Commentary
November 1st 2009 01:59
Some comments on two films I just saw on my horror filled Halloween. Quarantine was good. It’s a remake of the (sadly) little known Spanish horror film [REC]. If you’ve never seen or even heard of the original, then this is a great watch. It’s another film that relies on a slow build up as well as the convention of the point of view from a handheld camera. Jennifer Carpenter is great in the lead and doesn’t become whiney and unbearable as most actresses could have in that role. However, if you’ve seen the original then you realize that the entire concept of this remake was pointless. You could also say that a remake of Ringu and Ju-On were also pointless, but what makes this remake particularly pointless is that it was remade a year after the original was released. Still, Quarantine stayed 90% true to its predecessor and because the source material was brilliant, the remake is above average and that’s all that’s needed when it comes to a horror film.
However, My Bloody Valentine 3D was way below average. I did not see this in the theater nor did I see it in 3D. Had I, I’m sure I would have been entertained in the ‘so bad it’s good’ way. My Bloody Valentine was everything the other horror films I’ve watched recently were not: a gore filled in-your-face oddly paced slasher film. The violence starts so abruptly that I was literally jarred to the point that I kept thinking the events I was seeing were a complete joke. Then, it’s a year later I think? And more excessive violence and gore occurs. And then we jump 10 years into the future and the violence continues. The script was horrible and utterly implausible. The actions of the characters made no sense whatsoever. For example, Sarah (Jaime King) is being attacked in a convenience store. She runs into a storage room, barricades the door but it isn’t until the killer has already grabbed her friend through a window that she presses the alarm button which was there the entire time. In a later scene, she sees someone she cares about fighting with the killer yet she takes no action whatsoever, even though she has a gun. Instead, she lets this person get stabbed in the chest before she takes action. The “twist” was rather lame and I’m ashamed to admit that I kept guessing who the killer was with many different answers. Seems like it should have been more predictable, but I kept falling into their ‘let’s keep the viewers guessing’ trap. So, not a good movie whatsoever but again, it probably could have been an entertaining theater experience.
However, My Bloody Valentine 3D was way below average. I did not see this in the theater nor did I see it in 3D. Had I, I’m sure I would have been entertained in the ‘so bad it’s good’ way. My Bloody Valentine was everything the other horror films I’ve watched recently were not: a gore filled in-your-face oddly paced slasher film. The violence starts so abruptly that I was literally jarred to the point that I kept thinking the events I was seeing were a complete joke. Then, it’s a year later I think? And more excessive violence and gore occurs. And then we jump 10 years into the future and the violence continues. The script was horrible and utterly implausible. The actions of the characters made no sense whatsoever. For example, Sarah (Jaime King) is being attacked in a convenience store. She runs into a storage room, barricades the door but it isn’t until the killer has already grabbed her friend through a window that she presses the alarm button which was there the entire time. In a later scene, she sees someone she cares about fighting with the killer yet she takes no action whatsoever, even though she has a gun. Instead, she lets this person get stabbed in the chest before she takes action. The “twist” was rather lame and I’m ashamed to admit that I kept guessing who the killer was with many different answers. Seems like it should have been more predictable, but I kept falling into their ‘let’s keep the viewers guessing’ trap. So, not a good movie whatsoever but again, it probably could have been an entertaining theater experience.
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