by Ed Sum
Absolute Paranormal Investigator & Movie Critic

No prior knowledge is required to see The Trotsky. However, if you know anything about this Russian revolutionary, this film is worth seeing for an echo of what this man did.

Perhaps with a sense of irony, the world of the historical figure is reflected in modern times and in high school. Before one can say waitaminute, hasn’t this idea been done before? The difference here is that everything starts the morning before and it’s reminiscent of Ferris Brueller’s Day Off. But this movie doesn’t talk to audiences or be silly. It’s quite serious about the subject matter and the shit hasn’t hit the fan yet. When it does, that’s when this film gets interesting.

Audiences see where the life of Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel) is heading, and this actor’s performance is spectacular. Baruchel plays the character as though he was the former Marxist, but there are also some unsettling moments that just makes people wonder if he is just a young teen with a neurosis. That’s the part that’s worth paying attention to.

And another aspect to note is the career leap Baruchel is making. From Hollywood style flics like Tropic Thunder, She’s Out of My League and How to Tame Your Dragon, this one is a radical departure and this can only mean good things for this actor.

Even the supporting cast stood out, and that’s a rarity in any film. There were solid performances through-out and the only weakness is in the film’s flow. It’s slow to start, but once when audiences are caught up in Russian History 101, there is more of a solid direction in the tale. And what audiences see is a young Trotsky as he struggles into young adulthood.

There is a message in this film, and that’s to find meaning in one’s life.

For young Leon, that’s to find a destiny in the life he chose to emulate.

*** out of 5

by Ed Sum
Absolute Paranormal Investigator

Once in a while, when the moon strikes blue, there’ll be a movie that’ll weave a unique world of dark fantasy for audiences to visit. In Ink, that realm is one of daydreams and nightmares. It’s a style that both Neil Gaiman (writer of The Sandman comics) and Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) can appreciate.

With denizens from the underworld looking like trendy ghosts donning white sunglasses, they come through as genuinely creepy. These dark lords of the Dreamtime are Incubi (with no relation to the creatures in folklore) and they are a stark contrast to the guardians of hope, better known as the Storytellers. That is, they represent the good stuff people like to dream of but can ever remember when they wake up.

True to how real dreams work, this film cuts back and forth from the imagined to the waking as fast as a switch-blade. In true Tarintino style, events flash back and forth. It goes back to a few days previous where our hero John (Chris Kelly) is introduced. Before audiences could realize it, he’s injured and we enter his dreams. This approach may seem jarring at first, but there is a reason to it. The disjointedness shows how John’s world is divided. At work, he’s a cruel calculating businessman. At home, his life is non-existent. After his wife died, he fell into despair; as a result, his daughter goes to live with his in-laws.

And what director Jamin Winans developed is a Greek tragedy with Orphic undertones. When John’s daughter, Emma (Quinn Hunchar) is kidnapped, thus begins the descent to the Underworld not only to save one’s soul, but also another’s. The only shame is that Hunchar doesn’t get much screen time to show off her acting chops.

While no big studio has picked up this movie to distribute, the film-makers have taken it upon themselves to distribute this movie on their own. This film can be downloaded via bittorrent or bought at doubleedgefilms.com

**** out of 5

by Ed Sum
Absolute Paranormal Investigator

With The Crazies being the latest entry to the horror genre, just how many zombie movies do we really need? The way they keep multiplying, at a rate of one per year, that’s far too infrequent. Dead Air was last year’s favourite and with it a new trend: Let’s not say that the mindless automatons are zombies. The virus, manmade or not, is cause of it all.

With the DVD and the Blu-ray release tentatively set for June 29th, according to Amazon Canada, stores stocks will most likely be contained than flooded.

And over the years, only some of these films will stand out in the mass plethora of zombie flics. Leading the charge for this film is director Breck Eisner and George Romero is on board only as an executive producer. Eisner is remaking Romero’s film by following a traditional formula that everyone is well aware of.

Any videogamer will recognize the narrative and that leads to some predictability. There will always be an individual catapaulted into the situation and there will always be a final boss fight.

But this movie also runs ahead of the pack by showing an entire township getting involved than by introducing a handful of people to face the problem. This film also gives audiences shifting perspectives, with Sherriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) and his wife (Radha Mitchell) watching their small Iowa life get turned upside down. Just when they think they’re ready to settle, various people are behaving oddly, leading them to become ultra violent.

The best part of the film is in how Eisner depicts small town life. It’s convincing enough to create a sense of security and serenity, away from the hustle and bustle of a large city. And when people start showing up in a weird daze, that’s when the bubble bursts. Eisner goes from calm and relaxed to a fast paced race through a township that is rapidly falling apart.

Instead of a gory film that’s reminiscent of George Romero’s earlier works, it’s more realistic than fantastic. The scenario is something that can conceivably happen when a virus gets unleashed and there’s no way to control it.

And with the subtext of what government and military power can do, the next time you look up in the sky, just know you’re not alone.

**** out of 5

by Ed Sum
Absolute Paranormal Investigator

On Shutter Island, there is no escape — only insanity and one man’s hopeless attempt at discovering the truth. But tough US Marshal Teddi Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) doesn’t realize what he’s getting himself into. With his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), what they uncover is far more sinister, and even more cerebral.

This film is a drama about Daniels’ descent to madness and is an effective adaptation of the bestseller by Dennis Lehane. Audiences are taken into huge mind-fuck of what is real and what is imagined, turning out to be nothing like what the movie trailers suggest it to be. This film is more of a psychological tension builder than a ghost story.

Director Martin Scorsese certainly knows the source well and masterfully choreographs the movie both musically and cinematically. The visuals are symbolic of one man’s journey to explore the very depths of his own soul, but the feeling one gets from this film is not quite terrifying — it’s actually more shocking and one has to wonder what lengths anyone will take in order to keep secrets hidden.

What Scorsese does is to guide DiCaprio’s performance well enough that this young actor can pull off a wide range of reactions, but sadly, veteran actor Max von Sydow is under-utilized. He’s a wonderful performer that deserves more screen time on Shutter Island. But instead, he’s a shadowy figure that not many people know about, or much less care.

At least Ben Kingsley shines with a mix of humor and seriousness. He’s like the ever mysterious Number Two from the British cult classic The Prisoner. Now try interpreting both products in one night—like Teddi, one would get a headache and wonder what’s hiding under the bed.

**** out of 5

by Ed Sum
Absolute Paranormal Investigator

When watching a new vampire film or television shows these days, there’s obviously going to be a romance. Usually a girl falls for a stone dead boy or a youth abates innocence. They are great films for its intended audience, but when will purveyors of classic horror get what they want? At long last, Daybreakers delivers a vampire tale that is deserving and worthy of the Nosferatu Award.
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by Ed Sum
Absolute Paranormal Investigator

There’s one famous proverb and that is the dead tell no tales; and if that is true, it follows then that one must tell a story in his stead.

That adage sums up what The Crypt is all about—It lacks a strong story. Writer and director Craig McMahon tries to make a movie that H.P. Lovecraft could be proud of and he fails miserably.
The movie begins ominously enough, with a grave robber entering the depths of a crypt in search for buried treasure. What he finds instead are unsettled spirits who do not want anyone stealing their valued goods. He is buried alive.

Years later, Perry (Mike Ranallo) is finally released from prison. He soon becomes involved in a plan to steal from the dead. This idea was concocted by PJ (Sarah Oh), the leader of a female gang of thieves. They plan on fencing what they will unearth.

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by Ed Sum
Absolute Paranormal Investigator

With a tell-all title like Paranormal Activity, one would expect Oren Pelia’s debut film to be scary.
Instead, it falls short of even being considered a movie one could wet their pants on in fear. With all the hype building to this movie’s wider release, this movie is more on the disappointing side.

The story follows the soon-to-be-haunted lives of Micah and Katie (Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston). After a few years of dating, the happy couple decide to live together and own their own house.

When the haunting begins, Micah becomes obsessed with gathering evidence of what is terrorizing his home, and Katie begins to slowly go mad. She simply wants to have the haunting stop, so she doesn’t tell Micah that she had a “ghost” bother her in the past, a fact Micah doesn’t learn until it’s too late. When Katie discovers from a paranormal investigator that the spirit is really a demon, the evidence that Micah records only intensifies, and their relationship begins to deteriorate.

The personal terror the characters face is well-defined in the way they handle the camera. The shaky camera effect akin to movies like Cloverfield, and the immediacy of the events draws the audience into their world. But the effect becomes a headache after awhile and viewers will find reading the emotional distress of Micah and Katie impossible.

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