In light of the upcoming film based on the late filmmaker Hitchcock I thought it would be fitting to have one of his many quotes! He is one of my favourite director's of all time! Below is the trailer to the biography film of Hitchcock (12A)
It's one of my favourite times of year! Halloween! The one time of year when the souls of the departed are supposed to roam the earth! I do love this festival as it allows me to indulge in good old horror flicks!
Up until the 31st I will be posting some creepy pictures accompanied by some poetry as well as film trailers that I think should most definitely be watched this time of year!
I have had one great insight - seeing some of the classics at the Prince Charles Cinema. Check out the link and see what they are showing. I have my tickets booked at midnight to see Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) which should be amazing as I wasn't even born when the original was on the big screen!
I am really looking to having some movie marathons and also on the night itself my Aunty - Mystic Mary is having a Halloween party so we are all dressing up and she will be performing tarot readings! Anyone in the London (UK) area interested in Tarot Readings can email me on Patriciah042@gmail.com. Pictures of the night will follow!
Plot: A young paleontologist graduate (Kate) is called upon by friend Adam and scientist Dr. Halvorson to help excavate a finding in the middle of Antarctica. They join an isolated Norwegian team who work together to uncover one of the greatest findings in history. They find a creature that is over 100,000 years old and attempt to keep this finding a secret as long as possible, until it all goes horribly wrong. Kate and Dr. Holvorson come to confrontations about how to deal with this alien life force that is threatening to take over the camp which in turn leads all to wonder who is really human.
I was very excited when I saw this film advertised. I am a big fan of the original The Thing (1982) with Kurt Russell. I love the effects for the time, the excellent acting and above all, the suspense of the film. This film is even in my Top 10 Horror movies!
I love the idea of a group of individuals being isolated from the world and dealing with something that could threaten earths existence. The fact that they are alone with a creature that can imitate human life will get anyone paranoid and this is the basis of the entire film. It's like a who-done-it type of thriller and it leaves you guessing throughout the whole film. You are always surprised when the alien reveals itself and someone you didn't even consider!
The make up effects at the time were groundbreaking as no one had seem something so believable. This is why The Thing 2011 version had a lot to live up to. With the CGI age at it's peak, I was expecting serious changes in this film that could of threatened my enjoyment of it. Thankfully the film did not over do it with the CGI effects. They were definitely better than the original but they did not over power the film.
The producers of this film decided it was best not to do a remake of John Carpenter's film but a prequel with new characters and a different point of view. This film begins in 1982 before the scene in the original when the husky dog is being chased by the helicopter. This means we are taken into the world when the thing was first discovered as this is only touched upon in the first film.
I love the fact we can see what happens when the spaceship and alien are discovered and how it managed to escape. This is a very good idea as many lovers of the original film would be disappointed no matter how good the remake would of been. This film certainly has some good moments and twists. I love the addition of two female characters as this adds an element of vulnerability but also a female heroine which is more commonly seen these days.
There are obviously some parallels to the original film, in terms of how they come up with techniques to discover who is human and who is alien once people start becoming infected. This is a good idea as if these people discovered the alien, they would not have come up with the same scientific experiments as those in the second camp! They still came up with the same way to fight the alien, with flame-throwers on site. This is obviously because they would of had the same equipment on site so this similarity is believable.
The film holds suspense well as you see a build up through the slow pace of the film. I like when two of the team members who crashed in the helicopter with the alien on board return, and how they are treated as outcasts similarly to the character of Blair in the first film. One of these outcasts is Carter who reflects the character of MacReady (Kurt Russell). He is the rebel American who helps Kate survive but in fact it is Kate who is the leading woman and who also portrays a side of MacReady.
The effects of the spaceship were the only downside to the film as it was unnecessary. In the first film the spaceship was considerably smaller and not shown as much which I thought was a better way to deal with the ship element.
Near the end, we see that the dog, which was meant to have been killed by the alien at the very beginning of this film, escapes. It had cleverly been hiding away while the events unfolded, waiting for it's chance to get away and spread. This leaves it open to begin the start of the original film but we also see Kate as the lone survivor which also poses the question, is she still human?
My view: I liked this prequel as it gave some answers as to what happened before the first film and introduced some interesting characters. I enjoyed the special effects up until the spaceship but felt the ending was ambiguous as we weren't sure if Kate was infected or not. This can be seen as a good thing but in my mind it just opens the film to a sequel which may have been intended but may not be needed. I like the fact that this film is always left open ended and would prefer not to see the film expand any further than the isolated region of Antarctica as you face ruining the film entirely.
Recommendation: Watch the original again (or for the first time) before you watch this film so you have a better understanding of the film. I watched it just a week before going to the cinema to re-fresh my memory of this classic film!
I made my way to the cinema this weekend to watch the film In Time featuring the singer-turned-actor Justin Timberlake. I was very interested to watch him in a feature film as he has worked hard building up his acting portfolio with well chosen roles and films. He has recently been the lead in the film Friends with Benefits which I have not seen yet but this film took my fancy as it seemed to be a novel concept and an action-thriller which is my kind of film!
The film is based around the idea that people are genetically engineered to live up until the age of 25. After that point they live on a year by year basis and use their time as currency. This being the case, bills and payments mean they lose their valuable time just trying to live. Once your time is up however, if you cannot keep your clock ticking, you time out.
This then highlights the fact that the rich can live on forever as they have the availability of money to keep on buying their time, while the poor are living in the ghetto struggling for survival. They end up living by the day or hour fighting for their time. This results in having time-keepers to keep track of those living in the ghetto and those called 'minute men' who steal people's time. Naturally in hard times, there will be thieves and enforcers and the film focuses on the idea that people will do anything to keep on living forever; keeping the balance between the rich and poor.
The film begins with Will (Timberlake) being given time as a gift from a man who has enough funds to be able to be immortal but he is mentally unable to cope with living beyond his 105 years. This gift brings inevitable trouble for Will as he is hunted for this time by those who want to keep the balance and those who want to steal his Centuries.
I was pleasantly surprised by Timberlake's performance throughout the film. He had a very good screen presence and was believable as a tough-guy. Amanda Seyfield has always been a favourite actress of mine as she has such beauty and poise. She was perfect for the role as the frivolous rich girl who wanted some thrills in her never ending time battle.
Sylvia (Seyfield) is kidnapped by Will to help him stay alive while he is investigated for the death of the man who gave him his precious time. She is from the wealthiest family and romance inevitably blossoms between these two while on the run. She becomes engulfed in this battle to help those less fortunate to have their much needed time. She plays the bad-ass character very well and is quite believable as this reckless fugitive.
People in the ghetto were also able to give each other time to help each other out, or in other cases, fight each other for their time. This applied to the rich but was not as openly used other than for gambling or gifts. This is an interesting and not very well explained concept. The idea that you can transfer your time is a necessary element to the film as this is how they survive but the whole idea of how this idea came about is not explained in the film other than the illusive 'genetically engineered' tag.
I do however, love the question that this films brings to the forefront of the viewers mind throughout. Would you live forever? This question is riddled with possibilities but it does highlight the fact that we are born to die. Our bodies are designed to grow old, along with our minds. This films stresses the idea that we could be designed to stay young and have our minds grow old and how this would take it's toll on us. I love how this film brings so many questions of our existence to light.
My view: A very interesting concept and some very well acted scenes. The scene with Will running towards his mother just as she times out is one of my favourites and highlights Timberlake's acting abilities very well. This film has some missing explanations but is well thought out nonetheless.
In the run up to Halloween I have been excitedly watching some of my favourite horror movies. I love to be scared in a film; it gives you an adrenaline rush that you just don’t get in other genres of film. Horror is by far my favourite type of film as it takes a lot of elements to make a good horror film. You need a good plot, good character development, a hero element, suspense and of course, JUMPS!
I made my way to see Paranormal Activity 3 this week.I saw the first instalment of the film and thought it was pretty good. Many people laughed and didn’t take it seriously but if you are a horror film buff like me, you look beyond what the normal population see and think and acknowledge the work that was put into this type of film and appreciate it.
I unfortunately never got to see the second film but I actually have it on record now so this week will be a sum up of all the films for me.
The third film was much better than the first purely because of budget. The effects were better and the setting was a bit more varied. The first film obviously had a lower budget and was set purely in the home of the couple. As the first and second film grossed so much with lower budgets, the third film had the luxury of more money and therefore had a better quality to it.
I love documentary style films when they are done right. This film did not have that shaky, hand-held video camera style that makes you feel a bit sick watching it. The cameras are mainly stand-alone ones which was better viewing for me. The characters were really well developed as more time was spent learning about them. The film started in present day and back tracked to the past when the sisters (the women from the first and second films) were young.
The film revolves around why the girls are haunted in their present lives. I love how the third film explains much more about the women and how they are personally susceptible to haunting, not the homes. I won’t give away the ending to the film but all I can say is it is quite creepy!
I am personally scared when children are involved in horror films. It is a common theme in films to choose children as the ones who have the link to the ghost realm as it is a well known phenomenon that children are more susceptible to these things. Take ‘Sixth Sense’, ‘Amityville’, and ‘The Shining’ to name a few films that incorporate children who see ghosts or demons.
There are some genuinely scary bits in this film. There are some good quality jump moments and suspense that builds up to the main events and this is what makes a good horror film. There are moments that are slow going but it all adds to the suspense and if you are a lover of horror films similar to this; you understand that it is all about patience.
I like the characters in this film. Dennis is definitely a leading man and you really root for him in this film, he is very likeable. There are comedy elements, especially thanks to the character of Dennis and his sidekick who helps him track down the ghost in his home. I like it when there is comedy cleverly thrown into horror films as it takes a lot of talent and timing to make a film funny and scary at the same time.
They have cleverly released this film close to Halloween to no doubt have another big grossing film. The release of a film is almost as important as the film itself as this determines the amount of people who will actually go to the cinema rather than doing the dreaded download! The cinema was packed when I went and I know many other showings have been. This will hopefully be another success!
My view: I do recommend this film to horror lovers. There are some really intense, goose bumps on the back of your neck, type of scares. It is the best of the three films so get yourself down to the cinema this Halloween!
