Movie Nights: Week in review 2.23-2.29
This week we were all over the board with sci fi thrillers to killer kids and grandparents.
The Visit
The Visit is a creepy and odd little film about two siblings visiting their grandparents they have never met who start to behave strangely. It is semi shot like a documentary because we are watching the daughter as she attempts to make a film about her mother’s past. Starring Ed Oxenbould and Olivia DeJonge, these teenagers really set a great tone. Tensions between the teens and their grandparents escalate throughout the week and they discover some unsettling things. This one is fun and feels like a dark comedy with horror elements. Worth a watch if you’re looking for something on the light and weird side.
Photo Credit © 2015 - Universal Pictures
Upgrade
Upgrade is such a fun futuristic sci fi thriller with great fighting choreography and a gripping story. with a killer soundtrack. The main couple Grey (Logan Marshall Green) and Melanie Vallejo (Asha) are very lovable, they feel like a young couple in love and they have good chemistry that makes it feel more relatable. When Grey and Asha are in a car accident and then attacked by a group of criminals Asha is killed and Grey awakens as a quadriplegic. He ends up getting a spine implant and the surgery parts in this are gnarly. He takes matters into his own hands and tries to find the people responsible. This one is GREAT and we absolutely love the bleak ending!
Photo Credit IMDB
Vivarium
Vivarium is such a unique and original concept executed wonderfully. We love the music throughout it adds to the ominous and eerie vibe of the film. The actors are amazing, we love both Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots. They have good chemistry together. The anxious and creepy spiraling out feeling that the characters experience is contagious and you really feel the frustration for them. We really love the way they played with color and lighting towards the end especially. This is one of our absolute favorites! Definitely worth a watch.
Photo Credit IMDB
Anaconda
Anaconda is such a fun and light hearted movie, The cast is hilarious with Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson and Jonathan Hyde. The plot is unhinged as a group of sketchy travelers trying to get documentary footage boat their way through snake infested waters with a snake hunter . We love the snake attack effects, the flaming snake at the end is so funny! We in no way take this movie seriously so it’s just an incredibly entertaining and wild ride. Worth a watch if you’re looking for a funny vibe with some slightly creepy undertones.
Photo Credit Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images - © 2013 Getty Images
Orphan
Orphan was a first time watch for is and we enjoyed it quite a bit! It has some really intense and high tension scenes. The opening is so frightening and creepy, it had us hooked right away! We love Vera Farmiga in everything and this was no exception! She does a great job. This movie follows a family of 4 after the loss of a baby, when they decide to adopt the little one they foster is stranger than she seems. This was a strangely emotional movie, they do a good job making you care for the characters. We really liked the deaf daughter (Aryana Engineer) . It was a really nice touch of representation that added an extra layer of fear and anxiety throughout. The family has an absolutely stunning home and we love to watch terrible things happen in beautiful places. Isabelle Fuhrman does an INCREDIBLE job playing Esther the little girl, she was a terrifying little psycho and had a real presence about her. This movie builds tension well and has some great violence it is definitely worth a watch if you’re looking for a creepy horror movie to stream!
Photo by Rafy - © 2009 Dark Castle Holdings, LLC
Orphan First Kill
Orphan First Kill is the prequel to Orphan, released 13 years later. Isabelle Fuhrman returns to play Ester again. Set 2 years before Orphan this is the story of how she got to America and the first family that took her in. There is a twist that we were not expecting and we had a lot of fun with this one. Ester does look a little older but that is to be expected because it is more than a decade later and they do a decent job making Isabelle Fuhrman look and feel like a child. Ester has some great kills in this one and it seems more brutal than the last. We thought it was really cool to get a little backstory on the paintings Ester made in Orphan. This one is definitely worth a watch if you enjoyed Orphan at all.
Photo Credit IMDB
