Amizade Maldita

I will watch pretty much any horror movie that looks halfway decent, and I have to say, this one did scare me a few times. Yes, there were some silly jump scares, but there were also some Really effective ones, and some parts literally freaking me out, and that very rarely happens. Honestly I can't remember the last time I even got a little bit scared at horror movie, so that's gotta say something right?! Some of the scares were really affective, others not as much, but I thought this one was really pretty damn entertaining. The actors are really good too, especially the mother. I'm not saying it's anything super original, but if you're watching this in one alone in the dark around midnight, you're bound to get a more than a little freaked out in parts, which is what you want in a horror movie right? I guess my point is that I was pleasantly surprised considering the amount of crap that gets put out these days, especially in the Horror genre. This year in particular they have been consistently pretty terrible, so when you find a decent one it makes you want to praise it for actually having some sort of affect on you. It may not be one that will Leave a lasting impression, but I doubt you will be disappointed. For a unheard of movie, with no PR, or word of mouth, it was nice to find it amongst the recent barrage of trash that passes for horror movies these days. Just sit back and enjoy it.

If you're going to go up against The Babadook you'd better make sure every aspect about the film is better and this film falls significantly short in every department.

That's not to say it's a bad film, it's just not as good as it could be. The difference between Z and The Babadook is that throughout the Australian horror we are constantly wondering wether the monster is real, but in Z we are pretty much dealt the full on monster creep early on so the sense of mystery and threat is diluted throughout the rest of the movie.

Story aside what really let this down was the poor quality of the special effects. The house fire in particular was laughably bad. The protracted final confrontation with the beast was a bit long winded and I kind of lost interest.

Not unwatchable but not as good as it could have been. If you haven't seen The Babadook definitely watch it after this.

This concept, at its core, is not the most original, revolutionary thing you have ever seen. However, the way it developed in the third act did feel quite fresh and interesting. Unfortunately I feel as though they cut it off a bit prematurely, just before they could have done something really cool with it.

This movies biggest flaw was its script. It really did the movie as a whole some detrimental disservices. It felt very cliche and underdeveloped and left the actors little to work with. A particularly positive aspect of this movie was its scares. You will likely never see me say this again because I normally hateee this, but the jump scares were quite good in this. They didn't feel cheep and were timed and placed with purpose and finesse.

Although overall this lacked a bit of originality, regardless it still had an interesting twist on a storyline that was maybe a bit familiar... feeling a little similar to Come Play and Babadook. Would recommend.

Good suspence at the beginning However it faded further into the movie It could have been better however I've seen worse

"Z" is a not half bad little horror flick from Canada.

The best way I can describe it is a "Drop Dead Fred" 1991 "Boogeyman" 2005 mash up. Or put another way, the imaginary friend from hell.

Much of what takes place, at first feels psychological but that notion is soon dismissed, as things take a very real turn for the worse.

The atmosphere established in one rooted in family with a child like quality that soon darkens. Family harmony is transformed into violence, menace, terror and a hint of madness. its handled well with solid production values backed by decent acting.

There are at least two scare opportunities, I noted, that could have been developed a little further had extra time been taken to consider what makes horror "tick".

That said, I feel there's a lot more to like here than not. Its creative, subtle and eerily spooky. No small thing in a film world filled with beige knock offs, of knock off's.

7/10 from me.