Views from the Void

The Fog
Plot: In 1871, four men are the founders of the town of Antonio Bay after betraying and destroying a ship full of lepers. The lepers meet a watery end, but after an anchor drags up some relics, the ghosts of the lepers return to Antonio Bay, in the form of the fog, to wreak their murderous revenge on the helpless townsfolk.
My Thoughts: I have not seen the original film so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was disappointed, especially as there are some good horror/supernatural movies around. The fog itself never really evokes a sense of dread or horror for me. The characters are not well developed so the audience never really connects with them so you end up not really caring if they survive or not. The best character in it is lighthouse radio DJ Stevie Wayne (Selma Blair) but she is under-used. You do have to wait until the end before you get some real action but it is quite a slow road until that point. The effects are good but there is nothing that you haven’t seen before in other films. And even when you get to the action, it tends to be disjointed and brief with no real objective. And as for the ending- my initial thought was “Oh was that it”.
Overall a slow and disappointing film that doesn’t deliver many shocks or surprises.
Best bits: Selma Blair is good- shame they don’t use her enough!
Score: 4/10

Date Movie
Plot: To take pith out of as many films as possible and try very hard to be funny.
Film Plot: Julia Jones is desperate for a date so she goes to see date specialist Hitch who gives her a make-over and she gets on TV show and wins a date with Grant Fockyerdoder. They fall in love, meet each other’s parents and plan for a wedding. However, Grant’s ex-fiancée Andy wants to split them up. Will Julia get her man?
My thoughts: Firstly I love Spoof Movies (Hot Shots, Loaded Weapon). I thought Scary Movie was excellent but I thought Scary Movie 2 was a big pile of poo! So which is this film going to be; A Scary Movie 1 or a number 2? Well, it was a number 2! Literally! Right from the start it was obvious that real laughs were going to be rare. The film attempts to parody too many films in very silly and obvious ways, without actually being clever. It’s almost as if they have tried too hard to be funny. Most parodied scenes are overly long; it’s as if they think the audience won’t get the joke in the first minute so they extend it- for example, the restaurant/Harry met Sally scene. Even the brilliant Alyson Hannigan couldn’t save the movie. However, although there film is poor overall, there were times when I did smile (like with the Darth Vader suit). My favourite part in the film was a family scene in a restaurant where they all started singing, ‘say a little prayer’; but mainly because it reminded me of the proper scene in My Best Friends Wedding. One other good thing about this film is the soundtrack; they use some kicking songs! Overall this is a poor attempt to be funny and will only occasionally raise a smile
Best Bits: The ‘say a prayer scene’ and the Carmen Electra scene!
Score 3/10