The Plot

A group of students investigate a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.

The Thoughts

I got to preview this film at the Empire Big Screen event last weekend, and what a joy – I still haven’t finished singing it’s praises yet!

TrollHunter pays an impressive tribute to Norwegian troll folklore mixing traditional fairytale fiction with very convincing scientific facts for instance explaining the reason why trolls explode or turn to stone when they come into contact with sunshine because their bodies can’t process vitamin D resulting in the ‘calcifying effect’ – all this attention to detail made it extremely believable.

Visually the film will leave many desperate to book tickets to Norway as soon as they leave the cinema, featuring stunning landscapes and scenery and what with the enhanced computer graphics combined with a mockumentary effect means the audience is sucked right into the scene. The great thing is that the mockumentary effect didn’t induce motion sickness like Cloverfield did which was a great relief and left you to thoroughly enjoy the thrilling ride.

We had the opportunity to listen to the director and main actor of TrollHunter talk about the film after we saw it – in which he revealed to us how much he wanted to stay true to troll mythology and that it did. We were given a troll guide with different trolls with name, size guides and ages – fascinating! FYI – when TrollHunter was released in Norway at the time (October 2010), it even beat Inception at the Box Office!

Realistic (I cannot emphasis enough how realistic it is), suspenseful and refreshing with a healthy dose of Norwegian humour seasoned very well with horror – I highly recommend you all to see this film when it hits UK cinemas this September.

The Film Buzz Official Rating: *******½~~ (7.5/10)

Director: André Øvredal

Writer: André Øvredal, Håvard S. Johansen

UK Release Date: 9 September 2011

Starring Timothy Gibbs, Michael Landes and Wendy Glenn.

Don’t get me wrong, I love myself a good paranormal horror (I’m a massive fan of Ringu, Paranormal Activity and everything in between) but this film is a little chilling for me… because I think I’m cursed. The thing is, I see 11:11 more often than I should…on my phone, on my laptop and every other digital clock device that I’ve had the cursed luck to come across. So help me God. I’ve pretty much convinced myself that come this year’s 11/11/11 at 11:11am I will probably be engulfed by raging demons from hell… or was it heaven. I can’t keep up. From the directors of the Saw movies, I think it’s safe to say we can expect this to be a gimmicky gore-fest.

UK Release Date: 11th November 2011

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Writer: Darren Lynn Bousman

The Film Buzz Anticipation Rating: *****½~~~~ (5.5/10)

Directed by Kevin Munroe.

Source: MovieWeb

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night will be released in the USA on 29 April 2011.

Synopsis: Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette) and Gale (Courtney Cox), who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and her Aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell). Unfortunately Sidney’s appearance also brings about the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger.

TFB Anticipation Rating: *****½~~~~ (5.5/10)

UK Release Date: 15th April 2011

Director: Wes Craven

Watch this space as the world’s first global online paranormal investigation starts 11th October 2010! I suddenly have no desire to do anything else …

The film hits USA theatres on 22nd October 2010 and I cannot wait til the phenomenon rides the waves over to the UK.

Source: http://www.paranormalsurveillance.com/

The Hole (2009) is a family horror film from the directive mind of Joe Dante (Gremlins, Innerspace). Following their move from Boston to Bensonville, Dane and his younger brother Lucas find adjusting to small-town life difficult and, for the most part, boring… That is until they discover an apparently bottomless hole below their house. Now it’s only a matter of time before their fears consume them!

The Plot

The Thompson family have a notorious habit of moving house all too frequently. For Dane Thompson (Chris Massoglia) this latest move is the final straw. Stuck in back-water small town Bensonville, Dane confines himself to his room, content with sketching ominous looking drawings and spying on sexy girl next door Julie (Haley Bennett).

It isn’t long however, before younger brother Lucas (Nathan Gamble) befriends Julie and the three of them discover a bottomless hole under a locked trap door in the Thompsons basement. Trying everything from flashlights, to video cameras, and even a talking South Park plushie, they are unable to ascertain the depth of the hole. Giving up, they leave the trapdoor unlocked and that’s when things start to get really weird.

All too soon they find their deepest and darkest fears coming to life, ready to haunt them at any moment. No matter where they go, they cannot escape the terror they have unleashed from within the hole!

The Thoughts

Joe Dante is responsible for some of the most memorable films from my childhood. Films such as Gremlins 1 and 2, Innerspace, and Small Soldiers I have watched countless times, never tiring of the action or plot. He even directed some of my one of my favourite TV shows, Eerie Indiana. I cannot say however, that The Hole is as memorable, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a worthwhile film.

What impressed me most was the suspense and fear the film created. Being a family film with a 12a rating, I was not expecting anywhere near the level of horror it presented. I would go as far as to say, in some parts, it was more horrific than Hollywood fright-fests. Perhaps the younger generation today can handle more scares than my generation could, but with the addition of clowns and creepy dead girls walking around, I would be surprised if most 12 year olds would be able sleep soundly after watching this film.

I did quite like the plot in general and the catalyst: a hole that manifests your fears. Unfortunately I don’t feel it was presented in the best way. There were times when the dialogue was extremely dry and embarrassingly delivered, and with the lack of background music, or movement, it made watching certain scenes almost cringe-worthy. Even the token crazy old guy (played surprisingly poorly by Bruce Dern) was a poor man’s Christopher Lloyd.

Without a doubt, the one cast member who I enjoyed seeing the most was Nathan Gamble (The Mist). The character of Lucas is so cute you can’t help but “awww” when he picks up his teddy bear. And his fear of clowns makes his scenes also the most terrifying to watch. He proves himself to be the strongest character and actor in the film by far.
Chris Massoglia is a typical stroppy teenager, but he gives such a wooden performance, you’re almost happy when he’s not on screen. And even though Haley Bennett has the looks and acting talent, she is a barely memorable throw-away character, placed there only as eye-candy to draw teenage boys (and their fathers) to the film.

Another nearly pointless gimmick in this film (as usual these days) was the use of 3D. It really did nothing for film. There were a couple of moments where they decided to show off nails falling down the hole, and a baseball been thrown toward the camera, but other than that, there was nothing visually appealing that warranted the use of 3D. I would rather they spent more money making the effects look good, and hiring better actors, than wasting time and money to turn everything 3D. That goes for most films in my opinion. Some films can pull it off, but this isn’t one of them.

Overall I felt it was a good effort from Dante. Not his best, but not his worst by far (let us not forget Looney Toons: Back in Action). The horror and plot were great and there were some really tense moments in there, especially when you consider the film is for most ages. Had it been a kids’ film only, I think it would have deserved a more generous review, but being advertised as a family film puts it under more scrutiny. When you consider that family films nowadays have to compare with the likes of Toy Story, a film like The Hole falls slightly short of the bar. The kids will love it though.

The Film Buzz Official Rating: ******½~~~ (6.5/10)

UK Release Date: 22^nd September, 2010

Director: Joe Dante

Writer: Mark L. Smith

Fans of the original – prepare to be majorly disappointed. This brainless flick does no justice to the original, is devoid of personality and depth and frankly, couldn’t scare an 8 year old.

The Plot

A re-imagining of the horror icon Freddy Krueger, a serial-killer who wields a glove with four blades embedded in the fingers and kills people in their dreams, resulting in their real death in reality

Nancy, Kris, Quentin, Jesse and Dean are all having the same dream – of the same man – Freddy and one by one, he terrorizes them within the curved walls of their dreams, where the rules are his, and the only way out is to wake up. Functioning on little to no sleep, they struggle to understand why them, why now, and what their parents aren’t telling them.

Buried in their past is a debt that has just come due, and to save themselves, they will have to plunge themselves into the mind of the most twisted nightmare of all… Freddy Krueger.

Starring Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Kruger and Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy Thomas Dekker and Kellan Lutz as the young ‘uns and directed by Samuel Bayer – so you can put the blame on him.

The Thoughts

The first minute til the very end, the film was packed full of atrocious cheap scares that are equivalent to shouting “boo!” in your face. You almost feel like the director is having a laugh, mocking your IQ if you will. With absolutely nothing inventive about it, the film sets about delivering the worst dialogue, pretty bad acting and rubbish horror gimmicks that don’t even make you flinch.

Whilst the only thing to commend is Katie Cassidy’s first star role – since Melrose Place (her biggest TV role to date) saw her fashionista bombshell character, flaunting the most fabulous dresses known to mankind, I’ve always loved her for her smooth style, shimmying sexy body and a mouth that will sweet talk you into doing anything she pleases. It is such a refreshment seeing her in this role that is completely different and she handles it very well. The biggest shame is that she is the first person is get killed off – making the film void of anything entertaining at all. Rooney Mara who survives til the end is one of the worst actresses I’ve seen on screen this year.

Completely lacking in imagination, Freddy Kruger deserves better than this. The true nightmare is having to sit through a showing of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The Film Buzz Rating: ***~~~~~~~ (3/10)

UK Release Date: 7th May 2010

Director: Samuel Bayer

Writer’s: Wesley Strick(screenplay), Eric Heisserer(screenplay)

Links: IMDB, Official Site

Splice is a re-telling  of a bizarre tale about a scientific experiment gone horribly wrong with terrific special effects. This film hits home for those who love twisted psychological thrillers that produces images with shock-value.

Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named “Dren”, the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera, who forges a bond with both of her creators – only to have that bond turn deadly.

“Beautiful” is not quite the word that comes to mind after seeing this deformed infant/alien baby – deadly she is alright. Intelligent and gripping, Splice borrows from predecessors such as “Alien” and manages to emerge with originality and fascinating scientific discoveries that makes one wonder whether such amalgamation of human and animal DNA to create a new breed really possible?

Starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as the two young, but very brave scientists who dabble with DNA and dangerous organisms that escape from maximum security labs and wrecks havoc threatening to swallow scientists and anything else of similar size whole. Also stars Delphine Chanéac as Dren, David Hewlett and Abigail Chu and is directed by Vincenzo Natali.

After watching a trailer like that , it’s guaranteed to have freaky-sci fi horror addicts like me to be queuing up to watch this film as soon as it comes out!

The Film Buzz Anticipation Rating: *******~~~ (7/10)

US Release Date: 4th June 2010 (no UK Release Date as of yet)

Director: Vincenzo Natali

Writer: Vincenzo Natali (screenplay)

Links: IMDB, Official Site

The plot goes something like this :

Two pretty American girls are on a road trip through Europe. In Germany they end up alone at night with a broken car in the woods. They search for help and find an isolated villa. The next day they awake to find themselves trapped in his terrifying makeshift basement hospital along with a Japanese man. An older German man identifies himself as a retired surgeon specialized in separating Siamese twins. However his three “patients” are not about to be separated, but joined together in a horrific operation. He plans to be the first person to connect people via their gastric system, in doing so bringing to life his sick lifetime fantasy “the human centipede”. Written by Producer, Ilona Six

Am I right or am I right? Did this trailer make anyone else guffaw with laughter and then go ‘wtf?’

A film that I was hoping would be pretty good scare but fell flat on it’s face for me… however after checking out IMDb’s ratings… I’m not so sure everyone is going to agree with me.

Starring Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell as husband and wife, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker and Christie Lynn Smith as their friends/colleagues.

The Plot

A reinvention loosely based on the 1973 George Romero classic of the same name, this film is about the inhabitants of the downtown area of Ogden Marsh, Iowa. The film starts off with normality but after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply, one by one the inhabitants become plagued by insanity. Contractors of the plague suffer from aggressive behaviour, bleeding noses and generally act like violent psychopaths. David and Judy Dutton – the town sheriff and the town’s only doctor must flee the town before the military catch and exterminate them all.

The Thoughts

Much to my disappointment, this film flat-lined for me. I did not find it the least bit scary, I maybe managed half a jump throughout the whole film. Key details were missing and the plot was under-explained making the plague unconvincing and bland. The suspense/scary scenes are so predictable, it was just impossible for me to be remotely shaken – and I’m not usually a balls-y person (unless of course Paranormal Activity (2009) made me immune to horror films) so correct me if I’m wrong but this was a lame attempt at thriller/horror ?

This film reminds me much of Carriers (2009) which also had shining potential but made a complete buttock of itself.

Anyone else feel the same way?

The Film Buzz Review Rating: 5/10

UK Cinema Release Date: 26 February 2010

Director: Breck Eisner

Writer: Scott Kosar (screenplay), Ray Wright (screenplay)

Links: IMDB, Official Site