Reviews by BAMF

Initial Thought: I'm still working on the Amityville train. I bet that will be a future sequel. This one looks to be quite horrible given what I have seen in the trailer. It also doesn't help that this sequel has the dreadful Lin Shaye. Anyways I guess I shall get this over with.

Characters/Acting: It seems that priests have lost their relevance in the series since there are none here or in the previous film. David Naughton is a decent choice here as he made a nice impression with An American Werewolf in London. Richard Roundtree seems a bit of an odd choice, but a welcome addition to this strange mix of actors. Terry O'Quinn is probably the best out of everyone here. I wish this didn't have Lin Shaye in it. I completely despise every time I see her after watching the ghost movie Dead End. I never understand the DeFeo stuff. The names never match up and the killings are never in the same way. So either this series doesn't know how to keep it's story making sense or they are all similar fates to which new families never learn the dangers the house represents. Anyways I thought the acting was decent here except for the main guy who needed some practice. I did even like the characters themselves.

Story: The Amityville house is still known to be destroyed, but it looks like another artifact in the form of a mirror is out and about. I'm beginning to think pretty much anything that is in Amityville is possessed. This really reminded me of Mirrors with the way everything happens. That has to be one of the dirtiest and unorganized looking functioning mental hospitals. There was one thing in particular that I don't understand why someone would make. It was like a saw trap for the amusement of a party. There was a little bit of pretty decent deaths and some gore. The ending was pretty good and wasn't at all that predictable.

Directing/Writing: John Murlowski is known for making some really awful movies. He made Santa With Muscles and the Richie Rich sequel Christmas Wish which lacked the luster of it's predecessor. Christopher DeFaria and Antonio Toro return from the previous film as the writers here. They continue to do a decent job of keeping your attention. While Murlowski is said to be pretty bad I was surprised with how enjoyable he made this.

Final Thought: It's surprisingly much better than it's trailer is. The vibe of the movie kind of reminded of Nightmare on Elm Street and Evil Dead. This is quite the roller coaster of a series. You have awful entries. You have decent entries like this one. Also you get a few that are quite fun. That's just within the first seven as well as the remake. Anyways you might be able to enjoy this one if you liked the previous one. It also has some pretty well known decent actors who might be one of the things that really improves the entire experience.

Initial Thought: This is a painful series to get through. It has it's moments that shine out, but mostly these are just not all that good. Anyways once I start something I must finish it. So I shall continue with part six.

Characters/Acting: There are a few pretty recognizable faces/names. The biggest name here though would have to be Dick Miller. Everyone else is pretty small time compared to him. Rusty was definitely my favorite character. In fact I think everyone did a decent enough job here.

Story: Well this time around there is a possessed clock. I don't know if that sounds better or worse than a lamp. Also again this object is taken from the Amityville house that made this series so popular to begin with. I liked the music during the beginning credits. The concept here is way more interesting than what we got with the possessed lamp story. Here time and reality are altered. It's actually pretty creative with the stuff that happens. The ending was pretty great.

Directing/Writing: Tony Randel directed the second Hellraiser and wrote part three. He is pretty enjoyable so I expected that to transfer to this pretty tired series. John G. Jones wrote the story this is based on. His only other contribution in the series was with the television made entry in the series. His stories never involve the house being possessed rather items in the houses. Christopher DeFaria and Antonio Toro only wrote this and the next entry. Only DeFaria has other work and it's as an actor. Anyways these guys actually brought a fun and different story to the series that worked. Tony Randel has yet to do me wrong.

Final Thought: I'm not going to lie I thought this would be pretty bad. I was wrong. I might be a minority in thinking that this is by far the most entertaining of this series so far. It is pretty creative and different. The characters and acting make you care what is going on. There are nice little twists and turns. It has a nice creep factor to the whole thing. I was pleasantly surprised with how this turned out.

Initial Thought: You know the drill by now. This one either completely disregards the previous films or is just another notch in the completely out of whack timeline.

Characters/Acting: Well this time around we have Kim Coates gracing this film with his presence. This is the first one in the series to have a priest that isn't a main character. It looks like Debbie is our character who overreacts to everything. Kim Coates is honestly the best thing about this movie.

Story: This one deals with a group of friends who decide to live in Amityville. Apparently everything in this town is haunted. This clearly is not the same house either unfortunately. A lot of stuff here doesn't really make sense. A detective tells a guy to not smoke in his own house. I don't think that is something people can get away with no matter who they are. Another thing is why don't these people lock their doors or even freak out about a lady pretty much breaking into their house. I don't care how old you are if I don't know you and you are in my house we have issues. In an otherwise boring and uneventful movie there is a pretty good twist. The ending was just as plain Jane as the rest of the movie.

Directing/Writing: Tom Berry directs this sequel to quite the unusual franchise. He has also written the Decoy movies as well as a Screamers sequel. He also had a part as an actor in the first Screamers film. This is the second and last film in the franchise based on a book of the same name by Hans Holzer. This took three writers of which none are recognizable.

Final Thought: Well I wouldn't consider it the worst of the series. It didn't have much going for it though. Most of the kills were pretty tame and even make you wonder how they even happened. Some plot points don't really get explored too well. It's better than part three anyways. This continues to be a series that shouldn't have been. Anyways watch this at your own risk.

Initial Thought: I'm just moving along the series. So far it's been decent to rather disappointing. Surprisingly this is the only part of the series that was put on television. It looks to be also of the worst quality.

Characters/Acting: Fredric Lehne started out taking demons out as a priest. I guess he failed because in Supernatural he is the first major demon. A lot of people here have been in horror movies and rather noticeably they end up in mostly the sequels of popular franchises. The son is a bit of a dumbo in some scenes. The grandmother kind of reminds me of a mix of both my parents' mothers. The characters I did actually like here were Father Kibbler and Amanda. Amanda mostly had my attention for her looks though.

Story: Apparently this one involves a demonic lamp in the house. It already doesn't sound like something that is particularly scary. The beginning was actually pretty cool. The timeline in the series is so out of whack. You never can tell which story takes place at what point. The chainsaw scene was a bit ridiculous. It had some decent moments throughout. It seemed like they were actually trying to make a consistent story this time around.

Directing/Writing: Sandor Stern who wrote the original movie and the remake returns for this sequel. Apparently it is the story he wanted to tell. He writes and directs this time around. It's also based on the book of the same name that was written by John G. Jones.

Final Thought: It isn't awful. It's at least more enjoyable than the previous film. I did think the plot was a bit silly though. I just can't take a lamp as something to fear. For the fourth part in a series it wasn't initially as bad as I expected. I wouldn't say it's worth watching though unless you are following the series.

Initial Thought: I am just continuing along through the franchise. I do find it funny that it says in this movie you are the victim since it's known for being pretty bad. Anyways let's get on with it.

Characters/Acting: Wow I can't believe this has Meg Ryan. It's always interesting seeing the more well known stars in some of their earliest roles. It also has Robert Joy who is pretty well known in horror fandom. This is Lori Loughlin's first movie not on television. The characters here were all pretty lame besides maybe the scientist friend and the daughter's friend who Meg Ryan plays. The dad was just not the brightest guy in the world.

Story: It's another notch in the history of the Amityville house and it's horror. Why is everyone so easily jumpy in these movies. This is really similar to a recent horror movie that I forget exactly what it was called. It might have been The Awakening. The plots are pretty similar almost as if whoever came up with the latter watched this Amityville sequel. You can tell which parts here were supposed to be in 3D and they look lame. One part really reminded me of something from Land of the Dead you will know it if you've seen both this and that. The car scene didn't make much sense to me, but hey these films hardly ever make much sense. The ending was alright I guess.

Directing/Writing: I know of Richard Fleischer, but this is my first run in with one of his movies. This seems to be the only worked noted by William Wales.

Final Thought: Most of this was pretty bland. I didn't really care about the parents here. It wasn't all that interesting. The 3D wasn't even used for anything scary. It was mostly just props being pushed towards the camera. It wasn't appealing. It also wasn't as creepy as the first two. It simply was just there. If you are a Meg Ryan fan and want to see her starting point you don't even have to watch the whole thing. I would otherwise say skip this one.

Initial Thought: I have been waiting for this since the name was mentioned. I have seen every film so far. I actually started with Beyond Thunderdome and then went and watched the first two. They all were pretty good, but Beyond Thunderdome was my favorite. It might have been because I grew up a fan of Tina Turner because of my dad. Also you just gotta adore MasterBlaster. So it's only right that I'm seeing this with him since he started me on this series.

Characters/Acting: Tom Hardy takes Mel Gibson's place as the iconic Mad Max. It's not hard to believe seeing as he is becoming one of the most prominent stars in action and thrillers. What is interesting here is Charlize Theron becoming a badass heroine. She has taken on a few action roles before, but this really looks like her best yet. I love that Hugh Keays-Byrne is back in the series obviously playing a new yet really awesome looking villain. It looks like we have a new MasterBlaster type of character here. I hope he is as adorable as the previous was. Nicholas Hoult is such a fun guy to watch and he looks quite lovely here! Interesting decision that most of the girls in the convoy are models or daughters/granddaughters of famous musicians. Well I was wrong about the Master Blaster kind of character. We can't have everything we want. The mutants were all unique and awesome looking. Immortan Joe's wives were all great and definitely nice to look at rather than seeing all the mutated people throughout. Immortan Joe was a pretty crazy looking villain and he was also quite a disturbed fellow. The acting was great. Tom Hardy really pulled off the Mad Max personality. Nux was definitely my favorite character though with Max and Furiosa not far behind. That being said I absolutely loved all the characters here.

Story: From what I hear this is mostly just a really badass two hour car chase through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. As it was said this was definitely a two hour car chase. It was pretty awesome that way too. This was the most action packed Mad Max yet. The cars were just plain awesome especially the one with The Doof Warrior. The visuals here were quite remarkable and beautiful to look at. I love that most of the effects are practical and the explosions are real! These days most actions movies rely too heavily on CGI. I watched a preview the other day for the Point Break remake where a rock-slide is very clearly CGI. Some of the scenes here were definitely gross, but kind of fun and amusing. One scene in particular involves milk. This movie isn't actually about Max as he really is here to move along Furiosa's story. That didn't bother me much. Max barely talked much in the original series. He was always the badass of very few words. So it was an interesting way to do things, but it was quite effective. There are a lot of great shocker moments throughout that will just put you at the edge of your seat. The ending was just as good as the rest of the movie. Trust me that you will not want to leave during any scene.

Directing/Writing: George Miller returns to direct and co-write a long overdue sequel to the Mad Max saga. It's hard to believe this guy did the Happy Feet movies (which were at least average) and the horrible Babe sequel. Brendan McCarthy is mostly known for graphic novels and writing episodes of ReBoot. Nick Lathouris who also co-writes was originally in the first Mad Max film as Grease Rat. This is how a movie that takes seventeen years to finally get made should be made. George Miller is a true master of the arts.

Final Thought: "Oh what a day. What a lovely day!" That pretty much sums up the fun of this movie. It's jam packed full of action from start to finish. Don't go into this with a full bladder as you will barely ever catch a moment to go to the restroom without missing something awesome. The nostalgia this made me feel was great. I really felt like I was watching Mad Max like it never left. I laughed. I cheered. I was disgusted. I was caught off guard. I had a blast. It is by far the best of the series. If you haven't seen this then what the hell are you waiting for. Get on with it and remember to have a lovely day!

Initial Thought: I am continuing on with the franchise. This is apparently a prequel to the first one. The stars here are much less known than the first one.

Characters/Acting: I only recognize Burt Young from the Rocky movies and Diane Franklin. I really hate the husband here. Unlike the previous movie this guy was an asshole probably way before the house. The older brother and sister are quite an odd pair of siblings. They just seem way too close to the point when we first meet them I thought they were just lovers living together with the whole family. If Game of Thrones was made in the 80s Jack Magner would have been Theon Greyjoy I mean him and Alfie Allen look so similar. I swear the mother overreacts to absolutely everything. I really only liked the daughter. Everyone else here drove me kind of crazy.

Story: This is supposedly a prequel to Amityville Horror. It is all about the murders. On the outside the house looks exactly the same. The inside is set up so very different though the basement looks mostly similar. There was one stupid scene where the priest comes to the house and the husband answers the door and meets him. Then the wife who went to church alone comes in and asks if he met her husband. I can't believe they seriously went with that. The pace here is a lot quicker here than the first film. There is so much here that confuses the timeline within the series given technology involved and other criteria. The shootings don't even match with those mentioned and shown in the previous film. This has to be just some other family that moved into the house. It's quite weird how almost nothing is mentioned about the past. The visuals here are pretty bad and most definitely resemble aged Italian horror. I did like that this is pretty different and doesn't go the way you would expect it to. The ending left a bit to be desired as it makes it so you have to make your own interpretation of what happened.

Directing/Writing: The director hasn't done anything I recognize, but he has done quite a bit of work in the 70s. This is also based on a book like the first one. This time it is a different author though by the name of Hans Holzer. His other credit is Amityville Curse. Dardano Sacchetti is uncredited here. He has done notable work though with Lucio Fulci's Zombie, Demons films, and The Beyond. Tommy Lee Wallace is the most well known person associated with this. He wrote and directed It, the completely irrelevant Halloween III, and the original Fright Night Part 2.

Final Thought: It isn't a particularly good film, but in my opinion it's pretty unpredictable. I honestly did not see a lot of it coming. It may not be a similar lore to Amityville as it adds its own touch. It was only worth watching for a few scenes. If you watch this series don't expect it to make much sense most of the time. They can't all be winners though.

Initial Thought: I feel like a franchise. So I decided on the Amityville series since they have a new one coming up soon. I hear most of them are awful besides this and the remake. The new one looks like it should be good too. Anyways let's see what this is all about.

Characters/Acting: I adore Margot Kidder. She was such a prominent actress in the 70s. I swear Josh Brolin looks just like his father James Brolin. It's crazy how they look like they could be twins. There was a bit of overacting which is kind of expected from these films. I did find James Brolin to be great though. He was honestly the best thing about this film aside from the dog of course.

Story: A haunting in Amityville causes strange occurrences within a new family's new home. Houses were murders took place never make for anything other than horror films. This feels somewhat like a mixture of The Omen, The Exorcist, and Poltergeist. The jump scares here made me laugh. There were moments when the person shouldn't even have been scared. The music is pretty good here as is usual for the classics. It kind of seems that some parts of the plot were just left behind. The ending was kind of bland and left a few questions unanswered.

Directing/Writing: This is my first run in with Stuart Rosenberg who seems to be known as a slightly above average director. Jay Anson wrote the book this is based from. The book was also used for the remake. Sandor Stern wrote the screenplay here and has credit under the remake as well. It looks like he was also involved in part four of the series. This story is based upon Kathy and George Lutz whom the remake uses the material of as well.

Final Thought: It was an okay movie. I think for it's time it might have been scary. As of now it didn't really do much for me. I mean the atmosphere was creepy sure, but it just didn't have the scare factor I would have hoped for. I was much more entertained by the remake. I can see why it's a classic though. It's nice for a one time watch for the nostalgia.

Initial Thought: When I saw the name of this movie before anything else was known I thought they were finally making a Grand Theft Auto movie. Come on people I know I'm not the only one. Come to find out it's a disaster flick with awesome action star Dwayne Johnson. It also has two of my biggest crushes. I love disaster films so I knew I would be seeing this when I could. Well I had a little time before my movie group movie and this was playing in my theater so I went and watched it.

Characters/Acting: The Rock is always fun to watch because he is a badass action star. He was a wrestler before, but he is one that actually has some acting talent. We also have major babes Alexandra Daddario and Carla Gugino. They are both just way too hot. I don't think I could be a stepfather to Alexandra's character. I would be way too interested in both of them to choose one or the other. Looks like Ioan Gruffudd is still in films besides his seemingly main hold in the small screen. Oh look it's Rickon Stark the one on Game of Thrones who seems to be totally forgotten about. He is actually the funniest character here proving he does have some acting ability than being the clueless youngest member of the Stark family. Paul Giamatti is a good actor, but he really doesn't do anything to shine here. Kylie Minogue is not aging gracefully here I didn't even recognize her. There was pretty much no use for Ray's rescue team as we only see the whole team once and one guy appears briefly after that. We are pretty much left in the dark about anything that happens with them. A lot of the characters are pretty cliche unfortunately. I did like the characters despite this.

Story: This starts off with a scene used basically to show us our main character and the abilities he has. There is a scene that has a car crash that looks like maybe they filmed it after all the rest of the CGI had been used. It just looked way too cartoonish and didn't match the quality of the rest of the film. Another part is pretty awful editing when we see a few photos. They are noticeably photoshopped. With such a high budget I would expect pictures to at least look realistic. These two things were just small issues I had with this. It had quite a few cliches throughout. It really began reminding me of 2012 and another lesser known movie called Aftershock which starred Eli Roth. I mean a lot of the plot was really similar to 2012 with the main couple having marital issues and another man in the picture. I mean it was pretty noticeable. The chaos is really what made this movie enjoyable. There is so much of it throughout. I really wish in some scenes that they would have actually let someone die instead of finding out the very last minute that they are absolutely fine. Really none of the main characters die! Unless you can count Daniel, but he really stops being all that important after the chaos starts. There was one part where a subway train comes out of a hole when the ground breaks and sinks down. I thought it was just added because it looked cool. Who in their right mind would be still in a subway during an earthquake evacuation!? The ending was pretty weak and way too happy for my taste.

Directing/Writing: Oh I should have known the quality of this wouldn't be amazing. It was Brad Peyton who did the horrific sequel to Cats & Dogs. He also did Journey 2 which was a fine watch, but not everyone would agree. Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore worked on The Prince together which was really not good I should have really paid attention to who was behind this film. Passmore also did the Red Dawn remake which was one I actually did enjoy though. Carlton Cuse has written for some of the popular shows such as Lost, Bates Motel and The Strain. With all that this should have been better than it was. It seems like they didn't really care to try anything new here.

Final Thought: While I really enjoyed this I find it hard to really consider it a really great movie. It was fun to see the disaster ensue. It was also great to see two of my favorite hotties in one movie. It was great seeing Dwayne Johnson keeping up his badass routine. It just had a few too many cliches and editing issues for me to fully enjoy it. As I wrote this I kept realizing just how disappointed I was with it. I started it off as an 8 then a 7. Finally I chose a high 6. It's a good one time watch especially if you are a fan of the three main characters and disaster films. Just don't expect anything new and you should be fine.

Initial Thought: Well it's quite obvious that even though the name Slenderman isn't used this is obviously who it is meant to be. It's also found footage which really is the best way to do a film based on the character. I don't think a regular style would do it much justice. Anyways I figured I would check this out as the actors are decent.

Characters/Acting: The main five here are quite well known. It should be obvious that Doug Jones is the Slenderman character. He has the perfect structure. Alexandra Breckenridge has only been on my radar since her appearance on Walking Dead. It was enough for me to be interested in what else she can offer. It's good to see Chris Marquette as he always enjoyable to watch. I really liked all the characters.

Story: It's just a feature length appearance of Slenderman. This really doesn't it take it's time getting to the good stuff. Things start off fairly quickly and get crazier as it goes. It has a few jump scares, but the atmosphere here is the real scare. The way the story unfolds kind of reminds me of Sinister. The ending was not was I was expecting at all.

Directing/Writing: The director wrote a book, but this is the only film I see for him. Joseph DeLage and Troy Wagner were also behind the Marble Hornets web series. Victor Surge is the one who created the character originally. Ian Shorr wrote Splinter which I highly enjoyed for it's originality.

Final Thought: I thought it was pretty good. It was pretty suspenseful. It was kind of fun seeing if I could spot Slenderman every time he appeared. I think it was paced nicely throughout. It is different from the Marble Hornets series so don't go in expecting it to be the same. If you like the subject and found footage it's worth checking out.