they need to stop remaking Asian horror. The originals are always better.


Grave Encounters (2011, Canada) | Rating: 2/5

What is there to say about a film about a fictional reality tv show? As a parody of reality ghost hunting shows, the film features a crew of ghost hunters going into a potentially haunted location to film a new episode of their show. Of course, this is a found footage film. What else could it be? The character development was biggest problem for me aside from all the jump scares (which were far from frightening). These are people who are supposed to be seasoned investigators. However, they don't react like I would have expected. Where is the excitement that something paranormal is happening? Where is the creeping sense of dread when they realize they've gotten in over their heads? The ending wasn't surprising at all when it set up the potential for sequels.


If you like what you read, drop me a comment or an email to let me know your thoughts. You can reach me at mstr.chisato[at]gmail[dot]com. I'm available if you'd like to request a review of music, movies or anime.

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