Django Unchained (2012)

Django Unchained (2012)

Django Unchained is a 2012 American Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson. Set in the Old West and antebellum South, it is a highly stylized variation of spaghetti Westerns, and a tribute to the 1966 Italian film Django by Sergio Corbucci, whose star Franco Nero has a cameo appearance.

The story is set the Deep South in the early winter of 1858 and the following spring of 1859, two years before the outbreak of the American Civil War, with preliminary scenes taking place in Old West Texas. The film follows Django (Foxx), a branded black slave, and Dr. King Schultz (Waltz), an English-speaking German bounty hunter posing as a travelling dentist. Schultz buys and then promises to free Django in exchange for his help in collecting a large bounty on three outlaws. Schultz subsequently promises to train Django in bounty hunting and split the bounties with him in partnership, if Django assists him in hunting down other outlaws throughout the winter. He further offers to help Django to locate and free his long-lost wife Broomhilda (Washington) from her cruel plantation owner Calvin Candie (DiCaprio).

The film was a major critical and commercial success and was nominated for several film industry awards, including five Academy Awards. Waltz won several awards for his performance, among them Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and Academy Awards. Tarantino won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA award for writing the film's original screenplay. The film grossed over $425 million worldwide in theaters against its $100 million budget, making it Tarantino's highest-grossing theatrical release.

Storyline

Former dentist, Dr. King Schultz, buys the freedom of a slave, Django, and trains him with the intent to make him his deputy bounty hunter. Instead, he is led to the site of Django's wife who is under the hands of Calvin Candie, a ruthless plantation owner.

Plot

In Texas 1858, the Speck brothers, Ace and Dicky, drive a group of black slaves on foot. Among the shackled slaves is Django, sold off and separated from his wife, Broomhilda von Shaft. The Speck brothers are stopped by Dr. King Schultz, a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter from Düsseldorf, Prussia, who asks to buy one of the slaves. When he questions Django about his knowledge of the Brittle brothers, a group of outlaw for whom Schultz is carrying a warrant, Ace becomes irritated and aims his shotgun at Schultz in threat. Schultz, a superior gunslinger, immediately kills Ace in return and leaves an injured Dicky at the mercy of the newly freed slaves, who shot Dicky in the head.

As Django can identify the Brittle brothers, Schultz offers Django his freedom in exchange for help tracking them down. After hunting down the Brittles, the liberated Django (who adopted the surname "Freeman") partners with Schultz through the winter and becomes his apprentice, and Schultz discovers that Django has a natural talent of being an incredible crack shot. Schultz tells Django that Broomhilda is named after Brunhilda, who was rescued from a prison of dragon hellfire by Siegfried, from the Germanic mythology. Schultz explains that he feels responsible for Django since Django is the first person he has ever freed, and felt more obliged to help Django (whom he described as a "real-life Siegfried") reunite with Broomhilda. Django, now fully trained, collects his first bounty, keeping the handbill for good luck.

In the Spring of 1859, Django and Schultz travel to Mississippi, where they learn the identity of Broomhilda's owner: Calvin J. Candie, the charming but cruel owner of the Candyland plantation, where slaves are forced to fight to the death in brutal wrestling matches called "Mandingo fights". Schultz, expecting Candie will not sell Broomhilda if they ask for her directly, feigns interest in purchasing one of Candie's prized fighters for far more than the normal price. Schultz and Django meet Candie at his gentleman's club in Greenville and submit their offer. Intrigued, Candie invites them to his ranch at Candyland. After secretly briefing Broomhilda, Schultz claims to be charmed by the German-speaking Broomhilda and offers to buy her.

During dinner, Candie's staunchly loyal house slave, Stephen, becomes suspicious of Schultz and Django's motives. Deducing that Django and Broomhilda know each other previously and that the sale of the Mandingo fighter is ruse, Stephen alerts Candie and admonishes him for his greed. Candie is angered at being fooled and having his time wasted, but contains his anger long enough to theatrically display his knowledge of phrenology, which he uses to theorize why the slaves have failed to kill their oppressors, despite ample opportunity.

Candie's bodyguard, Butch Pooch, bursts into the room with his shotgun trained on the two bounty hunters, and Candie explodes in anger, threatening to kill Broomhilda. He offers an alteration of the original deal, with Broomhilda taking the Mandingo fighter's place at the same price, and threatens her death should the deal be rejected. After business appears concluded, Candie insists that the deal be sealed through a handshake, which Schultz initially refuses but eventually appears to concede. However, Schultz snaps and kills Candie with a concealed derringer. Butch shoots dead Schultz and Django kills him in turn, and an extensive gunfight in the mansion between Django and Candie's henchmen ensues. Django guns down a great number of his opponents, but surrenders when Broomhilda is taken hostage.

The next morning, Stephen tells Django that he will be sold to a mine and worked to death. En route to the mine, Django proves to his dim-witted Australian escorts that he is a bounty hunter by showing them the handbill from his first kill. He convinces them that there is a large bounty for criminals hiding at Candyland, and promises that they would receive the majority of the money. The escorts release him and give him a pistol, and he kills them before stealing a horse and returning to Candyland with a bag of dynamites.

Returning to the plantation, Django kills more of Candie's henchmen, takes Broomhilda's freedom papers from the dead Schultz's pocket, bids goodbye to his late friend and frees Broomhilda from a nearby cabin. When Candie's mourners return from his burial, Django kills the remaining henchmen and Candie's sister Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly, releases the two remaining house slaves, and kneecaps Stephen. Django then ignites the dynamite that he has planted throughout the mansion, and he and Broomhilda watch from a distance as the mansion explodes with the incapacitated Stephen inside, before riding off together.

Cast

• Jamie Foxx as Django "Freeman"
• Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz
• Leonardo DiCaprio as "Monsieur" Calvin J. Candie
• Kerry Washington as Broomhilda "Hildi" Von Shaft
• Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen
• Don Johnson as Spencer "Big Daddy" Bennett
• Walton Goggins as Billy Crash
• James Remar as Ace Speck and Butch Pooch
• Dennis Christopher as Leonide "Leo" Moguy
• James Russo as Dicky Speck
• David Steen as Mr. Stonecipher
• Tom Wopat as U.S. Marshall Gill Tatum
• Dana Michelle Gourrier as Cora
• Nichole Galicia as Sheba
• Laura Cayouette as Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly
• Ato Essandoh as D'Artagnan
• Sammi Rotibi as Rodney
• Clay Donahue as Fontenot
• Escalante Lundy as Big Fred
• Miriam F. Glover as Betina
• Omar J. Dorsey as Chicken Charlie
• Franco Nero as Amerigo Vessepi

User Review

Absolutely loved every minute of this movie. Usually I'm not too crazy about Tarantino's movies, but this one is definitely the best one I've seen in a long time. The actors were picked perfectly. The overall experience of a movie is amazing. When we first went to watch it, I was a bit skeptical and thought I'd end up leaving an hour into the movie (it's a 3 hr movie), but it grabbed my attention from the very beginning and I didn't even wanna get up to go to the bathroom, afraid to miss something. I'm usually very particular about the movies, nothing can hardly satisfy me, but this one is definitely in the top 5. Soundtrack was perfect. When I got home, I've done some more research on it and loved it even more! Overall, I would highly recommend this film!

Titanic (1997)

Titanic (1997)

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.

Cameron's inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks; he felt a love story interspersed with the human loss would be essential to convey the emotional impact of the disaster. Production began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the actual Titanic wreck. The modern scenes on the research vessel were shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, which Cameron had used as a base when filming the wreck. Scale models, computer-generated imagery, and a reconstruction of the Titanic built at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California were used to re-create the sinking. The film was partially funded by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. It was the most expensive film made at that time, with an estimated budget of $200 million.

Upon its release on December 19, 1997, Titanic achieved critical and commercial success. Nominated for fourteen Academy Awards, it tied All About Eve (1950) for the most Oscar nominations, and won eleven, including the awards for Best Picture and Best Director, tying Ben Hur (1959) for the most Oscars won by a single film. With an initial worldwide gross of over $1.84 billion, Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark. It remained the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron's 2009 film Avatar surpassed it in 2010. A 3D version of Titanic, released on April 4, 2012 to commemorate the centennial of the sinking, earned it an additional $343.6 million worldwide, pushing the film's worldwide total to $2.18 billion. It became the second film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide (after Avatar).

Storyline

84 years later, a 101-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning.

Plot

In 1996, treasure hunter Brock Lovett and his team aboard the research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh search the wreck of RMS Titanic for a necklace with a rare diamond, the Heart of the Ocean. They recover a safe containing a drawing of a young woman wearing only the necklace dated April 14, 1912, the day the ship struck the iceberg.[Note 1] Rose Dawson Calvert, the woman in the drawing, is brought aboard Keldysh and tells Lovett of her experiences aboard Titanic.

In 1912 Southampton, 17-year-old first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater, her fiancé Cal Hockley, and her mother Ruth board the luxurious Titanic. Ruth emphasizes that Rose's marriage will resolve the DeWitt Bukaters' financial problems. Distraught over the engagement, Rose considers suicide by jumping from the stern; Jack Dawson, a penniless artist, convinces her not to. Discovered with Jack, Rose tells a concerned Cal that she was peering over the edge and Jack saved her from falling. When Cal becomes indifferent, she suggests to him that Jack deserves a reward. He invites Jack to dine with them in first class the following night. Jack and Rose develop a tentative friendship, though Cal and Ruth are wary of him. Following dinner, Rose secretly joins Jack at a party in third class.

Aware of Cal and Ruth's disapproval, Rose rebuffs Jack's advances, but realizes she prefers him over Cal. After rendezvousing on the bow at sunset, Rose takes Jack to her state room; at her request, Jack sketches Rose posing nude wearing Cal's engagement present, the Heart of the Ocean necklace. They evade Cal's bodyguard and have sex in an automobile inside the cargo hold. On the forward deck, they witness a collision with an iceberg and overhear the officers and designer discussing its seriousness.

Cal discovers Jack's sketch of Rose and a mocking note from her in his safe along with the necklace. When Jack and Rose attempt to tell Cal of the collision, he has his bodyguard slip the necklace into Jack's pocket and accuses him of theft. Jack is arrested, taken to the master-at-arms' office, and handcuffed to a pipe. Cal puts the necklace in his own coat pocket.

With the ship sinking, Rose flees Cal and her mother, who has boarded a lifeboat, and rescues Jack. On the boat deck, Cal and Jack encourage her to board a lifeboat; Cal claims he can get himself and Jack off safely. After Rose boards one, Cal tells Jack the arrangement is only for himself. As her boat lowers, Rose decides that she cannot leave Jack and jumps back on board. Cal takes his bodyguard's pistol and chases Rose and Jack into the flooding first class dining saloon. After using up his ammunition, Cal realizes he gave his coat and consequently the necklace to Rose. He later boards a collapsible lifeboat by carrying a lost child.

After braving several obstacles, Jack and Rose return to the boat deck. The lifeboats have departed and passengers are falling to their deaths as the stern rises out of the water. The ship breaks in half, lifting the stern into the air. Jack and Rose ride it into the ocean and he helps her onto a wooden panel only buoyant enough for one person. He assures her that she will die an old woman, warm in her bed. He dies of hypothermia but she is saved.

With Rose hiding from Cal en route, the RMS Carpathia takes the survivors to New York City where Rose gives her name as Rose Dawson. She later learns that Cal committed suicide after losing everything in the 1929 Wall Street crash.

Lovett abandons his search after hearing Rose's story. Alone on the stern of Keldysh, Rose takes out the Heart of the Ocean — in her possession all along — and drops it into the sea over the wreck site. While she is seemingly asleep or has died in her bed, photos on her dresser depict a life of freedom and adventure inspired by Jack. A young Rose reunites with Jack at the Titanic '​s Grand Staircase, applauded by those who perished.

User Review

I avoided watching this film for the longest time. Long before it was even released I had dismissed it as an over-hyped, over-blown, overly romanticized piece of Hollywood schmaltz, and I wanted nothing to do with it. I never watched it in the theatre. I shook my head in disbelief at the 11 Academy Awards - even though I had never seen it. Then I was asked to be a judge at a high school public speaking contest. One of the girls spoke about this movie. "It was so great," she said. "You really felt like you were on the ship." "Nonsense," I thought. I shared my feelings with my fellow judges. One looked at me and said, "you might be right, but if she liked the movie that much maybe she'll want to learn more about the real Titanic. The movie must have done something right to get her so interested." "Well, maybe," thought I. Then it finally appeared on Pay TV. "OK," I thought, "I'll give it a look see." I didn't want to like it - and I didn't. I loved it! What a great movie.

Where to start? First - the directing. My high school public speaking contestant was right. James Cameron does a superb job of creating an almost "you are there" type of atmosphere. The gaiety of life aboard the most elegant ship in the world. The nonchalance as news of the iceberg first spreads; then the rising sense of panic. You don't just watch it; you really do feel it. Then - the performances. The lead performances from Kate Winslet (as Rose) and Leonardo DiCaprio (as Jack) are excellent - Winslet's being the superior, I thought, but both were good. They had their rich girl/poor boy characters down to a perfect "t" I thought. In my opinion, though, stealing the show was Frances Fisher as Rose's mother. She was perfect as the snobby aristocrat, and you could feel the fear and loathing she felt every time she looked at Jack. Then - the details. I'm no expert on the sinking of the Titanic, but I have a reasonable general knowledge, and this film does a super job of recreating the historical details accurately and then weaving them seamlessly around the fictional romance. Very impressive, indeed. Then - the song. Who can watch this movie and not be taken with Celine Dion's performance of "My Heart Goes On."

Problems. Well, the romance was perhaps too contrived, in the sense that I just don't accept that Jack could have moved so effortlessly from steerage to first class. (I know he was invited the first time; but he seems to keep getting into first class without being stopped until he's been there for a while.) The realities of the separation of the social classes were much more realistically portrayed, I thought, when the steerage passengers were going to be left locked down there after the ship hit the iceberg while the first class folks got to enjoy half empty lifeboats.

A minor quibble, though. This is truly an excellent movie. My only regret is not seeing it in the theatre, where I think it would have been so much more impressive.

28 Weeks Later (2007)

28 Weeks Later (2007)

28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British-Spanish post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film, structured as a sequel to the critical and commercial success, 28 Days Later (2002). 28 Weeks Later was co-written and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, director and writer of 28 Days Later respectively, now acting as executive producers. It was released in the United Kingdom and United States on 11 May 2007. The on-location filming took place in London and 3 Mills Studios, although scenes intended to be shot at Wembley Stadium, then undergoing final stages of construction, were filmed instead in Wales, with Cardiff's Millennium Stadium used as a replacement

Storyline

28 Weeks Later picks up six months after the Rage Virus has decimated the city of London. The US Army has restored order and is repopulating the quarantined city, when a carrier of the Rage Virus enters London and unknowingly re-ignites the spread of the deadly infection and the nightmare begins

Plot

During the original outbreak of the Rage Virus, Don, his wife Alice, and four other survivors hide in a barricaded cottage on the outskirts of London. They hear a terrified boy pounding at their door, and let him in. A few minutes later, they discover that the infected have followed the boy to them. The infected attack and kill most of the survivors, while Don, Alice, and the boy are chased upstairs. Don is separated from Alice and when the boy is seen hiding in the closet. Alice rushes to get the boy, while Don tells her to just leave him. Soon the infected break into the room and after Alice pleading with Don to "help us", he decides to leave, abandoning them. Don desperately sprints to a nearby motorboat and narrowly escapes.

After the infected die of starvation, NATO forces take control of Great Britain. Twenty-eight weeks after the outbreak, an American-led force, under the command of Brigadier General Stone, brings in settlers. Among the new arrivals are Don and Alice's children, Tammy and Andy, who have apparently been out of the country at a boarding school and so missed the outbreak. They are admitted to District One, a safe zone on the Isle of Dogs guarded by the U.S. Army. Sergeant Doyle, a U.S. Delta Force Sniper and his friend, Chief Flynn, a helicopter pilot, are amongst the military presence charged with guarding the district. Tammy and Andy are reunited with their father, who was found by the U.S. Army and has become the district's caretaker. In their new flat, Don explains what happened to him and their mother.

That night, Andy dreams about forgetting his mother's face, so Tammy and Andy sneak out of the safe zone, and return to their former home, where they begin to collect family photographs and other mementos. To their shock, they find Alice in a semi-conscious state. Doyle sees Tammy and Andy leave the safe zone, and they and their mother are quickly picked up by soldiers and returned to the district. Alice is taken to a quarantine room, where she is tested and found to be an asymptomatic carrier of the rage virus. Don makes an unauthorized visit to Alice in her isolation cell, begging her to forgive him. However, when they kiss, Don is infected, savagely kills her, and goes on a rampage.

General Stone orders the building to be quarantined and District One to be put into Code Red lockdown. Civilians are herded into safe rooms, but despite the precautions, Don breaks into a room containing a large crowd and quickly causes a domino effect of attackers. Scarlet rescues Tammy and Andy as the soldiers in District One are ordered to shoot indiscriminately. Doyle, unable to bring himself to comply with the order, abandons his post and escapes with Scarlet, Tammy, Andy, and several others through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. General Stone orders District One to be firebombed, but large numbers of the infected, including Don, escape the bombardment. Scarlet informs Doyle that the children might hold the key to a cure and must be protected at all costs. Flynn arrives by helicopter to pick up Doyle, but he refuses to take anyone else, as they would be shot down for carrying possibly infected people.

Flynn contacts Doyle by radio and tells him to head to Wembley Stadium, but to leave the civilians. Doyle ignores his instructions and escorts the civilians to Wembley. He breaks into an abandoned car to escape nerve gas released to kill the infected, but is burned alive by soldiers as he tries to push start the car. Scarlet escapes an Apache gunship and drives Tammy and Andy into the London Underground, where the trio continues on foot. Don ambushes and kills Scarlet, then bites Andy. Tammy shoots Don before he can kill Andy, who remains symptom-free but an unknown carrier of the Rage virus. They continue to the stadium and are picked up by a reluctant Flynn, who flies them across the English Channel to France, as previously instructed by Doyle.

Twenty-eight days later, a French-accented voice requesting help is heard from the radio in Flynn's abandoned helicopter. A group of the infected are then seen running through a tunnel which, as they emerge into the open, is revealed to be the exit of the Paris Métro Trocadéro station with a view of the nearby Eiffel Tower.

Cast

• Further information: List of 28 Days/Weeks Later characters
• Robert Carlyle as Don
• Rose Byrne as Scarlet
• Jeremy Renner as Doyle
• Harold Perrineau as Flynn
• Catherine McCormack as Alice
• Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy
• Imogen Poots as Tammy
• Idris Elba as Stone

User Review

When I first heard there was to be a sequel to Danny Boyle's excellent 28 Days Later and that Boyle himself would not be directing it, I was less than excited.

Then the reviews began flooding in and I was surprised, shocked even, that the majority of them were positive.

It was then after the well respected film critic Mark Kermode said it was "very good" and "better than we had any right to expect" that I began to raise my expectations.

Im happy to report that they were exceeded by a sequel that surpasses the original in terms of tension and spectacle.

Boyle remained on board with the project, albeit as a producer, but also directed some second unit footage and never allows it to veer away from the look or feel of his original.

Not that he had cause to worry as the new director,Juan Carlos Fresnadillo obviously understood Boyle's vision and expands on it without getting too carried away.

The result is a faster paced, less reflective film, containing a very intelligent political subtext and some fantastic action set pieces that (and this is the most important part) delivers a large number of quality scares.

It also dwarfs 28 days later in terms of gore, meaning true horror fans have much more in the way of visceral glee to sink their teeth into (pun intended).

Insidious (2010)

Insidious (2010)

Insidious is a 2011 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan, written by Leigh Whannell, and starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne and Barbara Hershey. It is the first installment in the Insidious film series. The story centers on a couple whose son inexplicably enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for ghosts in an astral dimension who want to inhabit his body, in order to once again live. The film was released in theaters on April 1, 2011, and was FilmDistrict's first theatrical release. A sequel, Insidious: Chapter 2, was released on September 13, 2013, with Wan returning as director and Whannell returning as screenwriter. Because of the film's success it became the basis for a maze for 2013's annual Halloween Horror Nights. A prequel in the series, Insidious: Chapter 3 was released on June 5, 2015.

Storyline

A gripping story of a family in search of help for their son, Dalton, who fell into a coma after a mysterious incident in the attic. Little do they know that there is much more to this endless sleep than meets the eye as they explore the paranormal, and rediscover the past; the key to getting their son back once and for all.

Plot

A married couple Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne), their sons Dalton (Ty Simpkins) and Foster (Andrew Astor), and infant daughter Cali have recently moved into a new home. One night, Dalton is drawn to the attic when he hears creaking noises and sees the door open by itself. He falls from a ladder while investigating and sees a figure in the shadows. Hearing his terrified screams, Renai and Josh rush to his aid and declare the attic "off limits" to the children. The next day, Dalton falls into an inexplicable coma.

After three months of treatment without result, Renai and Josh are allowed to take Dalton home. Soon after, supernatural activity begins to occur; Renai begins hearing voices over the baby monitor when no one is in Cali's room, Foster says that Dalton sleepwalks at night, Renai sees a frightening figure of a man in Cali's room, who vanishes when Josh comes and the burglar alarm is repeatedly triggered for no reason with the front door open. After Renai finds a bloody hand print on Dalton's bed, she questions Josh about the house, but he ignores her. That night, Renai is attacked by the figure from Cali's room, and the Lamberts decide to abandon the house and move elsewhere.

In the new house, Renai sees the ghost of a dancing boy who leads her to Dalton's room. Josh's mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), visits them one day, and says she had a dream in which a figure in Dalton's room replies "Dalton" when she asks what it wants; at the same time, she sees a monstrous red-faced demon standing behind Josh and screams, while Dalton's room is ransacked and Dalton himself is found laying on the floor.

Lorraine calls paranormal investigators Elise Reiner (Lin Shaye), Specs (Leigh Whannell), and Tucker (Angus Sampson). Upon entering, Elise senses a presence in the house and upon entering Dalton's room, she sees something on the ceiling; to which Specs draws the demonic, red-faced figure Lorraine saw.

Elise explains that Dalton is not in a coma; he was born with the ability to travel mentally to the astral plane. He has traveled too far and become lost in a realm called "The Further", a place inhabited by the tortured souls of the dead. Without his mental presence, Dalton's body appears comatose and spirits can use it to enter the physical world. Josh is skeptical until he realizes that all of Dalton's drawings are of the demonic entity drawn by Specs.

Elise performs a seance to communicate with Dalton, but they contact the demon who threatens them before using Dalton's body to attack them until it is stopped by Elise. She reveals that her acquaintance with Lorraine is decades old, because she previously performed the same service on Josh when he was eight years old (he was terrorized by the parasitic spirit of an old woman). Josh also possesses the ability to astral project, and Dalton inherited this trait from him. Elise tells Josh that the only way to rescue Dalton is to go into the Further.

Elise puts Josh in a trance and he is able to project himself to their previous house. He goes to the attic and finds a red door, but is attacked by the mysterious figure that attacked Renai. After defeating him, Josh enters the Demon's lair, where Josh finds Dalton chained to the floor. After an tearful reunion, Josh frees him, but they are caught by the demon. Josh tries to fight it, but they are forced to flee with the demon in pursuit. Returning through the red door, Josh confronts the old woman that haunted him as a child. The old woman dissolves into darkness after Josh shouts at it to leave him alone. When Josh and Dalton return to their bodies they wake up in their new home and the spirits disappear.

As they celebrate the end of their ordeal, Elise starts packing her equipment with Josh, when she senses that something is wrong (she notices Josh's hands look old and dirty, similar to the old woman's), and proceeds to take a photo of Josh. Josh goes into a violent rage, as he doesn't like to have his picture taken and strangles Elise to death. Renai is horrified when she discovers Elise's dead body and searches for Josh to inform him of her sudden death. Renai picks up the camera and sees that the image Elise took of Josh is actually the old woman that haunted him as a child, implying that Josh has been possessed. Josh, suddenly appears behind her, and she turns around and gasps.

Cast

• Patrick Wilson as Josh Lambert
• Josh Feldman as Young Josh
• Rose Byrne as Renai Lambert
• Lin Shaye as Elise Rainier
• Ty Simpkins as Dalton Lambert
• Barbara Hershey as Lorraine Lambert
• Leigh Whannell as Specs
• Angus Sampson as Tucker
• Andrew Astor as Foster Lambert
• Heather Tocquigny as Nurse Kelly
• Corbett Tuck as Nurse Adele
• Ruben Pla as Dr. Sercarz
• John Henry Binder as Father Martin

Monsters

• Joseph Bishara as lip-stick faced Demon
• J. LaRose as Long Haired Fiend
• Philip Friedman as the Old Woman
• Kelly Devoto and Corbett Tuck as Doll Girls
• Lary Crews as the Whistling Ghost Dad
• Jose Prendes as Top Hat Guy
• Caslin Rose as the Ghoul / Contortionist
• Ben Woolf as Dancing Boy

User Review

I went into this movie confident that it would be a cheesy, campy romp with the same "tried and true tricks of the trade," like when the hero is investigating the creepy music coming from the basement and a cat jumps into frame, but I quickly discovered that this would not be case with Insidious. After watching the move and obsessing on it for about 12 hours now, I can honestly say it's one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. In fact, there were several points during the film where I screamed like a 13-year old girl at a Justin Beiber concert. Keep in mind I was consciously trying my hardest to keep my composure, mainly because I was sitting beside my new girlfriend of 2 months. She, incidentally, didn't make a peep; thankfully, I later found out she had her eyes closed the whole time.

I was also expecting to see some blood and guts, especially coming from the guys who made Saw, but there wasn't a drop. Instead, they used just about everything else in their arsenal to scare the bejesus out of me and everyone else in the theater (my girlfriend included). From literally the opening credits, they created an intense, haunting tension that didn't leave my body till several whiskeys and half a Xanax later. And the movie constantly feeds that tension, making even the characters' mundane family life somehow seem utterly terrifying. I was actually exhausted leaving the theater from all of the uncomfortable squirming I was unable to control. I'd say it's the most calories I've ever burned while watching a movie (well, at least a PG-13 movie).

Overall, the movie was great. It was crazy scary, thoroughly entertaining, and even surprisingly funny at times. Having said that, it will be quite some time before I watch another horror movie; I have no desire to be turned into a frazzled bundle of nerves again anytime soon. So, if you plan on seeing this movie, please consider this a cautionary reminder: it's probably best to go with someone who's already witnessed you have a complete physical and mental breakdown, so as to avoid an embarrassing drive home. And maybe bring a Xanax as well.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British horror comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather. At the same time, he has to cope with an apocalyptic zombie uprising.
The film was a critical and commercial success in the UK and the US. It received a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 76 out of 100 at Metacritic. Shaun of the Dead was also a BAFTA nominee. Pegg and Wright considered a sequel that would replace zombies with another monster, but decided against it as they were pleased with the first film as a stand-alone product, and thought too many characters died to continue the story.
The film is the first in Wright and Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, followed by 2007's Hot Fuzz and 2013's The World's End.

Storyline

Shaun doesn't have a very good day, so he decides to turn his life around by getting his ex to take him back, but he times it for right in the middle of what may be a zombie apocalypse... But for him, it's an opportunity to show everyone he knows how useful he is by saving them all. All he has to do is survive... And get his ex back.

Plot

Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a 29-year-old electronics shop salesman with no direction in life. His younger colleagues show him no respect, he has a strained relationship with his stepfather, Phillip (Bill Nighy), and a tense one with his housemate Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) because of Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun's other housemate and vulgar, unemployed best friend. Furthermore, Shaun's girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) dislikes their social life as they spend every date at the Winchester, Shaun and Ed's favourite pub. Because Shaun always brings Ed, Liz is always forced to bring her flatmates, David (Dylan Moran) and Dianne (Lucy Davis). After a bad day at work, Shaun forgets to book a table at a nice restaurant, and after suggesting the Winchester again Liz breaks up with him. Shaun drowns his sorrows with Ed at the Winchester. While celebrating at home, an enraged Pete — suffering from a bite wound caused by "some crackheads" — confronts Shaun on his flaws, telling him to sort his life out.

The next morning, a zombie apocalypse has overwhelmed the city, but Shaun is too busy dealing with his hangover to notice. He and Ed discover a female zombie in their backyard, but assume she is just drunk until she survives being impaled on a pipe. Another zombie makes its way into the garden, and Shaun and Ed run back inside. They learn more about the outbreak by watching the news and kill the two zombies (and another zombie that slips in through the front door) with blows to the head. The two decide to rescue Shaun's mother, Barbara (Penelope Wilton), and Liz so they can wait out the crisis in the Winchester.

Shaun and Ed escape in Pete's car and pick up Barbara and Phillip — who has been bitten — and then switch vehicles after Ed deliberately crashes Pete's car for Phillip's Jaguar. They then head over to Liz, Dianne, and David's flat and collect them. On their way to the Winchester, Phillip makes peace with Shaun, dies from his bites, and then reanimates — forcing them to abandon the vehicle and set off on foot. The streets surrounding the pub are overrun, so the group pretends to be zombies to sneak past them, but Shaun gets into an argument with Ed and breaks their cover. Shaun leads the horde away while the rest take refuge in the pub. Shaun rejoins them after losing the zombies.

Several hours later, the zombies return; Shaun discovers the Winchester rifle above the bar is functional and the group uses it to defend themselves. Barbara reveals she was bitten along the way and dies, and a distraught Shaun is forced to shoot her after she reanimates. David is then pulled through a window and torn apart by the zombies, and Dianne frantically unbolts the front door to rescue him, disappearing into the advancing horde. Pete arrives as one of the zombies and bites Ed; Shaun kills Pete and sets fire to the bar, but also sets off the remaining rifle ammunition by accident. The survivors flee into the cellar and contemplate suicide, but discover a barrel hatch elevator that opens to the outside. Shaun and Liz escape on the elevator as Ed is left behind with the rifle. Back on the street, the British Army arrives and guns down the remaining zombies, rescuing the two. The couple approach the safety of the trucks, reconciled.

Six months after the outbreak, civilization has returned to normal, but the living now use the zombies as cheap labour and entertainment. Liz has moved in with Shaun, and Shaun keeps Ed — now a zombie — tethered in the backyard shed so they can play video games together.

Cast

• Simon Pegg as Shaun
• Nick Frost as Ed
• Kate Ashfield as Liz
• Lucy Davis as Dianne
• Dylan Moran as David
• Penelope Wilton as Barbara, Shaun's mother
• Bill Nighy as Phillip, Shaun's stepfather
• Jessica Stevenson as Yvonne
• Peter Serafinowicz as Pete
• Rafe Spall as Noel
• Martin Freeman as Declan
• Reece Shearsmith as Mark
• Tamsin Greig as Maggie
• Julia Deakin as Yvonne's mum
• Matt Lucas as Cousin Tom

User Review

Shaun of the Dead is quite a surprising and brilliant piece of work which I suspect will achieve the accolade of instant cult status as word of mouth snowballs this film to richly deserved recognition.

Simon Pegg, both the joint writer and the main star of the film, has been a comedic force for some time, most notably in the fantastic BBC2 series 'Hippies' (which inexplicably bombed in the ratings) and the cult Channel 4 series 'Spaced'. Both programs hinted at Pegg's saliently dead pan comedic manner (and writing skills) which comes to full fruition in 'Shaun of the Dead'.

In a nut shell, this film is a romantic comedy with zombies (or zom-rom-com) who appear for no good clear reason (although some tantalizing clues are offered). The film is an amazing blend of the funny, the violent and the poignant.

Pegg has cast himself as one hell of a serious loser in this film. And not in the 'American' form of: 'I am a loser but I work in TV and have Jennifer Aniston as my wife' kind of loser as portrayed in tripe such as 'Bruce Almighty' or dozens of other US 'loser' films. Pegg's Shaun is a genuine loser and extremely recognisable too, he's an everyday man who works for an electrical retailer and his life is just plain dull and disappointing - and this is where all the comedy comes from in this film. There are two scenes in the film which seem to summarise this (and also shine a light of Simon Pegg as a very clever and funny writer) and both scenes simply involve Shaun walking to the nearby corner shop. The first time Shaun plods semi-comatose to the store we simply get the feeling that he is a loser. However, by the time the film shows him making the same journey again we realise that there is a lot more going on! The scene is played with such exquisite subtleness that it has to be one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen in any film! Not that this film is subtle however, there is a stunning array of visual comedy, one liners and (best of all) some digs at other films from the horror genre. The funniest being a very subtle snipe at Boyles `28 days later' - see if you can spot it!

The only problem with reviewing this film is that there are so many funny moments in it that it is hard to pick any to write about without spoiling the film. All I can say is that I cannot remember a film ever being this consistently funny with probably five or six serious laugh-out-loud moments. It was a joy to watch and my only disappointment is that I can never watch this film for the first time ever again - every viewing will forever be a repeat viewing.

Shaun of the Dead is not very everyone though - the language from the beginning is strong and the violence was quite surprising for a 15 certificate film (in the UK). This film is definitely going to be most appreciated by horror fans who know a huge back catalogue of horror films. It will also be enjoyed by teenagers (who filled the cinema when I viewed this film which was terrific, as they laughed loudest). Finally, I do have some criticism of this film and that is there is some wasted talent in the movie. Black Book's (channel four) star Dylan Moran seemed a bit wasted and so was Martin Freeman (from BBC2's The Office) - who would have made a terrific zombie! Also, did I spot Matt Lucas (from BBC3's 'Little Britain') in this film? I am not sure as I was laughing too hard maybe!

These problems however are so minor and can easily be forgiven. My suggestion is to go and slowly shuffle down to your local cinema to see this film and give Simon Pegg the money and recognition he deserves so that he can go on and make more films that are this good including what the UK papers have suggested as his next project - `From Dusk 'Till Shaun'.

Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)

Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)

Insidious: Chapter 3 is a 2015 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell in his directorial debut. It is a prequel to the first two films and the third installment in the Insidious film series. The film stars Dermot Mulroney and Stefanie Scott, with Angus Sampson, Whannell, and Lin Shaye reprising their roles from the previous films.
It was released on June 5, 2015 and has grossed over $112 million.

Storyline

After trying to connect with her dead mother, teenager Quinn Brenner, ask physic Elise Rainier to help her, she refuses due to negotiate events in her childhood. Quinn starts noticing paranormal events happen in her house. After a vicious attack from a demon her father goes back and begs Elise Rainier to use her abilities to contact the other side in hope to stop these attacks by this furious demon content for a body.

Plot

A few years before the events of the first film, retired parapsychologist, Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), reluctantly uses her spiritual ability to contact the spirit of Quinn Brenner's (Stefanie Scott) mother, Lillith, who died a year before. However, she urges Quinn not to make contact with her mother again after she senses that the spirit is not Lillith. Quinn begins to see a mysterious figure waving at her from a distance, and following her unsuccessful attempt to win an audition for a prestigious drama school, she is hit by a car and briefly flatlines before waking up with her legs cast.

The accident leaves Quinn stuck in her apartment with her father, Sean (Dermot Mulroney), and younger brother, Alex (Tate Berney). The demonic figure continues to haunt her, becoming increasingly malevolent as time progresses and leaving Quinn with her neck injured after the demon flings her around her bedroom. Sean tries to convince Elise, who like him is still grieving after the loss of her significant other: her husband, Jack, to help his daughter, but Elise declines, stating that her previous visits to the "dark" spiritual world made her realize that an evil spirit is hunting to kill her. However, she is convinced by her fellow parapsychologist, Carl (Steve Coulter), to continue using her spiritual ability, reminding her about her successful case involving Josh Lambert and stating that she is stronger than any spirits or demons because she is living and they are not.

Due to Elise's refusal, Alex suggests to call a ghost hunters duo: Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), but Quinn's possession grows increasingly worse as she, now possessed by the demon, breaks through her braces. Realizing that they are a fraud, Sean prepares to kick the duo out until Elise arrives timely. Deducing that the demon's goal is to lure potential victims to "the Further" so it can eat their life force, Elise decides to enter the spiritual world with Specs and Tucker recording any activities and words she spells out. With the help of a spirit who likewise is a victim of the demon, Elise enters the Further and after a brief encounter with the evil spirit that haunts her, the Bride in Black (Tom Fitzpatrick), meets with Jack (Adrian Sparks), whom she realizes is the demon (Michael Reid MacKay). While managing to defeat the demon, Elise returns to the material world after realizing that Quinn has to defeat the faceless version of herself by herself, who is slowly taking control of her features and soul. Though Quinn is at first at a disadvantage, Elise reads a message that the Brenner's late neighbor had tried to tell Quinn of: that Lillith is leaving her with a letter to read before she graduated. Lillith's (Ele Keats) spirit then appears to help Quinn fully take control of her body and return to the material world. She then disappears after leaving parting words to her family.

Following the Brenner' successful case, Elise decides to come out of retirement and work with Specs and Tucker. She arrives home and notices a figure watching her from outside. Thinking that it is Jack at first, Elise realizes that it is something demonic as the demon from the first film (Joseph Bishara) suddenly appears beside her.

Cast

• Lin Shaye as Elise Rainier
• Dermot Mulroney as Sean Brenner
• Stefanie Scott as Quinn Brenner
• Angus Sampson as Tucker
• Leigh Whannell as Specs
• Hayley Kiyoko as Maggie
• Tate Berney as Alex Brenner
• Michael Reid MacKay as The Man Who Can't Breathe
• Tom Gallop as Dr. Henderson
• Steve Coulter as Carl
• Phyllis Applegate as Grace
• Ashton Moio as Hector
• Ele Keats as Lillith Brenner
• Tom Fitzpatrick as Bride in Black / Parker Crane
• Adrian Sparks as Jack Rainier
• Phil Abrams as Mel
• Ruben Garfias as Ernesto
• James Wan as The Acting School Audition Judge
• Amaris Davidson as Nurse
• Fawn Irish as Lambert Woman
• Garrett Ryan as Young Josh Lambert
• Joseph Bishara as Lipstick-Face Demon

User Review

I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through this movie. It brought me back to when I first watched The Exorcist as a young boy.

I'm actually quite surprised at the low rating here though. Perhaps I thought it was brilliant because I really had no idea what the movie was about before watching it. I tend to avoid all previews and articles prior to watching movies so I go in fresh without any clues on what's coming. That behavior may have served me well with this one.

Honestly speaking, I jumped out of my chair a few times and even more satisfying, I experienced a few prolonged bouts of sustained horror. I sat there in total fear at what was transpiring right in front of me which I absolutely loved.

What an incredible surprise of a film and I'm still buzzing as I write this review. Job very well done. I can't remember the last time a horror film had such an effect on me. Bravo!

Final Destination 3 (2006)

Final Destination 3 (2006)

Final Destination 3 is a 2006 American horror film, and the third installment of the Final Destination franchise. It was directed and co-written by James Wong, who also directed and co-wrote the first film, and was produced by Wong and his writing partner Glen Morgan, with franchise producers Craig Perry and Warren Zide. Released on February 10, 2006, the film performed well at the box office and gained a mixed reception from critics.

Storyline

When Wendy Christensen has a vision of an accident on the roller coaster, resulting in her and her friends' deaths, she instantly begins to panic, causing more of her friends to be left of the ride. The remaining friends, including Wendy's boyfriend, are stuck on the roller coaster and find themselves involved in the accident. With death waiting around the corner, Wendy and Kevin Fischer must try and work out death's plan, before they and the remaining survivors end up dead.

Plot

High school student Wendy Christensen visits an amusement park with her boyfriend Jason Wise, best friend Carrie Dreyer, and Carrie's boyfriend Kevin Fischer for their senior class field trip. As they board the Devil's Flight roller coaster, Wendy has a premonition that the hydraulics securing the seat harnesses and roller coaster cars will fail, killing everyone on board. When she panics a fight breaks out and several people leave or are forced off the ride, including Kevin; best friends Ashley Fruend and Ashlyn Halperin; alumnus Frankie Cheeks; athlete Lewis Romero; and goths Ian McKinley and Erin Ulmer. As they leave they witness the roller coaster derail, killing the remaining passengers, including Jason and Carrie, leaving Wendy devastated.

The next day, Kevin tells Wendy about the explosion of Flight 180 and the subsequent deaths of the survivors. Believing that Kevin is mocking her, Wendy dismisses his theory and leaves. Later on, Ashley and Ashlyn are killed at a tanning salon when a loosened shelf falls and locks them in the overheating tanning beds. Now convinced that Death is still after them, Wendy and Kevin set out to save the remaining survivors using omens hidden within photos that were taken of them the night of the accident.

Frankie dies next at a drive-thru when a runaway truck crashes into the back of Kevin's truck, causing the engine fan to blow out and slice off the back of Frankie's head. The next day, they try to save Lewis at the gym. He tells them he doesn't believe them, shortly before two iron weights from the machine he is using swing down and crush his head. Next, they find Ian and Erin working at a hardware store. Wendy manages to save Ian before he is impaled by falling planks of wood, but a chain reaction causes Erin to stumble backwards onto a nail gun and she is shot repeatedly through the head. This leaves Ian devastated, and causes him to resent Wendy.

Later, Wendy learns that her sister Julie was also on the roller coaster, and rushes to the county fair to save her. She and Kevin are able to prevent Julie from being impaled on a harrow, and Wendy asks Julie who was sitting next to her on the roller coaster, as they are next on Death's list. Her question is answered when Julie's friend Perry Malinowski is suddenly impaled by a flagpole that is launched by a rope tied to a horse. Wendy saves Kevin from an exploding propane canister caused by all the commotion and is confronted by a deranged Ian, who blames her for Erin's death. A set off fireworks go off in their direction, and nearly hit Wendy, but she ducks and they strike a nearby cherry picker instead. As Ian shouts that Death cannot kill him, the cherry picker collapses and crushes him in half. Wendy believes the cherry picker was meant for her, but Ian inadvertently took her place.

Five months later, Wendy is on a subway train with her roommate Laura and friend Sean. After seeing more omens, Wendy attempts to leave the train, but she encounters Julie as she enters the carriage and decides to stay. Wendy then notices Kevin sitting at the back end of the carriage. Suddenly the train derails and everyone on board dies: Julie is hit by a stray wheel; Kevin is ground between the train and tunnel wall; and Wendy survives the crash but is hit by another train. This turns out to be another premonition, and the three attempt to stop the train. The screen then cuts to black, followed by the sound of screeching metal.

Cast

• For more details on this topic, see List of Final Destination characters.
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Wendy Christensen
• Ryan Merriman as Kevin Fischer
• Kris Lemche as Ian McKinley
• Alexz Johnson as Erin Ulmer
• Sam Easton as Frankie Cheeks
• Jesse Moss as Jason Wise
• Gina Holden as Carrie Dreyer
• Texas Battle as Lewis Romero
• Chelan Simmons as Ashley Freund
• Crystal Lowe as Ashlyn Halperin
• Amanda Crew as Julie Christensen
• Maggie Ma as Perry Malinowski
• Ecstasia Sanders as Amber Regan
• Dustin Milligan as Marcus
• Cory Monteith as Kahill
• Agam Darshi as Laura
• Dylan Basile as Sean

User Review

I've always been a huge fan of the Final Destination 3, mainly because it got me to look at the world in a whole new light. Granted, a slightly paranoid light, but a new light all the same. Any film capable of doing this deserves some recognition! The first and second were 2 gory, brash and trashy films, and didn't attempt to pretend they weren't, and the third followed the same route.

The plot in itself was pretty thin, and the characters were really just people on a hit list, no strong characterisation, but then, it wasn't needed! This is a no brainer snuff movie and it rocks. Some gratuitous amounts of gore, and a little nudity here and there and you have the perfect film to waste away the boredom welling up inside you after sitting through Harry Potter. The actors all do fine jobs, and the special effects are pretty much top-notch (when they're not CGI) and the pace just moves along nicely.

The 2 major bad points are : The CGI - It was pretty noticeable, and it did take away some of the magic of the Roller-coaster scene,in my opinion anyway, and secondly, it was way too short and there weren't enough deaths in it! That sounds a little demented, I know, but I actually found myself yearning for just a little more... but no. Excellent ending though, it surprised me, I have to say.

A good strong film altogether, a perfect date movie, but you'll never EVER look at a Tanning Bed (or a picture for that matter) the same way again.

GO SEE IT!

The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

The Purge: Anarchy is a 2014 American social science fiction action horror film directed and written by James DeMonaco. It is the sequel to the 2013 film The Purge and stars Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, Zoë Soul, and Michael K. Williams, while Edwin Hodge reprises his role of "The Stranger" from the first movie. It was released worldwide on July 18, 2014.

The film was met with generally mixed reviews, with most critics agreeing the film was an improvement over the original, and grossed over $111 million. The movie is notable for its dramatic change over the original: while the first film was set entirely in one house, this film is set all over the Los Angeles wide area to give the notion of what usually happens during the Purge.

Storyline

A couple are driving home when their car breaks down just as the Purge commences. Meanwhile, a police sergeant goes out into the streets to get revenge on the man who killed his son, and a mother and daughter run from their home after assailants destroy it. The five people meet up as they attempt to survive the night in Los Angeles.

Plot

It is March 21, 2023, hours before the start of the annual Purge. While television programs credit the Purge for recording low unemployment and poverty levels, people across the country are preparing either to commit acts of violence or to barricade themselves indoors against the mayhem. Meanwhile, an anti-Purge resistance group intermittently hacks into television programs to broadcast their own messages that challenges the system, stating that the Purge does not cleanse aggression, but rather eliminates the poor from the population.

In futuristic Los Angeles, Eva Sanchez, a waitress, rushes home to her daughter Cali and her terminally ill father Papa Rico. As they prepare to lock down for the evening, Papa Rico slips out of the apartment and into a waiting limo. He leaves behind a note explaining that he sold himself to a wealthy family as a Purge offering in exchange for $100,000 which will be transferred to Eva's and Cali's bank accounts following the Purge.

Married couple Shane and Liz are driving to the house of Shane's sister to wait out the Purge. They stop at a market but when they return to their car, a gang of hoodlums silently taunts them. They quickly drive away, but their car dies just as the Purge commences. They discover that the gang had tampered with the car by cutting the fuel line. The gang reappears, forcing Shane and Liz to flee on foot. Elsewhere, off-duty police sergeant Leo Barnes tells his ex-wife that he must Purge for revenge, and goes out into the streets heavily armed.

Moments after the Purge commenced, Eva and Cali watch a truck pull up and disgorge heavily armed paramilitary men into the neighborhood. A drunken maintenance man, who felt slighted by Eva in the past, bursts into their apartment intending to assault them, but is killed by paramilitary men who take both Eva and Kali, to be personally purged by their leader "Big Daddy". Leo drives by, kills all of the paramilitary men, wounds Big Daddy, and rescues Eva and Kali. Returning to Leo's car, they find Shane and Liz hiding in the back seat. Leo tries to kick them out, but must take them all when Big Daddy begins firing a Gatling gun at them, though the damage disables his car within a few blocks, as armor piercing bullets were used. When Eva promises that she can get him another car at the apartment of her co-worker, Tanya, Leo agrees to take them there on foot in exchange for Tanya's car.

The five survive intense street fights against purgers, and they also notice many dead paramilitary men killed by the anti-Purge resistance. When the group reaches Tanya's apartment, Eva reveals that there is no car. Tanya's sister, Lorraine, suddenly shoots Tanya for sleeping with Lorraine's husband. As the group flees, Big Daddy, who has been tracking them through traffic cameras, arrives with more armed guards. The groups evades Big Daddy, only to be captured by the gang that had been pursuing Liz and Shane.

The gang reveals that they were not trying to kill Shane, Eva, Cali, Liz and Leo, but are transporting them to a death chamber where they are paid. They deliver the group to a theater where upper-class Purgers bid on the right to kill them. They are taken to a chamber, to be hunted for sport. The group is able to kill and drive off the Purgers, but the elite's security forces swarm the chamber, killing Shane. Anti-Purge resistance fighters, led by Carmelo and Dwayne, storm the compound, shoot the security guards to death and rescues the group, revealing a significant armed revolt. Liz chooses to stay with the resistance fighters to avenge Shane. Leo, Eva, and Cali take a rich Purger's car and leave.

Leo finally arrives at the house of Warren Grass, the man who killed Leo's son while drunk driving a year earlier. Leo attacks Grass and his wife in their bedroom. Leaving the house, Leo is shot and wounded by Big Daddy. Big Daddy reveals that the New Founding Fathers believe that the Purge is not killing off enough of the lower class and have been secretly sending out death squads to increase the body count. He informs Leo of the unwritten rule: do not save people. As Big Daddy is about to kill Leo, Grass whom Leo forgave and spared, steps out of his house and kills Big Daddy. Eva, Cali, Grass have a standoff with Big Daddy's death squad when the siren sounds to announce that the 12-hour Purge has concluded. The death squad leaves the scene, while Grass, Eva, and Cali rush Leo to the hospital as emergency services begin the clean up of the Annual Purge.

Cast

• Frank Grillo as Leo Barnes (credited as "Sergeant")
• Carmen Ejogo as Eva Sanchez
• Zach Gilford as Shane
• Kiele Sanchez as Liz
• Zoë Soul as Cali Sanchez
• Justina Machado as Tanya
• John Beasley as Papa Rico Sanchez
• Jack Conley as Big Daddy
• Noel G. as Diego
• Castulo Guerra as Barney
• Michael K. Williams as Carmelo Johns
• Edwin Hodge as Dwayne "The Stranger"
• Keith Stanfield as Young Ghoul Face
• Roberta Valderrama as Lorraine
• Brandon Keener as Warren Grass

User Review

How could a sequel to a film that was released exactly one year ago be any good? This was the question I asked myself as I tiredly sat in line pondering whether I should just go home and wait till at the very least, it's theatrical release. Especially considering the first Purge was somewhat of a let down for me. I guess it's because the first one was purely exciting and terrifying because the idea was so perverse. It was the idea that really sold the tickets, but the film itself, seemed to not deliver to the expectations.

After watching The Purge: Anarchy, it became very clear why.

In the first film, we were sold by all the trailers, which successfully put the idea in our heads, leaving us brainwashed and nightmare-ring about "what would I do?"

The first film focused on a wealthy neighborhood and a wealthy family with an unlimited supply of resources. A storyline showcasing that all the money in the world couldn't protect them from The Purge… But in all honestly, could the average horror viewer relate to that situation or anyone for that matter?

This is where the sequel comes in to blow the roof off the first film. Where the first film failed, Purge: Anarchy not only resolves, but also opens up a whole new realm of fear I had not strung together under the circumstances.

The sequel puts into perspective the idea of what the purge would look like from multiple story lines that are not only realistic and relatable but are nonstop and completely unpredictable. I was on the edge of my seat the entire film, beginning to end. Very rarely do I get scared once a movie is over, but I was a hot mess on the way home especially coming down from the adrenaline high from being visually anxious for almost 2 hours straight!

There were so many things I loved about this film. The characters were all very well written, most of which were wildcards and constantly keeping the audience guessing. I was incredibly impressed that the film knew how to be violent without being gratuitous. There were so many scenes that could have easily been bloody and gross, but they kept it conservative enough that it made you rely on your imagination, which often made the film much more horrifying in my opinion.

It's been some time since I got this excited over a film in the theater but I really can't say a single bad thing about this incredible thrill- ride. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND seeing this film ASAP! The sound of that machine gun still haunts me 2 weeks later… GO SEE IT NOW!

Saw (2004)

Saw (2004)

Saw is a 2004 American psychological horror film directed by James Wan. It is Wan's feature film directorial debut. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell as two men who awake to find themselves chained in a large dilapidated bathroom, with one being ordered to kill the other or his family will die. It is the first installment of the seven-part Saw franchise.

The debut of Wan and Whannell, the screenplay was written in 2001, but after failed attempts to get the script produced in Wan and Whannell's home country of Australia, they were urged to travel to Los Angeles. In order to help attract producers they shot a low-budget short film of the same name from a scene out of the script. This proved successful in 2003 as producers from Evolution Entertainment were immediately attached and also formed a horror genre production label Twisted Pictures. The film was given a small budget and shot for 18 days.

Saw was first screened on January 19, 2004. Lionsgate picked up the rights and released the film in the United States and Canada on October 29, 2004. Critical responses were generally mixed and divided, but the film gained a cult following. Compared to its low budget, Saw performed very well at the box office, grossing more than $100 million worldwide and becoming, at the time, one of the most profitable horror films since 1996's Scream. The success of the film prompted a green-light of a sequel soon after Saw '​s opening weekend, which was released the following October.
The film was theatrically re-released by Lionsgate on October 31, 2014 to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

Storyline

After waking up in a tiny cell, two men find themselves victim of a serial killer who plays games with his victims and gives them one last chance to survive. If they wish to live, they each have to play their own game as the killer has told them on an audio script. As the film goes on, connections between the victims and the true identity of the never-showed-up killer are revealed.

Plot

Adam Stanheight, a photographer, awakens in a full bathtub. He gets out and finds himself chained at the ankle to a pipe in a large dilapidated bathroom. Lawrence Gordon, an oncologist, is chained to a pipe across the room and between them lies a corpse, holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. Adam manages to retrieve the recorder and they learn from tapes in their pockets what they must do: Adam must survive until six o' clock, and Lawrence must kill Adam before six o'clock, or his wife and daughter will die and he will be left to die as well. Using a clue from the tape, Adam finds a bag in the toilet tank containing two hacksaws, though neither is able to cut through their chains. Adam's saw breaks and he throws it at a mirror in frustration. Lawrence realizes the saws are meant to be used on their feet and identifies their captor as the Jigsaw Killer, whom Lawrence knows of because he was once a suspect.

Flashbacks show that while Lawrence was talking with some medical students and an orderly named Zep Hindle about the terminal brain cancer of a patient named John, he was approached by Detectives David Tapp and Steven Sing about his penlight being found at the scene of a Jigsaw "game". His alibi clears him, but he agrees to view the testimony of Amanda Young, a heroin addict and the only known survivor of Jigsaw's games, who believes that her experience has made her a better person.

Meanwhile, Alison and Diana, Lawrence's wife and daughter, are being held captive in their home by Zep, who is watching Adam and Lawrence through a camera behind the bathroom's mirror. The house is simultaneously being watched by Tapp, who has been discharged from the force. Flashbacks show that Tapp became obsessed with the Jigsaw case after hearing Amanda's testimony, and found Jigsaw's warehouse using the videotape from her game. He and Sing entered Jigsaws warehouse, where they saved a man from a drill trap, but Jigsaw escaped after slashing Tapp's throat and Sing was killed by a shotgun trap while pursuing him. After being discharged, Tapp began stalking Lawrence still convinced that he is Jigsaw.

In the bathroom, Lawrence finds a box containing a lighter, two cigarettes, and a one-way cellphone. Lawrence then recalls his abduction: he was trying to use his phone after being trapped in a parking garage, and was suddenly attacked by a pig-masked figure. The two try to stage Adam's death using a cigarette tainted by the corpse's poisoned blood, but the plan fails when Adam is shocked through his ankle chain. Adam then recalls his own abduction: he woke up in his photo development room to find the power was out, after finding a puppet was attacked by a pig-masked figure as well. Lawrence receives a call from Alison and is told not to trust Adam. Adam admits he was paid to take photos of Lawrence and reveals his knowledge of Lawrence's affair with one of his medical students. He then shows him several photos from the bag that contained the hacksaws, including photos of him leaving a motel, the night he was abducted. Lawrence tells Adam to describe the man who was paying him, and realizes it was Tapp. Adam later finds a photo he didn't take, of a man staring out a window of Lawrence's house. Lawrence identifies him as Zep, but the clock strikes six as he realizes this.

Alison, manages to free herself, and waits for Zep to call Lawrence and fights him for the gun. The struggle gets Tapp's attention and he saves Alison and Diana. He then follows Zep to the sewers, where he is shot after a brief struggle. Lawrence, who is only aware of gunshots and screaming, is shocked and loses reach of the phone. In desperation, he saws off his foot and shoots Adam with the corpse's revolver. Zep enters the bathroom intent on killing Lawrence, but is knocked to the ground and beaten to death with the toilet tank cover by Adam, who only suffered a flesh wound. After Lawrence crawls away to get help, Adam searches Zep's body for a key and finds another microcassette recorder, which reveals that Zep was another victim: he was following rules in order to obtain an antidote for a slow-acting poison in his body. As the tape ends, the "corpse" rises and reveals himself as John, the real Jigsaw Killer. He says that the key is in the bathtub, which went down the drain when Adam first awoke. Adam tries to shoot John with Zep's pistol but is shocked by John's remote control and loses reach of the gun. John then turns off the lights and seals the bathroom door, leaving Adam to die.

Cast

For more details on the cast and characters, see List of Saw cast members and List of Saw characters.

• Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon
• Leigh Whannell as Adam Stanheight
• Tobin Bell as John Kramer
• Danny Glover as David Tapp
• Monica Potter as Alison Gordon
• Michael Emerson as Zep Hindle
• Ken Leung as Detective Steven Sing
• Makenzie Vega as Diana Gordon
• Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young
• Dina Meyer as Detective Allison Kerry
• Alexandra Bokyun Chun as Carla
• Mike Butters as Paul Leahy
• Paul Gutrecht as Mark Wilson
• Ned Bellamy as Jeff Ridenhour
• Oren Koules as Donnie Greco

User Review

The movie Saw is something that comes around every so often like the Blair Witch Project. A small budget film that gets tremendous buzz because it is done with such intelligent screen play and shock value. Saw is known for its incredible ending twist that no one saw coming and it blew all the audiences away. Aside from that the great characters, the acting and dialog is a little lackluster between the two leading men, Dr. Gordon and Adam. The writing, well thought out story and death trap scenes really put Saw over the top and being worthy of a great horror film. It was one of a kind until it came out and totally original that James Wan will be acknowledged for until the end of his directing days. Saw (9/10) is a creative

Sin City (2005)

Sin City (2005)

Sin City (also known as Frank Miller's Sin City) is a 2005 American neo-noir crime thriller anthology film written, produced, and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It is based on Miller's graphic novel Sin City.

Much of the film is based on the first, third and fourth books in Miller's original comic series. The Hard Goodbye is about a man who embarks on a brutal rampage in search of his one-time sweetheart's killer, killing anyone, even the police, that gets in his way of finding and killing her murderer. The Big Fat Kill focuses on an everyman getting caught in a street war between a group of prostitutes and a group of mercenaries, the police and the mob. That Yellow Bastard follows an aging police officer who protects a young woman from a grotesquely disfigured serial killer. The intro and outro of the film are based on the short story "The Customer is Always Right", which is collected in Booze, Broads & Bullets, the sixth book in the comic series.

The film stars Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy and Elijah Wood, featuring Alexis Bledel, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen and Nick Stahl, among others.

Sin City opened to wide critical and commercial success, gathering particular recognition for the film's unique color processing, which rendered most of the film in black and white but retained or added coloring for selected objects. The film was screened at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in competition and won the Technical Grand Prize for the film's "visual shaping"

Storyline

Four tales of crime adapted from Frank Miller's popular comics, focusing around a muscular brute who's looking for the person responsible for the death of his beloved Goldie, a man fed up with Sin City's corrupt law enforcement who takes the law into his own hands after a horrible mistake, a cop who risks his life to protect a girl from a deformed pedophile, and a hitman looking to make a little cash.

Plot

The Customer Is Always Right (Part I)
The Salesman steps out of the elevator and walks onto a penthouse balcony overlooking Basin City, where The Customer awaits. He comforts her, the two briefly talk, share a kiss and he shoots her. As she dies in his arms, he ponders what she was running from.

That Yellow Bastard (Part I)
On the docks of Sin City, aging police officer John Hartigan tries to stop serial child-killer Roark Junior from raping and killing his fourth known victim, eleven-year-old Nancy Callahan. Junior is the son of Senator Roark, who has bribed the police to cover up his son's crimes. Hartigan's partner Bob tries to convince Hartigan to walk away, only to get knocked out.

Hartigan, fighting off the pain caused by his bad heart, confronts Roark Junior, shoots off his ear, right hand and genitals. Bob shoots Hartigan in the back, revealing himself to be on Senator Roark's payroll. As the sirens approach, Bob leaves and Nancy comforts him. Hartigan passes out, reasoning his death is a fair trade for the girl's life.

The Hard Goodbye
After a one-night stand, Marv awakens to find that Goldie, the woman he'd been with, was killed while he slept. He flees the frame-up as the police arrive, vowing to avenge her death to repay her kindness. His parole officer Lucille warns him to give up on this mission, believing Marv may have imagined it all due to his "condition". Marv interrogates several informants, working up to a corrupt priest who reveals that the Roark family was behind the murder. After killing the priest, Marv is attacked by a woman who looks like Goldie, which he dismisses as a hallucination caused by his "condition".

Marv goes to the Roark family farm and is subdued by the silent stalker, who is also Goldie's killer. He awakens to find Lucille has been captured after looking into his story. She tells Marv that the killer is a cannibal and that his victims, including Goldie, are prostitutes. He and Lucille escape their holding cell, but Lucille is shot by the leader of a squad of corrupt cops. Marv kills the squad, interrogates the leader and finds out that Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark arranged for Goldie's murder.

Marv goes to Old Town (Sin City's prostitute-run red-light district) to learn more about Goldie, and is captured by her twin sister, Wendy, who Marv previously dismissed as a hallucination. He eventually convinces her that he is not the killer and she resolves to help him avenge Goldie. The pair return to the farm, where Marv kills Kevin. He brings Kevin's head to Cardinal Roark, who confesses his part in the murders. Marv kills the cardinal but is then shot and captured by his guards.

After Marv's wound are treated, he is forced to confess to killing Cardinal Roark, Kevin and all their victims. He is sentenced to death in the electric chair. Wendy visits him on death row and thanks him for avenging her sister.

The Big Fat Kill
Shellie is harassed by her drunken and abusive ex-boyfriend Jackie Boy. When Jackie goes to the bathroom to urinate, her new lover Dwight McCarthy, dunks his face into the toilet, threatening to kill him if he doesn't leave her alone. Angry and embarrassed, Jackie Boy leaves Shellie's flat, and Dwight follows him to make sure he doesn't take out his anger on another girl.

Jackie Boy and his crew arrive in Old Town, where they harass Becky, a young prostitute. Dwight runs into Gail, Old Town's leader and Dwight's on-and-off lover, and the two watch the scene. When Jackie Boy threatens Becky with a gun, Miho, Old Town's enforcer, kills the whole group. As Dwight and the prostitutes check the corpses' personal effects, they realize Jackie Boy is actually Detective Lieutenant Jack Rafferty of Basin City Police. If the police learned how he died, their truce with the prostitutes would end and the mob would be free to wage war on Old Town.

Dwight takes the bodies to a tar pit to hide them from the police. There he is attacked mercenaries who retrieves Jackie's head to bring back as proof of his death. Dwight nearly drowns in the tar before Miho saves him. The two kill the remaining mercenaries, retrieve the head and return to Old Town. Meanwhile, Manute, an enforcer for mob boss Wallenquist, kidnaps Gail to force Old Town to surrender without a fight. It is revealed that Becky is the one who tells the mob of Jackie's death. Dwight offers to trade Jackie Boy’s head for Gail's life, and meet Manute's group in a narrow alley. As he detonates the grenade stuffed in the head, all the prostitutes, who have been waiting on top of the buildings on both sides of the alley, gun down the mob gang and kill Manute, leaving no witnesses. Becky escapes the onslaught.

That Yellow Bastard (Part II)
As Hartigan recovers in a hospital, he learns that Roark, Jr. is in a coma, the Roark legacy is in serious jeopardy and he will be framed for Junior's crimes. A grateful Nancy, who was denied the right to testify and vindicate Hartigan, promises to write Hartigan every week while he is in prison. Hartigan goes to jail, though he refuses to confess. He receives weekly letters from Nancy for eight years. One day, the letters stop arriving and he receives a severed finger instead. Worried that the Roarks somehow tracked down Nancy, Hartigan confesses to all charges, leading to his parole. He searches for Nancy and finds her at Kadie's Bar, where she has become an exotic dancer. As Hartigan realizes everything was a ruse just for him to lead Roark to Nancy, she recognizes him, runs off the stage and leaps onto him.

The two leave the bar in Nancy's car, pursued by a disfigured yellow man. Hartigan wounds him and the two stay in a small motel outside of town. Nancy confesses his love for Hartigan, who rebuffs her advances citing their significant age difference. The yellow man, who turns out to be Roark Jr., overpowers Hartigan and takes Nancy to the Roark farm. Hartigan gets to the farm, kills Junior and saves Nancy. Knowing that Senator Roark will never stop hunting him, Hartigan commits suicide to ensure Nancy's safety.

The Customer Is Always Right (Part II)
An injured Becky departs from a hospital, talking on a cell phone with her mother. In the elevator she encounters The Salesman, dressed as a doctor. He offers her a cigarette, calling her by name, and she abruptly ends the call with her mother, realizing that The Salesman is preparing to kill her.

Cast

• Jessica Alba as Nancy Callahan
• Devon Aoki as Miho
• Alexis Bledel as Becky
• Powers Boothe as Senator Roark
• Rosario Dawson as Gail
• Benicio Del Toro as Det. Lt. Jack "Jackie-Boy" Rafferty
• Michael Clarke Duncan as Manute
• Rick Gomez as Douglas Klump
• Carla Gugino as Lucille
• Josh Hartnett as The Salesman, known in the screenplay as "The Man"
• Rutger Hauer as Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark
• Jaime King as Goldie and Wendy
• Michael Madsen as Det. Bob
• Brittany Murphy as Shellie
• Nick Offerman as Burt Schlubb
• Clive Owen as Dwight McCarthy
• Mickey Rourke as Marv
• Marley Shelton as The Customer
• Nick Stahl as Ethan "Yellow Bastard" Roark, Jr.
• Bruce Willis as Det. John Hartigan
• Elijah Wood as Kevin

User Review

Based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller (who also co-directed and wrote the screenplay) Sin City tells three stories of crime, corruption, and redemption set in the fictional town 'Basin City'. The first story details the quest of Marv (Mickey Rourke) who searches town for the man who murdered Goldie (Jamie King), the woman he believes to be his one true love. The second tells of Dwight (Clive Owen) who must cover up the death of a corrupt police officer (Benicio Del Toro) in order to avoid a war between the cops, and the girls of old town, led by Gail. (Rosiaro Dawson) The final story shows Hartigan, (Bruce Willis) a beat up retired cop framed for a crime he didn't commit, trying to save the life of a girl whose life he saved at a young age, who grew up to become a stripper, (Jessica Alba) while all the while being tracked by a mysterious stranger with a grotesque appearance. (Nick Stahl)

It's a churning vat of old fashioned pulp style stories, each one more dark and edgy then the last. And yet, Sin City itself is morbidly fascinating; if you don't mind delving through the haze of sleaze, violence and corruption you'll find a really compelling story underneath the hard exterior. Sin City exudes the essence of classic film noir, except combined with over-the-top violence, characters and dialogue to maintain that comic book feel. Giving co-director status to creator Frank Miller and allowing him to write the screenplay was perhaps the wisest move director Robert Rodriguez ever made, because Miller's gritty influence shines through, perfectly capturing the mood of his original creations.

And the visuals... extraordinary. The entire film is shot in black and white, except for certain items which appear in colour. (a red dress, red blood, although sometimes the blood is stark white, and not to mention Nick Stahl's character, Yellow Bastard, who is, indeed, yellow) Rodriguez is also smart enough to use a greenscreen backdrop, so as to recreate Miller's gritty, moody sets by computer animation instead of trying to create them first hand. And it works, wonderfully - the sets perfectly set the tone for the rest of the movie: dark, bold, over-the-top and quality work unlike any other. Add the characters' noirish costumes (almost every male character sports, as Marv puts it, a "damn fine coat") unique appearances, (it says a lot for the quality of the movie when a character like Yellow Bastard doesn't seem out of place) and movement (take note that if the movie was paused at any given point, the frame would look like a panel from a comic book) and Miller and Rodriguez perfectly nail the comic book feel.

It also helps that a wonderful cast has been assembled to bring life to the mayhem. Spot on performances abroad here, but the standouts in my opinion were Elijah Wood, who was truly chilling as Kevin, the silent, cannibalistic serial killer; Nick Stahl as Roarke Junior/Yellow Bastard, a truly creepy and disgusting character; Clive Owen, playing against type as Dwight; (who isn't exactly a sophisticated, British gentleman, but then again, no one in this film is) Mickey Rourke as Marv, managing to turn out a stunning performance, even with his face buried under several layers of latex; Benicio Del Toro almost unrecognizable as corrupt cop Jackie Boy and a welcome appearance from Michael Clarke Duncan as Manute, an enforcer specializing in inflicting pain. The hard edged ladies also do a great job, with Jessica Alba, Rosiaro Dawson, Carla Gugino, Jamie King and the rest all giving great performances.

It's all in the style of such films as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, so it may be wise to use those films as guidelines of what to expect in terms of content. It's true that Sin City is not for everyone: the violence is brutal and unflinching, most characters are disreputable, manipulative and sleazy, and the whole feel of the film is undesirable, and not too cheery. But if none of that deters you, Sin City should be known as a must see, for the superb visual stylistics if nothing else. But the style and feel of the comic books is perfectly captured and thrust into our faces. Frank Miller must be proud.