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The Horde (2016)
Better than I expected!
After reading the reviews here, I was hesitant to watch this movie. I love slasher movies like Friday the 13th and those kinds of things but some people here really just trashed it.
No, there was not great character development in the entirety of the ~88 minutes this movie ran for. But then again I tuned in for a horror / action movie not to watch The Piano. I didn't want nor expect drama. I wanted kicking and punching and buckets of blood and that's exactly what I got!
Setting your expectation when you go in is important.
The action was fun, and a good kind of fist fighting that I like. Paul Logan and Matt Willig are both pretty rough and tumble in this movie and for a low budget movie the stunts are really cool.
I heard on the radio during an interview with Paul Logan, Matt Willig, and Costas Mandylor that Paul payed homage to his dad in the movie in several places and when I watched it I noticed and it was really cool he did that. That was worth an entire star by itself for me.
The Horde is a GOOD horror and action movie. I really enjoyed it because I knew exactly what to expect and exactly what not to. Being this is Paul Logan's first script I'll give him a break on the cheesy lines here and there, but even when they were a bit cheesy Costas Mandylor, Matt Willig and crew delivered well. In particular I liked the Cylus character Costas played. Total bad guy and I loved it. Would have liked to see more of Costas on screen.
Overall, I liked the movie. Don't be too turned off by the negative reviews and I'm glad I didn't let them influence me too heavily. Just realize this is a low budget horror movie and enjoy the heck out of your few bucks!
There are certain kinds of folks that write reviews for these indie films, and they fall into just a few categories.
A. People who love movies! (that's me!)
B. People who trash on other people's work because they are jealous (Trolls, boo!)
C. People who think they are critics like some people think they are foodies (delusional!)
D. People who generally just want to spread an honest word about a movie they saw (Good folk)
Figure out which is which and you'll know which reviews to place stock in.
Restoration (2016)
Nice thriller that I enjoyed more than I had thought I would
Some one usually has to convince me to watch these kind of movies and most are stinkers. Happily I can report that this wasn't at all what happened with Restoration.
I heard about the movie from a Zack Ward interview on the radio out in California and decided to give it a watch. Zack was a riot so I was just too curious to pass it up.
Filmed on Red, the scenes were clear, clean and easy to follow. Lighting was appropriate and there was no detracting from the film because of bad cinematography like there are in some independent movies.
There were a couple of areas that got my heart going, or almost stopped it while I was engrossed in the story line.
The story is about a couple who find a child's diary stuffed in a teddy bear in the walls of the home they are doing a restoration on. As they begin to read the diary, they learn some things about the child and her life that lead them to investigate more.
No spoilers from me here! I will add that the other actors in the movie did good jobs with the parts given them, although I didn't quite buy off on Zack Ward's character's wife. Zack played the neighbor Harold, and his wife Francine is played by Sarah Ann Shultz. They didn't come off as husband and wife very well, and I didn't figure out until late into the movie exactly why that was. You'll have to see for yourself what I mean.
I would recommend this movie as a great video-on-demand play that you can sit down and watch in and hour and a half and enjoy it.
Flipped (2015)
Different than I expected
I didn't expect this movie to really be so introspective. It was a pleasant surprise. I kind of expected a mini thriller/horror flick and this wasn't that. It has its aspects of thriller but really makes you think about who you date and the reasons you are dating them.
Not sure how the actors got through it really hanging by a harness the entire time upside down. Was really well thought out and something I would watch again just for the story.
Great for an independent film. I had gone in to it not hoping for too much knowing this was a low budget shoot, but it ended up being better than a lot of other movies I have seen lately.
The biggest surprise for me is exactly how well it was directed. You can have a great story with great actors that can punch out lines, but I felt the director in this movie did a really good job. I am not familiar with Harris Demel but I will keep him in mind next time I see his name pop up.
The Historian (2014)
Great movie and thought provoking
Heard a Miles Doleac interview on a radio show in CA and I finally got a chance to watch this great movie! I was really surprised how engaging it was and how the characters were thoroughly developed.
The antagonist and provocateur in the movie played by William Sadler is played as more of a confused soul than as a bad guy. This actually makes the entire story more believable. Sadler did an excellent job expressing the pain and emotion that his character, Valerian Hadley, is going through. Sadler is certainly under-rated as an actor and in this movie we finally get to see him do some serious work.
Miles Doleac writes and directs the movie as well as taking on the role of Professor Ben Rhodes. Being this is his first foray into writing and directing he does an impressive job. The story itself probably follows pieces of real life which is what makes the characters compelling. These could all be people we know and Doleac brings the depth, baggage and complexities to the screen in such a way that we can understand each of the characters.
My only knock would be that I think the Stacey Castillo character played by Leticia Jimenez doesn't get enough development. At 2-hours I am not sure there was enough time to get too deep into her character.
I really liked the movie. It is pretty serious and may not be the movie for you if you like a more lighthearted cinema. The dialog is more realistic than a lot of movies I've seen. How many of us really don't have prosaic speech in our day to day lives? I think a lot of independent projects like this go out of their way to be poetic and I don't think Doleac makes that attempt at all. He tells a story in a way that works for me.