Review: Evil Dead (2013)

Review by Disgruntled Monkey

Director: Fede Alvarez

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez and Lou Taylor Pucci

Writers: Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues

A group of people go to a cabin in the woods; sometimes they are young adults, other times they are teenagers, but they are there to get away from their day to day lives. No matter which group they are though, the same thing always seems to happen. They find an item which awakens something evil, something that plays upon their fears. No matter what it is, most will die and the survivors will go through hell to see the dawn.

It’s a horror trope so familiar that Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard gave us a movie that lovingly looked into the scenario and tried to expand it into a different place. In the light of that film, releasing this movie was a risky venture. Thankfully, the remake (sort of) shows why this particular horror scenario is so effective. It knocks the film out of the god damned park.

Visually the movie is astounding in how it revels in its brutality. When things start to get sliced I winced and wasn’t the only one in the audience shifting in their seats. Atmosphere is at the fore in this movie and has an exceptionally gritty feel throughout. You can feel the oppression of the dark forces in every part of the forest and the cabin. Fede Alvarez really has a great eye and I can’t wait to watch more of his work.

All five main characters are perfect and while the pace of the movie doesn’t give us much time to get to know the characters it gives us enough to know motivations and get behind them. In the final third I was cheering and crossing my fingers for my favourite characters, a rarity in this genre. The gem of the movie has to be Jane Levy who had to juggle a number of different personalities. From junkie trying to kick the habit, to demon possessed nightmare, she has a lot of fun while showing off some great acting chops.

Such a pretty smile.

Those who might have been worried about a ‘toning down’ on the bloodletting scale in this modern day movie have no need to worry. Buckets and buckets of gore is on hand, most seems practical and it’s all disturbing as hell. Who ever was the head of effects has a sick mind but I’m thankful for it as I was always happy with what I was shown. Hearing the audience react to the movie was great, the more they wriggled the more I smiled.

If you love your horror you really need to see this movie. It’s the type of horror movie that while it revels in the shameless gore factor of its genre; it also shows how effective and noteworthy horror movies can be. I can easily see this movie in my top ten at the end of the year; it was that great of a ride. I think I need to go and see it again. 

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Trailer Trawl Vol 5

Wasn't it just a week ago that I was saying that things were kind of slow on the trailer front. Well knock me down with a feather and call me Shirley, some awesome trailers (well awesome in my opinion) have reared their heads including another Pacific Rim trailer that has made me giddy with excitement. GIDDY I SAY. 2013 is certainely turning into a year of high expectations. I try hard not to get on the hype train, I try and condition myself but it's all proving to be too hard at the moment. But enough about me, on to the trailers.

Riddick:

I'm a huge fan of Pitch Black and think that it's a tad underrated all thanks to the backlash of Riddick. You see he was a cool character, people loved him, then the sequel happened and people started hating on the poor killer. It didn't help that Diesel tried changing Riddick so he was a nicer killer which kind of missed the point of what people liked in the first film. I liked the sequel but thought it tried doing too much and that's why i'm happy to see this movie going back to basics. Also nice to see Katee Sackhoff in one of the roles.

Pacific Rim:

Marketing train is really starting to pick up steam with this movie and I can't help but feel that Pacific Rim has a tremendous amount of weight on it's shoulders. To me this is Del Toro's big chance to bring in the Blockbuster Movie dollars and hopefully if it's a success then he can look to other shores of the Lovecraft variety. As for this trailer, it really puts the robot action front and center. Today we are cancelling the apocalypse!

V/H/S/2

The first film was great but suffered from the asshole problem. Too many people acting like assholes makes a Disgruntled Monkey not care about them and wish for their death. I've heard that this is one of the big improvements as well as other niggly little problems being fixed. I was hoping for this series to become an anthology allowing other directors to come in and tell smaller horror stories. Looks like one of my wishes has been granted.

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Review: Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Review by Disgruntled Monkey

Director: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana

Writers: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof

Gene Roddenberry would hate this movie. You see while Trekkies of all colours have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to this man, his vision of the future was never fully realised in the television show. Violence, racism, hatred, vengeance, all these things were not part of Gene’s world; he envisioned us more as explorers and diplomats who had outgrown our primal animalistic nature. However Gene’s utopia was never really realistic. There are many noble ideals we can strive for but we will never be free of our darker sides.

Thus we come to this entry of the new Star Trek where we certainly delve into some dark territory. Terrorist and former Federation officer John Harrison wages a one man war against the Federation and Captain Kirk is sent into enemy territory to bring him to justice. From there we get a story that deals with acceding to ones emotions, facing consequences, death, life and the nature of war and violence. Thankfully it’s all wrapped up in the sweet, sweet taste of wonderful action set pieces and awe inspiring visuals.

Characters are also important in the movie with everyone getting their moment. The great thing is that now we’ve gotten past the origin movie, they really let the characters develop. Picking out an individual is quite hard as the entire cast is on form. Of course the focus is still given mainly to the friendship of Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Quinto). They still have great chemistry and I really dug the interactions between the two. Benedict Cumberbatch is fantastic as the villain John Harrison and while he may not seem to have the physicality, he oozes this constant threatening vibe - like an animal ready to attack at any moment.

Star trekking across the universe.

While this movie is a fantastic ride and gives the audience some hefty themes to deal with, there are some problems. There were some events in the movie that really seemed to happen only because the script said so. They needed a particular character in a particular place at a particular time and the events that led up to that moment didn’t seem natural. It was a small blemish on an otherwise excellent movie and I couldn’t help but feel with just a little better scripting this would have been a non factor.

Still, the movie is excellent and those looking for a great science fiction movie should go and see this. As for the Trekkies - you’ve probably already seen this movie. It’s always nice to see a summer blockbuster with a little bit of smarts. J.J Abrams is an excellent director and has a great handle on massive movies while retaining their depth. Can’t wait to see what he does with Star Wars.

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Review: Dark Skies (2013)

Review by Disgruntled Monkey

Director: Scott Stewart

Starring: Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton and Dakota Goyo

Writer: Scott Stewart

Dark Skies opens in the fantasy suburbia that is the bread and butter of movies. Yet while this seems to be an idyllic setting, there is something off with everything. The slow panning shots, the eerie music, nothing is happening and already the movie is trying to sink it’s talons into our head. It’s effective and compelling and draws the viewer into the world.

Even with the creepiness the film takes it’s time to set up its characters and gives them problems that aren’t just extraterrestrial based. We get a family unit that is stressed and yet still pulls together through bad times. It gives us characters that we hope make it through the torment to come. It helps that Keri Russel and Josh Hamilton give us solid performances as the parents.

Scares are definitely of the boo variety but thanks to the atmosphere created it seems at least well fitted, reminding me a little of Insidious in this way. I was also appreciative of the subtle lightning effects and clues woven into the visuals. It’s always nice to watch a movie that seems to have a sense of pride in its production values.

Unfortunately cracks appear within some of the story beats and during the final third of the film. While creating a great atmosphere and having good performances, the movie does tread some well worn tracks of previous alien abduction tales and doesn’t bring anything new here. Cliché’s aside, the movie has a pretty weak final act, things feel like they are going into a Poltergeist final confrontation but unfortunately  it never quite pays off. Massive shame.

Oh god. It's right behind you Felicity.

Being a small scale film the creators kept the CGI to a minimum and did a lot with practical effects. When CGI does rear its head it’s kept to the shadows, a solid production choice as it’s not all that impressive. The alien design is also a little uninspired as it really calls to mind the tall ‘Greys’ that many a conspiracy nut dreams about. Then again, that might be the point.

Overall I enjoyed this movie and was grateful for the set up it delivered. I was genuinely hooked for most the film and only wavered a little towards the end. Still, what it does it does well and while not bringing anything new to the genre, it does deliver a well-made story that acts like a sophisticated ghost house ride. I suggest to go ahead and get abducted and enjoy.

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