Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Homage: The Movie, July 11, 2005
'Malevolence' is a great late-night scare fest that resembles all the great classics in horror, mostly 'Halloween' and 'Friday the 13th'. Though the movie is entertaining and the story keeps it simple enough, the movie's main problem is its lack of originality.
Yes, the story's new, but it is pretty much the same thing we've all seen before: People are trapped out in the middle of nowhere while a psycho kills them all off with no remorse or dialogue whatsoever. This doesn't make the movie bad; I liked it a lot. I liked how the film tried to replicate the classics and go back to the original feel, but it almost seemed like I'd seen it before.
A group of bank robbers end up meeting in an old abandoned house, one of which has kidnapped a mother and her daughter...then they all are surprised to find out they have an unexpected visitor with a bag over his head and a really big knife (...'Friday the 13th part 2'...).
The movie is fun and entertaining and deserves a recommendation, though almost everything in it seemed like an homage to something else, leaving less room for new and fresh ideas.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice homage, slow plotted., January 3, 2006
[good things]
The movie, after starting off slow, was fast paced and quite suspenseful. The movie payed homage to old horror classics such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the slaughterhouse), Friday The 13th Part 2 and The Town That Dreaded Sundown (the sack head), A Nightmare On Elm Street (green and red walls in the slaughterhouse), and Sleepaway Camp (bug tape). You can tell that Stevan Mena is a huge fan of the genre classics.
The killer reminded me more of Jason in Friday The 13th part 2 with his mannerisms. He stalked and he hunted like Jason. There are also a few scenes that to me seemed like carbon copies of scenes in Friday The 13th Part 2. The acting, in my opinion, was also dead-on along with the directing.
[the bad]
The movie needed more blood and gore. It needed more killing. The whole bank robbery and 'up to the bank robbery' scenes were just too much. It slowed the movie down alot, and really had no significance to the actual plot.
The movie was unique in alot of ways, but the homage was a bit overdone in a few scenes. It seemed like a friday The 13th Part 2 remake in some of the scenes. I did like that, but when it comes down to it, they left a slight sour taste in my mouth.
[final thoughts]
This movie was so hyped prior to it's release. By watching trailers and checking the website periodically I was so anxious to see it. It's sad to say that when I did get around to see it that I was severely let down. I am not saying the movie sucked, it did not, but it was way to slow. I find myself trying to watch it and I can't and if I do I bump it up a few chapters to get to the part where the movie starts go speed up.
But, I really liked the killer, and the story behind him. I liked the references to horror classics, and I liked the soundtrack.
There were hints of a sequel, and I would really like to see it. Hopefully they can fix the mistakes they made in this one and improve.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
What's Wrong With Horror Movies Today?, April 17, 2006
If I'm not mistaken, this movie was released straight-to-video. I've never seen a s-2-v movie I liked, so I'm not sure why I thought this would be an exception. I had read an extremely inaccurate synopsis on the internet for this movie, but it had sounded good so I rented it. This movie is terrible. I've seen a lot of bad theatrical horror films, this movie doesn't even deserve a theatrical release. But, I must admit. It had a few good elements (hence, my 2 stars). The music (composed by writer & director Stevan Mena) is really good, like "Halloween" & "Friday the 13th" good. Some of the uses of the music during scenes where the killer appears are pretty effective. But this movie sucked from the beginning. It begins with a little kid (who we've already seen has been missing) watching a man kill a young girl in a basement/torture chamber. Then 10 years later, we meets Kurt (Richard Glover), Marilyn (Heather Magee), Max (Keith Chambers), and Julian
(Brandon Johnson). Marilyn and Max are siblings. Marilyn and Julian are lovers. They four plan to rob a bank and after they do (apparently the budget wasn't big enough to film the robbery) Max is dead and Kurt is heading to the meeting spot, a secluded "deserted" house in the middle of nowhere.
When Max was shot, I was compelled to write a thank-you note to the writer,
because Keith Chambers is one of the worst actors I've ever seen. This man should be shot. Anyway, as Marilyn and Julian stop to bury Max's body. Kurt drives to the house when his tire blows. Kurt (dressed in the same jumpsuit he robbed the bank in and holding two bags of cash...What a dumb a$$) jacks a car that contains a young mother named Samantha (Samantha Dark) and her daughter Courtney (Courtney Bertolone). Why does Samantha have a English accent? Anyway, Kurt takes the young mother and daughter to the house, when Courtney manages to escape. Kurt runs after her, leaving Samantha in the house. Kurt ends up at another house (the setting of the torture chamber) and is killed. The killer takes one of Kurt's money bags and uses it as his mask. Marilyn and Julian then arrive at the meeting spot to find Samantha and most of their money missing. Insert next cliche here. Anyway, at the end of the movie we find out who the killer is. Never before have I known exactly what was going to happen before it did, writer Mena doesn't even bother to add something in at the end to make us go "wow, now that's a twist." Instead, after "discovering" the identity of the killer; we are given yet another "I saw it forty minutes ago" twist. I think Stevan Mena should stick to scoring horror films rather than writing them. Seriously, folks. Don't waste your time.
GRADE: D- (because of the music). F (ignoring the music)
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