Ink of Blood

(This review may contain spoilers).

Since I’m planning to see Sinister 2 on Sunday, I thought I’d better rewatch this. And it was only £3, so…

I thought this film was one of the scariest horror movies I’ve seen. There’s something always especially creepy when children are involved… and the very first scene of this movie set the atmosphere for the rest.

The family were easy to empathise with. It was good that the film spent a bit of time establishing the characters and their personalities. It was good to see some interactions between Ellison and Tracy, as well as Ashley’s love of painting.

I liked the fact that there were issues with Trevor, although it would have been good to see a bit more of the background to his night terrors. They did allow for quite a few scary scenes, though.

There were a lot of tense scenes in this movie that kept me watching. There was a good air of mystery… even though there were more supernatural elements than ‘normal’ horror.

There were quite a few jumpy scenes in this movie and a couple where the viewer saw what the characters couldn’t… which was quite effective.

The tapes that Ellison views are especially creepy. The fact that they start off showing a happy family scene and then switch over to violence and murder is especially disturbing… more so because whoever’s filming doesn’t show up, so there’s an invisible extra in all of the films.

There was a lot that was disturbing about this movie, but it was an intriguing watch and did a good job of making me especially creeped out. I wouldn’t recommend watching this movie in the dark on your own.

I recognised the actor playing Ellison and I thought it was good how the character had evolved from his previous views and morals… and how he had to reconcile caring for his family with his need to research and write his book. It was also good to see how he interacted with the police officers.

Although I was disappointed in the ending of this movie, I am looking forward to seeing the sequel on Sunday.

(This review may contain spoilers).

When this movie came out at the cinema, I watched it twice; once on my own and once with a friend. While zombies aren’t unique, by any stretch of the imagination, I found this movie to be particularly entertaining. It was well-cast and well-made… at least in my opinion.

One of the particularly good parts of this film was the difference in the zombies in comparison to a lot of zombie films. The infection spreads fast, with most people turning withing a matter of seconds. And the zombies move fast. No creeping along with arms stretched out going, ‘Braaaaaaaains’.

The other particularly good thing about this film was the fact that I was able to see how different countries were dealing with the zombie outbreak. And there was also the opportunity to see how the different people reacted to it… how the characters viewed the outbreak and how they dealt with the very real danger they were in.

I liked Gerry’s character. I think Brad Pitt is a really good actor and he did a fantastic job making Gerry a believable character. I enjoyed being able to see Gerry’s relationship with his wife and daughters… and how he was trying to keep them protected, while at the same time trying to figure out what was going on from the start. I felt his intelligence and piecing together of information really added a lot to the character.

There was a lot of tension in this movie right from the start. Even knowing what was going to happen, I found myself drawn really easily into the events of the film and focused on the journey of the characters.

I found Segen a particularly interesting character and I would have liked the opportunity to see more of her and learn more of her past. I liked how quickly she was able to adapt to her situation and the camaraderie that sprang up between her and Gerry.

I also liked that this movie didn’t really ‘end’ as such, even though a resolution of some kind was reached. Events fit together neatly and there were a lot of really effective scenes. Plus, I thought the cast was really good.

I have this movie on DVD and I’m sure I will be watching it again in the future.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having seen the trailer for this movie, I thought it looked really entertaining and amusing to watch. Having seen it yesterday, I found it met those expectations.

I liked the family elements in this movie, even if I did think that a lot of the characters were over the top. I especially thought it was amusing to see Kevin constantly going at James.

A lot of the aspects with the car, while very confusing in regards to many of the buttons, did add a lot of humour to the movie… especially in regard to the SatNav. It was also pretty cool to see how there were some running themes throughout this movie, such as the truck.

There were a lot of moments in this movie where I found myself laughing out loud. While there weren’t as many ‘sweet’ moments in this, it was funny to see Rusty and Debbie trying to sneak off for some ‘alone’ time and constantly having those plans foiled.

There were some quite downright disturbing scenes, especially the one which took place in the supposed ‘hot springs’. I’m reasonably certain more people than just me made sounds of disgust. The cows were also particularly disturbing.

I recognised quite a few of the actors in this movie and while I thought they did really good jobs, Chris Hemsworth (despite being an actor I really like) played a character who was… downright disturbing. It was interesting to see more of Rusty’s family, in his sister and his parents… though his parents didn’t exactly come across as normal.

I did find this movie entertaining. There were some exaggerated scenes and some very amusing ones… but also some scenes that just made me cringe. The ending was satisfactory and while I doubt I’ll watch this again, it was definitely worth watching the first time.

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was a movie I found really entertaining to watch, despite the strong levels of adult content and some quite graphic scenes.

It was interesting to see the stark differences in personality between Amy and Kim. I did like the fact that they came across as real sisters… with arguments, but also support between them. And it was also good to see the different ways they viewed their dad.

There was a lot of adult humour in this movie. What was good was the fact there were also quite a few serious moments here as well.

It was easy to like Amy, despite her not being the kind of person I’d find easy to relate to in reality. Although a lot of her issues were ones she needed to deal with herself, I could understand the rut she ultimately found herself in.

I really didn’t like Amy’s boss, Dianne, at all. I thought she was really unprofessional and manipulative. I’m guessing she wasn’t supposed to be liked, though, so I’m sure that works out.

I did think that a lot of the supporting characters weren’t expanded upon in the way they could have been. Amy and Aaron both had a lot of depth to them, but apart from Kim, a lot of the other characters seemed like caricatures.

I did like the romance. I particularly liked the opportunity to hear Amy’s internal monologue… especially when there’s the montage of her and Aaron together.

I did think it took a while for the conflict in the relationship to show up, even though there were a couple of false starts. While I could see Aaron’s point about certain things, there was one aspect in particular I felt he was being unreasonable on. At the same time, it was good to see all of the things Amy had kept bottled up coming out.

This movie was entertaining and very amusing to watch in places. There were a number of cringe-worthy scenes, but I felt the movie did stay true to the characters up till the end. There was a lot of adult content… but if you like that, this movie is worth giving a try.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Khan is probably the only villain I’m familiar with from the original Star Trek movies, so seeing him made use of in this movie was a good nod to the original franchise. Although Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t fit with the original version of Khan, he portrays him particularly well… at least in my opinion.

One of the strongest parts of this movie, in my opinion, was the tension between Kirk and Spock. In this movie, they seem to butt heads a whole lot more than in the first movie. And both of them are characters whose motivations I can understand and relate to.

It was nice to see more of Spock’s relationship with Uhura, even though I preferred the friendship between him and Kirk. There was a lot of action in this movie… and a lot of scenes that were really tense to watch, drawing me into the movie despite having seen it before.

There were some elements of humour in this movie, but I felt that those were used at the right moment and didn’t seem forced or stilted. I especially liked seeing some of Scotty’s motivations in this movie… and how he refused to compromise on what he felt was right.

I liked the fact that Kirk demonstrated he was able to do the right thing… despite his anger and grief over Khan’s actions. I thought this movie was more of a character growth for him than the previous. In fact, I felt both him and Spock grew and matured over the course of this movie.

There were a lot of really cool special effects in this movie and it was also good to see a little more of aliens and androids in this movie.

I liked that the bad guys did have elements of depth to them, even Khan. I also thought it was good to see more of Pike and future!Spock in this movie, too, though I couldn’t help but wonder how many of the crew members actually knew about the parallel timelines.

The ending to this was good and I noticed a couple of scenes that paid homage to Wrath of Khan. I’m looking forward to the next Star Trek movie.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Despite my mum being a big fan of Star Trek, I never really got into the original movies. It wasn’t until this one came out that I found myself drawn into this franchise.

This movie was particularly compelling from the start. Even though the first scene was only a short one, it was enough to set up the rest of the events. The first scene was really emotional and I felt the actors did a good job of showing the relationship between Kirk’s parents. It didn’t hurt that I recognised both of those actors and have enjoyed their work in other media.

I liked the opportunity to see both Kirk and Spock as children. I felt those scenes did a good job of setting up their characters for later on. I also thought it was interesting how the rivalry between Kirk and Spock later on contrasted so sharply with the friendship their original incarnations had.

There were some really emotional scenes in this, as well as a lot of action. I liked the chance to see Spock interacting with his parents and I would have liked to see Kirk interacting with his mother.

Although there was a bit of romance in this movie, I didn’t feel it overwhelmed the plot. I would have liked to see more in the way of the alien races… apart from Spock, there didn’t seem to be that many on the Enterprise. Considering the Federation is made up of so many planets, I thought there should have been more in the way of alien races.

There was a good amount of action and quite a lot of tension in this movie. I liked most of the supporting characters, in particular Chekov and Sulu. I would have liked to see more of both of them.

This movie did a good job of drawing me into the world. Although it’s part of the Star Trek franchise, I thought the differences were explained well. I cared about the characters and the danger they were in and I thought the actors portrayed their characters really well.