Posts Tagged ‘Eli Roth’

REVIEW: Piranha 3D

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Piranha 3DIf you’re ever in Thailand, go see a movie…their theaters are very luxurious even on Hollywood standards. At the beginning of each film they play a little montage in honor of their ruling King where you must stand…it’s quite a different experience but very cool. Most of the movies they show are quite recent coming out at or around the same time as the US release dates and sometimes even before! Walking around Bangkok I noticed that they were promoting Piranha 3D a lot so I knew I had to check it out…


As I expected, it was hilariously bad but still a great time! If Avatar was a step forward for 3D, this was 2 giant steps back. I remember hearing about this film and seeing the trailer thinking it was a joking jab at James Cameron since he directed Piranha 2 back in the day and his huge 3D spectacular (Avatar) was about to come out. Well, it wasn’t a joke…it’s real and it’s really ridiculous. It seems that a bunch of guys in Hollywood got their hands on a 3D camera and wanted to see what they could get away with. Beautiful Girls? Check. Bad Script? Check. Bad Acting? Check. Gore? Check. Boobies? Double Check. That’s pretty much the formula for Piranha 3D.

Piranha 3D

Worst. Sacrifice. Ever.


Spring Break has arrived on Lake Victoria but not after a small earthquake which unveils an undercover lake that’s located directly under the existing lake unleashing a plethora of man-eating prehistoric super piranha. The story follows the family of the local sheriff who must keep the crazy teenage spring breakers at bay while dealing with this new fish problem. At the same time, her son becomes the local help of a Joe Francis-type character making a Girls Gone Wild-type video. If that weren’t enough, Christopher Lloyd is the local scientist/fish expert? Gadzooks! This movie has everything you’d expect from a B-movie and more. Too much more at times.


The movie holds nothing back and it’s sure to let you know how awful it is by making fun of itself. Expect to see every body part imaginable and then every body part imaginable being eaten by piranhas! Expect the characters to make stupid decisions and pay dearly for it. I, however, did not expect an artistic mermaid-esque underwater dance sequence as well as more shocking gore than a zombie movie. The cast had fun with this one. It’s comprised of Jerry O’Connell, Christopher Lloyd, Eli Roth, Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, and even Richard Dreyfuss who are all respectable actors. But in this film they cut loose and have fun with ridiculous over the top acting.
Piranha 3D

Oh Jerry...


From what you’ve read so far and knowing what movie we’re talking about…you know the 3D is full of gimmicks. Piranhas flying at you, things popping out of nowhere, etc. The 3D really doesn’t add anything to the movie but instead probably gets a lot of awards for being the first movie to do “X” in 3D. You can fill in “X” with any stupid cheesy thing you can think of. Should you pay more for the 3D? Nope. Will you? Yup. That’s the beauty of this movie…you know it’s going to be ridiculously bad and awesome. All I’ve got to say is that I wish I was on set for this movie because it looks like it was a blast to make. It’s the best B film I’ve seen in a while and I had fun watching it. Oh, by the way, the sequel is already being developed! Piranha 4D!? I hope it picks up right where it left off!

REVIEW: The Last Exorcism

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

The Last ExorcismLooking for a scare? The Last Exorcism is certainly going to make you jump out of your seat or make you turn away from the screen. I got to see this movie at an advance screening at Comic-Con but had to go alone because I couldn’t convince anyone to see the scary movie with me! The trailer alone made me uncomfortable so honestly, I was hesitant in seeing this one in the theaters too. You really have no idea what to expect except that you’re going to see an exorcism and some crazy shit. The Last Exorcism delivers on both of these points and more.


This is another mockumentary shot in the first person point of view guised as a film crew making a documentary on Cotton Marcus and his exorcisms. By now, we’re all familiar with this shooting style. Sure, it’s cheaper for the film makers but also helps emphasize the storytelling for the audience so I think it’s a win win. Especially for scary movies, it adds to the movie going experience as it puts you in the shoes of the characters in the movie. You get to be scared the same way that they are since you see and hear everything going on as they would.

The Last Exorcism

Out you demon!


The Last Exorcism follows a fast-talking hot-shot exorcist (aka conman) who tricks believers into paying him to release the demons from their lives. He uses parlor tricks to put on a show and make it seem as if he’s actually using the power of Jesus and religion to expel the demons in an exorcism. One of my favorite parts of the movie was actually seeing the things that he would do to fool his customers. Since the movie is shot as a documentary, Cotton shows the audience exactly how he sets up the spooky atmosphere from the sounds of the demons to shocking the possessed. Too bad the demon he’s dealing with this time is real and he can’t use his regular tricks to stop it.


Ashley Bell plays Nell Sweetzer, the 16 year-old girl who has a demon inside of her. She is incredible and really made the movie believable for me. The scenes where she’s possessed by the demon are horribly shocking and grotesque. You want to turn away, but you can’t. If you believe in demons or not, the way Ashely Bell performs will make you think she was actually possessed during the filming of the movie. Cotton Marcus, played by Patrick Fabian and his film crew of Iris Bahr and Logan Craig Reid let the audience discover the situation they got themselves in along with them. They can’t fathom what’s going on as much as the audience can’t believe what’s happening to them. Iris in particular gives us a grounded “regular”-person point of view amongst these rural religious God-fearing people. You see, Nell’s father is very religious. Doctors couldn’t save his wife and he doesn’t believe that psychiatry is the way of God which is why he hired Cotton Marcus to expel the demons from this daughter. He believed that this was the only way and Cotton was the only one who could help them…
The Last Exorcism

Ashley Bell as Nell Sweetzer, the possessed 16 year-old


There are quite a few twists and turns in the film that will keep you engaged. While most scary movies and horror films these days are one-dimensional, this one has layers. Some people may leave the theater dazed and confused but confused or not, they were left scared. After my screening I heard one of the people who worked at the theater ask a couple girls what they thought. They replied, “I have no idea what happened but it was scary as hell!” Believe it or not, this is rated PG-13 so all of the youngsters can witness the exorcism too. I think that the rating speaks for the writing of the film…it doesn’t have to go into profanity, sexual content, or anything else that doesn’t have anything to do with the story. As Eli Roth (producer of The Last Exorcism) put it during a Q&A after the screening, they never had the PG-13 rating in mind while making the film but it just lent itself to that. So if you’re brave enough, get ready for your last exorcism. It’s called The Last Exorcism for a reason…


Check out The Last Exorcism Screenings List to see if you can catch an advance screening in your city!

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