Sorority Row (2009)

A prank goes wrong and instead of owning up and dealing properly with the situation the girls of the Theta Pi Sorority House decide to keep it a secret. 8 months later, someone knows and is coming after the girls, as they prepare for and try to enjoy the graduation party, and then the slashing fun begins.

This is an interesting film as it uses technology in a way you know it will matter later and is quite good, it uses Mobile phone technology in away that I think the target audience will appreciate. It does quite well setting up almost everybody as a suspect and there are plenty of red herrings floating about to keep you guessing who the killer is.

It is a good enough slasher for the modern times and there is enough hints that they could make a sequel if they wanted but then that could just be the B-Movie ending we all enjoy with this type of film. Overall this is a fun romp where you get to enjoy the deaths and the house mother played by Carrie Fisher is fun character. This is a three star film, if you enjoy these types of films you will appreciate what this one does and how it does it.

Friday the 13th Part 4 - The Final Chapter (1984)

Part 4 of the series introduces us to Tommy Jarvis, played in this film by Cory Feldman he was at the height of his child acting fame with The Goonies and Gremlins coming out about this time as well. He played the part well and you are actually left wondering about his character at the end of the series. You have another group of teens setting off to Camp Crystal Lake or Camp Blood as it is known within the series, and the usual deaths and excitement occur.

This is actually a step up in the series from part 3 and is enjoyable fair as Jason is now in full flow, he has his mask and likes his machete, there are some cool deaths in this film that sort of define the series. It is also the start of the parts being named and the name having almost no reference on the series by the end.

I give this film 4 stars, there are some good performances and a good role played by Crispin Glover of Back to the Future fame which is always nice to see.

Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)

The 3D film that started it all? Not really but it is funny as I have never seen this film in 3D and not that interested either. The film in 2D is fun, the effects of the 3D are there to be seen with poles flying out and yo-yo's coming down to the screen, again and again. This film is not to bad, there are some pretty cool scenes in it and it has Jason getting his iconic mask so has some good history for fans of the genre.

To me this is the start of the generic sequels, there is no real continuation from the previous films even though they have a flash back at the start of the film there is no real need for the continuation. There is a thing where they introduce a character that you have never seen before but they were traumatised by Jason or the lake years ago.

This is 2 stars it is a low point in the franchise, not the lowest it goes but still only a few high points for true fans of this series.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Firstly I have seen this film several times now and this was the first time I had seen it on the BluRay, the film itself is an awesome classic with the cliches in film that are now almost standard in the slasher genre. The only down side to the BluRay was that it is so clear and excellent quality that the Tom Savini practical effects lose some of their impact as the transfer is so clear, you can see the flaws. This was a disappointment as the practical effects in this film are awesome and seeing them for the first time must have been fantastic.

I love these films as genre and a piece of cinema history, while there are far to many of them they define an era and started a genre. The sequels to this original go to far and in a strange direction and the original film in the series set a mark that was hard to beat. The only issue I have with the film and slight spoilers there is that the killer is never seen in the film until the end, so as a murder mystery which some people regard this, it is hard to go with as the killer is unseen.

I would recommend that as a film fan you see the original anyway, the sequels can probably be missed but the original is a 5 star film that is worth watching, also you get to see a young Kevin Bacon which is pretty cool.

Scream 4 (2011)

Cinema April 18th 2011

I love the Scream series, 3 is a weak installment and it pushes the bounds of what the first 2 achieved for me. In hearing that 4 was coming I was excited, the original film was to me the start of new horror films that it was to everybody else. And I was interested to see what they would do bringing the series back with it being within the hands of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson.

Right from the start and the opening scene I was hooked in and did not see the start coming and it was great. The overall film itself was a bit predictable in what was going to happen and I guessed some of the end, however I did enjoy what they did with the whole film.

As a lover of the series I give this installment 4 stars, it will not appeal to everyone however if you have an enjoyment of the Scream series then you will enjoy this film.