Zoe the Vampire

Harbinger down. Watched that becuase I knew about how great they were on the Thing prequel prior to a idiot suit saying to scrap it and do CGI. So went into this with high expectations, and it failed. It was clear that both the desire and talent were there, but clearly the budget was not. I know it was kickstarted, but not sure what the total budget was, clearly not enough. Most effects were hidden behind quick cuts and shaky cam to hide that they didn’t have very good monsters. The reality is something like a creature in the Thing may end up being many different puppets depending on what is needed. Close ups that may not really move but are much more realistic, and fuctional ones that may not pass muster up close… With Harbinger down there was never a good clear shot so assuming they just didn’t have the money to make them. Worse than the effects, the movie just wasn’t scary. The threat never seemed that big, originally I think they planned to have it impersonate them and try for the psychological aspect like the thing but because they couldn’t afford complex human to monster transfers it was scrapped and only a few lines of “it is copying DNA” remained. Without that aspect the film was left with a very ill defined monster that didn’t really hunt them down just sort of stumbled upon them like a blind octopus.

scare score 3.5/10

movie score 2.5/10

Insidious.

Watched that because I was looking for something on Netflix and it was that or Sinister, and I didn’t want to watch a movie with the slipknot guitarist as the monster… So instead I got a Mudvayne guitarist as the monster. I got to say this was the stupidist monster I think I have ever seen taken seriously. The thing looked like a joke and the whole movie felt like a crappy ripoff of Poltergeist.

The movie started pretty decently, I liked the family, which is uncommon in horror films. the first half was a halfway decent movie, then it collapsed with the terrible redfaced jumpscare standing behind the father. I laughed instead of jumped, not a good sign. The movie had a decent twist available that I thought they were going to do, but instead they went with the stupidest option imaginable. I thought when the dad entered the dreamworld he saw his young self, so assumed he wasn’t really himself and would learn that someone else had been living in him since around age 12. I think that could of offered up a really interesting dynamic, guilt about stealing the body of a child but weighing more heavily is the need to stop some other entity doing it to his own child. I’m not saying that idea would of turned this movie into a classic, but definitely is better than the stupid old lady scene at the end, that again got a laugh instead of a scare out of me.

scare score 1.5/10

movie score 2/10

Sinister.

After the disappointment of Insidious I thought well maybe I made the wrong choice and should give Sinister a chance. Got to say, it was actually much better than I expected. I wouldn’t say it is in my top 20 horror films, but if you are looking for a film that isn’t a waste of time, this is it.

Good acting, good characters (though a bit too unrealistically driven with the father) and actual building tension make this a solid movie. I kept expecting jumpscares at every turn and was glad to say it mostly steered clear (except the last second, guess it just couldn’t help itself).

Quick synopsis. Writer moves into a home where a murder took place to write a book about it. Finds 8mm films in attic. The films are of that and other murders. Instead of telling the cops he keeps it to himself hoping it will help him get famous. As he investigates these murders it becomes clear that they are all connected, and that a clown faced guy can be seen in all the footage (even though the films are spread out over almost 50 years). Then ghost stuff starts happening and he is trying to find the answers while keeping everything from his family.

That is my one gripe. I get what they were doing with the father, but it just reach a level of ridiculousness. It is clear the killer returned to the house after the police cleared the area (to leave the films) but he never shows any concern that a killer who murdered the whole previous family might do it to his family. This could of been fixed with a scene of him putting flood lights outside and a security system inside, but he never shows any concern for his families well being till the very end.

Overall a solid horror film.

scare score 5/10

Movie score 8/10