Horror flick review: Grave Encounters 2 - 2012

Grave Encounters 2

Director: John Poliquin

2012

Horror

A film student gets convinced that the film,”Grave Encounters” is actually for real and not fiction at all. He gathers evidence to prove his thesis but no one seem to believe him, at least not ‘til he confronts the producer of the movie. At first he gets thrown out but security but later gets an off-camera interview with the producer. Using candid photography he still manages to get the producer on tape and he does in fact admit to that all the footage in the first movie is for real and that all the actors have disappeared. The next step is to break into the same asylum where the movie took place and prove once and for all that it’s all for real. That’s something he and his friends shouldn’t’ have done!

Just like in the sequel to The Human Centipede the first movie exists in the universe of the film. That is to say that it’s considered to be a movie that’s been made and that the sequel itself is in fact an original movie. Because if the first film is just a movie how can the sequel be a sequel? It can’t, it must treat the first film as a film and not as reality which is quite uncommon in my opinion. But this argument gets really complicated when the first movie is claimed to be the truth and not just a movie. I also feel that I could fill several pages with my thought about this but would anyone really care to read about that? I don’t think so, so I’ll stop now…

I think this is a quite clever film! It was written by the Vicious Brothers which also wrote and directed the first film. It doesn’t catch me quite away though, it takes some time before it gets really interesting and it doesn’t get scary until we are back in the asylum. But when we get there the amount of paranormal activity is much more intense than in the first film. There is also a different approach to it since the characters in this movie really believe that something weird is going on, which the characters in the first movie didn’t.

The acting is nice most of the time and the visual effects are stunning. I’m not necessarily too fond of night vision shots but they do the trick here and it’s a very nice illusion of what the real deal would look like if something like this were to happen.

We don’t get many answers to our questions about what’s really going on in that asylum, what happened there and why it’s so violently haunted. But it’s an effective movie and I think it’s safe to say that we can expect another sequel! Why shouldn’t there be? Both of these films have been very effective and scary and this is actually even more so than the first film. It’s a great concept, found footage and haunting combined!

7/10

Zombie Flick Review: Gangsters, Guns and Zombies - 2012

Gangsters, Guns and Zombies

Director: Matt Mitchell

2012

Comedy/Horror

Nothing could have gone wrong in the final robbery of Tony and his gang. Everything is thought of – except the apocalypse. No one thought that their escape route would be blocked by hungry zombies… They need an alternate plan and Tony DO has an alternate safe-house far away from the city. Getting there is another business of course.

At first I thought this might be a cool merge of genres but I soon realize that it’s nothing more than a disaster. There’s nothing entertaining about it at all. There’s not even a descent broad to look at… I’m exaggerating of course, there’s nothing ugly with the present chick but it’s still not enough to make this worth my while. I was hoping for something a little more serious, why do all zombie flicks these days have to be so ridiculous? It’s not funny and it’s not scary, so what it the point?

To be honest there are some scenes where the makeup effects guys have done a good job and the old lady’s – the grandmother’s – language is a bit funny. She cusses and swears in every other sentence and is not ashamed to admit that she’s a racist. It’s not enough though. It’s, like I said before, ridiculous and nothing more. I understand why this is available on BD as such a cheap price. It might be of interest to any diehard fan of British zombie comedy but not to anyone else. At least I would advise against it!

2/10

News: SINISTER VISIONS

HORROR FANS! 

Horror anthology SINISTER VISIONS is making its way out on the world as we speak – cinematic showings are planned during the summer in the UK, Italy and Spain and a DVD release for the North American market is planned for early autumn. The cover art has just been revealed. 

About SINISTER VISIONS: 

Are you ready for a terror attack combining both succubi, women possessed by demons, serial killers in electric chairs, aggressive zombies, avengeful crazy women, men with very deep emotional scars and ofcourse a fair amount of amputation and gore? SINISTER VISIONS consists of five grueling horror stories to make your bones freeze.

SUCCUBUS is about a beautiful young blonde, Emma, studying to become an archeologist. On an excavation trip to Syria she finds something in the sand that is about to change her life completely. She hurries home hoping to be able to escape it, but she is about to get wiser. 

MY UNDEAD GIRLFRIEND is a twisted story with a lot of morbid, dark humor, telling the story of the day Keith woke up next to his girlfriend who had out of the blue turned into a flesh eating undead and tonight he is about to meet her parents for the first time! This day is going to be a bit out of the ordinary! 

MOTHER KNOWS BEST is the story about Carl, a somewhat shy man preparing for a date with his childhood sweetheart, Rebecca. Carl’s mother has quite a few objections about the date and she is not too shy to express them, though. 

In A WOMAN SCORNED we meet Gail tied to a bed by Holly. Gail have had the nerve to start a relationship with Richard, who unfortunately is Holly’s former husband – and Gail does not approve at all! 

Finally, GENITAL GENOCIDE presents us to serial killer Charles Albert Harris who, sitting on death row waiting for the switch to be turned on, takes us through his crimes while the audience of the court room listens. Harris wants a last reaction out of the audience that consists of many relatives of his audience – and a reaction he gets. 

SINISTER VISIONS is a collaboration between filmmakers from USA, UK, Sweden and Denmark and features works from skilled writers such as Garry Charles, Stefan Bommelin, Henric Brandt, Rasmus Tirzitis, Cody Cather, Doug Gehl and Lars Egholm Fischmann while the directing has been in the capable hands of Henric Brandt, Doug Gehl and Kim Sønderholm. 

Starring: Kim Sønderholm, David C. Hayes, Michael Harrelson, Debbie Overbey, Rob Douglas, Rick Dyer, Daren Palacio, Bart Overbey, Brian Weir, Liana Hubbard, Tori Montgomery, Pamela Ricardo, Peg Thon, Kat Herlo, Miriam Yeager, Nadia Bond, Lars Bjarke, Ralf Beck, Pontus Olgrim, Camilla Löjdström, Andreas Rylander, Stefan Jonasson, Babs Brinklund, Mehrnaz Bagheri Beiknejad, Mette Løvendahl, Toke Lars Bjarke, Nadine and many, many others.

Short flick review: The Prospector’s Curse - 2013

The Prospector’s Curse

Director: Josh Heisie

2013

Horror/Short

This is something as unusual as a western horror flick or a horror western flick. You can choose which epithet you wish for this short, both genres are present to be sure. The environment is that of the old west. We get to follow two criminals who are blamed for a murder. I have no idea if they did it or not but they have an angry mob chasing them. They come across a mutilated prospector dying on Indian ground. He makes them promise to give him a Christian burial but when he dies they steal his gold and get on their way. He comes back to haunt them of course.

The story is not unique in anyway but it works and there’s really no need to complicate things. The environmental aspects of the flick is gorgeous, it looks just like we’re back at the settler era. Actor wise I’m not overwhelmed. I’m split actually, I can’t decide if I think that they’re supposed to over act to make a comic effect or not. I certainly hope so because it’s the only way it’ll make sense. I can’t say that I’m overjoyed but the comic aspect but when the end comes, it’s kind of splatter-ish and comedy seems to work pretty good with that. I couldn’t find Robert Nolan, one of my favorite actors but it had a simple explanation. H plays the part of the prospector and is covered by tons of makeup.

Apparently this is just the first short flick in an anthology series. Each episode meant to pay homage to a different kind of b-movie genre. It’s a very interesting concept to be sure. But even if I weren’t blown away by this first installment I’m still looking forward to the next take in the series. I like ambitious project and this one doesn’t seem to be a bit pretentious which could ruin everything.

5/10