Wicked Little Things

In retrospect, I shouldn't have watched this movie after watching Unrest. The previous movie was SO good this one would have had to be amazing just to keep up - needless to say... it did not.

The Good:
From looking at the cover art and reading the brief synopsis on the back I gathered I was in for some zombie children goodness - and the zombie children really were the only good thing about the film. They were amazingly creepy. Their movements, their look - and those eyes - even if they had been standing there doing something completely normal those eyes would be creepy.

The Bad:
The plot was awkward and heavy on gleaning from other/better zombie flicks.

The actors were just not good and were constantly doing things that made you think "why would you do that?" or "why didn't you do this?".

You were supposed to feel sorry for some of the characters - but you just didn't.

You were supposed to dislike others - but you just didn't.

In the end you just didn't care what happened to any of them and ultimately just wanted the movie to come to an end. Blissfully - it did.

All in All:
I really didn't think this was worth watching at all. I also didn't understand what was so "questionable" about this movie that made it impossible to get into theaters except as a part of this film festival. I think the only reason this film was never released was that it was bad.

Dark Ride

The Good:
I have watched it - I never have to watch it again.

The Bad:
The entire cast, including Jamie-Lynn Sigler who I expected more from as she was great in The Sopranos.

The plot was done, done and over done.

Another horror film simply overflowing with cliche.

All in all:
Another bomb from the first After Dark Horror Fest. Better luck next year guys.

All the generic MTV era fluff with no substance.

The Hamiltons

The Good:
I like the "I shouldn't be seeing this" documentary style feel of the film.

The Bad:
The pacing was just off and left you bored instead of "along for the ride".

The characters were for the most part despicable - which meant you didn't care about them so once you added in the slow pacing you were left not caring at all whether or not you finished the movie.

All in all:
Sad really - the idea was actually a novel one that I haven't yet seen. I just wish it had been better executed. Another stinker from the first After Dark Horror Fest.

Penny Dreadful

The Good:
The freaky meat stick was way disturbing. I can't say any more. You'll know what I'm talking about if you see the film.

It did a passable job of building the feeling of claustrophobia.

The Bad:
The acting and writing were both bad.

This movie was chock full of those nonsensical "no one in their right mind would do that" moments which resulted in a complete lack of compassion for the main characters because anyone that stupid deserves what they will inevitably get.

All in all:
The title says it all - Dreadful. Another of the first After Dark Horror Fest to avoid.

The Abandoned

The Abandoned Trailer (2007) - Click here for more home videos


The Good:

Everything I love about a horror film - this movie gave me - and in scads! It managed to pull off things I typically attribute to Asian movies and do so better than I've ever seen done before. It was WONDERFULLY creepy - so much so that I had to do something else for an hour before bed last night just so I would stop thinking about just how much it got to me!

The sound and the camera angles in this movie were dead on. They gave you a constant uneasy feeling that just never let up - even in the end. The flashes of disturbing if puzzling images that the Asians do SO well were flawlessly integrated into this piece.

It gave you no safe havens - no tiny corners in the light where you could catch your breath for a moment and feel safe. It hit you hard from the opening minutes of the film and didn't let up until the credits rolled. I was horrified the entire time and at this point I've seen SO many horror movies that is hard to do. Bravo ADHF - BRAVO.

The Bad:
Well... you don't really know what "happens" in the end - or why/how it "happens" but I don't really think you're supposed to - so I'm not sure that's really a bad thing.

All in all:
If you see one film from the first After Dark Horror Fest - this should be it.

Reincarnation

The Good:

Asian cinema is always unbelievably good at seriously making you feel an emotion, whatever they might be going for (disoriented, unsettled, afraid), and this film did not disappoint.

The jerky just "off" movements of the characters - that "not quite right" color in some rooms - the camera angles and the music/sound all worked brilliantly together to make you feel a constant weight of dread pressing in on you.

This film did contain one of the creepiest things I've seen in a long time - the doll. I'm not going to say anything else - if you see/have seen the film then you/you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

The Bad:
Once again in the end I was left in complete confusion. Unfortunately - as brilliant as the Asian horror is on all other fronts - the confusion factor at the end can be very high. I'm not sure if I was more annoyed because at the had no idea what had happened or because since I couldn't figure out what had happened the feeling of unease just wouldn't let up. Either way - I wanted something more and just didn't get it.

All in all:
Good Asian horror - not nearly as good as Ju-on or Ringu - but good. If you like puzzles as endings and don't mind the risk of being continually unsettled when you can't figure out what happened - it's worth a watch.

Unrest

The Bad:
I'm not sure this is really a "bad" but the movie just wasn't a horror movie to me. It was, undoubtedly, a well crafted suspense flick - but just not really horror. It was like they took a great science based suspense story and tried to "horror it up" with some mystical mumbo jumbo. To some extent I think this weakened what could have been an incredibly powerful film.

There were some really "unbelievable" survival sequences - you know the ones, they're in almost every movie. That always really bugs me.

There is a character in this movie who should have died - yet, in the "epilogue" sequence at the end - there he is, going about his business as though nothing happened.

The ending was kind of "okay - but what did all of this mean". There really was no sense of closure or feeling really as though most of the rest of the movie had been adequately explained. I guess after the brilliance of the rest of the movie I just expected - more - from the ending.

All in all:
Definitely worth a see - but don't go into it expecting typical horror because you will be disappointed. Even the gore (it's a gross anatomy lab for most of the movie) isn't very "gory".

The Gravedancers

Another from the After Dark Horror Fest series. Going in to seeing this one they were 2 and 2 from last years. Unfortunately after seeing this movie they are now 2-3.

The Good:
That guy from Prison Break (Dominic Purcell) is pretty.

The Bad:
Almost every single horror movie cliche is contained within this film - and unlike with Scream, they aren't doing it to be funny.

The "ghosts" may as well have been taken out of any one of the Evil Dead trilogy because every damn one of them was a Deadite.

That guy from Prison Break is a bad actor, though I will give him a passing grade for Blade Trinity.

All in all:
No, for the love of all that is pure and holy, no.