TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! / 2001 MANIACS

TWO THOUSAND MANIACS!

Alternate Title:
2000 Maniacs

USA, 1964
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis

7/10

A super-hilarious and highly entertaining hillbilly splatterfest from the great Herschell Gordon Lewis, the Godfather of Gore.

Love the refreshing and quite original plot, and the fabulous soundtrack.
Most characters are highly amusing (most notably the Mayor), nearly all actors all deliver neat performances, the script is decently written and it's full of super-funny dialogue.
Highlights: all the brilliantly gory and quite unique kills (especially the cool 'barrel-roll' scene).

Simply an excellent exploitation classic!
(Review from 06/2009)

Wiki ~ Imdb

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2001 MANIACS
(Remake)

USA, 2005
Director: Tim Sullivan

3/10

A dumb and completely unnecessary remake, extremely boring, extremely tedious and totally unfunny, with a horribly written and paced script, lots of really stupid actors, annoying dialogue, terribly unoriginal kills and a really lame soundtrack.
The ending is nice and the performances from Robert Englund and Lin Shaye are quite cool, but apart from that, it just sucks.
(Review from 06/2009)

Wiki ~ Imdb

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2001 MANIACS: FIELD OF SCREAMS

German Title:
2001 Maniacs 2 - Es ist angerichtet

USA, 2010
Director: Tim Sullivan

1/10

Incredibly pathetic and super-stupid lowest-budget sequel 

with:
the most awful movie-set I've ever seen (a field with tents - that's it!!),

the worst-looking gore I've seen in a long time,
the worst acting I've seen in a long time 

(including an uber-annoying Bill Moseley and a completely underwhelming Lin Shaye)
loads of horrible dialogue and absolutely no plot.

A 1/2 for the so-so opening, a 1/2 point for the tits.

Wiki ~ Imdb

AFTER.LIFE

AFTER.LIFE

USA, 2009
Director: Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo

6/10

One of the weirder movies I've seen this year.
"After.Life" is a really strange kinda-psychological/kinda-supernatural horror-thriller - not bad, but not great either. The basic premise is cool but due to a weak script, the movie ended up disappointing and far from being as great
as it could have been.

Pros:

~ A splendid performance from the fabulous Liam Neeson.

~ A splendid performance from the uber-gorgeous
Christina Ricci (my goodness, that girl has tits!).

~ The whole movie was beautifully designed and wonderfully filmed.

~ Loads of atmosphere and a few chilling moments.

~ The quite unexpected ending is simply stunning.

~ "Exit Music (For A Film)", my absolute favorite Radiohead-tune, was played over the credits - yay!

Cons:

~ An extremely lame performance from Justin Long.

~ A badly written and paced script, including lots of boring and/or pointless scenes, and a few really stupid plot holes.

~ Large parts of the dialogue are annoyingly cheesy.

~ The scene where they ripped off the hospital-scene from "The Descent" is sooo poor, it hurts.

Wiki ~ Imdb

Random Troll2 Screenshot of the Week

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Patrick Rea: THE FLUFF / PRISONER EXCHANGE / WOMAN'S INTUITION / HELL WEEK

4 more films from Patrick Rea's extensive filmography:

THE FLUFF
(fake trailer)

USA, 2007

Director: Patrick Rea

10/10

Hilarious and gloriously entertaining, but also incredibly well-made and good-looking fake trailer for a
black-and-white 50s horror movie about killer-cotton which mocks classics like "The Blob", "The Thing" or "The Stuff".

I had a blast watching this, especially because of the Fluff-O-Rama,

the funny taglines ("More shocking than The Notebook", "100% Cotton, 100% Terror") and the amusing dialogue ("My god, it's... cotton!" - That's not possible.").
Super!

Imdb
Watch it here!

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PRISONER EXCHANGE AT BANNON'S LOOKOUT
(8minute short)

USA, 2007

Director: Patrick Rea & Kendal Sinn

8/10

Interesting and thrilling story about kidnapping, annoying reporters, gunshooting hicks, weird creatures and aliens(?).

It's brilliantly written and filmed, lighting and settings look really cool, the editing is strong and (Rea trademark) the soundtrack is just fabulous.
Highlights: the few shots from the creature's arms
and the stunningly fantastic ending.
Very good!

Watch it here!

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WOMAN'S INTUITION

(8minute short)

USA, 2008

Director: Patrick Rea

10/10

This little film about a woman's intuition with a twist is undoubtedly one of Rea's best works so far. An awesome, original and intelligent story, perfectly written and wonderfully filmed.

Main actress Megan Carter is a beautiful woman that delivers an insightful and very believable performance.

The direction is strong and the script is flawless. Kudos to Ryan S. Jones for a wonderful score, and kudos to Josh Robison for the tight editing.

Furthermore, I have to mention the awesomeness of the ending... jeez, this ending is so incredibly mindblowing, it's stunning.

Absolutely amazing, wow!

Watch it here!

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HELL WEEK

(10minute short)

USA, 2011

Director: Patrick Rea

10/10

"Hell Week" is one of Rea's newest works. I had the honour to watch an almost finished but not yet released version of it - and to my amazement, Rea once again blew my mid.

It's a ravishing yet quite brutal film about fraternity rituals, a mean bet and a punishment that got out of control.

Every single actor delivers a brilliant.performance.

The editing is top notch (love all the transitions between the colorful girls' room and the dark 'ritual room').

Script and direction are perfect, the pumping soundtrack is highly effective, the dialogue is cool and the shocking ending is... well, shocking!

Hands down Mr. Rea, "Hell Week" is simply awesome!

Imdb

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Don't forget to check out my interview with  Patrick Rea

and my reviews for his other movies

Do Not Disturb / Get Off My Porch / Next Caller /
Mrs. Brumett's Garden / Misfortune Smiles /
Now That You're Dead / Paint Shaker / Torture Porn / Time's Up, Eve

Furthermore,

check out the amazing trailer for Rea's forthcoming full length feature

"NAILBITER"

www.senoreality.com 

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Out on the open sea: THE REEF / OPEN WATER / OPEN WATER 2: ADRIFT

THE REEF

German Title:
The Reef - Schwimm um dein Leben

Austrlia, 2010
Director: Andrew Traucki

8/10

Of course, it's no "Jaws" and of course, it doesn't reinvent the wheel - nevertheless, "The Reef" is a bloody brilliant and absolutely kick-ass shark-flick in the vein of "Open Water" (see below),

directed by Andrew Traucki, the man behind "Black Water", IMO one of the best crocodile flicks ever made.

It's highly suspenseful and thrilling from beginning to end (including many cool shocks and awesome edge-of-seat scenes), perfectly written and paced without ever getting boring.

The direction is tight, photography and cinematography are really beautiful, and the soundtrack is pretty nice.

What I liked most about it is how much value Traucki placed on realism.

Just like in "Black Water", we get to see a few great actors who deliver some highly believable performances. Further, the whole capsize-situation seems very plausible and the shark attacks all look tremendously realistic.

One of the best shark-horror-films ever made!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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OPEN WATER

USA, 2003
Director: Chris Kentis

7,5/10

Gripping and pretty intense low-budget handheld-cam classic. 

Not really a horror film but more of a powerful and horrifying out-of-sea drama.

A bit too slow-paced and tedious in the first half, yet incredibly tense and emotional in the second half, thanx to a convincing script, many brilliant dialogue lines and the amazing performances from Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis.

Highlights: the cool camera work, the stunning shark attacks and the absolutely outstanding ending.

Great!

(Review from 12/2009)

Wiki ~ Imdb

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OPEN WATER 2: ADRIFT

Alternate Title:
Adrift

German Title:
Open Water 2

Germany, 2006
Director: Hans Horn

6/10

Considering the fact that
a) this has nothing to do with part 1 and
b) is merely a cash-in on the success of part 1,

this is a surprisingly well-made survival-drama which entertained me for the greater part.

The good:

Loads of nice plot twists and shocking death scenes. Loads of quite suspenseful and intense moments.

Some beautiful camera work, a terrific main actress (Susan May Pratt) and an interesting ending.

The ok:
Nothing special about the other actors, at least their performances are all quite decent.

The bad:

Many horribly illogical plot points, a few annoyingly stupid scenes and a badly paced last third.

Wiki ~ Imdb

Joe Dante's THE HOLE

THE HOLE

Alternate Title:
The Hole in 3D

USA, 2009/2010
Director: Joe Dante

5/10

Joe Dante, director of terrific genre-classics like "The 'Burbs", "Gremlins" or "Piranha", tried to revive his career with this well-intentioned 80s throwback - but sadly he failed.

What's good:
It has a fabulous 80s feel to it that reminds me of various 80s classics from Wes Craven, Tibor Takács and Steve Miner.
The first 30 minutes or so are genuinely creepy and thrilling. We ge to see some fantastic camera work and a few stunning-looking settings (an abandoned amusement park, Creepy Carl's lamp-room, the surreal-looking place in the climax...).

The acting is quite neat, the dialogue is entertaining and the soundtrack is pretty effective.

What's bad:

Instead on focusing on the hole or what's in the hole, the movie's focussing on 3 things that come out of the hole which are meant to be creepy, but actually aren't creepy at all (a lame ghost girl, a silly Poltergeist-like clown doll and an uninteresting killer father).
Nearly everything between the first 30 minutes and an ok but still mediocre ending,
is tedious and boring. The plot is illogical, the script is weak and the special effects often look quite poor.

An ok but forgettable flick.

Wiki ~ Imdb

ALONE IN THE DARK 1 & 2

ALONE IN THE DARK

Canada / Germany / USA, 2005
Director: Uwe Boll

2/10

Things that came to my mind while and after watching this disastrous videogame adaptation
from the notorious Uwe Boll:

~ If there was anything tense or thrilling or interesting or whatever, I musta missed it. 

~ If there were any decent or amusing dialogue lines here, then I musta missed them.

~ If there was any plot in here, I musta missed it.

~ I hate video game adaptations.

~ Christian Slater's acting was pretty lame.

~ Stephen Dorff's acting was pretty lame.

~ Tara Reid's acting was plain horrible.

~ Character development = non-existent.

~ The camera work was just annoying.

~ The soundtrack was as annoying as the camera work.

~ The scene where Slater's fuckin' Reid while Neneh Cherry & Youssou N'Dour's "Seven Seconds" is playing, is one of the most ridiculous things I've seen in my entire life.

~ Uwe Boll is about as untalented as Ed Wood.

~ At least, the opening scene was quite ok and the creatures looked kinda neat.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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ALONE IN THE DARK II

German Title:
Alone In The Dark 2 - Das Böse ist zurück

USA / Germany, 2008
Directors: Michael Roesch & Peter Scheerer

1/10






 

Things that came to my mind while and after watching Part 2
which surprisingly was even worse than Part 1

~ I thought that "Produced by Uwe Boll" means "Better than an Uwe-Boll-directed film" - seems like I was wrong.

~ For whatever reason, this has absolutely nothing to do with Part 1.

~ The story in here is so incredibly stupid, it hurts.

~ Script = non-existent.

~ Soundtrack = z-grade John Carpenter rip-off.

~ Tension, atmosphere, fun, anything = non-existent.

~ Most of the CGI was so awful, it was almost unbearable.

~ Bill Moseley's acting was absolutely horrible.

~ Ralf Möller's acting was almost unbearable.

~ Rest of the cast: forgettable - except for Lance Henriksen and Danny Trejo, the 2 only ok things in here.

~ Piece of shit movie.

Wiki ~ Imdb

Hell Yeah: THE CONVENT

THE CONVENT

German Title:
Convent - Biss in alle Ewigkeit

USA, 2000
Director: Mike Mendez

7/10

It is beyond me why this hilarious kinda-80s splatter-comedy with lots of demons and shit, is so frighteningly underrated. 

Ok, it might be a bit unoriginal as it's obviously a rip-off of "Night Of The Demons" - but hey, who cares?

It's as entertaining as Part 1 AND Part 2 of the NOTD-series,

and it's about as entertaining as other classic 80s comedies like "Evil Dead 2" or "Re-Animator".

The cast:

A wonderful performance from the great Adrienne Barbeau (as nun/demon-killing motorcycle bitch), as well as cool cameos from Coolio and Bill Moseley (as silly police officers).

The teen actors are all quite forgettable, but at least they're all fun.

The gore:

Amazing! We get to see gallons of great-looking gore, many decapitated heads, skinned faces, bitten off genitals, a blood-shower etc. etc.

The demons:

They all look absolutely great, especially because of the effective make-up, their funny transforming (sped up and accompanied with some kick-ass techno music) and their cool nun habits.

The dialogue:

Loads of really funny dialogue and cool one-liners,
f.e.:

"So, my brother's gonna be the Antichrist?" - "'Fraid so." - "Mom's gonna be pissed!"
~

"Look frat boy. I'm a virgin. I'm certainly not losin' it to some player like you. Savin' myself for... Marilyn Manson."
~

"How dare you speak to the Prince of Evil that way, you slut!" - "The Prince of Evil? You work at fuckin' Dairy Queen."

"Liar!" - "Liar my ass. You served my cousin and me a snackerwizard last week."

Anything else?

Yes. Great-looking settings, an amusing soundtrack, a stunning intro and a really rad ending.

Overall,

an absolutely bonkers and highly entertaining fun-flick. Bravo Mr. Mendez!

Imdb

SCAR

SCAR

Alternate Title:
Scar 3D

USA, 2007/2010
Director: Jed Weintrob

2/10

An awful and incredibly unoriginal leftover from the torture-porn craze, finally released last year when suddenly everything had to be in 3D.

Apart from a few ok gore-scenes, the only good thing about "Scar" is the amazingly talented but still highly underrated Angela Bettis 

who delivers a solid performance

- though it's really, really sad to see her acting in crapfrests such as this,

because everything else in here plain sucks:

loads of stupid and uninteresting characters played by lousy actors, an imbecile and completely unsuspenseful script, horrendous dialogue and a couple of annyoingly 'extreme' tortures/kills that are about as out of place as in similar TP-disasters like "Train".

Ugly 'stroke material' for Eli-Roth-admirers.

Wiki ~ Imdb

"THE EMBALMER" (Pure Terror 50 Movies Pack, #21)

THE EMBALMER

Original Title:
Il mostro di Venezia

Alternate Title:
Monster of Venice

Italy, 1965
Director: Dino Tavella

3/10

Horribly tedious, pointless and forgettable Italo-schlock about a lunatic who roams the Venetian canals to abduct, kill and embalm young and beautiful Italian ladies.

What's bad:

Dino Tavella's direction is just plain awful - gladly this was the last film he ever directed.

It's horribly written and paced, and it's filled with scenes that are either boring or just pointless (especially all the useless Venice-tourism-promo-video-scenes - "Oh, it's so lovely here!", "Venice is so beautiful!" etc. etc.).

The actors are all untalented, the dialogue is rubbish, the soundtrack is silly and the edting is amateurish.

What's good:

There are a few mildly suspenseful scenes in the last 15-20 minutes, the killer's outfit looks cool (skull mask + monk's robe) and the performance of the kinda-Elvis-impersonator is quite funny.

Overall, harmless but deifintley not recommendable 60s nonsense.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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ROTTING HILL

ROTTING HILL
(4minute short)

New Zealand, 2011
Director: James Cunningham


8/10

A funny little short movie from the New Zealand Media Design School's Graduate Diploma of Advanced 3D Productions (long name, huh?) which, of course, has nothing to do with "Notting Hill" :-)

The movie itself may be a bit silly (zombies in love... well, why not) but eventually, it's more about the brilliant-looking CGI effects which the students created in about 12 weeks and look way better than anything SyFy or The Asylum have ever produced.

Furthermore, the acting is neat, the camera work looks great and that tune from Space Waltz is just marvellous.

Great work!

Watch it here!

Girl Power!!! - Reviews for: FUN / HEAVENLY CREATURES / LA CÉRÉMONIE

Since I first saw "Thelma & Louise", I had a thing for 90s movies which focus on 2 women or 2 girls who team up for something / against something / because of something.

In this little article I wanna introduce to you 3 of those movies which I absolutely adore. I admit, they're not horror movies, but they all have three things in common:

1) they are all quite disturbing,

2) they end with a brutal murder, and

3) they all hit me emotionally

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FUN

German Title:
Fun - Mordsspaß

Canada, 1994
Director: Rafal Zielinski

10/10

What is it:

An incredibly intriguing indie-crime-drama, yet for whatever reason incredibly unknown and underrated.
Saw this 8-9 years ago and I immediately fell in love with it.

What's it about:

2 misfit teenage girls, Hillary & Bonnie, who meet one day, become fast friends, passionately enjoy doing fun stuff and eventually kill an elderly lady 'just for fun'.

Tell me more:

I love how the story is written, filmed and told in some Memento-kinda way, with the linear plot in black/white and all the flashbacks in colour.

I love the uber-intense performances from Renée Humphrey and Alicia Witt which are IMO 2 of the most overwhelming acting performances I've ever seen. Gosh, just watch Witt raving and bouncing around and you know what I mean.

It has an interesting soundtrack consisting of nice 90s electronic music and classical stuff from Händel, we get to see lots of cool-looking settings, the dialogue is mostly quite entertaining, the killing scene is stunningly unsettling and uthe unexpected ending is just awesome.

Final Verdict:

I can't really explain why, but to me, this movie is simply a masterpiece.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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HEAVENLY CREATURES

Alternate German Title:
Himmlische Kreaturen

New Zealand / Germany, 1994
Director: Peter Jackson

9,5/10

What is it: 

Peter Jackson's first non-splatter-movie, a remarkable movie about the Parker-Hulme murder case.

Saw it sometime in the 90s and immediately fell in love with it.

What's it about: 

Juliet and Pauline, 2 teenage girls, totally devoted to each other, sharing a huge love for fantasy worlds, literature and opera music, eventually killing Pauline's mother who wants to end their relationship.

Tell me more:

A powerful and beautiful work of art, next to "Braindead" and the LOTR-saga Jackson's best work yet.

Visually a feast for the eyes, thanks to the outstanding-looking camera work, the brilliant-looking landscapes of New Zealand and the fantastically designed fantasy world.

Nearly every single actor delivers a great performance, especially the 2 girls (Kate Winslet & Melanie Lynskey), Clive Merrison and Sarah Peirse.

It's also full of intense and emotional scenes, suspenseful moments and wonderfully written dialogue.

The soundtrack is chilling and the brutal killing scene is just awesome.

Final Verdict:

A terrific must-see movie, not only for Jackson-fans.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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LA CÉRÉMONIE

German Title:
Biester

France / Germany, 1995
Director: Claude Chabrol

9/10

What is it:

A tense and intelligent thriller-drama from the great Claude Chabrol.

My mom recommended this to me a couple of years ago. I watched it and immediately fell in love with it.

What's it about:

The weird Sophie and the insane Jeanne become very close friends and eventually murder the upper-class family Sophie's working for.

Tell me more:

A phenomenal Euro-arthouse movie and clearly one of Chabrol's best works from the last 20-25 years.

Starts out quite slow but gets more and more suspenseful and thrilling (Hitchcock style) until to an absolutely shocking ending.

The acting is just amazing: an excellent Sandrine Bonnaire and a completely wacko Isabelle Huppert (btw, my favorite actress of all time).

Script and camera work are fantastic, the dialogue is brilliant and the settings all look just gorgeous.

Final verdict:

French suspense-cinema at its best.

Wiki ~ Imdb

Sing it, Jason!

OUTCAST (2010)

OUTCAST

UK / Ireland, 2010
Director: Colm McCarthy

6/10

Not exactly sure what to make of this Scottish low-budget horror thriller

about hungry demons, black magic, social workers and welfare cases.

On the one hand, it's highly original and refreshing, especially because it deals with themes that we don't see that often in horror movies (Paganism, life in slum areas, mental retardation).

Nearly all actors deliver awesome performances, especially the incredible and fantastic-looking Kate Dickie.

The settings look great (abandoned houses, rundown factories), the gore is nice and the special effects look neat.

On the other hand, it's pretty annoying that the movie throws up oodles of questions without ever answering it, due to a muddled script and a crude plot.

The pacing in the first half isn't always right and the main monster looks a bit silly.

Not a perfect movie, but at least they tried to do something different.

Wiki ~ Imdb

finally complete: The RINGU/RING movies

RING

Original Title:
Ringu

Alternate Title:
The Ring

German Title:
Ring - Das Original

Japan, 1998
Director: Hideo Nakata

9/10

Absolutely terrific and highly original Japanese horror-alltime-classic. Although it didn't impress me as much as the US remake did (which I've seen first - see below),
it's still a terrifically haunting ghost story and definitely one of the best Asian horror flicks I've ever seen.

It's super-tense, super-creepy and incredibly atmospheric, especially in the first half. The plot is well-developed and the script is brilliantly written and paced.
It's packed with many unforgettably eerie scenes and shots (the distorted faces of the victims, the distorted faces in the photos, the grotesque video, the well, the scene where Sadako crawls out of the TV etc.).

Furthermore, the actors' performances are all gripping and very believable (especially the beautiful Nanako Matsushima and the young Rikiya Ôtaka), we get to see some tremendously awesome camera work, it's full of really frightening sound effects and IMO the settings look beautiful and are all very well chosen.

An instant must-see classic!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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RING: SPIRAL

Original Title:
Rasen

Alternate Titles:
The Spiral / Ring: The Spiral / Ring 4: The Spiral

Japan, 1998
Director: Jôji Iida

3/10

"Rasen", the forgotten sequel, filmed and released simultaneously with "Ring" for reasons of money.
Well... while "Ring" became one of the most successful Japanese movies in history,
"Rasen" became one of the biggest Japanese box office flops - and it's easy to see why.

It's not nearly as scary and suspenseful as the original, especially because of a horribly tedious and boring pace.
The plot sucks and the script is a confusing, complicated and uninteresting mess. Large parts of the dialogue are simply stupid and the ending is undoubtedly one of the worst endings in movie history.
Some decent acting performances, good camera work and a few ok scenes - everything else is just crap.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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RING 2

Original Title:
Ringu 2

Alternate Title:
The Ring 2

Japan, 1999
Director: Hideo Nakata

6,5/10

After the box office failure of "Rasen", the film studios decided to produce a new sequel which is more similar to the original, and although "Ring 2" is far from being a masterpiece, it's at least entertaining enough to satisfy "Rasen"-haters like me.

The pacing is bad, due to too many dull and unsuspenseful scenes where simply nothing happens. It also fails to be as scary as the original, there are a few scenes and shots that seemes just stupid or laughable to me (the reconstructed head, the energy-transfer experiment...), and I even hated a few of the plot points (especially the ridiculous quasi-possession of Yoichi).

Nevertheless, there is also a decent amount of pretty creepy and stunning scenes, such as the opening, the tape-erasing and the spectacular finale. The acting and the cinematography are once again terrific, soundtrack and sound effects are highly effective, it's mostly about as atmospheric as the first part
and the emotional subplot about the young girl and the reporter, which leads into the shocking "Shutter"-like epilogue, is just excellent.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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RING 0: BIRTHDAY

Original Title:
Ringu 0: Bâsudei

Alternate Titles:
Ring 0 / The Ring 0: The Birthday

Japan, 2000
Director: Norio Tsuruta

8/10

Wow, this one's turned out to be waaaay better than I expected!
"Ring 0" is a fantastic prequel to the original "Ring". Not really horror, more of a horror-drama and very reminiscent to "Carrie" (but in a good way!).

Director Norio Tsuruta and screenplay-writer Hiroshi Takahashi did a great job on telling the origins of the good and the evil of Sadako. The whole movie is well written and very well paced, including a huge amount of eerie atmosphere, many haunting and frightening scenes, a few shocking moments, but also many emotional and touching scenes.

I also totally love how great the movie looks, due to some powerful camera work, superb lighting and loads of beautiful and well-chosen settings (the theater, the forests...).

Furthermore, the cast is absolutely amazing, mainly because of the stunning Yukie Nakama, one of the strongest and most beautiful Japanese actors I've ever seen.

"Ring 0" is a really terrific movie and IMO the best prequel I've seen since "TCM: The Beginning".

Highly recommended to everyone who loves the original Ring and/or Asian Horror in general.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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The South Korean remake:

THE RING VIRUS

Alternate Title:
Ring Virus

South Korea, 1999
Director: Kim Dong-bin

8/10

Wow, just wow!

"The Ring Virus", a South Korean remake which focuses more on the original "Ring" novel, really knocked me off my feet because I liked it about as much as the original.

I admit that a few scenes are a bit too similar too Hideo Nakata's adaptation (especially the ending), but apart from this minor flaw, I totally enjoyed it!

The story is deeper and more detailed here, including a few 'new' plot points and scene variations that really, really impressed me (the rape/kill flashback and other pretty interesting flashbacks, the overwritten ending of the video, a girl instead of a boy, etc.).
I adore the super-stunning cinematography (gorgeous photography, stunning panning-shots) and I adore the magnificent main actress Eun-Kyung Shin which delivers a fantastic performance.
It's also highly thrilling, eerie and atmospheric, the dialogue is very well written and the soundtrack was beautifully composed.

An underrated South Korean gem that definitely deserves more recognition.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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The US remakes:

THE RING

German Titles:
Ring / The Ring - Das Grauen schläft nie

USA / Japan, 2002
Director: Gore Verbinski

10/10

As much as I enjoyed the original, the prequel and the Korean remake - nothing, absolutely nothing comes close to the American remake (which was the first Ring-themed movie I've seen), one of the very movies that almost scared me to death. I'd even say that watching it at the theater back in 2002 was the scariest in-theater-experience of my life.

Not as atmospheric and subtly suspenseful as the original, but rather shockingly scary and impressively frightening, including many scenes that still creep the shot out of me (the opening, the short girl-in-the-cupboard scene, the horse suicide, the bath electrocution, a few terrifiying dream sequences...).

Naomi Watts' performance is stunning,

Hans Zimmer's score is extremely haunting,

Bojan Bazelli's camera work is tremendously powerful

and Gore Verbinski's direction is almost flawless (this guy seriously needs to do at least one more horror movie).

We ge to see loads of creepy settings (cabin #12, the farmhouses and barns on Moesko Island), a few great special effects, some great lighting and some wonderful colours (most notably the fiery tree). 

The script is brilliant and the dialogue is absolutely neat.

An outstanding movie and one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Thumbs up!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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RINGS
(14minute short)

German Title:
Ringe

USA, 2005
Director: Jonathan Liebesman

8/10

"Rings" is a quasi-promotional short prequel to "The Ring 2", made for the Collector's Edition DVD of "The Ring" - and it's amazing how great it is. It's actually, way, waaaaayyy better than the awful sequel.

It follows a really interesting storyline, it's well written and filmed, eerie and highly suspenseful it's full of cool-looking effects and amazingly scary scenes, the cast is great and the soundtrack is chilling.

I would give everything to see this one as a full-lenght feature.

becuase this is the movie that actually should have been the real sequel.

Excellent!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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THE RING TWO

Alternate Title:
The Ring 2

German Titles:
Ring 2 / The Ring 2 - Das Grauen kehrt zurück

USA, 2005
Director: Hideo Nakata

2/10

I hated it back then when it came out, and it's still as horrible as I remembered it to be.

This sequel is so incredibly horrible, it makes you wonder what they put in Hideo Nakata's drink - I mean, how could the man who is responsible for the awesome original, shoot something so incredibly lame and boring as this lousy piece of crap.

Apart from an ok opening, nothing, absolutely nothing in here is scary or thrilling or enjoyable or anything. Just lots of dreadfully tedious and/or completely unimpressing/forgettable scenes.

The plot is stupid, the CGI effects look cheap, most of the dialogue is dumb, Naomi Watts acts like she doesn't know what she's doing here, the camera work is rather weak and the score is dull and repetitive.

An insult to everything Ringu/Ring-related, a horrible movie.

Wiki ~ Imdb

WHITE SKIN

WHITE SKIN

Original Title:
La peau blanche

Alternate Title:
Cannibal

Canada, 2004
Director: Daniel Roby

7/10

What a pleasant surprise: "White Skin" is an original and quite intelligent variation on the vampire/succubus-theme, sadly quite overlooked and underrated.

It's a slow-moving but pretty suspenseful movie, that deals with various interesting themes, such as racism, vampirism, treatment of cancer, obsessive love and family ties.

Technically it's just brilliant, especially in terms of the absolutely stunning photography and the splendid lighting.

It's very well written and very well directed, the visual and make-up effects all look great, and the calm but highly effective soundtrack is just excellent.

Biggest highlight: the wonderful cast. Every single actor delivers a marvellous performance, especially the strangely beautiful Marianne Farley and the extremely likable Frédéric Pierre.

Flaws: a bit too slow in the middle and a quite unsatisfactory ending.

Apart from that, everything else is just great. Highly recommended!

Wiki ~ Imdb

The 30 DAY HORROR CHALLENGE retrospection - PART 2!!

After the huge 'success' of Part 1, it was obvious that Big Daddy had to come up with a sequel

- and here it is, Part 2 of Big Daddy's "30 Day Horror Challenge":



Day 1
Other than the blood and guts, a film you wish you could go live your life in for one day:

Sergio Martino's "TORSO",
a wonderful 70s giallo full of absolutely beautiful girls who are constantly naked and/or have sex - paradise! :-)

Day 2

Character you had a crush on as a kid:

ELLEN RIPLEY (Sigourney Weaver) - tough, cool, sexy.
I simply love her!

Day 3
Character you would kill yourself:

Scout Taylor-Compton is so annoying as LAURIE STRODE in Rob Zombie's "Halloween" remake, I'd love to hack her to pieces

Day 4

Favorite Final Girl:

IMO there can be only one Final Girl, the original LAURIE STRODE (Jamie Lee Curtis), the uber-goddess who gloriously appears in Halloween 1, 2, 7 & 8.

Day 5
Character who you know is secretly gay:

Haha, this one's easy. Johnny Depp as ICHABOD CRANE in "Sleepy Hollow".

Day 6

Character/Actor you would want to fuck:

Milla Jovovich as ALICE ("Resident Evil"). Nuff said!

Day 7
Favorite villain (human):

Dennis Hopper as FRANK BOOTH in "Blue Velvet". One of the most entertaining and most fascinating villains of all time.
"Heineken? Fuck that shit. Pabst Blue Ribbon!!"

Day 8:

Character you would want as your BFF:

Of course SHAUN and ED from "Shaun Of The Dead"!

Both are super-funny, drink beer, love 80s music and know how to kill off zombies! :-D

Day 9
Most offensive character:

Tough question... I choose LE TENIA, the horribly brutal and nasty rapist from "Irreversible".

Day 10

Character you wish you could slap some sense into:

MICHAEL WILLIAMS, that stupid guy from "Blair Witch Project" who kicked the map into the creek. I would not only slap sense into him, I would also slap the shit out of him!

Day 11
Vamp you would let bite you:

Oh yeah, SATANICO PANDEMONIUM!! Bite me, you sexy bitch!!

Day 12

Favorite villain (non-human):

The CRAWLERS from "The Descent". They're creepy, brutal, dangerous and they look pretty disgusting. I like! :)

Day 13
Character you would want to swap clothes with:

Laugh if you want but I always loved the simple but effective look of DAVID in "The Lost Boys".

Day 14

Favorite zombie:

TARMAN!!!

"Braaaaiiinss!!"

Day 15
Killer you could easily kill yourself:

CHARLIE PUCKETT, the guy from "The Night Brings Charlie". He's not only pretty ugly, he's also mostly so slow and inept, it would ve very easy to kill him off.

Day 16:

Character you would leave to die:

Jack Black as TITUS TELESCO in "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer".

Reasons:

1. It's Jack Black.

2. He's incredibly annoying.

3. It's Jack Black.

Day 17:
Character you would want to talk horror movies with:

CHARLEY BREWSTER from "Fright Night". A nice guy who loves to watch all kinds of vampire flicks. Would be nice to talk with him about oldschool horror stuff.

Day 18:

Character you wish you could save from death:

CASEY BECKER (Drew Barrymore) from "Scream". She loves popcorn and she looks so cute and she seems to be very nice... and the she suddenly gets killed!! :-(

Day 19
Character you were surprised was the killer:

Nothing ever surprised me as much as little boy TIMMY from "Identity". Hell, what a shocker for an ending!
"Whores doesn't get a second chance."

Day 20

Character with the best scream:

Undoubtedly the uber-hilarious final scream from ALEX (David Hess) in "House On The Edge Of The Park".

Day 21
Character you would need a translator:

For more than 3 days I thought about a proper answer but nothing decent came to my mind. Sorry, no answer.

Day 22

Villain with the worst motive:

The killer from "Final Exam" because he has absolutely no motive. We don't know who he is and why he's doin' what he's doin'. Still, I love this little slasher!

Day 23
Biggest WTF moment a character placed themselves into:

The climax from "NEKRomantik" when the main character stabs himself into his stomach to get THE orgasm of his life. A sick but incredible scene.

Day 24

Character that scared you most:

I was already 22 when I watched "Ju-On: The Grudge", still KAYAKO nearly frightened me to death and she still gives me the creeps.

Day 25
Character you wish you could be:

Of course ASH!

Day 26

Character that makes you laugh:

Robert Englund as PROFESSOR GORDON CROWLEY in "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer". His performance is so hilarious, I totally laughed my ass off!

Day 27
Character you most enjoyed seeing get killed:

Every single rapist from "I Spit On Your Grave", original AND remake.

Day 28

Character you most enjoyed seeing get naked:

Extremely tough question... I choose the hot-looking TRASH (Linnea Quigley) from "Return Of The Living Dead". My goodness, that girl has tits!

Day 29
Least favorite character

ALEX WEST (Bud Cort) from "Bates Motel", one of the dumbest and most annoying characters in history.

Day 30:

Favorite horror character, period!

Jack Nicholson as JACK TORRANCE in "The Shining".

One of the most iconic characters in horror and IMO one of the most outstanding acting performances of all time!

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btw: don't forget to check out Part 1!