A Nightmare on Elm Street [movie review]

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the franchise that is A Nightmare on Elm Street, whether it’s from the original movie series or the newer movie released in 2010, which is the version I’m going to write about. Even if you haven’t seen any of the movies, you have to know who Freddy Krueger is. He’s one of the many frightful faces of Halloween.

In A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley) haunts people in their dreams. Unlike normal nightmares, whatever happens to you while you’re sleeping also happens to you in real life. Freddy cut off one of your fingers while you were napping? Bye, finger. Slowly, but surely, these nightmares worsen amongst a certain group of students — Quentin (Kyle Gallner), Nancy (Rooney Mara), Kris (Katie Cassidy), Jessie (Thomas Dekker), and Dean (Kellan Lutz). As the group digs deeper to get to the root of these haunting dreams, they begin to remember things from their childhood… things that might explain the terrifying, life-threatening nightmares they’re experiencing.

Source: TheMovieBanter.com

As a remake, I didn’t expect this movie to be that great. While the acting was OK (to be expected), the fright level was pretty intense. I remember squirming in my bed a number of times. I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for Freddy to pop out with his razor sharp claw ready to slice and dice. Overall, A Nightmare on Elm Street was pretty disturbing and violent, but if you’re into horror movies, you’ll like this.

I give A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) 3/5 stars. It’s definitely a good movie to watch around Halloween and worth watching for its scariness alone. I know it’s a little backwards, but now I have to have a little marathon and watch the original films.

P.S. I love how the movie ended with the credits rolling to “All I Have To Do Is Dream” by The Everly Brothers on such a calm note after so much violence.

One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…

The Cabin in the Woods [movie review]

Whenever I saw previews for The Cabin in the Woods, I would shudder in a tiny bit of fear AKA I needed to go see this movie ASAP. It looked like a fairly typical horror film (which I love), but boy was I wrong. This movie was far from typical.

Five friends — Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchison), Marty (Fran Kranz), and Holden (Jesse Williams) — take a trip to a cabin… in the woods (surprised, right?). It doesn’t take too long for the fivesome’s mini vacation to be rudely, and might I add violently, interrupted. By who (and/or what)? Why? You most definitely need to find out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.

I loved The Cabin in the Woods. It was so different from anything I’ve ever seen. I thought it was the perfect mix of horror and comedy. Yup, that’s right… it was funny (and not in a this-acting-is-so-bad kind of way). The movie subtly pokes fun at the corniness you find in some most horror films (not to the point of a spoof like Scary Movie though) and I thought it was hilarious. There would be intermittent jabs at the right moments when you’d normally be thinking to yourself: “Oh, how typical…” Nothing normal or typical about this movie though (and I mean that in the best way possible). While I’m emphasizing the movie’s humor, I don’t want to desensitize its horrifying moments (because believe me, there were quite a handful). I was very much on the edge of my seat at times, wanting to watch the movie through my fingers (I didn’t though).

I don’t want to say too much about the storyline, but I was completely thrown for a loop (from the very beginning to the absolute end). The trailers certainly don’t give any hints as to what’s really behind this movie, which I absolutely love. I mean, the movie was directed by Drew Goddard, the writer for Cloverfield (another great movie), so I shouldn’t have expected anything less. Keep ‘em coming, Goddard (apparently I’m a fan).

Acting-wise, I think everyone did great a job. Everyone played their stereotypical  horror film roles to a T, whether it was the jock, the dumb blond, the virgin, the pothead, etc. The actors did well when it came time to fear for their lives, but they also did well when they needed to poke fun at their own characters in funny, not corny way. I think my favorite character was Marty, who played the stoner. He certainly provided plenty (sometimes much-needed) comic relief with his drugged up, philosophical rants.

Overall, I give The Cabin in the Woods… I’m gonna do it… 5/5 stars. This movie kept me engaged the entire time (whether it was through fear and/or laughing) and I couldn’t stop raving about it after I left the theater. This will definitely be a movie I’ll be adding to my DVD collection.

The River [TV review]

I had to watch The River because one of the creators is Oren Peli, the director and writer for Paranormal Activity. If it had any chance of having Paranormal Activity elements to it, I knew I’d enjoy it. And I did.

ABC’s The River is about the disappearance of Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood), the host of a show called The Undiscovered Country, and members of his crew, in the Amazon. Dr. Cole’s wife, Tess (Leslie Hope), is determined to find her husband even though many believe he’s dead. She garners the help of her son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson), and some of the remaining crew members of The Undiscovered Country to assist on this hunt for Emmett. A number of the crew members are documenting this Amazonian adventure and let me tell you, the footage they capture is jaw-dropping. Will Emmett be found? If so, will he be alive? Will everyone survive? Will the footage find its way outside of the Amazon? These are all questions you’ll want to find answers to. If you didn’t get the hint, this is me telling you to watch the show.

The series premiere of The River was two hours long and rightfully so… I couldn’t get enough of it. The show got real spooky real quick, which I love. If you ask me, why wait, right? Might as well get right into the action. The show definitely has a paranormal element to it (i.e. blood-craving spirits, Exorcist-like scenes, creepy dolls hanging in the jungle, etc.), which you can’t seem to get away from these days, but trust me, there are no vampires or werewolves (although, I must say, there were zombie-like creatures in one of the later episodes). Dark magic might be a better phrase than paranormal. Since the first episode, the ah-factor has definitely kept up and, having watched the whole season, I’m still a fan. Each episode felt like a mini horror film. The season was only eight episodes long and I’m really interested to see how the next (hopefully longer) season will play out. After watching the season finale, I’ve decided that I’ve never seen a show like this on TV, which is part of the reason why I like it so much.

Overall, I’m definitely a fan of The River and I’ll definitely be tuning in to future seasons. If you’re a fan of suspense films, I think you’ll like this show. Check it out.

Paranormal Activity 3 [movie review]

I was a little hesitant to go see Paranormal Activity 3, since I didn’t really enjoy Paranormal Activity 2 that much, but I had the opportunity to go see a free, advance screening in New York City last night, so I thought “why not?” I must say, the third movie definitely made up for the second one.

Paranormal Activity 3 takes place in 1988, which is set earlier than the first two movies and it explains how the hauntings began. In this movie, young Kristi Rey (Jessica Tyler Brown), who’s played by Katie Featherston when the character’s older, starts talking to an imaginary friend named Toby. Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith) starts to get a little concerned by this behavior, even though his wife, Julie (Lauren Bittner), assures him that she’s just going through a phase and it’ll go away soon. Dennis doesn’t buy it so he sets up video cameras around the house to catch any suspicious activity. As days go by, things get weirder and weirder. Let’s just say, Toby isn’t as imaginary as Julie might’ve thought.

Paranormal Activity 3 was scarier than I thought it would/could be. I had chills during every scene that had a paranormal entity present, which was most of the scenes. There were a number of jaw-dropping scenes and I, a lover of scary movies, couldn’t wait for it to be over at one point… that’s how scared I was. I don’t know exactly what was scarier about this movie than the others, but it was intense. My friends and I were squirming in our seats, covering our faces and jumping nonstop. Thought the Bloody Mary scene was scary in the previews? Just wait until you see the full scene in the movie. As usual, the movie gets scarier and scarier as it gets closer to the end and the suspense is beyond belief. The end of the movie was crazy… something happened that I’ve never seen in either of the other movies. Freaky stuff, guys. Freaky. Stuff. You have to see it for yourself, but be prepared.

On a scale of 1-10, this movie was a 10 in terms of scariness. Overall, I give Paranormal Activity 3 4.5/5 stars. It served its purpose of scaring me (and everyone else in the theater) and I think that’s worthy of a good rating. Not only was it scary, but the story was interesting and it explained things that were referenced in the first two movies. It was interesting to see where everything began.

Paranormal Activity 3 comes out at midnight tonight! If you’re in the mood to be scared, this will certainly do the trick. Perfect movie to go see around Halloween AKA now.

Scre4m [movie review]

I think I may have seen one of the Scream movies in my lifetime; I never got around to watching them, which is odd because I absolutely love horror films. Although I didn’t really watch these movies when I was growing up, I did dress up as Ghostface one year for Halloween when I was younger. The mask kinda got in the way of my breathing and I had to take it off… it was a mess, really. Anyway, I kept seeing trailers for Scream 4 and I had a strong urge to see it.

There’s honestly not much to say about the storyline… we all know what happens in these movies. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns home to promote her new book (she should’ve hired PTA), and just as she returns, the infamous Ghostface killer starts yet another murderous rage in Woodsboro. Ghostface is just like that annoying friend you can’t get rid of (in a psychotic killer kinda way).

Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers show their faces again in the fourth installment, which could’ve been a little awkward for Courteney Cox and David Arquette since they’re no longer married, but it seems like they still have a decent post-divorce relationship. I’m a huge fan of Courteney Cox, and I loved her character in the movie… she had me laughing out loud a lot. There were a bunch of other big names that had small roles and appearances in the movie as well, such as: Lucy Hale, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Emma Roberts, Adam Brody, and Heather Graham.

To be honest, I found myself laughing more than I felt frightened throughout Scream 4. It wasn’t a horrible movie though. I love horror films… even if they’re typical and cheesy at times. To say the very least, Scream 4 was extremely entertaining. It kept me guessing who the killer was until the very end of the movie. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, my suspect got slashed to death (to put it nicely). Overall, I’d give Scream 4 3/5 stars. If you’ve been thinking about going to see it because you’re a Scream fan, go for it. Personally, I love seeing horror movies in the theater… it just makes them that much better. After seeing Scream 4, I kinda wanna rent the first three and have a little “Stabathon” of my own.

iPod Update

Time for another iPod update. Check out my new favorite jams since the last update…

“Up N’ Down” – Britney Spears
“Selfish” – Britney Spears
“Little Bad Girl” – Taio Cruz
“Bad Guy” (DJ Guest remix) – Wiz Khalifa
“Turnt 4 Da Weekend” – Dev featuring The Cataracs
“Stay the Night” (Fred Falke remix) – James Blunt
“I Don’t Wanna Care Right Now” – Lupe Fiasco featuring MDMA
“E.T.” – Katy Perry featuring Kanye West
“Smack the Paparazzi” – LMFAO
“Make It Bump” – Far East Movement featuring Koda Kumi
“Party Rock Anthem” – LMFAO
“Scary” – Britney Spears
“Give Me Everything” – Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer
“Love Machine” – David Guetta featuring RaVaughn Brown
“Backseat” (Mikael Wills remix) – New Boyz featuring The Cataracs & Dev
“Take Over Control” – Afrojack featuring Eva Simons

My picks for this update are The Cataracs and Dev, who have been working together a lot recently. I first heard them in “Like a G6” with Far East Movement, which you should all know by now, is one of my favorite groups. From loving this song so much, I looked into each of these artists a little more and I really enjoyed what I heard. Some of my favorite songs include: “Top of the World,” “Bass Down Low,” “In the Dark,” and “Turnt 4 Da Weekend” (even though it kills me to type “turnt,” “4,” and “da”). Most recently, The Cataracs and Dev have been featured in New Boyz’s hit, “Backseat.” Another one of my favorite songs by The Cataracs (sans Dev) is “Club Love.” I think there’s a lot of good music to come from both these artists in the near future and I’m really looking forward to it.

I also have to point out “Give Me Everything” by Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack, and Nayer… really diggin’ this song.

The Roommate [movie review]

After much excitement (for me at least), The Roommate finally debuted in theaters this past weekend. The movie is about two girls, Sara (Minka Kelly) and Rebecca (Leighton Meester), who are assigned to room with one another during their freshmen year of college. The two roommates start out as friends, but there’s something noticeably wrong about Rebecca. Throughout the movie, Rebecca’s tendencies become progressively stranger to the point where she becomes psychotically obsessed with her roommate. Rebecca will do just about anything to have Sara all to herself.

Overall, I give The Roommate 2.5/5 stars… It just wasn’t scary enough for me, and the acting was subpar. Leighton Meester did play a good psychotic roommate though. It certainly wasn’t the best thriller I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t the worst either… It was entertaining to say the very least (let’s just say I was laughing at points). If you really wanna see this movie, I suggest you wait until it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray.

The Human Centipede [movie review]

The Human Centipede is one of those movies I watched because I heard so much about it (whether it was good, bad, or indifferent).

The movie is about an evil surgeon, Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser), who kidnaps tourists to surgically connect them to create… Well, you guessed it… A human centipede. The movie revolves around these tourists’ horrifying experience.

The Human Centipede was easily one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. It definitely had me on the edge of my seat with some jaw-dropping scenes. The acting, especially in the beginning, was pretty atrocious, but it was to be expected. I give credit to Dieter Laser though… He played the role of creepy villain very well.

Supposedly, a second installment is in the making… Not sure if I’ll be seeing that. I give The Human Centipede 2.5/5 stars. If you like twisted films, then this is for you.

Paranormal Activity 2 [movie review]

I just went to go see Paranormal Activity 2 and it definitely didn’t live up to my expectations. It had its moments, but those moments were very far and few in between (and only toward the end of the movie). The first hour of the movie dragged on and nothing too scary happened. In the first movie, the scenes got progressively scarier, but I didn’t feel that way with the sequel.

The whole premise of Paranormal Activity 2 was to show how Katie, the victim in the first installment, was ultimately possessed by a demon. It just so happens that the movie was a prequel to Paranormal Activity and it captured the hauntings of Katie’s sister Kristi and her family.

I really enjoyed the concept of the prequel, but I think it lacked a certain level of fear that the first film possessed. Don’t get me wrong, I was clenching onto my seat for dear life during a few scenes, but I would’ve enjoyed Paranormal Activity 2 more if the spook factor was more consistent throughout the entire film, not just the end. I think it’s safe to say that there won’t be a third addition to the series.