Warm Bodies - 2013

Category: Movie

Genre: Comedy / Horror / Romance

Director: Jonathan Levine

Writer: Jonathan Levine, Isaac Marion

Producer: Summit Entertainment, Make Movies, Mandeville Films

Cast: Nicolas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Analeigh Tipton, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, Cory Hardrict

Tagline:  Bros before brains

The world's population is slowly becoming an undead horde, however R, is a young and odd zombie who thinks. While feeding on humans one day, R meets Julie (still human) and suddenly has an urge to protect her. What happens is the start of a very strange and warm relationship that allows R to begin having his human side back. Soon, this strange phenomenon is spreading in the undead population.... which brings about another issue they have to challenge that would threaten their friendship.

 ---------

Okay, seems like today is filled with really interesting films that is infused with something deeper.

This film may seem comedic on the surface but if you actually look past or go "exhume" the film... you get to see that it's actually deep.


Being a Zombie is a metaphor for people living a life without color, without passion, and a life that takes it as it is with no questions, cautionary. It's also a life where one forgets who he/she really is.

Being a bonie on the other hand are people who gave up or can be that part of self which buys fear, our shadow, the dark force.

This is actually beyond apocalyptic but is actually an awakening veiled.

There are many references to remembrance, forgetting, triggers, and the 100th monkey concept plays as well, and that change can often just come from one person and a small group of individuals who are crazy enough to challenge the norm and who does not fit the "norm".

Also, music plays an important role to the person here...

And this also shows that whenever there's change, there's always a counter-force, when your Imaginal self steps in.

this movie reminds me of this: "“Burnout is nature's way of telling you, you've been going through the motions your soul has departed; you're a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker. False optimism is like administrating stimulants to an exhausted nervous system. ” - Sam Keen

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - 2010

Category: Movie

Genre: Horror / Thriller

Director: Troy Nixey

Writer: Guillermo del Torro, Matthew Robbins

Producer:

Cast: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison, Jack Thompson, Garry Mcdonald, Alan Dale, Julie Blake and more

Tagline: Come and Play

A young girl named Sally is sent to live with her father and his girlfriend at their new home. However, the new home hides many secrets specially the basement. It has been said that the previous owner of the home was a famous painter who mysteriously disappeared.


Though some parts were predictable it managed to still surprise me in the end. It's scary but not that much, which makes it an a-okay film for me. I saw that this is a remake of an age-old classic film, which was even dubbed as one of the scariest film ever. Well, I haven't seen that one and can't say which is scarier or not.

But, this one can sure as hell scare a kid... and well, me... in most parts... :)

Photo Source: Teaser-Trailer

Sixth Sense - 1999

Category: Movie

Genre: Suspense

Director: M. Night Shymalan

Writer:M. Night Shymalan

Producer: Barry Mendel Productions, Hollywood Pictures, Kennedy/Marshall Company

Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Trevor Morgan, Donnie Wahlberg, Mischa Barton and more

Tagline: 1...Sight 2...Sound 3...Smell 4...Taste 5..Touch 6...The Sixth Sense

A boy named Cole(Haley Joel Osment), communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead, seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist named Malcom Crowe(Bruce Willis).  Crowe then spends a lot of time with the boy Cole, who is his only hope.

Either it's way too scary for something with minimal "gore", or I had just one too many coffee for the day. But, yeah I have to hand it to M.Night Shymalan for creating a movie that can be so scary using less - gore but with only your imagination to play with. This is a well crafted movie, that would allow a viewer to really be glued in the story. It's a simple film.... but a brilliant one.

Photo Source: Media Fire

Gothika - 2003

Category: Movie

Genre: Horror / Suspense


Director: Mathieu Kassovitz

Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez

Producer:Columbia Pictures Corporation, Warner Bros. Pictures, Dark Castle Entertainment

Cast:  Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr., Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Dorian Harewood, Bronwen Mantel, Kathleen Mackey, Matthew G. Taylor and more




Tagline: Dr. Miranda Grey Is An Expert At Knowing What Is Rational, What Is Logical, What Is Sane... Until The Day She Woke Up On The Other Side



This is a ghost story of a criminal psychiatrist named Miranda Grey (Halle Berry)  who wakes up as a patient in an asylum she is working for, with no memory of a murder she was accused of doing.

I used to wish to have my third eye activated. But, after seeing this I'm beginning to think... I should not. If I'm gonna see or feel things like the way she did here in this movie.

I was enthused to find out Robert Downey was in the movie. This gives me the heebie jeebies!! It's actually got a neat storyline and also scares the hell out of you at the right time without appearing too much of the gore. Just enough. It's a good combination of horror and a suspense/thriller film. :)

Resident Evil: After life - 2010

Category: Movie

Genre: Sci-Fi/Future/Action

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Writer: Paul W.S. Anderson

Producer: Constantin Film Production, Davis Films and Impact Pictures

Tagline: She's back and she's bringing a few of her friends.

Cast: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, Sienna Guillory, Kacey Barnfield, Norman Yeung and more.

Summary and Overview of the Movie Resident Evil: After Life.

The Earth was ravaged by a virus infection, turning its human victims into the "Undead". Alice (Milla Jovovich), is still on her journey to find the survivors and thus lead them to safety. It's first scene was shot in Tokyo. Alice and some of the survivors later got a radio transmittal about calling them all aboard to a ship called "Arcadia". Along the way, she finds an old friend and they both went to Los Angeles to find a few more survivors on top of the prison with thousands of Undead waiting to break down the barricade.

I don't think I saw all of the Resident Evil Series... I think I've only seen one of it. Oh well. It was uhmm grossly entertaining. If you know what I mean? With all those ghastly mutations the freaky Umbrella Corporation can experiment on. But, like I said, it was entertaining. Entertaining enough to get a 3 from me. :) I can't get over the fact that Luther was left there. Still Alive. :(

and somehow the movie did lack something. Oh well. Still getting a three for making me shut my eyes. :P

Mirrors - 2008

Category: Movie

Genre: Horror

Director: Alexandre Aja

Writer: Alexandre Aja

Tagline: There Is Evil........On The Other Side

Cast: Keifer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Cameron Boyce, Erica Gluck,

Overview and Review of the movie Mirrors.

I think this is a remake of a Korean horror film.

It is a story of an NYPD guy named Ben Carson that picks up a job as a night-watchman in what was left over the burned down Mayflower Department Store. Kinda eerie and weird.. but, hey it went A-OK. There were a lot of disturbing images and for the sensitive types you might not want to see any mirrors for a week.

I loved it cause it starred Keifer Sutherland. :P

If you want something creepy and something to weird you.. its good company.

Mimic 3: Sentinel - 2003

Category: Movie

Genre: Suspense

Director: J.T. Penny

Awards: 3 Nominations

Tagline: Terror has been Reinvented!

Overview and Review of Mimic 3: Sentinel directed by J.T. Penny.

Marvin, a sickly, asthmatic and allergic amateurish photographer 24-yr-old guy is confined to an apartment room and spends most of his day taking pictures of people in the apartment building. He makes all pictures into a collage in his bedroom wall. Then two of his subjects disappeared a young boy and Desmond a drug dealer and a friend of his sister Rosy. With the aid of Rosy and Carmen (a neighbor he admires) they are about to uncover the truth behind the Garbage Man(the one they suspect to be behind everything).

Personally, I was quite disappointed with the movie. I was expecting it to be soo scary compared to the first 2(two) Mimic movies. The story was SLOW. You would only shout at the near end (second disc on our case)... and that's about it.

But some would love the movie. It was done artistically. And since I learned it was a low-budgeted movie, the director actually balanced it all out. The voyeuristic style of the movie was unique.

If you want to scream, don't watch this. If you want something unique, go watch it. :)

#9 Evil Elizabeth - Super Chiller - Francine Pascals

Overview and Review of Evil Elizabeth Sweet Valley Twin's Super Chiller #9 created by Francine Pascal

Category: Books

Genre: Horror

Created by: Francine Pascal

It's Halloween and Elizabeth's looking for the perfect costume for it. She wanted to join costume with Jessica but Jessica doesn't want too. Then, she planned to have the same costumes with Amy and Maria in which the two readily agreed. But, then one night Elizabeth passed by the Old Luna Place (shack), and met a dog with an orange face carrying a grotesque mask. Elizabeth picked it up and was amused by it.

Little did she know the mask possessed an evil power. Anyone who wears it will turn evil and do nasty things.... until one day he/she will be evil without wearing it since the mask consumed him/her.

It's up to Jessica and Steven to save their sister!

It's a nice "teenie" book. I'm sure if I was a teenager I would've enjoyed it lots, since I really love the Sweet Valley Characters and their adventures.

Saw II - 2005

Review and Overview of Saw II

Category: Movies

Genre: Horror

Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman

Written by: Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman

Tagline: We Dare You Again…

Detective Eric Matthew’s (Donnie Wahlberg) son Daniel Matthews (Erik Knudsen) was trapped by Jigsaw (the killer!) along with three other women and four men at a place virtually unknown by the police (unless they can track it down). At the same time the people who were trapped by Jigsaw inhaled a lethal nerve gas which would weaken and kill them slowly.

Jigsaw is a brilliant mastermind behind these series of live or die games he loves to play to test the human fiber.

I don’t pretty much like movies that have too much blood or movies that would make you feel sorry for the victims of a lunatic like Jigsaw. But, this one was pretty much O.K. It was gross on most of the parts and all that…. and somehow Jigsaw’s reasoning was out of the ordinary and would probably make sense.. but as to how he was testing the people was just purely inhumane… but that was the point of the whole movie. The movie is all about surviving and of course to test your will to live.

During the whole of the movie.. I kept muttering: “Oh you stupid dummy! Why do you have to go inside that.. it’s obvious it’s a trap!!” referring to the part when the police raided Jigsaw’s base. The movie makes you paranoid when a person opens a door and your mind would wonder over flying daggers or something.

What I like about it is the twist of the story and of course the end part would sure be a giveaway for a Saw III.

for me it would be 3 since I don’t like too much blood.. but for the sake of the story.. I’m giving it a four.

Sukob - 2006

OVERVIEW and SUMMARY of Sukob

Category: Movie

Genre: Horror

Running Time: 105 mins.

Director: Chito Rono

Producer: Charo Santos Concio

Sandy (Kris Aquino) and Dale (Wendell Ramos) are overseas workers who went back to the Philippines to get married. Most of the people in their hometown, specially their parents are so keen not to break all the superstitious beliefs about getting married. Don’t do this and Don’t do that…… ever since they arrived.

A day before they were married, Sandy found out what happened to her neighbor Helen who died and Helen’s husband before that. It is said,Helen broke one of the superstition because she got married within a year her father died.

Now, it is Sandy’s turn to panic…. because there were signs already that her wedding was one with a curse.

There are two stories actually in the movie. Two women getting married. One living in a province…… and one about Sandy.

Sukob is basically a story about superstitions believed by the locals about getting married.

Unlike other Pinoy horror films…. Sukob succeeded as a horror-film. It is actually well-done, that is - if you compare it to other Pinoy-horror films. I like how the two stories of the women getting married was placed sequentially.

The ending was a bit hanging, like most horror films… and it is soo unlike a Pinoy to have those kind of endings…

I like how Claudine and Kris acted. Magaling!

Strange Highways -Dean Koontz

OVERVIEW and SUMMARY of Strange Highways by Dean Koontz

Category: Books Genre: Suspense Author: Dean Koontz

This is my first Dean Koontz book. A collection of short strange stories he wrote.

These are short stories that shows the variety of what Dean K. is capable of writing…

I had fun reading Koontz’s short stories and specially his comical notes to the readers part. A compilation of Koontz’s strange stories.

Strange Highways - 5/5

1995: A story about a man named Joey Shannon who returned home to attend the funeral of his father. He dreaded going back to his hometown in Asherville. While staying alone at his childhood home, he decided to stay sober till the funeral and began “hallucinating” and “dreaming” about a blond dead woman without eyes and bloody fingers. When the funeral was over, he decided to go back to Las Vegas right away and on his way he encountered a “strange highway”, the road not taken and he was warped back to 1975.

1975: The night that changed his life. As the night went on his fate and his future would change. He was allowed to replay and rewid this part.

I like the way it ended. It has suspense and some twists. I like the tense psychological suspense he weaved throughout his story and the able-to-rewind-the-past part.

The Black Pumpkin-4/5

This one is a short story. Reminded me of Goosebumps or the Are you afraid of the Dark series.

It’s about a boy named Tommy who has a mean-spirited brother named Frank and parents who never cared about him.

Tagline: “You get what you give”

Somehow, in the end… the family got what they gave. More like sowing and reaping thingy. Creepy. Basically more like a story for kids.

Miss Attila the Hun - 5/5

This one is a story about an-alien-thing called Seed who wanted to take over the world in a very weird way. It wanted to get inside all the humans and control everyone and then when the Day of Release came, where every human being can gain control of their own selves half of them would go crazy while the others would stand by on their sanity and finally lose it on the end.

Miss Attila the Hun here is a teacher who is married to a writer who cannot walk.

Anyhow, I like the message with this story. How love can overcome everything and how it overcome the control from Seed.

Down in the Darkness-3/5

This one is about a couple who owns a restaurant and recently bought a house at Laguna Beach from a Vietnamese refugee. The husband named Jess (originally Jesus because he is a 2nd gen Mexican living in America) discovered a door near the kitchen which leads ten-stories below, but nobody can see it not even her wife only him.

The door leads to a place so dark, it can swallow the light. A place so dark, that it looks like a murk below, as if the lower part was filled with a pool of oil.

Good, creepy story.

Ollie’s Hands - 4/5

This is about a guy who has a powerful hand. Hands that can heal, and seems like it can do magic. Such hands. But this great gift of hands seems like a curse to him and he doesnt want anybody to find out, because he has been hurt before because of the gift.

Nice but sad at the same time.

Snatcher - 3/5

This is about a “snatcher”. He treats “snatching” not as a living or out of desperation but more on because it is his pleasure. One time, he snatched a big, heavy purse from an old woman. The purse contains a devil.

Seems more like “down in the darkness” with the emphasis of someone who has the “gift of hands” like Ollie’s in a different way.. and that is “snatching”.

Trapped - 4/5

This one is a story about an experiment going mad. Biolomech Labs is involved in an intelligence-enhancement experiment.This experiment, seeks to discover if lower species, like rats for example could be genetically altered to breed other rats with increased brain power, and hoping to discover how to use it and enhance human intelligence.

Now, here’s the sitch: The rats were soo smart…. they organized their own escape. The rats despite their intelligence, were hostile. Its now up to the Biolomech team to recover and kill the rats before they breed and outnumber the human race.

I kinda liked the story… havent read anything about lab-rats-gone-mad. Too bad it’s a short story.

Bruno - 4/5

This one is somehow like back-to-the-future thingy…but it’s the future who visited the 90’s timeline and it’s somehow like some private-eye .

Bruno is a bear, and not a little Teddy but he is 6 feet four coming from another timeline or what Bruno calls “probability”. In Bruno’s timeline, shortly after world war two, washing out a lot of people, but science survived. In order to survive the race they have to stimulate human intelligence and dexterity to lower species - like bears for that matter.

In Bruno’s timeline, Spielberg is the father of space travel, Disney are gun makers (and creating amazing guns at that), Smith&Wesson the gun makers of the timeline were breadmakers. How cool is that, or should I say funny ?

Bruno is after Graham Stone, considered to be very dangerous. Graham Stone is not from another timeline but in fact an out-of-the-earth thing - an alien. Bruno is a probability police and his mission was to eradicate Graham Stone.

Nice story. Fun. Unique. Thrilling.

We Three - 3/5

This one is about the 10yearold triplets who killed the entire human race including their parents claiming they are the new species of new culture, new emotions, new rules, new hopes, new dreams and all that.

Pretty weird.. and hanging.

Hardshell - 3/5

Some cop-villain story but it would surprise you in the middle because it turned out the cop and the villain are both out-of-this-world species.

Kittens - 4/5

Kittens was said to be Dean Koontz’s first short story to be sold, it was written when he was in college and won awards.

This story is about a girl who had a female cat who gave birth to a litter of kittens…. and one day the kittens disappeared.

Twisted…. better read it…. but somehow a predictable ending.

The Night of The Storm - 3/5

This is about a time when robots ruled the world and humans were just myths to them and nothing more.

Twilight of the Dawn - 3/5

This is about a man named Pete Fallon who is an Atheist and he tried to raise his kid Benny without ever introducing or accepting any religious thought in the house.

This is about his struggle of being against religion…. and never succumbing and treats it like a disease….

When his son… got bone cancer… and eventually died….. he is about to realize that life has a meaning, a purpose and that there is an afterlife as well.

Chase - 4/5

This one is a novel-length story about a man named Ben Chase who was awarded a Medal of Honor when he returned after Vietnam.

But there are deeper reasons why he remained to be the way he is….until he become another-hero-of-the-day and stopped one murderer from killing a girl in the woods.. and his life began to change…

Fear Street: Super Chiller - Goodnight Kiss - R.L. Stine

OVERVIEW and SUMMARY of Fear Street: Goodnight Kiss by R.L. Stine

Category: Books

Genre: Horror

Author: R.L. Stine

It’s about two vampires named Jessica and Gabri who are both thirsty for blood - nectar as they call it. The two of them are so arrogant that they decided to have a bet and the two of them are determined to win.

It’s my first time to read a “Super Chiller” and it is indeed a chiller because the ending is not the usual ordinary Fear Street Series where everything seems to be alright.

Another fast read.

Recommended for: Teens ages 13-16.

The Eye 10 Infinity - 2005

Directed by: The Pang Brothers

Preceded by: The Eye, The Eye 2

OVERVIEW and SUMMARY of The Eye 10 Infinity

Though it has a number “10″ in it at the title.. it doesn’t mean that it has something to do with it’s chronology.

The ten there refers to the book entitled “The Ten Encounters”.

It’s a story about teenagers who visited their friend Chongkwai in Thailand. Originally those teenagers are from Hong Kong.While touring the place they passed by an accident and when they returned back to their friend’s home they decided to tell each other ghost stories. Chongkwai has a book ” the ten encounters ” which he bought and he will share a very funny story relating how he bought the book and theres also a text message about it being passed around here. The book details how to see dead people. The five were all curious about it and they wanna try all the 10 different methods.

I wont say more… since it would spoil the whole movie.

If you are looking for a “scream”, I tell you this is not the movie for you. This one is different from the other two “The Eye” movies and veryyyy funny, like when there are times when you’d think you would be scared and then a comic scene would interrupt.

Recommend: Watch with friends

One Missed Call 3 2006

Summary and Review of One Missed Call 3

Directed byTakashi Miike

Writing credits

Yasushi Akimoto (novel)

Minako Daira (screenplay)

Tagline: Death cannot be put on hold…

A class from Japan were on a graduation travel to Korea. One night most of the class were in a cabin telling horror stories and then one of them received a call. The girl who got it said it wasn’t her ringtone but it was her phone ringing so she picked it up. The voicemail message said “good-for-nothing” and it was her voice on the other line. Her friend checked her phone when she hanged up and they claimed she called herself.. and they said it was weird. She then received an MMS with a girl who was hanged.

The next day they went out to tour the city and the girl who got the first call was lost. She tried to phone someone and said “good-for-nothing” when she can’t make the call. She was shocked when she heard herself saying those words because that’s what she got last night. Go figure it out guys she was killed and ended up hanging.

After three deaths and those three all got the mysterious voicemessage and an sms that says “Death excemption by forwarding” and sometimes accompanied by a picture or a video… the whole class got freaked out. They freak when the phone rings which has one distinctive tone.

Typical Japanese horror film that would confuse you in the beginning and would leave you wondering in the end.