Reviews_of_the_Dead
Joined May 2010
Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Ratings7K
Reviews_of_the_Dead's rating
Reviews1.7K
Reviews_of_the_Dead's rating
This is a film that I learned about through podcasts. Now I missed this one when it came out back in 2023. I feel like I heard about it late in the year and didn't get time to see it. I've now given it a watch as selected by the randomizer for my New Year, New Movie segment on Journey with a Cinephile.
Synopsis: a man descends into madness as he tries to investigate an apocalyptic cult that caused the death of his friend.
We get a story that is told in four parts. It starts with the credits and seeing flashes of a ritual where masked people have a giant bonfire and they're carving someone who is tied up. We then meet our lead, Chris Rivers (Rory Wilson). He's to come to Wales to see what happened to his friend, William Duffy (Leuan Coombs). He went by Billy. Chris feels guilty since he didn't answer his friends calls and it seems like he killed himself.
A major issue here is that Chris left without telling anyone. His wife is pregnant with their first child and she is due soon. Chris is a teacher and my guess at a college. The dean is concerned. His friend there calls him to see what he's doing, but Chris can't give a good answer. He must figure out what happened to Billy.
Now it seems that his friend was researching this phenomenon of primordial fear. This is the terror of the universe being too vast and how insignificant we are. It is crippling and causing people to descend into madness. What Billy's team discovered is that all over the world there are people who have embraced this. They all speak of a deity called the origin. This is Lovecraftian in nature and in line with the Cthulhu mythos, where there are sects who have never met but worship the same deities and relay the same information.
This makes Chris uncomfortable and even more so that he starts to see a hooded figure watching him from outside of his cabin. More strange things happen and Chris calls the police, trying to catch this stranger. The officer doesn't believe him though. It doesn't help that he has nightmares that are matching drawings that Billy has in his research. He sees them before finding those documents in what was left. Chris worries that he could meet a fate similar to his friends, but it could be too late to escape now.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I'll start is crediting the set up that we get. This doesn't waste any time getting our lead, Chris, to this cabin and looking into what Billy left for him. Then odd things start to happen like this person who is watching him or the lead having nightmares. Now if you know me, this is a troupe that I think is overused. I am forgiving here though, because we see him looking at parts of the physical copies, he then has nightmares of things. He will then find documentation matching it that he hadn't seen yet. There is something quite eerie about that and it kept me interested.
Sticking in line with this, I love incorporating this idea of cosmic indifference. There is an interesting thread here that most when experiencing this will either find a way to cope or it will drive them insane. There are then these others that embrace it, wanting to wake up the origin and that feels like it falls in line with the Cthulhu mythos. When Chris starts to hear this dark entity talking to him, whether it is the origin itself or a disciple we don't know, he starts to have black outs. It could also be his own psyche breaking. It looks like he does things without realizing it. The entity also wants him to 'open a door', which if he does, that is opening himself up to this. I love this dark idea and not knowing what we can trust.
Now there's another aspect here to the story I want to explore. Chris feels guilty for not hearing or helping his friend. He calls Billy's mother to apologize. There's another angle here to learn more about what happened as well. Then there is Karen, Chris' wife, who is upset with him for just leaving. She is pregnant with their son. That boy is supposed to be born in a couple weeks, but she could go into labor early. That's even more possible with the stress she is feeling. I love using this to build tension. This ramps up even more when he goes to leave, can't and then starts to hear what happened because of it through voices he's talked to over the phone. It makes you wonder what is real or what this entity is doing to drive him to despair. I did appreciate that.
I then want to shift over to filmmaking next. I'll credit the cinematography and framing first. They capture how remote this cabin is well. Part of it is how dark it gets at night. This is in the Welsh countryside. There isn't much light pollution so it gets truly dark at night. There's a great shot from above to convey this that I noted. It gets even scarier when he goes into the woods at night. I'll also say here that we don't get much in the way of effects. This is more psychological though so we don't need them. There are great things in these nightmares though. What is good there is I'm guessing it is CGI. We are seeing it at a distance so that helps it look better. I'll say that the sound design helps with the atmosphere. The voices of this entity are creepy. The soundtrack also helps here as well. My biggest gripe is just that I don't think the payoff and the route they go fits to what we were building toward in the beginning. It does have a good heart though, so I'll give it credit there.
All that is left then is acting. I thought that Wilson was good as our lead. He does well at bringing Chris to life in that I feel him being pulled back to his life while also wanting to honor his friend by proving his research correct as well as clearing his name. The voices that speak to Chris over the phone help build tension that his life could fall apart if he doesn't hurry. Coombs was good as Billy. We mostly see him through flashbacks and videos he made. Those help build the story, especially in the set up. I'd say other than that, the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.
In conclusion, I thought that this did good things with building a cosmic horror story and borrowing Lovecraftian elements. It does well with the budget that it is working with in building that atmosphere through the isolation of this cabin and Chris. His acting was good and I thought the rest of the cast pushed him to where it ended up. The cinematography, framing, effects and sound design were also good. This is made well enough. My only issue is that I don't know if the payoff we got fit what was set up. I still thought this was worth a watch, especially to those that are into this subgenre.
My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.
Synopsis: a man descends into madness as he tries to investigate an apocalyptic cult that caused the death of his friend.
We get a story that is told in four parts. It starts with the credits and seeing flashes of a ritual where masked people have a giant bonfire and they're carving someone who is tied up. We then meet our lead, Chris Rivers (Rory Wilson). He's to come to Wales to see what happened to his friend, William Duffy (Leuan Coombs). He went by Billy. Chris feels guilty since he didn't answer his friends calls and it seems like he killed himself.
A major issue here is that Chris left without telling anyone. His wife is pregnant with their first child and she is due soon. Chris is a teacher and my guess at a college. The dean is concerned. His friend there calls him to see what he's doing, but Chris can't give a good answer. He must figure out what happened to Billy.
Now it seems that his friend was researching this phenomenon of primordial fear. This is the terror of the universe being too vast and how insignificant we are. It is crippling and causing people to descend into madness. What Billy's team discovered is that all over the world there are people who have embraced this. They all speak of a deity called the origin. This is Lovecraftian in nature and in line with the Cthulhu mythos, where there are sects who have never met but worship the same deities and relay the same information.
This makes Chris uncomfortable and even more so that he starts to see a hooded figure watching him from outside of his cabin. More strange things happen and Chris calls the police, trying to catch this stranger. The officer doesn't believe him though. It doesn't help that he has nightmares that are matching drawings that Billy has in his research. He sees them before finding those documents in what was left. Chris worries that he could meet a fate similar to his friends, but it could be too late to escape now.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I'll start is crediting the set up that we get. This doesn't waste any time getting our lead, Chris, to this cabin and looking into what Billy left for him. Then odd things start to happen like this person who is watching him or the lead having nightmares. Now if you know me, this is a troupe that I think is overused. I am forgiving here though, because we see him looking at parts of the physical copies, he then has nightmares of things. He will then find documentation matching it that he hadn't seen yet. There is something quite eerie about that and it kept me interested.
Sticking in line with this, I love incorporating this idea of cosmic indifference. There is an interesting thread here that most when experiencing this will either find a way to cope or it will drive them insane. There are then these others that embrace it, wanting to wake up the origin and that feels like it falls in line with the Cthulhu mythos. When Chris starts to hear this dark entity talking to him, whether it is the origin itself or a disciple we don't know, he starts to have black outs. It could also be his own psyche breaking. It looks like he does things without realizing it. The entity also wants him to 'open a door', which if he does, that is opening himself up to this. I love this dark idea and not knowing what we can trust.
Now there's another aspect here to the story I want to explore. Chris feels guilty for not hearing or helping his friend. He calls Billy's mother to apologize. There's another angle here to learn more about what happened as well. Then there is Karen, Chris' wife, who is upset with him for just leaving. She is pregnant with their son. That boy is supposed to be born in a couple weeks, but she could go into labor early. That's even more possible with the stress she is feeling. I love using this to build tension. This ramps up even more when he goes to leave, can't and then starts to hear what happened because of it through voices he's talked to over the phone. It makes you wonder what is real or what this entity is doing to drive him to despair. I did appreciate that.
I then want to shift over to filmmaking next. I'll credit the cinematography and framing first. They capture how remote this cabin is well. Part of it is how dark it gets at night. This is in the Welsh countryside. There isn't much light pollution so it gets truly dark at night. There's a great shot from above to convey this that I noted. It gets even scarier when he goes into the woods at night. I'll also say here that we don't get much in the way of effects. This is more psychological though so we don't need them. There are great things in these nightmares though. What is good there is I'm guessing it is CGI. We are seeing it at a distance so that helps it look better. I'll say that the sound design helps with the atmosphere. The voices of this entity are creepy. The soundtrack also helps here as well. My biggest gripe is just that I don't think the payoff and the route they go fits to what we were building toward in the beginning. It does have a good heart though, so I'll give it credit there.
All that is left then is acting. I thought that Wilson was good as our lead. He does well at bringing Chris to life in that I feel him being pulled back to his life while also wanting to honor his friend by proving his research correct as well as clearing his name. The voices that speak to Chris over the phone help build tension that his life could fall apart if he doesn't hurry. Coombs was good as Billy. We mostly see him through flashbacks and videos he made. Those help build the story, especially in the set up. I'd say other than that, the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.
In conclusion, I thought that this did good things with building a cosmic horror story and borrowing Lovecraftian elements. It does well with the budget that it is working with in building that atmosphere through the isolation of this cabin and Chris. His acting was good and I thought the rest of the cast pushed him to where it ended up. The cinematography, framing, effects and sound design were also good. This is made well enough. My only issue is that I don't know if the payoff we got fit what was set up. I still thought this was worth a watch, especially to those that are into this subgenre.
My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.
This is a film that I remember fondly. My sister and I had this in a steady rotation of the Disney films that we owned. It was this and Robin Hood: Men in Tights that I learned about the story of the titular character. I've also seen the Russell Crowe adaptation as well. Now when my wife got released from the hospital after having our second child, we started this with our daughter Mackenzie, after moving a TV into our bedroom. We finished it roughly a week later though due to life.
Now something creative here that Disney did was strategically use different animals for characters. Robin Hood (voiced by Brian Bedford) is a fox, showing that he's sly in the different things that he does to avoid capture by Prince John (voiced by Peter Ustinov). What I like there is that he's a beta lion in the pride, not having a mane. He has a fat wolf working for him, the Sheriff of Nottingham (voiced by Pat Buttram). He's a glorified tax collector. A couple others here are Little John (voiced by Phil Harris), who is a bear. This is pretty much Harris being Baloo from Jungle Book, just a slight variation. There's also Friar Tuck (voiced by Andy Devine) who is a badger. Interestingly I read he was supposed to be a pig, but Disney wanted to avoid issues with having a religious character portrayed there.
There are more here like Maid Marian (voiced by Monica Evans) who is a vixen or a female fox. Sir Hiss (voiced by Terry-Thomas) is a snake and is the royal banker. He at least advised the prince. This is creative to tell the tale like they are, making it for kids where it is fun, but there's also a good message here. The choices have deeper allegories that I appreciate.
I'm also just a fan of this old school animation. This is a fun film seeing all the different animals and the shenanigans that make a fun child's movie. Another character is the narrator, Allan-a-Dale (voiced by Roger Miller) who is the rooster. I love the little tune that he does while watching. It will also be itched in my memory. I'd recommend this one if you're a fan of peak Disney as this one held up for my enjoyment. Fun way to introduce Robin Hood and the message this character carries.
My Rating: 8 out of 10.
Now something creative here that Disney did was strategically use different animals for characters. Robin Hood (voiced by Brian Bedford) is a fox, showing that he's sly in the different things that he does to avoid capture by Prince John (voiced by Peter Ustinov). What I like there is that he's a beta lion in the pride, not having a mane. He has a fat wolf working for him, the Sheriff of Nottingham (voiced by Pat Buttram). He's a glorified tax collector. A couple others here are Little John (voiced by Phil Harris), who is a bear. This is pretty much Harris being Baloo from Jungle Book, just a slight variation. There's also Friar Tuck (voiced by Andy Devine) who is a badger. Interestingly I read he was supposed to be a pig, but Disney wanted to avoid issues with having a religious character portrayed there.
There are more here like Maid Marian (voiced by Monica Evans) who is a vixen or a female fox. Sir Hiss (voiced by Terry-Thomas) is a snake and is the royal banker. He at least advised the prince. This is creative to tell the tale like they are, making it for kids where it is fun, but there's also a good message here. The choices have deeper allegories that I appreciate.
I'm also just a fan of this old school animation. This is a fun film seeing all the different animals and the shenanigans that make a fun child's movie. Another character is the narrator, Allan-a-Dale (voiced by Roger Miller) who is the rooster. I love the little tune that he does while watching. It will also be itched in my memory. I'd recommend this one if you're a fan of peak Disney as this one held up for my enjoyment. Fun way to introduce Robin Hood and the message this character carries.
My Rating: 8 out of 10.
This was a film that I sought out due to be a remake of Knife in the Water by Roman Polanski. What we're getting here is an updated version. I picked this up on DVD years ago and just now getting around to watching it. Ahead of coming in to watch this, I knew that Dominique Swain starred. The opening credits reminded me that Henry Thomas also starred. It wasn't until settling in that it also had Scott Bairstow. I didn't know him by name but recognized his face.
What we get here is Gloria (Swain) is asked by her father to take his business partners' son out on the yacht. This is Marcos (Sebastian DeVicente). He has never seen the ocean. She doesn't want to do this, but her father explains their financial situation and reluctantly agrees. I don't believe she told him that she isn't using the captain. She will drive the boat. Her boyfriend, Danny (Bairstow), and friend of Jeff (Thomas) are joining.
They go out and have a good time, until things take a turn. Danny is a jerk. Gloria is attracted to Marcos and they make out when the guys are gone. They come back though in the middle, where she blames him for coming on to her. Danny knocks him overboard and tosses out a lifesaver. He then drives off, leaving Marcos in the water. This is troubling due to him not being a strong swimmer.
The group takes the boat around the island and that's when panic sets in. They can't seem to find where they left him. They continue the search but as time goes on, it looks bleaker. Decisions are then made as to what to do.
Now that should recap what this version of the story gives. Something interesting here is that instead of a couple with a stranger on a boat. We have a larger sea vessel and adding the wrinkle that Jeff is in love with Gloria, who has friend zoned him. Jeff is friends with Danny and something I'll say here, I've been the former in a situation like this. Jeff is in an interesting position that he wants to help his friend, but also will steal his girl at the first chance that he gets. I did like this aspect.
What then makes this an interesting story as well is that we're seeing the worst of humanity come out when it comes to self-preservation. We learn things here as we go on about the characters. Gloria and her plight are introduced from the opening sequence. She doesn't rely on the others until Marcos disappears. Through conversations between Danny and Jeff, the former messed up at his previous job in Hong Kong and struggled to find another business to give him a chance. Jeff put his neck out for him, but it is a step down in what he'd be doing. Jeff also uses this against him as tensions rise. They are trying to find a way where they can wash their hands of what happened without punishment. This then becomes an 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' situation as the longer they go, the worse the situation becomes.
The execution though isn't necessarily there unfortunately. Swain looks good and she's in a bikini so that is tempting. Thomas is a good actor, but he's limited here to just being brooding. Bairstow has a good look about him. The same for DeVicente. The acting is serviceable, I'll say that. I also think they do well with filmmaking. They don't do anything that necessarily stands out. I did like seeing this group descend into madness trying to figure out what to do. It does help with the atmosphere. This shoots for the fences and does come up short. Not horrible by any stretch though.
My Rating: 5 out of 10.
What we get here is Gloria (Swain) is asked by her father to take his business partners' son out on the yacht. This is Marcos (Sebastian DeVicente). He has never seen the ocean. She doesn't want to do this, but her father explains their financial situation and reluctantly agrees. I don't believe she told him that she isn't using the captain. She will drive the boat. Her boyfriend, Danny (Bairstow), and friend of Jeff (Thomas) are joining.
They go out and have a good time, until things take a turn. Danny is a jerk. Gloria is attracted to Marcos and they make out when the guys are gone. They come back though in the middle, where she blames him for coming on to her. Danny knocks him overboard and tosses out a lifesaver. He then drives off, leaving Marcos in the water. This is troubling due to him not being a strong swimmer.
The group takes the boat around the island and that's when panic sets in. They can't seem to find where they left him. They continue the search but as time goes on, it looks bleaker. Decisions are then made as to what to do.
Now that should recap what this version of the story gives. Something interesting here is that instead of a couple with a stranger on a boat. We have a larger sea vessel and adding the wrinkle that Jeff is in love with Gloria, who has friend zoned him. Jeff is friends with Danny and something I'll say here, I've been the former in a situation like this. Jeff is in an interesting position that he wants to help his friend, but also will steal his girl at the first chance that he gets. I did like this aspect.
What then makes this an interesting story as well is that we're seeing the worst of humanity come out when it comes to self-preservation. We learn things here as we go on about the characters. Gloria and her plight are introduced from the opening sequence. She doesn't rely on the others until Marcos disappears. Through conversations between Danny and Jeff, the former messed up at his previous job in Hong Kong and struggled to find another business to give him a chance. Jeff put his neck out for him, but it is a step down in what he'd be doing. Jeff also uses this against him as tensions rise. They are trying to find a way where they can wash their hands of what happened without punishment. This then becomes an 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' situation as the longer they go, the worse the situation becomes.
The execution though isn't necessarily there unfortunately. Swain looks good and she's in a bikini so that is tempting. Thomas is a good actor, but he's limited here to just being brooding. Bairstow has a good look about him. The same for DeVicente. The acting is serviceable, I'll say that. I also think they do well with filmmaking. They don't do anything that necessarily stands out. I did like seeing this group descend into madness trying to figure out what to do. It does help with the atmosphere. This shoots for the fences and does come up short. Not horrible by any stretch though.
My Rating: 5 out of 10.