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Reviews
Toxic (2008)
A film that's worth a watch, especially if you like a twist at the end.
Before watching this movie I knew nothing really about it. Having watched it, it's hard to describe what kind of film it really is. The best I can come up with is it's got elements of Pulp Fictions interlocking stories and John Cusack's film "identity" mixed into one very stylish looking but to me confusing film.
The one part of the story revolves around a mob boss looking for his psychotic daughter who has just escaped from a mental institution. He gets two of his men to search the streets for her. The other part revolves around a strip club named "toxic" and the bar tender Sid.
To me to make interlocking stories that work, both of them have to be interesting to watch. The story concentrating on looking for the mob bosses daughter moved along nicely with great performances all round especially from Danny Trejo. While on the other hand the Toxic strip bar storyline line moved along so slowly, I would have lost interest if it had not been for the consent switching between the two stories.
I now come to the twist ending and I have to say while I got the basic idea, a lot of things just didn't fit right. When you do an ending like this film has, I like the film to make total sense. Not one that leaves you questioning characters actions.
Anyway this might be one of those films you might have to watch a couple of times to really get it.
I gave it a 5 because it's never really bad or really good. It's just hour and a half of standard entertainment. I think it's worth a watch.
The Cry (2007)
A awful take on the La Llorona legend
The Cry is a take on the La Llorona legend of Mexico and America. The two countries have many different takes on the legend. This film seems by all accounts to take from one of the Mexican legends of La Llorona hunting down children and drowning them.
The director Bernadine Santistevan film is stylishly shot, and looks fantastic, but unfortunately it lacks any substance.
Nothing is ever really explained in the film, like for example why La Llorona turned up in New York of all places. Why not Mexico where there is more history of the legend, and most importantly why she choose her victims.
Without these major points explained in the movie it all seemed kind of pointless.
One other thing I don't think an evil spirit possessing mothers to kill their own babies (and very young babies at that) is not a very good idea for a film. There are so many variations on this legend why not choose one that's a little less disturbing.
To sum it up people looking for "Dead Silence" or "Darkness Falls" type of film don't bother renting this, but people with an active interest in the La Llorona legend my find it interesting.
Shadowplay (2007)
An interesting and enjoyable low budget film
The basic plot of this film is that three people wake up trapped inside a metal room, with no means of escape and no idea how they got there. All that's in the room is a table and chairs, jug of water and three cups and lastly a strange metal box.
When I first read about this film, I thought it sound like the 1997 low budget film "Cube" However I was glad when I started watching it that it took a different route.
The majority of the movie is played out in one room, this being said it needed 3 strong performances from the actors. Elly Jaresko was equal to the task, and easily the most accomplished actor of the three.
The runtime is given as 88 minutes, but if you take out the credits it's actually 70 minutes. Given how short the film was it felt to me more like I was watching an episode of "The Twilight Zone" or "The Outer Limits".
This is not too bad a thing as I found the film enjoyable. The ending has a twist in the tale, no actually two. The first one pays off, but the second one left me wondering what the point was.
So all in all this film is not the best and is certainly not the worst. If you want something slightly different than your Hollywood blockbusters then check it out
Forever Dead (2007)
A Lesson on how not to make a low budget horror film
Now I'm a great believer in finding new talent to inject new life into the horror genre, but unfortunately this film fails on the very basic level of film making. I started watching this hoping for another "Bad Taste". (Peter Jackson's first feature), unfortunately from the get go the director Christine Parker gets it all wrong.
Obscure Camera angles and shaking cameras are not a very good start. If the film was being filmed like "cloverfield" you might be able to get away with it, but the worst problem for me was the actor's awareness of the cameras.
Mind you I suppose with the camera positioned at such stupid angles and incredible close up to the actors face maybe it was off putting. One last point about the film is the sound, the music is very important in setting tension and so forth, all we had in this film was a few completely inappropriately placed music tracks.
The rest of the time it was quiet. So, all in all the director Christine Parker is not a fresh new talent waiting to be discovered. I wish I could say something positive about this film but I can't.
It would be easy for me to say don't let any of these guys near a camera again, but we all have to start somewhere.
I hope they have learned from this film, and you're next feature is hundred times better.
Before you do your next zombie feature why don't you rent out "bad taste" or "Dead Alive" to see what really can be accomplished on a relatively low budget.