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druidyss
Reviews
Before I Wake (2016)
Beautiful Story
There is a review by phaylen, titled Original Beautiful Film - Not What You Expect. They nailed it with that review. I am a horror junkie, and added the movie to my list in expectation of finding a new horror movie to watch. Now, there were a lot of very haunting images, some jump scares, and lets face it, our nightmares are truly the ulimate horror; then what if they came true? But to me it is less about horror, and more about a beautiful supernatural story. I feel no need to nitpick it, to me the story was executed brilliantly and I could easily fill the holes some have complained about (though I generally don't search for holes anyway, it's a movie, the point is to tell a story, sensational or not. Just like cars that blow up in action movies. That has become a much loved cliché, not a thing to nitpick. So I never did understand nitpicking movies. Every time my husband does it, I remind him it is a movie, he says you're right, and goes back to simply enjoying the story.) And comparing to Pans Labyrinth, YES! GDT is my favorite director, and horror my favorite genre. I loved that movie too. Too often expectations prevent people from seeing good in something absolutely wonderful, just not what they expected. Not me. I love surprises.
They Look Like People (2015)
Not a horror movie!
This is not a horror movie. It is a psychological drama. Huge difference. I wanted a shiver up my spine, like from Babadook, or a creep factor and LOL moment, like from Creep. But I just kept watching, wondering, wtf? And getting bored. This made it onto a list of top horror movies on netflix, and I have no idea how. For a few moments there is some suspense, but that was it, and I was just done. The dude is mental, and you just spend the movie watching to see of he is really mental, or if there really are "monsters that look human" and that a war is about to begin. Nope, it is just him about to kill his childhood friend, because he can't tell if he is monster or not. Luckily he decides he is really his friend, not a monster, end movie. Yay... I guess I am glad I can say I watched it for the experience of knowing what the fuss was about. I am working my way through as much of the horror genre on Netflix as deserves a look. I guess this deserved a look. But it is not horror. Nope. Like PurrlGurrl said... Meh.
Unfriended (2014)
Annoying to watch...
I guess I didn't like the format. Having to watch the whole movie go down on one characters computer screen became very tiresome. I had to put my glasses on and go sit right in front of the TV, and with so much going on on her screen I kept pausing it to make sure I wasn't missing anything. The story was a good start, and I still wanted to see what happened, but overall I am not impressed. I would have liked to see the same premise done differently, without the found footage limitations and with some actual mystery. And it is not a horror film. Maybe suspense, while you watch karma play out, but you pretty much already know everyone is going to die so I suppose the only suspense is how and in what order. You know this deceased teenager is mad at her friends and back for revenge and she makes them all watch each other die. You already know from the preview that is pretty much what is going to happen. So no suspense there. There is no real unknown factor to creep you out, even a little. And it is made clear the ghost has all the control early on, so there aren't going to be any heroics. So I guess I watched just to see what it was she was so embarrassed by that she killed herself, and to see how exactly she got back at her friends. Other than that, the reviewer that said "mostly annoying" in their review title pretty much nailed it, so I am not going to repeat all of that. I am extremely patient, so I hung in to see the end, and was a little interested, but overall my feelings are... meh.
They're Watching (2016)
Bizarre and surprisingly awesome
I really liked it. The thing is, even though it seemed very slow to actually develop and nothing seems to happen really until the very end, I was engrossed in every bit of it. I just really wanted to watch their story. I didn't mind that it seemed to go on for a while, and it was necessary for the viewer to get the full story and see it come together in the end. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and it was oddly enjoyable.
This is where I feel the spoiler part comes in to my review, because I detail a little more than I would like if talking to someone who hasn't seen the movie. It made me rofl because the first major part of the movie was just watching their process, some stumbles in their travels and watching a vague tension develop between the film crew and the locals. When something climactic does happen it is brief and quickly de-escalates. Even at 50 minutes in, with 43 minutes to go, you are still waiting for something big, and you think it is about to happen but then it de-escalates again. But finally an hour in and just 30 minutes to go, things start to ramp up. But even then, tension is only a little elevated, but things go a bit faster and at 18 minutes left things are building for the big show. With 11 minutes left, this is what I found hilarious and maybe a little abrupt, it turns into a boss fight in a dungeon in World of Warcraft. Figuratively, of course. If you watch you will see what I mean. After watching all but 11 minutes of the movie up to that point I just was not expecting that. I was amused. I enjoyed the story that leads up to the climax I had long awaited, and it made me chuckle, which is a bonus. Definitely not a waste of time, in my opinion. Show everyone ;)
American Ghost Hunter (2010)
Ugh, Ryan Buell...
I was intrigued by this, finding it on hulu, and love paranormal anything, even documentaries, but I was watching the first 10 minutes or so and saw a familiar face from one of the worst paranormal shows I have ever encountered (Paranormal State). Ryan Buell. And not far behind Ryan was the beginning of religious overtones (when attempting to watch Paranormal State, everything is about demons, not the scientific possibility and evidence of a spirit entity of a once living human being). I quit watching, couldn't get past first 10 minutes or so. Anything involving that hack is not legitimate. Avoid. Unless of course you looooved Paranormal State.