Cthulhu's Cat

Monday Movie Review - THE GRACEFIELD INCIDENT

It seems I've been watching a lot of first-person, unsteady camera POV movies. Some are good. Some are memorable. Some try a different technique or two. And some tend to confuse the viewer by constantly switching back and forth between the camera and 3rd person.

The Gracefield Incident does the last, as well as try something new. The something new is when the hero installs the camera from his iPhone into his fake eyeball, so that we get his POV throughout this flick. (Does that really work? And who puts red yarn on the outside of the eyeball before sticking it inside their eye socket?) Then we add another person coming in with HIS camera to add to the drama. (A problem here is that the camera he's using appears to be a still-shot camera, not one that films action sequences.) And then we get the 3rd person omnipotent viewpoint - and all three bounce back and forth willy-nilly as the story progresses.

Yes, there are a few jump scares. No, there's no bloodletting. THis is more along the lines of psychological horror. The actors do try to give it their best, but the performances seem too over the top. But one of the things that gave me that "burr under the saddle" feeling is that their voices sounded like they had been dubbed over from inside a studio. They don't have that natural sound that comes from being recorded on site.

Aside from these failings, I really tried to like this movie. You could tell everyone put their heart into making it work, but the plot was too predictable. Too many plot points felt false or forced. And the revelation explaining their dilemma was...well, you've probably seen something very similar to it elsewhere.

If this pops up on cable, and you have nothing else to do, you might want to give it a try. Otherwise, my suggestion is that you

Fun For All!

Guaranteed!

Monday Movie Review - KILLING GROUND

This Australian film reminded me a lot of Wolf Creek in that it's brutal, it's bloody, and it's unrelenting once it gets rolling. Of course, it takes a few minutes for you to realize what's going on, and why the movie is tracking the way it is (no spoilers here!). But when it all starts to come together, the ending is totally unexpected.

This tells the story of a young couple who decide to go camping in a remote lakeside area. When they get there, they find the place has another tent set up. But they figure the beautiful spot has enough room for the both of them. What follows is their story and the story of the family who arrived first, and what happens to them all.

Unlike Wolf Creek, there is no satisfactory conclusion, and you're left with one honking huge question at the end. Which also allows the filmmakers to go with a sequel if they choose (isn't that the way it usually is for horror movies?)

Overall, it's well-made and well-acted, which helped make this flick as disturbing as I found it to be. However, because it's so slow in executing (no pun intended) any action scenes, it would be better if you chose to

Remix Tape

By Maximo Gonzalez

Unit 731

There was a biological and chemical warfare research facility called Unit 731 that undertook lethal human experimentation during the occupation of China.

They specialized in vivisection, germ warfare, and weapons testing on prisoners. The researchers didn’t even refer to the Chinese people as humans: they called them “logs” and often bragged about how many logs they had cut that day. After WW2, the leaders of the unit gave the United States their research data in return for amnesty. Many of previous members of Unit 731 became part of post-war politics, academia, business, and medicine.

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Monday Movie Review - THE DARK TAPES

I went in search of this movie because it was recommended as "one the best unknown horror films of 2017". And since I'd never heard of it, and the premise sounded interesting, I checked it out on iMovies.

Like V/H/S, it's a collection of 4 stories, all told in that found footage, first person venue. Unlike V/H/S, there's nothing connecting these stories, which makes it confusing transferring from one story to the next.

Of the four, the one involving the couple moving into a haunted house is the most interesting. Unfortunately, the other three are a bit too predictable or uninteresting.

There's not much gore. It's mostly psychological horror, although the special effects are decent.

All in all, if you manage to catch this for free on cable, you might want to give it a whirl if you have nothing else to do for the next hour and a half. Otherwise, I suggest that you

Taste Like Candy?

True Story