This is a lesson in what happens when you take a relatively decent concept and ruin it with poor scripting and corny camera angles. The characters' decision making is ludicrous. The plot is rushed. It's like watching a bad syfy original. Way to muck it up, yet again, Netflix.
Reviews
6 Reviews
It Follows
(2014)
I just can't
9 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I have seen some reviews say that the concept is original. There is nothing original about the concept of ridding yourself of a curse by passing it on to the next unsuspecting victim. I suppose it is a tiny bit original that this curse is passed on for sex? Actually, no. STD are passed on this way in real life. Which brings me to the issue of informed consent. Knowingly having sex with someone in order to pass on, in this case, a curse without first informing the person that you have the affliction is called assault. It happens all the time in real life and it's not ok. Nothing original about it. I'm just saying.
Speaking of sex, you have to pass the curse on by sex, and then "It" kills people by having sex with them, apparently? It just feels like sex for the sake of sex if there's no explanation. It's the dumbest premise of all time. I just can't.
The whole thing is just boring, boring, boring. I get that it's a formulaic approach, but most horrors like this at least go on to investigate the origin of the evil thing. Why does it kill? Why does it kill in the way that it does? These questions keep the viewer at least interested in the story. Here, there is no story. All we have is some girl running, with the help of her friends, from an entity that walk super slow. There is nothing engaging. No exploration of who might be patient zero or what is "It's" motivation.
I didn't find "It" to be the least bit scary. I mean, if people can easily outrun it at a speed walking pace, I'm just not that scared. "It" moves so ungodly slow, and apparently only does so by walking, that it would be easy enough to just jump on a plane, fly across the ocean, and wait for it to make it's slow a** way across the seas. I know, I know. Not everyone can just pick up and move half way around the world. But if I had some unseen murderous entity bent on killing me, I'd do what it takes. People move around all the time for less compelling reasons. If you can't make it across the world, just a couple hours drive will do to get a good night's rest. Maybe find a job that requires you to fly around the country a lot. See? A little bit of reasoning takes the fear factor right out.
The plan to kill this thing makes absolutely no sense. At the beach, she shoots it and it just stands up and keeps coming. What makes them think electrocution will do the trick if bullets won't? And what exactly is the plan anyway? "It" is only getting in the pool if Jay is there, so in order to electrocute it, don't they have to electrocute her? I guess maybe if she's fast enough she can swim to the edge and get out first, but it just seems like an ill-thought-through plan.
I guess Maika Monroe at least does a good job with what she's given. With a plot that revolves solely around a chick running around screaming like a lunatic at an entity that only she can see, this easily could have devolved into "please just kill her already so as to spare us all from this annoyance" territory, but it really didn't. Maika managed to not grind on my nerves. Plus one in the acting column. That's why this movie gets 2 stars instead of 1. But that is literally all this film has going for it.
Speaking of sex, you have to pass the curse on by sex, and then "It" kills people by having sex with them, apparently? It just feels like sex for the sake of sex if there's no explanation. It's the dumbest premise of all time. I just can't.
The whole thing is just boring, boring, boring. I get that it's a formulaic approach, but most horrors like this at least go on to investigate the origin of the evil thing. Why does it kill? Why does it kill in the way that it does? These questions keep the viewer at least interested in the story. Here, there is no story. All we have is some girl running, with the help of her friends, from an entity that walk super slow. There is nothing engaging. No exploration of who might be patient zero or what is "It's" motivation.
I didn't find "It" to be the least bit scary. I mean, if people can easily outrun it at a speed walking pace, I'm just not that scared. "It" moves so ungodly slow, and apparently only does so by walking, that it would be easy enough to just jump on a plane, fly across the ocean, and wait for it to make it's slow a** way across the seas. I know, I know. Not everyone can just pick up and move half way around the world. But if I had some unseen murderous entity bent on killing me, I'd do what it takes. People move around all the time for less compelling reasons. If you can't make it across the world, just a couple hours drive will do to get a good night's rest. Maybe find a job that requires you to fly around the country a lot. See? A little bit of reasoning takes the fear factor right out.
The plan to kill this thing makes absolutely no sense. At the beach, she shoots it and it just stands up and keeps coming. What makes them think electrocution will do the trick if bullets won't? And what exactly is the plan anyway? "It" is only getting in the pool if Jay is there, so in order to electrocute it, don't they have to electrocute her? I guess maybe if she's fast enough she can swim to the edge and get out first, but it just seems like an ill-thought-through plan.
I guess Maika Monroe at least does a good job with what she's given. With a plot that revolves solely around a chick running around screaming like a lunatic at an entity that only she can see, this easily could have devolved into "please just kill her already so as to spare us all from this annoyance" territory, but it really didn't. Maika managed to not grind on my nerves. Plus one in the acting column. That's why this movie gets 2 stars instead of 1. But that is literally all this film has going for it.
Romina
(2018)
Ugh. So bad
15 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Pros - decent cinematography. There were some pretty and artful shots. Although this is not the genre you would expect to see pretty cinematography.
Cons - literally everything else. Spoilers abound, but don't worry, you won't miss anything by having it spoiled.
The opening scene killed it. Worst detective ever. I get that the girl is in shock, but come on with that interview technique. I almost turned it off right then and there for the bad acting/script.
Then the car ride. Instantly I dislike these idiots. They were all annoying, self centered, and dumb. None of the dialogue moved the story forward at all. Except maybe Diego saying Romina is his best friend. That pretty much kills the "twist" at the end.
For another half hour basically nothing happens. The kids are annoying. Dialogue makes no sense. Acting sucks. Romina prances around naked. There's a ridiculous rape scene. More bad acting. Virtually no storyline.
It's pretty obvious from early on that Romina intends to go on a murderous rampage. She's super manipulative. Not that she deserves to be raped, obviously, but they make no effort to paint her as a sympathetic vigilante, a la I Spit on Your Grave. Instead they make it pretty clear that she's up to no good. The rape, quite frankly, doesn't have anything to do with the story. I get the impression she would have killed everyone even if she hadn't been raped.
Finally we get to the carnage. There's no logical progression from point a to point b. All you see is people running around being idiots in one scene, and then they're somehow tied up and bloody in the next scene. Not that I have to see gore, but this is seriously weak sauce. Speaking of, the special effects are laughable.
Finally, the twist. Like I said, they basically give it away during the car ride, so it's not really a twist at all.
And there's literally no explanation for the carnage. "They all deserved it. Even Ximena." I guess we'll have to take your word for it because literally nothing in the storyline explains how anyone other than the rapists deserved anything. Unless you count being annoying and bitchy as deserving of murder, I guess.
Cons - literally everything else. Spoilers abound, but don't worry, you won't miss anything by having it spoiled.
The opening scene killed it. Worst detective ever. I get that the girl is in shock, but come on with that interview technique. I almost turned it off right then and there for the bad acting/script.
Then the car ride. Instantly I dislike these idiots. They were all annoying, self centered, and dumb. None of the dialogue moved the story forward at all. Except maybe Diego saying Romina is his best friend. That pretty much kills the "twist" at the end.
For another half hour basically nothing happens. The kids are annoying. Dialogue makes no sense. Acting sucks. Romina prances around naked. There's a ridiculous rape scene. More bad acting. Virtually no storyline.
It's pretty obvious from early on that Romina intends to go on a murderous rampage. She's super manipulative. Not that she deserves to be raped, obviously, but they make no effort to paint her as a sympathetic vigilante, a la I Spit on Your Grave. Instead they make it pretty clear that she's up to no good. The rape, quite frankly, doesn't have anything to do with the story. I get the impression she would have killed everyone even if she hadn't been raped.
Finally we get to the carnage. There's no logical progression from point a to point b. All you see is people running around being idiots in one scene, and then they're somehow tied up and bloody in the next scene. Not that I have to see gore, but this is seriously weak sauce. Speaking of, the special effects are laughable.
Finally, the twist. Like I said, they basically give it away during the car ride, so it's not really a twist at all.
And there's literally no explanation for the carnage. "They all deserved it. Even Ximena." I guess we'll have to take your word for it because literally nothing in the storyline explains how anyone other than the rapists deserved anything. Unless you count being annoying and bitchy as deserving of murder, I guess.
Flight 7500
(2014)
A lot of potential - but missed opportunity
23 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I will start by echoing many others who say the concept is interesting. And after reading about Helios Airway flight 522 (which was mentioned in another review) I think it's all the more intriguing. But the thing is, this movie did so little with the concept, character development, etc. that it just isn't good.
I guessed the ending as soon as people started disappearing. It's super predictable. Not a big deal - it's hard to provide a real "twist" these days. But there could have been a lot more plot development to get the viewer to the twist. Instead of people disappearing for no apparent reason, how about giving clues. So spirits hang around because they have something they can't let go of? How about showing them letting go in a really subtle way that gives you a little clue but doesn't give away the whole plot? Like honestly, the one flight attendant should have disappeared right after she acknowledged that her boyfriend wasn't going to leave his wife. She could have gone into the cargo hold and never come back. Or why did that character hang around for the rest of the movie after she had this life altering realization? Why did the youtube guy disappear at all? It's not like they showed any unfinished business for him to wrap up before disappearing.
Better attention to detail like that would have given the viewer clues as to what was happening and give us an ending that makes sense. Instead we are left with a pale hand and some smoke making people disappear for no good reason. The whole plot is totally disjointed making the thrills and the mystery just eh.
I guessed the ending as soon as people started disappearing. It's super predictable. Not a big deal - it's hard to provide a real "twist" these days. But there could have been a lot more plot development to get the viewer to the twist. Instead of people disappearing for no apparent reason, how about giving clues. So spirits hang around because they have something they can't let go of? How about showing them letting go in a really subtle way that gives you a little clue but doesn't give away the whole plot? Like honestly, the one flight attendant should have disappeared right after she acknowledged that her boyfriend wasn't going to leave his wife. She could have gone into the cargo hold and never come back. Or why did that character hang around for the rest of the movie after she had this life altering realization? Why did the youtube guy disappear at all? It's not like they showed any unfinished business for him to wrap up before disappearing.
Better attention to detail like that would have given the viewer clues as to what was happening and give us an ending that makes sense. Instead we are left with a pale hand and some smoke making people disappear for no good reason. The whole plot is totally disjointed making the thrills and the mystery just eh.
200 Degrees
(2017)
Just Ridiculous
13 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The whole thing is just so very bad. The acting is bad. The script is bad. The twists are bad. The end is bad. It's completely unrealistic - how did the guy's cell phone work so well in this metal room and in the intense heat (I've left my phone in a hot car for all of 30 minutes and it shuts itself down). It's just bad.
There's really no mystery as to "why" this guy is in the situation he's in. He's clearly an enormous a-hole. So you're not kept on the edge of your seat wondering why.
There's really no mystery as to "who." I don't know if it was bad acting or an intentional attempt to give the viewer a hint, but it was painfully obvious from the very beginning. No wonder the main character was able to figure it out on his own.
Why the guy's coworker gets wrapped up in this mess is beyond me. Guilty by association, I guess? At least there was a reason for wanting to kill the main character, even if it was the dumbest of all motivations, but I can't for the life of me figure out why the antagonist decided to do away with the coworker as well.
I guess it at least held my attention for an hour and a half while I let my restless newborn sleep on my chest in the middle of the night. But that's about all this nonsense is good for.
There's really no mystery as to "why" this guy is in the situation he's in. He's clearly an enormous a-hole. So you're not kept on the edge of your seat wondering why.
There's really no mystery as to "who." I don't know if it was bad acting or an intentional attempt to give the viewer a hint, but it was painfully obvious from the very beginning. No wonder the main character was able to figure it out on his own.
Why the guy's coworker gets wrapped up in this mess is beyond me. Guilty by association, I guess? At least there was a reason for wanting to kill the main character, even if it was the dumbest of all motivations, but I can't for the life of me figure out why the antagonist decided to do away with the coworker as well.
I guess it at least held my attention for an hour and a half while I let my restless newborn sleep on my chest in the middle of the night. But that's about all this nonsense is good for.
Monday at 11:01 A.M.
(2016)
Decent premise, but falls flat
9 January 2018
The movie has a decent premise with elements of mystery, thriller, and supernatural flick thrown in. The scripting was somewhat stilted and awkward, but could have been worse. It jumps around a lot and gets a little silly, but it ties everything together nicely and gives you a nice, though predictable, twist. The filming was good.
But the lead actor was absolutely the worst. His tone was completely flat. He sounded exactly the same throughout the entire movie. Confusion, anger, love - every emotion was portrayed with the exact same tone and intonation. And who talks like this guy? I get that in written form it may have seemed fine, but the language was totally unnatural. People don't say "they are". They say "they're". How did nobody notice how labored his speech sounded? Is that how he talks in real life, or just when he's trying to act? Most of the other acting was okay (although none of it was particularly memorable), but the lead drove me nuts and made the movie totally unenjoyable.
I watched it in bits and pieces while doing midnight feedings with my newborn. I don't know that I would have been able to handle it beginning to end in one sitting. I'd say it's fine if you have a couple hours to kill, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it.
But the lead actor was absolutely the worst. His tone was completely flat. He sounded exactly the same throughout the entire movie. Confusion, anger, love - every emotion was portrayed with the exact same tone and intonation. And who talks like this guy? I get that in written form it may have seemed fine, but the language was totally unnatural. People don't say "they are". They say "they're". How did nobody notice how labored his speech sounded? Is that how he talks in real life, or just when he's trying to act? Most of the other acting was okay (although none of it was particularly memorable), but the lead drove me nuts and made the movie totally unenjoyable.
I watched it in bits and pieces while doing midnight feedings with my newborn. I don't know that I would have been able to handle it beginning to end in one sitting. I'd say it's fine if you have a couple hours to kill, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it.
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