One of a kind; The Human Centipede (First Sequence) Review

I've seen a lot of horror movies in my day, While I can safely say that most of the movies I have seen where scary, Human Centipede has to be on of the most disturbing concepts I've come across. This film is a very unique story that tries to unsettle the audience as much as it possibly can, and it does a fairly successful job.

The film focuses on the story of a crazy surgeon, Dr.Heiter (Dieter Laser) who specialized in separating conjoined twins but has decided to start joining people together to make the titular "Human Centipede." To do so he kidnaps tourists in the area to make his masterpiece.

Dieter Laser does a great job as a menacing figure. Watching it there is a constant air of dread when he was in a scene. He is a cold calculating psychopath and may be one of my favorite horror villains. The thing that makes him so scary is that he is completely unrelenting, but unlike Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers or any other horror characters he's just a guy. The fact that he is a very human character makes him much scarier, and you can relate to the fear of the victims.

As for the acting of the captives it is kind of a mixed bag. Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) seem to be the ones we're really supposed to feel bad for, but the performance of Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura), the "front" of the centipede was pretty gripping. Much like Dr.Heiter, Katsuro is a very motivated character, so it leads to some great conflict between the two, despite the fact that neither speaks the other's language. What there is from the girls is good, but all in all it's kind of relieving  that they stop talking after awhile.

It's really hard to say that I would recommend this movie, but I don't think it was bad. It's hard to say much about it because it is a very unique movie. The creator, Tom Six, came up with a very very disturbing idea and he executed it to the best of his ability. From that perspective its a great movie, but that doesn't mean it won't be any more polarizing. There's little gore, the most graphic scene is the surgery and there is little of that shown. Even when the centipede is made, the worst of the "changes" are obscured by bandages. The true horror in this film comes completely from the idea, which to me, seems like the sign of a good movie. This obviously isn't true for every film, but in this case it may be.

All in all this film is definitely a "must see." Not because it's a superb film, not because it's a bad film, but because it's just one of those movies people will talk about for sometime to come. If the mention of surgically grafting people anus to mouth is too off putting, than maybe you should sit this movie out. Personally, I find "body horror" extremely fascinating, movies like "Saw" and "The Fly" are my favorite films, so I am wholeheartedly for this movie. It's impossible for anyone to give a unanimous verdict on the film, it is just that peculiar. To me though it has to be a 4 outta 5!

Under Appreciated or Mediocre #1--Maggie Grace

So this is me trying to experiment with the blog a little. Maybe get away from just reviews. Hopefully this will become an ongoing thing. The world of acting is a harsh and competitive one, and not everybody can make it to the top. Unfortunately some of these actors might not deserve to be trapped in obscurity. So I'm here to sort the actors who deserve a second chance from the actors that need to rethink their careers. I'll look at several films in their career and make a verdict of whether these actors are...Under Appreciated or Mediocre!

First up is a lady any "Lost" fan will recognize, Maggie Grace! Unfortunately if you are a fan of Lost than you know her best as the self centered elitist, Shannon Rutherford.

Can her acting go past the blonde airhead variety? Let's take a look!

"The Fog"--So this seems like an unfair movie to look at because this is a terrible film. There isn't anything that could have made it better. Grace is basically the main character alongside Tom Welling (Smallville) so she gets lots of screen time. So how does Maggie Grace fair in a horrible horror remake? She does alright, she isn't hamming it up and acting like the typical dumb girl in a scary movie, she is one of the better actors in the movie. She definitely isn't the Shannon character, so it's good to see that isn't all she can do.

"The Jane Austen Book Club"--So there aren't a lot of films where Grace gets top billing, so I had do a chick flick, which honestly wasn't that bad. It was a little cheesy but in the "it's a chick flick" kind of way. The film has a large cast so Grace isn't quite as prominent as she is in "The Fog", but she's a major character. I really liked her in this to, she's a thrill seeker who is also very clumsy, which leads to a couple funny scenes where she injures herself in the name of being "extreme." She is never over the top in this movie either, she acts like a normal human being, and does a good job at it.

That really is it in terms of her most notable roles, everything else is pretty minor. This is kind of unfortunate because she really seems like a good actress.

Final Verdict: Maggie Grace has not been in much. Her biggest role to date seems to be Shannon from "Lost". The awesome thing is though as annoying and rude as that character was, it seems like that was done on purpose, not just how Grace acts. With the other two movies I saw It's pretty clear that she has some range. In "The Fog" she's believable and in "Jane Austen Book Club" she is believable, two completely different movies and she made her characters not only likable but realistic in relation to the story. One of the best things I can say is that she knows how to not overact.

          Another actress I really like, Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter, Quarantine), is OK, but when she tries to play up an emotion like fear or sadness it's borderline ridiculous. There weren't any times during Grace's performances where I didn't believe in her characters, or I thought they were melodramatic. It's good to know that she is continuing to work, maybe eventually she'll get even more lead roles, because she could really be a great actress some day. So Maggie Grace is definitely Under Appreciated.

Sharp Monster Movie; Splinter Review

When watching a movie you know nothing about it's always a good idea to keep an open mind until the credits roll at the end. This is best exemplified in the case of "Splinter" a horror movie i went from hating to thoroughly enjoying when it was all over.

The film finds Seth and Polly, a couple celebrating their one year anniversary, kidnapped and taken hostage by Dennis and Lacey, two convicts on the run. They stop by a gas station that appears to be abandoned. They soon find that there is a not so friendly creature looking to make them a meal.

I don't want to get into too much about the monster because there actually are some unexpected twists revealed throughout the film. There seem to be elements taken from John Carpenter's "The Thing" regarding the monster, but like i said they do a good job crafting a creature, and i wouldn't want to give anything away.

The movie is well paced, there weren't any parts where i wished i could skip ahead. The tension is constant, the creature is a pretty malevolent force throughout. Unlike some horror movies where it's vague about what becomes of the victims, it is made painfully clear what befalls the monster's prey. The movie rarely relies on CGI which i always appreciate in a horror movie, and there is even a scene i think is more intense than most scenes in the "Saw" movies.

Of course, this is not a top tier film, and it does have it's flaws. The acting is decent, the only actor i didn't like was the girl convict, she was just annoying. Once and awhile there will be a plot point where you go "really?" but there are a lot of horror movies out there like that.

The first part of the film is tough to get through, at first none of the characters are that likeable, but that changes pretty quickly. Just wait until the creature shows up then it gets pretty good.

I really liked this movie, it was something unexpected. A dark creature feature type movie I haven't seen in awhile. It's a rent at the least, if you do like movies like "The Thing", "The Fly", or maybe even "Tremors" this could be a film for you. 4 outta 5!