Movie Reviews: HORRORFEST Edition
Okay, so this is about a month late - but hey, at least it's getting done :) I know I posted a link to the HORRORFEST website back when it was coming out and all that. But in case anyone missed it HORRORFEST was a one weekend only event where 9 independent horror movies were actually shown in theaters that typically wouldn't get a shot.
I had to work weird shifts that weekend so I didn't manage to see all the ones I wanted, but I saw most of them. Out of the 9 movies I managed to see 4 of them, although I saw one of them twice *g* So HORRORFEST for me was 5 showings *cheers* Out of the 5 I didn't see at there was only one I'm disappointed I missed but *shrugs* just have to wait for an actual DVD release on that.
So as usual my thoughts are under cuts. SPOILERS ARE involved!
The Gravedancers: Okay, seeing as I've done icons for the movie and am posting with an animated icon from it right now I think it's obvious that I loved the flick. This is actually the movie I made it a point to see twice. And I'll be honest, the reason I wanted to see it in the first place was because Dominic Purcell was in it. But then I watched all the separate trailers for the films and this one looked the most interesting. Three other movies later this is still my favorite that I managed to see.
The plot is a little predictable but for an indie movie? WOW. I really liked the story, a group of friends get drunk as a celebration of their friend that passed away and unknowingly read this ritual that allows spirits to go home with them. Unfortunately for the characters the spirits are not nice spirits.
The ghosts remind me of The Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and just look wicked. There are some Frightner-esk effects at the end of the movie that seemed out of place but didn't make me think any less of the movie. There's definite try and scare you portions of the movie (some of the people I went with jumped at one part) but it's mixed with humor (both dark and not). So I just loved it.
There's no doubt in my mind when this comes out I'm buying it right away. I loved it *hearts* I want it to come out soon. Also, that said, I think this movie would definitely do okay in the box office. It's kind of sad that it won't be given a chance other than the Horrorfest run.
The Abandoned: This movie I didn't plan on seeing, but ended up seeing it anyways. It was another ghost movie and unfortunately was REALLY REALLY slow. The movie dealt with a woman that was adopted looking for her birth family, she manages getting stuck on a little island with an unknown twin brother getting stalked by ghosts that look like them.
There's not really much that I can say about the movie other than that. It wasn't all that interesting and just drug out. I liked some of the concepts but the movie built up a LOT of suspense that was anti-climatic. At the end of the movie I was just kind of sitting there going "what?" So definitely not a good sign in my book. I can see why this film would have trouble getting a wide release in theaters.
Unrest: Another ghost movie - sense a theme *g* - that I saw after seeing The Gravedancers for the second time. I actually REALLY enjoyed watching The Gravedancers followed by this movie. They fit really well together because it's another movie that deals with disrespect for the dead.
Unrest's basic plot is a girl in a gross anatomy class gets the feeling that something is wrong with the cadaver her group gets. The more she feels things are off the people in her group start suffering from ghostly acts in the hospital. The movie caught my attention from the poster concept as well as the advertizing ploy that the movie used real dead bodies. Yes I know gross, yes I know it was to get your butt in the theater, and yes I fell for it :)
The movie was really good though, dealt with tribal/cult stuff that I hadn't expected from the trailer so it was a plesant surprise. The movie moves a bit slow compared to the fast pace of the horror realm now but it was enjoyable. It actually ended up inspiring me to write a poem after seeing it :) So hey, definitely can't complain there. I also liked the fact that for it dealing with cultism in a lot of ways the main character was not part of ANY religion. Typically in the movies I see that deal with cults you have a very religious characters as the lead. So I really liked that twist cause you got a completely different take on why things were happening.
While the movie moved slow this was probably my second favorite out of the four I saw.
Reincarnation: The one and only Asian movie that was in the bunch for Horrorfest. Since I've definitely gotten into an Asian foreign movie kick over the last couple years I immediately wanted to see this movie, not to mention where I live getting the chance to see a movie like this in theaters on a big screen is RARE.
The basic plot of the movie is a girl is cast in a movie about a horrible murder that happened in a hotel. While filming the movie the girl starts thinking she was one of the people killed in the murder and weird things start happening.
That said, the movie was okay. Not okay as in I hated the fact I saw it, but just okay. I've seen a lot of Asian horror movies that are much better, but I've also seen a lot that are worse. The movie kept my interest, but like with most of the movies I got to see from Horrorfest, it moved a bit slow. Although most of the movies in this genre are slower because they're more character driven then the need to shock/disturb/gross audiences out.
The thing I liked the most about the movie was I wasn't one hundred percent expecting the ending of the film. I knew something was off about the flashbacks that the main character was having to the murder but I didn't quite peg who she'd be the reincarnation of. So I enjoyed that. There were some lovely visuals as well that are fairly common to the genre. And I was actually rather pleased that some of the typical imagery (for example: a girl with long black hair moving toward someone with their hair covering their face) was changed up a bit. In Reincarnation they finally had that image but it was a little girl's doll rather than a woman (which I've noticed is very iconic in a lot of Asian cinema).
So for this one I enjoyed getting to see the movie in a theater setting instead of at home on my tv. But I wouldn't go racing out to see it again either :)
Winner: The Gravedancers! *cheers*
The one I missed that I wanted to see: The Hamiltons
Others I didn't make it to: Dark Ride, Penny Dreadful, Wicked Little Things, Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror
Yes I'm nuts ;)
Oh and on a side/closing note I just want to say the weekend this was going on when the assistant manager at my work relieved me one day he said hi to me and asked: "So how many of the Horrorfest movies have you seen already?"
*giggles*
Seems one of my co-workers knows me really well *g*
I had to work weird shifts that weekend so I didn't manage to see all the ones I wanted, but I saw most of them. Out of the 9 movies I managed to see 4 of them, although I saw one of them twice *g* So HORRORFEST for me was 5 showings *cheers* Out of the 5 I didn't see at there was only one I'm disappointed I missed but *shrugs* just have to wait for an actual DVD release on that.
So as usual my thoughts are under cuts. SPOILERS ARE involved!
The Gravedancers: Okay, seeing as I've done icons for the movie and am posting with an animated icon from it right now I think it's obvious that I loved the flick. This is actually the movie I made it a point to see twice. And I'll be honest, the reason I wanted to see it in the first place was because Dominic Purcell was in it. But then I watched all the separate trailers for the films and this one looked the most interesting. Three other movies later this is still my favorite that I managed to see.
The plot is a little predictable but for an indie movie? WOW. I really liked the story, a group of friends get drunk as a celebration of their friend that passed away and unknowingly read this ritual that allows spirits to go home with them. Unfortunately for the characters the spirits are not nice spirits.
The ghosts remind me of The Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and just look wicked. There are some Frightner-esk effects at the end of the movie that seemed out of place but didn't make me think any less of the movie. There's definite try and scare you portions of the movie (some of the people I went with jumped at one part) but it's mixed with humor (both dark and not). So I just loved it.
There's no doubt in my mind when this comes out I'm buying it right away. I loved it *hearts* I want it to come out soon. Also, that said, I think this movie would definitely do okay in the box office. It's kind of sad that it won't be given a chance other than the Horrorfest run.
The Abandoned: This movie I didn't plan on seeing, but ended up seeing it anyways. It was another ghost movie and unfortunately was REALLY REALLY slow. The movie dealt with a woman that was adopted looking for her birth family, she manages getting stuck on a little island with an unknown twin brother getting stalked by ghosts that look like them.
There's not really much that I can say about the movie other than that. It wasn't all that interesting and just drug out. I liked some of the concepts but the movie built up a LOT of suspense that was anti-climatic. At the end of the movie I was just kind of sitting there going "what?" So definitely not a good sign in my book. I can see why this film would have trouble getting a wide release in theaters.
Unrest: Another ghost movie - sense a theme *g* - that I saw after seeing The Gravedancers for the second time. I actually REALLY enjoyed watching The Gravedancers followed by this movie. They fit really well together because it's another movie that deals with disrespect for the dead.
Unrest's basic plot is a girl in a gross anatomy class gets the feeling that something is wrong with the cadaver her group gets. The more she feels things are off the people in her group start suffering from ghostly acts in the hospital. The movie caught my attention from the poster concept as well as the advertizing ploy that the movie used real dead bodies. Yes I know gross, yes I know it was to get your butt in the theater, and yes I fell for it :)
The movie was really good though, dealt with tribal/cult stuff that I hadn't expected from the trailer so it was a plesant surprise. The movie moves a bit slow compared to the fast pace of the horror realm now but it was enjoyable. It actually ended up inspiring me to write a poem after seeing it :) So hey, definitely can't complain there. I also liked the fact that for it dealing with cultism in a lot of ways the main character was not part of ANY religion. Typically in the movies I see that deal with cults you have a very religious characters as the lead. So I really liked that twist cause you got a completely different take on why things were happening.
While the movie moved slow this was probably my second favorite out of the four I saw.
Reincarnation: The one and only Asian movie that was in the bunch for Horrorfest. Since I've definitely gotten into an Asian foreign movie kick over the last couple years I immediately wanted to see this movie, not to mention where I live getting the chance to see a movie like this in theaters on a big screen is RARE.
The basic plot of the movie is a girl is cast in a movie about a horrible murder that happened in a hotel. While filming the movie the girl starts thinking she was one of the people killed in the murder and weird things start happening.
That said, the movie was okay. Not okay as in I hated the fact I saw it, but just okay. I've seen a lot of Asian horror movies that are much better, but I've also seen a lot that are worse. The movie kept my interest, but like with most of the movies I got to see from Horrorfest, it moved a bit slow. Although most of the movies in this genre are slower because they're more character driven then the need to shock/disturb/gross audiences out.
The thing I liked the most about the movie was I wasn't one hundred percent expecting the ending of the film. I knew something was off about the flashbacks that the main character was having to the murder but I didn't quite peg who she'd be the reincarnation of. So I enjoyed that. There were some lovely visuals as well that are fairly common to the genre. And I was actually rather pleased that some of the typical imagery (for example: a girl with long black hair moving toward someone with their hair covering their face) was changed up a bit. In Reincarnation they finally had that image but it was a little girl's doll rather than a woman (which I've noticed is very iconic in a lot of Asian cinema).
So for this one I enjoyed getting to see the movie in a theater setting instead of at home on my tv. But I wouldn't go racing out to see it again either :)
Winner: The Gravedancers! *cheers*
The one I missed that I wanted to see: The Hamiltons
Others I didn't make it to: Dark Ride, Penny Dreadful, Wicked Little Things, Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror
Yes I'm nuts ;)
Oh and on a side/closing note I just want to say the weekend this was going on when the assistant manager at my work relieved me one day he said hi to me and asked: "So how many of the Horrorfest movies have you seen already?"
*giggles*
Seems one of my co-workers knows me really well *g*