xrabid_yaoi_fangirlx

IMDb member since June 2007
    Lifetime Total
    1+
    IMDb Member
    16 years

Reviews

Triple Crossed
(2013)

If you go in accepting the low quality, you might still enjoy yourself.
Can I just start by saying, when is Jack Brockett gonna do some more stuff? That man is brutally hot, and he carried the movie with strong acting throughout.

As for the rest of the cast, they really try, and while the end product is more uncomfortable and awkward than anything, everyone has their moments. I went in with very, very low expectations, and I think that helped. I enjoyed the film despite the cheese and clumsy execution. Its heart is in the right place. I liked some of the concepts and ideas, but I feel like much of it was wasted on rushed scenes and an attempt to force in a twist. There was some potential in the story, even with the illogical elements, but the creators didn't seem to have the tools necessary to make it work. Not a budget issue, just an experience issue, I'm guessing. Like I said, they tried.

My biggest frustration is that this sort of theme is really rare in gay films, so you have to accept the lower quality stuff or go without entirely. I can't think of a single other gay thriller off the top of my head that doesn't just lead to misery. Typically you can have "uplifting/hopeful but cheesy and clunky" or "beautiful and high quality but bleak and tragic," and it gets old. Here's hoping things are truly changing in the genre.

Overall, you could find this movie entertaining if you go in with the understanding that it's akin to a student film where the director had to cast their friends. For me, a gorgeous, brooding man making out with another reasonably attractive dude with that theme of protectiveness/betrayal hanging over them was enough for me. I knew what I was getting into. If you do, too, then give this a shot. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Mall
(2014)

Salvageable if you're willing to dig through the crap
Oh dear lord, this kid and his "observations." At first I thought it was supposed to be funny, but after a while, it just got annoying. He was seriously the most obnoxious character in the movie, so it sucks that he was the lead. The writers really nailed the pretentious, "above it all" high school tool who never goes anywhere without his copy of The Catcher in the Rye and an inflated sense of self-worth. He's so full of wisdom! So deep and enlightened! He's there to put the sheep in their places, since he's the only one who knows what's going on! This is like stoner 2.0, the kind of stuff that these guys think sounds so life-changing, like it's never occurred to anyone else, and their sole duty in life is to redirect the miscreants. I'm still not sure this was supposed to be part of the odd, dark humor that seemed to exist throughout the film. If it wasn't, though, I have to imagine the writers *were* that kid.

I didn't know B.K. Cannon was in this movie! I was excited to see her for her brief cameo, despite the creepiness of the scene. Vincent D'Onofrio was fantastic, of course, and his scenes, as painful and uncomfortable as they were to watch, saved a lot of the movie. I feel like the entire bit with the bored housewife should have been cut. It added nothing to the movie and played out more like a clunky attempt to metaphorically represent a boy growing up and coming into his sexuality. The pacing died, and I found myself doing other things with the movie playing in the background. Honestly, if all of that had been removed, it would have been a much better film. Those scenes really dragged, and they were so jarring whenever they occurred, total change in tone and atmosphere. It's like you're in the middle of a car chase scene, then it cuts really quickly to Antiques Roadshow.

As much as I hated the beginning with the pseudo-intellectual babble, I actually really liked the ending. That saved it a bit. Overall, the film was trying too hard to be artsy and complex, but it did have some interesting moments and some legitimate humor. I give it a resounding "could have been worse."

All Hallows' Eve
(2013)

Not as awful as I assumed it would be
NOTE: Don't go into this movie expecting it to be quality in any way. The acting is awkward, the dialogue is awful, and that little kid... I just wanted to stab him in the face myself. So freaking obnoxious.

That being said, I love bad horror films, so I was eager to check this out. As I mentioned, the dialogue was crap, and the acting wasn't particularly stellar, but I liked the premise, even if it's been done to death. I'm a fan of monster horror, so I liked the creative, sort of crude makeup in the first short, and honestly, that clown is pretty creepy. I tried to approach the movie without the jaded eyes of a long-time horror fan, and that made it a bit easier to stomach.

I actually enjoyed the ending, and two out of three of the little stories were entertaining if not absolutely ridiculous. The middle one was pretty slow, and the costuming was hilarious. Not to mention, it's hard to take any evil being seriously when it's walking around with wavy arms like some sort of Latin dance move. The other two, though cliché and silly, had their spooky moments, and I had fun watching. I would recommend this movie to the average bad horror film connoisseur--someone who can really appreciate the elements involved without being put off by its many shortcomings.

Creature
(2011)

Hilarious
I could tell this movie was going to be great when we walked into the theater and no one else was there. I had expected it to be awful from the get go, but it surprised me by also being completely nonsensical. What looks like a typical "monster eats a bunch of teens in the woods" movie is actually much more convoluted. Throughout, I couldn't shake the feeling that this had started off as a kinky softcore porn that accidentally mutated into a horror movie somewhere along the way. While the breasts all gave a moving performance, the rest of the cast left something to be desired. Of course, that could have just been the weird script. There should have been subtitles for the 40% of the dialogue that was delivered in fake Cajun accents, but what we could understand didn't make things any clearer. I mean, yeah, we got the gist of it, but we just kept asking why. Why did anyone do anything that they did in this film? I guess it's up to the viewer to decide. Audience participation!

I have no idea what the writer and director had on their minds when they set this baby up, but I'm pretty sure I can tell you what they didn't: logic, character development, timing, or continuity. If you love bad horror movies like I do, you might enjoy this, but honestly we spent more time being confused than laughing. Plus I kept waiting for it to stop beating around the bush and just turn into Deliverance 2 already, but it never did.

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