Blu-ray Review:The Evil Dead 2:Dead by Dawn

DEAD BY DAWN,DEAD BY DAWN,GIMME BACK MY HAND!If any old or young horror fan hasn't seen this movie somehow,which I'd find hard to believe,go buy this right now.Its essential viewing for any horro movie fan

The Story

Starts out a lot like the first one,legal woes forced Raimi to reshoot it and he couldn't afford all the actors as well . Ash of course takes his girlfriend to a secluded Cabin in the woods only to discover a professors tape of incantations that unleashes a slew of demons that possess Linda and force him to kill her and eventually possess him and his hand.Soon after the professors daughter(Annie) and 3 companions return to the cabin and see just how over the top things have gotten.This film is a perfect mix of creepy moments and genuinely funny moments. Ash's possessed hand beating himself up is one of the best parts of the film,and Bruce Campbell pulled it off perfectly. One of the creepier parts is the deadite in the cellar and the quick transformation of Annie's one companion into a deadite. Evil ash is also a hoot to watch and the "laughing room" scene is one to remember. I have a hard time picking but I actually enjoyed this one more than The Evil Dead,sure its a bit more campy but I find myself having had more fun watching this.

The Picture

The Picture looks damn good for a very dated movie. The detail in certain scenes especially the bridge scene in the beginning is quite impressive.I was able to notice little things in the background that I couldn't on the regular dvd.There is some grain in some of the darker parts of the film but not enough to deter me from recommending this one.

Extras

-audio commentary with Raimi,Campbell,Spiegal and Nicotero

very fun to listen to them

fast fim facts

-evil dead II:behind the scenes featurette

nothing special

-the gore the merrier

good luck at the special makeup effects

Overall

Like I said earlier the movie itself is a must have for any horror fan and I definitely would recommend this blu-ray to anyone who has started a new collection with blu-rays,I still have my regular evil dead 2 dvd but when it comes time to watch it I don't hesitate and I pop in the Blu-ray

Movie 9/10

Blu-ray 8/10

Blu-ray Review:My Bloody Valentine 3D

I already reviewed My Bloody Valentine previously and now it comes to blu-ray and in 3d as well as the regular 2d version.
Story
A quick recap of the story.A small mining community suffers a bad accident in the mine that see's several miners trapped underneath,the main person being Harry Warden. We find out he actually killed other miners so he could have more air.He is rescued and put into the hospital where they think he is in a coma.He awakens and murders many in the hospital in quite a vicious fashion and in doing so leaves human hearts behind.He returns to the mine to get revenge.He slaughters a bunch of teenagers before being shot down.The Lone surivors are Tom Hanniger(Jensen Ackles) who was actually to blame for the freak mining accident but disappears soon after,Axl Palmer(Kerr Smith) and Sarah(Jaime King) who at the time was Tom's sweetheart.
Fast forward 10 yrs,Axl has become the sheriff and has married Sarah,and Tom finally re-appears to sell the mine which was owned by his father who had passed away.But of course when he returns someone has decided to start pick-axing people and cutting hearts and placing them in Valentines day boxes.Is it Harry Warden back from the dead or is is Tom or even Axl?This film does a good job of staying true to the original but also adding some new twists which even caught me off guard.
The Blu-ray(3d)
Looks quite impressive and definitely the best on dvd or blu-ray that I have seen thus far.Replacing the blue/red glasses with new blue/green ones may have done the trick.(yes these come with the blu-ray and decked with advertisements).The opening scene where we see newspaper articles looks quite impressive in 3d including one part where it really feels as if you are going through a tunnel.

Some other cool images in 3d are when a pick ax is thrown at the car,when an eyeball is popped out and when a gun is pointed at us through the screen.

Watching it in 3d almost feels like a different movie than the 2d regualr version.

It wasn't as good as the realD theatre version but I had a blast watching it on 3d on my 42" lcd.Everyone should really view this on blu-ray and in 3d for the closest form to the theatre version.

Movie 8/10 hearts

Blu-ray 9/10 hearts

blu-ray releases tommorow

Include Eden Log which I've heard is good along with My Bloody Valentine 3d which I plan on picking up and Valkyrie which I'm curious about.

Quick Review:Martyrs

All I can say about this flick is that I have never seen anything like it.It is nothing like I expected it to be and that is definitely a good thing.Directed and written by Pascal Laugier,it follows a slew of other foreign french films including High Tension and Inside.

I don't want to give away too much so I will just sum it up with a brief outline.It follows Lucie's quest for revenge after she was captured and tortured as a kid.She is joined by another child that she befriended after the whole ordeal.

I have to say I thought I knew where this film was going but the last 45 minutes or so completely blew me out of the water.I don't know whats going on in France but they have some sick and twisted minds to make a film like this.There is just so much violence its surreal.Its straight forward horror also,nothing funny at all about this flick,not even one joke.There is torture,self mutilation,abuse,muder,skinning,vomitting and creepy visions including some really insane looking creatures.Some of these are very hard to watch especially with the way its done in this film.The beating in particular is quite relentless,brutal and disturbing to even watch.Its is not an easy film to watch and I would only reccommend it to those with a tough stomach and tough mindset.I can not recall any movie I have seen over the last five yrs or so that disturbed me like this.The whole last 25 minutes is downright emotionally draining to watch.It shocks you and makes you question things about humanity.And like I said earlier what is going on in France and what is going in in Pascal Laugiers mind to think of something like this.I also have to say its not really a movie you can watch over and over again unless you are one sick pup.It is not an enjoyable experience which is im sure what Laugier wanted to accomplish with this.

Anna(played by Morjana Alaoui) and Lucie(played by Mylène Jampanoï) ,the 2 main girls in this film both give great performances.You feel anger,remorse,compassion and a whole bunch of other feelings towards them.Both deserve a lot of creidt for such believeable performances.

At some point I think every horror fan should watch this just to sort of get their own retrospect on what everyone is going gaga about.I gurantee none of them were expecting what this flim ended up delivering.

Martyrs

The latest international horror sensation is hitting dvd tommorow.I have heard nothing but good things about it,I plan on picking it up,I just hope all this praise doesn't pump it up too much.The last one I heard 103949439 good things about was Inside and while I liked it I certainly didn't think it was that great or even worth a third viewing.So im hoping to be surprised,I'e heard its ridiculously violent and unnerving.

H2 Trailer

http://www.screenhead.com/reviews/h2-trailer/

I'm actually liking the look of it thus far though its a very small sampling.I enjoyed zombies re-make to a degree but have a feeling this will much better.

Quick Review:Laid to Rest

A rather obscure staright to dvd movie that I had never heard of.After reading the description on the dvd case I decided to give it a shot.plus for 9.99 you can't really go to wrong.Worst case is that in goes into your never-watch again DVD pile.I kept my expectations low so I wouldn't be dissappointed.
The basic premise is a girl who forgets who she is or where she comes from wakes up inside a casket,only to escape andfind out she is really chased a by a killer known as Chrome-Skull who guess what.....wears a chrome skull mask.

Now where this film really stands out is the gore and violence.It was definitely the best part by far of this film.Victims range from being gutted from chest to stomach,to your face being ripped in half,to your intestines start to fall out,to having a knife plunged into your jaw,and to your neck being slashed and head eventual decapitated and thrown.It was clear this film was meant to be a throwback to the 80s styles slashers with this and the fact that there sin't much of a story
We never really find out why chrome-skull is doing this and what his motives are,if he has any,but in a way I guess that works cause I find it better when we don't know the motives of killers.
Chrome-Skull is definitely a cool masked villain.He is violent,fast and menacing.Credit to Nick Principe for adding to the character by actual being somewhat human and not some hulking giant presence who is unable of being hurt.Another nifty aspect besides the mask is that he wears a camera on his shoulder to videotape his victims.
The only complaints I really have are that the characters make some horrible decisions and there is some real questionable dialogue,some of it downright laughable.Who today relies on a computer to contact the police.What decade are we in?
All in al though I definitely enjoyed it for what it was.
Directed and written by Robert Hall and has cameos by Lena Headey and Kevin Gage as well as Sean Whalen.