Category Archives: Thriller

The Belko Experiment

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I hope this doesn’t turn out to be something like those experiments from Doctor Frankenstein.

Vampire Bat: Well, Mr. Frankenstein has not equal, and so, there is no relevance for such a question.

Vampire Owl: I have never really liked him. You know how much blood the vampire community has to donate for his cause. A number of blood banks have been left with minimum resources.

Vampire Bat: But, it is for building a better future, of the vampire community.

Vampire Owl: Why would he even try to do that? He is no vampire, and he is not even distantly related to our community.

Vampire Bat: He is a good scientist. He made a monster, and now he wants to make something good.

Vampire Owl: He experimented on himself to keep staying alive for this long!

Vampire Bat: Yes, which is how he became very useful to us.

Vampire Owl: But I doubt his inner motives, which he isn’t showing to us.

Vampire Bat: Even if there is something, it is going to be nothing in front of the Belko Experiment. I am sure about that.

[Gets three cups of Vagamon tea with a piece of green apple cake].

What is the movie about? :: Belko Industries a vey famous American-based non-profit organisation which has branches all over the world, and facilitates American companies in South America in hiring American workers. It is a popular choice among freshers when looking for jobs, and has a high reputation everywhere. It is at one of its lesser known branches, the office building in Bogota, Colombia, which is located at a rural or rather remote setting that Mike Milch (John Gallagher Jr) and his girlfriend Leandra Florez (Adria Arjona) works. They find it strange tha there is a long queue in front of the office with the Colombian local workers being sent back, and new people being in charge of security. The two, along with the other employees including the newest employee Dany (Melonie Diaz) are all there, and when the last of the employees get into the office, things change.

So, what happens next in the movie? :: After the final employee is inside the office, a voice asks everyone to kill two of the co-workers in half an hour of time, or they will randomly chosen and killed. The building is covered by steel shutters from all sides, and all phones including the mobiles stop working – everything is cut off, including the air conditioning. The company’s chief operating officer Barry Norris (Tony Goldwyn) try to tell everyone that there is nothing to panic. But it is him who panics first as the head of four employees are blown, and he, along with two other workers, Wendell Dukes (John C. McGinley) and Terry Winters (Owain Yeoman) decide that it is only fair that they kill a few people if it is all that takes to make sure that they keep living for a longer period of time. Mike tries to take the tracer off with a knife, but the people in control finds out what is being done to the tag, and warns him against doing the same.

And what is to follow with a twist of events? :: They realise that the Colombian workers were sent back home, because only the American employees had the tracer put in them to find them in case they were kidnapped in another nation, and so only they could be manipulated here. The announcement is no longer considered a prank, as things turn too serious – thirty of them are to be dead within two hours in one way or the other, or sixty people will be killed, according to the voice. Barry, along with this newfound friends tries to get the weapons stored within, so that they can kill according to the demands of the voice, while Mike who is against it, along with his girlfriend, and the only remaining security guard Evan Smith (James Earl), as well as the tech worker Keith McLure (Josh Brener), tries to hang banners from the top of the building, only to get shot at, by the special guards outside. With people losing patience as well as hope, how many will be dead, and who all will survive?

The defence of The Belko Experiment :: This is one movie that begins the adventure right from the initial stages itself, and goes on to continue well right into the experiment within the building. There are so many thrilling moments in this movie, and it has us guessing what is to happen next for most of the time – as we know that there is no escape, and with a short run-time, things are surely progressing rather quickly. There is a fine concept at work here, and we once again get to see how much each person wishes to live, at the cost of the lives of others around. It is quite thought-provoking without doubt, and we keep wondering about our situation. Maybe this movie is more human than the rest of the movies, with people looking to earn money, and survive, with that survival getting a new meaning here – some of them just live up-to that too. The cast, as a whole works pretty good for this one, even though there is nothing big.

The claws of flaw :: There is a certain kind of predictability that comes in through the middle, going on, and there is also the limitation coming in, with not that much tried with its setting right inside a building. With people caught inside a huge building without any option to escape, and having chips inside their heads ready to be blasted, there was not that much of an option left – if there was at least one path left free, it would have been more interesting; without escape routes, this is rather one-sided, thus the movie removing its own options. There is a certain amount of sadism in this movie, which puts people against one another, and in the situation which make them kill or be killed, we feel the survival of the fittest in an office. The inherent evil in man comes out with a number of people here too. In this movie, we are without hope, and its sadistic experiment on human nature is something that not many people can stand. Better execution to keep the balance, maybe?

How it finishes :: The Belko Experiment is another one of those movies involving experiments, but not on the lines of Morgan or Ex Machina, as this one looks out for social behaviour rather than anything else. But in the end, we humans just got to give in to one thing or the other, whether it is is science, politics, religion or whatever else. There is all the action that happens in a building, the thrills, and along the violence, this movie leaves you with something to think about. Those people who are looking for some different horror or more of thrillers, are surely going to love this one. Among those movies which seem to go rather the same way, there is The Belko Experiment which travels a strange and depressing path, which is is more or less a reflection of human nature – darkness falls into humanity too easily when facing terror, doesn’t it? You don’t need much of an experiment to prove the same on most occasions.

Release date: 17th March 2017
Running time: 88 minutes
Directed by: Greg McLean
Starring: John Gallagher Jr, Adria Arjona, Melonie Diaz, Tony Goldwyn, John C. McGinley, Josh Brener, Michael Rooker, David Del Rio, Stephen Blackehart, Rusty Schwimmer, Owain Yeoman, Sean Gunn, Abraham Benrubi, David Dastmalchian, Gail Bean, Valentine Miele, Joe Fria, Benjamin Byron Davis, James Earl. Cindy Better, Kristina Lilley, Maruia Shelton, Brent Sexton, Mikaela Hoover, Lorena Tobar, Gamal Dillard, Gregg Henry

PS: The best of lesser known horror is at The Autopsy of Jane Doe.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: They once tried to do an autopsy on me, these humans.

Vampire Bat: You mean after you died on that wonderful day.

Vampire Owl: Yes, they wanted to know the cause of my death.

Vampire Bat: And then what happened?

Vampire Owl: I didn’t allow them because I was not dead anymore.

Vampire Bat: You mean to say that your vampire transformation was rather too fast.

Vampire Owl: It is because I transformed myself into a vampire. I had chosen my next life.

Vampire Bat: What are you talking about? There has to be a vampire to make one out of you.

Vampire Owl: I was bitten on the soul, as it passed to the other dimension after death, and with the same, it returned to get back to my body.

Vampire Bat: It is very much interesting and impossible. Only a vampire assassin can confirm this.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with paneer paratha].

What is the movie about? :: There is the location of a terrible homicide, and the police officers are left with no clue. The clues are of people trying to escape from the house and not of anyone trying to break in. There are also no prints of anyone who are not part of this home either. Then in the basement, they find the body of a beautiful, unidentified woman, completely naked and it seemed that someone had tried to bury her. They refer to her by the name Jane Doe (Olwen Catherine Kelly), a name which is commonly used to refer to a dead body or a hospital patient whose identity can’t be found out that at the time. Sheriff Sheldon Burke (Michael McElhatton) is left clueless, and has no idea how to face the media with one unknown naked dead body and all the people in the house dead. So he decides that in one way or the other, the identity of the naked corpse had to be found by the morning so that the investigation can proceed.

So, what happens next? :: Meanwhile, a coroner in the town, Tommy Tilden (Brian Cox) and his son Austin (Emile Hirsch) who is a medical technician who has been assisting for a long time, are having just another day with a corpse. The experienced Tommy is quick to find the cause of death of the man, and as it proves once again to Austin that things are more than what meets the eye, with the burns not the real cause of death even though fire did cause all that was to follow. Austin’s girlfriend Emma (Ophelia Lovibond) arrives at the location, and is curious about everything that happens in the morgue including a bell tied to the ankle of a corpse – it is revealed that the bells were used to signal if someone was not really dead even though proclaimed so. Austin was supposed to go for a movie with Emma, and they are planning move away soon, but their plans are spoiled by sudden, unexpected arrival of the sheriff.

So, how does the mystery reveal itself in the morgue? :: With the need for cause of death by morning, Austin decides to stay and help his father and join her later, much to the dismay of Emma who asks him to tell Tommy about them moving away to another city. With her and the sheriff having left, they are left in charge of the corpse which looks perfect from the outside. There is not even a scar on the body, and there is visible mark to indicate what might have casued the death. There would be nothing more than a beautiful sleeping beauty without clothes, if the eyes were closed. Despite her body looking so fresh, the eyes do look as if she has been dead for very long. But as they checked further, they found that her bones were broken from the inside and her tongue was removed. The soil on her body also seemed not from that area. But it is not all, with more strange things being found and stranger things actually happen in the morgue.

The defence of The Autopsy of Jane Doe :: The success of this movie depends on that feeling of curiosity and uneasiness that it successfully builds on its viewers, and also plays with their imagination to keep them guessing about what this particular naked body might be all about, and what kind of mystery and horror that it holds inside it. There is that certainty of terror that awaits to be unleashed inside this unblemished body, and the beauty that is seen outside hides something more than a secret, which is to threaten humanity – it has our attention right from the beginning itself. You feel the discomfort, and at the same time, you are the edge of your seat, and it is a perfect setting at this morgue, and the perfect mystery has the claws and the fangs to make your fear come at you with all the needed strength. The performances are also good, from those who are there whole the time to those who just come and go – the girl chosen to play the corpse is also rightly chosen with all the features. There is also vengeance and sacrifice to go with it, as we get to know an ancient evil with a twist.

Positives and negatives :: There is a lot of gore here, and people can feel uncomfortable, especially with the autopsy being performed on the dead body along with the details also being talked about. But what you get here is the closest to some original horror, far away from those which you keep watching all the time. Maybe something bigger could have been made out of how the movie began, and with where the tale goes, but as it is, The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one smart horror movie like Don’t Breathe and Lights Out in the last year, and divergent in its core like It Follows, The Witch and Occulus. Some people will also find the movie to be slow at parts, but one has to admit that certain slowness helps in building all the pressure to come to that revelation by the end. There is also no walking corpse in this one, and that is new, for a horror movie which centers around a corpse to have it staying on the table all the time – but the evil is unleashed without having to do that. One location, one corpse surrounded by others, two people, and all the horror is here for you!

How it finishes :: There are those usual horror movies which depend on the usual tale, the usual settings and the usual kind of proceedings with scares, and then there are movies like The Autopsy of Jane Doe which decide to think differently. It is indeed a must watch for all horror movies, specifically those who are tired of going through the same tales about ghosts haunting people and houses all the time. In between all these horror movies which seem to be so close to each other in material, The Autopsy of Jane Doe becomes the movie that thinks differently, and is surely the kind of flick that a real horror fan would watch without any delay. This might be a lesser known horror movie, and surely won’t be the big horror franchise that The Conjuring and Insidious series of movies had gone on to be contribute and become; but our movie here is certainly a flick that will be remembered for long, and might even become a horror classic a few years later. Andre Ovredal’s first English movie here is the one that you wouldn’t want to miss.

Release date: 21st December 2016
Running time: 86 minutes
Directed by: Andre Ovredal
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Brian Cox, Olwen Catherine Kelly, Ophelia Lovibond, Michael McElhatton, Parker Sawyers, Jane Perry, Mary Duddy, Mark Phoenix, Sydney

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Life

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: This looks like the tale of someone new to life.

Vampire Bat: Not just life; something extra-terrestrial in nature.

Vampire Owl: You mean like aliens returning once again to get rid of humans from this world for everyone’s good.

Vampire Bat: Extra-terrestrials are kind of better than humans, you know.

Vampire Owl: Yes, I recently met an alien who also gave me the idea to get rid of these humans and save Earth.

Vampire Bat: Absence of humans actually proves to be better for all other life-forms, I wouldn’t deny that.

Vampire Owl: There is no point in denying the same, because it is the truth. We should have actually finished them off when we had a chance.

Vampire Bat: Don’t you remember that it was a team decision to let them not become extinct, as we needed them to write stories about us?

Vampire Owl: But we have been trying to get the voters against the same after they decided to come up with Twilight and its successors. The current voting status in the vampire imperial chambers against human extinction is 591 against 409. It was 880 against 120 earlier.

Vampire Bat: Well, humans are becoming so evil that everyone except them want them extinct. They are giving competition to even the demons.

[Gets three cups of Munnar tea with a piece of pineapple cake].

What is the movie about? :: A probe which was collecting information about possible existence of life in Mars has returned from the planet, with something that is to prove the same and change the future of humanity forever. Even though it strays of the path, the same is intercepted by the crew of an International Space Station. The exobiologist of the team, Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) is successful in reviving a dormant cell from this sample received from Mars after repeated attempts and failures. This new organism fascinates everyone among the crew who belongs to different nationalities, including the medical officer Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), quarantine officer Dr. Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson), systems engineer Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds), pilot Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada) and the commander of the space station, Katerina Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya).

So, what happens next in the movie? :: One day, this organism which was named Calvin, seems to be dead. While trying to revive it, Hugh is attacked by Calvin who escapes by smartly using the electric shock tool used on it. Rory who gets in to save him, gets killed by the creature which keeps getting bigger and bigger. As it escapes through the vent, the rest of the crew are concerned about what is to happen next. Calvin also gets to Katerina, who is also killed, but leaves it outside. Despite the crew trying their best to keep Calvin outside and launch it into deep space using the thrusters, it manages to get through. The International Space Station, after having used so much of fuel through the thrusters to attempt to kill the creature, keeps getting closer to Earth, and seems to be slowly getting into the planet’s atmosphere to get burned. They come up with a plan to finish off the creature, but this one is a lot smarter than they think, and will adapt to anything they can bring – so, what will follow?

The defence of Life :: You have the feeling of going through something close to the Alien franchise with its creature. The execution is also very nice as we can see this one progress. This has its elements of mystery and horror working during the early stages itself. The creature itself develops steadily, and we see it through the different stages of evolution. With Mission Impossible‘s own Rebecca Ferguson and Jake Gyllenhaal around, this also well-acted without causing any change for doubt. The special effects are really good, and we see the space and the ships looking really good. There is also nobody to be the star here, except the alien, with a name, manages to be the one who controls things all the time as an intelligent life-form just recently born. Life surely provides the entertainment with its memorable moments, and the final scene surely brings a nice twist, and is better than what most of the people might expect for a movie like this.

The claws of flaw :: The similarity with Alien franchise is there, which doesn’t really give that original feeling with this one, especially considering the fact that Alien Covenant shares the same year of release with this one, and happens to be a better movie than Life. We have actually watched a little too much of Alien franchise to easily like another one so similar to it. Maybe, it is more like Alien combined with Gravity kind of feeling with its mood. You do have so many space movies with big ideas, like Interstellar, The Martian and Passengers – well, this one comes below them all as far as the rating is considered. As you go on, you will see that this one can’t be considered that evolved with the creatures like Alien, as there is one thing here, which is not that huge, but that could change with the possible sequels which look a little bit too far away right now. Ryan Reynolds disappears too early into the movie, and it is a sad thing for the fans of Deadpool. Maybe, they could have brought some big scary moments with the alien attacks, while using the setting of space along with the same.

Soul exploration :: As the title suggests, the movie is about “life”, but not of humans or any species on Earth, but rather on what exists outside. This search for life which has been going on for many years, seems to land humanity in trouble without doubt, and with no chance for redemption, as you witness how it ends here. Life tells you that there are some boundaries which are not to be crossed. With so much to do otherwise for your own fellow beings, this is not something which is urgent, as references are made to the situation on Earth too. But as with all those big inventions of science for the rich, making life better for the common man is not the first option. The rich always have the first chance at science and its inventions. It also makes too much of curiosity, which surely kills the cat, the reason for all the terror which is to follow. The crew, with its partners on Earth just crosses a line, and understands the consequences of what they had done. Also, a human life is more important than any other creature, and so one should understand.

How it finishes :: There is also that kind of ending which will ensure that “life” goes on, and it can be taken through more than one meaning. The option for sequel is left open there, and lets see if this can develop into a franchise like the Alien series, even though the box-office collection doesn’t really point to the same. Still, you can’t deny the fact that this could be a franchise that has the potential to give the Alien group of movies a challenge for supremacy. With Prometheus and Alien Covenant, that franchise has started exploring further, and Life could just do the same thing. One has to think that this movie has just begun its adventure, and its alien life-form has more and more to do with its humans. A good science fiction horror movie in space is often too hard to find, unless there is a future when something like Event Horizon or Pandorum are to be found here and there, all the time. But for now, Life is indeed the fine addition to the list which is rather small.

Release date: 24th March 2017
Running time: 104 minutes
Directed by: Daniel Espinosa
Starring: Rebecca Ferguson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Olga Dihovichnaya, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Alexander Nguyen, Hiu Woong-Sin

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

John Wick 2

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: We need to hire this man. He looks a lot effective.

Vampire Bat: But he is always looking for vengeance.

Vampire Owl: We can make him follow our path. There is just the need to have someone from our enemies list kill his dog.

Vampire Bat: He is a ruthless assassin with connections. He will find out in the end.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that we will have to call the Accountant to finish our job.

Vampire Bat: I thought that you would say Mechanic.

Vampire Owl: I would just kill them myself and get the Transporter to get rid of the werewolf heads.

Vampire Bat: You can always hire Codename 47, you know.

Vampire Owl: Yes, it is just that he keeps on getting the reboots, I think.

Vampire Bat: Just keep yourself away from John Wick‘s dog and also his car.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with Krackjack biscuits].

What is the movie about? :: John Wick (Keanu Reeves), the retired assassin who had earlier returned to killing people after his dog was killed and his car was stolen by Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), is not finished with what he had been doing. He searches for, and finds his stolen car at a chop shop owned by Abram Tarasov (Peter Stormare), the uncle of Iosef. After killing all the men, John spares the life of Tarasov in the name of peace and returns home only to find more of his previous life following him there. After the car which was heavily damaged in the fight is taken for repairs by Aurelio (John Leguizamo), John is provided a surprise visit by the Italian crime lord Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), to whom he had sworn an oath, often referred to as a marker, which had helped him to finish the impossible task that had set him free from the world of blood and gore, and allowed him to marry Helen (Bridget Moynahan).

So, what happens next in the movie? :: John Wick is supposed to be someone who could keep doing the impossible, as Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist) himself had acknowledged before being dead, and a confident Santino asks John for the favour in return, but the tired assassin decides against going through the violent ways again, and says no without even listening to what the crime lord wanted him to do. An angry Santino goes back to his car, and returns with a grenade launcher to destroy John’s home, almost killing him in the process. John escapes and goes on to meet Winston (Ian McShane), the owner of the Continental hotel in New York City, who tells him to abide by the rules, and he is supposed to honour the promise made in the form of the marker. John decides to play by the rules, and meets Santino again, who provides him the mission of assassinating his sister Gianna D’Antonio (Claudia Gerini) to claim her seat among the top-level crime lords.

And what follows the same in the movie? :: John gets to Gianna during a party, where she is under the protection of expert fighter and bodyguard Cassian (Common). Even though John is successful in his mission with her choosing to commit suicide rather than get killed, he is chased by the group of tem lead by Santino’s right-hand, a mute young lady known by the name Ares (Ruby Rose), and also by Cassian who seeks vengeance. With Santino himself putting a seven million dollar bounty on the former retired assassin, John Wick has no option, but to fight for his life – Cassian is determined to have his revenge, and Ares is determined to show her allegiance and effectiveness to her master. There are assassins jumping on him out of nowhere, and he decides to have a meeting with the underground crime lord The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), but where does their conflict of interests and a troublesome past lead them?

The defence of John Wick: Chapter 2 :: The first movie had become a surprise hit, and this one also follows the same pattern, making things even better by a good margin. Keanu Reeves is also the bigger assassin with this one, and he remains the core. He continues to be at his best as the action hero, doing what he has been doing the best. There is also no humans dead in the name of dogs, as it happens in the name of cows in some parts. The style factor is also too good, and all the action sequences, a lot of them if we consider the total, catch our attention. Among all those who fight the deadly assassin, it is Ruby Rose who comes up with the most memorable show – there is that intensity in her despite being mute, that we feel that she might be one lady whom nobody should have the misfortune of facing. There is that final battle with her, and also the one that we see in the beginning that catch our eyes more than any other. Then there is Laurence Fishburne, evergreen as you would find him in an action thriller.

The claws of flaw :: There is not much in the story here, as it was in the first movie, with the assassin going on killing more and more people, most of them assassins themselves; it is still better than going on to kill people in the name of a dead dog which is given too much importance. The predictability factor is high, as we do have some idea about how things are going to go on and on – John Wick is not that much about surprises, as you might already know from the first movie. This one is also about how great John Wick is, and there is also the presence of those strange laws and oaths which shift the focus. There is also another dog which leaves the option to have another revenge as soon as it is killed. The violence is also there throughout, and deaths have been more and more glorified with this movie. The climax could have also been greater, as something bigger seemed to be getting ready to come up, but unfortunately, that didn’t really happen.

How it finishes :: A long way ahead of the first movie, The defence of John Wick: Chapter 2 is the movie which is once again certain to have your attention with Keanu Reeves going through all the action once again. You have a very nice example of the sequel becoming better than the original movie here, a feature which has more and more examples of things being the other way around – the sequel here has 7.9/10 to 7.2/10, 75% to 68% at Metacritic and 91% to 85% at Rotten Tomatoes, and almost double the box-office collections, compared to the original. There is also a third movie coming up, and we can be sure that it is also going to follow the same pattern, and with all things going more and more global, we can expect more firepower, and a lot more action with the next flick in the franchise. After watching John Wick: Chapter 2, one can safely wait for John Wick: Chapter 3, as we know how much is there to happen in a third movie. The man is a legend, and so we can’t really expect him to finish his tale in two chapters, with so much of him to be unleashed again and again with the certainty of the tides?

Release date: 10th February 2017
Running time: 122 minutes
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Ruby Rose, Laurence Fishburne, Common, Riccardo Scamarcio, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane, Claudia Gerini, Bridget Moynahan, Lance Reddick, Thomas Sadoski, David Patrick Kelly, Peter Stormare, Franco Nero, Peter Serafinowicz, Tobias Segal

PS: For the awaited release of the weekend, see the review on Kadam Katha.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Code 8

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: Do you know that according the eighth code of vampirism, you are not allowed to use a level eight portal to the human world because it passes through the shadow world?

Vampire Bat: Yes, isn’t that the code which saves the vampires from corruption by the shadows of pure evil alignment?

Vampire Owl: Yes, it is exactly what the code is about. Code 8 is divided into three hundred and thirty nine sub-codes, each needed to be learnt by those pursuing masters in Vampire Law and Order.

Vampire Bat: The humans are not aware of it. So, this code is surely going to be something different.

Vampire Owl: Do you know that the eighth code is something that prevents itself from being studied by the common man, reserved only for those who study a course related to it?

Vampire Bat: You are talking as if all other codes are learned by the normal vampire apprentice all the time.

Vampire Owl: Yes, but this code is different. It deals with saving our kind from the type of terrible evil that people even fear to talk about.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that Vampire Crocodile once talked about that.

Vampire Owl: What? I knew that the guy was really evil.

Vampire Bat: And he is working for charity among the undead these days.

[Gets some potato chips and three cups of Ceylon tea].

What is the movie about? :: Set a long time into the future, it is shown that four percentage of people living on Earth has developed some special abilities, which are mostly supernatural in nature. They are able to do what the so called normal people can’t, are qualified enough to be superheroes in the comics. But here, they are made pariahs, and kept under control by the police department which keep them away from the rest of the civilization, as these special people are always watched by the law, with their movements checked. The people in power and those who voted them, they all find these powerful people to be a threat to their world, and keeps them away to maintain the order, as if quarantined. The people with special powers are more of the untouchables in a caste system rather than any other – they can’t find work, and are not able to find their daily food, and with surveillance around, they never really succeed in breaking the law that much.

So, what happens next in this journey? :: Taylor Reed (Robbie Amell) is one of those young men with such special abilities, and struggles to find work and earn money like any other of his kind. He and his friend Freddie (Aaron Abrams) are chosen for some work, but are not paid enough, and that leads to him causing some trouble, which sends the police after them. The drone which searches for people with special abilities finds them and keeps them under control using mechanized soldiers. The nearest police car responds, and the officers wish to arrest the two for breaking the law, but they are adamant that they haven’t. In this prejudiced society, can Taylor and Freddie, or any of their kind find any justice? Or will they be able to bring the justice on this world by themselves? What are the so called normal people and their all-knowing government really afraid of?

Soul exploration 1: Prejudice against the skilled :: Just like you see in those X-Men movies, we see the mutants, or rather the special skilled in this case, being under prejudice from those others, the humans who don’t have any special power, and feels weak against these gifted people. So, they wish to control the super-powered, not allowing them to rise, which might lead to them taking control of the normal human world which is built on what has been the rather usual thing. Yes, taking over or destroying the human world is one thing, and there is more that the specials could do – they could just take over all the jobs. With mind control, the criminals could be tracked with ease, and even the crime could be prevented before it is done. With control over metals or other materials, construction could be done better with these special people. Superior strength would mean that only one person is needed for a job instead of five or six. These special skills were always going to make the normal person feel worthless, which would make them come up with a need to suppress the skilled.

Soul exploration 2: Prejudice against the other :: Yes, these skilled people taking away your opportunities is one reason to hate them, and then there is common thing which has been going on for many centuries. There has been the race, nationality, caste and religion being reasons, and here we have the presence and absence of power as the one big reason. More reasons are rather not needed when these people are others, and your group can’t relate to them. Then hate becomes an easy thing, and each and every thing which they do differently will be worth detesting, as if all these are being done as actions against you. What all they do will also been as something which is against your culture and traditions, and the conclusion will be that your wonderful, perfect world full of only the right things, will be destroyed by these others. There is absolutely no need to teach hatred to a new generation, as they thrive in doing that – we can see such examples all the time around us. One can trust this science fiction tale to develop on these themes very well along with being a big action thriller.

How it finishes :: This short-film is supposed to be made into a bigger full-length movie, which is planned to be released in the year 2019. It was due to this particular information that I came to know about this short-film and decided to watch it. I haven’t really watched many science fiction short-films, except for The Shaman, which is another movie from the same genre which I had liked. It takes skill to make a short-film with a science fiction idea, and this one has done it nicely to set things up for the full version of the movie – this is more like a demo version of a game, for which we are waiting for the full playable version. Imagine this one as a game, and this could be even more. It would be nice to have watched this short-film before that full movie is released, as we get to know what is to be expected, and for what we are going to spend a few hours. You get ten minutes of the big idea in advance; this one is a level ahead of the rest with its visuals, special effects and the cast.

[Walks into the balcony with another cup of tea].

Vampire Owl: I am also of the opinion that the mutants need to be controlled.

Vampire Bat: So, you are against the X-Men too.

Vampire Owl: Yes, there are already too many gifted species, with the vampires being the most brilliant of them.

Vampire Bat: It is said that the new age vampires are not that good as the elder vampires of the past.

Vampire Owl: They are just jealous of our ability to think so beyond that it hurts their minds to do something like that.

Vampire Bat: They are known to be the world’s greatest vampire minds, which was why they came to be called the Vampire Elders.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that it is not because they are really old?

Vampire Bat: Because they are old and wise.

Vampire Owl: They should still be having memory problems, right?

Vampire Bat: I am sure that people with special abilities won’t mind. It is not like you will have an invisible actor with special powers.

[Walks into the silence of darkness].

Release date: 22nd March 2016
Running time: 10 minutes
Directed by: Jeff Chan
Starring: Robbie Amell, Aaron Abrams, Sung Kang, Stephen Amell, Chad Donella, Peter Huang, Alfred Rubin Thompson, Al Marchesi, Christine Pagulayan, Patrice Henry, Phyllis Politowicz, Tonya Dodds Sinisac, Ryan Freer, Jack Horan, Jeff Sinisac

Watch the movie Code 8 here:

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

A Cure for Wellness

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I hope that they are not trying to find a cure for vampirism.

Vampire Bat: There is no cure to vampirism – it is a one way procedure.

Vampire Owl: It is nice that you said that. I was afraid about the same after hearing about Doctor Frankenstein‘s latest experiments.

Vampire Bat: He is just finding the cure for coffin-o-phobia.

Vampire Owl: What? Who is afraid of coffins?

Vampire Bat: I think that it is the Vampire Panda. He is such a big Kung Fu Panda, and can’t get inside any coffin.

Vampire Owl: Then where does he rest when there is the need?

Vampire Bat: He has planted a noodles tree on the backyard.

Vampire Owl: What does that achieve?

Vampire Bat: Well, our vampire experts are working on the same, an on the possibility of a noodles coffin.

[Gets three cups of elaichi tea with a piece of tea cake].

What is the movie about? :: Lockhart (Dane DeHaan), an ambitious young employee takes the place of a man who had recently suffered a heart attack while working late at work, in a large financial services company, hoping to make a big impact as early as possible. The company board members sends him to Europe to bring back the company’s CEO, Roland Pembroke (Harry Groener), from a wellness centre where he is spending his life in peace, or it is what they believe that he is doing. With the need for his presence for an upcoming company merger, as well as having someone responsible for the recent problems which have occured in the firm. This particular wellness centre is located on the Swiss side of Alps, on a picturesque location supposed to bring peace of mind, and he also finds that the villagers are not really fond of the sanatorium, and the people who visit the place, which is on the top of a hill.

So, what happens next in the movie? :: There he meets Dr. Heinreich Volmer (Jason Isaacs) as well as the other staff there, all of them not that interested in letting him meet the man whom he wants to get home as quickly as possible. He decides to come back after resting at the hotel, at a time when Pembroke is not undergoing treatment. While going down the hill, his car meets with an accident, and he is forced to go back to the wellness centre and get the needed treatment. He does manage to meet Pembroke, but it doesn’t prove to be that useful a meeting, as they are both now in treatment, and are not going to leave soon as planned – you don’t get out that easily. There, he also meets a mysterious young girl named Hannah (Mia Goth) who acts more like a child, and seems to be under the influence of Volmer, keeping on wandering around the premises. She refers to herself as a special case, unlike everyone else who are undergoing treatment at the centre.

And what follows the same in the movie? :: There is a past to the wellness centre that Lockhart learns from the patients and the people of the village. They tell the story of a baron who lived in the castle which was there in the place of the centre many years ago. The particular baron was so proud of his bloodline, and in a desire to keep the pure blood run through the family, married his own sister, an act which didn’t go well with both the villagers and the church. After finding that his sister was infertile, and he won’t be getting his heir of pure blood, he began to experiment on the peasants of the village to find a cure. Even as he is believed to have found a cure, the peasants had risen in revolt, burning the castle down, and supposed to have killed everyone including him, his wife, and the unborn child. The ruins of the castle still lies beneath the wellness centre, and Lockhart finds the need to figure it out. But he is running out of time for sure.

The defence of A Cure for Wellness :: There is one thing absolutely clear about A Cure for Wellness, and it is that the movie stays away from the usual style, and makes no attempt to stay in the safe zone, as the confort is found further away. The viewers are kept guessing, and they will all be wondering what is to happen next, until the big twist finally arrives to make the impact. There is beauty in the way things are shown, and there is the creepy effect going all through this movie with its wellness centre, maybe not that much as Crimson Peak, but is there, in a different way. With the performances, Dane DeHaan who is known the best for the Green Goblin of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Mia Goth and Jason Isaacs compete with each other, and steal the show as a group of three. Mia Goth is just amazingly suitable for this role, which has her coming out the best way possible – those walks, and the cycle rides, and even that dance – something creepy beautiful about it. Some moments are just a lot creepy, including and more than having eels in the water and even mouth, and people suspended inside big glass containers.

The claws of flaw :: The movie certainly gets too slow in the middle, and it never really gets that pace until in the end, as there is the possibility of getting lost in the middle for those who don’t really have that much interest in this kind of a movie. There is also a certain amount of violence, which will make it not that interesting for some people. It could be disturbing for some people, but it is not that much, if you consider them as essential parts for the movie. Considering the kind of disturbing movies around, this wouldn’t come anywhere close, if you look closely. The length of the movie could have been reduced, and we can say that same about the chance for ambiguities – a two hour movie was the maximum which was needed to improve overall effectiveness. This movie was actually capable of becoming a huge horror thriller that would automatically cater to more of the viewers. Well, not everything on a divergent path is lovely, right? Watch this one, and come up with a conclusion rather than by reading reviews – for it feels personal.

How it finishes :: Along with being the interesting thriller, the movie also shows the hollowness of being rich, as those who has so much money are shown to pay even more to get better, something which even transcends foolishness at times – it is the case of humanity, isn’t it? It is easy to fool men and women who are always looking for something which is proclaimed to be better. Well, A Cure for Wellness in your usual movie, and having said that, we can also name it as one of those flicks which have a big possibility of becoming cult movies. This one is not a simple movie, and has similarities to The Institute starring James Franco and Allie Gallerani which released in the same year – there is the need for a certain kind of sense and thinking to like these kinds of movies, and as our common audience doesn’t possess the same, lets recommend it to all who are able to think differently, and let the others who decide not to think take the risk and watch the flick.

Release date: 17th February 2017
Running time: 146 minutes
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Mia Goth, Jason Isaacs, Adrian Schiller, Celia Imrie, Ashok Mandanna, Harry Groener, Godehard Giese, Tomas Norstrom, Magnus Krepper, Carl Lumbly, Lisa Banes, Tom Flynn, Johannes Krisch, Jason Babinsky, Angelina Hsntsch, Jeff Burrell, Annette Lober, Eric Todd, Christian Brauer, Thomas Richter, Chris Huszar, Marko Buzin

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Get Out

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: This reminds me of the first two words Dracula uncle told me. It is nice of them to make a movie titled the same.

Vampire Bat: You are talking about what happened when you applied for apprenticeship with the wrong biodata.

Vampire Owl: Yes, I wasn’t trained in vampiric language at that time, and messed it up.

Vampire Bat: You could have just used the universal blood language at that time. It was an official language too.

Vampire Owl: I was just glad that I could get these two words from him without thinking that much about the same.

Vampire Bat: It was all that you were looking for?

Vampire Owl: Well, we are all satisfied with what we have, aren’t we?

Vampire Bat: Yes, we are happy with what we are, and what all exist for us.

Vampire Owl: It is something that we need to to teach the humans.

Vampire Bat: Unfortunately, even after being just mortals, they learn nothing about what could face them in the afterlife. The Lego movie characters know better.

[Gets three cups of evening tea with a piece of mango cake].

What is the movie about? :: A photographer named Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) have been in love for a few months, and they decide to visit her parents at a far away place, in the countryside, where they own a huge area of land of and property by the side of a lake. Chris is a little bit concerned about meeting her conservative parents because he is black, and her parents seem to be having a white legacy going with her grandfather having lost to Jesse Owens in front of Hitler during the Berlin Olympics of 1936. But the parents seem to be happy with their relationship, Dean Armitage (Bradley Whitford) and Missy Armitage (Catherine Keener) welcomes him to their home as part of their family, even though his brother Jeremy Armitage (Caleb Landry Jones) does come up with some strange remarks which they don’t mind that much.

So, what happens next in the movie? :: The servants at the house who are black, act rather too strange towards him, with Walter (Marcus Henderson) and Georgina (Betty Gabrietl), both doing strange things and also talking as if there is some hostility in the air. Chris has a strange feeling about the happenings at the place, and has a walk at night, during which he is hypnotised by Missy who is a psychiatrist, after which he feels no desire to smoke. He also seems Walter and Georgina doing some strange things, and Jeremy even tries to put a headlock on him, making him really uncomfortable. There is an annual gathering supposed to happen at the place too, during which a lot of guests seem to have special interest in him, except for the only black man in the group, Logan King (LaKeith Stanfield) who also acts strange. He talks about the same to his best friend, Rod Williams (Lil Rel Howery) who asks him to get out of there.

And what is to follow with a twist of events? :: Chris also meets a man called Jim Hudson (Stephen Root), who is blind, but appreciates his work with photography, as he has his assistant who describes them to him. With all focus on him only, Chris asked about how it feels to be an African-American, but he passes the question to Logan who seems to have a certain problem answering the question, and when Christ tries to take his photo, gets angry, asking him to get out of there. Logan, bleeding from his nose, seems to feel better after a session with Missy, and Chris keeps narrating the happenings to Rod, who tells him that those people there might be brainwashing the black people with Missy’s hypnotizing ability, and keeping them as slaves, or even sex slaves, which at first seems funny, but Chris realizes that there is more to this strange behaviour of the people than what meets the eye.

The defence of Get Out :: The movie has its viewers feeling that there is something coming, right from the first sequence itself, and it keeps throwing something again and again on the way, to make sure that the audience is kept excited about what is to come. There is a big mystery ready to be revealed, and throughout the movie, there is the feeling of weirdness and danger which is nicely reflected through more than one character. The early feeling of waiting for the suspense to reveal itself has its replacement in the form of thrills and a certain amount of horror that get stronger by the end. We know that there is something eerie about it, but then we realize that there is even more to come as the movie progresses towards the end. There is tension that is shown between the characters here, and there is something like a rising intensity about it – we feel that this movie is getting better and better towards the end, as we know that something unexpected is to happen, and things are going to go bad for the protagonist, and then towards terrible.

The claws of flaw :: The humour doesn’t work much, and it also gets pretty much violent in the end, something which we weren’t expecting that much considering the first half. We do look at the huge amount of critical appreciation, and expect something even bigger, like a masterpiece, but we will only get this movie – on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie manages to have an approval rating of 99% based on 269 reviews; it is something that we don’t see that often, for things tend to come down a few days after a movie’s release. Metacritic has adjusted with an 84, but something like 99 is what keeps the expectations at a top level. People who have no understanding of the movie’s basic premise will find some trouble too. There is the certainty of some missing logic, with the way the movie becomes something not that natural by the end, which will raise some eyebrows here and there. If you are expecting the twist to be like The Skeleton Key, you are in for a surprise, with doctors and medical science being attached here, even without that much of a deep explanation.

How it finishes :: With Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams staying strong as the leading actors, we have a movie to look out for, right here. It is a flick which is not that well-known around here with a rather unknown cast for our audience, and not much of a title that grabs attention, but there will be a lot of fans for this one from here later, that is for sure. The opinions on this one are going to be divided here though, as the racial stuff is not going into the roots with our audience – maybe the caste would do if we make a similar movie here. The movie seems to reflect how things are, when we see another person as “the other“, as someone who really doesn’t belong to our group, and there are some people who pretend to accept them, even though they really don’t. People are such good actors in real life these days, aren’t they? We see so many of such people in this flick, and then there are others who just hate those who are different – the world still needs change for sure, and you see the need stored right within, with a smart horror thriller here. At the same time, lets hope that the viewers take something out of this movie and be better towards the others, the different, those who are not like everyone else.

PS: Check out the review of the latest release, Sunday Holiday.

Release date: 24th February 2017
Running time: 103 minutes
Directed by: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, Catherine Keener, Betty Gabriel, Marcus Henderson, Erika Alexander, LaKeith Stanfield, Stephen Root, Geraldine Singer

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Forest

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I once went to this particular forest known for suicides.

Vampire Bat: And then what happened?

Vampire Owl: I just couldn’t live up-to its reputation as I had already died.

Vampire Bat: Even the undead can die, you know.

Vampire Owl: Yes, but the ghosts were against it. They told me that it is cheating.

Vampire Bat: Why did you even have to listen to them?

Vampire Owl: Well, they told me that they would transform me into a human.

Vampire Bat: What? It is so cruel. It would have been better to keep split personalities instead.

Vampire Owl: Yes, I just couldn’t bear being part of an inherently evil species. So, I said no.

Vampire Bat: I have to say that you did the right thing this time. The blood wars are coming, and we have to say no to more than one thing.

[Gets three cups of lemon tea with 50-50 biscuits].

What is the movie about? :: Sara Price (Natalie Dormer) is spending her time with her fiance, Rob (Eoin Macken), and is having some happy moments of her life in her home in the United States of America when she gets an unexpected call from Japan. She is informed that her twin sister, Jess Price (again Natalie Dormer) is dead. The idea is that she was last seen going into Aokigahara forest known more as the Suicide Forest or Sea of Trees, and those who go there alone at night rarely come back as it is a place where people commit suicide. It is rather believed to be the most popular suicide destination in the world which has so many strange tales associated with it. The forest is known to be home to yurei or or rather the ghosts of Japanese mythology. It is also said that long ago, the elderly or unwell people were left to die in the forest, and the place had its dead bodies and ghosts from centuries ago. The place has that kind of a terrifying reputation.

So, what happens next? :: But that doesn’t stop Sara from looking for her sister, and despite the concerns of Rob, she travels to Japan, and after talking to the people at the school where she was teaching, gets to the hotel where Jess was staying. There she meets a man named Aiden (Taylor Kinney) with whom she share a drink and they become friends. After listening to her story, he tells her that he is a photographer and will accompany her to the forest. They are also to be accompanied by a guide named Michi (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) whose presence will help them to get out of the forest if they lose their way or if anything goes wrong. As they go to the forest, Michi tells her that Jess should most probably be dead, and there is nothing changing the same. But Sara says that it is not possible, and as they are twins, she will somehow know if she was dead. She is quite convinced that her sister would never commit suicide.

And, what is to follow next in the adventure? :: After traveling for some time in the forest, they come across the tent which Jess had used, but it was nearing nightfall, and Michi tells them that they have to go back as soon as possible. But Sara is convinced that the best option for them is to stay there, as Jess might come back to the tent by night. But Michi tells her that it is not safe, as the forest has its own ghosts, and they will make her see things which will drive her mad, and it will be she who will be lost on the next day. With their best efforts not seeing anything good in the end, Aiden says that he will stay with her throughout the night, and Michi leaves them to what seems to be a complicated fate. So, by staying in the dark forest which is believed to have more spirits than people, can Sara finally find Jess, and can at least one of the two sisters return home alive from the forest? Well, it is not that simple as it seems to be.

The defence of The Forest :: Aokigahara Forest is a nice location for a change, and with the tales that are told about the same, we become more and more interesting in watching a horror movie based on the same location. Natalie Dormer does a very good job as the twins here, and we are glad to see her in two roles, and she does her job very well. Known the best for her work in Game of Thrones series and also in The Hunger Games, it is great to see the talented actress doing the big role in a horror movie. The forest is also a solid character by itself, as we see possibilities going endless from the beginning itself. It does bring the question about what really is the reality and what is the hallucination – something that the ghosts use to confuse its new preys. The visuals are nicely used to support the same, and we surely have to say that there is an attempt to go different here.

The claws of flaw :: The movie could have surely used more scares, especially with such a mysterious forest at the centre of everything – the site of tragedy and strange beliefs hasn’t got the due that it deserved. The Forest could have used more ghosts than any other movie, and the variety that it could have brought with its scares would have made it close to a masterpiece; but such an effort is certainly not made here. When such creepiness is around, you expect the scary side to hold on and get to be better, and it is something that you never see anywhere around here. This struggle to use the material in hand should feel strange for many viewers. It also has to be noted that other than Natalie Dormer, there is nothing much of a cast to do anything big. Maybe it is the lack of focus that bring the trouble rather than anything else, as we see the struggle towards the end from a movie which began so well.

How it finishes :: You will surely find The Forest to be a rather strange movie, which means that whether you like it or not, it is very difficult to ignore it. With Natalie Dormer in full form, you might expect more and more, and what you get might not satisfy you enough. If you consider the mystery elements more and the scares a little less, you will not find this one to be less interesting. As you think differently, you will find this movie to catch your attention with its divergence. After all, it is one reality that we have in our lives, and the inability to understand what is real and what is unreal, and what is good and what is evil, is something that should be scary even out of the limits of a horror movie. Well, this one is creepy enough, and you just need to read less number of reviews before watching this movie. You remember the movie Pet, which was different in its own way.

Release date: 8th January 2016
Running time: 93 minutes
Directed by: Jason Zada
Starring: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, Eoin Macken, Rina Takasaki, Noriko Sakura, Yûho Yamashita, James Owen

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Resident Evil VI

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I am pretty much not in support of this franchise.

Vampire Bat: What? But you do like this kind of action, and praised the first movie.

Vampire Owl: Yes, but this is becoming a little too much. Too many zombies are being killed, and my team of zombie minions have given a petition.

Vampire Bat: And what was the petition about?

Vampire Owl: It was about saving the remaining zombies of the Resident Evil by an airlift.

Vampire Bat: But they are brainless zombies and this is a movie.

Vampire Owl: Yes, but killing so many zombies is nothing more than racism leading to genocide.

Vampire Bat: But they are just infected humans mutating into zombies.

Vampire Owl: In the end, there is no real difference, you know.

Vampire Bat: Okay, you can accept the petition and decide to watch this movie only in parts.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with special dosa].

What is the movie about? :: Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up in the ruins of the White House, after being betrayed by Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) again. She is attacked by the Umbrella employees as well as giant flying creature which seemed to have taken the mutation to another level. Once again on the wrong side of success, it is The Red Queen (Ever Gabo Anderson) who appears in front of her and gives her the clue on how to save humanity, and build a future that seemed near impossible some time ago. It means that Alice has to returned to where it all started in the first movie of the franchise, to the Hive in Raccoon City within forty eight hours, as the Umbrella Corporation has successfully developed an airborne antivirus, which has the power to kill each and every organism infected by the T-virus – but there is only those two days left before the last human settlement is destroyed.

So, what happens next? :: Alice, despite the fear that this particular antidote will kill her too, decides to make this journey to end all of these, and after fighting through Dr. Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen) and his team that captures her, goes through to reach a human settlement which has managed to keep the undead creatures away until now. There she is captured by the team of Doc (Eoin Macken), Abigail (Ruby Rose), Christian (William Levy), Cobalt (Rola) and Razor (Fraser James) who don’t believe her until her old friend Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) shows up as part of the group, once again alive and ready for battle. The group makes a stand against the group of armored vehicles and the army of undead lead by Alexander and defeats them, although Cobalt is killed and the man in charge of the Umbrella operations escape. Soon, more of similar groups seem to be coming in their direction.

What is to follow in this final chapter? :: With almost no defence left against the bigger horde which is to follow, Alice decides to go to the Hive, and the rest of the group decides to go with her. There they will face more horror, starting with the mutated dogs which kill Christian. It will be followed by more, and Red Queen will reveal something else to the group, a secret that will show the true nature of the Umbrella Corporation which has always wanted to play God, and deal with the people whom it considered to be below them. The Red Queen reveals that even though it could never hurt an Umbrella employee, it was also programmed to value and protect human lives, which is why it is helping Alice to get into the Hive and get her hands on the anti-virus; after all, she is the only who seems to have the skill and capability to do the same, as she has proven many time before. But with only a few minutes of time left, can Alice do what she needs to do?

The defence of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter :: This movie continues what the franchise has been doing for so long, with all the action going on, and those zombies hungry for more coming after the survivors. This movie is also the best reviewed one in this franchise by the critics, which do seems strange – maybe they considered the fact that this is the last movie of the franchise, and they will have to review the movies of the series no more; still this improved opinion can be taken in consideration for the defence of this movie, as this final flick is not that far behind in action at any point of time. Milla Jovovich is at her best with what she does, and as Kate Beckinsale does to the Underworld franchise, she makes things work so well, and seeing Ali Larter again adds to the happiness. This time, people have reason to fight, and so the battles go great. The world also remains really good, and the post-apocalyptic setting has us a lot interested, and the same can be said about the return to the underground facility where all started in the first movie.

The claws of flaw :: One would be surprised to see so much of repetition in this movie, as the whole thing just seems to go on and on rather than bringing something out of the box in a last movie, for which the franchise will be remembered for long – we can’t really say that this will stay the last movie for long though, considering that ending which doesn’t really end the whole thing, with scope always there for a new beginninng out of this. Those who have played the video games might have wanted more, and the same is the case of those people who were already planning to not like this movie. The character of Claire is underused, and some of the best characters from the franchise, Jill Valentine played by Sienna Guillory, Ada Wong played by Li Bingbing, Chris Redfield played by Wentworth Miller and Leon S. Kennedy played by Johann Urb were not there, and we could find no clue of what happened to them, which is real disappointment, as a movie fan as well as a gamer. It could have also used better twists in there.

How it finishes :: This is a franchise that has been entertaining us since 2002, and fifteen years later, with six movies to boast about, the whole thing is finally coming to an end. This series which started with Resident Evil went on to bring Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution and now, finally Resident Evil: The Final Chapter to finish off the big video game’s movie adaptations. The games have a total count that is going to touch thirty, sooner or later, and I am pretty sure that we are not done with that – I particularly remember Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and along with Silent Hill, this is another survivor horror game adaptation that I have close to my heart; this might not be among the best movies of the franchise, but still, after Need for Speed, Hitman: Agent 47 and Warcraft in the last three years, another action-filled and interesting video game adaptation is here.

Release date: 27th January 2017
Running time: 106 minutes
Directed by: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Ruby Rose, Shawn Roberts, Eoin Macken, William Levy, Iain Glen, Lee Joon-gi, Fraser James, Rola, Ever Gabo Anderson, Matthew Santoro

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Logan

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: He is quite the popular person, isn’t he?

Vampire Bat: Yes, he is the favourite mutant of almost everyone you meet.

Vampire Owl: I wish that the mutants in our worlds were not zombies.

Vampire Bat: They have to be considered separately, especially with a world of supernaturals and superheroes in waiting.

Vampire Owl: Well, we were the most popular supernatural creatures at a time, and it is sad that there are signs of the same changing.

Vampire Bat: I believe that we are still very much popular, and our side remains strong. The mutants have always been there as superheroes or supervillains.

Vampire Owl: I have watched the trailer of this one. It is strange, for I thought this one was at least partially immortal.

Vampire Bat: He is a product of science; they haven’t really understood immortality yet.

Vampire Owl: But immorality is there.

Vampire Bat: That is kind of an easy thing for humans these days.

[Gets three cups of cardamom tea with Hide and Seek biscuits].

What is the movie about? :: Going right into a distant future, mutants are almost extinct. There is no longer the need for fighting the other mutants lead by Magneto (Ian McKellen), and there is no battle between the humans and the mutants, with the mutant problem seemingly not there as a threat. During these times, James Logan Howlett a.k.a. the Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), drives a limo and takes care of Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease which has lead to the world’s most dangerous brain being not something of use, and the telepathic abilities no longer working. Logan remains only a shadow of what he has been earlier, with his healing factor leaving him with time making him age, and without the healing, the adamantium skeleton which is the unyieldingly hard material inside him, is slowly and steadily killing him from inside.

So, what happens next in the movie? :: The two mutants are given company by another mutant, Caliban (Stephen Merchant), who has the ability to sense the presence of other mutants and track them. These are not easy times for Logan, who does get into trouble at times. One day, Logan is approached by a woman named Gabriela Lopez (Elizabeth Rodriguez), who claims to have worked as a nurse for some biotechnology corporation. He keeps trying to avoid her, but after offering him some money, she requests him to escort her and an eleven year girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) to a place in North Dakota known only as Eden. After she gets murdered, Logan, Xavier and Laura manages to escape the people who pursue them, while Caliban is captured. They are chased by a group of men lead by the cybernetically-enhanced fighter, Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook).

And what follows the same in the movie? :: Laura also has adamantium skeleton bonded to her, and has claws not only in her hands, but also in her feet. They find out from Gabriela’s final video message that she is one of several mutant children the company was breeding and joining with the DNA from different mutants, thus transferring their powers to children whom they felt were easier to brainwash into the ultimate killing machines, but it was not that effective as it was planned. Dr. Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant) who was the head of the project, is now in pursuit of his lost assets, and is determined to capture them dead or alive. Logan doesn’t have an instant liking to Laura who was cloned from his own DNA, but things get better as they go on traveling together. But unknown to them, there is one more thing after them, the X-24 project, which is more of the killing machine than Logan and Laura combined – how do they fight the monsters on their tail?

The defence of Logan :: This is one superhero movie in a divergent mode, which makes most of the things different with this one’s protagonist. There is something good with a superhero movie trying things differently as this one, as we get something other than the usual thing. With the powerful action scenes, what we have here is an even stronger emotional side, and we go through the hero’s struggles to live up to the legend in order to save more than one life, rather than finding him achieve greatness with a fantastic display of powers – something which X-Men and Avengers have been focusing on, along with destroying quite a good amount of public and private property. A predictable side is present too. We feel the pain of the hero more than in any other superhero movie, and it is something that the character of Wolverine has so much scope in providing us, along with those big action sequences. This one surely shows that there is more than one way to go divergent than Deadpool, and maybe Logan shouldn’t have been a movie with just one part.

The claws of flaw :: One is certain to find this too violent a movie, something which the X-Men movies haven’t focused on. There was already one special child in Midnight Special, and we have a rather more violent one here. There is also too much of a length for this movie considering the material that is possesses and how things have been proceeding, and just as many Wolverine fans had said, this is not the movie that they wanted with their hero at the centre – the end might be too much for them who might have wished for their favourite mutant to steal the show and just continue for eternity. A lot of things in this movie are going to be feeling like tragedy for the fans, and the situation of the great Professor X goes with that of Wolverine. This one is a lot dark and depressing with its content, and with violent kids in there, this is the movie that you would want to avoid watching with the younger ones – even as the kids and youth of these ages are surely getting more violent.

How it finishes :: Logan is one superhero movie with a difference; it will not go on to become something like The Dark Knight franchise, but this divergent treatment is certain to make one think about how much better each superhero movie could be – an idea which even those Bollywood superhero movies stealing from Hollywood can also think about. It can also work beyond the genre, as not a superhero movie. One thing that you will love more than everything else is, as expected, Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine who once again gives it all, as the older man who is not the killing machine that he used to be – with a number of X-Men movies, we have been missing him, and we needed something like this which was all about him. There is also Dafne Keen who is also almost as good as the big man with her performance. There might be other movies with superheroes, mutants or X-Men, but Logan is a movie that walks the different path, and will have your attention with how well it manages to do the same.

PS: Also, look forward to this week’s movie, Tiyaan.

Release date: 3rd March 2017
Running time: 137 minutes
Directed by: James Mangold
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal, Elizabeth Rodriguez

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Rogue One

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: The title of this movie has already made me think about Rogue Two.

Vampire Bat: It is the problem due to thinking too much about sequels. I don’t think that there will be another Rogue, as this is supposed to be a spin-off standing alone.

Vampire Owl: Some movies have too many sequels anyway. I can’t even remember when I first heard about Star Wars. Maybe we should see the rings and live only for seven days, so that the memory works better.

Vampire Bat: It is something that goes beyond centuries for humans, so I have heard.

Vampire Owl: But it hasn’t been that much known throughout the world, I wonder why.

Vampire Bat: Well, even Star Trek became popular only in the last few years – before that they had copied the same to make Captain Vyom.

Vampire Owl: Yes, I remember that it had such an uncomfortable timing that I ended up missing the food provided for many wedding, betrothal and house warming functions for watching it.

Vampire Bat: But, during those times, we never knew the original.

Vampire Owl: Star Wars was more popular than Star Trek during those days.

Vampire Bat: Now, there is the twist – everyone we love around here loves Star Trek more.

[Gets three cups of breakfast tea with a piece of orange cake].

What is the movie about? :: Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), an expert in weapons research is hiding on a planet, away from the dictatorship called Empire and its sinister motives which include but are not limited to enslavement of people. Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), who is in charge of the weapons research for the Imperial Military Force finds him and forces him to build a superweapon called the Death Star, which is capable of destroying planets from a long distance away, thus giving supreme power to the Empire. While his daughter is saved by the wanted rebel and an extremist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), his wife is killed by the Empire in the conflict. Galen is left with no other way, and is forced to go with Orson to provide his expertise, while Saw and his forces continue to resist the Empire which only grows stronger and stronger with time, while the rebels focused on newer methods to take down the Empire.

So, what happens next in the movie? :: Years later, a cargo pilot of the Empire, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) turns to the side of the rebels, as he brings a message from Galen to Saw, and he is captured by the extremist rebels. Meanwhile, Jyn Esro (Felicity Jones) who is a prisoner of the Empire, gets rescued by a rebel officer, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) who takes her to the rest of the rebels, and there, they convince her to find more about her father and the Death Star so that they can make good use of the information; their true intention is to kill him though. They will be joined by a re-programmed droid from the Empire, a blind but skilled warrior Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) and his fighter friend Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) who would have more than what they could handle on a normal day. Can they figure out Galen’s message, find him and stop the Death Star before it begins destroying the rebel bases, or even the planets on which they stand? Is there hope against the Empire which stands so strong?

The defence of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story :: Despite it not becoming that much of a popular thing here, this movie continues in the path set by its predecessors in the franchise, and does the same thing again, and provides the entertainment beyond the known world. Well, Star Wars is something that doesn’t age, and can go on to make more and more sequels, and shall continue to become success for many years to come. The message about rebellion continues, as the dictatorship also continues to do what it has been doing. The nostalgic feeling should work for those who had grown up watching Star Wars – those VCR and VCP days had more than one cassette of this franchise, with the first Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi; these used to be the special movies which looked too good, but not many people had watched them. The visuals and the special effects are too good, and you are going to love the final battle scene for sure, with all the splendour. Well, a stand-alone spin-off Star Wars movie is good to keep you strong while waiting for the next flick.

The claws of flaw :: The lack of popularity of Star Wars around here has hurt the possibilities with a lot of people no aware of how this series is progressing; about where it all began, where everything is going, and who all are these people, you wonder – well, not many people who have watched those earlier Star Wars movies are there to watch the newer flicks in the theatres, you know, and a stand-alone spin-off will only confuse them. Well, if people are confused about this, you can’t blame them, and they can only enjoy parts of this one in that case. Also, the one point to note is that there is not much of a change or variety in proceedings in this movie, as this becomes more Star Wars, rather than bringing a new special element. Star Wars: Force Awakens was certainly a better movie than this, and it seemed to try to be something by itself unlike this one which goes on and on with its usual stuff. Also, its attempt to work on the nostalgia that we have for this movie works not that much with the audience here. The emotional side is rather weak.

Soul exploration :: Well, Star Wars has always been about the rebellion against the dictatorship, as we had felt a long time ago. But during those times, the need was not this strong, and with a lot of things forced on us for no meaningful reason, one has to wonder if we are all the rebels against that part of the society which steals our individuality from us, for which new rules are made; when rules are not really made for people, and it is just for a certain group of people, we wonder if this situation in Star Wars is not so different from what we have now. There is so much hate in the world that hope seems too far away, as far as the stars are. Star Wars also has the message of hope, and battling against all odds. But how strong is everyman against the troops which are controlled by fascism which threatens to destroy not just worlds, but also the idea from the minds of the people? Star Wars movies keep bringing that hope in one way or the other, against the mighty Empire which would call for fake patriotism and not rebellion, but revolution happens in one way or the other.

How it finishes :: As it is clear for many people, people in India are not really much of fans for the Star Wars franchise, even though I remember having watched the series, and becoming interested in the same – I was among a few people who did, for Star Wars surely had no takers in the schools, tuition classes or even among the cousins. The presence of some of the Star Wars games was what helped me further to keep the interest alive, and while those earlier games had the Jedi Knight hero, there was also Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds which provided the feeling of playing Age of Empires II: Age of Kings again. Even though it keeps making so much money in the United States, and maybe also in Europe as well as other English-speaking nations, it would have to try hard to make it work better in India for better collections – but you never get bored of watching a Star Wars movie as far as I am concerned, and I have enjoyed watching this one too. We await the real sequel of Star Wars: Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi releases with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega after this one from the director of Godzilla. So, may the force be with you.

Release date: 16th December 2016
Running time: 133 minutes
Directed by: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Jimmy Smits, Genevieve O’Reilly, Anthony Daniels

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Rings

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: This sounds a lot cooler. Does the “s” in the end mean that there are many rings?

Vampire Bat: Why does this feel cooler when the critical appreciation has been so low with this one?

Vampire Owl: Because there seems to be more than one ring. So, there could be more than one spirit in play.

Vampire Bat: Are you going towards talking about the wedding ring that is planned to be given to Lady Death?

Vampire Owl: Yes, something like that too.

Vampire Bat: Dude, don’t you know that being married to Lady Death means that you have to die?

Vampire Owl: Yes, but I am already dead and risen. I am undead, we all are.

Vampire Bat: But the undead can also die in some ways, and you know that too.

Vampire Owl: But death by Lady Death has its special advantages.

Vampire Bat: Well, it is your undead call in the end.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with aloo paratha].

What is the movie about? :: On an airplane, two passengers Carter (Zach Roerig) and Kelly (Lizzie Brochere) discover that it has been seven days since they both had watched the infamous Samara Morgan’s (Zoe Pessin) cursed videotape which has been circulating well to take enough lives all around. The two realise that they are going to die soon, but at some point, it feels that being on airplane provides them some protection as the cursed entity from the video tape can’t reach there as they are so much above the ground and in the presence of many people, but it turns out that they are wrong. There seems to be some problem with all the screens of the airplane whether it is of the pilots or the passengers, as the evil entity arrives on the video, and the plane crashes killing them all, with no evidence of what caused the disaster.

So, what happens next? :: Julia (Matilda Lutz) sends off her boyfriend Holt (Alex Roe) to the college, and after being in contact for months, suddenly has no information about him. One day, she finds Skye (Aimee Teegarden), a beautiful girl on the other side of the video chat, and there is no sign of Holt. So, she decides to search for him all by herself. She reaches the college, and find the professor whom Holt said was an interesting person with whom he was working with projects – Gabriel Brown (Johnny Galecki). But the professor denies having known this particular person, and tells her that she should move on, as people of his age finds something more interesting, or maybe it is about him finding someone better. But she doesn’t give up as she follows Gabriel to a secret area of the college, which is more than what meets the eye.

So, how does the big mystery reveal with its twists? :: There she meets the beautiful girl whom she had seen in the video chat, Skye, who takes her to her apartment, and asks her to watch a video. But Holt who contacts them asks her not to, and then there is the evil entity, Samara arriving, and she takes Skye’s life while Julia locks her inside the bathroom. Holt arrives soon to confirm everything, and she comes to know that he is in trouble. Gabriel, who had bought a VCR with the tape inside, had watched the mysterious video, and was keeping on transferring the curse to another person before the seven days end, a process that has been going on and on, so that nobody died. Gabriel was so much interested in learning about this tape which is the gateway to the other world, so that the process continues. Unable to watch Holt die, Julia watches his copy and carries over the curse to him, but this time, the video is more than the usual one.

The defence of Rings :: This is the tale that becomes more of an origin story than anything else. This could have easily been a reboot, or the tale of another girl who is not the popular horror character who has been there for so long. The mystery factor gets the advantage over the horror side. Also, among the cast, it is Aimee Teegarden who seems to be able to become the best scream queen, and they could have used her throughout the movie, while Matilda Lutz brings enough of the same. There is something that we can always be sure about though; it is that a movie from The Ring franchise will always be that, and no matter how much people try to degrade a movie from the series, there will always be something in it, as the continuation of one of the most loved horror movies of all-time, and what might be the best horror adaptation from the Japanese.

The Claws of flaw :: You would expect that a movie like this which has a powerful foundation can do very well to make this franchise even better, but that is not the case, as there is no symbol of improvement everyone, and at times, one has to wonder if this has deviated so much that Rings is a movie which has not much to do with the franchise except for the antagonist proclaiming the same. The movie also has a certain shortage of scares, which is surprising, because the antagonist here is someone who has attained an iconic status, not just with the movies of this franchise, but also with the Scary Movie franchise, most notably Scary Movie 3 which had used the scary moments to evoke laughter brilliantly. The expectations were so high, but what was delivered was just a movie just manages to do enough because we had forgotten most of that movie which released fifteen years ago, and the gap here is so much to bring a comparison without watching the original again.

How it finishes :: A lot of things have changed since the first movie had released, and there is no doubt that we have a different world for the entity to enter right now. It was like fifteen years ago when the horror genre hadn’t become this huge as far as the common audience are concerned. These are the days when even Malayalam movie industry which focuses so less in horror, thought that bringing a superstar horror movie with high quality special effects was required, and Ezra came into being. Rings might not be anywhere close to bringing justice to the series of novels wriiten by Koji Suzuki, the Japanese versions of the movies, or the first movie which made the big impact and brought alive the other remakes from the Japanese including The Grudge, Dark Water and Pulse. But Rings still remain a movie which can keep the franchise moving forward, and it surely has those moments which will keep you wish for a sequel that could do even better. Just don’t look for a Don’t Breathe, Lights Out or It Follows, as this is the sequel to a big horror movie, and it will be fine enough.

Release date: 3rd February 2017
Running time: 102 minutes
Directed by: F. Javier Gutiérrez
Starring: Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Vincent D’Onofrio, Aimee Teegarden, Bonnie Morgan, Chuck David Willis, Patrick R. Walker, Zach Roerig, Laura Wiggins, Lizzie Brocheré, Karen Ceesay, Dave Blamy, Michael E. Sanders, Randall Taylor, Drew Grey, Kayli Carter, Jill Jane Clements, Adam Fristoe, Zoe Pessin

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Underworld: Blood Wars

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: This movie has been going on and on, and we, the vampires have spent so much money or trying to attain copies of the same.

Vampire Bat: I have heard that even Werewolf Anger has a copy of the first three movies of the franchise.

Vampire Owl: Why would he have those copies? He is angry at all movies.

Vampire Bat: He is angry at everything, and so this anger is actually a reflection of his less angry side.

Vampire Owl: But it is still Werewolf Anger, the angriest werewolf of all-time.

Vampire Bat: There is some competition regarding the same, from Werewolf Hunger.

Vampire Owl: Well, hunger is a strong emotion, and he is named after that; so I would expect some tough competition.

Vampire Bat: I hope that watching Blood Wars won’t make them more interested in wars.

Vampire Owl: Watching Underworld: Awakening awakened nobody though.

Vampire Bat: Well, all the movies in this franchise will be better tales than Twilight for sure.

[Gets three cups of cardamom tea with Little Hearts biscuits].

What is the movie about? :: The war between the two species goes on, and vampires are in trouble with the advanced werewolves, the stronger and the sharper versions of Lycans going through them, with only two strongholds left for the formerly high class species of undead, the Eastern Coven and the Nordic Coven. Semira (Lara Pulver), a beautiful and ambitious council member of the vampires, sees Selene (Kate Beckinsale) as the only hope for saving their coven as well as preserving their world as it has been for many years. With Lycans only getting stronger under their ruthless and fearsome leader Marius (Tobias Menzies), Semira gets the support of Thomas (Charles Dance), a Vampire Elder who is the father of David (Theo James), whose life was saved by Selene herself. They are successful in getting the support of the council which declares Semira fully responsible for whatever actions Selene comes up with when inside the coven.

So, what happens next in the movie? :: The vampires have been searching for Selene already, seeking justice for the deaths of Viktor (Bill Nighy) and Marcus (Tony Curran), and this becomes her opportunity to return to the coven, forgiven, even though not forgotten as a murderer of her own kind. David pleads her to return to the coven, as she could join her kind and defend everyone against Marius who also wishes to capture Selene for information about her daughter Eve (India Eisley) whose blood could prove vital to the werewolves in attaining ultimate supremacy over vampires. Alexia (Daisy Head) arrives with her team and the order from the coven and takes Selene home just in time before the Lycans arrive at the scene. There they are given a warm welcome, but Varga (Bradley James), the leading Death Dealer of the coven isn’t happy that Selene has returned to train his team of Death Dealers, and with his intimate relationship with Semira, a twist seems to be coming up.

The defence of Underworld: Blood Wars :: There is the usual style of the Underworld franchise that we see here, and it is reflected not just on the visuals and the action sequences, but also in the overall dark mood. Vampires facing werewolves is the kind of idea that never gets old, and will remain interesting as long as you don’t put too much drama in there by the way of Twilight an its evil twin sisters. The tale continues with all those elements that are to satisfy the fans of the franchise. The movie also finishes off smartly, with having an option to end the tale there, as well as to continue it – the scope for a new dawn in this movie will be an entirely different one too. Still, whatever they do it will be eternally impossible to have the pre-determined critics to rate a movie like this any higher; if this was a Bollywood movie with a heavy dose of nonsense, maybe the reviewers here would have rated it a lot high; add a big superstar to it, and you know what happened with dumb movies like Krrish and its sequels.

Claws of flaw :: People are certain to think that there is too less added to this movie as another significant movie in the franchise – for there was the scope for deviation while retaining the basic elements, which is not taken. The journey here is just the easy way, with no special ingredient. I would also consider to be the second least interesting movie of the franchise following the one movie that was the prequel without Kate Beckinsale in it. Even though the critical opinions are without doubt biased and prejudiced as it was with almost every Underworld movie, this is surely a step down from the previous movie, Underworld: Awakening. Without a proper understanding of the background used in this movie, the weaklings will also find it difficult to go through this movie, and some reviewers need to be shown all movies of this franchise, without which they seem to struggle to find out which movie is this particular flick which they watched.

Performers of the soul :: Kate Beckinsale is also at her best as usual, and she becomes Selene and shines through this movie too – she looks almost the same as when the first movie released fourteen years ago, something that the Resident Evil series and Milla Jovovich will have in common. There is not much that separates her, all the action, and the style of this movie. We had also seen the same in the remake of Total Recall as well as Van Helsing. Selene is a character whom we have identified as one of the most recognizable vampires in live-action movies, and with her being played by the same person, and having the same looks throughout the franchise has helped the cause further. Giving her company as the other gorgeous vampire is Lara Pulver, whom we will all remember as the special Irene Adler from the Sherlock television series, with that introduction scene and what followed from A Scandal in Belgravia. Clementine Nicholson is another actress who will be a big asset to the franchise without doubt. We are also glad to see the Divergent franchise‘s own Theo James here again.

How it finishes :: Anna Foerster’s first movie has the fans of the franchise interested for sure, with the vampire-werewolf tale never running out of opportunities make more and more movies. This is also one of those movies which release first in India and then in the United States – something which happens at a few occasions mostly with those superhero movies and not with anything that has a vampire or a werewolf. This tale can surely bring more sequels, prequels and even spin-offs, and with some divine intervention, maybe there will be a movie which will be loved by the critics – but the chance of the same is very little. But it is up-to us to enjoy movies like these, instead of overrating those local superhero movies which has nothing inside them other than some so called superstars who come down to such a terrible level to act in such nonsense – we will have anyone without intellectual poverty will have trouble watching such flicks, but both the common viewers and the reviewers will claim that the movies are of epic level.

Release date: 6th January 2017 (USA); 2nd December 2016 (India)
Running time: 91 minutes
Directed by: Anna Foerster
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Lara Pulver, Theo James, James Faulkner, Daisy Head, Clementine Nicholson, Tobias Menzies, Charles Dance, Oliver Stark, Peter Andersson, Bradley James

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pet

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: This reminds me to show you my new pet.

Vampire Bat: I don’t think that this is that kind of a movie related to the real pets.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that there is no live-action version of The Secret Life of Pets.

Vampire Bat: Not at all.

Vampire Owl: And there will be nothing The Street Cat Named Bob?

Vampire Bat: Absolutely not.

Vampire Owl: So, we are after the wrong kind of pet here.

Vampire Bat: This is supposed to be a thriller; so you know the kind of pet.

Vampire Owl: The psychological kind.

Vampire Bat: Yes, and you know more psychos than I ever will in this life and the next.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with gobi paratha].

What is the movie about? :: Seth (Dominic Monaghan) works at the local Animal Control Department, and as a shy person doesn’t talk to many people, and has not many friends. Even those who works with him hopes not to get to talk much to him. One day he comes across Holly (Ksenia Solo) who is supposed to be someone he knew a long time ago, but she doesn’t remember him at all. After their meeting in the bus, he becomes more and more obsessed with her, and feels the need to get noticed more. But she doesn’t even remember meeting him for the second time in the bus, as he visits the restaurant that she works in. He tries to seem confident after looking for her interests on her social media profiles, as he asks her for dinner, but that doesn’t come out right, and she clearly shows her lack of interest in him. He is disappointed, but doesn’t give up.

So, what happens next? :: Holly goes on to meet her ex-boyfriend Eric (Nathan Parsons), but Seth continues to follow her, and in the process, gets beaten up by Eric. Despite being bloodied, Seth does manage to steal her diary which has all intimate details of her past. But as he keeps on reading the same, something takes a drastic change. He spends his time setting up a cage in an abandoned side of the animal shelter, and even as it affects his work, make sure that he could create something different and strange at that side to which nobody makes a visit. There seemed to be something in that diary that motivated him so much to finally kidnap her, and get her to that cage. But after kidnapping, he reveals to her that his wish is to save her, and this is all part of his secret plan for the same, much to the surprise of Molly who sees no way to escape from the steel cage.

So, how does the big mystery reveal with its twists? :: Soon, she finds out that Seth knows all her secrets which were written in the diary, and there are no longer secrets between them. There is a big secret that involves her best friend Claire (Jennette McCurdy), and Seth tells her that he loves her, and understands that there is not just one side to Holly. He tells her that it is only him that can help her, and asks for nothing in return as he is her one true love, and not Eric. It is then that the security guard of the animal shelter, Nate (Da’Vone McDonald) grows more and more suspicious of him due to his absence from work, and his roaming into those less explored areas. He makes his own way through those abandoned areas, and is shocked to find the young girl locked up inside cage in her underwear. Now, Holly tries to manipulate him into murdering the guard, and soon the question evolves into who the crazier one is, and also about who the real psychopath is.

The defence of Pet :: There is certainly something different with Pet, as one had already noticed with the posters and the trailer itself. This one emerges and becomes more than just having a girl in captivity by a stalker. There is that madness in this movie that only gets stronger as the movie progresses. Pet had so many opportunities here to become just the usual tale of a “damsel in distress” captured by the man who has been stalking her for long, but surely adds enough in there for the divergence. It is Ksenia Solo who impresses at moments with the way her character approaches everything, and Dominic Monaghan also leaves a good effect on this one, even though more situations could have been added to bring even more of these characters outside rather than leaving too much to be guessed. There is a lot of manipulation going on in this particular flick, and the twist is ready to get to you.

The Claws of flaw :: More was certainly possible with Pet, and surely a better finish was expected, considering how things were made stronger with the progress. You will also feel that there is a little bit too much of repetition with the talks that go on between the two protagonists, and we also see that the cage is also less used as the property, and there are moments when the leading lady does act so less like the character that she is – maybe, it is also part of the character, but that leaves the audience rather confused. The whole manipulation thing could have also used a little more drama rather than keeping the captive without much of emotions – it is something that will go as a negative mark in the performances. The lady also doesn’t get even a real cut on her, and will also get to be out of the cage without any trace of being a captive, and that also adds no positive to the genre. There is also that slowness in the middle, which is not converted to anything interesting.

How it finishes :: Pet‘s divergence is not something that we can question. But its leading lady character might be one for many. There is also a little bit of predictability that comes in, and that is also due to the lady protagonist, and by the end, people are just going to guess that final twist, considering how the so called stalker was proceeding with the things. You are going to wish that this movie was something more, but the variety in treatment that this movie brings will also be catching your attention – there are two sides to this movie, and thanks to its leading performers living up-to the expectations whenever there is the need, we have Pet as a movie that can be watched for not being like the others of its kind. In a movie which has no real hero or heroine, how much you can like the flick is dependent on what you want – a very high rating will be difficult, but liking this movie is not. The best thing about this movie is that it does take off the masks of some people who pretends to be good and nice to others, but being close to be good or in control is not what that particular person is all about, even when in a cage.

PS: For the lighter minds, there are reviews on movies like Kubo and the Two Strings and Kung Fu Panda 3.

Release date: 2nd December 2016
Running time: 94 minutes
Directed by: Carles Torrens
Starring: Dominic Monaghan, Ksenia Solo, Jennette McCurdy, Nathan Parsons, Da’Vone McDonald, Denise Garcia, Janet Song, Alasdair Martin, Gary J. Tunnicliffe

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Split

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: Sometimes, I feel that I am more than one person.

Vampire Bat: Due to you being unable to keep your promises, we have all felt the same on one day or the other.

Vampire Owl: You are taking this the negative way.

Vampire Bat: I remember you telling us that you were not you, but another you when asked about coming for the vampire exercise.

Vampire Owl: But that was not me, but a shadow of me.

Vampire Bat: You just found a few reasons to run away from everything; that is what happened.

Vampire Owl: I am telling you that all of you haven’t met my most dominant side yet.

Vampire Bat: And that will still be you.

Vampire Owl: My zombie minions clearly understand all these.

Vampire Bat: I don’t see why they wouldn’t try to agree to your theory about yourself, as it is told to your own brainless minions.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with special ghee roast].

What is the movie about? :: Three teenagers, including best friends Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula), along with another girl Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), who were part of a birthday party celebration, are kidnapped while returning home. They wake up only hours later, and they realise that they are held in captivity by a man known by the name Dennis. This particular person is actually one of the twenty three personalities present in the mind of Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy). This man, who was a victim of childhood abuse was having a case of dissociative identity disorder, and has been treated by his psychiatrist Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley). The girls soon meet Patricia, which is actually the same person dressed in women’s clothes, and is just a little nicer than Dennis. They also meet Hedwig, who is the third personality, a nine year old boy who is looking for some fun and is afraid of Dennis and Patricia.

So, what happens next? :: The three girls discuss how to escape, and while Claire wishes to pounce on the man and attack him, Casey keeps thinking about a smarter way to get out from there. It is Claire who tries to escape first through the ventillation, and she does get to an open space in the building, but is caught by Dennis who takes over from Hedwig and chases her. She is taken to a room, and is kept there in solitary confinement. Marcia also tries to escape, when Patricia is in charge, but she also finds her, and threatening with a knife, gets her into another room alone. Meanwhile, Casey also tries to make a radio call, outsmarting Hedwig, but that idea also doesn’t work, and Patricia gets hold of her, as she gets locked up again. These two personalities, Dennis and Patricia, who have replaced Barry who was the earlier dominant personality, are planning present the three girls to a rumoured twenty fourth personality, known only as the Beast – can the girls escape before that?

The defence of Split :: After you read the synopsis and summary of this one, you know that something different is in store, and the same has been provided here by M. Night Shyamalan who continues his run after the lesser hyped thriller, The Visit. The movie goes on steadily right from the beginning, and we soon comes to know what is awaiting us as the flick progresses. There are some nice twists, and a fine finish in the end, which makes way for a sequel which could be even better than this one, so much is the potential there. Our director is one man who knows how to keep the balance, between the psychological thriller and the supernatural thriller, and the same is revealed here. We already know how good he can be, and this is the movie that once again proves the same for the non-believers who go on this very interesting journey that will keep you guessing what is coming up next with the unpredictability of not just the antagonist, but also the protagonist who has her own big flashbacks.

The claws of flaw :: Split, with its variety in treatment, might not be the movie for everyone, as M. Night Shyamalan makes the difference again while not following the usual path. With this kind of a premise, people might be expecting something else, but not with this man at the helm. Split, even when there exists not much of a fault, will have to face those strange female reviewers who will also keep looking for the quantity of clothes that the female characters are wearing – something which doesn’t even come close to being anything by even Bollywood standards; well, some reviewers from India are the kind of people who are busy praising Hindi movies, and haven’t seen many movies from the other languages, and don’t intend to. Lets hope that the sequel to this movie is kept away from them as much as possible. Maybe, some people would have also wanted this to go faster, and with more action to go with the same – the need to see all those personalities might also be there with a few viewers.

Performers of the soul :: As expected, it is James McAvoy who leads the way here with one man and his multiple personalities – he shines with each one of them, and you are going to notice the Hedwig one more than any other. He is certainly the one person who can handle even more than this number of people inside him, and the character or rather the characters within the character are very much safe with him; maybe the Oscars next year can try and deserve him. Anya Taylor-Joy is one amazing talent as she continues her run, from The Witch, through Morgan and now into this movie – we see the character through sadness and a depressing past. The two other girls, Haley Lu Richardson and Jessica Sula are not too far away in performances either, as they also leave a mark – both of them surely have a long way to go; more memorable scream queens should be there in store for us. Maybe they could have gotten to battle the rumoured beast a lot too.

How it finishes :: Releasing here a little bit late compared to its United States release, M. Night Shyamalan had showed signs of his return with the interesting thriller which was The Visit, and this one even does better. Unlike After Earth which was one terrible movie without doubt, his three negatively reviewed movies before that were not that terrible when we look at it overall. Lady in the Water, The Happening and The Last Airbender were all movies with so much scope and could have been there, even though they fell short. The same doesn’t happen with Split, as the force remains strong with this one, considering how it progresses, and how the cast is used to maximum impact. This year might be having the best thriller very early itself, as Split has all it takes to go the distance, being quite the improvement from The Visit. M. Night Shyamalan is back for real, and you can tell that to the other movie fans in the neighbourhood! If you liked this movie, also go for 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Release date: 20th January 2017 (USA); 24th February 2017 (India)
Running time: 117 minutes
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula, Betty Buckley, Brad William Henke, Sebastian Arcelus, Neal Huff, Kim Director, Lyne Renée, M. Night Shyamalan, Bruce Willis (cameo)

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.