DVD Movie Review #201 The Night Before

I am back again with another wonderful holiday time review. This time I am covering the movie “The Night Before”. This is one I feel was much needed as we watched it following the finale of the Walking Dead. I’ve had this film for almost a year now and have been looking forward to viewing it. A good deal for a potential enjoyable movie.

We start this with three friends who have been doing a New York Bar hopping Christmas Eve tradition for many years always hoping that they would be invited to that great party of parties called the Nutcracker Ball. Time has passed, one guy got married and the next got famous while the other is still living in the past. This time is the last time that they get to do this before moving on to their lives and they now have an invite to the big party. The question is, will they survive long enough to get there.

This movie was surprisingly very funny. I have mixed feelings about Seth Rogan but here he did a good job of being a team player and not either in the forefront or as a part of the background. I enjoyed this Harold and Kumar style comedy romp throughout they Christmas Eve New York. The three have good chemistry and produce a good variety of laughs. The star power in this film is also very respectable. The music is also very enjoyable for any Hollywood holiday piece. The plot is surprisingly solvent and works well with this film coming together as you would expect but not fully so.

In the end I don’t feel that this fully lived up to the standards of other films of this type. I feel that the antics were very tame as opposed to other films such as A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas or Dude, Where’s my Car. I normally wouldn’t say that a lack of over the top strangeness is a fault but here I feel it is. I also feel that another fault of these films is what they are and that is they are not great films nor do they try to be. I don’t have a lot of other things that are bad other than this is weaker than it could be. It seems lost potential is a big thing for me lately and that is something.

In the end this is a very pleasant movie and one I will enjoy watching again next holiday season.

Rating: 7/10     

DVD Movie Review #199 Jingle All the Way 2

Hello all and welcome to another cheery holiday season DVD movie review. While waiting on the next Krampus film I can concentrate on some other Holiday pieces…such as Jingle all the way 2. I have the original movie and kind of liked it but in my OCD nature I decided to procure this piece of crapola, but like my procurement of Kindergarten cop 2 I don’t believe that I am in store for anything but a loving Crap shoot. So lets take this $1.99 review and head forward.

Our hero Larry the Cable Guy is a good father who is unfortunately having to chare his daughter with his divorced wife. They are on good terms and doing well but now the Step-Father wants to step in and may even ruin any chance he has to have time with his daughter over Christmas. Now Larry needs to find the one item that can win his daughters heart but Step-Daddy is also on the prowl and may be too difficult for limited budget Larry to compete with.

You know as Crap shoots go this is a tolerable one. Larry the Cable Guy isn’t too bad as an actor when given his strong suit of playing a poor redneck. He did seem to be a likable character and I was impressed by this rooting for him by the end. The movie did have a few funny moments to it and had the feel of a nice feel good holiday film.

Ok this is a rather large section but I will keep it mostly brief. The Step-Father was written pretty badly, at first I wanted to root for the guy then they made him so despicable that even his redemption didn’t suit me in the end. I feel that they really should have held back on the villainizing. Many of the jokes here also fell flat as I feel they know this was supposed to be a terrible film and had low expectations when making it. It is a sad day when you hope for Larry the Cable Guy to save your film.

In the end this is a low budget low brow sequel to a film that didn’t need one. Still this isn’t a terrible thing to watch and as it is a sequel to a pretty lame film there isn’t far for it to fall.

Rating: 5/10

DVD Movie Review #198 Krampus: the Reckoning

Well here we are and my Krampus project is starting to come to a close (though a new movie is shipping out as we speak). This time around we have Krampus: The Reckoning. This is one that I thought was related to the other two Krampus films that I had seen previously but I could not have been more wrong. I am once again thrown into the breach for my next in the series of  Krampus Christmas Reviews.

Well we start out our tale with the legend of Krampus. We all know this and of course I will skip out on this as we should know this shit by now. Well we fast forward to a child psychiatrist that is seeing a small girl who's nasty foster parents got burned in some mysterious murder. The child swears up and down that this is Krampus's doing but our Psychiatrist, with the help of an alcoholic police officer are on the case to find out what is going on with this strange little girl and the murders that seem to follow her.

This Movie has a lot of potential (I would say even more than Krampus: The Christmas Devil) as this one nearly achieves true chilling horror. I will say that the portrayal by the little girl though seemingly wooden at first actually matches the character well by the time you get to the end. The plot is actually very well thought out as supernatural horror stories go and there is little camp reflected in the story or the acting. The Music in the background is chilling in its nature and is worth a listen even if it is only moderately good at best. Finally the characterizations are very well done with the psychiatrist and the little girl taking the lead in this thriller.

I wanted to show a picture of Krampus here as I feel that this was one of the short comings of this film. I feel that in these cases makeup and a costume would have been better than this CG animation that feel short more than a few times of hitting the mark. This made what should have otherwise been scary into something less than such. I also feel that the plot had a few other unnecessary things going on such as the obligatory sex scenes showing breasts to feed the audience and of course the detective character that seemingly is there to pad things over for us. This movie's biggest crime is falling just short of being a true horror. Lastly the music though creepy felt like they worked to shoehorn in a Krampus Carol when they could have just as easily sung the original carol and made it creepy.

This movie is at its base very solid but its crime is that of missed potential and this makes me a tad sad in the end. Still if you are ok with these shortcomings I would still recommend checking this film out.

Rating:  6/10

DVD Movie Review #197 Krampus: The Christmas Devil 2

We are back again for yet the sequel of the last film we watched...this one did have my attention more than the original as Coolduder is in this one. I must admit my expectations are low this time round but I figure when you make this go you are in this for the long haul.

 Santa is a Dick. I really believe this is the point that this movie and its predecessor are trying to get across. We are back with our heroes yet again as Santa and his brother go on yet another bloody rampage across town. Of course this movie wouldn't be what it is without our favorite self-hating police officer and the brother of our favorite killer going at it again. Our hero has been called back after his family was taken by the Krampster and he is charged with bringing him in once again. Will he win the fight this time or will this demon haunt him forever.

This time we've changed things up a little bit. The acting has gotten a tad better (with practice I guess). I feel that the team has gotten back into stride moving the plot along much more quickly this time. You know the feel of the movie and it doesn't take as long to get in. The complexity of the main character's backstory is entertaining to a point.

I actually feel that other than a few good points (listed above) this film actually managed to be worse than the original. I feel that the concept was really solid for the first one and if they had done it right they could have done it to the point where it would be easily the best of all of the Krampus movies. This was not even an attempt at that. They slapped an even cheaper looking costume on Krampus and then decided that they would slap together an rather lazy story that eventually results in a rather lack luster ending. I still don't understand why Krampus and Santa need his daughter and even taunt him with the idea that he is raping her. I...don't have words for the rest of this.

In the end the lesson is..Santa is a dick. I think that pretty much concludes everything about this film.

Rating: 4/10

DVD Movie Review #196 Krampus: The Christmas Devil

Well we are well into the holiday season and here comes my next installment of my Krampus reviews. This time I am reviewing another low budget fun fest called Krampus: The Christmas Devil. This was discovered in my Krampus Search and oddly enough the movie trailer is easier to find than the one for the new movie released last year. 

So we start with a flashback to a time when a naughty little kid nearly gets killed by Krampus as is like for all naughty children. Flash forward, there are more killings going on and our former problem child is now a do gooder police officer dedicated to hunting the evil Krampus down. Unfortunately another criminal just got out of prison and he wants revenge on the Cop that put him in jail. Will Krampus complete is Christmas list? 

We have to look at this for what it is: a low Budget B-Movie that wants to be taken seriously. Now with this in mind they didn't do too bad a job. I thought that the acting was actually about medium grade level not your typical tripping over yourself acting that I am used to in these type of films (cough "Night of the Krampus" cough). The story itself has a lot of promise to it. You have two killers around but both with very different motives in mind. I would say how this movie turned out in the end is how I would expect it to be. The music is well done for the budget and I always enjoy the carol of the bells done by electric guitar this allowed me to rock out to the credits even as I write this review. 

So...where do I get started...well I did say this was a good premise and story but I would say that in execution this film...fell flat a piece. I mean one of the joys of B movies is that they are funny or on occasion they shoot high and manage to pull off a good serious thriller or drama. I feel in this case they shot for the stars and barely cleared the back yard. I mean the acting was passable but you really didn't feel what the characters were feeling. I also wasn't as impressed with the Krampus man himself the costume was interesting but he really wasn't all that scary as he was in Krampus or in A Christmas Horror Story. Oddly enough I don't consider him as scary as the one in Night of the Krampus. I also have to wonder about putting a topless woman in this. I really feel this was a way to try and grab the audience and make up for the other inequities of the film. I don't even get why this half naked woman was there. I mean is Krampus a dirty sex maniac? I really feel made me lose some respect for the film makers a bit...sigh

The Best thing I can say about this film is that it is a lot of missed potential. There was a lot there and with a bit more effort and maybe a little more money I feel that they could have taken a so-so thriller attempt and turn it into something really good. God help me but I will be watching the sequel to this in the near future. Let's just hope that we do better this time. 

Rating:  5/10

DVD Movie Review #195 A Christmas Horror Story

Hello all to the Third Installment of our Krampus run of holiday cheer. Out of the films on this list this is the one I most wanted to see as it appeared to be good and CoolDuder gave his thumbs up to it. I didn't have super high expectations but had hopes for a lovely expression of kamp that would make me laugh through the holiday season. After a well placed order I have this Krampus film in hand and am ready once again to review my heart out :p

We start out yet again before Christmas to the dulcet tones of William Shatner on the radio. We cover four interesting storylines during this holiday season. First we have our nice loving family visiting a rich relative for love during this Chistmas. Second we see two parents trying to reconnect and both noticing something strange is going on with their child. Third a group of college students is investigating a murder that had occurred one year ago that was never fully solved. Finally we are with Santa in his workshop and we find that the elves are infected with some kind of evil Zombie virus. To tie them all together we have Krampus working his Christmas magic. 

So one of the things I like about this is that it is far more than what it seemed at first. This does not try to be Kampy like my previous entry it actually works well as a horror tale much in the vein of Trick r' Treat. I love how the story intersect with one another and it builds suspense throughout the feature. For being what it is the effects are very viable and are nothing to laugh at. The acting is done fairly well, though not perfect by any measure. Of course my favorite moment is the fight between Krampus and Santa Clause which since seeing the cover I had been eager for. Plot wise the ending is also something worth writing home about. Of course the Carol of the Bells adaptation is a fun take on the musical end which like "Krampus" makes a point to punctuate the various movie scenes and scares (though not as good as "Krampus"). Finally the twist ending left me feeling good about this in the end even if it was a tad confusing. I would say this is a good movie overall. 

This movie has a few detractors for me. Though I like the scary feel there are parts of this movie that drag from time to time. It is odd that the story about the teens investigating a possibly haunted building could be a tad boring. The ending, while a good point is also a tad confusing as it does make since with the hints dropped throughout I don't feel it connects as well to the other tales. This is really the biggest shortcoming overall from this that makes Trick r' Treat a better film and that is that the stories don't connect as well. 

Lastly to close I will say that this film was a pleasant surprise in what I expected to be "Krampus Light". I hope that this Krampus viewing only continues to improve upon my expectations, though I am doubting it :) 

Rating: 7/10 

DVD Movie Review #194 Krampus

Hello again and welcome to the second of my Krampus Christmas Romp! This time I am covering the new release that started my interest in this project: KRAMPUS! I know we all want those campy B-Movie favorites like the one that kicked it all off but this one is special, in the way that My wife actually has an interest in seeing this one and not the others so….gotta get that viewing time in where I can. (I have an untouched FFXV laying around I need to get to it sometime after all).

So we start out with a lovely view of how the world really looks during the holidays which is enough to crush your spirit even if for just a little bit. Amongst the Black Friday we come upon a lovely family that becomes the star of our little Christmas pageant. Once home we get to see how loving they are as they are visited by more relatives to spend a miserable Christmas in each other’s company. Hence se visit our young hero that is destined to work on trying to change things and officially sets this series into motion as our family are shown how terrible it is to be terrible during the holiday season.

This film is an interesting mix of B-movie horror and campy comedy horror. You can tell this in the almost cartoonish way the family is portrayed and of course in some of the monsters they fight in order to stay alive. I really did like this film for a lot of these qualities. It comes across pretty well for what it is trying to do and is probably one of the top tier of this type of film. I think the creativity of the monsters here and the way things were directed even left a few moments of suspense in this holiday teaser. The special effects were definitely nothing to sneeze at. I could tell that they did work on these effects very well in the film and it can be seen throughout. The acting was…good enough for what this is. It wasn’t campy, it wasn’t spectacular but it was enough to get us through this without noticing anything being wrong. Finally let me get to where this movie shines the most, the music. They are very good at incorporating different themes into this film and the music helps them work it out with twisted versions of known carols or just the placement of old favorites. In the end this film sets the stage quite well for the coming horrors.

That being said this movie is what it is, which is a B-Movie/Scary Movie hybrid and though one of the best it still is a detractor.  I really love scary movies and I really love B-Movies, both are really good at what they do be it a B-Movie like Thankskilling which has me laughing in my seat or a Scary movie like the Last Shift which leaves you crawling under the covers to hide both genres are really good. Unfortunately many try to do a hybrid mixing campy and slightly funny moments in what they would consider a serious horror film, this is sometimes done on purpose and sometimes by accident (see this on the upcoming “A Christmas Horror Story” review). There is a problem with this attempt to bring levity in and it is that the film can become confusing or even the worst case scenario…boring. This film does an good job of this and is probably one of my favorites of this type but at the same time it suffers from this attempt as I have never seen a film of this type that I would consider…great (sorry Shaun of the Dead Fans). The next is the way they portray the family. Really they did a good job of having them develop throughout but they make them so distasteful and so hateful that it really doesn’t help by the end and though in the B-Movie type I may want to root for the protagonists to die (though lets face it in a B-Movie the real protagonist is the monster) I don’t want to feel that way for a scary film.

In summary this is overall a solid film that only suffers from its attempts at trying to skirt that line between horror and comedy. Still….I would consider this movie a good watch for the holidays and a one I will revisit again in the future.

Ragint 7/10