A Quiet Place (2018)

I think almost anyone who checked out "A Quite Place" in the cinema can agree that it definitely provides a unique theatrical viewing experience that certainly makes it stand out. Aside from that, however, I wasn't all that blown away by the premise - which is pretty familiar and basic, overall.

We pick up with John "Big Tuna" Krasinski and his family as they are in the midst of surviving an apocalyptic invasion of auditorily adept creatures of unexplained origin that viciously attack and devour anything that makes even the slightest sound. We first seem 'em in action when their youngest son is pounced on after activating his battery-powered toy rocket ship which he was forbidden to have. About a year later, the family is living practically in total silence out on a farm. The eldest daughter - who is deaf, coincidentally - feels guilty over her brother's death and feels her father blames her for it and the mother has another child on the way. After going into labor, things go from bad to worse when the creatures swarm their dwelling and the fight for survival becomes paramount.

First off, as far as theatrical viewing, this is NOT a popcorn movie. It's more of an egg salad movie. I've never seen so many people afraid to eat their concessions at a film showing. Reason of course being, the majority of this movie is VERY quiet, if not completely soundless, which is actually pretty fucking cool, I thought. This both does a good job of bringing you into the head of a deaf character as well as boosting the tension in key scenes where the characters mustn't make a peep - making you feel all the more involved in what's going on. This also increases the impact of jump-scares, which weren't all that prevalent, yet the ones it had worked well. I didn't much like the look of the creatures. It just seemed like too familiar of a design, as did the films premise in not going anywhere all that unpredictable. That said, I had a good time checking this out at my local cineplex. It's definitely a rare kind of experience, seeing as how so much of the movie is so quiet and played out using mostly sign language in place of dialog. Good atmosphere, decent performances and quick enough pace. Just wish the creatures and plot structure were a little more original.

The Great American Snuff Film (2004)

This one turned out to be a bit better than I expected, mainly due to it not being a 100% 'faux-snuff' flick like I thought it would be. It's actually a pseudo-dramatization of a "real life" serial killer with, what is claimed to be, an authentic snuff clip tacked on at the end.

A psychopath and his retarded, hillbilly buddy abduct two women and hold them captive out in the buddy's desert junkyard where he intends on recording - you guessed it - 'the great American snuff film'. They put the girls through various forms of abuse and torment leading up to the final 'shoot', though their partnership becomes strained when the hillbilly friend can't seem to help himself from wanting to rape one of the girls, which he does, as well as killing her, thus putting a damper on the 'director's' project.

I found this one a decent enough indie effort with a fairly sleazy look to it and adequate acting, overall. Could've been a bit more rough, violence-wise, but oh well. And for the record, the 'true story' claim, as well as the purported "real" murder footage at the end is bullshit, as I initially figured. My search engine research wasn't at all extensive in finding this out, plus, if this footage (as well as the three other snuff clips the movie states exist on the internet) was real I feel I would've known of it long ago, seeing as how I DO tend to scour the web for shit like that. So, despite its falsehoods, I'll give this one a moderate rec. Not great, but definitely falls into my 'ok' category.

American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock (2015)

"Bloodshock" is definitely a step up from the previous debut film in the "American Guinea Pig" series, although, much like how that movie was basically a remake of the Japanese GP entry, "Flower of Flesh and Blood", this one is more akin to "The Devil's Experiment". Still, I'm pleased to report, "Bloodshock" does have a slight bit of originality behind it (mostly in comparison to the other movie), as well as a glimmer of PLOT, unlike it's bland predecessor.

A guy finds himself in the clutches of a depraved doctor and orderlies in some kind of unknown facility where he is subjected to cruel and violent torture methods. When not, he's locked in a padded cell where he discovers a captive female is residing in the next cell who he's able to exchange notes to through the gaps in the wall. As things progress and the painful experiments become more severe, we learn that the doctor is siphoning their blood and injecting it into himself which seems to give him an intense 'high'. The film eventually concludes in a pretty stylish and bloody way...

While "Bloodshock" IS, like I said, superior than the first AGP installment, I'm honestly just not finding this kind of stuff all that 'disturbing' or 'shocking' at this point. By now I've pretty much run the gamut on this type of material so I'm not all that affected by episodic sequences depicting torture and gore. There ARE one or two fairly "inventive" methods of pain-infliction; namely the carving through bone with a wire, however, I really didn't find the gore and violence to be all that 'rough' or impacting with this one. The scene with the little spiky 'wheel' implements was pretty weak and went on way too long, especially. It must be said that nothing in this comes close to the 'graphic' eyeball scene from "The Devil's Experiment". I DID like the tone of the movie as well as the "climax" which, as out-of-place as it feels, IS the highlight of the film and the effects work, as a whole, are pretty solid so kudos to Marcus Koch once again. In all, I've yet to be all that impressed with the "American Guinea Pig" films, though I'm still willing to give the next one a fair shot. I hope future entries take off in a more unique and original direction and don't continue to mirror their Japanese counterparts so much.

Terrifier (2017)

I never saw the "All Hallows Eve" anthology, though I DID see the short film, "Terrifier", as a standalone piece before even knowing it was a part of a feature horror collective. I reviewed it so you can go and read that, but I really dug it as a hugely entertaining and gory 20-minute watch that I thought could definitely warrant an extended run-time. Well, we got it and I'm pleased to say: it's as enjoyable and bloody as one could hope.

Two young ladies are accosted by a crazy looking clown after leaving a Halloween party. After an incident at a pizza place - involving the clown getting "fresh" with one of them and being thrown out after painting the restroom with feces - the girls experience car trouble on their way home and, unfortunately for them, the psychotic clown isn't far behind. The rest of the movie is pretty much a Cirque du Sol-bloodbath in an abandoned building.

Don't go into this one expecting anything more than an incredibly psychotic looking clown slaughtering people in some exceptionally gruesome and over-the-top ways. Plot-wise - like the short - there's not much to speak of, though the kills are clearly the meat-n-potatoes here. Hacksaw-on-vag action, skull-smashing, human flaying (pretty creepy scene, might I add...), decapitations, and others. There's also a few things you may not quite see coming as far as weaponry used in the film as well as how the killers' outcome is handled. Speaking of which, they got a different guy to play Art the Clown than in the short and he certainly nails it with the creepy/bat shit insane appearance. The fucking huge grin is priceless. If I had to gripe, I wish they wouldn't have dropped the Halloween 'vibe' so soon. The movie is kept pretty well contained in a small area which doesn't allow for a whole lot of seasonal October atmosphere. Still, slasher fans and gorehounds will get a kick out of "Terrifier". If you're into Adam Green's "Hatchet" series, you'll probably dig this. I definitely foresee a string of sequels in the not-so-far off future.