The_Void
Joined Feb 2003
Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Ratings6K
The_Void's rating
Reviews2.4K
The_Void's rating
Of all the '8 Films to Die For' that I've seen (which is most of them), this one is undoubtedly the best (though that isn't saying much). It's not what I'd call brilliant horror, and certainly could have been a lot better, but there are some really good ideas here and they're well carried off by the director and his cast. The film could be called a zombie film - although I think that isn't really an accurate description. The film does take some influence from said genre, but the monsters in the film aren't zombies - instead, they're teenagers high on PCP. The plot focuses on a small town cop, who is devastated by the loss of his young son some years earlier. He's called into work after one of the other cops took the night off sick, and is intrigued by one of the prisoners in his cells. He notices the guy is missing a finger, and jumps to the conclusion that he's holding the man who kidnapped his son. After sending another officer to the prisoners' house, all hell breaks loose when the fourteen maniacs being held in his basement are let loose!
The whole film takes place at night, and director Craig Singer (who previously made the half-decent 'Dark Ride') makes best use of this as it gives the film a tremendous dark atmosphere that serves the central plot line well. It's basically a film of two halves; the first half focuses on the interaction between the two central characters - the cop and the prisoner. The best thing about the first half is the suspense and intrigue drummed up as we wonder exactly what is in the guy's basement - the sequence that reveals it is really well done. The second half is much more action packed and sees the maniacs let loose on the streets, and then we watch as the cop desperately tries to keep his family safe. The film is rather savage in the gore department - though to the director's credit, he's restrained with the gore and uses it only when needed - which ensures the biggest impact. The fact that the special effects are well done is also to the film's credit. The plot line flowing throughout the film regarding the officer's son is interesting; but soon gets silly. It also has to be said that many of the character decisions throughout the film are questionable. Still, this is an interesting effort and I would say if you only see one 'film to die for', make sure it's this one.
The whole film takes place at night, and director Craig Singer (who previously made the half-decent 'Dark Ride') makes best use of this as it gives the film a tremendous dark atmosphere that serves the central plot line well. It's basically a film of two halves; the first half focuses on the interaction between the two central characters - the cop and the prisoner. The best thing about the first half is the suspense and intrigue drummed up as we wonder exactly what is in the guy's basement - the sequence that reveals it is really well done. The second half is much more action packed and sees the maniacs let loose on the streets, and then we watch as the cop desperately tries to keep his family safe. The film is rather savage in the gore department - though to the director's credit, he's restrained with the gore and uses it only when needed - which ensures the biggest impact. The fact that the special effects are well done is also to the film's credit. The plot line flowing throughout the film regarding the officer's son is interesting; but soon gets silly. It also has to be said that many of the character decisions throughout the film are questionable. Still, this is an interesting effort and I would say if you only see one 'film to die for', make sure it's this one.
French director Alexandre Aja exploded onto the horror scene in 2003 with excellent horror flick Switchblade Romance, but since then he's disappointingly veered off into remake territory. He can be forgiven somewhat for his first remake - an updating of the Wes Craven semi-classic The Hills Have Eyes - because it was quite good, but this next attempt - an Americanisation of South Korean film 'Mirrors', is not so successful. The basis for the plot is actually quite good and with some minor tweaks, Mirrors could have been a successful horror film. The plot focuses on Ben Carson; and ex-cop and ex-alcoholic who has been forced to take a night watchman's job in order to get his life back on track for the good of his children. His new job is at a shopping centre, which was forced to close down after a fire devastated the building. He soon notices that the mirrors in the building are extremely clean - as a result of the previous watchman's obsession with them - and he later finds out why, as there's an evil that lives in the mirrors; and Ben Carson is their next target.
The lead role is taken by Kiefer Sutherland. I've been a fan of Kiefer ever since I saw The Lost Boys; but he feels out of place in this film. It's probably just because I'm so used to seeing him as Jack Bauer that it's impossible to believe him doing any other role. The first half of the film is rather poor; the atmosphere of the former shopping centre is good, but most of the runtime is taken up by various CGI special effects going on in the mirrors, and it soon becomes tedious. Luckily, things pick up in the second half. There's a rather nasty murder scene; and then the film starts to develop a plot, which is fairly intriguing. It has to be said that the plot is rather lacking in logic at times, and all sorts of plot holes can be picked out; but then again, it is a film about evil inside mirrors at the end of the day. The revelation regarding how the mirrors became evil is a bit disappointing; I was hoping for something better, but at least the final twist is amusing. Overall, I can't recommend this film really but if it's a rainy day and you've got nothing else to watch, you could do worse than see this.
The lead role is taken by Kiefer Sutherland. I've been a fan of Kiefer ever since I saw The Lost Boys; but he feels out of place in this film. It's probably just because I'm so used to seeing him as Jack Bauer that it's impossible to believe him doing any other role. The first half of the film is rather poor; the atmosphere of the former shopping centre is good, but most of the runtime is taken up by various CGI special effects going on in the mirrors, and it soon becomes tedious. Luckily, things pick up in the second half. There's a rather nasty murder scene; and then the film starts to develop a plot, which is fairly intriguing. It has to be said that the plot is rather lacking in logic at times, and all sorts of plot holes can be picked out; but then again, it is a film about evil inside mirrors at the end of the day. The revelation regarding how the mirrors became evil is a bit disappointing; I was hoping for something better, but at least the final twist is amusing. Overall, I can't recommend this film really but if it's a rainy day and you've got nothing else to watch, you could do worse than see this.
The Three Faces of Terror is a horror anthology film made by special effects artist Sergio Stivaletti. Stivaletti worked with many of the luminaries of Italian horror, including Dario Argento, Sergio Martino and Riccardo Freda; and their influence appears to have rubbed off on him somewhat as while this isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination; it's an interesting one that harks back to some of the classics of Italian horror; most notably Mario Bava's masterpiece Black Sabbath, of which the title is a direct reference. The first story also takes influence from the Bava film as a major plot point involves someone taking a ring from the finger of a dead person. While on a dig, a man takes a ring from the finger of a mummy and subsequently finds himself dealing with a curse - that being that he turns into a werewolf! The story is not as interesting as it could have been (certainly a recurring theme in this film) and that's a shame. He finally does turn into a werewolf at the end and as you would expect given the director's primary vocation, it features a good change sequence and the werewolf costumes isn't all that bad either.
The second story is probably the most inventive of the three and focuses on the subject of plastic surgery. A woman goes to see a surgeon with her friend; and requests that she has her face altered to look just like said friend. The doctor and the friend subsequently disappear; leaving the girl on a strange odyssey through the surgery. While inventive in theme, this theme is not particularly thick on the story side and that leaves it rather lacking as it doesn't really go anywhere. The final story was my favourite and is entitled 'Guardian of the Lake'. This simply focuses on a bunch of friends that go for a relaxing weekend at a lake and end up becoming dinner for a monster that happens to live in the lake. This film has some originality with regards to the wraparound story as each of the stories ends; before we get the final conclusion of each story once the third story has - apparently - finished. This doesn't particularly add anything to the film; but I don't think I've seen this in an anthology before. The conclusion to the wraparound is decent also - although anyone who has seen the British classic Tales from the Crypt won't be very surprised.
The second story is probably the most inventive of the three and focuses on the subject of plastic surgery. A woman goes to see a surgeon with her friend; and requests that she has her face altered to look just like said friend. The doctor and the friend subsequently disappear; leaving the girl on a strange odyssey through the surgery. While inventive in theme, this theme is not particularly thick on the story side and that leaves it rather lacking as it doesn't really go anywhere. The final story was my favourite and is entitled 'Guardian of the Lake'. This simply focuses on a bunch of friends that go for a relaxing weekend at a lake and end up becoming dinner for a monster that happens to live in the lake. This film has some originality with regards to the wraparound story as each of the stories ends; before we get the final conclusion of each story once the third story has - apparently - finished. This doesn't particularly add anything to the film; but I don't think I've seen this in an anthology before. The conclusion to the wraparound is decent also - although anyone who has seen the British classic Tales from the Crypt won't be very surprised.