Lung II (2016)

(out of 5)

Lung II (2016)
directed by:  Phil Stevens
starring:  David Chopping, Phil Stevens, Samantha Coppola, Angela Jane, Michael Kennedy, Bryant W. Lohr Sr., Colette McKenna

The Movie:  Stevens' follow up to a personal favorite...Flowers.  Well all I can say is...well done.  I friggn LOVE Flowers I've watched it probably ten times or more, it has become a movie I throw in and fall asleep to and while that sounds negative in my little world it is not.  Staple films like Flowers have to be earned and awesome from either a cinematic aspect or a novelty aspect.  I was excited and concerned when I saw a follow up was being made.  Would it live up to my own expectations?  Will it be as good as Flowers or dare I ask...better?  I'm happy to say that Lung II was exactly what I wanted and yes better in a lot of ways.  Horrific and disturbing to say the very least.

The Acting:  Without the ability to verbally convey your emotions an actor is limited.  Yet these folks did just that and pushed their expressions to the limit.  There was never a time where I looked into one of their faces and was pulled directly out of the movie.  Bad acting always pulls me out of a movie.   None here.

The Script:  There is no dialogue.  One thing I love about these movies and something that sets them apart is the lack of speaking.  I have a large collection of silent films from the 20s and before and seeing new films try and tackle this auditory obstacle is just icing on the cake.  This is a viewpoint into the mind of a diseased man.  His childhood, his life, his victims, he is lost.

The Gore:  Marcus Koch.  Enough said. 

The Score:  Great score and sound work.  Scores keep my attention right with a movie's emotional edges.  There is nothing worse than a bad score or soundtrack in a movie.  The sounds were so creepy and dismal they fit perfectly for every scene.

The Shots:  Yes the real beauty here.  Surreal and atmospheric to say the very least.  Black and white which for me is a favorite, never complain about any movie being shot in black and white.  The shooting though was just spectacular and my all around favorite aspect of these movies.  Not just a bunch of cheap "that angle looks cool" placements etc.  You can tell Stevens really knows how to shoot a film and has a love for it.  The gory scenes of disgust and revolt really were brought alive and the flashes within our protagonist's mind were just frightening.  Well done sir.

The Rating:  5 out of 5 Bloody Handprints.  Just awesome sauce.  Bloody, gory, and well made awesome sauce.

Dark Was the Night (2014)

Dark Was the Night (2014)
directed by:
starring:  Kevin Durand, Bianca Kajlich, Lukas Haas, Ethan Khusidman, Heath Freeman, Nick Damici, Billy Paterson
format:  Blu-Ray - Personal Collection

(out of 5)

The Movie:  Well the movie as a whole was pretty damn good.  Everything from the acting to the effects was just so damn good.  Then the end happens.  Why, why the heck does a great movie like this go for the such a cheesy and cop out ending.  I will not give it away but don't go in expecting the end to equal the quality of the movie.  I really cannot think of another movie I've seen recently other than A Christmas Horror Story that made me so angry.  The only difference there is A Christmas Horror Story was a cheesy movie and no matter how much I love cheese straight forward dark horror is always better. 

The Acting:  Strong actors here.  Especially our main two Kevin Durand and the beautiful Bianca Kajlich whom I've been totally in love with since her time on Rules of Engagement.  She very much impressed me in this one being that the backstory involves the traumatic life experience of a child death between her and her husband Paul (Durand).  Really didn't even know it was her at first.  So used to seeing her with a big smile on her face.  Then of course we have Nick Damici who played our town bartender and I really like Nick he was in two of my all time favorite 2000 horrors Mulberry St. and Stakeland.  Lukas Haas was also a bit of a surprise I've never really seen him in a serious role like this one.  Or really as an adult I guess.  No bad acting here.

The Gore/Fx:  First five minutes we get some gore.  Great fx.  Until the end.  Cgi got thrown in at the end and ruined the creature for one.  Make up your own mind I wanted to ignore it.  And bad cgi is fun in say Sharknado but this again is a straight up scary movie and a rubber suit would have been more acceptable....per usual.  CGI isn't terrible but poorly done cgi in a film such as this most surely is.  Some get all bent out of shape when the subject of cgi comes up.  Eh it's just another effect but I will fully admit that when cgi is bad and looks like something out of a video game I'm sorry but the old Godzilla movies have better fx than that....and it's not hand sculpted.  The hand sculpted thing is what the pro-cgi arguers forget about or ignore.  Either way in this movie it was terrible. 

The Script:  Beautiful writing.  Probably the film's best quality.  Connected myself with the protagonist in a major way.

The Music/Score:  Creepy tones and the kind of score that doesn't pull you out but into the film.  Nothing out of the ordinary or special but just right.
The Shots:  It was a keep the creature in the shadows movie.  Loved the out of shot glimpses we got through the entire movie.  Off the road, in the woods.  Loved it.  A lot of people hate it when you don't see the monster till the end but I'm not one of those people.  The sense of curiosity leaving me at the edge of my seat with these shots was just plain awesome.  You want so bad to see it and they only give you enough to keep going all the way to the end.
The Rating:   Yes 3 out of 5 Bloody Handprints but this really isn't good or fair since the movie should have a 5 out of 5.  Top of the list at the moment for endings that ruined a movie.  Well A Nightmare On Elm Street still holds that torch for me, but that's the only one I can think of that totally flubs the end like this one does.

Kruel

Director - Robert Henderson
Starring - Kierney Nelson, Dakota Morrissiey (Boondocks), and Adam Vernier (G.I. Joe: Retaliation)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Beware of those you trust"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Coulrophobia.  Coulrophobia is the abnormal fear of clowns and for some this can be a crippling and debilitating fear.  However, for some, they hold fond memories and if you are like me then some of your favorite films involve these goofy fucks.  Growing up I loved several films that involved clowns like Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Stephen King's It, and most recently 100 Tears.  Now it seems like so many killer clown flicks are popping up here and there with no end in sight.  Recently, I was sent the horror film Kruel to review from Midnight Releasing.  Knowing how much I loved these other clown flicks I could not wait to check this one out.  Thanks Midnight Releasing for sending this one my way!

     The film follows a young teen girl who just discovered that her boyfriend of several years has cheated on her. This rips out her heart and her parents refuse to cut her some slack when she comes home late from her date with him when he finally told her.  We jump forward a few days later and she is babysitting two young boys when they hear the ice cream truck.  The boys rush outside but the youngest runs back inside because the clown in the truck scared him.  She goes out to speak with him but he is an unusual man that creeps her out.  She returns back to the home to babysit but her ex-boyfriend arrives and the two argue in which time she loses sight of one of the kids and he turns up missing.  The police is notified and they soon find his shoes at a pond nearby.  The girl is distraught and refuses to forgive herself for not watching the kid but her ex believes he is alive and tells her about a strange man he knows around town that has been fishing with no hook and bait on his pole.  The two track this man down and find out that it is the clown in the ice cream truck but they get caught.  Soon her ex is killed and she is kidnapped by the man where she learns that he is unstable and kidnapped her and the young boy in order to make the perfect family.
     I hate when I get a movie and the artwork fucking lies to me.  I hate when they paint this picture that the movie is one kind of a flick but then the movie itself is completely different.  Kruel made me think I was getting into another mild-budget horror flick involving a killer clown when, in fact, all I was getting into was a man who wore clown paint for less than 5 minutes as he stalks a young girl like it was a Subway commercial (too soon?).  The acting in this one is top notch and really surprised me.  The entire cast was perfect and worked very, very well with each other.  Kierney Nelson was great as the lead and really brought the emotion without overdoing it.  This is spectacular considering her age and how actresses with double the on screen credit as her can't even pull this off.  My favorite performance was from the film's villain, J.T. Chinn.  He was very convincing at portraying a maniac that has lost touch with reality.  I would love to see him find more roles like this.  The story for this one was strong but a bit of a let down.  The film lacked the clown action that I expected after I first looked at the cover but does make up for that in other ways.  The story flows very well and felt like a more macabre approach to the story set forth in the Masters of Horror episode Family.  This was a fun angle that I honestly did not see coming.  Finally, the film did not have an on screen bloodshed or kills.  Hell, the film pretty much lacked any real bloodshed which made it feel almost like a thriller instead of a horror flick.  A few good kills would have made this one a hit.  Overall, Kruel is a well made horror flick that has some great atmosphere and an amazing cast.  Sadly, it lacks the blood and gore most of us would love to see in our flicks.  Check it out because it is well worth the time just remember you will end this one dry.