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The Devil Inside Review

January 20, 2012 By Horror Palace 2 Comments

Movie: The Devil Inside
Year: 2012
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: William Brent Bell
Language: English
Length: 83 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Paranormal, Exorcisms

Plot: At once spooky and grisly, this thriller follows a woman’s quest to find the truth behind claims that her mother killed three people during an exorcism. The daughter’s journey takes her to Italy, where she becomes involved in other exorcisms.

Review: The movie opens up with a 911 call in which a woman tells she had just murdered 3 people, then it goes to news footage of the crime scene and we get to see the bloody bodies which was very believable. Jump to present day and we get to meet Isabella who is the daughter of the woman who murdered these people and is now locked up in a mental institution in Italy.

Isabella decides to go to Italy to see her mother and to try and find out exactly what happened and to delve into the world of exorcism by making a documentary and even takes some classes on the subject.

The movie drags a little here while building character references and we meet a couple of priests who are doing exorcisms on people who the church felt were mentally challenged and not possessed. They decide to let Isabella and her camera man in on the action to film and this is where you get to see the first exorcism.

When you first get to see this girl who is kept down in this dark basement it is quite shocking the way her body is contorted and some of the things that she does. Shortly after we get to see an exorcism performed on Isabella’s mother which was a little chilling but not as shocking as what will happen after.

There are quite a few shocking things that happen in this movie that I was totally not expecting, surprisingly there is quite a bit of gore. I cringed a couple of times and was like (Holy Shit). There are a lot of screams throughout the movie that were blood curdling and I really liked the way they ended this movie, totally unexpected and a really good video effect.

My biggest negative for this movie is of course the documentary style and the shaky cam, I absolutely hate it! God if they would of made this like a regular movie it would of been so awesome.

Yes this was my top pick movie for the year 2012 and I knew going into it that it was documentary style but my love for possession movies and with The Exorcist being my all time favorite horror movie I had to go with this one. Besides the shaky camera work I was a little disappointed in the voices of the possessed, I think they should of gone with a deep crackling voice.

To me this movie had enough startling shocking moments and a bit of a twist to spend the money and go see it in the theaters. No it is not the new Exorcist and I don’t think they will ever make a movie that will take the top spot on my horror list but the story, acting and shock factor make this one to watch.

I don’t know where this will end up being on my list of best 2012 horror movies, probably not going to be number 1 but I enjoyed it and I think most horror fans will. If this movie wasn’t documentary style I would of given it around a 9 but seeing that it was my rating is a 7½, GO SEE IT!!

Reviewer: ChrisiFix
Date: 01/20/2012
Rating: 7½/10
Recommendation: See It

Trailer: Watch
DVD: N/A – In Theaters
BluRay: N/A – In Theaters
Social Media: Twitter

Reeker Review

December 24, 2011 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Movie: Reeker
Year: 2005
Studio: Primal Pictures
Director: Dave Payne
Language: English
Length: 87 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Thriller, Supernatural

Plot: A group of strangers finds common ground in a remote desert town when they realize they’re being hunted by a foul-smelling enemy. But can they stay alive long enough to neutralize the rotting killer who’s mucking up the air around them? Devon Gummersall ("My So-Called Life"), Eric Mabius ("Ugly Betty") and veteran character actor Michael Ironside (Top Gun, Total Recall) co-star in this tongue-in-cheek horror romp from writer-director Dave Payne.

Review: You immediately get jutted into Reeker from the get-go. A family traveling cross-country hits a deer, and when they stop to get out, their friendly pet gets demolished, and the husband loses half of his face. The brutal parts happened off-screen but it left you wondering what in the world was happening.

After the opening, you must be patient as no more on-screen turmoil happens for another 35 minutes. You meet 5 friends who are traveling on the same road going to Area 52 for a rave. On their way there the ground shakes and all other cars and people vanish. They get held up in a sleazy motel when this supernatural being starts hunting them down.

Blood is minimal but their was one extremely terrifying scene when one of the teenage girls gets locked in an outhouse when the Reeker comes to take her life. The other kills were pretty bland with the score pumping up the decibels, but failing at all jump scares.

When you find out what the madness is behind the story, it actually was a decent payoff. I was engaged in this film, but it just didn’t have enough bite to garner a better than an average rating. Don’t seek it out, but if you’re walking down a Blockbuster or a local rental shop aisle, pick it up for a night, it’s worth a one-time viewing.

Final note; there is a sequel to this titled “No Man’s Land: The Rise Of Reeker” that was released in 2008 on both DVD and BluRay. Suffice it to say, Reeker, didn’t affect me enough to even search out part 2. It’s a forgettable movie but one that possibly the supernatural crowd could be into, just don’t expect anything too scary.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 12/24/2011
Rating: 5/10
Recommendation: Rental

Trailer: Watch
DVD: Best Buy
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Wikipedia

Paranormal Activity 3 Review

October 27, 2011 By Horror Palace 2 Comments

Movie: 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

Playing House Review

October 26, 2011 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Movie: Playing House
Year: 2010
Studio: UV Pictures
Director: Tom Vaughan
Language: English
Length: 84 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Thriller

Plot: In this taut thriller, newlyweds Jen and Mitch find that three’s company and four’s a crowd when they ask their friend Danny to move in with them to share expenses. But a sweet situation turns sour when Danny invites a new person into the mix.

Review: Playing House is in the vain of box office megahit “Fatal Attraction” and on the independent side “She’s Crushed” from 2009. It is not a movie that brings anything new to the table, but that doesn’t hurt it for me. It is very rare for a new movie to have a completely unique concept, and it pains me that a lot of reviewers hold that against films. Pretty much every film ever made nowadays has implemented something from the past.

So let’s jump to the story; a doctor (Craig Welzbacher) and his chef wife (Sarah Prikryl) buy their dream home, and to help pay the mortgage they invite there friend (Matt Lusk) to stay with them. He is the quintessential definition of a nerd; dorky and ugly with low self esteem. He commissions the Internet to setup a date for him and guess what; a hot Latina (Mayra Leal) shows up and takes a liking to him, or does she?

The story progresses into a sick obsession with the opposite male which leads to murder, lies and all sorts of thrilling engagements. You come to learn that a housemate has a troubling past as in all these style obsession films. What helps Playing House so much is that the two women in it are absolute knockouts. In addition, the acting was very credible and totally believable. There wasn’t that many instances in this movie I thought they were out of character.

For me, this was a gripping story that I was fully invested in. I “cared” about the characters and I wanted to see the loon get justice. The final 30 minutes of the film get tense, and even though most of these style films are predictable down to the T, I was fully absorbed in the characters. Playing House even had a riveting audio track in certain parts I liked. The downfall wasn’t much; a few poor fighting scenes, it drug in spots and they skimped on the gore. Overall it is well worth a watch. Would I watch it again you might ask; I don’t think so, once you know the outcome there is nothing left to revisit.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 10/26/2011
Rating: 5½/10
Recommendation: Rental

Trailer: Watch
DVD: Buy.com
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Facebook

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