I am a sucker for these things. I will agree that this is the worst of the series, I will agree that this doesn't add any new scares or ideas to the franchise (despite a kind-of cool use of the Xbox Kinect motion sensor), I'll even agree that there are some pointless characters and scenes littered throughout, but I still thoroughly enjoyed myself. Sue me. Something about the overall aesthetic of these films just make me excited deep down inside, even when I know full well what to expect from the very beginning.
What held this together for me were the main leads (two young-ins, Kathryn Newton and Matt Shively). Their chemistry together felt pretty real to me and they were as likable a teenage couple as I've seen in any horror film. I also thought the evil socks-and-sandal-wearing harbinger of death known as Robbie (a 7ish year old boy named Brady Allen) was appropriately creepy and weird. I think as long as Paramount is milking this series for all its worth, Catfish helmers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman know what they're doing. If you're looking for a solidly made jump-scare flick for your Halloween season pleasure, I might recommend this.
(Am I crazy? All the reviews are trashing this!)
Rating: B-
On paper this sounds like a custom-made order for me. The incredibly Irish playwright responsible for 2008's In Bruges (one of my favorite films of that year) would be writing/directing a film starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, and Woody Harrelson? Where do I sign up? Unfortunately, despite what its title would suggest, this is less the Pulp Fiction-inspired cool-fest that In Bruges was and more a drab, somewhat pretentious reflection on Hollywood movies. The film follows Colin Farrell's character, an aspiring screenwriter, as he attempts to write a screenplay entitled "Seven Psychopaths." His friend, played by Sam Rockwell, is a thief who steals dogs for the reward money. But then he happens to steal a dog belonging to a crazy gangster (Harrelson). Rockwell is hell bent on helping Farrell write his screenplay, and antics ensue when it turns out he's got the same twinkle of crazy in his eyes as the people they run into.
I felt my consciousness drop in and out during this movie. I couldn't help it, I just found this offbeat flick to be boring. The dialogue was so unrealistic and "meta" I couldn't take it. I really love the main cast of this film, and there was a lot of potential with this material, but I guess Martin McDonagh decided to put his intellectual scarf on and make a piece of pretentious bullshit that only a playwright could deliver.
Rating: D
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