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Halloween (2007)
2/10
It just didn't get it..
3 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I had heard nothing but positive reviews from friends and family when I decided to check Zombie's version of Halloween out for myself. So you could say I was looking forward a nonstop thrill-ride of some sort. To say it simply, I couldn't count the numerous times I yawned through-out this terrible movie. Rob Zombie had made it clear to his audience, to see this for a movie itself, don't try to compare it to the original. But what you don't understand is that when you're remaking the classic best horror movie of all time, it is impossible to just forget the original completely, especially when several scenes came STRAIGHT from the original.

If anything, I'd call this a remake of The Blair Witch Project with better cameras, since half of the movie was done in the dark and with hand-held cameras, which made it impossible to really see anything and just create some massive migraines for the entire audience. It was hard to watch and what you did see, you wish you hadn't. Zombie said he approached this film from a serious angle, but all I heard in the crowd was laughter.It was either too fast, or too slow, or just down right annoying to watch.

Something else that bugged me about this film was the people who said "Finally! We get to see what made Michael the way he is!" And no, you don't. You get to see Rob Zombie's version of what his own impression of why Michael does what it is he does. In which, it completely treads on the original, of an average built guy being able to do things that only someone much stronger would be capable of doing. Zombie's solution to this problem was to hire a giant actor who COULD break someone's face with his bare hands, rather than just someone full of such evil and having the power to take a bullet and still get up.

It was more of a 'craptastic' prequel if anything at all, showing Michael's youth of being a redneck in a family of lazy and greasy people. The way Zombie set it up, apparently, is that Michael was full of such rage due to the fact that his mother was a prostitute ... Yeah. Something Rob Zombie has failed to do three times in a row now, was to make you sympathetic for the victims. Just doesn't show them long enough to make you miss them when they're gone. Most of the movie was done with little Myers in the hospital, so the last thirty or so minutes of him randomly killing people goes by so fast that you don't really care. He tries to cover this up by playing sad music like "Love hurts" when someone special is killed, but all it did was get more laughter for a reaction.

The major character changes were all that but flawless, Don't get me wrong, the actors did their jobs well, it's just they were given the jobs that they never should have done. To show so little of key characters like Dr. Loomis and then to rid him away so quickly.. The entire cast, good actors I can say, just were all terribly wrong for their parts. Danielle Harris is the perfect example, reduced to play a teenage slut after her major involvement in the prior Halloween series? When you make a slasher flick, the object is to cast people you want to survive, not a cast of faces and whiny little voices that you wish would be killed off sooner. It just didn't get it. The film was nothing short of disappointing, which is as was expected as soon as I heard that Zombie had been set to direct. I honestly do think that if someone were to ever ask "Would you do a prequel to House 1000 and show where Otis came from exactly?" Zombie would reply with "Halloween."

In the end, this movie was just like every other recent remake of something classic that shouldn't exist but does, and now we just have to deal with it. . In my opinion, which is all I can offer, is that this is the best example of what a true insult to the horror genre could ever be. I always said that one day a remake would pop up that might open up peoples eyes as to the real damage remakes are doing to horror, and now I just have to point at this. Honestly, Halloween was just not the film Rob Zombie should have remade, and the movie itself stands as if saying "This is what you get for not letting me remake 'Texas Chainsaw Masscre' instead!"

Simply and yet sadly said, it was for todays generation where true horror no longer exists. That's all. :(
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9/10
A great movie
21 December 2005
The Curve, or Dead Man's Curve could very well be one of the best films of the late 90s. As an inspiring film-maker myself I'm always a sucker for finding a lot of good movies that seem to go unnoticed, and Dan Rosen certainly is an inspiration.

This film focuses on a college in which two of three roommates have heard of a rumor that will allow them to pass with straight A grades if their 3rd just so happens to commit suicide. Knowing that this will never happen, a plan is made to purposely off one of the three, and set it up to appear as a suicide.

The plot then thickens, the trust between the two of them slowly begins to fade away and the days begin getting creepier, full of events that could have never been suspected.

Dan Rosen had the luck of getting a very well cast to bring his excellent written film to the screen, including Matthew Lillard, who gives a damn fine performance as Tim, and many other very well known actors Overall, this was a great film for first timer Dan Rosen, The movie was written to deliver entertainment and full of exciting twists of dark comedy through the whole way, and is a very fun in every way. I only wish he could have made a few more with this ones certain style. needless to say, it rocks its well deserved 9 out of 10.

Also recommended films in my opinion would be Highway, SLC Punk!, Entropy, and the very similar film "Dead Man On Campus" that follows a very close plot to this movies situation, but is taken more on the comedy side.
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Scary Movie (1991)
10/10
For an 80's horror, I must say, this film is very decent.
6 November 2005
No need to explain the plot, but when I first saw this I wasn't expecting much. Probably some random 80's slasher flick, like the so many already existing with over-the-weekend written scripts that just find a way to get a bunch of teens nude and killed. But I was so wrong.

I quickly identified with the main character, Warren, a paranoid young man who strongly believes the escaped psychopath could be living in a haunted house.

This film really takes the time to let you get to know and feel for the characters unlike most other 80's films, and considering the budget was low and this is a hard find, it's worth a look if you ever get the chance.

Now, by looking at the title, you're probably thinking "Scary movie, as in the 2000 spoof to Scream? so wait, is this movie a spoof to the 1985 film, Scream: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086262/ ?" No, it's not. They are in no way remakes or sequels to those movies. This film stands out for its own reasons.

The suspense makes the movie very entertaining and almost impossible to look away from, like a roller coaster ride, you feel as if once you start, you have no other choice but to sit tight and watch it all the way through. I almost find it sad that hardly anyone will ever get the chance to see this great film, it's worked its way into my top 10.

If you ever find it, make sure to give it a chance. It's well worth it. this is one great scary movie.
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9/10
The FANtastic Four movie, perfect for any true fan of the 4.
6 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I have more good comments than bad to make about this movie, and beware of some slight spoilers below.

Ever since 1995 I had been seeing previews to this film on various movies, but I never understood why I could never find it in any of my local video stores. Years later, as my cousin would explain to me, this film was never intended to be seen... The few people I talked to who had seen it had nothing to say but bad reviews, basically dissing just about everything, most of all the human torch effects. The thing that got me is, every person I talked to hadn't really ever been a Fantastic Four fan, such as myself. I grew up with the comics and cartoon series, and when I found out there was a film made of it, despite how many talked badly of it, I wanted to see it for myself.

Finally, as of this year I found a very cheap and bootleg copy of the film. I was thrilled, even if so many did say it wasn't that great, or at all really. I never expected much from it, and at the most I was just hoping the guy who wrote it had followed the comic story line pretty well. And too my amazement, it actually turned out to be a really good film, but of course thats only in my own opinion.

I had always known the film hadn't had that much of a budget to begin with, so I expected some things to look cheap. But the costumes were great and well made. The characters were written so closely to the comic, and the actors they got to play them (Johnny - Jay Underwood especially) I really did feel like I was watching a movie version of the cartoon series.

Somewhat of a spoiler here as I talk about how it is written. There are obvious leaps through-out the movie, and some things are better left untold I guess. There is much added comedy from Doom, and some of his quotes even had me laughing endlessly. The fire effects for Johnny weren't that impressive, and when he flames on it kind of looks like watching a early staged CGI movie, but I can let that go. Sometime that has always bothered me was the way Mr. Fantastic stretches. It seems like all his clothes are made to stretch along with him, and thats why I say this is like watching a cartoon turned into live action.. The invisible woman effect of vanishing is kind of obvious, but then again I'm not complaining, how many ways are there to make a person fade out of frame anyway? The music and theme of the Four is one that can really stick in your head at times, Sure it isn't in any pro style of Danny Elfman, but it has a certain ring to it that I can never get enough of.

The thing I hate most is that the way it ends, much like the cartoon series, it begs for a sequel that we all know is never going to be made. I myself would love making an independent sequel to the film exactly where it leaves off, but of course that budget would be even less than this films was. If you see it and hate it, no big deal, but if you liked it as I did, then that's great. I truly think this is a very good adaption for any F4 fan. I always believed this film was made just for the film makers own enjoyment of seeing the fantastic four in live action, until the new one.

See the new film if you're looking for a newer days adaption of the original comic series, and are only looking to be impressed by major CGI effects, which I myself despise... But in my opinion if you can find a cheap copy of this movie, and happen to be an old school fantastic four fan, check it out sometime. I enjoyed it very much.
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