Returned 45 results for 'Category: Hollywood Movie Reviews'
The Story From Different Planet: Alien
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Movie: Alien
Genre: Science Fiction/Horror
Year: 1979
Director: Ridley Scott
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and John Hurt
Snapshot of Story:
A mining space ship lands on an uncharted planet only to find deadly creatures that spawn from the human digestive system and wreak havoc on their ship. The later version Aliens (1986) by James Cameron is equally electrifying to watch.
story-from-different-planet-alien
Storyline:
This movie can also be categorized in the horror section since the aim is to shock and provide heart thumping action. Ridley Scott like other great directors of his time sets a new bar in entertainment with the Alien movie. The special effects at it’s time were nothing of its kind seen anywhere else and coupled with the excellent plot made this movie highly entertaining to watch.
The crew land on a planet and discover another alien ship that had landed and perished. They discover an area where some eggs where developing and take back a crew member that was infected by one of them. This sets the beginning of the horror that takes place on the ship with the deadly creature running amuck.
In one of many memorable moments in the movie we see Sigourney Weaver who plays Ripley confronted by the creature in the escape hatch and the stroboscopic light effect reflecting of the alien and Ripley heightens the intensity of this scene. Ridley Scott makes clever use of the lightning and the stroboscopic effect of the ship lights to create a macabre and sinister atmosphere.
In another scene we see the robots head placed on the table as they manipulate the electronics inside of it and looks very realistic.
Sigourney Weaver who plays Ripley gives a very believable performance throughout the movie and she continues to be the star in each of the subsequent Alien chain of movies that follows.
Final Thoughts:
The movie at its time created a new dimension in horror and also crossed the border of science-fiction to horror. Like other great movies it set the stage for new film making that was to follow.
Rating:
8.5/10
Tags: review of movie Alien, The Story From Different Planet: Alien
A Horror Masterpiece: The Shining
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Movie: The Shining
Genre: Suspense/Horror
Year: 1980
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd
Snapshot of Story:
Jack Torrance played by Jack Nicholson has been hired to be a caretaker for the closing winter season of a big lodge along with his wife Wendy Torrance played by Shelley Duvall and their young son Danny played by Danny Lloyd. Upon arriving at the lodge, Jack becomes possessed by the evil ghosts of the past and tries to kill his wife and child. The movie is based on the book by Stephen King.
Storyline:
Stanley Kubrick’s direction of this movie is clearly evident by the way he creates a haunting atmoshpere in and around the lodge. Jack becomes mentally ill and the great acting of Nicholson makes you become immersed and you began to step into his shoes as he goes through the phases of psychoticness. Shelley Duvall gives a terrific performance as the mother in plight desperately trying to protect herself and the child from the changing beastling emanating from Jack.
The stunning photography of the scenes through the maze when Jack tries to pursue Danny is very cleverly executed and keeps the audience captivated. Wendy’s quick thinking and improvisation is clearly evident despite the horrific events happening all around her.
Another memorable part of the movie is when Danny continuously murmers ‘red rum’ and the audience comes to learn of its meaning when we see the words written backwards in a reflection of the dressing table mirror. The words spelt backwords is ‘mur der’.
Final Thoughts:
Movies of the horror genre have to be carefully crafted in the early days when special effects were not that advanced. Nowdays, horror movies tend to have a mix of special effects and much gore but the real horror movies are the ones that captures the audience and plays with their emotions. This is maybe why the Paranormal Activity series has done so well in the box office as it is something people can relate to easily since it is filmed in a typical family household. The great directors of our time uses a blend of camera techniques and sets to create the haunting presence that manages to keep the audience glued to the screen.
Rating:
8/10
Tags: A Horror Masterpiece: The Shining, review of movie The Shining
Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
Movie: Rear Window
Year: 1954
Genre: Thriller
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly and Wendell Corey
Snapshot of Story:
Rear Window is an Alfred Hitchcock classic and a remake of this movie was also made in 1998 starring Christopher Reeves. The movie as the name implies is a man who is in a wheelchair and passes most of his time gazing out of the rear window only to witness a possible murder.
Hit By Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window
Storyline:
Like all of Hitchcock’s movies Rear Window does not disappoint and engages the viewer with edge of the seat action and footage. The masterful acting of James Stewart who plays Jeff and Grace Kelly who plays Lisa gives added depth and realism to the whole movie. Lisa watches over Jeff as he recuperates from an injury that has bound him to a wheelchair. To pass his time Jeff routinely stares out of the rear window to get some ‘kicks’ out of other people in his apartment block. Hithcock’s great filming brings his neighbours to life and as we move from one apartment to another with the camera the audience is left to fit a ‘lifestyle’ of the people living there. This cleverly opens up one apartment where Jeff is intrigued with the mysterious goings on.
As Jeff continues to watch the character with fascination he ultimately witnesses what he thinks is a possible murder. And so our suspense begins where he brings in Lisa to spy on the neighbour to find out more about his interesting neighbour.
The ultimate climax is when he confronts the murderer face to face and fortunately for him and Lisa he is apprehended by the police.
Final Thoughts:
The movie is an interesting take on a very simple plot but which Hitchcock masterfully introduces suspense and thrilling action. Part of Hitchcock’s popularity is that he had visions for seeing the unknown and always able to keep the audience engaged in the movie with great dialogue even if there are no action scenes. He always keeps the acting as natural and believable as possible and during his movie making career has always selected the best actors for his work.
Rating:
8.5/10
Tags: old movies by Alfred Hitchcock, review of Alfred Hitchcock's Read Window, review of the movie Alfred Hitchcock
Unique Crime - Thriller of 1994: Pulp Fiction
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
Movie: Pulp Fiction
Genre: Crime Thriller
Year: 1994
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson
Snapshot of Story:
The movie is another prime work by director Quentin Tarantino who makes no pretense to how far humans can go in terms of violence, self-righteousness, greed and self-regard. The movie portrays two criminals in their working lives with large doses of humour, violence and uncircumstantial events.
Moments in the Story:
The two main characters are played by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson and both give superb performances in their roles as totally heartless and often comical criminals.
Tarantino’s stylish way of directing somehow makes these two characters likeable and applies wonderful use of dialogue that brings the characters alive. In one scene they randomly talk about hamburgers and how each country has a definition of their own for the McDonalds Big Mac. In a split moment they accidently shoot the passenger and of course their immediate reaction was the mess they made but not the fact that they had blown someone’s head off.
In other parts of the movie, John Travolta who plays Vincent Vega has to look after his boss’s wife and come to a restaurant where he feels uncomfortable in the situation. Despite the ruthless nature of his job, we see a tender side of him that is in stark contrast to his daily working life.
The movie weaves it’s way between different events and scenes with different characters and all of it is very entertaining with much emphasis on shock and violence.
Final Thoughts:
In Tarantino’s world, we see the dark side of the human personality, the area that we all feel uncomfortable to cross but he brings this about with clever manipulation of dialogues and uncircumstantial events which makes the movie very entertaining to watch.
Rating:
8.5/10
Tags: Review of Crime - Thriller of 1994: Pulp Fiction, Review of Pulp Fiction
Relive the Horror: Pet Sematary
Monday, October 31st, 2011
Movie: Pet Sematary
Year: 1989
Genre: Horror
Director: Mary Lambert
Stars: Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby and Fred Gwynne
Snapshot of Story:
A family arrives at a small town to start a new life and discover that the area they live is haunted and tainted with old stories of nightmares of the dead coming back alive. One of many remakes of the famous novelist Stephen King’.
Storyline:
Dale Midkiff plays the doctor Louis Creed who arrive along with his wife and two young kids to a new house in a small town in the countryside. The neighbors are reluctant to talk about the cemetary that lies behind their house.
The family lives very close to a busy road that passes their house with no protection such as a fence and the result is that their own child gets runover by a passing truck. Previous to that the doctor found that their cat who met the same fate had returned when the cat was buried in the mysterious cemetary. The doctor feeling much pain assumed the same for his child and buried him in the cemetary. However, when the child returned he wreaked havoc in the house and goes on to kill his neigbour and his mother.
Further Notes:
Stephen King’s story plays well into the emotions of the family losing their own child and the unbearable agony of having lost their own baby child. Bringing back the child from the dead is almost an inevitable choice that the father makes from the pain of bereavement. The film stylishly ends with the mother also coming returning from the dead.
Conclusion:
Although the film at its time was a good rendition of the macabre stories by Stephen King but unfortunately by today’s standard does not hit the mark. The film is let down by the not so great acting of Dale Midkiff and Denise Crosby, unfortunately the strong screen presence of Fred Gwynne could not do much to lift this film.
Rating:
5.5/10
Tags: Relive the Horror: Pet Sematary, Review of Pet Sematary
