gunzar Reviews

Fright Night (2011)

Instantly forgettable

[5/10 · 4 January 2012]

When you remake a cult classic there is obviously many pitfalls, Fright Night 2011 seems to fall into all of them.

The original Fright Night was somewhat of a horror comedy that really didn't take itself all too serious, but the remake takes itself far too serious yest comes across much more comical than its older (and better) cousin). As a country man of Colin Farrell I like to see him do well, but the man has the acting range of chicken that suffered a stroke. The Roddy McDowell role is taken up by a self absorbed David Tennant who is more annoying than what I assume was meant to be lighthearted (oh Dr.Who you have fallen so far). The rest of the characters are so forgettable that you really don't care what happens to them.

It's not a terrible film, but neither is it a good film. I watched it and actually forgot most of what happened 2 days later.

Survival of the Dead (2009)

Dreadful

[3/10 · 22 December 2010]

I know I am late writing a review for this film, but I just watched it again and couldn't take any more.

George Romero is now officially a has been. As sad as that is, its true.

The father of the modern zombie film has churned out a turgid pile of dross that makes the preachy God awful Diary of the dead look like his first masterpiece.

Where to begin? Survival is supposed to be a follow up from Diary, but unless I am mistaken at the end of Diary the zombie outbreak was covered up, yet in Survival the time line hasn't changed but the whole world has been overrun by zombies.

Our heroes, if you can call them that, find a mythical island populated by people with fake Irish accents and with an obsession with cowboy films. On this island there are 2 competing families, one is determined to wipe out zombies and the other wants to turn them into productive members of the community. The whole concept is ridiculous.

90% of zombie fans are tired of your preaching Mr Romero, it was OK when you could back it up with a good film, but when you actually release nonsense like this it just makes you look like a fool. Please leave the zombie films to those wont sign their names to any old dross just to make a few quid.

You used to be a legend,now you are a joke. It pains me to say that.

Day of the Dead (2008 Video)

Decent.

[6/10 · 30 August 2008]

Forget the whole "Romero is God we hate this film" talk, the original Day of the dead was awful if you ask me. Going into this I figured anything was an improvement, it was. Before someone screams "Romero is God", Night of the living dead and Dawn of the dead are two of my favourite films (not just horror films), but DOTD was just a rehash of the first two, basically the same story and characters but with more gore. Thats not always a bad thing, but compared to the previous two it shouldn't be as "sacred".

This version of Day of the dead does absolutely nothing new. Lots of characters who gradually start dying horribly, some will survive, some wont. At the end you wont be blown away but you will have seen what you wanted in a zombie film.

Irreversible (2002)

Stop making excuses

[4/10 · 26 June 2008]

Let me start by saying this film has some really good merits. Its well acted and well shot (at times) and you get a feel for the characters before all hell breaks loose........

Then we get to the crux of the problem, can someone explain to me why ANY film needs such a graphic (not always seen) rape scene, that seems to go on and on and on and on? Seriously, I can understand why there was a rape scene in the first place, but why does it have to carry on seemingly forever? This is an unpleasant well made film. The director and all the people who have commented (50 pages full for a film most movie goers have never heard of.....) can preach all they want about art etc, but this film has gotten so many replies on IMDb because it has a horrific (if not always seen) unending rape scene.

Some of the people here disgust me.

The Happening (2008)

M. Night Shyamalan spotted at the welfare centre......

[2/10 · 14 June 2008]

.....Well maybe not but he should.

He has officially become a has been in the film industry, so he should get a welfare check and spend all day eating Cheesy Puffs and watching soap operas.

Where to start with this dross. We have been teased for months with trailers hinting at an incredibly creepy film where people are dying/killing themselves because of some unknown disease or force, but guess what, the trailers are the best part of the whole film. OK thats being a bit unfair, the first 10 minutes is pretty cool but after that its total crap. Mark Wahlberg? puleaaaase he is awful as our leading man, and as for Zoe Deschanel, if they had auditions for her part she must have been the only person that showed up.

I am trying to say something nice about this film because I started out hoping Shyamalan would be back to his best, I loved "The sixth sense", and although it was widely thrashed I really enjoyed "Signs", this film isn't as bad as Lady in the water, but its on par with the craptastic The village. If you do go and see it watch the first 15 minutes, then go off and play pool or something and head back in to get the last 10 minutes, the rest is utter garbage.

REC (2007)

Oh no, its not a Romero film.......

[8/10 · 14 June 2008]

First off let me start by asking the people that compare every zombie film to 'Night of the living dead' to shut up. Only in the zombie genre is every single release compared to one movie, its not 1968 anymore there can't be another "Night", now get over it.

Now onto REC. This film surprised me, I hadn't even heard of it until a friend pointed me toward it, and I have to say I found it thoroughly enjoyable. No its not original, and no its not going to go down in the annals of horror film lore as an all time great, but its a well made film with a decent story and tons of suspense.

Our protagonist is amazingly cute and came across as very believable as documentary maker, and unlike a lot of leading ladies/men in horror films I actually gave a damn what happened to her.

REC revolves around a Spanish TV crew filming the everyday life of firemen, and at times you can almost believe thats what you are watching, then they get called out to an apartment building where there has been an incident and thats when all hell breaks loose. I won't ruin anything, but it follows the usual zombie storyline but its done a lot better than most, and you will definitely have a few moments where you grip your armrest a lot tighter.

If you are a zombie fan you will love it, if you are a Romero fanboy who thinks every other zombie film should be buried in a deep hole then nothing anyone can say will change your mind, so ignore this and every other film in the genre.

Flight of the Living Dead (2007)

Very enjoyable

[8/10 · 26 January 2008]

OK this is a low budget zombie film, but its also one that doesn't take itself too seriously. Whether its shooting zombies in the balls, a zombie trapped in his seat and trying to randomly snap at people as they run past, or my personal favourite, one of the main characters getting gummed by a toothless zombie. Its not very gory as zombie films go, but there's still plenty of blood to go around.

The acting is what you'd expect from a film of this type but its by no means terrible, the characters are quite well rounded and you start to like a few of them.

Its predictable, silly, and by no means is it "Night of the living dead", but then again it doesn't try to be. If you like zombie films this is a must for your collection, if you like action/horrors with a touch of humour you may also be pleasantly surprised.

Battle Royale (2000)

Quite brilliant

[9/10 · 4 January 2008]

There have been contrasting cries of "greatest film ever made" and "pointless gore fest" made about BR, and neither are accurate in my opinion. What it is, is a commentary about "perceived" (real or otherwise) problems among Japanese teens in the late 90's.

In one review, someone basically likened it to a movie involving young Japanese girls running around in school uniforms acting violent....DUH, thats the whole point. A lot of peoples only knowledge of Japan is Manga and Hentai.

If people bothered to watch the news once in awhile, they may know that the establishment in Japan were VERY worried about young people getting out of control, and BR portrays all this perfectly.

Its NOT ultra violent, although the fact that they are supposed to be teens makes it disturbing. Battle Royale is no worse than Lord of the flies, but for some reason that has been deified as a work of art, and BR is classed as trash. I'd say its more about cultural snobbery than actual appreciation of a truly magnificent film.

City of the Living Dead (1980)

Tripe

[3/10 · 30 December 2007]

I'm not a critic and this is my first post so bear with me. I am a huge horror fan and have wanted to see this film for years, so when I finally picked it up I was more than a little excited. More fool me, because I don't think I have ever been so disappointed and bored with a film in my whole life.

To start with the acting is absolutely atrocious even by horror standards, and the fact that its dubbed is no excuse. I've seen trees with a wider range.

The first half of the film is so boring I almost fell asleep. I tried drinking heavily to see if it would make it better, but sadly it was to no avail. When the action finally started it was roughshod and handled badly, and the plot was ridiculous.

The one good scene was where the creatively named "Bob" met his demise, but it came about because Bob, for reasons known only to himself, had hidden in the garage of the father of a girl he had kidnapped, raped, and tried to kill. Way to go Bob.

The last part of the film involved our heroes traveling underground to face the villain of the piece, and it was so underwhelming I actually thought there was more of the film to come.