meredithkemble Reviews

Us (II) (2019)

Great Sophomore Attempt from Peele

[8/10 · 24 March 2019]

To start off, US was a great film worth more than one watch. Peele is a master of mixing humor and truly terrifying scenes to build tension expertly. This is the type of horror film where the family is smart, lovable, and the exact type of people you would expect to survive in a horror movie. Peele reverses the "black person dies first" trope in a film that is both terrifying and compelling.

The fatal flaw of the film comes from too much information. When the film starts delving into the lore, that is when it begins to unravel. US leaves the viewer with more questions than answers, and not in a haunting, mysterious way. As well as a twist that is easily detected early on in the film, some plot points were not as well executed as they could have been. Occasionally we are hit over the head with obvious metaphor as well. Overall, the film may have had too much concept to contend with.

However, US was superbly acted (Lupita kills it) and keeps the pace up until the very end. An ambitious and impressive second film from Jordan Peele!!

Split (IX) (2016)

Great acting but not as much fun as I had hoped

[6/10 · 31 January 2017]

It's taken me some time to process and come up with a way to review this film without giving away the twist. Because for me, the twist is why this movie is a 6 instead of something higher. I left the theater feeling frustrated, knowing I missed something vital in importance in the last scene. It made me wish I had done some research on what the twist was so I could properly prepare and do my homework so I could be involved in it. I like to go into my movies blind and without spoilers, and in this case, that led to disappointment. This movie was not meant for me, I guess.

But besides that, the acting was excellent from the girls and of course McAvoy. Each personality was very distinct and you could totally see him switching between them before your eyes. It was thrilling in parts and sad in others, so it was entertaining. I think it will appeal to not just horror fans, but really most anyone.

However, I think the subject matter is irresponsible. I'm sick of seeing people turned "monstrous" by mental illness in films. There is a lot of debate ever whether or not DID exists as a real disorder or if it's created by therapists, but that does not mean that there are not people whose lives are constantly affected by DID. Mental illness does not make people monsters. Media portrayals of mental illness affect how the mentally ill are treated in real life. I wish this film would have done more than just turn someone with a mental illness into an actual literal monster who wants to eat people. Shame on you, Shyamalan, for continuing to support the stigma against the mentally ill.

The Neon Demon (2016)

Visually stunning and a bit of a thinker

[7/10 · 21 January 2017]

First of all, the movie is super aesthetic and gorgeous. The use of colors and soundtrack and cinematography and everything was really nice to look at, so if you're really into that sort of art then this movie is worth watching. I've seen so many reviews calling the movie shallow, but I disagree. I think the theme of narcissism in the film is rather complex, especially considering the social context of beauty and selfie- culture and social media and how that promotes vanity and whether or not that is a bad thing. Basically, the film will likely leave you wondering about what you just witnessed, and what was real and what was symbolic and what was insanity.

One theme of the film that left me disappointed was the homosexual plot line and how it seemed to demonize homosexuality. In a way I get it and see how it fits into the film, but another part of me is over the stale "gay people are perverse and/or evil" trope that exists in the horror genre. It feels overdone and not particularly socially conscious and that part of the movie left me rolling my eyes a bit. Otherwise, the acting was great and there was definitely a couple moment of truly disturbing imagery that made the film worth watching. I would like to see Elle Fanning in more films after seeing this performance.

Overall, I think this film is a successful art piece that questions our current social environment in America. I think it's an especially good film for teens and young adults, but the ideas may not relate as well to older adults.

The Bye Bye Man (2017)

Surprisingly bad (if you have low expectations, you should lower them)

[2/10 · 17 January 2017]

I went into this January-release horror film expecting to be disappointed, but I had no idea that this was going to be so awful. The Bye Bye Man managed to be undeniably unscary. This movie is not scary to a degree I have never seen in a horror movie of this style. The jump scares will not make you jump, the pacing is poor, the acting is flat and completely unbelievable, the plot is vague and filled with loose ends and holes. What are the coins? The train? The weird demon dog? Why is the Bye Bye Man so completely not scary looking?

The reveals are unsurprising. The acting is atrocious, and the character relationships feel thin and forced. The entire plot line with the librarian is unnecessary, and drags down the film in an almost tangible way. There is so much wrong with this film that I am actually baffled. I don't know how they managed to make this film feel so bland without it being intentional.

It's been a long time since I've had such a bland horror experience in theaters. The most exciting part of the movie was the previews for things that will surely be better than this was. Save your movie money and skip this one, even if you're like me and go see every horror movie you can in theaters. This one is not worth the $8.

Yoga Hosers (2016)

Sorry Aboot That

[6/10 · 3 January 2017]

Sorry that so many people didn't enjoy this movie as much as I did. I love Kevin Smith for bringing his entertaining and fresh (albeit bizarre) vision to a genre that tends to rely heavily on tropes and cliché.

Yoga Hosers was more comedy and less horror than Tusk, and while I preferred Tusk for that reason, I can not fault Yoga Hosers for downplaying the gore and body horror and bringing up the laughs. It is stupid humor, it definitely is an acquired taste, but if you go in with an open mind then the movie is definitely worth the watch. Both Colleens are stereotypical teenagers who are obsessed with their phones and social media, but the characters are given just enough endearing qualities and development to make them bearable (and their friendship heartwarming). The movie has a rather star-studded cast and plenty of opportunities for pointing at the screen and saying "I had no idea they were in this!" Overall the movie was entertaining to watch, absolutely silly, and filled with A+ puns made off the name Ichabod.

What keeps me from giving this a higher score is Johnny Depp's character. He was mostly unwatchable in Tusk and unfortunately he was included in Yoga Hosers even more. While the movie itself is supposed to be pretty ridiculous, Depp's character is just nails on a chalkboard. Scenes that include him heavily will most definitely make you want to turn off the movie. But if you can get through his performance then Yoga Hosers is a good movie to get drunk to with your buddies and enjoy.

31 (2016)

If you like Zombie's other films, this is more of the same

[6/10 · 7 November 2016]

31 was really hyped up after being crowdfunded and Zombie's claims that it would be more grisly than any of this previous films. As a gore-hound, this claim absolutely interested me. Who doesn't want to see the next, grossest thing? Well, this film was definitely grisly, but I wouldn't put it above any of his other films.

Zombie's films are generally hit or miss for me, and this film did not really impress me or disgust me. It has all the basics of a Rob Zombie film: gross sexuality, gore, silly lines and characters. My biggest complaint is that the film takes itself too seriously. If you're going to feature a knife-wielding Nazi midget, you need to embrace the camp factor in a way Zombie generally does not. I felt the whole film was too serious, particularly the ending.

That being said, while 31 was not as good as The Devil's Rejects, I did enjoy it more than House of 1000 Corpses or Zombie's Halloween re-imagining. Basically, you already know if this film is for you or not. If you like sexualized and gratuitous gore, or other Zombie movies, then you'll like this just fine. If you're looking for something more tame, or easier to follow, then look elsewhere.

Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

One of Flanagan's stronger works

[7/10 · 22 October 2016]

Flanagan's films tend to be hit or miss, so I went into the theater not knowing exactly what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this movie was one of Flanagan's better pieces along with Oculus and Hush.

The film itself was a pretty masterful period piece, with excellent costumes and sets and lines that helped you place the time period without a big date sprawling across the screen at the opening. Seriously, the costumes were so good. Although some of the lines hit you over the head with the whole "we are in the '60s" deal, it wasn't cheesy or over-the-top.

The child acting was pretty good, particularly from Annalise Basso who I was excited to see again after her performance in Oculus. LuLu Wilson was also exceedingly creepy in plenty of parts. I was very pleased with the amount of creep factor, especially from a PG-13 movie which usually rely on cheap scares (example: this movie's predecessor).

Where this movie fell flat for me was the actual demon/ghoul/monster story. I wish they would have kept the ghoul as a fleeting figure instead of full-on showing them fairly early on in the movie. It's so much scarier to let your imagination go wild instead of seeing a digitized monster. Maybe it will be scary for the teens who go to see this film, but it took the scare factor down a notch for me. The origin story for the demon seemed a little forced and rushed towards the end, and I think choosing a less complicated origin might have made the movie run a little smoother. However, the ending was pretty good and it was an overall thrilling theater experience.

Don't Breathe (2016)

If I would have known how weird this movie would be, I wouldn't have invited my mother along with me

[6/10 · 1 September 2016]

This movie generated a lot of hype in it's early screenings, and the trailer seemed to promise a tense and violent romp. It definitely delivered lots of nerve-wrackingly tense moments that had the theater jumping without necessarily using the classic "jump scare" tactic. The acting was good, and all of the characters were well- written enough to have a lot of likable and unlikable moments, which was a nice break from usual horror stereotypes. I can see how people would be praising it as a horror masterpiece because it definitely was scary without being cliché. It was a lot of fun to watch in theaters.

So if I have so much positive feedback, why give it a six instead of something higher? The reason is there were at least two very obvious plot holes to me while watching that were never resolved. The beginning of the movie made me somewhat dislike the main characters, who seemed to lack any real intelligence until they're actually trying to survive in the house. The ending was about three scenes too long, and the whole "evil guy never dies and is also able to be everywhere at once" mechanic begins to wear a little thin by the end of the movie.

Also, there is THAT one scene. Get ready for it. Do not make the same mistake I did and think that the popularity of the movie meant there would not be one extremely weird and disturbing moment that would make you regret bringing your mother along with you. I personally love the weird and slightly obscene in horror movies, but this one does nothing to prepare you for what is to come. Maybe if I had walked into the theater with a different mindset, this movie would have been more successful for me.

Excision (2012)

Fans of May and American Mary will love this!

[8/10 · 16 August 2016]

If you're a fan of sexualized hyper-violence (you know who you are), then this movie is a great find. Pauline is funny, relatable, and obviously troubled in the goriest of ways. Even though her delusions get more sick as the film progresses, you're still always on her side a little bit. Also, her prayer scenes were comedy gold. I can't recommend her enough as a character, mental illness and all. She is similar to the title character in the movie May, but I think even better. It's surprising to me this movie is not more widely acknowledged as a gem.

There are some gruesome (though not particularly believable) scenes, so it's definitely not for the faint of heart. But if you can handle your gore you should have no problem with this film.

This movie could have just been a shock flick, but the writing made it so much more than that. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I adored this movie and I hope to add it to my personal collection asap.

Lights Out (II) (2016)

Fine for a fun theater experience, nothing special though

[6/10 · 23 July 2016]

Lights Out wasn't a bad film, and it's always nice when a horror film comes out that has some scary moments and is only PG-13. Usually I go into PG-13 horror films with low expectations, which allowed me to enjoy the movie for what it is: a bunch of jump scares. The short film this movie was based off was simple, and effectively scary. By adding so much to the concept, it threw off the pacing. This film tried to be more than what is was. It tried to explore a deeper meaning, touching on mental illness and family problems (think The Babadook but not nearly as good), but it only managed to scratch the surface in a pretty shallow and uninteresting way. This was only accentuated by sub-par acting from quite a bit of the cast.

However, the film succeeded in making Diana frightening. By not ever showing her real form for much time outside of the shadows, she managed to be pretty horrifying. Definitely a creature to inspire nightmares when you turn out the lights.

Overall it was fun to go see in a theater filled with jumpy teenagers, but not really worth a second watch.

The Purge: Election Year (2016)

Lots of fun, but a few flaws

[6/10 · 2 July 2016]

The Purge: Election Year is very similar to The Purge: Anarchy in that it is much better than the first installment in the series, but tries to put too many things into one movie. Election Year introduces some great visuals and themes, but does not expand on any of them to their fullest. This makes for an action-packed ride with a lot of fun splatter horror, but not as much substance as the concept leaves room for.

My main problem with the film would be the way it tries very hard to make the purge seem like a plausible occurrence for America while simultaneously showing some very implausible scenarios. Afterall, the movies are set in near-future America to present them in a "real world" kind of scenario. But then it shows ridiculous things like an entire guillotine setup in an alleyway, or two cars completely covered in Christmas lights. Who is actually trying to do such over- the-top things in the middle of the purge? How are there so many people going out of their way to look scary and kill people who seem to have very little interest in staying home and not being killed by other people? Furthermore, the movie presented some interesting topics like purge insurance, murder tourism, and underground resistance but didn't really develop them. I would have preferred development of substance rather than crazy visuals and meaningless violence.

Overall, it was a fun ride that I'm glad I saw in theaters, but probably would not buy for my own collection to watch again.

Before I Wake (2016)

Truly Flanagan, but not his best

[6/10 · 29 June 2016]

Mike Flanagan grabbed my attention with Oculus, which not only was an exciting watch but actually kept me up at night after seeing it. Since then I've kept an eye on his other films. While I thought Hush was excellent, I found Absentia to be an interesting concept with a low quality execution. Before I Wake was similar to Absentia in that way.

Before I wake was the least "horror" of Flanagan's horror film, in that the story mainly focuses on a sad mom of a dead child and how a foster child helps her heal (or makes it worse?) Even the scary parts are more thriller overall, and so I can see how people going in expecting something classically horrifying like Oculus or Hush could be disappointed. However, the strength of the film lies in the interesting story, even if it was not particularly frightening. If it was executed in a more interesting way, this movie would have been taken from okay to excellent.

Overall, I'm happy I watched Before I Wake, but I would not care to re-watch it like I would with some of Flanagan's other films.