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Reviews
The Midnight Matinee (2017)
Home movie look and feel
Big horror fan, esp. of anthologies, so I was inclined to like this, and there are some fun things about it, but production was weak; most of the acting was amateurish, the tempo of the stories uneven, and the editing off-putting. it felt like people got together because they love horror movies and decided to make one. Good news, its free with Prime. Fun to have on the television while doing boring things for work.
From a House on Willow Street (2016)
Implausible, but for the wrong reasons
Fairly nice production values and it feels like there was a good idea in here somewhere, but, what's with the story? They plan for six weeks and then... what, exactly? It's an amateurish mess from the first moment they put their "plan" into action. Rather than drawing us into a complex story with believable characters facing an improbable challenge, it turns into an "idiot plot"; in order for the story to continue, the characters have to be idiots.
Lord of Tears (2013)
Something is just off
Atmosphere, yes. Great locations, yes. Interesting enough premise, yes. And I didn't notice that the lead male couldn't act until "Eve" showed up. She can act, but at the community theater level. Lordy, when she said "I'm from the South" in that "I'm not from the South and I don't think I've ever been there" accent it was over. Oh, did you know she trained as a dancer? Well, golly, there's a scene where she spins.
It's just all fluff and stiff moments with decent locales, some nice nature shots, and a MYSTERY!
Vampyre (1990)
Good bad horror, but people will differ in opinions.
Good bad films like this are often hard to reach consensus around. It is a bad film in a lot of ways. It's shot on video (or it looks like it), the actors are amateur, and the writing is stilted. But then again, it has moments that made me laugh out loud. I pictured these people getting together to make the movie as a labor of love, hoping to capture a New England Gothic (for example, the shots around the graveyard outside the church were fun), but then mixing in goofy stuff (like the trio of locals whose costumes look like they stopped at a thrift store on the way to the set).
One question: Are the references to Dreiser's film serious?
Come for the vampyres, stay for Justin the Doctor's Mascot.
Frankenstein's Bloody Nightmare (2006)
Trying hard but not quite
The filmmaker seems to have seen a lot of movies (I liked the "Beyond the Darkness" reference in the first hospital scene). And if you've got a low budget you might as well feature it with grainy shots, dubbing, and a Jess-Franco-esque soundtrack and color palette. Some of the scenes are well put together and the edits start to feel like someone's actually making a film. But it doesn't add up. Part of that is tempo. Part of that is not being crazy enough. Consider for contrast Franco's "Rites of Frankenstein." It's insane, but it embraces the crazy right away and then the film tells a story. With this film, If you haven't read a summary of the film's plot be prepared to be lost, but not in a good way, more in a "huh?" way.
About 2/3's of the way through I felt like if I watched this in five minute parts it would be fun, but sitting down and trying to stay connected for the entire 1:16:55? Not so much.
And that's why I gave it three stars. By the end I was doing other things on my computer with the film on the TV going like a trippy ambient mood generator. Surprised to have found this on Amazon Prime.
It Follows (2014)
Holy cow the bad reviews here are stupid
This film takes a simple idea and translates it into an extended exercise of moody terror. There are no wasted gestures; everything accumulates towards a clear message that somehow people take to be a propaganda film about abstinence. Here's an idea: Growing up is scary, and adults (despite their best intentions) have no real idea of what is on a teenager's mind. In the world of the film, young people are forced to face inevitable transformations at the hands of forces they don't understand, plagued by desires they can't necessarily control. This film is about losing innocence and realizing that the world isn't fair.
There are some jump scares and graphic intensity, but the real heart of the film is in the dialogue and feelings of the characters. It's as if someone took a slasher flick and made the characters real people, with vulnerability and emotion instead of plastic surgery boobs and six pack abs.