Mac's Movies

UK Release Date:  22 October 1999 Certification:  15 Director:  Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez Cast:  Rei Hance, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams Rating:   30 % Review: A horror phenomenon released in 1999 and changed the genre forever. With a measly budget of $60,000, found footage horror, The Blair Witch Project took the world by storm grossing $248 million. The film is highly influential with one of the most viral marketing campaigns for a film. Marketed as a real documentary - the actors were said to be missing and presumed dead - The Blair Witch Project is often touted as the scariest film of all time.  Most of the film is shot on a Hi8 camcorder on 16mm film giving it a grainy essence. Found footage became the most popular horror sub-genre for the next ten years spawning the Paranormal Activity franchise. For the first half hour of the film it works but by the end of the runtime it's simply a gimmick used to cut down costs and separate The Blair ...

UK Release Date:  02 November 2001 Certification:  12 Director:  Alejandro Amenábar Cast:  James Bentley, Elaine Cassidy, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan, Nicole Kidman, Alakina Mann, Eric Sykes Rating:   79 % Review: What a pleasant surprise. Supernatural-horror, The Others , is certainly deserving of a higher appreciation when it comes to discussing modern horror.  Nicole Kidman is tremendous in the lead role. Playing, Grace, mother to Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), just weeks after her public divorce with Tom Cruise. That doesn't detract from her performance whatsoever as she shines in The Others . Frightened but at the same time completely unhinged. Understandably so, doing everything she can in the film's runtime to protect her children. Amazingly, first-time child actress Alakina Mann is just as good. Perfectly capable of acting alongside Nicole Kidman, looking comfortable in each interaction. Such a fear-ind...

UK Release Date:  28 July 2023 Certification:  15 Director:  Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou Cast:  Chris Alosio, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Alexandra Jensen, Miranda Otto, Zoe Terakes, Sophie Wilde Rating:   79%                                                                                                                                                                                               ...

UK Release Date:  02 May 1997 Certification:  18 Director:  Wes Kraven Cast:  David Arquette, Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Jamie Kennedy, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Liev Schreiber, Skeet Ulrich Rating:   72% Review: Scream is a staple of the slasher sub-genre. It was unlike any horror film of its time and the film's originality remains its main appeal to this day. Unspeakably meta, to the point where Scream could be viewed as a parody. With knowing nods to tropes of the genre. Characters mock and acknowledge the setting and circumstances of the film. There are some not so subtle references to other classics - particularly Halloween (1978), my favourite horror film - which leave the environment lived in and relatable to the audience.  Ghostface became synonymous with the franchise and is one of the most notable horror villains.  Everybody recalls both his costume and his voice.  The way he moves is supernatural-like. Floating...

UK Release Date:  24 October 2008 Certification:  18 Director:  David Hackl Cast:  Tobin Bell, Julie Benz, Greg Bryk, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell Rating:   28 % Review:   Really disappointed with Saw V because I genuinely enjoyed Saw IV despite it's flaws but this is a huge step down.  Saw V doesn't spend nearly enough time on the traps - the traps almost play like something out of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory  in this entry - the most interesting aspect of the film. Each level ups the stakes and has new, 'fun' deaths that keep the on-screen horror captivating. But this is a detective melodrama rather than a horror film. The back and forth discussion of corruption within the police force can't be done well without good dialogue, it's not engaging whatsoever. Although, saying that, I respect the characterisation of Agent Strahm because somehow he knows what's going on at all times.  From a techni...

UK Release Date:  26 October 2007 Certification:  18 Director:  Darren Lynn Bousman Cast:  Tobin Bell, Lyriq Bent, Louis Ferreira, Athena Karkanis, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Donnie Wahlberg  Rating:   50 % Review:   Favourite sequel of the franchise so far. Saw IV isn't a good film by any means but I enjoyed what I was watching during the vast majority of the runtime. Saw IV takes the series in a whole new direction whilst still delivering the infamous traps.  The best aspect of the film is that it is bold enough to completely change the tone from prior entries. This is a detective story. Saw IV plays like a dramatic serial killer documentary rather than a parody of one. Following Detective Hoffman, Detective Rigg and Agent Strahm all try to achieve the same goal with differing adversities to face building until it reaches the climax - all the clichés of a solid thriller.  Saw IV had to follow up a dire entry in the...

UK Release Date:  01 June 2022 Certification:  15 Director:  Alex Garland Cast:  Jessie Buckley, Paapa Essiedu, Rory Kinnear, Gayle Rankin Rating:   36% Review: Men was made to look like a modern horror classic when A24 revealed the first trailer for the film   last year in February. Unfortunately, the film failed to reach the heights set out by its trailer. Men takes a promising concept with an eerie build-up and totally wastes it.  A short film is defined 'as an original motion picture that has a runtime of 40 minutes or less'. Men would've worked better as a short film for me because t he first hour of this film, exceptional - a few scenes could've been cut to fit the criteria.  Incredibly anxiety inducing, u tterly terrifying to the point where it becomes a draining watch due to the constant unease.  The score heightens the tension incorporating sounds made from a character earlier on in the film into the music.  The film is beaut...

UK Release Date:  12 August 2022 Certification:  15 Director:  Jordan Peele Cast:  Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Brandon Perea, Wrenn Schmidt, Michael Wincott, Steven Yeun Rating:   85% Review: One of my favourites from last year. The film subverts all expectations in the best possible way. Nope solidifies Jordan Peele as one of the industries most sought-after filmmakers.  Taking inspiration from Steven Spielberg's filmography -  Close Encounters of the Third Kind ,  Jaws and Jurassic Park -   Jordan Peele creates an awe-inspiring experience. Peele's most ambitious film to date takes full advantage of the larger budget. The film is a spectacle to behold. A mix of horror, science-fiction and western combine to create a visually striking masterpiece that reaffirms the beauty of cinema.  Cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema, makes the night look so gorgeous but yet so unexplored. In order to attain such clarity with no natural light he had ...

UK Release Date:  27 October 2006 Certification:  18 Director:  Darren Lynn Bousman Cast:  Tobin Bell, Angus Macfadyen, Dina Meyer,  Shawnee Smith, Bahar Soomekh, Donnie Wahlberg Rating:   22 % Review: What a mess of a film. Several abandoned subplots, an incoherent story and a band of incredibly unlikeable characters. This is where I think the franchise will lose my interest.  Other than a few scenes towards the beginning of the film that were slightly unsettling, Saw III isn't scary and a huge departure in quality from the first two. Saw III relies solely on gore in an attempt to scare/shock the audience. But when the traps appear unwinnable and so much blood is shown it becomes desensitised.  Horror films often get a bad rep for having their characters making the worst possible decisions in important situations. I think that's unwarranted but it is certainly the case in Saw III . Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) is the most frustrating character in horr...

UK Release Date:  28 October 2005 Certification:  18 Director:  Darren Lynn Bousman Cast:  Tobin Bell, Franky G, Erik Knudsen, Dina Meyer, Glenn Plummer, Shawnee Smith, Donnie Wahlberg Rating:   45 % Review: The second instalment in the Saw franchise promises to be more gruesome and a lot bloodier than the first. With a larger budget, Saw II ups the stakes, the scale and improves upon the traps but forgets about the terror that made Saw great in the first place. It's by no means as good as the first but the film is still surprisingly entertaining.  Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) and his arc spanning the film's runtime are both interesting to watch on screen. As the film's main protagonist, the audience is meant to root Matthews but by the end of Saw II it's not as clear-cut. His moral ambiguity reveals conflicting emotions. Donnie Wahlberg pulls off the grizzled cop looking to save his son superbly. Tobin Bell expands upon the villai...

UK Release Date:  01 October 2004 Certification:  18 Director:  James Wan Cast:  Tobin Bell, Cary Elwes, Michael Emerson, Danny Glover, Ken Leung, Dina Meyer, Monica Potter, Shawnee Smith, Leigh Wannell Rating:   60 % Review: Following an impressive short film of the same name debuted in 2003, Lions Gate Entertainment decided to produce the feature length film Saw . With a budget of $1 million, the film went on to gross $103 million world-wide spawning a two decade long franchise spanning nine films (with a tenth set to release this year). Often cited as the father of horror sub-genre, torture porn, the inventiveness of Saw is yet to be recaptured.  Lead performances from Cary Elwes (Dr. Gordon) and Leigh Wannell (Adam) were genuinely quite captivating. Both over-acted at times affecting the narrative being told but the juxtaposition of personalities forced to work together meant for an intriguing concept. This stark contrast between th...

UK Release Date:  03 July 2019 Certification:  18 Director:  Ari Aster  Cast: Vilhelm Blomgren,  William Jackson Harper, Archie Madekwe, Will Poulter, Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Ellora Torchia Rating:   80%                                                                                                                                                                                         Review: Ari Aster'...

UK Release Date: 3 November 2017 Certification: 15 Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Raffey Cassidy, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, Nicole Kidman, Sunny Suljic Rating: 67% A24's most disturbing and bizarre film.  Review: After having some time to reflect and digest A24 film,  The Killing of a Sacred Deer I still don't truly know what to think but I'll try to translate my thoughts across here in this review. One thing I do know is that this is a thoroughly metaphorically complex film that will need to be viewed multiple times to be fully appreciated.  Colin Farrell plays Steven, a surgeon with a wife and two kids - a normal life. The Irish actor teams up with Greek filmmaker, Yorgos Lanthimos, once again after The Lobster . It's a frustrating performance for me because he does what he's asked too but his character ended up making a few idiotic choices. Thats more on the writing than Farrell's acting. Nicole Kidman, on the other hand, is brilliant. She's a ...

UK Release Date: 17 March 2017 Certification: 15 Director: Jordan Peele Cast: Betty Gabriel, Lil Rel Howery, Caleb Landry Jones, Daniel Kaluuya, Catherine Keener, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Allison Williams Rating: 92% The greatest directorial debut of all time? Review: Get Out is Jordan Peele's directorial debut and he's able to craft an intelligent horror movie. With some terrific performances, an unsettling score and some brilliant racial commentary no wonder Get Out received four Oscar nominations.  Key and Peele is a superb comedy sketch show so I'm not exactly sure how Jordan Peele was able to effortlessly transition to an alarming horror film for his directorial debut. Peele also wrote the script for  Get Out  and the amount of care taken in the production of the movie is clear for all to see. Since  Get Out , Peele has become one of my favourite directors and I absolutely can't wait for his new feature -  Nope .  Daniel Kaluuya is ex...

UK Release Date: 05 October 1980 Certification: 15  Director: Stanley Kubrick Cast: Scatman Crothers, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Barry Nelson, Jack Nicholson, Phillip Stone  Rating:   92 % "Here's Johnny!" Review:  The Shining is an exceptional, suspenseful horror movie that is left open ended and up to interpretation due to it's brilliant but ambiguous ending.  The Shining  is my first exposure to iconic filmmaker Stanley   Kubrick, with a filmography containing movies such as; 2001: A Space Odyssey , Paths of Glory and Dr Strangelove or: How I learned to stop Worrying and Love the Bomb . His unique style is what makes the movie really work. He'd have actors shoot several takes until they became unhinged, displaying the effect The Overlook Hotel would have on them. Some of his imagery is utterly beautiful which isn't expected in a horror movie making the film utterly unique.  Jack Nicholson is mental, and I mean that in the best possi...

UK Release Date: 03 June 2021 Certification: 15 Director: John Krasinki Cast: Emily Blunt, Djimon Hounsou, Noah Jupe, John Krasinki, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds  Rating:   87 % Silence is not enough Review: Cinemas are back and it was a brilliant event finally being able to experience my first movie for a year and a half in a cinema due to the pandemic. And to top it all off A Quiet Place Part II is an extraordinary horror sequel that deserves to be seen on the big screen.  I know and love John Krasinki from  The Office  and I think his performance in  A Quiet Place  was breathtaking and whilst he directed superbly in that movie this is his chance to display his talent as a director. The cinematography is beautiful, every single shot is picture perfect and utterly stunning to look at. From an outsiders point of view it seems absolutely effortless to John Krasinki to create an incredible sense of tension and suspense that left ...

UK Release Date: 24 January 1997 Certification: 15 Director: Peter Jackson Cast: Trini Alvarado, Jake Busey, Jeffery Comb, Peter Dobson, Michael J. Fox, Dee Wallace Rating: 26% Frighteningly bad. Review: To date, The Frighteners is the worst movie I have ever seen. I have no idea what an accomplished director like Peter Jackson was thinking of during the making of this horrific movie. I guess everyone has to start somewhere? [This was Peter Jackson's fifth movie as a director]. The performances in The Frighteners are terrible, other than the always likeable Michael J. Fox. I especially hated Dee Wallace in the role of Patricia Ann Bradley. Her character was annoying, over the top and morphs into a psycho out of absolutely nowhere. There was near to no character development and from around 20 minutes into the movie you could guess Patricia's role in the climax.  The actions of Trini Alvarado's character (Dr. Lucy Lynskey) made little sense. She flipped ...