vnssyndrome89
Joined Nov 2013
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THE RIPPER (VIDEO 1985)
Not bad... For a high school student film
2.5 out of 10 stars Time to Read:
BASIC PLOT: Jack the Ripper's ring is found in an antique shop, and bought by Richard Harwell (Tom Schreier) a college professor. A string of ripper-like killings begin, and Steve (Wade Tower), one of Richard's students begins to suspect his teacher is the new ripper.
WHAT WORKS: *CINEMATOGRAPHY IS OK For the most part, I didn't have a lot of problems with the blocking, setups, framing etc. It's decent for a student film, which is what it seems to be.
*ORIGINAL SCRIPT OR TREATMENT (NOT EXECUTED SCRIPT) ISN'T BAD I can see the writer's intent, and it wasn't bad. What they did to his vision is the real bloodbath.
*SEVERAL PLOT DEVICES AND CHARACTERS AREN'T USED CORRECTLY Fred (Randall White) for instance, the flock of seagulls nerd who knows about "Star Trek", and brings his dog to class with him, is a great character. Push him into knowing about the occult, make him team up with Steve & Carol, and there's a workable plot device about how they all discover what the ring is doing to Richard. It's a more enjoyable path as well, instead of haphazardly jumping from scene to scene, with no explanation as to how we got here.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *THE ENGLISH ACCENTS ARE LAUGHABLE The English accents in the opening scene are so bad they are laughable.
*NO BREASTS In this type of movie, if you're going to include a five minute make out scene, there needs to be breasts.
*WHY DID THE MOTORCYCLE EXPLODE? There's a scene where a motorcycle rider lays down his bike, and then in the distance, we see an explosion. WTH?
*ACTING IS WOODEN Acting is beyond flat. It reminds me of a high school student film, where there's no budget, no rehearsals, and made by people who are still learning.
*WHY IS JACK THE RIPPER DRESSED LIKE A VAMPIRE? It doesn't make sense.
*NO SUSPENSE, NO BUILDUP TO VIOLENCE This is the biggest problem, because it robs the viewer of the fear factor. It instead leaves the ultra violence feeling cartoony, and lackluster. It doesn't help that they continually mention films that are full of suspense and terror.
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I cannot recommend this to anyone but aspiring screenwriters, and as a cautionary tale of what NOT to let happen to your work.
(rw2499279)
CLOSING NOTES: *THIS IS A STRAIGHT TO VIDEO MOVIE, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. Straight to video movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.
*I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
BASIC PLOT: Jack the Ripper's ring is found in an antique shop, and bought by Richard Harwell (Tom Schreier) a college professor. A string of ripper-like killings begin, and Steve (Wade Tower), one of Richard's students begins to suspect his teacher is the new ripper.
WHAT WORKS: *CINEMATOGRAPHY IS OK For the most part, I didn't have a lot of problems with the blocking, setups, framing etc. It's decent for a student film, which is what it seems to be.
*ORIGINAL SCRIPT OR TREATMENT (NOT EXECUTED SCRIPT) ISN'T BAD I can see the writer's intent, and it wasn't bad. What they did to his vision is the real bloodbath.
*SEVERAL PLOT DEVICES AND CHARACTERS AREN'T USED CORRECTLY Fred (Randall White) for instance, the flock of seagulls nerd who knows about "Star Trek", and brings his dog to class with him, is a great character. Push him into knowing about the occult, make him team up with Steve & Carol, and there's a workable plot device about how they all discover what the ring is doing to Richard. It's a more enjoyable path as well, instead of haphazardly jumping from scene to scene, with no explanation as to how we got here.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *THE ENGLISH ACCENTS ARE LAUGHABLE The English accents in the opening scene are so bad they are laughable.
*NO BREASTS In this type of movie, if you're going to include a five minute make out scene, there needs to be breasts.
*WHY DID THE MOTORCYCLE EXPLODE? There's a scene where a motorcycle rider lays down his bike, and then in the distance, we see an explosion. WTH?
*ACTING IS WOODEN Acting is beyond flat. It reminds me of a high school student film, where there's no budget, no rehearsals, and made by people who are still learning.
*WHY IS JACK THE RIPPER DRESSED LIKE A VAMPIRE? It doesn't make sense.
*NO SUSPENSE, NO BUILDUP TO VIOLENCE This is the biggest problem, because it robs the viewer of the fear factor. It instead leaves the ultra violence feeling cartoony, and lackluster. It doesn't help that they continually mention films that are full of suspense and terror.
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I cannot recommend this to anyone but aspiring screenwriters, and as a cautionary tale of what NOT to let happen to your work.
(rw2499279)
CLOSING NOTES: *THIS IS A STRAIGHT TO VIDEO MOVIE, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. Straight to video movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.
*I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
KILLER CAKES Competition/Reality
4 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 30sec
BASIC PLOT: Contestants make sick and gross horror cake sculptures for judges, and Matthew Lilliard
WHAT WORKS: *THE CONCEPT IS GREAT! It's what's missing from regular TV, a disgusting, horror fanatics competition cake-off.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *THERE'S ONLY TWO EPISODES What can you accomplish in two episodes? Answer: Not much
*THE WRONG TEAM WON They're was an obvious winning team, and they didn't give it to them, which left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole show.
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *IF and that's a big if, you got some decent judges, and if they judged correctly, and IF they made it 8 episodes like the rest of the cake shows, it might be worth watching. But I can't recommend the first two episodes, avoid them, you'll be pissed if you don't.
CLOSING NOTES: *I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
4 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 30sec
BASIC PLOT: Contestants make sick and gross horror cake sculptures for judges, and Matthew Lilliard
WHAT WORKS: *THE CONCEPT IS GREAT! It's what's missing from regular TV, a disgusting, horror fanatics competition cake-off.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *THERE'S ONLY TWO EPISODES What can you accomplish in two episodes? Answer: Not much
*THE WRONG TEAM WON They're was an obvious winning team, and they didn't give it to them, which left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole show.
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *IF and that's a big if, you got some decent judges, and if they judged correctly, and IF they made it 8 episodes like the rest of the cake shows, it might be worth watching. But I can't recommend the first two episodes, avoid them, you'll be pissed if you don't.
CLOSING NOTES: *I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
Psych:9 (2010)
3 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 2:05 min
BASIC PLOT: Roslyn (Sara Foster) is starting a new job at a hospital that's closing down. She's going through, and transferring medical records, as part of the closure. There's only two other people on the grounds, Dr. Irvin Clement (Cary Elwes), who's upstairs, doing the same job, in the psych unit, and a creepy security guard (Ryan James), in a shack out front.
At the same time, a serial killer known as "the Night Hawk", has been killing blonde women all over town.
Detective Marling (Michael Biehn), has been assigned the Night Hawk case, and appears to have suspicions about the identity of the killer.
Cole (Gabriel Mann) is Rosyln's husband, who drives a cab.
There's not much of a story, just a bunch of characters, bumbling around in an old hospital.
WHAT WORKS: *AWESOME OPENING SEQUENCE There's a cool opening, using Rorschach ink blots, with faces in them. It's the best part of the whole movie.
*GREAT ATMOSPHERIC The setting was coming through the screen, and the feeling of it was awful! I don't know if it was a set, or an actual building, but it had an ominous aura. The location was disturbing, and it got to you. It really added to the ambience of the movie.
*THE LIGHTERS ARE A GOOD VISUAL METAPHOR They let you know fire is important, a metaphor for history, insanity and cleansing.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *I HATE THESE WOMEN who marry children, nag them, gripe about them, and then are surprised when they cheat, or act a fool. This is a personal preference, but I hate these types of relationships in movies and on TV. You knew he was an idiot when you married him, don't gripe about it.
*THE GREEN FILTER IS DISTRACTING l know they are going for an industrial feel, but it's too much. It takes away from the amazing visuals the filming location provides, and that's about all this movie has going for it.
*MICHAEL BIEHN IS WASTED IN THIS MOVIE Michael Biehn, who plays Detective Marling, is wasted here. His character is pointless, goes nowhere, and it feels like he was cast, just so his name could be on the credits (his name made me watch). This flawed script throws his character away, and it's such a shame. When he's on the screen, he steals the show.
*THERE'S NO STORY There tries to be one, but it makes no sense. There was something about childhood sexual abuse, crazy parents, paranoia, and a baby. That's about all I got from this movie. It's not engaging, or even interesting, and certainly NOT entertaining. There are lots of disturbing shots of a disused hospital, but even that is destroyed by the overuse of the green filter.
Several different renderings could have been chosen to advance the story, but instead, there are just more missed opportunities. We could have seen through the disturbed person's eyes, this technique was attempted (I think), but it's so jumbled, it doesn't work. A depiction of that nature works, only when you have a stable, grounding character, that represents reality. Detective Marling (Michael Biehn) should have been given this role, but instead, he's only given a few minutes of screen time. Without that grounding influence, all you're left with is a haphazard melange of disjointed imagery, and ideas. The viewer cannot tell delusion from reality, so no story forms into anything resembling a cohesive plot
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *The film ventures into strange territory with its attempts at allegories and symbolism, but these efforts lead nowhere, and fail to provide a clear point. It had good actors, who were wasted. It had a cool location, that was wasted. The interesting opening was about all this movie had to offer. I'd skip it, there are better creepy atmospherics out there. Try Session 9 (2001) instead.
CLOSING NOTES: *I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
3 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 2:05 min
BASIC PLOT: Roslyn (Sara Foster) is starting a new job at a hospital that's closing down. She's going through, and transferring medical records, as part of the closure. There's only two other people on the grounds, Dr. Irvin Clement (Cary Elwes), who's upstairs, doing the same job, in the psych unit, and a creepy security guard (Ryan James), in a shack out front.
At the same time, a serial killer known as "the Night Hawk", has been killing blonde women all over town.
Detective Marling (Michael Biehn), has been assigned the Night Hawk case, and appears to have suspicions about the identity of the killer.
Cole (Gabriel Mann) is Rosyln's husband, who drives a cab.
There's not much of a story, just a bunch of characters, bumbling around in an old hospital.
WHAT WORKS: *AWESOME OPENING SEQUENCE There's a cool opening, using Rorschach ink blots, with faces in them. It's the best part of the whole movie.
*GREAT ATMOSPHERIC The setting was coming through the screen, and the feeling of it was awful! I don't know if it was a set, or an actual building, but it had an ominous aura. The location was disturbing, and it got to you. It really added to the ambience of the movie.
*THE LIGHTERS ARE A GOOD VISUAL METAPHOR They let you know fire is important, a metaphor for history, insanity and cleansing.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *I HATE THESE WOMEN who marry children, nag them, gripe about them, and then are surprised when they cheat, or act a fool. This is a personal preference, but I hate these types of relationships in movies and on TV. You knew he was an idiot when you married him, don't gripe about it.
*THE GREEN FILTER IS DISTRACTING l know they are going for an industrial feel, but it's too much. It takes away from the amazing visuals the filming location provides, and that's about all this movie has going for it.
*MICHAEL BIEHN IS WASTED IN THIS MOVIE Michael Biehn, who plays Detective Marling, is wasted here. His character is pointless, goes nowhere, and it feels like he was cast, just so his name could be on the credits (his name made me watch). This flawed script throws his character away, and it's such a shame. When he's on the screen, he steals the show.
*THERE'S NO STORY There tries to be one, but it makes no sense. There was something about childhood sexual abuse, crazy parents, paranoia, and a baby. That's about all I got from this movie. It's not engaging, or even interesting, and certainly NOT entertaining. There are lots of disturbing shots of a disused hospital, but even that is destroyed by the overuse of the green filter.
Several different renderings could have been chosen to advance the story, but instead, there are just more missed opportunities. We could have seen through the disturbed person's eyes, this technique was attempted (I think), but it's so jumbled, it doesn't work. A depiction of that nature works, only when you have a stable, grounding character, that represents reality. Detective Marling (Michael Biehn) should have been given this role, but instead, he's only given a few minutes of screen time. Without that grounding influence, all you're left with is a haphazard melange of disjointed imagery, and ideas. The viewer cannot tell delusion from reality, so no story forms into anything resembling a cohesive plot
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *The film ventures into strange territory with its attempts at allegories and symbolism, but these efforts lead nowhere, and fail to provide a clear point. It had good actors, who were wasted. It had a cool location, that was wasted. The interesting opening was about all this movie had to offer. I'd skip it, there are better creepy atmospherics out there. Try Session 9 (2001) instead.
CLOSING NOTES: *I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.