ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest movie review (2011)

ChromeSkull:
Laid to Rest 2 (2011)

QuickRating: Slightly better than the cheap and ugly original, but still quite hideous in terms of execution, "Laid to Rest 2" is a gore-driven sequel that relies mostly on its nasty death scenes and in-your-face graphicness, but truth to be told, Robert Hall's direction hasn't evolved at all, the acting is still atrocious, and the mysterious killer behind the ChromeSkull mask continues to be as uninteresting as he was in the first movie.

Atrocious movie review (2011)

Atrocious (2011)

QuickRating: This Spanish 'found footage' horror flick is kind of a slow-burner, and despite its 75 min running time, it feels a bit too long and dragged out, because of its unimaginative plot, however, "Atrocious" delivers some believable performances, a couple of truly tense and chilling moments, and a shocking twist at the end, that not only works well, but also manages to make up for the screenplay's shortcomings.

Apollo movie review (2011)

Apollo 18 (2011)

QuickRating: Gonzalo López-Gallego definitely deserves credit for his creativity and solid directing skills, as "Apollo 18" is very difficult-to-shoot, and yet he made the movie seem incredibly authentic, visually. On the other hand, the film itself tries hard to be a creature feature, a space flick and realistic 'found footage' horror movie all at once, but it struggles to find the balance between these genres, and as a result, it ends up being a mess. A big, boring one.

Cherry Tree Lane movie review (2010)

Cherry Tree Lane (2010)

This UK urban thriller titled "Cherry Tree Lane" tells the story of a middle-aged couple who are terrorized in their home by a group of teenagers who want kill their son. Though I perfectly understand this film's concept and everything, I found it somewhat incomplete, quite predictable and a bit amateurish to be honest. It's difficult not to compare this film with similar 'home invasion' films like "Funny Games" and "The Strangers", and while I didn't love any of the above mentioned, I thought "Cherry Tree Lane" was even weaker, due to overly familiar scenario, very limited settings and characters you can hardly connect and feel sympathy for, because the focus is mostly on the intruders, who have no rational motives for torturing this family. Almost nothing happens in the first 20 minutes or so, and unfortunately Paul Andrew Williams' attempt to build tension fails completely, as the results in nothing but boredom. The film is thoroughly disturbing and nasty, yet not as effective as it think it is, and not even moderately scary, thrilling or intense. Also, director's choice of minimalistic scenery and lots of extreme close-up shots just don't work that well as he might think. Acting-wise, the film is pretty decent. Both, Tom Butcher and Rachael Blake do a fairly good job as the tortured couple, but the real stand out here is Jumayn Hunter, who delivers truly creepy performance as the unpredictable and sadistic Rian. Actually, the most terrifying thing about "Cherry Tree Lane" is way the director portrays young British people, particularly young black people - as an ignorant, narrow-minded sadistic idiots. "Cherry Tree Lane" has its moments and is far from awful, but it feels more like an unsatisfying exercise in film-making, rather than a brutal, violent thriller, and due to director's lack of imagination, the film seems to run out of ideas towards the end, despite its ultra-short running time.

• My Rating: 4.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 64% (5.9/10)
• IMDb: 6.1/10

Captain America: The First Avenger D movie review (2011)

Captain America:
The First Avenger [3D] (2011)

Full review: We all know that Marvel-based superhero movies are money making machines, so when "Captain America: The First Avenger" was announced 'in production' no one was surprised by the news. Although it's a huge imrpovement over the 1990 disaster, the 2011 version of "Captain America" certainly doesn't rank amongst the best Marvel movies, nor is one of the worst. In other words, it's average at best, and a bit overrated by both the ctitics and audiences. "The First Avenger" is often inoherent and suffers from a weak script and lack of "WOW!" moments, however, it still remains satisfying, fun, and moderately entertaining. Joe Johnston's direction feels a bit all-over-the-place at times, but despite that, he manages to provide us with lots of deverse camera angles and dynamic camera movements, as well as some subtle that balance the pace and the energy of the movie. In terms of style and visuals, "Captain America: The First Avenger" suceeds vastly. The muted, 'smokey' cinematography suits the old-fashioned vibe of the movie amazingly well, and the authentic and incredibly atmospheric settings add to the already stunning look of the movie, however, the visuals hardly compensate for the lack of strong script and jaw-droppoing action. The action scenes themeselves are well-staged and fairly exciting, yet somewhat unimpressive. They start from the middle, jumping from one scene to another so fast, it's like watching them in fast forward. The 3D effects are passable, sometimes unnoticable, and... rather unnecessary. The performances range from mediocre to great. In the first half of the movie, Chris Evans does a good job as the skinny, overly enthusiastic soldier rejected from the military, but later on when he transforms into Captain America, his strong screen presence suddenly disappears, and he becomes very unconvincing, even goofy playing the title character. Usually, I don't mind heavy British accent, but Hayley Atwell's is maybe a bit too pretentious, and her performance - rather forgettable. Hugo Weaving, on te other hand, turns in a great villain, delivering the show-stealing performance as the nutty, intimidatin Nazi officer, Johann Schmidt / Red Skull. The rest of he cast deliver decent performances overall, but without any real standouts.

Overall summary: For better or worse, "Captain America: The First Avenger" feels like a light entrée before the more serious main meal ("The Avengers" 2012) - thanks to its outstanding retro production design and atmospheric visuals, it's a real feast for the eyes, yet sadly, it fails to deliver a compelling story, memorable protagonist and stupendous action scenes.

Happy Feet Two movie review (2011)

Happy Feet Two (2011)

QuickRating: The animation is still jaw-dropping, and the characters are sweet, absolutely adorable and beautifully-designed, but compared to its memorable and highly-original predecessor, "Happy Feet Two" feels somewhat ordinary, plus, the chaotic narrative and the lack of genuine charm make it even less impressive. Having said that, the visuals are so gorgeous and the songs are so catchy, you could easily forgive its other flaws.

Malefique movie review

Malefique (2003)

Short review: Eric Vallette's low-budget French horror flick "Malefique" didn't lack originality, and yet its uniqueness just wasn't enough for me. A cannibal, a transsexual, and a business owner are trapped in a cell. Along with a professor with an unhealthy thirst for knowledge, are all cellmates in a French prison. During a scuffle, a loose stone falls out of the wall revealing the diary of a former prisoner. The diary is also a spell-book which may help them escape, or drive them all mad. It's an intriguing concept, but the story was so odd, unsatisfying and boring, that the fast-forward button on my remote was used very often. In "Malefique", everything revolves in one single cell and it all became annoying very quickly. The characters were nasty and weird, and I was hoping to see them all dead. Thankfully, my wish came true. The scares were mostly non-existent, as was the suspense. Simply said, "Malefique" is overrated! It must have been some kind of spell put over the viewers, to make them like this movie. Well, this spell just didn't work for me.

• My Rating: 4.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
• IMDb: 6.6/10

Long Weekend movie review

Long Weekend (2008)

Short review: "Long Weekend" is pretty much about a husband and wife, who are having marital problems, going camping on a beach. They are trying to make the best of it but weirder and weirder things keep happening, none of which they can explain. The 'nature fights back' idea sounds good on paper, but the execution was bad, to say the least. It was slow-paced, dull and often boring. The two main/only characters were just unbelievable and annoying, especially the always dissatisfied Carla. James Caviezel looks great for his age, but his acting skills are equal to zero. The beautiful Australian shores were stunning to look at, but these nice visuals didn't help the movie much. At least we learned a valuable lesson from this otherwise weak film - Don't mess with Mother Nature! If you do, expect retribution.

• My Rating: 4.25/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
• IMDb: 5.6/10