BARE BONES: ROCK PAPER SCISSORS (2017)

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS (2017)

Flick is also known as Rock Paper Dead, but it’s real selling point is that it is the return of legendary horror director Tom Holland (the original Fright Night and Child’s Play) after a two decade absence. Story unfolds as serial killer Peter Harris (Luke Macfarlane) has been apprehended by police. He spends years in therapy and is finally released by Dr. Evelyn Bauer (Tatum O’Neal) as cured. Peter goes back to live in his family house where he is haunted by his past and pursued by both a pretty neighbor (Jennifer Titus) with her own agenda and a vengeful cop (Michael Madsen). Will Peter return to old habits, or will his past catch up with him first?

Holland directs from a mixed bag script by Kerry Fleming and Victor Miller and thus the film is a bit uneven, despite the director still having got it. There are some very disturbing moments in the film and some very creepy stuff. The flick has some gruesome gore and Holland gives the film atmosphere. There are also some borderline silly moments, too and the performances are uneven as the story. Lead Macfarlane plays his part well, as a disturbed man trying to fight off bad thoughts and habits, while Titus is quite uneven, especially when asked to go over-the-top, and Madsen is playing the same part he always plays. He’s phoning it in. Overall, this flick is worth a look and shows Holland still can make an effective and entertaining flick. He probably should have taken a crack at the script, as he wrote, or co-wrote, his two biggest classics. Curious why no noise was made about this flick with a heavy-hitter like Holland returning to the director’s chair? Also features a score by the legendary Harry Manfredini (the original Friday the 13th flicks).

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: THE HATEFUL EIGHT

THE HATEFUL EIGHT (2015)

Latest flick from Quentin Tarantino finds bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell) heading to the town of Red Rock with his latest acquisition, murderess Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). They are reluctantly in the company of another bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and there is a massive blizzard on it’s way. Ruth, Warren and a group of others find themselves taking shelter at a remote haberdashery to wait out the storm. The owners are suspiciously absent and now Ruth begins to suspect he’s walked into a trap with possible associates of Miss Domergue. As they are all snowbound together, paranoia begins to take over as no one knows who they can trust. Accusations begin to fly, can bullets be far behind?

If I am to sum up Quentin Tarantino’s latest in one word it would be underwhelmed. The film is well directed and certainly looks great, as Tarantino knows how to frame a shot. It’s just that it is a very long winded mystery/thriller at almost three hours and there are tedious stretches of dialog that seem to drag on. Tarantino is known for his snappy dialog, but here it just seems to meander, taking a long time to accomplish something. Once the bullets and blood start to fly in the last act, it just comes off as gratuitous after such a long time of slowly unraveling what is going on. That and when it is all laid out before us, it’s not all that impressive or a big deal. You kind of feel like “I sat through almost three hours for this?”. There are some really good characters and performances in the flick and it has a great cast, but just takes a long time to not go anywhere all that interesting or far. Not an outright bad movie, just one that is only moderately engaging. Also stars Bruce Dern, Michael Madsen and Channing Tatum.

-MonsterZero NJ