[DVDs] After Dark Horrorfest III

[Blackjack]

I really should know better, but I bought two of the recently released DVDs under the...

After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films to Die For
http://www.horrorfestonline.com/#/films

Much of the past films in the series have been terrible imho, but I found a couple gems along the way. I just am not into the whole torture-slasher-sadism thing nor the endless Saw ripoffs, so I tend to skip the films in the series along those lines. Penny Dreadful (which I guess was a slasher film basically, but the "trapped in a car" environs made it feel fresh to me) from a couple years back is probably my fave in the series.

If anyone's curious, I should be able to provide reviews later for the two I got, which are...

-The Broken (starring Lena Headey of 300 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Murderous doppelgangers. [I'm oversimplifying, but basically, that's the idea]

-Butterfly Effect: Revelation (starring ... nobody!)
A time "leaper" decides to break a cardinal rule of not intervening in crimes he witnesses, which alters the present in horrible ways . No, not by creating more Fast and the Furious sequels. Instead, his meddling creates a serial killer who otherwise wouldn't have existed. [Technically, this is the 3rd in a series, but I've not heard boo about the other two].

Just based on trailer clips, those were the two most interesting from "III." We'll see if I wasted my money or not, later on. 

[Nth Power]

I've heard The Broken is actually pretty good.  I don't know much about the rest, but I'd like to get around to watch some of them.

[Blackjack]

I'm not on Netflix, but have the previous series' DVDs shown up there?

[El-Producto]

Reviews would be great, I've got a fair backlog of horror to workthrough, and I'd rather avoid shitty stuff.

[Nth Power]

I'm not on Netflix, but have the previous series' DVDs shown up there?

Last I checked they were all on there.  I still have some wallowing somewhere in my queue.

[Blackjack]

 
Capsule Review: The Broken

So Blackjack Joe Bob gives The Broken thumbs up, with a big caveat (see "The Cons" list below)...

Pros:
-Genuinely creepy use of shadows, lighting and sound.
-A very ominous, gradual sense of foreboding. I genuinely felt uneasy, if not exactly scared.
-For a change, fairly appealing characters [i.e., not the usual grating imbeciles you want to see offed as quickly in possible in most modern horror and slasher films]
-Lena Headey!   
-Lena Headey in the buff!  Well, sort of... [see "The Cons" ]
-Richard Jenkins, an Oscar Nominee  for The Visitor. What's he doing here??

-For the most part, refreshingly subtle (you may be bored if you prefer knives, chainsaws, and flying body parts every 90 seconds)

Cons:
-One geyser of grand guignol bloodletting that appears to have flown in from another movie to ensure it got an R-rating. Not that I can't get into grand guignol, but it just doesn't match the "less is more" spirit of the rest of the movie, imho
-Lena Headey in the buff, but obscured in "strategic places" like it's an Austin Powers movie. 
-I found the ending cool, but...

Spoiler for Hiden:

Come ON! The screenplay has got to explain what the *bleep* it's all about. It's just left hanging with no explanation at the end. 

==================
Googling pulled up a neat AMC blog entry interviewing her stuff, including a very short snippet about The Broken:
http://blogs.amctv.com/horror-hacker/2009/03/lena-heady-interview.php

Q: So, what attracted you to The Broken?

A: Well, it was in London and... a big attraction was, "I can go home every night and see my pals." The director [Sean Ellis]... comes from a fashion photography background, he's very visually interesting... It's exploring a woman's psyche. Is she going mad, or are these things really happening? They scare me more... films that look into possible madness.

And ohmigod, she even likes Fright Night. Sigh. My dream lady... 

[biggercup]

First two Butterfly Effect was not that bad, I am willing to give Butterfly Effect: Revelation a rent over the weekend.

FYI, First Butterfly Effect had Ashton Kutcher(me no like) and Amy Smart(me like).
Second one was direct to video starring Erica Durance (from Smallville).

[Blackjack]

Ah, thanks for jogging my memory about the 1st one. Is time travel the theme of I and II as well?

[Blackjack]

Capsule Review: Butterfly Effect 3: Revelation

So Blackjack Joe Bob gives The Broken one thumb up, with a long "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....." (see Cons, but I won't give it away).

Pros:
-Pretty solid performance by the lead actor whom I recognize from nothing.
-Pretty suspenseful, had some twists and turns I really didn't see coming. I got caught up in the time traveler's jumps, and his impacts on the present day, and I was eager to find out what happened next.
-One, uh, "energetic", explicit, sex scene that seems like an outtake from a softcore porn movie. I guess that's a Pro?  As with Broken's one grand guignol gore scene though, it seems sort of "inserted" (ahahaha) there to ensure an R-rating.

Cons:
-Not all that scary, except that a sequence near the end left me going "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww..." 
-Since I didn't see the first two flicks, I would've appreciated some cursory explanation of the Butterfly Effect^TM. I mean, if all you have to do to time travel is hop in a bathtub of ice cubes and turn the lights out, well hell, the whole GT forums could start time traveling tonight, fercrissakes!   

-The lead actor looks far too much like tennis star Andy Roddick, which makes the one semi-hardcore sex scene rather unsettling. You expect someone to yell, "Love-15!!!" or "Double fault!"
-Most importantly, Lena Headey isn't in it. 

[CeeKay]

First two Butterfly Effect was not that bad, I am willing to give Butterfly Effect: Revelation a rent over the weekend.

FYI, First Butterfly Effect had Ashton Kutcher(me no like) and Amy Smart(me like).
Second one was direct to video starring Erica Durance (from Smallville).

I only saw the first Butterfly Effect when it came out on DVD, and it was the uncut version.  the scene with the puppy at the beginning almost got it turned off, and it got returned before my roommate at the time could see it.  both me and her boyfriend at the time agreed it would not be a good thing to see.