Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Truth in the title

A memory impaired man (Daniel Craig) awakes with a strange metal shackle on his wrist and a wound on his side. After showcasing hidden skills like a 19th century Jason Bourne on some rough and tough dudes, he heads to the nearest town of Absolution only to find more hassles. He deals with a spoiled, troublemaker named Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano), who's father is a not-to-be-messed-with head honcho of sorts. Percy lands in jail and soon enough the man with no memory ends up in the cell next door, as he turns out to be the infamous Jake Lonergan who has a rap sheet longer than the Oregon Trail. When Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) gets word of his incarcerated son, he storms the streets with his cowboys. Right before a tense showdown, the alien part of the equation shows to make things go boom and people disappear. Jake's bracelet suddenly turns into Mega Man status and he blasts one of the ships down with an energy beam. The creature that operated the vessel flees and they round up a posse to track it back to where their kidnapped loved ones are.

"Cowboys & Aliens" is more about the journey to the final showdown involving various characters that it incidentally never fully scratches below the introductory surface on. It makes a few of them at times more plot devices than natural, especially the woman who feels penciled in after the fact to conveniently solve or perpetuate Jake's issues. Along tags a bartender who's more business than brawn; a mysterious woman who eyes Jake; a practical preacher who knows how to pray and shoot; a young boy who's not yet a man; a loyal Indian who looks at his boss as a father figure; and the former colonel Dolarhyde who's got a thing or two to teach the youngins about battle. Now, where westerns in the past had everybody out for their ruthless selves, this uses the enslaving extraterrestrials as a means to get along for the greater good of humanity, including fierce outlaws and warrior Indians who are in the same dire straits. In the meantime, no one ever claimed the abominable aliens didn't have punctuality as they make a few well-timed appearances to the point of predictably just before a human vs human conflict is about to get all gun crazy. Though like throwing a rock at a tank, these basic, booze-drinkin', boot-wearin' westerners look to be completely overrun and overwhelmed. That is until they have to get sneaky and use strength in numbers to put a stop to the aliens, which at this point are so one-dimensional the movie plays out like an easily sold good vs evil template with nothing left over to put in the bank to accumulate interest.

This is more the former than the latter of the title. The western portion on its own isn't groundbreaking to the genre, and the sci-fi side isn't inventive enough to blow the lid off a long time fan, even if the combination is definitely original. Other aspects to fall back on like the pacing can feel like it revs the engine, then levels at a lower gear. This wouldn't be such an issue but it's not that contemplative of a film to hit the locker room in between for a break, and as a result creates a building list of questions from the viewer that never end up answered about certain plays. It's a film that treads more on mystery when it comes to its antagonists, by at first seeing a shadow, a claw and then a quick full frontal, as well as it only gives little snippets of information for the viewer. Problem is, it doesn't create that intriguing enough of creatures to pull the enigma off--no communication, no interaction with each other, very few distinguishing elements with behavior or appearance--or even go further into why they're on Earth other than laying out a questionable reason at face-value.

Daniel Craig played a simple but commanding presence, as he said little but when it came time for action delivered with full force as if he meant it, and then some. It causes you to focus in on him to not miss his next move, despite getting knocked about with a lesser blow or two on occasion. Clancy Brown plays a memorable role as a tough holy man that adds humor to the situations, but Chris Browning includes cartoon flavor with his crusty chompers and oafish demeanor. Paul Dano, as much as he tried and has the most range, his performance felt misplaced as if he's a tortured man rather than just a fearful kid with no perspective from growing up safe and spoiled. Harrison Ford's character is built up and built up, with other people making not only a legend of him but a power not to be reckoned with, though by the time it comes for him to show his stuff, he falls somewhat short on punch. It's a shame that some of his gruff lines come off as unflattering imitations rather than truly compelling. On an entertainment level, you get massive explosions, O.K. Corral-thumping gun fights, built up thrills, mystery, situational humor, potential love, tragedy, resolution and you get to see two separate genres at the same time. It sounds like a lot, but it didn't always come one after the other or always in a smooth, edge-of-your-seat transition together. The mentioned certainly made this enjoyable and an interesting concept to see but unfortunately it wasn't capable of thoroughly traveling beyond expectations for such a cool premise even with all the budget and all the talent it mustered for a central goal with two contrasting but potentially complementing sides.

Rating: 6/10

Director: John Favreau (Made, Iron Man 1 & 2)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Keith Carradine, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano, Olivia Wilde, Noah Ringer, Clancy Brown
Website: IMDB

The Caller (2011)

A magnet for disaster

This is a drama/mystery/thriller about a woman named Mary (Rachelle Lefevre) who moves into a new apartment in the capital of Puerto Rico and is trying to start her new life over again after finalizing paper work from a controlling partner. Though the tiny island might not be the best place to make that happen. She goes to classes, talks to the friendly gardener George (Luis Guzman) and converses on an old land line phone--remember those?--with a woman named Rose (Lorna Raver) who's confused and looking for a man named Bobby.

The calls become more persistent and personal with the coincidences between them mounting up. Each woman thinks the other loco but try to find a middle ground for information that makes them at odds for the time line they share since Rose thinks she's in the late '70s. Rose tries to show she exists by describing evidence around the house to prove to Mary she's been there. Meanwhile other people demand attention from the curly haired blue-eyed wonder with her ex Steven (Ed Quinn) who's stalking her despite a restraining order. She manages to form a budding friendship with a teacher named John (Stephen Moyer) at the school from getting jumpy about supposedly seeing someone in her car. The audience isn't sure of the big picture at first and this just looks like a woman with the worst of luck. Though her new situation might just give her the know how and empowerment she needs to see a light at the other end of the tunnel...or possibly just a darker side of herself to do what needs to be done.

The viewer is thrown some distractions with the goings on in Mary's life, but the one with the greatest power to control it comes and goes. The pacing moves gradually to give the story some time to grow and to put together what's culminating. This could have played the is-she-imagining it, is-she-not angle a little better. Sometimes not so obvious clues happen and she believes, while other times, obvious things happen and she's oblivious. People are there one moment, gone the next and every time Mary tries to get her life back in order, she gets knocked back a few steps until the main realization fully sets in. What holds this back is the audience at points is given too much time to think of the possibilities, which for the cinematic experience expands your imagination no doubt and was definitely a neat idea but how the mechanics line up leaves some loopholes. Not to mention when some red herrings come her way to throw you off scent, as well as a series of what if questions happen at the same time that make this go from an exceptional case to astronomical, though amusing nonetheless even if it's not likely to happen to you.

The character development is a little bumpy in that the main actress will go from calm and rational to jumpy and terrified, sometimes with back to back scenes that make pinning down her demeanor and temperament a little inconsistent for relating points. The abusive and manipulative character Steven seems like a caricature ripped right out of an old Lifetime movie--don't ask how I know that--the way he does what he wants and especially when he wants because he's a testosterone fueled man with no one to put him in his place--he's just missing a flannel and a permanent beer in one hand. The setting in Puerto Rico is partly utilized though isn't concentrated on unless it pertains to the story. Nearly all of the characters are from different nationalities, much like the commonwealth's own history. On the other hand--like Mario Bava's ''The Telephone"--the phone ringing becomes a grating echo in your ear for both the intruding sound and for what's to come. The woman on the other end has a sweet but also disturbing voice that starts to become more and more desperate and dangerous and might not have been calling the wrong number after all.

Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Matthew Parkhill (Dot the I)
Stars: Rachelle Lefevre, Stephen Moyer, Luis Guzman, Ed Quinn, Lorna Raver
Link: IMDB

51 (2011)

Hard up reporters, subservient soldiers and home sick aliens

It's that day at last, folks! The government is letting journalists on a tour of the infamous Area 51 Air Force base for the first time to dispel rumors of hidden extraterrestrials. Before being let in a Colonel Ronald Martin instructs his men that if any of the guests get to the lower levels they are instructed to shoot them, with jokes to follow since a share of them are left in the dark to what's really going on. The two renowned reporters, along with camera person and photographer, are let into the above ground Hangar 18 and are shown some fancy gadgets that are declassified just for them but still think they're hiding something else. Meanwhile, you guessed it, without even beating around the bush, there's an uprising forming with aliens that Big Brother were hiding below all along.

"51" delivers exactly what its premise suggests, though not much more for the experience that already hasn't been done in other films on the subject. In, out, forgotten--a painless delivery. This isn't exactly ponderous stuff or inventive at that, just a what if question with some action and gory violence to show for itself. The most you might get after is the question of if the government has the right to hide aliens if found or have the right to experiment on them in a callous fashion to supposedly protect ourselves from what we don't understand. For TV material, the acting is mostly consistent and adequate at giving momentum to its story even if their personalities don't have staying power or come across as award winning. Even with the B movie script they're given, this is taken somewhat seriously and by its close they come with changed outlooks from the events instead of remaining the same throughout. It tries, though still feels rushed, not fully outlined and like a demo than anything else. If this were, say, a pilot for a TV show, it wouldn't have held water since the concept only takes it so far.

The budget shows with simplistic sets and a small regiment despite guarding one of the US's most secretive military base. I mean, of course, appearance is everything--in that elite guards would send off red flags--but that's why you put elite guards in regular uniforms or possibly have another base as a backup nearby in case something goes wrong or comes under attack. Then again, this isn't "The Unit" when it comes to an engaging military strategy. They're lucky they get by here. This was surprisingly light on CGI compared to some other SyFy/Sci-Fi Channel features that have aired in the past decade. The prosthetic creature effects are still somewhat scrapped together and unabashedly shown in closeups for extended periods, so compensating is a must for a viewer. It could have used some more memorable scenarios and possibly amped up the action, as for a share of it, it tries to get by only with what little it has stretched out--that includes running around possibly the same reused hallways. Some tension is attempted with various issues arising, such as a self-destruct timer ticking down and an alien called patient zero potentially escaping into the population. Three varieties of alien species are shown: cooperative, monstrous killer and chameleon. This frames two teams, with one on the upper floors guarding in case anything escapes and one roaming the bottom levels with the reporters who are both documenting and fighting the enemy as well to get out alive.

As a horror film, it provides no scares--you can't help but notice the similarities that fall short of "Alien" with drippy mouths and strange noises yet without the tension and anticipation--and the blood shed is treated like it comes with the territory rather than building up to it or actually making it cringe worthy. As a science fiction piece it feels undeveloped compared to what's come before it, especially since the history of Area 51 is only briefly taped into, just the current goings on of the secret facility. As social commentary, it doesn't always carry a dual meaning, except to say that possibly one person can make a difference or not to just blindly hide or blindly take orders. The subtext drives at bringing the truth to the light, but, then again, it's about something that does or doesn't exist, so even then it can be taken with a grain of salt. I'd imagine it still got some triumphant high fives from conspiracy theorists around the country who managed to get away from their computers and "X-Files" DVD collections.

Rating: 3.5/10

Director: Jason Connery (The Devil's Tomb, Pandemic)
Stars: Bruce Boxleitner, Rachel Miner, Jason London, Vanessa Branch, John Shea
Link: IMDB

Scream of the Banshee (2011)

This chick can scream...but who'd date her?

This is a story that mixes Irish folklore with Templar knights that have locked away a secret for hundreds of years till it's accidentally unleashed in the modern day. It starts with more mystery and drama and then moves over to some more scares. The events unfold like a from-one-thing-to-the-next type of story mixed with amateur detective work since no one will believe such a fantastic tale anyhow but the few that seen it with their own bulging eyes.

In 12th century Ireland, knights are chasing a woman on horseback through the woods. A fight breaks out with some supernatural abilities shown and the victor, being the last man standing, decapitates the woman and encloses her head in a specially designed metallic box. Present day: an archeology professor is archiving historical artifacts when she receives an anonymous package with a gauntlet inside and a small map that hints at an additional item at the college campus she works at. She gives the task to her daughter and a false room is stumbled into with a medium sized crate that has Duncan written on the side. Inside is a metallic box that's opened by the gauntlet from earlier. It reveals a grotesque severed head with monstrous teeth. One of them disturbs it, causing the head to scream with such force that their ears bleed, only to then disintegrate with no evidence to show for themselves.

They begin to get haunting visits at night and strange occurrences as if something is trying to lure them out with a trap. They stumbled into more clues with a soothsayer named Broderick Duncan who used to teach at the same school. The Internet is a key player in their information gathering with videos from Duncan that leads them into finding out if you've heard the scream, it's essentially a death sentence. The daughter and mother are about to move around again, which causes tension to form between them and the daughter's new boyfriend. Though the romance angle between the two youngsters starts to distract from the story since it carries a contrasting tone and feels like fluff.

Some of the rules and mechanics line up a little too smoothly when the monsters appear and disappear. What's strange is the Banshee seems to wait around till it's convenient to the characters and how much development the audience is shown. It makes them unpredictable in a sense, but to a fault since you're not even sure what they're driving at. Your death? It makes it sound so mundane and one-dimensional when you have some rules for where they came from but not a solid reason of what they're doing there. The characters feel both totally safe to then completely in danger but without a balance in between to maintain the tension since there aren't very many rules in place to stop the Banshee and make this an engaging cat and mouse type of game on both sides. A share of the scares are extreme closeups and deafening sound effects with some strobes and unexpected events to catch you by surprise--to it's credit there's a reason for it. It's a good thing too as the flashing lights somewhat cover up some of the shoddy, thrown-together prosthetics and dated CGI work with good ol' smoke and mirrors.

"Scream of the Banshee" starts out on a high point with an intriguing premise with its own legend and rules, plus the way it was stumbled into makes it somewhat possible on suspending your disbelief. "Dead Silence" had some similar rules to its villain though both are completely different movies. This film only goes down hill from there as it begins to feel rushed to the point of nearly falling flat on its face and the audience thinking where did the picture go? The middle half starts to feel somewhat formulaic and not helped by the obvious editing trick that signals commercial breaks in between since it was also shown on the SyFy channel as a made of TV movie. The ending is a complete mess to the point where I'd have to have the patience of Dali Lama and another three paragraphs to break down the inconsistencies. Some of the dialogue at this point comes across as forced in that it doesn't always feel catered to that specific person playing the role. Some of it feels unauthentic enough to have been read just prior in a script. The motivations start to become nonsensical, anticlimactic and like padding to the run time, not to mention some of its prior story arcs were dropped and never picked back up. There's a decent movie in there somewhere, just whatever power above must have treated it like a stepping stone and had their attention/commitment elsewhere. The optimistic person in me can't get over how the movie can't hold up to such a cool title.

Rating: 2.5/10

From Black to Red recommends instead: "Dead Silence": Your scream is your death. So getting scared from pop outs and looming shadows is an integral part of the story that's also filled with atmosphere, engaging and memorable scenarios till the credits are rolling.

Director: Steven C. Miller (Automaton Transfusion)
Stars: Lauren Holly, Marcelle Baer, Leanne Cochran, Todd Haberkorn, Lance Henriksen
Link: IMDB

Seconds Apart (2011)

Two nerds you wouldn't dare mess with

A raging party is going down at a house with a group of jocks giving bragging rights to women and playing a drinking game around a table in an enclosed room. Someone shows up with a video camera and heads for the room they're in. The game suddenly turns over to Russian Roulette as each of the guys blows their brains out with the same casual dialog they engaged in before. The cynical and sarcastic detective Lampkin is called to the scene to investigate what looks at first as a suicide but without the logical reason to back it up. Jonah and Seth are twins that were born "Seconds Apart" and share everything, including the special ability that caused the jocks to kill themselves while they filmed on.

The twins are sadistic, smarty pants teens without remorse and a deadly weapon at their disposal, which leaves them without fear or feeling. They call what they do "projects" that come with a video library to show for their past transgressions. They lack empathy and use their hobby to get a shred of feeling, if possible, for the horrible, tortuous ways their victims end up going out when rewatching the video footage. Through sheer intuition and some interviews, the detective suspends his disbelief that they could have something to do with it despite the brothers never getting physical with the victims. The background knowledge he puts into this makes him in the modern day look more amateur than pro, as if he's all mouth, eyes and ears than an evidence man. How do you prove an unheard of ability in someone's mind through modern law? That's just it. How do you take one regular detective that's not on a special task force or seen anything of the like before and make him believe right away than just moving on; wouldn't have been the same movie, I know, but at least give him something more to clench a foundation to make it more fascinating and challenging as to what he's stumbled into otherwise the concept can feel underused to a new comer. Because he has too much time on his hands? No other cases? No wife/kids? Come on. The twins start to get power hungry when things don't go their way and act like they're invincible. Seth is unflinching to what they're doing, while Jonah is more reasonable. Jonah meets a new, confident girl from school named Eve that puts up a divide between the two that were inseparable beforehand causing their close knit relationship to go all downhill from there.


"Seconds Apart" plays out like a horror tale meets gumshoe type story with a shadowy look to the settings and chromatic, bleak templates in others to give it some atmosphere. The detective is somewhat tongue-in-cheek on the genre: drinking, smoking, a past traumatic event, wise cracking, trench coat wearing, obsessive behavior--you name it. The issue is he stands out as such a contrast here that it makes you wonder what was the purpose of him being here other than to throw a stick in the spokes of the twins and be a self-sacrificing guy to uncover the truth. At points, he felt like a device in the script than a person, especially since the story doesn't maintain a steady central character but jumps between perspectives of both sides. This isn't always stable when balancing mystery and character development: either being too obvious or not giving enough. The two twins are frequently shown with their actions and thoughts out in the open, along with the detective frequenting old haunts and giving little bits of pieces of his past with the same nightmarish flashbacks of a tragedy with his late wife with a scar to show for it.

What brings the picture down is the general tone feels unsteady at points. It starts out somewhat sadistic but with some black/dry humor, then moves on over to the dramatic and sympathetic as they dive further into the characters' lives, and then a back and forth again to the previously mentioned but not always with smooth transitions in between. The film has its share of transitional periods but doesn't always maintain a level of intrigue or mystery, especially when it starts to meander in the middle portion and significantly bring down the focus the film had prior. The level of tension starts to lose its grip as it turns more melodramatic and somewhat mundane. Eventually they get to the explanation behind their abilities, though it seems somewhat run-of-the-mill and something you would have already seen on "X-Files" or "Millennium," except squeezed in towards the end as if they needed to include some stock answer for it all that wasn't even foreshadowed or built up to prior. Another twist happens, that's better left unhinted, but makes it more worthwhile.


The brothers have all the power and manipulation they need but are lonely individuals that don't know any better. They play the typical twins but amped up to an uncanny level, such as finishing each other's sentences or be it dressing and acting alike. Their parents are all creepy smiles and overly charming demeanor, no matter the situation. Their presence is unsettling since you don't know where they're coming from or what they're potentially hiding themselves. This has some fantastic visuals during some segments that look almost as detailed as paintings. There are also some really cruel and cringeworthy ways the victims hallucinate while in a trancelike state. "Seconds Apart" had a lot of potential but got a little ambitious to include as many threads as possible. I'd imagine it would have been a more solid experience if they resequenced, built up more to or tightened up some of the scenarios. It's no doubt got a distinct identity down pat, which can't always be said about other horror flicks, but those mentioned might have given it more of a central, driving focus to get completely wrapped up in.

Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Antonio Negret (Hacia la oscuridad (Towards Darkness))
Stars: Orlando Jones, Edmund Entin, Gary Entin, Samantha Droke, Louis Herthum, Morgana Shaw
Link: IMDB

Fertile Ground (2011)

Singles, beware of this place!

This is a drama that plays around with the supernatural in forms of visions, nightmares and pop-out scares accompanied with jarring music to momentarily rile senses. The main component of its story centers around a couple who are trying to conceive but due to complications it puts a strain on the relationship with a stay at home wife and a painter who keeps the family afloat with his art galleries.

Emily and Nate Weaver are attempting to have their first child, until during a dinner party Emily excuses herself and profusely bleeds out. They move out to an old farm house to get away from everything and restore their happiness. The property used to be in Nate's family in the early 20th century and was constructed 100 years prior to that. Soon enough, the old house gives off something more suspicious than the usual odd creak or two, such as a hand print on the window, voices in the cellar and some old photographs of past relatives. They stumble onto a human skull buried on the property. Emily heads over to the local eccentric historian who rattles off a list of speculative dark events that occurred at the residence over the course of its history. Her husband is frequently away due to his line of work and she's alone in the big, empty house by herself. Random, ominous occurrences are on the rise as if something is trying to communicate to her for help or ward her away. As you can already guess from the title's sake, she gets pregnant in their new house, though it's a high risk, causing her to stay off her feet and away from stress, which ends up only mounting to even more stress from the loneliness and isolation.

"Fertile Ground" tries to play on if it's the pressure of her situation, leading to just imagining it, if it's coincidental or if it's really happening and you're indeed watching a supernatural tale with ghosts. This is gradually paced and unfolds somewhat organically than coming right out and stating its intentions. It's partly a mystery, though in the meantime there isn't always a strong subtext to latch onto. It doesn't always hold steady with interest or with relating points and part of the experience feels somewhat like routine stuff, only to remind you that you have better things to do than to occupy yourself with the dramas of a couple in a country house in who knows where. The movie doesn't always grab you and pull you in or make what you're watching significant or an exceptional to the rule until the latter half that picks up to a thriller like pacing. Though getting there doesn't always work with the sum of its collective parts, since the audience will get just an abrupt scare every now and again in comparison to the main story. Some of the drama feels somewhat forced despite the film moving one moment at a time, especially when the situations going for tension don't always feel detrimental enough.

It boils down to the slow degradation of a married couple who's got a strong case of cabin fever or a wicked case of possession. "Fertile Ground" does the ambiguous ending well, with enough information to fairly choose a side and your own interpretation. That's definitely its strength and it's evident that the filmmakers worked back through the movie to make that happen quite possibly to a fault since the rest is anchored on something you haven't even seen yet till you get there.

Rating: 5.5/10

Director: Adam Gierasch (Autopsy, Night of the Demons 2010)
Stars: Leisha Hailey, Gale Harold
Link: IMDB

The Rite (2011)

A man's struggle with the immaterial

A mortician's son named Michael wants to pick a different career path away from his father and heads to seminary school to become a priest. He aces psychology and art history but not theology. He decides that after four years he has a lack of faith and sends in his resignation. Before it can be turned in he says last vows to a dying woman and his superior Father Matthew wants him to stay on for another purpose that he might be just right for. He heads to Rome to take a course on exorcism due to the church receiving an alarming number of reports. After viewing the class with some derision, the teacher sends him over to a Father Lucas who's approach is unorthodox and matter-of-fact, but still honest when need be to deal with Michael's questioning, logical mind. Rather than tell with a verbal lecture, he shows right from the moment Michael arrives with a pregnant teenage girl that appears to him as someone with a clear case of mental health. The younger priest-to-be is still skeptical despite evidence before his eyes, yet he keeps returning to see more of the mysterious man who might be the real deal or someone who acts like one so his clients maintain their faith and not go elsewhere for help.

This starts out like a drama, turns into something of a psychological film with some thrills and chills regarding the potential existence of demons, then turns over to a climactic closer when someone close comes down with something and the person at hand has to finally answer a nagging question. Instead of producing a puzzling mystery with enough layers to keep a viewer guessing, this spreads out its plot elements and typically takes on one aspect at a time as it progresses, ending up revealing its formula in the process. That storytelling approach makes this feel more like a luring system till the final scene that has all of its bases covered of what they'll refer to up to that point, rather than a naturally evolving storyline. No one wants a confusing or conflicting film, but I'd be willing to bet others don't want things unraveled so orderly either. In one sense it takes deep subjects and delivers them somewhat easy and unmuddled, yet not always as an engrossing challenge. The performances come with their charms and some street talk despite their holy personas to give a real sense. Anthony Hopkins' captures the screen with a performance that often comes with guesses as to where he stands and he's able to handle the different sides without a hitch. Colin O'Donoghue does the part with some conviction whether it be a logical side or lowering his defensive guard, even if he's shuffled from one place to another in the script. Alice Braga plays Michael's friend whom he shares his thoughts but also reveals who she really is and what she's searching for. His teachers are capable of acting like authentic people either by being lenient and reasonable, to being strict and commanding.

At times the transitions feel too smooth and the answers in the story laid out before the viewer gets time to take them in or throw out guesses themselves, which somewhat limits its participation value. It attempts to be a thinking-person's movie rather than a straight horror/thriller but doesn't always give more to contemplate on during its duration despite its gradual pacing that seems more for tone and mood to make omens and signs match when they come around. This follows Michael rather than mainly the exorcism itself, so essentially its main relating points are targeted more so at that person who straddles the fence on the subject, and the believer getting some validation, though the unbeliever left more to the wayside. So you get a character based film with some horror tacked on for reasons of entertainment and to loosen up the viewer to give an ear for the subject matter, rather than the other way around like "The Exorcist" that's also about losing faith...and possibly scaring it back into you with everything it's got. In that respect this is handled with more tact on the subject than the usual suspects with films dealing with possession.

"The Rite" can be looked at like a man on a religious journey to finding faith, but part of it can still be looked at as someone who does anything without a driving passion or purpose, kind of riding between places until something powerful comes along to question why you're doing what you're doing in the first place. Fighting with half a heart is a sure way to get defeated is the message, because others are going to come around to take that away just because they can. Though it's not to the lengths of watching a sports movie about, say, US football with a player who has the talent and no driving point, as you can usually not be a fan of the sport to see where they're coming from. Usually those films are about the emotional impact surrounding the subject, while "The Rite" reveals more of its inner playbook than tiptoeing around for more relating points to outsiders looking in, which can make the film at points feel a little distant by coming with more of a specific purpose.


Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Mikael Hafstrom (Drowning Ghost, 1408)
Stars: Colin O'Donoghue, Anthony Hopkins, Alice Braga, Ciaran Hinds, Rutger Hauer, Toby Jones
Link: IMDB

Husk (2011)

Four guys, a gal and a corn place

This is a movie that plays around with the dark and deadly arts of superstitions along the lines of "Scarecrows," "Jeepers Creepers" and "Children of the Corn," where the scarecrows are animated and the surrounding dwelling is alive from some supernatural force that ensnared a group of passers by. It's a survivalist horror that plays more on suspense than exploitation or even creating a gradual, thinking-man's enviroment.

Four guys and a gal of twenty something are driving on a road through cornfields when suddenly crows hit their windshield and cause them to crash. After shaking off the daze, their car won't restart, cell phones have no signal, they're 40 miles from the nearest gas station and if that wasn't enough their friend Johnny is missing. Brian and Scott head off into the seemingly endless, head-high cornfields to find him, while Brian's girlfriend Natalie and the driver Chris stay behind. That was their first mistake. Just as a shark won't be able to get ahold of you outside of the territories of water, the villains won't be able to touch you outside of the maze of corn stalks they prowl behind.

There are a few scattered clues of more dead birds and older rusted cars that they pass by. Brian and Scott spot a light flicking on upstairs of a house from afar. Meanwhile Natalie spots something suspicious, causing her to panic and run back to warn Brian. Within a few moments Brian and Scott encounter a strange sowing room where someone walks in tranced and runs out something entirely different. Natalie gets attacked in a flash and dragged off. They desperately look for her as the sun then begins to set signaling they're all in over their heads now. They formulate some plans from the old farm house with aging and unkept furniture on the other side of where they crashed, but the possessed zombie scarecrows of the corn stand in their way to rescue their friends or launch an escape.

"Husk" starts out rather innocently by seeing the characters get sucked into the horror without forcing it and giving into ominous signs such as thunder-claps and spooky spider-webs, but instead providing physical action. It's capable of keeping your attention with a certain level of mysteriousness without being too vague or confusing. There are some inventive scenarios and then a few other questionable ones that are skipped over to perpetuate the story. Though it maintains a consistent flow with little snippets of backstory fit to its thriller-like pacing that comes with interlaced music to enhance the experience. The characters represent the first victim, the girlfriend in peril, the every-man-for-himself, the follower and the alpha male to take charge. They play out their stereotypes but also throw in some surprises as to their behavior and who gets it. This plays on the usual motivations for action: people going off on their own instead of sticking together, as well as conflicting opinions on what's the best way to get out of the impossible situation.

The picture quality looks a little crisp at times in the digital age, though the sets come with some tarnish and some shots are purposely obscured instead of giving a perfect frame. There's some blood that fits more to the situations than going out of their way to show carnage. Sometimes by just giving a sound effect to give an impression of the violence. The actions of the scarecrows go from fumbling around to having a higher intuition to fit the jumping scare of the scene. Going from mindlessly possessed to self-aware, makes it seem a little too much for the audience's benefit rather than inherent to an actual interaction, though, on the other hand, you're not always able to count on what they'll do next. "Husk" played it straight at times with some conventions but was a quick and above average experience due to how it flowed together by including its own set of rules and a back story that's reminiscent of Cane and Abel in the Old Testament, where blood is spilled and causes a normal place to turn evil. If there's a part two, hopefully a few more things get tighter as the crew created a decent environment and experience with this flick that has the potential to expand.

Rating: 7/10

Director: Brett Simmons
Stars: Devon Graye, Wes Chatham, C.J. Thomason, Tammin Sursok, Ben Easter
Link: IMDB

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

He'll shoulder press you AND the army you came with

As much as I enjoy the 1982 film, I'm going to review this as its own separate experience. The story element for the "Conan the Barbarian" 2011 felt pretty straightforward, as potential for more weighty subject matter was there but wasn't always emphasized, rather than jumping into one showy scene after the next. The quick pacing doesn't always give breathing room to think instead of a share of it just passing through. Since it doesn't always take advantage of one place for long, it often does itself a disservice for replay value when there aren't many layers to peel back.

A boy born in battle is destined to be a warrior, he grows up at first somewhat small and unappreciated, has another family member taken away from him and then seeks revenge at a much later time in his life when the villain so happens to be close to his master plan. It felt like too many flashy scenes surrounded by little substance of narrative to fully clench its epic proportions. It did give off certain sensations the first time around, I'll give it that, though there wasn't much to ponder on below the surface about the characters or the journey after it ended.

Jason Momoa held a presence of his own with a bulky and commanding physique, even if not ridiculously cut to the point of striation. He has a distinctive look on screen and a booming, almost professional wrestler voice. He appeared tough with some added scars and a deadpan stare, but ultimately well balanced when he was naturally wielding a sword like he owned it. Now, that's just his presence, because as for his aura there's not much else in the way of creating mystery about him, a relating ideology beyond the sword or fully capturing someone who's torn up with emotions about his lost relatives and village. He pretty much just moves from one place to the other with a loose strategy plan and it doesn't make this as gripping as the filmmakers intended with the fast flow.

The movie is very bombastic. There are various macho guy vs macho guy action scenes that include a share of candid blood shed and cruel wounds to show for it without pulling away. A particular creature scene with sand spirits was an inventive addition as they can appear from all around. There's a tad of humor, T and A nudity, a short lived love connection which leads to rescuing the damsel in distress, and then various sets of the real and CGI type that give presence of being splendid to dismal. Some of the dialogue and character setups give a sense of grand scope, though others can go over the mark to the point of hokiness. Especially some of the lines from both the villains Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang) and his odd, finger-bladed daughter Marique (Rose McGowan). I've liked both performers in other films, and they look their part here, just some of the lines delivered aren't always shown in the best light.

I've seen a share of 3D films by now and this one was somewhat distracting out of the bunch. The tight action sequences were jarring to the point of frequently throwing out my focus like no other 3D movie I've seen to date to the point of having to sit farther back than usual. For the regular, every-other-time cinema goer, I'd say "Conan the Barbarian" 2011 isn't worth the pricey ticket as it's not pressing to see beyond a fan of the genre or the prior source material. As for an action-fantasy movie it included a large amount of action to whiz by one's head, though for fantasy it had a fairly to the point unfolding of the story for the genre, which can make the experience more titillating than impacting.

Rating: 5/10

Director: Marcus Nispel (Pathfinder, Friday the 13th 2009)
Stars: Jason Momoa, Ron Perlman, Stephen Lang, Rose McGowan, Rachel Nichols
Link: IMDB, comparisons to 1982 film and Robert E. Howard stories

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Death's pissed for the 5th time!

At one time, before it became the franchise and formula it is today, "Final Destination" was entirely fresh and new. It created a twist to the revived slasher genre that was building up and starting to die off again when it hit theaters in 2000. There were teens and they got knocked off one by one just the same, but it had such an ingenious reason for doing so: a deadly shadow was following them around to collect owed lives for dodging its originally intended plan. How are you supposed to escape that? An invisible killer that can be anywhere at anytime, not just some psycho that you can at least run through the woods from, or get on a plane and fly to some other country. But here this is the supernatural we're talking about, something that's probably as ancient as the first people to accidentally die doing an everyday thing like eating the wrong plant and berries or running off a cliff chasing a sabertooth.

"I had a vision," Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto) said as he's being grilled by the no-nonsense agent Block (Courtney B. Vance) before all the facts are in about the bridge collapse that he and his friends got away from just in the nick of time. At first the eight survivors don't think anything more than they're just lucky, that is until the snide, low-toned William Bludworth (Tony Todd) shows up with ambiguity because he either has a message to tell--or is it a warning?--or he's just passing by to do his job as the local coroner. Each of the other movies had a gal and a guy who tried to prevent each accident but, of course, were always just too late. This plays on that somewhat with a cell phone call here and a show up there, but instead proposed a new rule that would allow said person to accumulate someone else's life total if you kill them. It creates a moral dilemma and inner tension to the story, though it got quickly stopped by its own creative hand when it pulled the plug on itself for a shock--a shock that might just make the audiences' mouth do an "Ohhh."

There are a few aspects thrown in to give the new set of characters--or should we say victims?--personalities, such as the young foreman named Nathan (Arlen Escarpeta) at the factory catching flack from the union rep, and Sam going through a split decision with a far away internship or a life with his girlfriend named Molly (Emma Bell) in New York. Though the thriller-like pacing often moved so fast as to run over its own dramatic scenes at the same time as building them up. It feels like a few back and forth views on what the filmmakers thought the flow should have been in the editing room. One foot in to make them memorable, one foot out because it's going to eventually not matter.

If you have no recollection of the other films, then this might be a more titillating experience. You can still definitely count on it to deliver the gory bits but it didn't always capitalize on the nail-bitting anxiety and anticipation of something chasing the characters. The performers often act oblivious, helpless or like hamsters in a cage with something so much bigger to the point of being a condescending bully looming over top that they can't even focus on it with their eyes. The other films had a certain nervousness at the forefront about them, especially the first film, in that Death could be anywhere at anytime. "FD3" at least proposed the question of: Would you want to know or not know when you're going to die? Because knowing comes with extreme unease and paranoia, and not knowing comes with numbness, even though you don't get to say your goodbyes. "FD5" could have taken it to the hilt but plays on a tense and release outlook instead. It has a number of quips and one-liners to get the audience loosened up--especially with P.J. Byrne and David Koechner--but it makes the shadowy, people-dying-left-and-right experience less oppressive than made out to be to cater to the portion of the audience who's a cross-armed skeptic of the supernatural.

The gore traps look pretty grisly and can often catch you by unawares. Though some deaths aren't always playing on something that would be a relating experience to a general audience, since they have to tap into what hasn't been done beforehand. It creates some distancing from the screen, as the first and second film had more relating elements that made seemingly innocent areas now have a deadly shadow cast across in your mind: a kitchen, a bathroom, a stove, an elevator, crossing the street. For instance, here, a factory with dangerous machinery is only going to lead to dangerous accidents or most people aren't going to touch a gymnasium.

The cinematography and the picture quality looked great on screen compared to the slapped together job "FD4" was. This time around the new director has the technical side well worked through and used the 3D aspect to its advantage at points with various objects actually projecting out compared to the depthless job the recent "Harry Potter" had and "Captain America" with only so many things popping out. "FD5" still feels more a ritual and routine than a complete refresher. Though there's still some sadistic fun to mine and effort put into this as a fifth installment, even if the novelty is diluted if you've kept up since the beginning or at least watched the previous films a few times.

Rating: 5.5/10

Director: Steven Quale (second unit director "Titanic," "Avatar")
Stars: Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Ellen Wroe, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, P.J. Byrne, Alren Escarpeta, David Koechner, Courtney B. Vance, Tony Todd
Link: IMDB

The Resident (2011)

Somebody likes your toothbrush

This is a American shot thriller from a Finnish director and put out by the recently revived Hammer Film--yep, the British production company known for its atmospheric horrors. "The Resident" gives nods to "Single White Female," "One Hour Photo" and "Fatal Attraction," where it's a dark tale of infatuation that builds and builds into a roaring obsession due to an object of desire that's out of physical reach.

Some look for specific qualities or rewards in relationships than others, such as a momentary bit of comfort, physical release or warmth and security. There's a middle ground where you both meet in agreement, yet there are those that want things to fall specifically in place and only go the way they want them to. There's going to be zero compromise with those aggressively tuned people, just a one track freight train of a strong personality and another unsuspecting person caught frozen on the tracks.

A woman named Juliet, played by Hilary Swank, is looking for an apartment after hitting a rough spot. She works by day as a doctor and after living in her new residence for a short while she's being watched with a privy eye at night. This has a few unsettling moments, as the watcher slowly works themselves up to get close enough to know what the bristles of her toothbrush feel like, as well as the brand of her undergarments. There's no real surprise as to who it is as there's only four main characters shown and three of them quickly seem unlikely. The filmmakers realized about a third of the way in and dropped the whole mystery element in order to escalate the encroaching visits in first person to Juliet's apartment. If it wasn't predictable enough, she eventually starts to suspect something's amiss and decides to take matters into her own hands in order to figure out the truth about what's going bump at night and why she feels so weird in the morning. Though the closer she gets, it causes the person to step out from the shadows for a finale that wraps up somewhat abruptly.

"The Resident" has a formula that's been done before with films that deal with unabated fixations that lead to stalking and voyeurism. This was a common template for slasher films, though this is definitely missing the gore and guts, but intact is the cinematic thrills. This does take it another step further with a few memorable scenes that push things over the top even if it mostly hints at them without actually revealing them head-on in explicit detail. That seems to be the main purpose: to show some suspenseful scenes and to cut and paste characters into scenarios in order to make that happen, as the story itself felt straightforward and ultimately inevitable. This might be effective towards creeping out your squeamish girlfriend, as it gives paranoid thought to sleeping alone and putting blind trust into strangers, otherwise there's not a whole lot of substance here to mine or to come back to for replay value.

Rating: 5/10

Director: Antti Jokinen
Stars: Hilary Swank, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Christopher Lee
Link: IMDB

Ticking Clock (2011)

Second chances

Lewis Hicks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is a boozing reporter who took for granted his ex spouse as well as his son who he misses weekend visits with because he's always onto the next biggest scoop. If his personal relationships could hit rock bottom any further, his current girlfriend ends up dead at the hands of a serial killer. Hicks shows up at her place after the fact but chases down the culprit and gets knocked out in an alleyway. He finds a diary with names and dates for more killings to come. The lead detective investigating the case has something against him from a slate in a past story and won't listen to what he's telling him. Now Hicks feels it's his obligation to take on the investigation himself for redemption in his own life. The victims all have in common a troubled little boy at an orphanage who had more things happen to him at an early age than most can call claim to. Hicks starts to get too close and as a result the evidence starts to point to him instead of the real killer who always slips in and out without anyone else seeing. From then on out it turns into a cat and mouse game of good vs evil before more victims' lives are claimed.

The "big" twist in "Ticking Clock" is more related to science fiction than an action or thriller, and causes you to suspend your disbelief and except the facts at face value. This direct-to-video feature comes across like a scraped episode for "Millennium," with a similar, strange tone of drama and horror, where everything is baked in shadows, panned to get atmosphere, time stamped and generates tragic piano pieces to build mood. Though a share of the dialogue doesn't feel practiced, the suspense feels like false theatrics and the "acting" feels done on the first or second take, not to mention it has sentiment slipped in and can feel melodramatic without chemistry of the cast to back that up. This also attempts to be snide and sarcastic but the interaction between the actors can feel just as forced at times. The most important aspects this picture asks are: Is someone really able to get a second chance out of life? Is it possible to correct mistakes in the past? Is one able to put right what went wrong? Though, correcting one thing can cause another to have to be adjusted and so on until things are a mess all over again. Though answering those questions can be done without having to jump through hoops to get there by watching a film that feels quickly put together. Here's another question: If the filmmakers don't have both their feet in this, then how can they expect the viewer to?

Rating: 4/10

From Black to Red recommends instead: "The Chaser." This Korean thriller comes with credible performances when a pimp has to search out someone killing his call girls.

Director: Ernie Barbarash (Cube Zero, Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming, They Wait)
Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Neal McDonough
Link: IMDB

Notable gore scene:

Drive Angry (2011)

A raunchy world where anything and everything goes

This is a modern day grindhouse-like movie, though it doesn't feel as innocent as it would have in the '70s when those films where fresh and pushing brand new limits, not to mention didn't have an over-blown budget where they had to instead get creative with what they had. It ultimately made those films what they were, flaws and all, and it's just one way of how unappreciative cult films were born. Flashy, exaggerated, crude, "Drive Angry" has an ensemble cast where everyone is a bad guy, cops and waitresses included, not to mention there's muscle cars and plenty of violence and sleaze to mop the floor with...and then some.

A gun-toting man named Milton (Cage) is shown in a heated car chase with two shady guys in Colorado. He demands info to get a baby back after a satanic cult leader with a bad southern drawl named Jonah King (Billy Burke) snatched it for a coming sacrifice. After dealing with the two men, he heads over on a state by state hunt to find where they're keeping the infant. A small town bombshell of a waitress named Piper (Amber Heard) quits her job and picks up Milton on the way out. After boyfriend trouble, a fight breaks out and Milton gives a helping hand to the young, bloody-lipped vixen and they take off in her now ex's '69 Charger. From then on out she feels like a strategy to the script instead of an authentic person to either be self-sacrificing when need be, eye-candy when things lose steam and then force sympathy to make a small stab at being a well-rounded picture if it ever was one.

William Fichtner, from "Prison Break," puts on a decent and memorable performance as a more eccentric and supernatural suit and tie than the mentioned called "The Accountant" who sniffs the air and uses superhuman strength to track Milton. He flashes an imaginary FBI badge and uses hypnosis on the local police for their resources to find the fugitives. The movie does whatever it wants, where it wants, when it wants, whether that be violence, nudity, cursing, chases, stunts, out of place jokes or just general horniness with all included no matter the context. Part of this is fun but where it loses its replay value is practically every scene is made to be an exception to the rule and instead of breaking boundaries it feels far too easy due to being robbed of any consequence or challenge. Troma Entertainment has been pumping out movies like "The Toxic Avenger" for the last couple decades in a similar vein, though where those felt like down-in-the-gutter "clever trash" with unwashable offense and grime dripping all over it, this feels like a slicker and more spoiled Hollywood version, one where you know they're well-known, well-paid actors performing in front of expensively laid out sets that include blue screens and state-of-the-art CGI.

Nick Cage goes through the motions, puts on another bad toupee and never once flinches. I could see if he's going for a Clint Eastwood style with a no nonsense mission ahead of him to rescue the baby and head back, though he constantly stops to smell the roses with various indulgences but hardly thinks or gets surprised when a problem arises. Example: drinking liquor from the bottle, loudly screwing, while still wearing his cool shades and clothing, and then popping caps into random guys walking through the door while never "dismounting" in perfect sequence and timing, not to mention without being seriously scathed. Funny? I guess. Possible? Might as well give him wings and the power to breath fire while they're at it because there's nothing he can't do. This is indeed loaded with fast-flying action scenes, gory violence and vulgarities--which is a plus because it's getting away with more for a general audience theater movie compared to ten years ago--though the devil-worshippin' baby snatchers seem like old SNES archetypes with no purpose other than to be killed, while the main character has unlimited lives and never a facial expression worth remembering.

"Drive Angry" feels like the writers couldn't resist including anything they felt like, and even when they tried to set up a worked out scene or introduce a new character it seemed all too convenient and preplanned just to set up another. This makes everything so consistently simple and it becomes impossible to forget that you're watching a movie to momentarily escape into. Even the antihero persona Eastwood made infamous included some reserve and measurement so it would be easier to accept an over-the-top scene because he studies and does nothing but waits for it--this just seems like an adult Looney Tunes adventure. Imaginative, yes, but what the viewer is presented with--a marketable and forced "cult classic" like "Death Proof" and "Machete"--wasn't able to bottle all those free-floating ideas to make them worth reliving over again.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Patrick Lussier (Dracula 2000, White Noise 2, My Bloody Valentine)
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke
Link: IMDB


Facts from the Black and Red:

- In its day, the '69 Dodge Charger R/T had a factory price of close to $3,600.

- On November 18, 1978, 918 people directly and indirectly involved with the Peoples Temple religious cult died at Jonestown located in Guyana, making it the largest single loss of American civilian life outside of a natural disaster at that point.

The Inheritance (2011)

Their heritage awaits

Ever fancy you were born into a wealthy and successful family: the lazy wish where you wouldn't have to struggle and things are easily lined up? "The Inheritance" is a story that puts a twist on that pipe dream by mixing aspects of ancestry, race, religion, folklore and the supernatural all together into a boiling cauldron of horror and drama with a little bit of humor about scary movies and black stereotypes. This is an original tale that has enough of its own to get by though some homage is given, such as "The Evil Dead" with the cabin in the woods and occult manuscript, "Candyman" with a slave having an injustice but gaining a vengeful upperhand, and "The Wicker Man" with sacrifices for the benefit of the tribe or family.

Five cousins--two woman, three men--from rich, black families dating back to the 1800s meet at an isolated house during a snow storm for a reunion, along with--get this--a "token" white couple that one of the cousins used for a ride. Uncle Melvin (Keith David) left a note that he'll be there tomorrow but left alcohol and ganja behind to have a good time with in his absence. Everybody uses the substances to get loosened up by having fun and games until the prospect of money is brought up for their possible inheritance. Attempting to get the party back on track, one of them picks up a hand drum and rhythmically plays it, while another dances and someone else reads from an ancient looking book found next to it. Suddenly the last words read, "The flesh is the strength," appear on the outside window and the woman dancing freaks when she claims someone was there.

After sleeping off what was thought of as a bad trip, the elders arrive for the "family reunion," which is more like a traditional ceremony with a tale of how the relatives came to prominence. A flashback is shown during the time of slavery in the US with a man named Chakabazz who mysteriously arrived alone on a ship with crew missing. They attempted to lynch him but he survived. Something like a Wong Fei-hung with a dark side, he turns out to be a witch doctor who can help the desperate black community stand up against the intolerant white man and slave owners, help them attain their freedom, as well as give them wealth and prosperity, but all at an evil cost. Because nothing's free, right? Chakabazz accumulates followers who want in and requires the best and brightest of the people's children for a blood sacrifice, and for each generation after to maintain the riches they have to spill more of their own kin's blood. All of this is told to the young cousins who don't take it seriously until more things go awry and get spooky. Though if everything the elders said were true, it makes you wonder why they were even told at all since they're more than old enough to know better and fight back.

This is a story where money is the root of all evil: a young generation who wants a hand out and doesn't entirely care about family relations, and then an older generation that achieves wealth and success but at a price of sacrifices of their own blood relatives. Not really a win-win situation. The story is somewhat confusing at times, which interrupts the experience and pacing. It's mentioned that the current elders were once chosen themselves but it's skips over why they're possessed to the point of enjoying being sadistic--maniacal laughter and all--rather than doing it out of necessity. Though apart from the greed aspect, what's the message or the relating factor? Don't accept anything such as a handout you didn't work for? Don't meet at an isolated location during a storm? Don't trust your distant relatives, stick closer with your intermediate ones? Overall, this just seemed like it wanted to rush through the ground rules with the main intention of showing a bloodbath, except for such an oppressive horror tale you can minus the copious blood as killings are done off screen and there's very little gore.

Eventually this starts to feel padded with filler that goes into a repetitious circle: the elders and these strange straw-henchmen-like things appearing and disappearing and the cousins running back and forth to get away makes you feel like you're being strung along instead of providing answers or even substantial action. It doesn't even delve into if unreasonable traditions should be broken since they made more sense in slave days, or adequately show that these young folks have any growth, hope or strength of character instead of having them fumble around and strike lucky. It feels like the filmmakers bit off more than they could chew and got too far ahead of themselves, even with the ending feeling like a cop out and not as developed from previously having so much time invested in the cousin characters.

Even with everything said, "The Inheritance" had potential, as the performances weren't half bad, the music was well-timed out to lend some feeling, some specific scenes were indeed effective and somewhat creative, and with the budget considered this didn't feel entirely cheap. Though the script, continuity and pacing left some things to be desired. Multiple genres are ambitiously tackled and sometimes it's hard to know what the filmmakers want to portray or make you feel as a viewer. Not to mention random things happen at random times, which can make you scratch your head rather than grab your heart as the suspense and scares can feel somewhat forced at times. Though this does have a few that work more on being uncomfortable than frightening.

Rating: 4/10

Stars: Keith David, Rochelle Aytes, Golden Brooks, D.B. Woodside, Lanre Idewu
Link: IMDB


Historical questions from the Black and Red (Answers below, don't cheat!):

1. Which side proved victorious in the American Civil War? (Extra: Which year did it end?)
2. How many states made up the Confederacy and how many the Union?
3. Who put a cap in President Abraham Lincoln? (Extra: At which destination?)
4. Which ocean provided the slave trade?
5. Which amendment abolished slavery?




Answers:
1. Confederacy, jk. The Union/North. 1865.
2. 11. 25.
3. John Wilkes Booth. Ford's Theatre.
4. Atlantic.
5. 13th.