mary-laking Reviews

The Man in the Hat (2020)

Fabulous

[9/10 · 14 September 2021]

I loved this - it's quirky, random and utterly charming. It poses so many riddles with no solutions and I found myself not caring about the lack of answers. For instance, who was the woman in the photo he carried with him? Did I have to know? No I didn't. I just followed the protagonist through the gorgeous, sunlit French countryside and let it all happen to me without question. There were countless random encounters with the same characters who kept showing up until they became old friends. And best of all, the film was funny and touching. I recommend it highly.

Underwater (2020)

Not bad

[5/10 · 9 December 2020]

It wasn't the best film I've ever seen, but I quite enjoyed it because I'm a sucker for this type of sci fi/adventure/horror film. For me it was a cross between the first "Alien" and "Pitch Black", two of my favourites, but not as good as either. But I don't regret watching.

Don't Speak (2020)

Not really scary

[3/10 · 29 November 2020]

The really scary movies, like "Alien", for instance, do a slow reveal. You know there's a monster, but not exactly what it looks like. The tension builds so by the time you see the threat you're like a coiled spring and the reveal is twice as scary. With this one, we saw the monster early on. What do you have left? A lot of panting and screaming and buckets of blood. Meh. And what was the point of American accents in a clearly British setting?

The Quiet Hour (2014)

Ery good

[9/10 · 28 December 2019]

I really enjoyed this - I kept thinking I should go to bed but couldn't stop watching. Whether you like it or not depends on whether you prefer action over thoughtful plots - I like both and wasn't disappointed with this. I didn't need aliens to be engaged.

From Beneath (2012)

Oh. My. God.

[1/10 · 23 December 2019]

This is one of those films that I couldn't stop watching because it was horribly fascinating. It was a traffic accident - I was ashamed, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. The acting was terrible and the plot was unbelievable - not so much what happened to the truly pathetic Jason, but the characters' reactions. "I think we'd better put your dead sister outside because she's beginning to smell." And how is it that when they're obviously in a terrible situation, all Jason can say is, "It's going to be all right, Sam." That is, when he's not screaming and saying he needs to cut himself because of the creature inside him. Sure, just wait a little longer and it'll all resolve itself.

Paranormal Farm 2 Closer to the Truth (2018)

Oh dear

[2/10 · 16 November 2019]

I honestly couldn't make up my mind whether this was meant to be a comedy or not. The plot was ridiculous and the "acting" was painful. Things moved so slowly that by the time anything of substance happened, it wasn't at all frightening.

And the main character, whose name I can't remember, the so-called psychic-cum-interviewer, was so unbelievably irritating that I wanted to kill him myself. Why that couple ever let him back onto the farm, I can't imagine. I half expected his sidekick Taz to leap up off the bed at the end and say to the cult members, "Okay guys, well done! We managed to finally scare him off for good!"

Five: Find Your Limit (2016)

Disappointing

[4/10 · 7 October 2019]

It felt like a student project - it was almost over before it began and just as I was starting to get into it. I'm a bit of a sucker for abandoned-mental-hospital films and though there was nothing to make this an A grade work, I would have liked a bit more.

The Rohl Farms Haunting (2013)

Boring. Boring, boring, boring.

[1/10 · 29 September 2019]

I kept waiting for something to happen....a lot of stuff about being a farmer, two friends droning on....I confess I didn't watch till the end. I think the worst part was the lack of pace - the film went at a slow meander and didn't seem to be heading anywhere so yes, I gave up. Lack of tension is a killer.

Dark House (2017)

What a jerk

[5/10 · 8 September 2019]

I was torn between wanting to see what would happen and finding the male lead a total jerk. I actually found the film quite interesting in the beginning but the farther in, the less so. But I surprised myself by sticking with it. Am I glad I did? Not sure.

The Domicile (2017)

Totally random

[2/10 · 15 September 2017]

I've just finished watching this and I am gobsmacked (not in a good way). Honestly, half the time I wasn't sure what was going on. I mean, I understood the overall plot in a general sort of way, but the minute-to-minute stuff was so random. At the beginning I thought it might be about demons, but apparently not. Then we had the sister-in-law, but why? One minute she was in the house and then she was in the hospital, then she was in the house and then in the hospital - I couldn't keep up. And as for the nurse, I thought she got bumped off ar some point, but did she? If she did, it seemed no-one really noticed.

Then there was the best friend - every time he turned up, he and the main character behaved like a couple of highschool teenagers, either wrestling on the floor and threatening to kill each other, arguing over the play, or huddling in corners, whispering about the old girlfriend. And the wife - a year after she had died, the widower was crying about how much he missed her, but then it transpired that he apparently didn't at all. And what about the neighbour in the dressing gown who turned up every now and then?

Oh, and one last thing - I really, really wanted someone to do something about that incredibly annoying squeaky front door.

Encounters (2014)

A little disappointing

[5/10 · 12 March 2016]

Yes, I admit it, I'm a sucker for found-footage, as long as it's been done well. I loved "Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity", for instance. I had high hopes for this film and in some ways it was pretty good - it had some tension though it could have been scarier. But what disappointed me was that it over-explained, instead of letting the viewer sort it out for him or herself. I like having a puzzle that I need to work out from the clues. This film didn't content itself with clues - it told you explicitly what was happening - where's the fun in that? And that also made for no surprises and no real scares. Overheard conversations and explanatory audio tapes don't leave much to the imagination. Which made the ending credits all the more inexplicable - after being led by the nose through much of the film, I was scanning the clips between the credits trying to work out what was going on. I think I know, but the end result was that I went from being told too much, to something that didn't make a lot of sense.

From the Dark (2014)

Worth watching

[7/10 · 22 July 2015]

I enjoyed this film. The thing I liked most was the absence of music. There was a little bit, but most scenes were done in silence, which I actually find much more scary than an annoying soundtrack. It had a fairly predictable beginning - young couple get lost in the remote Irish countryside and their car gets bogged down. From that point on, things go from bad to worse. I also liked the absence of tedious explanations as to who or what the original creature was. Sometimes films get too bogged down trying to explain and in the end, does it matter? They're being attacked by a scary creature, they have to save themselves, not much else is relevant in the larger scheme of things. I agree with some of the other reviewers that there were some parts that didn't make sense, for instance, how many bad creatures were there running around in the dark? The original biter, the bitten farmer and Mark? How come the heroine gets scratched, apparently by one of the creatures, but doesn't get infected? But in my experience that's the way with horror movies. In the end, if they keep you riveted that's all that matters.

The Amityville Asylum (2013)

Pathetic

[1/10 · 3 January 2014]

I should have known when I saw "Amityville" in the title......

I thought the pace was iceberg-slow, the acting terrible and the plot didn't hang together. What was all that stuff about Lisa's mother? She was mentioned several times, but there was no real explanation as to how she fitted into the story. Then they threw in ghosts, presumably when they couldn't think what else to do. If you're going to do that, people, don't bring them on screen and then just dump them! Like the mother, you're left wondering as to their purpose. And just a small, silly point, but you tend to notice things when the film is irritating you - what was with Delaney, played by a British actor, who seemed to be sporting some sort of German or Middle European accent? Just asking.

Very disappointing.