Welcome to this week's edition of my movie blog. Things are going good today. This week is going to be a fun week for me. I'll finally have a chance to see Across the Universe and for the first time, I am going to go and be part of a film festival as I'm volunteering at the Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival Thursday night and then going out Saturday afternoon as a fan. It should be a fun time watching films with people who have a common interest, such as me.
Reviews
Rating System
5 Stars – Highly Recommended
4 Stars – Recommended
3 Stars – Good / Average Film
2 Stars – Disappointing Film
1 Stars – Totally Awful
Horrorfest 2007
The Murder Game
The Murder Game is about a group of teenagers who invent a game, in which a killer stalks victims with a prop weapon before being found out by the other contestants. But the game takes a deadly turn, when the kids are getting murdered for real. Now they must find the real murderer and stop them, before they all die one by one. The Murder Game is movie that kind of reminded me of Scream a little bit, where it was a horror/mystery movie. I thought the film was creepy and suspenseful. The film is the first feature film from director Robert Harari. I thought he really did a good job with the production value of the film, as it looked very good for a low-budget film. He also did a great job in directing the actors in the film, as their performances were very good. The screenplay was also good, as the killer wasn't predictable which helped make the film suspenseful. Fans of Scream and the mystery/horror genre will enjoy this flick. For more information on The Murder Game, please go to www.myspace.com/themurdergame. 4 Stars. Unrated. 86 Mins.
Shadow Puppets
Shadow Puppets is about a group of strangers, who wake up in a locked asylum ward. Not knowing how they got there or who they are, they must find out what is happening to them. But there's a supernatural force lurking to kill them all before they discover the truth of what's going on with them James Madsen (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Jolean Balock (Star Trek: Enterprise), and Tony Todd (Candyman, Hatchet) Shadow Puppets could have been easily been shown on the Sci-fi Channel. The acting was good, as that wasn't the problem with this film. I just could not get into the film until the last half hour of the film, as it made me interested for the first time because it was suspenseful all of a sudden. Before that it felt like a slow moving film waiting for something to happen. Shadow Puppets is a movie that could have been better with more action but overall the acting in the film made it watchable for me. For more information on this movie goto www.myspace.com/shadowpuppetsmovie. 2.5 Stars. Not Rated. 103Mins.
Dead Line
Dead Line is a short film about a group of college kids who spend a summer vacation at an isolated cabin. Their vacation takes a turn for the worse when Jane (Adriel Joy) starts receiving mysterious phone calls. Soon, their vacation of fun, takes a violent turn. I thought Dead Line was a very good psychological slasher short film. It didn't have the feel of a mindless b-movie slasher film. Michael Fatale (the film's director) does a very good job with the screenplay, as it's focuses on character development and story. The production value of the film was also good. The interaction of the actors was very good, as the acting didn't feel amateurish and it kept my interest in the story. Dead Line was a very interesting little horror film and I look forward to seeing more of Michelle Fatale's work in the near future. For more information on this film and how you can purchase it, you can go to www.myspace.com/deadlinethemovie. 4 Stars. Not Rated. 36 Mins.
New Releases on DVD
You Kill Me
You Kill Me is one of those films I've been waiting to see but it wasn't playing anywhere in my area, until now. The film is the latest film from director John Dahl, who directed the movies Rounders, The Last Seduction and Red Rock West. His latest film, You Kill Me, is about an alcoholic hit man (Ben Kingsley) who works for the mob in Buffalo, New York. There, he messes up his assignment when he drank on the job in which, put the family business in danger. After that happens his uncle sends him to San Francisco to get cleaned up. While there, he has to go to AA meetings, find someone to sponsor him there, and work in a mortuary where he meets a woman (Tea Leoni) who is devoid of boundaries. Luke Wilson (Vacancy, My Super Ex-Girlfriend) Philip Baker Hall (Hard Eight, Zodiac), Bill Pullman (Independence Day, The Last Seduction) and Dennis Farina (Snatch, Law and Order) also co-star. You Kill Me was a very good film. John Dail goes a really good job directing this film because the acting is good and the movie moves at a good pace. The acting was pretty good as Ben Kinsley was great as the hit man, in this film. I think this is one of his best performances since Sexy Beast. Both, he and Tea Leoni were great together on-screen. The screenplay was good as the dark humor worked for me. You Kill Me is nice dark edgy comedy for the summer movie season. 4 Stars. Rated R. 93 Min.
DVD Pick of the Week
28 Weeks Later
The zombies are back in 28 Weeks Later. It's the sequel to the 2003 hit 28 Days Later. The film takes places six months after the initial outbreak of the rage virus, where the US Army has restored order and stability to London, England. The film follows the story of a father, who is reunited with his children, after they've been separated due to the outbreak. Everything returns to normal, until a carrier with the rage virus gets into the city and the virus starts spreading again. After watching 28 Weeks Later, I had the same thought after watching Children of Men. It was gloomy and intense but also raised some serious issues. It does a great job in drawing parallels to the war in Iraq, and the Katrina devastation. The film was intense from the first scene on. The camera work in this film helped made it more realistic. Another reason why I enjoyed this film was the character development. It's very rare to see this in horror films these days. It made me care about the character in the film. This film was more terrifying than 28 Days Later, as it had more action and gore. This is the second film from Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. He does a great job of keeping the intensity level up and getting very good performances from his actors. He did a great job in following the footsteps of Danny Boyle (28 Days Later), who directed the first film and is one of the executive producers of this film. I really hope Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has the chance to make more films in the near future, because he seems to know how to make films more suspenseful and action packed like this one. 28 Weeks Later delivered what I was expecting, a suspenseful and intense horror film. Even though I liked 28 Days Later a lot, this maybe one of those rare sequels, where the second film is better or equal to the first film. 5 Stars. Rated R. 99Min.
That's it for this week's edition of the movie blog. I'll be back next week with my review for Across the Universe and Reign On Me. Until then, have a good day.
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