Overlord (2018)

• Directed by: Julius Avery
• Written by:  Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith
• Starring:
  • Jovan Adepo
  • Wyatt Russell
  • Mathilde Ollivier
  • Pilou Asbæk
• Streaming Spots:
  • None! (as of writing, it’s in Theaters)
• Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes
• Synopsis: A little squad of American soldiers find horror behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.

Scary Thoughts

As of right now, I’m writing this on Veteran’s Day 2018. With so many movies out that I wanted to see, the one that I got a pass for was between Bohemian Rhapsody and this. Thankfully, the Mrs. wants to see Bohemian Rhapsody, and I can’t see it without her, so Overlord it was!

Thank goodness for that! 

I wasn’t completely sure what to expect going into this film. I’d seen the extended trailer a few times and thought it looked interesting enough. It had just the right amount of World War II intrigue to pique my interest. 

The film starts off with us meeting our main character, Boyce (Jovan Adepo), flying on a cargo aircraft on a mission to disable a radio tower the night before the Allied landing on Normandy… D-Day. There we meet some of the supporting characters… but we don’t need to care about them for very long.

What happens next is a thrilling, hectic, cinematic rollercoaster ride…

ACTION

If you’ve seen the trailer, you know what happens. The planes are fired upon and kickstart a bloody, explosive scene that makes it CLEAR that this is a World War II flick. Bullets tear through the body of the plane and also through the bodies of Boyce’s fellow paratroopers. It is an incredible scene and is up there with some of my favorites (Dawn of the Dead remake sticks out).

From there, once on the ground, the film slowly shifts into a bit of horror mystery. Boyce meets up with some of his fellow survivors and plan to destroy the radio tower that’s placed on top of a church. But the characters slowly realize that there’s something darker happening in the small town they hole up in (other than the abundance of Nazi’s).  After finding himself inside the church, Boyce starts to piece together the mystery. By the time the film heads into the third act, two separate but important missions begin to form. This second mission, which I won’t spoil, involves a serum that the Nazi’s are testing on the townspeople and the woman who gave the soldiers shelter. 

The conclusion is a perfect mix of war film and action horror. There are two missions happening side by side and it’s both grounded and horrific. 

Characters

The characters are all played really well. Chloe (Mathilde Olliver) is played with strength, even in the times when, in other films, the character would be far more vulnerable. Her character is a survivor. Wyatt Russell, who plays Ford, is the experienced soldier in charge of the small group. He is both the most practical and pragmatic of the team and leads the way when it comes to being the active leader. The main character, Boyce, is the winner among the protagonists. He is initially played as sort of a pacifist but as the film progresses, we find that he’s willing to act when it’s necessary… and not when it’s convenient. He has the lowest kill count of all the soldiers but the ones he does add are worth it. He’s not a pacifist, but he’s definitely not a murderer.

Now, speaking of murderers… there are ALOT of Nazis in this movie. Thankfully, once the climax of the film rolls around, they get their comeuppance. Of course, there’s a head Nazi (played creepily by Pilou Asbæk). We’re introduced to him toward the end of the first act and he’s there till the very end. The character’s interactions with him initially are fairly onesided and it’s not clear that he’s actually a threat. But, by the time the climax hits, we see that he is, indeed, a force to be reckoned with.

Overall, the film is an excellent War Horror movie (Warror film? meh). It has a plot that makes sense, paces itself logically, and characters that we care about. Do I recommend seeing it? Hell yeah. 

Results

• Body Count:  5/5 – NAZIS
• Blood & Gore: 5/5
• Creep Factor: 3/5
• Favorite Kill: Nazi’s… all of them
• Overall: LOVED It!

Social

Have you seen the movie? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts? We’d love to hear from you!

Twitter:

Brandon @Stevetheheb

The post Horror School Reviews – Overlord appeared first on Apathetic Enthusiasm.

Jigsaw (2017)

• Directed by: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
• Written by: Josh Stolberg, Pete Goldfinger
• Starring:
  • Matt Passmore
  • Tobin Bell 
  • Callum Keith Rennie
• Streaming Spots:
  • Amazon (buy)
• Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes
• Synopsis: It’s time for another game… once more Jigsaw is back again with another scheme up his sleeve. There are more games and unbelievable twists that lead to an ending that you’ll never see coming. It’s JIGSAW!

Scary Thoughts

Most of us like playing games, whether they be board, video, or dating. The legacy of the Saw series is partially based on this point. 

“Would you like to play a game?”

Regardless of if the games were fair enough, the answer was always a resounding no. Despite this, the people we’ve seen from Saw (2004) all the way to Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2010) have been forced, through convoluted and logic leaping means at times, to participate in games to force them to learn life lessons or lose their heads. Thankfully, after a 7-year hiatus, Jigsaw doesn’t skimp on the fatal school sessions.

This go-around, the game focuses on five individuals, whose hidden backstories are explored, piecemeal, throughout the film (and oftentimes, conveniently before they are killed). Part of the experience of the Saw films is trying to figure out what kind of mistakes the people made to be chosen by Jigsaw (or one of his many apprentices) and stuck in death rooms. 

Among the players this time is a sleeping guy, a housewife, a random scruffy guy, a mechanic, and a punk-looking woman. Each of their reasons for being in the room ends up making sense; they all deserve to be there. However, without spoiling, there are certain details in a few of the backstories that Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) just couldn’t have known for sure. This certainly leads down the philosophical “reasonable doubt”. Though the film does show Jigsaw regretting a certain player’s fate, the series hasn’t really explored whether the Jigsaw team was ever truly wrong. Regardless, the five people trapped in this game do deserve to be there. Jigsaw’s infallibility reigns on.

Of course, the hour and 32-minute run-time isn’t all death trap action. It also focuses on the investigation into dead bodies showing up, conveniently mirroring the bodies in the game. This portion of the movie follows Logan (Matt Passmore), an autopsy doctor, and his rival, Detective Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie), both of which are trying to get to the bottom of the case. Detective Halloran suspects Logan or Logan’s assistant Eleanor (Hannah Emily Anderson) of being complicit in the murders. 

One of the faults of the series is the actors ratcheting up the anxiety and panic, not just during death trap sequences, but interactions. The film does a decent job of avoiding this pitfall, though there are times that the forced anxiety comes off as a contrived reason to lead to someone’s death or force the viewer to suspect or not suspect a certain character of being in Jigsaw cahoots. 

But what of the death traps? Who watches the Saw franchise for character development or plot? On this point, your mileage may vary depending on what you feel is the pinnacle of the Saw series death contraptions. For instance, if you’re a Saw (2004) fan, and you prefer Escape Room: The Movie, you might not prefer the games. Alternately, if you prefer the gratuitousness of a Public Boyfriend Slicer from Saw 3D (2010), then I think you’re more at home with this film. Of the traps, they all seem feasibly created, planned, and built by an individual/individuals, unlike some of the previous films (how did Hoffman have all that time to basically get an engineering degree?). 

As a note, these films always require a leap of faith when it comes to how certain characters make it to the appropriate trap at the appropriate time; this time is no different.

Camera wise, I want to give credit to the Spierig brothers for taking the camera work a step back. There were several excellent shots throughout the film and they went away from the manic editing that is almost as much of a character of the series as the iconic Jigsaw. The editing during game sequences was still tense, but they were far less frenetic than previous films. 

Finally, in the end, it wouldn’t be a Saw film without a twist! I’ll mention the twist in the spoilers below, but the conclusion was fairly predictable, even if I hadn’t pieced all of the evidence together fully by the time the swelling music began.

If you’re a fan of the Saw series, then you’re not going to be disappointed in this one. It took a few years to come back, and I hope that if it comes back again, they explore different directions with the series. We all have our favorite games, but to keep things fresh, sometimes you have to change the rules a bit. 

Results

• Body Count:  4/5
• Blood & Gore: 5/5
• Creep Factor: 1/5
• Favorite Kill: Dudes with fricken laser beams attached to their heads! 
• Overall: Liked It! 

OooOooOoOoh, it’s SPOILERS time!

Ok, last little bit…

Jigsaw is totally dead, brohs. All the deaths we see are from early Jigsaw days! I mean, that makes sense since he died like 10 years ago in the movie world and it’s a big part of why it’s fairly predictable that one of the main people are followers of the saw.

Also, look, if you’ve ever been a comic fan… always remember, no body-no death.

Social

Have you seen the movie? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts? We’d love to hear from you!

Twitter:

Brandon @Stevetheheb

The post Horror School Reviews – Jigsaw appeared first on Apathetic Enthusiasm.

The Vault (2017)

• Directed by: Dan Bush
• Written by: Dan Bush / Conal Byrne
• Starring:
  • James Franco
  • Scott Haze
  • Taryn Manning
  • Francesca Eastwood
• Streaming Spots:
  • Netflix
• Run time: 91 minutes
• IMDB Synopsis: Two estranged sisters are forced to rob a bank in order to save their brother. But this is no ordinary bank.

Scary Thoughts

To kick off what is going to be, undoubtedly an amazing series of articles, I wanted to start with a movie with James Franco in a supporting role. The movie, of course, is 2017’s The Vault. I didn’t know much coming into it. Leaving it, though, I felt… scared? Happy? 

Don’t let IMDB’s synopsis fool you, The Vault is more than just a simple bank robbery story. Boiled down to it, the film is a ghost story wrapped in a blanket of a bank heist gone wrong. The film starts off with a normal, everyday bank. Folks come in, folks head out. Soon, though, we’re introduced to two women with seemingly different agendas, yet shared knowing looks. While one woman, Vee (Taryn Manning), starts to raise her voice with a bank teller, Leah (Francesca Eastwood) talks to the bank manager about an interview. Soon though, their agendas align and a bank heist ensues. It turns out that the two women are sisters and their brother, Michael (Scott Haze), and two other men dressed as firemen have set a plan in motion.

Unfortunately, just as soon as the robbery begins, the robbers find out that there’s not enough money for whatever undefined problem faces them on the outside. The answer to their problem comes in the form of Ed, an assistant manager (James Franco) who tells them that there’s an old vault with a million dollars. This is where the horror portion of the film comes into play.

The scenes filmed in the bank upstairs are well-lit and free of any ominousness. Once the team of robbers heads into the tunnels downstairs, the scene tones switch to the standard dark, low contrast light. This is where the ghosts start showing up.

G-g-g-ghosts!

Now, on the subject of the ghosts, I’m of two minds about it. One, seeing ghosts and finding out who and what they are throughout the film. Two, being told straight away through the opening credits about who the ghosts are. In The Vault’s case, they roll with number two. The opening credits show us what happened in the bank, over 20 years earlier, where a bank robbery went wrong and a man killed all of his hostages, dragged them into the vault, and burned everyone. When we see the first few ghosts, as one of the robbers is breaking into the safe, we immediately know who the ghosts are. Part of the mystery is finding out why the ghosts are vengeful… and why they kill. They end up being super creepy, with sacks covering their faces, and an occasional peek under the bags.

Who needs a point of view?

The movie kind of flip-flops between whether it wants to follow Leah or her brother Michael. Where Leah is proclaimed to be the “one in charge” and works to placate the police and show strength to the hostages, Michael turns out to be the one with a conscience. The viewer never finds out exactly why they’re robbing the bank, but the underscoring theme is that Michael did something very wrong and a robbery was their only way out. This motivation is put against the backdrop of his “one rule” for the bank robbery (that his crew kept forgetting): don’t hurt the hostages. There’s more than a few portions of dialogue where a hostage tells Michael, knowingly, “this isn’t you, you’re a good person”.

Then, of course, there’s Ed. He spends the entire movie tied up in an office talking to Leah. Throughout the latter half of the film, he tries to get Leah to let the hostages go, or sits in silence. There’s a point in the film where there’s an outgoing phone call, and it’s Ed calling the police to report a robbery. It’s the same voice that alerts a detective (a great Clifton Collins Jr.) to the robbery in the first place. Leah doesn’t do much with this information though; she continues to generally smolder and strong arm hostages.

But Deaths… are there deaths?

Just so we’re clear: there are deaths in this movie. The deaths themselves are fairly straightforward and not entirely memorable. All the deaths are carried out by sack-head hostage ghosts and led by the ghost of the masked robber who killed them. One guy is dragged into the vault by a ghost and drills himself to death. Another guy, a Nazi, is forced to shoot himself in the head. There’s only one other death, and it, unfortunately, isn’t directly ghost-caused. The camera shots for the drill and shotgun scene are standard, full of choppily edited mish-mashes of cuts, designed to cause a sense of disorientation. The shots are not quite Saw level, and definitely, not Resident Evil level, but they’re noticeable.

Conclusion

The ending of the film is nothing spectacular, though the epilogue to the time spent in the bank/vault is done really well. 

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, and I loved the genre-mashing of heist/horror. I would’ve liked the genre-mashing to be more pronounced. The heist portion of the film lasts for that first 20-30 minutes and switches into horror gear fairly exclusively. Both parts of the genre are done competently, although it makes me yearn for a true genre-blend of the two. 

Results

• Body Count: 2/5
• Blood & Gore: 3/5
• Creep Factor: 4/5
• Favorite Death: Nazi’s are pieces of shit, I hate them
• Overall: Liked It!

Do I recommend it? If you have Netflix, an hour and a half to kill, and a yearning for horror, you should definitely check it out!

I do have a few extra thoughts… but that can only mean one thing…

OooOooOoOoh, it’s SPOILERS time!

Here be spoilers!

Maybe it’s all the Twilight Zone’s I’ve watched (see: Submitted for Your Approval: A Twilight Zone Podcast for more!), but I felt the reveal that James Franco’s character was a ghost the entire time was implied immediately. It wasn’t a matter so much of if he was a ghost, but when the other characters would find out he was a ghost. The question I had while I watched was, “why is he a good ghost and the others are bad?”

They thankfully answered that through the history of the ghosts and the revelation of how his character died. The original hostages were forced to murder each other at the behest of the original robber. Therefore, the implication is that the ghosts kill people in the vault, forced by the ghost robber. It’s a cool way of making Franco’s character call the police, spiritually repeating a call from 1982, and have him murdered straight away by the robber. In this way, my question is answered: Franco wasn’t forced to shoot another hostage, so he is free from the ghost robbers influence. His only goal is to save other hostages.

Last thing: Michael’s death was kind of a waste… he didn’t need to die, it was weird… he was a good person so he sacrificed himself for his sisters… you can be a good person and not sacrifice yourself (looking at you Finn!)

Social

Have you seen the movie? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts? We’d love to hear from you!

The post Horror School Reviews – The Vault appeared first on Apathetic Enthusiasm.

Horror School Reviews!

Oh yeah! That’s right, it’s a brand new twice-monthly column where I (Brandon) review some horror/thriller/whatever genre scary-esque movie! 

I plan on bringing you reviews for old classics, new classics, never-to-be classics and everything in between. From Sci-fi horror to slashers, to very loosely-tied to horror thriller flicks, I’ll take a look at the characters, plots, camera work, and straight up gore-factor for each of the films.

Additionally, I’ll toss bits of the ol’ spoilers on the back-end just in case you want to hear extra thoughts that aren’t safe for the main article! 

In the future, I’d love to feature guest-writers, each with their own style and viewpoints, to bring you a cavalcade of creepy content! 

Stay tuned for my first review here on the 1st of October for the first article!

Till then, spook to you soooOooooon! 

Social

If you want to hear more, make sure you follow me on Twitter @stevetheheb or @Apathusiast!

The post Horror School Reviews – New Article Series! appeared first on Apathetic Enthusiasm.