Trustno1 viewing log

trustno1

Finally got around to checking out the Clive Barker box set:

Book of Blood - in a word 'awful'. I loved the short story of this and was very disappointed as to how it transcribed onto the big screen. Lead actress (can't even be ar*sed to look her up) was dreadful and I really didn't care how it turned out for any of them. 4/10

Dread - This was definitely the better of the three (the other being the Midnight Meat Train which I had seen before and thought was just 'okay'). Well worth a look as the feeling of 'dread' is explored through various means 8/10

and one outside of the boxset which I have just this minute watched (for the possibly 5th time!) The Descent - I love this film, I can watch it over and over and never get bored. Original, good cast, well directed - what more can I say?! 10/10..

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Paranormal Activity

Finally got around to seeing this after missing it in the cinema. I personally don't thinks it works as well on DVD as it possibly would have on the big screen. I found the film well made for the budget and I do think it delivered the scares (but not as scary as the marketing hype).

I thought that it was clever that the director\writer Oren Peli wrote it so that the girl was 'haunted' and not the house (which they could obviously leave). And the tension is well built up when the clock slows down at night that you are darting your eye's from the door to the bed to make sure you don't miss something. The ending was also very well done (thanks to Speilberg for convincing them to change it), but I would have been happy with the image of her just standing in the doorway. What I didn't like were the main two characters - I just found them both highly annoying and I was rooting for the Demon. I also didn't believe that a couple with one person in college could afford a house like that!.. and there were a few obvious 'if the lights are turning on and off just remove the bulbs!' moments.

Overall I did enjoy the Paranormal Activity experience and I will be keeping an eye on Peli as a director in the future.

For those that might have missed it - check out Normal Activity on the DVD extras or You Tube.. even though it only comes in at 3 minutes it gives the main feature a run for its money!.

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Daybreakers

This is another one that I had missed in the cinema. Glad I did as I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would from the ad's. The idea is superb that in 2019 due to a virus most of the worlds population are now vampires and humans are being farmed for their blood. Its beautifully filmed and is visually very impressive and was apparently made with a modest enough budget. It also has an excellent cast so I don't know why I didn't like it as much as I had wanted to,

I think it was 'the cure' that they found - I just didn't buy into it.

One I feel I may have to watch again without so much wine!

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Cube

I purchased this on CDWow and as it stated 'Region Free' I thought it I was good to go, however it turned out do be NTSC instead of PAL.. so in order to watch the film I had to spend ages typing in numerous codes to convert my Region 2 DVD player to Region Free (the joy of seeing 'Success' flashing on the little display panel nearly brought a tear to my eye). Anywho.. Cube is an interesting film directed by then newcomer Vincenzo Natali. The story line is fairly simple 7 strangers traped inside a Cube which is linked to other cube's. But the cube's aren't as empty as they first appear some of them contain 'Saw' like booby traps. Some of the questions raised - why are they all there?, are they somehow linked?, what is the cube? is there a way out? who put them in the cube? are explored while others are not. I really enjoyed this and will be purchasing the other two follow on films (even through the reviews for the second have not been that hectic). A bit of trivia for those who have either seen it or are going to check it out.. all of the characters are named after famous prisons and each personality reflects the prison itself.

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Omen III: The Final Conflict

Bought the Omen trilogy and for some reason I felt compelled to watch this one first (I have seen them all - but years ago at this stage). In this installment, Sam Neill takes up the reign's as Damien son of Satan and bullies his way to becoming Ambassor to England (interesting to see a young Ruby Wax as the secretary to the first Ambassor to England

whom Damien swiftly disposes of with a gun and a door handle).

. He then discovers that christ is about to be re-born (as you do when you are the son of Satan) and that he must put a stop to it pronto. Re-watching this was disappointing - Sam, although a good actor, was just okay in this. I just didn't believe that he was Satan's son as he wasn't evil enough for my liking.

I also felt that the Boy Scouts at the 'Evil-R-Us rally' toward the end just didn't work for me, Priests yes, Boy Scouts.. no..

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Splinter

First full length feature from director Toby Wilkins is like the bas*tard child of The Mist and The Thing. Simple story - a group of people get trapped in a gas station while a splinter parasite which uses people and animals as a host tries to get in to kill them. I really enjoyed this, the effects are good (on I would imagine a modest budget) and I did care about all the characters and enjoyed watching their inventiveness in handling their predicament. With a running time of 82 minutes it is quite a short film, but well worth a look.

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Triangle

Picked this up in the HMV sale for 8.99 (with a nice holographic cover!), I knew absolutely nothing about the film and hadn't read any reviews on it (negative or positive). Hmm.. without giving too much away its basically about a group of people who head off sailing for the day and end up in trouble and have to board a bigger boat which happens to be passing. Thats as much as I would be willing to say about the film without feeling I would be giving anything away. The story is very appealing and does hold your interest, the problem I found was Melissa George as the lead, I just didn't find her quite right for the part

(her character also took to killing the people quite quickly and didn't need much convincing)

but that doesn't mean to say that anyone else watching would feel the same!.. there were a couple of stand out scenes -

when she was chasing one of the women and she was confronted with dozens of her dead self and all the seagulls at the bottom of the cliff

which were nicely done. I personally think this is more a thriller than horror, and to borrow another Boardsie's catch phrase 'its a marmite movie' you will either love it or hate it.

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House of the Devil

About half an hour through this film it brought me straight back to the times when I used to babysit in the 1980's. It really captured how alone, curious, and down right cheeky you were when someone entrusted you to mind their children. I really don't want to go through the plot of this film, but basically it is based around a babysitting job in the 80's (I personally felt they gave too much away on the back of the box). Its been a long time since a film really held my interest (and terrified me!) in a long while.

That was for the first 110 minutes. Then rest of the film came. I personally was hugely disappointed in this, as I was genuinely terrified, then one of cast stated 'ow... my eye... ' and then I was straight into Monty Python mode 'now stop that - thats just silly'.The ending to this film was a huge let down.. I was really, really enjoying it until the last 10-15 minutes when it just got stupid. Would I recommend it? eh.. No.. I wouldn't, would I watch it again.. eh.. no..

But obviously this is just a personal opinion!.. and I will be eager to see more reviews on this one.