The Messengers

The Good:
It had a good cast - they just didn't have a lot to work with.

Some good effects and genuine creepy moments - but they borrowed heavily from Asian cinema and didn't do it nearly as well.

The Bad:
This is another in the long line of - "I think I just figured out the whole story in the first 30 minutes - if I'm right I'm going to be really mad" - line of films. And once again - if you think you figured it out - you're going to be right.

All in all:
I spent more time trying to figure out where I'd seen Kristen Stewart (who plays Jess) than I invested in the entire movie. Turns out it's Panic Room. It was just a big let down because you really can figure it all out in the opening sequences - and once you've done that - there is really nothing else that keeps you watching, except the need to see if you were right - at which point you will feel stupid for continuing to watch.

Mortuary

The Good:
Well - the mortuary itself and some of the "stitching up the dead people" scenes were pretty creepy.

The Bad:
It was bad. Just plain bad. I don't even know where to start - it was all bad.

Tasha Yar (aka Denise Crosby) what has happened to you?

All in all:
Do not pass go, do not collect $200 - do not see this film. Even zombies can't save it.

Wind Chill

The Good:
The idea that souls could be trapped forever where they leave the world and that they will continue to come back to help or harm the living is always a disturbing one.

The blank slate of a deep winter's background is a powerful metaphor for desolation and isolation that will elicit fear in even a mediocre setting.

There were some very creepy moments.

The Bad:
I know I say this a lot - but I felt like I'd seen this movie before, and that it had been better.

Most of the time you either disliked or were indifferent toward the main characters.

The creepy moments were short lived and usually mired within some unending dullness.

All in all:
Pass.

Night Watch

The Good:
Fantastic overall cast.

Brilliant effects.

The subtitles were done in an amazingly artsy way that made them BECOME part of the film, instead of just running along the bottom and making you miss things. I wish more movies could pull this off.

Konstantin Khabensky was very, very good. He was totally believable as this formerly normal person who is just sucked into a world of weird one day and expected to deal.

Zavulon is deliciously evil - while still eliciting sympathy. A perfectly crafted villain.

Olga's transformation sequence is wonderfully done. Again - whoever does their effects is very good at what they do.

The execution of the stark contrast between the light and the dark was masterful - and yet the film still managed to allow you to see that everything was rooted in the same gray mire.

The Bad:
Svetlana. I understand she has a part to play but she was so boring and trite and a predictable mire in what was otherwise a standout film.

That disturbing little doll/spider thing that was reminiscent of the freak kids creations in Toy Story. It was upsetting - but it was probably supposed to be.

All in all:
Five Stars. See it - love it - then see the sequel and love it a bit less.

Hot Fuzz

The Good:
The combo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is just as hilarious here as in Shaun of the Dead. It was refreshing to see that as often times it doesn't work so well the second time around (see Super Troopers vs. Club Dread).

Timothy Dalton was absolutely hysterical - and I normally hate him quite a bit.

Please watch their analysis of Bad Boys more than once. I haven't laughed that hard since Tarantino's speech about Top Gun in Sleep With Me.

The Bad:
I don't think there was anything I can remember not liking.

All in all:
Great movie. Great follow up to Shaun. If you liked Shaun, you'll like this as well. Can't wait to see what else these guys have up their sleeves.

Beneath

The Good:
It was blissfully short.

The Bad:
Just about everything else.

The plot was predictable, not scary and really just sad.

The only decent actor in the film isn't a huge part of it as a whole.

Generic, generic, generic.

All in all:
Bleh. Forget it. The MTV logo on the front should tell you everything you need to know, I wish I had noticed it - sadly it was very small on the internet icon and I didn't make it out until it was too late. It's a mindless steaming pile of poo crapped out for the "now" generations non-existent intellect and attention spans.

Disturbia

The Good:
The little prank his friend pulls which involves a tower of Twinkees and a camera (that's all I'm saying, don't want to "ruin" it for anything - though it's gonna be rancid either way) was pretty entertaining.

Shia LaBeouf was at least tolerable... that's really all I've got.

The Bad:
The plot has already been done - much better - with better writers, better actors, and better directors.

I absolutely hated the "generic love interest/hot neighbor". She was horrible - and her teeth were weird as though they'd been filed down into nubs.

Carrie-Annie Moss' role may as well have been played by a corpse for all the livelihood that was in it. Of course - that's pretty much how I feel about her in general, but she was particularly bad here.

The villain role was generic, stereotypical and PREDICTABLE. A large part of this I blame on the fact that they cast the villain with David Morse - who save a small handful of roles - almost always plays "that generic creepy guy who might be eating your friends".

All in all:
People are going to tell you that this is the modern day version of Rear Window. Those people are either liars, fools, or being paid off by the movie company in some way to get people to watch their horrid generic little film. Don't bother with this. It's a waste of time. Just watch Rear Window and then take away everything that makes it good - then you will end up with Disturbia.