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Reviews
Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman (2021)
My first 1 star rating
Aileen Wuornos had an incredibly tragic life. Not saying that at all excuses the horrible murders she committed. This woman basically was raped her entire life, since she was girl, and now they're metaphorically raping her after death. This movie is in the same poor taste as that Hilary Duff Sharon Tate one. Devoid of any facts and a ridiculous storyline, making a mockery off of a tragedy.
Her story is terrible enough, without having to make up even worse and frankly ridiculous things. Most of this movie is total fiction. Except that she did marry a millionaire. She was an alcoholic with a violent temper. And her marriage ended after she hit him with his cane. That's it for biographical.
The sad thing is, this could have been a really good movie. Monster, which is in a totally different league, only told the story of her last years. Her childhood and early adulthood hasn't been shown. This would have been a great opportunity to tell that part of her story. To show the events that turned her into a killer. Peyton List who plays Aileen does a really good job through most of the movie. Until she's forced to become a ridiculous madwoman. I really wish I could have seen her really sink her teeth in to such a complicated, rich character, with a solid story. This movie robs her of that chance to show what acting chops she's got. You can see that she does have a bright future if given better roles.
So this is my first one star review. It's really a shame, the story is out there, this just wasn't it. And is exactly what Aileen said would happen. People making money off her, saying whatever they want. Wether it's the truth or not. Just another chapter in this sad story. Maybe the next one they make about her will have some integrity and tell the truth.
Paranormal (2020)
An Excellent Surprise
Very good! I was a little hesitant about watching this series. Netflix is hot or miss with their horror. Either excellent like Hill House or terrible like Death Note. Honestly horror on the whole, has become repetitive and plain bad. The trailer of Paranormal didn't catch my interest but was looking for something to watch. So glad I looked it up on my trusty IMDB! Here I learned it is based off a famous book series from an Egyptian author and is an Egyptian production. I have been finding that Netflix international films are really good.
Paranormal turned out to be great. I don't want to spoil it. The acting and storyline kept me fully engaged. I even rewinded it's a few times if I missed something. Which is something I hardly do anymore. I also never picked up my phone out of boredom. I was really invested in seeing where it was going. The cast works well off each other and showed character growth. The score that I heard so much about in reviews was very well done.
Quick synopsis without spoilers:
Set in Egypt in the 60s, Dr. Refaat, a guy who is unhappy with the way his life has gone turns 40. He has been haunted by a strange occurrence as a kid. He's spent his life trying to forget about what happened and ignoring that it's still following him. Though he is adamant that there is no such thing as the paranormal. With the haunting effecting his family and the return of an old flame, he begrudgingly begins investigating mysterious occurrences to prove that there is always a scientific explanation. Each of these brings him closer to the realization that the paranormal is real. These adventures end up leading him back to his own mystery. With the help of his old love and his family, he faces the place he's feared his whole life.
Im a huge horror fan, from the slow burns to full on slasher. I can appreciate it all, except for the overuse of jump scares. To me it's a cheap, unimaginative way to build fear. Any more than one jump scare and I lose respect for the film. A well written movie with a good score doesn't need it to build suspense. Something Paranormal does well with out them. There are many very creepy moments while the series builds. And scenes that seem like everything is normal, but you get a feeling something is way off and not right. The series builds until the great twist at the end. Left me wanting more and excited for the next season.
Now that I know this is based off of a series of 80 novels!! I'm definitely going to be reading them. From other reviewers who've read them, this series doesn't come close to how good the books are. I'm so glad that Netflix is opening a world of new films and series from different countries. Filmmaking is so different from place to place and culture to culture. I've watched many good movies lately that I wouldn't have had access to or had even known about before.
It Feels Evil (2019)
It Feels Stupid
I watched the first three episodes, mainly trying to figure out if this is supposed to be a parody of paranormal shows. Sadly they're dead serious (lol).
This is my genre, I've been watching paranormal shows since Most Haunted in 2001. I've seen them all. So I feel I'm qualified to say that this show is the worst one ever made. It's just plain dumb:
1. It's so over the top and fake that it's funny. The "activity" is so poorly executed that I actually laughed.
2. The leader Tim Cook, obviously modeled himself off Zac Bagans from Ghost Adventures and Ryan Buell from Paranormal State. Apparently he's being slowly possessed by a demon. And of course it's not just any demon but a very important demon. Which leads me to:
3. Everything is a demon. There is not any attempts to do scientific research or make it at least look like they are. A Ouija board is the most they do. No attempts to debunk anything. They even use the ouija board as a telephone to call a specific demon! Honestly they really do that!
Listen to the other 1- star reviews! They're the only honest reviews about the show. Anyone who gave this a 10 is suspicious. Waste your time watching something else.
Halloween Kills (2021)
Don't waste your time
This is one of the worst movies I've ever watched. So disappointed because I had been looking forward to it for months.
I love horror movies, Halloween the original is a classic. I enjoyed Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role in the 2018 one. That one was pretty good, so I was interested in seeing how they would continue the story. Especially bringing back other original cast members.
Luckily I had Peacock, if I had paid for this hot garbage I'd be furious. This was basically a set up for a third installment. Nothing happens... just people making the most ridiculous choices leading to their death. The whole town knows Michael Meyers is out killing people, so some decide to go after him. With Dumb weapons like a baseball bat. Others hear him in their house and instead of going out the door, they go upstairs to fight him. It's almost like they watched Scream and followed the slasher movie formula to the letter.
There is also a dumb side story of an escaped murderer, who is mistaken for Michael Meyers, though he looks nothing like him and doesn't wear a mask!
Finally we get to the terrible anticlimactic ending. Which couldn't get more unrealistic and stupid if it tried. All so they can tee us up for a third movie.
Oh and Jamie Lee Curtis, the star of the movie, is in it for about 5 minutes. She basically spends the entire movie recovering in the hospital.
Snowfall (2017)
Pure Excellence
I'm late to the Snowfall party. After binging on all four seasons, I can say that this is one of the best series ever! Definitely don't read any reviews with spoilers!! You don't want to ruin this amazing series.
Tells the tale of the horrific crack epidemic in 1980s LA. Franklin, the main character is superbly acted and his development is well written.
Everything from the acting to the cinematography is excellent. Snowfall pulls you in from the pilot episode and keeps you wanting more. Not a single episode is slow or lackluster. The characters are all well written and performed. Especially the core cast, who are incredibly talented. The story line is riveting, and heartbreaking at times. It twists, turns, and you think you'll know what's going to happen and then be shocked. I can't recommend this show enough!
Dark Figures (2020)
HILARIOUS!
Is it a good horror movie no. But it's one of those so bad it's funny ones, that can be enjoyable in the right mood. It cracked me up at times.
Possessions (2020)
Dubbing ruins it
I actually watched the whole thing. I won't add any spoilers. The first episode is the best and gets you hooked. The story is interesting, and each episode takes you in a different direction. I enjoyed seeing something modern from a different culture yet mixed with folklore. The characters are intriguing but unfortunately the acting is lost with the hideous audio issues.
Had the dubbing/subtitles been even ok I think this would be an excellent series. Strangely only the French is dubbed in English and all other languages have no subtitles. I struggled at first until I turned the closed captioning on. Which unfortunately becomes distracting as the voiceovers are terrible. I wish it had either been dubbed better with all the languages or just had subtitles. The voiceovers are lackluster and as if it's just being read with no inflection. I'm sure the actors were probably much better in the real languages. This makes it a struggle to keep yourself immersed in the story. If you can get through these terrible mistakes the series is worth watching as it's only six episodes.
I would love to see more content like this in the future but done well. HBOs series The Investigation is a great example. I wish this had been done as well as that.
A Killer Next Door (2020)
Bad... Made worse by inaccuracies
This was my first 1 star review. It was just terrible. I only watched because I was familiar with the List Family Murders.
Unfortunately, the facts were not horrible enough so the movie goes into a ridiculous ending that never happened.
Made worse by the exploitation of what is supposed to be America's Most Wanted's John Walsh, and the awful tragedy he experienced.
The acting is bad. The writing is worse... save yourself the time and just google John List.
Amulet (2020)
Best Description: Boring. Just watch the last 20mins.
I don't usually write reviews but this movie was so disappointing, and the reviews all over the place that I feel compelled. I'll try not to give spoilers in case you decide to watch.
First off: Don't let the trailer or that Imelda Staunton is in it, con you into wasting your time. Which is why I watched it. She is the only good part of this movie and her screen time is minimal. Maybe ten minutes total of her and she doesn't really shine until the end.
Next and I can't stress this enough, it's almost unbearably slow. I'm a movie fanatic, I don't mind slow, sometimes a slow burn is great, if it leads somewhere good. This jumps back and forth between two storylines and time periods. Both equally boring. You get that the two are leading up to something, but it's not done well. I think this was for character development but you never connect with any of them, nor care about what happens to them. I held out to the end hoping for a pay off, that just never comes. Except maybe the last 15mins, we get 5 mins of a great Imelda, a beautiful interesting set, and then a decent end scene. That's it...
I love horror even bad horror. I love cerebral, art house movies too. The movie starts as horror, becomes artsy, and ends horror. But this movie either tried too hard to be these things or not enough, because it just doesn't make any sense. And it's not because I'm not intelligent enough as some reviews hint at, it really doesn't make any sense and just a mess.
I also disagree with the reviews calling this bad because it's "woke" or an "angry feminist" movie. I didn't get those vibes at all. I WISHES it was an angry feminist movie, that might have had some spark.
And I didn't even notice the music so I can't comment on if it was as bad as claimed.
Basically it's just slow and boring, with no real pay off. The acting is good, which is probably why I kept watching. You're better off fast forwarding to the last 15-20 minutes and just watching that.