Rating: Summary: The Heat is On! Review: I watched this DVD with a bit of skepticism, I'll admit, as I didn't know what to expect from a film about oujia boards, and spirits. Well, let me say that I was pleasantly suprised! The beginning of the film brought kind of an introduction of the new situation, which gave me an idea of what I would be dealing with. The next scene was a break, and provided some comic relief...though I wondered how that really went along with the story, as it seemed kind of tacked on....but, that was a litle point that can be largely ignored. After that, the action starts to heat fast, with people dropping like flis....yes...like flies, and there is always a guessing game as to what is causing this! I also liked the kind of barrier that is thrown in our path as to guessing the truth of what is actually going on. I thought that the characters were really good, especially Joe Absolom, who played rob. I felt that he was very convincing,. The only thinbg that I would have liked to see more of was where the relationships between the characters were going. I felt like at the end of the movie that there were a lot of unanswered questions. All in all, I think that this was an excellent film, though I would only reccomend it to teens or those in their twenties, because it probable wouldn't be appreciated by older people.Blak Viper
Rating: Summary: Not really scary, per se, but effective nonetheless. Review: Long Time Dead (Marcus Adams, 2002) I wondered for years when the British, following the demise of Hammer, were going to start turning out good bad horror films again. I had high hopes with the 2003 release of 28 Days Later..., but now I find out they started before that. A year before, at least. First-time director Marcus Adams came up with this trashy little gem the year before. It certainly pushed him into the big time; his second film, Octane, has such stars in it as Madeleine Stowe, Norman Reedus, and Jonathan Rhys-Myers. Someone sure must have liked it. The premise is your standard horror fare: eight friends, during a rave, decide to try messing with a ouija board. They figure it will be a bit of harmless fun, but unbeknownst to all of them (including him), one of the friends, Liam (the James Marhsall-esque Alec Newman, recently seen in the TV miniseries version of Dune) has something of a history with a very nasty spirit. The spirit possesses one of the eight, and the murders begin. It's deeply silly, and more of a mystery than a horror film, but the slick production values, some fine acting (including a turn by oft-seen Lukas Haas, best known as the kid in Witness), and the usual bevy of gorgeous babes make this one a definite rental for the horror fan who doesn't get his kicks exclusively from excessive violence. ***
Rating: Summary: Raves, Babes and Ouija boards-Oh Yeah!!!! Review: Long Time Dead is a British slasher film that contains many staple horror clichés such as Ouija boards, witchcraft and Satanism but for some reason I never seem to tire of these types of horror movies, many seem to make for fascinatingly dark and morbid films. The plot is pretty simple, involving a gang of twenty-somethings who go to a rave to party-hardy. While sitting on the couches in the chillout room, one of the guys dares the rest to give his Ouija board a spin, as he says it's the scariest experience he's ever had. While messing around with the Ouija board, the gang manage to summon the spirit of an evil Djinn, an Arabian fire demon whose spirit was last summoned in 1979 Morocco. You know what happens next-our young marauders get picked off one by one by one... This film plays it straight and tries to be seriously scary and actually succeeds in parts. There's eerie music throughout, jittery camerawork and a score of creepy locales at dusk. The enemy is never seen, only felt, adding to the mystique and making this somewhat a horror-mystery hybrid. When I picked this up I was expecting a cheap-looking straight-to-vid slasher style but this movie actually looks quite slick, is decently budgeted and has somewhat competent actors. I'm guessing this might even have had a box office run in Britain. Unfortunately the film has quite a few problems. I didn't like how the group happened to summon up an evil Djinn their very first time together on the Ouija board. I mean, none of them except for one was actually taking it seriously or believed in it but it worked right away? Come on...And the characters were quite an unlikeable lot, youngsters with cookie-cutter thin personalities who spend their entire time on screen partying, snorting drugs, drinking and just acting like dorks in general. There were way too many central characters involved, I actually felt like I needed to keep a scorecard to know what was going on. Really, the movie is like a 3-phase wave. 1st half hour decent, 2nd half hour insufferable, 3rd half hour decent again. I do recommend this film as a one-shot viewing to the experienced horror movie viewer who can make due with highs and lows in a film. Despite its problems I still liked it. Guess I'll always be a sucker for those witchcraft cum Satanism cum voodoo type horror movies.
Rating: Summary: Raves, Babes and Ouija boards-Oh Yeah!!!! Review: Long Time Dead is a British slasher film that contains many staple horror clichés such as Ouija boards, witchcraft and Satanism but for some reason I never seem to tire of these types of horror movies, many seem to make for fascinatingly dark and morbid films. The plot is pretty simple, involving a gang of twenty-somethings who go to a rave to party-hardy. While sitting on the couches in the chillout room, one of the guys dares the rest to give his Ouija board a spin, as he says it's the scariest experience he's ever had. While messing around with the Ouija board, the gang manage to summon the spirit of an evil Djinn, an Arabian fire demon whose spirit was last summoned in 1979 Morocco. You know what happens next-our young marauders get picked off one by one by one... This film plays it straight and tries to be seriously scary and actually succeeds in parts. There's eerie music throughout, jittery camerawork and a score of creepy locales at dusk. The enemy is never seen, only felt, adding to the mystique and making this somewhat a horror-mystery hybrid. When I picked this up I was expecting a cheap-looking straight-to-vid slasher style but this movie actually looks quite slick, is decently budgeted and has somewhat competent actors. I'm guessing this might even have had a box office run in Britain. Unfortunately the film has quite a few problems. I didn't like how the group happened to summon up an evil Djinn their very first time together on the Ouija board. I mean, none of them except for one was actually taking it seriously or believed in it but it worked right away? Come on...And the characters were quite an unlikeable lot, youngsters with cookie-cutter thin personalities who spend their entire time on screen partying, snorting drugs, drinking and just acting like dorks in general. There were way too many central characters involved, I actually felt like I needed to keep a scorecard to know what was going on. Really, the movie is like a 3-phase wave. 1st half hour decent, 2nd half hour insufferable, 3rd half hour decent again. I do recommend this film as a one-shot viewing to the experienced horror movie viewer who can make due with highs and lows in a film. Despite its problems I still liked it. Guess I'll always be a sucker for those witchcraft cum Satanism cum voodoo type horror movies.
Rating: Summary: beware the ouija board Review: This is about a group of friends who unlock a door and let out a demon called Djinn, which starts a killing spree, picking off allof them one by one. In the cast are Alec Newman (Tv's Angel, Children Of Dune) and Lukas Haas (Mars Attacks, Boys). It's a bit of this and its a bit of that. The killings are predictable and the girls are so annoying with the screaming. Didnt we get enough of those Djinn a-holes from The Wishmaster movies? A good time for a little bit then it turns into a dry ride. The end is great though. The special effects for the Djinn face as a little bit laughable.
Rating: Summary: Too bad for Lara Belmont... Review: This movie sucks. The only scary thing about it is the scene where Lara Belmont (The War Zone) plays with a cigarette lighter, again.
Rating: Summary: Horrid Review: This movie was a major letdown. I only bought it because I wanted to see a recent Lukas Haas film. After viewing, I must say that I really don't understand why he would even waste his talents on such trash. Not.good.at.all. (and I want my 28 bucks back...)
Rating: Summary: Good for a few chills Review: This one has the Brits trying their hand at horror, and although at first glance it may seem like a Scream/Urban Legend Clone, "Long Time Dead" is a pretty effective outing from first time director Marcus Adams.
Okay, so the story is hackneyed -- a bunch of friends get too drunk and drugged out during a night out and decide to mess around with a ouija board, and in the process set free a djinn or Arabic fire demon -- but Adams throws in a few twists and turns that keep this movie pretty interesting.
One nice twist is that one of the kids has a link to the djinn that is connected to the gruesome death of his mother in Morocco when he was a kid. Other twists keep popping up throughout the flick to sustain viewer interest.
The best twist though is the one in the ending....
This DVD features a gorgeous transfer, almost completely free of edge enhancement and even its darly lit night scenes look fabulous. The soundtrack is terrific too, making great use of the surround speakers. Though listed only as 5.1 Dolby surround, this decodes very effectively even on Dolby Surround EX if you have a 6.1 set-up.
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