The Evil Dead Review

The Evil Dead is one of those movie that you will either love it or hate it, and I happen to love it. This movie made a B-movie superstar out of Bruce Campbell and a star out of Sam Raimi as a director. The thing that makes this movie great is the constant sense of dread that is apparent in almost every single scene of the movie. Dread in a movie really gets the audience on edge because they never know what is coming around the corner. There is also a fair amount of disturbing content in the movie which might catch some people off guard as there is at least one tree rape scene which is really out there in concept. This is still one of the best horror movies I have ever seen and easily ranks in the top 5 horror movies that I have ever seen. The performances are wonderful and the way the movie is shot and directed is terrific. The sound effects in the movie are also very good and really enhances the movie's effectiveness of the movie. I really don't want to spoil the main plot of the movie but it does involve demonic possession and a book called the Necronomicon. This is going to be a short review because I want to go watch this movie right now and I don't want to spoil the movie at all. Overall I would say to watch this movie because it is great and if you like horror movie then you will really appreciate it.

Thor Review

Let me start off by saying Thor is one of my favorite comic book characters of all time. In the beginning he is sent to Earth to be taught a lesson by his father Odin because he needs to learn how to become a great man. That is the original origin story, in the new Ultimate Universe he is sent to Earth to protect it but does not know it initially and is under the impression he is a psychiatric nurse who in turn has a nervous breakdown and realizes who he truly is. The movie origin is a combination of the two and it work to great effect in the movie. While I miss the "human" side of Thor, Donald Blake, the way they portray the character in the movie is great. On Earth, he is man of his element and he must adapt to his surroundings which he never really does successfully but he is willing to protect the people around him with his life. This is what is great about the character, he may be a selfish warrior but when it comes down to helping those around him there is no one more dependable and they uses this theme in the movie several times. He is also very strong willed and when he feels like something is right he will fight for it with all that he can and sometimes this backfires on him and is the main cause for why he is banished to Earth in the movie. Being a fan I wanted the creators of the movie to stay true to the original origins of the character but I understand why certain elements had to be changed in order to make the movie work.

The cast in the movie is also superbly cast and allows the viewer to focus on the character development just as much as the all-out action scenes in the movie. Chris Hemsworth truly embodies the character of Thor and if you've read the comics then you will see what I mean. He is more of the Ultimate Universe version of the character and he plays him to perfection. His interactions with the characters on Earth are both at times genuinely funny and heartfelt. He has to carry the movie most of the way and does so with ease, he commands the attention of the viewer every time he is on screen. That creates a viewer-connection with the character and you root for him to succeed in his mission to get back to Asgard and become a better man. The supporting cast is also top notch with Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard rounding out the cast. Tom Hiddleston plays Loki, Thor's brother, and he does a remarkable job with the character. Being a relative unknown to American audiences you really get to focus on him as the character and see how he evolves over the course of the movie. It is also great that he is going to be one of the main villains in the Avengers movie coming out next summer, because that means that we wil most likely get to see him battle the Avengers as a whole and hopefully not just antagonize Thor.

As you can tell, I really liked this movie. It was much better than Captain America and Iron Man 2. It was also a superior "comic" movie than X-Men:First Class. Thor is a fun adventure that does a great job of fleshing out its characters and it leaves you wanting to see more of these characters. Overall, I would recommend this movie to just about anyone who want to have fun while watching a movie that also happens to be great.

Mimic Review

Mimic was one of the first Rated-R movies I had ever seen back 14 years ago. I saw it as soon as it came out on VHS/DVD and I couldn't really grasp what the movie was really about back then. Since that time I have seen the movie about 4 or 5 times and I like it more and more each time I see it. I just recently got the chance to see the Director's Cut on Blu-Ray and I felt that the plot of the movie was fleshed out more in that cut. Guillermo Del Toro is a cinematic genius and this being one of his first movies shows his style as it was just developing. The cinematography is very dark with muted color scheme and it really lends to the overall atmosphere of the movie. The sound is also excellent, Del Toro uses sound effects for the creatures that are used off screen to build paranoia on screen. Rustling noises, scratching on walls, and banging into objects make it seem like there are multiple creatures in every shot and the characters must be aware at all times. The plot is similar in tone to movies such as The Relic, The Thin, and other creature movies from the last 20 years. While not as high quality as The Thing, it definitely beats out most of its competition by a wide margin. Del Toro is the star of the show, he creates the world the movie is based in and he really amps up everything on screen so it is very easy for the viewer to get engrossed in the movie.

The cast is pretty solid overall and Del Toro really drew some great performances out of what were perceived as questionable actors. Mira Sorvino proved that she could carry a movie with her role in this one and would go on to star in a few other movies that I consider to be very good. Josh Brolin has a small role in the movie, and Jeremy Northam also co-stars. Northam after this movie would go on to play supporting roles in a few critically acclaimed foreign movies. The cast while solid is not the true star of the movie as I have stated earlier in the review. But the cast is classic Del Toro, relative unknowns (to an extent) and then he gets them to perform to the top of the capabilities. He gets the actors to become the characters that they are playing and this is what allows the viewer to become invested in the characters on screen and care what actually happens to them on screen. The effects are also somewhat dated but there is not much that you can do about that because this was made in 1997 and they didn't have the technology that we have today.

Overall, I would have to highly recommend this movie to anyonme who enjoys "monster" movies and is a fan of Del Toro. While this may not be on par with some of his other movies such as Pan's Labyrinth, it is better than the last Hellboy and is more polished than Cronos. This was one of the first movies that showcased what a great horror movie could be and it stuck with me. Watch it and you will see what a great director can do with a limited budget and a cast full of good actors.

Terra Nova Premiere Review

I am going to change it up a little tonight and review the premiere episode of the Steven Spielberg produced series Terra Nova. This is the new high budget production premiering on FOX and it was pretty fantastic. The first hour ha a lot of great elements, from the vision of the future to the explanation of the reason for going back in time to start over. The future in the show has the same feel as the unused opening scene from Avatar. If you own the extended copy of Avatar you will know what I mean. It could also be seen as a version of the Blade Runner mega cities and the effects used for the futuristic city in Terra Nova is fantastic. It has the same high quality effects as the highest quality video-game cinematics and that it a great thing.


The casting is pretty spot on, Stephen Lang is the grizzled leader of the Terra Nova colony and Jason O'Mara as the former cop who escaped prison to come to Terra Nova with his family. The action in the first hour is sparse but it sets up the rest of the season and it establishes the motivation for the main set of characters. O'Mara's character is trying to get to know his family again after being in prison for 2 years and Lang's character is trying to hold the colony together and find out if his son is still alive. O'Mara steals the show in the premiere episode and that is due to him being believable on screen and having a commanding presence. He plays the cop type perfectly and the way the writers designed his character is great. He is a family man who does whatever he needs to in order to protect his family. This may sound cliched, it might be but it works really well for the show and only adds to the overall quality of the show. The inclusion of a splinter colony is a necessary addition because the colony cannot always be fighting dinosaurs, as it would put the show over budget.


This show has an amazing amount of promise and if producers such as Spielberg continue to throw their support behind the show then I am sure that it will succeed. It had a Lost type of vibe to it, early-Lost not the over hyped crap final season. If you want to see a show that has the potential to be great and has two great leads then watch this show.

The Thing Review

The Thing is most likely the most perfect movie that I have ever has the pleasure of seeing. The combination of horror and sci-fi is unmatched by any movie except for Aliens and that is a great movie to stand side by side with. This was created by John Carpenter when he was firing on all cylinders and you can see this in the execution of the movie and all of its elements. The cinematography, sound, editing, and casting were all perfect. The cast in this movie does an amazing job with the star of the show being Kurt Russell and this movie made me a lifelong fan of him and I've liked almost every movie he has ever been in. Russell is undeniably believable in the role and you believe that he is this grizzled pilot on an Arctic base. Keith David Wilford Brimley also star in the movie and they are also excellent in the movie.

This movie has some of the most intense moments in movie history and some of the most terrifying scenes as well. The best scene in the movie in my opinion is when Russell's character is testing everyone's blood and then all hell breaks loose. You really have to see the movie to get a sense of how great it is and the effort that was put into every aspect of the movie by Carpenter and the crew. The effects team on this movie did the best job I have ever seen and it beats anything the has come out since that time. The effects scenes are incredibly done and they attention to detail is incredible along with the original designs that they cam up with. There are a few scenes that will shock people if they have not seen the movie before. There are so many things that are amazing in this movie. I will not get into the plot because these reviews are spoiler-free and I will not spoil the greatness of this movie. The theme of group paranoia is what drives this movie and it is shown masterfully on screen by Carpenter and the cast.

This is a movie comprised of a classic story, classic performances and genre defining scenes. In short, this is a perfect movie. This easily ranks in my top two movies alongside Shaun of the Dead. This is a movie that must be seen by all who can see it and is essential if you are a fan of science fiction or horror. All in all this is a must see movie. Do yourself a favor and buy it on DVD or Blu-Ray and enjoy.

Leviathan Review

Leviathan is basically "The Thing" set on an undersea mining platform. This just feels like the prototypical 80's creature movie and I loved it. The movie stars RoboCop and Winston from Ghostbusters (Peter Weller and Ernie Hudson). It also has Marv from Home Alone (Daniel Stern) and the main female character from Beverly Hills Cop. There is a lot of 80's star power in this movie and you can tell because most of the actors in this movie have not been in anything significant since the 80's. The effects in the movie are pretty similar to those of the Thing but not really the same quality overall. Whereas The Thing shows you every little detail of the creatures n the movie, Leviathan uses shadows and other effects to keep the budget to a minimum. The plot concerns itself with the Russians wanting to genetically alter some of the sailors to have fish-like qualities where they could breathe underwater but then something terrible goes wrong of course. The movie does an effective job of building tension and paranoia throughout the course of the movie. The creature in the movie also looks very good and the movie is just solid overall.

Super Review

This is probably the most demented "Superhero" movie I have ever see, it definitely beats out Kick-Ass because most of the characters in Super could be considered psychotic. Rainn Wilson, Ellen Paige, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon play the main cast of the film and each does an extremely effective job in the roles they were cast in. Rainn Wilson is the true star of the movie and he carries almost every single scene that he is in. He does a great job of showing the emotions of his character and how rage and sadness fill his character's life. Paige's character is the sidekick in the movie and she does a great job of portraying a slacker in her early 20's who finally finds purpose in her life and just runs with the idea of being Wilson's sidekick. This movie is extremely brutal at points and it doesn't shy away from shocking acts of violence on the character of the movie. Kevin Bacon plays his character extremely over the top and it works for the character he is portraying.

The main theme of this movie is a man's journey of self discovery and Wilson does a great job of showing his character's evolution from a meek timid man to a man who stands up against crime and fights for the people he cares about. The journey starts when Wilson's character, Frank, starts to have visions of people being demons and being visited by God. At that point the movie starts to veer from mildly realistic to crazy which is awesome. Where as Kick-Ass had people trying to actually help people to simply help them, Super's characters initially are selfish in their goals. Then through their acts they eventually starts to actually help people.

The movie is very low budget and it really helps the movie because the director had to focus more on the characters than on action sequences and special effects. This is one of those independent movies that wasn't highly regarded when it first debuted but years down the line it will be considered a cult hit and people will be watching it for many years. Overall this is a fantastic movie and I would recommend it to anyone who liked Kick-Ass, Defendor or Special.