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Post by Todd Tjersland on Oct 16, 2008 0:26:41 GMT -8
Just got back from seeing Quarantine, the American remake of the Spanish zombie film, [REC]. Enjoyed it! I must've jumped out of my seat at least 3-4 times and I'm pretty jaded when it comes to horror movies. Haven't seen [REC] yet but would recommend seeing Quarantine, even for full price at the theater. I'm usually not a fan of the POV shakey-cam thing but they did a good job with it. As far as these kinds of POV movies go, Quarantine was a million times better than Cloverfield, Diary of the Dead and Blair Witch Project all put together. Those films suffered terribly from bad screenplays and bad acting. There's nothing worse than a film filled with obnoxious "I wanna punch you in the face the minute you open your mouth" twenty-somethings. Quarantine certainly isn't perfect, but at least there are no such annoying characters on display. My main gripe is Jennifer Carpenter goes into hysterics for what feels like 20-30 minutes near the end and that got a little irritating. And I would have liked to see a bit more personality and maybe some dark humor injected into a few of the characters. There are no memorable lines in the film, like "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth", or "They're dead; they're all messed-up." Contrary to other reviews, I didn't find the shakey-cam "bile-inducing" nor the film to be "too dark." So does anybody know when is [REC] coming out on DVD in the US?
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Post by wayneklay on Jan 30, 2009 0:05:35 GMT -8
on your recommendation, I just saw Quarantine too...I hate to be so darn agreeable all the time, but that thing scared the crap out of me! And I am NOT easily scared. Very rare that I am. Grossed out - yes. Scared? almost never. This accomplished both. Sort of 28 weeks later meets the Blair Witch...only much, much more effective. The last film to "scare" me in this way was "The Descent"...not sure what you thought of that one but it got me good. And so did "Q"...thanks for the recommendation...I might have passed on it...glad I didn't.
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Post by Todd Tjersland on Jan 30, 2009 16:02:19 GMT -8
Glad you enjoyed it! QUARANTINE should be out on DVD the middle of February. No release date set for [REC], unfortunately.
I wasn't a big fan of THE DESCENT. Didn't believe for one second any of those British hotties were spelunkers, LOL, and that kind of spoiled the whole movie for me right off the bat... It wasn't a bad film but I probably wouldn't watch it again.
I vastly preferred THE CAVE as far as recent "trapped in a cave" movies go. It gets knocked in a lot in reviews, but I thought it was much more creepy and clever with a Lovecraftian twist at the end. YMMV.
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Post by wayneklay on Jan 31, 2009 0:52:46 GMT -8
RE: "The Descent": Well...as far as the British hotties' credibility goes, you got me there, Mr T. But, for me, the mood of the film was effectively creepy and that claustrophobic "cave-in" scene actually had me gasping for air...plus, that opening crash scene might have even made the jaded Dr. Van Gore proud...lol! (I watched that scene in frame by frame mode just to see how it was done. Gotta love those director commentaries!)...I thought Descent was low on credibility, but high on scares and jump-outs...at least for me. Thought the ending was amazingly different for a change too. The "Shining-like" score also pulled me in. Funny. A good friend who is a fellow horror aficionado, didn't dig "Descent" either. I didn't "get it" that he didn't get it, but so it goes...he liked "The Happening" for which I nearly stopped talking to him... permanently! ...I had high hopes for "The Cave" but that one didn't work for me...But like you said: YMMV...I can't help but ask your thoughts about last year's French film "Them"...
Finally: this being a rare opp to dialogue with a director, I wanted to say that I live for the commentaries found on many dvd's. They must be a pain in the arse for you guys to do and I wonder if most directors think anyone but a small number of fans really care...I'm only one voice, but I am hugely disappointed when they're not included in the extras. I hope you'll include them in your future films when possible. I can only imagine how entertaining a DC would be from you!
Tonight, I'm screening William Castle's first thriller - the never released "Macabre" from 1958...I loved those dopey gimmicks of Castle's back in the 60's...I was but a youngster so they really scared me senseless. I was lucky to get a seat that "tingled" for "The Tingler", I still have my "Ghost Viewer" for "13 Ghosts", I sat thru "Homicidal" instead of bailing to the "coward's corner" and getting my money back rather than stay for the brutal ending, but I was too young to see "Macabre" which gave out Lloyd's Of London policies insuring for death by fright. Ha! ...Castle wasn't the greatest director by any means, but he was a showman. Growing old blows but those were fun times and I'm glad to have been around for them...so tonight, we'll see what the buzz about "Macabre" was all about! It will pale compared to anything from the mind of TJ, but hopefully will have its moments...hey, I'm lucky to have a copy of it at all!
(sorry for the long post)
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