Better Late Then Never

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Another European horror film, very low budget. This is one of those "found-footage" movies that, unfortunately, have been used a lot by amateur directors, with little money for great productions and good cameras. The result is another suffering film, with a deeply mediocre cinematography. Is it necessary to shake so much? Okay, the movie is "found-footage", but we still have to be able to figure out something about what's being "filmed" (I put quotation marks because we cannot really call it filming), did you know that? The plot is basic: two idiot Americans (always the Americans) are vacationing in Barcelona, in search of the normal things that American teens want to find in Europe: a lot of cheap fun, girls willing to get laid easily, loud music and other amusements for Americans with an IQ below 40. But what looked like a lucky night with two naughty girls will end badly, when a bloodthirsty ghost appears to shred the whole world.The movie takes a while to get where the action really starts and this is annoying, but then we end up missing that, because the rest of the film is a succession of racing, falling, bleeding... all mixed with the usual sound attempts to scare the audience and a lot of fake blood splashing around. Unfortunately, when the film begins with these things, we're already so bored and so tired of these two idiots that we just want them to die quickly for the movie to end.

I detest movies which start with a 3-minute segment showing a guy (or gal) vomiting into a toilet bowl. I detest movies which feature two thoroughly worthless and unlikable nerds, one of whom looks like a reject from the Baja Marimba Band AND Zapata's outlaw band, while the other looks just like an ordinary nerd. I detest movies which utilise the shaky-cam, hand-held "technique". No, it is NOT edgy, avant-garde; the word is that this film was shot using an i-Phone. I detest movies which are shot mainly in near-dark. I detest movies in which the fake blood LOOKS like poor-quality fake blood or ketchup. I detest this movie. Truly, I cannot think of anything positive to say about it; it is an hour and a half of boring, infuriating nonsense, with "actors" who need to go back to their day jobs. There is no suspense, no creativity, no indication of any cinematic talent. Truly, the movie stinks. Out loud.

The story is a tightly woven blend of American horrors abroad and urban legend that mixes xenophobia with a baser celebration of the macabre surrounding ghost girl hook-ups that has evolved from the modern urban legend field. Although I wrestled with the film's framing around the found footage style to tell this pretty cool story, I succumbed to the fact that it is that basic irritant I have with pretty much all found footage films-"would, given the circumstances of such a horrific series of events, would a person realistically continue to hold on to the camera to continue videoing the events?" Especially when the story unfolds chronologically without breaks. Aside from the "found footage" issue I have, generally, I enjoyed many aspects of "Hooked Up". I found the acting to be believable, the premise plausible, and the emotion genuine. There are a few moments when the dialog isn't delivered quite as convincingly as I am sure the director and story hopes for, but for the most part the drama, suspense and energy is alive in "Hooked Up". There isn't much lull in the excitement or high drama here, every scene just amplifies the next as far as character drama. It is a cool, thrilling story and even in found footage it unfolds chillingly. The special effects in "Hooked Up" are pretty tight as well, the blood and gore looked realistic enough. The death and violence are visceral and quality. The cinematography ran the expectant gambit of found footage gimmicks, First Person POV, shaky, shadowy scenes, quirky angles and confusing scenes that have obscured views with sudden thrills. Some times it works and sometimes it doesn't. Luckily enough of the scenes work to create the intended nightmare sequences with enough energy to complete the story arc. Overall, "Hooked Up" just passes enough to be a cool Eurotrip horror, but not enough to be a must see. Plus the ending was really hokey and somewhat cliché. For found footage/paranormal fans this is an okay flick, for a wider horror fan base, "Hooked Up" doesn't really offer much that hasn't been seen and done before.

From producer Jaume Collet-Serra (NON-STOP) comes a suspenseful and gory contribution to the found footage genre. Filmed entirely with a iPhone tells HOOCKED UP the story of two US- guy how travel to Barcelona to get laid. After pick up to beautiful girls they go to a abandon house to have some fun. The fun turns into a bloody rampaged when one of the girls becomes a rabid demon. What follows is 60 Minutes of pure mayhem including some high class moments of suspense and gore. Director Newbie Pablo Larcuen knows exactly what he is doing. He delivers a straight forward horror hit in the vein of REC, but much MUCH better. With no doubt HOOCEKD UP is big fun not only for found footage lovers – yeah, It's true this movie is a must see for every horror fan.