Hostel
Damn, well this started off pretty good, but the last 30 minutes killed it. And thinking about it, the only reason is was good in the beginning was not because of any horror element, but just enjoying the adventure that the 3 young guys were having getting laid in Slovakia and the Netherlands.
Like I said, the last 30 minutes were bloody ridiculous. Suddenly the mostly complacent hero turns into a whacko and does all sorts of comic-book anime shit involved cutting up bad guys. It's completely deters from any form of psychological reality. To top that, there's one part involving this crazy American businessman torturing a Japanese girl with a blowtorch. Moments later, the J-girl is up and running with a prosphetic eyeball hanging off her cheek.
The whole thing leaves you shaking your head muttering "weak". I can't believe Takeshi Miike lowered himself to do a cameo in one scene of this steaming poo-pile.
Saw 2
Ahhh, this was rubbish. Frankly, I think Saw was the equivalent of a one-hit wonder for the two main dudes involved in the producing of it, and so it came to me as no suprise that they disguise the lack of any solid professional talent in the making of the second one. The guys shouldn't have sold their souls to cash in on the franchise, because they could have remained respected members of the horror crowd otherwise. Sigh.
There are parts that are good, but Saw 2 has the feel of a college project with a big budget. Jigsaw is over-exposed and has some stupid lines. "Oh yes, there will be blood" sounds like it's ripped off from Waynes World, for Christs sake. There are major writing flaws in the human psychology of the characters, and the plot tries to be too clever for it's own good, ultimately leaving us with a weak ending that never really seems feasible.
Dead Birds
First off, don't let me convince you that this is a bad movie. It's not. But it is overrated. If anything I'd say watch it if there's nothing else at the video-store.
So what didn't I like about it?
Well, though the acting was good, I generally felt the pace was a little slow throughout, and I hated the grown-up kid from E.T. in the role of a cowboy tough guy.
Though the monsters in the movie were original and spine-chilling, they never reach their full potential as seat-jumpers. You don't see any good killings, and the movie almost seems like it's 90 minutes of people traipsing through beautifully rainy corn-fields or in and out of shadowy rooms, without any of it ever coming to a remarkable head.
Like a delicious Caesar Salad that you never get to eat.
At least the ending has a good twist.
VIDEO-GAMES
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Just posted a demo over at FlashKit. Here's a pic of the GUI.
The reason it's titled FEAR is because that was the name I changed it to before I discovered some cheeky bastards have called their game F.E.A.R.
Sons-of-bitches.
Mind you, it's hardly an original name, and THE DAMNED is started to grow on me more now.
More to come tomorrow.
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