Chop (2011)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers. No major reveals or twists**

Lance Reed (Will Keenan) is on a road trip one day, but some unexpected car trouble ruins Lance’s plans. Lance is stuck on the side of the road without cell phone reception, when a mysterious stranger (Timothy Muskatell) in a pickup truck offers him a ride to the nearest town for a phone call.

During the trip, The Stranger asks Lance a bizarre hypothetical question, and he pushes Lance to give an answer. The scenario? Lance has to kill one of two people, who are very close to his heart: His half brother, Bobby (Chad Ferrin), and his wife, Emily (Tanishaa Mukherjee).

To play along, Lance chooses Bobby, and a few seconds later, The Stranger shoots Lance with a tranquilizer dart. Lance awakes in a warehouse, and Bobby is sitting in front of him, tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. With some help from a friend, The Stranger is ready to pull the trigger on Emily’s execution, so Lance murders Bobby with an axe to the top of his head to save Emily.

Three weeks later, a distraught and paranoid Lance is trying to stall the two detectives assigned to the case for Bobby’s murder. Detective Williams (Adam Minarovich) and Detective Roebuck (Tamil T. Rhee) want a DNA test to clear up any suspicions, but Lance has to worry about bigger problems, when The Stranger returns. During Lance’s blackouts, The Stranger cuts off his fingers one by one. The Stranger’s plan? He’s going to dismember Lance piece by piece until there’s nothing left.

The Stranger uses another tranquilizer dart to kidnap a disfigured Lance. The Stranger takes Lance as his prisoner, and he demands an explanation and an apology for an incident in the past. Lances tries to think of a plan for escape, but Lance is running out of time and limbs, and his survival depends on two answers to two crucial questions: Who is The Stranger, and why is he so obsessed with vengeance?

Will Keenan and Timothy Muskatell deliver the two best performances here. Keenan is entertaining as this jittery nervous wreck, who’s trying to come up with a plan to outsmart The Stranger, but you‘ll see Lance‘s nasty side in flashbacks. Muskatell delivers a solid performance, as the kooky psychopath with a dark sense o f humor. Unfortunately, Keenan and Muskatell are alone for noteworthy and quality performances here. Mark Irvingsen (Ray Fielding) and Jeff Sisson (Jeff) had a chance to standout, but their screen time is cut short here.

Chop is loaded with screwball characters. Ray Fielding is a sadistic ex-drug dealer with a missing leg, and he’s got a score to settle with Lance. Ray’s cousin Jeff is a creepy pervert, with a few loose screws, and Stephanie (Malaya Manson) is a vicious and vindictive prostitute, who seizes the opportunity to make Lance suffer. Detective Williams and Detective Roebuck are two guys, who don’t take their jobs seriously, and they share a strange relationship as partners. So when it’s all said done, Emily is the only normal person in this eccentric cast of characters.

Enjoying Chop depends on your reaction to the big reveal/twist at the end. You’ll either laugh at the situational irony of The Stranger’s motivations for tormenting Lance, or you’ll take the “nonsensical” approach to dissecting The Stranger’s motivations, and you’ll hate this film.

But you have to consider something before you make your decision. Chop is a no holds barred horror comedy. It’s supposed to be a ludicrous and over the top film, and you’re supposed to laugh at the absurdity  behind The Stranger’s motivations. In the end, it doesn’t matter what side of the fence you’re standing on for reactions to this twist, because you’re going to ask yourself a series of questions after the finale. Does Lance deserve his punishment? Are The Stranger’s actions justified? Chop’s thought-provoking finale is full of questions, and it’s almost impossible to resist the urge for a dissection and answers.

Chop is a consistently funny horror comedy, with a twisted sense of humor, and the right amount of nasty blood and gore. The gruesome stuff never passes the overkill point, and Chop will show you just enough to pull a reaction. Also, kudos to writer Adam Minarovich for a few good twists, including Lance’s “glass” eye. The Stranger was one step ahead of Lance throughout the movie, because he replaced Lance’s glass eye with a mechanical eye, and the mechanical eye was equipped with a camera.

Although, I’ll admit, my score for Chop is bittersweet, because Chop had the potential to be a MUCH better film. Problem is, overall the cast is mediocre at best, and Keenan and Muskatell have to carry the load in the acting department. Trust me, Chop would’ve been a lot worse without Muskatell and Keenan. On top of that, I know this is a low budget film, but I can’t ignore the sub-par production values.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Chop (2011)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

Lance Reed (Will Keenan) is on a road trip one day, but some unexpected car trouble ruins Lance’s plans. Lance is stuck on the side of the road without cell phone reception, when a mysterious stranger (Timothy Muskatell) in a pickup truck offers him a ride to the nearest town for a phone call.

During the trip, The Stranger asks Lance a bizarre hypothetical question, and he pushes Lance to give an answer. The scenario? Lance has to kill one of two people, who are very close to his heart: His half brother, Bobby (Chad Ferrin), and his wife, Emily (Tanishaa Mukherjee).

To play along, Lance chooses Bobby, and a few seconds later, The Stranger shoots Lance with a tranquilizer dart. Lance awakes in a warehouse, and Bobby is sitting in front of him, tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. With some help from a friend, The Stranger is ready to pull the trigger on Emily’s execution, so Lance murders Bobby with an axe to the top of his head to save Emily.

Three weeks later, a distraught and paranoid Lance is trying to stall the two detectives assigned to the case for Bobby’s murder. Detective Williams (Adam Minarovich) and Detective Roebuck (Tamil T. Rhee) want a DNA test to clear up any suspicions, but Lance has to worry about bigger problems, when The Stranger returns. During Lance’s blackouts, The Stranger cuts off his fingers one by one. The Stranger’s plan? He’s going to dismember Lance piece by piece until there’s nothing left.

The Stranger uses another tranquilizer dart to kidnap a disfigured Lance. The Stranger takes Lance as his prisoner, and he demands an explanation and an apology for an incident in the past. Lances tries to think of a plan for escape, but Lance is running out of time and limbs, and his survival depends on two answers to two crucial questions: Who is The Stranger, and why is he so obsessed with vengeance?

Will Keenan and Timothy Muskatell deliver the two best performances here. Keenan is entertaining as this jittery nervous wreck, who’s trying to come up with a plan to outsmart The Stranger, but you‘ll see Lance‘s nasty side in flashbacks (more on that later). Muskatell delivers a solid performance, as the kooky psychopath with a dark sense o f humor. Unfortunately, Keenan and Muskatell are alone for noteworthy and quality performances here. Mark Irvingsen (Ray Fielding) and Jeff Sisson (Jeff) had a chance to standout, but their screen time is cut short here.

Chop is loaded with screwball characters. Ray Fielding is a sadistic ex-drug dealer with a missing leg, and he’s got a score to settle with Lance. Ray’s cousin Jeff is a creepy pervert, with a few loose screws, and Stephanie (Malaya Manson) is a vicious and vindictive prostitute, who seizes the opportunity to make Lance suffer. Detective Williams and Detective Roebuck are two guys, who don’t take their jobs seriously, and they share a strange relationship as partners. So when it’s all said done, Emily is the only normal person in this eccentric cast of characters.

Is Lance a harmless and innocent man? Well, the answer to this question is kind of tricky. Yes, Lance is just a normal guy, who lives with his beautiful wife in a nice home, but he’s also a recovering drug addict. Lance tries to fight off the urge to use again throughout the movie, and during the flashback sequences, we see Lance’s past as a scummy and despicable human being.

Need some examples? Ray Fielding was a drug dealer, who was trying to unload the rest of his merchandise. Ray wandered into an alley after a deal. Lance was broke, so he couldn’t buy any drugs, and Ray was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lance saw an easy opportunity, and he used his car to hit Ray dead on. Lance stole Ray’s stash, and he dumped Ray’s unconscious body into his trunk. Lance made a quick stop at a hardware store to buy a shovel, but Ray disappeared, when Lance returned to his car.

But it’s not over yet, because Lance had a thing for prostitutes. Lance suckered a prostitute named Tammy (Elina Madison) into a ten dollar job, so she had plans to blackmail Lance into a bigger payday with the promise of secrecy (Tammy had plans to expose Lance to his wife). Lance tried to silence Tammy during an argument, but Lance accidentally killed Tammy, when he broke her neck.

After a series of accidental confessions, The Stranger presented Ray and Stephanie (Tammy’s ex-girlfriend) with an offer: Ray and Stephanie can take one “piece” from Lance’s body for revenge, but they’re not allowed to kill him, because The Stranger wants to bask in the glory of Lance’s demise. Stephanie was overjoyed at the opportunity to chop off Lance’s leg, but Jeff’s weird antics ruined the deal for Ray, so The Stranger used Ray’s gun to shoot and kill both men.

Why is The Stranger holding a grudge against Lance? During Lance’s stint as an abrasive junkie, Lance unknowingly bumped into The Stranger on the street one day. Lance knocked The Stranger’s keychain out of his pocket, but Lance didn’t pick up the keychain for The Stranger. Instead, Lance picked up the keychain, and he threw it into the street. Lance walked away with two middle fingers for The Stranger, and Lance shouted “fat ass” for a departing insult. Something inside the The Stranger snapped, and in that moment, he embarked on a mission to make Lance’s life a living hell.

For the appetizer, The Stranger infiltrated Lance’s home as a cable man. Earlier in the movie, The Stranger exposed Emily’s affair with Bobby. In Lance’s house, The Stranger murders Emily with a gunshot to the head. The Stranger resented Lance, because he was unworthy. He didn’t deserve his nice home or his beautiful wife. 

When the story shifts to the present timeline again, Lance finally remembers the incident, when he spots The Stranger’s keychain, but it’s too late. The Stranger commits suicide with a gunshot to the head, and before he pulled the trigger, The Stranger injected Lance with a lethal poison. To close out the movie, a stunned Lance recalls the incident, but the poison is too much for him, and he dies a painful death, as the credits roll.

You can look at the twist from so many different angles. On one hand, I can see how others would label it as disappointing. The Stranger forced Lance to suffer, so you were probably expecting a more heinous crime from Lance. Did he burn The Stranger’s house to the ground with his family inside? Nope. Lance just bumped into the stranger with a nasty insult, and that’s it.

My take? I enjoyed the twist. Remember, it’s a horror comedy, so you have to laugh at the situational irony for The Stranger’s motivations to torture and kill Lance. As a drug addict, Lance ruined people’s lives, but The Stranger is upset, because of an accidental bump and insult? Hilarious stuff.

On top of that, before Lance, The Stranger was a seemingly normal guy, who lost his daughter at the age of thirteen after her lengthy battle with cancer. As the audience, you have to assume The Stranger was on the edge, and Lance had to be the unlucky guy to give him the last push.

Also, I’m glad they didn’t finish the movie with a clichéd and predictable happy ending. You know, an army of police officers bursting through the doors to save Lance, and The Stranger suffers a brutal death after a defiant shoot out with the police. It’s something I’ve seen one too many times, but Chop takes a chance with something different, and it’s a nice touch.

Enjoying Chop depends on your reaction to the big reveal/twist at the end. You’ll either laugh at the situational irony of The Stranger’s motivations for tormenting Lance, or you’ll take the “nonsensical” approach to dissecting The Stranger’s motivations, and you’ll hate this film.

But you have to consider something before you make your decision. Chop is a no holds barred horror comedy. It’s supposed to be a ludicrous and over the top film, and you’re supposed to laugh at the absurdity  behind The Stranger’s motivations. In the end, it doesn’t matter what side of the fence you’re standing on for reactions to this twist, because you’re going to ask yourself a series of questions after the finale. Does Lance deserve his punishment? Are The Stranger’s actions justified? Chop’s thought-provoking finale is full of questions, and it’s almost impossible to resist the urge for a dissection and answers.

Chop is a consistently funny horror comedy, with a twisted sense of humor, and the right amount of nasty blood and gore. The gruesome stuff never passes the overkill point, and Chop will show you just enough to pull a reaction. Also, kudos to writer Adam Minarovich for a few good twists, including Lance’s “glass” eye. The Stranger was one step ahead of Lance throughout the movie, because he replaced Lance’s glass eye with a mechanical eye, and the mechanical eye was equipped with a camera.

Although, I’ll admit, my score for Chop is bittersweet, because Chop had the potential to be a MUCH better film. Problem is, overall the cast is mediocre at best, and Keenan and Muskatell have to carry the load in the acting department. Trust me, Chop would’ve been a lot worse without Muskatell and Keenan. On top of that, I know this is a low budget film, but I can’t ignore the sub-par production values.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Outcast (2010)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers. No major reveals, or character deaths**

Mary (Kate Dickie) will do anything to protect her teenage son, Fergal (Niall Bruton) from harm. Fergal and Mary constantly switch homes to avoid any suspicious eyes, and Mary chooses a rundown apartment complex for the next stop on Fergal’s relocation tour.

Fergal tries to adjust to his new surroundings, but Fergal crosses the line, when he breaks one of Mary’s rules: No girls. Petronella (Hanna Stanbridge) is falling in love with Fergal, but Fergal is hesitant to accept Petronella as his girlfriend in the early stages of their relationship.

Meanwhile, a fearless outsider named Cathal (James Nesbitt) accepts a proposal from a magical Celtic clan to hunt and kill Fergal. Cathal receives tattoos to grant him temporary powers from the Celtic clan. Liam (Ciaran McMenamin) guides Cathal in his mission to destroy Fergal, but Cathal is obsessed with Mary. Reluctantly, Laird (James Cosmo), a highly respected member of the clan, accepts Cathal as a temporary member of the clan.

During Cathal’s hunt and Mary’s never-ending mission to protect Fergal, a monstrous creature stalks and devours unsuspecting victims in Fergal’s apartment complex. Mary uses her knowledge of spells and black magic as a witch to stall and detour Cathal, but Fergal is desperate to live a normal life as a teenager. Fergal asks Petronella to runaway with him, but Petronella is terrified at the thought of leaving her mentally challenged brother, Tomatsk (Josh Whitelaw) alone, because Petronella’s mother is a hateful alcoholic.

Cathal is one step behind Mary, and the creature’s body count rises during his bloody rampages. Mary tries to outsmart a pesky social worker, and she explains her past with the magical Celtic clan to Fergal. And Fergal’s plans to runaway with Petronella are put on hold, when Fergal meets his estranged father for the first time…..

 Kate Dickie delivers the best performance as Mary. Mary is a cruel and callous mother, who will do anything to save Fergal, and she uses her own brand of tough love to protect her son. There’s a scene where Mary confronts the social worker, because Mary intentionally  used the wrong address for Fergal’s paperwork. The social worker threatens Mary with the police, but Mary uses a spell to put a curse on the social worker. The curse? The social worker will live out the rest of her days wandering the apartment complex. Dickie has this intense and vicious look on her face during a stare down, but Dickie’s performance isn’t limited to the strict and unflinching mother. Towards the end, Dickie shows a more vulnerable side with a few tears, while Mary explains her past to Fergal.

Bruton is believable, as the quiet and soft spoken teenager, who’s trying to break out of his shell. Nesbitt is genuinely despicable as the deranged scoundrel, who will do anything to kill Fergal and Mary. Stanbrdige is entertaining as the tough and spunky young woman. There’s a scene where Petronella stands up to and taunts a local tough guy for trashing her character, and there’s another scene where Petronella berates the social worker for snooping around and asking too many personal questions. Although, Petronella has a softer side at times, because she protects and takes care of Tomatsk, and you’ll see a  few tender moments with Petronella and Tomatsk together.

The hocus-pocus stuff and the voodoo magic tricks reach a tiresome point after a while, because Outcast crosses the line for overkill a few times. Still, I enjoyed this one. Outcast is a brooding and gruesome horror film, featuring a poignant love story. Petronella and Fergal live hellish lives, but Petronella is the cure for Fergal’s pain and vice versa.

Also, your jaw won’t hit the floor for the reveals at the end, but Outcast deserves credit for a well executed finale. The finale packs an emotional and tense punch during a whirlwind of chaos, and Mary‘s brutal last stand features one of the major highlights in Outcast.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Outcast (2010)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

Mary (Kate Dickie) will do anything to protect her teenage son, Fergal (Niall Bruton) from harm. Fergal and Mary constantly switch homes to avoid any suspicious eyes, and Mary chooses a rundown apartment complex for the next stop on Fergal’s relocation tour.

Fergal tries to adjust to his new surroundings, but Fergal crosses the line, when he breaks one of Mary’s rules: No girls. Petronella (Hanna Stanbridge) is falling in love with Fergal, but Fergal is hesitant to accept Petronella as his girlfriend in the early stages of their relationship.

Meanwhile, a fearless outsider named Cathal (James Nesbitt) accepts a proposal from a magical Celtic clan to hunt and kill Fergal. Cathal receives tattoos to grant him temporary powers from the Celtic clan. Liam (Ciaran McMenamin) guides Cathal in his mission to destroy Fergal, but Cathal is obsessed with Mary. Reluctantly, Laird (James Cosmo), a highly respected member of the clan, accepts Cathal as a temporary member of the clan.

During Cathal’s hunt and Mary’s never-ending mission to protect Fergal, a monstrous creature stalks and devours unsuspecting victims in Fergal’s apartment complex. Mary uses her knowledge of spells and black magic as a witch to stall and detour Cathal, but Fergal is desperate to live a normal life as a teenager. Fergal asks Petronella to runaway with him, but Petronella is terrified at the thought of leaving her mentally challenged brother, Tomatsk (Josh Whitelaw) alone, because Petronella’s mother is a hateful alcoholic.

Cathal is one step behind Mary, and the creature’s body count rises during his bloody rampages. Mary tries to outsmart a pesky social worker, and she explains her past with the magical Celtic clan to Fergal. And Fergal’s plans to runaway with Petronella are put on hold, when Fergal meets his estranged father for the first time…..

 Kate Dickie delivers the best performance as Mary. Mary is a cruel and callous mother, who will do anything to save Fergal, and she uses her own brand of tough love to protect her son. There’s a scene where Mary confronts the social worker, because Mary intentionally  used the wrong address for Fergal’s paperwork. The social worker threatens Mary with the police, but Mary uses a spell to put a curse on the social worker. The curse? The social worker will live out the rest of her days wandering the apartment complex. Dickie has this intense and vicious look on her face during a stare down, but Dickie’s performance isn’t limited to the strict and unflinching mother. Towards the end, Dickie shows a more vulnerable side with a few tears, while Mary explains her past to Fergal.

Bruton is believable, as the quiet and soft spoken teenager, who’s trying to break out of his shell. Nesbitt is genuinely despicable as the deranged scoundrel, who will do anything to kill Fergal and Mary. Stanbrdige is entertaining as the tough and spunky young woman. There’s a scene where Petronella stands up to and taunts a local tough guy for trashing her character, and there’s another scene where Petronella berates the social worker for snooping around and asking too many personal questions. Although, Petronella has a softer side at times, because she protects and takes care of Tomatsk, and you’ll see a  few tender moments with Petronella and Tomatsk together.

So we’re in the final stages of the movie, and Cathal dishonors the agreement, when he disobeys Liam’s strict orders to abandon the mission. Remember, if Cathal completes the mission, he’ll receive full control of his powers for a lifetime. And Cathal doesn’t care about helping the Celtic clan. He’s obsessed with power, and revenge on Mary.

Cathal uses his temporary powers to locate Mary and Fergal. At Mary’s apartment, Mary orders Fergal to hide in his room, when Cathal shows up. Here, it’s revealed Cathal is Fergal’s father, because Mary had a one night stand with Cathal years ago. Cathal murders Mary during a fight, but Cathal walks into an unpleasant surprise, when he tries to murder Fergal. The creature bursts through the door to attack and kill Cathal by ripping his throat out. That’s right. Fergal is the creature.

But it’s not over yet! Tomatsk is in jail, because he’s accused of murder, and Petronella’s mother is at the police station for questioning, so Petronella agrees to runaway with Fergal. Keep in mind, Petronella doesn’t know Fergal is the creature. So Petronella waits for Fergal at the playground in the middle of the night.

Fergal and Petronella share a romantic moment together, but Fergal transforms into the creature after intercourse. Liam shows up to protect Petronella. Here, it’s revealed Liam is Fergal’s uncle. During a struggle, Petronella breaks her promise to help Liam kill Fergal, but Fergal uses Liam’s dagger to murder Fergal. For the final scene of the movie, Petronella is all alone, and she’s begging for spare change on a street corner. Laird shows up to offer a helping hand with a hot meal. Oh, and Petronella is pregnant with Fergal’s child.

Towards the end, the reveal of Fergal as the creature is more obvious, if you pay close attention. Outcast tries to throw you off the trail with Tomatsk as the creature, but there’s one big problem with Tomatsk as the creature: Fergal is never around during the creature’s murders/attacks, or the aftermath of the creature’s murders. On the other hand, Tomatsk is holding the body of a ravaged victim, so Fergal was the only realistic option.

Petronella being pregnant? Yeah, Petronella’s pregnancy caught me off guard, and her decision to murder Fergal was a surprise. Petronella was in love with Fergal, so for a brief second I thought there was a chance she would let him survive.

Are the reveals at the end shocking? No, they’re not, because obvious foreshadowing gives away too much, but Outcast deserves some credit for impeccable timing. First, Mary finally breaks her silence (her explanation to Fergal was ambiguous, but it’s obvious she was talking about Cathal) about Cathal being Fergal’s father.

Moments later, Cathal murders Mary during the fight. What happens after Mary’s demise? Fergal (as the creature) bursts through the door of his room to murder Cathal. And to wrap up the movie, Petronella reveals her pregnancy after a gut wrenching decision to murder the love of her life.

The hocus-pocus stuff and the voodoo magic tricks reach a tiresome point after a while, because Outcast crosses the line for overkill a few times. Still, I enjoyed this one. Outcast is a brooding and gruesome horror film, featuring a poignant love story. Petronella and Fergal live hellish lives, but Petronella is the cure for Fergal’s pain and vice versa.

Also, your jaw won’t hit the floor for the reveals at the end, but Outcast deserves credit for a well executed finale. The finale packs an emotional and tense punch during a whirlwind of chaos, and Mary‘s brutal last stand features one of the major highlights (the creatures demise is another good pick) in Outcast.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

The Pack (2010)(Minor Spoilers Reivew)

**This review contains minor spoilers. No character deaths, major twists, or reveals**

During a road trip in the countryside of northern France, a loner named Charlotte Massot (Emilie Dequenne) decides to pickup Max (Benjamin Biolay), a hitchhiker. Charlotte has some doubts about Max at first, but she’ll have to worry about bigger problems, when a group of rowdy biker thugs threaten Charlotte and Max at a local diner/truck stop. The biker gang overpowers Charlotte and Max during a struggle, but La Spack (Yolande Moreau), the owner of the diner, uses her shotgun to defuse the tension. La Spack forces the biker gang to leave with the promise of fired shots, and Max takes a break to use the bathroom.

As time passes, Charlotte realizes something is strange, when Max disappears without a trace. Chinaski (Philippe Nahon), a local retired police officer, warns Charlotte about the dangers of helping hitchhikers, but he uses his skills as a policeman to help Charlotte solve the mystery of Max’s disappearance.

Curiosity gets the best of Charlotte, and she decides to investigate La Spack’s diner during the late hours of the night. For her first clue, Charlotte picks up Max’s bandana, and she finds a hidden room in the men’s bathroom. Charlotte peeks her head inside the secret room, but the investigation is cut short after a quick blow to the back of the head.

In the morning, Charlotte awakes as a prisoner inside a cage with another delusional and petrified man as her cellmate. Chinaski is still on the outside, and he’s unaware of Charlotte’s plight. Charlotte has to think of an escape plan before the next full moon, because Charlotte and the other prisoner are live bait and food for a pack of ghoulish creatures……

I give the nod to Dequenne for the best performance here. Charlotte is a tough and rugged lone wolf, who refuses to quit, and Dequenne shows some believable raw emotion during Charlotte’s moments of desperation. And there’s a scene where a biker thug spits a thick, hanging loogie into Charlotte’s cup at the diner. Dequenne calmly drinks from the cup, and she refuses to break eye contact with the biker. Nasty scene that shows off Charlote’s resilience, and Dequenne’s unflinching demeanor pulls everything together.

Runner up goes to Yolande Moreau. La Spack is a deranged  and delusional sociopath, who believes in her mission, and Moreau brings a creepy dark sense of humor to this character. Nahon is good for a few laughs as the dimwitted (there’s a scene, where Nahon sticks straws in his ears and nose to look like walrus) retired cop, but Chinaski proves he can still pull a trick out of his sleeve every now and then (more on that later). No big complaints about Biolay. He’s believable as the subservient follower, but Max has a change of heart towards the end.

The plot holes are annoying and frustrating, but I still enjoyed The Pack. The cast is rock solid, and director Frank Richard deserves credit for creating a genuinely eerie and unsettling atmosphere for The Pack, especially the nighttime scenes. Richard delivers an appropriate amount of bloody gruesomeness, the suspenseful finale is full of nail-biting moments, and the fake out cliffhanger sparks an uncontrollable series of thought-provoking “What if?” questions.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

The Pack (2010)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

During a road trip in the countryside of northern France, a loner named Charlotte Massot (Emilie Dequenne) decides to pickup Max (Benjamin Biolay), a hitchhiker. Charlotte has some doubts about Max at first, but she’ll have to worry about bigger problems, when a group of rowdy biker thugs threaten Charlotte and Max at a local diner/truck stop. The biker gang overpowers Charlotte and Max during a struggle, but La Spack (Yolande Moreau), the owner of the diner, uses her shotgun to defuse the tension. La Spack forces the biker gang to leave with the promise of fired shots, and Max takes a break to use the bathroom.

As time passes, Charlotte realizes something is strange, when Max disappears without a trace. Chinaski (Philippe Nahon), a local retired police officer, warns Charlotte about the dangers of helping hitchhikers, but he uses his skills as a policeman to help Charlotte solve the mystery of Max’s disappearance.

Curiosity gets the best of Charlotte, and she decides to investigate La Spack’s diner during the late hours of the night. For her first clue, Charlotte picks up Max’s bandana, and she finds a hidden room in the men’s bathroom. Charlotte peeks her head inside the secret room, but the investigation is cut short after a quick blow to the back of the head.

In the morning, Charlotte awakes as a prisoner inside a cage with another delusional and petrified man as her cellmate. Chinaski is still on the outside, and he’s unaware of Charlotte’s plight. Charlotte has to think of an escape plan before the next full moon, because Charlotte and the other prisoner are live bait and food for a pack of ghoulish creatures……

I give the nod to Dequenne for the best performance here. Charlotte is a tough and rugged lone wolf, who refuses to quit, and Dequenne shows some believable raw emotion during Charlotte’s moments of desperation. And there’s a scene where a biker thug spits a thick, hanging loogie into Charlotte’s cup at the diner. Dequenne calmly drinks from the cup, and she refuses to break eye contact with the biker. Nasty scene that shows off Charlote’s resilience, and Dequenne’s unflinching demeanor pulls everything together.

Runner up goes to Yolande Moreau. La Spack is a deranged  and delusional sociopath, who believes in her mission, and Moreau brings a creepy dark sense of humor to this character. Nahon is good for a few laughs as the dimwitted (there’s a scene, where Nahon sticks straws in his ears and nose to look like walrus) retired cop, but Chinaski proves he can still pull a trick out of his sleeve every now and then (more on that later). No big complaints about Biolay. He’s believable as the subservient follower, but Max has a change of heart towards the end.

Who’s feeding the creatures? La Spack. That’s right. La Spack kidnaps unsuspecting victims at the diner to feed to the creatures, but she needs help to lure innocent victims. Enter Max. Max uses the cover of a hitchhiker to lure the victims to the diner, and La Spack is Max’s mother. La Spack suffered a severe nervous breakdown after Max’s brother died in a mining accident. Max’s brother died with other miners in the accident, and Max refused to abandon his mother in her time of need, so he dedicated himself to the role of the loyal son.

How do you lure the creatures from the ground? Blood. The creatures feed off of power from a full moon, and when blood from the victims hits the soil, they emerge for their feast. But something strange happens during Charlotte’s feeding: The creatures pass on the opportunity to eat Charlotte. Instead, the creatures devour the male prisoner.

Meanwhile, a suspicious Chinaski continues his search for a missing Charlotte. Chinaski pulls a fast one on La Spack, when she offers him a cup of coffee. La Spack poisoned the coffee, but Chinaski dumped the cup of coffee into a house plant. An “unconscious” Chinaski played possum inside a wheelbarrow, forcing La Spack to lead him to the torture chamber, where she prepares the creature’s food and Charlotte.

Chinaski rescues Charlotte, and a furious Charlotte uses the shotgun to shot and kill La Spack at point blank range. Max joins Charlotte in a desperate mission to fight the creatures before the full moon emerges (remember, the creatures are pretty much invincible during a full moon)……but La Spack isn’t dead. She breaks out of the cage to strangle Chinaski, and eventually, she drives the nail into the coffin with a beheading.

For a last stand, Charlotte and Max join the biker gang in a rundown house to fight off the group of invading creatures. The creatures eliminate the biker gang, and Max is trapped inside the house after a fire. Outside, Charlotte tries to make a run for it, but she trips and falls in an open field. The creatures surround her, and one creature starts eating Charlotte. During the feeding, Charlotte loses consciousness.

The next scene shows Charlotte working at the diner, and she’s pregnant. Charlotte is smoking a cigarette, while she watches Max lure another victim for the creatures. Here, The Pack gives us the impression Charlotte is working with Max to continue his mother’s job, and Charlotte is pregnant with Max’s child (Charlotte had a soft spot for Max). In reality, Charlotte is stuck in a dream. Yep. Charlotte didn’t escape. Instead, a decapitated Charlotte is hanging upside down in an open field, and to end the movie, you’ll see a splatter of running blood from Charlotte’s upside down POV.

I have mixed feelings for the finale. On one hand, the final showdown in the house was full of suspense and mayhem, and the fake out dream sequence cliffhanger really caught me off guard. One minute, you think Charlotte is happy, pregnant, and working with Max to feed the creatures, and in a matter of seconds, Charlotte wakes up to realize her impossible dilemma. She’s literally hanging in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the creatures to finish her off, and there’s no one around to save her. Are the creatures coming for her? Did Max survive the fire? Where’s La Spack? So many tantalizing unanswered questions.

The bad side? Plot holes. Remember the scene where the creatures refused to eat Charlotte? The Pack NEVER provided a concrete explanation for Charlotte’s immunity to the creatures. To make matters worse, the creatures devour Charlotte at the end after they made a WILLING choice to spare her life? Sorry, without an explanation, that doesn’t make any sense at all.

And I can’t forget about La Spack. Eh, why is she invincible? As the audience, we never see the gruesome shot of Charlotte murdering La Spack……but somehow she returns (without a scratch) to murder Chinaski? On top of that, during the final stand, one of the biker thugs shoots La Spack in one of her legs, but she just laughs it off like nothing happened?

So let me get this straight. She’s shot at point blank range with a SHOTGUN, and La Spack survives like nothing happened. And she takes another shot to one of her legs, and she laughs about it? Again, The Pack fails to provide a reason for Super La Spack, and it’s another head-scratcher I can’t ignore.

The plot holes are annoying and frustrating, but I still enjoyed The Pack. The cast is rock solid, and director Frank Richard deserves credit for creating a genuinely eerie and unsettling atmosphere for The Pack, especially the nighttime scenes. Richard delivers an appropriate amount of bloody gruesomeness, the suspenseful finale is full of nail-biting moments, and the fake out cliffhanger sparks an uncontrollable series of thought-provoking “What if?” questions.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1