Ink of Blood

(This review may contain spoilers).

I originally saw this film at the cinema and although it wasn’t a huge masterpiece, I was entertained enough that I later bought it on DVD and then only recently found it again.

This film started quite differently from most slasher films. The use of a lab was quite intriguing to begin with. It raised questions that weren’t answered until later in the film.

It was interesting to see that, at first at least, the young characters didn’t fit neatly into the stereotypes that I’ve normally seen in horror movies. Although there was some nudity in this film (and, yes, seeing Chris Hemsworth with his top off was pretty awesome), there was considerably less sex than there normally is in these ‘young adults get picked off one by one’ movies.

There were quite a lot of actors I recognised in this film, including Sigourney Weaver and the actress who played Fred in the television series Angel. What I found quite intriguing in this film was how desensitized the people in the lab were to the horror going on in and around the cabin.

It was interesting to see how the characters were controlled and manipulated through the use of pheromones. The other interesting thing was the fact that the only person who realised something was off was the guy who was high most of the time.

There were some really quite creepy moments in this film, but I did care about what happened to the characters and it was good to see them interact with each other, so I could get to know them before they started getting picked off.

There was a lot of bloodshed in this film and I wasn’t too sold on the ending. I felt this film was quite ambitious, but I think it was quite an original idea. It would have been nice to see some of the other countries’ attempts as well as Japan’s, though.

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was another film I originally saw when I was quite young and remembered really enjoying it. My sister remembered watching it when she was quite young, too, so we decided to watch it together this evening.

Although this film is clearly quite dated, it’s still quite an entertaining one to watch… but although it starts off as quite lighthearted (with a conman who really can see ghosts), it quickly grows more serious as the film goes on and there are some really scary scenes in this.

There’s not a lot that’s very complicated in this film. There’s little explanation for why the bad guys are bad. I can’t remember if I was very surprised by the twists when I originally watched this, but watching it again, I did know what was coming.

The appearances of the ghosts was an interesting one, as was the idea of the ectoplasm eventually drying up. I would have liked a bit more explanation about how all of that worked.

There were some things in this film that were quite confusing and weird… particularly with the special agent. I couldn’t quite figure out if he was meant to be a good guy or a bad one. It was a bit amusing to see a graveyard policed by its very own ghost that was in charge.

This film did seem to be a whole redemption arc for the main character. He might have been a conman, but he was still quite a likable character and his interactions with the ghosts were fairly amusing.

The ending to this film was good, but a little bit confusing. Still, this is a film I’d probably be happy to watch again. I don’t think it should be rated as low as a twelve, though. There were some really scary and graphic scenes that I wouldn’t be comfortable letting younger, more sensitive children watch.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’ve seen the previous two films, so when I saw there was a third one coming out, I decided I immediately wanted to see it. And it was really great to see all of the old faces… though quite sad to see Robin Williams, considering he passed away earlier this year.

I liked that this film showed the origins of the tablet that brings the things in the museum to life. There were some pretty cool special effects in this film, particularly at the beginning with the constellations.

It was cool that this film took us on a trip to London. It was pretty awesome to see the beginning set in Egypt, too. I really liked the family dynamics in this film, with Larry and his son and Ahkmenrah and his parents.

It was really cool to see Lancelot in this, though I would have quite liked to see more representations from legends. I have to agree with Octavius, though. He really is quite attractive.

There were quite a few amusing moments in this, especially with the monkey, Dexter… but it was good to see that there were some more serious, emotional scenes too. It was also really cool to see Hugh Jackman playing himself, too. (I also have to agree on the Wolverine thing).

There were quite a few other actors I recognised in this film, too. It was really entertaining to watch and there were a few times I found myself laughing out loud. Laa was quite amusing, but there were scenes that were quite sweet with him.

I think I’d definitely buy this film on DVD at some point in the future. It’s one I’d like to watch again.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I think it’s become fairly clear that my niece is taking after me in a big way. Shortly before Christmas, she wrote a letter to Santa, asking for scary films. And in her stocking were four of them – and this was one of those.

I loved reading (and watching) Goosebumps as a child, so since this was also by R.L. Stine, I was fairly happy to watch when my niece asked me to. Although the acting was a bit over the top in some parts, I still felt that this film was entertaining. I couldn’t get Max as a fake Justin Bieber out of my head, though. (Search Justin Bieber parodies on YouTube).

I did feel that the special effects were somewhat lacking in this film. That did work when it came to the ghosts (sometimes simpler can be better), but a lot of the film felt old-fashioned… even though it was set in fairly recent times.

There were some quite cool ideas in this film, such as when Tara goes online to search for information on her parents. And it was good to see that they were affected by not having their parents around. There were also some quite amusing moments in this movie… and it was nice to see Max having to deal with problems that children have to, such as older brother/parents and bullying.

I was a bit disappointed to see that the film didn’t have a proper ending and more so because the sequel only seems to have one of the original actors in it.

I think this is a good film to watch as a family. It’s a kind of ‘safe’ scary, so I wouldn’t watch it with younger children, but with children who don’t mind tame scary films, I would suggest watching it.

(This review may contain spoilers).

As I recall, I watched this film originally at the cinema, as an Unlimited showing. But I just watched it again with my sister.

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are both actors I know pretty well and have quite enjoyed them in comedy films before. In this film, they had really great chemistry, both together and when interacting with the other characters in this film.

It was really good to see the contrast between the two older salesmen and the rest of the younger interns. Billy and Nick’s lack of internet knowledge made for some really nice comedy moments. But they were also extremely earnest people… and as much as their original interview was amusing, the fact that they were able to think so much out of the box was really cool.

There were quite a few actors I recognised in this film and I felt that they played the characters to the extent that suspension of disbelief was easy. There were quite a few, ‘Aww’ moments in this film.

It was really good to see the way Billy and Nick attempted to fit in and the way they clashed at first with the rest of the team at first, while gradually forming friendships with the others and all of them learning to work together as a team.

There were a lot of cliched moments in this film, but it was still an entertaining, sweet movie. I really enjoyed watching it and if you want something that’s funny because of the characters and their personalities, rather than just rude humour, I would recommend this one as  a film to watch.

(This review may contain spoilers).

It’s been quite a long time since I last saw Ghostbusters, but although it is meant to be a family-orientated film, there are some quite dodgy parts in this.

I can’t really call the character played by Bill Murray, Dr. Peter Venkman, a ‘good guy’. From the first scene, it was quite clear that he was a bit of a lech. At the same time, the actor did a good job of playing the character and he was a good source of comedy in this film.

It was interesting to see the differences in this film compared to films nowadays, such as the hairstyle of the actresses in this and the special effects that were used. It was quite strange to see Sigourney Weaver so young in this.

There were a number of recognisable actors in this film and there were some really good comedy moments. Some of the lines used were cringe-worthy, like when Peter talks to the woman played by Sigourney Weaver, but for a family film, this is quite entertaining… although it does have a couple of adult-themed things.

I watched this with my sister and my niece and both of them seemed to enjoy it. For me, it was another way of recapturing my childhood. It was an entertaining way to spend an hour and a half.