Spying on Evil! Closed Circuit Extreme review!

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Daniele and Claudia suspect their missing friend Francesca is dead and was at the hands of a predator named David De Santis. Daniele, being an expert at audio and video electronics, and Claudia set up spy equipment inside De Santis’s home while at work. But when the two try to retrieve the recordings, trouble finds them just as it found Francesca and there is nowhere to hide in the same abode.
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First off, I don’t believe that Giorgio Amato film deservers a low rating on IMDB.com. Sure, there are a few flaws with the film that can’t go ignored, but no one can deny the realism of the story. An average man living an average life trapping unsuspecting young women in his average home for his own sexual and disgusting kicks of rape and murder. Sounds like something we hear about every year. For example, the Cleveland man who locked and chained up three young women for years and did ungodly things to them.
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“Closed Circuit Extreme” is shot as court evidence which is all find and dandy, but if the “video evidence” is suppose to give the film a realistic, creepy feel then why put in character profile pop-ups in during a freeze frame of each character? There couldn’t be more invented ways to explain who these people were and why they’re there? I Like the idea that the cameras were motioned activated. This eliminates the inactivity and any dull moments in a life of a serial killer. Who wants to see a guy sit on his couch and scratch his ass for five hours?
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Some of the character decisions were poor to give the film less credibility to the characters (such as Claudia’s decision to stay in the house after being discovered), but doesn’t necessarily take away from the story because suspense has been achieved in a film like this. Veteran Italian actor Stefano Fregni gives a chilling performance as serial killer De Santis. Lonely, child-like, over weight describes most of how we experience serial killers, but De Santis is smart and that makes for a dangerous character. No doubt was revealed by Fergni that he can put us into the life of a disturbed individual.
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Lastly, the Rome set film is majority all in English. Was Amato’s film targeting American audiences? Perhaps. I find that the film’s release is very timely with the coinciding information that has revealed the identity of England’s Jack the Ripper. That could be a good selling point for the film, maybe? To get back on topic – I rather have a film set in Rome and speak the native language or else the film loses some authenticity.

“Closed Circuit Extreme” lives up to it’s moniker of being extreme. If you’re not keen on kidnapping, rape, and gruesome axe wielding murder of young beautiful women, then this is certainly not your movie. If all that stuff is your kind of thing, then you’re a sick son of a bitch and this will suit you well!

Kevin and the Evil Cult! The Following (Eps 8 review)

About time we have a more passionate episode making us care about characters who have been dormant for too long. Perhaps the anticipation came to the edge of the boiling point and finally spilled over unto the flame. Will this be the turning point for the characters? I hope so – fuck! I’m tired of Ryan Hardy chasing the tail of his nemesis. I’m tired of Weston being a geeky waste of space. I’m tired of Joe Carroll speaking in riddles. In this episode, Ryan gives respect, Weston is strong, and Carroll has ultimate power or mind control however you would like to label it.

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Also, the refreshing part about the episode is how the characters’ roles have reversed. Carroll is out and free with a hoard of acolytes to do anything for him even kill themselves – devotion that is almost non-existant in today’s world unfortunately. Ryan feels constrained by his new boss, Agent “Asshole,” and is stuck within the confines of the law but wants to break free by beating down the captures acolytes.

Of course, I was wrong about who Rodrigo turned out to be with Rodrigo being a man and not the super cute cougar Agent Debra Parker. Rodrigo turns out to be a better character, but a character we have not seen before. However, we can understand where Rodrigo pulls his influence and how Rodrigo became a part of Carroll’s crew. Carroll isn’t the only power house character to have a devotee; Ryan Hardy has Weston who was kidnapped, beaten, and stab to protect a very important secret on the behalf of Hardy. Weston has finally earned Hardy’s long becoming respect.

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I’m certainly looking forward to the next episode to see how the characters unfold and to see who my be the next surprised acolyte, but I have a hunch, and I’ll probably be wrong again like I was with Rodrigo, that there might be a friend within the Carroll following. Stay tuned.

Kevin Bacon and the Evil Cult! The Following (Episode 5 review!)

Come the hell on FOX! The first four episodes were great setting up characters and deploying a whole game constructed by the Poe inspired killer Joe Carroll, but the fifth episode was stagnate and boring that I nearly wanted to drop the show like a bad habit. I was on the edge every week wanting to know what kind of bizarre turn the show will take, but with episode five, I waited and waited and waited. Deceived we were! Subjected to soap opera drama and given less blood than a PG horror movie. Where was the edge? Where was the thrill?

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Hell, even Kevin Bacon’s character Ryan Hardy made some non-sense choices. The show begins to feel forced and I worry about the writing and where the show might be heading. What might have redeeming factor in me wanting to see the next episode was the finale of episode five where Hardy is captured by the Emma, Paul, and Jacob – the twisted threesome. Kevin Bacon gave off some interesting lines such as if he gets near me, “I’ll break his spine.” Hardy holds his ground and I like a little feistiness!

Other than that little taste of aggression, episode five seemed a bit tamed and lacked grit that has been instilled in the series from the beginning. The teasing of murder, the implied death, and the roundabout way of explaining to us how great their exploits had give them were painstakingly aggravating. Please FOX, Please – lets be a bit more risque next week!