All Girls Weekend (2016)

Hello readers,

So as you guys know, Halloween is on the way and all of you must be in the mood to watch movies that can creep you out and send a chill down your spine. I was browsing Netflix and IMDb lists for new horror movie suggestions. I was dismayed to find out that I had already watched the best ones. I came across a few good ones that I had not yet watched. I decided to save those movies for later, cause those were the last few good movies I had left to watch before any fresh entries. So I went through the list of unexpected, less watched and poorly rated movies. In the list, I found All Girls Weekend. The movie had an IMDb rating of 1/5. The Rotten Tomatoes review was also damn poor. The budget and box office of the movie was low and the actors were fresh stock. As my recommendations tread the acclaimed as well as the unexpected movies in the lot, I decided to give this movie a try. My conclusion regarding the movie is pretty surprising indeed.

I turned the movie on not knowing what I would get from it. The introduction was captivating: A woman lost in a ghost forest, being forced by the forest voices to kill the girl with her. I was interested by the novice concept of a ghost forest with voices that make the people lost in the forest kill the people accompanying them. I found it similar to Amityville Horror, where the house was evil and the voices of the house made a person kill their family. Anyways, the intro of the main characters follows. The movie is mainly based on the reunion of 4 high school friends who are now in college. The girls decide to have a weekend out in the woods and the countryside trekking, zip lining and doing other nature-based activities. The go for trekking in the woods and get lost. Come on, anyone could see that coming! Anyways, the girls face a never-ending nightmare while they are lost in the woods and one by one, all the girls start to face death. The climax is the last 20 minutes of the movie. I liked the fact that the twist/suspense is not easily predictable.

There are a few horrid scenes in the movie which I don't think any of you would like to be hearing. The scenes though utterly horrid have been fitted aptly within the movie making it more unpredictable and spontaneous. Overall, I thought that the movie was a good watch and good material for horror movie fans. This shows that one cannot blindly follow IMDb or rotten tomato reviews. You gotta take some chances in the movies you pick to watch. Though disgraced or ignored completely by movie review sites and people, I have decided to give this movie a thumbs up, proving once again that my blog is for the recommendation and recognition of both the unexpected and the acclaimed.

***Disclaimer: I do not discourage or dissuade the use of IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes in any way. The sites are pretty awesome in their own ways as long as you don't blindly rely on them.***

Goosebumps (2015)

Good evening readers,

Being a great fan of the Goosebumps books and episodes, it is my pleasure to present the Goosebumps movie today. When I was a kid I spent most of my time in my room reading R.L. Stine's masterpiece Goosebumps books. I loved the books so much, I would run to my favorite section in the library wishing that a new Goosebump book was out that I already had not read. I liked every single book of his...excluding two of them I think. Anyways, I was excited to watch this movie being a Goosebumps girl. 

The movie starts out with the introduction of the protagonist, actually I don't remember his name so I'll refer to him as 'Kid'. Like half of Stine's books, Kid moves into a small and creepy new town. He befriends the girl next door finding her attractive. Then follows the unpleasant encounter with the girl's father. The father tells him to buzz off and never come close to his home or daughter again. Kid befriends the girl not availing to the weird neighbor's threats. A few days later, he hears a girl screaming from the house next door. Kid suspects that the weirdo is hurting his daughter. So trying to be Sir Lancelot, he goes to rescue her. During the rescue, he finds out that the girl is fine. While trying to run away before the weirdo came home, they accidentally drop a book from a bookcase. As the book opens on the ground, an extremely large monster generates as if it came alive from the pages of the book. The monster is none other than The Abominable Snowman, from Stine's book. Weirdo arrives home and Kid finds out that the weirdo is none other than R.L.Stine. Stine explains that his books have the ability of coming to life. The story is quite long so I'll just halt here.

Notable characters from the Goosebumps books in the movie are the lawn gnomes, ghost dogs, mummies, werewolves, the walking dead, scarecrows, the blob and many more. The most anticipated character is Slappy the Dummy. Damn, that dummy is so evil and twisted, he won't stop at nothin. It is really entertaining to watch Slappy and all the Goosebump villains work together to destroy the town. The movie is really funny. There are at least 10 hilarious scenes within it. An awesome performance has been given by Jack Black and the three teens. The noteworthy guest appearance of R.L. Stine at the end is also pretty cool.  Anyways, Goosebumps 2015 gives a package of entertainment fully loaded with action, comedy, fantasy, horror and a bit of love. The horror is not even close to the original creepiness produced by R.L. Stine in the his books, but the movie is definitely worth watching. 

The Ring 2 (2005)

Hey guys,

Welcome back to my blog. Today I welcome you with the sequel of one of my favorite movies I recommended about half a month ago. I thought that it would be great to give a review of the Ring franchise within this month because of the close release of the third installment, Rings. Rings is scheduled to release next month. I watched the trailer and it excited me cause I loved the first two parts a lot. Anyways, despite the absence of Naomi Watts and David Dorfman, this movie does seem like a fresh entree on the plate of the horror cuisine fan, though maintaining the environment, feel and scares of the original Ring movies.

Now, as I have started to wander off the main topic here, I will give you a short summary of The Ring 2. Before that, there is another thing worth mentioning. You will enjoy The Ring 2 only if you have watched the first part. Anyways, Rachel and her son Aidan move to San Francisco looking forward to a new start after the tragic death of Aidan's father and Rachel's boyfriend. They wish to forget the terrible memories of Samara, but does Samara wish to forget them? I sure don't think so! Samara makes a comeback, stronger than ever killing more people who watch the tape and targeting Rachel and Aidan. Rachel is devastated when she learns that Samara is back to haunt her and her son and starts a re investigation on how to make Samara leave for ever. Meanwhile, Aidan is possessed by the evil Samara and starts behaving odd and hurting people. The rest of the story I leave for you to watch.

This movie is as good as the first. Some scenes like the deer attack one fail to seem scary and may give some of you the laughs. This movie has included more bold scenes than the first. The scene of Samara climbing up the well in the end is unforgettably scary. The thing I love about The Ring movies is that it does not rely upon blood or gore to make it scary. Rather, it places an importance on creepy visuals and unusually scary scenes to give people the frights. Anyways, this movie is surely a unicorn treat to those 0.000001% of the people who loved The Ring and haven't watched the second part.

See you later alligators!

The Glass House (2001)

Hey readers,

I am back after quite some time. I can't stay calm for long without posting a movie recommendation. Anyways, today I present a Thriller/Mystery movie...The Glass House. You probably must be thinking this movie is about a creepy, haunted house made up of glass. Well if you think so, you are only partially correct. The name of the movie actually comes from the Glasses, a strange middle aged couple who live in a glass mansion in the posh area of Malibu. The reviews of this movie are not pleasing, but my views differ from the critics. I enjoyed this movie and felt it had the characteristics of a true thriller. There are though, some loopholes which have not been closed, making the story a bit loose.

I am feeling compelled to summarize the plot. It starts with a killing scene of a Jason movie Ruby, the main protagonist and her friends are watching. Ruby is introduced as a fun-loving girl who loves to bunk her study sessions for a day out with her gal friends. She returns home one day to find a bunch of police cars greeting her. She enters her house thinking that her parents had called the police looking for her. The truth is more gruesome...her parents had died in an accident, and the police were home investigating. After minutes of mourning, Ruby and her kid brother, Rhett are sent over to their new guardian's house, The Glasses. Their wonder and awe from seeing the house they are going to live in is a bit short-lived after the kids find out that they have to share a room together. Strange occurrences follow and Ruby suspects her creepy foster parents of many things. What follows is a thrilling ride of the survival and escape of Ruby and Rhett from the Glass House.

This movie is perfect for people who love thrilling movies about mysterious people with malicious motives. Besides a few loopholes, the movie is a entertaining watch. Overall I would give this movie a 7/10.

The Ring 2002

Hello readers,

Welcome me back with the arch enemy of the movie I discussed in my last blog. Today I will present The Ring. There has been a lot of excitement about the upcoming Japanese movie The Ring vs. The Grudge. Both movies were originally made in Japan and then were adopted by Hollywood counterparts. Being a true horror movie fan, I love both The Grudge and The Ring equally and could never think of choosing one over the other. I am unable to speculate which one out of Samara or Kayako is more evil and deadly. Guess I will just have to watch the The Grudge vs. The Ring to find out. I will probably be sitting in the first show of that movie.

Putting aside the rivalry, I will give you the basic gist of the movie. The starting of the movie is awesome. Two girls having a sleepover start talking about a video one of them watched. The girl said that she then got a phone call where a voice told her that she had 7 days to live. The careless girls then get the shock of their life when the girl who watched the video dies after looking at a ring on the TV screen. The introduction of the two main protagonists, Rachel, a single mother and her strangely quite son Aidan follows. The girl who died happened to be the cousin of Aidan. Rachel, a journalist, starts investigating the case of the killer videotape after which she unravels a series of mysteries and the life of dead girl called Samara. She discovers the shocking truth of what happen to the girl Samara, whose curse lived within the videotape killing everyone who watched it after 7 days. In the end, just when Rachel thinks that she had done the right thing about Samara, she finds put that she has made a large mistake, large enough to put the life of her son and boyfriend into risk.

Horror movies fans must have already watched this movie. I am sure that mystery and thriller fans will also enjoy this watch. Though I have probably watched this movie a hundred times, it fails to bore me a single minute. This movie may not provide any hard core horror scene, but the overall story, the horrid video, the well, the girl Samara and her past will surely give you the creeps for 7 days.

See you at a next review.

The Grudge (2004)

Beware readers,

In Japanese Culture, it is said that a when a person dies in the grip of a great rage, a curse gathers in that place of death. Anyone encountering the curse will be consumed by the fury of the curse. It is called the grudge of the tormented. Anyways, today's movie is based on a curse, far too strong to get rid of and too deadly to leave anyone alone. The Grudge is one of my favorite horror movies. There are plenty of scenes that can scare you out of your goodnight's sleep. Kayako is the woman who kills all the people encountering the curse. The croaking noise of Kayako indicates her arrival, her arrival to pull your life out and drag your soul into the world of death. Her croaking noise, black straight hair everywhere and her dislocated drag on the floor towards the victim are  probably the most signature parts of the Grudge franchise.

Here goes a tiny summary. Okay, so there is this American exchange student, Karin, studying in a Japanese International College in Tokyo. To finish her volunteer services, she works in a care center. Her boss assigns her the task of taking care of an elderly woman Emma. So Karin goes to Emma's home. She assists the strangely silent Emma. Suddenly, she sees a ghost woman with dark black hair everywhere and white eyes. Karin lapses in a trauma. After returning to reality after a day or two, she goes on a quest to figure out the mystery behind the house. And trust me, she finds out all of the bitter and grotesque events that happened in that very house. The awful events that happened in the home resulted in a curse that gathered there. This resulted in the deaths of anyone and everyone who entered that home. The arrival of the creepy Japanese wounded kid Toshio with his black cat and the Japanese croaking woman Kayako in multiple scenes were probably the best parts of the movie.

This movie is quite entertaining and provides too many scares. The three scariest scenes of the movie and the best scenes to look forward to are:
1. The scene where a hand comes out of the back of Karin's head when she is washing her hair.
2. Yoko's face with the broken lower jaw. This scene will probably be a bit traumatizing for some.
3. The flashback towards the end of the movie where the past of Kayako, her husband and her son           Toshio in the cursed home is seen by Karin.


I will be back unexpectedly with another recommendation.
Monica

P.S. I am pretty excited about the upcoming Japanese movie Sadako vs. Kayako or in English, The Grudge vs. The Ring. Both are equally dear to me, and I can't wait to find out whether Samara or Kayako will win in the movie.