Aftershock (2012)

Eli Roth’s second film released this year is better then The Last Exorcism Part 2 but nothing special as Aftershock plays out as your standard run of the mill disaster film with more gore and violence. But more gore and more violence don’t make up for bad writing and bad acting. 

The film begins with three friends touring Chile. Eli Roth’s character named Gringo...yeah, they couldn't give him an American name, is the American who doesn’t speak Spanish while his three friends Ariel played by Ariel Levey and Pollo portrayed by Nicolás Martínez do. These characters are put through mind numbing scenes of tourism that are so slow you will be banging your head off the ground out of how slow it is. There is some character development but nothing interesting and the one looks like want-to-be Zach Galifianakis from The Hangover, which takes you out of the film. We really have no reason to care for any of the characters. 

The earthquake scene is gory and people are getting crushed but it dare I say it boring. We have seen it all it before and there is nothing special about it.  One of the main plot points of the film is that when the earthquake hits it destroys a prison and all the psychos and prisoners get out. It’s an interesting take on the disaster genre that we really haven’t seen before. I just wish they could have done more with it. Yeah, these guys cause trouble and yeah, they are brutal but it only seems that there only after the main characters. I would have liked to see the criminals on a larger scale, causing havoc and hell through the entire town and not just where the main characters are. 

As the movie goes on it gets really predictable, except for an added twist and a few other surprises that you may not see coming. The acting here is pretty bad, it’s a good thing Eli Roth is a producer/director because holly fuck, he cannot act worth shit.  You want to talk about hammy, hallow and forced. Everyone else really doesn’t act that well either. Even the psychos fall flat.

It’s an average disaster thriller with Eli Roth’s gore and grisly violence thrown in it and adding the escaped prisoner adds a nice twist. But, the prisoners are not expanded enough and the gore and violence just feels really gimmicky. You take all the violence and psychos this movie would have been boring as hell.

2.5 out of 5 

Blu-ray Releases Tuesday, May, 14th 2013

We only have 1 Blu-ray that's horror coming out today, Texas Chainsaw 3D (Review Here). Though the film may have been lacking in pretty much everything, the second disc is AMAZING. Personally, I think its worth a purchase for that disk alone. Edited by Andrew Kasch, who has done some amazing work with the Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy documentary as well as doing a kick ass job on the special features on our favorite Blu-rays like Evil Dead 2, Friday the 13th and Halloween. 
Other release include Cloud Atlas and Charlie Sheen's disappointing return to film in A Glimpse inside the Mind of Charles Swan III.  

Scream Factory Releasing John Carpenter's Body Bags

The good folks at Scream Factory have just announced their plans on their Facebook page to release John Carpenter's Body Bags on Blu-ray before the end of 2013.
No further details were released but more information will be revealed during July and August.

Source: Scream Factory Facebook Page

American Horror Story: Coven Gets Big Name Stars

American Horror Story: Coven is packing a lot of punch with the name actors and actresses they are getting and these next two are no exception.
Ryan Murphy, co-creator of the series took to twitter to announce two new faces that will be in Coven.
Ryan Murphy's Tweet: "Two legends are joining the cast of American Horror Story: Coven -- Oscar nominee Angela Bassett and Tony winner Patti LuPone!"
No details were released to who they would be playing on the show.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters takes the infamous fable of a brother and sister lured in by a witch and expands on what the two siblings do after it. As a result we have a fun, gory, violent R rated fairy tale that’s a lot of fun to watch even in 2D. The story is simple Hansel and Gretel take up the profession of witch hunting. As we see the two sleigh witches in action packed scenes that usually end in a very violent death for the witch.

They stumble upon a village devastated by the abduction of their children. With the village accusing witches, our hero’s nab a job on finding the witches and saving the children.

The action scenes in this film are stylized to a certain degree. This keeps the energy up as the films pace is quick cutting. This film does not need to be seen in 3D at all, in all honesty, there are probably 3 or 4 scenes that are 3D’ed when something just points at the screen. The graphic violence and its mean spiritedness is what helps this film propel itself from other re-imagining fables like Snow White and The Huntsmen or The Brothers Grimm. Heads explode, witches get hacked to pieces, some one gets shot they spray blood.

The acting is pretty solid for this kind of film. Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton are believable as a brother sister duo and each hold their own when playing off each other. Everybody has been praising Derek Mears as Edward the giant troll but he acts like every other troll we have seen. Granted I wish he was in the movie longer but that’s what sequels are for.

Everybody else is run of the mill, the witches are cool and the actresses and actors all do a passable job in the end.

At the end of the day it’s a fun violent action packed fantasy horror film that is better than it has any right to be.  

3 out of 5 

[REC] 4: Apocalypse English Teaser Poster

REC has been a franchise we all know and love. With three films in total and an American remake called Quarantine. The Spanish horror film franchise is ready to release the fourth and final film in the franchise. This teaser poster is provided by Bloody Disgusting to get us excited for REC 4: Apocalypse.

Story Synopsis
"Angela Vidal, the young television reporter who entered the building with the fireman, manages to make it out alive. But what the soldiers don’t know is that she carries the seed of the strange infection. She is to be taken to a provisional quarantine facility, a high-security installation where she will have to stay in isolation for several days. An old oil tanker, miles off shore and surrounded by water on all sides, has been especially equipped for the quarantine.”

Adam Green and Joe Lynch Enter The Movie Crypt

Holliston's Adam Green and Joe Lynch have been extremely busy lately. With them both working on Holliston Season 2, which premiers June 4th on Fearnet. Green working on Hatchet III and Lynch working and struggling with the studios on Knights of Badassdom they still manged to find the time to do a podcast.
The podcast which is called The Movie Crypt taken from their T.V series Holliston, Green and Lynch sit down and discuss a variety of subjects related to the film industry before doing a Friday the 13th: Part II commentary. Very good and fun. Check it out in the link below.

The Movie Crypt with Green & Lynch: Episode 1: 'Friday the 13th: Part 2' Commentary | GeekNation