Movie Review - The Haunting Of Briar House

The Haunting Of Briar House

AKA:  The Unspoken

2015

The Cast

There's something wrong with the house in the woods down on Briar Lane.  Years after a family disappears from the house in the '70's the boards are being pried off the windows and the doors are being unlocked as a new tenant is moving in.  A young mother, Jeanie (Hutton), and her mute son have escaped the city and their traumas there.  After his father passed away Adrian stopped speaking and hopefully, the change of pace and scenery will help him out of this fugue.  With them comes a nurse and housekeeper, Portia (Rukiya Bernard), and from the town, they hire Angela (Ferland), a part-time confidant for Adrian.  However, no sooner than they've opened the doors to the house that strange things begin to happen.

I really do like this new and refreshingly well thought out take on the Haunted House subgenre of horror.  The story is well structured and full of interesting characters.  However, it would have been nice to have a few more scenes between Father and Daughter in respect to Angela's character as this would not only have strengthened and filled her out more but would have added a better depth to the story.  It also would have added more power to climax when Angela's dad (Munro) comes to save her.

The director does a wonderful job of creating the scene of a town/village which has seen better days.  This is great as it adds to the believability and reality of the story.  People have problems and they are doing their best to survive... everything isn't rosy.  I also have to give credit for the opening sequence which throws the audience straight into the action and sets the scene, pace, and atmosphere for the rest of the movie.

With all the horror films out and about that stomp over well-worn scenarios, it's refreshing to have a twist. It's also nice to have a decent director filming - all too often the direction itself is one of the major things to harm a film (contrary to belief not everyone can make a good horror film).

As for the acting, it's well above par and the portrayals only add to the power of the film.  One of the best is Adrian (Suljic), though he doesn't say a word, he definitely has a presence throughout the whole film.

I would recommend this to all lovers of the horror genre and to those wishing to try something out of the field.  It's not the best but it's a great deal better than most in the genre and well worth a viewing... or two...

I give this fear flick a head-scratching and nerve-jangling 7.25 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Paranormal Island

Paranormal Island

2014

Caretaker Production Companies / Full Throttle Pictures

Cinidigm / VMI Worldwide

4.75 / 10

This wasn't going to be anything more than your everyday garden-variety horror film, especially after you read the blurb.  Three college students take jobs at the club on the man-made island to earn a little cash, however, Mike has heard the rumours of strange ghostly happenings on the Island and sees a chance to get some extra credit for his forensics course.  This is the first of many holes in the story - Mike is doing a forensics course with an inclination for disproving the paranormal...  Since when, and in what world, has the plea of the "The Ghost Killed Them!!!" or "The Devil Possessed Me!!!" ever been a truthful, credible, and winning defence.  Then later in the film, he claims this job is a "Normal Job" - Yeah Right!

These bad lines actually go to show how good the acting abilities of the cast are as the leads are quite believable in their portrayals... and they never appear to be on the verge of laughing their heads off with some of their lines.  I was actually hoping the film would be better than it was since Briana Evigan, who play's Ivy, was staring.  Unfortunately, not so much if you're a bloke, I think she may have been chosen for the part because she looks great in a skimpy bikini.  However, her acting skills, along with Randy Wayne as Mike, Lance Henriksen as Carl, and Sarah Karges as Lori, help to keep this from being too bad.

There is just as much good as there is bad in the film.  I liked the fact that even though you've seen similar movies they chose not to give you your stereotypical teenagers.  These guys don't stay behind on purpose they are accidentally left behind after closing - too many films would have had them hiding away waiting for everyone to leave.  Then writer and director Marty Murrey does the obvious and gives you the ghost of Ivy's baby sister, who was drowned on the lake with their parents, and she helps them try to escape - you know this is coming as soon as the accident is mentioned.

Then there's the abysmal acting of Ben Elliott, playing Jerry, who is so wooden his second job is as a sideboard.  Worst still is Tony Valle as the DJ, Andy; this guy needed some serious direction for his character as he seems to be all over the place.

Though, by far, the worst thing about the film is the caretaker's ghostly apparition.  The special effects are pitiful.  I can't believe that in this day and age they couldn't have found someone to do a better job on the tight budget.  Most six-year-olds are quite decent with CGI, maybe one of the crew's kids could've come up with something.  Also, why did they bother at all since the spectral image of Ivy's sister was just a normal little girl in grey?  Also, the opening scene that takes place in the past is badly shot using sepia and a heavy vignette focus; all that was missing was the cinema lines and noise effects.

If you're new to horror films and are wanting to break yourself in easy then you could give this a shot.  If you're a fan of horror then you're going to watch this even if I warn you against it because Lance Henriksen stars.  Just be aware that it does slow down to a near stop around the midpoint, but it does pick up again, though it never quite reaches nerve tingling excitement.

Movie Review - Edgar Allan Poe's "Lighthouse Keeper"

Edgar Allan Poe's "Lighthouse Keeper" (2016)

Thunder Entertainment / Millman Productions

8.5 / 10

To all of the people involved in this movie, which if you waited to the credits isn't very many, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU, for making such a beautiful movie.

This has to be the most visually beautiful horror movie I have ever seen and it was a joy and a pleasure to watch.  I cannot tell how close to Poe's original story it kept to, though it has given me an incentive to root out my copy of Poe's tales and have a read, which is a marvellous bonus.

The story is set somewhere between the 1930's and the 1960's and the sets have been expertly set to give you the exact right feel.  There's hardly any knick knacks in the lighthouse, as these times were a less clutter-some place.  The only tech in the house is a gramophone; the lights are candles and oil burners; the stove is an iron wood burner; even the spices in the rack are in tins.  This alone is a nice touch; right down to the costumes.

The story is a slow burner which starts out as a smouldering ember and works into an all out forest fire.  There are three major characters; The Lighthouse Keeper, Walsh, portrayed brilliantly by veteran actor Vernon Wells. giving a believable performance as a man who, though not happy to be alone, has adapted to the solitude of being by himself, making him gruff, argumentative, and self-righteous.  J. P. played nicely by Matt O'Neill, is the sole survivor of a storm washed up on the Lighthouse's beach.  While waiting for the ferry to take him off the island strange things occur to him, he hears voices, bumps into a strange and mysterious woman, and wonders why the candles have to remain lit.  Rachel Riley gives a good performance as Nora, the mysterious woman who lives in the woods on the island and fall in love with J. P., though she may have something to do with the lighthouse keeper.

Benjamin Cooper does a fantastic job of unravelling the dark secrets of the characters; and though their secrets are very very dark Cooper makes a bold decision to shoot the majority of the movie in glorious daylight.  The scenery is so colourful and attractive I wanted to become the lighthouse keeper.  The camera shots are artistic and engaging.  I loved the fact that you could also see everything in the night shots; there was either moonlight or candlelight, which added to the great depth of the filmography (something you don't usually rate in a horror movie).  There were a couple of scene's that were jarred and disjointed, but I can forgive that because all the rest are so well done.

If you like ghost stories filled with mysteries and a few twists then I would recommend this.  When the movie started I thought I wouldn't like it, the rain in the storm was fake and it was a period piece.  Though, as the film progressed I became impressed with everything about the story and movie, to the point where this is now one of my favourite horror films.

Movie Review - We Are Still Here

We Are Still Here

2015

The Cast

This is a strange film as I really wanted to rate it more than the 6.5 I have, however, I just cannot as the movie could have been a lot better than it was.  There is an excellent cast with Barbara Crampton as the lead role, Anne Sacchetti.  The actors give a good performance, but what the movie suffers from are the long panoramic shots, and I mean long as in a time sense.  I know that they are there to build atmosphere and give the viewer a sense of the location but the director stays on the shot for too long.  This has the effect of slowing the movie down and gives it a disjointed feeling.

Then there is the bar come restaurant scene where everybody stops eating and watches the newbies enter the restaurant.  I think the director was going for ominous, but for me, it was ludicrously silly and only helped in lessening the film's power.  The scene should have hit the cutting room floor.

Then there is the soundtrack, which to say the least, is strange, especially in respect to the movie and the story.  It is set of psychedelic pop tracks that do not match mood or style.

All this said, there is something that draws you to the film.  The special effects are superb, from the ghostly shadow figures to the continually smouldering skin of the burn victims, which is beautiful in its own way.  When the strange events occur the director, Ted Geoghegan does an admirable job of building a spooky air and tension.

And if you like your gore then if you wait until the movie's climax you will have your fill.  There are some really good deaths and one really realistic one.

Usually, when I rate so low I don't recommend the film at all.  This time I recommend the movie to all horror movie watchers but with the warning that you will need to stay with it and to ignore the bad bits.

I enjoyed the film, in all its strangeness.  In honesty, I don't know if this is the film that the director wanted.  If it is, then he was trying something new and original, which is to be commended, though with this project I don't believe it worked too well.

I give this a supernatural smokey 6.5 out of 10.

The Trailer