gabriel_sanchez
Joined Jul 2015
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gabriel_sanchez's rating
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gabriel_sanchez's rating
I'm a sucker for anything King's, truth be told. I see his name plastered, or digitalized, on any media and I get immediately hooked into the thing.
I'm not saying everything he does is great, but I'm yet to see something bad. He ranges from average to masterpiece but never below. That is to say to his written stories, that is. Movie adaptations of his work definitely range in the full spectrum.
Where does Secret Window fall into? The original story came to be during 90's King, where he liked to use anagrams and phonetic ambiguity in his works, where his stories always had a chiller vibe to it. Secret Window adapts the short story Secret Window, Secret Garden by Stephen King, though twisting the plot to its own needs, trying to end in a much darker tone.
For the most part, it works, but this movie struggles a bit.
Johnny Depp is too humorous for horror thrillers. It lacks effectiveness, he always have his boozy-driven, playful vibe that is hard to dismiss. Feels like every scene he is in is comedic relief, and for a movie trying to be serious, Depp is not the right actor here.
The change from the original source is welcome but a bit too stretchy. I believe the original ending from King would have had a much darker effect than the super in-the-face ending of this adaptation. Too flashy to ignore.
Secret Window, for what it is, is solid, yes. Look at it as a standalone, and you have yourself an interesting piece of horror thriller. It is weak to today standards, but, for the time, it was mostly effective. It is entertaining, I will give it that, and it is thrilling, but it just lacks charm.
I'm not saying everything he does is great, but I'm yet to see something bad. He ranges from average to masterpiece but never below. That is to say to his written stories, that is. Movie adaptations of his work definitely range in the full spectrum.
Where does Secret Window fall into? The original story came to be during 90's King, where he liked to use anagrams and phonetic ambiguity in his works, where his stories always had a chiller vibe to it. Secret Window adapts the short story Secret Window, Secret Garden by Stephen King, though twisting the plot to its own needs, trying to end in a much darker tone.
For the most part, it works, but this movie struggles a bit.
Johnny Depp is too humorous for horror thrillers. It lacks effectiveness, he always have his boozy-driven, playful vibe that is hard to dismiss. Feels like every scene he is in is comedic relief, and for a movie trying to be serious, Depp is not the right actor here.
The change from the original source is welcome but a bit too stretchy. I believe the original ending from King would have had a much darker effect than the super in-the-face ending of this adaptation. Too flashy to ignore.
Secret Window, for what it is, is solid, yes. Look at it as a standalone, and you have yourself an interesting piece of horror thriller. It is weak to today standards, but, for the time, it was mostly effective. It is entertaining, I will give it that, and it is thrilling, but it just lacks charm.
Come blind, fellow pilgrim, and pay no attention that Until Dawn's Director, David Sandberg, is also the director of both Shazam movies, and maybe you might find joy into a refreshing take in video-game-driven horror. Until Dawn delivers and this review tells you why.
For fans of the game, slight disappointment: the story uses the main premise of the game, but builds itself in a whole new standalone story. A story that works, though, entertaining and clever enough - enough.
The story follows group Clover, Max, Nina, Megan, and Abe retracting the steps of Clover's missing sister, Melanie, in an attempt to understand what happened to her. Their investigation leads them to Glore Valley, where sh** hits the fan quickly.
The plot is entertaining and even funny at times, darkly humorous. The whole concept about drinking water is so funny, especially the scene with Max. I laughed hard there.
Perfection is far away, though. The story lacks better development, 1h43 not enough to make justice to the overcomplicated mess the group got themselves into. In the end, though open, you feel a bit cheated that lots left unexplained.
Nonetheless, Until Dawn is a nice take on horror derived from video-games. Far better than the horrendous deviation that is the Jovovich's Resident Evil franchise. I hope they create a worthy sequel.
For fans of the game, slight disappointment: the story uses the main premise of the game, but builds itself in a whole new standalone story. A story that works, though, entertaining and clever enough - enough.
The story follows group Clover, Max, Nina, Megan, and Abe retracting the steps of Clover's missing sister, Melanie, in an attempt to understand what happened to her. Their investigation leads them to Glore Valley, where sh** hits the fan quickly.
The plot is entertaining and even funny at times, darkly humorous. The whole concept about drinking water is so funny, especially the scene with Max. I laughed hard there.
Perfection is far away, though. The story lacks better development, 1h43 not enough to make justice to the overcomplicated mess the group got themselves into. In the end, though open, you feel a bit cheated that lots left unexplained.
Nonetheless, Until Dawn is a nice take on horror derived from video-games. Far better than the horrendous deviation that is the Jovovich's Resident Evil franchise. I hope they create a worthy sequel.
Presence takes a concept that is refreshing, though not new, and tries to make it work by using clever cinematography, under direction from Steven Soderbergh, who is consolidated by bangers like Traffic and the Ocean's Eleven franchise. From the eyes of the so-called presence, we witness the haunting of a family whose recently moved to the presence's house, the escalade of events leading to ultimate damnation. It is eerie and unnevering, and sort of works for the most part.
Plot-wise, it's a bit cheaty. Presence relies on a single piece of information dumped on one mid-point scene, that trying to explain all of the events leading to climax and ultimate revelation. It is alright for what it is, but you might just get a headache trying to wrap your head around what you just saw if you don't pay attention.
The cinematography is on point to create a eerie and ethereal atmosphere that is effective, but Presence is not scary. I read reports of people leaving theaters due to anxiety and stress, but that is too much. For hardcore horror fans, Presence is average on scariness factor.
Overall, a different film that works for what it is. The story is well-written and well-presented and even beautiful as a whole.
Plot-wise, it's a bit cheaty. Presence relies on a single piece of information dumped on one mid-point scene, that trying to explain all of the events leading to climax and ultimate revelation. It is alright for what it is, but you might just get a headache trying to wrap your head around what you just saw if you don't pay attention.
The cinematography is on point to create a eerie and ethereal atmosphere that is effective, but Presence is not scary. I read reports of people leaving theaters due to anxiety and stress, but that is too much. For hardcore horror fans, Presence is average on scariness factor.
Overall, a different film that works for what it is. The story is well-written and well-presented and even beautiful as a whole.