Plot
"A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a Christmas demon to his family home".
My Thoughts
When you watch as many movies as I do a year, every once in a while a movie comes along that totally surprises you and is completely different than what you thought it was going to be about. Going into this Movie, I was pretty sure that it was going to be a watered down PG-13 horror film that follows most of the stigmas of PG-13 horror films (blood splatters on the walls, no actual gore/violence shown on screen). I can say that after watching the film that it was nothing like what I thought it was going to be like. First off I have to say that I should have known better, I say this because the director of this film (Michael Dougherty) directed one of my favorite horror films of the last couple of years "Trick 'r Treat" knowing how excellent that film was I should have suspected this film would be of the same caliber. What really made this movie for me was the atmosphere, once Krampus arrived on the scene (about 35 minutes in) that is where the film really picks up. the atmosphere of the film from that point on is a snowy, dark,cold somewhat menacing place, the entire town surrounding the cast of characters we are introduced is deserted and it really lent to the whole feeling of the film, I have to give kudos to the set design team they did a great job in that aspect as the setting for this film was excellent. the cast for this film was basically made up of unknowns (bar Adam Scott and Toni Collette) but that is not a bad thing in any way, the cast as a whole did a very good job as a family meeting up for the holidays who is thrust into this situation, what really surprised me with this film was the comedy aspect of it, from the get-go the film starts with Christmas shopping gone bad (felt like a satirical look at Black Friday) and from then on the film never took itself to serious and there was always the occasional joke here and there to diffuse any tension the film built up along the way, which I enjoyed. The design of Krampus and his minions was excellent as well, I didn't expect to see what I saw on the screen and was caught off guard by the designs of everything in the film. The film didn't do everything right though, I felt the ending for me was very open ended and could have been a little more direct in what it was trying to convey to the audience, and this was disappointing for me, the ending if not done correctly can ruin a film that has done everything right to that point. The film did fall into some of the PG-13 pitfalls, there are some scenes that I felt some violence/Gore could have been shown but instead the audience only gets to either hear some things happening or get a far away shot of something happening, which was sad to see as it took away from scenes that could have been much better. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 66% saying "Krampus is gory good fun for fans of non-traditional holiday horror with a fondness for Joe Dante's B- movie classics, even if it doesn't have quite the savage bite its concept calls for". I agree overall with this, as I mentioned earlier if this film was rated R those scenes that I felt where held back could have really been done much better and added to the film. Overall this was a solid film that surprised me in a few ways but didn't in other, throw in a weak ending in my opinion and this potentially very good film, left me feeling that it was decent instead.
Rating
Decent Film, had potential to be very good but a weak ending and a PG-13 rating hold it back. 7.0/10!!!
The next film up for review is "Point Break" Starring Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey and Ray Winstone.
Plot
"A young FBI agent infiltrates an extraordinary team of extreme sports athletes he suspects of masterminding a string of unprecedented, sophisticated corporate heists. "Point Break" is inspired by the classic 1991 hit".
My Thought's
I waffled on whether or not to see this film all year, up to the day I saw this film I still wasn't sure if I wanted to see it, I decided that I had nothing better to do and figured this would kill some time and hopefully keep me entertained, after seeing the film I wished I could have the $8.50 and the 1 hour and 53 minutes of my life I cannot get back, this was honestly one of the worst films I have seen this year and it may end up being the worst film I have seen this year when I release my winner/losers for the year. honestly the only quality of this movie that I enjoyed where the extreme sports scenes they were well done and had an epic feel to them, other than that the film was terrible, the acting was sub par by the entire cast, the plot was non engaging and I actually caught myself falling asleep while viewing this movie. I don't really want to talk about this film anymore it is not worth seeing in any circumstances, I know people who may have been fans of the original 1991 film and may want to see this to compare/contrast the two films, I would strongly suggest to not do that, this film is all around terrible and save your time and money and see something else. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 4% and no one has given an official review on the site (I doubt they ever will). there is nothing else to say other than this film was a terrible cash grab by some studio exec to try and rope in viewers who have good memories of the original film, I say this should have been left in 1991 and not remade.
Rating
Terrible film all around bad other than the extreme sports scenes skip it never watch!! 4.5/10!!!
The Last movie to review for the year is "The HatefuL Eight" Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Plot
"In the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters.
My Thoughts
I am a pretty Big Tarantino fan and was looking forward to seeing this film, now having seen it I can say it was classic Tarantino and it was very well done, this will go down as one of my favorite films from 2015. starting with the cast which was well assembled, all of the cast worked especially well together but the two that stood out for me were Samuel L. Jackson (Major Marquis Warren) and Walton Goggins (Chris Mannix) the two of the stole the show whenever their characters were on screen and the interplay between the two was excellent I have to say Samuel L. Jackson was the overall star of this film he was hilarious and some of the imagery that is used in the film to depict some of the situations that his character explains throughout the film was brilliant., the rest of the cast was fantastic as well I also enjoyed Jennifer Jason Leigh in her portrayal of the character Daisy Domergue, she really nailed the part and she had some very snappy lines that caused me to chuckle more than a few times, I was also very happy to see Tim Roth in this film, he is excellent in most of the films I have seen him in and he was no different in this film, really underrated actor in my opinion. The setting of this film is a few years after the civil war and with how the film played out it was a excellent choice, the wardrobes of all of the characters felt really authentic and I applaud the crew who worked on the outfits. What really made this feel like a classic Tarentino film was the over the top dialogue and violence, this film was bloody good fun and I emphasize the word "Bloody" this film did not hold back at all and I loved it, this was probably the most bloody Tarantino film I have seen since Kill Bill vol.1. The movie flowed very well which was crucial considering this film is 2 hours and 47 minutes a film that long can get boring real quick if it does a bad job of keeping the viewer engaged, that was not the case with this film the plot was very well done and I was engaged throughout the entire duration of the film.there was not much I found wrong with this film, before I watched the movie the length of it was a concern , But as I mentioned earlier that was not a problem at all, some problems I could see for general viewers would be the Violence in the film there is a lot of blood and gore, if you are someone who does not like to see a lot of that kind of stuff I would suggest not viewing this film, another issue I could see for some viewers would be the language used being that this film is set in the 19th century there is a lot of racial slurs used that may rub some people the wrong way, again if this is something that may bother you I suggest skipping this movie. My only real gripe with this movie which honestly is minor would be the a certain actor making a special appearance as the brother to Jennifer Jason Leigh's character, this is nothing against the movie itself, I just dislike the actor who played the role. Overall this was a very good movie and was classic Tarantino through and through from the way the movie was setup as chapters to the violence,language and crudeness of it. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 76% saying " The Hateful Eight offers another well-aimed round from Quentin Tarantino's signature blend of action, humor, and over-the-top violence -- all while demonstrating an even stronger grip on his filmmaking craft". I agree with everythign besides the score I would rate the film higher than that.
Rating
Very good Film, Classic Tarantino Recommend to fans of his movies or someone who doesn't mind an almost 3 hour film full of Violence,Foul language and twists. 8.5/10!!!!
