London Boulevard (2010)

Director: William Monahan
Notable Cast: Colin Ferrell, Keria Knightley, Ray Winstone

It's odd because if you asked me my opinion about Colin Ferrell even five years ago I would have mumbled something about a no talent hack who sucks in "Daredevil". If you ask me about Colin Ferrell today - I love the guy. Quirky, does random movies, and generally loves to be in genre flicks. "In Bruges" is one of my favorite comedies of all time and his penchant for genres I love makes him a regular in my movie watching queue. "London Boulevard" looked to only add to the reputation for the actor. Looked, mind you. Turns out that Monahan's directorial debut is something of a confused picture. It delivers intriguing characters that fail to intrigue and a plot whose leaping structure flows horribly. Definitely not the kind of film one would hope for from the talent involved.

Mitchell (Ferrell) is free from prison. After doing a three year stint for some questionabe activity as a criminal, he is out and looking to right himself in life. Of course the usual suspects show up trying to get him back into the game, but he's determined to make it as an addition to regular society. This is why he takes up a position as handyman/body guard for a recluse actress (Knightley). It doesn't take long for the mob he used to work for to make their way back into his life and push him to new levels. Now Mitchell has to make a decision to end all of the pressure for good, but will it compromise his new life?

The romantic plot is momentarily derailed by the use of a sweat suit.

For those not familiar with Monahan, he's mostly a screen writer having written the screenplays for "The Departed", "Edge Of Darkness", and "Kingdom Of Heaven". That's a hell of a resume. This partnered with the quirkiness of Ferrell and Knightley made for a very tempting film in the form of "London Boulevard". Yet despite all of the talent mentioned above, the film fails to connect with its audience at any level. Both of our leads - and a stunningly well cast secondary - own their respective roles with subtle acuteness to detail and plenty of silent moments for them to strut their stuff. Even Monahan does an admirable job giving us some very artistic moments in the script and in his directing to add some nice depth to a rather basic plot. This film if filled to the brim with great elements.

No guns about it, Colin Ferrell can be pretty badass in film.

The reason why "London Boulevard" was such a massive disappointment breaks down to its inability to navigate these great elements. It never comes together. It's like having a million dollar vase that's broken beyond repair. Yeah, when put together it would be fucking awesome. It's just broken and doesn't fit together. The film is choppy as hell as it seemingly throws together random scenes to try to form a narrative and half the time I felt as though I was missing quite a bit of information to truly connect with Mitchell and his plight. His crime story leaves me apathetic. The romantic subplot leaves me apathetic. It doesn't flow and it loves to meander through moments that seem useless in the overall spectrum of the story.

Bless their heart for giving this film their all, but Monahan wrote a miss when he adapted this story to film. Each element, on it's own, is relatively impressive - but when I sat down to write this review and thinking back on "London Boulevard", it left me with no overall emotions good or bad. It was a 'meh' film experience and with the talent involved in this film, it's a massive disappointment.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Triple Tap (2010)

Cop dramas can be a rather boring genre. They're a dime a dozen in the industry and television has practically destroyed them from being original in most ways. Luckily, Blood Brothers has a distinct distaste for TV with their convoluted programing and thusly films like "Triple Tap" still work. Hardly a film to redefine the police centered action/drama, the stylistic and engaging "Triple Tap" is a nerve wrecking film. Don't be deceived by its almost John Woo inspired synopsis below though, its more detective drama than action.

After a grueling duel at the gun range to take the top spot as best sharp shooter, Officer Jerry Chong (Wu) and investor Ken Kwan (Koo) become quick competitors. Their respect for each other's skills though creates a competitive friendship. This makes it tough when Ken stumbles across an armored car robbery in progress and takes matters into his own hands by gunning down the murdering thieves. Now Jerry's instinct tells him there is far more to Ken and this situation then what's on display...but will their history interfere with the spectacular game of cat and mouse that will ensue?

Intensity. The final ingredient to any self respecting gun slinger.

My expectations for "Triple Tap" were shattered both in good and bad ways by the time the credits rolled. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph this film very much looks and was promoted as an action film, but really is not. Although it kicks off with an intense gun competition and a shoot out on a freeway, beyond that it focuses more on the detective work and the characters only teasing us with some more intense moments later on. Initially, the film very much takes on a gun-fu John Woo feeling for its first act - punctuating itself with stylistic gun play and artistic visuals courtesy of director Derek Yee (you know that guy that gave us the awesome "Shinjuku Incident"?). After that though, its all dialogue and drama, so don't go into it expecting more gun-fu.

"Holy crap! That gun is a light saber!"

Although the lacking action set pieces might underwhelm beyond its first act (even the finale is all about tension and suspense rather than bullets), the film does succeed up and above on its character development and execution for its detective portion. Both Koo and Wu give stellar performances in the film - they worked together on "Protege" too - that warrant the time they eat up on screen with vigor. The twist is not as hidden as one would think despite some valiant efforts to keep one guessing, but the fact that both of our leads make us care about their situations elevates it above this flaw. It ends on a rather odd note though negating some of the realism that was balanced earlier, but "Triple Tap" certainly accomplishes it's goals.

Koo threatened us that we had to post his picture since we posted Wu's. We take him seriously here.

"Triple Tap" might not be the most original film about police and crime dramas, but the film takes some chancy maneuvers with its focuses and delivers impactful results destined to make this a sleeper critical success. It has a stunning cast and a truly inspired director and these things allow the film to leap its faulty script in many instances. Not quite what I expected from this highly toted film, but "Triple Tap" is surprisingly effective in how it goes about itself.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Duel Of The Century, The (1981)

My preferences within the Shaw Brothers domain had always settled on great kung fu hand to hand combat with lots of ridiculous characters and set ups (i.e. Chang Cheh and Kar Lau Leung). The truth of the matter remains that most of the best Shaw Brothers martial arts films rest in the sword epics. Thusly when the opportunity came to review the highly toted "The Duel Of The Century", you're damn right Blood Brothers was there to take it. Although the film can be a mixed bag of elements and execution, it remains a charming and thoughtful film that grabs its viewer.

When a duel between two of the greatest swordsmen in the land is announced, Lu Xiaofeng (Tony Liu) finds the whole thing odd and out of character for the two great celebrities. His friendship with both leads him to delve into why the duel was called to begin with and the purposes of such a public fiasco. His detective work uncovers a larger conspiracy within that may topple the entire country and only he can stop it before it's too late.

"Miss, I think you tightened my pony tail too much."

For the first half hour of "The Duel Of The Century" I was completely clueless. It slams you with a slew of characters and events in rapid succession and constantly I felt as if I was missing something very important. Turns out this film is actually a sequel to "Clan Of Amazons" where I assume they give more explanation to characters involved in this film. "Clan Of Amazons" is not available in the US so don't bother. Just take the brushed over characters with some salt and do like we did, move on and go for the throat of the plot.

 I wonder how many times they had to relight these candles while filming the fight sequence...

The plot is where "Duel" really picks up. The characters are often cheesy, over painted with vague details (even our hero doesn't have a real motive to dig into why the duel is happening at first...perhaps he's bored?), and fantastical in certain ways like our hero has the ability to grab the sharpest blade with his bare hand for example. Thusly, the film has to win us over with its plot, which it does quite ably. The detective elements almost give the film a Sherlock Holmes like style where he travels from person to person asking questions (often getting into ridiculous amounts of assassination attempts and fights) and the viewer has to put together all the pieces of the puzzle with him. This makes the film very intriguing as we begin to watch it all unfold in front of us. The plot and how it all works is definitely the highlight of the film.

Beyond its clever onion-like peeling of clues, the film also works its charm. Like many Shaw films from the 80s it likes to blend genres a bit too much thrusting vibrant colors and odd settings at the viewer to give it a more epic feel. The action is often quite over the top (fire breathing attackers with candles?) and it loves to do some strange artistic and fantasy inspired things with it. Our final duel does some odd visual things to give it an epic feel as our swordsman literally defy gravity and logic with their abilities and the film utilizes these elements through and through. Director Chor Yuen loves to toy with angels and visual flair and it helps keep the film going despite some of its dialog heavy moments. This upped pacing and relentless assassination attempts keep the movement brisk and adds to the charisma of its 80s visuals.

Big paper circle. The ultimate obstacle for sword fighters.

"The Duel Of The Century" is cheesy and lacks some of the darker elements that make these sword fighting epics so good. While our lead character is fun, he lacks his own character arc to really kick it to the next level too. The visuals of the film are fantastically fun and the plot is cleverly paced and developed...and that's what makes this film as good as it is despite the above mentioned flaws. It's not one of the best, but its a great addition to any Shaw Brothers/martial arts fan's collection. Blood Brother approved!

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Xtro 3 (1995)

XTRO 3

AKA "Xtro 3: Watch the Skies", "Xtro: Watch the Skies"

You thought you were horrified by the "Xtro" alien raping a woman in the original film? There was a much more heinous action going on behind the camera as director Harry Bromley Davenport was raping the "Xtro" name in order to make the completely unrelated and lame "Xtro II: The Second Encounter". But he wasn't done taking advantage of the "Xtro" name yet, oh no, he bent that Xtro bitch over the table one more time and let the motherfucker have it in order to make yet another unrelated sequel. Sure the final product comes out a hair better than that garbage second entry but I doubt many will be tuning into the series by this point, except people gung-ho on torturing themselves like me apparently.

A super-scripted "3"! Haven't we ripped off the "Alien" franchise enough already? Is the next sequel going to be called "Xtro: Resurrection" or "Xtros", Christ!

A group of military soldiers are sent to a remote Pacific island in order to prep it for a new fueling station. Of course it's a military cover-up and it ends up a 50 year old alien is trapped on the island and our dimwitted soldiers unwittingly release the bastard from his concrete cage and he goes all 'predator' on their ass, blaming the soldiers for the death of its mate and child.

"Take me to your leader"

Whereas "Xtro II" ripped off "Aliens", Davenport enlisted writers to rip-off another popular killer alien flick, this time "Predator", right down to the alien creature having the ability to camouflage itself with invisibility. Though the alien's look is far from looking as grand as Stan Winston's brilliant design, I do have to give the film credit as it is still refreshing to see a practical effects as opposed to crummy CGI which was starting to rear its ugly head in cheaply made sci fi movies at the time (some bad CGI does make an appearance but it's very limited).

"I touched the script and it's eating away my hand!"

Davenport's direction seems more involved than he was in the second film, but it's still very pedestrian not added by a shoe-string low budget. I did dig the Alien revenge aspect of the plot but overall Davenport has the film move at a dull pace and it's hard to get involved with annoying and one-dimensional characters, even with veteran actors Robert Culp and Andrew Divoff making easy paycheck appearances.

An "Xtro" fan takes his own life after viewing another unreleated sequel

I will admit Davenport did seem to try with this film, but it's still a failure thanks to a cliché plot, bad acting and overall shoestring budget. I did like the use of practical effects but overall it just seems like another forgettable direct-to-video sci fi  flick that barely ekes above the drivel you would catch on the Syfy Channel at 1 in the morning. "Xtro 3" would be totally forgotten today if it weren't for its namesake tying it to the cult following of the 1983 original film. Hell, I'll admit, it worked on me.  This might come as a total shock but skip this film and stick to the psychotic original.

 Written By Eric Reifschneider

Mother's Day (2010/2012)

To be perfectly honest with all of you avid readers, I'm not a very good cult fan. I only say this because Troma films simply don't do it for me. I get the appeal, but the tongue in cheek low budget style never grabs me. Thusly I was one of the handful that didn't have a problem at all with a "Mother's Day" remake, particularly because I find Darren Lynn Bousman to be a rather impressive modern horror director. So here we are, one more remake down on the never-ending remake train and the result is an intense home invasion flick that modernizes its exploitation elements nicely while delivering some whopping performances.

When a bank robbery goes drastically wrong, a trio of brothers take shelter in their old house to escape the authorities and tend to the one brother who was shot. Little do they know, their old house was picked up off of a foreclosure and the party that the new home owners are throwing is going to give them a bit of a problem. This means mother (De Mornay) must be called upon to fix the situation.

The aftermath of the most intense game of bloody knuckles known to man.

Although home invasion horror/thrillers are a dime a dozen anymore, the scale in going about them has been heightened in the last few years. "The Last House On The Left" remake took the cheesy original story to new levels of artistic intensity and the Spanish film "Kidnapped" is one of the most intense films you will ever watch. Ever. Thusly, "Mother's Day" has a lot of very good competition. Despite some great moments and a stunningly well built cast, the film is just a cut under the previously mentioned gems.

I appreciate how simple "Mother's Day" is as a film. The concept is basic: robbers bust into the wrong house, guests must figure out a way to escape/survive, and shit repeatedly happens. Not all that original, but an effective formula nonetheless. What makes this film rock and roll are two things: the directing and the cast. Bousman earns his merit by giving the film a combined look of modern sleek camera work and old school exploitation elements. He loves to utilize the ensemble cast with lots of great banter and oddly memorable one liners and his intensity for violence is only hindered by a lacking budget (which is why I assume some of the death sequences aren't as extreme as he normally would take it) which tends to favor some odd placed CGI gore. He loves to throw the characters into some very extreme situations and it makes for a wild ride for the audience who continually thinks "What would I do in that situation?". This is easily heightened by a stellar cast of secondary genre regulars who all own their respective roles. Just look at the cast on IMDB and see how many other horror films you've seen them in, I'm sure it's quite a few.

So sweet she might bake you cookies. With rat poison in them.

The general casting is great, but its Rebecca De Mornay that really steals the film. Her balance of bat shit insane and sweet motherly caring makes for an ambitious villain role that pushes the film out of its cliche territory and into something a little more unique. The dynamic of the family is creepily effective at times and with her as a ring leader its hard not to cringe with how it all works.

Coke addiction and a love for "Hellraiser" make for some horrible nights.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few plot holes that drag the film down a bit. Some characters are left in the dust of pacing convenience and some of the more intense moments feel rather out of sync with the rest of the film. When you have a cast this size, some characters are simply not going to get the full arcs they need (the adulterous woman for example is there for progression only and when she kicks the bucket we could care less) and this film falls prey to that. It also pushes a few moments into areas that are seemingly out of place. Having one of our killers force two young men to kill one another at the ATM is an intense scene, but it rarely makes sense in the full spectrum. It's as if by the end of the movie, they needed to kill off a lot of characters and had to just throw in whatever to get it done. Some characters just up and disappear (has anyone seen Lydia after it would seem she's about to switch sides? No?) and it can be frustrating.

"Mother's Day" still remains head and tails above its originator in quality and execution. It has plenty of memorable moments to kick it up as a great modern horror film, but its lacking cohesion in character arcs/plot holes hinders it from matching the work done many other great home invasion flicks in the last handful of years.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Xtro II: The Second Encounter (1991)

XTRO II: THE SECOND ENCOUNTER

AKA "Xtro 2", "Xtro II", "Xtro 2: The Second Encounter"

Eight years is a hell-of-a long time to wait for a sequel, especially to a film so poorly received like the 1983 alien gore flick "Xtro". Still, in all its trashy onslaught to the senses, "Xtro" garnered a strong cult following on the home video market after a lukewarm reception in theaters and this small legion of fans were ready to lap up this long-awaited sequel to their gooey guilty pleasure.  Despite being made direct-to-video, fans still had hope this sequel could match the bizarre schizophrenic nature of the original since British director Harry Bromley Davenport would be returning behind the camera. All I can say is fans were NOT dished up a sequel they were expecting but instead a steaming bowl of alien excrement left over from extraterrestrial in the original movie.

A government experiment goes haywire in an underground facility when some soldiers disappear after being sent to an alternate dimension. In comes Jan-Michael Vincent collecting an easy paycheck as an ex-scientist on the project who is begged to come back to save their lives. Soon one of the soldiers returns, but the kicker is she's been impregnated by some interdimensional alien and out pops a killer alien baby out of her chest (sound familiar?) and grows to a considerable size. Now our remaining scientists and soldiers have to hunt it down in air ducts and kill the damn thing before the lab self destructs.

"Take me to your leader"

"Xtro II" is a sequel purely motivated by money and director Harry Bromley Davenport has even admitted in interviews that he only made the film because he needed a job... and it shows. Through a quirk in contract he retained the rights to the title "Xtro" but not to the storyline thus he employed four screenwriters (it took that many to make this mess?) to write up a completely unrelated story, sign on some second rate actors and run with it.

"You're gonna pay me how much to appear in your shitty sequel? This is a joke right?"

The plot is nothing but a second rate clone of "Alien" and "Aliens" right down to Davenport trying to emulate James Cameron's style his celebrated sequel. Unlike Cameron's film "Xtro II" will never be a well received follow-up, even among fans, as Davenport seems purely on cruise control giving the film none of the likeable psychotic atmosphere and energy he displayed in the original. To top it off has-been actor Jan-Michael Vincent seems like he could give a shit to appear in such a silly monster movie as his performance is phoned in and is as distant as the alternate dimension the alien creature comes from.

This was the actual actor's reaction after seeing final cut of the film

I enjoy "Alien" rip-offs as much as the next B-movie enthusiast but "Xtro II" is one of the most lame of the bunch. It's just dull, non-enjoyable and all-around artless film that is completely unrelated to the guilty pleasure original and in turn alienates the fans in the process. Due yourself a favor, check out "Creature", "Galaxy of Terror" or "Forbidden World" for an entertaining trashy "Alien" rip-off and blast "Xtro II" through the airlock into outer space to collect with all the other space junk clogging our heavens. This wouldn't be the last Harry Bromley Davenport would rape the "Xtro" name as "Xtro 3" would infect video store shelves 4 years after the fact.

 Written By Eric Reifschneider

Familiar (2012)

Fatal Pictures brought the short film "Worm" to Blood Brothers for review quite some time ago and the surprise that it held in its short run time of tense inner turmoil was impressive to say the least. So its not so surprising that the follow up film from producer Zach Green and writer/director Richard Powell would follow in a similar tradition, but this time taking the psychological aspects and morphing them into a fully "fleshed" out horror experience.

John Dodd (Nolan) has been having some serious thoughts lately. His wife has been grating on his nerves with the mundane modern life and his daughter is finally ready to head off to college and the timing seems right for him to finally do things for himself. These serious thoughts have become blacker and blacker lately though and they're starting to seem like another person is in his head that is pushing him to do some drastic things to free himself. It's time to decide who is really calling the shots though when the thoughts take it too far and the results he finds may leave him scarred for the rest of his life.

"Familiar" builds the audience with it's lead and his internal thoughts. His psyche seems buried in savagery as he desperately clings onto whatever he can to find himself. The slow burn of the first half of the film is punctuated by a super strong performance from Nolan who's ability to stare at a camera adds unique nuances to the film's slow moving and tense psychological build thanks to some great atmosphere of its writing and directing. Although the supporting cast is limited with their time on screen, they're strong and massively supportive of the overall aura of "Familiar". This combination of Powell's ability to craft thick atmosphere and strong performances gives the heavily narrated film enough energy to lock it's audience in tight.

Then the film takes a drastic Cronenbergian twist for its final act, thrusting Dodd and his increasingly torn mentality straight into the horror grinder. Not to give too much away for those intrigued to see the film, the "voice" in his head begins to manifest itself in physical ways onto the character - pushing the film into that territory of physical grotesqueness that blends with the psychological horror beautifully. This is all done with some top of the line special effects (seriously some of the best I've seen in the handful of short films I've seen throughout my time as a writer here at Blood Brothers) that are guaranteed to make a few squeamish with it's results.

"Familiar" is very similar to Fatal Pictures' "Worm" in the first portion of the film, but its the twisted finale that ultimately sold this reviewer on the entire experience. It's a stunningly crafted and gorgeous independent film that works the nerves in some truly horrifying ways playing on expectations and against the grain for better effect. Highly recommended for fans of horror that can get their hands on seeing the film. Blood Brothers approved!

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Kung Fu Dunk (2008)

After surprising me with his acting chops in "Curse Of The Golden Flower" and then seeing him back to back in "True Legend" and "The Green Hornet", Jay Chou is started to become an interest of mine. The guy is a popular singer/songwriter in China and his acting career seems to be launching like a rocket, so when the opportunity to review the comedy action of "Kung Fu Dunk" the chance had to be taken up. Although its blend of over the top humor and over the top martial arts action is heavily pulled from Stephen Chow films (see "Shaolin Soccer"), the film lacks a bit of cohesiveness that would make it work like it needed. It relies on the charm of its lead and goofiness of its story to sell itself and at times it's enough to get through, but its not enough to truly send this film soaring like the dunks in its basketball sequences.

 Fang Shijie (Chou) was abandoned by a basketball court as a child. Upon discovery, he is raised in a temple of kung fu masters, where his masters and teachers find his defiant ways unsettling as a grows older despite his talent at light footed kung fu. While helping a new found friend Uncle Li (Tsang) fight off some collectors at a night club, Shijie is expelled from school and is forced to rely on Uncle Li in the real world. Together they come up with a plan...use his kung fu light feet and accuracy to earn his way as a basketball star at a university and hopefully find his parents in the mean time.

"Forget about "Green Hornet" or I'll punch you til you forget!"

On the positive side, "Kung Fu Dunk" is a lot of fun. It's packed to the brim with caricatures as characters, slap stick comedy, and super goofy and entertaining action. The basketball sequences are delightfully complex in their ridiculousness as multiple players launch six or seven feet into the air for ally-oops or shots are made flawlessly from half court and the outrageousness of the what goes down within these sequences (full on kung fu battles with robed masters of wind, needles, and anti-gravity movement? Why the hell not?) is hard not to keep one without a smile on their face. The obvious underlying message of how media treats "sports stars" is prevalent and worthy enough to give the movie a little bit of a deeper meaning and a strong mentor/mentee relationship portrays the cliche sport film nicely. "Kung Fu Dunk" is simply a visual treat of humor and cartoon like comedy that fans of Stephen Chow will love.

Inspiration from "NBA Jam"?

The major issues of "Kung Fu Dunk" are not the fun moments it can pop out, but rather the way it goes about it all. The structure and balance of the film do not flow at all. It's almost like a film whose attention span is as out of control as its characters as it leaps from scene to scene, breaking its own rules and throwing in elements that are never fully developed. A romantic subplot seems very relevant throughout the first two-thirds only to have a resolution tacked onto the ending. The search for his parents is underdeveloped for its final moments to pack the punch they need. The supporting cast of his teammates is fun, but rarely embraced in the writing. Even the reincorporated "ability to bend particles and time" comes out of the blue to give us a twist at the that makes not a lick of sense. This screws with the balance of seriousness and humor in the film (particularly when it comes to our lead's character growth in his search for parents) and it leaves the film feeling more hollow than expected.

Eric Tsang in one of his wide variety of roles.

For Jay Chou, its a wonderful experiment to see how he pulls off comedy in a larger film setting (which his soft spoken character does often enough with finesse) and the supporting cast of caricatures and ridiculous action sequences make "Kung Fu Dunk" a blast to watch if one is in the mood for goofy humor. Although the film suffers from unbalanced flow and choppy structure, it grew on me with its charming moments. Not great by any means, but a fun watch for those willing to set aside the constraints of reality.

BLOODY BONUS FEATURES
The Well Go USA release of "Kung Fu Dunk" may not be packed to the gills with features, but they do add onto the experience. Behind the scenes and interviews really bring to life some of the decisions made for the film (particularly when it comes to how complex the action set pieces are) and are well worth the watch for those who even enjoyed the film a little bit.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Innkeepers, The (2011)

With "The House Of The Devil" under his belt in all of its 80s glory, Ti West's next project is of a similar taste albeit more modern in its look than the above mentioned gem. "The Innkeepers" crafts another film thick with suffocating atmosphere, long winding shots, and minimal deviations from the premise. This time around he throws a bit of a modern spin on it and gives a clever combination of old and new styles to make "The Innkeepers" a statement that doesn't rely on retro aspects.

Claire (Paxton) and Luke (Healy) are the last two employees as the failing Yankee Pedler Inn. Although its a beautiful and historically set place for a few stragglers to rest their weary heads, lacking business has lead it to close after the weekend. This just makes Luke and Claire's attempts at grabbing proof of the ghost in the Inn more imperative. With only a handful of guests and the two of them running the ship, they decide to push the ghost of a suicidal woman from decades ago into action. The action they receive isn't quite the proof they were so desperate for.

A fantastic setting let's director Ti West treat us with visuals.

Whether you want to admit it or not, in all honesty, it's very easy to see why so many individuals thought "The Innkeepers" was boring. Just like with "House Of The Devil", Ti West's style is that of the slow burning, tension building, atmosphere dense variety. This isn't your average modern ghost tale for sure and his use of long shots that focus on mood will have some people on the verge of tears in boredom. Even I found myself once or twice wondering what the point was after a few measly jump scares and the massive amounts of character building. West takes his sweet time with the modern and witty dialogue to build tension, atmosphere, and characters and many folk will find this unnecessary.

West saves the film from dragging by creating a beautiful film. His Kubrickian style of script building and camera work heavily resembles the classic "The Shining" at times and he creates such a real universe for the story and characters to exist in that it was hard to shake when the credits began to roll. The Inn becomes this other character with its own personality and the way he builds up to a the simple scare of a piano key being pressed down is truly the art of horror. He makes you completely dread the fact that its going to happen even though you already know its going to happen. The ability to craft this kind of atmosphere is a rare trait and Ti West glorifies it on "The Innkeepers".

Also my reaction to Paxton's starring role in "Shark Night".

All of this slow burn also gives under a fantastic pay off. With the two fantastic actors in our lead roles (the focus falls on Paxton who has become quite the little scream queen in the last handful of years with "Last House On The Left" and "Shark Night" coming to the top of my head), West is able to work it out and give the finale a real punch. Creepy, frightening, intense. The final fifteen minutes will have you shaking in your boots. It's not all that original of an ending and it throws a final twist that is fairly obvious (but does leave the audience thinking for a little bit), but the execution is phenomenal.

Cliche perhaps, but scary as hell when done right.

Horror fans will not find "The Innkeepers" as a film that blows the ghost genre out of the water. It really doesn't as it follows most of the usual formulas for going about the ordeal, but the execution of the film on screen and behind the camera is damn near flawless. West owns the film with his dense atmosphere and great characters and the visual style of the film is old school flattery for its leads and setting. "The Innkeepers" might not be new news for horror residents, but its sure to please long standing fans.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Directors: Mans Marlind, Bjorn Stein
Notable Cast: Kate Beckinsale, India Eisley, Theo James, Michael Ealy, Stephen Rea, Charles Dance

If one is up to date on the Underworld franchise and how it works, then Underworld: Awakening is going to certainly strike that special spot for those looking for sleek action packed vampire/werewolf throw downs. If you are not familiar with the style of the films (catch up with our reviews for Underworld, Evolution, and Rise Of The Lycans), then let the eye rolling commence. This fourth entry is easily the weakest in its writing (which is saying quite a bit) with little added to the characters and less added to the mythos of the franchise. It also happens to be the most exciting, instead focusing on creating dynamic action set pieces and setting up a new era for our vampire heroin to kick ass in. It's a trade off that makes for a weak entry, but one that entertains the shit out of you anyway.