BEWARE THE MOON REVIEWS
![]()
I went into this film knowing nothing at all about it, literally no idea, which is not a bad thing at all - go in with an open mind. I didn't really fancy anything in particular, and I had had this saved on the TiVo box since about last July, so I thought it is probably about time... "Four young offenders and their care workers visit the remote Yorkshire village of Mortlake, which prides on keeping itself to itself. A minor incident with locals rapidly escalates into a blood-soaked, deliriously warped nightmare."
My mum watched some of this with me, and she was in two minds about it, she thought it was one of the worst things she has ever seen - but was hooked and wanted me to pause it when she went and got herself another drink. Dad popped in when one of the deaths happened, and he even sad that for a bad looking film, the effects were pretty good. I call these both a win for Inbred. Backing up my dad in what he said, I also agree, the effects are good. They aren't badly over the top, bloody and gory, but not at all over the top. The effects are done in the way that they are just enough for gore junkies, like me, but not so much that you laugh about it as they are so bad. I liked it all. Every death was different, and some were some of the weirdest deaths I have ever seen - I won't say, but the ones in the shows get a little bit cray cray, Cray cray in a good way though. ![]()
This has a lovely little British feel to it. It's got a cast of people who you've seen before but cannot place all of them, it's got some great British humour in it, and as I said, it's got on a budget gore, but that's not bad at all. I liked it. It won't be for everyone, but it's a fun little number - a bit weird in places, but fun.
One thing this film is though, is very stereotypical Northern. I have family up North, and I love it up there, but I feel this film seems like it is made by someone who has never ever been up North and is really going off some of the horrible rumours about there. The rumours about incest, and the higher up you go, the more inbred and caveman like the people get. None of which are true by the way.
This goes a lot off those kinds of things, but it's not offensive at all, it's part of the humour and it doesn't make them all out like that, just this one little village.
0 Comments
![]() Another gym movie - woo! This one may have been a little bit of a mistake as it is a pretty dark, as in lighting, film, and gyms tend to have very bright lighting, but I made it work. "A mother and daughter must confront a terrifying monster when they break down on a deserted road." I liked The Monster from the outset, I wouldn't say it's the most original story ever, as it does follow an old chestnut of a story, but it's very well done. Saying that though, it takes the story of a single parent who doesn't get on with their kid, and gives it this massive twist of a flesh eating monster. Oh, and it also uses the old story of breaking down in the middle of nowhere, and again, throws in a monster. From the get go, I was into the characters, I was into the story, and I was so excited when they broke down - in a nice way I mean, and not as weird as it sounds. I just knew that as soon as they broke down, that's when the fun began. Before they broke down, it was the normal tension and fighting between parents and children, but as soon as they broke down, you knew it was going down. And it builds and it builds and it goes down, and takes any innocent person down with it. ![]() The Monster is just a stressful and impending doom feeling film. Kathy and Lizzy fight the whole damn time, and you know it is not going to get much better as you know the monster is going to pop up. The monster does take its sweet time coming though, but that is in no ways a bad thing. I felt it gave a Jaws/Alien feel, when you don't get to see the creature until right at the end, and it really racks up the tension. In The Monster, you only see teeny weeny snapshots of the monster, and that's great, because if I am honest, seeing the monster takes away some of the tension... That might just be me, but monsters don't tend to scare me, and so actually seeing it, lost tension for me. I did enjoy the film after that, just as much, but it did lose some of the fear as you've already seen the creature and it wasn't that scary. That was one of the only cons of this film, along with the actual ending. I actually did not really like the ending, I don't know why, I just wasn't feeling it. I am not going to say how it ends, you should know me by now and that I don't spoil, but I just did not love the ending. Overall, The Monster is good, pretty damn good actually, highly entertaining and very fresh. It has its cons, but so does everything!
![]() Where do I start with Lake Mungo? A film that I had heard is one of the scariest, and saddest films a lot of people had ever seen. "Alice drowns while swimming and her family begins experiencing inexplicable events in their home. The family hires a parapsychologist whose investigation unveils Alice's secret double life and leads them all to Lake Mungo." I can say a lot - that's what I can say! I had heard this is a very scary and creepy film, and I was so up for that challenge, I wanted to be scared. I have really been wanting a film to really creep me out, and scare me, and I felt I might have it with this one - I can very much say, this film is creepy AF. This was the second film me and my friend watched, and did she also find it creepy? No idea, she slept through the whole thing, apparently she has little naps but this one turned into an hour and a half sleep... Don't hold that against Lake Mungo though, it's really not that boring! ![]() I have no idea where to even start with Lake Mungo and explaining how I felt about it - obviously, no spoilers though. I'll start with whether I actually liked the film, which I did. The film as a whole is done incredibly well, it feels very real and the actors are brilliant. My friend, before she nodded off, she asked if it was real and was a real documentary, (it's not), but it is made to look like one and it is pulled off to a T. Even the actors seem to stumble over their words, and ummming and errrring is a big thing - turns out it was improvised so that might be why, but it still makes it look realistic. It is a slow burn though, but I feel that any documentary you tend to watch is, it'll inform you slowly, but then punch you in the face with a twist or two along the way. Speaking of twists, great twists, but they just seemed to pop up and then nothing else was said about them. For example, one twist mid way, involves Alice and the neighbours, (all I'm saying, but if you've seen it, you know), and it's shocking but also you wonder why Alice would want people to know, but then it is never really mentioned again. Ever. Most of the twists are thrown at you, but then never gone back to or mentioned again, and it's a shame, because I love twists that twist in all kind of ways. I really do. It's like they wanted to get all these ideas in, without really building on any of them. Good twists but needed to be built on more. ![]() A really good thing about Lake Mungo, is it had me shook. Is that the right way of using that word, I feel it suits this, but I am not 100%...?! It really did creep me out, I was not that crept out since the Halloween episode of Inside No 9... I don't get scared easily at all, I am always out looking for films that might actually scare me, but I never find them. This one wasn't so much scary, it was more creepy, I wasn't hiding behind the sofa, but I was glad the hallway light was on, let's say that. This film just has a creepy feel to it, mainly the photos and footage that are shown throughout. They seem to show things that aren't fully there, like fuzzy shadows in the background, all which give me the heebie jeebies... And don't even get me started on THAT scene. I loved that damn scene so damn much. Comes out of nowhere, creeps you out, gets under your skin and then scares the pants off you - I loved it. Wish they used better cameras though, all of it's so fuzzy, adds to the authentication, but makes it hard to make things out, all I have to say. Overall, I really did like this film. Lake Mungo is a breath of fresh air for horror films. It's in no ways perfect, mainly with the twists not actually carrying on, but it crept me out a lot and it is genuinely sad. It stays with you for a long while after.
I have a lot to say about this film, and I really hope I have done it the justice it deserves in this review. ![]() So, what do you do on a Saturday night, when one of your closest and oldest friends boyfriends is away for the night and she is on her own? You go around and take crisps and cake and watch horror films - that's what you do! We managed to get through two horror films in total, and Willow Creek was the first. "Jim and his girlfriend Kelly are visiting the infamous Willow Creek, the alleged home of the original Bigfoot legend - the tale of huge ape like creatures that roam the forests of North America. Deep in the dark and silent woods, isolated and hours from human contact, neither Kelly or Jim are prepared for what is hidden between the trees, and what happens when the cameras start rolling." I bought Willow Creek as it came up in a few lists of underrated movie lists I found and I liked the sound of it. Bigfoot, I hadn't seen a Bigfoot film in ages, I don't even remember when I last saw one to be fair, so I thought, why not?! I am mellow with this film to be fair, it definitely has pros and cons about it, one pro being that I genuinely enjoyed the whole idea of going and following in the steps of an urban legend, like Bigfoot. Willow Creek really lets you get to know the characters, and lets you meet the people around the footsteps, such as whenever they stop off, they meet new people and so do you. I also loved how much effort the film went into regarding the money making schemes behind urban legends, (they go to a restaurant where they sell sandwiches that are shaped as Bigfoot's feet.), and that is so realistic and so fun. ![]() Willow Creek is a fun film, and I feel that might have been some of its problem. A lot of the time, it felt messy, and it felt long, by long I mean it felt like it needed to be edited down. One scene with the couple in the tent, scared out of their wits by unknown noises, feels like it goes on for just a bit too long. For most of the time, you are watching them, staring out, huddled together, whispering, listening out for noises and on occasion, scaring, and it feels like it wasn't edited enough. We are watching them for a good while, and it's not a bad scene at all, the noises they hear are creepy and it is a tense scene, but it goes on for too long I felt, and just needed a trim. The ended was also lost on me. Right at the end, I said to my friend, "I am going to be annoyed if this ends here", and it did, and I was a little annoyed. I won't mention the ended, but I will say, it goes almost full Blair Witch ending and then sends a little twist your way, that in my eyes, hadn't actually been mentioned in the film. I may have missed it, but I was watching the whole time, and I just didn't pick up on the twist, I had to Google it to actually get it. Up until that point, I was on board, but I just missed the ending completely as I don't feel it was explained. Please, someone tell me if I am wrong! Willow Creek isn't all about tense scenes, or seeing Bigfoot, and that's okay. I still enjoyed it. It had its cons, but it is a found footage film with a fresh new feel to it. A fresh amateur, easy going feel to it. This means some parts might feel too long, but overall, it feels different and as if you're watching it before it goes to the cutting room floor - more raw. One thing it didn't do, that was strange but also good, is tell you about how the footage had been found or when/if the bodies are found/if they lived or died. I liked this! It leaves the ending open.
I liked this film, it's fresh and fun but could do with some editing, but apart from that, I liked it. ![]() Await Further Instructions is one film that has been on my wish list for a while, really, ever since it came out. I just really liked the sound of it, and, risky, I know, but when I watched the trailer, I even really enjoyed that. 'On Christmas Day, a family wakes up to find a mysterious black substance surrounding its house, and its TV screen broadcasts a single message: "Stay Indoors and Await Further Instructions."' I liked this film from the get go. Know why? The insanely relate able characters and the fact that Christmas is seriously that stressful sometimes... I feel like most people can relate to at least a few characters in this film, mainly the worried son or daughter bringing home their better half for the first time, and the racist, opinionated old person. We've all met one of those, let's be fair... As soon as the first scene opens, Nick really is not keen on him and his girlfriend, Annji, going to his for Christmas - and you can see why as soon as they walk through the door. Soon as they get there, Granddad mentions someone from "Bongo bongo land" as soon as he looks at Annji and notices a bombing on the news, and shit almost hits the fan. It flies towards the fan, but just misses it, as it is far too early for it to fully hit it after all. The film has only just started! ![]() Throughout Await Further Instructions, there is a serious impending doom feeling, that just seems to get stronger and stronger as the film goes on. It starts when Nick and Annji first get there and Granddad starts being his normal, racist self, and the feeling just gets even stronger when the TV goes on and the house goes into lockdown. See, who wouldn't like that storyline!? Good old technology taking over our lives again, as Granddad would probably say, apart from is it, or is it something else? That I won't say as I feel like that could give too much away, what I will say, is that I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending. I think I preferred the film when it was less monsters/creatures/whatever is controlling the TV, and more when it was unknown and the humans were paranoid. I am a mean person for liking the fact it made all the humans paranoid, but that is one of the best things here. The way the humans take it into their own hands and as the time goes on, each one tests the other as to how far they would go to stop the unknown thing keeping them there... It's good! People becoming panicked and trying to sort things themselves is one of my favourite things in films, as it just make the movie so much more realistic and scary. We are all humans and we are surrounded by other humans, and what each of us is capable of is a scary thing, and Await Further Instructions ran with that idea. They ran so fast with that idea and it really worked, worked to the point I was worried that some were not even human anymore...
The ending is hard to describe without giving it away. I am going to say I liked some of it but not others. I loved the 'reanimated' part of it, if you've seen it, you'll know, I didn't really get the ending, but I still really enjoyed the film so that does not take any enjoyment away for me at all. Just because I didn't get it, doesn't mean it was done badly. The cast is also all round great, the dad especially was creepy as hell, and not someone I would want to spend Christmas with... Overall, great film. Great film if you are bored of re-runs of Miss Marple and Call the Midwife at Christmas too. Stick this on, the grandparents will love it... ![]() I had a brain fart, and pretty much forgot all about this film, it didn't help that it turns out it is not only not very well known, but it also goes under a whole different name a lot of the time. I recorded this under the name Prey, but it actually comes up online as Indigenous - makes life a whole lot easier... "Five American friends go on a vacation in Panama, where they meet a woman who convinces them to hike into the jungle with her. While there, they are hunted and viciously attacked by a legendary creature known as the chupacabra." Even though I didn't remember much about this film before writing this, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. I watched this with dad, and I feel we both felt the same about it. It's a simple film, and not original, you've probably seen the whole story before, just maybe slightly different in ways, and you know the characters. Horny 20-something year olds who want more excitement, and also who aren't the smartest and don't listen to the urban legends of Panama. Silly people. Always listen to the legends from the locals! My dad is not a big believer of legends and stories, but even he was thinking they were being a wee bit silly by not listening... They decided to go against the wise words of the locals, and go into the forests - of course - wouldn't be a good film otherwise, would it? And do what horny couples do, have sex, skinny dip, all of that stuff, all the stuff that annoys the Chupacabra that live in said woods. ![]() The Chupacabra are definitely not happy about the group invading their home, and they slowly get killed off one by one. I feel like, even though this film is not the most original, it's still entertaining, and it's still fun. The characters are pretty thick in the way they seem to go against any warnings they are told, and they seem to love to split up, they love that. I felt like this film did try to keep the tension well, it leads you down different pathways and actually makes you think. Kind of like is there actually something in the woods, is it the government, is it alien, all of that stuff. And really, until right at the end, I was considering it all - I like a good twist so anything that makes me get excited over one makes me happy. I liked this film. It could have been better, but it's fun and I am not going to complain about something that I found fun. It had a feel of The Descent mixed with maybe a bit of Evil Dead with where it is set, but not as good as The Evil Dead, but better than The Decent. (Sorry, I still am not a fan...). I would watch this again, not because I fancied it, but if someone else did, I wouldn't say no.
![]() I really really liked the idea of this film. Like really liked it. I thought it was very original, and I do sometimes like a good rom-zom-com... I feel that's a real thing... "After his girlfriend Nina dies, Rob falls in love with Holly. The new relationship faces a huge challenge when Nina comes back to life to sarcastically taunt the couple whenever they try to have sex." Nina Forever does start out very strong. The characters aren't the most lovable, but then I don't feel they were meant to be that loveable if I am honest. You don't hate them, but you don't specifically warm to them either - you're not sure you'd be besties with them, let's say that. The story is fairly simple too, Nina dies and Rob, her ex falls in love with Holly, and every time they have sex, Nina pops up. Literally just pops out of nowhere, blood, brain matter and all. So much so, everytime she pops up, new bed sheets are needed. Like a really heavy period. ![]() The thing I did find about Nina Forever, is that it didn't really go anywhere. The story didn't really feel like it went anywhere. It started off well and then just kind of stayed in that same mellow pond, where it seemed like it didn't know what it wanted to do or how it wanted to end. It just seemed to do the same thing over and over again. Rob and Holly have sex and Nina pops up. Then a normal bit of life, and then sex again. I know that seems realistic for life and the couple, but I just wanted more. I just wanted it to differ it all at some point, and it just never really did, and it does make me sad as I had kind of high hopes. I didn't hate Nina Forever though, not at all, really, it's a fairly entertaining film. I just found it a bit samey through out I guess, but I still very much enjoyed it. It's just an original little known film, that isn't the best, but also isn't the worse. I wouldn't say no to watching it again, just not for a while. Great cast though, and of course, great effects and lots of blood. Great bloody orgies.
|
MegWatching horror films since like 2003, when I could stand dead bodies.. Archives
May 2020
Categories |