12 reviews
The original three films had boobs & drill kills. That's what people came for and that's what they got... but not much else. All three films were made by female directors, and this one feels like women finally taking the genre back rather than just following sleazy orders.
It's not without issues. The acting isn't always great, there are some annoying weak false scares, and the killer manages to not age in the 30 years between the prologue & rest of the film. But I had fun with the twists, gore, and amusing references to the first two movies. So overall, I enjoyed.
The writing starts off corny but gets better as it goes. Characters are definitely written for the youth of today, which is obviously going to turn off some older fans who enjoyed the originals. Times change and there isn't much anyone can do about that.
If boobs are half the reason you watch slashers, or if you've ever unironically called a movie "woke trash," just don't bother.
I've seen some complaints asking who this is for. It's for female slasher fans, and male slasher fans who aren't too sensitive to have their genre critiqued & played around with.
It's not without issues. The acting isn't always great, there are some annoying weak false scares, and the killer manages to not age in the 30 years between the prologue & rest of the film. But I had fun with the twists, gore, and amusing references to the first two movies. So overall, I enjoyed.
The writing starts off corny but gets better as it goes. Characters are definitely written for the youth of today, which is obviously going to turn off some older fans who enjoyed the originals. Times change and there isn't much anyone can do about that.
If boobs are half the reason you watch slashers, or if you've ever unironically called a movie "woke trash," just don't bother.
I've seen some complaints asking who this is for. It's for female slasher fans, and male slasher fans who aren't too sensitive to have their genre critiqued & played around with.
The sets are great, and the writing, acting, special effects, and cinematography are passable. None of it was bad enough to yank me out of the narrative. The music was decent, but some metal would have made it feel more like Doom.
A few of the action beats felt weak and the very end left a little to be desired, and I'm sure the budget is to blame. It feels just as cheap as the 2006 movie, but it has more gore and faith to the source material.
Overall, I stayed entertained. I appreciated the faithfulness and I loved the Hell sequence late in the film, which I thought looked great.
Scrolling through the reviews, I'm seeing a lot of complaints about the fact that the lead character is a woman. I don't care. "Doom Guy" is a blank slate in the games and I honestly don't give a crap who fills his shoes. It's not like this scrawny little woman is pulling off absurd feats of strength. She's pulling triggers on guns.
I've seen reviews call the movie "feminist," just because the lead is a woman. Gender is NEVER brought up in the film in any way. There is no "girl power" message or equal rights agenda being pushed in your face. It's just an action movie where a small percentage of the gun-toting cast is female. I'm not insecure enough with my gender to get upset by this.
I even saw one review that only brings up one negative: the marines say "clear" a lot. Really? People are so eager to hate this movie that they start nitpicking military protocol that's in every movie with soldiers in it?
I came for demons and gore and that's what I got, with the badass Hell sequence being a cherry on top.
A few of the action beats felt weak and the very end left a little to be desired, and I'm sure the budget is to blame. It feels just as cheap as the 2006 movie, but it has more gore and faith to the source material.
Overall, I stayed entertained. I appreciated the faithfulness and I loved the Hell sequence late in the film, which I thought looked great.
Scrolling through the reviews, I'm seeing a lot of complaints about the fact that the lead character is a woman. I don't care. "Doom Guy" is a blank slate in the games and I honestly don't give a crap who fills his shoes. It's not like this scrawny little woman is pulling off absurd feats of strength. She's pulling triggers on guns.
I've seen reviews call the movie "feminist," just because the lead is a woman. Gender is NEVER brought up in the film in any way. There is no "girl power" message or equal rights agenda being pushed in your face. It's just an action movie where a small percentage of the gun-toting cast is female. I'm not insecure enough with my gender to get upset by this.
I even saw one review that only brings up one negative: the marines say "clear" a lot. Really? People are so eager to hate this movie that they start nitpicking military protocol that's in every movie with soldiers in it?
I came for demons and gore and that's what I got, with the badass Hell sequence being a cherry on top.
It's 16 years too late for most people, but this was EXACTLY what I wanted from a Blair Witch sequel.
I found it very effective and I loved the story. With the exception of the unethical marketing campaign, it has everything that made the first movie effective and then some. (Yes, I know the marketing is MOSTLY what people found effective about the first film, but that magic can never be captured again, so let it go.)
My only complaint is that there were too many false jump scares.
If you're not burnt out on found footage and you're open to the idea of a Blair Witch sequel, give it a shot.
There's not much else to say without spoilers. I just wanted to stop by and offset some of the hate.
I found it very effective and I loved the story. With the exception of the unethical marketing campaign, it has everything that made the first movie effective and then some. (Yes, I know the marketing is MOSTLY what people found effective about the first film, but that magic can never be captured again, so let it go.)
My only complaint is that there were too many false jump scares.
If you're not burnt out on found footage and you're open to the idea of a Blair Witch sequel, give it a shot.
There's not much else to say without spoilers. I just wanted to stop by and offset some of the hate.
The Cusp is a killer who repeatedly kills his victims, then brings them back to life, until they beg to die. Some psychic chick has to go into the killer's mind to find his latest victim before she is killed.
I'm a fanatic for the first film. On a scale of 1 to 10, my excitement was about a 15 when I heard this sequel was being made. When I found out it was going direct-to-video, that excitement plummeted to a 2. Looking back, I realize that even after that drop to a 2, I was way over-excited for this movie. Yes – it's THAT bad.
The plot doesn't sound too terrible. I like the idea of a killer making his victims beg for death, and doing that by actually killing them is interesting. But the delivery of this concept was painfully lame. The victims don't put very much effort into their performances at all. The first girl, who's getting her heart cut out, responds as if it's only a minor inconvenience. Seriously, I picture the director behind the camera saying, "Okay, now act like you're in mild discomfort." I also thought the killer would be using some ritual or something interesting, but instead, he's using legit medical practices. One example is suffocating his victim with a plastic bag, then performing CPR to revive her. It's just not very interesting. I'm not sure if a ritual would be much better, but what we're given is just underwhelming.
There are so many little details about this movie that are just flat-out tacky. First of all, the intro to the movie is a short clip from the first film, during which a narrator says something about how a psychic entered the mind of a killer, and "now ... there is another". This is the only time we hear the narrator's voice. It feels rushed and stupid. (It had me and my friend laughing mere seconds into the movie.) Then, during the end credits, we see aerial shots from a helicopter. Half of the shots have the chopper's shadow in view. (It seems like they spent half of their budget on renting this helicopter so they were milking it for all they could.) Then the credits stop twice to showcase brief behind-the-scenes shots. Both of these shots are boring and offer absolutely nothing interesting. There's no point in their presence what-so-ever. Any class that the picture could have had is flushed down the toilet by dumb little moments like these.
An especially tacky aspect of the script is the use of FBI vs. local cop clichés. Not only is the local cop the hero, while the FBI guy is almost a villain for doing his job, but this movie teaches me that it's okay for a cop to tightly grip an FBI agent's testicles and threaten him in order to get a point across. Apparently he won't get fired, arrested, or sued for sexual harassment. Wow. You learn something new every day.
The only connection this story has with the first movie is A.) the brief intro that simply mentions J-Lo's character, B.) the general concept of entering a killer's mind to save one of his victims, and C). the ethnicity of the main characters. It really seemed that they cast the leading lady in this sequel for her ethnic appearance, rather than acting ability. There was no reason for this. We don't care what ethnicity she is, we just want someone who can act.
The way they depict the mind in this sequel is nowhere near as stylish or visually interesting as it is in the first movie. I feel like I shouldn't rag on this aspect too much, since they were obviously on a very small budget. There is one very small visual that's slightly interesting when you see it in context, but it's delivered with horrible CGI.
There is one area in which this movie genuinely impressed me. I was blown away by this movie's ability to make the most simple moments hilarious through awful editing, camera-work, and performances. There's a part where two FBI agents are chasing after the two main characters. It doesn't sound funny, but the horrendous editing, effortless camera work, and HALF-ASSED JOGGING of the actors makes the scene side- splittingly hilarious. There's also a car-chase scene that is made incredibly funny by the awful camera-work and editing. This is honestly one of those movies that I'd show to film students as an example of what NOT to do.
Overall, the movie has one or two interesting ideas wrapped into the script, but the weak acting, lazy film-making, crappy writing, and tacky moments make this movie funny as hell, and there are no interesting visuals to save it. I find this movie just as entertaining as the first film, but only because it's so hilariously terrible.
I'm a fanatic for the first film. On a scale of 1 to 10, my excitement was about a 15 when I heard this sequel was being made. When I found out it was going direct-to-video, that excitement plummeted to a 2. Looking back, I realize that even after that drop to a 2, I was way over-excited for this movie. Yes – it's THAT bad.
The plot doesn't sound too terrible. I like the idea of a killer making his victims beg for death, and doing that by actually killing them is interesting. But the delivery of this concept was painfully lame. The victims don't put very much effort into their performances at all. The first girl, who's getting her heart cut out, responds as if it's only a minor inconvenience. Seriously, I picture the director behind the camera saying, "Okay, now act like you're in mild discomfort." I also thought the killer would be using some ritual or something interesting, but instead, he's using legit medical practices. One example is suffocating his victim with a plastic bag, then performing CPR to revive her. It's just not very interesting. I'm not sure if a ritual would be much better, but what we're given is just underwhelming.
There are so many little details about this movie that are just flat-out tacky. First of all, the intro to the movie is a short clip from the first film, during which a narrator says something about how a psychic entered the mind of a killer, and "now ... there is another". This is the only time we hear the narrator's voice. It feels rushed and stupid. (It had me and my friend laughing mere seconds into the movie.) Then, during the end credits, we see aerial shots from a helicopter. Half of the shots have the chopper's shadow in view. (It seems like they spent half of their budget on renting this helicopter so they were milking it for all they could.) Then the credits stop twice to showcase brief behind-the-scenes shots. Both of these shots are boring and offer absolutely nothing interesting. There's no point in their presence what-so-ever. Any class that the picture could have had is flushed down the toilet by dumb little moments like these.
An especially tacky aspect of the script is the use of FBI vs. local cop clichés. Not only is the local cop the hero, while the FBI guy is almost a villain for doing his job, but this movie teaches me that it's okay for a cop to tightly grip an FBI agent's testicles and threaten him in order to get a point across. Apparently he won't get fired, arrested, or sued for sexual harassment. Wow. You learn something new every day.
The only connection this story has with the first movie is A.) the brief intro that simply mentions J-Lo's character, B.) the general concept of entering a killer's mind to save one of his victims, and C). the ethnicity of the main characters. It really seemed that they cast the leading lady in this sequel for her ethnic appearance, rather than acting ability. There was no reason for this. We don't care what ethnicity she is, we just want someone who can act.
The way they depict the mind in this sequel is nowhere near as stylish or visually interesting as it is in the first movie. I feel like I shouldn't rag on this aspect too much, since they were obviously on a very small budget. There is one very small visual that's slightly interesting when you see it in context, but it's delivered with horrible CGI.
There is one area in which this movie genuinely impressed me. I was blown away by this movie's ability to make the most simple moments hilarious through awful editing, camera-work, and performances. There's a part where two FBI agents are chasing after the two main characters. It doesn't sound funny, but the horrendous editing, effortless camera work, and HALF-ASSED JOGGING of the actors makes the scene side- splittingly hilarious. There's also a car-chase scene that is made incredibly funny by the awful camera-work and editing. This is honestly one of those movies that I'd show to film students as an example of what NOT to do.
Overall, the movie has one or two interesting ideas wrapped into the script, but the weak acting, lazy film-making, crappy writing, and tacky moments make this movie funny as hell, and there are no interesting visuals to save it. I find this movie just as entertaining as the first film, but only because it's so hilariously terrible.
A town is haunted by the myth of a woman whose face has been mutilated in a very awesome looking fashion. She wears a mask over her mouth and shows up to people asking "Am I pretty?" Their answer almost always leads to their death.
I loved this movie. The story was different. I haven't seen anything too similar to it before. The story was interesting, even a bit touching at points. It never got laughable to me. The whole thing stayed pretty dark and serious. (I'm sure the horrific involvement of children in the story helped that...) The camera work was really slick. I loved the lighting and the atmosphere towards the end. It had a great pace. It moved fast, even by American standards. (This is surprising for an Asian flick.) The ghost was unique by Asian standards. (She didn't have the hair over her face, nor did her hair seem to be alive.) The woman with the sliced mouth was a very cool visual.
This has been one of my favorite Japanese horror films yet. Another big difference from most Asian films I've seen is that IT ACTUALLY MADE SENSE. Many Asian flicks like to have ambiguous endings that don't seem to have a definite meaning, so the audience can discuss their take on it. That, or the films are just made very bizarre, outlandish, and hard to follow. But this one actually made sense to me all the way through.
Most of what I've read say it's "average"... I'm sorry, but all of the really famous Asian horror flicks I've seen seemed to be very similar to each other... I'd call those "average". In my eyes, this shied away from Asian routines, (which are sadly becoming American ones now...).
I highly recommend this to any supernatural horror fan. I thought it was a great little ghost flick with a good story and some awesome eye-candy.
I loved this movie. The story was different. I haven't seen anything too similar to it before. The story was interesting, even a bit touching at points. It never got laughable to me. The whole thing stayed pretty dark and serious. (I'm sure the horrific involvement of children in the story helped that...) The camera work was really slick. I loved the lighting and the atmosphere towards the end. It had a great pace. It moved fast, even by American standards. (This is surprising for an Asian flick.) The ghost was unique by Asian standards. (She didn't have the hair over her face, nor did her hair seem to be alive.) The woman with the sliced mouth was a very cool visual.
This has been one of my favorite Japanese horror films yet. Another big difference from most Asian films I've seen is that IT ACTUALLY MADE SENSE. Many Asian flicks like to have ambiguous endings that don't seem to have a definite meaning, so the audience can discuss their take on it. That, or the films are just made very bizarre, outlandish, and hard to follow. But this one actually made sense to me all the way through.
Most of what I've read say it's "average"... I'm sorry, but all of the really famous Asian horror flicks I've seen seemed to be very similar to each other... I'd call those "average". In my eyes, this shied away from Asian routines, (which are sadly becoming American ones now...).
I highly recommend this to any supernatural horror fan. I thought it was a great little ghost flick with a good story and some awesome eye-candy.
My friend and I love to rent awful, gruesome, horror films, then sit and make fun of how bad they are (while enjoying the gore). So far, this film has been the most enjoyable for us. The little gnome dudes are funny themselves
and watching them kill is hilarious
Then the characters are so lame and the concept of the gnome's origin is kind of goofy too. There is some gore and some nice images in here, but the concept, acting, and characters just make this film incredibly cheesy
I mean really, how many movies feature a doctor who looks at a corpse that was mangled in a boat's propeller and says "Hm
I'd have to say death by severe mutilation."
WE WERE IN TEARS AT THAT LINE. That was the funniest thing we'd ever heard! Now, whenever somebody gets diced up pretty bad in a film, we have to make reference to it by quoting that line.
I gave this movie a 5 out of 10 because it really is awful but I found it incredibly entertaining in a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" kind of way.
(And if you're having trouble finding it, the DVD was released under the title "Hemoglobin".)
I gave this movie a 5 out of 10 because it really is awful but I found it incredibly entertaining in a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" kind of way.
(And if you're having trouble finding it, the DVD was released under the title "Hemoglobin".)