Piranha (2010)

Film of 2012 #42

The 3D spectacular from Alexandre Aja that sees a remake of the 1978 fish horror film that I previously reviewed here. They take the basic idea of the Piranha in the water and use it as a natural monster spectacular. This film is basically your fun horror movie dark comedy with bloody gore and boobies used to comedic effect and it could be considered a bit campy but it really is enjoyable fayre. While the original film worked on the principle that the fish were genetic creations and were released in to the water, this idea works as the prehistoric fish have been living below a lake and a natural earthquake releases these fish into the water.

Your main cast is Elizabeth Shue as the sheriff, she is looking might fine in this film, you have her son played by Steven R McQueen who is on a different story line with Jerry O'Connell, Kelly Brook and porn star Riley Steele. You have a seismologist played by Adam Scott and Christopher Lloyd playing the expert, the characters are a means to an end and are not that well developed. There is no back story for any of them and really you do not need a back story you are simply watching this for the gore effects and the cool kills. You also have Richard Dreyfuss and Ving Rhames making appearances and you have several Jaws references which were really fun to spot.

Overall this film is not for everyone, there are scenes that are quite disgusting and are very gory, there is one sex scene that is in there simply for the sex scene. However that aside if you enjoy the campier, comedic side of gory horror then this films, this will be right up your street, it does not need to be seen in 3D however if you have the opportunity to see it in 3D then they use the gimmick of the 3D to good effect. A B movie worth seeing and a 4 star recommend for me, this is actually one of my films of 2011.

Jaws (1975)

Film of 2012 #32

The Speilberg classic and the first Summer Blockbuster it is an all time favourite of mine, it is still to this day a scary film that has me on the edge of my seat even though I can quote many lines from it. I think that while Speilberg is a master of the film making art, there is an element of luck with the well known fact that Bruce, the shark did not work as well as they hoped. Therefore they went with a lot less Shark and lots of Point of View shots that help build the tension fantastically. There are jump scares in this film that still get me when I watch it and I will continue to watch this film in the future. 

The story is around a New York cop that moves to Amity Island as the Chief of police and in his first summer there are a couple of what appears to be shark attacks. The story is him trying to convince the council who cannot afford to close the island and subsequently his battle to beat the terror of the deep. You have an excellent and defining role for Roy Scheider as Brody the chief of Police, Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper the Shark expert and Robert Shaw as Quint the expert Shark catcher. You also have an Iconic score by John Williams that sets the tone for the film and fits the piece perfectly and I think that it is a piece of music that everybody will know on hearing.

As well as being a childhood favourite this film still holds up to this day and is a very solid 5 star recommend to me, it is a film I will continue to re-watch and always look forward to seeing it again and again.

RED (2010)

This comic book adaptation sees Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren as retired operatives that come out or retirement when a Black-ops team invade Bruce Willis; home and try to kill him. It is a hilarious action comedy that brings together a stellar cast to romp through some serious explosions and action sequences.

I have to say that I was looking forward to seeing this film, as a non-comic book reader I had never heard of the series before the film and had not seen that much about it. I just thin that the cast alone was worth watching and seeing what they could do with a basically solid story idea. The action and acting did not disappoint me I have to say that there were some set ups and ideas that made me laugh out loud, the love stories are actually something special.

This is a solid recommend from me and I hope that if you have not seen it then you will give it the time it is well worth it and funny enough to pass the 2 hour running time, 4 shinning stars from me.