Paranormal Activity

Starring:  Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Rated R (2007)

A young couple moves in together and so does a ghost.  Katie has been plagued over the years by a supernatural presence and after she moves in with her boyfriend this paranormal activity starts up again.  Her boyfriend sets up a video camera to document what happens and tries to find a solution that will make it go away.

• This movie starts out pretty slow.  We see the happy joking couple waking up, going about their day to day activity and sleeping in their room.
• As it goes on and the paranormal activity becomes increasingly more pronounced and frightening the couple becomes extremely agitated and night after night it builds to a very shocking conclusion.
• The format of this film is documentary style and set up to appear as if it is based on a true story.
• This movie is worth watching just for the ending alone.  I can't wait to see the next one!

4 Stars

Devil

Starring:  Bokeem Woodbine, Jacob Vargas, Chris Messina, Bojana Novakovic
Rated PG-13, Horror (2010)

Five strangers are trapped in an elevator together.  This however is not just a routine incident.  There are sinister forces at work and an evil presence that is unseen.  When the lights go out horrible things happen and as they look at one another they can only wonder which one of them is the killer and who will be next to die.

• I am willing to see anything by M. Night Shyamalan even if it doesn't look like it's going to be very good.  The previews for this one were intriguing and I was really impressed with the movie itself.  
• It kept me guessing and was not totally predictable.  The acting was good and the scary moments kept coming.

4 Stars

The Collector

Starring: Josh Stuart, Michael Riley Burke
Horror, 2009 (Rated R)


A man returns to his employers home where he works construction with the intent of robbing him only to find himself in the middle of a madman's fun house with no way out. Everywhere he turns is near death and the man behind this is unrelenting in his desire to maim, torture, and kill.

• When this movie started I had to double check that I had the right Collector. It appears to be very dated and kind of has an old school 70's quality about it.


• A flat screen computer here, botox injection there, and a cell phone are about the only indicators that the movie is current. The house where the movie takes place is this huge Victorian mansion type house with bear claw bathtubs making it difficult to grasp the time.


• It is a very dark film with a lot of shadows also which may bother some people.


• I was definitely on the edge of my seat with this one. Many tense and gory moments throughout made it just my kind of movie.

4 STARS

Jennifer's Body

Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried
Horror, 2009 (R Rated)

After a bar fire in a small town where nothing ever happens Needy (Seyfried) becomes suspicious of her best friend Jennifer (Fox) after she comes over bloody, battered, and acting very strangely. Soon after, the high school quarterback is found viciously murdered in the woods behind the football field. The town becomes the center of a media frenzy as the students mourn the lives of lost lives. Jennifer is the hottest girl in school and gets any guy she wants but suddenly her appetite for boys has grown stronger then ever. There is definitely something strange and deadly going on and Needy has to stop it before someone else turns up dead.

• The storyline of this movie is pretty weird but it makes for a really good movie.
• Megan Fox's hotness is played up and put on display in every shot. She is a great looking girl and was perfect for the role of seductress.
• Fox obviously hit the genetic gene pool jack pot with piercing blue eyes and dark hair. What must it be like to be that gorgeous?
• Amanda Seyfried plays the homely best friend role and although Fox is the hot one in the movie I really think Seyfried steals the show.

4 Stars

Drag Me To Hell

Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long

Horror, 2009

A loan officer who does not provide a mortgage extension to an old sick woman is cursed. Over the next three days she is tormented by an evil spirit as she competes for a coveted promotion and the good graces of her boyfriend's mother.

• I watched the unrated theatrical version.
• I liked this movie a lot more then I expected. It had all the makings of a really bad horror movie but I was pleasantly surprised.
• Not once, but twice I screamed out in fear. Lots of bodily fluids in this one, be prepared!
• It was refreshing somehow because although it had a classic horror movie kind of formula it still kept me guessing. Aside from the evil spirits trying to drag me to hell bits it actually had a decent story line.
• Some of the special effects were a little fake but that didn't really bother me.
• I wondered at first why Lohman was even in this movie. This is such a departure from her usual dialogue driven dramas. There is just something so vulnerable and and sweet about this actress . She did a great job and although going into it I thought this movie was "beneath" her I think the movie rose to her standards-for a horror movie of this nature.

4 Stars

The Last House On The Left

Action/Horror, 2009 (R Rating)

Director, Wes Craven

• I watched the unrated DVD version.
• A devious evil threesome kidnap two innocent teenagers who just so happened cross paths with a boy who is helpless to stop them from their murderous intentions.
• Riveting.
• The scene where they attack Mari is very gritty. It was quite long and seemed to go on forever to the point where it became very uncomfortable to watch.
• So much tension.
• I don't think I moved until this one was over.
• My goodness that girl is a fighter.
• I let out a loud "YEAH" at one point. Couldn't help it.
• Towards the end of this movie I literally had to let out a breath because I was holding it and didn't even realize it.
• There is a 1972 version that might be worth watching.

See Movie Trailer

5 STARS

Martyrs

Foreign/Horror, 2008 (NR)

Starring: Morjana Alaoui, Mylene Jampano

Rundown: This movie is about a child who escaped from a horrific torture chamber as a child and what happens when she ends up back at the scene of her torment 15 years later.

• This movie is in a word disturbing.
• I have never seen anything like it.
• Extremely graphic and violent.
• I have a high tolerance for violence and gore in movies and even I was left stunned after what I saw. I simply didn't know what to think.
• Certain images from the movie replayed in my head hauntingly so even a couple days after watching.
• It had me literally looking up the word 'martyrs' on wikipedia and then pondering its meaning and how it ties in with the movie.

5 Stars

Watch Trailer Here