Good horror movies are so hard to come by, both enjoyment and quality-wise. Intruder not only manages to be enjoyable, but it manages to be really well-made, too. What's even more impressive is that it's a slasher, a subgenre known for low quality. On a side note, there are a few edits of this movie floating around. Unfortunately, the only version I could find was a heavily edited cut of the movie. (Edit: Since the initial publication of this review, an uncut version of the film has been released on Blu-Ray.)
The setting for Intruder is a rather unique one, as it takes place in a grocery store. It's a nice change-up from the usual campground/forest setting, and it works particularly well. Another great thing about this movie is that nobody dies until 30 minutes into the movie. This leaves a bit more time for character development, and while the characters are still pretty flimsy, we're given enough time to actually care about them. Speaking of which, Sam and Ted Raimi co-star in this flick, and they're pretty decent in their roles. There's also a brief cameo by Bruce Campbell at the end, which is pretty cool, too.
The cinematography is really interesting, too. There's a lot of strange point-of-view shots, as well as an abundant use of creepy low-angle shots. There's a particularly interesting scene in which we see one of the characters making a phone call, but from the view of the phone. It doesn't add anything to the story, but it sure is cool to watch. The death scenes are inventive, but most of the violence was cut out in the version I watched. The special effects, while few, are decent, ranging from death by crate-squisher and a guy that gets his head chopped in half. The killer remains hidden until the end of the film, which adds to the suspense, and makes for a really good twist ending, too.
Overall, this is a really good slasher movie. There are a few campy moments here and there, but if you can look past all that, there's a lot of good things to be found here. The story is above average, the pacing is great, the comic relief has a dark quirk to it, and it's generally creepy and suspenseful movie. If you're looking for a change of pace from the usual slasher fare, this is a definite must.
Quality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095379/
January 26, 2012
January 23, 2012
Movie Review- Seed of Chucky
The "Child's Play" series has been a lengthy and strange one. I really enjoyed the first three movies, which were a nice blend of creepy camp and unintentional laughs. The fourth movie (Bride of Chucky), however, tried to parody itself while retaining the elements of a slasher movie. The end result was a really bland and generally unfunny horror-comedy/road-trip movie. Seed of Chucky is a big improvement over Bride, in that it ditches any attempt to be scary, and goes straight for the laughs. And while the humor doesn't always work, it maintains its tone and overall plot direction.
The pacing is really interesting in this flick, seeing as the writers weren't going for a slasher movie. The body count is fairly low because of this, and the deaths are inventive without being ridiculous. The setting is mostly contained to Jennifer Tilly's house, and the limited location works really well. Speaking of which, Jennifer Tilly was quite enjoyable here. She came across as really annoying in the previous film, but she does a lot better of a job in this movie. A fun little plot twist is that Jennifer Tilly stars as herself in the movie, as well as the killer doll Tiffany. There's a lot of self-deprecating humor between the two of them, and it works surprisingly well.
Whereas the previous film had the killer-doll duo as supporting characters rather than just the villains, they're the main characters here. Another highlight of the movie is Chucky's androgynous child Glen/Glenda, who is also one of the main characters. Glen/Glenda isn't a murder-enthusiast like his parents, and there's good deal of humor as result. ("But violence is bad. It said so on TV" "Not violence... vio-lins! Violins are bad.") Not all of the humor works, though. There's a good deal of lowbrow crude humor that doesn't really flow with the rest of the movie and just isn't funny. But the number of jokes that work outshines the ones that don't, so it's easy to look past the unfunny and crude stuff.
The only other major problem I had with the movie is that Chucky's child, while somewhat funny, seemed like a bit of a third wheel to me, and was the butt of a lot of the gross-out humor. There's a recurring gag that Glen/Glenda pees himself whenever it's scared. While I found it unfunny and a bit strange that the writers felt it necessary to include that, I was able to look past it in favor of the better parts of the movie. I could nitpick about the factual errors, plot holes, and the nonsensical ending, but this is one of those movies where you have to look past those things to enjoy it.
Overall, a very stupid but fun movie. If you're a fan of the series and haven't seen this one yet, it's definitely worth the watch. It's nothing profound, but it's certainly enjoyable.
Quality: 2/5
Enjoyment: 4/5
IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387575/
The pacing is really interesting in this flick, seeing as the writers weren't going for a slasher movie. The body count is fairly low because of this, and the deaths are inventive without being ridiculous. The setting is mostly contained to Jennifer Tilly's house, and the limited location works really well. Speaking of which, Jennifer Tilly was quite enjoyable here. She came across as really annoying in the previous film, but she does a lot better of a job in this movie. A fun little plot twist is that Jennifer Tilly stars as herself in the movie, as well as the killer doll Tiffany. There's a lot of self-deprecating humor between the two of them, and it works surprisingly well.
Whereas the previous film had the killer-doll duo as supporting characters rather than just the villains, they're the main characters here. Another highlight of the movie is Chucky's androgynous child Glen/Glenda, who is also one of the main characters. Glen/Glenda isn't a murder-enthusiast like his parents, and there's good deal of humor as result. ("But violence is bad. It said so on TV" "Not violence... vio-lins! Violins are bad.") Not all of the humor works, though. There's a good deal of lowbrow crude humor that doesn't really flow with the rest of the movie and just isn't funny. But the number of jokes that work outshines the ones that don't, so it's easy to look past the unfunny and crude stuff.
The only other major problem I had with the movie is that Chucky's child, while somewhat funny, seemed like a bit of a third wheel to me, and was the butt of a lot of the gross-out humor. There's a recurring gag that Glen/Glenda pees himself whenever it's scared. While I found it unfunny and a bit strange that the writers felt it necessary to include that, I was able to look past it in favor of the better parts of the movie. I could nitpick about the factual errors, plot holes, and the nonsensical ending, but this is one of those movies where you have to look past those things to enjoy it.
Overall, a very stupid but fun movie. If you're a fan of the series and haven't seen this one yet, it's definitely worth the watch. It's nothing profound, but it's certainly enjoyable.
Quality: 2/5
Enjoyment: 4/5
IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387575/
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