Review : The Wolfman (2010)

Poster

An American man comes back to Britain after hearing of his brothers death and decides to find out the reason behind his death. And what he gets is a curse which will destroy his life....


Another horror set in England. But this time its the old age England with the sprawling mansions, the taverns, the gypsies and the undeveloped mental asylums and the horse carriages. This period drama/horror has been shot very well. The atmosphere has been recreated beautifully and the virgin forests and hovering clouds and the haunting full moon create a very tense atmosphere. Although it never reaches the climax of terror I felt it would, but the werewolf scenes are downright scary. Plus the transformation are brilliant. Though Werewolves didint cheer me that much. But this well directed, shot and acted little horror set in England can give a couple of chills during a windy night. And the period setting just accentuates the terror. Nice!!


Director Joe Johnston(Jumanji, Jurassic Park 3, Captain America) is no stranger to horror and terror. He has given some great terror inducing movies so he certainly knows how to scare his audience. And this time he does so with a more mainstream subject in horror studies: Werewolf. Though he has never directed an out and out horror,this looks and feels good. Atleast its much more scary than Jurassic Park 3. The scenes in mental asylum and the creepy forests add to the scary quotient. And a couple of jump scares set you in the mood. But when it comes to Werewolf movies this is not as fearsome. But the retro setting gives it a much more sinister outlook and that sucked me in completely. And for that I've got to thank the Screenwriters Andrew Walker(8MM,Se7en) and David Self(Road To Perdition, The Haunting) who are luckily into more horror than the director. So a great collaboration which results in a nice little horror which may send some shivers down your spine. But enjoyment is guaranteed. Very good!!

Scary !!!

 
  Acting department is talented to say the least. Anthony Hopkins(John Talbot), Emily Blunt(Gwen), Benicio Del Toro(Lawrence) just show their prowess and make this movie more entertaining and scary than it could have been. Anthony as the evil patriarch and Benicio as the son who is part of an unfortunate family legacy just suck you in with their electrifying performance whenever they share screen space. As also the gorgeous Emily Blunt. She looks ethereal in those flowering English dresses and its not till the end does she gets the chance to become an important part of the story. And the supporting actors too pull their weight. So all in all nothing to complain about in the acting department. Well done!!

Damsel In Distress

Cinematography by Shelly Johnson(Jurassic Park 3) is brilliant. As is the production. The set decorations and the good camera work combine to give us a great English anbience which makes the ensuing ride more creepy and interesting. With some nice editing and music this movie rises above some usual monster movie. 



HighTension Verdict: If you like retro werewolf movies with minimal action,than this is for you. Not anything new but enough going for it to enjoy on a Saturday night. Go watch and get scared out. Or atleast be entertained.



HighTension Meter: 7.5/10


Best QUOTE:

Gwen Conliffe: It is said there is no sin in killing a beast, only in killing a man. But where does one begin and the other end. 

Review : Morlocks (2011)

Via clubdesmontres.com

SYfy presents this monster movie inspired by creatures from the H.G.Wells novel The Time Machine- Morlock. As a time travel portal opens the creatures enter our world to wreak havoc. And how a team is sent to contain the situation are shocked by a revelation and how they survive and die of course, forms the rest of the story.



This movie was made for TV and when you consider this fact its shortcomings will look like its positive points. The creature effects are awesome. The time travel and the sci fi used in the movie is pretty kickass. We associate low budget filmmaking with corny and lousy stuff. But this will make you think. Indie filmmaking has improved a lot. And they have proved certainly that less budget can be overcome if you have a creative mind. And this boasts of some excellent action sequences and special effects. Which I hadn,t expected. So well done SYFY and team.


The director Matt Codd does everything he can to make this as scary a ride as possible. With less budget he gets to be more creative. And he does it with many horror cliches thrown in. Even Jurassic Park references were made. So the writer and director borrow a concept from H G Wells and many other horror movies and turn into a TV movie which maybe has very low scores on IMDb cos of all the cliches littered in it. But people creativity can only overcome only so much hurdles. Treat it as a TV movie and you'll see its better than you thought. And they have their own spin on the story. So its pretty enjoyable.

Via timemachine.wikia.com

      On the acting front Christina Cole(Angela) and David Hewelett(Radnor) and Marem Hassler(Vera Cortez) shine. And thats the good thing about it. Women are not just in the background cheering the males on or crying hoarse to save them. But are active and equal participants in whats going on. Other than these three, hold their own but aren't as good. And this movie has been acted out beautifully. And If not for IMDb i wouldn't have known it was a TV only movie. Great job guys.


Cinematography in one word is brilliant. They have done everything in their power to make this look as good as they can and come out trumps. The barren future landscape looks creepy. And the underground too. Editing is decent. 


HighTension Verdict: As a TV movie this excels. SYFY has done a wonderful job. But writing could have been better. Some cliches could have been done away with. And thats the only part which sticks out like a sore thumb in this nice horror movie. Atleast for me. And i'll love it if people appreciate the fact what these guys have done instead of panning them. 

HighTension Meter: 6/10.

Best QUOTE: Radnor: Let me see if I got this straight: You want me to travel through a rip in time, find and repair a device that you lost and broke, all the while trying to avoid rampaging creatures from the future. That about sum it up?

                                                        A CLIP FROM THE MOVIE

Love to hear your thoughts. Thank you for reading......