You're Next

    First thing I've got to say, is that I love a movie that pulls you in very quickly. This was one of those movies. Only a few minutes in, and those ominous words, 'You're Next' sent a shiver down my spine. Great, great way to start a movie. Then it can go on to show some other stuff that introduces you to the characters, now that that thought has been put in your head.

     

    I was noticing how two of the characters actually owned the house, rather than simply staying in it, as is sometimes the case. Though, later I did note how they said he had recently gotten it.

    Something I didn't like, was how much arguing it seemed like they were doing at one point after the first murder. It seemed excessive to the point that the horrible situation they were in was just a background detail. To me it seemed like it diluted what was going on a little.

    Once it got going, and the bodies started dropping it was pretty good though. Most of them put aside their differences to focus on how screwed they were. At the time, I thought it was all of them, before I knew that it was a brother (and his girlfriend) who actually orchestrated the whole thing. 

    An observation I couldn't help but make, was how the assailants were wearing masks. Though, unlike in Happy Death Day, they were creepy animal masks, not a happy (but creepy) baby mask.

Erin (survivor girl)

    As the survivor girl started knocking attackers off, I was thinking about how this is a horror movie, she's doing great but she could still die at any moment. After she setup the trap with the ax above the front door, I was waiting for her boyfriend to walk into it, especially after it looked like the last of the bad guys had been killed. Though, considering his involvement, perhaps it actually wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world.

    In a way that reminded me of Cabin in the Woods, everyone died in the end since a cop saw her stab someone and mistook her for an attacker and shot her. Even the people attacking them and the cop it showed for 2 minutes got killed. Overall, it had a good start, it slowed down a bit, then it picked up again once the killing got going.

The Cabin in the Woods

 When the movie opened up, I was wondering how the first scene with the scientists had anything to do with the movie since it was going to have to do with college students, but I figured it would somehow lead into it. Recognized Amy Acker there as one of the scientists, though. It was a bit more evident how it was related when it showed them watching the rooms of the cabin through the cameras. That being said, first impressions of the students. 

From left to right. Curt, Holden, Jules, Marty, Dana

Curt, I expected to not go down without a fight. This was mainly because he was played by Chris Hemsworth who would later go on to be known for playing Thor. Jules was a pretty blond but seemed like the type who would probably be the first one dead. Marty was a bit high because of what he'd been smoking, so I imagined that he would last a surprising amount of time, if not survive the whole thing.

When it first showed the cabin, I was expecting the incident to look horrible and rundown, but it actually didn't look that bad. The one-way mirror in the bedroom that looked conspicuously like a regular mirror was cool, in a creepy stalker sort of way. The way the scientists were talking about Jules dyed blond hair made me think they had put something in the dye, though that was the case.

Kind of wish the lake scene had lasted longer. The women looked pretty good there, in their bikini's, take a look.

By the time they went down into the cellar, I was already anticipating it since the scientists had already mentioned it, though I had no idea what was down there. Though was a decent amount of creepy dolls. I was surprised that of all people it was Marty who was the one who was suggesting that they go back upstairs and not Dana who seemed to get the most easiestly scare of the five. Of course, once the Latin was read and the zombies were raised, then I knew the party was really about to get started. When Curt and Jules went outside shortly after that I could only imagine that one of them was about to buy it. In retrospect, at least some of my initial suspicions turned out to be correct. Jules was the first one dead. Additionally, Curt managed to survive his first zombie encounter, somehow. When he eventually did die, it was in a blaze of glory. One of the best parts about this movie, was when I thought the last student was going to get killed and I had no reason to think she would survive. That's what I love about horror movies, you never know who will and won't survive to the very very end. Emphasis on the very, since Dana survived only for her and Marty to get killed at literally the last second before the credits rolled. Every single charactor, good or bad, died in the end. Overall, it was just very suspenseful all throughout and well written and you had no idea whether the students or scientists were going to come out on top, when in reality they both lost.

Cabin in the Woods Trailer

Planning on watching this today, so I decided to post the trailer for it.

Happy Death Day

 

The murderer who is anonymous until the very, very end.

    

    This particular movie didn't host any actors or actresses that I was overall familiar with, but after I saw the trailer, I knew I had to see it. Though, I missed when it was in theaters and had to find it elsewhere. Eventually, I managed to find it on Amazon Prime and watched it with my friend Adam.

    First off, I want to say that there are some movies where you want to yell at the protagonist not to do anything stupid, we've all been there. In Happy Death Day, at the start, you can tell that our protagonist Theresa Gelbman, or Tree as she's referred to, is a bit self-centered, and honestly not the brightest. But in a movie like this, she can afford to be stupid up to and including getting herself killed. Eventually she does get smarter with enough deaths staying alive longer and longer in each encounter with her killer.

    Here's a picture of Tree now, with a guy she keeps waking up in the same room as.

    I think her final death was so surprising it was epic, before she finally confronts her killer and survives, breaking the time loop. I came across an alternate ending for the movie, and thought I'd share it here. It could've ended quite differently than the way it ended up going.

    One of the things I look for in a movie, that I found in this one, is its ability to creep you out after the movie is over. You walk into a dark room in your house and suddenly you wonder whether someone in a creepy baby mask is waiting to step out of your closet and stab you. That's something I look for in a horror movie, its ability to leave you on edge, even after you stop watching it.

    I think that's about it for now. Maybe at some point I'll watch and post about the sequel; Happy Death Day 2U.

Black Swan

Black Swan was a movie I saw in theaters, actually a couple of years ago, now. I was thinking about it, and decided to do a post on it now after watching Jupiter Ascending with Mila Kunis in it. I thought it was absolutely splendid. However, for anyone reading this that hasn't seen it yet I won't be too specific on any of the scenes. I always love scenes that turn out to be hallucinations later on, especially if no one knows that they are in fact hallucinations until a bit later in the movie as it did in this movie.

I like Mila Kunis, but despite that, I think Natelie Portman did a excellent job throughout the movie. Some of the movie seems to be what my friends Lisa and Chloe would watch, up until the part where the hallucinations and horror start. I thought the movie started off a little slow, but once it got started, it really got started. It was intense and I loved every minutes of it. Despite starting slow, I can see how the beginning was needed to set the stage for the rest of the movie and was in fact necessary for the rest of the movie.  I thought the good old fashion competion did wonders for the movie, especially how it twisted with a couple of other things. The fact that both Natalie Portman's charactor and Mila Kunis' charactor had a twisted sort of friendship; being friends and yet rivals for the same position with something else mixed in. As well as the fact that each of them had one role that they were better at than the other one. Though I think Natelie Portman's charater started taking her role as the black swan side very seriously and it started to consume her.

31 Official Trailer

I'm much anticipating the release of this movie in September. Unfortunately, I didn't see the early release of it, where ever that was... Now that there's an official trailer, I've decided to share it.

Crimson Peak Trailer!

Recently I did a post on the trailer for Crimson Peak. I liked it so I thought I'd repost it here. Enjoy!