Movie reviews (titles starting with numbers)

[goodcop2000]

13: Game of Death (2006)
3.5 challenging tasks

This surprisingly good movie from Thailand is about a man down on his luck who receives an unexpected opportunity to make a lot of money by completing a series of increasingly difficult tasks. The lead actor does a nice job and the wild plot is full of action, horror, and wry humor. If you have a weak stomach, this movie will test you!

1408 (2007)
3 restless spirits

The ending was a bit disappointing but most of the movie was creepy (in a good way). The atmosphere gets more and more psychedelic as the main character tries to survive in the "evil" hotel room. There is really not much of a story line but the film definitely has cool moments.

28 Days Later... (2002)
4.5 tasty brains

This is not a typical zombie movie. Actually it's not really a zombie movie at all because the scary, murderous people are not dead but infected with a "rage virus". There is not a lot of action until the end but the movie is very enjoyable throughout. The strong character development and social commentary make this much more cerebral than the average horror film.

28 Weeks Later... (2007)
4 tasty brains

This sequel to 28 Days Later is very different from but almost as entertaining as the original. It has a whole different cast and a different director and there is much more action. The movie kept me on edge right to the end. Warning: there is a lot of gore and carnage.

30 Days of Night (2007)
3.5 dripping fangs

The strengths of this movie are the clever plot and the creepy atmosphere. It's a nice twist on the standard vampire movie where each day the humans get to fight back. In this movie the day is not coming anytime soon and the humans are purely in survival mode. The vampires are not the debonair, charming type; they are inhuman screeching monsters (but well dressed). Youngsters and viewers with weak stomachs should skip this one as it has copious violence, some of it extremely graphic. But for those of you who love vampires flicks, it's definitely worth watching.

5 Dolls for an August Moon (1970)
2.5 glass balls

The great Mario Bava regarded this movie as his worst and sadly I have to agree with him. There are a few visually interesting moments in the movie including a body hanging in a bag in a freezer and a bunch of glass balls cascading down a staircase. However, the problems include very dated music and clothing, poor sound quality, weak character development of some key roles, uninspired acting, a choppy plot with holes, and worst of all, boring murder scenes. Giallo fans should watch it, but with low expectations.

976-EVIL (1988)
3.5 phone calls

This fun 80's horror movie directed by Robert Englund is about two cousins who call a number for a "horrorscope" and suffer unexpected consequences. I enjoyed the acting performances from Steven Geoffreys who was in Fright Night and Lezlie Dean of Freddy's Dead. The makeup and special effects were good except for some bluescreen backdrops that weren't very convincing.