00s Movie Review - 30 Days of Night

Director: David Slade
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 2007
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Ben Foster, Danny Huston, Manu Bennett, Mark Boone Junior

Description: After an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires.

Review: Comic books are perfect source material for film makers. Off course superhero movies, but films like “300” and “Sin City” were based on craphic novels. The dark comic “30 Days of Night” caught the interest of director David Slade and producer Sam Raimi. A story of vampires that haunt a Alaskan town that lives in total darkness for 30 days.
The town is called Barrow. Most citizens leave Barrow before the last sundown. But there are people left behind. On the evening before the 30 days of darkness begin, dog are brutally killed, cellphones are burned and computers are disconnected. The vampires know what to do to cut the people of from the rest of the world.
The vampire look not like your every day blood suckers. And they don’t just bite your neck to drink your blood, they rip their victims apart with their knife sharp teeth. And you can’t kill them, unless you cut off their head. And they speak a language we don’t understand. The leftover citizens, led by sheriff Eben, have to either avoid or beat the vampires to survive.
Although “30 Days of Night” is seen as a mediocre horror film and doesn’t get raving reviews, I always thought that it was an underrated film in the genre. The premise is really terrifying. A town in total darkness, being terrorized by creatures of the night. And it being a distant town makes it even scarier. This is a movie that genuinely scares me, what a horror movie should do.
Off course it has its flaws. The characters lack depth and the story overall is a bit thin. But there is enough to see and the film is visually very well done. And those flaws are easily forgotten. “30 Days of Night” is, in my eyes, an excellent film in the vampire horror genre.

Rating: 4 / 5

Movies to Look Forward to - April 2018

What does April have in store for us? Let's see what we can look forward to this month.

April 12th – A Quiet Place
Director: John Krasinski
Starring: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt
Description: A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

April 14th – Breathe
Director: Andy Serkis
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Tom Hollander
Description: The inspiring true love story of Robin and Diana Cavendish, an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease. Their heartwarming celebration of human possibility marks the directorial debut of Andy Serkis.

April 24th – Avengers: Infinity War
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Samuel L. Jackson, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin, Paul Rudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Karen Gillan, Elizabeth Olsen, Sebastian Stan, Paul Bettany, Gwyneth Paltrow, Idris Elba, Benicio del Toro, Jon Favrau, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle
Description: The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

10s Movie Review - Pompeii

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Genre: Action/ Drama
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Kit Harington, Kiefer Sutherland, Emily Browning, Carrie-Ann Moss, Jared Harris, Jessica Lucas, Adewale Akunnuoye-Agbaje

Description: A slave-turned-gladiator (Kit Harington) finds himself in a race against time to save his true love (Emily Browning), who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator (Kiefer Sutherland). As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him.

Review: Okay, I like honesty. The only reason I watched this movie is Kit Harington. Because I think he is perfect. And this movie definitely isn’t.
In Hollywood there is trendsetters and you have the ones that follow those trends. Directors like James Camermon and Ridley Scott are trendsetters. Their work has set the bar high for director of later generations. Like Paul W.S. Anderson, a definite follower of those trends. Most of his movies are lesser and more unoriginal versions of those films.
“Pompeii” is in fact a combination of “Gladiator” and “Titanic”. I love the first and hate the last, so that’s not good. And that’s kind of sad, because I think the Roman city of Pompeii deserves a good film. It has an interesting story.
You have to give it to him. Paul W.S. Anderson always has to work with a relatively small budget and they always make a whole lot of money. But they have never been very well received.
Since “Gladiator”, any movie about the Roman empire seems to deal with the concept of gladiators. And “Pompeii” is not any different. Kit Harington plays Milo, a Celtic gladiator, brought to Pompeii for a tournament. When he enters the city, he meets Cassia. She belongs to the Roman elite, but she someone sees through all the differences and off course they fall for each other.
The story is not special, the characters are one-dimensional and everything is really predictable. But Kit Harington is still perfect…

Rating: 2 / 5

80s Movie Review - Predator

Director: John McTiernan
Genre: Action/ Horror/ Thriller/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 107 minutes
Year: 1987
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Shane Black

Description: A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.

Review: Like “Alien”, predator is not of this world. When in “Alien” a group of astronauts discover this life form on a distant planet, in “Predator” it visits us on planet earth. It hunts and preys on humans during hot summers.
Dutch is the leader of a special units group of commandos, who get send out in the jungle of Guatamala to find a hostage. Not the hardest task for this group, but that’s just the beginning. When an unknown being starts killing his men.
“Predator” is influenced by “Alien”, who would eventually meet up in some cross-over movies. The first half hour of the film is a typical 80s action movie. When they took down all the guerillas, it seems like the end. But it’s just getting started.
“Predator” is a combination of horror, violence and a dose of action, but is also filled with some really cool one-liners from Arnold Schwarzenegger. The special effects are a bit dater, but the design of Predator itself still impresses.
“Predator” is one of the 80s movies I love watching, mainly because of Arnie.

Rating: 4 / 5

10s Movie Review - Jigsaw

Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Genre: Thriller/ Crime/ Horror
Runtime: 92 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Matt Passmore, Tobin Bell Callum Keith Rennie, Hannah Emily Anderson, Laura Vandervoort, Clé Bennett, Paul Braunstein, Mandela Van Peebles, Brittany Allen, Josiah Black, Edward Ruttle, Michael Boisvert, Sam Koules

Description: Bodies are turning up around the city, each having met a uniquely gruesome demise. As the investigation proceeds, evidence points to one suspect: John Kramer, the man known as Jigsaw, who has been dead for over 10 years.

Review: “Jigsaw” is the eight movie in the “Saw” franchise. In the previous seven films, we saw how maniac John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, played sadistic games with his victims, using hand made torture machines. He choses his victims carefully, all people who take life for granted and don’t know what life is actually worth. This way he wants them to feel how valuable life actually is. All films were bloody and there was a lot of gore.
It takes some time before the serial killer is linked to the happenings in the film. It has been 10 years since John Kramer’s passing. Detective Holloran and coroner Logan have to find out who is copying Jigsaw.
During that investigation, we see how a group of people are locked into a farm and have to face Jigsaw’s sick games. The setting isn’t as dark as its previous films, but the torture equipment is still pretty scary. But it never really shocks.
“Jigsaw” wasn’t half bad. I had no expectations going in and I did enjoy it for some part. I did like the twist, it was pretty original actually. But “Jigsaw” also deals with so many problems. The characters are pretty cliché and the events are also a bit predictable.
“Jigsaw” is definitely not the best film in the series, but also not the worst. Entertaining.

Rating: 3/ 5

10s Movie Review - The Loft

Director: Eric van Looy
Genre: Thriller
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Karl Urban, James Marsden, Wentworth Miller, Eric Stonestreet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Isabel Lucas, Rhona Mitra, Rachael Taylor

Description: Five married guys conspire to secretly share a penthouse loft in the city--a place where they can carry out hidden affairs and indulge in their deepest fantasies. But the fantasy becomes a nightmare when they discover the dead body of an unknown woman in the loft, and they realize one of the group must be involved.

Review: Director Eric van Looy made “Loft” in 2008, a Belgian film. A very strong thriller. The Dutch made their own version, also good for Dutch standards. Then Van Looy decided to remake his own film in Hollywood. Sadly this is the least one of the three.
The story is the same. Five married men decide to share a penthouse loft in the city. They can use it whenever they want, for their deepest fantasies. But when a dead body is discovered there, their bubble pops. And since there were only five keys made, all five men are suspects.
How is it possible that this doesn’t succeed? The script is the same, the director is the same and it has some really strong actors. Some of the dialogue was rewritten and exchanged some of the jokes. This brings it one level down, because it’s pretty juvenile humor. But it’s also the cast that brings this film down. Eric Stonestreet, whom I love in “Modern Family”, is miscast. He’s just not good as the rude and sexist Marty. Karl Urban, who can easily play a womanizer, plays his role so flat and one-dimensional. His character completely disappears. James Marsden is solid, but Wentworth Miller and Matthias Schoenarts (the last one was also in the original) did the best job and played their roles like they were intented.
The female cast is just ridiculous, no one noteworthy and all very forgettable.
It’s also very clear that Americans aren’t as explicit, because both the Belgian and Dutch version had an erotic edge which is completely missing here.
“The Loft” is a film you can probably skip when you have seen the Belgian and Dutch version, because they are both much better. Sad, because it could have been successful in Hollywood too.

Rating: 2 / 5

10s Movie Review - In the Heart of the Sea

Director: Ron Howard
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Drama
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Benjamin Walker, Tom Holland, Ben Wishaw, Brendan Gleeson, Michelle Fairley

Description: A recounting of a New England whaling ship's sinking by a giant whale in 1820, an experience that later inspired the great novel Moby-Dick.

Review: “In the Heart of the Sea” tells the true story of the Essex, a ship under attack of a giant sperm whale. The story inspired the literary classic “Moby Dick”. In this film, author Herman Melville is still looking for inspiration for his novel. He finds one of the survivors in a small village and asks for his story.
The film convinces at the start, with a very realistic setting and the 19th century pioneers who want to sail to the end of the world to collect whale oil. The adventure at sea looks amazing.
The story starts with George Pollard and Owen Chase. The two have to form a team while at sea. Chase is the most capable man to be captain, but Pollard gets it due to his family name. When they set sails, it is clear that Pollard isn’t a good leader.
The scenes with the whale are the best, but sadly there aren’t a lot of those. The whale isn’t present that much anyway. In the end, “In the Heart of the Sea” is more of a survival movie.
The film has a really strong start, but eventually misses depth and didn’t give me what I expected.

Rating: 3 / 5