Coherence Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: When a group of friends gather for an ordinary dinner, a cosmic force alters the very reality around them.

Review: I've been watching and reviewing garbage for years now, but I figured it was time to go on a stretch covering nothing but good movies for a change. Starting things off, here is "Coherence." Forget low-budget--this is NO budget! This is, more or less, the ultimate demonstration that you can cobble together a quality film from nothing but good ideas and a few connections; seriously, look into the production of "Coherence" and be amazed.

Upfront, this is technically a story about multiple realities--which can turn some viewers off--but it's not the kind of thing where in one universe you are Abraham Lincoln and in another you're a gorilla. No, this is about how your choices can have a profound impact in the immediate sense. "Coherence" is probably the best depiction of the notion of a multiverse we've seen yet. All the realities we see stem from the same characters having the same dinner while a comet creates some kind of nexus of space-time. Needless to say, the situations and ideas presented are creative and clever. The many possibilities of this night are addressed with such an attention to detail that the film readily invites multiple viewings. Speaking of which...

The way the story unfolds is fun and engaging. The structure of the story is akin to the characters following breadcrumbs with a considerable amount of foreshadowing to boot. The audience watches them figure out what's happening while also seeing how variants of each character can come to certain conclusions slower or faster based on what information they have to work with or what decisions another character made. It's cool watching all the pieces fall into place or going back to see how certain things come together. Hell, the characters even suggest they are dealing with 5 million+ possibilities based on their dice rolls alone! Toward the end, the twist that the variant of Em we've followed the whole film is "dark" is awesome as she seeks a reality where the night turned out perfect. And, of course, the hints to this ending were laid out the entire time which I love.

Okay, sure, a multiverse story done right...big whoop. The real meat and potatoes that makes "Coherence" shine so brightly is the characters and the impressive improvisation from the actors. Not only does their dialogue come off as natural, but the continued banter throughout creates such a rich world where these people feel like legitimate friends. Rarely would I say to turn on the closed captioning, but it helps with a lot of the background quips and insults which you don't want to miss out on! You might recognize some of these actors, especially from '90s TV,  however they came together and played off each other better than most Academy Award winners; again, let me emphasize that the majority of the dialogue is completely spontaneous with the exception of major plot points. To all the players, this was your standout work, well worthy of praise.

Of course, there are inherent flaws that come attached with having peanuts for a budget, yet, one major problem above all else is the shaky-cam. I get the approach, however, it doesn't quite jive with the story being told. Another aspect that hurts slightly are these weird scene transitions as if it was added for commercial breaks. What the hell was that? I'm sure there will be other issues viewers may find, but, once again, keep in mind that we are talking the budget of a school play here. Any other technical issues, like pacing or lighting, I think are good enough considering what the filmmakers had to work with.

I've been sitting on a review for "Coherence" for years, and it's about damn time I covered it for the blog. This is a sleeper hit with cult status written all over it. It's not a perfect movie by any means, but it's a sci-fi classic in the making. Even if this isn't the kind of movie that would interest you from a story perspective, "Coherence" should be studied from a film-making standpoint for all aspiring directors out there. Definitely check this one out--it's short and sweet and might just blow your mind along the way.

Notable Moment: When Mike tries to explain to Hugh that if there are a million different realities that he has slept with his wife in every one of them. It wasn't meant to be a joke, but, man, that had to sting!

Final Rating: 7.5/10 

V/H/S Halloween Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: An anthology of Halloween-themed horror shorts presented in found-footage style.

Review: Time to mess up my order of reviews yet again. I have covered the first three entries in this series, but, despite seeing every installment, I never felt inclined to review the rest since they're hit or miss in quality. As such, this is technically part 8, however, every entry is a standalone anthology so it hardly matters when, or if, I review any given film. Anyway, this particular movie is meant to solely focus on Halloween which spices things up a bit. And, yes, there was a Halloween-themed segment in the first "V/H/S" titled "10/31/98." Let's see how this entry holds up collectively against that one, really cool segment.

Wraparound/Diet Phantasma: For what it is, I actually thought this was one of the better wraparounds in the franchise. You get plenty of gore as scientists are trying to perfect the formula for a new soda, diet Phantasma. With each failure, the test subjects are torn to pieces, possessed, or exploded. What makes this work is how straight they play the story despite it being a ludicrous scenario about trying to use real ghosts as an ingredient. The final result is that everything goes to shit just as they perfect the formula and put the soda into production. The film closes out by showing us the cornball commercial advertising the soda. The marketing actually fits the kind of shenanigans that would have been put out in the early '90s.

Coochie Coochie Coo: This segment is both dumb and creepy at the same time--what a line to balance. Two punk teens cause mischief while trick or treating despite being warned about "mommy" that will get them. Of course, they come across "mommy" who lures them into her house. I really loved the shot of a creepy hand beckoning them into the darkness; great use of lighting. Unfortunately, the ghost should have been creepy but, instead, comes off as goofy with her turning people into babies or something. The two teens get what's coming to them and join the ranks of captured kids stuck in this house forever. Eh, it's not bad for what it's worth. There was simply too much wasted potential to make this genuinely scary.

Ut Supra Sic Infra: The meaning is "as above so below" which I'm not sure how that connects to this segment except in the most literal of senses. Welp, anyway, police interrogate the likely killer of a Halloween massacre, but they cannot explain all the details so they take the suspect to reenact the scene of the crime. Now at some haunted house, the guy explains the events of the story to the police. We learn that they summoned demons or spirits or whatever that possessed the suspect and he killed everyone, ripping their eyes out. As you might guess, this happens once more to the police when forcing the guy to reenact the crime. I did like this segment despite little explanation. There is great tension, and the gruesome nature of the kills makes you want to find out what happened. 

Fun Size: This was, without a doubt, the dumbest of the stories. It's trying too hard to be funny when it's plain old retarded. I don't want overly comedic segments in a horror anthology; you can have fun with the material without things being a complete joke. Anyway, we get another instance of people too old to trick or treat that get punished for ignoring the "take one" candy warning. The group is pulled into some cartoonish dimension where their body parts are cut up and turned into candy--the same bizarre candy that was in the dish where they ignored the warning. There are some trickster monsters in this dimension--which I suppose are meant to be funny--which makes things feel like low-budget, pothead Willy Wonka shit. Everyone dies, however, the segment ends with a couple kids and their mom walking into the same fate. Dumb.

Kidprint: Back in the day parents would have videos of their kids made so that they could potentially use them if you ever went missing or were kidnapped--give them to the police or news. A little paranoid, and a dash of creepy, but, yes, people did do this once upon a time. I even had one of these tapes made of me! Well, in this segment, kids are disappearing and we see things from the perspective of the guy who owns the electronic store producing said tapes. As it turns out, one of the guy's employees is the killer, cutting up the kids right there in the store after hours. What hurts this segment is how dumb the main guy is when stumbling across the killer. Like, dude, what does it look like is happening?! Likewise, the killer framing the main guy is moronic since, at the very least, the cops will think there is an accomplice still out there or that they got the wrong guy. Still, this was an okay story all things considered.

Home Haunt: At last, someone goes balls to walls! For the final segment, a family has been creating a small haunt each year which is contrasted with previous years when the son was little and into it. Currently, he's a bratty teen who doesn't want to participate, but this year the dad wants to up the scariness. Stealing some strange record from an antique store, the dad inadvertently activates a spell that brings his haunt to life. The decorations and props manifest into reality and begin a gory dismemberment of the patrons in the best of ways. Sadly, when things are at the absolute most chaotic, the story ends with the monster on the entrance sign coming to life. Dang nab it, right when things were getting good! This was the best entry and left the movie on a high note.

Overall, this was one of the better installments in this franchise. Most of the stories are good with only one real stinker. The wraparound was also one of the better framing devices, although, none have compared to the first "V/H/S." Another thing that helped this movie tremendously compared to the rest was having a primary, unifying theme. Yes, "Beyond" had an alien theme, but there were still segments that deviated from said theme, messing up that film's flow. In this instance, they got all the directors and writers focused. Now, don't get me wrong, the go-to Halloween anthology will probably always be "Trick 'r Treat," but this will serve as a decent alternative. Check it out.

Notable Moment: As previously discussed, in the "Coochie Coochie Coo" segment, when the hand comes out of the shadows to lure the girls in. It's that perfect level of ominous and creepy you want.

Final Rating: 6/10 

The Barn: Part II Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: Three years after the last massacre, a sorority creates a Halloween haunt that inadvertently summons the demons back once again.

Review: The first entry was a lot of fun despite the low budget and flaws, however, I think they missed the mark the second time around. I was hoping production value and the scope would be bigger and badder--maybe even touch on the apparent devil coming up from hell--but we get a cheap time skip to brush over part one's ending. Lame. Making matters worse is that none of my complaints about the first movie were addressed. For example, the demons are able to punch your heart out of your body on a whim, yet, the characters are holding their own in a fight?! In the first movie I assumed shenanigans like this could be explained by being in a costume in order to play into the rules of Halloween. Guess not.

Things aren't all bad; let's address the positives. You still get plenty of carnage candy. I'd have to actually count up the bodies to compare, but, needless to say, a shit ton of people are killed this time around too. The quality of the gore is on par with the first except more instances of half-assing. I was expecting this aspect to be taken up a notch, but I'm fine with what we got. The only part that felt like a genuine evolution was the three main demons fusing into one big monster toward the end. We do get some titties, there was a goofy charm to some of the characters which was amusing, and, of course, there was an ample amount of cameos from horror icons; my favorite was Doug Bradley, playing the grandpa that was mentioned in part 1, discussing the urban legend that started all of this.

Where this entry truly falters is in regard to the story. It's simply weaker in general, and moving things up in time to the early '90s was never utilized. The main guys from part 1 are also written out of the story for the majority of the running time; one shows up around 50 minutes or so in and the other literally shows up in the last 2 minutes. Now, they do hint at them being turned evil potentially, especially considering the final shot, but that doesn't have an impact on the plot until maybe part 3 that is apparently in the works. I know I shouldn't expect a lot from an indie movie, but a sequel is the time to unleash and go balls to walls!

Overall, if you liked part 1, you will probably enjoy part 2. It's not quite as good, but it does manage to deliver on the parts that I think fans will want the most. For me, I anticipated improvements to the story and effects which didn't come--disappointing for sure. Leaving out the previous leads was another bad decision that led to shitty writing and shenanigans of the non-fun variety (my least favorite form of shenanigans). Last, Halloween wasn't as important in regard to the rules and way that the demons functioned which is probably the most egregious of the missed opportunities. Oh well...let's see if part 3 can bring it all together.

Notable Moment: When the one guy dressed as a pumpkin dies. I swear, this guy maybe has 5 seconds of screen time, but his line delivery is so bad it's amazing! It gives off "hey grandma, we need you to be in our movie" vibes.

Final Rating: 5.5/10