Platypuschow

Plot

A documentary crew visits the Island of the Dolls, where they encounter Santana, a sinister spirit inhabiting a powerful doll, who begins to hunt them down relentlessly.

Cast

I recognized Emily Webber from Jack & Jill 3, beyond that not so much.

Verdict

The previous years Island of the Dolls was a dire attempt at horror, a messy ugly film with little going for it. A year later with a new director and writer could the follow up shock me? No, no it really couldn't.

Island of the Dolls 2 goes in a dramatically different direction than the first movie. Truth be told it could be considered a remake of the first considering there is no mention of the events of the first film and certain things that happened previously seem to have been omitted altogether from a canon perspective.

The kills are awful, the plot unoriginal and the cast interchangeable but when the credits rolled I didn't have my head in my hands so it at least has that going for it.

Messy, amateurish and yet still manages to be better than the first.

Rants

The saddest thing is that the Island of the Dolls movies (Or better yet movie singular) could have been good. Based on a haunting true story they should have run with that instead of going off on an illogical tangent. Google La Isla de las Muñecas, I'm sure it'll make for a better read than these movies make for a watch.

The Good

Santana was suitably creepy Better constructed than the first film

The Bad

Still ugly Dreadful kills Unoriginal mess of a plot Predictable ending.

Plot

Manel is sheltering from a rabies-like disease which sweeps the planet, until he is forced to leave and meet unlikely but essential traveling companions.

Cast

Not familiar with anyone of the cast but Director Carles Torrens I'm familiar with, though with mix results.

Verdict

As a life long mid 40's horror fanatic by favourite sub-genre has always been zombies. However I'm not as excited booting a new zombie movie up like I used to be as generally they're cliché ridden, trope saturated generic messes and it's rare I come across one I truly enjoy. Part of reason is that they're cheap to make so indie filmmakers with no budget and even less talent are making them and even when the budget is there the originality has waned.

With a generic title like Apocalypse Z which would befit a Scyfy original I went in assuming the absolute worst but found myself engrossed in an entertaining and likeable affair.

Following a single character has been done before but tends to be the setup for rather boring zombie movies this bucks that trend and was very engaging. His tiny travelling companion added both joy and consistent dread throughout the film which I enjoyed but very easily could have not.

The film isn't perfect, it has a mediocre ending and suffers from pacing issues a couple of times but overall this is one of the better zombie movies I've seen in the last 5 years and is well worth a watch for anyone who is a fan of the sub-genre.

Rants

I have 6 cats, they're my world. Being a crazy cat dad and generally a person who looks at the world with a animals > people stance made me wince throughout the movie. I had to Google in advance to find out if the pet dies, if the answer had been yes I wouldn't have watched this as that to me is the biggest horror trope that needs to die. What it did bring here though was heart racing dread and genuine concern, I approve! Horror movies simply don't scare me anymore and haven't for 30 odd years but this dread was a surprising and appreciate substitute.

The Good

Solid character development Some original moments The cat element really worked

The Bad

Weak finale Slumps a couple of times.

Plot

This St. Patrick's Day might be your last.

Cast

Made by Alex Magaña, the man behind the never ending Smiling Woman series and more horror shorts than you can imagine.

Verdict

Alex Magaña has a formula when it comes to his shorts, sadly it's tired. It may have a novelty value the first half dozen of his shorts you see but beyond that they become cliched, predictable and ultimately the same film but with the antagonist getting a makeover.

I don't dislike them, in fact his shorts are in plenty of my top 10 shorts from (Insert year here) lists but they rarely rise above a 5/6.

St. Patricks Day is more of the same, I wonder how many sequels this one will get *Yawn*. The redeeming quality is that they're over swiftly.

Rants

Look at the cover art for Alex Magaña's shorts. Do you see a theme? Do you see how ultimately they're all the same just with a slight tweak to the shorts theme? Alex shake it up, show us something new. Break away from what you're used to doing and give us something unexpected. In fact I have so much faith in you I'd like to see not only something new, but something longer.

The Good

Like most Magaña shorts it looks the part Vaguely interesting

The Bad

Too formulaic Feels like it had a scene missing afterwards, like there should have been a smidge more.