Reviews

Okay, where to start.

Heather gets some inheritance in the form of her newly found relatives, the inheritance is the family home (a new one?) and unknown to her, her fruitcake cousin (chainsaw link here). Proceed to kill all the cast one by one in variety of ways, add a mix of slaughterhouse and you get the picture.

BUT...

There's a Twist. A kind of sub plot about her family being murdered in cold blood, and a town that hates the Sawyer family. Who are the good guys and can she protect the Sawyer bloodline?

This film is not as bad as the reviews here are giving out. I quite liked it in a way and the new twist works rather well. There are some pretty decent shocks and the way they have used original footage is inspired it really lends to the tale. It also nice to allow us to see that the family did integrate to some degree with the townsfolk which gives them an air of normal, which only adds to creepiness. I liked it.

The problems come when using the cliché set pieces and the factual errors such as the leads age - if the family were murdered in 1974 and she escapes, by today she would be 38 - yet she looks 23 and so do all her friends -in fact one is a college student?? Leatherface, he must be OAP by now! The newspaper has a date of the 19/8 and yet the murders occurred on the 19/8 - in fact the night of the 19th. The Sawyer family home was burnt to the ground and her mother some how over the next 24_38 years (*see above point, age is fluid in this film) manages to amass a huge fortune so big she owns a mansions and "load of other assets" as quoted by Solicitor old guy! The rest is pretty murder by numbers, people checking things out on their own when they know the murderer has killed 3 people already. The cars that break down at just the wrong point, and chainsaws that seemingly never get blunt even cutting concrete and metal! Watch it, enjoy it, overlook its flaws and don't expect a masterpiece. Solid 6/10 for me

I really liked this film and there has not been much like for a while that can truly scare, it's not what you can see it's what you think and hear, this has that in spades.

TV crew make films on haunted buildings investigating ghostly occurrences, up until now largely fake with the reporters generally faking it up to add effect (the medium who can sense things, the operator with various tools to sense ghosts etc) - next building on the list is the Collingwood asylum...

Trouble is this one is real and once inside they cannot leave, what follows is an edge of the seat hour as they try to escape the building but finding each corner only presents another corridor and more shocks. Filmed using their handycams you get the found footage kind of look but since they are recording for their show I guess it does not really qualify as that (Answers on a postcard as to how the footage get's found in 1st place in order for us to watch?? ) we watch it in real time as it happens to them. You really get the feeling of being trapped and the Vicious bros have done a quality job in that respect and the shocks come pretty quickly - sure, some you know are coming but others are more subtle (make sure you check out the photographs that can see ghosts but only once developed, it's like being in on the secret before they are, inspired idea!)

There are many that will rubbish this film saying it is a Blair witch clone and I guess they might be right but I mean, is that a bad thing? it's different enough to be fresh and it's a neat tight idea, done well. Trust me, if your not frightened by this film you are devoid of emotion - the sense of loneliness is just epic as is the despair at the situation presented.

If you looking for gore and blood you won't find it here but if you want intelligent scares this is the one.

7/10 for a great film...

Tragic. Acting is wooden, Scenery is lame. honestly this is bad, okay it might follow the comic book and probably does a fair replica but honestly it is so contrived. Everything works out just the way they want, by accident they end up in just the right building, dealing with just the right crime I turned it off 30 mins - there is some lame plot about a gang in a tower block, something to do with a drug called 'Slo - mo' - personally I think they only added that in so they could shoe horn in some bullet time scenes...

Lame film, sorry fan boys it might float your boat but it did nothing but sink mine...

Only for the fans.

Bunch of people out in the woods (yes, really) on a camping trip, pick up cougar with no gas for her car, give her a lift and she puts them into a house where the owners want to extract dopamine's for some new drug (you never really find out). How? by torturing themselves and each other.

The end.

Yes, it really is a bad as it sounds, I really wanted to like this I did, but there are so many holes it hurts - the video tells them it needs X by doing X to each other. Amazingly they work out it is for a wonder drug that can only be extracted from chemicals produced by fear. cue plot, cue film. The idea is solid. It is the acting out and the acting itself which is bad, so many things are left out. If dopamine's are needed for the wonder drug, why not force feed prisoners with methamphetamines to produce more dopamines and then extract them? Why is that drug more sought after or valuable than say anything else? Can fear not be produced without them running around in a house with a variety of tools? Where did the other group come from? how come Tanya goes from tame to wildcat and back.... None of it makes sense. They quickly determine that there is no way to get out since the doors are blocked by metal sheets but in one scene you can clearly see timber panels and trust me they use hammers. The ending is just plain odd.

It could have been so good, but the solid idea is ruined in haste. The scenes of gore are good enough and not over used but the acting is just bad, bad and bad and tbh by the end I had no real idea what had happened. I come away with more questions than answers and not in a good way. As example the end character gets poisoned but just happens to pick the pills which are the cure from a load on the counter, amazing right!

Sorry. I wanted to like it. I overlooked some things but in the end you can't call a turd a diamond. In this instance Indie does not mean good. 4/10 and only just....

To review this film you need, no..., it depends on where you start - This is a remake of the film of the same name 'Pusher' in 1996. I have seen both now and I can say I did not enjoy this version nearly as much. It has lost some of the grittiness found in the original, in Copenhagen things felt so much worse even the police seemed a little more hardcore, you will probably laugh out loud at the bad cop in this! Does that ever happen in the UK? The set locations just feel a little 'staged' and maybe contrived I am not even sure where he was based, London? The lead did a fair job and 'Milo' (who played the original 'Milo' in the 1996 version)did a classic retake of it, inspired - In my view Oscar winning. Supporting cast less so.

I did find the characters are not as fleshed out as much in this version and that did not help, you learn more in 1996 which adds to his problems and worries - I notice that they have changed some critical scenes as well - and while I would not disagree to their inclusion, they change the tone and flow a little compared to the original telling switching it to something a little deeper and in some cases complete bemusement - does it work, not for me really.

His partner though now seems a little crazy and it seems too unlikely a friendship for it to be real - whereas in the original that friendship never really came across as that but more of a forced together kind of bond; Bound by criminal acts rather than friendship (Later sequels better explain their partnership). Don't get me started on the £3,000 scene!

Having read this review(if many do?) I can see you asking yourself "this guy constantly compares to the original" - and that's the thing. This is an unashamed remake and they have taken that tag and ran with it - I end up reviewing more as to how close to the original they go and not whether I liked it as a standalone film! The problem is that a remake has to be better than the original otherwise what's the point?! ...this is not better than the original. You just never quite believe it. Go and see the original it's a better film.

As a standalone and assuming the viewer has not seen or heard of the original I think it just about stands up - 6/10 for me. A good try but it had stiff competition.

Don't forget that the original has 2 further films which loosely follow each other, by watching those you get the story first - there is going to be a remake of 2 and 3 next, I can just feel it!!

Edit - after having slept on it, my review changed to a 5 - Why, this adds nothing and simply remakes by numbers. Is it bad, No - the original was not so it had a blueprint. Is it good, No not brilliant since it misses (almost) everything that made the original good. Worth a watch.

For those old enough this is kind of a Scum remake (just not quite as good), our lead loses his girlfriend after she miscarries their baby and he wants revenge on the criminals who (possibly) caused it... How does he do that? Gets banged up so he can beat them up.

Our lead is then banged up and so begins his quest to avenge his girlfriend, tackling the bad guys one by one without them knowing who or what is doing. Thrown in the bent guard who enjoys partying with the bad guys and you get the picture. It's him against the world. His story is told through a series of flashback and dreams and other than that you never really get to know him...

Yes, it sounds dodgy but give it time and it is actually quite good, the lead plays the part well - you can never really work him out as to whether he is a crazy or just really angry and on the edge. The supporting cast are a little weaker, not bad just weaker.

There are also scenes where truth and realism take a back seat - like the 2 ZX10 bikes they have, how did they obtain 2 bikes in the same colour in the same place at the same time during the riots all with matching helmets!? - and better yet they can ride them like demons! Then after the attack on the shop they nick another car (BMW this time) and drive to the shop for reasons we never find out, only to encounter the police investigating the crime - really, what a surprise!!! Would any aspiring criminal (been doing since he been Sh**ting rusks, apparently) do that? I doubt it. I could not help feeling that the burglary got shoehorned in at the last minute to beef up the menace of the gangsters...

Overlook these small flaws and give it a chance and it's a pretty good film. I doubt it will win awards or Oscars and we probably will never consider it a classic BUT it does draw you in, you do care about the lead and if we rated films on how believable they are (aside the small errors) then this film would do better than most blockbusters.

6/10 for me, only just though...

To sum up, give it a chance and you might be surprised!! I have a feeling we might be seeing more of the lead in the future.

So, you think you can handle sick films? You have watched Hostel and you think you have seen it all!? No Chance.

This film is undoubtedly pretty gory, very sick and almost always twisted but then that's want they wanted... They succeeded.

I have seen some of the most violent films the world has to offer, Inside, Haute tension, Martyrs, even A Serbian film (which was pretty bad!) but they had a story, a plot and a point - but this has none. It tells no real story and honestly i think it was made only to shock... I just cannot see the point. The camera work is dire, the lighting is poor and the script, well, not sure there was one - it's not even that convincing.

Watch it, so you can say you have. Then never watch or speak of it again. 2/10 and it only got that due to the shocking level the makers were prepared to go to...

Films like this have no place. Anywhere. Ever.

I am a small but avid fan of French horror films, seemingly well known for upping the ante, Inside does this side of things well...BUT we have some problems...

The plot is fairly unique, if not a little bland - pregnant lady trapped in house with evil attacker trying to get to her but this is where it ends, the lady in question wants her baby and she wants it badly, Dead you assume. There is a ton of violence & gore and to be fair it plays out pretty well with spooky lighting/sounds etc - I liked this film i really did but there are just too many questions and oversights to make it a high number review, i will list a few

1. Why does Sarah not try to escape via a window, even shouting might have helped her? 2. XMAS/Winter - no snow, and everything is a lush green? 3. Random coppers with prisoners in tow, huh? 4. Zombie coppers??? Yeah, i know 5. Phones - do french people only use mobiles?And do they all shove mobiles in bedside draws? They must as theattacker found it damn quick!

Watch it if you liked Martyrs, Haute Tension even Hostel (which is far less stylish) - avoid if you don't like gore/blood and if your expecting - avoid.

I gave it a 6 which is a shame, since had the oversights/plot holes been far less would have easily been a 8, poss even a 9.

One thing is for sure i won't ever forget this film and in the end, surely that is what every film aspires too?

I quite liked this, it had a dark feel to it which reminded me of other films in this kind of genre. The problem i had was that the characters did not just fit - is this guy a footy hooligan, loving boyfriend or loathsome fraudster. Yes, i guess you could say all 3 but honestly...? i don't think they pulled it off, same applies for his 'supervisor' - really?

When the gang lord (Guvnor, boss, top man we are told)gives him a gun he does not blink, but later he moans he has never needed a gun nor used one and it frightened him - seemed quick enough to slid it in the back of his trousers first time though without a hitch or thought (surely anyone who has never held a gun would say remark how heavy they are??)

Aspects of the film were very clichéd particularly the dialogue, do gangsters really speak to each like that, i have no idea, but it must get boring quick if they do...

Overall, worth a watch but don't expect Snatch or something as this is not that, it stands up well but ultimately heads into well travelled land.

The footy film is a weak link at best, it defo plays second fiddle to the credit card fraud. Maybe the title needs a change? I could barely see the link (again characters did not fit for me)

6/10 for me.

Bill is back and he wants to go straight, and connect back to his kids who don't like him much - can he go straight when the world wants to bring him back down?

It is a good film, i liked it but i found myself shouting at the TV on occasion - too many things are introduced but never fleshed out enough and in some cases forgotten about. The massive block of coke they get? What about the bag of drugs they give the lead - what happens to them? The copper(Dear Sean)with his foreboding warning, the massive drug king pin? the lead roles back history; what had he done to a)the drug king pin and b) the drug dealers brother?? You are left to assume but never find out...

Rant over.

Overall the film is a good one but in parts i felt like i was watching a comedy; particularly the pub fight scene - Dicky? Hard? Pepper spray and a blade? He runs off first chance he gets, lol. They all do. The landlord hides in the cellar and his wife(poss Daughter) moans that she 'only just hoovered'. Does that sound serious? not sure it adds to the overall feeling for the scene...

I'm ranting again. Argh.

Despite the above - i would watch it again, the story was good and Dexter has an eye for direction, the cast did themselves proud (although the drug kingpin was a bit lame with his Maccy D's coffee). There is a beautiful scene with a paper aeroplane, rarely have i seen a scene that sums a moment up so well, a real gem for that scene alone.

Enjoy it, but expect to be a little bit confused, if not a little annoyed in parts. 7/10 for me.