Movie Junction

“If you believe in Jesus Christ, then you have to believe in daemons.” – Reverend Cotton Marcus William Friedkin’s remains an epic, bone-chilling exercise in exorcism. With its serious tone on the century-long religious ritual, “The Exorcist” quickly became a classic in horror filmmaking. Within the horror genre, filmmakers have regularly copied the scare-inducing techniques and gothic set designs of Friedkin’s masterpiece. But no film in my opinion has eclipsed “The Exorcist,” though some films came close in the process. On the subject of exorcism, two recent films, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005) </a> and “The Last Exorcism” (2010), draw their inspiration from “The Exorcist.” Both movies offer a believable and fresh perspective on exorcism, a topic that has been irrefutably exhausted by uninspiring sequels in the “Exorcist” series. Directed by Daniel Stamm and produced on a minuscule budget of $1.8 million, “The Last Exorcism,” through positive word-of-mouth and favora...

Upon its release “High Tension” (2003) stirred up a fair amount of discussion among horror fans for its much-talked-about twisted ending. Whether you agree with the conclusion or not, the film is definitely a polarizing experience that is going to stay with you for a while. Obviously, the writers were inspired by Hollywood movies such as “Psycho” (1960), “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), “The Usual Suspects” (1995), and “The Sixth Sense” (1999). Nonetheless, “High Tension” in essence works competently as a slasher flick for two-thirds of its running time. “High Tension” executes all the moves brilliantly in the first fifty minutes. It has all the elements of a horror movie: a mysterious stranger, a bloody massacre, a deadly cat-and-mouse game, and, of course, a final act of redemption. The film begins with brutal force with its depiction of violent murders and excessive gore. But is the whole experience greater than the sum of its parts? It depends on how you feel about the end...

Inspired by true events, “Unstoppable” is a thrilling new adventure movie directed by Tony Scott, whose last movie,” The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3,” was also on rails. But instead of developing action elements on a relatively stationary train as he did in “The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3,” Scott this time around manages to create an exhilarating ride as the characters battle to stop an unmanned, runaway train. “Unstoppable” might be original in its execution, but I can’t help feel that the movie is an extension of Scott’s last movie. Nonetheless, “Unstoppable” is a ninety-minute adrenaline rush that does not slow down even for a minute, just like its speeding train. Made with a high budget of over $100 million, the movie generated enough revenue to break even at the box office.     Early on, we see Dewey (Ethan Suplee) at a train yard in Fuller, Pennsylvania, trying to taxi an idle train from its current track, so that an incoming excursion train filled with schoolchildren ca...