Movie Review : The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Movie Review : The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Plot:

The Silence of the Lambs is an American thriller directed by Jonathan Demme and is based on a Thomas Harris Novel of the same kind. It is the second novel depicting the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

The movie was released in 1991 and is to date considered top class horror by its audience and world critics.

Director has however made some important changes to the main plot of the novel and shown a new perspective.

Clarice Starling is an FBI trainee sent to a violent psychopath Hannibal the Cannibal for help, upon finding her interesting he unveils some dog-eared pages of history to Clarice which would help her save senator’s daughter from the raging Buffalo Bill, only thing she has to do is to link the scattered pieces of information together.

Everything goes smooth until Dr. Hannibal is taken from his asylum to a Tennessee to help the senator himself without Clarice in between. He fleds the cage killing a few people and goes into a title hideout.

Will Clarice be able to decipher the information she poured out of Dr. Lecter, ultimately saving the day?

The changes that director brought into the story of book are of major character. Totally skipping some most important details from the plot did affect the theme of the movie but even after that it remains chartbuster and Oscar winning! Wonder why? Lets get deep into it.

Review:

Some bits of many reasons why you might Love The Silence of the Lambs: 

About The Cast: Casting Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and getting the best out of him is a victory for the movie. If there was someone who could play the creepy manhunter in the same eerie and mysterious yet heroistic style it would be none other than him. He was the first Oh! factor of the movie and from the very first scene he’s stuck to mind, getting ready some nice material for tonight’s nightmare. Then there is Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling. The first look of the pretty lady takes you back to the book (if you’ve read it) and rings the bell of perfection in your ear. The look throughout the movie was in accordance to the book. The performance was even more toned. 

At some points however the point of boldness in Clarice slips out of Foster’s hand but she gains it back as the movie proceeds. She created the sense of delicacy as well as bravery which her role completely demanded. Clarice’s shoes were a total fit to Jodie and so she was my favorite and i prefer her over Julianne Moore who played Clarice in the sequel. Now the villain, Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill was another step towards making this movie a huge one. He transformed himself into the psycho serial killer who kills victims for a very different motive. The mood that he adds to the movie with first class acting and that voice!

The Competitive Advantage: Amongst thousand horror and thriller, this one remains on top for so many years. The superiority that it has over others is the impeccable storyline, remarkable creepiness of the anti-hero, a very rare kind of serial killer, screaming spring lambs and their savior, the quid pro quo, the basement, huge girls who need to apply lotions and the screen which shows all this in a flow of events which prints into mind like an unpleasant memory yet some well spent wealth! This movie is no-prisoner-held in order of its brutal scenes and uncomfortable moments. After adding Anthony Hopkins to all this, What else do we need?

But not everything is as flawless as it looks. There is a caution for the ones who are watching it after reading the book: You won’t find The Video of Mama in it along with many small yet important details such as Catherine Martin’s room sweep by Starling and her convo with Senator, the story of the head in the jar is also manipulated and there is no sailor who was killed in exotic sexual intercourse instead the head belongs to Benjamin Raspail who ‘wasn’t’ killed by Dr. Lecter. And now the most important one; No Maroon Eyes for Hannibal!!!!

With all the above stuff missing the movie becomes a little disappointing for book nerds but remains a big favorite and watch-over-again flick! But if you haven’t read the book first it’s just breath-takingly good!

The movie has won multiple Oscars and is without any ado a number one thriller.

I felt the adrenaline rush and chills run through my body during the whole movie and it just reached the epitome in finale.

For the sake of the effect those cold blue eyes of Hannibal had on me, 

I would rate it as:

****1/2

Reviewed by : Adina Farid

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Movie Review: Oculus (2014)

Movie Review: Oculus (2014)

Plot: 

Oculus is an American horror film released in April 2014. Directed by Mike Flanagan.

It is based on a story of two siblings trying to destroy the evil entity residing in an antique mirror which 11 years earlier killed their parents.

Alan and Marie Russell bring home an antique mirror for decoration. Right after that they both experience supernatural episodes in their house; Alan being locked in his office spending secretive time with a girl named Marisol who has mirrors in place of eyes and Marie who feels her body slowly decaying.

The kids are quite concerned and terrified by their parents fighting at night and acting weird. This goes on for a while and turns into a serious situation when Marie loses herself and attempts to kill Tim. However, he is saved and their father then chains Marie to their bedroom wall and refuses calling help.

Kids also try to reach help but they can’t. One night Alan, possessed by the entity in mirror, unchains Marrie and both of them attack the kids. While strangling Kaylie, Marie comes back to her consciousness and is shot dead by Alan. He then forces Tim to kill himself.

Eleven years later Kaylie gets hold of the mirror again and tries to destroy it but her actions are wasted as the mirror plays trick on their minds and makes Tim kill Kaylie.

In the end while Tim is forced in car by the police he sees Kaylie join the other victims of the Mirror.

Review:

Oculus is a psychological horror which has well directed freak shots and a dull and silly story.

The movie takes power from the outstanding performances of actors and is all in all a must watch for horror lovers. But the more you go deep into it the more you realise the fact that the movie is more psychological than horror. It leaves you dubious at one point and you start looking for the evidence to prove to its supernatural worth.

However, with the plot being silly this movie brings out the screams that are obligatory for a horror flick and the ghosts are very ghostly, too. So cheers to the visuals!

The one thing that will definitely disturb the heck out is the unexplained and incomplete ending. Surely director had to leave the room for following sequels.

The crazy part is that Oculus sticks to the mind like a chewing gum not because of the ghost and stuff but for its successful attempt of messing up with the mind of viewers.

The movie is more like a breath of fresh air in the street of haunting flicks as the story is not another house-haunt! The Mirror element is strong and mysterious enough to be focused in the next one.

I liked the looks of mirror-eyed ghosts so I would rate this awkward yet horror movie

***

Reviewed by Adina Farid

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Official "International" Trailer : Deliver Us From Evil

Official "International" Trailer : Deliver Us From Evil

"I've seen some horrible things - but nothin' that can't be explained by human nature." "Then you haven't seen true evil." 

Screen Gems has debuted the first full trailer for Scott Derrickson's (of 2012's Sinister) new paranormal horror-thriller Deliver Us from Evil, starring Eric Bana as a New York police officer who joins forces with an unconventional priest, played by Edgar Ramirez, to combat possessions terrorizing their city.

 That sounds awesome, so how does it look? Good. It had my attention at the start, then suddenly gets quiet as it becomes all about building suspense. This mostly just a tease, but a good one to start with.



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Official Trailer : Devil's Knot (2014)

Official Trailer : Devil's Knot (2014)

The West Memphis Three case is coming to the big screen in "Devil's Knot," and a new trailer for the film has just been released.

The film, based on Mara Leveritt's book "Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three," centers around the brutal murders of three young boys in Arkansas in 1993 and the three teenagers who were accused of killing the children as part of a satanic ritual.

Reese Witherspoon stars as the grieving mother of one of the victims, while Firth plays a private investigator who is not convinced the teens are guilty of the crime.

Directed by Atom Egoyan, "Devil's Knot" also stars Dane DeHaan, Amy Ryan, Mireille Enos and Stephen Moyer. The film will be released in theaters on May 9.

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Official Trailer : The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

Official Trailer : The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

Oh hey, remember "The Purge"? It's that cheapie horror/thriller thing from last summer that opened at number one, and then disappeared from the top ten three weeks later. Remember how badly you wanted a sequel, featuring none of the original stars, but made by the same director? Good news, it's here.

Yup, Universal has cranked out "The Purge: Anarchy" roping in Frank Grillo and Michael K. Williams this time, with the first trailer dropping today—and it's not really a direct sequel, so much as a side-quel. "I thought they had a really great way to do a sequel because the first one took place in an upscale suburb with what happens to a family there when their security system doesn’t work. With this one, there’s none of the same characters, but it’s the same day of the year and it takes place in the city where there are no security systems and it’s just like a war zone where people are just trying to survive," Zach Gilford, who also features in the film, told Shock Til You Drop. "So I thought it was pretty interesting to take that concept and to look at it from a different angle.”

So get ready to experience the purge all over again on June 20th.

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Movie Review: Rush (2013)

Movie Review: Rush (2013)

CAST:

Chris Hemsworth ... James Hunt

Daniel Brühl ... Niki Lauda

Olivia Wilde ... Suzy Miller

Alexandra Maria Lara ... Marlene Lauda

Directed By    ...    Ron Howard

Plot:

The thriller tells us all we need to know about the real-life champion Formula 1 rivals in the early 1970s.

It’s a story of an extraordinary rivalry between James Hunt and Nikki Lauda.

James Hunt and Niki Lauda are two highly skilled race car drivers who first develop a fierce rivalry in 1970 at a Formula Three race at the Crystal Palace circuit in England, when both their cars spin out and Hunt eventually wins the race. Hunt is a brash young Englishman with a tendency to vomit before every race, while the Austrian Lauda is a cool, calculating technical genius who relies on precision. After a falling out with his father, Lauda takes a large bank loan and buys his way into the BRM Formula One team, meeting teammate Clay Regazzoni for the first time. Meanwhile, Hesketh Racing, the fledgling racing team Hunt drives for, enters Formula One as well. Lauda then joins Scuderia Ferrari with Regazzoni and wins his first championship in 1975. Hesketh closes shop after failing to secure a sponsor, but Hunt manages to land a driving position in McLaren after Emerson Fittipaldi leaves the team. During this time, Hunt marries supermodel Suzy Miller, while Lauda develops a relationship with socialite Marlene Knaus.

Nikki dominates the competition until German Grand prix where he suffers a fierce accident due to rough weather and while he’s on bed Hunt continues to make his place again. influenced by this Nikki pushes himself very far by taking intense treatments and returns back to the track much sooner than expected. With all these events happening Hunt develops a sense of respect for his opponent. Nikki beats Hunt in his first race after recovery and starts gaining back his position.

The 1976 season comes to a climax at the rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix. Hunt's late rally in Lauda's absence has pulled him within three points of Lauda. At the end of the second lap, Lauda returns to the pits and retires from the race, opting to stay with Marlene instead of risking his life again on the track. Hunt now needs to finish third or better to win the championship. After facing stiff competition under grueling conditions and overcoming tire problems and injuring his hand due to the gear shifter knob breaking, Hunt finishes third, giving him enough points to beat Lauda by one point and win the championship. He spends the rest of the year with fame, sex, and drugs, while Lauda takes an interest in flying private planes. At a private airfield in Bologna, Lauda suggests Hunt to focus on the next racing season, but later on realizes that Hunt no longer has anything to prove. Hunt continues to race until his retirement in 1979, and becomes a motorsport broadcast commentator until his death in 1993 at the age of 45.

Review:

A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends. 

Rush proves to be ridiculously good thriller. The spice that story has inherited from reality gets the beauty of outstanding performance and becomes Perfect!

If you already know the story this movie doesn’t fail to impress.

Movie as a whole package is very nicely served with adult drama and all that fantastic real life twists which come along with fame.

As soon as the screen comes to life you start understanding the characters and their role. The cool calculating Nikki Lauda actually dominated the hot headed James Hunt even in the film. Both their wives  have also done true justice to the film and added more to it’s glamor.

If we judge the movie more critically or for the audience not much into sports, first few scenes may seem unbearable or induce boredom but right after the movie reveals true drama of sport celebs it gets more and more interesting!

Another tricky beauty of the movie is that it’s too hard to side with one character. Hunt’s fierce moves v/s Lauda’s hard-headedness, and the choice is not an easy one.

However perfect impersonation of Nikki Lauda and that fabulous accent puts Daniel Brühl much farther according to performance than Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt.

Overall this Movie is worth watching once and watching again!

“People always think of us as rivals but he was among the very few I liked and even fewer that I respected. He remains the only person I envied”  - Nikki Lauda

Performance Ratings:

Nikki Lauda:

Daniel Brühl. 

He has been true perfection and a treat to ears with that accent. After watching this one Lauda will stick to mind for a long time.

*****

James Hunt:

Chris Hemsworth.

Although he has done very well but is shadowed heavily by his on-screen opponent.

***½

Marlene Lauda:

Alexandra Maria Lara.

A pretty socialite with smart mind. She has done pretty well and her chemistry with Lauda is one to watch.

****

I dont know how did the Oscar Jury missed this Flick.
So my Rating For this Exciting Thriller Is:
****

Reviewed By: Adina Farid

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Movie Review: The Conjuring

Movie Review: The Conjuring (2013)

“There is something horrible happening in the house.”

Plot:

An American Supernatural horror set to blow minds! Conjuring is based on true events which have happened with paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Movie starts with horror of a possessed doll ‘Annabelle’ followed by a lecture of the Warrens discussing about paranormal entities.

The Perron family has just shifted to a farmhouse in Rhode Island with their five daughters and a dog. As they try to to settle in and get used to the big house, certain unusual and disturbing things tend to happen. Carolyn (the wife) wakes up with a mysterious bruise and finds Sadie lying dead outside the house. Various instances of paranormal disturbance also occur. The activity culminates one night while Roger is away in Florida. After hearing various clapping and giggling noises, and seeing the picture frames shattered on the stairs, Carolyn is locked up in the cellar. Later Cindy, one of the daughters, is awakened after sleepwalking into her sister Andrea's room—she sees a spirit on top of a wardrobe in the room that attacks Andrea.

While researching the history of the house, Ed and Lorraine discover that the house once belonged to an accused witch, Bathsheba, who tried to sacrifice her children to the devil and killed herself in 1863 after cursing all who would take her land. The property was once 200+ acres but has since been divided up into smaller parcels. They find reports of numerous murders and suicides in houses that have since been built upon parcels that were once part of the property.

Ed and Lorraine return to the house to gather evidence to receive authorization for the exorcism. Cindy again sleepwalks into Andrea's room and reveals a secret passage behind the wardrobe. Lorraine enters the passage and falls through the floorboards into the cellar, where she sees the spirit of a woman whom Bathsheba had long ago possessed and used to kill her child. Another of the Perron children, Nancy, is violently dragged by her hair along the floor by an unseen force.

Lorraine is threatened by the spirit to leave this investigation by an attack on her daughter in their house with a possessed doll Annabelle.

Perron family decides to take shelter in a hotel. At night Carolyn takes her two daughters back to the house. Meanwhile Lorraine discovers that Bathsheba’s strategy to attack was to possess the body of mother to kill the child hence every event that is hurting the Perrons is due to Carolyn who’s possessed. Right after it’s dawned on her they all rush to the house to save the girls.

After subduing Carolyn, Ed decides to perform the exorcism himself, though Carolyn escapes and attempts to kill April. Lorraine is able to temporarily distract the possessed Carolyn from killing her daughter by reminding her of a special memory she shared with her family, allowing Ed to complete the exorcism, saving Carolyn and her daughter.

Review:

Best Horror Movie Ever! Period.

The scares are scarier and the effect is unimaginable. From the very start you feel glued to the seat, even popcorns aren’t required unless you try to escape the horror!

The performances are flawless.

"all the scream-inducing shocks you could want, right on schedule"

The Conjuring is that horror flick we’ve been waiting for so long! So many scenes to skip heartbeat but the closet one wins over!

After watching the girls pay hide’n’clap every clap will haunt!

One of the best thing in this movie is Annabelle the doll. I bet she beats Chucky in the sequel of Conjuring.

“Extremely well-crafted and gleefully creepy”

Performance Ratings:

Lorraine Warren:

Vera Farmiga.

She has done extremely well. One of the very smart tv-life paranormal investigator!

****

Ed Warren:

Patrick Wilson.

Very Well Indeed. He was surely in his element in this one.

****

Lili Taylor:

Carolyn Perron.

A thumbs-up performance.

****

The Girls:

They have put in their best to make the movie one of the most refined horror ever!

*****

one for each ;)

My Rating For This Epic Horror Movie is :
****1/2

Reviewed By : Adina Farid

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