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Reviews
Dead Space (2008)
The Ultimate in Sci-Fi Horror
I had never heard of this game until ITV in the UK ran a TV ad for the game. I got a Playstation 3 as a Christmas present and this for my birthday and was surprised by it. I expected a Resident Evil rip-off but instead this was a different kind of horror. It had better graphics than RE4 and the sut-scenes were original as they were not cut-scenes as such as they did not interrupt the action and weren't distracting as a result. As per the storyline and gameplay itself, the storyline leaves you with a sense of 'trust no-one and believe what you see to be a lie' but the story does get a bit heavy-handed and works because of it. Isaac Clarke is that rarity in games, a character that you feel for and root for when the odds are stacked against him. The gameplay is straight forward. You start off un-armed but you can build up a choice of weapons as the game progresses. Weapon usage is tactical, one of those 'right weapon for the right enemy' scenarios and you have to stay armed as a place that is empty at first but you could soon be ambushed by enemies. You are never stuck as to where to go as you can access a map to show you where to go. The enemies themselves, called Necromorphs, are former crew members who have fallen victim to a curse in one of those done-before story lines. They can take on any form from a baby's head to pregnant females suspended to a wall with razor blade like umbilical cords coming out of their bumps 'spitting' out deadly foetus or taking off Isaac's head at close range. The sound effects are also creepy. The game gives you a chance to take a break from the story to play two sub-games - one is a shooting range, the other is a basketball-style game and the cut-scenes are great, particularly the final cut-scene. Now, I'm almost thirty and as a survival horror fan, have seen my share of scary images, but the final five seconds of the last scene scared the crap out of me. But the game is rewarding, for me the biggest being the chance to play the game over again with the weapons I collected the last time around by creating a 'Cleared Game' file. If you are looking for a better and more terrifying thrill than RE, add Dead Space to your collection, just prepare yourself for the moment in the last cut-scene where the camera does a 90-degree turn around Isaac, what happens after that will stay with you with some time!
Scream (1996)
Horror like no other
Scream is a horror movie like no other. Of the long-standing crop of teen horror movies, this is a real standout as it is a film which, to quote a UK advertising slogan, does what it says on the tin. It makes you scream, as I found when me, my dad and my sister, who love these movies, watched this one. At one point, my sister ran across the room screaming. As for the film itself, Neve Campbell emerges as the star of the show. As Sidney Prescott, she captures the character's sense of fear perfectly. Courteney Cox is also great whereas David Arquette is well, David Arquette. Where Scream succeeds is the way it turns every horror cliché on its head. You know who the killer but you don't know they have an accomplice. The numerous pop culture references are also great including the references to different horror movies - wouldn't it have been ironic for there to be a reference to Miramax's first major feature, The Burning? Anyway, this is a great horror movie which makes you wish that Scream 3 was an afterthought.
28 Weeks Later (2007)
A Scary, Shocking Celluloid Experience
There are horror movies that really scare and there are horror movies that really shock. For me, this one does both. As a die-hard horror fan, I would have to say that this is probably the best horror movie ever made and is better than the original. This film grips from start to finish. The scare factor is rife throughout the film. It succeeds in unsettling and scaring viewers when required. The part which gave a real fright was when one of the survivors looks through a gap in a boarded-up window looking out for her boyfriend only to be confronted by the infected. Realism is key here. The film makes you believe that you are witnessing real fear and panic and the reality that calm can so easily turn to anarchy in a second. The gore, the likes of which has never been seen before in mainstream British cinema, is great and the pace is almost breakneck. The most unsettling thing about this celluloid experience is the realism that you do not know what they are cooking up in science labs. This is the movie which could more terrifyingly close to reality than the producers think.
Time Bomb (2006)
Military ain't no Bellisario
A case of a film that desperately wants to be exciting but doesn't come off that way. The film could have been original but it uses one of those typical 'done-to-death' style plots which we've seen in other (better) movies, namely 'Sudden Death'. Where the film suffers most is in its woeful miscasting of the lead character. David Arquette was the ideal lead man for 'Eight Legged Freaks' but for this one - no way. He looks way too childish for this role. In my view, Richard T. Jones would have made a better action hero rather than support character. In Frank Military, this was written by a former NCIS producer. As it stands, if it was Donald P. Bellisario penning this, this could have been so much better, but Military ain't no Bellisario.
...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà (1981)
The Ultimate Horror Experience
The Beyond is the ultimate horror experience. Lynchings, exploding heads, melting faces - it's all here, and it's in your face and that is how the average horror fan loves it. The Beyond has its critics who wouldn't know a decent horror movie if it was a rocket shot up their backside. Sure the story is incoherent, but whereas in other movies this would be off-putting, it actually serves to be a key part of the appeal of The Beyond. The Beyond is a straight-ahead example of what true horror should be - blood, guts and unnerving scares. These are things that lack in today's horror movies who think that they are scary but have the scare factor of a Bugs Bunny Cartoon. The Beyond is a film that has been copied but never equalled, and it will take a hell of a horror movie to do that.
St. Trinian's (2007)
Humorous and funny
I found this humorous and funny. It was one of those movies that I didn't think that I would like but I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it. This remake was a case of keeping with the times as it combined elements of the old movies with references to movies and programmes of today. I also liked the strong references to Pride and Prejudice and Girl with a Pearl Earring, as Colin Firth was in this and and those other two. My favourite scene in the film was the hockey scene with the girls taking on a rival school team who like to play rough. The only thing wrong is Russell Brand. His portrayal of Flash Harry is 'pervert' than 'cockney wideboy'.