Would You Rather (2013)

It’s hard to fathom a game I used to play in high school being anything more than sexual fueled attempt to make out with girls while drinking. But as faith would have it, that memory filled teenage game has now been twisted into some kind of moral dilemma of life or death. The stakes are high, the choices are harder, and the game is no longer for kids.

IFC Film's Would You Rather follows Iris (Brittany Snow) a 20 something girl who looks after her sick brother after her parents pass in some sort of accident. Inheriting her younger brother’s medical bills and assuming the role of “mom” Iris is propositioned by a very rich man named Shepard Lambrick (Jeffery Combs), the founder of some health foundation, to attend a dinner party and play a game. The winner of said game will have all of the medical bills, outstanding debt, and other things paid for. All you have to do is win, but when dinner begins she finds out she may have gotten more than she bargained for.

Would You Rather is a terrific movie. The whole movie there is this air of despair that is really hard to shake. As the films story unfolds, the scenes get more intense and actually keep you on the edge of you seat. The director (David Guy Levy) did an amazing job capturing the raw emotions of the characters though out the situations they are facing, All the while capturing the beauty of the setting around the chaos happening round it.

The acting is great in this movie. The legendary Jeffery Combs takes his acting chops to another level as Lambrick, and Brittany Snow steps out of her teeny shadow with this matured roll and adult subject matter. Porn Star Sasha Grey shows she can do more than give a good lay with her very dark portrayal of Amy. Kevin’s dad himself John Heard also makes an appearance in the film as Conway. Trailer Park Boys very own Robb Wells also appears in the film as the slight comic relief.  Overall the film was very well acted and a lot of the actors truly surprised me with how well they did.

The special effects make up, while minimal, were very convincing. At times I found myself cringing with what the possible outcomes of the situations would be. I kept thinking for the worse but never truly hit the nail on the head. I was pleasantly surprised with the effects.

The film also makes you think. If you are giving an extreme choice, and had to make a decision, what would you do? The film brought a whole new meaning to the game would you rather and might I say, completely changed my outlook on the shear possibilities of it.

Would You Rather is just another example of a great independent horror film. I will not be disappointed if films like this continue to be released. Would You Rather earns itself a 5 out of 5 stabs for creativity, acting, setting, and writing. Dare I say best horror film of 2013? We shall see. Would you rather is currently available OnDemand though iTunes. For more information on the film check out their Facebook page. View the trailer below.

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House at the End of the Street (2012)

I am not much of a fan of these PG-13 diet horror films. The target audience is evident when you watch films like this. Teenage kids going to the movies without parental guidance, looking to get handsy with one another while the lights are out and a "scary" movie is playing. We have all done it. However my generation was watching films like Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legends, and other 90's fair. Teen movies now days feel watered down, and safe. Where's the thrill? All I can see are jump scares.

House at the End of the Street (HATEOTS) is precisely why mainstream horror films are starting to decline. The stories are all the same, the thrills are made be sound, and the efforts seem rather lackluster. To make this brief I did not enjoy HATEOTS. I found it very slow and awkward. I knew going into it that it did very well in the box office, and nailed its target demographic. However seasoned horror fans were less than stoked on it, and most voiced their frustrations openly.

Basically the film is about Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) a teenage girl who moves to a small town from the Windy City. She make friends with Ryan (Max Thieriot) her next door neighbor who still lives in the house his parents where killed in. Things get strange and Elissa is faced with a terrible situation.

The only 3 good qualities of this film are Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, and the plot twist at the end, which wasn't even that good. I respect what the writers tried to do, but watering down a potentially good story to sell to kids is not what horror is about. Horror is intended to scare, thrill, and evoke terror in the audience. I did not get any of that. As I said Jennifer and Max did a great job, they are both very talented actors and I enjoyed watching them interact with each other. The overall film is just lacking that true grit of horror.

The film is what it is. There are few goods and a whole lot of bads. The film was also filmed in 2010, and was just released at the tail end of 2012. My guess is that the studio released it to capitalize on the success of the lovely & talented Miss Lawrence. All and all its not a terrible way to kill some time, however I'd have your phone handy to relieve boredom. GLP gives this effort 2 out of 5 stabs for Jennifer and Max's performance only. The film has been released on Blu-Ray and DVD, and is also available on demand everywhere. View the trailer below.

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Smiley (2012)

In an age were technology has us wrapped around its robot (Sky-Net) finger, it was only a matter of time before people started making up "digital legends". Some you may be thinking, What the fuck are "digital legends"? Well I'm here to tell you that a digital legend is none other than an urban legend with a modern technological twist. Urban Legend have always fascinated me. Stories like Bloody Mary, The High Beams, Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn On The Light, Candyman, & The Babysitter hunted young kids and teenagers dreams for years. We are now living in a new era, and as Scream 4 so nicely called it, "New Decade, New Rules".

Smiley is basically a movie about a "digital legend". The legend is if you're in a video chat room and you type "I did it for the lulz" 3 times to your partner, that Smiley will appear behind the person you are chatting with and brutally murder them. Sounds pretty dope right? The concept is great. The film however is not.

Smiley stars Caitlin Gerard as Ashley, Melanie Papalia as Proxy, Shane Dawson as Binder, Andrew James Allen as Zane, Roger Bart as Professor Clayton, & Keith David as Detective Diamond. Roger Bart & Keith David are the standouts in the film! While they do only have small roles, the caliber of their skill was amazing. Every scene these two were in they stole. The rest of the cast, was really really bad. Caitlin Gerard was more robotic than Robocop and a T-1000 combined, If two people watching a movie react the EXACT SAME WAY to a bad acting spot...we got problems. The rest of the actors seemed to walk in right off the recent Youtube set. It was bad, and I don't usually mind bad acting.

I will praise the film for concept and the look of the killer. Conceptually this movie could have been amazing. With such a great idea, and killer, Smiley could have been the next Jason. However, Bad casting, direction, and script decisions really did a number on the movie. I cant help but think that the low budget of the film had a lot to do with its problems. Smiley is a creepy looking killer, Think Walmart Smiley face, but instead of yellow its actual skin and the eyes and mouth are sewed shut. I don't feel Smiley was used properly, the film should have revolved around the lore of smiley, where he came from ect. But it didn't. And as a result I feel the film suffered tremendously.

Not only was smiley not used correctly, we barely get any gore. Most kills happen with a cut away, and then you see the less then impressive aftermath. Some red stuff, and sloppy practical effects are present but its the  horrendous CGI effects that will make you laugh. Director Michael J. Gallagher did a good job with camera angles for the most part, but I will say I was not happy with the finished product.

While Smiley had some redeeming qualities, It flopped in almost every way possible. The feeling of self importance runs rampant through the film, and it feels like everyone was taking themselves way too seriously.   GLP gives this rough slasher a 2 out of 5 stabs for creative killer and concept. For more information on the film visit the films website and Facebook page. The film is currently available on-demand. View the trailer below.

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The ABC's Of Death (2013)

Outrageous, twisted, over the top, sadistic, appalling, and fun as hell! Magnet Releasing and Drafthouse Films' The ABC's Of Death was one of the most anticipated horror films of 2013. Did it live up to the hype? I will let you be the judge.

The ABC's of Death is a fairly simple movie. The concept was give 26 directors a letter of the alphabet, give them 100% artistic and creative freedom, and have them make a short film based a word that starts with the letter they were given. I think part of the reason this film had such hype, is because of the names that were attached to the film. With directer's like Angela Bettis, Yûdai Yamaguchi, Ti West, Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, Jon Schnepp, Xavier Gens, and Jason Eisener why wouldn't there be a crazy amount of hype for this.

I really enjoyed The ABCs of Death. I thought for the most part, the film was well put together. There are some very outstanding shorts present here, and some that are not. With 26 different shorts present, your probably not gonna like every one of them. At some points I was cringing, at other times I was saying WTF is going on.

ABC's has some very good shorts, I didn't actively make mental note or write down what ones I thought were good. I simply went by what one evicted some sort of emotion out of me. Weather it be cringing, gagging, laughing, ect. I was out to enjoy the film, and went in with an open mind. D is for Dogfight by Marcel Sarmiento was defiantly my favorite, It was shot beautifully, and the use of slow motion was a very nice touch. Jason Eisener's Y is for Young Buck was another stand out for me. I love everything about Eisener's short film, the shooting style, soundtrack, film filters, and of course the absurdity of the whole thing. Eisener is defiantly and upcoming director to look out for.

Other good ones were A is for Apocalypse, F is for Fart, H is for Hyrdo-Electric Diffusion, J is for Jidai-geki, K is for Klutz, L is for Libido, Q is for Quack, S is for Speed, T is for Toilet, U is for Unearthed, W is for WTF, and X is for XXL. All of these shorts were shot well, and were entertaining.

The shorts there were the absolute worst of the bunch were Ti West's M is for Miscarriage, Andrew Traucki's G is for Gravity and Adrian Garcia Bogliano's B is for Bigfoot. I am not sure what these directors were thinking but these shorts were just terrible. Most notable of the bunch is Ti West's M is for Miscarriage, being the shortest and laziest. I honestly felt I could have directed the SAME EXACT thing, shot for shot. I thought it was disrespectful, and the biggest let down of the shorts. I am a rather big fan of Ti's and felt he just didn't care enough to put forth any effort. While these were the biggest flops of the film, it still doesn't take away from the overall picture.

Magnet Releasing has hit the nail on the head once again with The ABC's of Death, proving that they are steadily becoming a force to be reckoned with in the indie horror film world. I have nothing but positive things to say about Magnet, and am very excited to see what else they have in store for us horror fans in the future. The ABC's of Death defiantly lived up to the hype, even though some of the shorts were sub-par. ABC's delivered everything a horror fans salivate over. Gore, Nudity, Absurdity, Laughs, and overall entertainment. GLP gives this blood soaked effort 4 out of 5 stabs. The film was released on 1/31 as a pre-theatrical OneDemand release, which Magnet is defiantly doing right. Although the rental price is a little pricey at $10, its well worth it. Be sure to check out Magnets Facebook page for more information on upcoming horror releases, as well as more information on The ABC's Of Death, and check out the films Facebook page as well. The ABC's of Death will be hitting select theaters on March 8th. Check out the NSFW trailer below.

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