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Reviews
The Dark Area (2000)
Not worth watching! Every Second is wasted!
Oh my god!!! I can't even recall, how i managed it, to watch this "movie" (in fact it's a home-video, just less entertaining) from its totally stupid beginning to the even more stupid (if possible...) ending! I think the only reason i watched it, was because my mother had some of the people involved in this shameful production as pupils in grammar-school, bought the VHS one day and gave it to me. "Look!", she said. "This is the movie my former pupils have made..." DAMN - I SHOULD HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
There are some facts about this disgusting piece of "cinema" that you have to know. First of all: THIS IS A SCHOOL PROJECT!!! And i don't mean a project of a film or acting-school or something. It's a high-school-project! And believe me: This is already the only positive aspect that can be said about this film. A bunch of 18-year-old friends having a good time with their VHS-Camcorder filming a little "movie" at school. But this is the point, where this thing should have ended! But after-wards the families and friends of this kids told them, that they had made a great movie... So the kids lost every touch with reality and tried to sell their little school-project to real DVD-Companies, which actually worked!!! I can' t even imagine what the company that distributed this piece of crap had in mind?!?! Perhaps it was the idea of making some money with a film that actually didn't cost anything! Which leads us to fact two: This kiddie-school-project gains money! But it's not even worth the few cents that the production of a DVD or VHS costs!!! And by the way: It's hilarious to make a commercially sold DVD out of a VHS-Camcorder-filmed Homevideo... Fact Three: Don't believe the last two reviews, which rated this film with 9 or 10 stars. These accounts are fake!!! As you can see in their review-history they only posted this one review and i am sure, that these are either fake accounts of some of the "film"-makers or of the production company, which have only one goal: To mislead potential viewers or worse: People who would even buy this crap! Fourth: Don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan of B,C or even D-Category Horror-Films. But this "film" is so bad, that there are not enough letters in the alphabet to name a category!!! Every second that you spend with watching this "movie" is wasted time. It's surely the worst "movie" of all time, because it must be compared with commercial movies, as it is professionally sold and distributed (even if it is written, filmed, acted and produced even lower than amateur-level!).
Last: DON'T WATCH!!! And even more important: DON'T BUY!!!!!
Martyrs (2008)
There are not many movies like this one...
First of all: This movie is sick, really sick! It is disgusting. To watch it from the disturbing beginning to the relieving ending was painful and i think the writer/director needs some serious counseling! BUT: It's also a stunning piece of art.
The fundamental questions are: What does the writer/director want to express with this movie? What are his intentions? And: Does anyone need a movie that shows us every detail of ruthless slaughter, torture, skinning, beating and killing?
The Answer is: I AM STILL NOT SURE!!! But this is perhaps the reason, why this movie is a piece of art, not often watched in todays cinema. This movie is thought-provoking. It doesn't send you home with a few nice laughs, a see-through story and it isn't entertainment.
This movie only cares for the victims. This is why i think that the violence depicted is necessary. It doesn't make you numb. It even sharpens your sensitivity and you suffer with the victims while watching it.
Here in Germany, last week a man was beaten to death in the subway by two teenagers. He came to help some kids, that were molested by the two teenagers. I think a movie like MARTYRS could show those sickos what they do to their victims. This is why I think, that e.g. KILL BILL could be more "dangerous" than MARTYRS. Tarantino's movies (which i also adore) always follow the "bad guys" and show them as heroes, while the victims die off-screen. They show that violence is cool and funny. MARTYRS shows that violence is disgusting and sick!
Batman & Robin (1997)
a bad joke
Before I saw this movie I was anxiously waiting for its release. Afterwards I was offended, irritated and angry about, what the director (He Who Must Not Be Named) did to my favorite fictional (comics and literature alike) character.
He took this man, haunted by the shooting of his parents, fighting a war against crime, becoming more and more some kind of a borderline/split-personality, trying not to go nuts over his crusade-like task.....and put him into a screwball-Technicolor-musical-comedy-freak-show!!! Nearly everything about this movie was disgusting (for me as a fan of the comic-books). I wouldn't have been surprised if the actors had started singing and if there would have been the old "Crash", "Boom", "Bang" - overlays from the TV-series.
The villains - Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and last and also least BANE... I'm really at a loss for words how bad these performances were (written?!?). I expected George Clooney to be the greatest Batman of all times (because of his acting in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN) but was also disappointed. This movie is totally crap - from the start to the beginning. Only for kids - not for adults!
Batman Forever (1995)
not the worst BATMAN movie, but nearly...
No this one is not as bad as "BATMAN AND ROBIN" but it comes very close. The only thing I like about this movie (as I am a collector and admirer of the BATMAN comic-books) are the melancholic and darker undertones in the scenes with Nicole Kidman and Val Kilmer.
Val Kilmer is in my opinion the second-best Bruce Wayne/Batman after Christian Bale. His and Nicole Kidman's performances make the movie worth watching.
What nearly made me cry, were the totally silly performances of Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey as Two-Face and the Riddler. I think their (or the director's) approach is an offense to everyone who seriously reads the comic books (and as I have nearly everything that was released in Germany in the last 30 years, I count myself in)!!! I will go as far to say, that Jim Carrey played the Riddler as a totally stupid and laughable character which could also be felt in the following years of appearances of the Riddler in the comic-books. Because of this film no one could take the riddler serious any more.
So, if you are a kid, who likes to watch the animated series and collect the related comic-books - this is a movie for you. But if you are into the realistic Batman-Comics (DC/BATMAN/LOTDK/SOTB...) you will despise great parts of this movie and only like a few scenes!
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
One for the ages!!!
Yes, it's right this film is old...In fact it's very old - but it hasn't lost anything of its flair, acting-skills, storytelling and the issues that it raises!!!
The search for "the big hit" in one's life is still a topic today and will always be worth a story. It's really a masterpiece in every aspect of film-making, about what money (gold in this case) does to people, friendships and the psychological constitution! The film does this in a way, that's ahead of its time and will never be out of fashion (exept for the setting of the story maybe...).
It is a brilliant mixture of stylistics that belong to the Action, Drama, Western, Adventure and even a bit of the Comedy-Genre. A gripping tale with funny, thrilling parts, as well as quiet undertones and great dialog that raises important questions and always keeps the viewer thinking! You can watch this movie with your family as well as your girlfriend or a couple of buddies - it has something to give for everyone who is into good movies. I cannot recommend this one higher!!! One of the best films of all time and surely a candidate for the Top 20 here on IMDb!
The Mist (2007)
I was really blown away!!!
I just watched THE MIST on DVD and I was totally blown away, by what I had just seen. First I have to say, that it was probably good, that I knew nearly nothing about this movie. The only thing I knew, was (from a TV-trailer) that it was about a father and his son, hiding with other people in a supermarket from unknown things in the mist outside.
I can tell you - knowing this was enough for me, not to go to the cinema to watch this one. The first "no-go" was the "Stephen King's" in the headline: How many good movies have you seen, that were based on King's books or short stories? One ("THE SHINING") or two ("MISERY") good ones out of thousands that were really bad. The second reason was, that the plot sounded like a bad mixture of "THE FOG" and "DAWN OF THE DEAD" (because of the supermarket...). So I first didn't even think about watching this one on DVD. - MAN, WAS I WRONG!!!!!!!!!
THE MIST is one of the best horror/thriller/whatever - let's call it "suspense-movies" I have seen in years. Not only was it gripping, nicely shot and well acted - also the development of the characters and the issues that were raised in the context (group dynamics in a closed setting under fear, the threat of religious bigots...) of this movie were really on top of its genre.
I won't say too much about the glorious but also tragic ending. I think for me it only worked so well, because (as I said) I hadn't read anything about this movie. So I was expecting something completely different (and really boring) such as a dumb end-fight or the self-sacrifice of the father. The final conclusion came totally unexpected and made the film even more worth watching (you know - dumb endings sometimes can spoil a good film in the end, or leave you with a foul aftertaste in your mouth...)!
The only thing that can be criticized, is that there is some bad cgi in a couple of scenes and that some parts could have been even more thrilling, if you wouldn't have seen the monsters (or parts of them) so early and so clearly.
To sum it up: A great movie, that I can highly recommend.
Hatchet (2006)
this is a party-movie... ;-)
First of all I have to say, that I think that HATCHET is an excellent movie. Period! When I read some of the reviews here i sometimes wondered if they had seen the same film as I had. My guess is, that this is because of the different way that I got to see this masterpiece of modern (not old school...) horror.
I was one of the few lucky ones who got to see it in Germany on the "Fantasy Film Fest 2006" long before its actual cinema-release-date. On this special evening where I saw HATCHET, I went to the cinema with some friends and we didn't know anything about the movie except for its short summary in the festival-magazine. The cinema was crowded and it could be felt, that the whole audience would embrace a movie with much blood and inventive killings that doesn't take itself too serious. And that is exactly what HATCHET delivered this evening. The crowd cheered, for the fist time in years I really jumped out of my seat at one of the typical "shock-moments", and I laughed my head off because of the hilariously funny dialog.
After that all hell broke lose - and that is perhaps why the reviews of HATCHET are so different. Everyone who had seen the movie on one of the Film Festivals all over the world spoke of "the new icon of horror", "the best slasher-movie of all times" and so on...blah..blah. This is why everyone who rented or bought the DVD had really great expectations and was disappointed when watching the film at home.
So, here is my bottom line: This is a party-movie!!! Get some beers, a video-beamer and a bunch of friends and watch this one on the "big screen"! You will have a terrific evening and that's what this kind of horror-movie is all about!
Spiral (2007)
great style!!!
Now this is really a movie for anybody, who is not only focused on getting a gripping story when going to the movies. Everyone who can get the kicks out of nicely staged and directed pictures, visual effects, lighting and the whole scenery will be pleased to see this one!
I got interested in the movie because of its director, Adam Green. Unlike many other users here i saw HATCHET on the 2006 Fantasy-Film-Fest in Germany and loved it! So i looked through IMDb from time to time, to see what he would do next.
First of all i have to warn all the "Horror/Gore/Splatter/whatever"-Fans. This movie has absolutely nothing in common with HATCHET except for its director and leading actor! Second: Don' t watch the trailer! It is a real spoiler, and it lets the viewer assume that SPIRAL would be a psycho-thriller, with a really dark atmosphere all the time and shock-moments every five minutes or so. It isn't - but that is what's best about it.
Other users compared it with Hitchcock and i have to say, that this reference also came to my mind when i watched the film. It's a mixture of a really gripping relationship (love-story???) and a character study that every now an then has its dark undertones. Only at the end there are real classical and modern thriller elements. The plot and the whole atmosphere really reminds me of my favorite Hitchcock movies like "Vertigo" oder "Marnie".
Of course you can see, that Adam Green is still trying to find his unique style, that the actors do their best but are not yet at the peak of their acting abilities and that this is an indie-film with a small budget. But after all i would say, that this is without doubt one of the best movies i have seen the last months!