Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Thursday 11th February 2016

Director: Burr Steers
Year: 2016
Stars: Lily James, Sam Riley, Bella Heathcote, Sally Phillips, Charles Dance, Jack Huston, Lena Headey, Matt Smith

This is exactly what it says it is. Pride and Prejudice... with zombies. That would have been the pitch for the movie, it's the title of the book, and there's not really any other way to describe this movie. Which is all fine, if you like Jane Austen novels. And zombies. And can see the appeal of marrying the two.

Happily, I like both. And am more than happy for them to be joined together. There are no surprises at all here (save for the fact that the story from Pride and Prejudice, even with the zombies, remains basically intact), and that's fine by me. I knew what I was going to get, and I got it. Whilst I'm sure many would disagree, my Thursday night didn't feel at all wasted.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Sinister

Monday 5th January 2015

Director: Scott Derrickson
Year: 2012
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Michael Hall D'Addario, Clare Foley

This did turn out to be quite Sinister. At first it felt like your bog-standard horror movie, and wasn't doing a great job of drawing me in. To be fair, this wasn't entirely the fault of the movie - it was clearly aiming for a build-up of suspense, and there's only so much build-up you can get when you're having to pause the movie every five minutes to deal with your own screaming toddler (which is a different type of Sinister all of it's very own).

The movie tells the story of Ellison Oswalt (Hawke), a true-crime writer who moves to a house that children were hanged in to find out what happened, and who the killer was. Eventually (and fairly satisfyingly, being that you know he might not), he does find all this out. Although this is a horror movie of course, so it might have better for him not to know...

Once I actually got to sit down and pay attention to this (for the last 40 minutes or so), I did enjoy it. And it did creep me out, which horror movies don't always have the power to do. Although how much of that was down to the movie, and how much of it down to the fact that children were involved and I was dealing with my own horror child, I'm not sure...

Rating: 3 out of 5

Stake Land

Friday 21st February 2014

Director: Jim Mickle
Year: 2010
Stars: Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis, Danielle Harris, Michael Cerveris,

A bit of a change from Mirror Mirror, this was the last horror movie we had left to watch in our ever-depleting list of recorded movies (I believe we're now down to five so we're making good progress).

I didn't know anything about Stakeland until I saw it advertised last Halloween, and it sounded like an interesting horror movie. Besides, it was about vampires, so right up my street. Well, it's sort of about vampires... the creatures in Stakeland are refered to as vampires, but in reality they seem to be a cross between vampires and zombies. You need to stake them to kill them, but they look a lot more like zombies. We never really find out whether being attacked by one causes you turn into a zombie or not, but that seems to be intentional.

The film is all about Martin (Paolo), and what happens to him when his family are all killed. It's something of a slow burner, but draws you right in. You'll either love or hate the ending - I understand exactly why it has the ending it does, but I'm not sure it's the one I wanted.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Awakening

Saturday 1st February 2014

Director: Nick Murphy
Year: 2011
Stars: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Shaun Dooley, Joseph Mawle

Another random movie choice for a Saturday night to ensure we get those last 10 or so movies watched, I don't really know why I recorded The Awakening. It's a fairly standard thriller/ horror movie in many respects. Rebecca Hall plays Florence Cathcart, an educated woman who has become a ghost hunter. Initially Florence is trying to prove that ghosts exists, but usually succeeds in proving the exact opposite. She is invited to a boarding school by Robert Mallory (West), to try and explain why a boy has died, and whether or not that odd boy in the photos really is a ghost or not.

As always with movies like this, there is more to it than meets the eye. Everybody has a secret, but some are more relevant than others. For the majority of The Awakening I was fearful that the conclusion wasn't going to be as clever as I wanted it to be. Well, it ended better than it could have done - but it still isn't as clever as it thinks it is. We didn't fully guess the ending (as we often do), but we were halfway there. As horror movies go, you could do a lot worse. But Drag me to Hell is a lot more fun, and Let Me In is a better story.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Let Me In

Saturday 25th January 2014

Director: Matt Reeves
Year: 2010
Stars: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas

A few years ago, I watched Let the Right One In. I really, really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that I borrowed the book from a colleague and read it. I loved that too. It's an incredibly unique twist on a vampire story, and I love vampire stories anyway.

Well, Let Me In is the American re-make of Let the Right One In. When I saw it was on TV, I was convinced I hadn't seen it. When I told my husband about it, he was convinced when had. I started to have my doubts, now thinking we probably had seen it and he was right. But when Let Me In began, it didn't feel that familiar. Whilst feeling very, very familiar all at the same time.

This remake is very faithful to the original. It changes the story so little that, although not set in New Mexico, it still feels very Swedish in origin. We came to the conclusion that we hadn't seen this version - the familiarity was just down to the plot. Which made me not 100% sure why they bothered to remake it. Yes, it's not in English. but the Swedish version is just as good. Hubby disagreed with me and said he thought it was definitely worth remaking.

Regardless of whether or not the remake was necessary, it's still a very enjoyable movie and an excellent story.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Insidious

Saturday 7th September 2013

Director: James Wan
Year: 2010
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lyn Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Barbara Hershey, Andrew Astor, Joseph Bishara

I really, really enjoyed this movie. Not, you realise, particularly because of the plot - just because I haven't seen a horror film for ages, and I miss them. It did help, of course, that as horror films go, this is a better one. Not having watched a horror movie in ages also helps - the fewer of them you watch, the less used you are to all the conventions, and the more scary a horror movie becomes.

In most ways, Insidious sticks quite firmly to those conventions. It focuses on a family who move into a new house, and suddenly demons start appearing; then one of the sons loses consciousness. Getting him to wake up turns out to be the only way to get rid of those demons.

The one time Insidious doesn't stick to horror film convention is actually the one time the movie annoyed me (which is rare for me). I won't say much more than that because it happens very near the end of the movie, but to me it just felt wrong.

Oh, and stick around for the end of the credits. As with all good horror films there's a bit more. It's nothing major and doesn't change the ending, but it's a nice touch.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (3D): Film #164 of Film 365

Sunday 1st July 2012

Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Year: 2012
Stars: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Rufus Sewell, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Lots of my friends have been rather sceptical about this movie. I, for one, was more than happy to see it. It sounded fun to me. So when my husband and I were looking for a movie to go and see on our wedding anniversary, this one just beat the competition. Although I'll admit that the competition wasn't that strong - it is the middle of the summer, after all. I was mildly surprised to find my husband willing to sit through it. Although his acceptance wavered a little when we discovered we had to watch it in 3D, and it was therefore going to cost us a hideous amount of money (this being a Sunday, not a Wednesday with its Orange 2-4-1 offers).

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter does exactly what it says on the tin. Amazingly, it's adapted from a novel - but it's all about a world where Abraham Lincoln goes off killing vampires. Oh, there's a bit in the middle where he stops and fights slavery (turns out the vampires are responsible for that, too), because doing both at once would be, well, silly. It's all very tongue-in-cheek, and although the movie plays it straight, it must know this. It doesn't try to be anything it isn't. Although the scene with the stampeding horses did have me almost laughing out loud for its sheer ridiculousness...

If you know what you're getting, and are willing to accept it, this is a pretty fun movie. I enjoyed the hour and a half by simply taking the movie for what it was. And the 3D was, for me, surprisingly effective. Sure, all the usual "vampires jumping out at you" tricks are employed, but what I really liked were the early scenes where the 1800s are given a hazy, washed-out summer tone, and the 3D makes the figures seem almost unreal.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (I enjoyed it, but I'm willing to admit that it's not an example of cinema at its best)

Attack the Block: Film #163 of Film 365

Saturday 30th June 2012

Director: Joe Cornish
Year: 2011
Stars: John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard, Maggie McCarthy

I will admit that I was a little sceptical about watching this. It got really good reviews, and I had wanted to see it since it was released, but it's a film about kids in South London attacking aliens. How good could it really be? Surely it was just going to be, at least in some sense, another alien movie? And can you really make kids living in South London who mug people seem redeemable?

The answers are "pretty damn good actually", "not really" and "yes, as long as you make at least one of them sorry". Attack the Block is as good as the critics said it was. It probably helped that maybe I wasn't expecting something amazing, but I'm not sure even good expectations would have ruined this one. Yes, the basic premise is that some horrible kids from South London are trying to deal with an alien invasion. But every convention is subverted; everything you expect to happen either doesn't, or happens in such a way you didn't expect it in the first place.

The beauty with Attack the Block is that the whole movie is set up knowing you'll expect one thing, then deliberately doing something totally different. And if none of that gets you interested, well, it's funny too. It loses a star simply because I don't think it's the type of movie I'm likely to want to watch over and over again. But I still strongly recommend it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Dark Shadows: Film #158 of Film 365

Friday 11th May 2012

Director: Tim Burton
Year: 2012
Stars: Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Grace Moretz, Gulliver McGrath, Jonny Lee Miller

If you like Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, gothic movies and schlock, the likelihood is that you'll enjoy Dark Shadows. I'm a pretty big fan of all of the above, so wasn't going to let the opportunity to see this movie go by unnoticed.

Barnabas Collins (Depp) is a 200 year old vampire. He was created back in the late 1700s by an jealous ex-lover (Green), and was been buried alive not longer after he became a vampire. He is dug up by a construction crew in the early 1970s - which is when the majority of Dark Shadows is set.

Dark Shadows is a typical Burton gothic movie in many senses, and this makes it all quite enjoyable. However, the movie isn't without its flaws. The storyline is based on a old 1970s US TV show that, apparently, nobody except Burton and Depp ever watched. And my guess is that it was quite bad.

Elements of the plot in Dark Shadows don't really make that much sense - I'm still confused over exactly who Victoria Winters (Heathcote) really is. Whether that's the fault of the TV show or the movie I'm not entirely sure, but there are aspects to Dark Shadows that continue to frustrate me a little. But as long as you know what you're getting (and are a fan of that sort of thing), you'll probably be happy enough.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Thirst: Film #145 of Film 365

Monday 27th February 2012

Director: Chan-wook Park
Year: 2009
Stars: Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-suk Kim, Ha-Kyun Shin

Well, this is different. It was part of a vampire triple-bill on Channel 4 one evening- coming after Twilight and Near Dark (both enjoyable vampire movies in my opinion). This is a Korean movie, and the oddest of the three. And, perhaps in some ways, also the most traditional. It features a pretty large amount of death and sex. Anybody who knows their vampire movies (or even vampire novels) will know that this means it's a proper vampire movie.

All this doesn't mean that you will have seen anything like Thirst before. I'm not sure how much of this is down to the fact that the movie is Korean, and I'm not used to their style of film making, and how much is down to the movie being truly unique. But I certainly enjoyed it, and might well seek out other Korean recommended movies on the strength of it.

Thirst begins by telling the story of Priest Sang-hyeon (Song), a man who volunteers for a vaccine development project. He does this to try and help others infected by a specific disease. But, unlike all the other patients who die, a blood transfusion turns him into a vampire. It takes him some time to acknowledge this, and Thirst does a great job of portraying the emotions he goes through in order to get to this point. This is no 2-minute Hollywood plot device at the beginning of a movie to get you to the good vampire stuff. It takes a good 30-40 minutes to get to this point; but you won't feel bored getting there. The movie descends into more of a Hollywood Natural Born Killers style movie when Priest Sang-hyeon meets Tae-ju (Kim) - but even this relationship takes some time to getting going; and watching it become established is all part of the joy.

If you love horror, and specifically vampire movies (like me), but are looking for something a bit different to your standard Hollywood fare, I highly recommend seeking Thirst out.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Woman in Black: Film #142 of Film 365

Thursday 23rd February 2012

Director: James Watkins
Year: 2012
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, Liz White

When we were going to the cinema, we couldn't decide whether to watch this or The Muppets. I half wish we'd chosen The Muppets, although I knew I wanted to see this more. And that's not because The Woman in Black is a bad film - in the words of some girls leaving the cinema, it's truly terrifying. It's just because I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.

If you've read the Susan Hill novel this is based on, or seen the play in London's West End (I've done both and can't recommend either highly enough), you'll know what the basic premise of this story is. The story has been changed from the original - which, for the most part, I didn't mind. It's only the ending I have some issues with- and that's partly because I love the original ending so much.

If you love ghost stories, you will love this. It's definitely a slow burner - the scares don't come thick and fast, but when they do come you'll be very, very scared. There aren't a lot of jumps, but when they come, they'll get you. And you won't once think of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. He embodies Arthur Kipps perfectly. I can now recommend the movie (almost) as highly as the book and the play- as long as you don't mind a massive scare or two.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning: Film #141 of Film 365

Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Director: Grant Harvey
Year: 2004
Stars: Katharine Isabelle, Elizabeth Perkins, Nathaniel Arcand, JR Bourne, Hugh Dillon, Adrien Dorval

I'd been putting off watching this for a while, as it felt like just another horror movie. I knew that might be unfair, because I really enjoyed the original Ginger Snaps, and Ginger Snaps: Unleashed wasn't bad either. Anyway, I was reaching the end of my November movies to watch (slightly long story, but I'm watching movies month by month in an attempt to get them watched- and not have too much choice!), so the choice was between this and Thirst- a Korean vampire movie. Which I'm also intrigued by, but keep getting put off because I don't want to have to read subtitles when eating my dinner (which is when I seem to end up watching movies at the moment).

It turns out that Ginger Snaps Back is actually a pretty enjoyable horror movie. It's short, concise and to the point. It's not a jump-out-your-seat scary horror movie (see The Woman in Black for that), but it does do what it aims to rather effectively. The basic story is that two sisters end up in the middle of nowhere of Canada, in a fort looked after by a group of men who are acting, to put it mildly, rather oddly. It doesn't take long to realise that this all has something to do with werewolves.

There perhaps aren't many surprises here - most of them are actually spelt out for you and explained before they happen. But it's still a far more intelligent movie than many, many horror movies out there.

Rating: 4 out of 5

House of Wax: Film # 128 of Film 365

Saturday 21st January 2012

Director: Jaume Collet-Sera
Year: 2005
Stars: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Jared Padalecki, Jon Abrahams, Robert Ri'chard, Paris Hilton

Don't expect anything special from this movie. As long as you go in with expectations of a standard horror movie with all the genre cliches, you'll be perfectly happy with what you get. The best clue about what is going on is probably in the title - if you hadn't guessed, it involves turning humans into wax (I don't think that's giving too much away...).

There's nothing wrong with House of Wax. It knows what it is, and is a perfectly enjoyable, fun (if you like this sort of thing) Friday night movie. Just don't expect to need to engage your brain. Oh, and although it's officially a remake of the 1953 version, apparently they're nothing alike. I haven't seen that one, so I can't comment.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Dorian Gray: Film #114 of FIlm 365

Sunday 1st January 2012

Director: Oliver Parker
Year: 2009
Stars: Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin

I had wanted to see this when it was originally released, but the less-than-positive reviews put me off a little. The trailer still made it look good though, so I decided to give it a watch when I saw it was premiering on network TV.

Dorian Gray is based on the Oscar Wilde novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which I have to admit I've never read - so I can't compare it to that. But based purely on what was on the screen, I found it perfectly enjoyable. Having re-read some of the reviews, I can understand some of the criticisms. The final third of the movie is a bit of an attempt at spectacle, and therefore doesn't quite follow the very atmospheric gothic horror that has come before. What appears in the final picture of Dorian Gray is also never going to be as frightening as what you are imagining.

However, as a straight story, it's interesting, different, enjoyable and builds up a great, tense atmosphere. I liked it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Near Dark: Film #98 of FIlm 365

Saturday 10th December 2011

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Year: 1987
Stars: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henrikson, Bill Paxton

I watched Near Dark many years ago, when I was about 15. I remember enjoying it at the time, but not much about what actually happened. So when I discovered it was being shown on TV I was keen to watch it again and remind myself of why I had enjoyed it first time round.

Near Dark is all about Caleb (Pasdar), a man who meets a girl but doesn't realise exactly what she is - until it's too late. It's a pretty traditional take on the vampire movie, but with things that clearly date it to the 1980s. Not that that makes it a bad movie - it's still an enjoyable story, and well paced. I'm less keen on the ending - it just felt a little too Hollywood for me.

I don't have any problems with Near Dark, but having rewatched it, I remember why I enjoyed it all those years ago - but also why it never made my list of most loved movies. The Lost Boys may be far more '80s, far less slick and far less critic-friendly, but it's a lot more fun and the vampires are just so much, well, cooler.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Vacancy: Film #92 of Film 365

Friday 18th November 2011

Director: Nimrod Antal
Year: 2007
Stars: Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale, Frank Whaley

I was feeling rather unmotivated on Friday evening, so what better way to spend my time than watching a short, taut little horror movie?

David (Wilson) and Amy (Beckinsale) Fox are a couple who get lost in the middle of nowhere, and end up being talked into staying at a motel before they get their car fixed the next day. Sound familiar? The movie definitely gives nods to Psycho and The Shining...

Vacancy won't surprise any horror fans out there - but that doesn't mean it's a bad movie. It subverts some of the more obvious genre traps, and is short and interesting enough to feel satisfying. If you're already a horror fan it will make a nice change from stupidly obvious slasher movies, and if you're new to horror, it's not a bad place to start.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Dark: Film #86 of Film 365

Monday 31st October 2011

Director: John Fawcett
Year: 2005
Stars: Maria Bello, Sean Bean, Sophie Stuckey, Abigail Stone

As it was Halloween, watching a horror movie seemed appropriate. We had plenty to choose from (most of them recorded over a year ago), and this seemed to be one of the more interesting things on offer. The Dark is a British movie, set in Wales and playing on Welsh mythology.

In truth, The Dark is more of a psychological thriller than a horror. That's not to say it doesn't have its horrific moments, but it's not really a "jump-in-the-dark" horror movie. The movie starts off well, and seems to have a story to tell. Adelle's (Bello) daughter vanishes, and a child appears in her place. Adelle spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out what has happened to her daughter.

Not all the plot lines take the obvious route, but at times this hinders rather than helps the narrative. The ending is confusing, and a number of plot details were left totally unexplained. I spent some time reading reviews online, and it seems that everybody else was just as confused as I was - or at least in total disagreement about what had actually happened. I wander if the ending is clear in the director's mind?

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Red Riding Hood: Film #71 of Film 365

Thursday 8th September 2011

Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Year: 2011
Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Virgina Madsen, Julie Christie

Unlike most holidays, our trip to Canada involved lots of movies. This was primarily because we went to Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and what's a film festival without watching some movies? So there are a fair few movies for me to blog about over the next few days (weeks?), but my first holiday movie was actually one I watched on the plane.

I had wanted to see Red Riding Hood for a while, primarily because the trailer made it look, well, cool - and very stylised, which I tend to like. I had read a few less-than-positive reviews though, so started to watch it with a slight feeling of trepidation. Valerie (Seyfried) is a young girl who lives in a small village that is terrorised by a werewolf. The werewolf isn't the only problem- Valerie has also fallen in love with a woodcutter, but is engaged to somebody much richer.

At first I wasn't sure why this didn't quite work. There's a not-terribly bad story here, and it does indeed look quite stylish. The problem is, there's just not enough plot for an hour and a half movie. It probably would have made a great 45 minute TV episode, but it just felt like it dragged. An achievement for what is, after all, a pretty short movie!

Rating: 3 out of 5

Mirrors: Film #36 of Film 365

Monday 23rd May 2011

Director: Alexandre Aja
Year: 2008
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Cameron Boyce, Erica Gluck, Amy Smart

A psychological horror movie starring Kiefer Sutherland. What's not to like? It turns out, quite a lot. This isn't a bad movie - it's just a really, really mediocre one.

Kiefer Sutherland plays a detective who has been suspended and ends up taking a job at a burnt-down department store to make ends meet. After he starts working there, strange nasty things start to happen involving mirrors.

There are no surprises here. If you've ever watched a horror movie before you'll see what's coming around every corner. The ending does redeem the movie slightly, but not enough to make it worth watching.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Saw III: Film #28 of Film 365

Thursday 21st April 2011

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Year: 2006
Stars: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh

If you know anything about the Saw movies (I expect you do), you'll know a bit about this. Yes, it's gory - what were you expecting? However, much of it is perhaps not as grim as you might imagine...

...although the first 30 minutes are. It feels a bit like the filmmakers wanted to get the really gory bits out of the way before telling the proper story. Now, they are relevant to the plot - but only in a minor way. The real story has a lot less gore (and to be honest, what it does have is almost funny rather than grim - at times they just go too far).

I actually really like the first two Saw films. They have surprisingly good plots with decent twists I didn't see coming (unlike in most horror movies when they are horrendously obvious). This isn't on a par with those movies, but it also isn't a bad movie. As horrors go, it's a perfectly acceptable addition to the genre. As long as you don't mind a bit of blood and guts, that is (but it's probably not as bad as you're imagining).

Rating: 3 out of 5