Horror Movie Talk

Synopsis

Verónica takes place in 1991 Madrid, Spain, where, during a solar eclipse, a teen girl and her friends decide to try and contact their deceased loved ones using an Ouija board. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned, and one of the girls, Veronica, begins to experience horrifying supernatural events while trying to care for her 3 young siblings. As things ramp up and she becomes more isolated, it is up to her to try to right her wrong.

Review of Veronica

I was super happy when this won the Patreon poll. I saw this movie when it first came out, and it brings a lot of nostalgia for me. I was working on my bachelor’s in Spanish, and it was definitely a hot topic among my classmates. With that nostalgia aside, it’s just a great movie. You get everything that you could want from a possession/haunting film and although there are a lot of horror movie tropes, they are well executed in unique ways. The addition of her 3 young siblings really ups the steaks especially considering that she’s only 15 and is constantly caring for them. The film is well-paced and takes its time, but gives you plenty of scares along the way. I love the design of the apparitions. I feel like you don’t see that a lot. I also like all of the mouth horror. The film also covers themes of isolation, self-doubt, and grief in a beautiful way. The cuts between scenes are well done, and the integration of the true story isn’t too heavy-handed. It’s honestly hard for me to find any big criticisms of this film.

Score: 9/10

Synopsis

After the sudden disappearance of a journalist’s young daughter in Cairo, his family is left shattered. Eight years later, they receive an unexpected call that their daughter has been found, although she is not quite the same. What begins as a moment of overwhelming joy turns into something much more disturbing. As unsettling events begin to unfold, her father and others start to dig into the mystery of her disappearance to find out what really happened to Katie during all those years.

Review of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy

I was really excited going into Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, the intro had me hooked and invested in these characters and the film is beautifully shot, even the gory parts. It does feel more like The Exorcist and Evil dead than a mummy movie but it was a solid attempt at doing something different. The special effects are incredible, I genuinely felt nauseated at certain points and had to look away. Unfortunately this doesn’t make up for an unnecessary 2 hour and 13 minute run time. Parts became repetitive and there were many scenes that were unnecessary or could have been compiled concisely into other scenes.What really lost points for me more than anything was the awful ending that was also way too long and turned almost comical but not in a good way. 

Score

5/10

Synopsis

A single mother and her two teens travel to a rural house inherited from a family member. News reports tell of a serial killer that targets families, killing the parents, and living with and torturing the surviving teen girls. You can guess what happens next. But can you guess what happens AFTER that? Probably not.

Review of Incident in a Ghostland

This is an effective psychological horror that really plays with the audience in some impressive ways. It keeps you guessing exactly what kind of movie is this? Is this a torture porn slasher? Is it a supernatural horror allegory of unprocessed trauma? One thing is certain, this movie is fucking with your expectations.

Incident in a Ghostland is directed by Pascal LAugier, who is probably most known for Martyrs, so the amount of brutality should be adjusted accordingly.

It is a very dark movie, and only lets up briefly. It borders on too uncomfortable to watch and enjoy. However, it’s so darn interesting, that you have to keep watching.

My one complaint is that the production design is cliche,a nd a little too over the top creepy with all the creepy dolls in the house. 

Another shortfall, is that the main antagonists never really get fully fleshed out, and remain kind of 2 dimensional. They feel more like scary video game monsters to avoid versus characters whose motivations are known and can be interacted with.

I can’t say it’s an enjoyable movie, but it is good. I enjoy it on the level that it truly did play with my expectations and perception, which for a grizzled horror movie reviewer counts for a lot.

Score

7/10

Synopsis

In this prequel to the movie Ouija, we are given a family struggling to make a quick buck in the 1960s as spiritual mediums. But they aren’t just any regular spiritual mediums….they are frauds. Which I guess actually just makes them regular old spiritual mediums. But when 9 year old Doris discovers that she can speak to the dead for real using a ouija board the family business starts booming. As Doris’s spiritual talents begin to take on a sinister tone, the question on everyone’s mind becomes “who or what is Doris really talking to?”

Review of Ouija: Origins of Evil

I’ve been giving Ouija: Origins of Evil a hard time lately, because I remembered it being very bad. But then I rewatched it. And its still pretty bad. But not quite as bad as I remembered it being. The movie is directed by Mike Flannagan, a director who has brought us incredible movies and Tv shows such as The Haunting of Hill House, Hush, Gerald’s Game, Oculus, Doctor Sleep, and my personal favorite Midnight Mass. He has thoroughly proven himself to me as a director who can create something scary as well as emotionally impactful. This movie is not that. Its extremely cookie cutter, and doesn’t really even attempt to break the mold of a stereotypical haunted house movie. If you’ve seen any of the conjuring movies, you’ve seen this. If you’ve seen any of the insidious movies, you’ve seen this. If you’ve seen any movie with the words “the haunting of…” in the title, you’ve seen this. I could go on, but you get the picture. What this movie does well is pepper in some truly creepy imagery and a couple fun jump scares, however it fails to do anything outside of the box or make a group of characters worth caring about. Don’t get me wrong, the mother played by Elisabeth Reaser, and the priest played by Henry Thomas were great. But the kids in this movie are awful actors and I truly believe that with my whole heart. 

Score 4/10

Synopsis

The film begins 17 years after the events of The Exorcist and follows the characters Father Dyer and Lieutenant Kinderman who have kindled their friendship from the shared tragedy of losing their friend Father Karras.

A series of murders in Washington DC copycat the Gemini Killer, who has been dead for 17 years. Kinderman is befuddled that they include Gemini’s trademarks that were never revealed to the public. The investigation leads to a psychiatric ward and a supernatural suspect.

Review of Exorcist III

The Exorcist 3 certainly does a better job of carrying forth the themes and story of the first film, however it never comes close to matching its quality. That being said, it’s a vast improvement over the incomprehensible mess of Exorcist II: The Heretic.

The film is written and directed by William Peter Blatty, the author of the original Exorcist novel. While the writing is good, and the characters and relationships strong, the direction is a mixed bag at best. It’s hard to put a finger on whether it is because of Blatty’s lack of experience, this being only his second film he directed, or because of the studio interference demanding a more direct sequel. The answer is probably both.

The relationship between Dyer and Kinderman is the best part and the heart of the film. The dialogue between them genuinely feels like old friends sharing a laugh and challenging each other’s philosophies.

Like the Exorcist, the dichotomy of good vs evil, and the nature of man is explored. Like the original, the forces of evil seem to be unhindered, and as such, the tone is oppressive and dark at times.

The standout performance is Brad Dourif as the Gemini Killer. Rarely has Dourif been given the free reign to appear on screen as himself and deliver a truly scene chewing performance that displays his full range. It goes from calm meticulousness to unhinged rage within seconds.

The things that hold back the film from being great are the unrefined visual style, and the obviously wedged in and tonally divergent exorcism in act 3. It goes from a tight and oppressive thriller to a bombastic supernatural bombardment in the last act.

Score

7/10