Change Your Image
mitpen
Reviews
Pontypool (2008)
Original
This is horror back to its stripped down simple concept executed well.
This story is a snapshot of events that continue to get worst and worst until the very end. The tension builds without explanation as to the why of everything.
Very reminiscent of the original "Night of the Living Dead" as it has a "student film" quality to it. Not in the quality of the production but in the way the story unfolds.
This is a positive!
At 99 minutes, nothing feels rushed, or stretch. Everything is tightly edited to create tension and tell the story the director wanted to tell.
Well worth a watch! You won't regret it! Just do expect high production value you'd see in big box office summer releases. This isn't that, but what it is is uniquely different, bordering on art film/horror film and definitely leaves an impression.
It's up to you if it's a positive or negative one. I enjoyed the movie so it left a positive impression.
A Ghost Waits (2020)
Good Indy film
Spoiler warning:
I really enjoyed it. There should be a trigger warning involving suicide but that also might spoil the film.
I liked the choice to film it in black and white and that there was an underlining theme of trying to find oneself and define oneself that still feels universal beyond living and dying.
It was enjoyable and for what it was. The acting was solid. The jump scares were effective. It was a well told story
Who knew "scaring" could be a job? Also the slight female empowerment within the work place subplot really payed off.
This doesn't get 10 stars because it was more whimsical then frightening, and suicide is a touchy heavy subject that seemed only to serve as a plot point. But this is more a romantic comedy masquerading as a horror film if anything.
Underwater (2020)
Enjoyable but flawed
This is a pretty great movie that builds from the beginning intense moments through to the explosive ending.
That said, it's a rollercoaster with very little time for character development so that when people die; that death isn't really felt by the audience.
The twist end was really good. And worth a few stars in itself; but there's a lot of disjointed moments in the middle that do a valiant attempt to maintain drama and tension but occasionally falls through.
If you're looking for something that hints at a bigger story and then has a very good last few moments; then check this out.
If you aren't into very slow burns with implication as the payoff, or if you get claustrophobic. Don't watch this movie.
M3GAN (2022)
Interesting
Spoilers
When a small girl survives a deadly crash that takes the lives of her parents; she is sent to live with her aunt who works in robotics.
The aunt built a type of therapy doll that learns and adapts to "protect" the small girl, often to increasingly disturbing outcomes.
This movie isn't perfect. It also doesn't really tread new ground.
Tackling subjects like death, grief, anger, trauma, and having a child going through that is a hard thing to do correctly; but this movie does an excellent job.
It's very violent. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone younger then 17.
All in all it does a good job building tension until a pretty satisfying ending.
Troll (2022)
Builds to a conclusion
I watched the English dubbed version. I didn't expect much from this movie. I was pleasantly surprised by this film, although It is what it is.
It's not groundbreaking cinema and I had a hard time keep my attention.
I appreciate that they played it straight when they could have easily been far more silly. It creates a strange mix of tropes (comedy, disaster film, apocalypse film, creature feature, spoof,military action, etc.) done better in other films.
It is Not great, but it is not terrible. Quality middle-of-the-road foreign film offering on Netflix.
Could easily become a cult classic in time.
The Pretender (1996)
Childhood encapsulated
I remember watching this when it was on television from 1996-2000 when I was 10-14 years old.
I loved the premise. This is probably the first show that I truly got into&had to watch each episode every week. This is my first real fandom.
Years later I bought the dvds&finally saw the whole thing including the tv movies.
I love all of it but wish they had finished the series.
There was a myth that the writers wrote screenplays for season 5+ but never found them. It'd be great to someday see this show return even just as a single "final" season; but as actors get older it seems quite impossible.
X (2022)
More of the same
It's a better watch when paired with "Pearl" as this serves as a prequel by the same director.
This feels more like a bad remake of "The Texas chainsaw massacre" in the beginning. There's definitely intentional or unintentional parallels.
I don't think they broken any new ground but they did tell the story they set out to tell with good jump scares, a valiant attempt to build tension, and a pretty good amount of nudity- so if that's your thing, you should enjoy this movie.
This isn't high brow horror; and it doesn't try to be.
I don't regret watching it, and it's entertaining but I don't think I'd watch it again.
Monstrous (2022)
Interesting simple story
So this movie was pretty enjoyable. I didn't see the twist coming but I also knew nothing about this movie before I watched it.
I was a bit confused in the third act (ending) but now having seen that ending, I guess it makes sense. Trying really hard not to do spoilers but I personally had a bit of sadness as the accident parallels a real occurrence in my life. So it hit me a bit harder then perhaps other parents.
I feel like I should watch it again now that I know the ending; I did watch the trailer after watching the film and it made the movie make more sense.
Overall it did a good job of building moments of tension and maintaining them for the most part. But it's not all that scary; although I have seen a lot of horror so I could be a bit desensitized.
Don't Breathe (2016)
Dark and tense (thematic spoilers)
I actually really loved the tension this movie creates early on in the heist. The characters would have benefited a bit more to make it easier to be invested in their safety later on, but at just under 90 minutes this is pretty good.
The multiple twists with the guys identity, what's in his basement, and that ENDING was unexpected.
There was some strange pacing and the movie is very dark and hard to see at times; but that probably has more to do with the streaming service I used then the movie itself?
I didn't like the ending; I didn't like the lack of catharsis' but the tease for a sequel was good.
Felt like it didn't need it. But I am going to check out the sequel to see if it's a more complete viewing experience watching both!
Hush (2016)
Interesting way to build suspense
This movie isn't full of jump scares. It's a very simple story told straight.
There's not much character building and absolutely no character building for the attacker but it doesn't really need that to tell the story it wants to tell.
I applaud what this movie is doing; telling a stalker story from the perspective of a deaf/mute individual. And it does an excellent job at putting you in her mind frame.
And that last 15 minutes is the very best part; the movie builds suspense and fulfills it.
It's well worth streaming on Netflix or Hulu or amazon prime; etc.