Movie review: My Bloody Valentine 3D + episode review: 4x11: Family Remains
This review is pretty much non-spoilery up until a certain point, so don't go past the warning if you don't wanna know!
I've been watching so many old horror and slasher movies lately, so I'm glad I went in prepared. They say a lot of the times that they make things so much more gratuitous nowadays and just plain gross, but I'm happy to say that MBV really got right down to it and made a slasher movie with some semblance of plot.
One of the most pleasant aspects of the film is the absolutely wonderful way they brought in all of the new filmmaking techniques without it feeling overdone, or too flashy. Maybe I'm just a big dork, but I love it when the camera does something it couldn't have done thirty years ago, when it goes through the walls, or something, I get a huge kick. In the movie, you get the sense that the director really knew how he wanted it to look. The opening credits are absolutely fantastic and innovative, setting up the movie by shifting between a montage of newspapers, but the camera seems to zoom out from between headlines. It's just plain cool.
MBV is like a technological upgrade from most horror movies, and it does it damn well. Obviously, a huge part of this has to do with the 3D aspect, and most of the time, the 3D just offers an atmospheric sense to the surroundings. You feel as through you're in the woods, in the mine, and in the moment with the characters. Being a slasher movie, of course, they use the 3D element to throw in some thrills you've never seen before. In the beginning, Harry Warden chucks his pickaxe at a victim and towards camera, and you will guaranteed flinch or jump back, feeling as though it'll hit you in the face. But these 3D "thrill" moments only happen a couple of times, where most of the 3D is usually meant for the cool factor, like when Tom shines his flashlight at the audience as he looks around.
What takes you out of the element is what I feel like the movie lacks in: a certain punch. It's like Patrick Lussier as a director was confused as to where he needed to go further, and where he needed to cut back. Slasher movies, as a whole, usually are gorefests that just rely on inventive and bloody deaths, but they are also horror movies that use the scary, thriller moments to help make the audience more apprehensive. MBV is strangely lacking in the scares. Hardly ever, a shot is framed well enough that you feel uncomfortable when a character is looking around the home that you KNOW the killer is in. And anytime Harry Warden walks in, he basically saunters in easily, because you always know when he's coming.
Other times the movie falls flat are due to lack of a keen ear in sound design. Only once can I remember a moment being scary because of that very loud horror-movie sound effect. When characters shout or yell, they're barely raised above a normal level, so the shouting tends to bear little significance. And they're in a mine for like half of the movie, for fuck's sake, you'd think there'd be a little more eerie echo going on. The script also borders sometimes on the silly side, mostly because of some really weird reactions some characters have, and some of the shots really are flat as hell. The episode of Supernatural tonight, Family Remains, was shot more interestingly. Still, it's very watchable, and does its job decently.
In short, the movie is not scary at all, but it's full to the brim with gore and some pretty fucked up kills. Haha, it's sweet.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILARZZZ
For those of you who don't know, the new and old MBV are unique in the sense that it's a slasher movie with a mystery at the heart of the story. Tom Hannigan, Jensen's character, fucks up in the mine, and sets off an explosion that traps a bunch of miners, leaving one of them, Harry Warden, to kill them all to conserve air. When Harry wakes from his coma, he goes on a killing spree dressed in a miner's hat and mask, but he's shot and runs into the mine, never to be seen again. Traumatised, Tom leaves town, and ten years later, he returns, and the killings happen again. Is Harry Warden back? Where was Tom during all of this?
To get this all out of the way, yes, Tom is the killer, which is, of course, revealed quite heavy-handedly at the finale. I reflected on how very strange and different this is from your normal slasher film. Usually a slasher just needs a crazy killer with a motive, ANY motive. But Tom, he's basically got no motive, and it actually plays a little more psychologically, almost in a Dexter-like fashion where Tom, traumatised by what he's seen, has to become the monster in order get past things. There's also some weird implication that Harry Warden's ghost or personality has gotten into Tom somehow, which I think almost cheapens this very human idea. (You could argue that Tom needed to adopt Harry's personality to deal with the horrible things that he does, but it's still lame.) What else was weird was that while you usually do want to cheer for Tom-as-Harry like you would for Jason, or Freddy, you really just feel bad for the guy, 'cause c'mon, he's dealt with enough shit already. That, and the "good guys" that win are Tom's ex-love, Sarah, and Axel, the guy Sarah settles for after Tom ditches town for ten years. And really, Axel is a huge, jealous asshole who cheats on his wife with a slutty bitch, and really, he's the good guy?! But maybe this is what MBV wants to say, that maybe all slashers shouldn't follow the same exact cut and dry formula. Who knows.
There was talk on some horror sites about a possible MBV sequel, which the original was supposed to have, but got axed, pun not intended. In the finale, Tom and Axel tussle, but Tom ends up escaping into the mine, gets trapped, only to murder the poor rescue worker who finds him alive. So the idea now becomes... JENSEN ACKLES RETURNING AS THE NEW JASON VOORHEES OF OUR TIME?! Holy shit, you guys! This is HUGE! Like, think about it. Jensen could have rebooted a new horror icon. Jensen could come back in a sequel and murder people in horribly gruesome ways. The idea gives me fucking chills. IT'S LIKE MY WET DREAM, Jensen playing a crazy ass SERIAL KILLER!!!ELEVEN! The montage where it EXPLAINS HOW TOM DID IT ALL~ is like the sexiest montage of ALL TIME, OKAY. Oh, God I dearly hope MBV returns for part two, even if it does become cheesy as all hell, because horror sequels always do. However, then it'll really lose its whole Jensen appeal because it's like Jason - you hardly ever see him without a mask. But it's delicious to think of Tom being the one that goes to such lengths to horribly mutilate and murder people, regardless.
Still, there are a few things that feel like overkill. The dichotomy with Tom's good and bad sides is shown fairly early on, when Tom is stuck in the cage in the mine and he watches Harry/himself on the other side, like a mirror, as he rises to his feet. Already, the implication is that pretty much there that Harry and Tom are two very equal sides of the same coin. Later, when unmasked Tom is breaking lights with his axe, each spark of light flashes a masked Harry Warden instead, which is cool if they'd only done it once or twice, but it was shown at least five times as if to say, DID YOU SEE WHAT WE DID JUST THERE?!
Jensen does a fine job with the fairly shallow material he was given. I am going to assume that the biggest draw here for Jensen was getting to be Harry Warden, and not just the main character of a slasher/horror flick. Tom, while interesting in the idea, comes off as a rather flat character, through no fault on the acting side. But he's just not given much of an opportunity, here, since the movie is about Harry Warden ripping out people's hearts, not about Tom's inner demons. And what's really great is actually thinking about Jensen being that kind of maniacal killer. Oh, yes, because he's so scary and imposing, oooh, evil eyebrows of dooooom!
Even though that review took too much effort, SUPERNATURALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. *flaps*
Wait, people are complaining about that episode? Fucking seriously, Jeremy Carver. YOU KIND OF OWN MY SOUL. That episode was such a strong way to start off after hiatus. I have not been scared or creeped out by the show since, like, Bloody Mary, and I actually JUMPED once during the episode. Bravo, SPN, bra-fucking-vo! Creepy girl was creepy as fuck, I'm going to be scared of windows for awhile. I am thoroughly impressed, though... needs moar Sam.
Also, aww, entitled!Dean is entitled (to angst!)!
I've been watching so many old horror and slasher movies lately, so I'm glad I went in prepared. They say a lot of the times that they make things so much more gratuitous nowadays and just plain gross, but I'm happy to say that MBV really got right down to it and made a slasher movie with some semblance of plot.
One of the most pleasant aspects of the film is the absolutely wonderful way they brought in all of the new filmmaking techniques without it feeling overdone, or too flashy. Maybe I'm just a big dork, but I love it when the camera does something it couldn't have done thirty years ago, when it goes through the walls, or something, I get a huge kick. In the movie, you get the sense that the director really knew how he wanted it to look. The opening credits are absolutely fantastic and innovative, setting up the movie by shifting between a montage of newspapers, but the camera seems to zoom out from between headlines. It's just plain cool.
MBV is like a technological upgrade from most horror movies, and it does it damn well. Obviously, a huge part of this has to do with the 3D aspect, and most of the time, the 3D just offers an atmospheric sense to the surroundings. You feel as through you're in the woods, in the mine, and in the moment with the characters. Being a slasher movie, of course, they use the 3D element to throw in some thrills you've never seen before. In the beginning, Harry Warden chucks his pickaxe at a victim and towards camera, and you will guaranteed flinch or jump back, feeling as though it'll hit you in the face. But these 3D "thrill" moments only happen a couple of times, where most of the 3D is usually meant for the cool factor, like when Tom shines his flashlight at the audience as he looks around.
What takes you out of the element is what I feel like the movie lacks in: a certain punch. It's like Patrick Lussier as a director was confused as to where he needed to go further, and where he needed to cut back. Slasher movies, as a whole, usually are gorefests that just rely on inventive and bloody deaths, but they are also horror movies that use the scary, thriller moments to help make the audience more apprehensive. MBV is strangely lacking in the scares. Hardly ever, a shot is framed well enough that you feel uncomfortable when a character is looking around the home that you KNOW the killer is in. And anytime Harry Warden walks in, he basically saunters in easily, because you always know when he's coming.
Other times the movie falls flat are due to lack of a keen ear in sound design. Only once can I remember a moment being scary because of that very loud horror-movie sound effect. When characters shout or yell, they're barely raised above a normal level, so the shouting tends to bear little significance. And they're in a mine for like half of the movie, for fuck's sake, you'd think there'd be a little more eerie echo going on. The script also borders sometimes on the silly side, mostly because of some really weird reactions some characters have, and some of the shots really are flat as hell. The episode of Supernatural tonight, Family Remains, was shot more interestingly. Still, it's very watchable, and does its job decently.
In short, the movie is not scary at all, but it's full to the brim with gore and some pretty fucked up kills. Haha, it's sweet.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILARZZZ
For those of you who don't know, the new and old MBV are unique in the sense that it's a slasher movie with a mystery at the heart of the story. Tom Hannigan, Jensen's character, fucks up in the mine, and sets off an explosion that traps a bunch of miners, leaving one of them, Harry Warden, to kill them all to conserve air. When Harry wakes from his coma, he goes on a killing spree dressed in a miner's hat and mask, but he's shot and runs into the mine, never to be seen again. Traumatised, Tom leaves town, and ten years later, he returns, and the killings happen again. Is Harry Warden back? Where was Tom during all of this?
To get this all out of the way, yes, Tom is the killer, which is, of course, revealed quite heavy-handedly at the finale. I reflected on how very strange and different this is from your normal slasher film. Usually a slasher just needs a crazy killer with a motive, ANY motive. But Tom, he's basically got no motive, and it actually plays a little more psychologically, almost in a Dexter-like fashion where Tom, traumatised by what he's seen, has to become the monster in order get past things. There's also some weird implication that Harry Warden's ghost or personality has gotten into Tom somehow, which I think almost cheapens this very human idea. (You could argue that Tom needed to adopt Harry's personality to deal with the horrible things that he does, but it's still lame.) What else was weird was that while you usually do want to cheer for Tom-as-Harry like you would for Jason, or Freddy, you really just feel bad for the guy, 'cause c'mon, he's dealt with enough shit already. That, and the "good guys" that win are Tom's ex-love, Sarah, and Axel, the guy Sarah settles for after Tom ditches town for ten years. And really, Axel is a huge, jealous asshole who cheats on his wife with a slutty bitch, and really, he's the good guy?! But maybe this is what MBV wants to say, that maybe all slashers shouldn't follow the same exact cut and dry formula. Who knows.
There was talk on some horror sites about a possible MBV sequel, which the original was supposed to have, but got axed, pun not intended. In the finale, Tom and Axel tussle, but Tom ends up escaping into the mine, gets trapped, only to murder the poor rescue worker who finds him alive. So the idea now becomes... JENSEN ACKLES RETURNING AS THE NEW JASON VOORHEES OF OUR TIME?! Holy shit, you guys! This is HUGE! Like, think about it. Jensen could have rebooted a new horror icon. Jensen could come back in a sequel and murder people in horribly gruesome ways. The idea gives me fucking chills. IT'S LIKE MY WET DREAM, Jensen playing a crazy ass SERIAL KILLER!!!ELEVEN! The montage where it EXPLAINS HOW TOM DID IT ALL~ is like the sexiest montage of ALL TIME, OKAY. Oh, God I dearly hope MBV returns for part two, even if it does become cheesy as all hell, because horror sequels always do. However, then it'll really lose its whole Jensen appeal because it's like Jason - you hardly ever see him without a mask. But it's delicious to think of Tom being the one that goes to such lengths to horribly mutilate and murder people, regardless.
Still, there are a few things that feel like overkill. The dichotomy with Tom's good and bad sides is shown fairly early on, when Tom is stuck in the cage in the mine and he watches Harry/himself on the other side, like a mirror, as he rises to his feet. Already, the implication is that pretty much there that Harry and Tom are two very equal sides of the same coin. Later, when unmasked Tom is breaking lights with his axe, each spark of light flashes a masked Harry Warden instead, which is cool if they'd only done it once or twice, but it was shown at least five times as if to say, DID YOU SEE WHAT WE DID JUST THERE?!
Jensen does a fine job with the fairly shallow material he was given. I am going to assume that the biggest draw here for Jensen was getting to be Harry Warden, and not just the main character of a slasher/horror flick. Tom, while interesting in the idea, comes off as a rather flat character, through no fault on the acting side. But he's just not given much of an opportunity, here, since the movie is about Harry Warden ripping out people's hearts, not about Tom's inner demons. And what's really great is actually thinking about Jensen being that kind of maniacal killer. Oh, yes, because he's so scary and imposing, oooh, evil eyebrows of dooooom!
Even though that review took too much effort, SUPERNATURALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. *flaps*
Wait, people are complaining about that episode? Fucking seriously, Jeremy Carver. YOU KIND OF OWN MY SOUL. That episode was such a strong way to start off after hiatus. I have not been scared or creeped out by the show since, like, Bloody Mary, and I actually JUMPED once during the episode. Bravo, SPN, bra-fucking-vo! Creepy girl was creepy as fuck, I'm going to be scared of windows for awhile. I am thoroughly impressed, though... needs moar Sam.
Also, aww, entitled!Dean is entitled (to angst!)!