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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Horror Movie Review: Paranormal Activity

Title:  Paranormal Activity (2007)

Genre:  Horror, Drama, Not so bad after all

Summary: After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence. (from IMDB)

Yes.  The film is over ten years old, but I wanted to include some of the horror movies that made a splash in more recent times. Also, I rather liked Paranormal Activity. It’s a charming little film that doles out the scares just enough to keep the you interested.  There are two main characters, Katie and Micah, a couple who have a cute little home except for the issue of what may or may not be an issue with haunting.

The film is shot in POV style, which is a fancy way of saying one of the characters has a camera and makes it their business to film any and everything thing.  In this case, it goes with the plot, since Katie and Micah want to see what’s happening while they’re asleep.

 

I won’t give away the movie on the off chance that you haven’t seen it by now, but suffice it to say I did enjoy this movie, although I feel the characters made some questionable choices.  I also felt that Micah was kind of a jerk at some points, as he deliberately went against Katie’s wishes in a few instances. And I think that in doing that, he was the cause of the final events.  

But if he followed all the rules, there wouldn’t be a movie, now would there?

I’d also like to note that I’ve seen both endings, and personally, I can see the value in both. I can also see why they did the modified ending, to open up that sequel door!

I recommend Paranormal Activity, if you haven’t seen it already.  It’s worth it to see what all the fuss was about.

 

Grade:  B


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Horror Movie Reviews Tagged: horror, horror movie reviews, horror movies, movie reviews

Horror Movie Review: The Bye Bye Man

Title:  The Bye Bye Man

Genre:  Horror, Drama, it wasn’t terrible…..

Summary: Three friends stumble upon the horrific origins of a mysterious figure they discover is the root cause of the evil behind unspeakable acts. (from IMDB)

There’s an old song, from the seventies, that says, “Where do I begin/To tell the story of how sweet a love can be?”

In this case, I would change the words to: Where do I begin/to tell the story of how crap this film it be?

The movie begins in what looks like the 1960s where some dude with glasses is walking around with a shotgun chanting “Don’t think it, don’t say it” and systematically shooting everyone in his house and finally himself.  Okay. That’s fine. It is a horror, after all.

Fast forward to the present time, and the good ol’ pack of those kind of young folks that you see in horror all the time characterize themselves for the viewer.  Hopefully, this briefest of character sketches will make us feel sorry for them when things go woefully wrong. Spoiler alert: I’m just here for the Bye Bye Man. Also, I see you black dude!

There are several good things about the movie.  The atmosphere is appropriately creepy and foreboding.  The dark cinematography, even over the daytime scenes, give you a feeling that anything can happen at any time.  There are some jump scares that are kind of effective and the monster/killer itself gives off a type of Freddy Krueger vibe.

That being said, the film did not quite make it for me.  It wasn’t that the film was so bad, in fact, it had an interesting premise and the actors (for the most part) were adequate.  It just felt like something was missing. They seemed to be playing fast and loose with the plot, which made some of the reasoning behind characters’ motivations hard to follow.

All in all, I won’t turn you away from seeing this movie.  As I said, the premise was intriguing and parts of the movie were effective.  Go into this with the thought you’re just going to have fun, and you will.

 

Grade:  B-


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Horror Movie Reviews Tagged: horror, horror movie reviews, horror movies, movie reviews

Movie Review – Flashback – Stir of Echoes

Title: Stir of Echoes
Genre: Thriller/Supernatural Horror
Director: Davis Koepp
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164181

Hey there lovelies!

I’m taking a little vacation for the month of the December, which means I’m cleaning house (literally and figuratively) and sussing out my goals for 2016. Which in turns means movies and music galore! It’s a relief sometimes to take a step away from the pen and paper….but that doesn’t stop the ideas from bubbling over.

0509008_BRWrapv4Back to the movies. I took a little step back in time to screen Stir of Echoes. I remember watching this back in the day when it first came out on DVD. It’s based on a novel by Richard Matheson, who, as you must well know, wrote Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, I Am Legend and a few other horror/thriller stories. (I use the word “few” as being funny. Matheson was pretty prolific.)

I must say, for a film from the 90s, it holds up pretty well. I enjoyed Kevin Bacon’s younger incarnation – he’s got the loveliest clear blue eyes. I could have done without the “magical negro” trope and the only non-white people in the film were located in a crappy part of town, but other than that, the narrative surrounding Kevin Bacon’s hypnosis by his sister in law (played by a cool Ileana Douglas) and the resulting plot madness is pretty good.

I’ve read the original Matheson story, and because of the dated plot, the screenwriter took some liberty in changing the plot that I don’t really think affected the overall tension and theme.

Also, a slightly tattooed (on his back)  Kevin Bacon, sweaty and shirtless. He’s kind of thin in this movie, but it’s still kinda hot in a trailer park kind of way.

stir-of-echoes-kevin-bacon-digging-yard-shirtless

Watch or not to watch?:

If you like supernatural thrillers and messages from the other side visited upon a common group of folks, I’d recommend this movie. Screen it for the story and remember it takes place in the 90s when cell phones were NOT commonplace. If you put yourself back in time and watch the movie for what it is, you’ll enjoy it. I know I did.

Grade: A minus


Filed Under: Horror Movie Reviews, Uncategorized Tagged: black geek girl, black geeks, black girl nerds, bohowriterchick, dahlia dewinters, ghost, horror, kevin bacon, movie reviews, richard matheson, stir of echoes, thriller

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