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The Gift (2015)
You'll Never want to be Alone at Night Again
This movie was one of the best thrillers that I have seen in a long time. And I mean it's been a while. While there were some other great movies recently that riddled me with suspense, none kept me questioning "what is going to happen next?" like this one.
As a directorial debut from Edgerton, this film did fantastic for his first feature film. The movie rocked me to my core. The story was laid out perfectly, in a slow, and heart-racing manner. Although not listed in the horror genre, the film also contains some of the best jumpscares in a movie.
Edgerton, being the director, created an amazing, and slightly terrifying, character for this film. Mosley is that creeper that you WANT to stay away from. And Edgerton played it in the best way possible.
Rebecca Hall gave a heartfelt performance. Her character was strong- willed, courageous, and kind to Gordon, even with his stalking nature. Her willingness to dig deep into her husband's past is really what brings the whole story together. She goes against the "freaking wife" cliché.
Bateman's character was decent but not his best. Simon is deceptive, and hard core, and is willing to do his worst to get what he wants; creating the profile of the perfect swindler.
Although for some unsolved plot holes, the movie will fascinate you beyond belief.
Soma (2015)
The Best in Sci-fi Horror
This game astounded me beyond belief. After seeing their amazing work in the Amnesia series, this is even better than the amazing horror that I originally expected from this new installment from Frictional Games.
What makes this game so amazing is the games strong and recurring horror elements throughout. The mix of terrifying creatures and the tense atmosphere creates an amazing platform for a truly scary experience. The whole idea that taking Simon's brain scan and implanting it into an AI to replace the human body for survival purposes is quiet intriguing, and also terrifying itself.
A truly heartfelt story adds to this game's amazing plot and overall experience. The fact that the story is based on the idea that "accepting what must be done to survive, especially when it comes to the survival of the human race," is what Simon must overcome in order to survive the horrors that haunt the deep sea station.
The only thing I criticize is the design of the mechanized monsters that chase Simon throughout the game. They seem lanky, top heavy, and overall too slow for them to be truly scary. They do create a good sense of dread and tensity, especially in dark places.
Besides a few design flaws with the game, the overall finished project is a story that makes you think about the true envy of immortality and survival, trusting your instincts, and choosing which path to follow.
Coffer (2014)
Fresh "Out of the Box" Horror
Although my least favorite of the 3 Sandburg films, this one fails to disappoint.
The film lacks that "new horror" feel, based on the fact that the object possessed is a... chest. Nothing new about it.
On the other hand, the short still delivers that unexpected feeling of "what will happen next?"
This film, like Sandburg's other works, still forces me to "watch through the crack between my fingers", as it creates a constant feeling of horror. I consider the lack of dialogue a sorry loss, but for what it doesn't have, it makes up in music. The audio effects is what contributes to the scare factor.
Into the Storm (2014)
A Cheaper Version of Twister
(Forewarn: I only watched an hour's worth before I got tired of this movie)
This movie lacked everything that there is in a decent sci-fi natural disaster film.
The movie begins (well the whole thing is, really) in the documentary format, making it rather confusing on how this is in anyway a good movie. (The only clue being the well-known actors playing characters).
Although some acting and visual effects were decent, the rest of the film resulted in bland, and crappy CGI effects, and most of the characters acted as just down-right idiots. The only character I give credit to is Donnie for his acts of courage to protect Kaitlyn while trapped in the old paper mill. Gary Fuller(Armitage) generally refuses to take his son's advice, and looks out mostly for others, than his own family.
This results in a dull film, featuring very bad acting, a gaping plot, and very distasteful visual effects.
Inception (2010)
An Action-filled Adventure through each Level
This movie fails to disappoint when it comes to an amazing sci-fi action thriller. Full of action and suspense, this film not only gets your heart racing and blood pumping, but gets your brain working as well, for this movie is not enjoyable unless you understand the concept and science.
Inception is the theory that an Extractor, like Cobb (DiCaprio), can input an idea into the subconscious mind of a subject at dream state. By implementing this idea, one could then control the subject throughout the dream(s) in order to manipulate him/her to reach a desired result, secret, or thought in the end, in hopes to somehow altar reality. In Cobb's case, it's the input of an idea into Fisher's (Murphy) mind in order to somehow bring down his father's multi-million dollar empire, so that Cobb can go home and see his kids again.
FYI: Cobb is a wanted man for espionage and the possible involvement in Mal's death.
The Architect (Page) then builds a series of levels, or dreams within a dream, in order to reach deeper into the subject's subconscious. Due to security purposes, a team member is left behind in each level to look after the others, in case projections, the people in the dream placed by the subject's subconscious, attack. This happens when the extractor rolls off the course of the dream or when the subject realizes they're in a dream.
Every time you enter a new dream, time in the real world slows down in comparison to the dream world, like so:
1 minute in reality is 1 hour in level 1, 1 day in level 2, 1 month in level 3, and so on and so forth.
In order to return to reality, the character must somehow kill themselves. However, if one were to dive too deep into the mind, a "kick" is required for each person in the dream to move back to the previous level.This occurs in sequence until you return to the real world, or else you fall into a state of Limbo, and wander the dream until you find a way out.
Cobb's past is what I feel like the story builds itself on. Unless Cobb learns that the Mal (his wife) he sees in these dreams isn't the real one (cuz she's dead), the whole dream will collapse.
This film is not only an amazing action thriller, but a deep, well- minded psychological drama as well. The characters must think in order to move to the next step, and synchronize their parts at the right time. This thought process is what makes me see not only a man wanting to see his kids again, but a team working together to make it happen, which is why I recommend this movie to you, the reader of this review.
It Follows (2014)
The best Twist in Horror since "Cabin in the Woods"
This movie is one of the greatest twists on terror since "Cabin in the Woods". The fact that Jay is haunted by an unknown phenomena whose only purpose is to kill the one who carries this, disease you could call it. This "ghost" is like something straight out of a nightmare.
The characters are hard working to figure a way to end the torture that ensues those who obtain the creature, which is passed person-to-person via sexual intercourse. However, the characters tend to fight at times, but end up finding several possible solutions to their problem. But what follows is what stumped me the most.
Yeah, characters die because they didn't pass it in time, but trying to electrocute the creature in a pool (WHILE YOU ARE IN IT) is probably not the best choice.
By the end of the film, Jay and Paul are seen walking down the street, with "it" following, as if they gave up trying to kill it.
WHAT?! GET RID OF IT!
The main thing I like about this movie is that it touches on the importance of safe sex practices, HIV/AIDS, and the horrors that can follow you forever if you don't take safety precautions first.
The Babadook (2014)
True Horror at it's Best
THIS MOVIE WAS AMAZING! The deep psychological horror of this movie defines the true meaning of terror. The fact that the husband dies in car wreck, and that Sam and Amelia are the only survivors, is scary enough. Amelia suffering of Oskar's death makes life hard to raise an annoying six year-old son, who is frequent in building homemade weapons and demanding attention. But it's the creature that ties this movie to its core. Mr. Babadook, a supernatural entity that haunts their quiet home, originates from a pop-up children's book Sam finds on his bookshelf.
The noises this creature makes gave me chills. I mean, who would want that whispered into their ears at night, only to get possessed by the creature and have it make you try to kill your son?
But what makes this movie great is the how Amelia's grief and the creature relate. Critics connect the creature's growing control of Amelia to her growing grief and stress from all pressure she gets about her husband. This leads many to think that it was Amelia that was the monster the whole time. That however, isn't the case. (Why have the book if it was the mother was the monster?) It wouldn't make sense.
Black Swan (2010)
The Beautiful Dance into Darkness
This film was an absolute beauty. I was deeply amazed by this movie with its acting, story line, and atmosphere. Watching Portman's character Nina drift slowly into madness for the role of Swan Queen are some of the best psychological thrills about this movie, as she battles her inner "Black Swan", fighting to perfect the role, and prevent this new and upcoming rival Lily (Kunis) from taking it from her. Along with the somewhat violent sexual contact received from her instructor, a supposed tool he uses to help her understand the Black Swan's role, she is under constant pressure to "let go". This madness drives her to see her darkest nightmares and desires to become reality, right before her very eyes. Nina's hardship is made worse when her over-obsessive mother begins to attempt to keep her off the stage, believing that her (Nina's) physical self-abuse is making her sick, and unfit for the performance. But it's her strong-will to play the part that pushes Nina to the end, even if she may end up paying it with her life.
This psychological thriller-horror is one that will make your skin crawl with fear and suspense. Highly recommend it.
Forewarn, this movie contains repeated scenes of strong sexual content, lots of strong profanity, some violence, drug use, and a few jump scares.
Kholat (2015)
Amazing Scares at Every Turn
This game, based on the Dyatlov Pass Incident, utilizes beautiful graphics and an amazing location for a horror game, where you play as an investigator tracing the steps of nine students that went missing in a winter storm. The scares are constantly unexpected, as you are haunted by the malevolent entities that wander the ridges, pathways and dark forests on the mountainside. The producers obviously put strong effort and research into this game in order to recreate a story to follow the horrific tragedy that took place on that mountain in 1959. I enjoyed this game to its full potential. The story, the graphics, and the voice-over done by Sean Bean. A highly recommended game.
Until Dawn (2015)
One of the best this year
"Until Dawn" is the second best horror game I've seen this year. Behind the highly rated PC game "Kholat", this dramatic survival horror game provides many great concepts that we don't usually see in your normal horror adventure. The game boasts amazing attention to detail, and a beautiful setting for a horror game. I also really enjoy the game's concept of the "Butterfly Effect", where the choices you make affect the overall story. However, in most cases, no matter which choice you choose, it's never really a good one. The characters fight constantly, which creates tension, but they hardly make the right decisions to solve the problem. This makes me see these characters as bad role models, as they mostly go separate ways in order to survive. Besides a these thoughts, and a few noticeable animation glitches throughout the game, this is one that I would highly recommend to anyone wanting an amazing story with great scares