DVD Movie Review: Land of the Lost

 

Plot: On his latest expedition, Dr. Rick Marshall is sucked into a space-time vortex alongside his research assistant and a redneck survivalist. In this alternate universe, the trio make friends with a primate named Chaka, their only ally in a world full of dinosaurs and other fantastic creatures. | full synopsis @ IMBD

 

 

Movie Trailer:

 

 

My Review:

For those who maybe too young to know it, this movie was based off of a 1974 TV series called The Land of the Lost. You can click that link to watch videos of past episodes and so forth.

I was a watcher of this series when I was a kid. I had to laugh when I caught some old episodes awhile back—at how low budget it was lol. Still, for some weird reason, I liked it and spent a whole day watching those episodes replay on the TV.

Now based on the corny costumes, silly storylines and so forth, I was certain that the new movie couldn’t fail. I mean, that’s what I always think when I see these remakes of something old—how can they fail right? But for some reason I had to wonder, and had concerns, possibly because of some of the characters and so forth.

 

I am not the biggest fan of Will Ferrell so that had me nervous…however this movie kept me and my kids laughing all the way through.

The special effects were great and even the T-Rex was awesome– (which I had my doubts since most Dinosaurs suck compared to Jurassic Park.) The humor, comedy, and so forth, really funny.

 

It’s a great watch and I am glad I bought the DVD. My kids have already watched it a gazillion times. I highly recommend this for laughs.

DVD Movie Review: Drag Me To Hell

 

 

 

Movie Trailer:

 

Plot: A loan officer ordered to evict an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point. full summary @ IMBD

 

Review: I bought the movie this weekend at Wally World. I’m a Horror addict so whatever it is, I usually just buy it. If I don’t like it then usually it entertains my kids so all is good.

Its a good watch but I doubt I’d watch it a second time. The opening scene is a heart grabber—intense, quick, and action filled. Then you move to the story itself about the Loan Officer.  While the special effects are good, certain things in the movie seemed typical and well pointless.

For instance, the bad person in the movie is a…*drum roll*—GYPSY. To represent Gypsies in a negative light seems pretty typical and pointless to me but hey, its Horror right? Right. It’s just a film right? Right. I can get over that, but it still seems rather typical and makes it pointless. Why? Because it’s expected that the Gypsy is the bad guy because its been done so many times before.

Warning Spoiler Below:

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Then certain scenes just made me shake my head and roll my eyes because they were THAT ridiculous.

For instance, when the Gypsy and the Loan officer is having a knock down, drag out fight—and the Gypsies false teeth falls out and then she proceeds to GUM the Loan officers chin off—ridiculous lol.

 

That’s all I will say not wishing to ruin the movie for everyone else.

 

The special affects seemed good, though, and if you are into gore and yuck—well there is plenty of that in the unrated version which I watched.

 

The movie shines a bad light on Mediums and or Psychics in my mind. (As if we don’t have enough con artists out there doing it themselves) In order for this Loan Officer to get help, it costs her and costs her and costs her. In fact, for her to get help from one Medium– who has waited her life out just so she could get another chance to face this evil again—the loan officer must pay a whopping 10 thousand bucks. 

 

I won’t say anything more because I don’t want to give the movie away. I can see people getting together, renting this, and having a few good laughs but that’s about it. As I said, it is a good watch—once—if you can take it as it is.

 

Don’t burn the popcorn!!!!

Movie Review: The Haunting in Connecticut

 

General Description:

A family is having hard times because one of their children (a teen) has Cancer. He undergoes a special treatment but the hospital in which he does is very far away. To make things easier on him and the mother—she rents a house closer to the hospital. The entire family moves in and the father comes up on weekends. Needless to say, all hell breaks lose because there is something seriously wrong with this house. And of course, the boy with Cancer is a direct target.

 

A little back splash:

Most of us have seen this movie as a documentary on channels like Discovery or whatever. I had watched it a few times over the years because I am very interested in the paranormal. So I was excited when I heard they were making a movie about it, even though I know, that just because something is based on a true story, it doesn’t mean the Hollywood edition will reflect much of that truth.

However, there was a lot of controversy concerning this story and it’s truth long before the film was ever made. And I came to notice that without meaning to.

Not long ago I met a man named Ray Garton on Twitter. I learned he was an author with fifty or so books behind his belt not long after we started Twittering. Twitter led to Myspace and then a few emails, yet I’ll be honest, I didn’t know who I found until I stumbled across a few interviews.

Ray was hired to write a book concerning this Paranormal story. It was called IN A DARK PLACE: THE STORY OF A TRUE HAUNTING—and I won’t link you to the title because it isn’t in print anymore and the copies, I am told, are extremely rare. Ray had huge problems writing this book because he felt that the family was pulling a fast one. Now I won’t rehash everything that Ray has said in interviews but I will link you:

He just did an interview you can find HERE which I haven’t been able to listen to because I had comp problems yesterday. And then there is an older interview that I found online HERE.

A quote from the last interview:

Ray Garton: They couldn’t keep their stories straight, for starters. The family was a mess, but their problems were not supernatural and they weren’t going to get the kind of help they needed from the Warrens. At the time I was with them, Carmen was running some kind of illegal interstate lottery scam that I don’t think I was supposed to find out about, but when I did, she repeatedly urged me not to mention it in the book and not to tell anyone. Their son, around whom their entire story centered, was nowhere to be found. I never met him. I was allowed to talk to him briefly on the phone, but as soon as he started telling me that the things he “saw” in the house went away after he’d been medicated, Carmen abruptly ended the conversation.

Now I have not discussed any of this with Ray—when we spoke, it was writer babbling, his books, my books, agents, and so on. I figured he had pretty much said it all in other interviews and there wasn’t anything more for me to ask him about it. I was more interested in making a friend then anything else, so that’s that.

I will say that at the end of the movie, there is a bit of a documentary with the family that this happened to. They do bring up Ray and not in the best of ways. They also talk about the Warrens—not in the best of ways and give a whole different side of it. So if your interested in doing further research, above are some links to hook you up and if you watch the DVD—go to the Specials in the Menu.

Now the Movie and my Review:

The movie reminded me of Amityville Horror. *lol* Sorry, but it did.

However, where Kathy and George Lutz could not leave their home because all of their money was tied into it, the Snedekers did not leave because they were told these paranormal ‘things’ could follow them.

As far as being entertaining—it’s not that bad of a film fiction wise. I doubt I will watch it again, most movies I don’t, but it was better than flipping through the channels searching for something else when nothing else was on.

So if you want something for entertainment purposes ONLY, then it maybe an interesting watch. If you can put yourself into the mindset of the characters, then there are a few places that might spook you. However, as a storyline…to me, it was typical and boring.

The writers threw in some typical stereotype where the so called EVIL was concerned. The funeral home in the house was just a cover for some twisted guy who was looking to boost the powers of a young boy who served him as a medium. There was typical ritual ‘crap’ that I am sure, once again, will make Pagans look bad—particularly ones who are into necromancy, if anyone takes that side of the film seriously. Or rather it will make Satanists look bad since they are usually the first one someone blames.

As an eclectic Pagan—let me say that I have friends carrying many labels and not one Satanist, or Pagan that I know, does the garbage in this movie.

Now I will say no more—not wishing to spoil it—just know, though, the next medium or psychic you visit, you do not have to be paranoid about how they got that gift. *zips mouth*

Review of the Truth–

I can’t speak for the family because I was not there living with them in the house. I can’t speak for what they claim happened to them BUT I can say that I get very tired of this type of Paranormal phenomena being blamed on DEMONS.

Demons seems like the biggest scapegoat out there, that is if victims and so-called experts haven’t blamed the Devil first.

If people are to take the actual story that this movie was based on seriously, then it sets the Paranormal Investigating field back a few evolved steps. Honestly, we have come to far in discovering the unknown and its many possibilities, only to be tossed back to the Middle Ages again.

No, I do not believe in Demons. The majority of situations that I have encountered that were supposed to be Demonic, weren’t. Do I believe in possession? You mean like the Exorcist? Nope.

I do believe there is something more ‘out there’ but I also believe its immature and reckless to blame it on Demons every time a door slams on it’s own or someone has ‘visions’.

Do I believe the Snedekers are liars? Again, I can’t say because I didn’t walk in their shoes nor did I experience what they did. But I will say that there are other options to look at OTHER than demons. To name a few–It could have been a poltergeist, from the boy himself—sick, abused, or suffering people, especially teens have the ability to cause this unknowingly.

Were there other spirits in the house? Could have been but that didn’t make them evil. Maybe one of them didn’t like the mother, or father, or whatever else was going on. Just because you die, doesn’t mark you as a white light saint automatically.  I am sure spooks have mood swings to…likes, dislikes, and bad ‘sheet’ days. And then we must take the energy of the living into consideration. Maybe all this insane energy was being drawn or caused by one of them. That’s not to say they were horrible people but we don’t know what their environment was like or what their true nature at the time was. 

So to me, if those things really happened, we will have to chalk it up as an unsolved mystery.

I do know that the people who live in the house now, have experienced nothing out of the norm…and would like their privacy respected. That means stop driving by their house hoping to catch a Demon running through the yard people!

And there you have it…lol

C.H. Scarlett