the blunt critic

Okay that’s good. Just read the film’s Wikipedia page and decide whether you want to watch this repulsive, abhorrent film for yourself. I for one cannot and will not. Ever. My stomach is turning just thinking about it.

The second installment in the “Purge” franchise is a mixed bag. While it does a better job of setting up this world and the circumstances surrounding it, it fails in certain realms of believability and lacks a compelling story. It scatters its attention among too many characters, trying too hard to cover the nuances of the Purge law. While the story delves deeper into the types of things that would manifest under this law, it fails to center the story around the key conflict between sides. The ending is definitely satisfying and sends a clear message regarding the violence of the world. However, the film is underwhelming and doesn’t capitalize on the opportunities the world offers.

One might mistake “Haunt” for a stereotypical horror film when it starts but it manages to subvert those expectations. The film has surprisingly good performances and doesn’t go the way your typical “stranger comes into a family’s life” story goes. However, there are far too many jump-scares, which undermines any real terror the film establishes. Although the film doesn’t go the way of cliche, it doesn’t feel terribly original either. The story lacks a lot of substance and context. In the end, it’s pretty mediocre.

Zal Batmanglij has managed to make a name for himself with just two indie-thrillers. Following up the riveting “Sound of My Voice”, Batmanglij, along with writer & actor Brit Marling, stun again with “The East.” On the surface, the two films are remarkably similar. SPOILERS: Both films follow outsiders that infiltrate secretive organizations in an attempt to stop and expose them. Both have protagonists that begin to lose their grip on who they are really working for. However, a short description of the two doesn’t do justice to the minute differences that distinguish the two. “The East” poses strong questions about society, family and the individuals that are either a part of those groups or on the outside. Whereas “Sound of My Voice” managed an admirably ambiguous ending, “The East” makes a clearcut statement about the parallel evils of corporation and extremism. It’s a tense film that will have the audience as worried about the protagonist getting caught as they are about her slipping into a dangerous mindset. It’s a thrilling film that achieves all of the excitement of a blockbuster but without the explosions and violence.

This film is an atrocious, unscary, uninteresting turd that relies on a painfully unsurprising twist to buttress the bland characters and story. The style is unoriginal and terribly played out. The filmmakers make a classic mistake of mistaking “dark” for “scary.” While he wasn’t the director (he was the producer), this film bears all of the problems of a Jerry Bruckheimer disaster: style over substance, surface over depth. In the end, it devolves into an exorcism story, which offers no new wrinkle over the many exorcism tales out there. It’s a star-studded, big-budget bore that should be avoided at the cost two hours of boredom. 

While the film feels like a complete conception, it fails to feel consistent or confident in its own story. The “True Story” bookends are distracting and unnecessary. The litany of characters are poorly portioned and it feels like the character "Ulises” should have gotten more screen time. The ending is abrupt and sorely needs denouement. The film is too plot heavy and doesn’t develop the characters enough. It’s overly violent and often the violence feels unmotivated and for shock factor. Although the film isn’t without exciting moments and decent drama, it’s highly forgettable. 

Also known as "They Came from Within,” this film is rife with symbolic commentary. It addresses everything from rape, fear of intimacy, virginity, consciousness, promiscuity and sexual preference. It questions the idea of intellect over instinct. Cronenberg has a remarkable ability to convey ideas in subtext. Even this early on in his career, he was master of body horror. While one could accept this film as a warning against promiscuity and unprotected sex, it doesn’t come off as preachy or puritanical. Cronenberg seems more interested in the hypothetical horror, rather than heavy-handed symbolism, and his films benefit from it. 

Instant Classic! A few months ago I wondered when American horror films would rise to the level of “The Babadook” or even “The Canal,” stupendous and very good recent horror films respectively from other countries. Well, “It Follows” exceeds the bar. It’s a film that achieves both the nostalgia of classic 70′s and 80′s horror, fueled by a truly great score, and it manages to show you something you’ve never seen before. It takes superb writing and remarkable filmmaking to create a total film experience like that. The performances are excellent, beautifully blending humor and terror. The cinematography is gorgeous and marries perfectly with the story. These filmmakers understand true horror, not just startles. The fear generated by this story lives down deep and doesn’t just work in the dark or with jump-scares (of which I counted two in the film, total). The film poses questions about fear of abuse, passion versus love, and the often vague dividing line between good and evil. It works on a visceral, existential level that gets to the core of what horror fans crave when they sit down for a film. “It Follows” is a game-breaker and a genre-maker, and is easily one of the best horror films of the decade

While the film begins with an interesting premise, it seems to fritter its time away while offering very little story and even less thrills. The twists aren't surprises and the scares aren't scary. The performances are good and they need to be to carry you through this film. In the end, it's simply not worth the time to watch it.

What is it exactly that has current horror films, particularly American horror films, in the state that they're in? They have become so dreadfully formulaic, so banal and repetitive that enthusiasm for the genre seems to be at an all-time low. Nine of ten films can be broken down into a masked-killer-to-be-revealed in the third act, a half dozen dopes to be killed sporadically (and not-so-creatively), 87.5 jump scares and some stolen J-horror imagery. Sound like anything you've seen lately? Of course it does. This is why "The Babadook" is so exciting. It subverts all of those tropes and delves into the realm of horror that the classics live in. Real horror. Not startles or scares but actual, deep-seated terror. It's drenched with detail and meaningful symbolism. It's the perfect blend of mysterious supernatural and straight-forward story. The filmmaking techniques are excellent, especially the lack of CGI effects. The performances are phenomenal. The music is truly chilling. Top to bottom, "The Babadook" is one of the elite horror films of the last decade. Perhaps the success of this film in both the core of horror enthusiasts as well as the mainstream will propel a new generation of honest-to-god horror. Not the kind that dunks your head underwater but the kind like slowly rises like the tide to drown you in dread.

It's a small scale look into a large scale film. Sometimes those films work, such as in the case of "Attack the Block", a film quite similar to this one. However, "Attack the Block" is carried by personal conflict and larger societal themes. While "Storage 24" has some personal drama, or melodrama, mixed in, it's hardly enough to make the audience care for the protagonists. It plays out like a mediocre soap opera mixed with a creature-feature, which is nothing new nor interesting. Though the effects are interesting and there is some humor to liven up the film, it's nothing special. Save this one for the background of a party or when you can't find anything else to watch.

The story is familiar but the execution and details drive "The Canal" to satisfyingly creepy territory. We get a lot of films that pose the idea of insanity vs. supernatural. SPOILERS: The result is often one or the other. However, in "The Canal", it's both, and that's what makes it so intriguing. It's beautifully littered with details and built on genuinely pulse-pounding moments. What makes the story so unsettling is that the protagonist is unsure of himself. His own fear of his capacity for murder is truly disturbing. Bringing in the human element of the fear of oneself is what really makes "The Canal" a standout film of 2014 and a must-watch for horror fans. Will American horror films return to the form that foreign films have reached this past year?

One of the most remarkable sci-fi films of the year, "The Signal" is a thrilling, intelligent film that is anything but predictable. The storytelling is smart and strong, with a great balance of human drama and sci-fi wonder. The effects are seamless as well as stylistic, without being overwrought. However, the true strength of the film lies in the simple and believable emotional story between the characters. It's difficult to comment further on the film without spoiling some of the details, so suffice it to say: watch this film.

It's a shame that such talents as Ben Kingsley and Aaron Eckhart went to waste on this messy, convoluted film. The premise is silly and the "twist" is all too predictable. There is little to like or even remember from this film that feels remarkably plot heavy and devoid of any personal or emotional drama. Too many of the film's important events occur in the past, which forces the film to employ poorly executed flashbacks. While the opening scene is tense and attention-grabbing, nothing else lives up to the lofty promise of the film's beginning. 

This is the type of film that manages to surpass all of the elements surround the film; the title, the trailers, the ads; and stand out as something unique and unexpected. What separates this film from some of the more typical Hollywood blockbusters is that it has a high-concept element that makes it more than just crazy creatures and lots of bullets. The time-travel element of the film creates another dimension that makes the main character relatable to the audience because we are the only other people privy to this element. The film is action-packed but also emotionally engaging and funny. Tom Cruise, who has wilted in recent films as our prototypical every-man hero, is excellent as the cowardly war propagandist-turned-soldier. Emily Blunt is complex and interesting as a symbolic war hero that is a bit of a phony, yet a positive phony. The media/propaganda element of the film also adds an interesting style akin to "Starship Troopers". All told, this is just a really fun film that does an excellent job of translating our real-world, fast-forward, rewind, game-over, start-over idea of entertainment and puts it on film.

The tension, mystery and all-out terror that this film evokes is extraordinary. The film works like a chill running slowly up your spine until it whacks you on the back of your head. While much of the ending is truly horrifying, it's the lead-up that will get your heart pounding with truly relatable terror. The performances are excellent and really carry this small-cast film. Scenes are alive with little details that make the film feel very full, complete and authentic. This is one of the strongest indie thriller/horror films in the past few years and could end up high on a lot of "best" lists. It's thrilling to think of what else first-time director Leigh Janiak has up her sleeve.

Most horror films that blend the ideas of the supernatural and madness keep you guessing about which is real within the film. However, "The Entity" is pretty clear from the start; our heroine is not crazy. Yet, the film proceeds to waste copious amounts of time making our heroine try to convince characters the audience doesn't care about that she is sane. In that regard, the film seems pointless. We don't care that she convinces the doctor she's sane because she doesn't care, she's already believed by the parapsychologists and her family. All we care about is that she beat the ghost. SPOILER: She doesn't. It's a film built on spectacle and it hardly delivers in that department. It also fails in the department of scares and tension due to the abysmal choice of droning, over-the-top music during every ghost attack. It's desensitizing. In the end, it's a pretty shallow film that maybe works as an interesting allegory to rape and how people tend to not believe women without categorical evidence but even there it comes up short.