Movie Review – Page 73 – Savior Gaming

The Blood Lands ( aka The White Settlers)

blood lands

After how much the twist at the end of The Boy pissed me off, I needed carnage and Netflix was there to answer my plea…kinda. Granted, I went into this expecting something like Wrong Turn or dare I say more like Hostel. I was ultimately wrong, but calmed down by this simple thriller. Blood Lands is about a British couple who buy a old cottage in Scotland to fix up, but a group of pig masked strangers doesn’t want them there. Essentially that’s the main plot. Where the movie thrives is the couple, Ed and Sara’s chemistry; they act like a genuine couple and do feel like real people. For a movie called “Blood Lands” there isn’t much blood, going mostly for a suspense approach which is welcome. The pig masked group aren’t very scary though; the combination of the heavy Scottish accents and the masks make everything a damn muffled mess; what saves them as villains is there ultimate motive which I found refreshing. Honestly, Blood Lands was a pretty decent horror movie, short and simple but effective. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Nosferatu (1922)

images (3)

Every so often I like to check out one of the classics from the silent film era. Nosferatu may be the original names changed for legal reasons, as this was actually a retelling of Bram Stokers Dracula, but without permission. So they changed some of the names, but just enough to make it legal. It didn’t work. Eventually all copies were ordered destroyed. Some copies clearly have survived.

The story however is lifted from Dracula with names just changed. There is a great article from horror film history if you want to know more.

The movie itself tho is pretty cool if you are into movies that are closing in on being 100 years old. It is one of the better ones I have seen from that time period when it comes to the actual visuals and not much of the original film is lost. The only real downside to it all is it is hard to watch from a story point of view in the sense that it is painfully obvious that you are watching Dracula, and there are better Dracula movies out there. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Boy

the boy

So I’m really late to the party on this one. My old roommate and I really wanted to see this a few years ago when it came out. He saw it around that time, I watched it last night. He told me don’t watch it. I almost wished I took his advice.

The Boy follows Greta, who ditches her asshole abusive ex boyfriend by taking a nanny job overseas in England. Her employers are a rich, old couple who live in a old mansion in the middle of the countryside. She meets the charming Malcolm, who brings the groceries and soon meets the child she is tasked with caring for: Brahms. Greta immediately finds herself creeped out because Brahms isn’t a child at all, but a doll made to look like a boy. Greta accepts this for easy money, ignoring the strict guidelines his parents gave and suddenly things begin happening and Greta is forced to care for Brahms like he was her own and she finds out the mystery of the Brahms that used to be…

This movie is tricky. It is filmed really nice and acted pretty damn well given the movie’s strange premise. I’m glad it’s not a common ghost stories, and I do like how you start to think Greta maybe going insane at times. I feel like the movie could have been a really psychological thriller attuned to the original Haunting, but alas the twist ending happens. I hated the twist, which kills a lot the movie for me. In the end, the movie is fine but could have been great and there’s no harm catching it on Netflix. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

How it Ends (2018)

download

How it Ends is one of the new movies from Netflix so of course I checked this out. The idea is simple, Will (Theo Younger) has to go meet his girlfriends father, Tom ( Forest Whitaker. While there they get into a fight because they don’t get along and Will is asked to leave before he even asks if he can marry his daughter.

When Will wakes up the next morning after a night of drinking, Samantha (Kat Graham) wakes him up and reminds him he is late for his flight. This is when the real story kicks in. Samantha hears a noise in Seattle, gets really scared and the power goes out. Will rushes to the air port to discover the flights are all cancelled. In response to this he will return to Toms home. Tom’s wife Paula (Nicola Ari Parker) will go to her son’s house, and Tom the former Marine and Will shall go to Seattle to save Samantha.

The movie itself is interesting, but at the end of the day it is just basically a weird apocalypse survival movie. Most of the movie is simply them driving, occasionally either hiding from another person or shooting them. Then they talk, eventually the car breaks down and they hire a Native American chick to help fix the car. She comes with, they continue the trend, argue a bit and so on. The movie is rather unexciting. The movie has moments of being interesting and it does a good job of showing that the biggest issue n a survival scenario would be other people. I don’t regret watching the movie, but I can’t say I would watch it again. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

A simple favor trailer

Now when the name Paul Feig gets brought up, your mind goes directly to GhostBusters 2016, which sparked an idiotic amount of controversy and outrage. I have no prior knowledge of his work, but I’m intrigued by the trailer for hi latest, A Simple Favor. The premise seems basic, tried but true, but the music, tone, and retro elegance of Blake Lively’s costumes brought on a otherworldly quality I’m a sucker for. I love Anna Kendrick as an actress and I’m glad she’s rising up. I hope the Ghostbusters remake hasn’t scarred this film; I laughed a little at the opening of the trailer that states it’s from the “darker side” of Paul Feig. In the end, I hope it’s a redemption for the guy, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

It (1990)

images

The 1990 version of It has been a classic since, well since 1990. When the remake was announced people kind of lost their minds. Who could possibly play Pennywise better than Tim Curry? Well this isn’t about all that, but if you are interested we did cover that you can read more here.

Watching this movie made me remember that this wasn’t truly a movie, but a made for t.v. series. This does show by the lack of swearing and blood, something the 80’s and 90’s usually didn’t shy away from. This being made for t.v. tho, they did have to find a way to tone down what is actually a pretty violent and disturbing book. This is where they succeeded quite well.

In fact this may actually be the most successful part of the whole thing. When I was younger this movie actually was pretty freaky, but as an adult there were things that actually annoyed me more than anything. For example the constant jumping back and forth between childhood and being an adult as they introduced characters seemed completely unnecessary. It was also a 3 hour series that easily could have been two hours with much of it being feeling stretched out for no reason I can think of.

That isn’t to say the whole thing is bad, each character is played magnificently and Tim Curry still plays an amazing Pennywise the clown. I also feel comparing the two may be a bit unfair seeing as how one is made for t.v. and the other is a full-fledged movie.

At the end of the day however I have to admit, the 1990 version of It just doesn’t hold up very well for me. It’s still solid enough but it just doesn’t compare to the remake for me which I would much rather watch. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Set It Up (2018)

download (2)

Set it up is one of the new movies from Netflix, and as such I of course sat down and watched it. I actually didn’t expect much.I can’t say why, I just didn’t. The concept was good tho. Essentially it comes down to A female sports writer isn’t very nice to her female assistant. They work long hours, she never has time, and she never gets the chance to write which is all she wants.

A important VP also has an assistant, and he also pretty much gets treated like crap,also works a ton and has no time for his beautiful model girlfriend. One night they both forget dinner,and have a chance meeting. Not much longer later on another late night, they end up having a few drinks in the office and a drunken plan jokingly takes place. One she takes a bit seriously when she misses another date.

After he almost gets dumped he also gets on board. The plan is simple, since they have their bosses entire lives planned out meticulously. They will use this to get them to hook up, so that when they are sleeping together they will have some time off to go do what they want. This of course has varying degrees of success. For example getting them stuck in an elevator goes horrible since a claustrophobic delivery guy ends up stuck with them. The Yankees game however goes well, because as well all know a Yankees game is the sexiest thing ever. Read that with heavy sarcasm.

The movie does have plenty of funny parts to it. This is actually the part that surprised me. The actors are all funny enough, but usually these types of movies just don’t end up being funny. This one however is and that made me happy. The movie isn’t great, but its fun. It is also funny. It is very much worth watching. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Evil Dead

evil dead

Before the one-liners, before the madness of Asliegh Williams killing Deadites in the middle ages, before the remake that took itself way too seriously and Ash vs Evil Dead (series) there was the gory, claymated wonder that was the classic Evil Dead. Like many wacky misadventures, Evil Dead is about a group of friends that go to a nice sweet little cabin in the woods. Things are fine until the basement door pops open and in the basement they find an old tape recorder and a peculiar book made of flesh and written in human blood- like we all do. On the recorder is a translation from a past victim of the book, who loudly recites the translated incantations, unleashing the Evil Dead on them. Malevolent spirits awaken, attacking and possessing the friends, turning them into disgusting demons. By the end, on the cusp of his sanity is the whimpy, meek, Ash but can he rise to the challenge?

I know I’m playing against the the gross opinion but I actually like the original Evil Dead best. I like the gritty filming and there is a good blend of WTF scenes that are funny actual horror. Linda, Ash’s girlfriend, creeped the hell out of me with her clownish make up and wide grin. The infamous tree rape scene holds up pretty well in my opinion and is still alarming. In the end, Evil Dead is a simple movie with a simple premise that is a damn awesome B movie I recommend checking out for the simple fact it is a fun horror movie of gore, slapstick, and some chills. May the gaming gods bring you glory, now it’s time to go to sleep:)

The Exorcist (movie)

the exorcist movie

In 1973 we got a movie that changed horror forever, traumatizing thousands because of its dark as hell themes and realistic effects that hold up remarkably well today, almost 50 years later. Directer William Friedkin (Bug ) took the terrifying book by William Peter Blatty and pulled no punches.

The Exorcist follows the demonic possession of Reagan MacNeil, a 12 year old little girl and the two priests that come together to take on the daunting task. The intro to the movie we meet Father Merrin at an archaeological excavation in the Middle East, culminating in a stare down with a freaky looking statue we get a foreboding dread he has encountered before. Across the world, Reagan is with her mother, a successful actress, as small, strange things begin to happen. Her mother doesn’t notice until a disturbing sight happens at a big party she throws, leading to sights nothing within reason can explain. Reagan turns violent, having violent seizures and physically striking at the doctors trying to help her. Enter Father Damien Karras, a priest dealing with the loss of faith after his mother’s health plummets and dies; Chris, Reagan’s mother, reaches out to Karras who inspects Reagan and comes to the dark conclusion about her possession. Can Merrin and Karras save her soul and expel the demon?

The possession sub genre hasn’t been my favorite, for every The Exorcism of Emily Rose there’s a The Devil Inside but the Exorcist is honestly the greatest and undeniable progenitor of the sub genre. The effects are damn good, even today when CGI has taken over film land. The acting is amazing and the characters are strong. I will say the movie is slow, with decent gaps between scares where we see the characters develop, but some modern audiences may frown upon that. Horror fans and film buffs alike, this is a must watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Real Genius (1985)

Real Genius is one of those 80’s movies that for some reason most people I know haven’t seen, and that greatly upsets me. The story is simple. Mitch is recruited to a school for super smart people, he works with Chris the smartest person in the school turned slacker. They are tasked with a school project to build a laser. They aren’t the only two doing this but hey they are the main two.

As the story goes on we see all sorts of shenanigans, from the turning an entire section of the school into ice for a winter carnival.

To throwing a massive party with the local beauty school.

The movie is first and foremost, a comedy. This starts out pretty early with the scene where Mitch meets Chris, and he asks about him being prepared for gravity reversing itself and even trying to convince him the antenna on an odd remote control is in fact a penis stretcher, and offers to let him try it.

The movie does eventually take a more serious turn however, as early on you the viewer will discover the laser is actually being developed by the school for the government as a weapon to be used from space to assassinate targets. Mitch and friends eventually find this out as well, but not until the laser is finished and in the hands of the government.

They will of course go on a quest to put an end to the weapon and take revenge on the dean of the school for lying to them in the fist place, which will involve filling a house with popcorn. He hates popcorn. Regardless the movie is currently on Netflix, go check this out. The movie is amazing and has a great soundtrack. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.