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Meadowoods Review

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Meadowoods Cover PosterMovie: Meadowoods
Year: 2010
Studio: Monterey Media
Director: Scott Phillips
Stars: Michael Downey, Kay Ethen, Kerry Goodwin
Language: English
Length: 88 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Thriller, Found Footage

 

Plot: When three very warped college kids plot to torture and murder a randomly chosen fellow student, they craft an elaborate, ghoulish killing chamber and keep a video diary to chronicle their bloody exploit. But as the pals proceed with their ghastly plan, the violence they unleash threatens to consume them as well.

Review: In the long and tiresome list of horror movies that have adopted the handheld scenario, Meadowoods, is just another one in the ever growing line of failed movies that have tried to capture the fame that The Blair Witch Project received, and more recently Paranormal Activity.

The storyline is kind of ridiculous. You have 3 college buddies who want to be “known” for something. They live in a small, uneventful city and want to make their mark on society and be famous, or infamous, depending on your outlook. They decide they will document a murder on film, then shelve the video and release it in their old age.

I am not a backer of these style films. With Meadowoods, you get the shaky cam constantly with cut off heads, dizzying fast movement camera clutter, out of frame video, in-and-out focus, and many sky and ground shots with weak dialog in the background. On top of that, the Director felt the need to go back-and-forth between interviews and footage of the 3 friends concocting this plan of murder. Albeit with pretty lame acting and unexciting characters.

There is a positive to this movie, once the plan starts to unfold and unravel, it does get quite freaky, and there is a twist that most viewers wont expect. Still though, that is over an hour into the movie, and by then you are completely out of the flick. Put simply, Meadowoods should be avoided. Chalk it up as another crappy handheld horror film.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 06/24/2012
Rating: 2/10
Recommendation: Avoid		 Trailer: Watch
DVD: Overstock
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Facebook

Quarantine 2: Terminal Review

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Quarantine 2 - Terminal Cover PosterMovie: Quarantine 2: Terminal
Year: 2011
Studio: RCR Media Group
Director: John Pogue
Stars: Mercedes Masohn, Josh Cooke, Bre Blair
Language: English
Length: 86 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Zombies

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Plot: When a virus that turns its victims into crazed killers infects travelers on an airplane, authorities seal off the jet to let the virus run its course. Realizing they’ve been left to die, a flight attendant and a passenger plan a daring escape.

Review: What a whirlwind of a surprise Quarantine 2: Terminal is. If you seen the original movie, or the Spanish films, Rec or Rec 2, which this movie is based upon, you would think you are getting a sloppy handheld smorgasbord of chopped of heads and spiraling camerawork. Quite the opposite with Quarantine 2, this is a professionally shot film with a 180 degree turnabout from the Rec films. High praise goes out to the filmmakers for not following the norm and changing up the story dramatically.

This thrilling sequel even features some notable horror stars including the beautiful Mercedes Masohn from Red Sands and the new TV series 666 Park Avenue, Phillip DeVona from Premonition, Julie Gribble from ChromeSkull: Laid To Rest 2 and Lynn Cole from 2005’s Dark Remains.

A little more on the story; airline passengers are stuck in flight when the virus outbreak unfolds this time around. With small quarters and nowhere to run, the stewardesses, crew and travelers must defend against these ravaging, zombie-esque infected, that want nothing more than to eat flesh. The plane is able to land, but only to succumb to an isolated airport hangar, where the remaining survivors get trapped by local authorities, so the virus doesn’t spread to the mass population.

I am still shocked, even while writing this review, that Quarantine 2 turned out so extremely scary, terrifying and brilliantly crafted. There are many neck and face chomping scenes, startling and loud music, zombie charging effects, and tons of gory parts. The story flowed nicely with very little downtime, which keeps you engaged in its entirety. The makeup effects were another huge positive, along with the acting, which was way above par.

Quarantine 2: Terminal is available in retail stores and many online outlets too. Sad to say there is no BluRay for this smart little zombie film, but it has been reported that one is to come down the road. With approximately a $4 million dollar budget, and a straight to DVD campaign, I have a feeling this movie might get overlooked by the mainstream. I am here to tell you, do not hesitate, grab Quarantine 2 today, you will not be disappointed.

On a side note; Quarantine 2: Terminal was my personal favorite zombie film of 2011. I even gave it a nod on Grisly Zone 013: Top 10 Horror Movies Of 2011 And Predictions For 2012. That is a must-watch episode of Grisly Zone that countdowns the best horror films of the previous year.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 06/23/2012
Rating: 7½/10
Recommendation: Buy Movie		 Trailer: Watch
DVD: Walmart
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Facebook

Evidence Review

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Evidence Cover PosterMovie: Evidence
Year: 2011
Studio: RynoRyder Productions
Director: Howie Askins
Stars: Ryan McCoy, Brett Rosenberg
Language: English
Length: 73 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Found Footage
 

Plot: Four friends embark on a camping trip to an isolated wilderness to shoot a documentary one of them is making. On the first night the group hear blood-curdling cries and see unexplainable shadows surrounding the camp causing them to question whether they should leave. Suddenly the night takes a terrifying turn when one of the group goes missing and the remaining three realize they are being brutally hunted… but by what?

Review: Well, where should I begin?  With the past success of The Blair Witch Project and the most recent success of the Paranormal Activity series, the found footage film is alive and well…which most of the time sucks for the horror fan.  Let me be honest here, I am not a huge fan of the found footage sub-genre, but occasionally there is something worth writing about.  And Evidence just might be that “needle in a haystack”, if I do say so myself.

It is your basic run of the mill story about a group of friends that decide to take a camping trip.  One of the friends decides to make a documentary film about his best friend and his first time “roughing it, in the great outdoors.”  It does start out giving you that feeling of…”I’ve seen this before.”  Well folks, not for long.  This movie is not like anything you have watched in the past.  I really don’t want to give too much away about this film, but damn do I want to.

The initial opening act of the film deals with some very cool characters that are very easy to connect with, which is mainly due to the fact that they are likable in a sense.  The film does have a few slow spots, but the characters keep you into the film.  But hey, once this thing gets going…boy does it get going.

In the second part of the film, we start to get to the good stuff.  The friends start hearing things and seeing some strange things that peak their interest, and make them want to get the hell out of the woods.  In Evidence, you actually get to see some of the strange goings on before it is balls to the wall in the third act.

The third act is an act all unto itself, and that might just be an understatement.  Talk about a twist to the end of this film.  I think it has more twists, ups and downs, and insanity than a roller coaster.  The things at the end of this film, I have never seen before, and I have been talking about this movie all day.  I can’t wait to watch it again, and look for things that I am sure I missed.

Evidence will affect you that is for sure…just be prepared to see things that you haven’t seen before.  Give this movie a chance, even if you’re not a fan of found footage.  You might just be surprised at this little movie.  You won’t be disappointed…I know that I wasn’t.

Check out Land Of The Creeps with myself and GregaMortis and “Help Keep Horror Alive.”

Reviewer: Haddonfield Hatchet
Date: 04/05/2012
Rating: 7½/10
Recommendation: Buy		 Trailer: Watch
DVD: Amazon.uk
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Facebook

Paranormal Activity 3 Review

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Paranormal Activity 3 Cover PosterMovie: Paranormal Activity 3
Year: 2011
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Language: English
Length: 85 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Paranormal

Plot: A malign and murderous spirit continues to dwell within a San Diego home in this second creepy sequel to 2007’s chilling Paranormal Activity. Hoping to catch photo evidence of Bloody Mary, the residents soon become victims in their own horror film.

Review: Just in case you don’t know, I literally loathe handheld, shaky cam, documentary, home movie style horror movies. I think for the most part they are a directorial cop out, and what really makes my skin boil is the flood of these horror movies that have hit to the streets since “The Blair Witch Project.” Now after those scathing remarks you will no doubt assume that this will be a poor review for Paranormal Activity 3, well continue reading as you might be surprised.

Paranormal Activity 3 is a prequel happening before the original movie. We do get a brief clip of the star Katie Featherston in the beginning of the movie, but for the most part the story revolves around her family when she was a pre-teen along with her younger sister, mother and step-dad.

The family begins to experience supernatural happenings that gets progressively worse as in both Paranormal Activity 1 and 2. But this time around they actually show more diabolical phenomenon’s, and what they show is quite disturbing and generally scary. This time around it effects children and it effects them hard. One of the girls has an imaginary friend that turns violent and very abusive.

The last 20 minutes are downright creepy, and the director pulled off some scenes that were unbelievably freaky. The story ends in a completely shocking nature you never seen coming. This goliath of a franchise will, I predict, have a 4th installment, no doubt whatsoever.

I enormously appreciated that this movie doesn’t have an abundance of shaky cam, most of it is stationary, and there is even an ingenious part where the step-dad concocts an oscillating fan with a piece of wood to make a smooth panning shot. Even the sounds grab you making for a half a dozen jump scenes. I still can’t believe that this style film has garnered a recommendation from me, for the first time ever might an add. This is by far the best unprofessional video camera movie ever made. I am here to tell you, go watch Paranormal Activity 3 at the theater, you will be scared!

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 10/27/2011
Rating: 7/10
Recommendation: Go See It		 Trailer: Watch
DVD: N/A – In Theaters
BluRay: N/A – In Theaters
Social Media: Facebook