Welcome to Reviews from the Horror Chamber. I am your chamber keeper, Anthony Thurber.
Back from having an awesome time at my local theater this past Friday. But there was one thing that wasn’t awesome. Before the trailers there was a Verizon Fios Commercial appeared on the screen starting none other than “Everyone's Favorite Director” Michael Bay aka, the guy that wants to destroy the horror genre with endless remakes of horror classics. Well let's just say, I cannot stand his fucking catch phase “awesome” to everything he says in the commercial.
Well, let me tell you something in your language Mr. Bay. Remaking four of greatest horror films (The Texas Chainsaw Marasacre, The Birds, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th) of all time with your little production company “Platinum Dunes” isn’t awesome. Making me sit through of two hours of your film “Armageddon” wasn’t awesome. Making these mindless movies with tons of effects and explosions without a story is not awesome. But you know what would be awesome? You retiring from the film business all together. Now that would be Awesome.
Also Steven Brill (Fanboys: The Redo) and Bob and Harvey Weinstein don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you’s three. I have a surprise for all of you this Thursday. Now on to the reviews.
Doomsday
Year: 2008
Directors: Neil Marshall
Stars: Rhoda Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Malcom McDowell
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Rouge Pictures
Running Time: 105Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Doomsday is the latest film from director Neil Marshall, who previously directed the critically acclaimed The Descent back in 2006.
The film starts off in 2007 when a virus known as the Reaper Virus is unleashed to the citizens of Scotland, which kills most of its citizens. In a desperation attempt to stop the spread of the virus, the British government quarantines Scotland’s residents by building a wall to contain the spread of the virus.
Thirty years later, the government thought they had the virus under control, unti
l the virus reappears near the capital. This time, the government sends in a team of specialists lead by Major Eden Sinclair (Rhoda Mitra) to the quarantined city to find a possible cure for the dreadful virus. Once the team gets into the city, they thought that they would have an easy time finding a cure, but they didn’t know that some of the citizens that survived the virus have become insane. Now, they want revenge against the government. So it becomes a fight for their survival, as Siclair and her team must find a cure and stay alive at the same time. Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Hollywoodland) and Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombie’s Halloween, A Clockwork Orange) also costar in the film.
Doomsday is the first film that I had a great time in the theaters this year. After having to sit through mediocre films like In Bruges, or very fucking horrible crap like The Eye and Jumper, Doomsday was very good. The film is a very intense sci-fi action thriller. Writer/Director Neil Marshall does a very good job telling the story while keeping the action
moving. He creates an end of the world scenario by showing how much parts of Scotland have decayed both from its residents and the structures. He explores the different cultures inside the quarantine zone. It helped the story focus on the team trying to find a cure with ongoing the situation than being an all action/sci-fi film with no sense of story. Marshall’s screenplay was very good for the most part. He adds horror elements to this film, which provided a couple of good scares. The film wasn’t totally all action all the time as the screenplay focuses on the story. I thought the backstory was very well executed, especially in the opening, where Marshall creates a nightmarish scenario that any government could be so ignorant and only care about their personal gr
eed. There is also a great chase scene near the end of the film. The action during that was fast-paced and suspenseful level. The film was both written and shot very well. Tyler Bates’s score of the film was very good. The score fits the intensity for the film like his pervious score for Rob Zombie’s Halloween did.
The screenplay has some flaws, as it doesn’t spend a lot of time with Eden Sinclair’s and Kane’s past. But at least there a general idea about the characters that I hope will be explained more, if the studio decides to make a sequel to this film.
The acting was very good here. Marshall uses some of the cast from his pervious films Dog Solider and The Descent (which is a great film and I highly
recommend you check out) while adding other actors such as Rhoda Mitra, Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell. I think that is a good thing for Marshall as it helps him be comfortable directing his first major studio film. I really liked his choice for the lead with Mitra. She makes her character the female version of Mad Max. She brings that intense presence that’s needed in an action heroine. I thought the other actors were very good, as they also brought the intensity to their roles.
Doomsday is a suspenseful sci-fi action film that edges the boundaries between 28 Days Later and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
The Caretaker
Year: 2008
Directors: Bryce Fridrik Olson
Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Judd Nelson, Kira Verrastro
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Turkey Ranch Productions
Running Time: 83 Mins
Review Rating: 2 Stars
Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/thecaretakermovie
The Caretaker is about a group of teens having fun and scaring each other at homecoming, which happens to take place oddly enough on Halloween night. They leave the homecoming dance to head out and party where there are no adults allowed especially one of their teachers. From the dance, the teens head to an abandoned house that’s located way out in the grapefruit orchard. There, they tell the story of a real life urban legend. But someone mysterious is watching them. Soon the legend becomes reality, when the caretaker begins to stalk and murder them. Will the students survive to tell their story or will they end up as an urban legend themselves? The film features appearances from Jonathan Breck (Jeppers Creepers), Judd Nelson (From the Hip, The Breakfast Club) and Jennifer Tilly (Bride of Chucky, Bound).
The Caretaker is one of those films that showed a lot of promise in the beginning but falters flat in the last half hour. Bryce Fridrik Olson’s direction of the film was good for the first hour of the film as the atmosphere was creepy. The setups were good and suspenseful. The screenplay written by Jackie Linder Olson was also good until that point her screenplay spends time of the legend of the Caretaker and develops the main characters.
I wished that also happened in the last half hour of the film, as it became boring and predictable which ruined it for me. The acting during that time was bad. It felt like it came out of a cheesy movie. Jennifer Tilly was overacting her role as she came off as someone who was drunk and really was just there. The screenplay falters when the film begins to feel like your typical hack and slash horror film when every two or three minutes a person gets killed and doesn’t feel scary. Another reason why this film ruined it for me was the ending of the film. The ending was very predictable, as I knew who was the caretaker fifteen or twenty minute before the end of the film when Tilly’s character starts blabbering off about the main character. Maybe, it’s the fact that I paid attention to the film from the beginning. That’s how some twists don’t work at all, when the viewer is paying attention to your film.
There were only two really good positives that came out of this film. First, I thought Jonathan Breck did a good job for the time he was in the film. His performance, as a perverted/creepy limo driver was played very well. Also, I liked the score of the film that was done by Jim Lang who previously did the scores for john Carpenter’s Mouth of Madness and Body Bags. His score helped the film’s tone and creepy atmosphere.
The Caretaker should have been a good fun slasher film but instead it runs out of scares and steam towards the end, which made the film not enjoyable to watch.
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The Eyes of Edward James
Year: 2006
Directors: Rodrigo Gudino
Stars: Richard Underhill, Tal Zimerman, Shahla Kareen
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Rue Morgue Cinema
Running Time: 14 Mins
Review Rating: 5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.rodrigogudino.com/
If you read the last edition of Reviews from the Horror, You might have seen a review of his recent short film The Demonology of Desire, which was a great short film. Now, this week I review his 2006 short, The Eyes of Edward James. The film, like The Demonology of Desire, has played in many film festivals. Those festivals include the 2006 After Dark Film Festival, 2006 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival, 2007 Nevermore Film Festival and the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
The film is about a man named Edward James (voiceover by Richard Underhill), a person, whose mind is regressing during a therapy session, when he continues to relive an evening when his beautiful wife Sara was brutally murdered. Soon as his memory being t.jpg)
o unfold, his begins to be dishonest to his doctor. The doctor then, starts to believe that he isn’t being honest to him just the same as his wife, on the night that she died.
Between The Eyes of Edward James and The Demonology of Desire, Rodrigo Gudino is one of the most talented horror directors to watch for in the underground horror scene.
The film is a very frightening and disturbing short. Gudino tells this story from the main character perspective in the first person. I liked how he puts the viewer into the mind of Edward James, as you are seeing the action right through the character’s eyes or isn’t it. His director of the actors was very good, as the voiceovers were very creepy which added dimension to these characters. Gudino’s screenplay is very focused on the main character. He explores the fragile mind of Edward J.jpg)
ames, by focusing on one event in James’s point of view. A lot of the suspense in the screenplay was just walking into darken rooms with horrifying imagery. But what makes it suspenseful and shocking was the voiceover, by actor Richard Underhill and Gudino’s direction. It makes you think about the main character and his story. Most films don’t do this, which makes The Eyes of Edward James, a success. The ending was very good. Gudino makes you wonder, if the events of the film took place, is about to take place or just in James’s mind.
The Eyes of Edward is very original and riveting, as it makes you wonder what really going on in someone’s mind.
If you’re a filmmaker interested in having your horror film reviewed inside the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at Anthonythurber@filmarcade.net and also if you have any other films in general that you want the nice staff of Film Arcade to review, send us an email at screeners@filmarcade.net and one of the reviewers will review your film.
Also, Reviews From the Horror Chamber also has an official Myspace home at http://www.myspace.com/reviewsfromthehorchamber. Feel free to add the page to your list of friends on myspace.
Well that’s it for this week’s edition of Reviews Form the Horror Chamber.
Until then, have a frightening week.
Also Steven Brill (Fanboys: The Redo) and Bob and Harvey Weinstein don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you’s three. I have a surprise for all of you this Thursday. Now on to the reviews.
DoomsdayYear: 2008
Directors: Neil Marshall
Stars: Rhoda Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Malcom McDowell
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Rouge Pictures
Running Time: 105Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Doomsday is the latest film from director Neil Marshall, who previously directed the critically acclaimed The Descent back in 2006.
The film starts off in 2007 when a virus known as the Reaper Virus is unleashed to the citizens of Scotland, which kills most of its citizens. In a desperation attempt to stop the spread of the virus, the British government quarantines Scotland’s residents by building a wall to contain the spread of the virus.
Thirty years later, the government thought they had the virus under control, unti
l the virus reappears near the capital. This time, the government sends in a team of specialists lead by Major Eden Sinclair (Rhoda Mitra) to the quarantined city to find a possible cure for the dreadful virus. Once the team gets into the city, they thought that they would have an easy time finding a cure, but they didn’t know that some of the citizens that survived the virus have become insane. Now, they want revenge against the government. So it becomes a fight for their survival, as Siclair and her team must find a cure and stay alive at the same time. Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Hollywoodland) and Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombie’s Halloween, A Clockwork Orange) also costar in the film.Doomsday is the first film that I had a great time in the theaters this year. After having to sit through mediocre films like In Bruges, or very fucking horrible crap like The Eye and Jumper, Doomsday was very good. The film is a very intense sci-fi action thriller. Writer/Director Neil Marshall does a very good job telling the story while keeping the action
moving. He creates an end of the world scenario by showing how much parts of Scotland have decayed both from its residents and the structures. He explores the different cultures inside the quarantine zone. It helped the story focus on the team trying to find a cure with ongoing the situation than being an all action/sci-fi film with no sense of story. Marshall’s screenplay was very good for the most part. He adds horror elements to this film, which provided a couple of good scares. The film wasn’t totally all action all the time as the screenplay focuses on the story. I thought the backstory was very well executed, especially in the opening, where Marshall creates a nightmarish scenario that any government could be so ignorant and only care about their personal gr
eed. There is also a great chase scene near the end of the film. The action during that was fast-paced and suspenseful level. The film was both written and shot very well. Tyler Bates’s score of the film was very good. The score fits the intensity for the film like his pervious score for Rob Zombie’s Halloween did.The screenplay has some flaws, as it doesn’t spend a lot of time with Eden Sinclair’s and Kane’s past. But at least there a general idea about the characters that I hope will be explained more, if the studio decides to make a sequel to this film.
The acting was very good here. Marshall uses some of the cast from his pervious films Dog Solider and The Descent (which is a great film and I highly
recommend you check out) while adding other actors such as Rhoda Mitra, Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell. I think that is a good thing for Marshall as it helps him be comfortable directing his first major studio film. I really liked his choice for the lead with Mitra. She makes her character the female version of Mad Max. She brings that intense presence that’s needed in an action heroine. I thought the other actors were very good, as they also brought the intensity to their roles.Doomsday is a suspenseful sci-fi action film that edges the boundaries between 28 Days Later and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
The CaretakerYear: 2008
Directors: Bryce Fridrik Olson
Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Judd Nelson, Kira Verrastro
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Turkey Ranch Productions
Running Time: 83 Mins
Review Rating: 2 Stars
Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/thecaretakermovie
The Caretaker is about a group of teens having fun and scaring each other at homecoming, which happens to take place oddly enough on Halloween night. They leave the homecoming dance to head out and party where there are no adults allowed especially one of their teachers. From the dance, the teens head to an abandoned house that’s located way out in the grapefruit orchard. There, they tell the story of a real life urban legend. But someone mysterious is watching them. Soon the legend becomes reality, when the caretaker begins to stalk and murder them. Will the students survive to tell their story or will they end up as an urban legend themselves? The film features appearances from Jonathan Breck (Jeppers Creepers), Judd Nelson (From the Hip, The Breakfast Club) and Jennifer Tilly (Bride of Chucky, Bound).
The Caretaker is one of those films that showed a lot of promise in the beginning but falters flat in the last half hour. Bryce Fridrik Olson’s direction of the film was good for the first hour of the film as the atmosphere was creepy. The setups were good and suspenseful. The screenplay written by Jackie Linder Olson was also good until that point her screenplay spends time of the legend of the Caretaker and develops the main characters.
I wished that also happened in the last half hour of the film, as it became boring and predictable which ruined it for me. The acting during that time was bad. It felt like it came out of a cheesy movie. Jennifer Tilly was overacting her role as she came off as someone who was drunk and really was just there. The screenplay falters when the film begins to feel like your typical hack and slash horror film when every two or three minutes a person gets killed and doesn’t feel scary. Another reason why this film ruined it for me was the ending of the film. The ending was very predictable, as I knew who was the caretaker fifteen or twenty minute before the end of the film when Tilly’s character starts blabbering off about the main character. Maybe, it’s the fact that I paid attention to the film from the beginning. That’s how some twists don’t work at all, when the viewer is paying attention to your film.
There were only two really good positives that came out of this film. First, I thought Jonathan Breck did a good job for the time he was in the film. His performance, as a perverted/creepy limo driver was played very well. Also, I liked the score of the film that was done by Jim Lang who previously did the scores for john Carpenter’s Mouth of Madness and Body Bags. His score helped the film’s tone and creepy atmosphere.
The Caretaker should have been a good fun slasher film but instead it runs out of scares and steam towards the end, which made the film not enjoyable to watch.
.jpg)
The Eyes of Edward JamesYear: 2006
Directors: Rodrigo Gudino
Stars: Richard Underhill, Tal Zimerman, Shahla Kareen
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Rue Morgue Cinema
Running Time: 14 Mins
Review Rating: 5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.rodrigogudino.com/
If you read the last edition of Reviews from the Horror, You might have seen a review of his recent short film The Demonology of Desire, which was a great short film. Now, this week I review his 2006 short, The Eyes of Edward James. The film, like The Demonology of Desire, has played in many film festivals. Those festivals include the 2006 After Dark Film Festival, 2006 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival, 2007 Nevermore Film Festival and the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
The film is about a man named Edward James (voiceover by Richard Underhill), a person, whose mind is regressing during a therapy session, when he continues to relive an evening when his beautiful wife Sara was brutally murdered. Soon as his memory being t
.jpg)
o unfold, his begins to be dishonest to his doctor. The doctor then, starts to believe that he isn’t being honest to him just the same as his wife, on the night that she died.Between The Eyes of Edward James and The Demonology of Desire, Rodrigo Gudino is one of the most talented horror directors to watch for in the underground horror scene.
The film is a very frightening and disturbing short. Gudino tells this story from the main character perspective in the first person. I liked how he puts the viewer into the mind of Edward James, as you are seeing the action right through the character’s eyes or isn’t it. His director of the actors was very good, as the voiceovers were very creepy which added dimension to these characters. Gudino’s screenplay is very focused on the main character. He explores the fragile mind of Edward J
.jpg)
ames, by focusing on one event in James’s point of view. A lot of the suspense in the screenplay was just walking into darken rooms with horrifying imagery. But what makes it suspenseful and shocking was the voiceover, by actor Richard Underhill and Gudino’s direction. It makes you think about the main character and his story. Most films don’t do this, which makes The Eyes of Edward James, a success. The ending was very good. Gudino makes you wonder, if the events of the film took place, is about to take place or just in James’s mind.The Eyes of Edward is very original and riveting, as it makes you wonder what really going on in someone’s mind.
If you’re a filmmaker interested in having your horror film reviewed inside the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at Anthonythurber@filmarcade.net and also if you have any other films in general that you want the nice staff of Film Arcade to review, send us an email at screeners@filmarcade.net and one of the reviewers will review your film.
Also, Reviews From the Horror Chamber also has an official Myspace home at http://www.myspace.com/reviewsfromthehorchamber. Feel free to add the page to your list of friends on myspace.
Well that’s it for this week’s edition of Reviews Form the Horror Chamber.
Until then, have a frightening week.
Excellent reviews!!