Monthly Movie Recap - December 2014

Happy New Year, everyone! 

Hope you had a fun and safe celebration.

Not much movie watching again this past month, but I did get in 100 new movies. Also thanks to Now Playing podcast, I did catch a pair of movies I probably wouldn't have watched on my own.

Maniac (1980)
Not posting the trailer for this one because it ruins some of the best moments. It's a great example of a good time grindhouse horror flick. It can be a little hard to watch because the killer is the main character, so the only people you can root for are the victims, and you know most of them aren't going to make it. Despite that, it is a fun one to watch.

Cool: Has some fantastic kills courtesy of Tom Savini's effects work; The ending!
Lame: The story could have used a little more work to make us understand the killer's motives/psychosis better
Rating: 6.5/10

Maniac (2013)
As much as I enjoyed the first one, this one blows it out of the water! Elijah Wood probably wouldn't even make your top 10 list of actors to play a serial killer but he is awesome in this. Which is weird to say because almost all of the movie is shot from his point of view, so you hardly ever see him. It borrows a lot from the original, whether directly copying it or throwing in subtle call backs.

Cool: The kills are more brutal, if you don't wince at least once, I applaud you. They fill in more of the killer's history so you have an idea what made him this way.
Lame: First person vomit-cam
Rating: 8/10, probably the best horror movie I saw this year

Aquanoids (2003)
From the best horror movie I saw to one of the worst! Imagine the production value and acting ability of a low budget porn studio trying to make a Jaws knock-off. But instead of a giant shark, it's something that resulted from the Creature from the Black Lagoon mating with a Sleestak.

This is why you can't judge a movie by its poster. I mean, this at least makes it look like a fun bad movie, right? I've seen SyFy originals that were easier to watch! Seriously, who gave this 5 stars? The producer? Side note: there's not even a lot of "naked babes" in it.

Rating: 2/10

Maleficent (2014)
You probably don't need a trailer for this one but I wasn't about to go right into it after Aquanoids! I ended up liking this one more than I thought I would. But then, I'm a sucker for alternate takes and "what if?" stories. But, I might have liked it more if it was somehow an original story. You can't just take a villain people have loved for decades and make them the good guy because "you heard the story wrong." That's like saying Darth Vader was once a whiny 9 year old.

Cool: The movie is gorgeous; Liked the way they twisted the story around
Lame: Looks a little too Avatar at times; the three fairies are creepy looking with their big heads
Rating: 7/10

Month Total

 New: 4  Rewatch: 0

Year To-Date Final Total 

New: 100 (+1 incomplete)  Rewatch: 17