CiCi's horror reviews!

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Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
My You're Next review is up! I hope you all like it


This film had an amazing marketing campaign. I can’t remember exactly where it was, but I feel like they targeted L.A. and New York? Basically, they placed animal masks (like the ones seen in the film) over famous monuments all over the cities. They also placed shadowy silhouettes of the masked killers in the background of posters of other films that were displayed in bus stops, to create the illusion that they were standing behind whoever was viewing it (like the ones below). I’m sure plenty of other films have done similarly creative campaigns, but I vividly remember this one, so I just had to check out the film.


You’re Next is, essentially, a home invasion film. It follows an Australian woman named Erin (Sharni Vinson) who is travelling to visit the in-laws with her partner Crispian (AJ Bowen) in order to celebrate his parents’ 35th wedding anniversary where all of his siblings will be present. However, having seen a killer disguised by an animal mask murder a couple prior to their arrival, and with the mother, Aubrey (Barbara Crampton), hearing noises around their gigantic house, it’s immediately made apparent that the family have been targeted. So when the remainder of the Davison family eventually arrive with their partners, and they sit down for dinner, (for lack of a better phrase) **** basically just hits the fan, as the family are ambushed. Eventually calming themselves, they discuss what to do and Aimee (Amy Seimetz) runs out of the house to try and get help, but instead runs into a piano cord which slits her throat. Subsequently (after many more deaths), it is revealed that the whole attack has been orchestrated by Felix (Nicholas Tucci) and his girlfriend Zee (Wendy Glenn) who were inspired by financial motivations (they wanted the inheritance left by the parents imminently without having to share it) who then command the remaining killers to immediately locate and kill Erin. This fails, and Erin kills them all, where, in the finale, it is revealed that Erin’s own partner, Crispian, was also involved in the attack, Erin therefore kills him, but it shot by an onlooking police officer. Who, in turn, is presumably killed by a trap that Erin earlier created.

This is probably my worst summary of a film, and I really don’t do it much justice I think, but that’s because a great deal of events happen in very quick succession in this film, but I’ll attempt to cover these as best I can!

Positives

Unlike many horror films that contain one or two eruptive scenes but then can’t retain this consistency for the remainder of their duration, as soon as You’re Next transitions into its action sequences, the pace never drops, it’s turbulent, chaotic, and you’re barely able to keep up with what is happening in front of you, and in this aspect, director Adam Wingard is successful in conveying the chaotic and terrifying nature of home invasions.

However, the writing is also pretty good, and although it may not be the most original horror film of modern times, it’s perhaps one of the more intriguing and inventive ones. Silly tropes such as expecting assailants to perish after one whack to the head or teenage girls turning into experienced killing experts despite having never attended a single self-defence class in their lives are completely defied in this film, and they are done so by the leading protagonist, Erin. I appreciated the way they developed Erin too, she’s empowered, but she feels authentic, and her background isn’t too far fetched at all (she was raised in numerous military compounds for her father was heavily involved with the Australian military, resulting in Erin learning martial arts and survival skills throughout her childhood). Simultaneously, her isolated childhood does enable viewers to pity Erin as well, so Simon Barrett achieves multiple effects with minimal details, something I feel that not a great deal of writers would be able to accomplish. Additionally, Erin is devoid of any sexual connotations, another trope/common criticism of the genre. For example, whenever Erin is attacked, she grunts or wails in an aggravated way, she never ever releases a scream that could be mistaken as orgasmic pleasure, which is quite common within this genre, which again, Barrett is partly responsible for. So the writing is successful in approaching the genre in a new and fresh perspective, which I think is why this film generated so much publicity.

Sharni Vinson is quite good in her role too, however, I feel as though the writing heavily contributed to my liking of her character, because when I watched this film a second time (after being blown away by her performance the first time) I actually found that Ms.Vinson doesn’t display a great range of emotions and is a little bit distant when delivering some of her lines. Her facial expressions are usually accurate in conveying what Erin is feeling though. So overall, she’s okay in her performance, which is only elevated by the great writing that Barrett dedicated to her character.

The direction of the death scenes was pretty magnificent. The characters all stood a chance against their killers, so instantly we get a little tense and a little excited to see who will overcome who. Additionally, it features a pretty amazing two onto one fight that features women going at each other with everything they’ve got, instead of them just pulling at each other’s hair or slapping one another. Within this very scene, the black humour that the film tries to implement actually works. I never laughed out loud though, but it was pretty humorous nonetheless, which is how I feel comedy should be delivered in horror films (I don’t particularly feel horror-comedies work at all).

The soundtrack was actually pretty great too, and I wasn’t expecting this at all considering the small budget that the film was created with. It always manages to enhance the effects Wingard attempts to create within several key moments layered throughout the film, and the “looking for the magic” song was a peculiar juxtaposition to the bleak nature of the film.

Negatives

The acting. Oh my, it’s pretty grim. Not even horror veterans like Barbara Crampton deliver remotely decent performances. The majority of them overact and go completely over the top (Margaret Laney/Kelly and Wendy Glenn/Zee), or they deliver their lines in an immature and childish way (Amy Seimetz/Aimee, Nicholas Tucci/Felix and AJ Bowen/Crispian) and it was quite a major put off for me at times. The remainder of the cast are only slight improvements as well, and are amateurish at best. Strangely, however, every cast member’s best moment has to be their death scenes, which is when the film is at it’s darkest and most frightening, and since the death scenes come thick and fast, the acting is tolerable overall; just.

This ultimately resulted in a cast of characters who I did not care for one bit. Their deaths are brutally violent, so inevitable you pity them somewhat, but other than that, I didn’t feel anything for any one of them (except for Erin, who is by far the most excellently crafted character in the film). So, in the end, the film didn’t have the emotional impact on me that it had the potential to do, which was quite disappointing.

Conclusion

The strong writing and proficient directing create many tense moments in this film, and with an inventive plot and a brilliant female lead, there was a lot of positive elements in this film. There aren’t loads of flaws, yet the ones that are there are very significant and do limit the overall quality of this film. So, I’ll give this film



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
I really enjoyed You're Next and your review of it. Glad that you somewhat liked it!
I did enjoy it! I didn't see the plot twists coming when I first viewed it actually, but some things did really put me off I have to admit



Nice to make your acquaintance, CiCi! This is shaping up to be a fantastic thread. It's great to see another member with such a strong passion for horror and exploitation. Your reviews are nicely detailed, well-written and well-organized. My only criticism would be the overly detailed plot descriptions. You're giving away the entire movie every time. Just give us two or three sentences about the basic premise and try to avoid spoilers as much as possible (or at least warn readers ahead of time). If someone has yet to watch the film, they want to keep some of the mystery alive. And if the person has already seen the film, they have no need to read a Cliff Notes version of a plot that they've already seen. We just want to hear what you thought of the movie. Plot summaries can be found elsewhere.

As for the films you've reviewed so far, I've only seen I Spit On Your Grave and You're Next. I Spit On Your Grave is one of the greatest movie titles ever, in my opinion, and I've always loved the poster. The film itself is just so-so, though. I dig the 70's aesthetic and the general attitude of the movie. The film is certainly memorable, too, so I'll give it that. But the never-ending rape eventually becomes comical more than disturbing. I love The Last House on the Left, so I had high expectations for I Spit On Your Grave, but I was pretty disappointed with it. Maybe I'd be a bigger fan of it on a re-watch since it features a lot of aspects that I typically seek out in horror films.

Despite all the people claiming otherwise, I didn't think You're Next did much to separate itself from other home-invasion movies. Nor did I think the few attempts at black humor worked very well. I was mostly bored by it since all the characters seemed the same to me. The ending was decent, though. And the blender to the head was a great kill.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the other movies you've reviewed. I've grown to love Suspiria, but so far it's the only Argento I've seen. There are some big giallo fans on the forum, like Swan and jiraffejustin and Nostromo87. I have a lot of respect for their opinion, so I keep meaning to go on a giallo binge at some point in the near future. I recently added American Mary to my watchlist after seeing it listed on some website as one of the best horror movies of the past few years. I've heard nothing but great things about [REC]. I've seen the American remake Quarantine, which was average at best. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! has been on my watchlist for years but I've still yet to watch it. I've been reading a bit about Russ Meyer lately, so I'm very curious to see just how sleazy and softcore porn-ish his films really are.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on The Last House on the Left and 28 Days Later -- two of my favorites. Oh, and welcome to the forum.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Nice to make your acquaintance, CiCi! This is shaping up to be a fantastic thread. It's great to see another member with such a strong passion for horror and exploitation. Your reviews are nicely detailed, well-written and well-organized. My only criticism would be the overly detailed plot descriptions. You're giving away the entire movie every time. Just give us two or three sentences about the basic premise and try to avoid spoilers as much as possible (or at least warn readers ahead of time). If someone has yet to watch the film, they want to keep some of the mystery alive. And if the person has already seen the film, they have no need to read a Cliff Notes version of a plot that they've already seen. We just want to hear what you thought of the movie. Plot summaries can be found elsewhere.

As for the films you've reviewed so far, I've only seen I Spit On Your Grave and You're Next. I Spit On Your Grave is one of the greatest movie titles ever, in my opinion, and I've always loved the poster. The film itself is just so-so, though. I dig the 70's aesthetic and the general attitude of the movie. The film is certainly memorable, too, so I'll give it that. But the never-ending rape eventually becomes comical more than disturbing. I love The Last House on the Left, so I had high expectations for I Spit On Your Grave, but I was pretty disappointed with it. Maybe I'd be a bigger fan of it on a re-watch since it features a lot of aspects that I typically seek out in horror films.

Despite all the people claiming otherwise, I didn't think You're Next did much to separate itself from other home-invasion movies. Nor did I think the few attempts at black humor worked very well. I was mostly bored by it since all the characters seemed the same to me. The ending was decent, though. And the blender to the head was a great kill.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the other movies you've reviewed. I've grown to love Suspiria, but so far it's the only Argento I've seen. There are some big giallo fans on the forum, like Swan and jiraffejustin and Nostromo87. I have a lot of respect for their opinion, so I keep meaning to go on a giallo binge at some point in the near future. I recently added American Mary to my watchlist after seeing it listed on some website as one of the best horror movies of the past few years. I've heard nothing but great things about [REC]. I've seen the American remake Quarantine, which was average at best. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! has been on my watchlist for years but I've still yet to watch it. I've been reading a bit about Russ Meyer lately, so I'm very curious to see just how sleazy and softcore porn-ish his films really are.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on The Last House on the Left and 28 Days Later -- two of my favorites. Oh, and welcome to the forum.
Thanks so so so so much for taking the time to write this! I think I do the summaries for myself, so I remind myself of exactly what happened but I'll certainly work on that now you've mentioned it!

I really like the poster for ISOYG too, it's just so reflective of the era I think, and apparently that woman in the poster is Demi Moore! Although it's never been confirmed. To be honest, I thought Last House wasn't too much better, I can't comprehend how Roger Ebert thought Last House was an amazing film yet damned Spit to the worst film ever made when they're really not very different at all (although I'm probably not picking up on something!)
I'd avoid watching it again though, one time was more than traumatic enough (for me anyway)

I haven't seen a great deal of home invasion films in all honesty which is probably one reason I liked it as much as I did!

Deep Red and Suspiria are like apples and oranges in my opinion, they're both great to me, however, they are very different films.

American Mary isn't a masterpiece, but it's certainly one of the most original horrors of the millennium, and Katharine Isabelle was incredible to say the least, I'd definitely still check it out though!
As for Russ Meyer, Pussycat is his only meaningful film that delivers some sort of message, the rest of his films are nothing but softcore porn his films aren't on John Waters' level though.

I'll get 28 days later up as soon as I can as well! and thanks again!



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
My first zombie review! I really hope you all like it!

I’m a huge fan of the zombie sub-genre. One of my favourite shows on TV is The Walking Dead but being British, I always wanted to find something zombie related that uses Britain as the central point for its setting. I even remember when there was speculation that Fear the Walking Dead could potentially be set somewhere in the UK, but that never came to fruition, yet Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later meant that I didn’t dwell on that fact for too long.

The plot focuses on an ordinary man named Jim (Cillian Murphy) who awakes from a coma 28 days after the initial outbreak of the highly contagious rage disease that has caused a total societal collapse and zombie infestation throughout the British isles. Upon meeting Selena (Naomie Harris) and eventually Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his teenage daughter, Hannah (Megan Burns) they soon find that the monsters outside aren’t the most deadly thing threatening their existence.

Positives

There are many of these, but perhaps the highlight of the film was the writing. Every single action, decision, interaction etc. felt totally real, nothing anyone ever did was beyond normal capabilities or rationality. The military’s actions and intentions of raping young female survivors to re-populate the country was a sickening thought, yet, the film showed us why they thought this was the only possible solution, and when desperate times call for desperate measures, well we would never ever condone it, but, we could vaguely understand their rationale and reasoning behind their beliefs, something that many writers have either failed to do or avoided altogether, in regards to their villains motivations. In fact, the film manages to reflect humanity almost perfectly, none of the characters are pristine and prime examples of humans that we should all aspire to be like, they all contained weaknesses and they all did or said things that were rather rude or nasty, yet for the majority of the time, they were characters who appreciated and cared for one another. In other words, they felt real, they really did feel like people you would meet in everyday life.

Another probable temptation that the film avoided was its avoidance of becoming an overly patriotic, propaganda, look-how-great (no pun intended)-Britain-is kind of film, which films like 2012 took the fatal mistake of choosing (except in that case, it’s pro-America, in literally every aspect) and it would have been easy to have made the British military look infallible and nothing but heroic and fantastic, yet they didn’t, and instead they used them as a kind of tool to explore humanity and morality within extreme circumstances, and due to the authenticity of the entire film, this has got to be the pinnacle of exploring our societies within the zombie sub-genre.

The zombies themselves were absolutely terrifying in this film, and due to their unbelievable stamina and endurance, it remains believable that the entire country collapsed in such a short amount of time, and when you compare this to The Walking Dead where they move less than 1 mile per hour and we are still expected to believe that the world’s most gifted and talented military and their equipment couldn’t handle them, it only, again, emphasises the accuracy and authenticity of the overall film.

Nevertheless, their ability to frighten largely falls under the responsibility of Danny Boyle, who delivers a magnificent direction. He manages to maintain a creepy and tense atmosphere throughout, regardless of whether the sequence is full of action, or silent and still. And having been to London in the summer of 2012, seeing the city completely derelict and dead has to be one of the most weird and bizarre viewing experiences I’ve ever experienced. However, this may have been lost on non-Brits perhaps?

I also really enjoyed the soundtrack, I’m not sure if it’s original, because I’ve heard it in numerous adverts and other things since, but either way, it worked in this film. It reflects the terror and anxiety of the characters and the circumstances that confront them, every touch of sound was perfect for the scenes it was paired with and it added a more poignant layer to the film in places too.

Negatives

Despite the strong cast, especially when you look at it retrospectively, the cast didn’t deliver amazing performances. I still did enjoy their performances don’t get me wrong, but all of the actors have done much better work, so it was a tiny let down. It was also quite hard to believe that Jim and Selena fell for each other too, because they just didn’t have that much of a chemistry at all. Additionally, Megan Burns couldn’t act to save her life, and she stuck out like a sore thumb alongside her experienced and more talented peers. I don’t understand Boyle’s decision in insisting she was cast sadly.

Also, some of the dialogue was a bit boring at times and it slowed down the pace a little. Again though, this isn’t a major criticism whatsoever. Also, another thing I just simply cannot make my mind up over, is the grainy, sort of cheap look to the film, that makes it look somewhat like a documentary. Children of Men took a similar, but different approach to this, and it worked excellently, but Boyle took more of a risk for the style of this will definitely be off-putting to more casual film-goers. However, this is again down to personal preferences, I wasn’t so much a fan of the look, but other people and critics praised it, so this aspect is perceived differently to every individual.

Conclusion

One of the greatest zombie films of the millennium without a doubt, with amazing direction and writing, that produced situations and characters that, frighteningly, aren’t too far removed from reality. The action sequences are excellent, and even in more calmer scenes, there is still a sense of dread in the background. However, the acting could have been slightly better, and some of the scenes may only appeal to the Brits (maybe). So I’ll give this film




Hi CiCi, I do agree with the Capt about plot spoilers in your reviews. I've not seen You're Next, but you have revealed the plot, the reason and the ending. Not a great idea as people won't want to read your reviews for fear of spoiling the whole film.

Thanks for your review of 28 Days Later, a big favourite of mine, you did much better at glossing over the plot . I don't really see it as a Zombie film tho, I'd see it as a film about a terrible infection that drives people into a frenzied rage. Not sure where your concerns about it being a patriotic British film come from, it's a British film ok but it's just set in Britain I don't see we'd be any better or worse at dealing with the sort of thing than any other country.
The soundtrack is fantastic. It's based on Godspeed You! Black Emperor's East Hastings from their first album - utter class



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Hi CiCi, I do agree with the Capt about plot spoilers in your reviews. I've not seen You're Next, but you have revealed the plot, the reason and the ending. Not a great idea as people won't want to read your reviews for fear of spoiling the whole film.

Thanks for your review of 28 Days Later, a big favourite of mine, you did much better at glossing over the plot . I don't really see it as a Zombie film tho, I'd see it as a film about a terrible infection that drives people into a frenzied rage. Not sure where your concerns about it being a patriotic British film come from, it's a British film ok but it's just set in Britain I don't see we'd be any better or worse at dealing with the sort of thing than any other country.
The soundtrack is fantastic. It's based on Godspeed You! Black Emperor's East Hastings from their first album - utter class
I think it's because the first film I've seen in a long while that is so distinctly British and when I think of other films so that are so distinctly revolved around one country, some of them become more bothered about the representation of themselves over anything else, if that makes sense? It did well to avoid becoming that sort of film, when it could have easily been.

I've seen people describe this film as that before, and I guess the same might apply for Rec? But everything about it seemed so reminiscent of other zombie films so I just heaped it in there.
I do apologise as well about You're Next! But I've learnt my lesson I promise

And thanks for that! I will have to check it out sometime



I should probably mention as well, if you have any recommendations for anything you'd like to see, please just let me know! It's actually much harder to to choose films than I first thought!
How about Death Line (AKA Raw Meat).
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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
How about Death Line (AKA Raw Meat).
I'd definitely like to read your thoughts on The Thing (1982)
I haven't seen either one, so I will add them to the opening post! Thanks very much for recommending them!



Love your review! I've seen every movie you just reviewed and the only one I dislike is American Mary. Nice Job! Pretty well-done
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Aww, CiCi, if you're into your horror films and you've not seen The Thing, you're in for a treat.
Make sure you get the '82 John Carpenter version starring Kurt Russell. The 2011 remake/prequel is total gash, avoid it.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Love your review! I've seen every movie you just reviewed and the only one I dislike is American Mary. Nice Job! Pretty well-done
Thanks very much, I'm glad you liked them!



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Aww, CiCi, if you're into your horror films and you've not seen The Thing, you're in for a treat.
Make sure you get the '82 John Carpenter version starring Kurt Russell. The 2011 remake/prequel is total gash, avoid it.
Yeah, the new one has that woman from the from the Final Destination (Mary Winstead?) film and she's never usually in anything good (that I've seen anyway)
But yeah, my parents like that and they usually hate horror films, so I will check it out! Thanks again



I think it's because the first film I've seen in a long while that is so distinctly British and when I think of other films so that are so distinctly revolved around one country, some of them become more bothered about the representation of themselves over anything else, if that makes sense? It did well to avoid becoming that sort of film, when it could have easily been.

I've seen people describe this film as that before, and I guess the same might apply for Rec? But everything about it seemed so reminiscent of other zombie films so I just heaped it in there.
I do apologise as well about You're Next! But I've learnt me lesson I promise

And thanks for that! I will have to check it out sometime
I do know what you mean, but I don't think as Brits we have to expect a kind of amplification of Britishness or an over emphasis on our identity. We can relax into ourselves, specially with a director like Boyle who's a decent guy who wouldn't make a jingoistic film. Have you seen his Millions? Love that.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
I do know what you mean, but I don't think as Brits we have to expect a kind of amplification of Britishness or an over emphasis on our identity. We can relax into ourselves, specially with a director like Boyle who's a decent guy who wouldn't make a jingoistic film. Have you seen his Millions? Love that.
You're so right, on the top of my head anyway, I can't think of an overly patriotic, pro-GB film. I haven't seen Millions either, but I'll check it out!



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Hi CiCi, enjoying reading your reviews - thankfully I've seen all bar one that you've done thus far but do have to echo the others' thoughts on spoilers .... maybe wrap the plot synopsis in spoiler tags? That way you can still write the reviews the way you enjoy but also not spoil it for those that have yet to see any particular film.


Although I like it a lot I'd have to put The Italian Job (original 1969) in that category ... absolutely reeks of overt patriotism but simply wouldn't be the same without it lol.
I'm going to put that at the opening of the thread I think, I do apologise though!

I haven't seen that film actually