Movie Review of The Hamiltons (2006)

We are back on track. We had some technical issues but that's behind us now.
And its October! My favorite month, so I will be bringing you more movie reviews. Just in case you don't know about who we are, here is our Youtube page. And how did you find us? let us know in the comments section, or somewhere.

Now to the review. I watched The Hamiltons, a horror film about a normal family that has a dark secret. Yes, you guessed it, they kill people. It's a horror film, what you expect? The Hamiltons recently lost their parents and now they have to look out for themselves. The protagonist is Francis, the youngest of 4, who doesn't seem to be like the rest of his siblings. The movie's main plot is about Francis and how he interacts with his family, and how he views what they do. Good movie, had a little bit of everything you would want in a horror film, maybe not a lot of suspense, but in a movie like this you don't need it much.
As I was watching it kept reminding me of another movie, and I couldn't think of what it was, until about halfway through I remembered: I had already seen this! I just forgot. What this means is that this movie is good, but forgettable. There is nothing that will make you remember this movie after about a month, theres no unexpected plot twists, or really innovating shots or anything really. The movie is very safe, they didn't want to go for anything crazy.

Final words, good watch, fun movie if you like horror, just don't expect anything new from it. It is rated R, although I felt it could had easily been PG-13. Back when Blockbuster was a thing, this is the movie you pick up when you have no idea what you want to watch, you just know you want to watch a horror film, its that kind of movie.

Movie Score:

• 6/10
• A (O.W.L.)

A B-Movie Review of Triassic Attack (2010)

This weekend I was out of the country, and Netflix does not have a b-horror section in Mexico. So what I did was to simply go to horror and chose a movie that looked interesting based on the name and poster, Triassic Attack was the winner.

Lets start off by saying that this movie is a SyFy Original. You know what you are getting into with those movies. I could not have been more excited when I saw the SyFy logo come up. But in the way B-Movies often work, my excitement quickly turned into frustration as I had to watch the first act of the movie. The acting in this movie is not bad, but it isn't great either. And I'm supposed to believe this guy is part Native American? I am also positive they have a British actor just for the accent. But lets forget about the casting decisions and talk about the plot. 

A small town university is trying to expand their campus by building new facilities. The problem is that the want to build on Native American sacred land. The owner of the Native American museum sets it on himself to save his heritage, so he calls on the ancient spirits for help. And help does arrive, in the form of...you guessed it: Dinosaur Fossils! The Dino-fossils wreck havoc around town, and must be stopped. If that is not enough to make you watch this movie, then I don't know what will.

In regards to the animations, the Dino-fossils are pretty bad. Sometimes you can see the outline were they put them in; other times, like when the Dino-fossil grabs a person (and one time a cow), you can clearly tell it was done without much care. I'm serious! Triassic Attack has some of the worst CGI I've seen. On the flip side the T-Rex (of course there is a T-Rex!) looks solid and is easily the most polished Dino-fossil in the entire movie. The Dinosaurs are also really bad ass. I wont spoil much, but there's a scene  where I was really shocked and at the same time made the T-Rex eleven times more awesome.

At the end of it all, Triassic Attack delivers in all the right spots, combining dinosaurs with the undead and the Native American curse to create some of the best B-Movie monster flicks. The characters where the weakest part of the movie, and some of the "comedy" is cringe worthy, but you can get over that and enjoy a good old-fashioned Dino-fossil rampage. 

Movie Score:

• 7/10
• A (O.W.L.)

A Movie Review of The Purge (2013) and Welcome Back!

They are back! Yes they are! Movie Reviews!

Because you requested them! (not really)

Here at Subculture Times, we like to give you more content! and we are going to bring back our written content, because I know you are tired of those pesky videos (which you can check out over HERE).

Before I start my rant... I mean... review, I feel like I need to give my little disclaimer to everyone reading:

All I ask is that you keep in mind that I AM NOT a professional critic of any sort, and all my reviews mean nothing. I write not to tell you that something is good, or terrible; but simply to share my opinion.

Read with an open mind and feel free to contact me and tell me how wrong I am about everything.

So with that out of the way, lets get to the review!

A Movie Review of The Purge (2013)

In a the very near future, the US Government has implemented what the call "The Purge", which is an annually held, 12-hour period, where there are no laws and people can commit any crimes with no repercussions, even murder. Great premise! The movie is about a family that is being attacked by a group of people, for protecting the group's target for the purge.

It is the night of the purge, and the Sandin family are ready to lock down for the night. Everything seems to go according to plan, until the youngest son Charlie hears a man yelling for help outside on the streets. In Charlie's infinite wisdom, he decides to let this stranger into the house. Soon after there is a group outside demanding the family give them their "kill for the night" and insist that they will not hesitate to break in and kill everyone. It is the purge after all.

This movie is not great. I'm not saying don't go watch it, I'm saying don't expect much from it. First of all, most of the actors are not that great. And that antagonist! I wont spoil The Purge, but I found his acting a little over the top. And speaking of antagonist, "wearing a mask" is so cliche, I feel they could had done away with it completely. Beside the acting I also noticed that they kept using close-up shots, maybe to convey that they are trapped. I also saw this movie on the bottom rows so everything was up close, but the comment stands. Shaky camera and cheesy jump scares round off this not-so-great movie.

But not all is bad. Ethan Hawke gave a great performance and is easily the best part of the movie. There is some good suspense towards the middle, and also some good gore moments that the horror fan in me really enjoyed. I feel like the end was really solid, and you can feel the tone of the movie change as the sun rises. One last thing i want to comment on is the way the news serve to explain a little about how the purge came to be; and the psychological aspect of it, as well as the economic ramifications that it has had on the american society. I thought that was a neat way to explain it without having to stop the plot or interrupt it at some point.

Overall The Purge is just another suspense movie, with a healthy amount of killings at the end. Its a fun movie, but not a great movie. This is a type a movie you watch a year or two after it comes out, and you go "Hey! that movie looked interesting" It is a good idea, a decent execution, but at then end a very forgettable film. 

Movie Score: 

• 7/10 
• P (O.W.L. Standards, its a Harry Potter thing, look it up)