[Cal.]

Friday 23rd October - Orphan (2009)



Devastated by the loss of their unborn baby, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) decide to adopt a child. At the orphanage, both feel drawn to a little girl (Isabelle Fuhrman) named Esther, and soon the couple take their new daughter home. But when a dangerous series of events unfolds, Kate begins to suspect that there is something evil lurking behind the child's angelic exterior.

Reviewers: Cal, Daniel_, Daniel-X, Lostie!, LukeB, Dezzy, Dollface, Will1999, BB6.

[Amy Jade]

ORPHAN

Orphan has (at least in my mind) one of the best twists in modern horror, I can't imagine many caught on to Esther's secret. Vera Farmiga and Isabelle Fuhrman are by far the stand out performances here but we'll supported by Peter Sarsgaard and Aryana Engineer in her debut role. The only person in the film I felt that dropped the ball was terminally irritating Jimmy Bennett playing the jealous son, one scene in perticular when he shot a pigeon with a sling shot and Esther had to put it out of its misery and he acts disgusted with her when the bird's injury was his fault, to a degree this made me root for Esther.



The scenes towards the end are very creepy and shot beautifully and once Esther's full psychosis is discovered and her dark secret revealed with a wow I think the movie cranks it up just enough as to not make its big finale become cartoony. I adored the crazy UV painting scene especially!

So long as you go into Orphan with an open mind I think it is very enjoyable and well made.

8/10

[Cal.]

Thank you<3

[Daniel-X]

Night Nineteen - The Conjuring



Wow! This film is phenomenal and probably the best film released after 2010 I've watched! It was fast paced, compelling and terrifying. I reckon this film could be one I would watch over and over again in the future and for me to do that it has to be a film I am very passionate about. I throughly enjoyed this from the start and throughout.

The opening scene first of all was a brilliant choice as it grabbed the viewers attention and Annabelle the doll itself is creepy as ****. I think it was a really good device and way to make the viewers grasp what the film was about and it got me excited to see what was coming later on in the film. I must watch Annabelle in the future, if the opening scene is anything to go by. The film maintained these malevolent mishaps throughout and each one made me jump and got me more and more intrigued into the film. The dogs death, the clocks freezing, Rory in the mirror... All made me interested into what the film was about and the producers and the directors didn't once include one boring segment in the film. I think what's even more sinister about the film is the fact that the Warrens and the family who were being haunted were real people and it made me even more wary of the film.

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson both portrayed their roles as the Warrens fantastically throughout. Vera was so convincing during many of her scenes including the one where she fell to the cellar that I actually felt I was there with her feeling those exact emotions she was going through. I loved how the film was different to your typical 'haunted house' film and the induction of the Warrens made this film for me. The Warrens made this film so much more than it would've been if they'd have gone down the traditional route of just including a family being haunted. Their background was intriguing particularly Lorraine's as she seemed to be emotionally scarred from her previous experiences.

The backstory of the house was flawless and one of my favourite backstorys in a film. The deceased witch taking her revenge out on women and making them brutally murder their children was spine chilling and I think that Lili Taylor was played Carolyn was excellent at playing the 'before' and 'after' side of Carolyn after she was demonised by the figure. I think all the acting throughout the film was spectacular though especially from the two young girls.

The ending was perfect for me and also spine chilling. Lorraine and Ed's daughter seeing the witch brushing Annabelle's hair (which was foreshadowed by her own mum brushing her hair earlier on in the film) was so scary! Lorraine and Ed's relationship in the film was another point I loved their true care for one another was a lovely point in the film. Seeing Carolyn be possessed and attempt to kill her daughters was a real turning point in the film and actually really scary. Lorraine getting the demon out of her was such an empathy fuelled moment in the film and I think the ending was perfect with the music box playing.

Overall - 10/10

Scores:

The Conjuring - 10/10
The Descent - 10/10
Scream - 10/10
The Babadook - 10/10
Urban Legend - 9/10
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane - 9/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street - 9/10
Scream 2 - 9/10
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 8/10
Sinister - 8/10
House Of Wax - 8/10
The Crazies - 7/10
Scream 3 - 6/10
Scream 4 - 6/10
I Know What You Did Last Summer - 6/10
The Amityville Horror - 5/10
It Follows - 5/10
Black Christmas - 4/10
Friday the 13th - 2/10

[Cal.]

Saturday 24th October - Wolf Creek (2005)



Stranded backpackers in remote Australia fall prey to a murderous bushman who offers to fix their car, then takes them captive.

[Jason.]

Wolf Creek (2005)
9/10

I saw this fully for the first time two weeks ago and I LOVED IT!. By far one of my favourite modern horror films. It's one of those films that leave you mentally scared and it sticks with you for quite a while after watching. I was on the edge of my seat when I watched it. It does everything a horror film should do imo. I loved the characters. Mick Taylor made a brilliant villain, albeit quite a creepy one too. I also loved how the unexpected one of the three ends up being the survivor. At first, you'd think Liz would make it as she has that final girl personality about her, but she ends up getting killed first </3. Then you find out Kristy makes it to the morning alive, and she's close yet so far and you'd think she'll live but she ends up getting killed. Then you get Ben (who we all thought was dead as he was virtually non existent for the last 40 minutes) and he ends up getting away and surviving.

Another thing I love about the film is that the first half or so is pretty much centered around the main three characters (Liz, Kirsty, and Ben) and you get to know them which is brilliant character development and makes you feel really sorry and sympathetic towards them, especially when Kristy get tortured or when Liz gets killed for example. It makes you imagine yourself in that position. There are a few uncomfortable scenes which add to the overall tense and eerie atmosphere of the film. The one in particular is where Mick is trying to rape and torture Kristy whilst Liz is hiding and watching. And the other is where he kills Liz and he chops 3 of her fingers off in one swipe and then stabs her in the spine and you can hear her spine crack </3. There was this one scene where she's viewing videos from other victims and she finds out that Mick has done the same to other people in similar circumstances they were in (i.e helping them with their car and giving them drugged water) which I found really creepy yet gripping at the same time.

I also find the background of the film quite interesting. It's based/inspired on/by true events and the serial killer Ivan Milat who committed numerous murders, called the Backpacker Murders in Australia during the late 80s/early 90s.

[GLENN BILL BB7]

The second one is surprisingly better.

[Headie]

Idk where to post this but I figured the people in this thread would enjoy this film, I just finished it. It's called "Circle". Here's the premise from a Tumblr post:

I don’t know how many people are aware or who has maybe already posted about this, because I don’t frequent these tags, but I wanted to share because I loved it and figured this was the type of thriller for RTV fans



If you love Survivor or Big Brother, watch this film called ‘Circle’

Short Premise is that 50 people wake up in a dark room and every two minutes or so someone has to die through an anonymous vote. If you love either of those shows you won’t be disappointed.

It was really good, it explored a lot of different viewpoints and everything was subjective i.e. it's up to us as the viewer to decide who is villainous, who is heroic, who to root for etc. Definitely would recommend it to you all. It's more of a psychological horror than a full on 'guts and gore' type thing, but it's definitely quite eerie and worth a watch.

[LukeB]

omg that looks amazing!

[Lostie!]

I'll review Wolf Creek later, I told Cal I'm gonna struggle to keep up with watching a movie everyday but I'll contribute where I can and I've already seen Wolf Creek so no reason not to.

[Jason.]

Looking forwards to your review Lostie.

Your ones are always brilliant and well-written even if I don't agree with them.

[Headie]

Originally Posted by LukeB

omg that looks amazing!

It really was! I definitely recommend you watch it!

[LukeB]

Originally Posted by Hayden

It really was! I definitely recommend you watch it!

I will tonight, since I've watched Survivor Panama quickly

[Lostie!]

Originally Posted by Jason.

Looking forwards to your review Lostie.

Your ones are always brilliant and well-written even if I don't agree with them.

[Cal.]

Sunday 25th October - When A Stranger Calls (2006)



Far away from the site of a gruesome murder, a teenager named Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) arrives at a luxurious home for a baby-sitting job. With the children fast asleep, she settles in for what she expects to be an ordinary evening. Soon, the ringing of a phone and the frightening words of a sadistic caller turn Jill's routine experience into a night of terror.

[Daniel-X]

Welp I forgot about this today I was meant to watch Dawn Of The Dead </3

[Cal.]

Monday 26th October - The Strangers (2008)



Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are expecting a relaxing weekend at a family vacation home, but their stay turns out to be anything but peaceful. True terror strikes - in the form of three masked torturers, leaving Kristen and James struggling for survival.

[Daniel-X]

Night Twenty - Dawn Of The Dead



I'm not overly fond of zombie movies and usually think they are the weakest sub-genre of horror. However, Dawn Of The Dead pleasantly surprised me and was a lot better than I anticipated. I found it fast paced and entertaining sure it is flawed in parts but overall I definitely think it's worth a watch.

Some of the scenes do seem a little repetitive at points as there's a lot of blood and gore with numerous zombies dying but I did enjoy those scenes with the protagonists narrowly escaping death. They had great tension and made me jump. The opening scene for me is one of the strongest in the film as Anna's life in the speed of a minute changes from her being so happy to her world crumbling right in front of her. Anna of course as the lead character is the strongest of the group and I do suppose most of the characters are one dimensional (particularly the ones who ended up coming in later on in the film) but I did like the pact mentality and bond the group shared. Anna and Michael are clearly the strongest characters in the film and I loved their relationship together.

One of the films major flaws is that it doesn't really have a story behind it. All we know is that zombies are invading the earth and people are speculating it's because hell is full. We don't know why the zombies came and how they came and why they are doing what they're doing. I definitely think the producers would've been wiser coming up with a backstory to drive the film because otherwise for me I don't know it's just a little transparent.

What the film does do which most horror films don't have is that the film contains so,e absolutely heartbreaking scenes. Michael leaving himself behind at the end before shooting himself, the father being killed because he was bitten and Luda's baby being a zombie when born all really made me feel so sympathetic for the characters. It did strike a chord and make me think of what I would do in such a harrowing situation as the characters in the film were faced with, they were basically waiting to die or be killed. I think these sad scenes made the film stand out from other zombie movies.

Like I say a lot of the scenes are mainly zombies being killed with blood and gore but I really liked the last twenty minutes of the film with the protagonists escaping to another island. Again the last scene was so sad.

Overall - 8/10

Scores:

The Conjuring - 10/10
The Descent - 10/10
Scream - 10/10
The Babadook - 10/10
Urban Legend - 9/10
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane - 9/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street - 9/10
Scream 2 - 9/10
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 8/10
Sinister - 8/10
House Of Wax - 8/10
Dawn Of The Dead 8/10
The Crazies - 7/10
Scream 3 - 6/10
Scream 4 - 6/10
I Know What You Did Last Summer - 6/10
The Amityville Horror - 5/10
It Follows - 5/10
Black Christmas - 4/10
Friday the 13th - 2/10

[Will.]

Tuesday 20th October – Dawn of the Dead (2004)

7/10
Wednesday 21st October – Misery (1990)

6/10
Thursday 22nd October – Prom Night (1980)

8/10
Friday 23rd October – Orphan (2009)

7/10
Saturday 24th October – Wolf Creek (2005)

5/10

Sunday 25th October – When A Stranger Calls (2006)

7/10
Monday 26th October – The Strangers (2008)

8/10
Tuesday 27th October – Final Destination 3 (2006)

8/10

[Cal.]

Thank you guys<3

[Daniel-X]

Sorry I'm so far behind. At least I don't have to watch Wolf Creek, When A Stranger Calls, Final Destination 3 or Orphan considering I've seen them . I'll watch Misery tonight and hopefully I should be done for the 31st

[Tom4784]

Orphan

I enjoyed it and thought that the twist was pretty good. I think I enjoyed the first half of the film more so than the second as I think it lost it's way when you found out the truth about Esther as the director began to rely on cliches a bit too much.

6/10

Wolf Creek

I wasn't a fan, it was just a parade of gore and torture with little else in between. I didn't find it entertaining or scary, I just found it all to be boring and quite tasteless.

3/10

When a Stranger Calls

God this one was hard work, it wasn't scary, well acted or written. It was just a plain by the numbers thriller that's riddled with cliches. The film is on the short side of things but it still managed to drag horribly. I think this is the worst film we've watched so far.

1/10

Scores
When a Stranger Calls - 1/10
Wolf Creek - 3/10
Orphan - 6/10
Prom Night - 1/10
Misery - 10/10
Dawn of the Dead - 8/10
The Conjouring - 9/10
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane - 6/10
The Amityville Horror - 2/10
The Crazies - 7/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street - 8/10
The Babadook - 10/10
It Follows - 8/10
Sinister - 7/10
Scream 4 - 7/10
Black Christmas - 6/10
The Descent - 10/10
Scream 3 - 4/10
Urban Legend - 6/10
I Know What You Did Last Summer - 2/10
Scream 2 - 8/10
House of Wax - 5/10
Friday the 13th - 3/10
Scream - 9/10

[Lostie!]

I didn't get round to reviewing Wolf Creek yesterday and I've been out this evening and I'm tired now, I'll hopefully post tomorrow (along with The Strangers since it's a movie I really want to watch anyway).

[Cal.]

Thank you for your continued support with this guys<3

[Marsh.]

The Strangers is one of the few horrors of recent years that actually scared me.