Jess: I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. Maybe it was the lack of mainstream horror flicks this year, that the last one was trash, or that I still have a soft spot for the original but I am definitely a fan of this fifth installment. It actually proved to me in some ways that this story that has been redone over and over without basically any attempt to make it new could actually be taken in a fresh direction. I loved how intricately set up each death was, bringing back to form how the first few FD films built tension which was basically abandoned in the 4th one.
This movie just was all around good fun that brought in a few really exciting ideas, especially to the mythology. As far as performances go Nicholas D’Agosto (Heroes, Fired Up) and Emma Bell (The Walking Dead, Frozen) play the staple FD couple who steer us through the sequence of deaths as they try to stop them, and just give enough for you to sort of care about them–definitely not a strong case for their talent. David Koechner was a great asset to the film, responsible for most of the comedic bits. A person to watch is Miles Fisher who had a bit of a spark to me (and also seems to have a great sense of humor, i.e. A and B) and I’m interested to see what roles he might get from here.
I don’t want to make this film out to be more than what it is. It definitely isn’t scary (but were any of the FD films really?) but its got the gory excitement and entertainment to place itself at my favorite sequel (and maybe the best overall) in the series. As far as 3D goes, if you’re into that it’s kind of fun but otherwise don’t bother paying the extra cost.
