The Woman In Black

Director: James Watkins

Rated: PG-13

CBS Films: May 22, 2012

95 Minutes

From Amazon: A young lawyer travels to a remote village to organize a recently deceased client's papers, where he discovers the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance.

I really liked 'The Woman In Black' and I think a lot of people don't like it because it stars Daniel Radcliffe. It's hard for an actor to be successful after being a child star and he is no exception. All of his fame comes from years of work in the Harry Potter films. That being said I think he did an amazing job of distinguishing himself as an adult actor and in a completely new genre of film. For a movie that is rated PG-13 I thought that the Woman In Black was awesome!

Like I said earlier, it stars Daniel Radcliffe. He is set out to this house where he has to go through all of this woman's belongings. No one in the town will go there and they throw everything they can at him to keep him away from the house. While at the house a lot of creepy and unexplainable things happen and they just get more and more intense. Back in town things get more heated and fatal! The movie isn't overly scary although it does have it's moments. I think the storyline was very well done and the acting it pretty good too.

I am happy to have 'The Woman In Black' as part of my ever growing collection of horror films. While it may not hold all the normal thrills and chills that most people have come to expect it can still hold it's own. With a good storyline, good acting, a few scares and a great cast I'd have to give 'The Woman In Black' a 5/5 and recommend that everyone see it!

My Rating: 5/5
Ginger

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Director: Oren Peli


86 Minutes, Rated R


Blumhouse Productions: October 16, 2009

From IMDb: After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.


My fellow horror writer has previously reviewed this movie.  You can find her review here  Ginger's review.


It's taken me awhile to finally watch this, and finally, I have. To begin, I will be honest and say that usually I'm more attracted to the gore and bloody movies,  yet I found myself attracted to this movie. 


I will admit, I found the beginning to be quite dragging. Like other movies, where you are viewing it through the eyes of the "cameraman", it gives you different angles, that you may not see in regular filmed movies. Being a great fan of both "The Blair Witch Project" and "Quarantine", who also use the 'found video tapes' concept, I was looking forward to some action. 


Throughout the movie, I found the guy quite annoying. From what I gather, she had experienced this sort of "haunting" before, and he didn't believe it. So what does he do, encourage it, call it out, use a Ouija board and taunt it.  Mid way through, I was hoping the entity would come out and get the idiot. 


By the time the action really started kicking in, I must say, I was on the edge of my seat. The funny thing, watching it at night was quite a different experience than watching it the next day with the sun shining through the window. I have been told there are alternate endings, and it seems I just saw the "normal" ending, whatever that is. 


It was frightful in some parts, made me cover my eyes and dread what was going to "show up" on the camera. I do have a new desire to continue watching these in the series though, and I have read recently they are filming a new one for a possible 2013/14 release. 


While it lacks in guts and gore and blood, it makes up for with suspense, frights and the fear that there could be an "unknown" living in our homes. 


For those reasons, I am giving this movie a 4/5.

Bidding you bloody nightmares,

Nyx

REC

Directors: Juame Balaguero & Paco Plaza

Rated: R

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment: July 14, 2009

78 Minutes

From Amazon: From Executive Producers who brought you Quarantine, comes the movie that inspired the terror. A beautiful TV reporter (Manuela Velasco, Law of Desire) and her cameraman are doing a routine interview at a local fire station when an emergency call comes in. Accompanying the firefighters to a nearby apartment, the news team begins recording the bloodcurdling screams coming from inside an elderly woman's unit. After authorities seal off the building to contain the threat, the news crew, firefighters and residents are trapped to face a lethal terror inside. With the camera running, nothing may survive but the film itself.

I was so, SO, excited to finally buy and watch [Rec]. I really can't even put into words how badly I wanted to see it. Especially because like, everyone and their mom has been talking about how scary it is and how good it was. You can imagine my excitement when I found it for sale at Blockbuster for .99! I also found [Rec] 2 which I haven't watched yet for .99. So I grabbed them both right away and here we are. I was so disappointed! I still thought it was an okay movie. It had like 1 or 2 scares in it, there was blood and zombie like creatures (always a ++++ in my book!) but I still didn't love it. The beginning was so slow! The best part of the movie had to have been the ending!

So, this movie is about this woman and her cameraman and they are spending the night with these firemen making a show called While you were sleeping or something. So the first...20 minutes or so was just her doing boring things and interviewing people. 20 minutes is a LONG time for such a short movie! It's practically half of the movie! So they get called out because this woman is locked in her apartment. Well it turns out this lady has some kind of disease or virus or something and she attacks this guy and rips a chunk out of his neck. So then the building gets put on quarantine (hence the name of the American remake) and everyone attacks each other and walks around and fights....and walks around.

I didn't find this movie scary at all. There was one part that might have made me jump if it was painstakingly obvious. As I said earlier, the best part was probably the last 5 minutes or so. If you watch this movie I guess you'll see why. I'm definitely not going to ruin the ending...that was the best part! lol. Anyways, overall I wasn't impressed at all. It definitely could have been loads better but you get what you get I guess. I'm not holding onto hope for part 2 but I'll definitely watch it in the next couple of days just to get it over with and so I can review it. Watch this movie...or don't...you aren't missing out on much.

My Rating: 3/5
Ginger

Premonition (Japanese)

Director: Norio Tsuruta

Rated: R

Lions Gate: July 5, 2005

95 Minutes

From Amazon: They are used to tell the past, but for a few unlucky individuals, they foretell the future. When Hideki picks up a newspaper he knows what he will see...death. Foretelling ill-omened fate of everything from slayings to train crashes, there is nothing Hideki can do to stop the event... or is there? When the paper predicts the demise of his daughter in a car crash, Hideki seeks out other like himself, searching for a way to change the future.

For those of you who have seen the American version of 'Premonition' with Sandra Bullock, please don't use that as a basis for whether or not you watch the Japanese version. While I thought that the American Premonition was (at best) an OK movie, the Japanese version is far superior. It is also scary in a mild sense and what I would deem a horror movie despite the crappy American remake!

'Premonition' is about this family whose lives are torn apart because the father finds a newspaper that says his daughter died yet she is sitting in the car across from him. He starts to get all sorts of premonitions about different people and tragedies and soon becomes obsessed with trying to save these people. Eventually he gets to attempt another shot at his own premonition that killed his daughter years before. I think the American version only took that part of the Japanese movie and made a whole movie about it.

'Premonition' isn't a scary movie...I think there are actually only a few parts that might make you jump the first time you watch it; however, it is a great movie with a consistent plot and a few scares along the way. I think what makes Premonition a scary movie is the psychological side of it. What would it really be like to know all these people were going to die and there was nothing you could do? Or, if you could do something you'd eventually kill yourself in the process! It's allll psychological! Anyways, it's a good movie so if you're into foreign movies then check it out! It's actually really cheap on Amazon (that's where I got mine!) or I'm sure you could pick it up at your local video story. You should definitely check it out!

My Rating: 4/5
Ginger

The Devil Inside

Director: William Brent Bell

Rated: R

Paramount: May 15, 2012

83 Minutes

From Amazon: In 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi confessing to three brutal murders. The courts found her insane - but something else found her first. Twenty years later, her daughter Isabella’s search for answers led to an exorcism by two rogue priests revealing that her mother is possessed by four powerful demons. Now, Isabella must face pure evil or forsake her soul. Discover why The Devil Inside is the movie critics call “riveting” and “terrifying.”*

I know that my fellow gory Chick Nyx already wrote a review for 'The Devil Inside' but I just got around to watching it even though it's been sitting in my house since the DVD release date. I'm a little behind on movies! I actually didn't think that this movie was as bad as everyone makes it sound. Whether or not that was because my expectations were so low for the film or not, I can't say. If "found video" movies aren't your type of thing then you might just want to skip this one and the review. If it's something you're open to then keep reading!

Normally I would go into my normal "So, like...this movie is about....stuff" but Nyx already did that in her review (which you can find here). So, I'm just going to skip that whole part!

I watched this movie about a week ago and I was fairly impressed. I honestly think that a big part of the reason I found this movie enjoyable is because so many people hated it AND I heard so many negative things about it. While it's not particularly scary or have a lot of frightening moments it is pretty entertaining at the least. I think it's just the type of movie you have to be in the mood to watch and be interested in. Don't go into it thinking it's like Paranormal Activity and you might actually find that you like it!

My Rating: 4/5
Ginger

The Reaping

Director: Stephen Hopkins

Rated: R

Warner Home Video: October 16, 2007

99 Minutes

From Amazon: Investigative scholar Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank) is a debunker of modern miracles, bringing scientific light to superstition and fraud. But events in tiny Haven, Louisiana, defy even her expertise. There, the 10 Biblical Plagues seem to be reoccurring. And the more she seeks answers, the more she questions her own beliefs. Two-time Academy Award (R) winner Swank headlines this electrifying Dark Castle Entertainment production that reaps locusts, frogs, a river of blood and more - all to eye-filling, fear-inducing, heart-probing, must-see effect.

I think I've mentioned before that the Blockbuster by my house was closing. Well, I went on a crazy DVD/Blu-ray shopping spree and The Reaping was one of the movies I bought. It was only 49 cents! haha. Anyways, I thought it was a pretty good movie although I hadn't really heard of it before this point.

So, the movie is basically about this women who umm goes on these expeditions to disprove miracles that people believe are from God. When she returns from one of her "miracles" she gets a visitor who pleads for her help and this woman....I can't remember her name right now but she's played by Hillary Swank....she agrees to investigate it. It wasn't the river turned into blood that intrigued her but the fact that it was caused by a twelve year old girl.

Considering the synopsis for this movie I think it was really well played out. I guess from someone who is an atheist or...not religious, whatever, they might think it's a little heavy on the religious side. That's just something I've heard floating around about it; however, I'd have to disagree. I think it integrated religious aspects very well into the movie with neither side being too distraught. If you haven't seen The Reaping yet I recommend it but you aren't really missing out on anything if you don't.

My Rating: 3/5
Ginger