Reviews_of_the_Dead Reviews

Waxworks (1924)

Solid Silent, German Expressionist Anthology Film

[9/10 · 23 May 2024]

This was a movie that I discovered when searching for horror films from 1924 for my Centennial Club. The title was interesting, since I know there is the movie from 1988 that I watched years ago. I saw the cast that we were working with here of Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt and Werner Krauss, who I've seen in other films from the era. I was curious as to what we'd get here.

Synopsis: a wax museum hires a writer to give the sculptures stories. The writer imagines himself and the museum owner's daughter in them.

That synopsis is good in setting how this starts. The writer is played by William Dieterle and I believe he's credited here as the poet. He has a paper with the wanted information for a wax museum within a carnival. He enters and inquires about the position. His audition is to write stories for Harun al Raschid (Jannings), Ivan the Terrible (Veidt) and Jack the Ripper (Krauss).

This is an early anthology where we go into the first story about Harun. He is the ruler of Baghdad. He plays chess daily with his Grand Vizier (Paul Biensfeldt), to help keep him sharp mentally. Assad the Baker (Dieterle) is making bread outside of the palace and the smoke upsets Harun after he loses the game. He wants the baker's head. The Grand Vizier learns that Assad has a beautiful wife, played by Olga Belajeff. Harun has a different wife each day and he flirts with her to steal her away. She fought with Assad over ruining her only dress, so he made a pact to steal a ring from Harun to get back in her good graces. This starts a series of events that will change all their lives.

Then we jump over to the story written about Ivan the Terrible. He has a poison maker, played by Ernst Legal, who writes the name of someone on hourglasses. When the sand runs out, they die. Ivan has his name for good reason. He distrusts those around him and thinks that they're out to kill him. A friend asks him to the wedding of his daughter and Ivan thinks it is an assassination attempt. He hides as the driver of the chariot. This creates an issue as Belajeff is set to marry Dieterle. Ivan's name is also erroneously written on an hourglass when it should be the poison makers.

Our last story is interesting as our poet has a run in with Jack the Ripper or as he writes about him, Spring-Heeled Jack. This was clever as to what they do here.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that it was interesting to see an early horror anthology. Not all the stories fall into this genre, but I think the first one does flirt with it enough. There is something happens with Harun that makes Assad think he's killed him. I also love what they do here with our wraparound of the poet creating stories about these real characters. Even more so that the last one centers around the writer.

Since this has the same team behind all of them, I'll treat this just as a movie overall. The first story is more whimsical, but Harun is the only focal that isn't a tyrant or villain. He's not good though either as he is out to seduce the baker's wife. What he does though to save face as well as to prevent Assad from being killed though is good. It is clever and quick thinking by the wife. The Ivan story is a bit long, but I love how it ends. It shows how evil this character is and it fits where it concludes. It is like a mirror to the first one, but the lead is getting comeuppance.

Then for the last one, even though it feels rushed, I thought it was the most unique. I looked at the runtime and tried to figure out what they'd do. I don't want to spoil it, but it was creative to me. What I'll say is that after telling the first two stories, I could see the poet doing what he does here. It would also be terrifying to be pursued by Jack the Ripper. Being as early into cinema as we are, I like that this idea was used already. This is also not based off specific stories, but we are using historical figures in fictional ways from my understanding.

That should be enough for the story so let me go over to the acting. Our three leads are great. Jannings feels like this jovial Harun who can be quick to anger. It is a different role than what I'm used to from Faust. Veidt is amazing as this villainous Ivan. He does well with his body language and being menacing, if not downright evil. Krauss also works in his limited role as Jack the Ripper. I'd also say that I like Dieterle and Belajeff playing the characters who interact with these figures. They take on different roles so we're seeing their range. I'd also say that Biensfeldt, John Gottowt, Georg John and Legal, along with any other actors helped round this out for what was needed.

All that is left then is filmmaking. This falls into German Expressionism and I love that. It adds a surreal feel, especially since these are three tales that are being crafted by the poet. Since we aren't seeing real life, I love that the world doesn't match that. The last one feels like a nightmare as well. I'm just a fan of the sets when they use this. We don't get much of the way of effects, but this is early into the history of cinema, so they had to be in camera. The makeup to make the actors look like the characters or people from that time they existed worked. The last thing would be the soundtrack. I can't be fully sure if the music synced with the images was what they used originally. I did like what they used for the version on YouTube. It helped build the atmosphere.

In conclusion, I rather enjoyed this early anthology film. We have heavy hitter actors in my opinion with Veidt, Krauss and Jannings, especially for the horror genre. It is creative to have this poet who is writing stories for these historical figures. I thought this was well-made. The sets used capture the surreal thanks to expressionism made me smile. I'm a sucker for them. I also thought the makeup and costumes fit the characters to help capture that allusion. The soundtrack that we got also adds to the atmosphere. I'd recommend it if you are out to see silent era horror films or the history of this genre.

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Tarot (I) (2024)

Good Things, But Jump Scare Fest

[6/10 · 20 May 2024]

This was a movie that I heard was coming out. It didn't come to the Gateway Film Center, so I didn't even realize that it was out until friends of mine were seeing it. I saw that I could catch it at the AMC by me and checked it out on the Sunday of opening weekend. The ratings and thoughts were in the middle to not very good. I was still curious, especially after learning it is from a pulp novel from the 1990s.

Synopsis: when a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings, they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death.

The group from the synopsis are college age and staying at a house they rented for the weekend in the Catskills mountains. This takes place in the New England area and it sets this up by everyone drinking Sam Adams beer. Our lead is Haley (Harriet Slater). She was seeing Grant (Adain Bradley), but they recently broke up. None of this friend group even knew. Both are here, which makes it awkward when this gets revealed. Also, there is Madeline (Humberly González) who has a crush on Lucas (Wolfgang Novogratz). Another couple here is Paige (Avantika) and Elise (Larsen Thompson). It is the latter's birthday as well. Then our last friend is the comedian of the group, Paxton (Jacob Batalon).

They end up running out of beer. Paxton is convinced there must be a secret stash. This leads them to a room that is locked. Lucas breaks the lock and it goes to the basement. Inside is astrology items. They also find a box with runes carved into it. They find a creepy set of tarot cards within. Haley got into card readings to tell horoscopes and her friends want her to do one for them. She declines, saying that it is bad luck to use someone else's deck. They convince her though.

This is their entertainment for the night. Haley takes what she is doing seriously. The readings she does seem to have ominous omens, especially since they end with cards like the hermit, the magician, the countess, the devil and death. These cards don't necessarily have the same direct meanings. Everyone goes back to their normal lives, but something seems to follow them back. Something supernatural seems to be after them, even though it can been seen as unfortunate accidents. They need to figure out the history behind this deck before it is too late.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I'll start is that this has good aspects here. I like the idea of doing tarot card readings to tell horoscopes and then something bad happen to these people. There is a nitpick that I have and I'll get into that shortly. I can also explain it away easily enough. This deck being as creepy as it was great. Having now seen this, I can see the gripes that others have and they're like mine.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me delve deeper. I'll go in order. I've already said that I like the premises. Finding this old tarot deck and telling 'futures' from it works. It does feel like subbing out a Ouija board for the cards and then something supernatural coming after our characters. I'll give credit here still. My nitpick is that Haley says about how you're not supposed to use someone's else's deck to tell readings. Then she just goes ahead and uses them anyway. She seems to believe in what she's doing and takes the outcomes of the readings seriously. I don't buy that she would do it then. This is a nitpick and peer pressure is something that I could see changing her mind so I'll digress. I don't believe in astrology or that cards like this tell the future, but I know people do so I'm not going to rain on their parade. I do like this entity of the Astrologer (Suncica Milanovic) and how she factors in as well.

Next, I think I'll take this to filmmaking. I'll say here again, I love the card design for this tarot deck. I've seen cool ones in the past and have seen classic designs. Having them being as horrific as they was great. That adds to the atmosphere. Then bringing these entities to life was something else that as great. My guess is that they went CGI. I still thought they looked creepy so I'll credit there. My bigger issue is that instead of working more on the atmosphere, they chose to go more for jump-scares. It also feels like it is borrowing from Final Destination with how hauntings play out. This is designed more for mainstream audiences and it doesn't work as well for me. The sound design fits in there. This isn't poorly made. I thought that the cinematography and framing do good things. It gets creepy at times. They just don't build on that as well as they could.

I'll go over the acting then. No one is bad here, let me say that. I just got annoyed with how the characters were written. For me, I think part of that is these are college age people now. If I was still that age, I think I could connect better. I thought that Slater was fine as our lead. Bradley works as her ex, but we know there is still feelings there. Their breakup is fresh so that contributes. They both are attractive so that helps. Batalon adds humor which was good. Avantika, González, Novogratz and Thompson round out this group. They don't do well in fleshing them out either to help me care when things happen to them. Their horoscope seems to be the extent of what we know about them. That is creative way to introduce them, I'll say that. Olwen Fouéré works as this expert they seek out to learn more. I liked seeing that James Swanton was here to take on a couple of the entities. I'll also credit Nikolic, Milanovic and Carter there as well.

There isn't much more to say here. In conclusion, this is fine. I'm not the target audience as this is designed more for mainstream fans who are in that PG-13 range. We get jump-scares instead of atmosphere. That's not to say this is all bad. I thought the look of the tarot cards were great. The concept that by doing readings with the deck, it has cursed this group of friends. The acting was fine. Our characters just lack depth in my opinion, outside of what we learn from the readings. The framing and cinematography were fine. Even though they went CGI mostly for the entities, they still looked creepy. This just doesn't do enough to set itself apart and I think this will be forgotten unfortunately. I'd recommend this to fans of more of the more conventional horror films.

My Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

Baghead (2023)

Solid Variation on the Seance/Witch Film

[7/10 · 20 May 2024]

This is a movie that I heard about through podcasts. I know that Duncan, from the Podcast Under the Stairs, covered this one and even spoke to the director. It went on a list of movies to see for this year. Since there wasn't a new release at the theater that I'm a member at, I decided to watch this as a featured review.

Synopsis: a young woman inherits a run-down pub and discovers a dark secret within its basement - Baghead (Anne Müller) - a shape-shifting creature that will let you speak to lost loved ones, but not without consequences.

We start this off in the old pub from the synopsis. The owner is Owen (Peter Mullan). He decides that he's had enough and is going to kill this creature living in the basement. He records a video tape, giving instructions in case he fails. We then see him try to come up the stairs and he's on fire.

It then shifts us to meet our lead, Iris (Freya Allan). She was just evicted from her apartment due to not paying rent. She has no money. Her friend, Katie (Ruby Barker), helps her break into her former flat to steal things that she can carry. Iris is going to have to go back to a homeless shelter and she doesn't know what she is going to do. That's when she learns about her father dying. Katie buys her a plane ticket so she can settle the estate.

Iris meets with a solicitor, played by Ned Dennehy. She learns her father owns the pub. It has been left to her and she signs the deed. There is an issue here though. There are debts on the property so she can't sell it. She is drawn to the basement. The door has runes carved into it and she knows there is something not quite right here.

That's when Neil (Jeremy Irvine) comes inside. This spooks her as they're closed. He offered her two thousand dollars. It seems Owen was charging people to see the thing in the basement. She is unsure of what is going on here and Neil offers even more, up to four thousand. She takes what he has and tells him to come back the next day. Katie thinks it is a bad idea and she is coming to help. Iris lets Neil in and she discovers what is kept down there. A person comes from a crack in the wall. It has a bag on its head, which makes sense now for the name. Neil gives the thing a ring and then it removes the covering. Underneath is his dead mother. He asks questions and after two minutes, the responses turn dark.

Iris must decide what to do. Being as broke as she is, there is the prospect of using this entity and letting others speak to their relatives. Katie thinks this is a bad idea. Iris watches the video her father left and tries to make sense of what lives below. For two minutes at a time, she is in charge and Baghead must listen to her. Anything after that, Baghead does what it can to escape.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start would be that even though this is a premise we've seen before, I like the variation we get here. This is a séance of sorts. There is just a dangerous entity that you are talking directly to. The rules here feel something like Talk to Me. This would be safer since you aren't inviting it in directly. There are other issues that stem here as well.

Then to explore this idea more, I like how they set up this pub, Iris, her father as well as the entity. It is thanks to Katie and her interaction with this creature that we get information from the ghost of an earlier owner, Otto Vogler (Felix Römer). The question that I have, how can you fully trust what this monster is saying? I know it looks like a loved one, but our characters know that it isn't them under the bag. We get glimpses as it puts things in its mouth to change. I take this as these people are so desperate, they want to believe that it is them. This makes for an interesting dynamic in building the atmosphere.

I'd also say that I love this setting of the old pub. I like the lore that we get set up. It is late in the movie that we get more about it. The only thing that I'm fuzzy about is who the brotherhood is. We know how Baghead came to live in the basement, but was Owen a member of this group before taking over? Or is this trying to say that when people become the owner, this monster sees them that way. This doesn't need to be confirmed. Just something I was considering as things go to where they do.

One last thing about the lore, I love this idea that when you become the owner of this pub, as well as the creature, its magic affects you. It gives you access to seeing a loved one for 2 minutes without it lying, but the magic also has negative effects on your health. This seems like the idea that the runes holding it in the basement can only hold so much. The evil that it has become is able to seep through. I like that even in the limited time they are there, we see it affecting Iris. There's another aspect here that she has no money. This gives her a glimmer of hope, but at what cost?

I'll then take this to the acting. I thought that Allan was solid as our lead. I like the fact that she has hit rock bottom with her financial situation. It made me feel bad for her since her mother has died and was estranged from her father. There's desperation here where she must decide how much of her humanity is she willing to give up for money to get her life back on track. Barker is also good as her friend who wants to help. Iris is tired of fighting though, where Katie wants her to keep going. There is also this interesting character in Neil and how he factors in the deeper things go. He might not be as nice as he appears. Müller does good body movements for the creature. Mullan, Römer and the other ghosts are solid. I also like Dennehy as the solicitor in his limited role.

Then to finish out with filmmaking. I've already said that I like the setting. Having an old pub with history is good. The creepy basement adds to it. There is good mythology built here for Baghead. I'd also say the look is as well. The practical effects we get are good. My only gripe is with CGI. It doesn't ruin it though. The photoshopped pictures of people from the past aren't great. I can overlook that though. Something that made me uncomfortable was people separating and then going into the basement. It makes you not know who you can trust, which was good. I'd say that the sound design here was good as well. Overall, this is made well-enough.

In conclusion, I thought there were good things here. We're using ideas and concepts that we've seen before, just slightly different. I like the variation we get on the séance with Baghead. The lore and mythology they set up there was good. There are things with characters and their reactions that I don't know if they fully work. There is solid atmosphere built from the setting and interaction with this entity. The acting performances were good. Thought this was made well enough. My only gripes there are with the CGI and minor things used. This is worth a watch though, especially if you like movies like this.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

Cliff Notes Version of the Novel

[7/10 · 19 May 2024]

This was a movie that I was intrigued to check out since I read the book. My wife, Jaime, borrowed it from a co-worker. She was reading another book at the time so I decided to check it out. It was a fast read and thought that it did interesting things I wasn't expecting. Jaime finally read it and when we saw this streaming on Hulu, we decided to check it out.

We are following Kya Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who is known as 'Marsh Girl'. It is a tragic story where her family slowly abandoned her and she had to make her own way. She isn't formally educated but does learn to read and write through a boy she falls in love with, Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith). Things happen there and they have a falling out. Kya is then pursued by Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson). This isn't the picture-perfect relationship though and he ends up dying. Kya is accused of murdering him and a local lawyer, Tom Milton (David Strathairn) wants to prove that maybe she is innocent.

What I'll say is that having read the book first, this movie falls short for me. There is a good idea here. We are seeing a tragic story of Kya who is left to fend for herself in the swamplands of South Carolina. Her family was poor growing up and there weren't many prospects for her. We see her mother, played by Ahna O'Reilly, leave her abusive father, played by Garret Dillahunt. Her siblings all then leave as they get older as well. She tries to go to school once, but she is bullied so she decides to just figure out life on her own.

There is then this part in her life where she opens to Tate. This leads to heartbreak for her to where she isolates again. He did open her eyes though to publishers who might have a need for the inner information she has about the wildlife and marshlands where she lives. She is an expert having grown up around them. It is around this time that the local sports star, Chase, shows interest. He isn't a good guy though and this leads to scary things in her life.

What I'll say is that the acting of Edgar-Jones is fine. Smith works as this guy who is kind to her, but he makes horrible decisions. Dickinson is great as this charmer. The best performances though are Strathairn as the lawyer. What I like is a scene this shows where he's nice to Kya as a girl. He could do more though. Michael Hyatt and Sterling Macer Jr. Are good as Mabel and Jumpin' who know Kya as a girl. They're afraid to help but do what they can. I also thought that Bill Kelly and Dillahunt were solid in their roles as well.

To circle back to reading the book I think hurt this for me, there is just aspects left out of the movie. I understand why. A novel allows it to go more in-depth with things. A movie needs to move at a pace where it doesn't get borrowing and you're still giving the information needed. That causes little things that are important to be left out at times. I will say that there isn't bad filmmaking here. The cinematography and framing are good. There is CGI here, but it is for animals so I'm not going to harp there. I also thought that the soundtrack was fine.

The biggest gripe I'll say is that this just feels like a cliff notes version of the story. It is fine to watch, but if you truly want to capture the magic, you need to read the book in my opinion.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

The Hands of Orlac (1924)

Solid Direction and Performance from Veidt

[8/10 · 17 May 2024]

This was a movie that I learned about after watching The Beast with Five Fingers. These are both based off the same novel by Maurice Renard. It's been a while since I saw that film. I know that I enjoyed it. That movie caused me to seek out the different variations on it, including this earlier take on the novel. It also doubles as a Centennial Club selection as well as a Foray through the Fours.

Synopsis: a world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn't know they once belonged to a murderer.

Now for this movie here, we have a married couple. Yvonne Orlac (Alexandra Sorina) is awaiting her husband to come home from his latest tour. Paul is the pianist from the synopsis. On his way home, there is a mishap that results in a train accident. Yvonne went to meet him at the station, but upon hearing about the tragedy, her driver takes her to the location where it happened. There is mayhem and death. She finds her husband inside one of the cars. He's alive but hurt.

This lands him in the hospital with a broken skull and maimed hands. Dr. Serral (Hans Homma) learns about what happened to his friend. This coincides with the same day that a thief and murderer, Vasseur, is set to be executed. Dr. Serral sees an opportunity to help Paul. It will be an experimental treatment though.

Yvonne knows what was done. Paul hasn't learned the truth yet. When he comes to and the bandages are removed, he sees that his hands aren't the ones that he's born with. This makes him concerned that he'll no longer be able to play the piano. He also gets a start when in his hospital room he sees a floating head through a window into his room. It belongs to Fritz Kortner. He believes this to be the original owner of the hands he now has.

Paul then goes about learning who they belonged to. This brings him to learn of Vasseur and the crimes he was executed for. Paul feels like he can't control them and that they want to do bad things like the original owner. This leads to him sleepwalking. Yvonne is concerned as money starts to run out. This leads her to Paul's father, who despises his son. There is also an encounter with a character by the name of Nera who might know more about their situation. Murders start to happen again, with Vasseur's fingerprints and knife being used. Paul can't account for everything he does and starts to wonder if his hands have continued the work of the original owner.

That is where I'm going to leave my recap and introduction to the story. We don't have the deepest one here and I learned through bonus features on the DVD that I have, this story took the basic premise, a bit of the subplots, but ultimately cut quite a bit to create this movie. This runs for 105 minutes. I could only imagine how long this would be if they kept more from the original story in.

Where I want to start will be with the character of Paul Orlac. This is a study about him. Since this is a silent film, we need title cards and acting to convey what it needs to. Having Veidt in this role is perfect. He does so much with facial expressions and body language that it worked. What is interesting is that we don't get much of a baseline. This tends to be a problem for me, but I think just setting up that he's a famous concert pianist who can no longer play. That makes sense and we don't need more than that. It is from there that we see this character descend into madness.

There's an interesting commentary from this point about our body no longer working as it once did. I could see an allegory here to getting old and arthritis or similar ailments taking away things that we used to be able to do. This happens much more quickly in this work. I'd also say that this movie is saying that it could be in the head of Paul. I did read in the special features as well that this last bit is a concept from the novel. If this happened to Yvonne, she would be strong enough to overcome. Paul on the other hand is weaker of mind and lacks confidence so it makes sense that he'd descend into the madness that he does. I found this concept to be fascinating.

Now there's another angle here with the character of Nera. He meets with their maid of Regine and she gives him the knife that belonged to Vasseur. Nera also seeks out Paul to tell him that he's framed him. Money is demanded for extortion since the fingerprints at the scene belong to Vasseur and these hands are the ones that Paul now has. There is a bit of sci-fi here how this plays out, but it is still grounded. It's something you'd find in a detective story so I can work with it. There's also a built-in motive for Paul that would make him a suspect as well. Since he's already going crazy, he buys in that during a sleepwalking incident or blacking out, he did kill this man. I thought that worked.

That should be enough for the story so I'll go over to the rest of the acting. I've already said that Veidt is great here. I also thought that Sorina was good as his wife. She cares so much about him and wants to help. She is also afraid of him, wondering what he would do with these hands. Fritz Strassny was good as the mean father of Paul. He's good at setting the stage to the climax. His butler, Paul Askonas, works in his minor role. I also like Cartellieri, Homma and Kortner with how they fit into the story.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography here was good. We are early in the history of cinema so they're limited to what they could do. What is interesting is that Weine is known for his work in expressionism. We get that here, but on a lesser scale. This is more grounded while taking concepts from that movement. There are in camera effects that we get to show that Paul is haunted by the specter of his hands. This is in his head though. I still like what they do there. Other than that, this isn't the soundtrack that was synced up originally. I did like what was done though as it fit what was needed. If I have a gripe, this is too long. I think this could be condensed to around 90 minutes, still convey what was needed and run tighter.

In conclusion, this is a solid film from early cinema. It explores interesting ideas that still work today. I like seeing this character of Paul lose the ability of his hands and then sink into madness worrying about the ones that he now has. Veidt is great here at bringing the character to life. The rest of the cast push him to where he ends up. I thought that filmmaking was good. My only gripe there is that this runs too long. Trimming this would still get across what they need to while running tighter. This is one that I can only recommend if you are interested in the history of cinema. I enjoyed my time here and seeing another film featuring Wiene and Veidt.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Killer Legends (2014)

Documentary That Explores Urban Legends in a Grounded Way

[8/10 · 16 May 2024]

This was a documentary that I watched while working since I knew it was one that if something came in, I could oversee. I treated this like a podcast. What I didn't realize though until settling in was that this was the same writer/director of Cropsey. That was a documentary that I went in thinking one thing and then got something else completely. It was in a good way. This is in a similar vein as well.

What we're getting here is Joshua Zeman who is the writer, director and co-stars with Rachel Mills, who is an investigative researcher. They are taking on four urban legends to see if there are any truth to them. The first one they focused on was 'The Hook'. This leads them to Texarkana where they look at the 'Phantom Killer' and the events of The Town that Dreaded Sundown. There is also the 'Candy Man' which turns out to be the 'Halloween Sadist' and why we were warned as children about checking Halloween candy. There is the babysitter dealing with 'The Caller' and the real murder that could be influenced. Finally, there is the idea of 'killer clowns' and why they scare us.

The biggest thing that made this work for me was the depth they go into each of these urban legends and to have this all in a runtime of 90 minutes. Could they have lingered on things longer? Probably, but I think how each is handled gives all the information they can find. Part of the issue here is that things happened in the 40s or the 50s for some. Others are just too difficult to corroborate. Regardless, they explore and provide all the information to allow us to decide. I'm glad that they don't lean too hard in trying to prove their point. I was also a fan to see this duo going to different places, interviewing people or local historians. Seeing the actual locations adds an element for me.

I'll add on to that this is well-done. It feels professional, which is great. Something I wasn't expecting was editing different footage to help explain what they're doing. We know that urban legends have a great impact on all of us and how we heard these tales through the grapevine. Seeing how it influenced films like The Town that Dreaded Sundown, Candyman, When a Stranger Calls or IT! I think that it gives us something interesting to watch while we're hearing Zeman narrate. Then to also hear from people who know more about each case, which adds to the validity of the conclusions that are drawn. The cinematography is good as well as the sound design for me.

If you like true crime documentaries and want to see a grounded approach to urban legends, I think that this does well in pinpointing possible starting places for each. This flies by and it was interesting to view.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (2004 Video)

Needed More to Make this Work Better

[6/10 · 16 May 2024]

This is a documentary that I found streaming on Freevee. It intrigued me partially to see how many of them I've watched. Also, to see how titles that I recognized. Now I did need to preface here, there is a good amount of horror films on here which both makes me laugh and bummed about my favorite genre.

There are titles on here for good reason. I believe that Ed Wood Jr. Has three titles on here, which doesn't shock me. There are also a good number of 'ape films' that made the list. These are ones that feature people inside gorilla suits, which was popular in the 40s and 50s. Ones that made the list that I've seen are The Ape and Robot Monster. There are good ones in this subgenre, but they tend to be on the lower ending rating-wise in general.

I also feel there are movies on here that don't belong. Is Troll from 1986 a good movie? No, but it isn't close to being the worst. I'd also say that with J. D. Revenge or Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told. These are decent movies where I think there is more low hanging fruit that could be discussed.

There isn't much to the production value either. The clips they show and explaining over top with narration was solid. The graphics in between are funny with how cheap they look. I'm not going to hold against this too much though, since we are making a list of the 'worst movies ever made'. They also don't do too much in depth here. This is an hour long and it rifles through all 50 quite quickly. I would have been fine if this would have slowed down a bit to give more, but again, these are considered bad movies so there is that.

I'd recommend it if you are into bad movies. There are ones on here that are so bad, they're good. These tend to have low budgets. It was a fun time killer at work for me so there is that.

My Rating: 6 out of 10.

Children of the Corn (1984)

One of the Better King Adapations

[8/10 · 16 May 2024]

This was a film that I had seen when I started to seek out horror films growing up, especially ones that were based on Stephen King works. It came from one of his short stories in the collection, Night Shift. I was a big fan of the story, even naming my first dog Malachi. This rewatch was for my Foray through the Fours.

Synopsis: a young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes everyone over the age of 18 must be killed.

The concept of this film is terrifying. It didn't bother me when I was younger, but the moment I turned 18, this starts to be even scarier. Religion is something that makes me nervous, because of how deeply people take it and use it to influence their decisions.

In this we get Isaac (John Franklin) who is the leader of this cult. Everyone started to follow him because he was a child minister. When an entity that lives in the corn, He Who Walks Behind the Rows, starts talking to him and telling him what to do, they create a cult that follows its word. The scary thing is, I could see something like this happening in an area like we see here in Gatlin, Nebraska. Being in the heart of the Bible belt and if you have a charismatic leader.

The opening sequence of this film is great. It takes place three years before the events of the film. We see Isaac and his followers killing off all the adults. This is narrated by Job (Robby Kiger). Malachi (Courtney Gains) is the one to conduct the acts along with others while their leader looks on.

We then shift to present time. We have a couple in a hotel room. Burt (Peter Horton) is a new doctor and on the way to Seattle to start an internship. With him is his girlfriend, Vicky (Linda Hamilton), who wants him to commit. It is his birthday and they are spending it driving across rural Nebraska. They end up hitting a boy and need to look for help. The thing is and Burt notices, the boy was attacked before they collided with him. They try to go to Hemingford Home, by the words of Diehl (R. G. Armstrong), but they end up in Gatlin.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start with something I found interesting watching this as an adult is how Fascist their society is. One of my favorite parts of this is the folklore that is set up with that.

Delving deeper here, we know that on the start of their 19th birthday, they need to sacrifice themselves to their god. Malachi doesn't want them to have any vices. Job and Sarah (Anne Marie McEvoy) do sneak off to abandoned homes to listen to music, play games and she likes to draw. Malachi catches them and wants them punished but Isaac sees that Sarah draws images of the future. He believes that she has the ability of sight and that He Who Walks Behind the Rows is giving her these. Also, from there is that Malachi doesn't agree with Isaac and there is dissension between them. There is a Lovecraftian vibe here to the entity. I know King is a big fan of him. There is a comment about how this entity has always been here that it feels he's an elder god. We get supernatural things, but I like how it is subtle. It is revealed to us, but not to characters until later.

Where I'll then go is over to the pacing which is good. This never hits any lulls and we get tension built throughout. The atmosphere of this town being empty is part of that. It doesn't waste time with the parents being massacred. The couple gets an uneasy feeling when they turn on the radio and the oppressiveness of the corn that is around them. We get POV shots of people watching the couple, which adds to that uneasy feeling. The tension continues to grow until we get to the climax. I thought the ending was fitting and it is built from an image we got earlier. I'm a big fan of callbacks like this.

Next then should be the acting performances. Being that it is mostly children and teens, I thought it was solid. Horton was good as the rational, educated adult who is trying to show the children what they're doing is wrong. Hamilton was also solid as the woman who is clinging to the man she loves, but she can't get him to commit. Their dynamic is interesting. I do have an issue that grates on me though, even though I like both characters. Franklin is creepy in his role. He sounds like any religious leader and he's perfectly cast. When everyone is following him, he seems powerful. When Gains tries to take the power and everyone follows him, Isaac becomes weak. What happens at the end is great. I like Gains as the enforcer. He has such an angry look. It might be over the top, but it's iconic for that. Kiger and McEvoy are fine. The rest of the cast rounded out the film well for what was needed as well.

All that is left then is the rest of the filmmaking. The opening sequence and scenes with action look good. They were practical and the blood looked real. There were a couple of deaths that I wish they wouldn't have cut away to show us a little more. This doesn't ruin it though. I'd say that the cinematography and framing are good. Watching our couple without them knowing is eerie. The setting in the cornfield can be disorienting. Now to showing He Who Walks Behind the Rows. They have it partly be like a groundhog and moving under the ground like Bugs Bunny. That can be seen as comical, but it doesn't ruin anything. I'll say that the callbacks to images we see is great though. The last bit is the soundtrack. The music that Job and Sarah listen to are songs I have a fondness for. When they use the choir sounding music by children is always creepy to me. It fit and works overall for what was needed.

In conclusion, this was a film that I've grown up with and still enjoy. It has its flaws, but none of them glaring though. It is interesting that it is still relevant. There are issues with religion and societies that are created around it. The Lovecraftian vibe is something I also like. I thought the acting was solid across the board. No one is bad, which is a good thing when dealing with teens and children. I'd also say this is well-made from the setting, cinematography, framing and soundtrack. I think there is a deeper story here that explores intriguing ideas. This is one that if you haven't seen, it should be at least once. Won't be for everyone, but it is still one of the better King adaptations.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

First Knight (1995)

Fine Movie, Just Not for Me

[6/10 · 16 May 2024]

This was a movie that I sought out because I was watching other versions of the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. What intrigued me was that this was from the mid-90s. We had the likes of Sean Connery, Richard Gere and Julia Ormond starting. Ahead of starting this, I saw that as supporting characters we had Ben Cross, Liam Cunningham and Ralph Ineson. I was wondering how this would come together.

Now for this one, we start with dialogue about how King Arthur (Connery) won the war. He thinks that they'll enter a time of peace, but his first knight, Malagant (Cross) has rebelled, creating his own country. He is now attacking the area by him that belongs to Guinevere (Ormond). She has decided to marry King Arthur. Part of it is for love, but the other is to join their kingdoms.

A roaming knight is in the area, Lancelot (Gere), and he saves Guinevere as she heads to Camelot. He falls in love with her, but she is bounty to her oath. He follows her to Camelot and ends up impressing Arthur who asks him to join the round table. Things get complicated when Prince Malagant wants Camelot as well as to dethrone Arthur. Lancelot is a good man, but he's also in love.

Ahead of watching this, I did see that this isn't based on the legend. This is more of the writers of a different writer who focused on Lancelot. I get the idea that he might have even created the character, but that could be something that was misread on my part. Since they're focusing on this version of the tale, we only get the three lead characters sharing names with those from the legend. I also believe that Sir Kay (Christopher Villiers) was in the source material. I'll be honest, I didn't care for the story they focused on here.

To develop then from what I've said there, this movie isn't for me. This focuses more on the love story between Guinevere and Lancelot. I like that story element when it is a subplot that could derail and cause a divide within the round table. We get that here, but this is more of the focus. I know part of this is that we have Gere who women loved. He is there to steal Ormond from the older Connery. There is battle sequences and putting Guinevere in distress. I think these work in the framework of the story, but I don't care for it being the focus. This feels more like it was made for fans of romance than legend or the medieval fighting, which is fine.

I will say that the acting is good. Connery is great as Arthur. I don't love Gere as Lancelot, but I think he has that aloof nature down and his love for Guinevere fits. Ormond works in her role. I love Cross as the villain here. His views aren't wrong, I can see how they rally as many behind him as he can. There's almost a commentary here about socialism vs. Capitalism. I won't delve more past that, but just listening to what they're fighting for, it's there. Cunningham and Ineson are also solid along with the rest of the cast.

Other than that, this is well-made. I thought that when we got fight sequences, they were choreographed well. I love Lancelot's fighting style, how he is a counterattacking and uses your momentum against you. That fit Gere's look. The cinematography does well in setting this in a world that feels like medieval Earth while also being its own. The framing again to hide seams. Other than that, the sound design and music fit what was needed. Not one that I can recommend to everyone. If you want a story set in the past that shows romance, this is for you. If you want something with more action, there are other versions out there to see of this tale.

My Rating: 6 out of 10.

Street Tales of Terror (2004)

Good Effort, Hindered by Budget, Potential

[3/10 · 16 May 2024]

This is a movie that I learned about when searching for horror films that were either written, directed or featured Black people. The reason being for February and celebration of Black History month. This one had all three and was also a Foray through the Fours movie as well. Other than that, I came in blind, figuring that this would be an anthology film from the synopsis.

Synopsis: a homeless man who sees a murder is forced to entertain his tormentors with three tales of murder, revenge and terror.

We start with what is our wraparound story. J Dog (Corey Shields) is hanging out with Keith (Timothy Eric). They work for Street (Loco). He shows up, asking for his money and they're short. They have until midnight to get it. J Dog picks up his girlfriend, Peaches (Staci Harris) and try to figure out what they'll do. They have a plan that involves murder in an abandoned building. There is a complication. A homeless man, played by Wayne Dehart, was a witness. They're going to get rid of him as well when he offers to tell them stories instead.

Our first story is then called 'The Reckoning'. Jessica (Tenia Yarbrough) and her mother, played by Shirley Whitmore, come home from a funeral for her cousin. Jessica had never seen her mother cry before and it scared her. This younger girl doesn't want to see her mother be that sad anymore. Jessica goes outside where she sees her friend, Judy (Brukie Gashaw). She comes up with her two friends, Demona (Candice Felix) and Tonya (Olivia Reed). This trio is going swimming. Jessica wants to join but can't leave the yard. She does sneak off. The problem is that she cannot swim. Demona pushes her into the pool and this has disastrous results. They get Jessica out of the water, but they leave her there and she passes away. This takes place in 1983 and on the 20th anniversary of her death, Jessica could be back for revenge.

Then up next, we get 'The Clinic'. Jalissa Daniels (Nicole Ford) is there for an abortion. She reveals to the doctor that she had one many years ago when she was 17. She is haunted by this decision and could also be by her unborn child as well.

Our last story before going back to tie up the wraparound is 'Graduation Night'. Bernice (Mykel Gray) is a simple, country girl who is at college. Her roommates are Dora (Candace J. Battle) and Melissa (Aziza Anderson). These two are having people over which include their boyfriends of Harold (Rashad Demond Edwards) and Gerald (Mandell Butler). They're also bringing their friend Big Willie (M. C. Butler) who is an athlete for the college. Should point out that this is set in 1975. They play a drinking game and it gets out of hand with Big Willie taking advantage of Bernice. This causes her to get expelled due to not telling the dean who was behind this get together. Bernice can't deny she was there as she is revealed that she's pregnant. This gets her expelled right before graduation. Her shame causes her to make a horrible decision. She could also be out for revenge.

Now that is where I'll leave my recap of the shorts as well as introductions to our lead characters. Where I want to start with commend the creative team behind this for making a movie. That would include our directors, J. D. Hawkins and Shields, as well as the writing team and all the actors. This does feel inspired by E. C. comics and more recently, Tales from the Hood. We have shorts that are quick hitters, they set up the story and then there's payoff. I will credit them there. We got three stories and the wraparound done in under 90 minutes which I appreciated.

Since we have the same creative team behind all of them, I'm going to just look at this as a movie. I thought that the concepts of these were fine. They are poignant to the title as the set up could happen to us or people we know. The first one has a child drown in a pool. The other kids who caused it did not want to get in trouble, so they left. The second has a young woman faced with a difficult decision and needing to come to terms with it. You can look at this one as not having supernatural elements as well. That is her own guilt causing what she experiences. This is the strongest in my opinion. The last one has plot holes and conveniences in it, but still worked. It feels oddly too close to the first one though. Then our last one has a similar set up and how it plays out like what we got in the original Tales from the Hood. Not exactly, but there are similarities that I noticed.

I do have to say that although I do like what they did here, this falls short with the execution. Part of that is budgetary. They aren't working with a large amount to make things happen to keep the excitement up. I'm not going to hold that against it. They were predictable though. That does hurt it. It struggled to keep my interest due to that though.

Let me then shift away from the stories and go to the acting. The cast is amateurish so I'm not going to harp or pick them apart. I thought that Shields, Eric, Harris, Loco and Dehart were solid for the wraparound. There are a bunch more characters introduced late than I wasn't expecting. That was fun to see to be honest. I'd say all the children in the first story were solid. They seemed like friends. Their adult counterparts matched that. The best performance is in story two with Daniels. The rest of them push her to where she ends up. What I like there is that it might all be in her head, but we see there could be supernatural elements as well. The cast for story three were also fine. No one outside of Daniels stood out, but that's not a slight.

All that is left then is filmmaking. This also could be felt with the budget. The copy on Tubi was a bit muddy so that did affect my viewing a bit. The cinematography is fine. It doesn't do a lot to necessarily stands out. I'd say that the effects were decent. This is something else that the budget isn't helping with. The practical effects work and I'd say the computer effects we got were on par. Other than that, the soundtrack fit for what was needed without necessarily standing out.

In conclusion, this is a movie that I want to commend this team to get together and make. This is held back its budget. It is going for that E. C. comic vibe but doesn't pack the punch that those tend to have. The writing isn't helping as the stories were predictable in my opinion. The acting is amateur so that is all I'll say there. I'd say that their filmmaking aspects show promise. They were just limited in what they could do. Not one that I'd recommend unless you're a fan of microbudget cinema.

My Rating: 3 out of 10.

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)

Brilliantly Made and Uncomfortable Film

[8/10 · 13 May 2024]

This is a movie that I watched years ago on my phone while working. I didn't know anything about it and at the time, I believed at that time it was on Shudder. What struck me that first time around was the cast. It features Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard, Tim Roth, Ciarán Hinds, Roger Ashton-Griffiths and Alex Kingston. It came to the Gateway Film Center so I decided to catch this on the last day it was showing.

Where I want to start is by saying that this is a wild movie. It isn't an easy watch for the fact that it is uncomfortable. The setting for the most part is this restaurant, Le Hollandais. There is the back where the loading doors for supplies, the kitchen, the dining area and the bathroom. Each have their own distinct color scheme. The cook here is Richard Borst (Richard Bohringer). The owner is the thief, Albert (Michael Gambon). He's a gangster who causes a scene each night. His wife is Georgina (Helen Mirren). She starts having an affair with Michael (Alan Howard). These events take place over less than a week of time. It will change everyone involved forever.

What is great here is the interactions between the characters. Albert is brash and foul mouthed. This bothers everyone around him, but it is only Georgina who speaks up. She is shouted down though. Due to happenstance, she starts an affair with Michael due to a meeting in the hallway to the bathroom. They sneak out from there to places in the kitchen to make love, with the help of Richard. This can only go on for so long without being noticed. Albert is a gangster, who is selfish and needs to punish those from taking from him.

This is all about the performances and the filmmaking though. The story is quite simple. Seeing how great Bohringer, Gambon, Mirren and Howard are in the lead roles is great. No one talks nearly the amount Albert does. He doesn't think. The other three are calculated in what they say, partially to keep from getting a tantrum from Albert. It also could get them hurt if they don't. Then having the likes of Roth, Hinds, Ashton-Griffiths, amongst others, in minor roles is great. There isn't a bad performance here.

There are two big things with filmmaking I need to bring up. The first is one that I noticed with the color palette for the major sets we see. I had a feeling it was done on purpose. Since this revolves around eating and food, the other was the long tracking shots we got. I didn't realize it was there to simulate food moving through the digestive tract. That shocked me, but it makes sense. It also makes me wonder then if when they reverse it, does that signify being sick? I'd bet it did. There were no issues for me with how this was made, aside from I don't know if this needs to be over two hours. This is an arthouse film and it seems to run that length to make the viewer uncomfortable. It did succeed.

I don't think there is too much else to say. I did leave out that we have a younger Mirren here who is completely nude. As is Howard. So, if that sways your decision, just wanted to provide it. This won't be for everyone, but if you are into artsy films and want to see one that is uncomfortable, this is for you.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Mean Spirited (2022)

Solid Premise and Fun Found Footage Horror

[7/10 · 13 May 2024]

This was a movie that I learned through a press release hit Shudder. I was offered a screener to see this, but since it was already streaming, I just went ahead and watched it there. I knew coming in that this was filmed in found footage. Seeing that this was also partially comedy, which made me leery. I still wanted to decide for myself.

Synopsis: a failed YouTuber's weekend in the Poconos turns into a nightmare when a demon joins the party.

We started this off in the past. Someone is filming as a boy knocks on the door of a house. I'm guessing that Frank (Neville Archambault) is that man that emerges. The boy says that his cat is in a tree and needs help. The man doesn't see anything and soon realizes that this is an attempted prank. He drags the boy inside.

It then shifts to the present. We see two guys enter a house, Andy (Will Madden) and Tom (Daniel Rashid). There is a chair, with a microphone and a camera that is set up, recording. Andy sits down and goes into his introduction for his YouTube channel. As a disclaimer, he's the failed person in the synopsis. He goes by Amazing Andy.

The vacation that he's going on with Tom is to visit Andy's former best friend, Bryce (Jeff Ryan). He's highly successful and it gets under Andy's skin. He says that it doesn't, but we see otherwise. Coming along is Tom's girlfriend of Nikki (Michelle Veintimilla) and a producer for the channel, Joey (Maria DeCotis). I get the idea that her and Andy might be a couple, but that's never confirmed. They also pick up another friend, Dew (Will Martin), who is upset that Nikki is with them. He thought it was going to be a guy's trip.

Our group gets to the Poconos and stop at a visitor's center. They get spooked when they find a bloody postcard stuck to their windshield. There is also someone in a creepy mask and robe in the tree line. They're just staring at the group. This isn't the only local that is off. We see later that there's something wrong with the bartender as well.

The group then arrives at Bryce's place. It is large and modern. They notice that there's religious iconography all over. There is also a locked room that has a plate with words on the door. Bryce is welcoming, but he also has ground rules. This is supposed to be a fun, relaxing weekend. Andy can't keep his snide remarks to himself and Bryce does well at staying calm. Not always though. Andy's anger blinds him though and he misses that something is going on here that isn't quite right. It will turn this weekend vacation into a nightmare that will change them forever.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start then would be that this is a fun movie. I've been on trips like this and I know people that are like these characters. Not necessarily to this extent, but close enough. Since this is filmed in the style of found footage, we are supposed to think that these people are old friends. I get that. I've been the Andy where I'm bitter at someone so I'll make remarks. Deep down, I hope they take it without things getting physical. I also want a reaction. Bryce knows he's in the wrong, but I love that there is a deep seeded issue that he's been harboring as well.

I should then just talk about the acting. Madden, Ryan and Martin feel like they've known each other since high school. Dew is that over-the-top character who drinks too much and just does stupid things. I've been this guy in my friend group. Rashid as Tom is interesting. He was religious growing up, but it seems like he has distanced himself. That's not necessarily the case. He brought his bible and there are pages marked with tabs. He has a beautiful girlfriend in Nikki. It seems like he's ready to break out of who he was. I like that she is trying to befriend Joey. DeCotis' character isn't a girly girl, where Nikki is. Everyone's dynamic here is good. I also like the fact that Tom is dating Nikki. She's a bit out of his league. There is worry that Bryce could steal her and Tom isn't worried until things progress. Everyone feels like their character. I also thought the supporting cast worked for what was needed.

Now then to shift back to the story. We have a simple premise here. Our group comes to the Poconos where Bryce has a house. Andy can't get over the fact that he lost his friend. The rest of the group gets annoyed and us as the viewers, we are with them. There's a supernatural angle here though. Something happens to Dew that we see. Since the synopsis says there's a demon that joins them, he becomes possessed. It is from there that we see others are as well. What is great there though, we get a baseline of them before they change. I like how the opening video factors back into this later. This is slow burn that we see where the characters don't and I like that.

Let me then go over to filmmaking to finish this out. I thought that the found footage reasoning as to why they're still filming works. Andy is trying to make it big. It annoys Bryce and others that he always has a camera. That adds to realism for me. He is trying to prove his point and in doing so, needs to have evidence. Now since this is a slow burn, I thought that since it has around a 90-minute runtime, I never got bored. It takes time to develop but doesn't lag. My issue is that I got annoyed with Andy. He is so whiney and it never goes away. That was an issue I had, but I know he is that way by design. There is a great question posed to him and I like where that ended. The effects we got were good. I'm guessing there was CGI. Being that this is found footage, they were able to hide them so I'll give credit there. We do have music included, but since we're seeing the edited footage, that's fine. They do creepy things with sound design. My only issue is who is this movie for? Since there's possession, are they just playing this off as 'fictional'. A movie that Andy made and it caused him to make it big? I can work with that concept, but that's me rationalizing.

In conclusion, I didn't hate my time here. This is a solid found footage horror film that is using the idea of vacation and possession. The only issue there is that we've seen similar things before and they have been done better already. I'll still credit them for making an enjoyable movie. The story isn't deep, but this is more about the characters and their motivations. Madden, Ryan, Rashid, DeCotis, Martin and Veintimilla were all solid. No bad performances in my opinion. This is also made well enough. It makes sense why it is found footage and no glaring issues. The only problem I have is how whiney Andy is and it grated on me a bit. Still worth a watch to fans of this filming style.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Humane (2024)

Sets the Stage for Its World and Good Performances

[8/10 · 13 May 2024]

This was a movie that I caught part of the trailer when I was seeing something at the Gateway Film Center. What captured my attention was seeing that this was directed by Caitlin Cronenberg. I'm a fan of her father, David, and her brother, Brandon, so I wanted to see what she could do. Featuring Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire and Peter Gallagher also worked in its favor.

Synopsis: in the wake of an environmental collapse that is forcing humanity to shed 20% of its population, a family dinner erupts into chaos when a father's plan goes awry.

Building from the synopsis, I thought this did well in setting up the world that we're in through a news report. Climate change was ignored and now due to overpopulation, resources need to be rationed. A new worldwide ordinance was put in. Countries have a quota to fill of euthanizing citizens to not consume the remaining resources. I also got the idea to start fixing issues with the environment as well.

We are following a specific, wealthy family. The patriarch is Charles York (Gallagher). He was a host of a mainstream news station, ala Walter Cronkite or Peter Jennings. He has two sons and two daughters. Jared (Baruchel) is an anthropologist working with the government. He makes harsh comments on the news that upsets his son and ex-wife. The next child is Rachel (Hampshire) who I get the idea that she works for a pharmaceutical company. Bad decisions and information were given which resulted in people getting hurt by one of their products. She also has a daughter, Mia (Sirena Gulamgaus).

The other two children aren't as successful. Ashley (Alanna Bale) is a struggling actor. Noah (Sebastian Chacon) was adopted and he is a recovering addict. He has a live-in girlfriend of Grace (Blessing Adeijo) who he met in a meeting. Noah was a prodigy with playing the piano before his addiction. He also was in a car accident while high that caused him to walk with a cane and has a scar on his face. There's one other member of the family, Dawn (Uni Park), who is the stepmother after Charles' first wife passed away. She is a famous restaurateur.

Now I'm going to avoid spoilers, but Charles calls his children to the house for a dinner party. Dawn owned a restaurant before it was burned down. There is hate toward Asians as they're blamed for the overpopulation of the world. Charles only wanted adults to attend, but Rachel brought Mia due to not having someone to watch her. What I'll say is that Charles has volunteered to be euthanized. He thinks that Dawn is on board with the decision. This blindsides his children and even more so when the unit shows up that night. Charles didn't read the fine print and what happens from here starts a nightmare. We truly see what happens when you're faced with your mortality and what you'll give up to survive.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I can see this movie turning people off due to the social commentary that is built into the fabric of the story. I don't think you can ignore it. Personally, it didn't feel to me to be in your face. I took this as you need to just know these elements of the world to understand what is happening. The biggest one though is if you don't believe in climate change, you might just be turned off to this movie. Just wanted that disclaimer here.

With that out of the way, I do like the approach to discussing global issues here. We also have commentary on the government, information and what we can trust. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I also don't blindly believe what the government tells us either. This sets up that the ozone layer has been damaged to where extra protection is needed from the sun. I like how this is subtly done with plastic over windows. We see people getting their water ration at the start. I loved this duality to the dinner that is being made by Dawn. Jared comments on it when he shows up as well. It is early that we also learn that each country is tasked with killing off 20% of their population. That is the 'quota'. Like the military back for the world wars and the cold war, volunteers are asked for first. If that doesn't work, a draft will be done.

Then to delve deeper into the specific group we're following, this family hates each other. It is interesting as they grew up rich and had every opportunity afforded them due to their status. I do like that commentary there about how they don't struggle the same way as 'normal' people. Jared and Rachel are highly successful, but they're horrible people. Noah is a good guy, but he also took the route of drugs. I get that happened due to the pressure of being a 'prodigy' with the piano. He couldn't handle it. Ashley is a struggling actor. Since she doesn't truly need to work, she is skating by. There is tension between Jared and his father. Charles was critical of the government where Jared seemed like a mouthpiece. Noah brings up a conspiracy about the lying surrounding the numbers who volunteered. Jared wants that person's name as they should be 'punished'. That's a fascist approach and trending on their right to free speech. We're seeing the United States here turning into a scary place that builds a good atmosphere. It isn't out of the realm of possibility which helps. I also saw parallel to the numbers of COVID deaths during the lock down.

There's another angle I want to explore and it comes with this group who euthanize people. They're led by Bob (Enrico Colantoni). He's friendly, but there's a scary side to him as things get said. His unit also comes armed. There's an interesting reveal here that the first people to 'volunteer' were prisoners. That meant that guards were let go. They seem to transition over to this unit here. What is terrifying is that it gets revealed that without prisons, these guys lost their income. There is a new way they can make money and won't be easily swayed. This adds tension and horror to me.

That should be enough for the story. The story we are following is simple to be honest. There is a lot going on under the surface, but what we're getting is a variation on home invasion. It is more about trapping our family inside with an impossible decision. I love seeing the true colors of these siblings come out. Baruchel and Hampshire are horrible characters, but their performances are great to bring them to life. I like Gallagher who seems so noble, but Charles is too concerned with how he will be remembered. I like Chacon was this adopted child who is trying to make up for things he did in the past. It isn't easy with how judgmental everyone else is. I also like Bale who doesn't have much to show for a career. Her greed drives her as well. Colantoni, Martin Roach and all his group were solid. They're this borderline military force that is keeping everyone trapped. I like Gulamgaus, Park and the rest of the cast to round this out for what was needed.

All that is left then is filmmaking. First, I will say that I love this world it is set in. This feels like things that her brother and father do so well. It feels like our world is just slightly different. It is that bit that makes it work. The cinematography is good. I love how it captures this setting where our group is trapped. I'll credit there for sure. If I do have an issue it comes with how it ends. I feel like it slightly pulls its punch. I've been sitting on it and writing this the day after seeing it. What I've concluded is that it fits this family and their sensibilities. What does work though are the effects. This isn't body horror, but it shows attacks and wounds with brutal realism. I liked that. I also thought the sound design worked and the music fit what was needed.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this movie. The social commentary might turn people off, but I thought that it helped create the world this is set in. I also think it asks interesting questions. The performances here are good across the board. Baruchel, Hampshire, Gallagher, Chacon, Bale and Colantoni set up the story and bring their characters to life to make it work. The contained atmosphere helps build tension. I thought this was well made. The cinematography, framing and effects were good there. I just wanted a bit more with the ending, but it fit the narrative. I can see this being divisive due to the underlying messages and themes. If you can just enjoy what you're getting here, I recommend it.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Secret Invasion (2023)

Glad Fury Got His Show, Helps Progress Storylines

[7/10 · 10 May 2024]

This was a show that intrigued me when it came out. I had just gotten caught up on all the Marvel properties so I knew that I needed to find time to check out this television mini-series. What I found interesting is that we've hadn't had a Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) property yet. He featured heavily in Captain Marvel, but that is her origin story for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to gear up for Avengers: Endgame.

What we're getting here is an espionage style story. It is in the vein of a James Bond or the like. This is much different though dealing with an alien race that can look like us, the Skrulls. This allows them to infiltrate world governments and important positions. We are exploring here the story of the deal that Fury made with Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) who is their leader. We see how he credited the villain, Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), since things that were promised didn't come true. He leads a terrorist group that wants to take over Earth, since their planet was taken over by the Kree.

There are great characters here like Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman), who I believe is with British intelligence. This falls into Captain America films in that we're exploring a story that is relevant today. Gravik brings the world on the brink of World War III by doing things in Russia and making it look like they're working together. This introduces G'iah (Emilia Clarke) who is the daughter of Talos. Where she ends up in this series is intriguing and I wonder if she will be back for a later property with the changes to her character. There's also the idea of the outsider and how as humans, we fear it. Our nature is to destroy instead of come together so I like that we explore that here.

I'll say that overall, this was solid. I think that the story is stretched too much and it never fully hooked me. I'm glad that I watched it now to see where things go from here. Again, also glad that Fury got his own show now. The cast is great around him as well. Clarke, Don Cheadle, Ben-Adir, Mendelsohn, Colman, Charlayne Woodard, Dermot Mulroney and Christopher McDonald, all are solid. We also have a cameo by Martin Freeman. I'd also say this is well-made. The cinematography is good. There are drab sequences, showing how bleak the outlook is for Fury's mission. This is once again a CGI-fest, not as much as others. There were slight issues here and there where this took me out.

I'd recommend this if you are a MCU fan to continue the story that runs through everything.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

In My Skin (2002)

Solid Character Study with Body Horror

[7/10 · 10 May 2024]

This is a movie that I heard about through podcasts. Not one that I heard about regularly, but it has been covered by a couple so it went on a list of movies to check out. I selected this, knowing that it was directed by a woman. The deeper I investigated it, Marina de Van, also wrote and starred here. That made me think that when this was developed, she knew what she was setting out to do. I had a feeling that as I was settling in, that this was going to fall into the New French Extremity movement.

Synopsis: a woman grows increasingly fascinated with her body after suffering a disfiguring accident.

For this movie, as I said in my opening, we are following Eshter (de Van). She lives with Vincent (Laurent Lucas), who is her boyfriend. She is working and I get the idea that she is in marketing or something along these lines. Her best friend is Sandrine (Léa Drucker) who she also works with. They go to a party together. It seems this could be work related.

Esther decides while at this party to go outside and walk around the yard. There is junk in the back, which is like metal and things. She ends up taking a misstep and cuts her leg. She doesn't think it is that deep and goes back inside. We then see that she continues with the night, dancing with a guy who is getting a bit forward. Sandrine wants to leave so they're in line for the bathroom. Esther sneaks off, going upstairs to see if there is another one. That is when she realizes that she has a deep gash in her leg and it is bleeding everywhere. She tries to stop it and hides when she hears someone coming. It is Sandrine, looking for her and alerted her that the guy who owns the place noticed the blood. They thought they'd find someone dead. Sandrine doesn't realize that this is from her friend.

The two of them then go to a bar. It is after this that Esther seeks out a doctor. He is shocked by what he finds. He can't believe that she didn't notice it when it happened. It is also odd to him that she took so long to get it treated. He is concerned with her nerves around the wound. Esther doesn't want additional procedures to fix it. She just wants it cleaned and covered so it can heal. She seems fine with it scarring.

Like the synopsis said, this starts a change within her. We see her in the bathtub where she is pulling at her skin. There's a moment at work where she sneaks off, removes her pants to stab metal into the wound and the leg around it. She tries to hold it together for an upcoming business deal, but we see that she could be descending into madness. She has an experience at a work dinner where she believes her left hand is no longer attached. We then see her as she stabs into it with a knife and fork. She reveals things to Vincent and Sandrine, who are concerned for her. She doesn't want their help though, which complicates her life further. Work is affected as she disappears and the more that she harms herself, the more difficult it is to hide.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this is an interesting little character study of Esther. I'm going to start with a positive and negative here. I love that this doesn't waste any time getting into it. We see her with Vincent, then we get a brief look at her before going to this party where everything starts. I do have a negative here though. I wish that this would just give us slightly more of a baseline for Esther before she starts harming herself. I can infer that this is the first time she's ever done this. This accident sparks that.

Now that I've set that up, let me delve a bit more into Esther. I should say here that this feels like it is borrowing heavily from Crash by David Cronenberg. Esther does something simple like gash her leg on metal and then this starts her spiral to harm herself more and more. This goes just deeper than that though. I do get the idea that she is dealing with depression. It seems to me like she is losing gripes on reality and uses the pain the ground her. She also cannot go too long without harming herself. I do think that we need a bit more here to connect all the dots. This seems to go more for the shock value of it. I will credit de Van here. She is great as our lead. I love seeing her as she loses control of herself as she does herself harm.

I'm going to shift gears and talk about the rest of the cast. What I like here is that they're here for different things to push Esther as we go. Vincent and Sandrine want to help her. She doesn't want their help though. Vincent and her live together. They're also planning their future together. I do like seeing him get frustrated with her as she spirals. Lucas plays his role well. Drucker on the other hand is a good friend. She shuts out Esther though when she sees there's nothing she can do. Dominique Reymond and Bernard Alane are good as two clients that are the dinner with her as well as her boss is there. That scene was tense. I thought that the acting here was good to push her to where she ends up. Sometimes despite their help.

All that I went to then go into would be filmmaking. The strongest part here are the effects. We can see at times that she isn't hurting herself really. That is fine because what we saw made me cringe. I like the fact that this went practical with what they used. Something that helps is the framing and the cinematography. They simulate all this for the most part to look real enough. I credit them there to help preserve that. Other than that, I'd say that the soundtrack fit for what was needed.

In conclusion, this doesn't have the deepest story and it doesn't necessarily need it. We see that a fateful accident has messed with Esther and she descends into madness where she can't stop harming herself. She even turns to self-cannibalism. De Van's performance is great. The rest of the cast pushes her to where she ends up. I thought that this is well made from the effects to cinematography and framing. If I do have an issue though, this is a slow story wise since there isn't much to it. This does make up for it with the shock value. Not one I'd recommend to everyone. If you like French Extreme films and can manage realistic effects, then give this a watch. Not one that I would watch regularly though.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Satan Wants You (2023)

Crazy to Think How Things Can Spiral When Unchecked

[8/10 · 9 May 2024]

This was a documentary that I got turned on to when searching Letterboxd/The Internet Movie Database for horror/documentaries to watch at work. This caught my attention for the fact that while I was reading Paperbacks from Hell, the novel Michelle Remembers popped up. It was a book that was passed off as fact originally. The repercussions that came from that was felt for the next decade.

Now as I started to watch this, I texted my mother to see if she had read the book. She had read it and my guess there; she thought it was real when it came out. This documentary does well in setting up who the subject of this documentary is. Michelle Smith is the subject of the book and her therapist that helped uncover these repressed memories was Lawrence Pazder. He uses reel to reel tape recorder and then had a team dictate what they heard. I'll say, listening to the tapes made me uncomfortable. Hearing the pain that Michelle went through or what she thought she did, got under my skin.

The bigger thing here are the repercussions of what they did. I like that we learn about both lead characters from their childhood to where they ended up in the wake. Both were married. Michelle was raised in a troubled home. Her mother was doing what she could to raise her and they had a father who was addicted to alcohol and gambling. He caused them to move regularly and there would be nights when he was on a bender that were terrifying. We hear things from friends and Michelle's sisters.

What I want to share about Lawrence was that he loved technology and was a doctor who did missionary trips to Africa. While there, he was not well liked by the nuns. He did film local rituals, but from what we hear through this doc, he didn't seem to fully understand them. This is brought up as it feels like it factors into what went into the book. Lawrence is important for starting the recovered-memory therapy and things that were pushed, helped usher in the 'Satanic Panic' era.

The subject matter is interesting to me as an atheist. I only bring that up here since I look at all religions as something that is good for people, but I also see how it is used as weapon. It causes people to bring in their own biases, which is problematic. This is a bit too slanted toward looking at religion as the main problem here. I did like that they used archive footage of Anton LaVey, the writer of the Satanic Bible and founder of the Church of Satan. He has passed away now, but I did like that Blanche Barton is standing for this church to share information as well. Having that side represented was good. What I will credit here is that I get the feeling there are Christians interviewed here, but they are also rationale people as well.

Other than that issue, I thought this was well-made. It is interesting and harrowing. If these things did happen to children, it would be sickening. Looking at it from that angle, I agree. Knowing that these people that are interviewed on the daytime talk shows probably have mental illness that is being encouraged and exploited is also terrifying. I thought that this does well in conveying its information and looking professional. If anything, it has me interested in reading Michelle Remembers as a fictional work to see what was put down to paper. This was an interesting documentary for sure.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Terror in the Aisles (1984)

Fun Documentary that Uses a Ton of Classics and Cult Films to Present Its Subject

[8/10 · 9 May 2024]

This is a movie that I'm not entirely sure where I first heard about it. I know that thanks to podcasts, it went on my list of movies to check out. This is a documentary where they're taking clips from a plethora of horror movies and splicing them together. Something interesting to include, I've heard that voices in the community used this to clear up blind spots. There were a handful of movies here that moved up lists or got added to check out as well.

Our framing story here takes place in a movie theater. There are two hosts, Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen. What I like about them is that they're telling a story or explaining troupes in horror movies. The editing here is amazing to take a few different movies that showcase what they're saying to get their point across. I read a review of this where that person said they would go to the movies more if they had a sneaky Donald Pleasence around them. It is a shame that he's passed away because I would love that.

There are other featured movie goers. I recognized Ángel Salazar from Scarface. Diane Stilwell looked familiar as well. There is a ton of clips used from the 1930s all the way up to the mid-1980s, when this was made. You'll see the likes of Abbott and Costello, Brooke Adams, Alan Arkin, Linda Blair, Veronica Cartwright, Nick Castle, Lon Chaney Jr., Bette Davis, Keith David, William Finley, Debbie Harry, Dustin Hoffman, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Michael Ironside. There are so many more that I didn't include as well.

This is a documentary that feels like they're doing a bit of tricks to be a movie. I love all the clips that are compiled. How they are edited together, in a way where it flows so nicely. Not everything here is horror. There are science fiction and darker crime films as well. That wasn't an issue for me personally, but if you are going by strict genres, it is a cheat. I'd highly recommend this as a fun documentary from the 1980s that breaks down troupes, story ideas and the like about a genre that I love.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Pandemonium (II) (2023)

Great Use of Christianity Mythology to Tell a Dark Tale

[8/10 · 9 May 2024]

This is a movie that I got the chance to see thanks to Justin Cook when he sent over a screener link. Now when I saw that this was a horror film that hit festivals in 2023 and getting a wide release in 2024, I was in. Being that this was foreign also adds to it since I like to get an array of countries to truly decide how good a year is overall for releases.

Synopsis: after realizing he has died at the scene of a car crash, Nathan (Hugo Dillon) descends into the depths of hell, where he is doomed to experience the pain of tortured souls along the way.

We start this by getting where it takes place. It is an isolated road that has trees and potentially on the side of a mountain. There is a guy lying in the road who turns out to be Nathan. He is confused as to why he is there and not in his car. We saw that he was in an accident. He's joined by Daniel (Arben Bajraktaraj). He was riding a motorcycle when he was struck by Nathan. It also turns out there was a little girl playing by the road as well. Daniel points out something that shocks Nathan. The former has come to terms with the fact that they're dead. Nathan struck Daniel and then crashed.

That's when two doors appear. One is nicer and Daniel hears music coming from it. The other is creepier and Nathan hears what sounds like screams. Decisions were made in both of their lives to decide which door they could go through. We see that can change quickly as well. Nathan goes through the only one that is available to him. This starts the journey from the synopsis as he sees what Jeanne did to end up where she did. Also, what brought Chloé (Sidwell Weber) to this place. This is just the start of the punishment that Nathan goes through.

Now that is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. I should say that this doesn't have the deepest story, but it also doesn't need it. We're getting the classic idea brought forth by Christianity that there are two places you go when you die. Something interesting here is that we're seeing the concept of Nathan not accepting his fate. He was in the same accident as Daniel, but the latter died on impact. He's been in the afterlife longer. I love that this explores the idea that a second in the real world could be minutes on the other side. That gets explored more as we follow Nathan's journey. I also like the idea of a decision that Nathan made leads to the punishment he goes through.

First then let's delve deeper into the character of Nathan. I'm not going to reveal fully what led him to go to hell. Let's just say that someone close to him was suffering and he decided to put them out of their misery. When we look at it as humanity, it could be seen as a mercy killing. What causes stress here though is that demons don't see it that way. They look at a grey situation black and white. That is terrifying. He is being punished for doing what he thought was the right thing. I'm glad that it doesn't get revealed later though the particulars. He just tells Daniel in the opening scene that he killed someone. There's also an interesting thing that happens there as he technically killed Daniel as well, even if it was an accident. We see how strict things are with the little girl that also joins the afterlife. I did want to credit Dillon here as he is the character we follow.

Where I want to go now would be the concept of hell. It is taking on aspects of Dante Aligieri's 14th-century epic poem of the Divine Comedy. There are different rings of hell and what you do decides which one you go to. There is guide, Norgul, who is a demon. Nathan tries to plead with him and he points out that he doesn't judge. He is there to carry out what he's told. I did love that. We also see Billy, who is freakish, also doing what he is told. This goes dark where that story ends up. I love using this Christian mythology to tell the story.

Part of Nathan's punishment is that he experiences a couple people he touches in hell. First let me say here that I love that Quarxx, who wrote and directed this, decided to make hell look like it does from The Beyond and The Void. I'm a fan there. He touches a little girl, who is named Jeanne. She is terrifying as we see her story play out with what happens to her and this deformed person named Tony (Carl Laforêt). There is also the other which deals with Julia (Ophélia Kolb) coming to terms with what happened to her daughter, Chloé. These tugged at my heartstrings for a couple of different reasons so credit to the filmmaking there. I like that a child can be evil and then of course, there is the cardinal sin as well. That is where I'll leave it, but I'll credit all these actors for bringing the stories to life. It almost made me think this was going to be an anthology. It is just using those elements to help better tell this story.

All that is left then would be filmmaking. I'll credit the cinematography here. The afterlife looks like ours. We see that Nathan and Daniel can affect our world with something that happens. I like what get with the cinematography and framing bring things to life. The look of hell is good. That is terrifying for sure. We don't get a lot in the way of effects, but we don't need them. There were a couple scenes that needed more blood. That's not a major issue though. What was good though was the look of Tony and the demons that we meet in hell. I also like what they do with Chloé. Her eyes were creepy. Other than that, I thought sound design and music fit what was needed here.

In conclusion, I'm glad that I checked this movie out. We're playing with classic source material by incorporating elements of the Divine Comedy. Also, the use of Christian mythology is good as well. I thought that this told a simple story, but the backstories and how things fit together carries this. The acting was good in bringing the characters to life. That also helps to present the story. I'd also say that this is well made. The cinematography, settings and effects were good as well. I'll warn you; this is from France so I watched it with subtitles on. If that's not an issue and you like what I've said here, give this a watch.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Abigail (2024)

Marketing Hurts the Reveal, Still Fun Movie

[7/10 · 6 May 2024]

This was a movie that I saw was coming to the Gateway Film Center and I was intrigued. It has a solid cast with Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand and Giancarlo Esposito. I also like our directing team from Ready or Not and Scream from a couple years ago. I saw too much of the trailer which gives the reveal. It was also all over the Internet Movie Database site. This would have been more fun if it wasn't spoiled, but I digress.

Synopsis: after a group of criminals kidnap the ballet dancer daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

We start this off with good filmmaking. The team of criminals are getting into place. Joey (Barrera) is picked up by Peter (Durand) and Frank (Stevens). Another team is at the destination. Rickles (William Catlett) has a sniper rifle; he's watching the house. The getaway driver is Dean (Angus Cloud) and Sammy (Newton) bringing down the security system. The target is Abigail (Alisha Weir) who is practicing. They are waiting for her to come home.

Their plan goes on without issue. They take her to the remote mansion that is creepy. She is taken up to a room with a blindfold on and handcuffed. At the place, they're met by Lambert (Esposito) who wants them to stay on guard. They need to hold her for ransom for 24 hours. There is food and drinks stocked for them.

Now the only one who comes in to see and talk to her is Joey. She calms the girl and even makes it more comfortable for her. She removes the blindfold and handcuffs her in the front. Joey does wear a mask. This group isn't supposed to share personal information, but while they are having drinks and playing games, Dean tries to guess everyone's backgrounds. Joey points out that he's wrong and then she guesses everyone correctly. Frank reveals a dark secret about her.

Abigail has one of her own as she alludes to her father being powerful. Joey doesn't want to know, but she tells Frank about her concern. He goes into her room for information, not realizing that she isn't blindfolded anymore. This is just the start of fear he has. She reveals to him who her father is. He's ready to leave and give up his cut of the money. That isn't as easy as he thinks as Abigail has an even darker secret of her own.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start with a movie that I saw praise being given to from voices in the community that I respect. It was interesting as well because it was from professionals and other podcasters. That made me excited to give this a watch. What I'll say here is that this is a popcorn movie. We have a good premise where we strand a group with something that is faster, stronger and more deadly than them. We then show them fighting for their life.

Something to then bring up was that a buddy in a group chat said this feels like Ready or Not. Seeing that the directors of that helmed this, makes sense. We have a large mansion where are characters are looking around for whatever is killing them. These are also professional criminals. Rickles is a former marine. Peter is muscle. Frank was a former detective. It turns out Joey was in the army. Sammy is good with computers, which doesn't play here. Dean is the only non-professional, but he's a great wheelman from what we see. I'm a fan of playing with the idea of going up against something that is too much for people that are better equipped. I'll also say that I love the isolated setting and trapping the characters inside. That reminded me of Demons and its sequel.

The next bit is something that I'm going to go vague as I won't spoil what Abigail is. I'm guessing that anyone reading this knows though. What I'll say is that she's a creature. I do like how they manage the lore here. Joey knows what she is first. Sammy saw what this thing could do but doesn't believe it. Rickles and Frank know that something is wrong and it doesn't make sense. Peter refuses to believe. I love that everyone tosses out what they know and they use these elements. I'm a fan when something with established lore is used and then a movie gives what their rules are. I also love the look as well.

I think then I'll shift to acting next. I'll say again that we have a good cast here. Barrera is fine as our lead. She doesn't necessarily stand out to me though. Not bad by any stretch though either. Stevens was good as this detective turned criminal. I love that his back-story is muddled. Catlett is good as this former marine. I like Newton as a rich girl who decided to do crime for the thrill. Durand is funny as this big dumb muscle. Cloud adds levity with being a street criminal who is good at what he does. I like Weir in her role. The use of ballet dancing adds an interesting element. This is something that is beautiful and graceful while combining it with the brutal. I like that dichotomy. Other than that, I like the cameo by Esposito and Matthew Goode as well.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography was good to capture this location and bring it to life. The isolated location and not being able to get out raises tension. Then having something hunt our characters builds even more. I thought that the attacks were framed well. This is a combination of CGI and practical effects from what I could tell. I don't love the former, but this had a budget so it doesn't look bad. What is intriguing is that an effect from Ready or Not was brought over here with exploding bodies. That ramps up the gore. Other than that, I love the classical music used, especially when Abigail is dancing. That makes it even more eerie with what happens from there. No issues here.

In conclusion, I thought this was a solid movie that I enjoyed my time with. This isn't doing anything new necessarily. There are good elements like using something that is tender like ballet dancing and having vicious attacks works for me. We have a solid cast here. This is well-made. I thought the setting, cinematography, framing and the music were good. If I have nitpicked, it is with the computer effects. Doesn't ruin this by any stretch though. I'd say to give this one a watch. I had fun watching this one.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Strange World (2022)

Great Message and Interesting Ideas to Show

[7/10 · 5 May 2024]

This was a movie that I saw streaming on Disney+ but didn't know anything about it. My wife had our niece and nephew over to stay with us. They picked this movie. What intrigued me was seeing that this features the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Gabrielle Union, Dennis Quaid, Lucy Liu, Karan Soni, Alan Tudyk and Abraham Benrubi.

We start this off with Jaeger Clade (voiced by Quaid) leading an explorer party. There is a theme song to fill the story. With them is his son, Searcher (voiced by Gyllenhaal). His father is an explorer where his son wants to be a farmer. They are crossing mountains and Searcher notices glowing plants. He thinks this could change things as a power source. Jaeger wants to continue, which he does.

This then shifts into the feature where Searcher is now married to Meridian (voiced by Union). Together they have a son, Ethan (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White). He is different from his father, wanting to explore like his grandfather. He also has different views on the environment.

They run into problems where the plants they're using aren't producing as much power. This brings a member of Jaeger's party to need Searcher's help, Callisto Mal (voiced by Liu). He is convinced to join the party to see what is going on. Ethan sneaks onto the ship which causes Meridian to look for him. They find a crater that leads to a new, uncharted area. This seems like the hollow Earth conspiracy theory. This is just the start of a journey to heal the land and discover the truth of their strange world.

Where I want to start are the things that set this apart for me. The first is that I read this was one of the first from Disney to feature an openly gay teen, Ethan. He has a crush on Diazo (voiced by Jonathan Melo), but he doesn't know how to tell him. It is obvious thought that this other boy has feelings back. What I like here is that it is normalized. Searcher, Meridian and even Jaeger don't make a big deal out of it which is great to see. That was something I wanted to bring up first.

This is also a veiled allegory for how we treat the environment. Jaeger is a hunter and an explorer. He is ready to kill anything he perceives is going to kill him. Searcher is a farmer, which is good. He also has similar beliefs as his father in that, if he thinks a lifeform is going to kill his crops, he will protect. Ethan is a big fan of a card game where the goal is to find ways to coexist with the plants and wildlife around you. I love this approach as it makes the most sense. You also aren't changing the environment but adapting. This outlook helps as this movie goes on as well.

Now I'm not going to go into spoilers, but this features Native American and Asian lore. It is wild that I looked it up while watching this movie and it made sense. What I'll say is that if you pay attention to the 'hollow Earth' environment of the movie, it mimics life under the water. There is a reason for it and goes to other works I've read as to the explanation. Jaime and I were picking up things that we noticed as well. I love what they're doing there and what the major reveals as to the world they live in. It did cause my niece and nephew to argue with me until I could show them what we were saying. They aren't ready for these big ideas.

I've said that our voice acting talent is great. Gyllenhaal and Quaid work as the opposite side of the same coin with how they deal with things. What is great there though is that Young-White takes on a character who is better than his father. I love this idea as it shows growth and making your children better. Union is good as the mother. I didn't recognize Liu's voice, but she is great along with Soni and Tudyk. To be honest, everyone fit what was needed.

I'll finish out that this lacks the charm of what the hand drawn animation of the past had. That's not to say this doesn't look great, especially if you're streaming in 4K. I love the things they do to bring this alien world to life while also making it feel similar to Earth. The different worlds they go to and what they do there is great. I love the message that this conveys through it as well. Other than that, I thought the soundtrack fit what was needed. I do have to give credit to the cheesy theme song to tell us about the Clade family as well.

I'd recommend this one for sure. What is interesting is that I don't remember this one coming to theaters. This one I had fun with for sure.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

The Killing Mind (1991 TV Movie)

Decent Police Procedural Made for TV

[5/10 · 5 May 2024]

This was a movie that I learned about thanks to a movie set that I won from a podcast. It was part of the 8 Midnight Horror Movies - Hatchets & Cleavers, even though almost none of the movies' feature either. The Killing Mind is a mystery thriller television movie. If anything, this is closer to a police procedural.

We start this with a young Isobel (Danielle Harris) seeing a woman, dressed as a ballet dancer, dead on a fence. She screams. We then shift to the present where Isobel Neiman (Stephanie Zimbalist) is returning to Los Angeles. She used to work for the FBI but has decided to take a position with the LAPD. She is met at the train station by Sylvia (Candy Ann Brown), who allows her to sleep on the couch until she can find a place.

There's a specific reason for the career change. Isobel wants to solve this case that traumatized her as a child. It has gone cold. She joins an investigative unit that is led by Captain Harris (Stan Ivar). On the team are Dennis Jepson (Daniel Roebuck), Fred Robinson (K. Todd Freeman) and Ron Donoho (Lee Tergesen). They don't think that Isobel should waste her time on this specific case, but she is determined.

Isobel gets herself in hot water when she meets Thomas Quinn (Tony Bill). He's a reporter. He reveals in his column what she is working on and this draws scolding from her captain. That doesn't stop her though. Updates in technology creates a lead in this ballet dancer murder, but it also could make her a target of the killer.

That is where I'll leave my recap and where I want to start is that this has interesting ideas. I know that criminal profiling started back in the 1970s. Being that this is 1991, it was already done in movies like Manhunter. I like having Isobel move from a job like the FBI to take her talents to the LAPD. She has this case that has haunted her and she's now ready to take it on. I like that by doing so, she gets in over her head. She also does things differently, which draws issues with her new co-workers. I did think this worked in its favor though.

I do have an issue. I guessed who the killer was almost at once. Now I'm not going to spoil it, but there were things that Isobel said that made it click for me. There is a couple red herrings that get brought up, but I just felt they were there to help pad out the runtime for the movie. Knowing that this was made for TV, I'm not shocked there. There's a limited budget. You can do less, especially since this came out in the early 90s.

What shocked me was this cast though. We have character actors I recognized here like Roebuck, Tergesen and Tim DeZarn. They were all young at the time, so that makes sense. There's also small roles here by Gordon Currie and Harris. Crazy to see her so young since this would have been not too long after the Halloween sequels she was in. I also thought that Zimbalist and Bill were solid for what was needed. The acting isn't great, but it works.

I'll end this out by saying that this is made well enough for the resources they had. It does feel like this was shot in LA. They do well with exteriors. I also liked where this unit that Isobel joins is set up. It is in the basement and quite huge. They feel like a group that is a dark secret, which we learn was set up to fail, but they've been able to solve cases due to the resources. This has limited effects. It also doesn't need them as it isn't that type of movie. A drawback though, this comes off as a boring. I think for me, since I guessed the reveal, this doesn't do enough to sway me and hook me back in unfortunately.

Not the worst in this set of movies, but not great by any stretch. Tweaks and this would be better. Still worth a watch if you like these films and want to dive a bit deeper.

My Rating: 5 out of 10.

Black Box (II) (2020)

Concepts We've Seen Before, Good Performances to Carry It

[7/10 · 3 May 2024]

This is a movie that I forgot about. Back in 2020, this is one that I heard multiple podcasts talk about. It then clicked that this was Blumhouse teaming up with Amazon where they did four movies. What made me select this was looking for horror films that have a Black cast or director. This was done in celebration of Black History Month. Other than that, I came into this one blind.

Synopsis: after losing his wife and his memory in a car accident, a single father undergoes an agonizing experimental treatment that causes him to question who he is.

We start this with seeing a mother and father bringing their daughter home from the hospital. There is Nolan (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Najah Bradley) with their daughter Ava. It then turns out that this is Nolan watching an old video. There has been tragedy since that time. Rachel passed away in a car accident. Nolan was brain dead and no one thought he was going to make it. That was until Dr. Lillian (Phylicia Rashad) saved him with experimental treatment.

There are side effects though. Nolan has problems remembering. Ava (Amanda Christine) is doing more than she should as a child her age. She is trying to help her father get back to the person that he was. We see that he gets angry and that scares her. He even punched a hole in the wall, which was out of the normal for him.

Nolan does have help though. His best friend is also a doctor, Gary (Tosin Morohunfola). He thinks that his friend is doing too much and rushing things. Nolan also keeps getting calls from Dr. Lillian who believes she can help him. This makes Nolan leery, but he keeps forgetting things. He is scolded by a teacher at Ava's school for forgetting to pick her up. He also cannot get the publisher to agree to using his work. This doctor claims she can help get him back to being who he was. There could be something more to what she is claiming though and help explain why Nolan doesn't feel like himself anymore. It involves hallucinations that he has as well as using this experimental treatment that allows him to explore memories. They might not be his though.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this does things well. It is fitting that this came out from Blumhouse as this shares a concept with another of their movies that is considered a classic. That's all I'll say there to not spoil this or that movie if you haven't seen both. While you are watching this though, it makes sense. Another thing that I enjoy here is the heart that it develops with Nolan and his struggle about how the accident changed him.

I believe that is where I'll start. Nolan was a photographer. He was quite good as well. We learn through him talking to Gary that he and Rachel were happy. They never seemed to fight and their lives were perfect with Ava. That is when this accident messed up everything. Now he cannot remember little things, like his secret handshake with Ava or even picking her up from school. My thoughts were that the accident messed with is short term memory. That is part of it, but there is something more. I thought that Athie does a great job here with his range of emotions. He has frustration that leads to anger. There is love that he has for his daughter and then as he starts to discover the truth about himself, he changes into a different person. This worked for me.

Now I want to talk about the people that surround him. Ava is doing everything that she can to help. What bothers me here is that she is being too grown up for a child. That's too much responsibility for someone her age. What I love though is that she wants them to stay together. Kudos to Christine here for her performance. I love that Gary is there to help as well, but Nolan is proud and refuses. There is also Dr. Lillian, but there could be ulterior motives there.

That leads me to the next point. This is a mad scientist sort of movie. She has created this technology that allows her to investigate the minds of patients. This is how she got Nolan to wake up. There's more to this though and she might even be able to save the consciousness of patients as well. This is how Nolan came out of his coma and needs to work through memories to cure his condition. It is doing this that he runs into the Backwards Man (Troy James). This is done by a contortionist and is quite creepy if I'm honest. I liked how that built tension.

Now I've pretty much run through all the stars of this movie. I'll reiterate here that Athie, Rashad, Christine and Morohunfola are good. They carry this movie as it is a character study of Nolan and his life. I'll also credit Charmaine Bingwa who is Miranda. She factors into Nolan's life through memories, but he isn't sure why. There is also Thomas who is played by Donald Elise Watkins. I like how he factors in here. Bradley is good along with Nyah Marie Johnson. There isn't a bad performance here as they all push Nolan to where he needs to go and help build the emotion.

I'll end this out with filmmaking. I thought this was well-made. The cinematography and framing are good. I love that Nolan is exploring memories to fix his problem so that brings a dreamlike feel. Then going along with this, he can't remember faces. That is what he needs to solve to help himself, but this could also be what hurts him. How the Backwards Man factors in was good there as well. There is CGI here, but it was fine. Since we're in the mind for this, it makes sense since it's like a dream. I'd also say the soundtrack was solid. My issue is that this isn't exploring new ideas. We've seen this done elsewhere using different concepts so it feels a bit generic. If it didn't bring emotion through the character development, this would be forgotten.

In conclusion, this movie is fine. I want to like it more than what I did. That is because Athie was so good as Nolan. I love how the characters around him push him to where he ends up. This movie tugged at my heartstring seeing certain decisions. We get mad scientist aspects, which I'm a fan of. The problem is that there are concepts and things done that we've seen elsewhere to this just doesn't feel original enough. I'd still recommend it though if you're a Blumhouse fan. This isn't a bad movie and worth at least a watch in my opinion.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary (2017)

Great Companion Piece for Fans of this Classic

[8/10 · 2 May 2024]

This was a documentary that I watched while working. I treat these like a podcast where I'll follow what they're saying and if I don't have anything pop up, I'll watch the accompanying video. Pet Sematary is a movie that my sister and I would watch regularly. It always seemed to be on the movie channels. It is one that I've also gotten the chance to see at the theater, thanks to the Gateway Film Center.

What I like about this documentary is that tracked down both actors and people that worked behind the scenes to make this movie happen. We are getting things that happened during pre-production. Something that I never knew was that this had struggles being made. It was thought that Stephen King properties wouldn't sell. Due to a writer's strike, Paramount said they need scripts that were ready to go. The producer who was pushing this to get made saw her chance and it still took convincing.

Something else I didn't know was that Mary Lambert was selected to direct this because she was the 'it' person from her music video work. I'm glad she did as she brings a unique perspective. We hear from her about things that she decided as well as other behind the camera crew members. This includes people who selected locations, special effects people and the like. I also didn't know that King helped push to get this filmed in Maine. They also used local people for extras and other positions which was cool to learn.

Now a big thing here as well as the actors that were interviewed. Brad Greenquist, Susan Blommaert, Denise Crosby, Miko Hughes and Dale Midkiff, just to name the major people in the film. There is also Blaze Berdahl, who I didn't realize had a twin who helped out with taking on the role of Ellie Creed, Beau Berdahl Oliver. We even get interviews with Heather Langenkamp, whose now-husband, worked on this film. They also talked to Marky Ramone.

I'll say to end this out that it was well made. I love hearing stories about how they did certain things to help bring this world to life. Lambert was strategic and it seemed like had a good team. This is constructed well. The flow of pre, during and post-production makes sense. If you're a fan of Pet Sematary, I'd highly recommend giving this a watch. It gave me a deeper appreciation for sure.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Arcadian (2024)

Concepts and Ideas that We've Seen Before, Solid Output

[7/10 · 2 May 2024]

This was a movie that my buddy, who isn't a horror movie fan, asked me if I heard about. Charlie is a member at the Gateway Film Center so his excitement for this intrigued me to check it out. I caught the last showing before this movie left the theater as well.

Synopsis: a father and his twin teenage sons fight to survive in a remote farmhouse at the end of the world.

We start with what I'm assuming is the world ending. There is gunfire, but we don't see what they're shooting at. We follow Paul (Nicolas Cage) as he navigates the landscape, trying to avoid being seen. He goes into a cave of sorts where there are two babies. They're the twins from the synopsis. He comforts them the best he can.

This then shifts into the present. The two boys grow up to be Joseph (Jaeden Martell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins). The former is clever and might be a genius. It is difficult though growing up in a post-apocalyptic world as he must teach himself. His brother craves more human interactions. He volunteers at a local farm due to having a crush on their daughter, Charlotte (Sadie Soverall). This causes him to be late as they need to be inside before it is dark.

Paul and his sons secure the house. Once done, they settle in to have dinner. They then need to go about entertaining themselves. We see that the brothers butt heads and Paul does what he can to calm them down. They get spooked when something tries to break through a door. Thomas is annoyed that Joseph doesn't help. It turns out though, he was recording the attacks. There were three. The first one was assessing durability. The second to get in and when asked about the last, it seemed to be frustration.

Things all change when Thomas takes too long to leave. In his haste, he falls and becomes trapped. There isn't time to get out before dark so he must bunker down. Joseph is also late due to the vehicle he put together having issues. Paul can't leave Thomas out there, so he goes out to find him. Joseph also has a plan to capture one. Tonight start a series of events where these creatures that come at night might be smarter than they realize.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that even though this isn't the first time that we've seen a story like this, I'm still a fan. This does well in setting up our world. It is a rural setting, so we know that means limited people to start. We have Paul doing what he can to keep himself, his sons and their dog alive. Nearby is the Rose farm, where there are the parents, played by Samantha Coughlan and Joe Dixon, their daughter and helpers surviving. This was reminiscent of A Quiet Place. That had the gimmick of needing silence though.

Let me then shift over to the creatures. This is something that we get interesting aspects about, but I want more. There is dialogue that felt like a poem that these creatures came after humanity due to pollution. I'm not sure if that's true, but these things look like trees. We only get glimpses at first and then as this goes on, we get more. I'll be honest, they look to be done with CGI. It wasn't great. I would have preferred a practical approach, but I can't fault them either. There's a point where it looks like they swallow a character. They also move their head fast where it vibrates before attacking. These monsters aren't explored, but I think that's because our characters don't know. We only get what they figure out so I appreciate that. I'd be good with a sequel to learn more. Something to share, these things bring cockroaches with them which made my skin crawl.

I'll finish with filmmaking. Even though I want practical effects, the cinematography and framing were good. They give quick glimpses until later in the movies. That helps to hide them. It also allowed my imagination to fill in what I thought I saw, which was good. There is solid blood and effects for wounds that happen. That worked for me. I thought the sound design was good to help ramp up tension. This world is also dreary so credit to them as well. Being filmed in Ireland was well done to capture the countryside. No other issues.

All that is left then is acting. Cage was good as this single father doing what he can to raise his two sons the best that he can. We see that he's afraid, but he also has confidence to keep the boys from getting freaked out. As a father, I commend that. Martell works as the smarter of the two. He comes up with plans and works on technology that is available. I like Jenkins as the one that craves human interaction. Soverall and him are cute together. I like Coughlan and Dixon as the farm owners who have more. With the state of the world, they must worry about themselves, making it difficult to share. I thought the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this movie for what it is doing. It isn't the most original. I can think of a couple movies that I've seen in the last few years that are similar. Having the creatures come at night is good. There is something about having the safety of daylight and as it is sets, fear grows. The acting was good across the board. I thought this was well-made with credit to the cinematography, framing and sound design. I didn't love the CGI used, but the practical effects were good. I have a bad feeling that this movie is going to get forgotten though. It doesn't do a lot to stand out. That's not to say it is bad by any stretch. If you like these types of movies, I'd recommend it.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Classic Take on this Fairy Tale

[8/10 · 29 April 2024]

This was oddly one of the early Disney films that I had never seen. Part of it was that we didn't own this on VHS. I'm not sure why that was the case. I'll include here that I had a weird childhood where I was watching movies for adults earlier than most. It then got to the point where I knew that I would eventually watch my blind spots once I had children or a significant other wanted to. The case here was that my wife, Jaime, loved this movie and watched it growing up. We decided to put this on to see if our daughter, Mackenzie, would watch this.

Now this is a classic story. Even though I never saw the Disney cartoon version, I know the story decently well. I will admit, I get aspects of this, Snow White and Cinderella confused. It takes me time to sort them out. What we're getting here is King Stefan (voiced by Taylor Holmes) and Queen Leah (voiced by Verna Felton) have a daughter, Princess Aurora. They invited three fairies who bestow gifts on her. The first is Flora (also voiced by Felton), Merryweather (Barbara Luddy) and Fauna (voiced by Barbara Jo Allen). They are to make Aurora beautiful, have an excellent singing voice and before the last one can, a fairy that has turned dark shows up. This is Maleficient (voiced by Eleanor Audley). She is annoyed that she wasn't invited so she places a curse over Aurora, that before the sunrise rises after her sixth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle and die. This causes the last fairy to use her gift to make a clause, she will fall asleep and a true love's kiss will save her.

To protect her, the three fairies have her leave with them to live in the woods. Flora also wants them to give up their magic until after her 16th birthday. Aurora grows up to be a beautiful young woman. As this fateful birthday approaches, the fairies get lax. Maleficient is turned on to where she is and uses her own magic to make the prophecy come true. Before returning to the kingdom, Prince Phillip (voiced by Bill Shirley), fell in love with Aurora. He doesn't realize that she isn't a peasant girl and the one he's betrothed to.

Now I'm guessing anyone reading this knows the story and probably has seen this at least once in their life. What I want to commend here was how good the art looks for the backgrounds. Seeing this streaming on my 4K, it looked amazing. My daughter didn't appreciate it as much as I did, but Jaime did. There is charm to Disney from this era.

Then going from there, this film is dark. Maleficient is the most powerful of the fairies and that has turned her evil. She is out to kill the princess due to the slight of not being invited to her birthday. I love her look and there's a dragon in this that looks good as well. That fits what we think when it comes to fairy tales so I wanted to give credit there. They do well in bringing this story to life.

The only other thing to bring up is how good the voice acting is here. Costa is what I expect when hearing the adult Aurora speak. Audley conveys such an evil feel to Maleficient that fits. Felton is someone I didn't realize was in a few of these early Disney films. She works taking dual roles. Luddy and Allen do well in playing off her as the other two fairies. Holmes and Bill Thompson are good as the two kings who are marrying their children together, making their alliance stronger. Other than that, Shirley also works as our prince. He does have a limited role in my opinion despite being the 'hero' to save the princess. Everyone fit what was needed.

Despite how long it took me to finally see this movie, I'd recommend it. It is a classic for sure and having now seen it, I can see why. This is a good one for children. It is also an interesting version of how they bring the story we all know to life.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.