THE RAID: REDEMPTION - An Exercise in Non-Biased Film Review

The Raid: Redemption

Directed by Gareth Evans

Starring Iko Uwais, Ray Sahetapy, Joe Taslim

A great deal has been written about this movie on the inter-webs over the past year or so. It's a flick that wowed audiences at a number of film festivals and all over Indonesia (where it was made). Eventually making it's way to American screens (legitimately), The Raid was given a subtitle and limited release earlier this year. I got a chance to see it then and now on the eve of it's DVD/BluRay release (9/12/12), I feel like my brain has finally recovered enough to talk about it. Recover from what exactly? Well, let me explain…

The Raid punched the inside of my eyes. It was so feverishly visceral that my pulse was fluctuating during the course of actions scenes. This is something that had never happened to me before… or that I can recall. I assume this kind of excitement occurred when I was very, very young and less jaded as a movie goer. Hyperbole aside… this is the greatest hand-to-hand action movie I've ever seen. End quote.

I know we focus a lot on horror here at Midnight Cheese, but this movie is so steeped in many genre tropes that it's hard not to compare it to a great kung-fu or western film. Elements of both are subtly weaved in throughout the narrative.

Speaking of the narrative, The Raid: Redemption is a simple story but with elegant execution. A SWAT team raids a 30 story tenement building run by Tama (Ray Sahetapy), the biggest of bad guys. Tama not only lives there, but it's his base of operations, filled with the cities largest concentration of scum and villainy. They're protected by Tama as long as they are willing to defend him on occasion. When the SWAT team is discovered on the fifth floor, Tama activates the building with some weighty incentives. Very heavy opposition stands between our good guys and escaping alive. The real heart of the story lies in our hero police officer Rama (Iko Uwais), who has a motivation beyond justice that's keeping him alive. 

The fight choreography is some of the best I've ever seen in any flick. The hits are hard, fast, and gritty. There is a guttural style of fighting on display, using every element of their surroundings and any advantage. People are ruthlessly beaten and brutally killed, but it's never exploitative. You feel the desperation of these men and can't help but wince when a fist connects. One fight in particular between Mad Dog (Tama's most ruthless and unassuming bodyguard) and the SWAT captain, Jaka, is especially brutal and emotional. These men have only a few scenes of character building before the fight, but so much of their beings is expressed through the fight that it becomes one of the more emotional moments of the entire film. This is not just practiced choreography, these men are effectively fighting for everything they hold dear and you can feel it.

Its not just the action, but the extreme sense of tension that flows over you while the film escalates. It's so palpable that each little victory gets a biggest emotional release than any action set piece in all of Michael Bay's robot movies combined. 

I have gladly stepped over the line of talking a movie up too much, but I will take that risk. I feel confident enough about The Raid that any amount of praise will not diminish it's impact. This movie is immune to high compliments, because it simply delivers. 

Please, pick this up when you have the chance… and if you do so illegally, do something for me- When it blows you away (and it will), you have the obligation to spread the word and/or give these filmmakers your money. You will have that change on September 12th.

Now go forth, and spread the word. The word of The Raid.

For your eye-hole pleasure, I've included both the Red Band (ultra-violent) and the Domestic (more story-based) trailers for this little gem, in that order. Enjoy! Enjoy!

The Trailer Dump, Issue No. 16

Greetings and salutations my macabre minions! I bring you tidings of goodness and joy (if you derive goodness from bad ass black bikers and joy from zombie flesh eaters). I've been scouring Archive.org for all things drive-in nostalgia flavored, tossed it into a mixing bowl with some wacked out trailers and set the machine to frappe. I hope you enjoy the gore soaked hell out of it; please hit me with some feed back so I can better enhance your viewing pleasure.

 

There are a few quick notices I wanted to bring you up speed on. I'm going to be scaling back to two weekly 'Cheese updates. The reason for that is because I've been so involved in other projects that you wouldn't be getting the best from me and I love ya too much to give you the scraps, dear readers. The good news is that you can catch both writings and rumblings from me in these other projects as well as here at The Midnight Cheese.

My weekly column on Mania.com, Saturday Shock-O-Rama, should tickle your midnight fancy and is updated every Saturday morning. This past week's piece is on the gory Kung-fu slapstick flick, Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky.

Cinedelphia.com features new movie reviews from me. Here's my piece on The Woman in Black. My musings on Men in Black 3 should be up on Friday.

I'm also a sometimes personality on the excellent podcast, You've Got Geek, which is released weekly and has all your nerd needs covered.

 

eX-Fest II: Chatting with Jesse Nelson

There's an incompletion located somewhere within you. A sacrosanct sector which hasn't gotten sufficient nutritional intake. It's not your fault that the past decades haven't been kind to your ability to take in exploitation cinema with a raucous audience full of the deviant that you hide inside. Exhumed Films has your ticket though, hosting an annual exploitation marathon dubbed eX-Fest, which boasts a smorgasbord of flavors. With eX-Fest II just six days away, I asked Jesse Nelson (member of Exhumed Films and co-proprietor of Diabolik DVD) a bunch of questions which I've wanted to know the answers to.

Q: How did you get involved with Exhumed Films in the first place?

We met the guys that run GRINDHOUSE RELEASING while at Fantasia in
Montreal and decided that it would be fun to rent a few movies from
them, find a local theatre and have a halloween double feature. We
all threw in some money and resigned ourselves to the fact we might
lose it, but at least we would have a good time watching the movies.
To our surprise, people showed up and we decided to put the profits
back into a collective pool and start planning more shows. Back then
it was mostly word of mouth and handing out flyers - the internet was
a very small portion of what it is now.

Q: Since you guys primarily run horror, where did eX-Fest come from?

After the success of the 24hr fest, we decided we needed another big
show midway between the horror-thons, so we came up with a theme of 12
hours and movies we normally wouldn't show at the 24hr fest. Mainly
we wanted to watch a bunch of sleazy, non-horror movies with an
audience and we figured an "event" would bring people in and luckily
it did.

Q: What's been you absolute favorite show that Exhumed has run?

Easily Bruce Campbell at the Harwan. He was in town for a
Hercules/Xena convention and we managed to get ahold of him for a
screening of Evil Dead 2 at Midnight. He not only introduced the
movie, but did a Q&A and refused to leave until he signed something
for everyone. I think we managed to wrap it up around 5am. PLUS, he
gave us a low ball figure for the night and refused to take a penny
more. Very classy, funny and all around the most pleasant celebrity
experience despite the late night and that the AC had broken earlier
that day.


Q: How about favorite film? (that Exhumed has screened)

I love so many of the films we show, its hard to pick one out. Its
fun to show oddball things like PIECES and FAREWELL UNCLE TOM with a
crowd, but I think that THE THING is the film that I never tire of
watching with an audience.

Q: What's the film you'd most like to show but can not? (why not?)
Collectively it was DAWN OF THE DEAD, but we finally worked out that
rights issue last year. Aside from that there are some other things
that we have never been able to track down for one reason or another
such as HALLOWEEN 3 for example, but the thing I have wanted to show
from the beginning is Fulci's CONQUEST which doesn't seem to exist on
film any longer in any format.

Q: I've really enjoyed the smaller venue'd, 16mm shows at the Audubon
auction house from this past year. Where did that idea come from? (and
will there be more of them?)

The Auction house has a pretty tight weekend schedule, which is great
for them, but not great for us trying to schedule shows. We will have
more in the coming year for sure though. They actually contacted us
and wanted us to have a pop up theatre in there. They already had the
PA and the screen so all we had to do was provide the films and the
projectors - which is the great thing about 16mm.


Q: Since 1997, you guys have been housed in a number of
venues. Which do you feel was the coolest, which has the best vibe for
exhumed and which do you miss the most?

The Harwan was my favorite... It was a total dump and provided the
best vibe. You could smoke in the upstairs lounge!!! But the Hoyts
in Pennsauken was the best for us business wise. They didn't care
what we did, what we showed and how long we were there. It wasn't the
best vibe, but it had the best projection, sound and those amazing
seats! It would be great to have the 24hr fest there. To this day I
don't think the manager told corporate what he was doing and put that
money in his pocket for the rental - but that was fine by us.


Q: Who decided to end last year's eX-Fest with The Other Cinderella.
(fucking spectacular, btw)

I wanted to end this year's with a full on hardcore movie, but the
other guys were against it and I guess I was to some extent as well,
but damn it would have been fun! Harry is the exploitation guru in
the group and I don't even argue with the films he comes up with. If
he wants to show it, I want to see it!


Q: What's the most rewarding part of Exhumed for you?

Aside from the movies, which do become a bit tedious from time to time
(Evil Dead 2 again???) I really love meeting everyone and chatting
about movies and hearing the responses - which aren't always positive.
I feel like we have created a great horror community with Exhumed and
DiabolikDVD in the Philadelphia area and I love being involved with
that.

I'd like to thank Jesse for taking the time to answer my questions (and for always taking all my dollars at at the Diabolik DVD table each show!).

Check out my recap of last year's eX-Fest and then snag your tickets for this Sunday's event right here (precious few remain as of this writing). Then prepare yourself for twelve hours of mysterious mind blowing fare from all across the exploitation venue. If you waffle now, you'll be cursing yourself while you read my recap of the awesome flicks on display.

 

Troll Hunting for Fun and Profit

If I could quantify my love for new, fascinating films dropping into my Netflix instant queue, I'd need a disproportionately large measurement system. I wonder if I could rent the deck of an aircraft carrier? What's the going rate? It should take an enormous scaling to dish up the delightful cinematic ideas coming out of Norway. If your gore soaked funny bones weren't tickled by Dead Snow (which they should have been, rewatch it noob), then allow Norwegian film making to win you over with the dark fantasy, Troll Hunter.

Love the poster art

Heavily steeped in folklore, Troll Hunter never treats the titular monsters as such. Instead, we're introduced to them by a documentary crew following a government sponsored agent, Hans the Troll Hunter (Otto Jespersen, who is FANTASTIC). Hans is a tired, disgruntled employee who decides to expose the long kept government secret because he's underpaid and sick of government bureaucratics. He's a blue collar worker doing a thankless job which would be extraordinary to anyone else, but to him is simply another day-another dollar. In that sense, he's got a lot of the appeal of Hellboy (my favorite comic book character), minus some of the more overt comedy. For me, Hans makes this film what it is. His weapons and his methods are akin to that of an exterminator, methodically readying specialized equipment to deal with specific variants of pests. (I could also draw parallels to James Woods in John Carpenter's Vampires, but I don't want to call down the slings of arrows of outrageous 'net trolls.)

Our Hero: Hans

The Trolls themselves are thoroughly fleshed out, both scientifically and through associated folklore. There are different subspecies, their traditionally depicted abilities and vulnerabilities are given scientific explanations and they are confirmed as mammals, at one point, by a veterinarian whom Hans consults. Their haunts, behaviors and even physical oddities are cataloged and either exploited or defended against. It's intriguing. It sucks in the part of your brain which is always actively scanning to explain the dark parts of our world and our cultural imagination.

Set in and around Norway, we're treated to amazing vistas - the likes of which draw to mind scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Waterfalls, mountains, green hills and frozen tundra are all fleetingly seen. Here is where I need to detail my only detractions from what is an otherwise fantastic film. To this point I haven't mentioned the cinematic style or over arching frame work of the story. That's because Troll Hunter is a found footage film. We're viewing through the eyes of an aspiring(and yawningly uninteresting) documentary crew, yearning to drag the mythological trolls screaming into the light of day. Why bring this up while speaking about the beauty of the Norwegian landscape? Because the herky-jerky nature of being a found footage film means the vistas were only glanced at, sideways with a camera sitting on a lap pointed out a window.

Indeed the parkinson's fueled cinematics lend difficulty to following along with the subtitles, which normally become second nature to viewers within a few minutes. I will admit bias on my part- I've grown very tired of the found footage motif. I'd have much preferred this be a traditionally shot piece of motion picture fantasy. It's not enough to ruin viewing experience - but I'd be remiss not to dock it a few cool beans for wearing the well used garb of a trend I'd like to see fade (mostly) away.

Troll Hunter is very awesome. It's a cinematic treat and well worth seeking out. It's apparently already on the fast track for an "Americanization" (since 90% of Americans are lazy fucks unwilling to see a subtitled film) - but it's destined to fail if it doesn't star Otto Jespersen. Chris Columbus had better hope Otto speaks English.

Phases 1-6 Will Leave you Unprepared for Phase 7

I originally posted about Phase 7 back in July. Now that it's been released to DVD, I felt it was a good time to bring it back to your attention. Take a read through my original post. It's a great watch if you're big into the reactions of the humans in a given horror situation - so fans of George Romero take special note. Check out Phase 7 on DVD, it's an excellent time of year to do so.

Before I even talk to you about the new post apocalyptic plague flick, Phase 7, I want to spend a minute directing your attention to the poster for it. It seems like movie poster art has taken a back seat lately, a travesty for which there is no excuse. As a lover of exploitation, the sort of poster style used here is my absolute favorite. Something featuring large and prominently in the top center, in this case the apartment building with "Phase 7" takes center stage in a stylized font. The central characters, facing out from center and overlapping, with more important players featured larger than the supporting cast. Star Wars is a popular example of this poster style, which in itself was a throw back to 50's promotions. Something about this layout just sings "Saturday Afternoon Matinee" to me and this brings me back to the days of my youth, seeing B-Movies at the Devon in Philadelphia, which was a second run movie theater near the house I grew up in.

Flash forward to the present. So here I am now, totally sucked into the film by the promotional art mixed with my own feelings of poster art nostalgia. I haven't read too much about it before hand. Phase 7 is the story of the occupants of an apartment building in Argentina, who have to survive in the aftermath of a plague that decimates humanity. It's at this point that you are probably thinking the same thing that I was: "oh boy, it's zombie time! Muhahaha!". It's true I cackle like a 40's serial villain when it comes to zombies. It's true also that the setup for this film bears a lot of similarities to Rammbock: German Undead, which we took an early look at HERE. Phase 7, however, is not a zombie film.

We follow the journeys of Coco and Pipi, two 20-something's with a bun in the oven (her oven, not his, luckily). They live in an brand new apartment building that only has a few occupants, since it's just finished construction. This excellent decision gives us the opportunity to examine each of the occupants in much greater detail than we would have been able to if there was a much larger pool of characters, such as in [REC]. As luck would have it, our happy couple just returned from a trip to the grocery store as the outbreak began. They are quickly quarantined in their building and told to stay and wait it out. Which they do, maxin' and relaxin' with their plentiful supply of food stuffs.

"Without zombies, what's the point of watching two people wait out a pandemic?" George Romero would be ashamed of you. For decades he has demonstrated that man is the greatest monster of all. So is it true here, where the folks in the building who are running out of supplies begin scheming. It's at this point we meet Horacio.

Do you often sit around, discussing what you would do in the case of a zombie apocalypse, with your friends? Have you written out a list of supplies you would need, where you would loot first and where you would hold up? No? Stop looking at me like that. You know you have. Horacio is you and your weird B-Movie friends come alive. He is Coco's Neighbor who comes equipped with hazmat suit, trip wire stun bombs and enough food and guns to survive well beyond the government and army. He's an Argentinean BURT GUMMER. Seriously, he's a balding, badass, Batman with guns. And you're gonna love him.

So what does Coco do in the face of humans resorting to anything to survive? He puts on a gnarly t-shirt and grows a rockin' facial configuration. Duh.

This SciFi thriller is a cool look at humans being humans in the wake of the end of the world. It's currently making the rounds as a limited release at AMC theaters around the country and will then be available on DVD in the beginning of October. If you're a classic Romero fan, you can't go wrong with Phase 7. With the spate of great horror coming out around the world, I'm surprised Hollywood isn't more paying attention.

I'll Take My Fish Pan-Seared, Please

The reason a bomb explodes with such outward force is due to rapidly expanding gases being confined to a much smaller than required space. In the blink of an eye, what was once an explosive substance the side of a deck of cards now requires the volume to contain outward rushing force the size of a dump truck. It’s this combination of confining space and raging force which creates a devastating blast.

These concepts can be applied in practice to other biological and chemical situations. Take the human being for instance. I’m not suggesting that we fill one fine specimen with C4 and measure the result (something I’m sure will make it into a Saw film at some point). Instead, take the example presented us in the Japanese physiological horror film, Cold Fish. This is the perfect proof of concept to demonstrate what happens when a person’s mind endures more than it can reasonably be expected to contain, much too quickly.

From Midnight Cheese

Have you heard of Cold Fish? It’s the new crazy Japanese thriller from Shion Sono who, among other things, directed the strange and indulgent Suicide Club. It’s billed as based on the real life events, the strange case of dog store owner slash husband and wife serial killers. In the film’s case, we’ve switched out dog store owners and substituted fish store owners. I’m jumping a head into this slow burning sizzler though.

As Cold Fish begins to unfold, we’re brought directly into the plodding and expectations-failing lives of the Syamoto family. Our protagonist, widower Nobuyuki, owns a middling tropical fish store which seems to exist somewhere between totally failing and teeth scrapping by. Taeko is his second (younger, bustier) wife, not adjusting well to her new life as a domestic, cooking dinner in their meager accommodations at the back of the store. Mitsuko is Nobuyuki’s daughter. She resents her stepmom, who is closer in age to her than her father, and completely resents the meager life which her parents are providing for her.

From Midnight Cheese

After setting the table, for our story as well as dinner, Mitsuko is caught robbing a store. Her parents are incredibly shamed when they arrive to pick her up. Seriously, I’ve never seen two people bowing and asking for forgiveness as many times as the Syamotos do. They are depicted as the honor driven, upstanding Japanese couple who would do anything to avoid shame and dishonor. They’re very tightly bound people, keeping everything under control, including how miserable that are. It’s very opposite to western sensibilities. They couldn’t be any more down on their luck and miserable.

Enter Murata, a very boisterous, friendly, talkative and ultimately pushy person. He always gets his way. Observing the shame of the Syamotos, Murata steps in to talk them out of trouble with store security. By a very strange coincidence, he also owns a tropical fish store. Ah but his store is very large, very successful, very extravagant…very western. He insists that Mitsuko should come work and live at his store, giving her purpose, getting her away from a stepmom she hates and a mediocre life at her parent’s store.

From Midnight Cheese

But Murata’s intentions aren’t altruistic; else this would probably be a completely different genre of film. The nature of he and his wife’s mental damage is for you, the viewer, to discover on your own. I will tell you that the gore is spread around in the film, doled out in meal sized assaults to your senses. It never lasts over long and it’s more absurd than disgusting. It does reach Evil Dead 2 levels of comedic gold, but it’s not meant to. It unsettles us, just as it unsettles Syamoto. Reverence for the dead is not a thing to be found here.

Even though this is 144 minutes, it never feels over long. Rather, Cold Fish feels like an arduous journey to the breaking point; to madness but not back. A resolution IS reached, but for whom? Cold Fish hits DVD shelves tomorrow thanks to Bloody Disgusting Selects.

From Midnight Cheese

Chuck's Top 10 Horror Films of the Last Decade

Marvin the Macabre from The Montana Mancave Massacre put out a Bat Signal, requesting top 10 lists from the internet's horror-sphere. Below is my personal list, not that of the Entire Midnight Cheese crew. Some of them may also post theirs, I know Noel is working on his.

Before we get started, I just want to admit that this was not easy. I picked movies on two different factors: did they scare me and/or did I have fun watching them. I'm sure you'll disagree, but I've got the floor so just sip your latte and sit there captain mocha pants.

#10 - Freddy vs Jason - 2003
Directed by Ronny Yu

I don't want to hear it, ok? I waited my entire adolescence for this film to happen and you know what? It was fucking awesome. Sure the teenage characters where generic and forgettable, but you know they aren't at all why you went to see this movie. Robert Englund is at the top of his Freddy game. The only lamentable point is the lack of Kane Hodder as Jason.

#9 - Dawn of the Dead - 2004
Directed by Zach Snyder

Yeah the remake. Does it stand up to Romero's instrumental classic? Absolutely not, it's not even in the same league. However, when you judge it on it's own merits, it's a fun zombie ride. The cast is great, the action starts nearly right away and the credits sequence is satisfying, to say the least.

#8 - Rammbock: Berlin Undead - 2010
Directed by Marvin Kren

I wrote about it here. It's very Romero inspired and it does it right. While it has a short running time, ever minute is engaged to full effect. The best zombie film of 2010.

#7 - 28 Days Later - 2002
Directed by Danny Boyle

It would have been hard to have this list without this masterpiece, as so many of my favorites are zombie flicks and this is the movie that brought the sub genre back from the dead. That's funny to consider when you realize that there aren't any zombies in 28 Days Later! (the dead do not rise in the movie, do they smart ass?)

#6 - Land of the Dead - 2005
Directed by George Romero

His first entry in the Dead series since 'Day in '85 has a social message more meaningful today, six years later, than it did on release. Here we have the absolutely filthy wealthy, living in secluded luxury, while the rest of the surviving human population all live in slums. They're all surrounded by zombies, but the rich aren't any worse off for it and could care less even though the world outside has ended. And, oh yeah, it's a great zombie movie too.

#5 - [REC] - 2007
Directed by - Jaume Balaguero

[REC] is a first person perspective demon/zombie movie from Spain. Set inside a small, old apartment building that has been sealed off by the government, we see through the eyes of a TV reporter's camera man. It's awesome, it's creepy and it scared the crap out of me. It was remade a year later as Quarantine for American audiences, who where judged too stupid to see a subtitled movie. See the real movie.

#4 - Grindhouse - 2007
Directed by - Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez

So I'm cheating a bit, but I saw this as it was meant to be: as on long experience, replete with cheesy trailers and snipes and clocking in at over 3 hours long. I refused to purchase it on home video, even though I loved every minute of it, until it was available in it's original form, last year. This is fun, this is entertainment, more than anything, this "gets it".

#3 -Paranormal Activity - 2007, released 2009
Directed by - Oren Peli

The Internet is rife with stupid man-babies in an echo chamber who think they are movie critics and all believe that they hate this film, most sight-unseen. I'll admit that it's the least technically proficient film in this list, no question. However, it scared me like no other movie this decade. It's effective, it's frightening and it does exactly what a horror film is supposed to.

#2 - Trick 'r' Treat - 2007
Directed by Michael Dougherty

Shelved for two years, then released direct to DVD, this anthology film channels the delightful macabre of the Tales from the Crypt and Creepshow series'. It revels in dishing out comeuppance and is wicked fun. Its been added to my yearly Halloween watch list as it embodies the spirit of that day more than any other film I can think of. It's a travesty what Warner Brothers did to it's release and it's robbed it from it becoming a yearly sequel release, as the director intended.

#1 - Shaun of the Dead - 2004
Directed by Edgar Wright

Where do I start on the subject of this Rom-Com-Zom? (romantic comedy with zombies). For starters, it lovingly lifts from and homages to all things Romero. It's witty, it's charming, it's hysterically funny. And its full of bloody zombies. I've watched this movie dozens of times and love it every time. It clicks on all wavelength and is, in my opinion, the best horror flick this past decade.

So there you have it, you may disagree but I want to know your list. Reply in the comments so I can check it out.

Teenage Manners are Atrocious

Last night, I learned a good number of things about the creature society has come to call "teenagers". For instance, did you know that all teenagers feel the irresistible compulsion to film absolutely every single moment of their, usually boring, lives? I thought this was a tendency rampant only among Americans, but I came across evidence to contradict that. Yes, if the film Atrocious is to be believed, adolescents in Spain have nothing better to do than film their hum-drum daily goings on using what appear to be expensive digital video cameras too. Who gives expensive cameras to kids anyway?

Yes, friends, we've come across some found footage, left among the bodies of an entire murdered family. So, that's fun. The authorities find and review 37 hours of footage, taken by brother an sister duo Cristian and July over five days of vacation at an old family estate. That's right, 37 hours filmed in just five days. With all that filming, how are they going to find time to drink and smoke pot? I mean honestly, it's as if they don't want to be graphically killed by a machete wielding killer.

Luckily for us, the police were kind enough to cut all this footage into Atrocious, an 80 minute horror film. While it was awesome of them to do that for us, it would have been nice if they had left out some of the more boring teenage antics from the early film. The first half hour of the film drags because viewers, on the whole, don't want to watch teenagers pack the car and go on a road trip, argue with their siblings, talk back to their parents, complete chores and generally dick around. I've got YouTube at my finger tips if I wanted that.

The real meat of the film takes place in the adjacent hedge labyrinth. It is a very interesting local, which is good because the bulk of our footage is shot there. There is a local legend of a woman in a red dress who helps lost travelers in the maze after nightfall, but c'mon folks, this is very much the wrong genre for kindly spirits. This time spent in the overgrown labyrinth is fairly divisive, as the first person camera work includes lots of running and turning in circles to look at hedges and paths that all look the same. If found footage movies make you nauseas, this one's got to be the carnival ride puke-a-thon of them. If that doesn't bother you, though, it's a great tension builder as you, along with the characters, are completely lost in the hedge maze.

The climactic 10 minutes are frenetic and the conclusion is really satisfying. In this respect, the pay off makes Arocious' premise work and is genuinely scary. If you're a huge found footage fan, this is a better than average entry in the genre with a great ending and is worth checking out. Atrocious is receiving a domestic DVD release on October 25th, just in time for your Halloween viewing pleasure.