On DVD and BLU RAY...
"Byzantium" - This modern day Dramatic tale of a Mother/Daughter duo of 200 year-old bloodsuckers living in a fledgling hotel on the English coastline may prove worthwhile for those in need of a decent vampire flick fix. The film is skillfully shot while Gemma Arterton (Tamara Drewe) and Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) put in solid work as the aforementioned tandem.
There's only a couple of super-bloody sequences and most of the vampire rules we've come to expect are bypassed, though Director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Mona Lisa, Interview With The Vampire, The Brave One) does a commendable job working around a relatively small budget- there's little CGI to speak of and it's a HELLUVA lot smarter and more entertaining than any of that mega-budgeted, sparkly tween Twilight garbage.
7.0 out of 10
Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Caleb Landry Jones, Daniel Mays, Sam Riley, Uri Gavriel, Johnny Lee Miller and Tom Hollander
Running Time: 118 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for bloody violence, sexual content and language
"Evil Dead" (2013) - This remake/reboot of Sam Raimi's 1981 cult classic "The Evil Dead" features an exponentially larger budget (17 times the original's, inflation adjusted), over 70,000 gallons of fake blood, surprisingly deft Direction and editing, excellently creepy cinematography and a wealth of outstanding practical makeup/gore effects- all the more disappointing that it fails to deliver one character you truly care about amongst it's principal players.
A three second tack-on at the end of the film's post-credits features a cameo which serves as an all-too familiar reminder of just exactly what this film was missing. Keep a lookout for everyone's favorite 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88... oh, and cat lovers may want to steer clear...
6.0 out of 10
Director: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas and Elizabeth Blackmore
Running Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language
FWIW-
The Evil Dead (1981) - 7.5
Evil Dead II (1987) - 8.5
Army Of Darkness - 8.0
"Mama" - Although Jessica Chastain is very good as the adoptive Aunt of two little girls rescued from living in the forest alone (or maybe not) for five years, every other adult character in the film is brain dead while massive leaps in logic, a few ridiculous scenes of absurd happenstance and some wholly unnecessary CGI involving the creepy, crawly, twitchy contortionist spirit (enough with this tired shit, already) wreaking so much havoc throughout this flick consistently work to undermine it.
It's based upon a short film of less than 3 minutes that's been stretched out and watered down into a 100 minute feature length run-time - the vast majority of which is cliched to a fault and just plain dumb. Guillermo Del Toro (acting as Producer here) would be wise to be a little bit more selective on the films he's endorsing...
5.0 out of 10
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelise and Daniel Kash
Running Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for violence and terror, some disturbing images and thematic elements
Maniac (2013) -Weird, effectively atmospheric and with a handful of gruesome, bloody kills, this remake of Director William Lustig's cult 1980 film of the same title isn't so bad if a potential viewer can accept the shot-from-the-killer's POV gimmick. Elijah Wood is super-creepy as the scalp happy psycho with mommy issues who's obsessed with mannequins.
Most of this actually works fairly well and the electronica soundtrack by Rob is pretty damned cool, though I felt it's grim material and extremely graphic approach bordered on poor taste (much like the original) and may not have much replay value even for the vast majority of those interested.
6.5 out of 10
Director: Franck Khalfoun
Starring: Elijah Wood, Nora Arnezeder, Megan Duffy, Genevieve Alexander and Jan Broberg
Running Time: 89 minutes
MPAA Rating: Untrated- the equivalent of an NC-17 for graphic violence, language, nudity and gore
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