Blu-ray HD movie review of 28 Days Later

At a first glance, it’s easy to dismiss 28 Days Later as just another zombie horror fest. The gore and zombies are present in the movie. However, one of the most startling and striking scene in the movie is the London devoid of its population. Danny Boyle does well to elevate this film from a mere horror movie to a great cinema. There are biting social commentary and human condition set against zombie infested England.

The story starts out with environmental nut jobs attacking a lab that tests various viruses, including the rage virus, on the chimps. As most of you can guess, the chimps are set loose and the virus spreads to human. At the first sign of devastation, we see Jim, Cillian Murphy, wake up from the hospital to empty London 28 days after the initial release of the virus. From this point on, he meets up with few other survivors including a man and his daughter. They head out to find other survivors as well as head out to place where they can be saved. The second half deals with some surviving military man and their twisted sense of law. The second part of the movie really shows what some humans are reduced at their worst. Danny Boyle could have easily made another Dawn of the Dead, which was good in its own way, but he sprinkled in a lot more than just slash fest horror film.

I’m a big fan of Danny Boyle ever since the Trainspotting. He puts his own spin on the zombie genre with some intense psychological horror as well as physical horror. The acting and writing was spot on and the direction was top notch as well. It’s shame that the sequel did not live up to the standard set by this film. Overall, any fan of zombie movies or Danny Boyle should not miss this gem.

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Blu-Ray dvd movie review of Let the Right One In

Lately, the horror scene has been dominated by slasher remakes and Asian horror film remakes. Let the right one in is a breath of fresh air in somewhat stale horror genre. The Swedish film was directed by Tomas Alfredson and adapted from John Ajvide’s book. The film takes conventional vampire/romance film and adds a twist in the form of coming of age story of two leads.

The story is about 12 year old Oskar and a girl named Eli. Oskar is constantly bullied by his classmates and secretly fantasizes about killing them in his spare time. One day, Eli and her dad movies into his building and he has chance to meet with her. From early on, audiences are let in on the secret of Eli’s nature. Oskar befriends Eli and they soon hit it off. In a chilling scene, Oskar finds out the true identity of Eli. The rest of the story revolves around the relationship between the two kids and their problems. The interaction is quite touching at times and really brutal at others. It’s really a stark contrast between one moment to another.

The two leads are the only real characters worth noting in the film as the story revolves around their relationship. The rest either end up being food source for Eli or just passerby in Oskar and Eli’s world. This film has garnered a lot of praise and awards in the film festival circuits. I think any horror film fans should see this film. The Blu-ray version does come with the original Swedish sound track. Don’t settle for terrible dubbed version. I’m not sure what’s scarier, the growing up pains or having a vampire for a girlfriend.

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Blu-Ray hd movie review of Dracula

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Dracula is one of the finest modern horror films. The film plays the “what if” Vlad the Impaler was real and survived to the setting in the film. The character Dracula is based on a real person, Vlad Tepes, who was a 15th century warlord. He supposedly drank the blood of his victims after they were killed. He even impaled his victims from anus up. These bits and pieces of myths and truths were put together by an Irish writer named Bram Stoker into a horror tale. Francis Ford Coppola has taken this tale and put together a beautiful film. It’s a movie that transcends the horror genre.

The story is about the Dracula who has been cursed to survive the death of his love. He wanders for 400 years and falls in love once again. He finds Mina Murray in 19th century England and falls in love. This is starts what is arguably more love story than horror story. There is Shakespearian tragedy written all over this star crossed pair. This isn’t to say that there are blood and gore. There are plenty of that.

This is star studded assembled by Coppola. Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, and Gary Oldman as Dracula all give Oscar worthy performance. Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves weren’t as famous and Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins. Yet, they hold their own in their roles. There is really nothing to say about directing as Coppola delivers a stunning film.

This isn’t just another slasher horror flick we see these days. Everything from costume to acting is fantastic. One complaint might be that it is little longer than it needed to be. There were some parts that could have been shortened. Regardless, this is one of the best horror films in last 50 years.

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Blu-Ray dvd movie review of Event Horizon

If you have not watched Event Horizon in recent years, you might be surprised to learn that it was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Most of us are familiar with Paul Anderson's Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, and Alien versus Predator movies. And, most impression would be that those movies are fairly terrible at best. Only Resident Evil might be passable as semi decent movie. On the other hand, Even Horizon is a masterpiece. On the surface it looks to be a science fiction film but it's really a horror film set in space.

Set in mid 21st century, a crew sets out to find out what happened to a space ship named Even Horizon. This ship is built for faster than light travel. To achieve this, the ship carries a device capable of opening up a black hole that could connect two parts of the space. This ship goes missing after the first test flight. Seven years later, it appears near Neptune. This prompts a rescue mission via Lewis & Clark to find out if there are any survivors. Once they dock with Event Horizon, the crew experience strangeoccurrences. One by one they all experience shocking events and events from their past.

The acting is superb for a horror film. You usually don't get such talent as Lawrence Fishbourne or Same Neill for a horror film. Unless it's really good script. The supporting casts are as good as they can be. They need to look scared 1/2 of the time and shocked the other 1/2. All of them do those two parts exceptionally well.

Some have complained that it is hodge podge mix of genre masterpieces like Hellraiser and Alien. While there are certain elements that resemble those movies, Event Horizon stands on its own as a great horror movie. It does it with building suspense and creating a suffocating atmosphere throughout the movie. Being on space ship, you can almost feel the closeness and claustrophobia felt by the crew members. This is without a doubt a best film directed by Paul Anderson. It rightfully deserves a Blu-ray treatment as it is a classic horror film in my opinion.

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Blu-ray movie review of Romero’s Diary of the Dead

George A. Romero is known for one thing, the zombie movies. If you're a horror fan, you are well aware of his Dead series involving zombies. It would not be a stretch to say Romero invtented the zombie movie genre that has been copied many times over past decades. Even if you don't know who Romero is, there is good chance that you have watched one of his zombie flicks. So, it is no surprise that Romero has once again delivered a solid zombie flick with relevant message for the time we live in.

The movie grabs you from the start with little bit different feeling than the usual Romero zombie flick. The camera work is from the perspective of home movie made on camcoder. You see the movie through the camera work of a character and not the director. Although the movie is viewed through the camera point of view, it is not some cheap, shaky affair you might come to expect from these sudo documentary style movies. This camera work adds to this movie not detract from it.

Like in many horror films, the character development is sorely lacking. Also, the acting is not exactly top notch. This movie is filled with cliched characters. Cliche' characters are not the worst thing to inhabit horror films. But, the shaky acting job done by the cast is some what of turn off. Little better character development and better acting would have helped this movie.

Overall, the movie does not offer too much zombie action. The biting social commentary on today's voyeuristic society is well displayed in this movie. Ultimately, it is commentary on the issue and not much of zombie, horror fest.

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Underworld Evolution Blu-ray movie review

If you enjoyed the original Underworld, than you will most likely enjoy this film. The movie is more or less shaped from the original and does not stray too far from the successful formula. That's to say this movie contains decent plot and lots of fighting sequence. Nothing to write home about but it does not try to be anything other than entertaining flick.

The story and plot in this film not as good as the first one and that is to be expected second time around. We get little bit more on the background of the war between the two races. I won't spoil the plot but there are meaningful back end to the over all story. With little more background story out of the way, the rest of the movie dives into the action scene after action scene.

The over all pacing was very good, the dialogue was adequate nothing earth shattering. The questions asked in first and second installments are faithfully answered. There is no major cliff hanger moment or story line in the end. The story line while thin, was quite enjoyable.

Kate Beckinsale delivers a great performance and Scott Speedman was half decent. Both delivering a performance that made me believe they were who they said they were. And the supporting cast around the two main stars were all equally up to the task. If nothing else, you get pretty compelling performance by Kate Beckinsale. She seems to comfortable playing the vampire type.

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Horror classic The Shining on Blu-ray

It's well know that Stephen King didn't like Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining. King stated that Kubrick didn't fully understand the genre of horror. Kubrick decided to pass on the typical gore or Omen style horror in favor of more psychological approach. You don't get people here jumping out of the dark time after time to slash another person. What you get is slow build up of dread followed by violent burst toward the end.

Plot is fairly simple, Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall's characters are hired to take care of a hotel. Slowly, Nicholson loses reality and goes after his own family.

One of the most significant aspects of this movie is the physical and psychological isolation felt by the entire family in the remote hotel. The film starts off with a lengthy scene following Jack as he drives up to the old hotel for his interview followed by the living condition of isolation felt by the family. The viewers can feel the isolation and growing uneasiness building toward the end. The scary part is that this can happen in reality. That people can lose it like Nicholson. There are no buckets of blood and retarded contraption. It's just pure dread and mood built on isolation.

Overall this is an excellent horror movie with worthy acting job. Kubrick does great job portraying the isolation and the mood of the film. It's a must see for any horror film fans.

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Blu-ray movie review of The Descent

The Descent is a scary good film. This film seperates itself from the copycat prom slasher films that inundates the theater these days. with very small budget, the film maker and the cast have produced a polished if not closed to polished horror film. The film packs in top class gore with pretty good costumes and effects in a very claustrophobic setting.

The movie starts off with an all-girl team of adventurers and friends find themselves trapped in a cave system infested with strange looking blood-thirsty monsters. It has been done before you ask? Yes. But the execution and acting is superb compared to the run of the mill B movies. The direction is excellent and captures the sheer terror and helplessness of being trapped in very claustrophobic surroundings. The entire mood of the film feels like your trapped in with them. Other than that, you really don't need to know much. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

I found the environment of The Descent to be star of its own. I tend to be claustrophobic so I found the movie's environment to be scary in it self. The gloomy, and damp cave play host to some crazy horrific creature, both physically and psychologically. Add in the gorefest and it's pretty effective horror film.

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Halloween remaked by Rob Zombie on Blu-ray

There have been a lot of remakes of old horror movies in recent years. Halloween is one of the most successful horror franchise. So, it is no surprise the studio decided to cash in on the remake trend. The original Halloween is one of the best horror franchise when it comes to pure slasher genre. So, I had high expectation of this remake.

This isn't a bad movie overall if you go into it with proper expectation. It is pretty average movie regardless. The whole backstory of Myers and humanizing him didn't sit too well with me. The boy Myers becomes a serial killer because of bad childhood. No new territory covered here. And the progression through asylum and ultimately to a killer. The movie felt rushed and little on the B side. Acting wasn't all that great and Rob Zombie does adequate job as director.

At least Zombie does not completely change the plot. But, he should of stayed more true to the original IMO. I'm not saying he should of made scene for scene movie but the new one feels entirely too different. Zombie tried to do too much with the original movie which was pretty good in the first place. Overall, its decent horror flick. You might enjoy it more if you have not watched the original.

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Blu-ray movie review of Strangers starting Liv Tyler

The plot of this movie brings nothing new to the table. Yet from the start to finish, it delivers different experience as a horror film. It does not rely on gorefest and buckets of blood. Instead, it slowly builds psychological torture to the finish. This movie does admiral job of staying away from your regular teen slasher trash. It is fairly decent movie from start to finish with some flaws.

This movie is pretty thin on plot, background story, character development, and character interactions. Audiences are pretty much thrown into a story where ton of bad stuff start to happen for the main characters. The plot is pretty straight forward where a couple is hounded by masked strangers. The story unfolds from there to somewhat of let down ending.

The acting was fairly good. I'm a big fan of Liv so I didn't see too much wrong with her acting. The other actors don't really have much to do. The plot of the story was not that important so you just sit there go along with the flow.

The film does its job of giving scaring you from start to finish. The each sound and suspense is felt and is pretty scary. Much better than your regular hack and slash films. This had the feeling of Shining where you were mentally tortured and not just visually assaulted by gores. Overall, it's pretty decent horror film if you can call it that.

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