Hajimoto0625 Reviews

Skinamarink (2022)

I think this is the most boring movie I've ever seen

[1/10 · 21 March 2023]

First, let me preface by saying that I have been an artist my entire life. It's what I did for a living, and I love art and creativity in all forms. But this is not art.

Skinamarink is a really creative creepy concept executed in perhaps the worst way possible. It is long, boring, and not particularly pleasant to look it. It made my eyes tired...straining to see if anything was happening, which of course, nothing was.

If this were made as a 30 minute short it would have been pretty good. But 2 hours of grainy footage of mostly static images was just way too much for me. It actually gave me a headache.

The Dustwalker (2019)

I liked it!

[6/10 · 24 October 2022]

I usually tend to like Australian films, and this one falls in line with that. It also has some alien/zombie/parasite/possession type stuff, so it was right in my wheelhouse.

While it's not a blockbuster, it does a nice job with a limited budget. The acting was good, the cinematography was good, and the story was good. There are a number of shots that are very quirt and still, and very creepy. You'll know what I mean if you watch it.

The thing is, you have to watch it to the very end. This who rate it badly and say they didn't even watch the whole thing missed it. That's why they don't like it. It starts slow and gradually picks up and then wraps things up nicely at the end.

It won't blow you away, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Immanence (2022)

Felt like I was trapped in the Bermuda Triangle

[2/10 · 17 September 2022]

I wanted to like this movie. I really did. The description made it sound interesting. And it started out OK, but then, about the time the boat crossed into the Bermuda Triangle, like the boat in the movie it just went dead. Lousy dialogue, poor visuals, bad acting. Even the production value was bad. And while there were a few (just a few) cool things that were happening, it seemed like they didn't have the budget to pull it off. So you never got a really good look at those things. It just became pure drudgery to get through it. I kept pausing it to see how much time was left, and it never seemed to go down. I think I was trapped in the Bermuda Triangle of movies. The only thing I liked, and I'm not sure exactly why, was when they pulled the fish trap out of the water and it had a pig in it! It was just so bizarre that I was mildly entertained. Also, the polish model who played Harper was some nice eye candy. But overall this film does not look good, sound good, and the acting, story, and dialogue is bad. Skip this one folks. The Bermuda Triangle of movies is a bad place to be.

Solar Impact (2019)

Better than a lot of the reviews say it is

[6/10 · 3 July 2022]

I don't get all these 1/10 reviews. I'veseen movies that were truly 1/10, and this was nowhere near those. The one thing I noticed was that most of them are from Aug. 2020, so it could be a group attack. I don't know...

On to the movie. The story was your basic zombie outbreak, group of people tries to get out of the city and into the country where there are less zombies story. The scientific accuracy of why it happened didn't bother me because I'm not always a stickler for that. It worked with the story so I was cool with it.

I thought the acting was decent. Again, I've seen way worse, especially in zombie movies. But I thought it was at least professional. The characters were likable and I was rooting for them. I've seen Natalie Martins and Julian Seager in some other things and they are quality actors.

The cinematography was good, with some really nice drone shots. The color was slightly unsaturated which fit the tone of the movie. The CGI was just OK, but the movie didn't dwell or depend on it so it didn't muck it up for me.

The zombies were well done...they moved creepily and looked realistic. I hate movies where they just smear some red paint on a person's face and call them a zombie. I've seen plenty of those and these zombies were way better, especially with the solid black eyes.

The action moved fast and continued to the end, so there were no boring or lagging parts. It held my attention till the end.

The way the movie ended was a surprise, and leaves you wondering...

Basically this is a professional execution of a basic zombie outbreak story. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less. I'd recommend it over a lot of other zombie flicks. And I've seen a TON of zombie movies. I gave it a 6.

Missing 411: The Hunted (2019)

Interesting Documentary- Creepy in parts

[7/10 · 6 December 2021]

I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this movie, but I was more than pleasantly surprised. The cases are very interesting...especially the consistencies between them.

The part where they recorded the sounds of some kind of beings right in the vicinity of their camp was beyond creepy.

For those who complain that nothing gets wrapped up, that's because these cases are still unsolved and is the point of the film. Tons of people with similar circumstances missing from the forests of America, and none of them have yet to be solved.

Rebirth (II) (2020)

Terrible Movie

[2/10 · 24 September 2021]

I am a huge lover of zombie movies, even the low budget ones. This movie is terrible. It tries to pay homage to the original NOTLD, but all it does is insult the original.

The acting is terrible, the effects are terrible, the script is terrible, and the makeup is terrible. And what was with the glowing eyes???

I wish I could get back the time I spent on this one. The glowing reviews are clearly friends of the filmmakers. Or maybe the cast and crew themselves.

Spare yourself and watch something else. I'm not sure how this made it onto Amazon Prime.

Amber Alert (2012)

Too Much Screaming!

[4/10 · 8 June 2021]

And not in a good way.

Overall, the story was good and efficient and the acting was not bad. But there was far too much of the two main characters screaming at each other. I realize that this is probably what would have happened in real life, but it didn't make for a good movie.

But it was good to see a found footage movie about something real in our society today. Less screaming and more interesting dialogue and I would have graded this higher.

The Midnight Sky (2020)

Another Netflix SYFY Clunker where Nothing Happens

[4/10 · 1 January 2021]

The trailer for this movie made it look really good...good cast, beautiful cinematography, great set design, good CGI. And all of those things were true. The acting was good and the visuals were stunning. But the story, or lack of one, was awful. It was slow and it never picked up speed. Nothing really happened. It took about 30 seconds to realize that the little girl was not real. When the crew of the spaceship got their first view of the now decimated Earth, their reactions were, shall we say, tempered? All in all, not a lot different from IO, which was also bad and boring.

Summary: Acting- B Cinematography- A Effects-A Set Design- A+ Story-F

This movie would be just as good with the sound turned off.Sorry George...you are one of my favorites. But do yourself a favor and walk away from Netflix and stick with what has been working for you

Route 666 (2001)

Better than I expected

[6/10 · 30 November 2020]

Honestly, I wasn't expecting this movie to be any good. But I was sick of seeing it in my Amazon ' Movies we think you'll like' list. So I watched it and was pleasantly surprised.

Clearly, this is a low-budget B movie. But working within those parameters the cast was decent, the campy acting was fun, and the story, while nothing groundbreaking and new, was tight. The writing was a little iffy, but it had some good one-liners in it. Steven Williams in particular seemed to grasp the campy style of the film.

The only thing that I didn't like was the shaman segment. It didn't fit in with the story at all. It could have been completely cut without leaving even a trace of a hole in the story.

It's not the worst way to spend an hour and a half, as long as your expectations are tempered going in. If they are, you will find it entertaining.

Zoo (I) (2018)

It's either too long or too short...Not sure

[5/10 · 24 October 2020]

Good premise, good acting, but the story is SLOW.

It felt as if they weren't 100% bought in to the Rom part of Romzom. The filmmaker seemed to shoehorn the romantic dialog/scenes by cutting out most of the survival stuff. For example, they made this big decision to leave the apartment. Big build up to the m walking out the door...then, here they are running back into the apartment some unknown time later. All that they mention about the outing is that it was long enough for them to make it to a warehouse and Zoe Tapper was bitten. Then they were back in the kitchen drinking coffee.

I get that the zombie apocalypse was the backdrop to the love story, but you can't show brief flashes and then not expand on them a LITTLE. Otherwise, keep them ALLTHE WAY to the background and keep them there. That would have let the romantic story flow.

Here's the thing...This movie is either 30 minutes too long or 30 minutes too short. Flesh-out the apocalypse and zombie survival, or cut it back even more and focus on the relationship. It's not working very well as it is now.

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

Incredibly disappointed

[2/10 · 5 October 2020]

I understand the tone of the movie...dry humor. But they left out the humor part, which left this only dry. And boring, and stupidly insulting.

Such a great cast for such an awful movie. And I am a HUGE lover of zombie flicks.

I'm really sorry that I wasted my time with this one.

Navy Seals vs. Zombies (2015)

Despite the bad reviews, I actually enjoyed it

[6/10 · 19 September 2020]

Look...it's a low budget zombie movie. It's not going to be a World War Z.

I have a soft spot for this kind of movie. They allow me to sit back and not have to think much while I watch it. So even though the acting, script, and cgi were not very good, it was entertaining, with action pretty much beginning to end. So I give it a 6.

The one thing I really hated was Michael Dudikoff. He came off like a cartoon character.

Still, I enjoyed it.

To Survive (2014)

A very cheap imitation of The Road

[2/10 · 14 September 2020]

I usually like these kinds of movies, but not this time. Its clearly a heap knock off of The Road which is an ATF of mine. But they just don't pull it off. The writing is bad, the acting is worse, and the cinematography is flat. Also, the sets are too obviously staged. But I'd still rate it higher if it wasn't such a blatant rip off. But you put the bad things mentioned above with a lack of creativity and you get yourself a boring loser of a movie. You should skip this one.

Adrift (I) (2018)

Nothing new but worth a watch

[7/10 · 10 September 2020]

I kind of waffled back and forth on this. I decided to watch it because it looked good, but then it felt like it was getting slow. Then, it became good again. It is the kind of movie that you have to digest the whole thing. There is no huge 'moment'. It is just a consistently well-acted movie with beautiful cinematography that did a good job of telling a true story.

Shailene Woodley was excellent. I think she is a sadly underrated actor. Sam Claflin was also very good. The two of them allowed their acting chops to carry the movie, along with the magnificent cinematography.

All in all, it is a good movie that is worth a watch. The 96 minute length is perfect. Any longer and it would have started to get slow, and shorter and it would have felt rushed.

Paradise Z (2020)

Terrible

[1/10 · 9 February 2020]

I don't think I've ever seen a zombie movie as boring as this one. I know it is a cliche, but watching this really was like watching paint dry, and I love almost everything 'zombie. But this story could have been told as a short. Instead, it is fleshed out to cover 90 with LOTS of filler of the girls washing dishes, going to the bathroom, and packaging food. Good times!

I can't believe a wasted $5.99 on Amazon for this. Don't waste YOURs.

Light of My Life (I) (2019)

A Boring, Cheap Imitation of 'The Road'

[3/10 · 27 December 2019]

I had really high hopes for this movie, as it is my favorite genre. But those hopes were quickly dashed by a 12 minutes single shot close-up scene of Casey Affleck telling a really stupid version of Noah's ark as a bedtime story to his daughter. I actually dozed off during it (no exaggeration). The rest of the movie was a complete rip off of The Road, but while that movie crafted a consistent mood and style, and kept you engaged throughout, this movie was basically slow and boring throughout, save for the last 20 minutes. I'm sorry, but Casey Affleck is just not the writer that Cormac McCarthy is (which is nothing to be ashamed of).

The cinematography was good, especially in the snowy scenes, and the acting was good (I would have liked a little more Elisabeth Moss though), but it was just not enough to save this snoozefest

OzLand (2014)

Would have been better with no dialog

[3/10 · 30 November 2019]

I love post-apocalyptic movies. Especially those that feature characters wandering and rummaging through abandoned places for supplies. I don't know why, I just do. So the short write up on this was appealing. So I watched it, and here's what I found:

THE GOOD: 1) The soundtrack was great. It fit the mood of the landscape perfectly.

2) The locations were really great. From what I could tell, this movie took place maybe 20-25 years after the apocalypse. So the level of the decay in the locations seemed spot on.

3) The cinematography was excellent. Unlike other movies like this, it was not gray and lifeless. There was a lot of color, the shots were beautifully constructed, and even the decaying, dusty buildings had a beauty to them.

THE BAD: 1) This movie is B-O-R-I-N-G. It was really quite a chore to get through it all.

2) The script was terrible. I get the concept for the story, but it never really developed. All in all the story was weak and disjointed.

3) The acting was not very good. I wasn't sure if Lief was supposed to be mentally challenged, or if he was just an annoying character. Overall, the best actor was the robot.

4) Speaking of the robot, WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT? It didn't fit with this film at all. I wish that the script had given some sort of clue as to what caused the apocalypse, and why there may be a random robot walking around. was it a war? An invasion from aliens? A virus? People dropping dead from watching boring movies?

Do I recommend it? Absolutely not. Unless you have it on in the background while you do something else. You can listen to the music and catch random glimpses of the cinematography. But don't invest an hour and 44 minutes of your time on this one. It's an investment that does not pay off.

I give it 3 stars for the music, locations, and cinematography...and that's it.

Zombie Night (2013 TV Movie)

A good bad zombie movie

[5/10 · 15 June 2019]

"Hello. My name is Bob, and I'm a bad Asylum Movie addict."

Seriously, I know that Asylum makes awful movies for Syfy, but sometimes I get in the mood and I like them. This is actually one of their better efforts, and I think it is because it didn't really use any of their bad CGI effects, and it included a cast straight out of Celebrity Big Brother, including: -Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club, Dead Zone) -Daryl Hannah (Splash) -Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family) -Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) -Jennifer Taylor (2 1/2 Men)

The Good:

• Modeled after the classic zombie movies by George Romero, including the premise that zombies originally come from the corpses of dead people and scratch and claw their way out of their graves in the cemetary, and then all die at the next sunrise
• Non-stop action from beginning to end
• The production value was mostly good

-No fake Asylum CGI explosions -Pretty gnarly zombies -Great solution to hiding from the zombies until daylight (in a coffin) -Jennifer Taylor is just as hot as a suburban housewife as she was as one of Charlie Sheen's babes on 2 1/2 men

The Bad: -Awful script, especially for Hall, who's highlight lines were things like 'What about that rock?", and 'Somebody give me something to break this glass!" and the biggest of then all "I don't know." (multiple times). -Darryl Hannah's post-plastic surgery face is scarier than the zombies were -Shirley Jones was the most irritating character I've ever seen in a movie bar none -Jennifer Taylor died

So is it a good movie? No. Is it a bad movie? No. It is a good bad movie.

Zombie Night doesn't require a lot of deep thought and is entertaining all the way through. The perfect recipe for you to grab your favorite party favors, put your feet up, and chill for about 90 minutes.

The Silence (II) (2019)

An astounding lack of story and character development

[2/10 · 21 April 2019]

Despite the bad reviews, I watched this movie anyway. I really like Stanley Tucci, so I figured it couldn't be that bad. I was wrong...

Whoever wrote the script apparently gets tired easily. The 'story' (and I use that term loosely), touched on several different plot lines, but expanded on none of them, thus leaving gigantic holes, basic illogical issues, and time-sequence problems. I was going to start to list them here, but there are far too many. But suffice it to say, The Silence is like a movie version of Cliff Notes. A little of this, a little of that, but nothing in detail.

One thing I do wonder though, is with society crumbling, being devoured by the 'vesps', how is it that there was cell and internet seemingly EVERYWHERE...even in a cabin in the woods, and far north towards the polar region? The movie is littered with lazy solutions to fill in the story like this.

I was embarrassed for Stanley Tucci in watching this. At least John Corbitt was lucke enough to get killed early.

Don't do what I did. Instead, pay attention to the reviews. This movie as as bad as they say it is.

IO (2019)

An open-ended study in tedious boredom

[2/10 · 3 February 2019]

To make a point, I am not going to write a long review. Rather, I'm going to keep it short...like they should have done with this movie. IO takes about 15 minutes worth of interesting content and spreads it over 96 minutes. It's a slow movie...but unlike GOOD slow movies, it isn't a slow build up to something big. It's just slow and then it stops. It felt like somebody ripped a handful of pages out of the middle of a novel and made a movie out of it.

With no story to speak of, and a bad script, even the great musical score couldn't save it.

If you are suffering from insomnia, try watching IO. It should help.

Daylight's End (2016)

Not too shabby...

[7/10 · 3 January 2019]

Keep in mind I'm a lover of post-apocalyptic movies, especially those with zombies. This movie, while certainly not deep, is very well done technically. The cinematography, makeup, and effects (which are often the downfall of indie zombie flicks) are top-notch. There is a lot of action,lots of guns, lots of blood, all of which keep you on the edge of your seat. Also, the sets were good and realistic (another downfall of bad zombie flicks). Plus, it had Lance Henrikson, so it can't be all bad.

The story is just OK..not deep, and absolutely nothing new...it borrows from 'I am Legend' quite a bit (among others), but that was OK with me.

All in all I had a good time watching this movie. I give it a 7.

Bird Box (2018)

Disregard the early bad reviews, this is a good movie!

[9/10 · 25 December 2018]

I waited patiently for this to be available on Netflix. And when it did, I started to see bad reviews on here. After watching the movie, I just don't get it. I guess some reviewers like to find fault with everything. But I think that while it is important to post a bad review when a movie is deserving of it, and thus sparing others from wasting their time on it, I think it is equally important to let people know when a movie is good. Bird Box is very good. Not great, but very good.

Bird Box falls into the genre of films like 'The Happening', and 'A Quiet Place', but it is not a ripoff of either. In fact, the book was written before 'A Quiet Place'. The movie gets going pretty quickly and pulls you in, and then keeps you there. Some observations then...

THE STORY: Like all movies like this, there are some small things that might be a bit of a stretch. But this is a fictional story, so those things are not a problem. They help make it better. The story jumps back and forth between the present, where Sandra Bullock's character is trying to transport two small children down a river with all of them blindfolded, and the past, which tells how everything got to where it is. Basically, there was some kind of force which came to Earth and when people looked at it it caused them to see their greatest fears, sadness, and loss. This then caused them to go mad and commit suicide. The only people exempt where those that were already insane, as it didn't bother them and actually made them happy (brilliant if you think about it). It bounced back and forth like this pretty seamlessly, so it worked very well. They did a much better job with this than the makers of 'Annihilation', which was an absolute mess. By the end, everything was tied up nicely, all questions were answered, and there were no holes left in the story. They never really explain what this force that was wiping out the population, but that was done on purpose and added to the suspense of the story. It also helped you connect with the characters, as you understood how they felt not knowing what this thing was. All in all, the story was excellent.

THE ACTING: Top-notch all around. Bullock, John Malkovich, BD Wong, Sarah Paulson, Trevante Rhodes...great cast, great acting. Also, the 2 young children were not annoying, which was a nice change (unlike the kids in 'Extinction'...OMG).

CINEMATOGRAPHY AND EFFECTS: The effects were very good. Watching Sarah Paulson step in front of a fast moving 18 wheeler is a scene that sticks with you, as is the scene where a woman calmly switches from perfectly fine to mad within seconds, suddenly talking to her dead mother as she calmly gets into the driver's seat of a burning car, catches on fire (without making a sound) and then blows up with the rest of the car. Eerie as hell! The rest of the film work is beautiful, especially the scenes on the river.

My only complaint is that it is a little too long. If it were shortened by about 20 minutes it would be perfect.

Disregard the early negative reviews. Bird Box is a very good, edge of your seat, scifi/horror type movie that is well worth the time you will spend watching itwith elevated blood pressure and sweaty palms...lol

I give it a 9!

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)

Entertaining, but exhausting with no real story to speak of

[4/10 · 25 November 2018]

For starters, I will say that this movie is NOT boring. It starts out with about 5 minutes of normal movie pacing, then explodes into another 93 minutes of fast zoom camera work, exaggerated sound effects, blood, guts, dark humor, violence, and zombie butt-kicking. The style reminds me of a combination of Evil Dead II, the Crank franchise, and Mad Max. Sounds awesome, right? But here's the problem...

1) Pacing: There is absolutely no pacing. It kicks into overdrive about 5 minutes in and never stops, making it mentally exhausting to keep up with. Films that do this successfully use the technique in select action scenes, then slow it down in order to tell the story properly, then go back to action, story, action...you get the idea. The Evil Dead II did a masterful job of this. But Wyrmwood uses this technique even in scenes that are not really action scenes, so you are always chasing the movie to try to catch up with the story. If you are a person with a fair attention span, watching this will make you crazy.

2) Story: There is no clear storyline to this film. I am always willing to accept plot holes if they help make the movie better, but this movie has a ton of plot holes and underdeveloped characters. The result is you have no idea what anyone is doing and why. It hints at a possible story in many places throughout, but winds up leaving you scratching your head. For example, It never really explains who the government soldiers and especially the crazed scientist are, and what they are doing. The scientist is experimenting on both zombies and humans, but they never explain WHAT he is doing, and WHY. Is he trying to cure people from being zombies? Is he trying to militarize zombies? We just never learn what he is doing, and who he works for. There are a lot of these kind of issues in the movie.

When the movie did clarify things, it had some interesting and creative concepts, like zombies creating combustible gas when they exhale (which was necessary, because apparently petrol no longer worked on earth...though again, they never really explained this). Or the fact that the zombie outbreak was caused by a possible biblical meteor shower, and only people with a certain bloodtype were immune from it. But these were presented almost as afterthoughts

Also, some of the dark humor parts were priceless, like the scientist dancing to KC and the Sunshine Band while experimenting on zombies that were strapped to the walls.

The bottom line is this movie is 98 minutes of high octane zombie violence with some funny moments, but with no clear story framework to fit it into. I felt like the creators viewed an actual story as just an annoyance that would get in the way of the action scenes, and it should be the other way around. I'm a big fan of the Australian film industry, but I thought this one was a miss. I give it 4 stars.

Cam (2018)

Well done - Better than I expected

[8/10 · 24 November 2018]

I don't quite get where all of the terrible reviews are coming from. I guess if you need your movies tied up with a pretty red bow at the end, then you might not like this one. but if you like to have your thoughts provoked a bit, then definitely give this a watch. Personally, I 'got' the ending. I enjoy metaphors, and this story had a big one. But besides that...

1) Madeline Brewer is exceptional. She plays Alice/Lola perfectly.

2) The movie is visually well-done. It has a theme, which matches up with what I'm guessing a Cam Girls web site feels like, and carries it through really well.

3) It represents the whole adult-themed Cam Girl culture perfectly...just enough to communicate that it is naughty, without ever getting crude or relying on it's sexual theme to carry it.

The story keeps a fast pace, so it never gets dull or slow. Also, it does have a lot of the feel of a Black Mirror episode, just not quite as sophisticated in the story line. But then again, very few films do match up to BM when it comes to story lines.

Oh, and the metaphor? When Lola sold out and 'faked the big O' in her Vibatron show, she lost her own integrity of her real self (she says early on that she NEVER fakes 'it'), just to get herself into the top 50. The next morning she woke up and her identity was gone...stolen by some mystery culprit. When she fought to get it back by reverting back to being herself, she won it back.

Bottom line...this is a visually appealing, fast moving, grab your attention and keep it movie with a 10 star performance by Madeline Brewer (who I think in general is criminally underrated). It's better than a lot of the Netflix 'crank it out' movies.

Check it out...there are worse movies to spend your time with.

Fairfield (2014)

Wake me up when it's over...

[1/10 · 28 October 2018]

I don't have a lot to say about this movie. The acting is OK, the production quality is poor, there is no real story...

But more than anything it is B-O-R-I-N-G!

I found myself trying to identify as many Breakfast Club ripoffs as I could just to stay engaged. Maybe this would make a good drinking game, and create SOME value for this 'movie'.

Otherwise, I recommend that watch something else...anything else. Just not this.