Category Archives: Leave it

Movies I wish I had skipped. This could be for any number of reasons: the film was made sloppily, the narrative didn’t engage me, or I simply could not connect with the film in any way for whatever reason.

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Indie Films, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Anatomy of Hell (2004) Movie Review

This review of Catherine Breillat’s Anatomy of Hell is part of the New French Extremity Retrospective series.

In Anatomy of Hell, a woman (Amira Casar) pays a homosexual man (Rocco Siffredi) to watch her in her bedroom. This is after she saunters through a gay bar, committing herself to the tragic isolation of none of them wanting anything to do with her, and slits her wrist in the bathroom.

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The things she has him experience in her room are sexual, to a degree. They are pornographic only insofar as they extend to Continue reading Anatomy of Hell (2004) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Saw VI (2009) Movie Review

This review of Saw VI is part of the Saw Franchise Retrospective series in anticipation of this month’s release of Jigsaw.

It was only a matter of time before Saw went socially conscious, and it does it in the only way it knows how: by pitting a smarmy insurance company suit (Peter Outerbridge) in a warehouse full of amusement park death traps.

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Before this, however, we get the signature cold open trap, which is as silly and ridiculous as you would think. One thing to note about this scene that makes it more than merely a lazy and audience-baiting torture introduction is Continue reading Saw VI (2009) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Saw V (2008) Movie Review

This review of Saw V is part of the Saw Franchise Retrospective series in anticipation of this month’s release of Jigsaw.

Continuing in the tradition of the Saw franchise, which somewhere along the way became more of a police procedural than a horror series, Saw V follows the exploits of Jigsaw’s protege (Costas Mandylor) as he corners in on the FBI agent who is cornering in on him, Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson).

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Strahm finds himself early on in a trap which, unlike other Jigsaw traps, is not designed to have a feasible escape. With some quick thinking and a pen, he is able to Continue reading Saw V (2008) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Breathe (2017) Movie Review

Breathe, which marks the directorial debut of famed motion capture actor Andy Serkis, is about the real-life story of Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield), who after being inflicted with polio chose not to live the sedentary lifestyle that the disease relegated him to.

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It is one of those heavily emotional films about Continue reading Breathe (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Pack (2010) Movie Review

This review of Franck Richard’s The Pack is part of the New French Extremity Retrospective series.

Charlotte Massot (Emilie Dequenne) is running away from something. Her car is packed full, and she is driving until she runs out of CDs to listen to. Along the way, she picks up a hitchhiker (Benjamin Biolay) and they wind up at an off-road bar. When the hitchhiker disappears, Charlotte is too curious not to investigate the bar further.

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Too bad for her, as she gets conked on the head and winds up in a Continue reading The Pack (2010) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Saw IV (2007) Movie Review

This review of Saw IV is part of the Saw Franchise Retrospective series in anticipation of this month’s release of Jigsaw.

Following the death of John Kramer (Tobin Bell), aka the Jigsaw killer, a tape is discovered in his cadaver’s stomach detailing a new game. Two police officers related to the Jigsaw case, SWAT member Rigg (Lyriq Bent) and Lt. Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), disappear.

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Agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) is tasked with solving the latest Jigsaw mystery.

But who cares, really? Saw IV continues the Continue reading Saw IV (2007) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Snowman (2017) Movie Review

Crime novel adaptations to the screen seem to not be faring too well. Last year’s The Girl on the Train is the most recent example, but now we have The Snowman to take up the mantle. Let’s just hope that Murder on the Orient Express does some justice to its source material and to the medium of cinema.

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Wait…something’s not right here

The Snowman begins in a flashback, in which a child witnesses the abuse of his mother at the hands of a police officer. This flashback establishes our killer, but it doesn’t Continue reading The Snowman (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Saw III (2006) Movie Review

This review of Saw III is part of the Saw Franchise Retrospective series in anticipation of this month’s release of Jigsaw.

Saw III might be the most dull installment of the torture porn franchise. Directed, like with the first sequel, by Darren Lynn Bousman, this seeming end to a trilogy sees the final waning days of John Kramer (Tobin Bell). Kramer is an aging man with terminal brain cancer. He is also an eccentric serial killer known as Jigsaw.

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While needing critical brain surgery (he kidnaps a woman and forces her to operate to solve this issue), Jigsaw has another crazy plot Continue reading Saw III (2006) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, F Movies, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Babysitter (2017) Movie Review

McG’s new film, The Babysitter, is immediately abrasive. Within the first five minutes, we find ourselves in four different locations. Cole (Judah Lewis) is introduced as too squeamish to accept a shot from the school nurse. A strange introduction, to be sure.

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Cole is your stereotypical high school nerd. He stutters his way through conversations. He is bullied by the stereotypical bullies. He has a massive crush on his babysitter Bee (Samara Weaving).

Bee is a great babysitter. She is down to earth, sees things on Cole’s level, bends the rules. Did I say bend the rules? I meant Continue reading The Babysitter (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Them (2007) Movie Review

This review of David Moreau and Xavier Palud’s Them is part of the New French Extremity Retrospective series.

The premise of Them is exceeding simple: a couple (Olivia Bonamy and Michael Cohen) is trapped inside their isolated home in the country when unseen assailants torment them from the outside.

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And that’s it. The short, not-quite-80-minutes-long film comprises this one conceit (and a cold open that accomplishes the exact same conceit but in a well-paced, taut nine minute span). The tension of this home invasion plot is Continue reading Them (2007) Movie Review →