Busy B

I read a review on this movie, prior to watching, and thought "that's an exaggeration ". The review said, it felt like you'd just watched the opening scene and an abrupt end. Turns out, that's correct. The movie starts- well actually most of the movie until the last maybe 25 minutes- with prolonged, repetitive dialog. It's primarily subtle flirtation, mixed with the guy's painfully awkward, verbal diarrhea. When the movie finally gets to the point, the gore and creepiness is pretty good. And the it's over. The ending would've made a strong beginning or midpoint even, featuring a grotesque murder scene of a random character who is not intended to be a main character. Please don't waste your time on this movie. There's no complexity to the storyline at all. It's boring right up to the very ending. Exhausting.

*sigh*.... where do I begin? Rest Stop is a movie from 2006, that had the potential to be a really great horror/ slasher film. At least, that's the impression I got from the trailer. Realizing that with films like Texas chainsaw massacre(the newer one not the original), this film had big shoes to fill. Sadly, it falls quite short. It opens up with a terrifying scene playing out in a dilapidated rest stop bathroom. A young woman, using the toilet, then a creepy man standing outside her stall looking in through the crack at her and then also sniffing through the crack of the door, as she attempts to get him to leave her alone. He pretends to leave and sneak attacks her as soon as she ventures out of the stall. It's scary, but predictable. The movie then continues with a generally boring principle; young woman still living at home, in a nice house, privileged upbringing, decides she's "running away" from her Texas home, headed to LA, with her jerky meathead boyfriend. Somewhere along the way, they're being stalked, unbeknownst to them, by the same creepy guy from the beginning of the movie. Eventually they have a near accident with said creep, where meathead boyfriend hops out of the car making empty threats, and creepy guy drives off. They end up at the rest stop.... and this is where a movie with potential, flushes all that potential right down the toilet. The main character makes several confusing and foolish decisions that make no sense. The movie frequently alludes to the fact that she's seeing things that aren't there, even having entire conversations and drawn out scenes of apparent hallucinations, but at the same time that real things are actually happening. However there's never any explaining as to why she's hallucinating, which parts are real, etc. The protagonist also has several opportunities to kidnap or kill her but doesn't until the end of the movie when she inexplicably puts herself in his path on purpose so she can exact revenge. All in all this movie was a total disappointment and not worth having a part 2. If the story line didn't kill it, the terrible acting sure did!

What an intense movie! Gore meets horror, which is rare since it's usually one or the other. I found The Collector to be extremely intense, edge of my seat even, anticipating and rooting for escape of anyone who can manage not to be killed and mutilated. There were so many twists and people I thought would make it, instead met a gruesome ending. In the beginning though, I found some of the storyline to be a little confusing, and almost an afterthought. For instance, his wife, girlfriend, hard to say.... owes money to someone. Eventually we find out she owes a loan shark. Doesn't seem to add up though, no explanation as to why she owes a loan shark. So that becomes the reason why the main character, ultimately ends up inside of a house where the entire family is being tortured and possibly killed. He's there to rob a home he's been casing for months apparently, so that he can pay off his girlfriend's debt to some bad people. He's got a history/ skill of home burglary apparently. The confusion, aside from this debt he's paying, is with the booby traps in the house, if the residents are already captured, lured by a mysterious box, and being killed, then why all the traps? And boy does the killer work fast at laying these elaborate, home alone level traps. I assumed the traps were for the guy breaking in, once his presence became known. But that goes back to the original plot- he was intending on burglarizing a home where the owners were supposed to be gone on vacation. Yet the killer manages to get in the home, installs a bunch of locks on one door of the house and captures these people to torture. Just kind of an incoherent story again. If you can get past the not very well thought out story lines though, this movie has it all, in terms of horror films. It's intense to the very end, even if the ending is somewhat the predictable horror film ending which alludes to a sequel. Great movie for horror fans!

By far, one of my all time favorite movies, horror or otherwise. This version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, combines slasher film and suspense with a storyline that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's sheer adrenaline from about 10 minutes in, until the end. It goes to some of the darkest places a horror film can go, so it's not for those with weak stomachs. As for the characters, I found myself torn over actually liking some of the antagonists just as much as the protagonists and for just a moment feeling a little sad for Tommy. Crazy, I know. I even loved the ending. I often find myself feeling vexed and unfulfilled at the ending of horror films, as the endings tend to be predictable and happy(yuck). This movie's ending was anything but. In fact, the ending felt like a satisfying victory, for both sides really... again, the character development had me split down the middle, no pun intended. Excellent film, gore and all!

I try to keep in mind that this movie was made in 2005. That said, here are my thoughts: I appreciate the camera work of 2005 that was not shaky and nauseating like a person filming with a cell phone. Nice cast of actors. Some excellent jump scares, and although this film invokes some of the more typical horror film "seen one, seen em' all" predictable moments, Ryan Reynolds does a good job making it at least not so boring. In fact, it's fair to say his acting saves this movie. He really plays the role of terrifying and possessed on a level I can only compare to Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Comparing this to other "Amityville horror " movies, this far surpasses the rest. Yes, you'll have to be ok with the fact that this film, like others based on true events, features embellishments and historical inaccuracies. But if you can put that aside, it's a 3/5.