Reviews_of_the_Dead Reviews

Ed Wood (1994)

Fun Take to Bring the Story of this Odd Character to Life

[8/10 · 31 May 2024]

This is a movie that I vaguely remember coming out. I'll be honest, I didn't have any interest in seeing it until I got older. Seeing that this was a Tim Burton and Johnny Depp team up that I hadn't seen was intriguing to me. Learning more about who Ed Wood was in real life has helped. At the time of writing this, I had only seen two of his movies. As a director, I've seen Bride of the Monster. As a writer, I've seen most of Orgy of the Dead. Jaime and I watched this for our podcast, JwaC Presents Depp Dive: A Depper Look at Johnny's Feature Filmography.

Synopsis: ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. (Depp) tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.

I'm doing a full review of this due to this movie being listed in the Horror Show Guide Encyclopedia, considering this to be a 'horror film' due to the titular character mostly making movies in this genre. We start out seeing Ed as he is working for a small studio and is directing a play. What turns his life around is when George Weiss' (Mike Starr) production company is looking to make an early exploitation film about a person getting a sex operation change. Ed applies to be the director, but he has no clout and is denied.

What turns things around for him is meeting Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau). He is down on his luck and we will learn about his drug addiction as this goes on. Ed wants to help him and sees an opportunity to get the director's position for this film. His original pitch revealed that he's a transvestite. Now he's able to use Bela as a bargaining chip.

The movie he made there was Glen or Glenda and this strains the relationship with George. Ed now has momentum and we see as he goes about getting his next movie made. This is the one I've seen, Bride of the Monster, but during production it was called Bride of the Atom. Ed has a team he uses including his girlfriend Dolores Fuller (Sarah Jessica Parker), Bunny Breckinridge (Bill Murray), Paul Marco (Max Casella), Conrad Brooks (Brent Hinkley), his cinematographer Bill (Norman Alden) and makeup guy Harry (Leonard Termo). Along the way he'll meet Loretta King (Juliet Landau), who strains his relationship with Dolores. He also meets a wrestler, Tor Johnson (George 'The Animal Steele) and even Vampira (Lisa Marie). Ed Wood has the dream and the drive, but as the synopsis says, he might be lacking the eye for talent.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I feel bad piling on the real person of Ed Wood. He did something that I'll never do. I know what he made was schlocky and he didn't fully understand how to make a good movie, but credit to him for still doing what he could. Now everything that I'll say from here is going to be looking at this as a fictional piece of work.

Since this is more of a character study of Ed, Bela and their relationship, that is where I want to delve. Depp does a great job at being this quirky guy. Now I've not read the biography that this is using as source material. I've also not seen interviews or anything of this real person. What I do know was that he was an oddball. His movies reflect the budget that they're working with. Having now seen this, I'm intrigued more in seeing the movies that this is referencing being made now that I have insight behind the scenes. Depp was made for this role and from what I've read, Ed's real wife agreed when visiting the set.

Shifting then over to Bela. He's one of my most seen actors of all time. Landau transforms into him which is impressive. I knew that there was a feud between him and Boris Karloff in real life. I'm glad they played that up. I also knew that Bela was addicted to morphine and how it ruined his career, also contributing to his death. That is heartbreaking. It seems like Ed was taking advantage of this aged star, but I don't think that was the case. He truly wanted to help him and give him work. Landau pays homage to this legend well from my point of view.

Since I've been leaning into the acting here, I want to say that we have a great cast here. I'm not the biggest fan of Parker, but I like the role she plays here. There's friction as things go between her and Ed. It is also an intriguing dichotomy between her and the Patricia Arquette character that he meets later when Ed takes Bela to rehab. It is a bummer the decisions that Jones made, because he's solid in this movie and never seemed to have a bad performance. G. D. Spradlin is solid as Reverend Lemon who works with Ed. His character gets upsets Ed with decisions to the film he's making with their money. There's good cameos by Vincent D'Onofrio, Murray, Starr, Cassella, Hinkley, Marie, Steele, Juliet Landau, Alden, Termo, Bellamy and the rest of the cast. It all works to bring these people to life.

All that I have left to go into is filmmaking. I thought it was a good stylistic choice to go black and white. That feels like it is paying homage to the era that Wood worked in. I thought this was lit well, which is a challenge when filming this way. The cinematography is great as well. How things are framed is great as well as capturing things that were in Wood's movies. This is limited in the effects, but it also didn't need them. The peek behind the curtain of what was used in Wood's films was another great aspect to show the charm they carry. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed. I like that they used music from the films that they're showing so credit to that.

In conclusion, this is a fun movie that is capturing real history. There are things left out. There are also probably things that didn't happen or were moved to another place in the timeline. Just knowing that a movie also needs to be entertaining, I'm forgiving. The acting here is great. Depp shows such range. Landau is great as Bela. There's a strong cast behind them as well. I thought that this was well-made. Special credit there to the cinematography. I'm not sure how many fans are out there for Wood today. What I'll say though is that this is an underseen Burton and Depp film, so if you're fans of them, check this out.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Dante's Inferno (1924)

Interesting Take on the Epic Poem

[7/10 · 31 May 2024]

This was a movie that I discovered when searching for horror films from 1924. I was able to find a copy on YouTube so I am adding this to my Centennial Club for Journey with a Cinephile: A Horror Movie Podcast. This is the second earliest adaptation of this source material from Dante Alighieri that I've now reviewed.

Synopsis: the tactics of a vicious slumlord and greedy businessman finally drive a distraught man to commit suicide. The entrepreneur is tried for murder, executed and afterward swiftly taken by demons to Hell where he will spend the rest of eternity.

Now for this movie we have Mortimer Judd (Ralph Lewis). He's the father of this family as well as the slumlord. He is convinced that if he isn't ruthless, his family would be in the poorhouse. His wife is Mrs. Judd (Winifred Landis). They employ a nurse, Marjorie Vernon (Pauline Starke). Mortimer doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong with her, but that could be due to him not wanting to pay. The doctor who cares for her is Joseph (Lorimer Johnston). They have a son, Ernest (William Scott). He butts heads with his father due to the condition of the apartments they own.

This then shows us a man who is indebted to Mortimer, Eugene Craig (Josef Swickard). He sends a letter asking for mercy, but he's denied. This makes him want to kill himself. His daughter, Mildred (Gloria Grey), is concerned he will do something bad. She then goes to Mortimer to beg. He ignores her as well.

Eugene did send a book to Mortimer, Dante's Inferno. He starts to read and a Fiend (Robert Klein) appears. The book comes to life, with Dante (Lawson Butt) given a tour of the underworld by Virgil (Howard Gaye). The events of the synopsis then go down where Mortimer is punished for what he's done to these people as one of his apartments catch fire, injuring tenants.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. I want to start by prefacing that the version I watched didn't have a soundtrack synced with it. That makes these silent films much different without something accompanying the images. I was also curious as this started with how they were going to work on this classic tale since the beginning was for the time a modern setting. There was social commentary here that I found intriguing and relevant as well.

Let's start with the story that this is following and its message. Mortimer is a slumlord. I found it intriguing to explore this idea with a movie that is a hundred years old now. I'm not sure if that term was used when this was made, but Mortimer owns apartments that have too high of rent for what is provided. This keeps the tenant poor until the point where they get evicted and then he just allows someone new to live there. There is something that happens here though where a fire breaks out, injuring those that live there and making him libel for not helping. This is the climax and the repercussions follow.

There's another interesting storyline as well dealing with Ernest and Mortimer, father and son, since they don't see eye to eye. They get into fights regularly. We see one where Mortimer is upset that Ernest has a radio. Mrs. Judd can't go out so the son bought it so she could have entertainment. Ernest is interested in Marjorie, but this upsets Mortimer since she is there to tend to his wife. Mortimer believes that if he isn't ruthless, his family is going to spend his money until they're broke. He is exaggerating while I can see his side that they don't have an income so there's pressure on him as well.

The last part of the story to delve into was that I wasn't sure how we were going to connect Dante's poem with the story in the present of the movie. I found it interesting that Mortimer is reading this book that was sent to him from Eugene. It almost seems to come with a curse. There is a concept here that I don't love when it is used today, for the most part. I did find it interesting here and how they are incorporating it. This feels like it is borrowing from a Christmas Carol with it. I'm not going to spoil it beyond that.

Where I'll then go would be the acting. Our lead here is Lewis and I thought he plays the villainous role well. He comes off angry and every time we see him, he is rude. That works well for what happens to him later and where it ends. I did like Butt and Gaye as Dante and Virgil to set the stage for the different levels of hell. Scott works as Ernest. I like how him, Starke, Landis and Johnston push what Mortimer does and believes. The same could be said for Swickard and Grey as this other family that came into the story to change the Judd's lives forever. I did have an issue that Bud Jamison was playing the butler. My issue there is that he is white and made him up in blackface for this role. I get it is the time, but it still doesn't sit well. I'd also say that the rest of the cast was solid for what was needed, especially all those playing roles in hell as either demons or those being punished.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I do have to say that the copy I saw on YouTube was rough. It was too dark to make out details. It also made the early title cards hard to see. There also was no soundtrack synced with it. A cleaned-up version would be nice to give this a true rating. With what I could see though, I thought that bringing hell to life was great. I also love this fiend that is haunting Mortimer. I guessed that it wasn't real, but the implications of it work. The effects that we get in hell were all done in-camera so that it's impressive. This is made well enough from what I could tell for this era.

In conclusion, this is another early version of this source material that I've seen. What is interesting is the two different takes on it. I love setting up this story that is relative today about a slumlord who is living off his tenants without doing what he should to help them. Showing us Dante's vision of hell and then Mortimer being punished was great. I thought that the acting was good. The version I saw was rough, but this looked like it was made well enough from what I could tell. There is a story element used that I don't love now. Using it during this era though it is still new. Not having a soundtrack synced was a bummer as well. I'd still recommend this to fans of this era or looking into the history of the horror genre.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Night of the Comet (1984)

Fun Campy 80s Horror Film

[7/10 · 30 May 2024]

This is one that I had heard about growing up, but for whatever reason didn't. Thanks to the Podcast Under the Stairs' Movie Club Challenge, it was selected to be covered there. To take part, I watched this. I've also now given it a rewatch for my Foray through the Fours.

Synopsis: a comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.

Now coming into this film, I definitely thought there was going to be much more zombies than what we got. We get a variation on the creature, but they're technically not dead. They are people that survived the comet going over. We never see them eating anyone. They can talk and use weapons, which is different was well. I didn't mind this concept for the monsters, but I did want more of them. There are very few. We do see that this is a slow progression as well. I am getting ahead of myself though. Most of the population is turned to dust due to the comet. We never learn why it does, but that is the cause and it seems to be radiation. Those that get a little bit of exposure survive, but eventually turn. I did like the touch is that the last time this one went overhead, it wiped the dinosaurs out overnight.

The characters we follow are a couple of sisters. One works at a movie theater, Regina Belmont (Catherine Mary Stewart). Her sister who wears a cheerleading outfit the morning after the fateful night is Samantha (Kelli Maroney). They are the duo from the synopsis. They're also quite odd to be honest. Both are attractive for different versions. They know how to use guns, thanks to their father who is in the military. Before the world ended, they live with their step-mother Doris (Sharon Farrell). She is a horrible, controlling woman.

They meet up with a Hector Gomez (Robert Beltran). He takes a liking to Regina and she seems interested as well. This bothers Sam, but that seems more that they think they are the only three left alive. There is a group of scientists, who seemed prepared for this event and they are looking for a cure to it. They are led by Dr. Carter (Geoffrey Lewis) and Audrey White (Mary Woronov). She is standoffish and wants to stay inside of their bunker while the rest have other plans.

That's where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I'll start is that this film is quite campy though. It blends comedy, sci-fi and horror. The two girls have great one-liners in this film. It has cheesy fun and a little bit unrealistic. Now I am a big fan of films like this when it is done well, but even this one has a little bit too many things that are unbelievable. I still had fun with it, but there are issues with the writing. I'll coming back to that.

Sticking with what was good, would be the acting. Stewart was good as the smarter, stronger sister, but I also like Maroney's role. They play off each other well. Beltran was okay. He doesn't get much character development or screen time. I'm shocked to be honest because the normal troupe is to make him the hero. I thought the scientists were all played well. Lewis does great as the leader who has nefarious plans for the survivors. I also like Woronov and the role she played. It caught me off guard to be honest in a good way. The rest of the cast rounded out the film for what was needed in my opinion, with special credit to those that get to play 'zombies' or those descending into madness.

Let's then go to filmmaking. The effects are good, but also of the time. What they do with the sky during the comet's pass over are an example. It doesn't look great, but there's charm there that I dug. The zombies look good and when they are killed, I didn't have any issues there. I'll say that the cinematography and framing help. Making Los Angeles seem empty is a feat. That adds to the eeriness. An issue I had with the second watch is that this is a bit slow. There's a good set up, doesn't waste time to get into it and then it slows down when we get to the radio station. We then get solid set pieces, but it meanders between them.

I'll then finish out with sound design. This captures that 80s feel. The song at the beginning of the film was great in a way this decade could produce. I like the montage scene with Cyndi Lauper's 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' as well as some of the other song choices throughout the film. It isn't for everyone, but I was a fan of it. It adds charm and fits our leads.

In conclusion, this film has good aspects. I like the overall concept of this comet going over, wiping out most of humanity and driving survivors insane. It feels that it borrows from something like Day of the Triffids there. Our two leads are great with the supporting cast helping push them to where they end up. This is overall a well-made film. The cinematography, framing, set pieces and most of the effects are good. Just minor issues with the pacing and needing a bit more to fully make sense. I would still recommend it as it is a campy, cheesy fun film with good looking stars.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Direct to Video: Straight to Video Horror of the 90s (2019)

An Intriguing Era of Cinema for the Horror Genre

[8/10 · 30 May 2024]

This was a documentary that I found while searching for ones like this to watch while at work. What I like about these is that I treat them like video podcasts. When I have time or something catches my interest, I can watch. Other than that, I love to hear people from the industry talk. This one also covers a topic that intrigued me since this was the coming of age for me era of going to the video store.

What we're getting here is taking a handful of movies and interviewing people from them, whether it is directors, writers or actors. I did like getting that behind the scenes look at movies that I grew up with or have seen after the fact. This includes Kenneth J. Hall, Jerry Smith, C. Courtney Joyner, Jeff Burr, Tiffany Shepis, Lloyd Kaufman, Fred Olen Ray, Brinke Stevens and Kelli Maroney. They all give interesting insight to this straight to video era of cinema.

I'd also say that this is well-made. The editing is a bit harsh. I'm guessing this could also be an issue with me, since I'm not giving it my full attention. It just felt that we were talking about one and then its hard transitions to the next movie they're going to cover. It doesn't ruin things, but I did have to do a double take. Part of the issue there is a cross-over where an actor is in multiple movies brought up and they're discussing them. I still like giving love to this era of horror films. I would like an extended cut that did more of a deep dive, but for what we got, I enjoyed my time. I'd recommend it to fans of this era of cinema or if you just want to learn more.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Nick of Time (1995)

Different Type of Role for Depp for this Solid Thriller

[7/10 · 30 May 2024]

This was a movie that I watched as the next in line for Depp Dive: A Depper Look at Johnny's Feature Filmography. What is interesting is that this isn't a movie that I knew about. Now it would have been out during a time when I was young, being 8 years old. I did like Johnny Depp growing up. Jaime hadn't seen this one either.

The basic idea of this movie is Gene Watson (Depp) arrives in Los Angeles with his daughter, Lynn (Courtney Chase), via train. We see at the station is Mr. Smith (Christopher Walken) and Ms. Jones (Roma Maffia). They seem to be looking for someone. Gene catches their attention and they pull him, along with his Lynn, into a van. They want Gene to kill someone. If he doesn't, they'll kill his daughter. He has an hour and half to complete this. What is complicated is that the target is Governor Eleanor Grant (Marsha Mason). This plot goes deeper than Gene realizes and with time being short, he must decide what to do.

Now after watching this and prepping to record our podcast episode, Jaime told me that this was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock. Makes sense since this is a suspense thriller. Gene is pulled into a plot and I love the idea. Mr. Smith is just a cog in a wheel and I believe he's a police officer. I love raising the tension here not knowing who is involved. Members of the security team are. Gene notices people paying attention to him. This stressed me out in the best way possible and I'm glued to see what happens next.

Let me delve deeper in this as well. Something interesting here is that we have a simple reason that he must go through with this plot, his daughter. We learn that his ex-wife passed away so she's all that he has. Gene is willing to die or get arrested if that means Lynn survives. I feel that as a newer parent. Now this film ventures into a political thriller as well since Eleanor is seeking re-election. I love this throwaway line that we got where she made campaign promises to bad people and that is coming full circle. You can see this as the dangers of lobbyist as well as the corruption of the United States political system. That is a perk for me as well.

What also helps here is the cast. This is a more conventional role from Depp than I'm used to. We all know his odd, quirky characters, where this is just a normal guy. He does well with the performance though. Chase is good as the catalyst for him to get caught up. I like Walken, Maffia and the others who are villains, even if we don't know at first. The supporting cast features the likes of Maffia, Charles S. Dutton, Mason, Peter Strauss, Gloria Reuben, Bill Smitrovich, G. D. Spradlin, Yul Vazquez and Edith Diaz, to name just the ones that popped out while looking at the cast. This is strong across the board.

Now I'll say that the story might be a bit convoluted. I still just got lost in it. It is well made with the cinematography and framing. They know how to use the whole frame, which isn't easy to do, especially with this being set at a hotel. I appreciated that. Seeing how Gene does things to help save himself, Lynn and the governor was interesting. I was quite curious as to how this would play out and wasn't disappointed.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Leprechaun Returns (2018)

Fun Late Installment to a Middling Franchise

[7/10 · 30 May 2024]

This was a movie that I remember coming out. I was getting back into watching new horror movies and doing end of year lists. I'll be honest, I had stopped watching this franchise after the fourth installment. There was positive feedback about this one though on social media. It went on a list to check out and since St. Patrick's Day was coming up, Jake and I decided to cover this on Side Quest Podcast.

Synopsis: the Leprechaun (Linden Porco) returns once again, when a group of girls unwillingly awaken him after they tear down a cabin so that they can build a new sorority house.

We start this off with getting images of how the Leprechaun was defeated in the original movie. This is ignoring the sequels and is directly connected to that first one. It then shifts to Lila (Taylor Spreitler) sleeping on a bus. She is haunted by images of this mythical creature. She arrives at the station. She is joining a sorority and one of the sisters was supposed to get her. There is no one there though. She does meet Ozzie (Mark Holton). She relents to allow him to drive her to the house.

What is interesting is that he knew her mother. This town now has a college. The house where Ozzie and his friends, including Tory, did battle with the Leprechaun is the same place that this sorority is converting. Ozzie is cryptic in the information that he gives to Lila. He does share things he remembered about Tory with her.

At the house, they're trying to take it off the grid. What is funny though is that they're still going to have the internet. They do want to make it self-sufficient with a garden, water supply and I think even using solar panels to generate electricity. Katie (Pepi Sonuga) is doing renovations with Rose (Sai Bennett). They both apologize for no one getting Lila. I believe this fell on Meredith (Emilie Reid). She is the botanist of the group, but everything she does turns into making alcohol. She shows up later with Andy (Ben McGregor), who has history with Katie, and his friend Matt (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins). She comes with pizza as well.

Ozzie forgot his phone when dropping off Lila. He comes back and looks in the well. It shoots water, which gets into his mouth. The piece of gold he swallowed originally is still in his stomach. By touching it, the Leprechaun gets strength back. Enough to return to his form, killing Ozzie in the process. This monster then returns to the house, looking for the rest of his gold. It is a night of terror as these sorority sisters try to survive and defeat this mythical beast.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I'm not always the biggest fan when you do a sequel than ignores other movies in the franchise. What I'll say here though, I can work with it since I'm not entirely sure the Leprechaun we see in the sequels is the same every time. I guess that Leprechaun 5; In the Hood and the immediate sequel, Back 2 Tha Hood are. You can make the case that parts 2, 3 and 4 though are not necessarily related outside of Warwick Davis playing the monster. This movie though does have direct continuity.

I think that is where I'll start. I love that they got Holton back to play Ozzie. This is good as well that this character is setting the stage with Lila. She is leery of him but comes around when she learns that he knew her mother. I can work with the idea that Tory went crazy from her ordeal, worrying that the Leprechaun will eventually come after her. There are other elements like that group hiding the pot of gold. They made a map for it. The old truck and the well are also points that are reused. With how they bring back the monster, I can work with that as well. I like that his power is limited by not having his gold. A plot hole for me would be that the gold piece would still be inside of Ozzie without giving him more issues. I can digress there though.

Now with this movie here, having this sorority trying to take over this remote house and converting it is fine. It does seem a bit too far out of the way to work and I don't think it could be sanctioned. This land doesn't seem close enough to the university. Something that I like is a throwaway line, Rose says that they filed the paperwork recently. They could just easily get denied, which then my problem goes away. This place is isolated, trapping our characters and limiting who can get there.

Let's then talk about the monster. I don't know the full story, but it was a bummer that this series went away from Davis for this one and the last one. He was doing like the newer Star Wars and Harry Potter movies, so I don't know if he was ready to move on or not. Recasting him here is fine. I thought that Porco was good as the villain. He made me chuckle with his one-liners. That is the framework of the character. I do like that he doesn't know things since the last time he attacked it was the early 90s. That did add to comedy for me. I also like that since this creature doesn't have his gold, his powers are limited. He can still do magic, but it isn't until he gets more of it back that he can. I also thought that was good to not make him overpowered to start. Credit there. Also, keeping in line that four leafed clovers and iron hurt him was good. I like this concept that unless he is destroyed fully, he can come back. That adds tension with what needs to be done.

I think that I'll continue with the rest of the cast. Spreitler is a good step in for Tory's daughter. They look close enough. I also like that she's an outsider so she needs to prove herself to others. Sonuga and Bennett are both fine as sorority sisters. They're dumb at times, make bad decisions and have secrets. They don't feel one dimensional and that is good. Reid works as the jerk of that group. McGregor is an idiot and that was fine. I like that Katie is smarter than him, but because she's attracted to his looks, she settles. Jenkins is funny as this film buff guy. I liked seeing Holton reprise his role. Porco is good as this version's monster. I also wanted to credit Heather McDonald. She is doing the voice of Tory and it sounded like Jennifer Anniston. Wanted to give her credit along with the rest of the cast to round this out for what was needed.

All that is left then is filmmaking. First, I'll credit to recapturing this house and the surrounding woods. I'm not entirely sure if either is the same, but it feels like it. It has that isolated sense which is good. The cinematography is solid with framing. This helps with the practical effects. They hide the seams well. Those were also good with the blood and gore we got. This is a Syfy original so they were limited there, but director Steven Kostanski, he knows how to stretch that. There was CGI that came into play later. Not all of that looked good, but it didn't ruin it either. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed. I do like how the Leprechaun can change his voice to mimic people, which adds terror for me since it disarms characters.

In conclusion, this is a fun movie. This is already a franchise that isn't great. I would say to not take them seriously though. I'm not the biggest fan of sequels that ignore other movies, but what I'll say is that what they do here works. I love the nods and homage paid to the original movie. I thought that the cast of characters were good. Porco is solid in stepping into the big shoes that Davis did for the franchise. This is made well enough. Credit there to the practical effects that give us fun deaths. The cinematography and framing helped there. Just have slight issues with CGI. This is a fun, shut off your brain sequel in my opinion. I enjoyed my time here and this is on the higher end of the franchise for me.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Infested (2023)

Engaging and Terrifying Spider Film

[8/10 · 30 May 2024]

This was a movie that had buzz coming to Shudder. It sounds like this did well at festivals and there was excitement. Due to that information, it jumped up to the top of my movies to watch for 2024 to build my end of year list. There also wasn't a 2024 horror film coming to the theater by me so I checked this out as a Featured Review.

Synopsis: residents of a rundown French apartment building battle against an army of deadly, rapidly reproducing spiders.

We start this in a desert somewhere in the middle east. There are guys searching and one of them finds a hole under a rock. There is a bit of webbing in it. They have a method to flush out spiders that are living within. This group is joined by the guy who found it and they're catching the ones that flee. We see that the guy who found it wasn't so lucky.

This then shifts over to France. Our main character is Kaleb (Théo Christine). He is at a local store where he is messing with the owner, Ali (Samir Nait). Kaleb knows that this proprietor has good merchandise hidden and that he should be able to see it since he's a good customer. This turns out to be true. He buys a set of earrings. He also sees a rare spider. Ali thinks it could be poisonous so Kaleb needs to be careful. Our character buys both items.

When he returns home, we get a better idea of where he lives. He helps Mme Zhao (Xing Xing Cheng) who seems like the superintendent or a custodian. He roughs up Moussa (Mahamadou Sangaré) who made a mess. He then goes up to his apartment that he shares with his sister, Manon (Lisa Nyarko). She is remodeling the bathroom and this upsets Kaleb. What we learn is that their mother passed away. She wants to sell and leave. Kaleb doesn't due to all the memories here as well as all the people that knew his mother around them. They are all leaving though.

In Kaleb's room, he has a mini-zoo. He has a range of insects, arachnids and reptiles. He gets upset as the lights and the heater keep getting shut off. He's worried his pets will die. We then see how he can afford all this. He steals shoes and sells them. His partner is Mathys (Jérôme Niel). This guy is stealing bicycles which upsets Kaleb since he's doing it in the area. Since it is low income, Kaleb doesn't want those around him to suffer. Mathys understands and vows to return them. He also does MMA.

Now this spider that Kaleb has. He makes a home for it in an old shoebox. This doesn't hold though and it gets out. He tries to seal his room until he can find it. There is a complication that it is much smarter and its will to survive greater. Kaleb is faced with seeing his ex-best friend as well, Jordy (Finnegan Oldfield). He along with his girlfriend, Lila (Sofia Lesaffre) come over to help with the bathroom. Mathys is there as well.

Things take a dark turn though when this spider reproduces. None of our characters realize what its potential is and how quickly it evolves. This complex is soon overrun and the police need to do what they can to hold it. That leads to a fight for survival.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that if you don't like spiders, this is going to get under your skin. I've heard other reviews crediting this for taking the subject seriously as most using killer spiders tend to go whimsical. Whether that is making them large or just going lighter with the tone. This one is bleak and gave me vibes of REC with the idea that our characters get trapped inside this building and the police are quarantining them until a plan can be made. It is also interesting that this came out the same year as Sting, since this is a similar movie. They would make a good double feature.

Now that I have that out of the way, let's delve deeper into the premise. This is a simple one. We have this dangerous spider that is living in the desert. It is found, captured and brought to France. Ali doesn't know much about it and neither does Kaleb. This ignorance leads to everything. We have an old rundown building, which helps with the atmosphere. Trapping the people inside makes it contained. This legitimately goes terrifying as well with how quickly these spiders take over. It doesn't feel like a cheat though with information that is found about them. Jordy thinks he found what species they are and that they will continue to grow larger to combat their predator in the area they live. In this case, humans. They evolve fast due to how quickly they reproduce.

Those parts of the concept help to make this scary. What aids in that is the development of the characters. We learn enough to the point where my anxiety went up worrying how they would survive. I'll also include here the performances. Christine as Kaleb was good. He is naïve, but he's also a good guy. He cares about this complex and the people inside. There is something that happened between him and Jordy, which is eating away at him. It adds heart when we finally learn what it is. Nyarko is good as his sister. She seems like she hates where they live, but there is more to it. That was good. I like Niel as his best friend. He isn't dumb, but he doesn't think things through. I love that he has his hero moments since we know that he's a former boxer and now an MMA fighter. Oldfield and Lesaffre were also good to round out our main group. Other than that, I thought the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.

Before moving away completely, I did want to bring up social commentary here. What I read was that it was intentional to be set in a low-income development. This shows not only that this place needs repairs, but that the police coming to help is delayed. It also shows their disregard for getting people out. I'll say that this is a double-edged sword. Part of it is that they need to ensure no spiders get out. It also feels like everyone living here is expendable. That adds tension knowing that. I thought that was well-done without being over the top.

Let's then finish this out with filmmaking. The big thing here would be effects. My guess is that there were real spiders used where they could be. The rest was CGI. It looks good though. Part of that is this building is dark inside. The shadows help to hide things. That also allows the spiders to run rampant. The attack scenes were great. It made me uncomfortable. I'll also credit the cinematography and the framing. The setting is great. Other than that, the sound design also adds to this. Hearing the noises the spiders make made my skin crawl. I'll credit that as well.

In conclusion, this movie lived up to the hype for me. I thought that it had a simple premise that it took seriously. Taking this deadly spider that the people living in this building don't know about and then it goes unchecked is terrifying. The effects were great, as was the cinematography, framing and sound design. Character development is also a big help. I know info about each one and care about what happens to them. This is one that I'll revisit before the end of the year to see how it holds up with a second watch. I'd recommend this one for sure. Be warned, it is French so I watched it with subtitles. To be honest, there isn't a lot of dialogue so that helps.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Beautiful Animation and Rich Story

[9/10 · 26 May 2024]

This was a movie that I remember hitting the movie channels when I was a growing up. I would have been ten years old. I vividly remember seeing a character fire an arrow and rip the arms of someone. Up until this point, the only adult oriented cartoon I'd seen was Fire and Ice. It was one that I didn't fully understand so it isn't one I watched often. Jaime and I had this on a list of movies to see due to working through an Internet Movie Database poster of the top 100 films according to rating at that time. Jaime was leery, but we got to see this at the Gateway Film Center, so that added something for both of us.

We start this off with a demon heading toward a village. Ashitaka (voiced by Billy Crudup) does what he can to save his people and in turn, he's cursed. He starts a journey to see why this demon was on the rampage. This leads him into the middle of a war between Lady Eboshi (voiced by Minnie Driver) and the spirit of the forest. The former is trying to make Iron Town the strongest and richest. To do this, she needs the forest and mountains around them. Moro (voiced by Gillian Anderson) is a giant wolf who has three children helping her. Two are wolves and other is San (Voiced by Claire Danes). There is also a corrupt monk, Jigo (voiced by Billy Bob Thornton), who is also there to defeat the spirit of the forest for the emperor.

What I'll say is that I think that gives a nutshell recap and introduction to important characters. Where I'll start is that I enjoyed my time with this. Jaime did as well. Her biggest gripe was that seeing this on a Friday, after working all week and the theater chairs not being all that comfortable. She still thought the product was good. Then for me, I was just captivated to how great the imaginary and animation were. I'd get lost in it and forget I'm watching a cartoon. That's a credit to the filmmaking.

There's also a great message here. Ashitaka is torn between both sides. He's a human so he wants to help Lady Eboshi, but not to kill the forest. There are evil samurai here so he fights against them. I'd say if anything, he's not on the side of the emperor and that includes Jigo. He falls in love with San, who even though she's human, doesn't see herself that way. She was raised by wolves. He fights for the forest. I love the message here about humanity and nature living in harmony. It is a battle to find common ground.

I'd also say the different mythology we see is great. There are these cute little forest spirits that are also creepy. I want one to live in my house. We see the forest spirit as an elk with a human face. This entity also becomes a night walker, which was interesting to see. This forest also has talking wolves, boars and gorillas. This is supposed to have taken place in the past. It even feels that the events of this movie are the reason they no longer can. It is an interesting idea to explore.

Now I've already said that this is expertly made. The version we watched was dubbed in English. It was jarring hearing Thornton, Driver or Danes say names like Ashitaka or Lady Eboshi, but I got over that soon after. They all fit their characters. The best being Thornton as it almost seems like Jigo is his Bad Santa character, just a corrupt monk. This is a movie that I'd highly recommend, even if you don't like anime. It is so well done and just toes the line of being out of the realm of believability. There's just a great story in my opinion that makes it come together.

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen (2014 TV Movie)

Solid Documentary and List of Movies

[8/10 · 24 May 2024]

This was a documentary that caught my attention when looking for something to watch at work. I was curious coming in as to the number I had seen and if I hadn't, did I at least know of that movie? I'll give my totals, but this was an intriguing doc along with the people that were interviewed.

Where to start though would be assessing the list, I had seen 40 of the 50 movies. Of the 10 that I hadn't, I think only one of them was one that I hadn't heard of. One that I hadn't was Joshua from 2007, that was a completely new one. There were ones like Grace, The Fury, Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural and Burnt Offerings, that I knew of, just hadn't seen yet. They're all on my high priority list for one reason or another. I do think that including the original Wrong Turn, Wishmaster or the original Black Christmas on this list are a disservice. There are more obscure movies that would benefit talking about more. I will credit though the ones that I hadn't seen as well as ones like Alone in the Dark or Tourist Trap that are just oddball ones that need to be seen more.

There are also a solid group of people here, from talking heads to filmmakers and actors. There is like Arnold T. Blumberg, Arielle Brachfeld, Brian W. Collins, Heidi Honeycutt, Kim Morgan, and Brad Miska to name experts/historians in the field. They interviewed scream queens Michelle Bauer, P. J. Soles, Brinke Stevens and Linnea Quigley. I also recognized John Gulager, Brea Grant, Ryan Turek and Philippe Mora as well.

What I'll also say is that this isn't going as in-depth as it could. They give good information, present the film and reactions people have to the work. I like that this one scratched beneath the surface a bit more than others. This runs two hours long and it flew by. I'm not saying that this one is great, but I think it works for what they're doing to offer up less talked about horror gems, for the most part.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Leprechaun 6: Back 2 Tha Hood (2003 Video)

Solid Installment to a Middling Franchise

[6/10 · 24 May 2024]

This was a movie that I'll be honest, I avoided when I saw it hit the movie channels. I didn't see the one before this for the same reason. It wasn't until getting into horror movie podcasts that I decided to work through the series. Since I'm celebrating St. Patrick's Day on the Journey with a Cinephile: A Horror Movie Podcast. This is the next one up.

Synopsis: when Emily Woodrow (Tangi Miller) and her friends happen on a treasure chest full of gold coins, they do not heed the warnings of a wise old psychic, who foretold that they would meet trouble with a nasty and protective Leprechaun (Warwick Davis).

We start this out learning the lore of the leprechauns. There was a king who enlisted their aid to protect his gold. All of them returned to where they came from except for one. That would be the Leprechaun we get here. It then shifts to the present day. We have Father Jacob (Willie C. Carpenter) who battles the mythical creature on the site of what is going to be a youth center. He seems to defeat it as the monster is pulled into the ground.

The movie then shifts a year into the future. Father Jacob died during that battle and the construction of the youth center with him. Hanging outside out of the construction site are Emily with her friend Lisa (Sherrie Jackson). With them is Jamie (Page Kennedy). It is during this that we see Rory (Laz Alonso) who used to see Emily. They broke up when he took money from Emily to start dealing drugs. He is now seeing Chanel (Keesha Sharp). Jamie is also attacked by another group of drug dealers. Their boss is Watson (Shiek Mahmud-Bey) and he rolls up with Cedric (Sticky Fingaz). Jamie owes them money and he's short. Rory comes to his aid and this causes Watson to tell him he had better watch himself.

Emily and Lisa throw a cookout at the construction site. Jamie invited Rory, which upsets Emily. These two go off to talk and she falls through the floor. It is while she waits for Rory to get a ladder or rope that she finds a chest full of gold coins. She decides to split it with the group. She doesn't want Rory or Jamie to use it on drugs, which they do. By them spending this, the Leprechaun wakes up and he searches for his gold. He kills anyone who gets in his way to get it back.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. What I like here is that we get more continuity than other sequels in this series. They don't reference the movie before this, but it also doesn't do anything to violate that one either. Another thing that I'll give this one credit, it is written by a Black man. The references to the culture feel real and less awkward than the previous installment so that helped as well.

A big thing that I also want to credit is that I love the back-story that we have. This idea that a king enlisted the aid of the leprechauns is great. I love that the rest of them left after they were no longer needed. It is just this one that stayed to protect the gold. It feels like this one is rogue which is good. I do still think there is missed opportunities. Something that the synopsis brought up that I didn't know was the idea that Emily sees a psychic with Lisa. The psychic keeps getting names wrong, but she warns Emily about a fortune that will come her way and how she needs to avoid it. She doesn't, of course, so that sets the events in motion. I love that the Leprechaun almost seems to fear the psychic and calls her a witch. He won't even mess with her until she interferes. The idea here though is that the only people who are killed either try to stop him or are showing greed of his gold.

I've already touched on this, but I do love having the Leprechaun attacking this neighborhood. I can't fault the characters that when they find the gold they spend it. This is the same argument that I made when it came to college athletes who were busted for accepting benefits. You normally saw it from teens that came from nothing. They don't know good spending habits so it tracks. The idea that a greedy Leprechaun would have run ins with people who don't have anything so they spend newfound money selfishly makes sense and works. I wanted to credit that.

Let me then shift to acting. I'll be honest, it isn't great. This also isn't working with the biggest budget either. Davis though is once again on point with not only looking menacing but hitting the one-liners. I appreciate him for doing this when he was already taking on Star Wars movies as well as ones in Harry Potter. Miller and Jackson are fine as best friends. Kennedy adds comedy which worked for me. Alonso was fine as this drug dealer who used to be a part of this group. What is confusing there is that he still loves Emily, but he is also dating Chanel. Donzaleigh Abernathy is good as Esmerlda the psychic. This is a limited role. Mahmud-Bey, Fingaz and his crew were good. I'd say the supporting cast are almost caricatures, but that's fine for a supernatural slasher like this.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I'd say that the cinematography is fine. We are capturing that this is a low-income area. Seeing this group buy things that they don't need makes sense. It also fits why the monster is after them. The effects were fine. This leans more into the CGI than the practical ones. I do wish we got more of the latter. This doesn't ruin the movie either though. I'd also say that the soundtrack is fine. It does have rap style music that once again would fit.

In conclusion, I had more enjoyment here than other of the latter sequels. This is a franchise that is middling even with the best ones. The bright spot is Davis's performance as the Leprechaun and the make-up is on point. His comedy also lands. The rest of the cast is fine. I do like the extra back-story we have here. This is made well enough. The practical effects are good, but we get a bit too much CGI in general. Again, this is one of the better sequels which is impressive for being this far into the series. I'd only recommend it if you enjoy these movies and want to see a supernatural slasher being done by a mythical creature.

My Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

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.