GUT REVIEW

Family man Tom has seen something he can’t forget, a mysterious video with an ugly secret that soon spreads into his daily life and threatens to dismantle everything around him.

Starring: Jason Vail, Nicholas Wilder, and Sarah Schoofs

Directed and written by: Elias

  “Gut” starts with a bang, and then quickly settles down into a slow burning psychological horror movie. The story centers around two friends that are in different places in their lives, and have been growing apart. Tom (Jason Vail) has a wife and kids to take care of, while Dan (Nicholas Wilder) is more of a loner.

  Perhaps they have been going in different directions because they each feel there is something missing in their lives. That is the kind of vibe that each gives off, and adds to that slow burning feeling. Dan tries to fill part of that void with a strange video that he orders. Stunned by what he sees, Dan has to share it with his best friend. After trying to keep his distance from Dan, Tom finally gives in, and agrees to see the video.

  From here on out, each of them become obsessed with the video in their own way. Dan orders more videos, while Tom seems to have recurring dreams of what he saw. So what’s on the video? Well, that takes the audience to the title of the film, “Gut.” The video shows someone gutting a person tied to a table. It’s the bloodiest, and most gruesome part of the movie. Just like the movie, it’s a nice and slow gutting of the person.

  Besides being a slow burner, the best part is that the movie never gives the audience a clear idea of who is behind these videos. Because of the awkwardness of Tom and Dan, there are times when you think one of them could be behind it. At other times, you get the feeling that it’s just some other crazy person. That is what the characters leave you to believe. Even when the movie comes to shocking conclusion, there still is no evidence of who’s behind the videos. However, it puts the final nail in their friendship.

  Sometimes slow burners become too slow, and bore me to the point where I have had enough. “Gut” isn’t one of those movies. Not knowing who’s behind the gruesome videos kept my attention throughout. The odd behavior of Tom and Dan had me flipping back and forth between who I thought did it. They do a great job of showing how the two friends’ relationship changes, while mixing in the mystery of where these videos come from. Because this movie had me on my toes the entire time, I give it 3 pools of blood.

  HorrO

EVIL DEAD REVIEW

Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods. The evil presence possesses them until only one is left to fight for survival.

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, and Jessica Lucas

Directed by: Fede Alvarez

Written by: Fede Alvarez, Diablo Cody, Sam Raimi, and Rodo Sayagues

  Horror fans have seen a lot of remakes come their way, and many fans seem tired of seeing them. However, there is something unusual in regards to the “Evil Dead.” This remake has the support of the original writer and director Sam Raimi, and the star of the original, Bruce Campbell. With most of these remakes, there usually isn’t this kind of support from the original movie’s cast and/or crew. So will this make horror fans more likely to see “Evil Dead?”

  To answer the question above for myself, no they had no influence on my decision to see the movie. I wanted to see it simply for the movie itself. Since they do support this film, I’m not going to bother to do a review comparing the two movies. Instead, the focus will be on the good and bad of this movie.

  So what is there to like? Well, if watching people get brutalized is your thing, then this might be the movie for you. There is a ton of blood splattering, bone crushing moments. Characters are losing body parts left and right. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie where the characters are getting sliced and diced, so I enjoyed every second of it.

  There are many great examples of this, but two scenes really stand out. The first is when one of the girls becomes possessed, and decides to make some improvements to her face. She then follows that up with a nice attack on one of her friends. The other scene, and probably my favorite, is when the demon is face to face with another character on the stairway. The demon takes a box cutter away from the girl, and lets just say it pretends the cutter is a lollipop. It then decides to get up close and personal with its terrified victim. There was a woman in the audience that was having an absolute fit, and I loved it! Oh and I can’t forget to mention that there is a pretty decent chainsaw moment as well!

  Whenever there is this much fun watching blood get splattered all over the place, there always comes the bad part. It’s just too unreal. Not necessarily the special effects, but what is happening to the characters, and their reactions. There are several times when a character loses an arm, but they seem to just keep on trucking. Yes, plenty of pain at first, but then they get over it. One character has tons of different things happen to them, but they keep on going. I don’t know how they could ever handle that much pain besides the fact that it’s a movie.

  Moving on to the story, it’s the simple formula of sending some young people to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, and some extremely awful things happen to them. And why did they come to this cabin in the woods? Well, Mia (Jane Levy) is a drug addict, and her friends have brought her there to detox. Not a bad little addition to a story where a demon is about to possess the drug addict.

  What is really good is that the movie doesn’t waste too much time getting to the point. The audience sees her struggle without drugs, they find the book, and then it’s demon time. While I appreciate them moving on, it did seem a little odd how Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) just gets the book, and starts reading it. He doesn’t really hesitate, and no one else notices what he’s doing. The only other complaint about the story is that parts of the ending are a little predictable.

  The acting isn’t too bad. Most of the actors do a good job as their regular characters, and when they are possessed by the demon. Maybe Shiloh Fernandez, who plays David, could have put a little more emotion into it, but his performance didn’t cause a distraction from the movie. The only person’s performance I didn’t care for is Elizabeth Blackmore as Natalie. She actually did a better job in the short time that her character is possessed.

  I really don’t know if having Sam, and Bruce on board will make horror fans more likely to see the movie or not. I know it’s a cult classic in many people’s eyes, so it can’t hurt to have their support. If you have never seen “The Evil Dead,” or love horror movies where people are put through a world then it might be worth your time to catch this movie. There are many great painful moments throughout. The story is pretty simple, and doesn’t have many glaring holes. Overall, the acting is good enough. I give “Evil Dead” 3 pools of blood mostly because it creates many pools of blood throughout!

  HorrO

**There is a bonus scene at the end of the credits**

THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 3 FINALE

  First order of business, I have to put away my riot gear. Daryl is still alive! All right, time to revisit how mostly wrong I was about the season finale of The Walking Dead. I didn't write it in my previous post, but I had a late thought that they would blow up the prison with the Gov.'s people inside. Well, like I said...wrong!

  So I didn't get the great battle I wanted, but I wasn't expecting it. I was surprised the group stuck around. I thought they made a run for it. I figured something was up when the Gov. attacked so early in the episode. Too bad for the Gov. that he showed up to fight with a bunch of cowards. It kind of backfired on him when he told his people how the group was out of control and needed to be dealt with. When the firecracker went off and zombies appeared, the cowards ran for the hills. It was the complete opposite of their badass entrance.

  In one of a few surprises of the night, the Gov. killed all of his people. The man is insane! He spent all that time building Woodbury, and in one moment killed most of his people. I truly didn't think the group would be able to kill so many people so I give the writers credit for coming up with an unexpected way for all those people to die. Any guesses to where they retreated? I know some people thought the Gov. would die in this episode, but I just didn’t see that happening. Hey, I got that one correct! I hope they don’t show him in the first couple of episodes next season. That way they can shock us all with his return.

  Carl, Carl, Carl, or should I call him Medium Sized Asskicker? That boy has changed. Maybe he should go run Woodbury now! They did play that scene out well because while it looked like the boy was putting down the gun, it wasn’t totally clear. Then Carl put his father in place. He told Rick exactly what I have been saying, his poor decisions cost people their lives. I can’t wait to see what he does next season with all those people there. It might also be interesting if the boy he killed had a relationship with anyone Rick brought back to the prison. Can you say conflict?

  I was disappointed that they kind of fast forward through things from the end of the previous episode. I really wanted to see more of Daryl’s reaction when he came back to the group, and told them his brother was dead. All we got was a quick moment between Carol, and him. Instead we got a moment between Rick and Michonne that was interesting, but I would have preferred hearing more from Daryl. It was good to see Michonne take it so well that Rick almost turned her over.

  Now to a scene that proved I was right and wrong. First, I didn't really care what happened to Milton. Like Andrea, he picked the wrong team, and realized it too late. At least he went out a hero…sort of. That whole scene with Andrea tied down, and him dying was pure suspense. It was just crazy when they closed the door right when everything went down. So I got my wish with Andrea dying, but I was wrong in that I didn’t see it happening yet. However, I was right that if she died, Michonne would have to be there. I really didn’t think that any of the group would end up in Woodbury, which is why I didn’t think she would die yet. So how does Daryl feel about her dying? Who knows? He just kind of stood there just staring at her. Maybe he was thinking about his brother.

  I mentioned how they might need a new home for season 4, but I guess not. The prison will be home for at least the season opener, and probably the first few episodes. I think I’m all right with that. I also thought they would need more people in the group, and boy did they get a bunch of people. I wonder how many of those people become important characters, and how many are just zombie bait? Hell, maybe Carl decides to get rid of a few of them!

  The way they left off kind of leaves it open for what is to come next season. Last year they left off showing us the prison and Michonne so we had something to look forward to. I really have no clue what will happen next. The Gov. is still out there, but isn’t the same threat, although you know he will appear at some point. There are still plenty of storylines between the characters, but as a group this can go in a lot of different directions. Anyways, it was another great season, Daryl lives on, and we only have to wait until October for season 4. Ugh!

 

  HorrO