* Would You Rather
Iris is becoming desperate because her little brother is dying of cancer. Their parents died and they are barely hanging on financially, so they can't afford his necessary surgery and treatments. Enter Shepard Lambrick, rich philanthropist who invites her to compete for the funds. The competition turns out to be a sadistic game where the competitors are stabbed, beaten, and killed until only one remains. This film was middle of the road for me. The concept is interesting, but the challenges in the first and second round were quite repetitive, becoming kind of boring after a while. The possibilities were endless and the actual challenges didn't get surprising until the third round. Jeffrey Combs plays Lambrick and killed the performance. He was sardonic, casual, and cool as a cucumber while the contestants were shocked and obviously distressed. The ending was predictable, but had a big impact.
My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins
* Grave Encounters
This is a bit of a departure from all the other films. It's more of a trapped in a building rather than a room. A Ghosthunters type TV crew locks themselves in a haunted insane asylum for a night to tape an episode of their show. The taping doesn't go as planned and weird stuff starts happening after dark: things moving by themselves, crew members go missing, and unexplainable things start happening. First of all, why would you really lock yourself in an abandoned building with no electricity? That's just an accident waiting to happen. You tell the audience that, but you leave the building unlocked to make sure everyone is safe. Beyond that, it was a pretty creepy movie. The found footage style has been done to death, but this was a decent film. As the film goes on, the crew loses sense of time, their electronics stop working, and they don't know what's real anymore. The asylum becomes endless and disorienting. Too many jump scares are used for my tasted, but other than that, a creepy, atmospheric film.
My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins
* Bad Kids Go to Hell
A bad boy expelled from an exclusive school is determined to gain entry back by attending eight hourse worth of weekend detention with other offenders: the awkward nerd, the jock, the mischievous goth girl, the overachiever, and the queen bee. The principal (ironically played by Judd Nelson) takes away their electronics and locks them in the library. Then the kids start dying one by one as the others frantically try to find a way out. This film was surprisingly fun! Based on the cover and the dubious plot, I figured I would be rolling my eyes and turning it off about half way through. I was wrong. It's a great dark comedy, kind of a twisted Breakfast Club. It's ridiculous and over the top, but strangely endearing. It's worth a watch.
My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins
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