Godforsaken (2020) ★★★½

Godforsaken shows both the strength and the weakness of the style.

Granted, I was not into the whole demon possession thing, so religious found footage has a way of keeping me at an arm's length. The healing scene was a frown moment. They were trying to present some sort of happiness, but you could tell this was not going to end well. Also, the gimmick of people running and screaming whilst holding a camera is something you can only keep up for so long.

That said... when done right, found footage can be creepy as hell. And this film certainly has it's share of those moments. Wether it was the collective suicide, or the possession of Chad's mom.

Good stuff nonetheless.



Benny Loves You (2019) ★★★½

Benny Loves You is a lovely horror comedy in the vein of Critters and Leprechaun. It has the upper hand on most of them since it's more*entertaining.

It would be easy to go for a scary looking bear, but Benny has an adorable Elmo-like look, with an equally cute voice. I also love how the killer bear is actually scared of horror films.*

The first kill is pretty sweet and the humor is the type of stupid , silly fun that comes with the*territory.

Recmommend for people who like Gremlins and Critters. Maybe a double bill with*Ted?

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) ★★½

An artsy comedy about the simple joys of life. Nothing memorable, like most day to day conversations, but it has a few funny moments. Among others transitioning Bill Murray and the awkward bit between Alfred Molina and Steve*Coogan.

And it does end on one of the coolest versions of Louie Louie*ever.

Shaun of the Dead 2004 ★★★★★

One of those rare gems that survives and even improves on every*rewatch.

So many injokes, easter eggs, foreshadowing, callbacks,... just impossible to go over the jokes. And all of this hilarity ensues in a zed word movie that shies away from neither full on gore or touching*moments.

And the front door is open!*Again!!

Cloverfield (2008) ★★★

Cloverfield, the answer to the question: What would it be like to live through a Godzilla-like Roland Emmerich*film?

Technically speaking, this counts as found footage, even though its budget is over 400 times that of The Blair Witch Project. Which is well used in order to let even the mass carnage and big explosions in the found footage*format.

It does work well in realising what it sets out to do, it does keep you on the edge of your seat at times and it realises that the biggest mistake a found footage can make is overstaying its welcome. So the running time is not so much short, but not too*long.

That said, the mix of not all that likable characters and the idea of the film does not keep not work as well as we (may have) thought back then keep it from being a genuine four star movie. It's "just" three stars*now.

Nutcracker Massacre
 

This is more of a made for TV horror film than a major motion picture, but they did overall well with what they had to make this one viewable and to keep interest all the way through. It starts with a female writer first getting her book published after she caught her boyfriend cheating on her at the beginning of the Christmas holiday season, then having her aunt insisting that she come spend the holidays with her. Her aunt also has her cousin and boyfriend visit as well, only the cousin is super jealous with hatred over her book getting published, and has nothing but the wrong intents and desires for her. They also have a six foot tall wood sculpture of the nutcracker that becomes possessed by the spirit of the soldier that the original nutcracker sculpture was based on. It says that the original soldier eventually went crazy and killed two sisters before getting assassinated. They have to figure out a way to stop the curse before the spirit possessing the six foot tall wood sculpture kills everybody. It is not the greatest, but still overall well done and worth a look. There is a lot of good drama, dialogue, and well developed characters. Patrick Bergin does a good job playing the shop keeper. There is also plenty of eye opening artsy and gory scenes throughout the film. It should appeal to a good amount of those into the Christmas slasher sub-genre. ::devil::

Christmas Twister
 

This one is actually surprisingly good. It has a decent plot, along with great picture quality, editing, drama, dialogue, and the like. It is about a man's more updated weather tracking system detecting an oncoming tornado that the local weather forecast is unable to pick up with their system equipment, then tries to get his wife, who works for the local weather forecast team, to safetly, as well as his kids out of school to safety, only to find out his daughter was out skipping school that day. The local weather forecast is also in disbelief about the tornado he detected with his system. When the tornado does hit, a lot of people are taken by surprise... This is actually in the same format and picture quality as "Twister" from the 1990s. Those into that film should find this one enjoyable as well. ::danger::

aaaaaa

Spoonful of Sugar, 2022. 7/10

Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan

Infinity Pool, 2023. 7/10

https://64.media.tumblr.com/31b737b4...3e14c7b75c.gif

Knock at the Cabin, 2023. 6/10



Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (1994). Kind of odd, but funny in parts. Two Drag Queens (Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce) and a Transgender woman (Terence Stamp)travel across the Australian Outback to perform in various towns, facing setbacks, discrimination, squabbles and Human goodness to balance things out. **1/2

Benny Loves You 2019 ★★★½

Benny Loves You is a lovely horror comedy in the vein of Critters and Leprechaun. It has the upper hand on most of them since it's more entertaining.

It would be easy to go for a scary looking bear, but Benny has an adorable Elmo-like look, with an equally cute voice. I also love how the killer bear is actually scared of horror films.

The first kill is pretty sweet and the humor is the type of stupid , silly fun that comes with the territory.

Recmommend for people who like Gremlins and Critters. Maybe a double bill with Ted?

Coffee and Cigarettes 2003 ★★½

An artsy comedy about the simple joys of life. Nothing memorable, like most day to day conversations, but it has a few funny moments. Among others transitioning Bill Murray and the awkward bit between Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan.

And it does end on one of the coolest versions of Louie Louie ever.

Shaun of the Dead 2004 ★★★★★

One of those rare gems that survives and even improves on every rewatch.

So many injokes, easter eggs, foreshadowing, callbacks,... just impossible to go over the jokes. And all of this hilarity ensues in a zed word movie that shies away from neither full on gore or touching moments.

And the front door is open! Again!!

Cloverfield 2008 ★★★

Cloverfield, the answer to the question: What would it be like to live through a Godzilla-like Roland Emmerich film?

Technically speaking, this counts as found footage, even though its budget is over 400 times that of The Blair Witch Project. Which is well used in order to let even the mass carnage and big explosions in the found footage format.

It does work well in realising what it sets out to do, it does keep you on the edge of your seat at times and it realises that the biggest mistake a found footage can make is overstaying its welcome. So the running time is not so much short, but not too long.

That said, the mix of not all that likable characters and the idea of the film does not keep not work as well as we (may have) thought back then keep it from being a genuine four star movie. It's "just" three stars now.

Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature 2001 ★★

A pretty unmemorable creature feature. One of the producers was the late Stan Winston, so that at least explained why the transformation scene and some of the special effects were decent.

The story, the characters and the acting, however, were pretty bland.

Earth vs. the Spider 2001 ★★½

A bit of an exadurated title for this creature feature about a boy whose attempt at becoming a superhero turns sour. He takes more like the neighbourhood instead of the world.

Nothing much memorable, but still enjoyable for what it's worth. Dan Ackroyd was kind of okay as the suffering cop. And the special effects were somewhere between amateurish and a charm similar to the creature features of the forties and fifties.

Choose or Die 2022 ★★★★

Using the retro game as a basis, Choose or Die manages to create an intense supernatural atmosphere where you are in a dreamworld. In that dreamworld, everything can kill you. Everyone is a part and the game is everywhere.

I enjoyed this a lot. It's good stuff. The viewer is sucked into an intensity reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby and - maybe on the nose as reference, but still - The Game.

One of the better recent productions. Check it out.