terrible2

I wasn't expecting much when I sat down to watch "The Shrine". The premise looked all too familiar in a sea of excruciatingly bad horror titles. The opening scenes did little to quash my suspicions, however, I decided to stick it out and go for broke. I'm actually really glad I did.

There is very little contrived material here. The film sets up it's story and moves forward convincingly. While some of the dialog tends to border on silliness, a rather strong cast is able to deliver it in a believable fashion, which, along with the top notch cinematography, sets "The Shrine" apart from it's contemporaries. Yes, the Polish accents were brutal, as were the ceremonial robes, however the suspenseful scene direction more then makes up for it. It's one of those films, where as, you don't really care all that much about the characters, but you really dig what the film is doing with them. It's easy entertainment, and sometimes that's all it takes.

No, this is not a film that is destined for cult status or a franchise tag, but it is an enjoyable little horror film that reminds us of why we love this genre… Because it's fun.

"Fingerprints" is an all around mixed bag. Some brilliant moments of creepiness mixed with moments of complete Duh…

At its heart is a ghost story. However, someone came up with the idea to make it a slasher film as well. While the paranormal elements tend to work well, the masked killer segments do not, partially to do with the fact that the killer's costume is laughable at best.

The premise is quiet simple, if not clichéd. A small town with a big secret and tragic past. Enter a castaway to learn about, and then attempt to solve the mystery. One big problem that I had was with the flashback sequences. They seemed to really cheapen the film and story. A few flashbacks would suffice, but the movie tries to hurl them at you and make things more confusing and less entertaining.

The acting is also a mixed garden salad. Plump full of ripe tomatoes and rotten prunes. I was pulled out of several scenes because of this and found it harder to concentrate on the plot. The main characters are well portrayed, particularly Leah Pipes as "Melanie" and Andrew Lawrence as 'Mitch". During the finale and reveal, things became quite rushed (budget issues?) and I was left a bit unsatisfied. However, everything is presented to you in a nice little package, so at least you understand the story.

Not bad if you're looking for a ghost story. It may even be appealing to some slasher fans. It's a middle of the road type film, not really bad, but not really good either. I guess it all depends on what you're looking for. For me, it was half and half. So on a scale of 1 to 10, I'll give it an even 5… Right smack dab in the middle.

"Frozen" is an unlikely story to be called horror. It literally oozes suspense and unease, but horror? However, just as you start to think it's your typical disaster movie; the horror is thrown at you in large doses.

Adam Green's story of a few friends trapped on a ski lift is all of the above, and relies heavily on the "what if?" factor. Well acted and directed, with loads of breath-taking cinematography, the film pulls you in quite easily and doesn't let up until the very last frame. After reading the synopsis, I thought: "Come on, how could this be any good?" but I was dead wrong. It was fantastically mesmerizing.

Best way to describe "Frozen" would be "Open Water" meets "Alive". Its hopelessness at it's finest. You instantly identify with these characters, because chances are that know someone just like them. It's easy to care for them and their dilemma, which makes it all the more frightening.

Far better then I ever could have expected and certainly one of best of 2010.