Scary Movie You May Have Missed: Sigaw (The Echo)

Sigaw is an Asian ghost movie, that I’m sure all zombie games lovers will enjoy. I know what you’re possibly thinking: Not another one! — but this one isn’t from Japan, Korea or Thailand, it’s a Filipino film. The story revolves around an old apartment building that exists both in the present and the past.

When Marvin moves into his first home away from home, he does his best to fix the grim little place up with the help of his buxom girlfriend, Pinky. At first, things look to be going well despite the strange noises and the even stranger neighbors also residing on the 7th floor.

At night he hears his drunken neighbor, Bert, physically and verbally abusing his wife Anna, and their young daughter Lara, but Marvin doesn’t want to get involved — not only is Bert  very violent, but he’s a cop. However, Marvin can’t help but get involved when one evening Anna begs him to look after her daughter for a few hours, just until Bert cools down. The fact that Lara has dark, long hair ought to be clue enough. But what really sends Marvin to flip-out is how she keeps disappearing and then reappearing in the strangest places. A limp rag doll is her constant companion.

Marvin shares his concerns with Pinky, who convinces him to move out. But this is the first place he owned, one that he bought with his own money working at a nearby restaurant, and he isn’t about to be so easily convinced to just pick up and leave. Pretty soon, Pinky starts having her own nightmarish experiences in the building too. Both can’t deny that something is terribly wrong when the bloody apparitions of Anna and Lara show up in places other than Marvin’s apartment; the couple’s everyday life seems to fade in and out of reality and they vow to set things right.

Sigaw, despite its oppressive use of dreary sepia browns and drab olive greens, is a beautifully shot film with some clever use of negative space and truly interesting camera angles. The moody musical score adds to the feelings of impending danger, and the ambience of crying, knocking and clanking are cunningly woven in to create a creepy cloak of sound. Each of the actors delivers a believable job of conveying a real sense of dread. While some questions are left hanging and the solving of the mystery comes as no surprise, the writer and director does a nice job of making the audience care on what could possibly happen to the characters anyway.

Slowly drowning in a netherworld of loneliness and torment, Sigaw is definitely not a feel-good horror movie. It’s not even exceptionally scary or thought-provoking, but there is something inexplicably compelling about it. While it spends too much time on the build-up and not enough on the resolution, Sigaw is undeniably worth seeing.

Movie Review: Resident Evil Afterlife

High on action and matrix-like fight scenes makes this an action-packed film. But too short progress in the story line is somehow a let down. This is how I would summarize my review on the latest instalment of Resident Evil. It’s the fourth movie of the Resident Evil movie franchise which focuses on the developing story of the Umbrella Organization’s role in the release of the deadly T-Virus, which was responsible for the zombie outbreak.

The film begins where Resident Evil: Extinction ends, the set of Alice clones attacked the Umbrella headquarters in Tokyo and she was able to get injected with the anti-T Virus, which she believes would make her human.

“Resident Evil: Afterlife,” introduces a familiar character from the game, Chris Redfield, who now joins her sister Claire who suffered from memory loss after the Umbrella Organization put a memory loss device into them. Claire managed to meet Alice on her way to Arcadia.

Experience a New Dimension of Evil

The film was more thrilling and exciting on 3D especially the battle scene where Claire and Alice fight against the large demonic butcher with a huge clever like weapon. The scenes were really captivating.
On the other hand, the battle in the end with the Umbrella Organization’s leader was also great but I felt it was too short. Alice together with Claire and Chris managed to free Arcadia but there is still an imminent attack from the Umbrella Organization.

The film ends there and hints of the next plot for the fifth sequel. Who wouldn’t want a part five especially if Resident Evil: Afterlife topped the Weekend Box Office during its release with $26,650,264 in the United States.

Movie Review: ‘Zombrex Dead Rising Sun’

Keiji Inafune’s Zombrex Dead Rising Sun, Japan-centric tie in film to the Dead Rising universe has gone unfortunately unnoticed.  Released in eight parts for free on Xbox Live over the past few months, the film shows the story of the zombie epidemic in Japan as opposed to the American cities of its video game counterpart… but is it worth the watch?  Read further to find out!

The story focuses on a paraplegic named George, his older brother Shin, and their struggles to seek shelter in the midst of the zombie plague.  Refused by countless shelters, they holed-up in what they thought was an abandoned warehouse, only to encounter the psychotic thug Takahashi and his sadistic baddies, who prove to be an even worse threat than the walking dead outside.

True to Dead Rising form, the true conflict of the movie stems more from the demented and immoral humans than from the zombie hordes.  The zombies take a backseat to Takahashi and his gang, who take ruthless pleasure in antagonizing the two brothers as well as a young nurse named Mary, who crashes her car into the warehouse in a search for Zombrex, the drug that she believes can prevent her zombification.

What emerges is pure low-budget zombie movie trash, although elevated to a nonsensical art form by the video-game pedigree that it carries.  By the time the movie ends, we’ve seen gallons of gore, a flamethrower to the face, a wheelchair modified into a chainsaw-mobilized tank, and fatal fellatio, all peppered with easter eggs and sly in-jokes.  Inafune also made a bold decision to shoot most of the movie from the point of view of the wheelchair-bound George, which gives it a very unprecedented perspective.

Unless your Xbox hard drive is full, there is really no reason not to give Zombrex Dead Rising Sun a chance. Its micro budget, awful dubbing and stilted dialogue all add up to be one hell of a good time.  Plus, it’s free!  You will find it in the Game Downloads/Game Videos section of Xbox Live.

Movie Review: Big Tits Zombie 3D

A group of strippers find a medieval Book of the Dead in the basement of their club. All hell breaks loose when one of them uses the book to raise an army of the undead.

The title is just pure marketing. There is some nudity, but it is on about the level of a Carry On film and is unlikely to upset your grandma. Those who are seeking cheap carnal thrills are advised to look somewhere else. Rather than the lewd promise of its title, what Big Tits Zombie delivers is low-budget, goofy fun with enough quirkiness to get by.

But I guess ‘no budget’ would be more accurate. The zombies look like they came straight from a face painting stall of a school fete and there is never too many of them. The fight scenes are endearingly chaotic and what money were put together seems to have been spent only on a couple of choice effects.

What saved this film are its humour, energy and quirky touches. As expected, Big Tits Zombie doesn’t take itself seriously in the slightest degree. If it did, it would have been a disaster. Instead, it maintains the appropriate nonsensical tone to fuel the ludicrous spectacles while preserving the littlest touch of reality to keep you interested in the characters. The film is peppered with outrageous, inexplicable details. These include zombies playing ping-pong, a new take on body sushi and a bureaucratic hell demon. The female leads are awesome too.

Big Tits Zombie is far from being a masterpiece. It’s not trying to be. But, unlike many of quickly cobbled together low-budget films, the film manages to accomplish its modest aims. It’s entertaining, mindless fun; the kind of film to enjoy with friends and a few beers. And just little over an hour, it does not overstay its welcome.

Movie Review – Saw 3D: The Final Chapter

In its least self-serious instalment yet, the Saw franchise literally throws its extraordinary gore in our faces, along with an unusual amount of self-parody. The significant storyline is starting to feel really played out, but there’s a perceived sense of actual fun to this alleged final film of a thriller movie franchise which i consider one of the greatest ever made.

The Bigger Picture

The Saw movies has been putting much effort to tie each movie together to continue the saga of a character that died at the end of part 3, and you know that it’s really about to end in this one when the central character, John “Jigsaw” Kramer, gets exactly a single good scene, and returning fan-favourite, Dr. Gordon is essentially reduced to a cameo.

There’s nothing much more to tell about characters whose major misdeeds had already been catalogued in the previous six movies.

Yes, Jigsaw’s widow Jill and psychotic protégée Hoffman are still in a cat-and-mouse battle of wits, abetted in this instance by a humorously incompetent cop named Gibson. But the magnitude of the action this time has very little to do with the returning characters, and focuses on a flimsy self-help guru who has built a career based on making lies about escaping from a Jigsaw trap, and now finds himself looking down the real thing.

As Jigsaw himself is something of a perverted self-help guru, there is room for mockery here, and for once, the film definitely goes for it, making it clear that rightly, any talk about improving one’s life by way of death traps is preposterous. One particularly horrendous death proves to be utterly unfounded when it’s revealed to be a dream with no impact on the plot whatsoever. After the seriousness of the previous sequels, this makes for a fascinating change.

While the ending is basically gratifying this time, it does leave enough room for yet another sequel.

Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 2

As a horror movie fan, I couldn’t help resist what Paranormal Activity had to offer.  But I was rather disappointed and I was really bored and dozing off half way of the film. I swore to myself that if ever there’s a sequel, I’m sure to be the last person to see that movie. But after watching the trailer of Paranormal Activity 2, I suddenly had a change of heart and felt like giving it a chance.

This is actually a prequel

First would be the plot. This is actually a prequel to the first film as it takes place two months before the events of the first movie. Katie’s sister, Kristi, and her family are the ones involved. The story begins with their family setting up security cameras around their house after experiencing what they thought was a series of break-ins, only to realize that the events unfolding before them are more dangerous than they seem. Weird things start to happen even during day and a lot more during the night. Through the surveillance videos, they find out that they’re being haunted by an evil presence that has come for their baby. It wasn’t explained if the evil in this film has something to do with that in the first movie. However, it is implied that Kristi and Katie’s mother is to blame for drawing the attention of the demons that haunt them.

As for the acting, it’s actually a bit of a step above the first movie. Not that the acting in the first one was really bad or anything, it’s just that the acting in this movie is way much better because it really does feel like the characters are actually conversing. In the first movie, there were times that the actors were like reading off a script, but here they sound pretty natural throughout the entire film.

Events happen largely as they did in Paranormal Activity, with the same development from small scares to the jump-out-of-your-seat big ones. The effects were really good especially the scene where Kristi got dragged down the stairs. That was really the most terrifying scene as it was very intense.

Paranormal Activity was a big hit only because it offered audiences something that is different from the customary horror film. Paranormal Activity 2, however, is just the same as any other unexceptional sequel but is still worth the watch on a Friday night.

Movie Review: The Hills Run Red

Maybe I went to the movie house expecting a bit too much having been swept up by the hype train, but beside a show-stealing performance by William Sadler, it’s hard for me to recommend “The Hills Run Red” as much more than a movie night rental with your buddies. Here’s my take on this move…

The Plot

The story revolves around Tyler, a film aficionado on the hunt to find a completed print of a missing and legendary 80’s slasher film, The Hills Run Red, said to be the goriest and most brutal little horror movie ever created. Enlisting the help of his best friend and girlfriend, Tyler embarks into the backwoods in search of the holy grail of gruesome, only to discover soon that things aren’t quite all that they seem. To say more would be potentially giving away what story there is and ruin a twist or two that “The Hills Run Red” works itself up within the first hour of run time.

A Slight Comparison

Many have compared THRR to a cross between Wrong Turn and Scream, but I’m more likely to argue it has more similarities with John Carpenter’s Masters of Horror Episode, Cigarette Burns, than the aforementioned Wes Craven franchise. Fans of the now defunct Showtime series will instantly recognize the not too obvious similarities in the story between Cigarette Burns and THRR, as well as the over the top gore scenes which stand out as big pluses in both films. THRR considerably never goes as far in its self-awareness and fan boy masturbation as Scream, and quite honestly, this film is much better off for it, in spite of being somewhat of a love letter to the horror genre.  Apart from that, there isn’t anything else done particularly well here.

On a positive note, the film’s highlight is William Sadler, who absolutely steals every scene he’s in, even if he’s not given enough to do as the “lost” films’ , maniacal and reclusive director. Sadler alone makes this film worth watching, though I’d be hard pressed to recommend “The Hills Run Red” as more than a rental to be enjoyed with a handful of friends and a couple of beers. This one comes with a lot of promise like recent slashers, Laid to Rest and Hatchet, but does very little to separate itself from the rest of the crop.

The Horde: Zombie Action at its Best!

“La Horde” has to be the best zombie film that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s an insanely “violent and gore” French film. The Plot is really action-filled, but none of the characters are likeable. Cops and criminals work together to survive in a tower block as the end of days happen and the dead return as aggressive bloodthirsty zombies. The origin of the zombies has only minor explanation but I really didn’t care much as I was focused with the fast and brutal action.

The Plot

The story begins with four bent cops out to avenge the murder of another policeman by a group of ruthless gangsters , trapped in a condemned building. The gangsters were about to execute the cops when the nightmare occurs: hordes of cannibalistic blood-thirsty creatures appear and savagely attack everyone. The survivors run up to the roof only to discover that the entire city is in chaos. The streets are filled with hordes of countless cadavers and the whole city is in flames. Despite their mutual hatred, the gangsters and the cops must join forces if they want to survive against a sudden zombie horde, all within the confines of a high-rise building. They’ll have to go down thirteen floors full of ravenous creatures but the worst threat lies elsewhere…

My thoughts on this film

The action and tension were very good from the outset I was almost wishing it wasn’t about to turn to a zombie film. But when it did, I wasn’t disappointed. My only criticism of the film is that it shouldn’t have been openly advertised as a zombie film, leaving their appearance as a surprise. But this doesn’t stop it from being one of the finest zombie or action films around.

If you like a lot of action, brutality and violence then I highly recommend you to see this. The scares were very well thought and the tension is gradually built higher and higher. The only complaint is that the ending wasn’t clever despite being different. Watch it as soon as you can!

Watch trailer here

Trapped with the Devil: The “Devil” Movie Review

M. Night Shyamalan is one of my favourite thriller movie directors/screenwriters. He has built a brand name that only a few were able to do in the film industry and he did it at an effortless pace. People actually wait lined-up and have respect for his films. He has started a genre in which the “twist-at-the-end” is king. Although I’m not sure what he was thinking when he decided to go out of his game with “The Last Airbender”? What’s important though is that he’s finally back with what he is known for – his supernatural stories with a shocking twist. “Devil” intrigues us better than any other film he had since “Signs” and “The Sixth Sense”. Can M. Night pull it off again and could this movie be as great or be even better than his previous works? Read on to find out what I think.

The Plot Thickens

A worker commits suicide by jumping from a building. As policemen investigate on what has happened, five strangers step onto an elevator located in the same building. The five strangers are Ben, a temporary security guard with a violent past, Vince, a mattress salesman who’s a scam artist, Jane, an elderly woman who’s actually a thief, Sarah, a gold-digging heiress and finally Tony, who served in Afghanistan. All five have dark pasts, all have been brought together to get trapped on the elevator. As strange things begin happening, it becomes clear that the devil is one of them. The question now is, who?

M. Night: The Return

“Devil” signifies what M. Night has missed as a screenplay writer for too long now. I’m very enthusiastic that he’s finally back up from the pit. First, “Devil” has a story and setting that is simple and yet it is so effective in bringing the thrills and chills. The claustrophobic nature of the elevator exaggerates this point, and the blinking elevator lights as well. Each time the lights go off, something wrong happens and the anticipation just builds up to a greater extent. This a sample of a classic Shyamalan where the twist was not forced. Everything actually feels believable and natural and it all falls into place with little or no effort at all. The ending will surely surprise you and provide more (in our case, a moral lesson to boot). None of his films could probably surpass the brilliance of Sixth Sense but nonetheless, we love this movie. “Devil” is the first film in a trilogy dubbed as “The Night Chronicles”. Given how this film has performed, I can’t wait to see the other two films already.

Watch trailer here

3 Movies That Made Me Leave the Lights On at Night

Terrifying movies are the ones that challenge your guts and force you to scream even when you have tightly held your lips not to scream. Ever thought what the most horrendous thing would happen to you? Yes? Then my list of movies is definitely for you. Even if you don’t spend your time whipping up macabre thoughts like I do, perhaps these movies could simply be a vehicle of entertainment for you. In either case, I’ve put together 3 terrifying films for you to watch at your leisure. From zombies, ghosts to ghouls, there are thousands more out there just waiting to be explored.

The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist is definitely one of the scariest movies of all time, but if you have a strong stomach and heart, you might not find it to be as horrifying as die-hard fans make it out to be. The exorcism in this film is for little Regan. At first, she complains of her bed shaking at night and eventually she turns into a terrifying little thing with little regard for things like priests and crucifixes. The conclusion? Don’t play with Ouija Boards. Also, she has bad party manners. LOL! Kidding aside, The Exorcist is petrifying in a way that only old school films are, quietly giving you goose bumps and a sense of disquiet.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

I think It’s safe to say that everybody knows about The Blair Witch Project (TBWP), and many of its fanatics call it “scarier than The Exorcist”. The movie is very basic. It was shot using a handheld camera, mostly by the three characters in the film and has a pace that picks up feverishly and climaxes to an eerie ending. TBWP has its share of terrifying moments as three people camping out in the deep woods, day and night, would come up with pockets of horror. The fact that the film was being acclaimed as a true story also added to its grisly charm.

Gin Gwai (The Eye) (2002)

Gin Gwai is so chilling you might just have sleepless nights after watching it. The story revolves around Wong Kar Mun, who was blind since she was two and eventually gets a cornea transplant. Mun soon apprehends that she can see more than just what is around her in the perceptible world; she can also see ghost, which follow her to calligraphy classes, tea shops and even the elevator. Imagine being in an elevator with a decaying ghost! Hollywood has made an adaptation of Gin Gwai starring Jessica Alba but unfortunately, it isn’t even half as terrifying as the original.