Skip to content

John’s Horror Corner: The Boy (2016), a pleasantly entertaining evil doll movie with a ridiculous premise, an awkwardly eerie atmosphere and a straight-faced delivery.

February 4, 2016

    MV5BMTc1MjcxNzcwMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTE0NTE2NzE@__V1_SX640_SY720_

MY CALL: This movie samples heavily from The House of the Devil (2009) and Housebound (2014), but lacks the stylistic magic of either. That said, I found this movie to be quite enjoyable. Not good, mind you, but enjoyable. The delivery is spot on for this otherwise ridiculous premise.

the-boy-2

I know.  This job DOES sound too good to be true!

I walked into this movie with hopeful optimism, praying this wouldn’t be another evil doll movie disaster like Annabelle (2014; podcast discussion of Annabelle). I’m quite happy to say I enjoyed it…yet I would hesitate to call it “good.” It’s fun, it’s enjoyable (in my opinion anyway), but I could see a lot of people getting annoyed with it.

Screen-Shot-2016-01-11-at-5_46_10-PM-620x400

MV5BMjA0NzUxNTg5Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzA4NzA3NzE@__V1_SX640_SY720_

In the first half of The Boy our very capable director William Brent Bell (Wer, Stay Alive, The Devil Inside) samples heavily from The House of the Devil (2009) as we meet Greta (Lauren Cohan; The Walking Dead). Hired to nanny a young boy while his senior citizen parents are on a 3-month holiday–a little odd, by the way, to hire a nanny you’ve never met to meet your 8-year-old child one day and then spend the next 3 months alone with him as his sole caretaker–she travels all the way from America to a remote manor in England–so remote that, of course, there is no cell reception or internet access–only to find out that the boy is, in fact, a doll which the perhaps disturbed and elderly parents consider to be very much alive.

BOY_092_DF-10870R_rgb-620x400

The+Boy+trailer

The delivery from the parents is awkward, eerie and a bit funny–probably exactly as intended. These nutty parents maintain a dire poker face while referring to the “boy” (strangely named Brahms like he’s some Austrian composer) as if this creepy doll could hear and understand them. But, just like The House of the Devil (2009), the pay is so unreasonably high to conduct such a (suspiciously) simple task that she stays despite the fact that her Creep-o-meter is reading an 11.  Oh, right, and the boy has rules.

What-Twist-End-Boy-Horror-Movie

As laughably farfetched as this premise sounds, I felt it was well-delivered and quite enjoyable. They got the tone just right. So if this movie isn’t for you, my guess is it’s because this kind of movie in general isn’t for you. It’s also not gory and more creepy than scary.

the-boy

I know what she’s thinking.  The answer is yes, Lauren, this film IS going to reduce you to doing a shower scene.

maxresdefault

And the answer is no, Walking Dead fans, you don’t see her naked.  LOL.  Just some upper thigh action.

My biggest criticism would have to be the needless addition of Greta’s crazy, violent, obsessed and abusive ex-boyfriend. He’s mentioned in the beginning to help justify Greta looking overseas for work, but after a couple more mentions it becomes obvious that we’re going to meet this Mr. Personality eventually. Thankfully it’s late in the movie, but the character adds nothing to the story. In fact, I found his presence aggravating.

Screen-Shot-2016-01-04-at-9_27_25-AM

After all sorts of needless drama picks up steam as we get on board the train to crazytown after “something bad” happens to the doll. Any explanation beyond that would surely spoil the ending. But the movie succeeds in maintaining an uncomfortably eerie atmosphere and some of the jump-scares were simply epic…for jump-scares anyway. I really enjoyed them.

the_boy_04

thumbnail_23403

This movie has a ridiculous premise, a straight-faced delivery, and it meets us in the middle with a very entertaining and in no way slapstick experience.

Gruesome-Banner-TheBoy-820x410

MV5BMTc1MjcxNzcwMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTE0NTE2NzE@__V1_SX640_SY720_

 

The MFF Podcast #45: The Best Comedies of the 21st Century

February 3, 2016

MFF

Hello all. Mark here.

You can stream the pod on Blog Talk Radio or download it from Itunes. If you get a chance please rate the review the pod. You are awesome!

The MFF podcast is back and we are talking the best 21st century comedies! I recently broke down the critical/audience data on 370 comedies and figured out the top rated comedies of this century. The list is eclectic (we wouldn’t have it any other way) and the discussion covers everything from Sideways to Out Cold to Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil.

tucker-and-dale-vs-evil-szenebild-1

Horror comedy is still comedy….with lots of college kids killing themselves.

As always we answer random questions and ponder whether Yetis are actually vampire/werewolf hybrids. John Leavengood continues his love affair with Ryan Reynolds and I wax poetic about Wes Anderson. You will love it.

You can stream the pod on Blog Talk Radio or download it from Itunes. If you get a chance please rate the review the pod.

 

John’s Horror Corner: Unfriended (2015), an indie Techno-Horror about a Skype session with a vengeful spirit.

February 2, 2016

Poster%20Unfriended%20(2014)

MY CALL: As silly as it may sound, this neither scary nor gory indie Techno-Horror about a Skype session with a vengeful spirit was somehow VERY engaging to me. If you can get me interested in a film that takes place entirely on a computer monitor about a Skype call gone wrong, then you’ve succeeded as a filmmaker. Contrary to all expectations, I found myself introduced to characters that feel like “real people” doing “normal things” and reacting credibly to incredible circumstances–I liked them a lot. These kids all did a excellent job and so did the director and writing team!
MORE MOVIES LIKE Unfriended:
Other technology-linked horror (or “techno-horror”) include White Noise (2005), Pulse (2001, 2006), Strangeland (1998), Other Halves (2016), Stay Alive (2006) and One Missed Call (2003, 2008).

unfriended

Contrary to all expectations, I found myself introduced to characters that feel like “real people” doing “normal things” and reacting credibly to incredible circumstances–I liked them a lot.

unfriended-trailer-0s

After reviewing a video of her friend Laura’s (Heather Sossaman; Desecrated, Fairy Tales) suicide online and the embarrassing party video (posted by her “friends”) that led to her suicide, we meet Blaire (Shelley Hennig; Teen Wolf, Ouija), a cute normal teenager Skyping with her boyfriend Mitch (Moses Storm). They playfully joke about blue balls and virginity and make plans for prom night when they are ambushed on a group Skype call by a couple of their friends…along with a mystery caller who joined the group. What’s weird is that this mystery caller must have answered for Mitch and Blaire, who was in the middle of a strip tease when the call was answered.

unfriended-2

The group (Matt, Val, Adam, Jess, Ken) considers the mystery caller to be a hacker. But things get immediately more disturbing when Mitch and Blaire begin to receive harassing messages from Laura’s Facebook account (or whoever the hacker is)–so Blaire “unfriends” her account.

Unfriended_70934

unfriended-3

This hacker begins to type messages via the others’ accounts and uses their accounts (like Facebook) to post incriminating photos of each other, all the while insisting that it is, in fact, the deceased Laura. Conceptually, this may not sound so cool or edgy, but all this is happening in “real time”–so 90 minutes to us viewers is 90 minutes in the lives of the characters–and Laura threatens that if Blaire hangs up all her friends will die.

unfriended-2k

The only hokey thing about this movie are the deaths. While I giggled with satisfaction at the blender scene, the scene is choppy as if from poor internet signal.

unfriended3

This may annoy some viewers but I liked the flavor and it allowed this low budget flick work for me. Evidently Laura’s vengeful spirit is possessing those who slandered who one by one, and makes them kill themselves. She also gets them to turn on each other, playing vicious mind games with them.

Unfriendedm

Who’s up for a game of Never Have I Ever?

It’s all a little juvenile. But then, that’s simply the age group of the protagonists. And I must say how nice it is to see horror victims behaving in ways that largely make sense. They may not think of everything we would, but they are in tough situations which makes their absent-mindedness all too credibly human. What’s more is that they use cell phones, texting, Google searches, Facebook, Youtube, Skype and Gmail…making this the opposite of the communicative vacuum that is the “cabin in the woods” scenario.

I was especially impressed at the nuance in Mitch and Blaire’s message typing; the pauses, the deletions and rewrites, the delays while thinking about how to word something or whether or not to click send, even the scrambling between message boards and Facebook chats. It all felt very believable, very normal–but panicked. You really need to see it to understand, but this simple thing (i.e., the depiction of “typing messages” in a movie) has perhaps never been done better. This doesn’t feel anything like found footage horror, but something else altogether. I almost want to call it social media horror or console horror–“techno-horror.”

This neither scary nor gory movie was somehow VERY engaging to me–and I’m an over-analytical guy in his mid-30s. I’ve got to say, if you can get me interested in a film that takes place entirely on a girl’s computer monitor about a bunch of teenagers on a group Skype call turned-highway-to-Hell, then you’ve succeeded as a filmmaker. These kids all did a great job and so did the director and writing team!

untitled

Unfriended-TC-1

Unfriended-Jess-Curling-Iron

Unfriended;

 

 

John’s Horror Corner: Goodnight Mommy (2014), the story of a mother scorned by her children’s distrust…or children scorned by an evil imposter!

February 1, 2016

goodnight-mommy-poster-691x1024

MY CALL: This Austrian film is slow but stimulating, delicate yet brutal, and simultaneously sympathetic and cold. Some may comfortably pick a side to trust, but I found my sympathies indivisible across the tortured family. I’d call that a victory despite this film’s blatant premature predictability and a “great reveal” that falls flat.
MORE MOVIES LIKE Goodnight Mommy:
The Uninvited (2009), The Visit (2015), Hide and Seek (2005), Orphan (2009) and Identity (2003), all of which do a better job at maintaining their mystery until the right time.
HOW YOU CAN WATCH IT: I saw this for free with my Amazon Prime Subscription.

Ok. Just to start out, I’d like to warn you that I confidently had this movie figured out after 12 minutes. No joke. I’m normally good at things like that–but in this case I think I was given a little too much a little too soon to piece things together a bit too prematurely. Now, hey, I still enjoyed this film. But something like this could spoil some people’s movie experience. On with the review…

goodnight-mommy-review-a-horror-for-the-whole-family-633136

When first meet the identical twins, Lukas and Elias (Lukas and Elias Schwarz), they are refreshingly playing outside as young boys once did before the advent of videogame consoles, Netflix and the internet. They are clearly the best of friends and do everything together from hide and seek to burping contests on their large family farm estate in the countryside.

1133868

After returning home to recover from a terrible accident that initially goes completely unexplained, their unrecognizably bandaged mother (Susanne Wuest) is not greeted as warmly as she’d like–hardly a kind word is exchanged after the boys coldly deny her so much as a welcome home hug. Clearly any children would be shocked to see their mother’s face obscured by gauze. But this is more than that. In that moment, Mommy earns audience sympathy while being dehumanized in the boys’ eyes. It is evident that the boys doubt that this is, in fact, their mother standing before them.

1441934688922

Mommy makes her best effort to return to normal, but something is off. One twin (perhaps more disrespectfully than fearfully?) doesn’t speak directly to Mommy but rather whispers in his brother’s ear and, as a result, he is treated unfavorably.

goodnight-mommyl

More things hint that something is off. Mommy insists that she will not see visitors, the boys refer to what dad lets them do but he is never seen or mentioned otherwise, and Mommy essentially never even acknowledges the other brother as if implementing some form of extreme silent treatment. The boys’ somewhat surreal dreams convey the intensity of their distrust and other little hints (or red herrings?) abound, but I won’t ruin any of it for you.

goodnight-mommy-v-s-perfe-572838

GoodnightMommy

As the story endures, the boys’ distrust only amplifies and so accordingly does Mommy’s impatience for their acceptance–which is never directly addressed. Their fantasies depict her as a something monstrous and inhuman–meanwhile they literally pray for the return of their “real” mother. Ultimately, the boys and Mommy turn to extreme measures and the film shifts from psychologically uneasy to brutal.

giphy

The greatest fault of this film–other than its blatant predictability–was that when the time came for it to reveal the truth, it just sort of “tells us.” As a whole the film still worked for me, and I’d even recommend it to anyone in search of something different from the horror genre; a change of pace. But realize that to some, this flaw may not be considered as forgivable as it was to me. Furthermore, I was delighted by the editing, cinematography and splendid acting. This was the first feature film for writer/director team Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala and I’m thrilled to see what they do next. There are some intense scenes, just a few with blood, mostly involving the threat or act of domestic violence. But we delve briefly into torture porn during the dental floss, cockroach and super glue scenes.

giphy-facebook_s

This film is slow but stimulating, delicate yet brutal, and simultaneously sympathetic and cold. Some may comfortably pick whom to trust, but I found my sympathies indivisible across the tortured family. I’d call that a victory.

goodnight-mommy-review-a-horror-for-the-whole-family-633137

For a less favorable, critical-but-fair second opinion on this film–just to hear both sides–check out this review [CLICK HERE].

goodnight-mommy-poster

tumblr_nuuvgzl4nx1rpxkmvo1_400

goodnight-mommy

Goodnight Mommy: A Glossy Horror Film That Prefers Style Over Substance

January 28, 2016

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!

Goodnight Mommy movie poster

SPOILERS ABOUND!!!!!

Goodnight Mommy is beautifully filmed horror movie that prefers looking awesome over offering anything that makes the violence redeemable. It is empty calories disguised as art house cinema and is getting a lot of attention because Austria submitted it as their Best Foreign Language  entry for the Academy Awards. Watching Goodnight Mommy felt like slow walk into a spiked wall that is 200 yards directly in front of you. You see the spiked wall off in the distance so there is no surprise as you inch closer and closer.  I knew exactly where Goodnight Mommy was going and despite all the fantastic cinematography and new horror elements it felt familiar.

Normally, I am down for intelligent and critically loved horror but nothing in this film worked for me. It felt like a midnight film met a pretentious (and talented) film student and formed a hybrid that tried to be clever. It bums met out that it has been overshadowing gems like Spring, Creep and Housebound because they are all much more ambitious and earnest.  Over the last two years I’ve written copious amounts about the indie horror boom and loved movies like Bone Tomahawk, Under the Skin and The Babadook. Those movies have a heart and soul and presented their indie horror ideas with clarity and a lack of pretentiousness.

Goodnight Mommy tells the story of a mother returning to her remote country home after facial reconstruction. She is welcomed by her two kids named Lukas and Elias who spend their days patrolling the countryside and burning cockroaches to death. The mother refuses to acknowledge Lukas and only feeds and talks to Elias. At this point it should become painfully obvious that there is only one kid and I was surprised to learn that people didn’t see the twist coming. I am still amazed because I never pick up on twists and I noticed this twist two minutes in. I actually thought it was so obvious that the real twist would be that Lukas was actually alive and the mom was a total jerk. However, that wasn’t the case we get a bunch of mom torture.

Goodnight Mommy Mom bandages

Poor lady.

I totally understand the cool Austrain vibe and adherence to patience but it all felt too obligatory. If you want to watch a movie about body dismemberment I recommend the film Cheap Thrills. It is a ballsy and tough little film about escalating dares. The villains keep their mystery and the two participants are likable and actually grow on you. The violence feels warranted because the filmmakers created a movie where you like the people and their motives seem plausible. It doesn’t gloss itself up or feel too cold because the movie has a purpose.

Goodnight Mommy is artificial in almost every aspect and that prevented  me from caring about it. If you are into midnight horror films gussied up in an arthouse veneer you will love Goodnight Mommy. The violence is nasty and the build up is extreme and will most certainly satiate your need to see super glue used creatively.

The Finest Hours: A Fantastic Old School Film That Does the True Story Justice

January 27, 2016

The Finest Hours movie poster

.

The Finest Hours is an old school rescue film that is unpretentious, earnest and a lot of fun. The film is set in 1952 and tells the story of a massive oil tanker named the SS Pendleton that broke in half off the coast of Massachusetts. A nor-easter ripped the boat  apart and left 30 men stranded aboard the ship. In any other circumstance they would’ve certainly perished but between the men aboard the Pendleton and four brave rescuers in a tiny Coast Guard boat they survived. The rescue is still considered the greatest small boat rescue ever and you would have to see it to believe it.

The $80 million film features more than 1,000 CGI shots and does a great job making you feel like you are in the action. I sat squeezing my poor wife’s hand as the 36-foot boat miraculously made its way to the Pendelton without a compass and luxury of daylight. The men aboard the rescue boat should have died about 80 times over yet they kept plugging along in an effort to rescue 30 men in a boat that could only hold 12. The suspense is palpable and if it wasn’t true I would’ve called BS on the whole thing. Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Casey Affleck do a solid job of making you believe they could survive the ordeal and actually inspire men to trust them. Director Craig Gillespie  (Fright Night, Million Dollar Arm) balances action with earnestness and does a fine job juggling all the stock subplots (romance, cranky fishermen, punk crew members) a movie could offer and keeping them in the air.

There are archetypal characters and the cheese factor is high but I was able to look past all of that and embrace the experience. If you leave cynicism at the door I guarantee you will enjoy the journey.  It was a different time and place and I loved the earnest and old school vibe The Finest Hours showcases. The heroics come front and center and  I was really happy to see Casey Affleck playing a hero.

Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) and Tchuda Southerland (Josh Stewart) struggle to keep their ship, the SS Pendleton, from sinking in Disney's THE FINEST HOURS, the heroic action-thriller presented in Digital 3D (TM) and IMAX (c) 3D based on the extrordinary tur story of the most daring rescue mission in the history of the Coast Guard.

.

I love when Disney turns its attention towards true stories. I am a big fan of Cool Runnings, Miracle, Million Dollar Arm and Invincible and they’ve all been very motivating. The things that people can accomplish blow my mind and I love when great and unselfish feats are rewarded. I had never heard of the Pendleton rescue before and now I find the whole endeavor amazing. True stories like this deserve the big screen treatment and The Finest Hours does a fine job honoring the rescue party.

Watch The Finest Hours. Appreciate the true story. Never take a boat out during a nor’easter

The MFF Podcast #44: Cinematic Revenge

January 25, 2016

Print

You can download the pod on Itunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOGTALKRADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!

We hope you enjoyed our previous episode:
MFF Podcast #43: Advice for Cinematic Henchmen.

SUMMARY:  This week we discuss our favorite moments of revenge in film, covering such films as The Revenant, Unforgiven, Jaws Revenge, Payback and Gladiator.

1

We also answer such important questions as…

“Which three characters would you pick to go on an adventure for lost gold with?”
“How did Jaws follow his victim’s family from New England to the Caribbean?”
“What cinematic beast would you not want attacking you?”

payback

LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOGTALKRADIO,
or head over Itunes so you can download, REVIEW, RATE and SHARE the pod.

Gladiator_12Ljpg

 

John’s Horror Corner: Willow Creek (2013), a cleverly made bigfoot monster movie that revitalizes found footage and reminds us that characters are far more important than creatures.

January 23, 2016

willow-creek-poster-2
MY CALL:
This bigfoot movie is not an example of “amazing” filmmaking, but it’s a cleverly made monster movie that revitalizes found footage and reminds us that characters are far more important than creatures. Probably the best bigfoot movie since Harry and the Hendersons (1987), and easily bigfoot’s most successful foray in horror.
MORE MOVIES LIKE Willow Creek:
Afflicted (2013) and Cloverfield (2008) provide excellent examples of creating great characters. I’d also consider The Blair Witch Project (1999).
HOW YOU CAN WATCH IT:  I saw this on my Shudder Subscription via Amazon Prime Video (click here to go to the movie’s page).

willow-creek

If you were to only glean the first five minutes of this film, you’d likely label it as just another tired found footage horror flick not worth your time. I consider myself to be a very open-minded critic and film fan, yet even I was thinking to myself “why am watching this…this couldn’t possibly turn out to be decent…what on earth makes this interesting enough to include in Five 21st Century Creature Features You Might Have Missed?”

willow_creek1

But after about 10-15 minutes I realized that, not only do I not hate our main characters, but I might even like them a little…more their dynamic than the individuals themselves…okay, as the story progressed I liked this couple more and more. Jim (Bryce Johnson; The Skulls III) and Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) are a couple; one a bigfoot believer, the other a pragmatic and skeptical doubter. But we can see that Kelly has embraced Jim’s silly mania because she’s embarking on this Bigfoot Adventure vacation to visit famous sighting localities and interview locals for Jim’s documentary. This might just be their first trip together as a couple, and we get see them grow.

willow-creek-trailer-bobcat-goldthwait

By the time I was halfway through the film I had to remind myself that this was, indeed, a “horror” film because, thus far, I had encountered nothing of the sort. But I didn’t mind. I may not think this film is “amazing” but I was caught up in enjoying watching this couple interview, banter and film their way through Bigfoot Burgers, local believers and witness testimonials on their quirky little vacation.

2-willow-creek

I’m actually reminded of the opening sequences of Cloverfield (2008) and Afflicted (2013). Now, these two films did a far superior job of this, but the similarity is that all these films had the ability to make me forget I was watching horror or sci-fi monster movies as I was content to just watch and see what was happening in these characters’ lives.

WillowCreek266k

Writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait takes heavily replayed horror concepts–like getting lost in the woods (Evil Dead, The Cabin in the Woods) and found footage documentaries-gone-wrong (The Last Exorcism, Grave Encounters)–and presents them with a less familiar spin. He doesn’t waste his time doing what every other filmmaker does. There’s not a single cheap loud noise jump scare, the movie doesn’t open with some brutal or provocative clip (to be revisited/realized at the end of the movie), and the film isn’t prefaced by some harrowing caption on a black screen. There are no gimmicks here, just two likeable characters and the story their journey has to tell…and that story gets pretty interesting in the second half of the movie.

WillowCreek-main-review

The final act addresses the question: “So if you actually find bigfoot, what are you going to do?” In this case, it seems that bigfoot was looking for them. Long and generally quiet scenes are sporadically populated with sasquatch vocalizations, stick knocking and leaf-and-twig-rustling footfalls in the middle of the night. And they’re getting more frequent, louder and CLOSER.

Willow Creek movie

This bigfoot movie is not an example “amazing” filmmaking, but it’s a cleverly made monster movie that revitalizes found footage and reminds us that characters are far more important than creatures. It’s probably the best bigfoot movie since Harry and the Hendersons (1987), and easily bigfoot’s most successful foray in horror. I’d strongly recommend this movie for a couples date night because there is zero gore, it’s more spooky than scary but generally it’s more on the fun side, and the couple’s banter is delightful.

file_173445_1_willow_creek_poster

willow-creek-poster-2

John’s Horror Corner: Other Halves (2016), an indie techno-horror with both feminist and sexual overtones, an evil dating app, and surprisingly good use of nudity.

January 22, 2016

Other-Halves-Teaser-Poster

MY CALL: A pleasant indie horror film with both feminist and sexual overtones, Other Halves presents an evil dating app, a strong female cast and better acting than we should expect. It’s more playful than scary, the movie kills are weak, the gore is “okay”, but what makes this film work is some very likable characters. This is more for critics and film aficionados than general horror fans. MORE MOVIES LIKE Other Halves: Other techno-horror films include Smiley (2012) which uses Skype, Strangeland (1998) which uses old-school chat rooms and Unfriended (2015) which covers everything from Facebook and Skype to Gmail and Google.

Otherhalves2-1024x576

Disclaimer: This review was solicited by the filmmakers. However, my opinion remains unbiased as I was neither hired nor paid to produce this critical review.

For more information about this film visit their official:
Website: www.OtherHalv.es
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt4308714
Twitter: www.twitter.com/otherhalvesfilm
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OtherHalvesFilm
YouTube: www.youtube.com/OtherHalves
(includes trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes)

hqdefault

After opening with a refreshingly honest commercial for the dating app “Other Halves” we cut to Jasmine (Mercedes Manning; Monster Heroes), who has just awoken naked, covered in blood, beside a dead man who was presumably her un-lucky date last night. Amplifying the contrast between these two opening scenes is that Jasmine reacts as if this has happened before. Uh ohhhhh…

other-halves-3

We find the Other Halves programming team working out the bugs on the eve of their big launch. Rather than answering a series of vetting questions, preferences and filling out personal data, the app uses all of your online activity to summarize your “real” preferences to match you with your other half. The problem is that, in this case, the bug opens a psychopathic doorway to our most uninhibited selves (our darker half), which amounts to a bunch of sex and murder.

other-halves-4

As the movie progresses people become “infected” by the app and a series of flashbacks reveal that some of them actually knew about the App’s flaw. But why keep that a secret? Well therein lies your story in this low budget techno-horror.

other-halves-2

Now let’s be honest, people. There’s a good amount of full frontal nudity (male and female) in this movie–some of it gratuitous (okay, most of it), but some of it actually adding value to the scene. Now I’m not complaining about this at all. I’m just warning that you don’t go watching this with your kids or your grandmother. That said, I’d like to point out that there is a rather long shower scene in which we see Devon (Lauren Lakis; Lovely Molly, Witch’s Brew) and Jasmine completely naked for a good while. But what sets this film apart is that, and I shit you not, these ladies are seriously acting throughout this scene… totally naked, but addressing some pertinent plot points as seriously as if they were in an informal meeting. Bravo, filmmakers! I’d say you’ve risen above adding boobs to get teenagers to buy your movie and sort of made nudity cool again.

other-halves-1

Some of the characters’ reactions were, at times, a little exaggerated. But this is to be expected in horror and, to be quite honest, the acting vastly eclipsed any expectations I had for a low budget horror capitalizing on dating and sex for its theme. I also found myself really liking a some of the characters, particularly the quirky optimist Devon, the geek-in-love (Megan Hui), and the rigidly literal socially awkward German Jana (Melanie Friedrich). These characters (these actors) offered up more than most horror movies deserve. And whereas the plot was quite basic, I never found myself bothered by its simplicity. The cast carried this film much to my satisfaction and they did so with the female characters bringing all of the strength for both protagonists and antagonists alike. The men filled more supporting roles–eye candy, love interests, victims. Even the female nudity was delivered in a minimally exploitative manner–even if gratuitous.

Other-Halves-1

maxresdefault

My only real complaints would be budget-linked. For example, there are a couple good efforts regarding the gore but the actual killing (except for a weak strangle scene), takes place off-camera. The ending also really gets overly hammed up–I guess I didn’t really care for that, or the “big reveal.” But sometimes simple concepts and melodrama are necessary tools to ensure your entire audience follows and understands the journey to its end.

oh1

Writer/director Matthew T. Price did a pretty nice job for his horror film. Am I going to recommend this film to general horror fans? Honestly, probably not. But I would recommend this to deeper and more thoughtful fans of the genre, particularly indie horror fans, who are always on the lookout for promising new filmmakers and underutilized concepts (i.e., techno-horror, social media horror, feminist themes). And I really like what Price and his cast accomplished. I’d like to see what this crew could do with a little more money and, no offense to the writers, but a little more experience.

other_halves_featured

A pleasant indie horror film with both feminist and sexual overtones, Other Halves presents an evil dating app, a strong female cast and better acting than we should expect. It’s more playful than scary, the movie kills are weak, the gore is “okay”, but what makes this film work is some very likable characters.

Otherhalves5

 

 

 

MFF Podcast #43: Advice for Cinematic Henchmen

January 20, 2016

MFF

Hello all. Mark here.

You can listen to the MFF podcast on Blog Talk Radio or you can download it on Itunes. If you get a chance please make sure to rate, review and subscribe!

Cinematic henchmen occasionally make very stupid decisions. They fight on moving vehicles, attack the Incredible Hulk and apply for jobs in secret lairs. Their poor decision making has spelled their doom and it has gotten boring. So, I wrote up 10 pieces of advice and we recorded a spirited podcast that will help the henchmen of this world.

Incredibles

Don’t be the henchmen who gets knocked out by a well-thrown rock.

As always we answer incredibly random questions and wax poetic about whether or not Kurt Russell waxes his mustache. If you have any random questions for us please comment below or message us on Twitter/Facebook.

Enjoy the pod!

Head over to Blog Talk Radio or Itunes!