Blogtoberfest – Horror Movie Review – Friend Request

Title: Friend Request

Synopsis: A popular college student graciously accepts a social outcast’s online friend request, but soon finds herself fighting a demonic presence that wants to make her lonely by killing her closest friends.

Genre: Horror

Opinion:

Let’s face it, most of us live online these days, especially those under 30. Between online dating and online classes, people find themselves either at the computer or on their cell phones. People are judged by the number of friends they have on social media or the number of likes they have on a post. Some people pay good money to acquire followers and/or garner even more interest in their online musings.

Okay, you might be saying, it’s a movie review, Dahlia, get to the damn point. All right then. I say all that to say is when we see a post with no likes or a person with a low number of “friends” or “followers”, we assume that means low popularity. And of course, someone with low popularity online is to be pitied and “felt sorry for”

And now we come to the crux of this movie. A popular college student receives a friend request from a girl who doesn’t have any friends. Feeling sorry for her, she “friends” her. The relationship then degenerated into a sort of stalker/stalkee symbiosis, with the popular college student trying to get away from the cloying, smothering of her new “friend”.

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After cutting off the friendship, the girl commits suicide and posts the video on the popular girl’s social media page. This leads to her losing online friends and then DUN DUN DUN, she begins losing friends in real life….TO MURDER MOST FOUL.

Anyhoo, the rest of the movie invovles her tracking down and trying to eliminate the girl’s ghost, who is apparently causing all the trouble. Will she succeed? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.

All in all, it wasn’t the best horror movie I’ve seen, but I thought the premise was interesting. It is well-acted and well-shot with some disturbing imagery, but I must say the movie does contain an almost paint by the numbers list of horror cliches, including jump scares with stinger chords. Despite these flaws, it’s moderately intriguing and is a good movie to have on in the background.

Grade: B-

Thriller Movie Review: Kidnap

Kidnap: Every Parent’s Horror Movie

In the US, a child goes missing every 40 seconds. You never think it will happen to you. Until it does. Alone and scared, Karla Dyson (Halle Berry) is unwilling to leave the fate of her son’s life in someone else’s hands. When she catches a glimpse of the abductors speeding away, she decides to fight back. In a heart pounding race against time, Karla begins a high speed pursuit and will stop at nothing to save her son’s life. Written by https://teaser-trailer.com

Remember that time you stepped off to the side in the store to take a kind of important call and you got so engrossed you took your eyes of your child for more than a couple of minutes? Yep. That’ was Halle Berry’s mistake in Kidnap. But boy, does she make up for it, if I may say, in spades.

Berry plays single mother Karla Dyson, who’s set up in the movie is done quite well. She works at a diner in a thankless waitress job, as demonstrated by one snooty patron, and is looking forward to a well deserved break at an amusement park with her son, Frankie. But what should be an idyllic afternoon between mother and son turns into the worst of nightmares, as Frankie is spirited away under his mother’s nose and she’s helpless to stop it.

The film is non-stop action. The moment Frankie is stuffed into that car, Halle Berry goes full tiger mom mode. Without stopping to call the police, she makes an attempt at stopping the kidnapping right away and chases the villain’s car in her minivan. This begins a cat-and-mouse game, which keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire movie.

The story is told from Halle’s point of view and that’s all the insight we need. In such an impossible situation, she knows the police will move too slowly and that it’s up to her to save her son. She digs deep down and finds the strength to chase her son and his kidnappers all the way into the Louisiana countryside.

Halle carries most of the movie, both in talking to herself and screaming in frustration at the kidnappers. As a mother, I felt her pain every step of the way. Not many people want to see a child in danger or hurt, and it was harrowing to see Halle’s near misses at getting Frankie back. Though the villain remains unseen for most of the movie, just the fact they’ve kidnapped a kid launches them into full-on villain status. There are no gray areas in this movie, and Halle is justified in the things she does.

It’s also refreshing to see a woman of color in a lead role in a thriller. Instead of playing the “girlfriend” or the “woman who sits home and frets”, she takes an active role in reclaiming her child. Digging deep for the reserves of power and ingenuity within her, there’s nothing she won’t do to get him back. I simply love how she goes all out in pursuit. No minivan ever has seen such action!!

For steady movie goers – you won’t see anything new in this movie. However, Halle puts a fresh spin on the “child in peril” movie and seriously owns some of the scenes in it. Is it a great movie? Not at all, but it is entertaining, and isn’t that what we go to the movies for?

All in all an effective thriller with great car chases and a heroine you can root for.

[wpdevart_youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-Ht8VRPRvU[/wpdevart_youtube]

SPOILER FOR THOSE SENSITIVE TO CHILDREN IN PERIL

No children were hurt or harmed in the film. There are some scary situations, yes, but no children were harmed.

Horror Movies-Original vs. Remakes – Battle One

So, you call yourself a horror movie fan? Well, even as a middle of the road fan, meaning I won’t watch them at night, and if something is too gory or too much, I will turn it off to preserve my sanity. Given that, I’ve seen a lot of scary movies, but even I was surprised to find out some were remakes. Let’s take a look, beyond the obvious.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Yep, this sister vs sister thriller/horror was remade in 1991 starring real life sisters Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave. John Glover plays the part, I think, that Victor Buono played in the original. I’ve seen it, I’ve noted it, I’ve blanked it out. Nuff said. Here’s the trailer.

[wpdevart_youtube]https://youtu.be/ASNWw6yFIb8[/wpdevart_youtube]

The Crazies

Timothy Olyphant, who I will always forever see as sexy salesman Danny Cordray on The Office, and Radha Mitchell do a great job in this remake of the 1973 classic. I don’t mind telling you, the trailer scared me. The image of people enjoying a nice day at a baseball game as a huge, zombie-like dude marches across the field carrying a bloody weapon….that’s horror, where the ordinary go so wrong, so fast. I haven’t seen the original, so I’m not sure how it measures up, but I can say it sure scared me.

Last House on the Left

As an exercise in 70s horror, I watched this. It was an awful experience because the movie was so good at being awful. The feeling of dread, of hopelessness and fear exudes from the screen after the two fun-loving girls meet up with that terrible crew. Once seen, it is not an experience I’d want to repeat, because the movie did so well at making its audience feel terrible. I won’t watch the remake.

The Fly

David Cronenberg is a body horror master. In The Fly, he lets it all hang out. Ugh. I’ve seen both, but the remake is more stomach turning, and probably realistic than the original. Both movies, however, do have good points.

The Blob

Yes, Steve McQueen was dreamy as a 40 year old high school student, but let’s be real. The original Blob depended more on suspense than gross out scenes. In the remake, it was a disgusting thrill to see the dude sucked down the drain by the blob. The telephone booth scene was also a good scare. Again, with what they had to work with, the original Blob was pretty good, but the remake’s special effects made a scary story much better.\

So what’s your vote?

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Music Monday – Top 5 Songs – The Police

There were five Police studio albums released between 1978 and 1983. I know this because I owned them all. For Music Monday, let’s take a trip down memory lane and name my favorite track from each of these studio albums.

Outlando D’Amour was the first album released by The Police. They “broke out” with the hit “Roxanne”. I don’t need to go into the whole story now, everyone knows what the song is about. However, while I did like Roxanne, my oh-so-favorite track from this album is “So Lonely”.

Reggatta de Blanc

Released in 1979, the hot “hit” from this album was Message in a Bottle. While I do love Message in all its iterations (the acoustic version is especially stirring), here’s my go to from this album:

Zenyatta Mondatta

The song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” hit the U.S. charts with a bang and spent three years there. I guess….people liked it? 😉 The songs did have staying power. My personal favorite, because I know you’re waiting for it is…Shadows in the Rain. Who can resist a song that begins “Woke up in my clothes again this morning/Don’t know exactly where I am…”

Ghost in the Machine

Their fourth studio album. My pick: Secret Journey

Synchronicity

The final studio album before Sting broke out on his own, although after listening to some of the early “demos” on YouTube, it seems that The Police was mostly Sting and two guys. Regardless of who wrote what when and where, my pick from this album is Tea in the Sahara.

There you go, there it is…my five favorite Police songs!

Peace, Love, Unity

Dahlia

Terrific Tuesday – Best Book to Movie Adaptations

Greetings and salutations!

Today I’m going to talk about some of my favorite book to movie adaptations – just like it says on the tin. I love books and I love movies, and when the two come together, it touches a chord in me that cannot be duplicated. I won’t tarry on a long-winded introduction: let’s get to the meat of the post, shall we?

What makes a book to movie adaptation terrific? If the movie captures the essence of the book, the characters and offers the same or improved ending from the book. Mind you, a terrific adaptation doesn’t necessarily mean the movie sticks as close to the book as white on rice, nor does it mean the movie leaves you with a terrific feeling. It just means that as a reader of the book, you’re satisfied with the spirit of the movie.

Here, in no particular order, are my top ten terrific movie adaptations.

We Need to Talk about Kevin – Tilda Swinton can make anything good. If you haven’t read the book yet, watching the movie gives you a taste of the awful foreboding of the book. You know something is going to happen, the question is just. when. This movie will not make you comfortable.

Jurassic Park – Now this movie was a bundle of fun for me. Yes, the book was a lot more techincal and dense to get through, but the screen writers managed to sprinkle in the genetics along side the breathtaking spectacle of the dinosaurs on scree. An excellent film that I watch every time it comes on television.

The Godfather – The book was good, but it did include a few side stories that detracted from the main narrative. The movie slashed and burned enough of those side stories and emphasized the family saga. It helped that the author, Mario Puzo, had a hand in writing the screenplay.

The Silence of the Lambs – What more can be said? The movie made me read the book, and I wasn’t disappointed.

To Kill a Mockingbird – The actors (Robert Duvall’s first screen role as Boo Radley), made the book come alive. The only person I missed in the movie was Calpurnia. Her part in the book seemed to be larger and wittier.

No Country for Old Men – The Coen Brothers helped bring Cormac McCarthy’s story to life. Both movie and book complement each other.

The Remains of the Day – I went to see this in the movies and I did have tears. Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson really bring Kazou Ishiguro’s story to life.

Wiseguy – I never met a gangster movie I didn’t like. Re-titled “Goodfellas”, the movie actually improves on the newspaper style reporting of the book and brings the characters to life in blooming color.

The Shining – While I did not care for the character death in movie, I really felt that Kubrick’s adaptation captured the essence (yes, that word again) of the book and the frightening visuals and hidden clues are quite effective.

Requiem for a Dream – This is a film that I never wish to see ever again. A gut-wrenching odyssey of three separate stories of drug addiction, Requiem for a Dream is a visceral experience that leaves the viewer stunned. The book is a little more “in your face” than the movie is, but both are effective.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption – Renamed as The Shawshank Redemption….well, I’m pretty sure that you’ve all heard of the movie, yes?

Into the Wild – Written by Jon Jon Krakauer, who freaked me out with Into Thin Air, about folks climbing Mt. Everest, Into the Wild is the story of a young man who wanted to live off the land in the wilds of Alaska.