The Purge Anarchy (2014): Ratings – Genre 3.5/5, Overall 2/5

For being a movie based on an utterly dismissible theory it’s something to ponder upon how this is actually pulled off. To be honest thought how dum it sounds I was hanging on to it and wanted to witness it till the end and even at the end it made some sense and it’s crazy. Maybe I should be purged!! And I must say that I have not seeing the predecessor of The Purge Anarchy there for I have no way of comparing it with this one. But strangely bit familiar in the same lines of The Hunger Games, this one does a decent job being more realistic and close to home.

In not so distant future the US government has found a mechanism to keep its population and crime rate in control. The annual purge that last a 12 hour period let the civilians to let out their rage and cleans themselves. And in this period all crimes including murder is accepted by low. The story of a former low enforcement agent looking for revenge from previous years purge and few civilians who he happen to tag alone and their combined effort of surviving through the purge night is what The Purge Anarchy is all about.

Like I mentioned at the start the whole plot seems absurd. Yet the whole time we are left to believe it so strongly and confidently after sometime it will sink right in. And from that point the viewer will go through the horrific journey of survival along with the characters and corner to corner there is some new experience wait. And unexpectedly The Purge Anarchy does not cross its limits with being too gory or violent. It operates within a certain discipline and this makes the journey somewhat pleasant than road paved with flesh and blood. And the good twists that comes out of nowhere does a decent job and spicing things up.

While The Purge Anarchy is a horrific thriller from the surface it does have an underlying message that is well put together. A certain hope of humanity is emerging from the brutal actions of the rulers and the story manages to shine it to give some hope for the god forbidden future.

Director: James DeMonaco

Genre: Horror | Crime | Thriller

-Priyantha Bandara

Oculus (2013) Ratings: Genre 3.5/5 | Overall 2.5/5

 Oculus has a very clever and well laid out flow. And it does a decent job at being creepy. But it’s good stops at those and the rest is not very appealing. Especially the plot which has ample amount of spaces to slip makes it an unstructured piece of old school horror and nothing ground breaking.

The movie is based on two young siblings Tim and Kaylie who get together after 11 years to solve a mystery which they have left unsolved when they were kids. After their mother was brutally killed by their father and the father was murdered by the Tim in self-defense he has spent the next ten years in a mental institution. But Tim and Kaylie both knew that the story behind the horrible incident which took place in their home was guided by a mysterious supernatural force. And this time they hope to defeat it in its own playground.

Oculus starts with a strong promising grip. And up until a certain point the story line develops well and the viewer is left with terror that pops up very effectively in short intervals. There is no lagging nor any time wasted away from the main plot. Everything is neatly explained via the script and by the time the big showdown comes the viewer is well equipped to come to their own conclusions. But the twists are well thought out and they effectively prove that most of the viewer’s assumptions are wrong. But all this ends towards the latter part of the movie and the plot falls week. And the ending is quite sudden and kind of unfulfilling. It sure has potential to become another horror franchise but I’m not positive if it would really be eagerly awaited by the fans.

Almost the entire movie takes place in closed atmospheres. Which of course is not a problem as it doesn’t look cheap in anyway. There is nothing extraordinary about the cinematography or the props and the horror. On a final note Oculus is a good horror film. But it can be easily forgotten.

Genre: Horror | Thriller

Director: Mike Flanagan

Byzantium (2012) Rating 2.5/5

Vampires have gone from scary to sexy all of a sudden and wonder where the fans flipped out. And when a vampire movie is more dependent on other things than hot blood and darkness of the night it looses lot of potential. And for that a strong plot is mandatory. What went wrong with this one are the weak blood part and the compelling story line to fill the blanks.

16 year old Eleanor and Clara who is mother and daughter are vampires in a world where only male vampires exist. And they are in constant movement due to the order is chasing them for decades to fix the damage done to the code. Clara who is ambitious and vicious goes to extremes to keep their identity hidden while Eleanor is fighting an internal battle of survival. She is carrying a heavy burden which is her own life story and longing to express it to someone. And finally she meets a boy and it brings dramatic changes for her and Clara’s lives.

The production quality of Byzantium is very good. It’s a beauty to see as scene after scene there is some elegance unwrap. And it does have a certain emotional depth to it when it comes to the love that Clara has for her daughter and her constant struggle for survival. There is a story that backs this up to a good level as well. But all in all this is neither a strong thriller, horror nor a drama. It falls in middle of everything.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Rating 4/5

Without two words this movie gave me the chills. And hardly I can say that loud when it comes to any movie. Being a classic made decades back where visual effects were not the strongest suit in horror movies it proves that fear and thrills is made by the plot and acting but not by make up or other tricks. I’m quite certain that the strong performance delivered by Mia Farrow is not only one of the best performances of the year but many more years ahead. Speaking of the plot there is no guarantee that it solves any puzzle completely. It just builds from scratch and evolves in to a mind boggling experience where the viewer gets to decide between sanity and insanity of the characters. Yet at one point things become clear and anyway that’s how we feel it so. However it does not guarantee anything. When the screen fades and the end titles role the viewer it stuck in between many dilemmas and conclusions in mind. This certainly is one of the best psychological thrillers with a flavor of horror no doubt. 

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Rating 4/5

World War Z (2013)

After seeing many movies and one of the most fantastic TV series about the zombies up to the latest season, I though zombies cannot get better. But I was wrong. World War Z takes the zombie plague to a whole new level coupled with a strong plot, great acting and never before seeing zombie action not by hundreds but by in millions. And these zombies are a totally different breed to any you have witnessed before that are faster, filled with stamina and chases down the pray with any cost. And boy they are hunters. But their sole purpose is not eating you whole. It’s something else! World War Z simply could have being just another zombie movie if it was not for these innovative additions. And it runs solidly for two hours without a bit of relaxation and keeps the viewer on the edge of their seats. If you're yet to see this, get ready for the zombie chase of your life.

World War Z (2013) 3/5

Triangle (2009)

Triangle (2009)

Thriller | Mystery | Horror

This practically is not a horror but a physiological thriller that would leave your mind twisted for a good deal of time. The first 40 minutes runs like a baby with no big thrills or surprises. And then it starts to change face to be something you can hardly imagine of. And the plot is very difficult to predict which is one of the key reasons that it’s so effective. Apart from that the sets and atmosphere is fairly simple. And it lets you to digest the twisted plot completely without any background interference. The plot can be discussed, argued and hated upon many bases such as fiction, science, belief or religion. Yet whichever the way it’s explored or explained it will just leave you with a thrilling movie experience. If you do not have previous experience in mind and time loop cinema plots you will definitely be blown away by this. And believe me you are equally helpless to face the horrors yet to come just as the set of people in the movie!

කාලය සහ එහි ප්‍රතිගමනය ගැන ලියවුනු චිත්‍රපටි කතා ඇත්තේ සුළු ප්‍රමාණයක්. මේ ඉන් එක සාර්ථක කතාවක්. එය ඔබේ මනස සැබවින්ම අඹරා වියවුල් කර දමන්නට සමත්. කුඩා යාත්‍රාවක නැගී මුහුදු සවාරියකට යන කණ්ඩායමකට හදිසි කුණාටුවක් නිසා තම යාත්‍රාව අහිමි වෙනවා. ඉන් පසු මුහුදේ පාවෙමින් අතරමන් වී සිටින විට විශාල නවුකාවකට ගොඩ වීමට ඔවුනට හැකි වෙනවා. එය අති විශාල පාලු නවුකාවක් බව ඔවුනට ඉක්මනටම තේරුම් යනවා. මේ නවුකාව ඇත්තෙන්ම අභිරහසක්ද නැත්නම් මායාවක්ද කියා තීරණය කිරීම ප්‍රේක්ෂක ඔබට භාර වේ. නමුත් ඒ තීරණය ලේසි පහසු එකක් නොවන බවනම් කිව යුතුමය. මක් නිසාද මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ සිදුවන සිද්ධි දාමය කෙතරම් වෙනස් සහ සිත සලිත කරවන සුළුද කියා ඔබ තවමත් නොදන්නා බැවිනි. එසේ ගත් කල චිත්‍රපටියේ ප්‍රධාන චරිත මෙන්ම ඔබද අසරණය!! ඒ ඔබට අත් දකින්නට ලැබෙන බිහිසුණු දේවල් ගැන ඔබට කිසි ලෙසකවත් පෙර සුදානමක් නොමැති බැවිනි.

3.5/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: The story revolves around the passengers of a yachting trip in the Atlantic Ocean who, when struck by mysterious weather conditions, jump to another ship only to experience greater havoc on the open seas.

The woman in Black (2012)

The woman in Black (2012)

Horror | Thriller

From its full definition this is a fine horror. It starts with an eerie sequence of terrifying squeak and then gradually moves to become darker and scarier. The wonderful work done with the remarkable set creation and cinematography just engulf the viewer in to a dark abyss. With that detail and the intriguing plot it unfolds a solid horror movie that you might actually stop a heart beat or two when it progresses. The plot on the other hand is quite good but becomes clear and predictable from one point. But still the interest on it doesn’t die. If you’re a hardcore fan of horror you might find this mundane. But for someone like me who does not get entertained by horrors much it’s a good and different viewing experience.

වචනයේ පරිසමාප්ත අර්ථයෙන්ම මේ චිත්‍රපටිය බිහිසුණු එකක්. එහි අඳුරු කතා තේමාව සහ විශිෂ්ට කැමරා සහ පසුතල අධ්‍යක්ෂණය තුලින් එහි බිහිසුණු බව තව තවත් තීව්ර කෙරෙනවා. විශාල මඩ ගොහොරුවකින් වට වූ පැරණි පාලුවට ගිය මන්දිරයක් විකිණීමේ අරමුණින් එහි නීතිමය ලිය කියවිලි සැකසීම සඳහා පැමිණෙන පෙරකදෝරු වරයකුට එහිදී අත් විඳීමට සිදුවන ලොමු දහගන්වෙනසුළු භයන්කාර සිදුවීම් මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ තෙමාවය්. විටෙක නිසසල නමුත් විටෙක මන්දිරයේ කොනින් කොන දෝංකාර දෙන මර ලතෝනි ඔබේ දෙකන් පසාරු කරන බව සිකුරුය්.

3/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: A young lawyer travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.

Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter (2012)

Abraham Lioncoln : Vampire Hunter (2012)

Action | Fantasy | Horror

When I wanted to watch this all I expected was to see some good action and animation and that’s what exactly it delivered. Other than that there is no unique plot, acting nor drama here. It’s just another big action vampire flick that won’t stay in your mind. ‘Maybe’ if I watched this on 3D I would have liked it a wee bit better.

පරිගණක සජීවිකරණ සහ ක්‍රියාදාම හැරුනුකොට මේ චිත්‍රපටියෙහි සඳහන් කල යුතු වෙනත් වටිනාකම් නැහැ. තවත් එක ඇසට ප්‍රිය මනසට කිසිත් නොදෙන හුදෙක් විනෝදය සඳහාම පමණක් වැය කෙරුණු චිත්‍රපටියක්.

2/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, discovers vampires are planning to take over the United States. He makes it his mission to eliminate them. (IMDB)

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Horror | Sci fi | Thriller

Did this movie scare me? No. I’m a fan of walking dead. Just one zombie family is peanuts for me! Did this movie grip me? Somewhat yes, but not totally. However the plot was quite good and it has its ‘grave’ twists. So what is this movie actually? For me it’s a science fiction than a horror. And the last 10 minutes its Greek mythology. Now that’s a bit of an unheard twist right there. Finally do not believe the IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Because this is one massively overrated horror movie and it’s not really that great. It has split moods, totally predictable horror moments and out of the ordinary ending that abandon the viewer just like that. But it’s neither boring nor super bad. It’s just average.

භීතිය සහ ත්‍රාසය මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ මුලික අරමුනු උනත් එය එතරම්ම සාර්තකදැයි යන්න සැක සහිතය්. විද්යා ප්‍රබන්ධයක්‌ වශයෙන් ගත කල යම් කිසි අලුත් මුහුනුවක්‌ ඇති නමුදු අවසානයේදී ප්‍රේක්ෂකයා අතරමං කරන ස්වාභාවයකුය් තිබෙන්නේ. ඕනෑම චිත්‍රපටියක් සාර්ථක වීම සඳහා එහි අවසානය ඉතාම වැදගත් සාදකයක්. කෙසේ වෙතත් බොහොමයක් භීතිය දනවන චිත්‍රපට එසේත් නැත්නම් හොල්මන් කතා එසේ සාධාරණ අවසානයන් සහිත ඒවා නොවේ. මෙයත් එවැන්නක් පමනය්. ඒ කෙසේ වෙතත් සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් ගත් කල ප්‍රේක්ෂකයා තුල ඉමහත් කුතුහලයක් මුල සිට අගටම පවත්වාගෙන යන කතාවක් සහ ශය්ලියක් මෙහි අඩන්ගුය්.

2.5/5

Synopsis: Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

30 Days of Night (2007)

30 Days of Night (2007)

Horror | Thriller

 

Vampires are actually filthy creatures with lethal intentions. And they don’t look pleasant or sound attractive. They are not handsome nor sparkle in day light but burn and die. Someone can argue saying its all fiction. But fiction has its own ethics too. And this flick has kept its ethics well in place. The killer force of a set of vampires unleashed in a small town is the theme and start to end its just a good thrill horror ride. There is no room for romance or room to cuddle but the precise attention is on survival. However, nothing extraordinary, this starts slow and normal then gradually develop itself to a stereotype horror flick. For that reason I won’t rate it much. But overall it’s a good watch.

 

කඩවසම් පෙනුමට සහ දිලිසෙන සමට ලේ උරා බොන වෙම්පයර්වරු දුෂණය වන සමයක ඔවුන්ගේ පිළිගත් සැබෑ ස්වරුපය සහ රුදුරු ගති විදහාපාන භීතිය දනවන චිත්‍රපටියක් මෙය. මුල සිට අගට හොඳ සමතුලිත භාවයකින් යුක්තව ගලායන කතාව විශේෂත්වයකින් තොර උනත් ප්‍රේක්ෂකයා ඇද බැඳ තබා ගැනීමට සමත්.

 

2.5/5

 

Synopsis: After an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires.

-Priyantha Bandara

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Action | Fantasy | Horror

  

I’m a loyal fan of Underworld series. It has a very interesting plot and does not ‘abuse’ the real nature of the vampires or werewolves. The whole series is action packed and dark in its own identity. Yet for few reasons I’m a bit disappointed about this one, the Awakening. One the plot is mundane. It doesn’t manage to pull of something extraordinary and just makes few twists here and there in order to fill the gaps. And then it’s too short and too rushed. Finally the characters don’t make much sense. Even the action sequences are not that thrilling. Maybe we are getting used to the Underworld and it needs to reboot seriously.

 

3/5

 

Synopsis: When human forces discover the existence of the Vampire and Lycan clans, a war to eradicate both species commences. The vampire warriors Selene leads the battle against humankind.

The Divide (2011)

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

 

I could have rate this better but I did not. For many reasons I find this movie quite disturbing and disgusting. It sure has a good plot but this severely lacks the character development. You won’t actually feel anything for anyone because they are all like aliens trapped in one place and even at the last minute you will not know what their purpose is. This delivers everything which a horror movie should deliver starting from murder to rape and body parts. But for what purpose is the question. The flick moves quite well in the first half with some curiosity and thrill. But at one point it starts to become a bit mundane and the battle of the strongest which depicts characteristics of SAW type flicks. There onwards it’s just a matter of waiting till every one kill each other tolerating the scenes of blood and gore as a habit. 

 

3/5

 

Synopsis: Survivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.

Absentia (2011)

Horror

 

This is a kind of a very slow horror movie. It feels like forever to enter the horror state from being in the drama state as it starts. But the horror state is not something that you might experience in the other high budget flicks. You hardly see anything scary other than glimpse of a creature and a man who appears from nowhere time to time. There is one gore scene which is a bit extraordinary but not that it makes you get scared either. However what I like about this is the story telling. It’s slow and quiet and gradually hits the spot which the viewer may not really expect. But overall it’s too normal though the actors seem to pull it out quite well. It’s just another horror flick for me.

 

2.5/5

 

Synopsis: A woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances, including that of her own husband.

Apollo 18 (2011)

  Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

This is like the Blair Witch Project. The difference is that it takes place on the moon. Totally Shot with shaking cameras and first person views. There is something creepy out there and the characters in the movie don’t know it. And sure hell we don’t either. There is some bumping around in the low gravity environment and rocket language filled with strange acronyms like ‘R2D2’ which no one can understand. Overall it sure is a science fiction which speaks of creatures on the moon other than a rabbits. Just watch it if you fancy space stuff. But totally avoid it if you fancy horrors and thrillers. 

My advice is watch “Moon” (2009) 3 times instead. 

Synopsis: Decades-old found footage from NASA's abandoned Apollo 18 mission, where two American astronauts were sent on a secret expedition, reveals the reason the U.S. has never returned to the moon.

RED STATE (2011)

It was too late when 3 teens who were looking for out of the ordinary exiting sex, realized that the online invitation they got was a fake one. They have become the pray of an extreme fundamentalists and a piece of a vicious movement of wiping out the sinners including gays and pre marital sex activities. They will be facing their scariest nightmare when they realize that they are on a death row and an even worse enemy when they decide to get out. 

Red State is a brutal and a scary movie. And maybe some of the scenes could be hard to handle for weak hearted. Yet the events that take place in it add strong ingredients for the movies success. 

The acting is very good. Especially the strong portrayal of the Abin Coopers character by Michael Parks. He just pumps in so much energy to the plot and being the bad guy the viewers might wanna rip him apart. 

This may not be one of the best movies. But it sure can keep you in one place and throw you with some mind blowing realities to think about. 

My Score 3.5/5

Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller

Director: Kevin Smith

Writer: Kevin Smith

Stars: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo and John Goodman

FROM HELL (2001)

 

From Hell is based on the true life crime story of Jack the Ripper which took place in 1888 in East London. And it’s the screen adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.

When the prostitutes on street are getting murdered in a brutal and violent manner, the investigation is given to a young Scotland Yard detective Fred Abberline. Abberline who is already a trouble gentleman with the loss of his wife and child sometime back tries to catch this ruthless killer but finds little luck. The ritualistic manner of the murders and the mutilations seems to be done by someone who is quite experienced in human anatomy.

In the mean time Abberline gets to know a set of prostitutes who are in the risk zone and particularly gets friendly with Mary Kelly who agrees to support him with his investigation. And soon he realizes that the murders are not just a work of a mad man but something more than he can personally bring down. As he and Mary starts to get emotionally involved he tries to keep her protected from the killer as she becomes the final prostitute left out of the target bunch. 

There is nothing new in this flick. It’s a mix of horror scenes with a matching score. Other than that it doesn’t offer much of a twists or mysteries to go along with. And it’s quite predictable. 

But for a crime and horror fan it is not so boring. The flow of the story is good. There are no lagging or unwanted scenes. And there is a serious work of set creation and representation of London which is perfectly noticeable from the very first scene. 

Johnny Depp is mundane and Heather Graham is pretty. Other than that the script does not offer any actor to be special or memorable. 

Genre: Horror, Crime, Thriller, Mystery,

Directors: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

Writers: Alan Moore (graphic novel), Eddie Campbell (graphic novel),  

Stars: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham and Ian Holm

SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)

My score

There are zombie movies which are scary. And then there are comedies which are hilarious. What’s the result when you combine these too? Its ‘Shaun of the dead’ no doubt. And it’s entertaining.

Shaun is a looser. He is 29 years old and works in an electronics shop as a supervisor. No one respect him there even by mistake. And then he has a fat roommate who plays console games all the time and doesn’t contribute anything as such. Shaun girlfriend just dumps him coz he don’t have any plans for the future. How can he when all he can think of is drinking beer in a single familiar joint! He got a stepfather who he never liked for 17 years. And bunch of other so called friends who really don’t give a damn about him or neither he about them. He lives a normal pathetic life living the same routine every day until the dead starts to come alive. Streets of England start to get packed with zombies and when few of them starts to eat Shaun and his fat roommate ED things really needed to change. No time for routine. It’s the time to be a hero or a loser (which he already is). So he decides to be a hero and rescue his ex-girlfriend and mother from the zombie mess.

Shaun of the dead is not the typical zombie movie or the typical comedy. There is enough blood and gore and body parts here and there but still its looks funny enough to make you laugh. Doesn’t lag in between any scenes and just smoothly flow till the end. And yes there is quite a good ending as well. some good dudes die and some survive just like in all zombie flicks. And many turns in to ‘those’ which ultimately get killed by the x friends and family. 

  What’s good about this movie is that maybe this is how it will exactly be if there is a zombie epidemic happens. Many normal citizens will not know what to do. All other zombie flicks are packed with some kind of a kick ass action dude and a sexy babe to accompany him but here it’s just day to day people trying to get going without getting eaten by some ugly looking zombie dudes. And that’s it. They don’t have big plans or big guns to survive. Even they find guys they don’t know how to shoot it properly.

Witty, scary and yucky in one movie and it all happens for good. Shaun is the hero who goes hitting them zombies with a cricket bat and boy he does it well.

Genre: Horror, Comedy

Director:  Edgar Wright

Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright

Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Kate Ashfield