Horrors Galore!

This past week, I have watched three horror films. Two recent ones, and one not so recent (and not something I would necessarily consider horror). There were The Haunting In Connecticut 2, Mama and Battle Royale. All three were very different and they seemed to get better each one I watched. I thought I would write a little about them on here as it was definitely a little horror stint I was going through and I want to share my thoughts on each movie...



THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA

I found it kind of strange that The Haunting In Connecticut was actually set in Georgia! But hey-ho, I didn't think too much of it, as the location doesn't really mean that much to the story after all. The first one in the franchise genuinely did scare me and I fancied something that would really have me quaking in my boots, so I opted to watch the sequel! However, it was a complete let-down. Nothing remotely scary happened until at least an hour into the movie, and when it did, the scenes with the undead were so short, it was hardly worth it. Also, a lot of the ghosts seem to be more "caught in purgatory" rather than actually evil. Granted, this works for a few films (The Sixth Sense, The Others) but in this, it didn't. I like my ghosts creepy and out for some vengeance! Admittedly, I didn't make it through the whole film, so it may have improved, I just sadly couldn't get through the first parts to give it a try!

2/10

BATTLE ROYALE

Many people had been talking about this film around me lately, and I'd heard a lot about it come the time of The Hunger Games coming out (there's talk that it heavily influenced the concept) so it was something I knew I had to watch. I thought I would have trouble keeping up with the subtitles, as I have never watched a completely foreign film all the way through before, but it was surprisingly easy to follow. In a dystopian future, the Japanese government pass a law that at random selection school-children must be pitted against each other to a fight to the death to try and eliminate over-crowding. A little extreme, but a silly storyline, which proved to be quite amusing! The gore was not as gruesome as sold, but watching the children kill each other with all their different weapons was funny. Even if it shouldn't be. 

7/10

MAMA

My first initial draw to this was undoubtedly Jessica Chastain. After seeing her in Zero Dark Thirty, The Debt and Texas Killing Fields, I knew the woman had serious talent and having never seen her in a horror before, I was intrigued. Firstly, I'd like to explain, I always go by cast lists with scary movies. 

In a genre saturated with silly plots and over-acting, a cast list can tell a lot about the stature of a horror film. In general, if it has an actor you've heard of, you're in for a pretty good watch. If it's an Academy Award nominated actor, you've found a rare horror gem that must be watched! Out of the three movies I watched, this was certainly the best. 

The storyline was interesting, focussed on Annabel and Lucas when they take in Lucas' two nieces after they have been found to have been living in the woods for five years, supposedly alone. Feral and clearly shaken up by their time in isolation, the two young girls are creepy themselves, growling and crawling everywhere they go. But the terror is heightened by an unseen presence that seems to be controlling the girls and making things go bump in the night. I don't want to give too much away, but the only downside of this movie were the last 5 minutes. But that's all I'm saying. If you like your horrors a bit more intelligent, and much more about silent shocks and eerie scenes rather than gore, you'll like this.

8/10