Carriers (2009)

Director: David & Alex Pastor

Country: USA

Tagline:  The rules are simple. You break them, you die...

Plot: Four young adults make their way to a beach two of them vacationed at as children during a viral pandemic, hoping for their holiday destination to be a safe haven for them and their friends.

Verdict: Carriers isn't your average outbreak movie, it is gritty and disturbing and focuses more on the relationships between the survivors rather than the virus itself. The virus is a fast acting uncurable discease that appears to literally rot the victim alive, it is very easily spread through any close contact with a carrier, although it doesn't appear to be airborn it can be spread through an infected coughing, etc. The focus of the film, as I mentioned, isn't on the disease so we are left with very little information about it, including how and when it started, how the four survivors managed to escape becoming infected and how long after the outbreak the events of the movie take place. This, however, adds to the intelligence or the film - it is very people focus, like The Walking Dead. An underrated film. 

The Conjuring (2013)

Director: James Wan

Country: U.S.A.

Tagline: Look what you made me do

Plot: Based on a 'true story' recalled by paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren (who also investigated the infamous Amityville house) the film retells the terrifying experiences of the Perron family's encounter with a spirit of a witch and the apparations of her subsequent victims in their Rhode Island farmhouse.

Verdict: It is rare to find a film that has some genuine scares these days. The Conjuring delivers on it's promise to be frightening. I am particularly difficult to scare, hence why I spend my time watching the so-called scariest movies of all time and writing them off as utter pants. Even I admit at jumped at the conjuring. The acting was brilliant, it couldn't be faulted (this is always important in convincing horror in the viewer) and the premise, indeed based on a true story made the tale that much more believable. If you are in the mood for something genuinely terrifying this Friday 13th and you aren't a horror hardcore, this will make your hair stand on end.

Lovely Molly (2011)

Director: Eduardo Sanchez

Country: U.S.A.

Tagline: 'Something is inside her' (can I just say, eww?! yeah, watch the film)

Plot: An orphaned former drug addict moves into her childhood home with her newly wedded husband, but it soon appears that her father never left the house...

Verdict: This film mixes elements of found footage quite effectively - recordings from 'lovely' Molly's wedding and her own recordings of her stumble into insanity. Basically, the premise isn't really very new - it becomes increasingly apparent that Molly's father was abusive, hence her subsequent drug addiction and constant teetering on the edge of normality. As the viewer, we are insure whether Molly is being raped and possessed by the spirit of her father or if her heroin use mixed with traumatic memories (previously, we assume, she had pushed from her mind as a coping mechanism) brought back up by moving into her parents' house causes a psychotic breakdown. By the end of the film, I was pretty convinced it was the former; but the lack of answers didn't add to the mystery of the film, rather, took away from there being any solid narrative. What you are left with is a bleak and depressing series of rather boring yet bloody events and a little bit of a sick feeling in your stomach.. but not in that good 'I just watched a gore-ific horror' kind of way. The film leaves you with many, many unanswered questions, such as 'How and when did Molly's husband encounter the very same woman Molly's possessed self was stalking at night with a cam-corder?', 'Am I the only one who notices these seemingly obvious plot holes?' and 'Was that a valuable waste of 2 hours?' No, it probably was not. In conclusion, this would serve better as a play to spotlight Gretchen Lodge's brilliant acting than it does as a worthy piece of horror cinema!

Frozen (2010)

Director: Adam Green

Country: USA

Tagline:  With 30 million skiers and snowboarders in the US and over 5000 chairlifts in operation, its only a matter of time before someone gets left behind

Plot: Three twenty-somethings blag their way onto a chair lift for the last ski of the day, but unluckily get left behind while mid air with a week until the resort opens again...

Verdict: I know what your thinking, with such a catchy tag line this one much be one hell of a ride (ha..) The premise is pretty horrific, being stuck on a chair lift 50(?) feet above ground in the freezing cold with no way to get down to the ground and no food... and it starts off pretty, urrr... realistic. The acting was great, which is important when the main action of the film is shot on a chairlift. However, I have some major issues with this film... Okay, so I watch zombie flicks, monster movies, etc. but somehow I find them more believable (yes, really, I said more believable). Maybe it is because I honestly believe in the idea of a rabies- like virus truning all of man kind into insane, unstoppable cannibals, or maybe it is because we have no preconceived ideas about monsters - nobody knows how they'd act if they existed. There is an element of me who believes in the possibility of the unknown (maybe not monsters exactly but I am pretty convinced my primary school was haunted by a rather obese ghost). Dispite my rather open mind, [SPOILER ALERT!] this film attempts to convince me that on a ski resort that has just been packed with teenagers/ tourists, with a rather large cafeteria and probably plenty of wasted food chucked straight into outside bins as it is going to be closed for the week, there is a pack of psychotic human eating wolves. I am no expert, but I am pretty sure that wolves would avoid this human infested resort, even if the humans have left a few hours ago. Also, if they did venture into the slopes I doubt they would pay much attention to snow-board wielding youngsters and head straight for the feast in the bins. There is just no way the wolves would be hungry enough to eat a human who is throwing things at them when they are in a vaguely inhabited area of the country with plenty of surplus food and presumably larger creatures about, such a deer. Plus, the whole intensity of the movie and the terror of being stuck without food or water (not to mention the freezing temperatures!) is horrific enough without the need for adding killer wolves, take 127 Hours for example! Okay, rant over. The movie didn't suck, but the writers should have really thought about this, as we all know the average horror/thriller consumer is not so easily fooled.