guse23 Reviews

A Voice in Violet (2023 Podcast Series)

A surprising little gem

[9/10 · 4 July 2023]

Having been a fan of Brooke Lewis Bellas, I decided to give this a try because I needed something to listen to on the drive to and from work. I ended up so addicted I listened to it on all my breaks and free time until I finished. Brooke does a great job of bringing to life the character Violet, a talented singer who's been screwed by life. Brooke brings out Violet's ambition, inner turmoil, anger, bitterness, and heartbreak. What this character had gone through was so messed up, and Brooke made me feel for her. I expected the drama I received from this podcast and the twists. It made it fun. I didn't expect the tone to turn dark. It reminded me of one of my favorite movies American Mary.

The entire cast was great. I didn't realize who they were until I checked out IMDb. Nikki Blonsky was hella fun. I really didn't recognize Bronson Pinchot even after learning what role he played. He was a chameleon. My favorite actor besides Brooke was Eric Etebari. Great story and acting.

With that said I wasn't a fan of the ending. It felt abrupt. It felt like there was supposed to be more but maybe they just ran out of money and had to come up with a quick end. I hope there's another season to follow up with the events of the ending.

Also, my bigger issue was that, unlike an audiobook that explains actions, you're mostly relying on sound effects and some exposition to explain what's happening. At times confusion was minor but by the end, I was very lost at what was happening. It's why I gave this a 9 instead of a 10.

Guns of Eden (2022)

Cheesy Fun Action

[6/10 · 30 January 2023]

I honestly only watched this because of actress Brooke Lewis Bellas. Any Brooke fans just know the trailer makes it seem like she's in it more. But, she came and went. A travesty I say as this is a waste of super talent. With that rant over I'm legit surprised how fun this film was. Cheesy AF and low budget, but overall I had fun. I've seen enough of these and some can drag. This one went by pretty quickly (thought in fairness it's also shorter than expected) I think the ending was either trying to set up for a sequel or maybe there's a message it was trying to state that went over my head? Either way, it just felt unsatisfying. But overall still had fun.

The Second Age of Aquarius (2021)

CUTE AND FUN

[8/10 · 30 January 2023]

Was surprised at how cute and funny this film was. Both leads played their roles respectively. I do feel like the budget interfered with what could have probably been an awesome final act. But at the end of the day I was there to see one of my favorite actresses Brooke Lewis Bellas. Can never say enough good things about actress Brooke Lewis Bellas. I love her as a Scream Queen, but ohmygah did she have me on the floor with this role. She nailed it again in this funny Mom in Leopard Pants role Tawny. I watch a lot of indie film and I don't think people realize how hard it is to create a character like this without acting way over the top. Brooke Lewis Bellas has the acting ability to layer these roles with the exact amount of reality and subtly. Wish she was in it more. But nonetheless i enjoyed myself.

The Day of the Living Dead (2014)

Some really good stuff lost in poor execution

[4/10 · 11 July 2021]

I liked the vibe and style of this film and always try to give leniency when it comes to low budget films. But due to poor execution some great story was lost. Combining both fictional horror and the horror of every day society grabbed me. As did some of the performances with notable appearances by some of my favorites James Duval and Brooke Bellas Lewis who I thought was awesome in her cameo.

Halloween (2007)

didn't expect much but still

[3/10 · 3 September 2007]

What can I say about this movie? It wasn't meant to live up to the original Halloween. But at the same time I feel it should have at least attempted. While it did show much more effort than the Black Christmas remake, that's not saying much. While I found it interesting that Zombie would try to go back and create a real history to Michael, which I could see satisfying a lot of Thorn Cult haters, to try to explain how a child goes from kid to killer, it seems appropriate to suggest that next time Zombie go out and actually do some creative research so we're not watching a tired cliché background that can be seen in every other psycho movie with the vocab. of the F-word used as every other word. Only good thing that came of this is the character of Deborah Myers who was actually likable and well played. But did we really need a "Love Hurts" montage between her and Michael? Zombie's idea to reinvent this movie was basically just to make it more vulgar and enforce his prejudice view against the good guys. His obsession with making the villains the heroes and the heroes into nothing is what, to me, ruined the movie the most. What made the original Halloween so great wasn't just Michael it was the strength that was Laurie. The chaste and sweet schoolgirl pushed into a kill or be killed situation, and when she arose to it…beautiful. The closest we got to that in this movie was a pair of glasses and a chair through a window. This Laurie had no real personality, lacked smarts, was whiny, and while was somewhat likable was more so annoying. By the way she was pretty dirty mouthed (esp. in front of her mom).

It was interesting to see the rewrite on Dr Loomis but we saw so many sides of him stretched through time he didn't have any sort of effect on us. You can say "hey the actor did a good job" but nothing about the character he played. Lynda was so pointless in this movie they should have just molded her into Annie's character which would have added greatly to the story. Also Sheriff Brackett made Deputy Dewey look like Sheriff Brackett from the original Halloween. But on more then one level I give kudos to the Strode family.

This movie proved to be repetitive. (sorta spoilerish) Two similar death beatings, two breasted attack scenes, two "carry the body away" scenes. Another issue which Rob Zombie needs to learn is that if you're gonna cram death scenes down our throat because you can't figure out how to work the story together better at least try and make them good.

The infamous Myers mask. Looks not bad…unless it's on a child! It ruined the Michael Myers image and gave a ridiculous Herman Munster vibe.

Zombie's attempt to make a movie half prequel half remake was a success, if you cut the movie in half. First half and second didn't mold as well as expected. And the entire movie came out more a made for TV autobiography movie. Did I see an evolution of Michael? Sort of yes. But it was done too cliché and shallow to really be effective. And with that fifteen year jump that just killed it. So really a movie specifically made to recreate a character from scratch until the final scene where he would be the killer we'd watch in awe, really came down to a bland story and a lame reattachment in a decent mask.

Worth seeing? Not really but sure why not? Probably best to wait until it hits DVD.

Black Christmas (2006)

extreme disappointment

[2/10 · 25 December 2006]

Picture this. It's Xmas. I'm up early. i take the bus to AMC just to see the Black Christmas remake, which is oddly labeled Black Xmax on my ticket stub. I was aware this movie would be lame but alas i do own House of Wax (remake), When a Stranger Calls (remake), and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake). So i figured this movie had a decent chance of being good enough.

With this said, wow did this movie stink. I have never been so ticked off with a remake before. I loved the original Black Christmas and tried to not take this one so closely due to it being a remake. But it tries to be BOTH a remake and a sequel. The thing that made the original so great was that the background of the killer was a mystery. So the real focus was the story at hand. This version's focus was the killer Billy's background. So you're having the killer explained (with a decent but lame origin that touched on psycho IV) plus a half-A story of sorority girls being stalked and killed.

The characters were bland b movie types. Not even the lead character had much character. Not to say the cast wasn't good, because i felt that was the only real good thing about this movie. But, hey had nothing to really work with.

The murders were...well, i kept asking myself "wait wasn't this rated R?". If u watch the first 10 minutes u'll get what i mean (4 deaths). I mean how many times can u see a Gray bag shoved over a face and blood splatters and eye attacks before u want to commit the act to yourself? At least in the original the bag was clear and was done and used properly throughout the entire film. Also let me get this out of the way. The killer's look was for crap. House of Wax and Cherry Falls worked the whole hair thing. What was this movie's excuse? As for the ending? It REALLy reminded me of the "House of Wax" ending only it truly fell short to even that. It tries to pull a twist that apparently the filmmakers felt the audience was too stupid to figure out within the first 15 minutes. I myself tried to give the movie more credibility by assuming a similar but much more complicated ending. Showed me.

Glen Morgan what can i tell u besides u ruined a perfectly good chance to continue Black Christmas. The remake is so new it'll be a while until they can do either a REAL sequel to Black Christmas or a at least DECENT remake. Sadly the next movie out will be a sequel to this suck fest.

Ghost Whisperer (2005–2010)

enjoyable, and obviously unoriginal

[6/10 · 20 September 2006]

When i heard about a new CBS show starring Jennifer Love Hewitt seeing dead people, i was very skeptical. In all honesty my first opinion wasn't the best. It was cheesy, cliché, and the theme was very "mystery theater" only with jennifer love added in. But still, there's a charm about this show. I gave it a chance and within the first three eps once you learn the idea of the show as well as its rules/lore it's interesting. And so i continue to watch. The cast is great especially Love. Despite insulting her acting abilities, this show proves she's good. What the show fails to do is be original. It's very "Tru Calling" meets "The Sixth Sense". And I can handle that. But as the show goes on anything truly interesting about the show is cool for the moment until u realized specifically where it's from. From a plot twist involving Melinda's mom (very So Weird, which btw Cara Delizia did a guest spot the very next ep) to the grand finale, which just ripped off the original PULSE.

There's enough in this show to make you want to continue watching til the next season, but after a while if it doesn't attempt any originality then there'll no point in actually watching it.

Kolobos (1999)

awesome movie

[10/10 · 19 May 2006]

The premise is simple. A group of very different people gather gather for an experiment which entitles them to be filmed by cameras set all around the house. Everything's normal at first until the first victim is struck. The house then goes into automatic lock down leaving the group stuck inside with traps set all around as well as a killer loose inside. This movie has been compared to Halloween Resurrection but the difference between the two films (besides the fact that Kolobos came out first) is the fact that you start of with these sort of stereotypical characters but they develop as the story progresses. The music in this movie creates this nice mood as does the setting and artwork. The entire movie does a good job of keeping you engaged and keeping you guessing on who the killer is and whether the lead is crazy or not. The conclusion however is what throws you off. If you understand it it's completely genius but if you don't it ruins the movie. It's not you simple slasher flick, far from it. Hence why it's a must see.

Final Destination 3 (2006)

The Goods and the Bads.

[7/10 · 15 February 2006]

At first when I heard about this sequel I was a little eh about it. Similar plot, roller coaster. How straight to video can this get? And in some ways this movie had a lot of straight to video qualities. But in a others it didn't.

Let's begin with the GOOD: I was glad to see the this Final Destination film continued with the tradition of having a lead actor who wasn't all well-known but had great talent. This actor being Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Alongside her there is Ryan Merriman, who I must admit I am tired of, BUT must admit he did a great job. I liked how they they wrote his character not trying to create a love interest but a friend with a connection. Actually I felt the entire cast did a great job. Though for some it didn't take much with the character they had.

Almost immediately you're thrown into death's grasp as the lead Wendy walks the grounds, taking photos for yearbook, seeing death's signs all around the carnival which is hosting the school's grad nite.As soon as the characters step past the bars into the ride's line you could feel the tension and are immediately hooked. Whether it's the fear of roller coasters or whether you know what's to come the tension's there. And so begins the disaster we know all know and love. Which was fast and entertaining and also with what little time it had you saw how each character, whether or not they were close, cared for the welfare of the others. And then it turned out to be a vision and so on.

THE BAD: The issue, as it usually is, was in the writing. Beginning with who survived the ride. We have the lead, the male sidekick, two "dark" teens(one Alexz Johnson who I enjoyed), two valley girls, the big headed jock, a perverted loser who graduated two years prior, and two others. Seeing the issue here? Luckily the stupid/ paper characters were the first to go. Unfortunately as soon as they died the really creative deaths did as well. Once we reached the film's end it seemed that they weren't really putting as much into the finale as they should have. It either felt like they had nothing else to really add or more probably they were trying to keep the movie at a certain length, so not to drag, and were so busy cramming death after death into it that they ran out of space for good ending.

Not to dis these killings because they were actually quite good and gory. I actually ended up feeling for the characters that i didn't even care for. But that's all this movie was. Back to back murders with no real story. Granted this movie was trying to relive the formula and outline of the original so more story would've probably made it a repeat. But this honestly had potential to be much greater of a movie.

It was also flawed (spoilage-->)in the idea that the characters could read online that "death would skip you if you interfered" but there was nothing about how death was a never ending cycle. That idea worked well with part 1 because we as the audience didn't know it. So we were all surprised. But for this sequel to continue that thought and half these characters continuing on thinking it would end soon when we've all known from the past 6 years it wouldn't made this movie weaker. And so we are led to a finale (like part one) where they survive and it's years later and death returns unexpectedly. The ending goes down a predictable route then does a sudden twist. Which at first is cheesy but then makes it end interestingly.

So although this movie is highly flawed. I did like it. I liked the cast, it was a fun "roller coaster" trip, it was gory, had great music, and even some interesting new ideas (involving the photos Wendy took). Granted i'm still debating whether I should have given it a 6.5 I do recommend this movie especially if you enjoyed the first two films.

Venom (2005)

I was bored

[3/10 · 16 September 2005]

Although i figured this movie was gonna suck i tried to be a little optimistic. I loved I Know What You Did Last summer, love slasher movies, and am a fan of Meagan Good. So it couldn't be that bad right? Eh.... The issues unfortunately lies in so many areas. Beginning with the script. There was no real character structure. It seemed as if the the writers were trying to hide the fact they couldn't develop their characters by cramming in extra characters and death scenes. Also a problem with the writing was the constant ripping off of other movies. Friday the 13th Part VII, Killjoy 2, Route 666. And not that those weren't enjoyable films but to take from these? You can't expect anything greater than a big screen B movie.

The acting wasn't too bad with the exception of I believe it was Bijou Phillips (if you see/ saw the movie she plays the brunette clepto ditz.) Her acting was was almost as bad as her horribly written half a**ed character.

As for Gillespie's directing. If you saw Route 666 and a couple of David DeCoteau's films, it's like that. Only it looked stupid. You can tell in a lot of the scenes he was trying to do "cool new" stuff or w/e. But it lacked. His direction was a huge letdown especially after IKWYDLS.

There were a few good things about this movie. Some of the voodoo ideas, a "voodoo doll" scene, and a few other things. Plus it has an interesting tactic performed by the killer in order to enter the home.

But those aren't enough to suggest watching this movie unless you like Meagan Good like i do. Wait til it comes out on video.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)

Cute enough...

[22 February 2004]

This movie was cute and good enough if you haven't hit puberty yet but really it lacked so much. I could go on and explain what's wrong with this film but I'll keep it simple. It lacks a point, lacks in plot, attempts throw in a lot of cliche teen movie ideas but meshes 'em in a half a** lazy way. Plus the "big dance" number at the end was so not. It was short and really just thrown in there. You can tell they try to make it seem like it fits but it wasn't added properly. It's cute enough if you want to watch a movie or are a Lindsay fan. But if it's this Vs another movie go for the other.

Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)

I'm owed $7.50

[3/10 · 2 September 2003]

WARNING: This review is really just ranting about how much this movie sucks.

To be honest I didn't expect this movie to be all that, but I figured that at the very least this movie would end up being like an old Jason flick. Come on a bus full of cheerleaders and jocks all being brutally picked off by the creeper. Fun fun right? Wrong! I watched this and wondered "Why isn't this movie rated PG-13?" It seemed to take the mistakes of Scream 3 and Darkness falls and extended them. Also you get no real intro to these characters and there's so many of them. So instead of making a couple of them leads and the rest no names. The writer tried to give them all personalities which was a nice attempt sure. Only it's like he had a limited supply of traits for such a big number of characters. So each ended up with a single trait (psychic, a-hole jock, the news writer, the nerdy equipment manager, etc.) Which was one of the real disadvantages to the movie because there was no real lead to this movie but the characters weren't evolved enough to have it where there could be no lead. It was sad too because some characters had real potential such as Marieh Delfino's character but since her fellow cheerleader Minxie was the one having the visions she kind of stole the spotlight away. Which would've been OK except that besides the visions and knowledge of the creeper she gained from them she really offered nothing to the movie.

Another problem was that they tried to add this weak racist storyline which involved the "a-hole jock" and a few other guys on the team. If only it could've gone deeper it would've worked, but it just didn't. Plus it didn't help that the jock was played by Eric Nenninger (Frances friend on Malcom in the Middle). Not that he sucked in the role it's just the character wasn't as convincing played by him. He brought out a more comical side. Which was something you saw a lot of in this movie. Scenes that were supposed to be suspenseful and scary were more towards the humorous and lame side. Same thing with the Creeper. Obviously since we saw what it looked like in part one they were going to show more of it in part two but they went too far. The creature started off as this creepy figure like in part one only to end up this really lame predictable giant gremlin.

Also the movie consisted waaaay too much of: *People being picked up and flown away by the creeper *Teens looking through the hole in the roof and seeing something scary. *Footage dealing with the creepers wings. *at least 10 minutes of the creeper shot with a harpoon and the damage/consequences that came after.

By that point i just shut off my brain and wondered why i hadn't done it earlier. Truth be told if you wanna see a slasher flick in theaters go watch Freddy vs Jason. It isn't all that but it's well worth the money compared to this crap. Either Salva lost his touch or wrote this movie just for the money. Either way I'm owed me $7.50.

Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

Well, it had some good parts

[5/10 · 15 July 2002]

The beginning starts with a way too easy way of bringing Michael back, showing a lack of effort. It then concludes with a not bad death scene. Now with this type of beginning you expect something big. You hope to see Michael continue on as he always does to rid the world of his blood line. Does that happen? No. Instead he stalks and murders a group of college students who represent a modern version of both the Breakfast Club and the original Halloween cast. The whole movie has no point and seems to completely give up within the last half hour of the movie. Not too different from Jason X (but not as bad). The lead is likable but they write her as if she has some hidden dark past. As if maybe she's met Michael before or possibly had something traumatic happen to her. But of course nothing comes of it. Now Michael is less PG - 13 returning to his bloody roots as is previous movies (head crushing, head stabbing, etc.) Unfortunately the writer didn't fully understand how to write the character of Myers and ruins it. The movie also continues to ignore pt 4 - 6 but making it more noticeable this time. On the ups the movie is nicely directed and has a good scene of suspense, dealing with the main character and her on-line chum. Letter grade: C + at best.