Reviews by BAMF

Thoughts before I watched this.
1. The concept reminds me of the game we play as kids where the floor is lava.
2. I know this is going to be a cheesefest and right now that's what I want.
3. The trailer reminds me of basically every goofy party movie cliche.
4. From it the whole sand scenario looks like fun.
5. The acting however might be what takes away that fun.
6. This is the directorial debut of Isaac Gabaeff.
7. This is written by Alex Greenfield (Mostly known for Wrestling shows which isn't promising for me) and Ben Powell who doesn't have much on his resume yet.
8. At least it has a few familiar names.
9. Either I will hate this or find it amusing.

"After an all-night graduation beach party, a group of hung-over twenty-somethings awake to a beating sun, and a seemingly carnivorous beach that devours anything with a heartbeat that touches the sand."

Thoughts while I watched this.
1. Can't have a party without a little bit of skin can you?
2. It's kind of annoying with going back and forth between the party and the next morning.
3. What the hell is that thing?!
4. So that topless girl is going to be around for awhile right lol?
5. Probably not, but one can dream.
6. This doesn't take it's time getting to the point which is nice!
7. That is a horrible place to be stuck in.
8. Why doe they keep making such silly decisions?
9. If I was there I would just sit in the lifeguard station until someone came.
10. Oh man that doesn't look too good.
11. Is there anybody intelligent in this group?
12. I do not see anything good happening from this.
13. Haha man this guy is a douchebag.
14. They should really get the rules of this thing down.
15. Just going to leave them there huh?
16. That was cold blooded.
17. The CGI here could use some work.
18. LMAO! That's just too funny and somewhat expected.
19. They really don't think things out too well do they.
20. Yep I saw that coming.
21. Aww no that was so unfair!
22. They didn't even check.
23. That ending felt rushed and not completely detailed.

Thoughts after I watched this.
1. It's a neat concept that just wasn't realized by the right people
2. The acting is pretty bad, but it does have a few good moments.
3. Some stuff the people do here is just ridiculous.
4. It's not too slow which is good.
5. While things were predictable I didn't see some of it happening in the order it did.
6. They seem hopeful for sequel.
7. If they are to make one then hopefully they try harder than they did here.
8. It's not too bad though and a lot could have gone worse.
9. It's watchable if you want something new, but don't mind a bit of cheese.

Thoughts before I watched this.
1. Didn't know anything about this until I saw a review.
2. I was surprised by how many well known names were attached to this from horror icon writers/directors (both on and behind the scenes) to horror regular actors.
3. The trailer looked like fun with a mixture of gore and comedy.
4. This was Ben Woolf's (mostly known for American Horror Story) final film. :(
5. Ugh unfortunately it has the dreadful Lin Shaye.
6. I just hope I don't have to see too much of her.

"Ten stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents."

Thoughts while I watched this.
1. That's an interesting way to do the opening credits while introducing which each segment will be.
2. The whole radio broadcaster shtick reminds me of A Christmas Horror Story.
3. It is neat to point out though that Adrienne Barbeau has done that before in the original The Fog.
4. It kind of goes right into the segments though without really telling you which one you are watching.
5. I guess you have to pay attention to the opening credits to see the location which is kind of tedious if you want to review each segment separately like me.
6. At some points you see or hear a connection with the other stories which I thought was well thought out.

Sweet Tooth:
1. The way I figured out this one is because they mentioned the title through the characters.
2. This is written directed by Dave Parker.
3. He hasn't been too impressive with writing the horrible House of the Dead and directing the average The Hills Run Red.
4. Wow those parents are total killjoys!
5. Well we see where he gets his personality.
6. Oh wow didn't see that little twist to the story coming.
7. Nice they are watching the classic Night of the Living Dead.
8. Oh my that's not a good sign.
9. This girl's skirt is way too short for her to be babysitting a young boy in.
10. Oh that was amusingly creepy.
11. LMAO that ending was priceless!
12. This is definitely an 8/10.

The Night Billy Raised Hell:
1. Another title figured out by the mention of a character's name.
2. This one is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by newcomer Clint Sears.
3. Bousman has brought us several enjoyments with Saw 2-4, Repo! The Genetic Opera, and Mother's Day (Remake).
4. I truly hope he keeps up the good work with this story.
5. I swear the older teen in this segment is somehow related to a guy I went to high school with.
6. That kid got knocked over with an egg lol!
7. That dude is creepy.
8. Is anybody going to realize that that just happened?
9. Oh my what have we got here Satan's little helper?
10. Haha that's an amusing little cameo.
11. Oh I didn't see that coming.
12. That was totally messed up in a very comical way.
13. Not an amazing segment, but it was amusing.
14. It definitely was more along the lines of Repo! than Bousman's other work.
15. I would give this one a low 6/10.

Trick:
1. I had to just find a review that has the segments reviewed in order.
2. This segment was directed by Adam Gierasch with no one credited for writing.
3. I wasn't a big fan of his Night of the Demons remake so that doesn't give me too much hope for this.
4. Oh Tiffany Shepis I've met her!
5. Night of the Living Dead again yay!
6. Aww she is so adorable.
7. Wow holy shit I did not see that coming.
8. Oh damn that's just messed up!
9. This really escalated quickly!
10. What in the hell!?
11. That was truly wicked!
12. What a fantastic and extremely unexpected twist!
13. Looks like Gierasch stepped his game up.
14. For me this segment is 10/10!

The Weak and the Wicked:
1. This is another film with no writer attached.
2. The director Paul Solet is someone I haven't watched yet, but I have been aware of at least one of his works Dark Summer.
3. Let's hope he tells a good story.
4. That is not what I thought was happening.
5. These aren't your typical bullies.
6. BooBoo Stewart as a bully is kind of funny though.
7. I dig those tattoos though.
8. Damn those three have some serious issues.
9. Ahhh that is one intense looking monster!
10. The end was alright, but as a whole this kind of felt lacking.
11. I would give this one an upper 6/10.

Grim Grinning Ghost:
1. This is written/directed by former actress Axelle Carolyn (of Centurion and Doomsday fame).
2. Ugh this is the Lin Shaye segment...
3. There are a few recognizable faces in this one.
4. Why does Lin Shaye have to talk so much out of everyone.
5. Oh thank goodness she is gone!
6. That's what you get dumbass lol.
7. Man they are trying to make me all jumpy with their shots and noises.
8. I think that's considered cheating! On a side not kind cute lol.
9. I give this a 5/10.
10. Interestingly enough the creator of this anthology has the worst segment for me.

Ding Dong:
1. Lucky McKee is the writer/director of this segment.
2. Of his work I have only seen The Woman and All Cheerleaders Die both of which I absolutely enjoyed!
3. I hope this is just as exciting as his previous films.
4. Ummm okaaaay?
5. Interesting design though I guess.
6. Oh nice wasn't expecting that!
7. Well I give it props for being different.
8. I also take back what I said about the last segment.
9. This by far is the most ridiculous thing I've seen here yet.
10. Lucky does not need to do things with too much comedy.
11. This is a highly disappointing 2/10.

This Means War:
1. This is written/directed by both Andrew Kasch and John Skipp.
2. Both of them have worked on the Nightmare on Elm Street series.
3. Kasch directed a documentary of the series while Skipp wrote Dream Child (probably one of my least favorite of the series)
4. It is Kasch's writing debut while it is Skipp's directorial debut which I find intriguing.
5. This is a bit different than our other segments, but it doesn't bother me any.
6. I like the montage of getting the houses decorated as it's quite amusing.
7. Damn I was not expecting that ending.
8. I thought this was an amusing detour from the typical segments.
9. I would say this is a solid 8/10.

Friday the 31st:
1. This is written/directed by Mike Mendez.
2. I haven't seen any of his films yet, but I have heard of some.
3. Oh what a hottie lol.
4. Oh a Jason-esque figure nice homage.
5. That's a funny and disturbing visual.
6. Yep that is definitely inspired by Jason.
7. Haha that's an amusing little twist.
8. Oh that's just awesome!
9. A fun new idea with karma.
10. That was too much fun.
11. You could tell Mendez enjoys the classics and everyone had fun here.
12. I would give this one a fun 7/10.

The Ransom of Rusty Rex:
1. This is written/directed by Ryan Schifrin.
2. He has only ever done one other movie I've never even hear of.
3. Awesome casting choices in this segment though with Jose Pablo Cantillo and Sam Witwer.
4. Oh yeah nice cameo!
5. Nice another connection!
6. So this is one of those typical stories that gives itself a nice twist of the concept.
7. It's a bit on the comical side of the spectrum like most of the segments here.
8. Nice scream face bro lol.
9. That was quite an amusing segment.
10. These two were quite the duo.
11. I'd have to say this was definitely a high 8/10.

Bad Seed:
1. This is written/directed by Neil Marshall.
2. He has worked on The Descent, Doomsday, and Centurion as well as solely writing Descent Part II.
3. I'm excited to see how this one pans out.
4. Kind of feels like Halloween III meets Attack of the Killer tomatoes.
5. That outfit though!
6. Nobody is safe.
7. Oh nice a few neat cameos so far.
8. Lol the randomness of that!
9. Oh awesome cameo! Yes!
10. Seriously that was the ending?
11. That was a bit disappointing.
12. I think this one will be a low 6/10.

Thoughts after I watched this.
1. It's like a rollercoaster of talent with good segments and not so good segments.
2. The best one in my opinion was Trick.
3. The worst to me was Ding Dong sadly.
4. I loved seeing all the familiar horror icons spread throughout.
5. Anthologies hardly ever go with everything being amazing.
6. I would recommend this one simply for the good segments.
7. Just skip through the bad ones and you should enjoy yourself.

Thoughts before I watched this.
1. Finally after 3 to 4 years of seeing news and trailers it finally gets released!
2. Why the hell did it take so long?
3. It's Scott Adkins and he is too awesome to hold back for so long.
4. Daniella Alonso is also someone to look forward to.
5. Valeri Milev is the director of the most recent Wrong Turn 6.
6. That was a weird one, but it was the best of the series since part 3.
7. Michael Hurst wrote the Ninja films starring Scott Adkins
8. He makes works on terrible television sequels though.
9. I wonder how they will pull off this film together.
10. It better be awesome seeing as I've waited for so long.

"Five years after a zombie outbreak, the men and women of R-Division hunt down and destroy the undead. When they see signs of a second outbreak, they fear humanity may not survive."

Thoughts while I watched this.
1. Awesome the credits aren't very long.
2. That's an interesting start.
3. It looks like civilization has managed to stick around and adapt to the infected world.
4. So we are watching a reality TV show. That's an interesting style of storytelling.
5. Holy crap these zombies are fast!
6. Are they somewhat intelligent too?
7. Wow things escalated quickly!
8. That was intense.
9. Haha that Sex commercial.
10. People in The Walking Dead need some Vivodine.
11. Finally Scott Adkins the main reason besides zombies to see this.
12. Oh man first mission that's a death wish.
13. This in a way reminds me of Doom. A religious nut, a badass, and a rookie.
14. I really hope the camera guy dies.
15. I totally saw that coming.
16. These commercials are too funny.
17. Damn you censorship!
18. In a show with gore and profanity you would think some nudity wouldn't be an issue haha.
19. It feels like this is taking a Resident Evil sort of route.
20. It does seem possible that this might be how society contains itself after an outbreak.
21. Leeeroy Jenkins!
22. Aww damn that was unexpected and kind of disappointing for me.
23. I was thinking Ankle Biters would be something else!
24. Haha zombie nun!
25. I would most likely die if this version of zombies happened in the real world.
26. Oh man, oh man, oh man!
27. Shit that was so intense!
28. Land of the Dead meets Dawn of the Dead (Remake) zombies. No thank you!
29. That was an interesting and totally unexpected action.
30. Yep that seemed to make sense.
31. Oh that was cool!
32. Wait so are we not going to find out what happened to Nguyen?

Thoughts after I watched this.
1. That was pretty badass.
2. It wasn't actually what I expected it to be though.
3. It shares a likeness with Land of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Cops, Doom, and Diary of the Dead.
4. I do wish it hadn't been so jumpy and dark during the action sequences.
5. I thought the commercials were a humorous touch. I usually hate commercials.
6. If you like zombies like I do then you should give this a shot.
7. For such a long wait it actually ended up being quite good.
8. Oh and I hope there is a sequel!

Thoughts before I watched this.
1. Finally it's out I have been waiting for like 2 years!
2. I see a few stars are from Knock Knock and/or Aftershock.
3. Well it is written by one of the writers of both films.
4. I like the behind the scenes facts for this.
5. Sure it's like Cannibal Holocaust, but hey I don't mind an updated version.
6. At least this time Lorenza Izzo plays a heroine.
7. First Daryl Sabara takes a crack at Rob Zombie's cinema universe and now Eli Roth.
8. This should be better than Knock Knock, but what about Aftershock?
9. Oh here we go about to start! So Excited!

"A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished."

Thoughts while I watched this.
1. At least this starts with a little scene before the opening credits.
2. I can't tell if Sky Ferreira is not a good actor or she is meant to be like this.
3. Hmm is this foreshadowing?
4. Oh yeah these images are kind of hard to look at and we haven't even gotten to the Amazon yet.
5. Seriously dude, WTF?
6. Lol from Genital Mutilation to talking about Ants.
7. This guy is way different than he was in Knock Knock. Doesn't even look the same.
8. Haha didn't see that coming. Great comedic timing.
9. I wonder if she is still mad about what she did to her husband and house in Knock Knock.
10. Yeah it seems Sky isn't at home when it comes to acting.
11. Whoa didn't need to see that, but what happened after was pretty amusing.
12. No that is not a good omen you are in a horror film!
13. Wow that was screwed up!
14. Oh trust me you guys haven't been through anything yet.
15. I can't decide whether to like Alejandro or not.
16. On the other hand I absolutely despise Kara.
17. Oh shit it's about to go down!
18. Lol why am I laughing at the guy who just threw up in his own face?
19. Oh Shit!
20. What an idiot!
21. Man I didn't see all that coming!
22. Hey everyone we brought dinner!
23. Why do I find The Elder oddly appealing?
24. Aww noooo! Holy hell!
25. Oh it's all fine for them they are preparing food like it's any other day WTF lol.
26. Well the lucky ones definitely died in the crash.
27. Now I know how I feel about Alejandro.
28. Oh damn that's screwed up!
29. I kind of wonder what happened though.
30. That guy has some serious issues...
31. The escape plan was kind of silly.
32. Come on noooo!
33. Oh I see.
34. That was sweet in a way.
35. I would have done the same thing.
36. Whoa nice didn't expect that.
37. That's quite intriguing.
38. Haha that was odd.
39. Interesting that they added the twitters of the main cast in the credits.
40. Oh there is more mid-credits hmm.
41. Uh oh is there gonna be a sequel!?

Thoughts after I watched this.
1. That was pretty fun.
2. It wasn't quite as disturbed as I was expecting though.
3. Lorenza Izzo is pretty awesome.
4. I thought everyone did quite well here.
5. Lars and Daniel were the best.
6. I loved the look of The Elder and The Bald Headhunter.
7. This was very colorful.
8. Are there even such things as good omens?
9. I wonder what the plan is if a sequel is made.
10. It's definitely an Eli Roth movie.
11. So if are familiar with Eli Roth then this is something you might enjoy.

Thoughts before I watched this.
1. Oh look it's Keanu Reeves!
2. Two beautiful women definitely grabs my attention.
3. This looks a bit ridiculous.
4. It also looks somewhat sexy.
5. These girls are crazy!
6. Wait this is from Eli Roth?
7. Where the hell is Green Inferno??
8. That looks way better than this!
9. Oh well this should hold me over until I get to see that one.
10. Three people wrote the screenplay for this including the director Eli Roth while two others came up with the story.
11. Nicholas Lopez helmed Aftershock (2012) which I really liked!
12. Guillermo Amoedo also worked on Aftershock (both as a writer).
13. Oh wow this is actually a remake of a 1977 film hence why the other two are credited for the story.
14. I kind of feel silly for not realizing this.
15. Anyways it may be better than I am expecting.

"Two nubile, stranded women reveal a sinister agenda after they spend the night with a married architect."

Thoughts while I watched this.
1. Four minutes of credits and a tour of the house where the story will take place.
2. I mean they could have tried to put something interesting there.
3. Aww they are such an adorable family!
4. I hope I have a family this sweet.
5. Oh no a dog in a horror movie...
6. Please don't kill the doggy Eli Roth!
7. Oh wait if they do then we will be revealed that Evan Webber is one of John Wick's aliases.
8. Two super attractive girls at your door in the middle of the night is fishy.
9. I wouldn't have let them in or even opened the door.
10. The foreign chick is way too flirty.
11. This Evan guy is too nice and naive.
12. Well looks like his will just wasn't strong enough.
13. These two girls were just too appealing in every way.
14. Oh things just got steamy.
15. Hope he knows how bad he just messed up.
16. Wow these girls are such pigs.
17. I didn't see that twist coming.
18. Colleen Camp hasn't aged gracefully.
19. These girls have some serious issues.
20. This in a way reminds me of Hard Candy.
21. I'm from Oakland, Ho! LMAO
22. I kind of figured that would happen.
23. That speech was kind of amusing.
24. Whoa another unexpected twist.
25. Oh glad that made me happy.
26. I didn't see that ending coming either.
27. That's it?

Thoughts after I watched this.
1. It really isn't all that bad.
2. There are some stupid decisions made though.
3. The dog lived yay!
4. Keanu Reeves still doesn't have much acting range.
5. These girls are stunning.
6. I still wouldn't have even let them in (trust issues).
7. It barely felt like an Eli Roth film.
8. I liked that there was a cameo from the original film; even if I myself never watched it.
9. It could be good for a one time watch.
10. Looks like I have found a location near me with Green Inferno!
11. So that is definitely next!

Thoughts before I watched this.
1. It looks like a mixture of low budget and quite well made.
2. It does look pretty funny and fun though.
3. There are some similarities to Evil Dead, Pick of Destiny, Todd & the Book of Pure Evil, and Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.
4. There are a lot of Power Rangers and Spartacus actors here.
5. This is the sole credit for writer/director Jason Lei Howden.
6. Time to get this party started.

"Four teenage boys unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The Blind One by delving into black magic while trying to escape their mundane lives."

Thoughts while I watched this.
1. Oh boy here we go with a narrated beginning.
2. Those opening credits are tripping balls.
3. Whoever thought of those must have been on drugs or something.
4. Still It's definitely creative.
5. Yeah his mother definitely has issues.
6. These are some fun introductions for our characters.
7. I'm with Brodie; Medina is hot!
8. You can't have metal without boobies.
9. The drawing stuff reminds me of American Ultra.
10. Brodie's life kind of parallels with Harry Potter in my opinion.
11. Zakk is a crazy badass.
12. LOWERCASE IS FOR PUSSIES!
13. SHOULD I TYPE IN ALL CAPS NOW?
14. No that would be annoying.
15. Whoa what the hell was that all about?
16. Oh yes finally some bloodshed.
17. Rick Rolled!
18. Oh man that was a brutal way to go.
19. That was disturbingly amusing.
20. DEATHGASM looks like a tribute band for Kiss Haha.
21. Oh no she said he was a good "drawer" instead of artist. SMH
22. She has a CD player in 2015. New Zealand has some catching up to do.
23. That was uncalled for and brutal.
24. That was also uncalled for!
25. The vomiting stuff is kind of funny for some reason.
26. The carnage begins. YES!
27. Are those Hulk fists?!
28. WTF!?! Didn't expect that badassery!
29. Church Stuff.
30. Did that really just happen?
31. This definitely has some creative death scenes.
32. That was disturbing, mental, an funny all at the same time.
33. Put that away man!
34. So much gore! So much metal! So much Yes!
35. Ah more boobs wondered if there would be more.
36. Oh man I did not see that coming!
37. Nice little epilogue sequence.
38. Oh look we have an after credits scene!
39. Okay amusing extra scene.

Thoughts after I watched this.
1. That definitely felt like all the movies I mentioned above.
2. Kimberley Crossman is hot.
3. The death scenes were fun and crazy.
4. It was dark, funny, and badass.
5. You can't have metal without a touch of nudity.
6. For a first timer Jason Lei Howen managed to execute perfectly.
7. Hope to see more of this director.
8. It's totally worth watching.

Initial Thought: I think I saw a teaser for this like years ago. I was curious if it was a real thing or not. It looks to be that it is. From what I've heard though it's a bit average or below. Well I'd like to see for myself.

Characters/Acting: There are a few recognizable faces here with the biggest being Casper Van Dien. That doesn't give this much promise in ways of acting. I know it's a kid naming the demon, but come on "Air" is such a lackluster name. The acting is fine, but really nobody is particularly outstanding. Casper Van Dien was quite wonderful here. In fact his character was the only one I liked and found interesting. If only 9 years passed and Lily was somewhere around 15 give or take how can she look to be in her late 30s early 40s. Even if Lily was 18 she would be 27 and Victoria Pratt Definitely can't pass for that. That makes the casting here quite dreadful.

Story: A coming-of-rage story about discovering your true self and overcoming your inner demons to find love in a chaotic world. That's a pretty cheesy plotline if you ask me. That opening was actually pretty good and would work very well as a title sequence for a television series. The cinematography is nice and I like the visuals of June's episodes. The music was a bit repetitive, but at first it was kind of nice. It's a pretty cliche story. In fact I seriously don't think I saw any originality through the entire thing. The twist was seriously obvious. Wow that ending was so lame.

Directing/Writing: Neither the director or the writer have much credits to their name. The director made some other Devil movie a couple years back I've never heard of. The writer on the other hand wrote some cheesy looking spiritual movie like 10 years ago. There is not much hope at all now that this is going to be very good. Well as I thought this didn't go well. It was a mash up of other movie ideas only with no scary factors to it. Hopefully these filmmakers don't add anymore crap to their names.

Final Thoughts: This was so boring. It's cliche. I mean seriously everything here has been done before and way better. There is nothing scary about it. The twists are useless. The acting was alright I guess. The only saving grace here was Casper Van Dien. He was just awesome here in my opinion.

Initial Thought: When I saw the trailer I knew this was something I would want to see. The concept is awesome, hilarious, and something I thought of happening in some of my daydreaming lol. It has a pretty nice cast of young Hollywood. The only thing I am a bit skeptical is the sad fact that this is PG-13. Either way I'm sure it will still be pretty fun. At least the characters will be smarter than your average horror film characters.

Characters/Acting: The cast here is pretty awesome from Malin Akerman and Taissa Farmiga to Nina Dobrev and Thomas Middleditch. I love the idea of the characters watching a horror film that they get pulled into. It should be interesting to see how many of the rules they know how to deal with. I really liked all the characters here. They were funny and original (even the stereotypical characters had uniqueness about them). Angela Trimbur was a scene stealer for sure.

Story: A young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s, finds herself pulled into the world of her mom's most famous movie. Reunited, the women must fight off the film's maniacal killer. Okay it starts off with a seriously funny homage to 80s horror film trailers. This definitely feels much like a Friday the 13th parody. I really didn't expect this to start the way it did. There is a little dash of Final Destination here too. The death scenes are a bit awkward with the CGI. They managed to make a few of them interesting though. I also wasn't expecting a few of them to happen the way they did. The ending was quite good and I loved that movie reference with the stuffed animal.

Directing/Writing: Todd Strauss-Schulson hasn't directed many films, but he did the Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. That for me gives me confidence in the humor of this film. M.A. Fortin seems to be fairly new to the business. Joshua John Miller isn't a particularly strong film writer with the likes of Death Warrant and Halloween III. He does however have pretty good sitcoms under his belt like The Wonder Years and Growing Pains. This should be interesting to see. There is some real originality here with taking on the common cliches.

Final Thoughts: This could have been so much better if it was rated R. As it is though it still was pretty freaking awesome. Besides that and the CGI thrown in for the death scenes I really enjoyed this. It was quirky, different, and somewhat badass. The characters are all likable. There is never a dull moment. Everything really rolls together nicely here. If you like stuff like Friday the 13th or Tucker and Dale VS Evil then you should definitely give this a shot.

Initial Thought: Oh man when I saw the trailer for this I knew it had to be a comeback for Johnny Depp. It looked intense, raw, and just plain intriguing. Not to mention that it has a pretty epic cast otherwise. I decided to check it out as soon as I could since it's in one of the theaters I get to go for free. I hope this is as good or better than it looks.

Characters/Acting: Of course we have Johnny Depp who looks like he is trying to be serious once again. It looks like it might work out for him. He is also surrounded by some pretty awesome actors like Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Peter Sarsgaard. There are even a few people here I didn't even know were in this. It's very weird seeing Benedict Cumberbatch when he plays Americans. He does it really well here and I definitely can see him as a politician. Johnny Depp is so haunting here. This is by far one of his disturbed characters. I say this is a true return to form from him. I really like Peter Sarsgaard and here he is quite different than his character from Pawn Sacrifice. He is always so much fun to watch. I've never really been a fan of Jesse Plemons, but I respect him for changing his lifestyle for the role. Joel Edgerton is amazing as usual. Kevin Bacon is alright here, but nothing amazing from him. I wish there was more Juno Temple here. Honestly even though this movie is starring Johnny Depp and is about Whitey Bulger this really seemed to be more about those around and not as much focused on him.

Story: The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf. So this is a bit slow moving, but whenever violence happens it is truly brutal and horrific. There are some pretty intense moments with dialogue too though. You really don't want to get on a guy like Whitey's bad side. I always enjoy the little facts they give about what happened to the real people after the events dramatized in these biographical films. I wonder why they did that shot like that at the end.

Directing/Writing: I have actually scene all of Scott Cooper's films so far. I didn't much care for Crazy Heart. It's most likely because I hate country music. It was directed well, but it just wasn't my type of film. Out of the Furnace though was pretty awesome. He also wrote both of those. For this film he takes solely works as a director. This is the writing debut for Mark Mallouk. Together he works with Jez Butterworth who worked on Edge of Tomorrow and Get on Up as well as the future Spectre. There is no way a man of such caliber could write a bad movie at least from what I've seen and expect. The filming is kind of strange it seems like a lot of it is done in snippets.

Final Thoughts: I thought this was a perfect film for October. This is simply for the fact that it is haunting for other reasons that gore horror. It's real crimes done by a real man. Anyways I thought this was quite good. The acting was great specifically from the man Johnny Depp. I would have liked to see the characters a bit more fleshed out than they were though. Either way this is a really good crime movie. I think it's definitely worth a watch. Also good on Johnny Depp for finally making a good choice among the many duds.

Initial Thought: I usually find anthologies to be pretty fun. You get some really good pieces even if most are garbage. The original ABCs of Death had so many horrible entries, but it had it's fair selection of excellent little shorts as well. This film goes along the lines of A Nightmare Before Christmas. You can watch it on either Halloween or Christmas which is why this one in particular caught my interest. Plus it has a fairly decent cast.

Characters/Acting: Many of the actors here seem to be Canadian. There are many people here who had small roles in Degrassi. There are also many who were in Supernatural. The biggest name here is William Shatner, but there are a few other memorable actors who stand out. The acting is pretty good for the most part. Santa was cheesy, but I'm pretty sure he was meant to be.

Story: Interwoven stories that take place on Christmas Eve, as told by one festive radio host: A family brings home more than a Christmas tree, a student documentary becomes a living nightmare, a Christmas spirit terrorizes, Santa slays evil. The one I am most excited for is Santa taking on zombie elves. The Krampus one just reminds me of the film coming up with the comedic actors, but it might still be kind of fun. The Christmas tree one looks pretty crazy. Students doing a documentary where they aren't supposed to just sounds like every single one of its kind. I'm interested to see what all happens with the DJ played by William Shatner. I do appreciate that these all have some kind of connection to each other. I think I prefer everything being interwoven like it is here rather than just unrelated segmenting. I won't spoil how each of them show their connections. That way it keeps that interesting bit for when you see it. Okay I don't know why, but I absolutely loved the beginning credits music.

DJ Dan Segment: This is really the overall arc sort of thing. Although it isn't done in that typical sort of way. We pretty much watch as he becomes drunk as the day goes on. I like the humor that we get here such as the "Fuck Christmas" part. So it seems this segment doesn't have all that much to do with much other than the characters are listening to him on the radio. I do like his scenes though because well it's William Shatner and he does play his part well. His stuff continues during the credits. I would hardly call this one of the segments though.

The Documentary Kids Segment: So this one starts off like your typical kids checking out a haunted building scenario. It even has it's jump scares that actually happened to catch me off guard. Oh yeah still going through cliches. I'm hoping that this has some kind of originality. There we go something I didn't expect to happen! It gets a bit more strange from there. It makes you wonder why it is happening. Though the ending actually reveals what is going on nicely. This was probably the weakest of the segments though. The ending after the reveal just fell flat for me. I wasn't expecting much from this segment anyways to be honest.

Krampus Segment: Right off the bat you can tell that this family is distant with each other. The kids are spiteful, defiant, and wicked. The only one of the family who seems to want to try is the father. It doesn't take very long for things to start to get strange. There are some truly interesting twists to the family. We don't see too much of Krampus here which kind of sucks. Holy shit that ending was incredibly twisted and unexpected. I think this pretty much ties with the Christmas Tree segment in terms of enjoyment.

Christmas Tree Segment: You can tell that this is a loving family. Things get eerie after they find the tree they desire. I like that this one builds up it's horror. Man horror kids are just way too freaky! The twist honestly shouldn't shock the audience. It's more about what comes before and after the reveal. That in itself is what makes this a good segment. The ending of this itself was quite different than expected. The way this paced itself had me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen with the family. I really respected this story and that's why it ties with the fun Krampus segment.

Santa VS Zombie Elves Segment: Well that was an interesting start. It starts off sweet and innocent and quickly changes its tone. It's a bit cheesy here mostly because of Santa. There is a lot of blood and Santa proving he is a badass. I swear midget zombie elves would be horrifying in real life especially since these are fast and smart. Santa has a few cool kill ideas up his sleeves. Holy crap what an excellent ending. I seriously didn't see that twist coming! This was my favorite of the segments for sure and the one I absolutely wanted to see.

Directing/Writing: Since this is an anthology you can expect quite a few people behind the scenes. Two of the directors (Grant Harvey and Brett Sullivan) have worked on the Ginger Snaps series as well as Orphan Black (among other Canadian shows). Steven Hoban seems to be new at working with these two however. Pretty much all of the writers here have worked on Darknet of which Steven Hoban is known for directing. Doug Taylor has some movie writing experience with Splice, but unfortunately he also wrote Uwe Boll's In the Name of the King. Pascal Trottier is also known for a few films like Colony which is all kinds of awesome. Then unfortunately he did Hellions which I saw recently. That one was just plain weird and I'm still not sure I liked it or even understood it.

Final Thoughts: It's funny how the weakest one is the one I least cared for while the best one was the one I was hyped about. For the Santa segment alone I would highly recommend it. I say skip through the documentary kids though. That just rehashes a bunch of ideas you have probably seen a couple of times before. The other segments are definitely worth seeing too for their pacing and interesting twists and turns. I would certainly watch this again.