snafflemonkey

Having seen some of the reviews I went into watching this expecting to be very disappointed given the how much I enjoyed last years remake of the original.

To some extent this film pales very much with last years film, which built up the characters of the family and although the mutants where very much in the background and not given too much history you could see the parallels with the Carters and the mutants and sympathies could split between the two.

Here the mutants are purely there to kill and breed and if you didn't see last years remake then the history of what they are doing in the hills and what happened to them is pretty much glossed over except for blink and miss them references so it pretty much boils down to military versus mutants and a predictable body count film where those you expect to survive do.

The characters are the usual military clichés and the mutants are one note killers except for one who helps the "hero" characters though it is never explained why and he just disappears.

The kills scenes tend to be very quick and it is often not very clear what is happening, and the end fight with what is presumable the lead mutant (since he is as bland and interchangeable as the others it's hard to tell) is very lame. However given all the negative comments above I quite enjoyed the film for what it was and not what it could have been. I think that replacing the family themes from the original and replacing them with military recruits was a poor choice but the film didn't really become boring and I wasn't clock watching like with some other recent horrors.

I was worried that when the action moved down into the mines that the film would become like the tedious The Descent but it maintained the action well and the locations looked very nice. The acting was OK but nothing more but the real shame that this wasn't better was with the writers. I hope that this is successful enough the generate a third film, though if it does it should go to different writers given some of the dialogue in this film.

Although the recent remake was a fairly enjoyable film in its own right, it is no where near as effective as the original film. I don't think that the similar ties to this and Halloween matter all that much they are different enough and they each build up the atmosphere of dread in their own way.

I think that Black Christmas is the better film, the acting and direction in this film is excellent and the film takes its time to build the sense of danger rather than have the killer hacking his victims from the opening credits. The murders in this film are also more effective than in the remake because you don't see that much, the violence is implied rather than shown and it is far more shocking than anything in the remake.

The fact that you don't know who Billy is or why he is stalking the girls in the house makes him a far more creepy and disturbing killer than those in the films that have followed Black Christmas - the unknown is far more scary than what you see, hence why all the slasher sequels in the 80's and 90's where not really that good when they start to focus more on the killer and less on the victims.

The ending was nice and vague and I'm glad there was never a sequel as it allows you to ponder what happened after the credits rolled. To me the film has aged very well, even if the quality of the picture hasn't whether those who are used to the made slashers and repulsive gore of recent films will like it I don't know, but for me this is a classic well worth seeing.

I saw this last weekend and while it is an enjoyable film, chances are you have pretty much seen it 100 times before.

The cast was good and the plot moved along at a brisk pace, the only thing that really dragged the film down was when they tried to play it serious towards the end. The characters where not developed enough to generate the reactions the film makers seemed to be going for and the mix of seriousness and comedy did not always sit well together.

I have not really given any details of the plot to this film because it is obvious from the first 10-15 minutes how pretty much the whole film play out. The only thing I didn't really predict was the final scene and as mentioned above the film didn't really earn what it was trying for.

As an amusing glossy thriller this is a good time killer, but I would not go out of my way to see it again.

I quite enjoyed the first film , the second was OK though it did tend to stretch credibility to breaking point, but this third and hopefully (but unlikely to be)final story is just a chore to sit through.

After the second pretty much left Jigsaw at deaths door I did wonder what they were going to do with the 3rd film. What I ended up sitting through was a pointless mean-spirited and disgusting to watch film.

I enjoy horror films normally and gore is not normally a problem with me, however this film just seemed to throw everything it could in terms of sickening images at the screen and then along toddles the story long afterwards.

On a positive light the acting was OK and it did look well put together during the scenes that where not so dark you couldn't see anything. Then there was the ending which although quite obvious from early on in the film they then insult me by doing flashbacks of everything that I have just watched like I couldn't have worked it out.

Since my friend is a fan of this series I shall probably end up seeing a fourth if they make it, and the tacked on feeling end of the third seems to indicate there might be one, however I hope they remember that story is more important than gore (doubt it as the core audience now will expect ever sickening traps) and that they do not try and get round the ending of this one and bring certain characters back.

Film makers need to remember that horror does not equal gore, this series has gone from an interesting little thriller with the first film into some sub-par slasher series that is as bad as some of the horror sequels of the 80's.

This is a bit of of weird film to ponder - it is not scary or jumpy which is a huge minus for a horror film - it is oddly fun and entertaining which means that while it is not a memorable film and is nowhere near as good as the original it does make for a harmless night out.

What also drags this film below the original is the back story given to the Billy character. What made the original so good was the fact that you never saw Billy fully and he could have been anyone - the fact that his background was never explained made him more menacing and disturbing than the new Billy in this version of the story and the phone calls made to the sorority house in the original where much more effective.

That being said the story in this version of Black Christmas was entertaining and although the back story given to Billy and the fact you see him throughout the film took away the scares of the original it did offer a sick and twisted and oddly moving ride.

The acting in the film was adequate for what it is and the characters are fun to watch. Overall this was a fun watch and nowhere near the train wreck that has been rumoured before its release.

I bought the DVD because I enjoyed Toolbox Murders and this looked like it would offer the same sort of campy fun, and it did.

I can understand why people would dislike the film but by the same token you have to wonder what they were expecting. This film delivered almost everything that I expected of it.

The characters in the film are fun and engaging and the performances were good enough for the material. The big downside to the film was it's lack of scares and it didn't really play the Mortuary creepiness angle as much as it could have, in fact the film could have occurred anywhere. But if the film does not totally work as a horror it does as pure fun entertainment, despite what the killjoy I watched the film with might think.

Much like Wes Craven's New Nightmare the film is entertaining though the scares don't really work.

The weakest part of the film is actually the opening with the two young women and the fortune teller the scene just doesn't really work and the acting seems a little off.

The main characters of the brother and sister are more likable than most of the characters that usually populate this type of film, though they are pretty much made up from characters you have seen before.

The werewolf effects are not the most amazing you will ever see and it is very obvious when you are watching the CGI wolf rather than the man in a suit - however if doesn't really damage the film and there have been major films released with worse effects.

Although some attempt has been made to sort of create a mystery about the identity of the werewolf, this being a Kevin Williamson script there is no point bothering with it as the identity is largely pointless to the rest of the film, though in this case is was pretty obvious who it was going to be.

The film is quite witty and engaging and for a re-teaming of the Scream team it does well to avoid too much in your face irony and in-jokes though of course there have to be some.

Having seen both the PG-13 and the Unrated versions they are pretty much the same although the PG-13 edition has quite sloppy editing out of some of the gore it only ever really became too noticeable during the fight at the end. For a more serious and darker Werewolf film I would say go for any of the Ginger Snaps trilogy, however for what it is Cursed turned out so much better than it had any right to, given all the production problems.

Having only caught a few minutes of the TV series I bought this as a blind purchase and it is one of the most enjoyable films in my collection.

Spongebob and Patrick are a hilarious double act and there adventures throughout the film are a pleasure to sit through and the David Hasselhoff scene is truly hilarious.

Whether this was really cinematic enough to have worked on the big screen I don't know but on DVD it does feel as though you are watching an extended episode of the TV series, not that it is such a bad thing when it is as wonderful as this. It should be law that everyone has to watch this film.

Surely there can't be more children from Gatlin trying to find a new home? This entry changes the setting of the series from a small rural town to the big city and the change of location doesn't really work. The concept of the children killing all the adults because of "He who walks behind the rows" could work in an isolated town but in a large urban area the idea of the huge cornfield springing up from nowhere is just more laughable than anything.

Having said all that there is much to enjoy in this film - the acting is better than is usual for this sort of thing, the special effects - up until the end, are quite good and there are some effective horror moments and the running time doesn't drag.

As has been mentioned by others the monster at the end of the film is something to behold, it looks extremely fake but oddly it just adds to the charm of this sequel.

This entry is the last to really follow the storyline from the first 2 with any regard to a continuing plot until the dire part 6, so if you enjoy cheap horror your better sticking with the first 3.

I enjoyed this film much more than the Stephen King short story on which it is based. The film as a stark nasty tone that benefits the story being told.

The story of the children killing the parents of the small town gets off to a very nasty and chilling start pretty much from the opening credits and only really falters in the last quarter of the film, where the pace slows to almost a crawl and unfortunately the film makers have gone for a happy ending rather than the one from the original story which would have made for a much more satisfying climax.

For the most part this is a really enjoyable to watch though some of the "children" in the film look anything but.

This film really just comes across as a very belated and totally redundant sequel and has very little point to it at all.

The story of the film being that that the neighbouring town takes in the killer children of the original film just seems a stretch, why would they take in children who appear to have killed every single adult - more to the point did they not notice that the town next door was missing it's entire adult population.

That's pretty much the side story though as the main story follows a news reporter and his son visiting the town with the father trying to get the story of the original film - he also gets an extremely unpleasant to watch love scene with the woman he's renting from. The son also falls for a hot girl from the town but alas she stays fully clothed. Also living in the house is the new leader of the cult who at least looks slightly closer to childhood than Isaac in the first film.

There is a Native American subplot relating to the Corn Cult which is unnecessary and just confuses the story.

The film is not quite without merit but when the credits roll there is a strong feeling of what was the point, and "He who walks behind the rows" is mentioned so many times I wanted to throw the DVD case at the screen.

Seed of Chucky is a hard film to judge really - The film is really enjoyable and as a very black comedy it works very well. As a horror this film fails however that can be said for all the films after the original and perhaps part 2 - there is only so long that you can take this killer doll seriously.

The acting is this film is surprisingly good and Jennifer Tilly is as hot and likable as always. The story moves along well and there isn't really a dull moment. In some parts the film looks cheap but it never detracts from the enjoyment.

I was very wary going into this film given how much I enjoyed the wonderful Bride of Chucky but thankfully this turned out to be almost as entertaining.