Home Invasion Horror: Kidnapped VS. You're Next

     VS.  

The thought of having intruders interrupt your normal day to day life in your home is a pretty disturbing and frightening situation. Often times you assume that you are safe in a home because you have alarm systems, cameras, neighborhood watch and even an aggressive watchdog.  These two movies will show just how wrong you are..

  

NOT exactly your ideal watchdogs.

KIDNAPPED: 2010: Horror:  Kidnapped, which was originally released as Sequestrados in Spain, is an interesting movie because it uses some distinctive use of camera angles and some slick editing to keep the story of a family invaded by thieves interesting.  The premise is simple, as it is in the other movie(s) in this comparison, so it helps to have a director infuse some original elements in it.  


Don't look know, its an home invasion movie.

The home invasion premise is a fairly common one and I had no problem finding at least three movies that fit this comparison. The aspects that end up separating these movies are the invaders and whatever type of personalities or unique factors make them memorable, their reasons for the invasion, and how the family either conquers them or is conquered.  Kidnapped, while it had some interesting interactions between the kidnappers and the family, really didn't give you a solid reason to hate the invaders. Also they were very bland and unassuming.  If you're going to make an invasion movie, at least give the invaders some personality. Black ski masks just do it for me.  

  
Backpacks and black ski masks just don't cut it for interesting kidnappers.

The other movies you will see in this comparison excel in this category, while Kidnapped  fails.  This has huge ramifications on the movie with regard to the overall image and also whether or not you care if they kidnappers are killed or not.  It goes so far to make the kidnappers generic as to call them Head Thief, Strong Thief, Young Thief etc.  That being said, the movie did take a violent turn in many areas which did give it some substance.  It also displayed some cool killing scenes.


Some of the killing scenes in Kidnapped  were pretty impressive.

Another element in these movies is whether or not you associate with the family that is being kidnapped and want them to beat the kidnappers or kill them.  This is one of the most important parts and if not given proper attention, the movie can lack some substance and cause the viewer to lose interest.  Kidnapped gave you adequate amounts of interaction of the family before the invasion, so you get to know the people before the movie starts moving.  The only problem in this movie, is you tend to dislike the family.  In this sense you actually want the thieves to win.


You better want us to win, otherwise we'll come to get you!

Regarding pace and length of the movie, this movie was a little on the long side, but after awhile, the director made clever use of split screen to show two pieces of action simultaneously taken place. At first this seemed a little distracting, but then it actually was effective and I caught myself wondering how this could have been done without two screens.


Kidnapped used dual screen shots to convey more action at the same time.

The music was average in this movie and I felt that it could have given some of the scenes more of an impact.  When it came to the ending, was surprising and I won't give it away.  I felt the ending was one of the better parts in the movie and had one of the only twists in the movie, although it's hard to define it exactly as a twist.  It's just a hard ending to stomach:  64%

Kidnapped Trailer



YOU'RE NEXT:  2013:  Horror:  There were some elements in You're Next that actually make it humorous in many ways. Sometimes horror movies can take this sort of angle, especially slasher movies because the action that takes place is so over the top that it defies logic and just becomes a caricature of itself.  Don't think that this movie is scary.  It had some pretty eerie and dreadful aspects of it.  Sometimes Adam Wingard just infused some comedy in the movie for balance.  An example of this is when one of the killers sits down next to one of his victims, and admires his word while listening to music.  


Some scenes in Your Next are actually pretty amusing.

The characters in this movie are much more interesting, at least for most of the movie, because they wear masks.  A simple unifying element like this, that is more than just ski masks, can have a huge impact on your view of the killers and on their overall efficacy in making the movie scary.  The irony of being barnyard animals while killing is what makes the masks great.  


The masks that the killers wore made the killing more interesting .

The actual family that is invaded is developed somewhat and the viewer definitely has ample time to get to know them and since there are at least 8 people, the death count is more numerous than in Kidnapped.  This gives the movie much more innate ability to show more killing and murders, which in a horror movie is like currency.  In addition, some characters are genuinely annoying and it's easy to hope that "so and so" gets it before "so and so".

 
Some of the characters in You're Next just beg to be killed.

In addition, the use of the "You're Next" when characters are killed was a pretty good touch and gives the movie a great idea that you can encapsulate the movie by.  It gives it character.  In home invasion movies, character is important, I've said.  Without that, these movies can simply fall into the generic killer/ slasher film.


The lead female character was intense and a huge reason to like this movie.

One of the elements in Kidnapped and You're Next  that are similar is that they both had strong female roles.  The daughter in Kidnapped goes ape shit on one the thieves, crushing his skill repeated with a blunt object.  The female role Erin in You're Next takes on a Rambo sort of function and kills more of the killers than the killers kill people.  She was nothing sort of awesome.  Her accent was also pretty exotic.  She is a huge reason to like this movie and want to watch it again.  


Erin contemplates who the next victim will be.

I liked this movie and it will be a movie I see again because it flowed well and I would want to watch it with someone that hasn't. The music was there but almost indistinguishable and the scares in the movie weren't distinctive, but made me jump a few times, especially with the bed scene.  That was one of my favorite parts in the movie and a high water mark overall.


The bed scene was excellent and gory.

This is a movie I would recommend but don't expect it to change the way you think of horror.  If you are in the mood for a movie that has some comedy elements, violence, and a strong female role to rile your interests as well as your libido, watch You're Next.  It was an enjoyable, easy to watch and enjoy horror movie:  72%

You're Next Trailer

BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS


TORMENT: 2013: Horror:  Did I mention that the home invasion genre is jam packed full of movies?  Another movie I just recently watched is Torment which takes the story a step further by infusing some psychological elements that distinguish this from the other two movies reviewed.  This ultimately makes it the better of the three and I will explain why.


Torment had some psychological elements that differentiated it from the previous two.
No it's not Deadmau5, maybe after a long set..

The character development in Torment was probably the weakest element at first glance, but as the movie progresses, it fills in the gaps, or should I say kills in the gaps.  It quickly jumps into the invasion scenario and gives you very little chance to get acquainted. This actually helps the movie because it makes the pacing very smooth.  It also gives it a sense of urgency.


Torment doesn't waste any time getting to the killing.

This movie also gives the killers personality and unifies them with the masks of the little boys stuffed animals.  This was a great touch and it was funny how similar it was to the masks in You're Next. The killers themselves had traits which were divulged to the viewer through their actions and their interactions with the family.  They function as a cohesive team and inspire dread and terror more effectively than the two previous movies.


The killers in Torment were the scariest of all the movies reviewed.

Not only were they the scariest, but they had the most twisted and demented reasons for kidnapping the family.  I won't give too much away from the movie, but the scene where the eldest killer is questioning the father of the family was both a highlight as well as the scariest part of the movie.  


The scene in which the father is questioned is very unsettling.

I do have to mention that the music resembled the theme from Halloween.  I didn't like that at all... It's hard to go into the movie much more without giving it away.  This is a movie I recommend, perhaps the most of the three. The ending was a little suspect, but overall it scores higher than the previous three, although it was close to the overall score of You're Next:  74%

Torment Trailer


Not a very cuddly character is it?

Some Thoughts on Dreams and Nightmares

Lately I have been paying close attention to my dreams, many of which have been nightmares due to the fact that I made a plan to watch horror movies exclusively for the next two months, every night, in preparation for Halloween and beyond.  So far it's been over a week non stop!  It's been awesome!



Last year, I did the same thing and binged on horror movies for 3 months straight until I literally couldn't do it anymore.  Not only were they ruining my subsequent movie watching, but they were also effecting me psychologically, which was in essence the purpose of the "experiment".  Too much of a good thing is detrimental so I stopped...for awhile.


Freddy came to visit often, but in other forms..

Never one to shy away from horror movies, I often seek them out as they are my favorite genre of movies.  Last year, I wanted to see how they would affect my dreams if I only watched them, devoid of any other types of movies, television shows, Netflix movies, etc.  It definitely did have an impact.



Some people have a hard time falling asleep and getting the full REM experience where your mind takes over due to lack of physical stimulation and motor response during sleep.  The mind essentially, fills in the gaps.  Some other people simply don't remember their dreams.  Finally, some people dream but haven't mastered the ability to control themselves in the dreams and make them "lucid".



Dreaming is an essential part of self awareness and controlling the way in which you dream is not only possible, but advisable. Anyone can become aware of their own self in a dream but it takes practice. This is the pinnacle of dream weaving and I love it.  Watching horror movies seems to be a catalyst for me because it increases the frequency of dreams, the intensity, and also sparks what I call being "awake" in a dream.



When I say that the binge I undertook last year changed the way I watched movies I mean that the adrenaline that I felt by being scared was hard to match in other movies that weren't in the horror movie genre.  It took me awhile to become engaged in movies again, unless they were excellent movies that I enjoyed or past favorites.  This isn't just an assumption, it is a fact (for me) because I put my self through a 3 month test period.  I was the guinea pig. Over 70% of my dreams were nightmares and over 60% of the time I had "control" in them and they were lucid.  Is it easier to make a nightmare a lucid dream because it frightens the dreamer?



Once I began to develop the skills to control dreams, they became more enjoyable, especially nightmares.  I was the doing the chasing, not the other way around. I was in control and could do what I wanted to do.  They were my escape and I loved them. 

 
Becoming the aggressor in nightmares is a thrilling experience, provided you remember the dream!

Now that I am back to my horror movie binge, I find that my techniques have become more and more fine tuned.  I have also researched some supplements that enhance this ability.  Some, known as nootropics, act to stimulate portions in the brain that govern sleep, length of sleep, deepness of sleep and also enhance visuals (dreaming in color) and almost guarantee the recall of dreams. After all, what good is a dream if you can't remember it?  



Recalling dreams is the first step to controlling them.  Once you remember them, you can think back on them and if you fall asleep immediately after waking from that dream, you can "coax" your brain into returning into that dream by focusing on it while you fall back asleep.  This period between sleep and waking is a great way to initiate a previous dream and start controlling it, making it lucid.  




My favorite supplements are Alpha Lipoic Acid, Ashawanda Root, Valerian Root, Melatonin, Magnesium, 5-HTP, Skull Cap, Passion Flower, Lemon Balm, Tryptophan, Huperzine A, and Vinpocetine. I often include vitamin B6 because it aids in their absorption in the blood brain barrier.  GABA also works well, but it is not known if it passes the BBB.  All of these are safe but check with your doctor before trying these.  In some cases, 80% of them are in one supplement, but they are hard to find and especially hard to find them with the quality, all natural ingredients listed above.  These are two that are pretty good, but you still need to supplement with others.  



Note, this is not an advertisement, I get nothing for mentioning these brand.  Nor do I care if anyone buys them.  I like them and they work for me.  I use these instead of hard pharmaceutical brands that are habit forming and make you essentially a zombie in sleep, unable to remember dreams, let alone control lucid ones. Again, always check with your doctor to make sure that there are no interactions.  Try these instead of Ambien, which is habit forming and has caused people to wake drowsy and even get into car accidents since they are still asleep while awake!  I'd rather not sleep than have that issue.

So in your next dream, try to take control.  It will enhance your life in many ways and could perhaps even provide wisdom and knowledge that you can use in your real life!



BECOME SELF AWARE THROUGH DREAMS.