Dredd (2012)

Dredd (2012)

Available at Amazon.

Dredd is a 2012 British-South African science fiction action film directed by Pete Travis and written and produced by Alex Garland. It is based on the British comic 2000 AD comic strip Judge Dredd and its eponymous character created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd, a law enforcer given the power of judge, jury and executioner in a vast, dystopian metropolis called Mega-City One that lies in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Dredd and his inexperienced sidekick, Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), are forced to bring order to a 200-storey high-rise block of flats and deal with its resident drug lord, Ma-Ma (Lena Headey).

Garland began writing the script in 2006, although the development of a new Judge Dredd film adaptation, that would be unrelated to the 1995 film Judge Dredd, was not announced until December 2008. Principal photography, using 3D cameras throughout on practical sets and locations in Cape Town and Johannesburg, began in November 2010.

Dredd was released on 7 September 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 21 September 2012 worldwide. Critics were generally positive about the film's visual effects, casting and action, while criticism focused on a perceived lack of the satirical elements that are found in the source comic and on excessive violence. Despite the positive critical response, the film earned just over $36 million on an estimated budget of $45 million.

The future United States is an irradiated wasteland known as the Cursed Earth. On the east coast lies Mega-City One, a violent metropolis with 800 million residents and 17,000 crimes reported daily. There, an addictive new drug called "Slo-Mo" has been introduced, which slows the user's perception of time to 1% of normal. The only force for order are the Judges, who act as judge, jury and executioner. Judge Dredd is tasked by the Chief Judge with evaluating new recruit Cassandra Anderson, a powerful psychic who failed the aptitude tests to be a Judge.

In Peach Trees, a 200-storey slum tower block, drug lord Madeline Madrigal, also known as "Ma-Ma", executes three rogue drug dealers by having them skinned, infused with Slo-Mo and thrown down the atrium from the top floor. Dredd and Anderson are sent in to investigate and learn of a drug den, which they raid. They arrest a thug named Kay, whom Anderson's mind probe reveals to be the one who carried out the drug dealers' execution. Dredd decides to take him in for questioning. In response, Ma-Ma's forces seize the tower's security control room and seal the building, using its blast shields under the pretence of a security test, preventing the Judges from leaving or summoning help.

Ma-Ma orders Dredd and Anderson killed, and the Judges fight their way through dozens of armed thugs. Arriving at the 76th floor, the Judges are assaulted by Ma-Ma and her men with Vulcan cannons that rip through the walls, killing numerous residents. By breaching a damaged outer wall, the Judges become able to call for backup. Meanwhile, Ma-Ma sends her henchman Caleb to confirm the Judges' deaths, but when they meet, Dredd throws Caleb off the tower in full view of Ma-Ma.

Dredd suspects Ma-Ma is desperate to keep Kay quiet and beats him for information. Anderson intervenes and uses her psychic abilities to read Kay's mind, learning that Peach Trees is the centre of Slo-Mo production and distribution. Anderson suggests they hide while awaiting assistance but Dredd insists they move up the tower and pursue Ma-Ma. Judges Volt and Guthrie respond to Dredd's call, but Ma-Ma's computer expert denies them entry by persuading them the call is part of the security drill. A pair of armed teens confront Dredd and Anderson, allowing Kay to disarm and overtake Anderson. Kay then escapes with her as hostage, and brings her to Ma-Ma's base on the top floor.

While Dredd works his way towards Ma-Ma, she calls in the corrupt Judges Lex, Kaplan, Chan and Alvarez. The four relieve Volt and Guthrie from duty and are allowed into the building. Dredd encounters Chan and is suspicious that he does not ask about Anderson's status. Seeing his cover blown, Chan attacks Dredd, who kills him. Meanwhile, Kay tries to execute Anderson with her own weapon, but the pistol's DNA scanner does not recognize him and blows his arm off. Anderson escapes and later encounters Kaplan, whom she promptly kills after reading her mind. Elsewhere, Dredd kills Alvarez but runs out of ammunition, and is shot by Lex in the abdomen. Lex moves in to execute Dredd, but Dredd stalls him long enough for Anderson to arrive and kill Lex.

Anderson and Dredd obtain the code to Ma-Ma's apartment from her computer expert and confront her. Ma-Ma tells Dredd that in the case of her death, a device on her wrist will detonate explosives on the top floors, destroying the building. Dredd reasons that the detonator's signal will not reach the explosives from the ground floor, so he forces Ma-Ma to inhale Slo-Mo and throws her down the atrium to her death.

In the aftermath, Anderson accepts that she has failed her evaluation by getting disarmed, and leaves. The Chief Judge asks Dredd about Anderson's performance; he responds that she has passed.

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House at the End of the Street (2012)

House at the End of the Street (2012)

 

Available at Amazon.

House at the End of the Street is a 2012 American horror-thriller film directed by Mark Tonderai and starring Jennifer Lawrence and Max Thieriot.

 

The movie opens with a scene from the point-of-view of a psychotic killer in a night-dress, killing first their mother and then father with a hammer in the middle of a stormy night. The events are blurred and warped as if the killer is deranged or drugged.

Four years later, a newly divorced woman, Sarah (Elisabeth Shue), and her daughter Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) find the house of their dreams in a small upscale town. But when startling events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is in the shadows of a chilling secret. As told by the neighbors: months earlier, in the house next door, a girl named Carrie-Ann killed her parents in their beds and disappeared, leaving only a brother, Ryan (Max Thieriot), as the sole survivor. Carrie-Ann ran into the woods after the double murder, and, though her body was never found, it was believed that she drowned. Ryan now lives alone in the house; the neighborhood hates him because his house drives down their property values. They want to purchase his house and demolish it, but Ryan won't sell. Weaver (Gil Bellows), a local police officer, appears to be Ryan's only supporter.

Against the wishes of Sarah, Elissa and Ryan begin a relationship. He tells her that he accidentally injured Carrie-Ann while they were swinging one day, giving her brain damage and making her extremely aggressive. For his safety, Ryan was sent away to take care of a sickly aunt and did not return home until after the murders. It is revealed to the viewer that Ryan has secretly been taking care of a woman who appears to be Carrie-Ann in a hidden room. Carrie-Ann escapes the room on two occasions and appears to attempt to attack Elissa. During the second escape attempt, Ryan accidentally kills Carrie-Ann while trying to hide her from some students. In his grief, he visits a diner where a student waitress attempts to comfort him.

While visiting Elissa’s battle of the bands, several high school students vandalize Ryan’s car and attack him. In defense, Ryan breaks Tyler's (Nolan Gerard Funk) ankle and runs home. The remaining students decide to burn his house down. Elissa stops the fire but, while inside, finds Ryan's secret room. She is attacked by Carrie-Ann as Ryan arrives home. At this moment, it is revealed that the current Carrie-Ann is actually the student from the diner, held captive and made to look like Carrie-Ann.

In order to keep Carrie-Ann secret, Ryan knocks Elissa out and ties her to a chair. He reveals that Carrie-Ann actually died during the swing accident but that he still needed Carrie-Ann in his life. It is also revealed that when the accident happened, Weaver was in a three-way drug session with Ryan and Carrie-Ann's parents. Ryan's father informs Weaver that he is now a "witness" to what happened and indirectly tells Weaver to "take care" of Ryan, which is why Weaver appears very sympathetic to Ryan compared to the townspeople. He knocks out the student and says he will make Elissa his new Carrie-Ann. It becomes apparent that the first "Carrie-Ann" rather was another victim attempting to escape from Ryan. When Weaver arrives, Ryan says Elissa isn't there, but Weaver hears her phone ring inside. In a scuffle with Ryan, Weaver is stabbed to death. Elissa escapes but is chloroformed by Ryan and thrown into the trunk of his car. When she awakes, she finds the second "Carrie-Ann" (from the diner) in the trunk and escapes. Sarah arrives at the house and hears Elissa's screams, but is stabbed by Ryan. During a struggle, Ryan is shot several times by Elissa using Weaver's gun and is then knocked out by Sarah.

Elissa and Sarah move out, and Ryan is shown in a mental hospital. To explain how he became disturbed, a flashback reveals that after the death of Carrie-Ann, Ryan's parents forced him to act as Carrie-Ann and abused him if he refused. This final twist provides the explanation for why we saw a long haired person in a night-dress kill the parents at the start: Ryan was in fact the killer we saw at the beginning, dressed as Carrie-Ann.

 

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