Murder Party

Murder Party IMDb

Halloween Eve!  Went with a Halloween movie.  Fantastic Fest alumni.  The first film from the director who brought us Blue Ruin and this year with the badass thriller, Green Room.  This one was okay.  It was making fun of itself.  The director made it that way.  Takes place mostly in a room.  Nerd gets tortured.  Everybody dies.  Weird characters.  Bloody.  Halloween art.  Candy corn. Not anything special.  I want to see Green Room again.  Top 10 of this year so far.

Don't go to a random murder party.  Don't.

Evilspeak

Evilspeak IMDb

It is almost Devil's Night and I was going to do The Crow but instead I went with this evil movie.  They screened a special print of this at Fantastic Fest 2015.  Revenge! Evil revenge.  Clint Howard.  Nerd uses the devil for revenge.  Cliche set up and story.  Would make a great double feature with Carrie.  Cheesy. Campy.  Don't fuck with the devil.  Okay to see but nothing to crazy or great enough to see it again.

Take your ass to church!

Room (2015)

Room (2015)

Saw this as a free advanced screening.   It's a drama with Oscar buzz all over it.  I've only see one other big Oscar buzz movie so far and that's Inside Out. This one is great but it wasn't for me.  It's a movie that's supposed to have a lot of heart and I can see that to some people, they might have been satisfied with that. But, I was wanting more. I love movies with a lot of heart,  but I never connected with this one.  The boy did an awesome fucking job. Big Oscar performances by him and the mother played by Brie Larson.  There were some good intense scenes but I was wanting more. That's all. Great though.

7 out 10.

Poltergeist (2015)

Poltergeist IMDb 

Remakes, you gotta love them, right?  I mean, they never learn.  Rarely are they good.  This never failed me once.  Yeah right.  After 30 minutes, it started letting me down.  With that said, the first 30 minutes was great.  Good typical horror set up.  Then, fucking characters blew it.  The point where one of our characters was screaming so loud because it looked like he was going to get hurt really bad, was the part that did it for me.  After that moment, he realized he wasn't hurt and went downstairs to join the rest of the gang.  Nobody ever said anything or wondered anything about him.  Fucking plot.  The guy was yelling for his life for fuck sakes.  Anyways, then they try to be funny even during a time of horror.  Didn't work for me.  Disappointed, but that was expected.  I still have respect for Sam Rockwell (one of my favorite actors)., even if he was involved in this shit.

3 out of 10.

Grabbers

Grabbers IMDb 

I had this cheesy comedy horror in my Netflix list for a while but was waiting for a perfect night to stay in and have some good old Irish beers with it.  Well, it wasn't worth the wait.  It was okay.  But, I expected more like Shaun of the Dead humor.  It wasn't even that funny and it took a while to get to the good stuff.  It also became predictable.  I knew that our main alcoholic guy was going to change at the end and become a clean sober guy.  Fuck, I guess I was wanting a Shaun of the Dead ripoff.  Kudos to them for making it more original.  But, still, not a movie I would recommend.

I was wanting pure drunkenness from the beginning and it never really got there for me.  Then again, I was three strong Irish beers in while watching this.

The Coed and the Zombie Stoner

The Coed and the Zombie Stoner IMDb

Okay, I made a stupid mistake tonight.  I'm human. I'm not perfect.  I got myself in the right state of mind and had the munchies with this stupid movie.  Fucking hated it.  Boobs are the only thing that I liked about this movie.  What the fuck was I thinking? Anyways, stay the fuck away.  I'm not into purposely made terrible movies.  I'm more into terrible movies that weren't meant to be terrible but serious. Now those, I have a great ass time.

 

Fuck!

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Straight Outta Compton IMDb

Westside, bitches!  I couldn't help but wanting to see the movie, CB4, after watching this one.  Then again, CB4 is a parody of N.W.A.  I really enjoyed this one.  Good dramatic scenes.  Good gangster shit.  And good fight the power moments.  I can't believe they managed to squeeze in a lot of well known characters into this (2pac, Snoop, Suge Knight).  Great ending.  Man, the rap business ain't no joke.  Eazy motherfuckin E, man.  Crazy shit.  I'm sure a lot of this shit actually happened but some things weren't all facts.  Anyways, good biopic, that's for sure.  Boyz in the hood!  I should've sneaked in a 40 for kicks.

8 out of 10.

Goosebumps (2015)

Goosebumps (2015)

Took my son to see this after school.  He was excited for it.  The movie did its job for him.  Me, on the other hand, thought this was meh!  Nothing to go home and praise about.  There were some cool little moments but not enough to carry the movie.  The jokes and story is aimed more for 10 year olds.  I mean, I know this is aimed for that age group but sometimes adults can enjoy the fun as well.  Not this time (at least not for me).  Didn't really care about the characters.  The gnomes were great.  All I can say is, Jurassic World was better than this and I was disappointed with Jurassic World.   

5 out of 10.  My son left the theater with pure excitement. I guess 10 out of 10 for him.

Hitchcock Thursday: Frenzy

Frenzy IMDb

Hitchcock delivers in this awesome serial killer suspense.  Saw this as part of my double feature tonight.  I can't believe I haven't seen this one.  So fucking good.  As a matter of fact, this is now one of my favorite Hitchcock movies ever.  You read that right.  One of my favorites.  It's got style.  It's got good characters.  It's everything I want in a serial killer movie. Love it and that's all I gotta say about it. 

Must buy for me.  I just saw it and I already want to see it again.  I'm hyping this sucker up.

Two more Hitchcock movies to go this year.  Next month, I'll be checking out Marnie.

Hitchcock Thursday: The Birds

The Birds IMDb

I didn't get a chance to see a Hitchcock movie last month so I'm making it up tonight by watching two.  The Birds!  I saw pieces of this when I was a young warhog.  I don't remember the whole thing.  So here I am making this official.  Awesome Hitchcock piece.  Why in the fuck are all the birds attacking people. Could this be a revenge film?  That's interpretation my friends.  Love the actress here.  Beautiful blonde goes out of her way to go to a small village to deliver birds for a man she barely met.  They don't make them like that anymore.  Laugh out loud.  Birds are vicious fuckers but with a heart at the end.  Enjoyed the suspense of it all.  

Glad I saw this Hitchcock classic as a whole.

What We Do in the Shadows

What We do in the Shadows IMDb

Right in the beginning of the film I knew I was going to enjoy it.  What's not to like?  A mockumentary style film that focuses on a household of 4 vampires.  We follow them during their night on the prowl.  We learn a lot of things about them.  Some of them are sweet.  Some are vicious fuckers.  We even got warewolves here as well.  Great comedy!  It gets a little old after halfway but still overall, it's pretty fucking cool.  

Fans of the Flight of the Conchords, this is a must see.  Good vampire movie.

Fantastic Fest: Crimson Peak (2015)

I saw this movie last month but I wasn't allowed to talk about it online until this week.  I mean, I could've since this only a personal blog but I wanted to remain respectful and because I also wanted to show that Fantastic Fest fans can keep it cool.  So here we go:

Crimson Peak IMDb

This movie was a secret screening at Fantastic Fest.  Guillermo Del Toro was there in person.  Even with him there and with the Fantastic Fest crowd, this movie still didn't deliver.  It was okay but dammit, I'm a big Del Toro fan.  I wanted to love it.  I just couldn't.  It was beautiful to see.  Creepy moments.  Gothic Romance is not my thing though.  Maybe if it was Tim Burton, then it might have been slightly better.  Del Toro himself described it as a Gothic Romance and not horror. And that it will bring the 14 year old in you.  Well, I didn't really connect well with it. That's all I'm going to say about this film.

6 out of 10.  

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. IMDb

Smooth motherfuckers!  Guy Ritchie delivers a classy entertaining spy movie.  First of all, I love the period.  Love the music scenes.  Some of the action was pretty cool.  Now, this isn't awesome action like the new Mission Impossible movie.  It has a good flow.  Good characters.  Some funny moments.  This isn't Snatch or Lock Stop and Two Smoking Barrels, but this is a great improvement from Guy Ritchie. At least I think so.  Not familiar with the source.  Best moment: the infamous torture/serial killer scene.  Hilarious.  Solid entertainment!

7 out of 10.

The Man Who Saves the World (aka The Turkish Star Wars)

The Man Who Saves the World IMDb

Whoa!  Got to see the Turkish Star Wars tonight.  They call it that because they stole lots of the footage from Star Wars.  Like literally, they stole reels and spliced them in here to make a movie.  The story has nothing to do with Star Wars.  They used some of the same score, and they also used score from Indiana Jones and Flash Gordon.  Welcome to exploitation Turkish cinema.  Fantastic Fest 2015 focused on this.  They showed this movie and two other ones plus the documentary: Remake, Remix, and Ripoff.  This was very bad and campy but it made it good.  I had to put myself in the right state of mind and with munchies to enjoy this to the fullest.  And that I did.  Laughed my ass off during the scenes between our hero and the love interest.  They always put the Princess Leia song during those moments.  First 20 minutes were the space scenes (Star Wars footage) then the rest was on Earth in the desert.  I enjoyed it but nothing I would see again.

In the mood for a cheesy terrible exploitation flick?  This might do it for you. At your own risk.

Time Travel Tuesday: Les Visiteurs

Les Visiteurs IMDb

This month's Time Travel Tuesday we go to this French film starring Jean Reno.  Medieval times to the modern times time travel.  This is done by a magic spell.  I have to admit, the first half of this flick was pretty fucking awesome for a time travel movie.  It lost its magic in the second half.  Best scene:  these two medieval characters beat the shit out of a car because they never seen one before and because it was intimidating.  Fucking hilarious.

Overall, nothing special but okay to see.  Something different from the typical sci-fi stuff.

Sicario (2015)

Sicario IMDb

Intense!  This movie delivered what I thought it was going to deliver plus a little more.  I don't want to spoil the little more part because it's a good surprise towards the end.  Good sequences.  Yeah, there was one or two parts that weren't believable (mainly because of my job as a photojournalist and know the protocol for certain situations).  But, hey, they were going for intense action scenes here and it works.  Love the casting.  Love the situation.  It's a tough life.  So, I'm giving two thumbs up to this well made flick.  Benicio Del Toro fucking rules!  This would make an awesome double feature with TRAFFIC (also with Benicio Del Toro).

 

8 out of 10.

The Mad Dog Killer (aka Beast with a Gun)

The Mad Dog Killer IMDb

Wow! Just fucking wow!  Great exploitation flick we got here. For those Tarantino fans out there: this was referenced in Jackie Brown.  This is one of the movies Melanie was watching at Ordell's place.  Ruthless flick.  Nanni Vitali is one sadistic killer.  Truly beast with a gun.  Love everything about this movie.  Plus it has Marisa Mell in it and she's one lovely European actress.  Good pace.  Good action.  I need this in my Grindhouse section. 

I saw it on Youtube.  Check it out.  Here's the trailer:

Fantastic Fest: Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Bone Tomahawk IMDb 

Wow! The last film of Fantastic Fest 2015 closes out with a bang.  Fuck yeah.  An awesome western with cannibals in it.  A little long but most times I didn't notice.  Great set up.  Intro has Sid Haig and David Arquette up to no good before they get attacked by this Indian cannibal tribe.  Then we meet our main characters.  Kurt Russell is one badass Sheriff here.  Richard Jenkins was an old funny deputy.  Enjoyed this film.  It's a western with the search and rescue story or men on a mission story.  We get some violence throughout but the best shit happens in the last 20 minutes.  Fucking cannibals are ruthless.  Crazy gore.  Loved it.  This made making my top 10 of the fest very hard.  Hell, all most movies were either good or very awesome.  Just two or three that were a waste of time.  That's not bad. In fact, a new record.  This is now my favorite Fantastic Fest of all time. Bone Tomahawk, must see.  The first of two westerns this year with Kurt Russell.  I can't fucking wait for the second one.  No more comments.

8 out of 10.

This concludes my Fantastic Fest 2015 experience.  Time to put list my most favorite films to least favorite films:

1. Too Late
2. The Brand New Testament
3. Green Room
4. Liza the Fox-Fairy
5. The Lobster
6. Bone Tomahawk
7. The Treacherous
8. Love & Peace
9. Victoria
10. Zinzana
11. The Witch
12. Dangerous Men
13. Schneider Vs. Bax
14. La Granja
15. Anomalisa
16. April and the Extraordinary World
17. Klown Forever
18. The Similars
19. Son of Saul
20. The Wave
21: What We Become
22. Chronic-Con
23. Crimson Peak
24. Yakuza Apocalypse
25. High-Rise
26. Remake Remix Ripoff
27. Dirty Romance
28. Speed
29. Lazer Team
30. Office
31. Assassination Classroom

Fantastic Fest: What We Become (2015)

What We Become IMDb 

Danish zombie movie.  Very short and simple.  Nothing new to the zombie genre.  This is basically the beginning of The Walking Dead for Denmark.  There was some good gore here and the eye scene was genius.  Other than that, this a fun zombie movie but it left me incomplete.

5 out of 10.