Tag: Ti West

REVIEW: In a Valley of Violence [2016]

Jared Mobarak

“I stopped listening to men like you a long time ago” Ti West‘s western In a Valley of Violence might have been great if it allowed itself to become the serious revenge thriller it sporadically proves. A dark drama able to embrace the weight of its characters’ turmoil appears once you remove Karen Gillan‘s over-the-top dullard in distress theatrics, James Ransone‘s cartoonish villainy, and the pinball piñata that is the penultimate body to fall. Denton, a virtual ghost town run empty by its corrupt Marshall (John Travolta) with a self-proclaimed…

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REVIEW: You’re Next [2013]

Jared Mobarak

“Will you just die already? This is hard enough for me!” Disappointment that the hype surrounding director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett’s film You’re Next was proving impossible to achieve set in about halfway through. I expected what many called an entertainingly fresh horror thriller with comedic flourishes, but all I saw was the usual home invasion tropes and by-the-numbers carnage courtesy of animal-masked predators and their unsuspecting, family weekend attendee prey. Then something happens to change its tone completely as attractive Aussie plus-one Erin (Sharni Vinson) rolls away…

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REVIEW: The Innkeepers [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“Why do you always seem so surprised that I talk to the guests?” It’s rare to see an asthmatic this side of The Goonies, but something about a young, petite blonde puffing her inhaler in a horror flick reliant on making her scared enough to gulp air adds a little flavor. Fearless in her desire to have physical contact with the ghost of Madeline O’Malley, Claire’s courage is hard to maintain when an encounter becomes a possibility. The ailment is therefore writer/director Ti West‘s way to make his disenfranchised lead…

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