The point of any review is to help your readers decide if they should spend their time and money on the thing that you are reviewing. For movie reviews, you are ultimately answering the question, “Should I watch this movie?”
The Review has three main parts
1. a summary of the movie,
2. an analysis, criticism of the movie, and
3. a recommendation.
1- For the summary, you want to explain the overall plot, main characters, setting, etc.—things that would help a reader decide if this sounds like something they would like to see. Summaries are usually spoiler free, but this is an academic class. So if you need to spoil something, it’s fine; just use a spoiler tag. The summary should also place the movie into context—genre, films it is like/not like—and give identifying details—title, release year, director, main actors, etc.
2- The analysis is your critical opinion. This is where you explain what’s good about the film and what’s not good. Almost all reviews of anything include both good and bad elements. For film, you can think about the elements of fiction we’ve been discussing—character, plot, setting, etc.—but also think about acting, pacing, costumes, sets, props, special effects, music, etc. Just like in an academic essay, you need to make sure that you support your claims. So if you say the acting is bad or the sets are beautiful, you have to give an example from the film and explain what is bad/good about it. You don’t have to cover all of these points; pick the ones that are relevant to your recommendation.
3- The recommendation is basically your thesis. Should someone pay to spend two hours watching this move? You don’t have to have a yes/no recommendation; it can be nuanced. For example, “definitely stop and watch the movie if you see it while channel surfing, but it’s not worth the effort to find it streaming” or “I wouldn’t have paid full price to see this in a theatre, but it was worth the effort to request it from my local library.” Be sure to include the movie’s title in your recommendation. While this section can be several sentences, you want to be sure to have one sentence that makes it clear what you recommend (it’s a thesis!).
You can pick any vampire movie you want from the list below.
➢ Nosferatu (1922)
➢ Dracula (1931)
➢ The Lost Boys (1987)
➢ Near Dark (1987)
➢ Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
➢ Interview with the Vampire (1994)
➢ Blade (1998) ➢ Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
➢ Let the Right One In (2008)
➢ Daybreakers (2009) ➢ Byzantium (2012)
➢ Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
➢ A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
➢ What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Thanks