Paranormal Activity 4 ★★★½

 

Release Dates

Australia: 18th October, 2012; USA 19th October UK 17th October
Other Countries: Release Dates

 

 

They’re back!  And the question everyone asks, “Is it scary?”   Not, “Is it good?” The amount of big people (grown-ups to be specific) who commented they would never see a ‘Paranormal Activity’ film because it looked too frightening was staggering.  They’d seen the trailer and had run for cover from that alone. 

Even my family refused to see it.  By five pm on the day of the preview they had all bailed.  So had my reliable girlfriend (hates being frightened, yet she has three children).  I was desperate.  With a puffed out chest, I proclaimed, “I am not afraid. I will go alone.”   But who goes to freaky films on their own?  What if it WAS terrifying?  Is it acceptable to grab the hand of a stranger?    So I did what any fearless reviewer does, I borrowed a friend’s six-foot and intrepid husband.   

This is the fourth instalment in the popular horror franchise filmed using ‘Found Footage’ which means hand-held cameras, iPhones or computer console cameras which give it a very real and intimate feeling. 

 

 

In this one, which is a direct sequel from 'PA2', Alex (Kathryn Newton) and her boyfriend Ben (Matt Shively) are the filmers.  Alex discovers Robbie (Brady Allen), the very peculiar neighbor's child, in their cubbyhouse late at night and takes him home to his Mum (Katie Featherston).   That night, Robbie’s mother is taken to hospital and Robbie is taken in by Alex's mum Holly (Alexondra Lee) for a few days. Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp), her little brother, and Robbie become friends and that’s when the creepy things start happening; doors opening on their own, blurred images zooming across video playback, knives shooting up in the air.  Ben sets up video monitoring throughout the house via the computers in the bedrooms, kitchen and even the X-Box in the lounge in order to capture footage of whatever it is.  Of course, the disturbing events escalate but nobody will believe Alex that something supernatural is in their house.  You know where this is going don’t you?

 

'PA4' was a bit of a surprise.  I’m going out on a limb here but I think it’s the best of the series.  The scares come from the jump-out-and-startle-you kind of shocks but it is still quite an eerie little number.  Warning: there is a bath scene that will disturb many parents.  My fearless, borrowed-friend was moaning, ‘Oh no, no,’ at that part and his wife tells me he was sufficiently freaked out when he got home that he had a restless night, muttering “demon child be gone” in his sleep.
This is definitely not one for the kiddies.  It will cost you a fortune in electricity as they as they demand to only sleep with the lights on.  And yes, they have announced a number Five will be released in October 2013. I’d better start looking for new friends.

 

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Carrie Teaser Trailer released

She's back...


Scheduled for release in March/April 2013

Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, Carrie is a reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White played by Chloë Grace Moretz. Also stars Julianne Moore, Judy Greer and Australian actor Alex Russell.  Carrie White (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother (Julianne Moore), who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom. 

 

Cast:    Chlöe Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Judy Greer, Alex Russell
Genre:  Horror/Thriller

Dir:       Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry)



Are you looking forward to the remake and have you read the book? 

 

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Disney's Frankenweenie ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

IT’S THE HEART THAT BREATHES LIFE

Australia:  25th October, 2012; USA 5th October, 2012; UK17th October 2012
Other Countries: Release Dates




 

Just when you thought you had seen everything fantastical at the cinema, Tim Burton takes us to another level of superb in Disney's 'Frankenweenie'.  This film is so beautifully crafted I will be seeing it again as I missed so much due to the constant superlatives that spun in my head during my first viewing.

Why is it so good?  It’s foremost an engaging story (screenplay by John August), with incredible stop-motion 3D animation visuals that will have you truly wondering ‘How?’, and the music by Academy Award®–nominated Danny Elfman that is almost a character in itself.  Despite the technology, it still feels like you are watching one of those gorgeous old favourites that had you covering your eyes as the monster lurched after its victims. 

Tim Burton, arguably one of the most creative and eccentric Directors sometimes misses the mark, thanks to his penchant for extreme.  But in 'Frankenweenie' he has not just nailed it (excuse the pun) he has quite possibly created a classic as unique as the original ‘Frankenstein’.

Due to budget constraints the film began its life in 1984 as a live-action short for Disney.    The drawings Burton used in imagining his original characters have been used for this feature-length film alongside new characters.  Film buffs will recognize classic characters as many of the film’s leads are modelled on the look and traits of the memorable 1930 horror characters.  
 

'Frankenweenie' is the moving tale of a young science prodigy, Victor Frankenstein(Charlie Tahan) and his beloved dog Sparky.  Victor attends New Holland Elementary School where he is mentored by the misunderstood Mr Rzykruski (Martin Landau) who teaches him that “science can do both good and bad things and that if a scientist does not put his heart into his experiment, there could be disastrous consequences.” The first sign of trouble is heralded by the class ‘Weird Girl’ (Catherine O'Hara) when she delivers to Victor a prediction that something ‘big’ will happen to him because Mr Whiskers, her cat, has dreamt about him.  How does she know what the cat dreams?  Well, it’s quite imaginative and amusing.  The signs come from the kitty litter.

‘Big’ happens when Sparky is hit by a car and dies.  An inconsolable Victor hatches a plan to patch Sparky together and he then successfully brings him back to life, hiding him away in his attic.  Sparky’s resurrection does not stay a secret for long though and once the school creepy guy Edgar “E” Gore (Atticus Shaffer) discovers the truth, it isn’t long before word spreads amongst the other kids with monstrous results.  Along the way you will be captivated by the myriad of quirky characters voiced by other major talents like Martin Short, Robert Capron, Christopher Lee and Conchata Ferrell.
 

 

It took two years and 33 animators to film the stop-animation for ‘Frankenweenie’.  There are 24 frames per second in the stop motion for the film.  An animator, working usually alone, must stop and reposition the puppet 24 times to get one second of filmed action.  At its 82 minutes that’s 295,200 seconds and 7,084,800 movements.  That’s a study in patience right there.
 

The typical week for a stop-motion animator begins with being assigned a shot. He is then responsible for all the characters in that shot.  An animator must spend hours working with the puppets, tightening screws in their limbs and then placing them to get all of the movement that is required.  On average, one animator can only produce 5 seconds of animation per week.  So when you pay your theatre entrance you are certainly getting your money’s worth.

'Frankenweenie' is filmed in black and white and that choice only adds to the experience.  Parents may have to convince their retina-enhanced iPad children that watching a black and white animated film will be fun. However, from the opening sequence all complaints will be silenced as Burton’s ‘Frankenweenie’ takes parents on a trip down memory lane and introduces the young ones to what we mean when we say, ‘there was something special about those old black ‘n whites’. Just like Mr Rzykruski’s science, it’s not the special effects but the heart that’s put into it that makes all the difference.

 

See this one at the Cinema in 3D or you are really missing out on something special.

 

 

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The Woman in Black ★ ★ ★★

Hammer Horror: Haunting once again

Release Dates
Australia: in cinemas17th May, 2012
Other Countries Release Dates

DVD release date:  USA  22nd May, 2012  UK  18th June 2012

               As a kid in the sixties, my favourite films were horror with a majority coming from the Hammer Horror Films stable.  Give me a Dracula, Mummy or Frankenstein any day over Lassie and Bambi. I would cut deals with my Mother that if I napped in the afternoon, I could then stay up past my bedtime to watch the horror flick.  Despite my viewing taste, I didn’t grow up to be a serial killer; I just grew up to be a horror writer.

               When I heard that the new revamped Hammer Horror Studios were releasing their first ghost story, The Woman in Black, I was first in line, dragging my children along with me.  They jumped, laughing nervously, at the spook bits and the eleven-year-old spent some of the film with his hands over his eyes, cringing in his chair.  Now before you start nominating me for ‘Bad Mother of the Year’, remember the fun you had being scared witless when you were a kid?

               That thrill is rarely there in horror films these days.  Either we are more sophisticated or they just don’t make them like they used to anymore.  After The Woman in Black, my verdict is the latter.   So, a huge ‘thank you’ to Hammer Horror for rectifying this with a great adaption of Susan Hill’s 1982 novel.

               Originally founded in 1934, legendary British film studio, Hammer delivered, in the sixties and seventies, a hugely successful run of films including Dracula, Frankenstein Created Woman, One Million Years B.C. and The Vampire Lovers. Not in production since the 1980s, Hammer marked their return to features in 2010 with the release of the critically acclaimed Let Me In, an adaptation of the highly praised Swedish vampire film.

               For Simon Oakes (producer and president and CEO of Hammer), The Woman in Black was one of the first properties of interest to the recently reborn genre label. “One of the things we talked about, as a team, when we first put this new incarnation of Hammer together was that horror is made of many different genres and subgenres but in recent years the tendency has been for body count horror,” he explains. “We wanted to explore different kinds of horror, and while there’d been a TV movie and a stage play, we recognised a great opportunity in The Woman in Black to combine Susan Hill’s gothic ghost story with a modern sensibility to turn it into a feature film.”

              
               For his part, Daniel Radcliffe recognised the need to strike out from the role of the Harry Potter that made him famous. “I’m very, very proud of Potter,” Radcliffe says. “But I now have to prove to people that I’m serious about acting, and I think the way to do that is to start selecting some interesting material.”

               The particular challenge of playing Arthur, for Radcliffe,  was in the character’s peculiar stillness. “There are moments when you shouldn’t be sure what Arthur’s thinking,” he says. “You know it’s probably not happy thoughts, but you’re not sure exactly why, or what he’s going through at particular moments. That just leaves a little bit more room for the audience to relate, because they can just insert any emotion that they assume he might be feeling.”

               Radcliffe plays a young bereaved London solicitor Arthur Kipps who must leave his three-year-old son and travel to the remote and unwelcoming village of Crythin Gifford to attend to the affairs of the recently deceased female owner of Eel Marsh House.  He must go through her prolific paper work to ensure her will is the only true will.

               We already know there is something wrong in the village.  In the opening scenes three young sisters climb, trancelike, out their attic window to fall to their deaths.  When Arthur crosses the moors to visit the house, it is clear that once there the tide will cut him off from the mainland, trapping him in the dishevelled and dusty house longer than he wants.

               The haunted house delivers the horrors of upstairs noises and banging, glimpses of shadowy figures and one or two adrenaline filled jump-in-your-seat scares. The reveal of the real truth of Eel Marsh House is skilfully handled and whilst you always wonder why characters stay in these haunted houses, the story provides thoughtful answers to Arthur’s motivations.  The suspense is skilfully built with a solid supporting cast and artful sets and costumes. A twist at the end, should give any horror aficionado a satisfying feeling that this is a class act all the way. 

               Hammer horror is back and that is a great thing for the genre and its fans.  With The Woman in Black, Hammer has proved horror can be stylish and thoughtful and we horror fans may enjoy some disturbed sleep in the future but that is how we like it.  Thankfully, I now don’t have to nap in the afternoons to indulge my passion.

JUST FOR FUN

Enjoy this trailer of the 1959 movie, The Mummy.  For years, this gave me nightmares anytime I was in a small room with only one door for escape.

Hammer Films classic film trailer from 1958, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in Horror of Dracula.

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