Stage Fright

I liked that it reminded to those good old horror movies from the 90's and giving that kind of vibe. But also, the addition of the musical element wasn't bad because it made more fun. However, I still felt like they could've played more with the whole theater/play situation instead of shying away with crowd-full musicals. The deaths were good, and had some very real makeup effects, but as they prefer eased with the story, they kept getting tamer and less over the top. Overall the acting was good, and even though the story and the whole killer reveal wasn't very impressive, it still managed to involve me into the movie and just enjoy it. And finally, I liked how the ending evoked many other horror movies with the mirror scene, by giving it that sense of suspense and horror without feeling too cliché.

My opinion on this movie changed SO many times over the course of just KNOWING about it. When I saw the trailer I was excited to see a movie that was basically a throwback to the old school horror films I grew up with... with more singing of course, but a throwback nonetheless. When I finally got the chance to watch it, I was a little disappointed for AT LEAST the first quarter, but it just kept building and building (mind you I don't like musicals at all so I was a bit out of my comfort zone). By the middle of the movie I was definitely glued to my screen, and when the killer finally made his grand entrance I couldn't help but to laugh out loud - in the best way. Anyway, to sum this movie up into three words, I'd have to say: Eccentric, fun, and HILARIOUS. Oh, and keep an eye out for them paying homage to a few classic horror icons. There aren't much, but if you're a junkie like me, they'll probably make you all giddy and excited. And finally, my best piece of advice when viewing this movie that no one ever seems to take - DON'T TAKE THIS MOVIE SERIOUSLY. If you do, you're gonna have a bad time...

I can appreciate what they're trying to do here, namely, something a little different. One of the reasons I give M. Night Shyamalan more grace than most film fans is because of his willingness to take risks doing something unique. However, like several of Shyamalan's own films, this movie ends up just being a little silly, lacking heart.

Not a fan of musicals at all but this is great! I love the makeup so much, the kills, masks, beautiful women, and the cast is excellent! I saw this once a few years ago and now loving it more. I must admit the original Stage Fright is better purely cause it doesn't have singing and it's a 80's cult masterpiece. It's really cool that Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf are in this; Douglas Smith, and Allie Macdonald is so damn pretty. Very good horror for what it is.

Today, we are five decades removed from the strong emergence of the slasher film as a staple sub-genre of horror in cinema. It's fair to assume that the pool of ideas had been running thin if one considers the abundance of remakes from classic franchises which already had more than a handful of sequels under their belts. Where does this leave us and the slasher film today, in 2014? It puts us in the theater, for a musical, in Stage Fright. Combining the behind the scenes process of what it takes to put on such a production within the narrative arc of the overarching movie which is also a musical, there are some clever dance and song numbers…that's really not what I was expecting to be complimenting this movie on before I watched it, but credit must be given where credit is due. Dancing and cleverness aside, this movie shines its brightest when it's at its darkest. A Kabuki mask-wearing hair metal-singing psycho is out to spoil the show, and in doing so he may very well be giving us a new slasher icon. The brilliance of this movie is how quickly and smoothly it brings the story between hilarity and tension, sometimes even merging the two. The musical aspects of the movie are excellently done. Each character or setting has a theme, which get intermingled and blended at appropriate times. Singing was really excellent where it needed to be, and intentionally sub-par or bad when called for as well. Best of all was the contrasting punch between the cheery musical score and the 80's power-chord heavy metal screaming that beefs up all the grisly gory shreddin' fun from our killer.