Hostel 2 is better than Hostel?

I hated Hostel with a passion. It's not that I didn't like the nude women or some of the gore, it's just that the whole movie was so ludicrous and stupid that I couldn't fully appreciate the "beauty" of the film. Some critics liked Hostel because it was a "smart satire of American culture" or what not, but I thought that was a load of B.S. Hostel was a cheesy horror movie trying to capitalize on the trend known as torture porn. Nothing more.

And in reality, the gore was a bit goofy at times (the eyeball hanging out of the girl's head looked extremely fake) and, more importantly, the plot was so bad it made most horror movies look like they had Award-winning stories.

So, Hostel: Part II (Hostel 2) is now out on DVD, and having watched it, I must say it's a lot better. That's not saying it's all that good, or that it's reason to make a third one, but the movie is a lot more coherent, features better, more believable characters and its gore is a lot more realistic. There are some pretty lame parts (the opening sequence and the final minute of the movie), but there are a few torture scenes that are quite elaborate and somewhat clever.

All in all, it wasn't too much of a struggle to watch Hostel 2, and that's saying a lot. You can read my full Hostel 2 movie review here.

19 Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween

From 1999 to present day (October 31, 2007), there haven't been that many stand out horror movies, but here's a list of some that either really good, good enough for horror or just plain gruesome. Looking to rent a horror movie for Halloween? Choose from the list below...

1. Wolf Creek
   One of the best movies on this list, Wolf Creek is scary, gory, suspenseful and, worst of all, realistic. Based on a true story, this one will make you nervous to visit Australia. The film follows several young people as they fall victim to a psychopathic killer in the Outback.


2. The Descent
   One of the best horror/monster movies ever, The Descent is about a group of women trapped a mile underground with a bunch of ferocious mutated creatures that like to eat flesh. Awesome film!


3. A Tale of Two Sisters
   Hollywood is remaking this movie, unfortunately. The original, a Korean film I believe, is one of the best and scariest movies I have seen in a long time. Watch carefully, otherwise you'll be lost!


4. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
   This is the film that rejuvenated the zombie genre for the modern age, and it definitely deserves the credit. Funny, exciting and gruesome all at the same time. The director went on to provide fans with 300.


5. 28 Weeks Later
   This zombie film is actually very, very exciting, and a bit scary. While some people hated this film, it's actually better than its predecessor, 28 Days Later.


6. Halloween (2007)
   This movie isn't out on DVD yet, but is a very respectable remake of the John Carpenter classic.


7. Joy Ride
   Yes, it stars Paul Walker, but this is one of my favorite thrillers. It's non-stop action and features a crazy truck driver who stalks three innocent young people all over the place (and tears off one guy's jaw).
   


8. Final Destination
   One of the more original horror movies of all time, the film is surprisingly exciting considering the killer is completely invisible. And if you like Ali Larter on "Heroes", check her out here.
   


9. The Others
   This Nicole Kidman ghost story was a surprising box office and critical hit, and has a great twist ending. This one was creepy enough to feature a spoof in one of the Scary Movies, played by a fake Michael Jackson.
   


10. The Ring/Ringu
    The American and Japanese versions are so similar that I list them both together. If you saw the American version first, like I did, you'll probably like The Ring better, but those who saw the Japanese one initially will think the opposite. Either way, they have a neat concept and scary results. Too bad they spawned a slew of crappy Japanese remakes - and The Ring Two.
    


11. Signs
    This M. Night Shyalaman movie isn't as scary the second time around, but I remember being on the edge of my seat at theaters. This was the last movie where his twist ending was halfway decent.


12. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
    Some people slam this film, but it features Jessica Biel looking super hot, tons of gore and an ultra creepy psychotic family. This was a great remake, yet doesn't take away from the original.


13. Deep Blue Sea
    Sure, it's a cheesier version of Jaws, but this movie about genetically advanced sharks is surprisingly good. There are some scary moments, a few surprises (one big actor gets killed a lot earlier than expected) and... genetically advanced sharks!


14. The Host
    This monster movie isn't very scary, but as far as monster movies go, it is one of the most well done flicks in years. It's funny and serious all at the same time.
    
    
15. High Tension
    If you're looking for disturbing, look no further than this French film. The bad guy gives himself a blow job with a decapitated head at one point in the movie, and that's the soft part of the R-rating. Blood, blood and more blood is splattered on screen, and the movie even takes a very weird, controversial twist near the end.


16. Jeepers Creepers
    Sure, it turns out that the killer is a flying creature from Hell, but up until that point, this hit horror film is amazingly suspenseful and disturbing. The sequel really, really sucked, though.


17. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
    This isn't a great film, and the original from Wes Craven is better overall, but this remake, from the director of High Tension no less, is one of the goriest, f**ked up movie ever. Nothing is sacred in this bloody picture.


18. What Lies Beneath
    This Harrison Ford/Michelle Pfeiffer film wasn't perfect, but every time Pfeiffer would walk slowly into the bathroom, you knew a ghost was just waiting to grab her.
    


19. The Blair Witch Project
    A classic in its own right, The Blair Witch Project put indie horror back on the map. If you watch it a second time it's just unbearably boring, but the first time was great. I actually watched this for a second time at Halloween with a bunch of people; it was definitely the lamest party I had ever hosted.
    

Movie Review: Surf's Up (2007)

I recently watched Surf's Up, which is yet another penguin movie. But, unlike Happy Feet, Surf's Up relies more on screenplay and less on cute looking critters dancing like they're on crystal meth. I found Happy Feet dreadfully dull after the first 20 minutes, but Surf's Up keeps on entertaining from start to finish.

It just has these three things going against it:

• It's a penguin movie, and March of the Penguins, a documentary featuring the real thing, was more entertaining.
• It's still not as good as the really good animated films, like those from Pixar
• It won't appeal to little kids. The humor is dry and very dialogue-driven; little kids will find Happy Feet a bit more visually stimulating.

Still, for those of you who like animated films, Surf's Up is one of the better ones of the year. Read the full Surf's Up movie review here.

14 Underrated Movies of 2007

It's only October, but 2007 is already full of tons of great or really good movies. It's pretty amazing, because I've gone years where I haven't seen a truly great movie until the final weeks of December and struggled to piece together a top ten list where the bottom three aren't on there simply for the sake of filling out the top ten.

2007, however, has had plenty of great films, some of which were complete surprises (28 Weeks Later), some were ones you were hoping to be good but weren't expecting them to be (Transformers) and others ones that received great critical reaction but not many box office dollars (Michael Clayton comes to mind). And so this list below takes a look at the movies released thus far that have failed to reach their box office potential for whatever reason...

Zodiac
It's no real surprise that this serial killer movie didn't make a ton of money as it is nearly three hours long and it's no action thriller along the vein of Seven, but Zodiac is a near masterpiece in its presentation of the long and arduous investigation that went into finding the Zodiac killer, a real person. Pulling off a movie like this is difficult, but David Fincher seemed to be on automatic as pieced together the complicated storyline.

28 Weeks Later
Yeah, it's a zombie movie. But it's a zombie movie that takes what was accomplished in the first film and makes things scarier and more exciting. This is definitely one of the best horror sequels ever, yet didn't perform too well in theaters and even got slammed by quite a few critics as being unoriginal. Seriously, I've read many reviews, some from professional critics and some from bloggers, that have mocked this movie, but I don't know what the hell they were watching. I consider myself to have pretty good taste in film, and 28 Weeks Later was certainly a pleasant surprise.

Gone Baby Gone
The full strength of this movie is yet to be seen, but it already appears to be skirting under the radar. The directorial debut of Ben Affleck, the movie stars his brother Casey as a private detective looking for a kidnapped girl. The film fires on all cylinders and is a dramatic yet exciting detective flick with heart.

The Kingdom
Sure, the script isn't all that great and overall the movie could have been more, but The Kingdom is an exciting, well-paced action thriller that was seemingly made to blow away the competition. Surprisingly, this one flopped massively, and I'm still scratching my head as to why.

The Last Mimzy
It's a kid's movie, but a very good kid's movie at that. In a year where Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was a bit disappointing, The Last Mimzy is a refreshing and unique adventure tale about a brother and sister who discover a toy that give them special powers. However, what is the true purpose of the alien toy? This one probably flopped because it's a more serious kid's movie, and the title sucks. Highly recommended, even to adults.

Michael Clayton
Some people predicted this would top the box office when it hit theaters, but of course a slow-moving legal thriller wouldn't do that. Still, the movie has shown disappointing returns even though it is one of the best reviewed movies of the year and features some of the best performances of the year, by Tom Wilkinson, George Clooney and Tilda Swinton most notably. This movie isn't for everyone, but those who are patient while find payoff in the film's climax.

Seraphim Falls
This Liam Neeson/Pierce Brosnan movie was never even released wide, but it is a non-stop action thrill ride set in the old west. With a simple story of one man trying to hunt down another man through snowy mountains and the desert, Seraphim Falls offers very little dialogue but haunting performances from the men involved nonetheless. More importantly, it is exciting from start to finish and features some great visuals.

Ratatouille
The Pixar movie still made a good amount of money at theaters this summer, but compared to other Pixar films, it was a box office disappointment. Some blamed it on the fact that the title is hard to pronounce or that it stars a rat, but I don't really know. All I know is that this film features absolutely stunning visuals, an entertaining storyline and witty screenplay. It is a pure treat, and one of the few animated films that I could see competing against live action movies as "best movie of the year". It isn't THAT good, but I hope you get my point.

Rescue Dawn
Christian Bale's movie about a man who crashes in Vietnam and forced to live in a prison camp in the middle of the jungle looked cheesy at first, but it is actually one of the finest made pictures of the year. Featuring great acting, beautiful scenery and exciting, fact-based story, Rescue Dawn is certainly one of the hidden gems of 2007.

Sunshine
This film about the death of the sun and human's last attempt to save the species is more pure sci-fi than most films we see these days, but it's a shame it wasn't marketed to general audiences more effectively. Featuring dazzling special effects, good performances and an exciting, chilling story, the movie could easily appeal to both sci-fi buffs and regular moviegoers alike. I blame the studio for not positioning this sci-fi classic better.

The Lookout
I can't remember how this one did at theaters, but regardless it probably didn't get the attention it deserved. Featuring a great performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a memorable story about a young man trying to overcome a disability, and a bank robbery, the movie is exciting, dramatic and "twisty" all at the same time. Those who like small-town crime thrillers should certainly check this out. It may not be Fargo, but it's still really good.

Vacancy
The last minute or two kind of suck, but Vacancy, starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, is an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a bitter couple who get trapped in the hotel from Hell. There isn't a moment that passes when the tension eases up, and that's all that really needs to be said.

Grindhouse
Amazingly, the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature flopped at theaters, forcing The Weinstein Company to split the directors' two movies, Death Proof and Planet Terror, into two movies in Europe, and DVD. Had they released this around Halloween we might have seen better results, as while neither film are absolutely amazing, both are certainly better-than-average horror movies, if you can even call them that.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Casey Affleck hits this list for the second time, as he plays the second title character for this slow-moving western drama. He turns in an award-winning performance, as does Brad Pitt, who plays the famous outlaw. As with Michael Clayton, this movie isn't for everyone, but it has certainly gone under the radar without much box office impact.

The year is still young. I expect more quality films to make this list as we wind down to New Years...

Movie Review: The Assassination of Jesse James... (2007)

I just got back from watching the two-hour, forty-minute The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, a western that's quite a bit different than anything I've seen in recent memory. In a year of constant, pleasant surprises, Jesse James is just the latest in a number of surprises, though it certainly isn't for everyone.

It isn't an action movie, though it does have a fair amount of killings. It is dialogue driven and relies on its acting and screenplay to carry the audience through to the tragic ending (tragic in more ways than one). It can easily be described as a character study, a slow and methodically meandering character study. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck both turn in career-best performances, and the movie itself is all but mesmerizing from beginning to end. It suffers from a few loose parts in the middle, but makes up for it with one of the most emotionally devastating endings I've witnessed on screen in a long time.

Read my full The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford movie review here.

Movie Review: Fido (2007)

Fido, a zombie movie that is quite different from most zombie movies, is now out on DVD, and I have a copy in my possession. As such, I have written a movie review for the film.

I was rather looking forward to this picture, as 1) zombie films are hard to mess up (though Resident Evil 3 certainly proved me wrong with that one, 2) zombie comedies are generally funny and 3) a movie about a boy and his pet zombie just sounds entertaining.

Unfortunately, the film fails to live up to its potential, as it just isn't funny enough. Read my full Fido movie review here.

Movie Review: Captivity (2007)

I just watched 30 Days to Night, which has a pretty bad ending, but it does not even compare to the God-awful ending that Captivity, starring hottie Elisha Cuthbert, offers. I mean, talk about out of left field, the bleachers, the street and the warehouse across the street out there.

Captivity is essentially a Saw rip-off (and I thought Saw sucked), only with less amounts of gore and less excitement. At the same time, it does offer one of the grossest scenes I've ever seen, which involves sticking a funnel down Elisha's throat and forcing her to swallow a blended concoction of noses, ears, guts and blood. Lovely.

Read my full Captivity movie review. The horror picture lands on DVD next week, and offers a making-of featurette, an on-the-set featurette and some deleted scenes, including alternate endings (although they aren't that alternate).

Movie review: Michael Clayton (2007)

Wow, what a year 2007 has been. And it's only October. Last year, we were scraping bottom well into late November before good movies started cropping up, but 2007 has been gifted with all kinds of really good movies, from comedies (Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, Superbad) to action (300, The Bourne Ultimatum, Transformers) to dramas (Eastern Promises, Zodiac, Rescue Dawn), and that's only to name a few. Now, we have Michael Clayton, George Clooney's latest drama-thriller.

Written and directed by The Bourne Ultimatum writer Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton does for legal thrillers what the Bourne franchise did for spy flicks - take the genre to a whole new level. It's not that the legal thriller hasn't had its fair share of great successes - several John Grisham adaptations come to mind - but Gilroy's approach is certainly don't-bullshit-and-slowly-build-tension-until-it-bursts. There are some slow sections in Michael Clayton, and those expecting a fast-paced thriller might find themselves falling asleep in the first half, but those of you who have patience and know a good movie when you see it will certainly find something to campaign around. For much of the movie, you don't really know what the title character's job is, but then, when it reaches the amazing and surprisingly quick ending that it has, you realize he's been doing it all along. Michael Clayton is a movie with a few twists, or at least new directions, and a mounting sense that there will be only one winner.

Read the full Michael Clayton movie review.

Movie Review: Eastern Promises (2007)

Eastern Promises does have a lot to promise. Featuring top notch talent such as Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts, director David Cronenberg hot off his last award-winning [and Mortensen-starring] masterpiece A History of Violence and an unsettling plot about a woman who has accidentally become entwined with the Russian mafia, expectations for the film were high. And Eastern Promises lives up to them... for the most part.

As one might expect, Eastern Promises has its fair amount of ultra violence, which Cronenberg seems to enjoy adding even when his films appeal most to adult audiences. Some may find the violence or at least the gore (necks getting sawed at with razor blades until blood is squirting profusely from severed arteries, knives to the eyes, etc.) unnecessary, but that is part of the reason I am a growing fan of Cronenberg's work. Even in the most subtle or raw dramas (I am mainly referring to A History of Violence), he likes to shock the audience with sudden bouts of violence. The audience becomes squeamish, but that's all part of the act: his movie is about regular people who get involved with nasty things, and he makes the audience react accordingly.

Read the full Eastern Promises movie review...

Movie Review: The Lives of Others (2006)

The winner for Best Foreign Language Picture at this year's Academy Awards, The Lives of Others is a captivating tale of espionage, love, betrayal, and a realization of one's individual power.

Set in East Germany a few years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the film takes a look at Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler, an interrogator/investigator (Ulrich Mühe) who is assigned to watch George Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), a writer who is believed to be compassionate to the West, at least according to a political rival. With wiretaps in every facet of the Dreyman's home, Wiesler becomes intimately involved in the lives of the writer and his girlfriend, rising actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). As the couple's relationship hangs by a thread and Dreyman considers turning his back on communism once and for all, Wiesler finds himself questioning his very nature, purpose and loyalty.

The Lives of Others bears possession to several great performances, a captivating story and wonderfully seductive direction. Mühe portrays one of the most unpredictable and intriguing protagonists in year, a man who has built his life around an ideal and in one final mission starts questioning his own beliefs. It is clear from the start that he has compassion for these people, but even when he starts to protect them, will he really take that extra step to save either of their lives? Often silent, Mühe looks a lot like Kevin Spacey and has the talent to boot.

Koch is also excellent in an equally leading role.

Little else needs to be said. This is one of the best foreign films of the year (though I'd argue that Pan's Labyrinth, the favorite to win Best Foreign Language Picture, is better) and deserves the recognition. Head out to your video store right now and pick this one up.

Movie Review: Wind Chill (2007)

Believe it or not, Wind Chill actually came to theaters in early 2007, though zero marketing effort amounted to what was probably negative business for the forgettable horror movie. It's a real shame that the movie isn't just a little better, as it offers two very good performances from the leads.

Wind Chill is about a college girl (Emily Blunt, best known for The Devil Wears Prada) who hitches a ride with a fellow student only to find that he might not be as innocent as he seems. When they decide (well, he decides) to take a short cut across a snow-filled road, they find themselves at the center of their own worst nightmares. After a car crash, the two bear witness to all kinds of strange activities, namely several nasty ghosts who lurk around the dark and freezing highway. Can they survive the night?

Wind Chill works as a psychological thriller, mainly thanks to the quality performances from Blunt and the resilient Ashton Holmes, whom you'll recognize from a few things. The two, who spend the first half of the movie arguing and bickering, have great chemistry together, and their "relationship" comes off as very real.

Unfortunately, the horror aspect plays like a weak version of The Shining. Director Gregory Jacobs clearly wanted to go the psychological route and deliver a trippy journey into Hell, but the ghosts come so sporadically and with so little climax that you almost forget that you're watching a ghost story. When the ghosts do appear, they are a bit creepy, but the movie never really feels even remotely scary.

Respect Wind Chill for its performances, but a little more horror could have made these a sleeper hit. As is, it will quickly be forgotten.

Unrated Eyes Wide Shut coming to DVD

It sounds like Eyes Wide Shut will finally be seen in the way it was meant to be seen. Some may remember the controversy regarding Stanley Kubrick's last film, where certain orgy scenes were deemed to explicit for R-rated audiences. Slapped with an NC-17 rating, the producers decided to place digital characters over certain parts of the film to drop the film back down to an R.

According to The Digital Bits, a two-disc special edition Eyes Wide Shut DVD will arrive in stores October 23, 2007, and included both the rated and unrated versions.