Thriller

Carnage Park (2016)

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This is the second film by writer/director Mickey Keating I’ve watched this summer. After watching Darling, which I liked very much (review pending), I had high hopes for this one. Where Darling was a tribute to the psychological horror films of the Sixties (think Hitchcock and Polanski, especially Repulsion), Carnage Park is meant to be an homage to the grindhouse survivor-horror films of the Seventies (think The Hills Have Eyes and Punishment Park, both of which have heavy influences here). Or it might be more nearly correct to say it’s meant to be an homage to Quentin Tarantino because unfortunately, the film comes across as less tribute and more rip-off. (And yes, I know one could make the argument that QT himself ripped off 70s’ grindhouse.) Continue reading →

Rage (aka Tokarev) (2014)

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I’ve been on a pretty good roll with my choices lately. But that ends here. Rage is not only the title of the film, it’s the predominant emotion I felt after realizing how much time I’d wasted watching it. I’ll admit that I’m not really sure about the point of the film, or a lot of the plot. Not that it was that hard to follow, mind you. I just a) didn’t care, and b) don’t think it really matters much anyway. Continue reading →

The Expelled (2010)

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Based on what I had read about this one, I had semi-high expectations for it. I probably shouldn’t have. It does very little new in the slasher genre, none of the characters are very developed beyond a single trait (“he’s an alcoholic,” “he’s a coward,” etc.), and the ending was frustrating. The worst thing, though, by far, was the “slasher.” And although I NEVER want to reveal the ending to a film, in this case I’m going to make an exception. If you really don’t want to know, skip the entire following paragraph. Continue reading →

Kajaki (2014)

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aka Kilo Two Bravo

I love it when a movie surprises me. Because I didn’t read the description too closely, I went into this one thinking it was a horror film. As it turns out, it’s a surprisingly effective, taut thriller. Now when I say  “thriller,” I don’t mean “action” or “horror” or any of the other genres that thrillers are often confused (or blended) with. This is a very simple story—a unit of young British soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan, guarding the Kajaki Dam. Two of them leave their post to set up a sniper’s nest to cover some suspicious locals who may be Taliban. Continue reading →

Don’t Blink (2014)

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Another film that surprised me. I expected a slap-dash, made-for-tv, paint-by-numbers horror film. After all, it stars Brian Austin Green, and the guy who I always refer to as “the dude who played Christopher Titus’ stupid brother” (Zack Ward). But although the story did have a “made for TV” vibe about it, the overall quality was pretty good. Ward was a little over the top, but from him, we can buy it. He does “crazy” well. Green and the others did a good job. I liked him in the Fox show “The Sarah Conner Chronicles,” too, so I guess he’s slowly been converting me. Good for him. The others are solid, especially Joanne Kelly as Claire. Continue reading →

Money Monster (2016)

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If Money Monster was a stock you owned, right now I’d be yelling at you to “sell! Sell!” The film tries to sell itself as both a film of social criticism and a hostage thriller. Unfortunately, as a film of social criticism, it never seems to get much more specific than “rich=bad” and “poor (and in this case, stupid) =good”; and as a thriller, it never gets very thrilling. Continue reading →