Paranormal WatchDog
the Good, the Bad, and the Ugliest
movies
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Our reviews of Movies are based on a number of factors:
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1 BONE |
2 BONES | 3 BONES | 4 BONES | 5 BONES |
| The Ugliest! - Don't Bother | Bad - Needs Improvement | Average - Could Be Better | Good - I Really Like It | WOW! - Don't Miss It |
| 5 BONES | THE OTHERS (2001) - Dimension Pictures, Rated PG-13 | |
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This movie directed and written by Alejandro Amenábar staring Nicole Kidman is an absolute must see! Kidman plays a woman named Grace who moves herself and her two photosensitive children into a mansion shortly after the Second World War. While waiting for her husband to return from battle, she hires some servants who start to stir up some strange happenings. This movie is filled with thrilling suspense and an ending that is “to die for!” I give this movie 5 bones, you have to see it if you already haven’t!! |
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| Reviewed by White Fantasma | reviewed 05/04/2008 | |
| 5 BONES | SILENT HILL (2006) - Sony Pictures, Rated R | |
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This video game turned movie is absolutely great in my opinion! Some might say that its’ not paranormal but if you understand the story line then it is. A woman in the small town of Silent Hill starts a cult and turns the whole town upside down. Forcing her sister to sacrifice her daughter, convincing her that the little girl is the spawn of Satan, the little girl comes back for revenge bringing with her all of dark horrible creatures of the underworld. Meanwhile a woman, played by Radha Mitchell, brings her own adopted daughter to the town of Silent Hill to try and cure her illness. After a horrible car crash on the towns edge, her daughter disappears and she starts her journey through the smoldering town to find her. This movie is suspenseful on every level! It will make you jump, scream and leave you begging for more. The ending is a little confusing though so pay close attention. I give this movie 5 bones, great job guys! If you are also into video games then don’t miss out on it either! It gets so scary at times that it makes my grown husband jump out of his seat! |
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| Reviewed by White Fantasma | reviewed 05/03/2008 | |
| 4 BONES | THE REAPING (2007) - Directed by Stephen Hopkins, Rated R | |
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The
Reaping stars Hilary Swank and David Morrissey. Hilary plays a
scientist/college professor named Katherine who has lost her faith after the
untimely death of her husband and young daughter. She specializes in
debunking religious miracles and phenomena around the world. She gets
a call one day by a man (who happens to also be a science teacher) asking
her to come to the Louisiana Bayou to find out why their river has turned to
blood. She initially refuses, stating that she could give him a
hundred reasons over the phone why their river is red, until he explains to
her that the town feels that it is caused by a little girl who had recently
found her brother dead by the river. The townspeople believe this girl
is a demon-child who has cursed the entire town. Once she arrives at the small town, she soon realizes that there is something very strange going on. She makes every attempt to explain the phenomena but eventually runs out of logical explanations for what seems like a run of Biblical plagues overtaking the entire town. And, it seems like this little girl might have something to do with it. This movie is probably scarier if you are a Bible reading person who knows more about the plagues than I do, but it still kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. And surprised me at the end! I predict a sequel - that's all I'm gonna say. I think the movie could have explained the history of the plagues a little more than it did for people like me, but that is the only thing I could find wrong with it. I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it. 4 Bones. |
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| Reviewed by GhstL8y | reviewed 04/29/2008 | |
| 1 BONE | DOPPELGANGER (1993) - Lion's Gate Pictures, Rated R | |
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If you are a “true” Drew Barrymore fan then you have already heard of the 1993 movie Doppelganger, if not then you are not missing out on much! The story line is about a woman who moves from New York to LA to escape her evil ghostly double, her doppelganger, whom she claims killed her family. I feel as if I wasted two hours of my precious time that I could have spent enjoying The Wedding Singer for the 100th time instead. But I did it so that all of you wouldn’t have to! If you are in the mood to watch a cheesy ghost movie that has Drew Barrymore dancing around and trying to be sexy with outrageous dialog that makes you almost pee your pants, then run out and rent this movie now (or click the link to the left to buy it), otherwise don’t waste your money! I give this movie one bone and Drew, please try not to do any more horror flicks, you were cute as a kid in them but not as an adult! |
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| Reviewed by White Fantasma | reviewed 04/07/2008 | |
| 4 BONES | THE EYE (2008) - In Theaters February 2nd, Rated PG-13 | |
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To be updated when 'The Eye' is available on DVD June 3rd |
I
was pleasantly surprised to see Jessica’s performance in this movie. In my
opinion, any actor or actress that can play a part of a blind person
deserves an Oscar! LOL!
The plot of the movie involves cellular memory, which is a hypothesis that has not yet been proven to be true. Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) receives a corneal transplant hoping to recover her eyesight and fit into a ‘normal’ world. What she wasn’t counting on was that she would be immersed in a supernatural world that would terrify her at the beginning and finally take what she wanted most at the end. The movie is actually a remake of the Hong Kong film "Jian Gui". The movie is very good, and I enjoyed watching it. The suspense and the special effects were also good. However, I would have liked the plot to stick to the supernatural, rather than take you on a hunt to discover who the donor was. Even so, the whole journey is an interesting one and guaranteed to bring thrills to the viewer. I give this one 4 bones, I really liked it! |
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| Reviewed by Cassandra | reviewed 03/02/2008 | |
| 4 BONES | ROSE RED (2002) - Lion's Gate Pictures, Rated PG-13 | |
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When Stephen King visited the Winchester Mystery House, the idea of continuously building a house to stop the spirits from finding and killing Sarah Winchester stuck to his head. The result of this visit was the Rose Red TV movie series. Filmed partly in Thornewood Castle in Washington, this mini-series takes you on a roller coaster ride through the paranormal. The actors’ performance is fantastic, especially Kimberly Brown who plays the role of an autistic teenager. The special effects are excellent and the plot is good. Nancy Travis plays the part of a paranormal researcher whose thirst for evidence of the paranormal jeopardizes her life in the end. Unfortunately, Stephen King overdoes it when he mixes in the fantastic with the supernatural. In spite of this, if you want thrills, suspense, and formidable acting, Rose Red is the movie series to watch. I give this one 4 bones, I really liked it! |
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| Reviewed by Cassandra | reviewed 03/02/2008 | |
| 4 BONES | CONSTANTINE (2005) - Warner Home Video, Rated R | |
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The classic fight between good and evil is the main plot of this supernatural thriller. Keanu Reeves plays the role of John Constantine who after escaping suicide is doomed to never enter Heaven and fight the demons of Hell on earth until he can perform a self-sacrifice that will redeem him. Rachel Weisz plays the role of a detective who asks him to deliver her dead twin sister from the fires of Hell and together they set out to save the world from falling into total spiritual darkness. The performance of the actors is excellent. The special effects are also very good and the whole fantastic tale based on the comic book Hellblazer keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you enjoy dark heroes fighting in a supernatural parallel world, you will enjoy this movie. I give this one 4 bones, I really liked it! |
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| Reviewed by Cassandra | reviewed 03/02/2008 | |
| 1 BONE | 28 Days Later (2003) - 20th Century Fox, Rated R | |
| Synopsis: "An infirmary patient awakens from a
coma to an empty room…in a vacant hospital…in a deserted city. A powerful
virus, which locks victims into a permanent state of murderous rage, has
transformed the world around him into a seemingly desolate wasteland. Now a
handful of survivors must fight to stay alive, unaware that the worst is yet
to come…" Allow me to set up the scene. My husband and I finally get a night out without the children - I'm sure there was an occasion, but can't remember what it was, I've blocked the evening out of my mind. We have a wonderful dinner, ribs, and head to the local 29 Screen movie theater to catch the latest blockbuster. All is right with the world, until we find out that the latest blockbuster is sold out for the entire evening! We make another choice - sold out! Yet another - just missed it, next show in two hours. Sigh, what to do? We had two choices, skip the movie and go home or watch something we hadn't planned on. Well, we most certainly did not want to go home where there were kids and dishes and laundry and... okay, I didn't want to go home! I suggested that we simply go to the ticket man and ask to see the next show that starts - we don't care what it is. He gladly gave me two tickets to '28 Days Later'. And off to the show we went. In the end we decided that we were going to make this something we do on a regular basis because it couldn't get any worse than that! This movie was just awful! It was supposed to be frightening but turned out to be just laughable. The graphics were shaky and gave me a headache. The humanoid/zombie things looked like my last boss on a bad hair day. The story line has been told over and over in sci-fi end of the world type movies. I was angry by the time that we'd left that we had spent more than $1.50 for the tickets! If you're into the old B-rated horror movies, you might like this. I prefer something with some content or at least makes me jump or hide my eyes. I'm giving this movie 1 bone. I would have given it 2 because I didn't walk out, but then I realized my husband had the car keys! |
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| Reviewed by GhstL8y | reviewed 02/23/2008 | |
| 5 BONES | GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) - Sony Pictures, Rated PG | |
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Okay, I
couldn't very well review paranormal movies without starting off with the
all time paranormal investigator's classic, could I? Ghostbusters is
movie fun at it's best. Even 9 years after its release I can still
watch it over and over. I'm not even going to go into the plot of this
move because we've all seen it - and if you're one of the two people in the
world who hasn't, you can get it for about $2 with shipping if you shop the
internet. This movie is Murray and Aykroyd at their ultimate best, and
the rest of the cast is worth a very honorable mention as well. This
one is a Must See for entertainment value alone! Now go out and GET
SLIMED! Note: I wasn't as impressed with Ghostbusters II but it's still worth seeing. I have, however, read that Number III is in the works and the producers are talking to Ben Stiller for a lead role. In my opinion, if anything can improve on the original then it would be Stiller! I, for one, am excited! |
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| Reviewed by GhstL8y | reviewed 02/15/2008 | |
| 4 BONES | AN AMERICAN HAUNTING (2006) - Lion's Gate Pictures, Unrated | |
| This is
a recent favorite of mine, right up until the end, which confused me a bit.
The movie is based on the legend of the Bell Witch of Tennessee. The
story goes that John Bell was in a long land dispute with a neighbor (and
supposed witch). When things didn't go the neighbor's way, she placed
a curse on the Bell family, specifically daughter Betsy. The curse
came in the form of a ghostly presence who continuously physically tormented
Betsy to the point of making her poor father ill. Betsy's school
teacher (and skeptic) becomes involved in trying to rid the family of the
cursed presence to no avail, and actually ends up seeming to make things
worse. I'll leave the end for you to see, which I highly recommend you
do. The Bell Witch case is the only case in America where it is
documented that a ghost caused the death of a human being. (I'm not
telling you who dies, either!) This movie would rate 5 BONES except that after watching it a few times I am still unable to tie the end of the movie to the actual legend as I know it to be, although admittedly I have not read the book by Brent Monahan, The Bell Witch - An American Haunting. I fully intend to do so, then I might understand the movie better and up it's rating here. |
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| Reviewed by GhstL8y | reviewed 02/15/2008 | |
| 5 BONES | SESSION 9 (2001) - USA Home Entertainment, Rated R | |
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Five men head up to the
old, abandoned Danvers State Mental Hospital to remove some asbestos.
One by one the men end up going crazy. Is it because of the building
itself, or are they being possessed by a former patient(s), or were they a
bit off their rockers to start with? Well, you'll have to watch it to
find out. This movie will make you jump and hide your eyes while
peeking through your fingers because you're afraid if you miss even one
scene you won't be able to figure it out. It'll keep you guessing and
make you want more!
Session 9 is as disturbing as it is chilling. Twisting and turning at every scene, I really didn't have this one figured out till the end. Then I had to watch it again just to make sure! You may not have even heard of this movie unless you live on the coast because I'm pretty sure it never made it to the theaters outside of New York or LA before going straight to DVD, but don't let the unpopularity of this movie fool you. It's definitely a must see! |
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| Reviewed by GhstL8y | reviewed 02/15/2008 | |
| 5 BONES vs. 2 BONES | SHINING (1980) vs. SHINING (1997) - A Double Review | |
| vs. | Where can you go wrong when you mix a terrifying novel from best seller Stephen King and the wonderfully creepy actor Jack Nicholson? Pretty much you can’t, unless you are Mick Garris and try to do a remake for TV movie using a number of unknown and, in my opinion, bad actors. The story lines in both movies are pretty much the same but you have to appreciate the classics, right? The Shinning (1980) is a remarkable movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat biting your nails! The acting is phenomenal and the graphics, yet still scary, leave a lot to the imagination. This is a must see movie and I give it 5 bones! The Shinning (1997) starring Steven Weber, on the other hand, rather disappointed me. There is no one who can try and make a character that Jack Nicholson played so well any better. I found this movie cheesy and not worth my time! If you want a good horror thriller I suggest watching the original, that being said I give The Shinning (1997) 2 bones for effort. | |
| Reviewed by White Fantasma | reviewed 02/15/2008 | |
| 3 BONES | THE FOG (2005)- Sony Pictures, Unrated | |
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Synopsis: "Trapped
within an eerie mist, the residents of Antonio Bay have become the unwitting
victims of a horrifying vengeance. One hundred years ago, a ship
carrying lepers was purposely lured onto the rocky coastline and sunk,
drowning all aboard. Now they're back, long-dead mariners who've
waited a century for their revenge. Seeking out the descendants of
those responsible for their deaths, they lurk enshrouded within a
supernatural fog of terror. Beware, any and all who stand in their
way." Okay, this remake of the 1980 thriller starring Jamie Lee Curtis (you know, back in the day where she was most famous for her scream) is a step down for producer John Carpenter. His other movies typically scare the bejeebees out of me, but this 2005 version of The Fog was just kind of lame. Sure, there were a couple of parts that made me jump, but it wasn't long before I knew they were coming. It wasn't bad enough to put me to sleep, but not good enough to rate more than an average. The special effects were pretty good though, much better in this version than the older one. I can't in good faith recommend either version, though, sorry. |
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| Reviewed by GhstL8y | reviewed 02/15/2008 | |
| 5 BONES | HIDE AND SEEK (2005) - FOX Home Entertainment, Rated R | |
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Synopsis: "At their new
home in upstate New York, newly widowed psychologist David Calloway (DeNiro)
tries desparately to help his traumatized daughter Emily (Fanning) deal with
her mother's death. But before long, both David and Emily are being
terrorized by someone - or something - named Charlie: a "friend" who may or
may not be imaginary but is definitely the stuff nightmares are made of!" This movie truly is terrifying and very well written (Ari Schlossberg), directed (John Polson), acted (Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fanning). How many of us parents have had children with "imaginary friends"? Have you ever wondered if they really are imaginary? If this thought has ever crossed your mind, then this movie will scare the hell out of you! It is a must see, at it's best - and it's old enough (2005) to get it on DVD for a steal because you won't want to miss all four alternate endings that you can only see on the DVD version. |
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| Reviewed by GhstL8y | reviewed 02/15/2008 | |
| Some Other Movies You Might Be Interested In |
