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ledbarker
Reviews
Hellraiser (1987)
A movie based on the wrong point of view.
I gave this film two stars for the excellent makeup, otherwise it is discardable. There is no empathy to be found in any human character here. Were this movie based on the perspective of the Cenobites trying to reclaim what they lost, there might have been something to work with. I finished this one just to make sure I got all the laughs, "Don't look at me, I said don't look!"
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)
A tasteful adaptation if you can realize it's intention
It took some figuring on reviewers low star count for this film, and after some reading, I believe I have figured it out. It has to do with people's respect for the well done made for BBC Television Original that helped open up this genre in horror to new eyes.
Granted, I have not seen the original, but I went on here and did more reading to add enlightenment to my review. The classic film is based on a couple (without child) who inherit a old family home with a dark and buried secret. So the basis of the "gremlins" desires are for the wife, who becomes curious about a blocked up furnace in a room she liked to turn into a study for her. Upon unblocking the furnace, she allows these ancient creatures the freedom they crave, as well as a fresh meal.
Digging into the adaptation, the Sally character is re-envisioned as the child of a distracted father and his new girlfriend, who flip houses for profit. Sally is transplanted from her life in Los Angeles to stay out in the European Countryside with her father in a wonderfully haunted feeling mansion. The set pieces and locations used in this aspect are inspired. For some, that already may be glitch one, a child as the antagonist and the person this story more or less wraps around. Being a strong reader and therefore a lover of Stephen King, I enjoyed this take; you get a "Danny Torrance" or whichever your favor young character in a King novel you wanna relate to aspect where the child is old enough to roam on their own, but not too old to have lost the best parts of imagination. I hate to put more "shine" on this, but the distracted father more invested in his work than a well functioning family unit also nodds in that direction.
I am not crowning this movie with any major awards, but GDT always provides a sense of mastery and production quality with projects he is involved in, although he did not sit in the director's chair this time (he gave that to an up and comer which found his first feature length project in this film). I can understand the distaste for excessive CGI, but life action creatures may have not been the best bet here (which tastes bad when it comes out of my mouth, but applies here . .) Unless maybe you wanted to go the stop animation route, which of course I would have appreciated. The "gremlins" are presented as a pixie sized creatures that can easily be missed, especially when scurrying around in the dark. Which brings up more to do with cliche's that always plague a horror movie of this type.
As for the creatures themselves, I guess people really wanted more of a backstory there, and maybe that could have added to the film, but also don't believe it took much away from it either. Did we ever discover where Mogwai came from, besides an exotic shop in "Chinatown" ? Granted I wouldn't respond at all to the harsh whispers and discerning cackles from the shadows Sally seems to think could be her new friends. And yes, there is always the plot hole or two that one can look over, or pull apart. If you consider the "accident seen" in this, then you are on the right track . . It is never expressed that being in the light really kills them, they have just become such a reclusive race of creatures that staying in the shadows is best, and with lights on and their discovery, it would dispell the notion that Sally is simply imagining all this in the eyes of her parents. Then again, what self-respecting parent puts a 9 year old on adderall anyway? This leads one to wonder why after understanding their distaste for light Sally allows her setting to remain so encompassed in shadow in the first place . .
Give the movie a chance and form your own opinion.
Yoga Hosers (2016)
Tasteless
I made it into this film less than 5 minutes, including the production companies. The opening garage band song was supposed to be a "highlight" at least, if you wanna listen to a couple of teen girls sing a lame song written by "The Beastie Boys". What is with Americans disliking Canada in the first place? A couple of characters using "ah-boot" would have been okay, but literally every single one of them? You could have dropped it after the first go, "Sorry ah-boot that".