The “Thumb Parodies” are somewhat of a curious personal legend. All the way back in 2008, when I first joined Netflix, the series caught my eye and I added the short films to my queue. Ever since then, they have been there waiting, watching me as I added more and more movies in front of them on my list. Well, today they are ignored no longer. I have finally rented The Blair Thumb.
Unfriended is a horror movie told completely through the screen of a single computer. To be more clear, it shows you the “live” monitor of the main character the whole time. The story unfolds through a series of Skype video chats, as well as other popular sites like YouTube and Facebook. The only top site missing was Twitter (maybe because 250 characters wouldn’t add anything of importance). It is an interesting concept, although quite ridiculous. A group of cyber-bullying teenagers are talking online together on the anniversary of a colleague’s suicide when their chat is visited by an unwanted guest. Harassment ensues. I gave it the benefit of the doubt.
Dead Rising: Watchtower is a straight-to-streaming service (because that’s a thing now) zombie film based on Capcom’s Dead Rising video game series. The original game is the first of its kind, a trailblazer for the open world horror genre. It takes place in an infested shopping mall akin to Dawn of the Dead. Dead Rising 2 introduced a weapons mechanic to combine and create unique tools of slaughter, something Watchtower touches on. The guy on the poster up there is holding the signature weapon the main character from Dead Rising 3 uses, but unfortunately it doesn’t last long in the movie.
It seems like this is the year of the horror/comedy. Almost every other film so far in the MASSACRE MARATHON has been funny or goofy. Tusk is no exception. Conceived during a Kevin Smith hosted podcast as a joke, Smith decided to take it all the way and make it into a feature film. He asked his fans, through a viral voting campaign, who would actually like to see this made. It turns out many people voted #WalrusYes.
I need to watch something good to get rid of the afterthoughts of The Den. Something that is actually scary, something that will truly entertain me. I want it to have realistic gore, an engaging plot, and top of the line acting. What’s this? Murder Party?
(80 mins later)
Ah, fuck.
MovieManster 