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The Strangers (2008)
Run Of The Mill Suspense
This whole idea of has been done in nearly every shape and form so if a film was to breathe new life into the genre then it would have to be quite special which this film isn't.
We have a build up of scary stuff while the young couple are terrorised in their own (well, his Dad's) house by these mysterious masked people. The film follows a fairly straight forward pattern of building up suspense and shocking the audience. Some of these shocks are done quite well and got quite a few jumps and screams in the cinema. This, however, is not where the film fails.
It fails for me because of the story and how little it meant. Take for example the bit where they take their masks off. It's done in an incredibly dramatic way but why? We don't know any other characters so mask or no mask they are no more or less sinister. It also seemed a bit cheap the way there was about 400 loose ends leaving it wide open for a sequel so the "mystery" can be revealed. And did nobody else think Jason from Friday the 13th? Surely he was the original bag headed murderer. Homage or theft? Worth a watch though, does do a decent job of building up suspense but the story is paper thin in my opinion which is the main let down.
August Underground's Mordum (2003)
Well I Never...
That was honestly one of the worst hours I have ever spent in my life. This is the dullest film I've ever had the misfortune to view.
So I got this because I heard it was a sick, unique film (which I have to say interests me) but this was truly shocking for all the wrong reasons. For me, it failed on every level imaginable.
Firstly, I still don't really know what happened. There was some "alternative" kids laughing while the camera focused on either some bloody scene or basically, nothing. But, I'm guessing this was the "crazy" idea behind it all. Well it failed completely for me. I hated the people in it because they annoyed me by constantly laughing and shouting at nothing. They came across as idiots really. The fact they happened to do nasty things as a hobby seemed so irrelevant because it was done in such a ridiculous manner it was unbelievable. They made a pathetic attempt at being deranged but like I said, it felt more like idiocy and I cared so little about the whole thing that there nasty habits simply began adding to the boredom of it all.
It failed to shock me too. The one thing it was so very desperate to do. Don't get me wrong, I didn't approach this in a sceptical manner, quite the opposite in fact. I wanted to be disgusted, scared or at the very least entertained by it as I do with every horror movie I watch. It was an interesting (but not original) idea having a first person horror and doing it "home-movie" style but obviously not if it's executed so very poorly. The atmosphere this film created meant the sick parts had little or no effect. They did look quite good some of the effects but it crossed over the realistic/stupid line almost immediately.
I have to say I would be very surprised if anyone actually enjoyed this film. I presume this was aimed at the likes of me. People looking for sick and unique horror films but this film preoccupied itself so much by trying to be "sick" that it totally missed the mark. Saying f*** a lot and having some gory torture scenes has to be done very very well to have any affect on people today. Something more than just visual effects are needed because this sort of thing just isn't shocking any more.
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Good Fun
First of all, don't (like me) go into this expecting a grim gore-fest, because it really isn't.
What it is however, is a darkly comic tale about a psychopathic family who have a nasty habit of torturing and killing people who happen to cross their paths. It's full of all the classic clichés and pays homage to a countless amount of films, particularly 1970's horrors. The loud, eccentric characters really make this film stand out and the vile Firefly family are portrayed perfectly. It also has a really good 70's soundtrack to it which gives it the sleazy, Southern American feel to it.
Some of the film is quite graphic but there's certainly a lot worse out there. There's a mixture of implied and "in your face" violence throughout but the thing you will feel most for is the sheer helplessness of there situation. But as I said earlier, it's all done in a slightly comedic way. I would definitely recommended this film, but not if you after a serious horror.