 Under the Radar
Not to be confused with the Emma Watson/Tom Hanks dramatic thriller, 'The Circle', here we have a relatively intense, relatively original sci-fi thriller involving 50 strangers, a mysterious chamber, and deadly odds. A point of interest about this group is that they are all very different. Men, women, varying races, varying cultures, varying ages. I think the biggest name we have here is Carter Jenkins of 'Mad Men'. The rest of the cast, I didn't recognize, which either makes them no-names, or I've actually seen far less movies than I imagined. The group wakes up, and starts dying off one by one, ridding us of several characters fairly quickly. They soon figure out that they each have the ability to "vote" for who dies next, and it becomes a gruesome process-of-elimination game. The thrill of the film not only comes from how they end up having to inevitably decide who goes next, but the fact that they really don't know where they are, or why they're made to do this. In other words, there's no creepy 'Saw' puppet to guide them. These, folks are left to their own devices. The overall premise is really simple, and the film is definitely of the "bottle" variety, pretty much the whole way through. So if you don't wanna watch 50 strangers killing each other off for an hour and a half, this movie might not be for you. However, much like with a movie like 'Buried', there's more to the film than just claustrophobia. This film ends up being far more of a character study than anything, in that with such a variety of people, we see a lot of varying prejudices as well. The elderly, the dark-skinned, the gay, women (some pregnant), and yes, even a child, are all put to the test, usually against a mouthy, greedy, Caucasian dude. So there's definitely a sense of personal politics going on here, although I will say it doesn't cover everyone, it definitely gets its message across. The whole thing could be seen as a take on the white-washed world. The only real problem the film has, in my opinion, is its acting. It's not all bad, but some of the delivery feels like I'm watching a high school (maybe college) play. But when I don't recognize any of these faces, I can't be too nit-picky about such a thing. The real draw to this is the overall concept, and the execution does feel pretty intense. One must keep in mind that at the end of this, only one person comes out alive. So, much like with 'Game of Thrones', try not to establish a favorite character. 'Circle' can currently be found on Canadian Netflix if you'd like to check it out for yourself. I don't highly recommend it to just anyone and everyone, but if you wanna see an hour and a half bottle movie about, essentially, how our world of prejudices works, I totally recommend it. I definitely enjoyed it, for the most part. 4/5
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 Catching Up
'Don't Breathe' is brought to us by 'Evil Dead' reboot director, Fede Alvarez. Some may recall that I put that particular reboot among my Screening Suggestions, so needless to say, I was already a fan of this relative newcomer. This was his next big title, and I gotta say, it was pretty solid. The story centers on three young thieves; Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette), and Money (Daniel Zovatto). The trio makes their way by burglarizing neighborhood houses, secured by Alex's father's company, and selling the stolen goods. So as to portray these people as "not all bad", we are shown that Rocky lives with an abusive mother and her alcoholic boyfriend. She has a tight bond with her little sister, Diddy (Emma Bercovici), and makes a deal with her to move to California, and escape their situation. However, when a deal goes raw, Rocky doesn't get the money she needs to help her and her sister out. Money gets a tip that there's a Special Forces veteran's house worth the risk, for $300k. The catch is that they decide to do the job while this man's still at home, due to him being blind. The man is portrayed by Stephen Lang, who most would probably remember as that hard-ass Colonel from 'Avatar', and he actually gives a hell of a performance here. There is something about his delivery that's just downright disturbing, and he proves his range can extend beyond that of Colonel Miles Quaritch. The film offers a twist perspective on the Home Invasion subgenre of horror that hosts such titles as 'The Purge', 'Panic Room' and 'The Strangers'. It was never necessarily a thing I got into, because it all felt essentially the same. This movie, however, twists it around, making the heroes of the story the home invaders, and making the guy defending his house the bad guy - and oh yes, he defends his house relentlessly, shooting at anything he hears, hence the title 'Don't Breathe'. The other thing to really hand to this film is that it's overall kinda realistic. The real horror here comes from what seems to be a political statement about gun control, and the fact that everyone seems to need to have a firearm under their pillow. This manages to show the dangers of allowing firearms to be in the hands an individual who is clearly unstable. And the fact that Rocky's trying to escape a Hellish household situation as well as rescue her sister allows us some major leeway to see that this is something she feels she needs to do. It's not just a thrill for her, and she's far less disposable because of that. I have to say that I was impressed, overall. It didn't entirely "wow" me, but it has enough going for it with its simple twist of an idea, likable characters, a rather creepy villain and its overall intensity, that I can recommend this to anyone looking for a recent, decent thriller. I quite enjoyed it, for myself. 4/5  Catching Up
Surprisingly enough, although the Creeper from these three films has largely become one of the more famous modern horror villains, I've gone all this time without bothering. For whatever reason, there just wasn't much of a draw for me. And oh yes, it has been a highly recommended series for me, as a horror fan. Anyway, this year I figured I'd finally give it a whirl for my Halloween special. We are introduced to two siblings, Trish (Gina Phillips) and Darry (Justin Long) who are taking a long scenic route home for Spring Break through Nowheresville. Soon, the driver of an erratically-driven truck is seen by Darry, seemingly dumping dead bodies down a hole near a church. Convincing Trish to go back and check it out, Darry falls down the hole and finds himself in a very disturbing setup involving human bodies being sewn together. Upon escaping, the two find themselves being hunted by the Creeper - a monster of sorts, who kills you because he wants to eat some specific part of you in order to gain strength in whatever that part gives. Pretty scary concept, considering you never quite know what this thing is after if it does start chasing you. Now, perhaps it's because I came into it so late in the game, but there was something about Justin Long that threw me off here. It reminded me of seeing Paul Rudd in 'Curse of Michael Myers', in that I just couldn't get enough seriousness from the actor. That said, 'Curse' sucked while this was actually still pretty entertaining for what it was. I'm not sure I loved it or anything, but it was a fun horror survivor adventure. I have to admit that I enjoyed the design of the Creeper as well. Once you see this thing up close and personal, it's an interesting combination of makeup that looks sort of cheesy, but still sort of horrifying. Kinda like someone who just went all out on a Halloween costume. He's actually kinda badass as well, considering his kills. He kills in a bit more of a Jason fashion - quick and brutal, and there's something about that I dig when it comes to slashers. The thing that really makes the movie stand out, at least speaking for myself, however, is the ending. I won't say what happens, but it leaves you with this truly uneasy feeling, along with a sort of respect for the Creeper as a new horror villain who could stand out among others. What more can be said? This first film left me wanting more. Not scrambling to get at more, but a genuine curiosity to see where things could potentially go. I think I'll be checking out the sequels at some point or another soon enough, so keep an eye out for that. 4/5  Under the Radar
So here we have an example of a film that hasn't been doing too badly, as far as criticism goes. It's a bit split down the middle, but the majority of people seem to be enjoying it. I suppose I can see why it would appeal to true blue horror fans, but personally, I just didn't find any real connection to this film. The setup involves two girls, Tara and Dawn (Jenna Kanell and Catherine Corcoran, respectively) who have been out partying on Halloween, and they end up getting stocked by this creepy clown guy; Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton). The film is ultimately a throwback to the stalker slasher movies of yesteryear, but things are generally just far more uncomfortable to watch with this one. I have to give credit to Thornton for his portrayal of this psycho clown - he's creepy as hell, and honestly has the potential to be a modern day "great" as far as horror villains go. However what the rest of the movie divulges seems to be not much more than bad acting from others, a whole lot of screaming and oh yes, a bit of torture porn - which I tend to veer away from. But oh yeah, there's plenty of blood and gore to be had here for the slightly more sick-hearted. A lot of what makes this movie compelling to horror fans is just the creepy imagery it offers on top of the gore. For myself, I have to admit I appreciated the fact that this was a movie that made me uneasy, for the most part. In a way, as a horror movie, that's what it's supposed to do. But it ends up feeling like one of those movies that makes you wanna take a shower after watching it. At the end of the day, I mostly found this to be a bad movie with good horror elements, if that makes any sense at all. I'm not kidding when I tell you so much of the movie is just this clown going to town on his victims with a knife. In a way, it seemed very cheap. But in other ways, this is a good example of how a low budget can do wonders for the overall atmosphere of a horror film. By the way, if clowns freak you out, this might be better avoided. I'm not scared of clowns at all, but there was something about Art that just got under my skin. He's like a kid with a violent temper tantrum who's lost his toy and keeps taking it out on others... with knives. It just gets so gruesome at times, it's a perfect example of "movie meat". Another good example of this would be the final fight scene in 'Freddy vs Jason', just for reference. I'm gonna go ahead and give it a bad rating, as the overall content ended up being a bit much for my particular tastes. But again, I can't deny that this movie will have a lot working for it as far as a deeper horror audience than myself is concerned. If you wanta good, creepy, gorey, blood bath of a torturous movie, it's not a bad place to start. 2/5 |
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