Coherence tells us that the evil version of ourselves we’re so afraid of, is us. This is a movie that walks across several genre lines including suspense, thriller, mystery, and science fiction to tell a story that is both 
highly relatable and at the same time thoroughly confusing. Playing on our fears of other versions of ourselves (which we assume must be the evil versions, see every sci-fi alternate reality movie/t.v. show ever made), Coherence forces us to confront the idea that maybe we aren’t the good version of ourselves after all, and in fact may be the evil one. Or maybe there is no evil one. Coherence lives somewhere in the dark spaces between science fiction mystery alter and sci-fi horror/suspense, much like the dark spaces between houses in the movie, you get the roulette wheel with the watching of it. – 4/5 (Genre) Continue reading
Mystery
Lavender
In t
he end, Lavender is a suspense driven almost first person story with a great deal of mystery and frankly confusion. The fragmented story telling that accompanies the way Jane thinks and views the world both enhances and detracts from the experience at the same time. The acting by all with the exception of Diego Klattenhoff (Alan) is solid and just felt like it belonged. I was disappointed in the lack of more for Alice’s character and what she could have been, but the ending more than made up for that, leaving me feeling like sitting all tensed up for an hour and a half was well worth it for the satisfaction we get along with Jane. Well worth a watch for fans of horror, mystery, suspense, and many other genres that get mixed in, with nice results. – 4.1/5 – Genre
The Silenced
The Silenced is a complex horror/suspense/drama that unfolds in one of the more unique ways I’ve seen in a long time. It interlaces multiple story threads, much like the threads in the quilt that the girls of the school were making; lot’s of rising and falling of different stories that collide with each other at some point in the movie, forming the final tapestry we see in the end. If you can avoid being off put by this, and the extreme hamming it up of the adult actors, you’ll find a beautiful acted (the girls), deeply moving, and unique retelling of a story we’ve seen before, but which feels completely fresh and new. There are some great horror-type scenes, but the friendship between Ju-ran and Yeon-deok is by far the most compelling aspect of the movie, and the final minutes with these two make the entire movie worth watching. – 4/5 (genre) Continue reading
The Ring
The Ring was the key horror movie that revived a genre, but was also a personal revival in my interest in the horror genre. It was steadily paced, suspenseful, and had a well crafted story that kept you intrigued all throughout. The ending was unique for the time and still holds one of the best final moment scenes of any horror movie I’ve watched. If asked to choose my all time favorite horror movie The Ring would be a top contender and hard to beat, but there is some competition. With the second sequel Rings coming out soon, if you haven’t seen The Ring watch it. It is a must see movie, and unique for so many reasons. – 4.1/5 (general)
In addition: My quarter century review (#25 that is) will be The Ring Two, the first sequel and my first viewing. Continue reading
Beneath
“So how did I end up feeling about Beneath? It was solidly acted with excellent use of music and backdrops for ambiance, which contained all the elements necessary to be a good horror/suspense movie. Somehow however, Beneath just never puts those pieces together into anything that takes a meaningful shape, leaving us feeling like we just watched a murder reenactment show on the Discovery channel, only we know these things never happened…I’d say watch it if you like mild horror, mostly suspense type movies, and need a filler on an off night when you normally wouldn’t watch a movie.” – 2.7/5 (genre) Continue reading
The Great Hypnotist (Cui mian da shi)
On the face of it The Great Hypnotist promises to be nothing more than the tired genre that is psychological thrillers. In fact it does little to cast off this notion in the beginning, despite the opening being very entertaining, and only reinforces the idea that we won’t see anything new here. But get past the first twenty minutes and you’ll find that there is a much deeper and refreshing take on this plot line. With a series of short narratives, and a far less superficial story than just the mind-bending, what is and what isn’t real, we find a tale about loss, pain and forgiveness. To sum up the movies message, “You don’t forgive someone because they deserve it. You forgive them because they need it.”. (Yes I know that’s a misquote) – 3.8/5 (general) Continue reading
Paradox
“Paradox really shines in the moments when it isn’t spouting ridiculous dialogue, coated with pseudo-science and large volumes of expletives. It is a fun ride trying to figure out who the killer is, why they are killing everyone and how this whole mess got set into motion. Where Paradox fails is that it [did have] it’s characters talk. Honestly, every 30 seconds someone was saying something…ridiculously asinine. [However], if you like science fiction, time travel, action and suspense rolled up with mystery, give Paradox a go. Just don’t hold you’re breath waiting for the paradox.” – 2.3/5 (genre) Continue reading
The Abandoned
“I did
n’t think there was ever a chance I would say this, but I would rather watch The Hollow, a SyFy made for T.V. movie focused on special effects with no thought for writing, acting or directing than The Abandoned. Or for that matter even The Damned. My entire world has been turned upside down. There is no possible way I could have found a more boring, less believable, unoriginal and derogatory movie than The Abandoned. I guess someday I may be saying that about another movie, as I am now, but it boggles my mind to think so.” – 1.2/5 (genre) Continue reading
Neverlake
“as the overarching story line is simplistic, Neverlake attempts to push depth on us through confusion. The scenes are often disjointed and don’t connect in any meaningful way until much later. To further exacerbate this issue the narration by Jenny partially brings about a tone of importance and significance that is self imbued. It’s as if the movie is proclaiming itself to be of great depth and importance without the consent of the audience.” – 2.9/5 (genre) Continue reading
Shiguo's Myth 
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