Reviews

The beginning of this movie was a clear homage to Scream and I thought that was how the rest of the movie was going to be - an homage to classic horror movies with a mix of 90s nostalgia. However, that's not the case at all here. The only "homage" in the film after the opening is a rip-off shot from the Shining. The character work here is inept. Almost every single one of them, say for the brother character, reaches new heights of annoyance. In a slasher, you need a few of those unlikable teenagers that you wanna see get killed. The last character you want being presented in such a way is your protagonist. The protagonist here is so incredibly annoying, I wanted to see her die more than the drug dealer girl that made children sort and pack her pills. I realize that this is a book adaptation, but you're allowed to take liberties in order to present a competent feature. However, Netflix opted to throw this one together with very little effort and tease 2 prequels that seem a lot more interesting. I guess if the other 2 movies turn out to be good, maybe watch Part 1 to understand what's happening but otherwise this was really disappointing.

The story of this movie is the least interesting part of it, so here's a recap. There's a blood feud between vampires and lycans, Kate Beckinsale is a hot lycan hunter, the "bad guys" have concocted a sinister plot and there's a human involved.

While visual style is present on screen, there's barely any originality in the action. Nearly every shootout feels as if it was ripped straight out of the Matrix. The vampires are wearing black leather coats and there's even a shot of Kate Beckinsale running and gunning in slo-mo like Neo in the luggage control scene. It was so unapologetically shameless, I couldn't believe it. However, with all its issues, the action is fairly entertaining and since the movie is rated R, there's some nice blood spatter so you won't fall asleep while watching it.

My gripes don't end with the action, though. The acting is all over the place. It's safe to assume that Beckinsale wasn't hired for her performing skills as she is bland and emotionless throughout the runtime. You could try to justify this, since she is a ruthless and badass killer that's lived for so long, she's beyond emotions. Well, not really, because as soon as she sees the human (Scott Speedman), she immediately falls for him. I really doubt that an immortal vampire that's seen many generations of humans would suddenly break her covenant's code and run off with some dude. One of the characters even says - "Hmm, he's attractive for a human", just in case you can't figure out why the protagonist is into him so much. Speedman's acting is so atrocious though, it really threw me off. The central conflict of the movie requires the viewer to care about him and I was rooting for the bad guys the whole time.

Bill Nighy plays of the vampire elders and he's the best part of the movie by a long shot. The man stole every scene and his death was awesome, albeit the script didn't sell how much of a villain he actually was. It's a predictable twist and with all the information given to the viewer about his past and his motivations, I felt like it wasn't enough to get me on the protagonist's side. The accents were also inconsistent. Kate Beckinsale randomly switches between a british and an american accent, the guy who played Kraven had an extremely weird accent and his line delivery was poor at best.

The biggest problem with the movie is, unfortunately, the romance. It's the main motivation of the protagonist and it's extremely forced. She doesn't spend enough time with the human, there's only one scene where they sit down and actually talk. That scene is nothing but exposition though and it breaks the "show, don't tell" rule. You learn about the backstories of the two leads but the actors deliver them so poorly, you just don't care.

Overall, the movie has many problems but there are some cool visuals, some nice gore, and Kate Beckinsale in tight leather.

For all the people who call Eggers pretentious and self-indulgent, you clearly don't know Greek mythology. The light in the lighthouse is fire, Pattinson is Prometheus, Dafoe is Cronus. Sure, some common traits of the Titans have been altered but it's furthermore engaging to witness an original take on the legend of Prometheus and his conquest.

Both actors are incredible in the film, Pattinson stands out though, as his character(whether literal or metaphorical) has more of an arc. I do admit that if you don't know the myths, the story isn't as comprehensive. However, you can easily see this as a tale of two men going insane in a claustrophobic and isolated environment, with a tad bit of mysticism thrown in there(to explain Pattinson getting his guts eaten by seagulls in the last scene, as Dafoe warned him about killing the birds).

I hope people that read this review will stop bashing the movie, as it is absolutely against the mainstream extravaganza of Star Wars and superhero flicks that albeit fun, are starting to become highly repetitive. This is a great movie, and if it was just a little shorter, I would give it a 10, it dragged in the middle.

People really have to stop calling this a disgrace to Sparta and bash it for historical inaccuracies. Zack Snyder loves his obscure comic books and this is a prime example - 300 is one of the most faithful comic book adaptations ever put to screen.

First, for the flaws - even though this is an adaptation, there isn't much of a story here. There's a badass setup and then the film is basically a non-stop gore fest until the credits roll. The overabundance of monsters is distracting, as the novel had only one monster - the hunchback.

For the positives - Snyder wants testosterone-fueled buffed dudes to exhume the awesomeness portrayed on screen and he succeeds beautifully. The fight sequences are filmed marvelously and Snyder even started a trend of "fast-mo" editing, which after this movie got really annoying. It works here, though, as it fits the tone Snyder was going for. Gerard Butler embodies the role of Leonidas and just his pure charisma makes this movie a blast to watch.

Overall, this is an awesome movie, a great adaptation, and of Zack Snyder's best films.

I love the Conjuring. I love the Conjuring 2. I really like Annabelle: Creation. The rest of the franchise is ineptitude mixed with greed. So I was hoping that this Annabelle would be entertaining, considering that the director of this movie co-wrote the screenplay of the Conjurings. This movie sucked so bad that it made fall asleep for about 10 minutes. It is nothing but dumb characters slowly moving in a dark hallway, leading to an eventual jumpscare. All of the jumpscares are also very predictable, which just kills your fear.

Let me tell you the plot of this movie - Annabelle gets released by a stupid teenager, couple demons scare dumb kids, the kids catch Annabelle and put her back. Movie over. Whaaat?! Does not advance the plot at all, there's no impact or consequences because NO ONE DIES IN A RATED R HORROR MOVIE. Yes, no one died in the Conjurings. However, James Wan knows how to build scares and tension, thus fear for the death of characters is present. This movie just fell flat on almost every single aspect of it. The Warrens are good but they're on screen for 10 minutes. The artifact room is creepy. No more positives. Don't see this one

Split was the biggest surprise of 2017 for me, partly because M. Night Shyamalan can make movie on both sides of the spectrum, some are masterpieces(Sixth Sense, Unbreakable), some are bottomless pits of garbage(Last Airbender, After Earth, The Happening). When I found out this was a low budget thriller, I was immediately hooked, because it's a style Shyamalan utilized before with The Visit. Having to work with very little money, especially comparing to his other work, Shyamalan was able to construct a subtle, intense, brilliantly acted, and incredibly shot film with the one of the best performances from James McAvoy and a slow study of a character with DID on steroids. The ending is Shyamalan's second best. It's pointless not spoiling it, Glass just came out, so let me say that I was shocked beyond comprehension. It got a bit over-the-top with the beast being real and crawling on walls, taking bullets, and crushing people's bodies but the twist fixed everything. Since this is a supervillain origin story, all of the over-the-top aspects of the film became automatically fixed and more appreciated. Watch this one, guys.

Rob Zombie has a reputation for making exploitation flicks with some style but zero brains. I can honestly say that this is the best Zombie has to offer.

No Halloween sequel or remake can top the original, it's a known fact. Halloween has established itself as one of the finest horror movies in the industry and when you're Rob Zombie, you know you can't beat Carpenter. So you create something different.

Now, this movie has many problems, majorly due to Zombie's middle school script writing. The dialogue is mind-numbingly stupid and sometimes even annoying to listen to. Michael Myers' step dad is insufferable as a character and should not have even existed. Sheri Moon Zombie does an okay job, she's not annoying to observe. Malcolm McDowell legitimately tries and he is probably the best part of the movie, he is given a lot of screen time and it was a smart decision. Tyler Mane provides a scary Myers, he is so enormous and menacing that you can't help but get goosebumps from his portrayal of the infamous serial killer.

Most of the kills are pretty violent, which is always a treat, but none of them have much impact on the story, all of them just fill in the plot and not affect anything of high importance. The backstory for Myers is pretty dull to watch, partly because not much is happening, but also the kid who plays young Myers is pretty terrible. Also, when Michael kills his step dad, you can easily see the fake mask with blood on the step dad's throat.

I would suggest seeing it if you're a big slasher fan or horror fan in general, just don't expect much going in.