 Thanks for checking out this movie review video did one of these last time was the return of the living dead and that was for Uncle Pete subscriber uncle Pete this one's not actually for any subscriber Nobody put anything on there that they really wanted and it's a subscriber But just to remind you all if you have a movie you really would like me to review it doesn't have to be horror But if I'm just picking I'm gonna do horror, but you can throw something else out there I like all genres so just comment down there and you have to be a subscriber So just go ahead and hit the subscribe up there even if you're not gonna suggest a movie Please hit the subscribe helps out a lot for me. It takes you like one second painless Anyway, so this is one I just wanted to do because it's a movie I've been wanting to re-watch and it is a film called the loved ones. This is an Australian film from 2009 I have my notes here Just gonna go over these So 2009 film the first time I saw it I remember being pretty impressed with it because I didn't know a whole lot going into it except what's on the cover of the at that time DVD It does have a blue or blu-ray release at this point. I do believe so Written and directed by Sean Byrne. This guy also did the film Devil's Candy, which is I don't know if it still is But at least was on Netflix so check right now and see if it's on there I haven't seen it. I've actually heard really good things about Devil's Candy So I have been meaning to check it out, especially because this guy did the loved ones. I enjoy the loved ones. So yeah The budget for this film was actually four million dollars in Australia. I mean, obviously it's converted Australian box office this film made two hundred and fifty four thousand one hundred and seventy dollars So obviously it lost big time now That doesn't necessarily mean that this was a bad film though Or that it's not gonna gather any sort of following because as we all know there are films all the time that bomb But then get a cult following, you know, not long after they come out theaters but what's more common is many years after they come out of theaters and people kind of had to have time to Watch it get get the word out there a lot of word of mouth goes on So then you start to get the cult followings going on then This one I know a lot of people within the horror community when you bring this film up if they've seen it or like Oh, man, I really love the loved ones. So I haven't heard anyone who's like Oh, I saw that and I didn't like it. So this one's one of those films that didn't do well in the box office But was it has really picked up steam sense So originally this film when it was sent to the rating sent to the rating board in Australia It was going to be given an R 18 plus Which I guess is there kind of like our rating 18 and over it was gonna get an R 18 plus but it ended up being lowered to an MA 15 plus rating and That was because of an appeal that Sean Burn and the others on the film made to the to that review board and they ended up adding some kind of comedic stuff to the film and For that reason the board said okay fine You can get a lower rating on it because they then felt like the comedic stuff kind of took a lot of the what did they say? It said it mitigated aspects of the violence basically that it was a sadistic film And when you put that kind of comedic stuff in it lightens it a little bit doesn't make it as intense as sadistic Which I agree with and honestly I really do like the kind of comedic stuff because it it feels like it gives you a break From the intensity because it is an intense film This film actually Like I was saying, you know cult following on rotten tomatoes It is number 37 on the rotten tomatoes all-time top-rated horror movie list So they have a top 100 and it is number 37 the loved ones so Speaks to how good it is or at least how good people think it is Myself included. I do enjoy it. So For me oh Spoilers just so you know before I go any further there will be spoilers for this film If you haven't seen it stop go watch it come back. Anyway What I love about this film is how the main character of Brent Goes through so much, you know the beginning of the film is him losing his father in a car accident a car accident that you find out later was indirectly caused by Lola the main villain of the film and That's also interesting because because not only is it about his Emotional pain versus his physical pain, but it's also about the The fact that Lola causes all of it, you know He doesn't understand that in the beginning like his father's dead because of what Lola was doing But he ends up understanding that later and that kind of like spurs him further even more for revenge And one of the really interesting things too about the emotional versus the physical pain in this film is that it really seems like at least the way Brent's character was written and acted that when it comes to the emotional pain He can't get over it and it kind of feels like He's willing to give up and he's going to give up and he kind of like wants to die because he's so apathetic about life and that's kind of how he goes into his encounter with Lola is He's resilient, but he's also kind of not so much fighting for himself. It's more like resigned to Nothingness in a sense, you know, he's kind of nihilistic at that point, but When he is then dealt this physical pain It's it becomes more of a motivator for him to want to live and then spurred on even further when he basically finds out that It's because of what Lola has been doing that that guy was out on the road He swerved and hit a tree and his you know father ended up dying So that's where he really gets the fight in him and is like I'm not going down And that's where he gets this renewed feeling of I actually want to live So it kind of turns everything around for him But I found it really interesting how it was like the emotional pain was way too much to handle But the physical pain was not and I kind of like that dichotomy within this film. So just saying What is made work, okay, I'm sorry if you end up hearing my cat in the background, she's You know if she's not being paid attention to she goes crazy, but anyway, so One of the things that makes what happens with Brent even worse and makes Lola look even worse is the fact that in the beginning Brent is very much coming to her aid in a sense. He's shielding her really from being from ridicule from people in In the school that they're that they're going to so it kind of paints Brent really quickly as a decent person And kind of like feeling for her and looking out for her feelings So he does reject her, but it's like a very light rejection and it's not mean and he then shields her and she knows this So it makes it even worse later when she's like totally Basically killing him. I mean she it's slowly but you know inflicting all this pain So it just makes her much worse and makes him seem even more sympathetic Within the film. So I like that aspect of it I think the the soundtrack in the beginning really hits the high school teenage feel It was very like lights a lot of the type about mixed with some heavy metal But it kind of hit everything that makes you think like oh teen music, you know It kind of helps set the mood of they're in high school So I talk about the that So Lola and her father obviously their relationship is super messed up So in many ways, she's daddy's girl She's daddy's girl because he will do anything for her But she's daddy's girl in like a sexual way too, which is a whole another aspect to this film That is just like totally creepy and totally nasty, but at the same time Sean Byrne did a really good job in his directing of this of kind of Well writing as well making it making you see the connection between these two characters between Lola and her father and It like at moments. You're like, oh, it's kind of sweet in this moment But it's also terrible and nasty and just awful I don't know it's so weird and I think a lot of that has to do with musical choices Especially the part where she's dancing and she asked her father to dance and she's kind of like oh You know, I've been looking for my prince, but it's always been you it's always been you like the mute that nice Musical backdrop Makes you feel like a nicer emotion than what you really should be feeling there and I like that because it You know, it says to me. It's an awesome film. It's really well done when you can make me feel something I either normally wouldn't or really don't want to and in those case in those cases Well in that case of that film, you don't want to feel that you don't want to be like Oh, this is kind of a sweet moment because you are like that for a split second and then you're just like oh No, no, this is not a sweet moment. This is awful in so many ways. It's terrible And then you realize it's this really nice music. That's making it emotional Really good use of music Sean Byrne really great job on that. So Yeah next thing This film actually ended up coming out towards the end of the torture porn I Guess movement at that point, you know I think the the fifth saw film had just come out at this point. Obviously they went to Seven and then they did jig jigsaw on top of that. So eight total of those But this was towards the end of the torture porn So that being said people were getting a little bit tired of it Which is maybe part of the reason it didn't do all that well in the box office but I think it's still fit for the time because If you're going to do something in the same vein as what's been going on You need to do something different you need to bring something fresh to it And I think this film really brought something fresh to the whole torture porn thing it no one had been doing it from a high school dance aspect and Or a point of view and it's totally original and was really interesting and you know Not only was an original idea, but it was really executed extremely well and on that note the cinematography was outstanding the film looked so good and the directing a lot of the shot choices a lot of the You know movements and how they made the the characters interact with each other Really spot-on and just kind of moved everything forward very very well in my opinion So because it was so different it kind of stood out within the torture porn sub-genre, which is good Great job with acting the pacing was really awesome in this film. I think it was perfect It didn't seem like it was too long didn't seem like it was too short It was pretty much right on it really kept the intensity kind of the whole time. You really didn't know when Lola or her father were gonna do something, you know, they they were On the edge of doing the next thing kind of all the time And I think partially a lot of the more silent portions of the soundtrack really helped with that It made you kind of feel more tense and like what's coming next but also kind of the pacing of how they needed out When the terrible things were done to Brent were so all those things came together and made it You know move very well and keep the tension up the Muffled screaming though the muffled screaming is very effective in this film because it's so unnerving and it's just so scary in a sense You know, he has his vocal cords just totally messed up from that kind of you know Drain cleaner and the other people who were you know being kept there and when you just hear that kind of like Noise I can't do it, but you know if you've seen the film You know hearing that noise is so unnerving and it's you're just it just makes you like oh It's tough. So it was a very effective noise to use for this film. I liked it Obviously we talked about the fact, you know this incest territory thing is just like so messed up But it's not just about the relationship of oh, it's his daughter and it's you know He'd do anything for her plus. There's the sexual thing going on But it's also the aspect of he's teaching her to be him You know, obviously they're doing a lot of the same stuff he's even walking her through like doing the hole in the forehead and You know with a lot of detail as you can see, you know, he's just like oh you do it this way You don't go in too far. You got to make the hole big enough, you know all these things So he's also trying to turn her into him Chloe Please stop. Sorry So she's trying he's trying to turn her into him and it's just it's terrible Sickening really like this is what happens when terrible parents the worst rate the worst kid rearing you could do The pit of the people when it's revealed is kind of I'm not gonna say it's it's not like a left turn What I guess what I want to say is it's a pretty big surprise It's a really crazy reveal because you don't really see that coming like you know that she's done stuff with other guys And you but you don't think that they're still around you assume That they've been killed and buried ditched somewhere But the fact that there's that reveal where you're like they're being kept in like this feral state makes everything even worse It's just like this film with with the actions of the father and Lola just keep getting worse and worse and worse and worse And it just ratchets up the what's at stake here because it's not just about Brent at this point It's about you know, if Brent doesn't stop this then it's gonna keep going on There will be another and then another and another and another and as she gets older. She becomes more capable too Terrible, but good for you know interest in the film This answers the question what happens when you turn someone down who is a Psychopath a a violent psychopath and I think that's probably where Sean Burns started with with his idea the question that popped into his head when he wanted to start writing this film Seems like it was a logical start for it. And I thought that was funny. Oh And in the end of the film, I'm all done with this in the end of the film It's such an amazing shot like that really long shot of the car After Lola's all messed up and she was hit by the car By the Brent was driving and she's like off-screen and then she comes crawling on the screen With a knife like helping herself like crawl on the asphalt and coming for the car basically it just How far back that that shot was set just makes it look so good And I don't know how he would come up with that idea, but it was really awesome It looked really cool and it's just like this kind of creeping dread type moment And I think it played extremely well and all for it So yeah, I mean honestly as you could tell I quite enjoy this film I think it's definitely worth seeing if you Watch this and listen to me and you haven't seen the film I wouldn't say it's totally ruined because you can't convey the intensity through through a movie review You can't convey what the shots are like You know you have to really experience that stuff and this film looks so good They did such a good job the sound the acting the writing directing cinematography just it's all Really well done now that said I don't think it's the most amazing film So I do a rating scale on this out of five stars and you can do halves I would put this at a very solid three and a half. I thought about giving it a four So if I was doing quarters, I would probably do three and three quarters, but I'm not so I feel like more It's it's on the three and a half range But good film definitely recommend people seeing it One thing that was recommended and asked for by subscriber uncle Pete for the last review that I did He's he said hey at the end. Could you give some recommendations? So with these reviews, I want to just give one recommendation and kind of say if you like this film see this so if you enjoyed the loved ones and you could handle all the Intensity all the violence all the torture involved with it I would say try to watch the French extreme film Martyrs do not see the American remake. I haven't seen it. I've heard it's not good though See the original French extreme film Martyrs now That is even further with the violence and the brutality than what the loved one is is so just know that going into it when I first saw that film I Was kind of like this is really over the top brutal and I really hope there's a point to all this Trust me. There is actually a point to all of it. So Pascal log. Yeah, did that film He did an outstanding job, but it's super dark. It's super brutal. So just know that going into it But that is my recommendation based off of this if you like the loved ones check out Martyrs I guess I could do a recommendation of if you didn't like the loved ones. Which what should you see? I would have to go ahead and say if you didn't like the loved ones See something a little bit more on the light side. One of my favorite horror comedies is Tucker and Dale versus evil Go check out that it's got horror to it. It's got gore to it But it's super light and there's a lot of good comedy Tyler LeBine Alan Tudyk in there are amazingly funny and it's really well put together. So Hey, if you like the loved ones you can check that out too. That's a really good film for horror comedy Anyway, thank you everyone for checking this out Please once again subscribe if you can then put a recommendation for a movie for me to review down there I will see if I can get on that and if you can give me some likes Just comments in general we can talk film But thank you so much for checking this out spread the word and until next time keep it brutal