Hobo With a Shotgun

Hobo With a Shotgun

All the advance word on Hobo With a Shotgun likened it to Grindhouse cinema. Being a fan of the grind I was eager to check it out. I got the chance to meet with Hobo director Jason Eisner at Texas Frightmare Weekend. Coming home I was even more determined to see the film. Luckily the film was out on VoD and I finally got the time to sit back and watch it.



Rutger plays the titular anti- hero. It is a bit of a different role than I have ever seen him in before. He plays a world weary hero, who sees too much and realizes he can’t just turn away anymore.



The film starts off slow. Almost too slow. Don’t get me wrong there is loads of violence all garishly shown in full detail. The violence is mostly cartoonish, over the top and brightly colored. Still the film just never seemed to get me going. That changed once the Hobo finds the shotgun.



With gun in hand the random gore turns into a symphony of brutality and Hauer conducts it with aplomb. Bad guys are blown away in rapid succession including a pedophile Santa. Rutger delivers one liners that would make Clint Eastwood blush. In many scenes he seems to be channeling Dirty Harry.



The violence is so over the top it isn’t hard to watch. People overly sensitive, especially to violence toward children may have a problem with it. It’s no Hostel, no A Serbian Film, and in reality it’s not even a Grindhouse film. Hobo With a Shotgun is more akin to the video nasties of the VHS age in the 80s. Think Troma, especially The Toxic Avenger, and some of the gorier Full Moon efforts.



It isn’t a happy film. It’s not a feel good film. It is a movie to watch a good guy who’s had enough slaughter cartoonish bad guys. It is a fun movie, but a fun movie for people who enjoy comedic, over the top gore. I liked it. Does that tell you anything?

My Soul To Take

It’s a horror film & it’s pretty okay; in fact this could have been a good movie, but towards the end, everything seems kind of stupid.

This is the story about a serial killer (Abel) who swore that he would return to murder all the 7 kids born on the day he died. Btw, Abel had dissociative identity disorder & he did not remember killing all the people. All those 7 kids are premature & after 16 years, the Ripper returns to take the souls of these kids. Actually no one knows whether Abel died or survived, cause he disappeared on that night. There was also a possibility that he might have reincarnated as one of the 7 kids.

All these teenagers are pretty cool, except Brandon & Brittany. Although they were shown as popular kids; there was nothing extraordinary about them. However, Alex, Bug, Jerome (who is also blind), Penelope & Jay are all cool kids. I think Fang is the best. She’s the elder sister of Bug but she’s still in high school with them & everyone is shit scared of her. She also doesn’t like her brother. Bug is the son of the serial killer & Fang was just 3 year old when this incident happened. Everyone took Bug as a miracle child, because his mom was also murdered, but he didn’t know anything about his crazy father till Fang told me in the end.

Now one by one, they are being killed on their 16^th birthday. Jay was the 1^st one. Then Penelope, Brandon & Brittany are murdered by this huge guy who could be the Ripper or one of those 7 kids. Alex came to Bug’s house & he told him that he had accidentally killed his abusive stepfather & it’s not right that people are dying in this way. When Bug went to get some water for Alexz, lots of things happened, 2 more people die & when he returns to the room, he finds the blind guy Jerome in his closet. Anyway, Jerome explains it all, but it was really funny & from there, the movie becomes very stupid. Actually it has been Alex who is the Ripper & he asked Bug that they could strike a deal & he would spare him. They both would lay the blame on Jerome being the Ripper but Bug refused to accept this & in the end, Alex is killed by his best friend. Bug thought that he might be taken as Ripper but Fang tells the story to everyone & he is now the hero of that town.

What I find weird is that the Ripper was really huge, but Alex was very short.

Those who watch horror movies could watch it, cause it’s a decent movie. And we never expect much of horror movies.

Wes Craven has written & directed it.

Cast: Max Thieriot, Denzel Whitaker, Raul Esparza, Shareeka Epps

Apparition

Apparition is an upcoming horror movie which is written & directed by Todd Lincoln.

A couple moves in their new home but they experience certain ominous & sinister happenings. At first they thought the house was haunted, but it was not so. That particular spirit was accidentally conjured during a university parapsychological experiment. And that apparition feeds on the fear of humans (very, very common thing). Naturally the couple was tormented. By the time, they bring in an expert on supernatural stuff, it was already too late, which is of course nothing new.

The movie is based on true events. An apparition was unleashed during an experiment that bothered people. Ashley Green & Sebastian Stan will be the young couple & Tom Felton is the supernatural expert.

Cast: Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Julianna Guill, , Luke Pasqualino, Suzanne Ford

Director: Todd Lincoln

Into the Darkness

A group of friends descend upon a remote wilderness area in celebration of Ridge and Allie's return after a year spent out West. Their decision to embark on a short exploration of a nearby cave turns into a horrific struggle for survival because soon they find themselves caught in the middle of horrific incidents. They are made to deal with a life and death struggle.

Nothing new about this plot either, but they are saying it’s gripping. These people experience some kind of a nightmare. It sounds like a very average horror movie. I don’t think I would waste my time on it. As it is reading about it was excruciatingly boring.

Cast: Mischa Barton
Kiowa Gordon
Wolfgang Weber
Anna Enger
Dalal Bruchmann
Russ Russo
Louis Mandylor

Devil - A Psycho Supernatural Chiller

Last night we watched a good movie "Devil" produced by M. Night Shyamalan who has made films such as The Sixth Sense and The Signs.

The plot is interesting as five people are trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia. They don't realize that they are there for a reason. These strangers are not aware that the Devil is right amongst them in human form and no one can escape their fate. One by one, people are killed in the elevator in an unusual manner and those that are alive are suspecting each other. It is a chilling supernatural without a moment of boredom with a wicked twist in the end.

The devil goes to people who do bad deeds without even knowing that they are doing something wrong. So, because of the bad choices they make, the devil gathers such people together and allows chosen people to see what's happening so that they know that the devil exists.

Definitely recommended.

Kandahar Break

Kandahar Break is an independent British film written and directed by David Whitney and was released in 2009. Though I have seen many movies set in Afghanistan and Kabul and about the atrocities being done there by the lost people. This movie has a very simple plot and highlights more or less the same things that we have read and known for years now. 

My inspiration to write it was to see this model whom I first saw at a silly fashion show organized by students from SZABIST and one of my friends was the organizer and we went there to support him. This girl seemed confident and resembled Parveen Bobby. I remember my sister and I said this girl seems bold and will go ahead. Later on I saw her on ramp. It was Tatmaeen. She had made progress quickly. I mean imagine all those Pakistani models and actresses who claim all the time they wouldn't work in an Indian movie or that they have too many offers and blah blah. And there Tatmaeen has already worked in an international project. And she did act pretty decent...I set my benchmark a bit low and that is Vaneeza's acting in Jinnah. So, yes Tatmaeen looked fine and acted well. She did quite a few kissing scenes also, so I am not too sure if she is still in Pakistan, has there been any fatwa passed against her or whatever the scenario is here.

The story is about this British engineer who had come to destroy land mines. This was pre the 9-11 era but Taliban rules were functional in Afghanistan. And this engineer fell for this girl Jameela (Tatmaeen) who was an interpreter and had lived in US for many years but had returned to her country afterwards as that's what her father had wanted ...to live in their own land. Unfortunately,  because this engineer Richard and Jameela fell in love and were seen together intimately, the girl was taken to be stoned to death. The guy did interfere but the girl died and he was in trouble because now the Talibans were after him. So, the rest of the movie was about how he made his way out through Pakistan. Along the way, he also met some Balochi tribesmen who helped him because they considered Talibans to be the real enemies of peace. But sadly, as soon as he crossed the border he was shot dead. Later on in 2002, Nato took over and drove the Talibans out.

Kandahar Break Trailer

The story was quite simple and I am sure in reality even worse things happened in Afghanistan. I have read many stories about women trapped in such places and it is very sad to see how entire lives are ruined. The movie had some other Pakistani tv actors too who acted well. 

Music of the Day - Ek Duje Keh Liye

I couldn't recall the name of this movie but I remembered this song in the lift. This is one of the popular Hindi romantic movie Ek Duje Keh Liye with Kamal Hassan and Ratti Agnihotri. It shows a very intense love story that ultimately didn't end up so well, like most genuine things as everyone was against their love and choice.

The music is amazing. Interesting thing that I heard was that the actor and actress have amazing intense chemistry on screen but they had a very cold fierce relationship off screen. It was a bad experience and after this movie they never worked together but that does not show in their work.

Mere Jeevan Saathi
This is a fun and very interesting song with name of the movies. I love it.

Ek Duje Ke Liye
This is the romantic title song...very sweet lyrics.

Ranbir's Refusal Turns Out To Be Somebody Else's Gain

Now here's something interesting I found out. I never knew that the role the new guy from the movie Action Replayy - Aditya Roy is playing was first offered to Ranbir Kapoor. Ranbir Kapoor, however has reservatios about sharing screen space with Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar and so he refused this role.

Aditya Roy, on the other hand, has received a positive welcome from the audience so far in Action Replayy. He used to be a VJ earlier on. He is also playing a part in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzarish. Apparently in Guzaarish, Aishwarya is his confidante and sympathetic shoulder, while in Action Replayy Aish is playing his mother's role.

I feel the boy has a good start now. If he turns out to be a good actor, he might do well in the future. He is extremely thankful to Aish as he says he has been helping him tremendously on the sets with his acting although he is just a new entrant and it really means a lot to him. Aditya's elder brothers have been in TV and film making as well but he says acting is not a burning ambition for him. He, however, made his official acting debut in the movie London Dreams when he played a Pakistani band member in Ajay Devgan's rock band. 

Aditya also feels lucky that in his short film time, actors like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan were all helpful towards him. Which reminds me of how Rani ji is acting all superior to Vidya Balan in their upcoming movie in which they are playing sisters. It is strange to imagine how they act on the set and as soon as the scene ends they never talk to one another. People say it is Rani Mukherjee's unapproachable attitude that makes it difficult for Vidya Balan and so there is no conversation taking place. I think that movie will be completed soon with that sort of attitude :P

Zinda Laash

Well on special request I am sharing this special classic piece. It is from the first Pakistani horror movie -Zinda Lash. The vampire lady seduces the human to eat him up but then uncle dracula comes in to save it.

It is heavy and quite cheap :) And the dance moves are just too unique.

Quarentine

One of the best of the American remakes of a foreign horror film is Quarantine.  Quarantine is fairly faithful to it's Spanish predecessor although it does have a different motive for the outbreak.  A motive that is not as fully explained as in the original.  If you are not a fan of shaky cam it's a good bet you wont be a big fan of Quarantine.  Seeing it in the theater gave me a pretty good headache.  The effect isn't nearly as migraine inducing on the small screen.  I really can't bring any major faults to bear on the film.  Quarantine is a strong film with a capable cast lead by Jennifer Carpenter.  Carpenter is probably best known as Deb Morgan on Dexter.  Jay Hernandez of Hostel plays one of the firefighters.  While Carpenter's hysterics get a bit annoying near the end, I found them realistic under the circumstances she was in.  Seeing clips may lead you to think of her as a weak character, but she isn't.  Her role is a strong character, way out of her league and in a hopeless situation.  My only real bitch is that the promo poster and trailer give away too much.  I won't spoil it by saying more about it.  Still, while I really enjoyed Quarantine, I liked REC better.  Pretty much everything I liked in Quarantine, I liked better in REC.  The lead actress was more believable and personable as a TV host and the background cast seems less like actors and more like people filmed for a news crew.  The people in REC just looked, and behaved, more like I would expect people to look on a broadcast from a disaster.  That being said I highly recommend Quarantine, but watch REC first.

The Ninth Gate

From director Roman Polanksi and starring Johnny Depp, The Ninth Gate revolves around Depp playing Dean Corso who is basically a bounty hunter for rare books.  Frank Langella stars as Boris Balkan a wealthy collector who hires Depp to find a rare and powerful book, reputed to be written by the devil himself.  As he delves deeper into the satanic underbelly of Europe's elite, Depp gets drawn deeper into the dark side himself.  The idea of forbidden books and films that hold a power of their own has always been a popular subject with me so I admit to being a fan of this film.  I also am  a huge Johnny Depp fan and he plays the sleazy book finder  Dean Corso with his usual gusto.  The problem with The Ninth Gate is that it is just so slow.  The action is few and far between and scares are non existent.  the best parts of the film are Depp and Langella and the fact that Polanski doesn't have time to have sex with thirteen year old girls if he is busy directing.  If you go in expecting a real horror movie you will most likely be disappointed.  If you want a  fairly intelligent film or just want to indulge your Depp fix, then you might enjoy it

Wake Wood - Synopsis, pics and poster

Wow this movie really looks....a lot like pet Sematary. The poster does look sweet and the pictures are mildly creep. Plus it's umm shot in Ireland? That can't hurt.

 

Here's the synopsis

The film tells the story of Patrick and Louise Daley, whose nine year old daughter, Alice, is brutally killed in a frenzied dog attack. To escape their grief, the devastated young parents relocate from the city to the remote rural community of Wake Wood. Sensing their loss, the people of Wake Wood introduce the couple to a secret, pagan ritual that will allow them 3 more days with Alice before she is returned to the ground forever. But what will they do when it's time for Alice to go back?

stars Timothy Spall and Brenden Gleeson.  Some pictures below
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Hey Gage!  You down there?
 
 
 

 

 
Hillbilly Hostel                                                                   or Wicker Man on a budget?
 
 
 
 

Legion trailer

Trailer in HD for the new horror film Legion. Check it out

When God loses faith in humanity, he sends a legion of angels to wipe out the human race. It's only hope is a group of misfits holed up in a diner, aided by the archangel Michael.