After the commercial success of Darkman, director Sam Raimi found himself in a position to complete his Evil Dead trilogy. Using a script idea that was originally planned for Evil Dead II, he takes the action back to the middle ages in Army of Darkness. Shot on a budget of $13m, Army of Darkness proved to be a moderate success, taking just over $21m at the box office. … [Read more...]
The Crazies (2010) review by That Film Guy
Based on the 1973 George A. Romero film of the same name, The Crazies is part of a large collection of horror remakes that have been released in recent years. Much like Friday the 13th, or Rob Zombie's Halloween, this take on The Crazies clearly hoped to elicit some decent box office success by trading on a cult title. What is a pleasant surprise it is then, that this is one of … [Read more...]
Evil Dead II (1987) review by That Film Guy
Having created low-budget horror classic The Evil Dead, director Sam Raimi decided to move onto new things, notably Crimewave a comedy-crime drama. As it floundered to gain any critical or commercial success, he was convinced to go back to his horror roots with Evil Dead II. Initially conceived as a history-spanning adventure in medieval times, Raimi did not have the budget … [Read more...]
Review: Eragon (2006)
The success The Lord of the Rings created a boom in fantasy film-making, with some very good stuff resulting, but with every boom must come a bust, and thus here we have Eragon. A failure on almost every possible level, I can't even recommend it as an unintentional comedy; and when a bad fantasy film cannot even be that, it's a sure sign of how utterly wretched it is. The … [Read more...]
Ocean’s Twelve (2004) review by That Film Fatale
Steven Soderbergh gives Oceans Twelve the international treatment in the much anticipated sequel to the 2001 star-filled Oceans Eleven. Sticking to the formula used in the previous movie, but with a few special additions “ Eddie Izzard, Vincent Cassel with brief appearances from Robbie Coltrane and Bruce Willis (ingeniously casted as himself). This time the game has changed and … [Read more...]
The Last Exorcism (2010) review by That Film Guy
Released in 2010 and heavily influenced by The Exorcist, the Eli Roth-produced The Last Exorcism is one a host of modern found footage horrors. Working on the basis that the footage you're watching was found after the traumatic events of the film, it became a popular movement in Hollywood after the staggering success of The Blair Witch Project. The micro-budget of most found … [Read more...]
Final Destination 2 (2002) review by That Film Brat
Final Destination 2, released 3 years after the first, was put into development after the first film was a big hit at the box office, grossing $112 million against a $23 million budget. Jeffery Reddick, creator of the series and co-writer of Final Destination, was not involved in the production, as well as James Wong and Glen Morgan, co-writers and, in Wong's case, director. … [Read more...]
Session 9 (2001) review by That Film Guy
Released in limited cinemas in 2001, Session 9 is a low budget horror film set in an abandoned mental asylum in Massachusetts. It follows a team of five aspestos-removal men hired to clear out the whole building in only a week. As the days tick by, the team, lead by Gordon (Peter Mullan) become More and more stressed, while Mike (Stephen Gevedon) discovers a series of tapes … [Read more...]
Review: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B008JARIIA][/pullquote] Hype for new films is a wonderful thing, it allows us to look forward to certain releases and allows us to create marquee events around the release of big-name films. Too much hype can be damaging however. 2012 saw the release of each of these … [Read more...]
Infernal Affairs III (2003, Hong Kong) review by That Art House Guy
Please note: Due to the connected nature of the movies, it's not possible to discuss Infernal Affairs III without giving away key plot points for Infernal Affairs I and II. Infernal Affairs II was a fine sequel (or rather, prequel) to the original movie, but the box office results showed that what really elevated the franchise was its two star names in the leading roles “ … [Read more...]