Grave Encounters

Grave Encounters is a spoof of "Ghost Hunter"-type shows, and spends the first half-hour basically making fun of those shows. There are no actors that I recognize in this, but they weren't screamingly bad actors or anything. It is a bit slow to get going, but then it takes off running. First, the good part: there's a lot of running around and screaming; it's like being in a haunted house and running and screaming at every little noise right along with the people in the movie. No, the special effects are not great, but it is creepy and kind of fun. The bad part: my only problem with it was the same problem I have with a lot of these horror movies - the characters are annoying. If I wanted to watch a bunch of people who are trapped in a building sit around and bicker with each other, I would watch oh, I don't know... any reality show on TV. I just found them annoying, especially the girl (why is that? As if we're all whiny and scream at every little thing. Seriously, the women in these movies waste time screaming when they should be running or hitting back. It's insulting). But aside from that, this was, as I said, kind of fun. There were shades of House on Haunted Hill (one of my personal favorites - it scared me to death when I was younger), but that was not a very big part of the story so I can't complain about them stealing from it; in fact, it really felt tacked on at the end. So if you're willing to forgive its flaws and you just want a fun ride, try this one.

The Thing (2011)

Ok, so there's all these people running around in the snow trying to thaw out an alien that crash-landed there. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (from Final Destination 3... my favorite FD) is a scientist; she's actually pretty good in this. I liked the fact that the main person was a woman, taking charge and keeping everyone alive as long as she could. There's the usual build-up of suspense, but I felt like they dove into the scarier bits pretty quickly (so many horror movies drag along because they don't really have much to show you... I mean they like to drag out the suspense as long as possible). The best part of this movie? The creature thing (you know, that Thing) is really creepy. One minute a person is talking to someone, and then they just become this thing. I don't want to spoil too much of it for you, but I thought it was well done. And the suspense is well done, too, with everyone trying to figure out who the Thing is; it doesn't have too much of that thing that a lot of horror movies have, where everyone turns on everyone else and becomes a complete whiny ass. I wasn't irritated by the characters and hoping they would die, as so often happens in these movies. Of course, that's what they're there for, but still. I was a little confused by how the creature worked, but again I don't want to spoil anything. I'm not even usually a fan of creature movies, but this one is very creepy and I enjoyed it so I apparently can make exceptions. Recommended!