My Soul To Take

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray to Lord my soul to keep.
And if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

My bedtime prayer has always creeped me out a bit. Wes Craven, the legendary horror directer made My Soul to Take, a distinctive slasher film much more different than his Scream and Nightmare series. My Soul to Take is a more obscure movie on a series of fictional murders in which the victims were killed brutally.

Like in most of Craven's movies, the plot focuses on a group of high school kids who live in the same town, previously targeted by a the Ripper many years ago. History begins to repeat itself when teenagers start dying in the same tragic ways. Is it just a coincidence, or is the Riverton Ripper back for revenge after 17 years to fulfill his curse that he would kill all the seven kids born on the same day he died. As the movie proceeds, it doesn't get easier guessing who the killer might be.



I agree with the fact that Wes Craven has directed movie much better than this one. The movie though does offer horror fans some novelties. For example, the scenes where Bug voices out his friends dialogues in that creepy way and that scene where Bug copies Alex's actions for about a minute. The fact that the protagonist was actually the son of a psychotic murderer is also something distinctive about this movie. I mean they don't show anything like that in other movie. To sum it up, I would give a 6/10 to My Soul To Take.

See you next time.

Shaun of the Dead

I recently posted my comeback on Instagram and stated that I would be writing a review on Shaun of the Dead. Most of us know this movie as the foremost film in the zombie-comedy sub genre. Being a parody of zombie films, it ironically follows all the so-called rules of the classic zombie flicks. I don't know if the makers of the film named Shaun to rhyme with Dawn or if it was coincidental.

Shaun is a salesman who is living a shitty life according to his point of view. He has strained relations with his parents and his long term girlfriend, Liz. His only effortless relation is his best friend Ed who is basically a waste of a person. Battling such problems must not have been enough for him because god surely assigned him the much more time-consuming and unappealing task of battling an army of zombies. Slowly, more and more people get infected and the town get unpopulated from humans to zombies. Shaun, Ed and Liz run around from here to there trying to escape zombies and killing the ones that come in their way. Their friends and family turn into zombies making it much harder to kill them and watch them die at their hands.

Shaun of the Dead is an interesting one time watch. So if you like zombie movies or if you're a Walking Dead fan and by chance haven't watched this one, you should be streaming it next on Netflix. Some movies like Zombieland tried to reproduce this acclaimed parody with lame results. Though Shaun of the Dead has been deemed one of the best zombie movies ever, I would prefer Dawn of the Dead over it just because it was more scarier than the former and had a more serious and pessimistic take on the zombie infected world.

Thank you for your presence and any suggestions are recommended!
Monica

The Silence of the Lambs

The 90's was an epic decade that defined some of the best movies made. It was the era of classic masterpieces such as Pulp Fiction, Titanic, The Matrix, Schindler's List, The Shawshank Redemption, Home Alone, Lion King,etc (I can name at least 20 more). Anyways, the best horror movies were also made in the 90s. The best ones were The Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, Scream and The Blair Witch Project. Silence of the Lambs, released in 1991 giving the 90s a boost in the horror genre. After the film released, legendary filmmakers explored their options and got much more creative with the horror content to be presented on screen. Part of the Hannibal Lector film series, The Silence of the Lambs became the most famous of the series of movies because of the overall plot and the extraordinary actors portraying the lead roles.

The film revolves around a case FBI trainee agent Clarisse Starling has been assigned to by her senior. The case she had been assigned highly depended on Dr. Hannibal Lector, the infamous psychiatrist who was himself a psychotic cannibal who developed a liking for human flesh and organs. Clarisse went on regular visits to Hannibal's cell to extract information from him regarding a new serial killer named Buffalo Bill who was on a killing spree. To get the much needed information, Clarisse had to disclose sensitive parts of her past to Hannibal who was a keen mind-game player.

Sir Anthony Hopkins portrayed the role of psychotic cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lector with excellence, and that creepy look of his throughout the movie is unforgettable. His various dialogues throughout the movie were also magical for horror fans such as myself. Jodie Foster also portrayed Agent Starling flawlessly. Though the movie is not outright scary, the overall environment and Dr. Lector are scary enough to drag the film into the scariest movies ever made. The end part where Starling reaches the wrong home gave me the creeps. If you haven't watched this movie, you should, especially if crime-thrillers entice you.

Thank you!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Hi readers,

After the first three parts of the Harry Potter movies, I felts as if the story was continuing a bit without the original panache. The Goblet of Fire is mainly based on the Triwizard Championships which are the deadliest championships of them all. The winner of the Championships would be blessed with eternal glory. Sounded pretty fascinating until it is mentioned that many wizards had died during the tournament. The movie can be extremely funny at times. Many trivial parts have been added though, such as the Yule Ball, which I literally skip in case the movie is on.

So its another year at Hogwarts which is Harry and his gang's 4th year there. There is excitement buzzing about the Triwizard Championships and the dance on Christmas Eve. The wizards above 17 are only allowed to take part in the competition, and those who want to would have to submit their name in the Goblet of fire. The problem is that Harry and his friends can not submit their names because they are only 14. On the day of the results, everyone is shocked because Harry's name is announced as one of the four champions even though he didn't submit it. Everyone including his friends, deride, defame and mock Harry calling him a cheater and also a poop head. This is probably the only time in the whole Harry Potter series where the poor boy is defamed to such an extent. The next part of the movie concentrates on the main characters desperately trying to find a date for the Yule Ball with the Championships focused on in the latter part of the movie.

The best part of the movie is indisputably the part where Draco is turned into a ferret. Though a like Draco a lot, I don't know why the part felt utterly hilarious rather than a bit insulting to me. The part where Harry and Ron go desperately searching for a girl-date is also really funny. The most memorable scene is when Snape destroys the boy's date searching thoughts by grabbing hold of their heads! Anyways, that is enough for today folks!

Hercules (2014)

We have all heard about the story of Hercules, the demi-god son of Zeus. The enticing story of the powerful and almighty Hercules got a more rocking turn in 2014 when it was released where Dwayne Johnson played Hercules. What better actor to play Hercules than The Rock himself?

Hercules, presently a mercenary fighting for gold travels to Greece along with his five faithful warriers to aid the King of Thrace, Lord Cotys. He is trying hard to live in peace after the treacherous death of his wife and children whom he believes he had murdered in an inebriated state. Trying to forget his self-guilt, he fights and earns gold with his friends. While in Thrace, he feels a strange attraction towards Cotys's gorgeous daughter. In order to save Cotys and fulfill his mercenary duties, Hercules defeats many armies, not having a clue regarding where his true enemy lies. Not willing to expose any of the good parts of the movie, lets just say that I am keeping the true enemy disclosed for those who may not have watched the movie.

Though the movie was a box office hit, many did not really like it because in some sense, the movie does not really depict the legend of Hercules. I found the story very similar to The Gladiator, the Oscar winning epic. The most notable part of the movie had to be the deadly tasks accomplished by Hercules such as the fight with the monstrous lion and how Hercules broke his jaw with his bare hands. 

The Croods (2013)

Hello!

Today I feel like talking about another awesome animated movie. The Croods is a great movie based on prehistoric civilization. The main characters are a caveman family who is really close. The head figure of the family is Grug, an over protective caveman who is determined to keep his family safe by living and hiding in caves. Eep, his daughter is a fun loving, free-minded and adventurous cave-teen. She wants to live her life to the fullest without being afraid of anyone or anything. Eep meets Guy, an innovative human, who she starts liking. The movie basically portrays the survival of an unusual family in dire situations and the love they have for their family.

The appearances of the characters are in line with caveman style. Eep has broad shoulders and a bit of a manly structure which was probably prominent in the cavemen days. And the way the family eats! Boy, that is a scene Guy will probably never forget! The bird chase and the wildcat chase scenes are really funny. The inventions in the movie were also cool. Like when Grug invents lots of weird and failure stuff to prove himself like the pre-historic camera and the shade hats. The best invention was probably the Hug, which he made to rhyme with Grug. My favorite character was the majestic wild cat who ends up being Grugs pet.

Overall The Croods is a great animated movie to kick-off a rather boring or depressing day.

Stay tuned for more reviews!

Despicable Me 2

Welcome back!

Some of you may have read my review on Despicable Me a long time ago. Someone asked why I left out the second part. I said that I didn't leave it out, I just planned to write it later. So here I am, weeks after, about to write the review of Despicable Me 2. Its prequel was amazing and after 3 years when this movie released, we all rushed to the theaters to catch this movie and I can sure tell you people, no one was disappointed. I consider the second part equally fun as the first. Yeah the first one was a tad bit funnier and enjoyable, but the directors efforts to preserve the enjoyable ambience of the movie was pretty successful. Though in the second part, the focus on Minions(and their transformations) was more. The girls are equally adorable and Gru, with his same exotic accent, happens to find love.

So the movie starts out with cutie pie Agnes's birthday. Gru makes an entry as the fat and hairy fairy princess. Gru is a happy father to the girls and he is running a new business of making disgusting jelly. Gru is quite complacent and feels he needs to spice up his life with some action. He meets Lucy, an agent of the Anti Villain League. He joins the AVL with Lucy as his partner. He is assigned the task of filtering out the villain from many suspects who supposedly stole a dangerous serum that transfers living beings into indestructible monsters. While on his mission, Gru comes across a Mexican restaurant owner who largely resembles the deadliest villain 20 years ago, El Macho, who was thought to be dead. Gru's Minions are getting kidnapped and taken to an exotic place and experimented upon, only to be transformed into purple monster freaks. Meanwhile, Gru starts to like his partner Lucy, though she is transferred to another location. Gru battles El Macho to save his Minions, his love and the world using jelly guns and the lipstick taser. Well I guess he proved it another time that he isn't a villain.

My favorite parts are when the Minions become evil. I mean, anyone would find that part cool. And by the way, the Despicable Me 3 trailer isn't as exciting as I expected it to be.

See you people later!