Review: Devil

Devil is the latest thriller put out by M. Night Shyamalan.  I think if you go into this film not knowing that, it might actually help the experience.  This is one of the new horror films that have come out and I decided to give it a whirl.  

The story is about a random group of strangers who find themselves trapped in an elevator.

Overall, I enjoyed this film.  I did not at all think of this as an 'M.Night' film while watching and that lack of expectation helped me enjoy this film more.  There wasn't anything astounding or ground breaking here. The pacing of the film though was great.  It kept things going and there were plenty of moments of intrigue as well as confusion (in a good way) and panic.  I think this movie is better then the majority of the horror films that come out.  Still, this is one we'll all forget soon enough.  The cast of characters was typical as it started out. But in time we learned more and more of our strangers.  Despite such a small cast set in a such confined space, you really didn't get to know many of them that well.  You just learn enough that satisfies the plot.  In this film, though thats no big loss. The plot is what takes center stage, not the characters.  For a cheap thrill, I'd say this film would do the job. 

Review: Party Down Season 2

I had watched the previous season and I found it up my alley.  A friend of mine suggested watching it, due to the humor and the slew of familiar actors and actresses in it.  After loving the first season, it was only natural that I would check out the second season.

The 2nd season starts off with Henry in his new role of team leader for the Party Down crew.  After losing Casey from the previous season, he was trying his best to move on into something stable.  From there, we see things unfold in some hilarious ways.

I have to say I really enjoyed this season.  The guests stars were great, many of them appearing before they'd become household names/faces.  The center stage though was about Henry and Casey working through their feelings and new situation of not dating.  The range of comedy displayed I think is pretty diverse, mainly because the crew members each have their own comedy stylings going on.  Overall, I'd say its more on the dry side, but things get pretty crazy and raunchy too.  There is lots of swearing and a fair amount of nudity, both of which I always enjoy.  Overall I give it 4.5 stars.  The nice things is both seasons are instant stream right now and are only 10 episodes long.  So it's a nice quick fix of laughs.  This is one show though where more episodes would definitely would have been nice.  And overall, its's a happy ending for everyone.

Review: The Skull Man

This was a recommendation to me by Hulu.  With the name "The Skull Man", how could I say no?

This 13-episode subbed anime is about a small remote town and a conspiracy it hides within itself.  A conspiracy related to murder and monsters.

First of all, this series has one of the absolute worst opening theme songs I've ever heard.  I seriously was turned off just by hearing it.  The series itself was not exactly what I was expecting.  I was expecting something full of action and blood.  The blood was there, but not as much as expected.  This series was more of suspense then horror or action.  This was also an anime where I was able to figure out alot of the mysteries before they were revealed to the audience.  I contribute this to the fact I was trying extra to figure the plot out.  I didn't allow the series to get me there.  Also, the explaination (or lack of) for the demons and the Skull Man were not clear at all.  For a series whose sights were pointed at answering this question, it fell completely short.  Maybe if the series was longer it could have pursued more topics properly but that just didn't happen.  Overall, I don't recommend this anime.  I pushed thru hoping the end would justify the series.  And while the action and blood did escalate, it wasn't enough to make up for an ultimately disappointing series.  

Review: High School of the Dead (anime)

I saw this anime was available on  Hulu.  It had tons of zombies and cute girls whose clothes seemed to not stay on for long.  So I was down.

Plot:  The Zombie apocalypse begins during a typical school day.  The series follows various students and faculty as the eventually form their own hodge podge group of survivors.  

I was interested in watching this because I love zombies.  And strangely enough, zombies have not been explored in the relm of an anime series.  At least, not to my knowledge.  ALso, it was only 12 episodes long so that made it all the more enticing to pursue.  Overall I liked it.  There was a lot of fan service that didn't ever really let up.  Many series that take such a route lay it on in the beginning but lay up over time.  Not this one.  The plot was overall interesting and I liked the various situations that the group found themselves in.  In general, I think zombie stories need to go into a series format.  The film format just isn't big enough to convey the real struggle of surviving in the world of zombies.  It is a constant endless struggle and that gets lost in films.  You can never let you guard down in such a desperate world.    The details of how zombies function in this world was also unique and thus how they dealt with and avoided them was different from the norm.  Which helped in keeping things fresh.  My one recommendation is to watch it via torrent download.  I noticed the Hulu episodes had some slight censoring.  

Review: Machete

For anyone who saw the Grindhouse double feature, Machete was the one fake trailer we all wished were real.  Well, the powers that be heard, and made it happen.  I was really looking forward to this film just because of the over-the-top fun I thought it would be and it did not disappoint.

The film is about Machete, a former mexican Federale, which I suppose is like being a Mexican FBI agent.  After his family was killed by a criminal drug lord, he came to the US to start over.  Given an opportunity to make more money then he ever thought possible in his new life, Machete quickly finds himself being forced to defend his life as well as those around him.

This movie looks cheesy and over-the-top.  And it completely is, in a very fun way.  As long as you aren't expecting art house genius or cutting edge special effects this movie will not disappoint.  There were plenty of gruesome death scenes.  Part of the fun was seeing all the ways Machete could kill a man.  I have to admit the plot was very complex and never stopped or felt slow or forced.  That was great.  The story kept up with the action, which frankly, is a rarity.  Overall, really good film.  I give it 4 stars.