The Barrens

The Barrens (2012)
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman

Unexpectedly good.
When I head this was a movie about the Jersey Devil, I figured it was going to be a campy B movie about supposed folklore, ya know?
Wrong! Like The Lost Coast Tapes, this film manages to take a topic that's often laughable in films and make it something sinister and entertaining.
Like Alien and The Lost Coast Tapes, this film holds out on showing the 'monster' fully pretty much until the final showdown at the end.
So if you were hoping for a hoaky movie with the monster on screen constantly chasing the characters and mutilating them, this won't fill the void.


In the same fashion as many other films, The Barrens is centered around a group of people going camping. Richard, father of 2, his second wife, and the kids are going camping. The only one who actually wants to go is dad, but the rest of the family is dragged along. Richard is driven to get out into the wilderness to spread his dad's ashes.
On their way to the campgrounds a dying deer wanders in front of their car and collapses, almost causing an accident. Chalking it up to hunters, the family drives on to their site.

 Richard inspects the deer before the family drives off, noting that some weird stuff has happened to its body and antlers. Image from http://violetrepulsion.blogspot.com/2012/10/jersey-horrors.html

Once their Richard is incredibly disappointed to find the camp site littered with young adults and their electronics. Teenage daughter Sadie of course loves it, and quickly latches on to one of the boys.
The whole campsite gathers in the night for ghost stories, and someone brings up the tale of the Jersey Devil, 13th daughter of a whore, given to the devil, and said to roam these parts. One of the campers goes to relieve himself and never comes back.
After a few days of being uncharacteristically odd and oversensitive, Richard decides the family needs to find a new camp ground. The family packs up and presses on into the forests. As clouds roll in the family finds a dead dog near a tent, bringing thoughts of their own down that had gone 'missing' a little while before. Richard cuts the body loose from the tree it was leashed to and dumps it elsewhere.
As he is doing so, lover-boy from the camp pops up because Sadie has called him to hang out. Furious that his daughter was using a phone on a camping trip Richard sends the boy away and flips out on his family. He's getting worse...
In the night, Richard reveals that something is wrong with his arm to his wife, a nurse. Turns out their dog didn't go missing. Richard had killed him after he attached Richard. The dog's behavior had changed until eventually he bit Richard, spreading rabies to Richard rabies. His wife insists they leave as soon as possible.
After some scares from the darkness in the woods and what may be the cause, wife Cynthia tries to call for help on another phone, saying her husband is sick and they're in trouble. Authorities are on their way. Unfortunately the madness has set into Richard further and he attacks Cynthia. Sadie knocks him out long enough to tie him up. Unfortunately Cynthia is busted up from the assault, and instructs her kids to try to get back to the first campsite or someone for help and to hurry back if they don't make it before nightfall. The kids eventually wind up back with their mom, but Richard seems to have lost it completely--he holds up a gun to his family. Authorities appear, and just as Richard is about to shoot, they shoot him. Sadly, he was not aiming at his family, but the Jersey Devil behind them. Finally seeing the creature, everyone is attacked and killed.

Mom Cynthia and her kids try to escape. Image from http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-barrens-v569405

For big horror fans out there, Darren Lynn Bousman's name might sound very familiar. He's also the director of Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV.
The Barrens' main character, Richard played by Stephen Moyer, is also a familiar to many people as Bill Compton from True Blood. His portfolio shows he's also acted in Walking Dead, not to be confused with The Walking Dead, and 2011's Priest.

All in all, this film is not your typical American Hollywood face-paced constant action movie. It's got more structure, more subtle drama that builds into the climax of the piece. It's also got pretty okay character development for some characters like Sadie.
Since today's movies have such a fast pace with tons of quick cuts, people with tiny attention spans probably couldn't stand watching this. Otherwise, give it a go.

The Bay

The Bay (2012)
Directed by Barry Levinson

This is a spooky realistic fiction. Have you seen Mermaids: The Body Found, a Discovery channel special interlacing marine anomalies and theories together to create a documentary/mocumentary about mermaids? Depending on your perspective, the aquatic ape theory they mention may make you feel this is more documentary than fiction.
This film totally has that vibe. Like damn... this could happen...

Image from http://screenrant.com/the-bay-video-clips/

A small Maryland town, Claridge, has almost all of its inhabitant die brutally on the 4th of July. A government coverup hides the story in exchange for money until Donna Thompson breaks her silence with the encouragement of a site dedicated to exposing situations like this. Somehow the site has consolidated all of the footage of events that day, thus this found footage film begins...
Two oceonographers' bodies are found wrecked in the water weeks before the 4th. Authorities blame it on a shark attack, but they are wrong. When the 4th of July rolls around people begin to get covered with giant blisters and sores. Soon reports of horrifying mutilations roll in and Donna, communications major and TV news reporter intern, follows the story from the beginning. What starts as coverage for the July 4th festivities turns into the story of her life.
The town's resources are spread thin as police go around town with reports of possible murders, and the hospital is overrun by people with the mysterious sores. Infected numbers continue to grow, and Dr. Jack Abrams at the hospital consults the CDC to find the cause and hopefully a cure to all the madness.
Meanwhile the viewer learns that the oceanographers had been studying Chesapeake Bay for some time and found alarming information. The bay has high levels of contaminants that come together to form a chemical x which has enhanced some aquatic isopods to become aggressive killers.
Knowing this is serious the scientists had turned over their tapes to authorities in the hopes of action being taken. Nothing came of it.
Another information source, a blog dude running around in the night in Claridge, is covering the effects of the huge poultry industry on the lake. The chicken poop runoff has contributed to the toxic soup. All the steroids fed to the chicken that are then pooped out that then run into the bay that then mix with a small nuclear leak years earlier are making things deadly.
The oceanographers dissect fish from the bay, recording their findings of what's inside their subjects. The larvae of the isopods is what gets inside the fish. The toxic soup that is the bay accelerated the isopods growth and size. Within half a day the isopods are grown and literally eating their hosts inside out. All those cases of supposed grizzly murders in Claridge are actually victims of the parasites.
Unfortunately none of this information, given to the Chesapeake Environmental Council but maybe never even reviewed, was given to the CDC or Claridge's hospital and they have to fight agaist the clock to find out what's going on before everyone dies.
How did all of this important information get cockblocked from going to the people that should know it anyway? The town's greedy mayor is a major factor. He knew of the toxic chicken poop runoff, he knew about the nuclear leak, and he heard about all the sick and dying people on the 4th, but wouldn't believe it until he got to see people die in front of his own eyes.
And the next big question: how did the whole town get infected if the culprits are isopods in the bay? In order to facilitate the growing poultry business a water desalination plant was setup. That water was given to chickens, used for pools and sprinklers, and then of course there's the people who like to go for a swim. Yes grown isopods cannot fit through the filtration, but the larvae can. Lastly, filtered drinkable water got a rating of a D-. I don't know if in real life that's acceptable water for human consumption, but I know that a D- in school is pretty bad.
Basically the water touched everyone one way or another.
The hospital staff unable to help, flees for their lives, save Dr. Abrams who wants to help by documenting the infection and has become infected himself. He seems to be the only one left alive in the hospital, but he won't be alive for long.
Meanwhile downtown Donna and her cameraman are still rolling and are finding dead bodies everywhere. The only other living people we come across are the dying, and a family who has rode in on a boat to see the fireworks. They're greeted by the parasitic genocide that soon claims the husband's life. The wife takes her baby and tries to flee on foot.
Eventually the town is quarentined and survivors must promise silence for monetary compensation.
Though the CDC would like to quarentine more than just the town and the bay immediatly around Claridge, the small size of the town apparently doesn't warrent such drastic measures.
Donna finishes her tail and if you as a viewer remember some of the found footage newsclips in the film, you recall that tons of fish and birds are just dying. Boom dead. Lots of bodies piling up.
The birds are eating infected fish, flying away in places populated with humans, and we see that different measures really should have been taken. Though the story focuses on Claridge, the film lets you know that the story goes farther.


If you've liked what I've liked in the past reviews, then you'll probably like this one. It's very clear in its story, and its a situational plot rather than a story of personal growth, which I did. Stories driven by action can have character development in them as well, but I feel like often they end of being more exciting than character driven stories. The story has 2 pop up scares, but other than that it builds gradually.

So the way I describe things doesn't really do the visuals justice, unless you have a wicked imagination. As I said, the people are getting eaten inside out. And they show it in the movie. And it's nearly everyone in the town that this is happening to. Basically, you looking for gore? There's gore. You looking for something creepy that can get under your skin? Oh yes, this thing can get under your skin. You looking for tits and beach bodies? No. You won't find that here. There's not really any kind of distraction from the main story, visually or auditorilly. There's only maybe even 2 jokes in the entire movie as well.
Anyway, yes the visuals. Take a look at the image below. If you're more into campy over-the-top death sequences with bloody flying comically into a girl's boobs, this movie is not good for you. If you've been unfortunate enough to see a body or a person who died unnaturally and tragically, then some of the effects and makeup in this movie may seem too real for comfort. If you've studied anatomy and seen cadavers, yes this will probably look more real than most other horror film. Still not convinced and want to be? Here is shot of the oceanographer's body in the movie found in the water, having been soaking for around 35 hours : look at own risk.

 A look at the kind of gore you'll see in The Bay. Image from http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3200717/interview-director-barry-levinson-on-horror-found-footage-and-isopods-in-the-bay/

It's an incredibly well put together found footage film as well. It's got a variety of compressions and video qualities depending on who the footage is from and what happened to the camera.

Did you see Dreamcatcher and think it was meah ok, and want to see something like it but more believable. The Bay is it. Not the greatest movie in the world, but a good sturdy one time watch.

The Tall Man

I'm not really going to actually review this one like I usually have been. Just wanted to say how mislead I was.
Yes, it's a movie with lots of twists and turns but when I saw the name and read the IMDB summary:

When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children. 

I was thinking 'Woah! A movie about Slender Man!'
Nope.
Not at all.
Not. At. All.

I will say that this movie partially focuses on this girl from a broken home. He mother puts up with an abusive boyfriend type person. Of course this creepy child is  the same as the little girl from the first Silent Hill movie, Jodelle Ferland, who was also a creepy little girl in Case 39, Twilight, The Collector, and Bioshock 2.

As I was saying, no Slender Man in this movie. Poo poo.
If you too were mislead, it's okay. You're not alone.

Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes

Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes (2012)
Directed by Cory Grant

Well, I can honestly say prior to this I had never seen a scary Bigfoot movie.
Also the last Bigfoot movie I'd seen was that one on Sci Fi with Alice Cooper. Awful only begins to describe that movie.
This one, however, was awesome. The acting was pretty good, minus some moments with the comedic relief Napoleon Dynamite/Michael Cera kind of character that the sound guy was. The pacing was GREAT! This movie had a handful of golden pause moments. It was not afraid to hold on a shot for longer than usual movies, and really built up the tension amazingly.
One thing I learned in video editing and film studies is that not showing the 'monster' makes it all the more scary. If there's going to be a 'big reveal', hold out for it as long as you can. This movie totally did that. Do you remember seeing Alien for the first time and being so scared for 90% of the movie of a creature that they hadn't really shown yet? Yeah, same effect.

So this is a sort of found footage kind of film, though luckily it's a film about a TV crew so the camera is a lot more steady, and you don't have those weird bad compression moments and stuff from a lot of found footage stuff.

Sound guy, Kevin, covered in his blood. Image from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/xlrator-media-screamfest-macabre-horror-labels-380927

Tiny TV crew is making a show about busting hoaxes, and they've heard some forest man has the body of a dead Bigfoot. The group (talent, camera man, sound guy, and producer) set out to meet with the woodsman to reveal a hoax. They meet up with him in the woods and he has them blindfolded before continuing the rest of the way in his vehicle. They drive out to who knows where and lodge at the old woodsman's place for the night.
The residence is surrounded by an electric fence meant to keep away Bigfoots. The crew of course think this is ridiculous.
Something however beats on the house's door, scratches up the outside and marks it territory. Stupid host Sean just thinks it's elaborate pranking for the show.
Their host runs out to hand things and last the group sees of him for a while is his car driving off in the middle of the night.
In the day the group explores the forest area around them and finds footprints and a nest of some sort that has the same stank as where the 'Bigfoot' was around the house. Sound guy Kevin takes this seriously and decides he wants out. Sean tells him he can leave to try to find his way back to their car if he comes back to pick up the rest of the group and wear a camera. Kevin accepts and is off.
Eventually Mr. Drybeck returns in the night in his vehicle claiming all roads out are blocked by giant trees. Sadly producer Robyn has just been attacked by something in the darkness and her side is bruised bad. Sean blames Drybeck, and the cameraman, Darryl (strangly affectionate towards Robyn) just wants to get the producer to a hospital.
Drybeck says because of the trees there's no way out. He himself was trying to get to a hospital all day after a fellow woodsman was injured badly by Bigfoot.
Drybeck offers to take the skeptics out to see the body, minus Robyn because of her injuries, and they take him up on it. Robyn stays behind after a crash course on how to use the cameraman's gun and promising not to leave the house. The three men set off hurriedly to make it to a cave that they can only get to at low tide, the place where the body is stored. Once there they get to the back of the cave where a large chest is, but just as the box is about to be opened Drybeck notes that something else has entered the cave...
Somehow they get out of the cave after getting spooked and decide they need to get back to Robyn ASAP.
Meanwhile at the house Robyn speaks to the other wounded woodsman who's in bed. He says there's a camera in the car, the passes out. Robyn retrieves the camera and watched the tape. It's Kevin. He's walking along the trail a vehicle had left when he's roadblocked by a giant tree. In the midst of his complaining he's confronted by a Bigfoot (unseen because of the camera's POV) and killed.
Robyn, rattled, seeks out the cameraman's gun from their guest lodge, but when she gets back into the house something grabs the wounded woodman through the window. Even more freaked out now, Robyn decides she needs to get to the car. As she runs to the vehicle she sees the creature as well and is dragged off screen. Her limp body is thrown back in frame, and a large creature walks past the toppled camera dragging one of her limbs.
When Sean and Darryl make it back they can't find Robyn but note the gun lying curiously near the vehicle. Sean is breaking down, but Darryl grabs a gun and runs out into the night shooting madly. He returns quickly saying nothing but shooting himself in the head. What sight would make a man do that?
Sean continues shooting feeling it's all that's left and people must know. Eventually he too is overcome by the Bigfoot who steal him away the walk past another toppled camera.

Darryl is my favorite character. I really really like how relatable and conversational his dialogue is. At one point he's yelling something over and over and over and over and over at Sean to get him to snap out of his breakdown in the woods, and calls him dawg! I thought that was a fun touch to talk about their relationship and maturity.

There's a few really trite moments in the writing, but same with Avatar and that did phenomenally. So after watching this I wondered 'Is Bigfoot aliens? Bigfoot is an alien?!'
It's a weird question that forms from all the strange circumstances around the attacks, like mysterious lights that the group sees. Or maybe there are Bigfoot in the forests and aliens? Or maybe it goes the more spiritual route (mentioned in the film briefly) and Bigfoot straddles this world and a spirit world and the lights are a side effect of that.
Unlike any other Bigfoot movie I've ever seen.

Smiley

Smiley (2012)
Directed by Michael J. Gallgher

A movie about trolls. A movie about 4chan. A movie about memes. When will this movie exist? Wait! It already does, you say?
That's what Smiley is about.
Internet trolls ban together to troll irl, and their target is a poor mentally imbalanced college freshmen who has nearly recovered from the turmoil of her mother's suicide.
Ever seen that Google Chrome commercial with the girl who has just started college?
If not here it is:

You could totally replace the girl in this commercial with the protagonist from this movie and stick it somewhere in the film's timeline and it would fit. Just imagine 'Jess' and her dad are referencing her suicidal mother!

Ashley has just started college and moves into a house a block away from campus with a girl, Proxy, who is Internet obsessed. They go to an ananamouse party full of 4chan trolls and Ashley goes from straight edge good girl to totally wasted good girl. Her and Proxy end up bonding and do tons together, including murder...
At the party Ashley is told of the urban legend of Smiley, an Internet killer that will murder a chat partner if the other chatter simply says "I did it for the lulz" 3 times. Smiley (named after the face of this villain) then appears behind the chat partner and kills!
Ashley and Proxy decide to give it a go to see if the Smiley videos online are true, and somehow Smiley strikes their Chat Roulette partner.
The girls freak out and try to not talk about it. Ashley, however, breaks down and starts seeking professional help; she's seeing Smiley while awake and her sleep, she's losing it.  Her therapist gives her some meds and she's probably as shaken as she was right after her mother's death. Eventually Ashley even tries to tell the police about the murder, but of course they don't believe her. Ashley and Proxy fear for their lives because they believe Smiley kills the target then goes after whoever wished it upon someone in the first place.
They try to talk to Zane, the host of the anonymous party at the beginning of the semester, and seemingly self-proclaimed king of the Internet. Being the king of the Internet, Zane is incredibly perturbed that he cannot find who is responsible.
Eventually some sort of break rolls around the Proxy is going to her family's for a couple days. The girls have butthurt-filled goodbye, only to video chat soon afterwards. Proxy can't contact Zane and is worried Smiley may have found him. Ashley tells her housemate she'll go to Zane's herself to check on him. At his place Ashley finds his body and a message, "I did it for the lulz" in blood on the wall. She grabs Zane's gun and rushes back to her house. Proxy says to call the police again, but Ashley decides that she'll handle this now.
She tells Proxy in the video chat to summon Smiley. Once he has come for Ashley she'll shoot him. Proxy does it and they wait...
Eventually Ashley's love interest from school appears at the door, concerned for her, and begins to come in. Thinking it's Smiley she shoots him, then freaks out! However then Smiley appears and she runs through the house, constantly running into him again, like he can just manifest wherever on command. Finally in her room Ashley is cornered by not just one, but a whole gang of Smiley's. In her fear she bursts out her window and falls to her death.
The Smiley's take off their masks and they are but trolls doing ultimate trollin' on that poor girl. Ends up Proxy, Zane, and love interest Binder were all in on it as well.
Why did they do it? Zane says he knows why, and types the phrase to Proxy, still on video chat. She says 'that's not funny!', then somehow Smiley appears behind her and she is killed.

Image from http://www.yellmagazine.com/tag/smiley/

This movie was so dumb! I liked the idea of a movie that ecorporates Internet terms and memes into the story, but this was stupid. The fact that it seemed like everyone was in on the trolling also made all the fake character development so pointless and empty! Even though Ashley had bonded with Proxy and others, they were all just playing a game that Ashley was doomed to lose from the start.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
I also wish it was spelled 'I did it 4 teh lulz', or something more Internet-y. Why would they want to troll someone to death anyway? If you watch the movie then you also begin to wonder where do those involved end? As in, was Ashley's dad also in the know? The police that wouldn't help? The therapist? It's so open ended in a bad way. If everone other than Ashley was involved then what was the point? Basicalmicly it's as if the girl lived in a world where she was the only real person.
Acting was decent though. Ashley, played by Caitlin Gerard, has a good pathetic cry voice that squeaks and stuff when the character is really distressed. Unfortunately Ashley was distressed most of the movie so you have to put up with Gerard's good cry to the point where it kind of becomes and annoyance.

I think this is Michael J. Gallagher's first full length fictitious film that he's directed. Depending on what you consider full length, this could just be his first full length movie in general. For a 24 year old now bad at all. Yes I didn't enjoy it, but the acting was okay, the story was clear, and though the cinematography wasn't something amazing and never seen before, it was legible. Good way to start a career making full lengths.
Funny thing to note about Ashley's talent, Caitlin Gerard, is her first acting bit was as Ashleigh in The Social Network. It is a very popular name.

Maybe worth a watch if your bored, or like to have something on in the background.

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines
Directed by Declan O'Brien

Hmm. I hear a lot of people call some horror movies torture porn. And yes, with this movie they are right.
I enjoy horror movies, but I like there to be a point to the violence (like The Cell). With this movie there was indeed much blood, but for no point and with no resolution.
Maybe you guys have seen it before, but this is the first movie I'd seen where a character is cut open and fed her own insides in her dying moments. I was strangely intrigued and deterred by that scene... You think you've seen it all in horror movie with digging out babies from woman turning into zombie, people getting pushes into pits full of needles, woman making dumplings out of aborted babies, nipples getting cut off as punishment, ect. But no. I had never seen a girl fed her own insides in a movie.

Yup, there's that scene I was talking about. Remember, kids, this pic is just from a fictional movie. Image from http://www.cinemalowdown.com/2012/10/dvd-review-wrong-turn-5-bloodlines.html


Wrong Turn 5 is definitely not for people like me who like movies to have a point. I really enjoyed the first Wrong Turn. The struggle of those characters was interesting and at least had dimension. WT5 characters don't really even put up much of a fight. There's just more of them to kill than in the 1st movie, so I feel that this is a quantity over quality call.

So you got your classic group of college age peeps heading out for a good time with loads of assorted drugs. The inbred mountain men, living in an abandoned sanitarium in the previous movie but now have been taken in by criminal Maynard in the woods, are out for the hunt and the kids seem like a fine target.
The young-ens are in the area for the Mountain Man music fest, earning its name from the legend of the inbred cannibals who killed the areas inhabitants long ago. The group gets into a car crash on their way though when Maynard steps in the road and fakes being hit to get them within stabbing range.
Luckily the sheriff shows up in time to take him in. However she also takes in one of the kids for possession.
Waiting for the dude to be released from the police station, the group doesn't go to the music festival and from the set it seems like everyone else is gone in the town to the music festival minus the inbred men, the sheriff, a drunk guy, the kids, and some other punks.
One by one the people all are killed (really there's not much plot besides that for most of the movie). In the end 1 girl from the group survives after getting her eyes stabbed and makes a blind run for it on the road. Unfortunately the inbred men get Maynard from the police station, which they've set on fire, and grab her from the road too. Maynard has promised her that he'd screw her, have the inbred men screw her, kill her, and cut off her boobs as souvenirs, so she's all sad like as they drive away with her.
If you've ever seen Ichi the Killer, then just Maynard's mention of the boob thing probably reminds you of the boob scene from that and makes you kinda cringe...

News lady flipping off one of the inbred men in the beginning of the movie. You can guess what happens next. Seriously.
It's not remotely hard to figure out. Image from http://horrorcharts.com/movie-wrong-turn-5/


Those 'no hope' endings bum me out most of the time... Like what was the point... That's why I like my horror to have a reason for the blood.
So, another movie that I would not recommend, unless you like pointless suffering for about and hour and a half.

Pennhurst

Pennhurst (2012)
Directed by Michael Rooker

Um... Terrible.
If you've watched it and agree with me in this film being poopy, look at it like this: at least the short runtime (little over an hour) means you haven't wasted as much time as you could have watching something like Thankskilling...

For those of you who do not know, Pennhurst was a real Asylum that was ordered closed in the 80's after reports of patients being mistreated (mistreatment varied in severity).
This movie is about a group of kids (maybe about 16) who bust into the asylum to check it out before it gets converted into an 'amusement park'.
As a side note, Pennhurst really has become a sort of amusement park. It's now a haunted house (http://www.pennhurstasylum.com/). Tickets as of late 2012 start at $15.
Anyway,
so kids in the asylum, yup. Their nerdy hipster leader is taking them for a tour and giving a history lesson on the way. As he tells the story about some paranormal investigators that went missing there, the movie delves into that story. For a while you pretty much forget that this is a story (similarly to Are You Afraid of the Dark?) within the story. The story the kid tells is the majority of the movie too, and more interesting then the kids.
So nearly everyone ends up dying in the end of the story, and after the tale is done the kids, still walking around the place, are attacked by the malicious spirits who killed the investigators prior.
Then, another tv paranormal investigative team heads into the asylum. They spot blood on the floor and follow the trail, only to find the bodies of all the kids. They freak out and are then confronted with the same spirit to got the kids. Cut. That's a wrap.

Above, the paranormal crew from the kid's story. Image from http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BOTg3OTE1NzIzMF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjMyNjc1Ng@@._V1._SX640_SY480_.jpg

This film is very low budget. However, in my opinion, the ambient sounds/music is pretty sweet. It's eerie and kind of reminds me of Silent Hill's industrial little loops.

If you like to know stuff about the actors in films too, here's your interesting tidbit about the group above; the woman on the left in the blue is Haylie Duff, older sister of, you guessed it, Hilary Duff, one of Disney's former teen stars. She was also in Napoleon Dynamite.

Also, does the name of the director ring a bell for anyone? It's The Walking Dead's Merle Dixon! Though I did not enjoy the movie, I appreciate that this acting talent also does some producing and directing. I also dig that he was into another part of the horror genre (is in a realm other than zombies). Yes, he's in a horror TV series, but talent doesn't necessarily have to enjoy the pieces they're in. Seems like if he's in a horror show, and makes a horror movie as well, that he probably likes horror.

If you're a Michael Rooker fan than why not? It's only about an hour and 15 minutes.
If you're not, then I don't really think you need watch this film. There's more compelling stuff out there.

***Here's another interesting piece of trivia: Firstly, anyone else remember why Pennsylvania is kinda weirder and creepier than other states?
For those of you who are big Silent Hill buffs, then you know Centralia, the real life Silent Hill. Centralia is an abandoned town in PA with an underground toxic fire still burning... You can do more research too to see more parallels between Silent Hill and Centralia.
Oh, PA, you are an interesting state for some of the wrong reasons...

Grave Encounters 2

Grave Encounters 2 (2012)
Directed by John Poliquin

 Image from http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Rm77955LL._SX500_.jpg

So this is kinda different than the super hero movies I've been commenting on XD
I haven't seen the first one, but I think 2 references it more than enough to know what has happened. First off, if you don't enjoy found footage style films, you won't enjoy this.

In a sort of Human Centipede 2 fashion, Grave Encounters 2 follows a young film student who's obsessed with a movie called Grave Encounters. He doesn't end up sewing people together, but he ends up following the journey to a haunted abandoned asylum in Canada where the people from the first movie went missing. The location is revealed to him through a YouTube stalker sending him messages...
Alex, our horror film-obsessed main character, is convinced that the movie Grave Encounters was not fiction like the public has been told, but is true and all the cast and crew has met their demise. He drags his film student friends with him up to Canada to check out the building, filming everything (yes, this is more or less a Canadian film with mostly Canadian talent and shooting done in Canada). Once their, the friends realize Alex isn't just a crazy horror buff weirdo--he's actually right. Grave Encounters was a not fiction! And the same fate is about to befall them!
 Frantic to get out of the building, the friends try to escape but get split up. One by one the characters die off (original, I know). Eventually the remaining group members happen to cross paths with a member of the original film who has somehow managed to survive in the building for 9 years!
 He says that there is a way out, through a random free standing door that's chained shut. Fortunately they kids have a bolt cutter with them because they broke into the building. The survivor, however, turns against them! The possessed building, which can change it's inside layout similarly to The River's river which is why they didn't just leave in the beginning, has made plans that only 1 person will get out. And survivor Lance wants it to be him...
 Alex wants it to be himself, and tries to take down Lance, and the only other person left, girlfriend Jennifer. Lance gets sucked through a portal to somewhere horrible, and Alex mercilessly takes out his own girlfriend on/with his camera. The building lets him out with the catch that he must finish the film...

So the beginning of the movie is poo. It's slow, and at one point there's film-ception and you're like wtf? Since when did I start watching this? When it ends up being the film student's project er something.
If you can suffer through that then there's some good stuff to be scene, namely the weird giant humanoid figure (as seen in the photo above) that chases the students through the building. If you enjoyed Rec then this'll probably be and enjoyable chunk of the film for you. Humanoid creatures I dig in films; different enough from humans to be scary, but closer enough to human form to be scarier.

Image from http://blog.newsok.com/paranormaleyes/files/2010/12/500x_whatisthis.jpg
Lol I remember looking at this pic while I was on my The Descent/The Descent Part 2 kick and found it really interesting.

Not super scary or super original, but it's not horrible. In my opinion it's at least better than Silent Hill: Revelation... It's a good one time watch for horror fans.

Giddy as a young Schoolgirl XD

So my last post was to inform peeps of DA gallery links for artists and directors whose work we know, but may not necessarily know the name behind the work.
One of the links was to the DA gallery of Sam Liu.

I commented on one of his submissions on DeviantArt and... he replied! He took the time out of his life to reply to something I said XD I was so excited to see his message in my DA inbox.

Now, many people may think celebrities are untouchable snooty booties, however many of them live their lives similarly to anyone else; they do their work and maintain their humility. So it's not that it's a shock that I got a reply. It's an honor.
Luckily, from my field of study (video and animation) every once in a while I'll meet someone famous, or rather their work is famous but not necessarily their face. In my opinion this is the best kind of fame. Take Spongebob/Tom Kenny for example. Most everyone knows Spongebob, but if you saw Tom Kenny (voice of Spongebob) walking down the street you most likely wouldn't recognize him. He can live his life as normally as he wants while still being part of one of the USA's biggest media sensations.
Anyway, if there's a person whose work you admire and you have something you wish you could tell him/her, you should try to do it. Worst this that could happen is they don't reply. Or they reply and tell you you suck and should go die. But that's most likely not going to happen.
For the most part they also really like to heard your encouraging words.

Thank you, Sam Liu, for making my day :)

Yo Dawg, I heard you like stuff...

Every so often I'll come across the gallery of person I don't know but whose work I do know. Thought I'd share some of those people's galleries with you.

Lauren Montgomery
You may know her as the director of the 2009 animated Wonder Woman film, and 2011's Batman:Year One. However, she is also an artist!
Here are her blogs: This Sucks, and LMU Animators

Sam Liu
Co-director of Batman:Year One with Lauren Montgomery. Also director of All-Star Superman, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and more.

Ki Hyun Ryu
This name may ring a bell if you read my Nightwing Thoughts entry and saw the awesome character design at the top. Ki Hyun Ryu is the gentleman who did that. He's an animator at Nickelodeon (omg Nickelodeon yayayaaaay!) and also one of Korra's directors. Here's his blog (which has been stagnant for a long time...):  blacksataguni

Phil Bourassa
I've linked to his DA before, but here it is again. He's one of Young Justice's character designers. Yes, he's part of the awesomeness. He's also a character designer for Crisis on Two Earths. Made to order YJ figures Bourassa linked to from his DA.

The Flash

The Flash (1990-1991)
Directed by Mario Azzopardi, Bruce Bilson, Danny Bilson, and Gus Trikonis


So I'm on a DC kick, in case it's been hard to tell, so I've started watching the Flash show from the early 90s. I didn't even know this show existed until recently either! I was doing research about what other DC moving pictures there are besides the movies listed on DC's website and heard about this show.
If you like Batman: The Animated Series then in my opinion there's a good chance you'll enjoy this show. If 90s Batman was live action it would look a lot like The Flash. It's got that near perpetual nighttime like Batman, and that crazy lighting that looks awesome and dramatic when animated but a little cheap in real life...
Time period of the show seems very confused, mixing a lot of art deco, vehicles with 40s/50s aesthetics, and cell phones, sort of similarly to Batman!
Speaking of even more Batman similarities, the music for The Flash done by the same person as the 1992 cartoon, Shirley Walker. You can so clearly hear it in their opening themes:

Writing for The Flash needs a little work too. There's a lot of 'awkward situations', but their repetitiveness makes them trite only a few episodes in. For example, in one episode we see Barry Allen (The Flash) offering an old school acquaintance, now homeless, a job to help him out. The man turns Barry down, Barry pursues, leading to the guy eventually giving in without real closure to the scene. Besides that the scene went on too long and made Barry feel awkward for bringing bags of groceries and a job opportunity down to the sort of Hooverville. In another episode an old professor is in town because a priceless mask is going to be on display in Central City's museum but there are 6 suspects out to steal it. Barry (who is a police officer) tells his professor, Ted, after the briefing that he's asked for special permission to be posted at the museum. The old man tells him unkindly that it's not necessary. Then Barry jokingly says "Yeah, besides it's been years since I've been to the museum." Again, an unkind reply comes from Ted. "Why's that?" he asks flatly. There's little bits of awkward silence between lines too. It feels just a little too much like Barry's continuously thinking "Geez, everyone! I'm just trying to help", kind of like in New Frontier Barry made an impromptu appearance on the news as the Flash after the government tried to catch him to study him and he was all like 'I've only ever tried to help you guys! Why they try to catch me to dissect me >:O ?! Respect, people, respect!'
Just so many of those 'I was only trying to help' moments...

Barry talking to Ted

Anyway so the pilot/2 hourish premier was fun, and darker than most people probably think The Flash's story is. I'd even venture to say the pilot could have been a movie.

The Flash is also a character whose mystery gets explained. What I mean is, you clearly see how The Flash got his powers, the side effects, the emotional toll, ect. Lots of super characters are just shrouded in mysteries that are never brought to light, but not The Flash.
For example, how does Edward get Bella pregnant if vampires aren't supposed to have flowing blood? He couldn't have a boner without flowing blood... right? So thank you The Flash for addressing factors so you aren't horrible. DC seems to have a good track record of explaining those kinds of things.

I'm only several episodes in, but like I said, the series is fun thus far.
If you're a person who can enjoy a show in spite of phenomenal acting, believable sets, and substantial content, then give The Flash a try. Similarly to how people can enjoy B movies in spite of uncountable shortcomings, this is a show that at least has a high entertainment value for me.

 There's that classic sci-fi/action warm/cool lighting.

Batman: Gotham Knight

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
Directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, Yuichiro Hayashi, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, Jong-Sik Nam, and Shouijrou Nishimi

Didn't know what to expect going into this. Didn't read anything about it or even what's on case. Just went right to action watching the movie and my mind, it was blown.
Just as a side note too the estimated budget according to IMDB for this was $3,500,000 which is the same estimated amount for Emerald Knights, New Frontier, Year One, and Wonder Woman. Guess DC gives the same allowance for everything?

So the first short in Gotham Knight totally caught me by surprise. I was all like 'Waaaa?! Tekkonkinkreet! Wooah!'
All unique interpretations of what and who Batman and Bruce Wayne are, but that one in particular, largely due to the whimsical tales the art style can lend itself to (Tekkonkinkreet is an animated movie that came out a few years before Gotham Knight). Both Tekkonkinkreet and Gotham Knight's Have I got a Story for You share the same editor (Mitsumi Takemiya) and the same art director (Shinji Kimura) which explains the shares awesomeness.
Have I got a Story for You basically follows a group of kids as they talk about their encounters with Batman. They each have different ideas of what it is they saw. The story finally culminates in Batman bursting into their hangout to stop a villain with the aid of one of the kids.

 

(gif from http://chromatichouse.tumblr.com/search/batman#13262440287)

Crossfire is a story about two members of the Major Crimes Unit, one with faith in her work and Batman, and the other against Batman, feeling like all the MCU does is cleanup and babysit. Through chance they find their car parked between a bullet-riddled confrontation. Batman shows up to save the two officers and perhaps change the second one's opinion about a few things...
Interesting thing to note is Batman is HUGE in this story. He looks like 6' 4" or so (or everyone else is just tiny). Yes, Batman is 6' 2" which is on the taller side, but really, he looks HUGE in this one.

(image from http://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/gfs-home-movies-batman-gotham-knight)

The next short, Field Test, is probably the one I'm least fond of. Not that I hate anime at all, but super anime style Bruce Wayne was a bit strange. He's a pretty boy in the midst of more Western-design-style characters. His cowl I also wasn't very fond off. Once you see it, it seems like it would be more difficult than his normal cowl

 The cowl that would inhibit sight more than usual that I was talking about ^ (image from http://porkcutlets.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/gotham-knight-the-batmanime/)

Anyway, so Mr. Fox has developed a "highly sensitive shock wave sensor" that will activate the gyroscopic electromagnetic pulses deterring small arms bullets. Batman takes it for a spin and find it works too well, when a bullet bounces off the field and hits an enemy. Batman rushes the criminal to the hospital and discontinues the use of the shield.

 As cat-detective on tumblr put it "I don't think I'm okay with bishounen Bruce Wayne. I just can't deal with Kevin Conroy's voice coming out of this face...." (image from http://letterboxd.com/variousthings/film/batman-gotham-knight/)

In Darkness Dwells, Batman follows Killer Croc under Gotham and gets bitten. Scarecrow's fear toxin flowing through Killer Croc then enters Batman and he must continue his journey under the toxin's effects. Further into the underground maze Batman finds Scarecrow preparing to sacrifice Cardinal O'Fallon in the company of other Arkham escapees. Batman saves the holy man and leaves him in Gordan's care.
Batman runs off a ledge and glides into the night for the end. I really like the idea of animating something in slow motion. It's not like filming something at 200 fps then slowing it down; the animators had to really think about it. Speaking of animating, this short was directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, who was an animator for Steamboy, one of the Sailor Moon movies, and the original Neon Genesis Evangelion animated series.

Love Scarecrow's design here. (image from http://www.batmanytb.com/animated/gothamknight/bios/scarecrow.php)

Working Through Pain is awesome! I really dig the character design of Bruce in this one.
So Bruce is underground in Gotham again, and gets shot. While trying to get to a meetup point with Alfred we see flashbacks of Bruce learning how to deal with pain from a woman named Cassandra. She's confronted by a gang of angry young men who says she's betrayed her culture by teaching these secrets to an outsiders and then attack her. Just like the teachings, she withstand the pain, but Bruce steps in and defends her. After the attackers stop Cassandra tells Bruce to leave as he's learned what he came there for. Back in the gutter Bruce finds loads of guns. Upon Alfred's arrival he extends his hand to Batman (arms full of guns) to take it only for Bruce to reply "I... I can't..."

 This was another animated slow mo moment. Prettay awesome. (image from http://otakurevolution.com/content/batman-gotham-knight-a-delicious-appetizer)

Deadshot, the last short, follows hitman Deadshot as he tried to take down Batman. To lour him out he attempts a hit on Commissioner Gordan. Of course Barman foils the shot Deadshot was taking from a moving train. Deadshot then attempts to to take out Batman from a closer range. As soon as Batman takes down Deadshot he turns from a pompous villain into a coward who sells out his client in an instant. Batman leaves Deadshot unconscious outside one of the train cars, then goes home to Alfred and sits in front of the fire.

(image from http://www.hobotrashcan.com/reviews/batmangothamknight.php)

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
Directed by Lauren Montgomery

Great great great!
Plus great to finally watch the movie where the Handsome Face meme comes from.

So the Kryptonite meteor Batman destroyed in Public Enemies was carrying something more than Kryptonite. Encased inside was Kara, cousin of Kal-El (Superman). When her parents had heard that Kal's were sending him off in a ship, they did the same.
Kara's ship falls to Earth, landing in Gotham. In her disorientation she wrecks Batman's ship he's taken to investigate the crash site, and Batman begins to pursue her, eventually ending their chase by knocking her out with a piece of Kryptonite.
When she awakens she freaks out, trashes some of Batman's equipments and begins to fly away uncontrollably.
Superman grabs her before she gets away and calms her down in their native language.
Thrilled at what she says, he tells Bruce she says she's his cousin (and thus Handsome Face was born). Bruce, however, is wary of this random girl from the sky who can't control her power or remember much.

Batman no approve!
This shot totz looks like Superman and Kara are having a moment and Batman is a third wheel. (image from http://hagiblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/supermanbatman-apocalypse-2010-film-reel-reviews/)

After a short period of time in the Fortress of Solitude Kara explains she wants to go out and see the world, live like an Earth girl. Kal-El thinks shopping in Metropolis is a good way to start. However their day ends in misery as Wonder Woman launches a sneak attack on Kara in a park and she panics, going crazy with her powers and destroying a statue of Superman. Furious Superman tells Wonder Woman to back off. She retorts that if this had happened in the daytime when the park was filled with people it would have been a disaster. Wonder Woman has decided to take Kara back to train with the Amazons.
After a few months with the women, Superman wants to take her back. All the arguing amongst the 'grown-ups' causes Kara to put her foot down, saying she wants to make her own decisions, then flying off with best friend Lyla.

Batman and Superman are talking smack about Wonder Woman behind her back lol! (image from http://www.popscreen.com/v/6GyeU/Superman-Batman-Apocalypse-Movie-Animated-Trailer-HD)

When the two are alone they are ambushed by evil Darkseid's henchmen. Lyla is killed and Kara is kidnapped to be brainwashed and used by Darkseid.
To get to Apokolips where Darkseid resides Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman enlist the aid of Barda who had previously defected from Darkseid's army.
Once on Apokilips, the team gets right to work trying to rescue Kara who is under Darkseid's mental control. In order to release her Batman sets a storeroom full explosive to detonate shortly and will only disarm them is Kara is freed. Impressed by Batman's courage to bet the destruction of the whole planet against Darkseid, Darkseid releases Kara and the group returns to Earth.
Back on Earth Kara tells Kal-El that she doesn't want to be a hero. He decides Smallville will be a good and safe place for Kara to live her desired life as an Earth girl. Too bad Darkseid has other plans. Waiting for them at the Kent's farm, he strikes while Clark isn't looking and knocks him into space. Looks like Kara will have to use that Amazonian training.
Even though under his rule Kara could be one of the universe's most powerful beings, she explains that she doesn't want that because she wants to have a say in her own life. She kicks his butt for a while but eventually gets beat down.
Meanwhile in space, Superman absorbs some sunlight then goes back to work, trying to trash Darkseid as well.
After a short period of unconsciousness Kara waked up, and uses a mother box to create a boom tube that Superman pushes Darkseid through (a trick she learned from Darkseid himself). He ends up floating frozen in space.
After the fight, the Kent's pull up their driveway to find their farm and house trashed, and their son and some new girl staring at them.
The fight has changed Kara's mind and she knows what she must do with her powers.
Superman re-introduces Kara to the Amazons as Supergirl. The cousins fly off happily. Yay!

Very good stuff. Batman's design is also great; the way he stand covered with his cape when watching the Amazons train or at Barda's house just looks so cool! His cape is very long in this movie.

Diana is also extra hot in this movie. The animation really shows care when Diana starts the practice exercise between Artemis and Kara and when Diana steps backwards her hips sway.

The scene with the care to animate the swaying hips on the left. (image from http://fortresstakes.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/supermanbatman-apocalypse-2010/)

Also interesting to note is Summer Glau is Supergirl's voice for this movie. You may know her from a little movie called Serenity! Kevin Conroy, voice of Bruce Wayne from the 90's Batman show is Batman's voice here too. Director Lauren Montgomery is also the director of Green Lantern: First Flight, Wonder Woman, Superman/Doomsday, and Justice League: Doom just to name a few. Basically her track record as director is amazing to me (though she did direct a Scooby Doo show and I hate Scooby Doo... However her other work is so impressive that maybe this show is actually good).

Lolz for u!!

Batmance

Just silly gifness with screenshots from Batman/Superman Apocalypse.
Oh the things the Internet will do when you make  exploitables. Had to share this with you guys.

Nightwing thoughts

Did you guys know that there were thoughts, talk, and even a bit of pre-pro work done for a Nightwing cartoon? Ki Hyun Ryu, who has worked on animations like The Legend of Korra, The Boondocks, and Batman: Year One, had been working on character designs. Check it:

So that was Ki Hyun Ryu's Nightwing. Here's Phil Bourassa's (lead character designer from the animated Young Justice show):

Here's The Batman's Nightwing in his two outfits (character designs for this show done by Jeff Matsuda, Jon Suzuki, Andy Chiang, Thomas Perkins, and Dave Cupczyk):

Here's the animated Teen Titan's Nightwing (character design for this show done by Job Suzuki, Glen Murakami, Derrick Wyatt, and Brianne Drouhard):

Here's Nightwing from Batman: The Brave and the Bold (character designers for this show are Lynell Forestall, James Tucker, Michael Manley, Steve Jones, and Tommy Tejeda):

Of course, then there's Nightwing from the amazing Batman: The Animated Series (character designers for this series are Bruce Timm (hopefully if you've been watching a lot of superhero media you know this name), Glen Murakami, Michael Diederish, Dan Riba, Chen-Yi Chang, Dexter Smith, Craig Kellman, Kevin Nowlan, Ronaldo Del Carmen, Michael Goguen, Paul Rudish, Mike Kim, Lynne Naylor, Debra Pugh, and Mike Mignola (crazy, huh!)):

The list of character designs for Nightwings over the years goes on and on. These are but a few. I can say I would have been really pumped for  Nightwing show, but perhaps it'll get made one day.
Now I'd like to take some time to acknowledge Dick Grayson's awesomeness.
So Dick Grayson is my favorite superhero.
I hadn't had a favorite superhero up until maybe almost a month ago (cause I don't count Ghost Rider as a hero. He's more avenger than hero honestly...).
And I say Dick Grayson instead of Nightwing cause even in his non-hero persona, he's still a hero.
He's a good person with pretty much unwavering morals, he's incredibly reliable and dedicated, he's a great role model/brother/father figure. He's pretty much the epitome of what a hero should be.
Batman molded him into a better Batman than he is. He's more than just a sidekick and protégé.
HE'S DA BEST!
Hal Jordan, Bruce, Clark, Diana, and others are great as well. I just pick Dick (lol! imagine that one a shirt!). A superhero with no 'superpowers'. Let this be a lesson to you, if you do good and the best you can, then you too can be super.