Posts tonen met het label Deep Blue Sea. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Deep Blue Sea. Alle posts tonen

donderdag 13 augustus 2020

Best Shark Movies Since "Jaws"

It’s shark week and I always love watching these fierce creatures. And I also have a thing for shark movies, I don’t care if they are bad or not. It’s always a fun and entertaining time for me. With “Jaws” still being the best shark movie that we have, I decided to create a list of good shark movies that came out after “Jaws”.

Deep Blue Sea (1999)
In this disaster movie, scientists mess with the brains of sharks and soon the animals are smarter than most people. Director Renny Harlin can provide old-fashioned solid action like no other. “Deep Blue Sea” has a great guest role for Samuel L. Jackson, who provided us with one of the biggest jump scares (which also was a bit hilarious). It’s one of the better shark movies since “Jaws”

Shark Tale (2004)
Yes, even kids can watch a shark movie, since this is a animated family film. Oscar is a fish who works at a ‘whale wash’. He’s thinking of getting higher up and along the way he meets some sharks, led by godfather Don Lino. His son Lenny turns out to the an introvert shark, an a vegetarian to top it off. This was Dreamwork’s answer to Disney’s “Finding Nemo”, but they didn’t succeed. “Shark Tale” is filled with references and jokes and it’s a fun family film. But don’t expect depth (no pun intended)

The Reef (2010)
For three British backpackers their dream seems to come true; they spend a week at the most beautiful coral reef in the world with their own yacht. However, when their boat turns over and they are left to their fate on the tilted yacht, this dream turns into a real nightmare. When they decide to swim for the shore, they realize a shark is waiting for them. It’s not the most eventful film on this list, since it only becomes exciting towards the end. But still a pretty fun watch.

Open Water (2014)
Seventy divers jump into the water, sixty-eight return and hour later. No complicated calculations for the diving instructor, but in a moment of confusion a small miscalculation follows and two divers are left behind. Susan and Daniel. While among them the normally harmless fish become more curious, despair takes hold of them. Especially when among those fish are also sharks. A movie without fuss or special effects and very low-budget. But this film plays with the feeling of what if it would happen to you.

The Shallows (2016)
Nancy goes surfing on a secret, remote spot in Mexico after her mothers death. When she is attacked by a shark, she manages to swim to a rock and climb onto it. She finds safety there for a while, when it’s low tide. But the water is rising and her time is running out. I find this the best shark movie since “Jaws”, even though some things are a bit improbable. It’s a really good film.

47 Meters Down (2017)
Two sisters decide to go cage diving, to watch sharks during a tropical holiday. When the cable breaks and the cage descends to 47 meters, the horror begins for the girls. It is pretty fun to watch.

The Meg (2018)
When a submarine is attacked by a huge creature previously considered extinct, the submarine lies helplessly at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. When time begins to run out, expert deep-sea diver Jonas Taylor is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer. The meg from the title refers to a megalodon, a prehistorical shark, being many times bigger then a great white shark. Don’t take this film too seriously and you will have an awesome time. This film is highly entertaining and so much fun. Especially during those hot summer months.

Bad shark movies, but a lot of fun

Jaws 4: The Revenge (1987)
“Jaws” spawned three sequels, with the last one being the absolute worst. And “Jaws 4: The Revenge” is all sorts of bad. Because it was actually made with the intention of being a serious shark movie. And because this film takes itself way too serious, makes it such a bad movie. Just look at the synopsis alone: Ellen Brody (wife of chief Brody from film 1) is now widowed. When her son is killed by a shark, she suspects that the shark hates her whole family. She flees to the Bahamas, where her other son works as a marine biologist and the shark follows her (!). The end of this film is one of the most ridiculous sequences in the history of cinema. The only credit I can give them is for managing to get Michael Caine. I would really want to know his opinion now, haha. This is one of those movies, that is unintentionally hilarious.

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus (2009)
Lorenzo Lamas, who we know as the tough, long-haired biker from the TV-series “Renegade’, is a scientist who has to compete against the prehistoric creatures from the title. The best scenes contains a shark jumping from the water to snatch a plane from the sky. Yes, that happens. This is so bad, but I love these hilarious monster movies. And there is also “Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus”, “Mega vs. Mecha Shark” and “Mega Shark vs. Kolossus”. Too bad, but great if you’re in for some laughs.

Shark Night 3D (2011)
If you watch shark week, you might know that sharks sometimes trade the ocean for a river. But no one expects them in a lake. Behold the set-up for “Shark Night 3D”. It’s actually a slasher film, focusing on a group of American youngsters partying, who are seriously harassed by all kinds of sharks in a freshwater lake. This film some poor effects, but it’s the best of the worst.

Sharknado (2013)
They decided to combine shark attacks, major floods and raging tornadoes for this insane shark movie. Sharks are striking inland thanks to propelling water and/ or wind. “Sharknado” sheds light on this rare phenomenon. It’s really terrible and it even brought us 5 (!) sequels, but you should really see it.

zondag 9 augustus 2020

Best Jump Scares in Movies

I love horror movies. Not that it makes me sleep any better, because I don’t. And I’m a person that scares easily. It’s often the silent moments that you don’t really see what’s scaring you, that make a film scary. And then there is those jump scares. Some movies overuse them and that I don’t like. But there are many movies, horror and non-horror films, that used them so well. Often at moments you’d least expect them to happen. And that’s when a jump scare is most effective. I created this list of great jump scares in movies.

Shark attack – Deep Blue Sea (1999)
In a movie about killer sharks, there will most obviously be some shark attacks. But I think we all know which shark attack I mean here. While giving a somewhat epic speech to his fellow survivors, and being warned about standing to close to the water hole, Samuel L. Jackson is being attacked and eaten alive. The most surprising kill, since he was the biggest name in the cast, but also a pretty hilarious and over-the-top kill.

The tongue click – Hereditary (2018)
When you watch a film with the sound of, you know exactly how a jump scare works. It’s a key component. Most often very loud noises. And if you watch “Hereditary” ’s big scare with the sound off, it’ll seem like nothing is happening. The scenes shows Annie in her car, when she suddenly here’s tongue clucking coming from the backseat. And still it seems like nothing, just wait when you see the actual scene. One of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen.

Face of fire - Insidious (2011)
A fine example of misdirection. The scene begins with Barbara Hershey’s character describing a nightmare. Snapping back to the real world, Patrick Wilson’s Josh sits unaware as the red-faced demon appears behind him. Did not see that coming.

Night vision – The Descent (2006)
Who thought spelunking was a good idea? It seems exciting, but not if you’re claustrophobic. If you’re not that, this trip still wasn’t a good idea, since there are strange, creepy, night creatures living there. And we see one earlier in the movie, from afar. But that’s not as scary as the scene where one of the girls turns on night vison mode on her camera. As a viewer you are emotionally invested in the arguments going on and trying to follow the camera, with already obscures by night vision. It swings from person to person. When it swings back to find a creature standing behind Rebecca and we were completely unprepared.

Hand claps – The Conjuring (2013)
Like “Hereditary”, this is a movie that doesn’t overuse jump scares or loud noises when it comes to them. And it’s also one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. And this scene in particular scared the bejesus out of me. In this scene, the scariest moment in the film plays us brilliantly. There is the slow lure down the staircase, the bouncing basketball, the exploding lightbulb, and then a moment of silence before the out-of-nowhere hands reach in for a quick clap-clap. Ugh, even writing about gives me the chills.

Need a bigger boat – Jaws (1975)
The movie’s biggest strength is hardly ever showing the shark we all know there is. I think we’re about 45 minutes into the movie when we catch a glimpse of the shark. But it’s the moment when the three men are on the Orca and Chief Brody is throwing chum into the ocean. His face is away from the water and all of a sudden the shark pops out from it. We feel what’s Brody’s feeling: fear!

Bilbo’s scary face – Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Where did this come from? It’s Frodo and his uncle Bilbo having a nice heart to heart. But when Bilbo sees the One Ring around Frodo’s neck, he loses it for a second and tries to grab it. Super scary and a non-expecting scare.

The man behind the wall – Mulholland Drive (2001)
Two men are sitting in a diner, when one of them, Dan, shares this terrifying dream he’s been having. About a man behind a wall, just outside the diner. He decides to go and see it for himself and we all think, it’s just a dream. But suddenly, that man appears from behind that wall. Our hearts stopped!

Home video – Signs (2002)
When Joaquin Phoenix’ Merril is watching a news feed on the TV, I didn’t expect to have one of the biggest jumps scares ever. Merril is sitting inside a small closet while watching a news report, about a home video that was send to them. We see a group of kids at what seems to be a birthday party, they’re screaming, but we don’t know what for. Then the camera, a bit blurry, goes to a little alley and we see an alien walk by. Merril’s reaction is exactly ours: shocked!

The coughing man - Se7en (1995)
After already being exposed to gross crime scenes, we haven’t seen the worst yet. Detectives David Mills and William Somerset approach the set for the sin ‘sloth’. A scene covered with air fresheners you would normally hang in your car, presents us to a corpse that was seemingly chained to the bed and starved to death. When one of the agents approaches the body, it all of a sudden starts coughing. He isn’t dead after all.

The ‘mother’ - Psycho (1960)
It’s old school but it has stuck with me for so many years. It is so creepy when it’s found out that the actual mother died and is sitting as a skeleton in her chair and Norman Bates’ ‘mother’ appears and starts screaming. I still think about it sometimes when I’m in my basement.

Jason in the lake - Friday the 13th (1980)
People are mistaken when they think Jason Voorhees was the killer in “Friday the 13th”. It was his mother Pamela Voorhees. But at the end of “Friday the 13th” we catch a glimpse of Jason, when final girl Alice is sitting in a boat on the lake, when suddenly Jason jumps out of the water and grabs her.

Kitchen cabinets – Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
The first film already scared the sh** out of me, this sequel had one scene that I just can’t get over. When Kristi is sitting in her kitchen, just out of nowhere all the kitchen cabinet’s open. I think, if I ever watch it again, I will fast forward this scene.

The clown – Poltergeist (1982)
Clowns freak me out anyway, so whenever it’s in a horror movie it adds up to the anxiety I’m already feeling. And just when you think the clown is under the bed, the son’s gets back up only to find out it’s right behind him. Gets me every single time.

The demon – The Exorcist (1973)
While “The Exorcist” is overall a super scary and unsettling movie, it doesn’t contain many jump scares. But there is one brief moment, that made me jump up from my seat. In a blink-and-you-will-miss-it moment, Regan briefly sees the true face of the demon and it scared the hell out of me.

The white figure – The Exorcist III (1990)
When the original film didn’t have many jump scares, the third installment in the franchise had the biggest of them all. One of those unexpected moments, where the situation seems not so special. Out of nowhere, with no lead or build-up in tension or sound, a white figures chases a nurse with an ice pick. We don’t see the nurse actually being killed, but this moment really gave me the chills.

woensdag 27 juni 2018

90s Movie Review - Deep Blue Sea

Director: Renny Harlin
Genre: Action/ Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, LL Cool J, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, Stellan Skarsgård, Jacqueline McKenzie, Aida Turturro
Description: Searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the bait as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.

Review: When it comes to shark movies, “Jaws” is the only masterpiece out there. “Deep Blue Sea” is one of the better shark films, but don’t pay any attention to the logics. Turn off your brain and just watch it, it’s a lot of fun.
While trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, a group of scientist is working on a laboratory in the middle of the ocean and testing on sharks. This makes the sharks smarter. And more unpredictable and dangerous. Soon the people in the lab are the hunted ones.
The makers did find some inspiration with “Jaws”, but also “Jurassic Park”. The film is fast paced and entertaining from beginning till end. And it’s not as predictable as you would think, because it’s quite surprising who will die and who won’t.
Not all the actors are that good, it’s mostly the men who shine. Thomas Jane is the hero of the story, as Carter Blake, a diver with a dark past. Samuel L. Jackson hardly ever disappoints and he even has an unforgettable speech in this film. Unforgettable for so many reasons. LL Cool J has a fun supporting role, as the cook. Both Saffron Burrows and Michael Rapaport only show us how annoying their characters are.
The special effects are pretty good, sometimes it’s too obvious it’s a computer animated shark. But all in all “Deep Blue Sea” is not one of those terrible shark movies. It’s fun and entertaining, with some surprise elements here and there and enough excitement for a fun movie night.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

donderdag 10 november 2016

Top 5 Thursday: Movies That Make You Stay Out of the Water

I used to be a swimmer. A good one. But in the pool. I was never that keen on the ocean, although I did snorkel when I was in Galapagos. It’s stepping out of my comfort zone. The not knowing what goes on below and the unpredictability of the water just scares me a little bit. And there are many movies that make you stay out of the water, for various reasons. Here are my five favorites.

5. Deep Blue Sea
I wouldn’t take a job in a laboratory that is in the middle of the freakin’ ocean and surrounded by extremely smart sharks.


4. Piranha
Being killed by a shark is terrible, but I think piranha’s are even worse. Those little sharp teeth all over your body. It’s a slow death, or even no death and just pain and missing body parts.


3. Open Water
You’re in for the trip of your life, you go scuba diving, see the most beautiful underwater world. But then the boat leaves without you and leaves you in the middle of the ocean. Isn’t that a nightmare? That’s why “Open Water” makes you think twice about diving in the deep sea.


2. Lake Placid
Lakes aren’t safe either. Because many of them have crocodiles or alligators in them. Okay, not as big as the crocodile in “Lake Placid”, but they are super dangerous. Because once a croc gets you, he won’t let go. The death role you know.


1. Jaws
Off course this is number one. Because of this movie, almost everyone is afraid of sharks. Even though “Jaws” is everything but realistic, the movie gives me the chills even after seeing it so many times. The moments where you don’t see the shark are probably more scary then the moments where you do see him.


They Almost Made the Top 5: Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, It Follows, Deep Rising, Anaconda, The Perfect Storm, All is Lost, Rogue

donderdag 30 mei 2013

Top 5 Thursday: Bad Decisions in Movies

Sometmes when I'm watching a movie, I'm on the coutch screaming at the screen asking the characters why the hell they would do that. Making bad choices or decisions are often seen in horrormovies, but the once I choose are bigger. Here are the five worst decisions in movies.

5. Zombieland
It’s kind of smart that Bill Murray tried to survive the zombie apocalypse by pretending he was a zombie himself. But what’s really not such a good idea is to try and scare the trigger happy Jesse Eisenberg by pretending to be a zombie. You just signed your own dead warrant.


4. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Off course you want to help the little T-rex, but it’s not smart to take him into your trailer with a very angry mommy looking for her young.


3. King Kong
Who brings a giant, raging gorilla to New York? That’s just asking for trouble. As much as I love gorilla's, that's just not a good idea. Just leave him on the island, where he’s happy.


2. Jurassic Park
The entire park is surrounded by an electric-fence, but there is no back-up system for when the power fails. The movie wouldn’t be excited if they did, but still.


1. Deep Blue Sea
If the sharks brain might cure Alzheimer, why the hell would you set up a totally isolated and abandoned from civilization laboratory in the middle of the ocean? I couldn’t concentrate on my work really, with hungry sharks lurking at me all the time.


They Almost Made the Top 5: The Last King of Scotland, Looper, Demolition Man