Tag: Thriller

Movie Review: Odd Thomas

IMDB, Odd Thomas“Odd Thomas” on IMDB

Thriller/Mystery/Horror, 97 Minutes, 2013

[Personal Note: my wife and I finished this movie and, as you’ll see, enjoyed it thoroughly. I began writing the review and, a short while later, learned that Anton Yelchin had died. Considering the subject matter of the film, this created some eerie sensations to say the least. He was a damn good actor and seemed like a damn fine human.]

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Movie Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane

IMDB, 10 Cloverfield Lane“10 Cloverfield Lane” on IMDB

Drama/Thriller, 104 Minutes, 2016

This is said to be a sequel, of sorts, to 2008’s big budget found-footage, love-it-or-hate-it epic Cloverfield [IMDB]. If so, the connection is, to be generous, tenuous. The films are vastly different in tone, style and pacing and lack any obvious overlap. They are similar thematically, however. Both focus on small, personal stories occurring on the periphery of enormous, world-altering events.

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Movie Review: The Boy

IMDB, The Boy“The Boy” on IMDB

Horror/Thriller, 97 Minutes, 2016

There’s a certain comfort to a classically staged horror story. An immense, ancient mansion in the English countryside, miles from the nearest aid. Is the daunting, wrought-iron fence keeping people out, or keeping… something, in? What’s hiding in the overgrown hedges, twisting corridors and shadowed corners?

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Movie Review: The Visit

IMDB, The Visit“The Visit” on IMDB

Thriller/Horror, 94 Minutes, 2015

As unlikely as it may seem, somebody gave M. Night Shyamalan [IMDB] money to make another movie. His last offering, 2013’s After Earth [My Review] is a truly pathetic sci-fi film. Prior to that, he proved his inability to do fantasy with The Last Airbender [IMDB]. What’s a Shyamalan to do?

Scuttle back to thrillers as quickly as possible, apparently.

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Movie Review: The Boy

IMDB, The Boy“The Boy” on IMDB

Thriller/Horror, 104 Minutes, 2015

Motels are creepy. Alfred Hitchcock knew that in 1960 when he set his classic thriller Psycho [IMDB] in one. By their very nature they’re nowhere. After all, if you were somewhere, there would be a hotel, right? Motels are where people end up when they can’t get where they’re going. Motels are awkward, uncomfortable, and far from people or the hope of help.

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Movie Review: Circle

IMDB, Circle“Circle” on IMDB

Thriller/Sci-fi, 87 Minutes, 2015

You regain consciousness, already standing, on a pale patch of red light. The edges of the room recede into darkness. You see many others, arranged with you in a circle around an ominous orb in the floor. One of them takes a step and the central orb flashes to life, knocking them to the ground. An unseen force drags away the body.

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Movie Review: As Above, So Below

IMDB, As Above, So Below“As Above, So Below” on IMDB

Horror/Drama, 93 Minutes, 2014

Found-footage is a genre that just won’t die. The well is fouled and rank, but Directors keep dipping in, audiences keep lapping it up and, yes, I keep reviewing them. Gimmicks distract, even when used well, and this is one gimmick that’s run it’s course. It does nothing positive for this movie. We get video from handheld cams, helmet cams, body cams and, like all found-footage, impossible cams.

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Movie Review: San Andreas

IMDB, San Andreas“San Andreas” on IMDB

Action/Thriller, 114 Minutes, 2015

There is a kit, used since the 80’s, to  create disaster movies. The parts are all optional, but the kit generally produces something that looks an awful lot like what’s come before. As I’ve said, originality isn’t always a metric of quality, but when your movie’s plot almost completely mirrors Sharknado [IMDB] you might be starting at a disadvantage.

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