Circle Review

Circle (2015)

IMDb genre: Drama/Horror/Sci-Fi

Director: Aaron Hann, Mario Miscione

Writer: Aaron Hann, Mario Miscione

Starring: Julie Benz, Mercy Malick, Sara Sanderson

While it may be a little unorthodox, I’m going to start this review by saying this film is a better version of a totally different film. The film I am comparing it to in this case is 2013’s The Human Race. While I found the idea behind The Human Race quite horrifying I felt the execution was flawed. Circle follows a similar idea but has ironed out some of the flaws.

The decision to start the film without any explanation is a great one; we have the same disorientation as the characters so we begin to connect with them from the start. This means the writer/directors can follow the plot through and let the character development crop up naturally rather than trying to focus on the pasts of too many characters, particularly as many of the initial 100 don’t have much screen time. Clearly then the death count is incredibly high but that being said this is not a gory film. The deaths are quick and are almost used only to further the plot. They don’t need to make a spectacle of them because the main focus here, and where the real horror is, is the interaction between people.

There isn’t any explanation as to why the 100 people are so diverse, we have all races, ages, sexualities etc, but there is only one who doesn’t speak English. This is a problem as the group is representative in other ways, it seems the only reason there aren’t more foreign language speakers would appear to be convenience and ease of watching. This is an understandable decision but a little disappointing.

In terms of the plot it is reasonably simplistic but not too predictable and the evil behind the circle is never fully revealed which is a smart decision, it makes sure the film stays with you and adds scare factor.

I don’t want to give too much away but I would definitely say check this one out. The acting is excellent and I find myself still thinking about this movie after watching it more than a week ago.

General Opinion: 

 

Scare Factor:  

The movie is not a standard horror, it may make you jump a little but seeing the true nature of people is what’s genuinely terrifying. The movie, particularly the ending, will work its way under your skin and stay there.

Gore: 

The deaths are bloodless but they are frequent.

Clowns: 

 

This is not a comedy. 

100 Horror Films Challenge Final Update

So, the challenge is over and I failed miserably! Here's the final few days:

Day 25:
- The Lazarus Effect (Horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller)

Day 26:
- Circle (Drama/Horror/Sci-Fi)

Day 27:
- Paranormal Activity 4 (Horror)

Day 28:
- Honeymoon (Horror/Romance/Thriller)

Day 29:
- Scream Queens (Comedy/Horror, 45 minutes, WILD CARD FOUR)

Day 30:
- Absolutely nothing!

Day 31:
- Zero!

As I decided to be sociable with friends I had one of the best Halloween weekends of my life (went a live horror maze for the first time ever, had a night out dressed as a zombie cheerleader, and carved pumpkins) but it didn't involve any horror as it usually would!

This leaves my final count at 36 films instead of 100! Believe it or not I am actually fairly happy with this as it averages out at more than one a day and it's still more horror films than I would usually watch in a month. 

I'm going to post some reviews of the highs and lows of the challenge over the next week or so and then try the challenge again next year because why not? I hope you all had a great Halloween!

100 Horror Films Challenge Update #4

It's not going very well.....
Treated myself to some DVD's from Amazon of horrors that I didn't know had been released in the UK yet (The Final Girls & Cooties) so that was good.

Day 16:

-          Cabin Fever (Comedy/Horror)

Day 17:

-          Scream 2 (Horror/Mystery)

Day 18:

-          The Final Girls (Comedy/Horror)

-          Cooties (Action/Comedy/Horror)

Day 19:

-          Vampire Academy (Action/Comedy/Fantasy: WILD CARD ONE)

Day 20:

-          Crimson Peak (Drama/Fantasy/Horror)

-          American Horror Story: Hotel (Episode 1, 69 minutes) (Drama/Horror/Thriller)

Day 21:

-          Back To the Future Part II (Adventure/Comedy/Sci-Fi: WILD CARD TWO)

Day 22:

-          Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (Horror)

Day 23:

-          The Woman (Crime/Drama/Horror) (A film so disturbing I had to watch it in stages, working on a review for this one!)

Day 24:

-          The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror V (Animation/Comedy: WILD CARD THREE)

100 Horror Films Challenge Update #3

There's no way I'm going to complete this challenge but it's fun trying!

Day 10:

- Vanishing on 7th Street (Horror/Mystery/Thriller)

- Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (Comedy/Horror)

Day 11:

- Exeter (Horror/Thriller)

Day 12:

- Bad Milo! (Comedy/Horror)

- Playback (Horror/Thriller)

Day 13:

- The Mirror (Horror)

Day 14:

- Joy Ride 3: Roadkill (Horror/Thriller)

  (Here in the UK I know this film series as Roadkill so this one's Roadkill 3: Roadkill?)

Day 15:

- Scream (Horror/Mystery)

100 Horror Films Challenge Update #2

Well as it always does life got in the way and it's all gone Pete Tong!

I'm still persevering and hoping to have a long marathon tomorrow so here's my update from days four to nine (I'm not including today's update yet in case I watch any more):

Day 4:
- Pernicious (Horror/Thriller)

Day 5:
- The Final Destination (Horror/Thriller)

Day 6:
- Sorority Row (Horror/Mystery)

Day 7:
- My Bloody Valentine (remake) (Horror)

Day 8:
- None, fail!

Day 9:
- American Horror Story: Freakshow episode 1 (Drama/Horror/Thriller)
Catching up on this before the UK gets Hotel and as it's 65 minutes long it counts, yay!

100 Horror Films Challenge Update #1

Three day update on the horror film challenge, it's pretty much on track!

Day 1:

- Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (Horror/Thriller)

- Banshee Chapter (Horror/Thriller)

Day 2:

- Detention (Comedy/Horror/Sci-Fi)

- Housebound (Comedy/Horror/Thriller)

- Drag me to Hell (Horror/Thriller)

Day 3:

- Would You Rather (Horror)

- Pontypool (Horror/Thriller)

Seven films in three days, not too bad. Also, seeing them all in a list like this makes me wonder, why are so many horror films listed as horror/thriller?

100 horror films in October!

Good afternoon readers I hope you've had a horrible day!
It's going to be a short post today to update you with a slight change to my blog for October, a horror fan's favourite month.
As I usually do, I am going to attempt the '100 horror films in October' challenge. I normally fail embarrassingly early but I'm hoping if I've told the internet via this blog then it makes me more accountable and 2015 might finally be the year I do it!
So I will be posting a small update every two or three days of how many films I have watched and then instead of trying to review 100 films in a month, as that would be even harder than watching 100, I will review the highs and the lows of the bunch.
Happy October horror fans!

The Tour Review

The Tour (2014)

IMDb Genre: Short/Horror

Director: Alex Mathieson, Damon Rickard

Writer: Alex Mathieson, Damon Rickard

Starring: Jessica Cameron, Heather Dorff, Tom Gordon

As I’ve previously mentioned on this blog, I’m a big fan of horror shorts. The scares can be just as intense and without all the confines of a studio they can be incredibly creative.

This effort from my very own England is no exception. The plot may be a little familiar but the ending is spectacular and when it’s done well who cares? I think the film really is the whole package so I’ll talk about one element at a time.

First of all the acting and directing. There’s a wealth of talent at play here and the directors pull great performances from their cast. This is particularly important in this short as the tone changes drastically very quickly so believable performances are key to the audience’s enjoyment. As it was the same two men who wrote and directed I would like to think that we’re seeing the film they had in their minds and it’s definitely a success.

In my opinion, the script is the highlight of the film. There is some well-timed comedy at the beginning that hints at what is to come but the smart decision is made to shelve the comedy once the horror kicks in which makes the scares more effective and for a fifteen minute film there are quite a few scares! Without giving too much away, the film builds to a perfect ending that is worth your wait.

There’s a good mix of filming techniques and the locations are stunning so visually the film is very appealing.

The music is all original for the film and matches the tone perfectly, I would love to hear more from the composer.

The film is let down a little by the effects work but you can tell this is just due to budget constraints so when you consider that the team have pulled this short off with a small budget it's completely forgivable and makes you more excited about the prospect of seeing a film made by the same team with a larger budget.

I’m going to keep this review fairly short and leave it there as it’s becoming apparent that it’s very hard to review this short without giving too much away! I highly recommend catching this film once it’s more widely available after it’s finished the festival circuit. I know Damon Rickard has more projects in the pipeline at the moment and I will be eagerly waiting for them and after checking out The Tour, I think you will be too.

General Opinion:

 

Scare Factor: 

The overall tone is eerie more than outright scary but there’s a few great scares.

Gore: 

Injuries are hinted at more than seen.

Clowns: 

The Gallows Review

The Gallows (2015)

IMDb Genre: Horror/Thriller

Director: Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing

Writer: Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing

Starring: Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos

Upon writing this review it’s been a few weeks since I watched the film and the more I think about it the more annoyed I am by it. The reason for this is that I went in with such high expectations and the film just doesn’t match up.

Whoever did the marketing campaign deserves a lot of praise; I’ve seen the phrase ‘so scary it’s hard to watch’ in relation to this film for a while now. The first trailer made it look dark and the acting top-notch, when they leaked the first scene it gave you just enough plot information so you could get excited and the second trailer made it look action-packed and fast-paced. Really none of the things the promotional footage promised were true.

For starters, the film is found footage which I didn’t think was obvious from the trailers and as someone who is getting bored with the trope this disappointed me from the start. Secondly, the film is very slow at the beginning with over half an hour (I actually checked my watch) of teens rehearsing a play and being mean to each other. I know many films start this way but this opening was overly drawn out and gave us no character development so I was watching characters I didn’t care for. I think this had an impact on my enjoyment of the rest of the film as the few deaths there are have been spread out unlike a typical teen slasher as though I’m supposed to feel bad for them.

For the majority the film was tolerable as an average teen slasher but the end ruined what redemptive qualities the film had as it clearly thought it was a clever horror and decided it was above the ‘vengeful ghost picks off teenagers’ plot it had set out up until then. The problem with the ending it presents is that it feels forced and it doesn’t entirely make sense. The ending is something you really need to get right; if people leave the cinema saying ‘I don’t get it, someone needs to explain it to me’ as they did with this it does not leave a good impression.

The film does provide some decent jump scares and there’s some good gore effects work. I also like that, unlike other found footage films, there are a couple of times when the death happens off-camera and the action carries on until a suitable point then we see the death on the secondary camera a little later. This is a new technique for found footage and it’s welcome.

Overall The Gallows is disappointing, maybe good for a laugh but that’s about it.

General Opinion: 

Meh.

Scare Factor:

Some effective jumpy scenes but ultimately nothing that will stay with you.

Gore: 

Not very gory but the gore was probably my favourite part as the effects work was great but it wasn’t over-played.

Clowns: 

There’s the odd teen prank silliness towards the beginning but the characters are too annoying for it to be very funny.