Review: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Sometimes, watching a horror movie (or a horror adjacent one, such as Rocky Horror) is all about the communal experience at the theater.  I'll never forget the collective gasp at a certain scene in The Witch involving a bird, or the tension throughout the theater during the opening scenes of A Quiet Place - on occasion, being with others elevates the moviegoing experience in ways that watching at home just cannot compare to.

Which is why, for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a friend and I went to a live shadow-cast performance in San Antonio for the experience.  As an added bonus, Patricia Quinn - who plays Magenta in the film - was also there and talked a bit about the making of the film.  And this, really, is what watching this movie is about - costumes everywhere, toast thrown into the air, shouts of 'Asshole!' and 'Slut!' scattered through the viewing.  If you are watching this quietly at home, you are missing out on what made this movie an essential watch every October for its many fans.

Indeed, part of the joy even for those that have been to multiple shadow-casts is seeing how different people partake in the movie.  From grand introductions of 'Alfalfa's shadow' to inserted words into the lyrics of the various musical numbers - it's rare that longtime fans don't get to experience something new every time.

This also makes the movie critic-proof.  I'm not really even trying to discuss the value of the sets, or the performances, or even the songs in any critical sense because none of it matters when discussing this movie.  You either get it, or you don't.  The most I would say is that without Tim Curry, I don't think the cult status of this movie would have ever reached the heights it has today.

Which is why I recommend that anyone watching this for the first time, do so with friends.  I can understand not going to a shadow-cast, but any theatrical experience of it would be suggested.  And make sure that at least one of those watching with you has experienced this movie before, to help along with the rituals and the fun.

8 out of 10, factoring in the audience.

Now let's do the Time Warp again!

Review: Friday the 13th (1980)

There's a lot to be said about this movie - it's not the grandaddy of slasher films (I'd give the 'grandparent' titles to 1978's Halloween and 1974's Black Christmas), but in many ways it is the father of modern slashers, with its penchant for sequels and high body counts, not to mention the (for 1980) extreme gore used to shock the audience.  While many have come after - some better, some worse - nothing quite like this movie existed before 1980 in American cinemas, and its success changes the landscape of horror.

Do I even need to summarize this film?  Everyone knows the basics: at a summer camp shortly before the campers arrive, the counselors are stalked and killed by a mysterious figure.  Some people forget it was Mrs. Vorhees (Betsy Palmer) who was the killer in this film instead of the more famous Jason, but otherwise the story for many of these films plays out the same.

I think sometimes modern looks at this film come down a little too hard on it - it is frequently called boring in the first half, with some even questioning how it was 'shocking' with such tame kills.  And while they are not wrong in the first point - not completely - the second point conveniently forgets that these sorts of effects (done by the legendary Tom Savini) were shocking - nothing so explicit was given a wide release in US theatres before.

The problem is, by the time this is being watched and evaluated, most reviewers have already seen movies that improved on the formula that this movie set.  Yes, the whoddunnit aspect is undercooked, but that's mainly because we've seen it perfected with the Scream movies.  The movie is slow and spends time getting you familiar with both the counselors and the layout of the campground, when later movies realized that people were mostly there for the kills and sped along that process to get to what the audience wanted.

I'm not saying the film cannot be criticized, but remember it's place!  I don't think it is one of the great films of horror by any stretch - the best in this series, Part 4, probably wouldn't even crack my personal top 20 - but it's a movie to be watched to appreciate where the genre started.  It's akin to watching a retired Hall of Fame pitcher come out and throw the first pitch of a game: It might not have the heat it used to, but respect should be given for what it accomplished.

How to rate this movie?  In all fairness, it probably is a 6 at best.  But given it due respect, I think 7 is a perfectly respectable rating.  So that is where I will set it.

7 out of 10

Review: Feast (2006)

One thing I love about the horror community is how readily we recommend other horror flicks to each other.  We all have our preferences - like my love for creature features - but ask anyone who considers themselves a horror buff what their favorite movies are or what they'd recommend, and you will get a list and enthusiastic summaries of said movies.  One of the blogs I frequent, Final Girl, has made that very exercise a feature of multiple Shocktober celebrations.

Feast came into my life in such a way.  A now-defunct blog had posted what they considered the 50 greatest horror movie kills, and a scene from Feast 2 happen to catch my attention.  Not long after, I came across collection of the trilogy and made the purchase.  With my brother, I marathoned the trilogy and it became one of my absolute favorites right on the spot.

Set at a remote bar in the late hours of the night, Feast follows the patrons of that bar as the try to survive an attack from extremely tough, extremely gross creatures.  Will they be able to escape, or are they doomed to be killed by the monsters?

Very quickly, the viewer realizes that this is an anything-goes movie: People die left and right - even those you'd expect to last much longer.  And while many movies have aspired to an 'anyone can die' approach, this movie truly lives in that world.  No one has script immunity, which adds to tension of each attempt to kill or escape the creatures.

Despite a limited budget (the filmmakers were the winners of the third season of Project Greenlight), the creatures look great, and the setting is used judiciously.  A lot of horror films have problems with developing the layout of their locations, but Feast very quickly (and very smartly) establishes the levels of the bar and how to get to each.

The movie is also incredibly funny, with each major character getting an intro card summarizing their character and alluding to their potential fate.  Most of them don't even use the character's real names, and quite a few are bitingly mean in giving their rundown with such lines as "Life Expectancy: Losers and dorks go first... ...He's both."

For fans of no-holds barred horror, this is a great movie for you, as long as you can deal with gore.  And this movie is gory - limbs are ripped off, eyes are pulled out, amongst other things - and the movie finds ways to be gross in other ways that are not for the feint of heart.

A great, little-seen movie that is a blast.  Easy recommend for me (the sequels provide diminishing returns, sadly)

8.5 out of 10

Review: Scooby-Doo (2002)

I think critics were unfair to this movie when it first came out.  It was critically drubbed to such a degree that it sits at a sad 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an audience score that is almost as low.  And while it might not be the greatest film ever made, I thought it was fun enough, with some fun performances from the main cast.

The movie opens with the humans of Mystery Inc (Freddie Prinze Jr as Fred; Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Matthew Lillard as Shaggy, and Linda Cardellini as Velma) solving a case and quickly breaking up to go their separate ways after.  Only Shaggy and Scooby-Doo (voiced by Neil Fanning) stick together while the others go to find and improve themselves.  2 years later, they are all called to Spooky Island to solve a mystery with the expected tension.

Now, again, this is not the greatest film ever made.  The CGI for Scooby wasn't particularly great in 2002, and it's aged about as well as one would expect - and that's without mention the many other CGI creatures scattered throughout.  Aside from the main four, no cast members stand out (although Rowan Atkinson as Spooky Island owner Mondavarious is obviously having fun) despite having a few notable actors like Isla Fisher and Miguel Nuñez Jr.  The plot gives about as much information as the original Scooby-Doo cartoons, but spreads it out amongst the 86 minute running time and makes you realize just how compact those cartoons were in comparison.

But dammit, I enjoy this movie all the same.  Prinze Jr plays proto-himbo Fred with just enough charm to make you forgive the character's more boorish behavior, Gellar is having fun as a Daphne who is trying her best not be a damsel yet constantly finding herself in trouble, and Cardellini and Lillard are pitch-perfect casting even before you get into the meat of their performances, which are great.

I love just how late 90s/early 00s this movie is, from the colors to the hairstyles to 'bad slang' to the cameo from the band Sugar Ray.  The jokes are dumb, but they are told well and with energy, and there are enough that aren't for the kids that you don't have to rely on the juvenile ones for entertainment - although those juvenile ones work for me as well.

Hell, there is an extended burp/fart contest between Shaggy and Scooby that is just as sophomoric as it sounds, but I'll be damned if Lillard's facial expressions and the sound of that last, partially-contained fart when Daphne catches them doesn't make me laugh out loud every time.

All in all, this is a fun movie - light and thin and the equivalent of cotton candy in film form.  But you know what?  Cotton candy has its place, as does this movie.

7.5 out of 10

Review: Hell Fest (2018)

So, when reviewing movies, you have to factor in two major things:  Is the movie entertaining?, and is the movie well made?  Just because a movie is entertaining doesn't necessarily mean it is a good production, just as a well-made movie can be tedious and boring.  You might be asking why I lead my review of Hell Fest with such a statement, and it is because the movie succeeds at one of these two major considerations while failing absolutely in the other.

The basic premise is that a (traveling?) carnival called Hell Fest comes to town and a group of twenty-somethings - yes, teenagers get to survive this time, as the movie decides to focus on college-age people - decide to attend while, unbeknownst to them, a serial killer also attends.

I will be upfront:  The movie does not live up to the premise.  It does create some interesting sets and works as a decent MacGuffin for why no one notices all of the dead bodies, but that is about all the gold spun from the straw that is this script.  None of the kills are especially inventive, although there is one scene that works exceptionally well during the setup but makes no sense upon the reveal. Afterwards, the movie shifts into the Final Chase, so it sort of deflates quickly at that point anyway.

The acting is adequate - no one is especially terrible, although it feels like a waste of both Tony Todd and Bex Taylor-Klaus' talents giving them the roles that they have.  But it doesn't have the clunky acting that usually accompanies a slasher with no big names.

On the plus side, the movie moves along at a quick pace and doesn't overthink the premise to the point of distraction.  It actually does surprise a little bit on who lives and how it ends, but still pays homage to the 'rules' of the horror genre.

The movie still manages to be entertaining.  It won't ever make any Greatest Horror Movies lists, and if it fades into obscurity in 2 years time, it won't be a huge loss to the genre.  But if you have an hour and a half to kill and you like horror movies, there are worst ways to spend your time.

2024 Addition: In retrospect, I was a little harder on this than I should've been.  The setting, especially, works really well and is used in more interesting ways than I alluded to in my original review.  I think I was correct in my basic assessment - perfectly adequate but ultimately forgettable - but I've bumped up the score from 5 to 6, and my feelings towards it are much warmer.

6.0 out of 10.

Review: Late Night with the Devil (2024)

I have a confession to make: I am an easy mark for possession movies.  Even ones such as this - where possession is only a part of the overall film - have a tendency to get under my skin much easier than other horror films. So, given the positive reviews of this film, I was a bit nervous to see it.  And, even watching it in daylight, it got to me a little bit.

Set on Halloween night in 1977, the film is part found footage, part documentary about the last airing of Night Owls with Jack Elroy, a fictional competitor to The Tonight Show.  Jack Elroy (David Dastmalchian) is on hard times, and the show is a grand attempt to boost rating during sweeps and save it.  So, he has an assortment of psychics, skeptics, and parapsychologists on to capitalize on people's need for scares.  Elroy's wife has also died recently, and it comes into play during the night's events in horrific ways.

First off, having been a fan of Dastmalchian for awhile, it is great to see him get a lead role that he can tear into.  He manages to shade this character in all sorts of interesting ways, especially as the night and the creeps start to affect him.  Desperation weaved with cynicism mixed with longing and terror makes this one of the great performances of the genre.

I also want to mention Ian Bliss as the skeptic, Carmichael Haig.  He perfectly plays someone who thinks the other guests are charlatans, and stubbornly refuses to budge even as evidence piles up that this particular instance is a most real one.  It's an infuriatingly perfect performance of a secondary antagonist.

The 'lost footage' aspects is also done well - so much of it reads like an odd, but interesting late night talk show that when it goes 'behind the scenes' for the documentary aspect, it is seamless despite a hard shift in coloration (the documentary section is black and white) and stylization. 

As the movie continues, it starts to get a bit surreal, and I can never quite pinpoint when it shifts from real footage to unreal(?), which is a great piece of editing.  Without spoiling too much, things take a very dark turn - leading a very dark (but very earned) ending - and it is left ambiguous how much of what happens is caught on camera.

All in all, this is an absolutely spectacular horror movie. I'd recommend it to any fan of horror, and it might become a regular watch during future Halloween marathons.

8.5 out of 10

Review: Crawl (2019)

There's something to be said for a simplistic creature feature.  A bare-bones, no-frills film that gets to the action and doesn't let up until the credits roll.  Crawl is such a film.

When I say bare-bones, I mean it.  The plot?  Stuck in a house swarming with alligators during a hurricane.  The actors?  Mostly a two-person show between Barry Pepper and Kaya Scodelario (if anyone else appears, assumed they aren't long for this world).  The run time?  A cool 87 minutes.  It takes about 15 minutes for the movie to get to the titular crawl space and it is a fight for survival almost until the credits cross the screen.

It isn't without some shading - Pepper's character is the father of Scodelario's, and they are somewhat estranged.  It easily explains how she is able to outswim the alligators (she is a collegiate swimmer) and then lets the action take it from there.

Frankly, both actors are giving this movie more than it needs - which might be why it is such a gem of a film.  Pepper tears into this like it is a family drama, and Scodelario's Haley is a topnotch final girl.  If the movie was a bigger hit - it only grossed $39 million in the US - I think she would easily be included amongst the best in this particular genre.

The movie does earn its R rating.  Both of our main characters get attacked multiple times, and the movie doesn't shy away from gore (though it is less gory than director Alexandre Aja's Piranha 3-D).  The movie is just as relentless on its characters as it is the audience, and the feeling of fatigue that both actors portray by the end feels both real and earned.

The alligators of the film are well rendered.  Even in the water, they have weight to them, so you never feel that you are looking at computer-generated creatures.  Really, all of the effects are well done - the house is a perfect piece of set design, as is the exterior.  During brief moments where they are outside of the house, the surrounding area looks like a neighborhood people would live in (well, outside of the torrents of water).

I cannot recommend this brutally efficient film enough.  Obviously, those who don't like gore or creature features will want to avoid it, but for everyone else, it is a good time.

Also, they don't kill the dog, which kicks it up a notch as far as recommendations go.

8.5 out of 10

Review: The Blob (1958)

There's an inherent danger in reviewing an older movie, especially one from an era completed foreign to the person doing the review.  How do I, who grew up in the 90s, judge a drive-in movie from the late 50s?  I can do some research into the film to provide context - it was in color when this sort of film getting a color treatment was uncommon, and it was the second billed film of a drive-in double feature (the top billed movie being I Married a Monster from Outer Space).  It launched the career of its lead - a 28-year-old Steve McQueen in his second-ever film - and rose above its trappings to eventually be selected for the Criterion Collection.  And nothing in watching the films screams at me that it deserves its many laurels.

Now, that's not to say it is a bad film.  It's good, and I'd daresay that it was several steps better than similar-type films of its era (which no doubt helped it become such a hit that it became the headline film of its double feature after a certain point).  But it's also fairly generic, and I'd venture a guess that the same criticism could've been lobbed at it during its original run in 1958.

To wit, my belief is that the monster - the titular Blob - is the main reason it stood out.  While the effects aren't anything to write home about, a large gelatin-like creature that absorbs people without thought is certainly an unnerving monster to deal with, and I can think of precious few movie villains of such grotesque simplicity.

One would think that Steve McQueen would've given a Star is Born performance in this film also, but I'm not sure I'd call it that.  It is certainly better than anyone else in the film, and you can see his natural screen charisma, but even a veteran actor would struggle with expanding on the paint-by-numbers role.  I will note that McQueen doesn't look anything like a high schooler (none of the speaking teens look anywhere near the age the are portraying), but given the long history of 20somethings playing high schools in cinema, I hardly consider it a strike against him.

The movie also comes down firmly on the side of its teen characters - moreso than you'd expect for a film in this era.  At no point are you supposed to role your eyes at the kids, and instead the frustration stims from adults who just won't listen.  Again, it certainly wouldn't be something a modern audience wouldn't have seen before, but it certainly helped its appeal in 1958.

Would I recommend this movie?  I'd probably point most people to the 1988 remake instead, but there's a charm to this one that makes it worth watching - if only to see an older movie that set a trend for latter movies.

7 out of 10

Review: Salem's Lot (2024)

I went into this movie with low expectations.  Originally filmed a 2021, it has been delayed multiple times, which is never a good thing when it comes to a movie.  Couple that with the poor reviews for it, and my main hope was that it would at least be watchable.

Part of the problem is that any adaptation of this book will have to drop making the city itself a character.  Jerusalem's Lot, much like Derry in IT, is just as much a character in King's novel as Ben, Dr. Cody, Burke, or Susan.  But, as a visual medium, having that come across without boring the audience is hard to do.  The 2017 version of IT was the most successful at achieving this, with a nod to the 1979 miniseries of Salem's Lot for attempting it to mixed results.

This adaptation - a singular movie unlike the 1979 and 2004 miniseries - is... okay?  They make quite a few changes, but only one, I feel, is detrimental to the overall story.  Most just seem unnecessary.  They don't enhance the story in any way, nor does it challenge the viewer.  They are mostly changes for the sake of changing things, and I have to wonder how many of them are a result of reshoots for this oft-delayed movie.

The performances are mostly just alright, with a few exceptions: Bill Camp, as Matthew Burke, is easily the best in show amongst the performances.  And there is a race to the bottom for two other performances - Pilou Asbæk as Straker (far too over the top and theatrical, both for the character and the movie) and Debra Christofferson as Anne Norton (a character changed vastly from the book, and not to anyone's benefit).  I'm thankful the movie opted to show less of Barlow (Alexander Ward) - he is just menacing enough without being over-the-top, and the look they go with harkens back to both Nosferatu and the 1979 version of the character.

Other than what I've mentioned, there's just not much this is noticeable about this film.  It's the cinematic equivalent to eating cotton candy: once it is consumed you can easily forget about it and move on to something else.  That might play into why it has been so poorly received - the only parts that really stick out are the parts where it is bad, so that's what the viewer remembers.

The review is coming across as much more negative than I actually feel about the film (I'd rank it above the 2004 miniseries with room to spare), so I'll end with this: I doubt this movie becomes anyone's favorite, but I doubt it will top any Worst of the Year lists either.  A mediocre effort.

5 out of 10

Review: Poltergeist III (1988)

I've always found it a bit weird that Poltergeist 3 (again, I am not doing the Roman numerals outside of the review title, mostly out of laziness) is considered the worst of the trilogy.  One could consider its muted response was somewhat because of the death of star Heather O'Rourke, a tragedy that would make many avoid a movie where the young actress is in peril.  But even in the years since, this movie is often considered the worst - no critical reappraisal has ever really gone against the popular belief that it is the worst.

There are a few ways that it is a step down from the previous two.  Namely, the 'undead effects' and the non-return of JoBeth Williams, Craig T Nelson, and Oliver Robins.  Losing three-fourths of your main cast would hit any franchise hard, and while I think the director and crew do a good job getting around the reduced budget, the seams still show in several areas.

Set in Chicago instead of California, the film takes place in a high rise tower.  The change is setting helps keep the movie a bit more fresh in my opinion, and the decision to use mirrors as the primary method of scares is a good one.  Who hasn't caught a flash of something as they turned their head from a mirror?  How horrible would it be to turn back and see what you had barely missed before?  Other horror movies have explored this more fully, but as a basis for how the return Kane (Nathan Davis, though Julian Beck is given a special mention in the credits) affects the world around him, the many mirrors is a striking choice.

The movie also differs from the previous two in that is willing to kill characters - the first time in the franchise that has happened (we are not counting Gramma Jess's death from part 2, as it was not caused by the supernatural like in this movie).  It's not a large change, but it does re-add some stakes to the movie after the absence of them from the previous.

The performances from the new cast members are fairly strong, though Nancy Allen struggles with some late-in-the-movie dialogue that feels out of place.  But you have reliable actors like Tom Skerritt and Lara Flynn Boyle working the material well, and even O'Rourke - tasked with much more dialogue than in the previous films - does fine for a young actress.

I'd say it is scarier than 2 though, again, with lesser special effects and makeup.  I don't think either of the sequels would keep anyone up at night, but this one would surprise them a bit more during the viewing.  But if you only watch the first one, it isn't a crime to have missed either of the sequels.

6.5 out of 10

Review: Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

After my glowing review for the original film from yesterday, I feel a bit bad about following up on the sequel with a much more negative review - especially since (spoilers!) tomorrow's review of the third and final Poltergeist film will be more positive than this one.  What can you do, though?  Sometimes a great film is followed by a not-so-great sequel.  Especially in horror.

Poltergeist 2 (I am not using Roman numerals for the entirety of this review - I like the patience or the energy) follows the Freeling family as the try to recover from the events of the first Poltergeist.  The eldest daughter is no longer present or mentioned (for depressing real life reasons I will not go into), but the other four are living with Diane Freeling's mother (Geraldine Fitzgerald, giving this movie its best performance in what amounts to a cameo role).  They are in dire financial straights, as insurance refuses to pay for the loss of their house and Steve (Craig T. Nelson) is no longer selling real estate.

Neither director Tobe Hooper or producer Steven Spielberg return for this sequel, which almost certainly is what damned it to mediocrity.  Despite some well-done special effects (the Tequila Monster is easily best-in-show), most of the film feels cheap - looking older and less well done despite coming four years later and with almost double the budget.  The returning cast all tries their best, but the magic is gone.  Nelson gives a sweaty, effortful performance that only works occasionally, and despite large amounts of the expanded 'lore' of the movie focusing on Diane's side of the family, JoBeth Williams isn't given much outside a single scene involving a picture and the returning Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein).

New villain Henry Kane (Julian Beck), the reverend leader of a cult of people who also died in Cuesta Verde under the Freeling house, is well cast and menacing enough, but the final confrontation feels rushed and almost anticlimactic.  Other than the above mentioned monster, the final moments against Kane are probably some of the best visual effects of the movie.

Other than that though, the movie is mostly a retread of the original, to much less effect.  Other than Kane and Gramma Jess, the only other new character is Taylor (Will Sampson, tasked to play a variation of the Magical Indian trope) - and none of them have arcs within the movie, so much as they are human props to push the story forward.  Even then, almost nothing new is given to the Freeling family, and what little there is doesn't get enough attention to really merit mentioning.

The movie is watchable, at least.  Nothing great happens, but at the very least it moves at a good pace and keeps your interest.  But it's very much the one that I would skip when rewatching the trilogy.

5 out of 10... maybe 6 if I am feeling generous.

Review: Poltergeist (1982)

There's a lot that has been said about this movie over the years.  It's supposed curse, the debate over who the 'real' director is, and the general appreciation of the movie overall.  Zelda Rubinstein's performance is justly lauded (just think of how she entered the cultural zeitgeist despite approximately 15 minutes of screen time), and the movie is rightly considered a classic.  How do I approach a movie so thoroughly discussed?

I've decided to just talk about what I love about this movie, starting with what is - to me - the standout performance of the film from JoBeth Williams.

So much of the movie depends on her - you can trace the stakes of the movie by gauging her performance.  The mild concern that something isn't right after the first earthquake, the wonder at the initial interactions with the chairs and sliding across the floor, the sheer terror as one of her children is almost sucked into a tree - all of it comes across as very real.  You easily forget that you are watching an actor.

She continues to be the emotional through line of the movie after Carol Anne's disappearance - the worry and emotional fatigue is always a constant presence, even when receiving comfort from Dr. Lesh (Beatrice Straight).  Even once Carol Anne is rescued - though the danger isn't over yet - Williams allows you to see not just the joy of having her child back, but the lingering emotional trauma at almost having lost her.  While not a final girl - this movie, unlike its sequels, doesn't have any characters die - Diane Freeling should be listed among the great horror movie heroines alongside the likes of Laurie Strode and Sidney Prescott.

I also want to give mention to the special effects of this movie.  Like Razorback, the effects definitely show their age, but the are nonetheless effective.  Someone who hasn't seen the movie before would likely jump at certain points, and the Meat Scene in particular is still an unsettling moment within the film (and ultimately, why I come down on the Tobe Hooper side of the 'who actually directed the movie?' of that particular debate).

An underappreciated aspect of the movie that I only rarely see commented on is the production design and setting.  Subtly, the audience is given the layout of the house and where the safe/unsafe areas are in the early parts of the movie, and the suburban hell that surrounds their home - mostly demonstrated by a somewhat antagonistic neighbor - is the exact sort of banality that lulls you into thinking that nothing truly terrible could happen here.

At this point, I could start delving into the oft-discussed parts of the movie - the iconic clown prop, the tree that seems benign in daylight but becomes a monster in the shadows, etc - but I think I'll let this review end here.  Why discuss what is already widely known?

9 out of 10 - though I might give it a 9.5 depending on my mood.

Review: Razorback (1984)

This is a mean-spirited movie.

I don't say that lightly:  This movie kills with abandon.  Whether they are good or bad, all sorts of terrible things happen to the characters in this movie, and not just as a result of encountering the titular creature.  The movie is 91 minutes of unadulterated horror: no comedic moments to lighten the mood, it goes hard and has a singular focus.

Which isn't to say it's a bad movie.  I'd daresay it is a bit refreshing for a movie to have a genuine sense that anybody can die.  There's a menacing tone throughout that makes the movie feel relentless, and even when the movie isn't focused on imminent danger, it never feels as if it is far away - things could go bad to worse to worst at any given moment.

I want to give a special shout out to the animatronic for the murderous razorback.  While not realistic by today's standards, it still holds up incredibly well for a 40-year-old movie.  The cinematography is also top tier, and really adds to the atmosphere of the movie.

The movie does lose a little steam towards the end, though that is largely the result of the script moving from the openness of the Outback to a canning facility for the final confrontation.  Granted, the facility itself also has an abundance of atmosphere (it is very much the type of facility that could only exist in a movie, but that is not a strike against it), it just pales in comparison to what the viewer has experienced before.

What's surprising about this film is that it is director Russell Mulcahy's first feature film.  There's a part where the hero of the film (who I won't reveal, as the film does an excellent job of misleading as to who the eventual protagonist will be) wanders the Outback hallucinating from dehydration that manages to be exquisitely surreal while never feeling out of place or dropping the ever-present menace the film has cultivated to this point.

Would I recommend this movie?  Yes, but with a caveat: I don't think someone who is a casual movie watcher would enjoy this much.  Fans of horror would be more open to it, though if they don't care for creature features, this likely isn't the one to win them over.  It's a movie I feel I could show to 10 different people and get 10 largely different opinions.

That said, 8 out of 10.

2024 Movie List

The Movies:

Alien: Romulus

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Hit Man

In a Violent Nature

Late Night with the Devil

A Quiet Place: Day One

Salem's Lot

Twisters

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2

Review: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2

I did not know what to expect going into this one.  The original Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was a quickly-made, low budget film made to capitalize on the newly-public domain source material.  With such a mercenary approach, I went into it with low expectations.  The movie was not great, but I was entertained and the slightest bit charmed by it - it very much gave the vibe of similarly low budget slashers of the 80s, and didn't pretend to be more than it was.  I walked away happy from the film.

The second movie has a budget - a much larger one.  And with that larger budget came the grand ambition of the Poohniverse (no, really).  I was skeptical that the charm it managed in the original would bleed into the sequel, especially with a cinematic universe to be built.

Imagine my surprise when, again, the movie managed to win me over.  It won't make any all-time lists, but the acting is solid (including an appearance from a slumming Simon Callow), the new appearances for for Pooh and Piglet are solid and the additions of Tigger and Owl aren't terrible.  The kills are suitably gruesome and more varied than I expected.

The movie isn't without its faults - You get no sense of how the city is laid out (which, given a path-of-destruction plotline, seems necessary) and it is fairly obvious who the meatbags are among the cast.  While the first had a pair of subversive kills, this one doesn't manage any that are surprising.

The movie also goes out of its way to show some naked breasts which isn't unforgiveable unless you account for the fact that it has a shower scene with a man that doesn't give the gays/women in the audience anything.  At least be equal-opportunity with your gratuitous nudity, filmmakers.

Can I recommend this film?  Not really - it mostly knows who its audience will be and doesn't really try to do anything to pull in non-horror fans.  I'm not even sure most horror fans will enjoy it, even if it does manage a bit of throwback 80s vibe again.  Basically, if you think you will enjoy it, you probably will.  If you think it looks terrible, you probably won't like it.

5 out of 10

PS: The announced movies in the Poohniverse look especially stupid, but I'll be damned if I am not curious.  Might I be the rare blogger to cover them all?  That will require a rewatch and proper review for the first Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey if I decide to commit.  The question is: Should I?

About those Oscar nominations...

A quick and dirty breakdown of the categories and my thoughts (both on the nominees and the likely discussion stemming from the nominations).  This will mostly focus on the topline categories, though I will be offering thoughts on the others at the end.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

American Fiction

Barbie

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

The Zone of Interest

The big surprise here was Killers of the Flower Moon being left off.  Something was going to be knocked off in favor of Barbie (which was mostly nominated in Original Screenplay in precursors), I think most people just assumed that the lower-buzz American Fiction or foreign film The Zone of Interest were more likely to drop off.  I think Barbie is the frontrunner here, if only because Greta Gerwig (who cowrote the screenplay) can be recognized here after missing out in Best Director.

Best Original Screenplay:

Anatomy of a Fall

The Holdovers

Maestro

May December

Past Lives

The expected nominees appeared here, mostly because Barbie opened up a slot so everything could make it in.  This was the most likely place for Saltburn to appear, and its lack of a nomination was a harbinger of it missing out entirely on any nominations.

Best Supporting Actress:

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

America Ferrera, Barbie

Jodie Foster, Nyad

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

America Ferrera sneaks into the field for Barbie (pretty much convincing me that Margot Robbie was in the dread 6th slot for Actress) and I'm already seeing a bunch of hot takes that either erase her from the conversation to complain about Gerwig/Robbie not making it in, or complaining that she was the one nominated instead of Robbie despite the two being in different categories.  I'm just happy she made it in!  This is Randolph's to lose - it looked like Brooks might challenge her early in the precursor season, but as Brooks is the only nomination The Color Purple managed across all categories, it is safe to call this for Randolph.

As an aside, how refreshing is this category?  4 first-time nominees, and the one previous nominee (Jodie Foster) was last nominated 30 years ago.

Best Supporting Actor:

Sterling K Brown, American Fiction

Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey, Jr, Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

The expected five, though Charles Melton (May December) and Willem Dafoe (Poor Things) both had reason to hope for a nomination.  The former couldn't overcome the divisiveness of his movie and the latter lost out on Best in Show honors to his costar.  Downey, Jr is the favorite in this category, but I can see a case being made for Gosling to surprise, or even Ruffalo given the overall love for Poor Things.

Another positive for both Supporting categories is that they appear to have nominated actual supporting performances this year instead of sneaking in lead roles like in previous years.  I can't say for certain that they didn't since I haven't seen many of these movies, but any progress on that front is welcome.

Best Actress:

Annette Bening, Nyad

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall

Carey Mulligan, Maestro

Emma Stone, Poor Things

Okay, let's get the big snub out of the way: Margot Robbie for Barbie.  Now, I wasn't as surprised as some were by this for multiple reasons, with the main one being that getting a Lead nomination for a heavily-comedic role is hard.  Not just hard, but hard!  The last time an overtly comedic role was nominated was Eliot Page for Juno in 2008.  If anyone was going to fall off in this highly competitive year, it was likely her.  I'm not saying it is right, just that this is how the Academy has operated for years.  It vastly prefers dramas over comedies.

Some are attacking the Bening nomination as the one that kicked her out (I would say Mulligan is the more likely culprit there), and I don't want to wade too far into it, but attacking Bening for her nomination - for a movie that is very singularly focused on an older woman trying to swim 110 miles (from Florida to Cuba) - feels like the point of Barbie was somewhat missed.

Having said all that, Gladstone is the frontrunner here, with Stone right behind her.

Best Actor:

Bradley Cooper, Maestro

Colman Domingo, Rustin

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

DiCaprio is a snub for this category, given precursor support, but honestly, he's over-recognized at this point so I am okay with him missing.  Domingo becomes only the second actor after Ian McKellan to be openly LGBT+ and nominated for playing an LGBT+ role (Jodie Foster, with this year's nomination, is the first woman to achieve that feat).

Murphy feels like a foregone conclusion for the win, but who knows what might change between now and voting?

Best Director:

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

The other category that is Causing Discussion.  Unlike Robbie in Actress, however, Gerwig feels more egregious of a snub.  I don't think she was in contention for a win, but seeing her fall out - even in favor of another woman - is some bullshit.  I don't think this was misogyny, I think it was snobbery.  The thought of nominating a movie based off of Barbie just didn't sit right with enough of the director's branch that Gerwig was left off.

Nolan feels like a lock for the win, but they've made him wait for recognition before, so don't be surprised if Lanthimos or even Scorsese surprise.

Best Picture:

American Fiction

Anatomy of a Fall

Barbie

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

The Zone of Interest

This was the expected list.  Past Lives might've seemed shaky, and two foreign language films wasn't a guarantee, but no other films really received the precursor support to overcome divisiveness (Saltburn, May December) or biases (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) to knock out any of the above.  Oppenheimer is the likely winner, but the widespread love for Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon means they shouldn't be counted out just yet.

Random Thoughts on Other Categories:

Nice to see Godzilla Minus One get a Visual Effects nod - the first time any Godzilla movie has ever been recognized by the Academy

Mission Impossible getting nominated for Sound is also the first time that franchise has been recognized by the Academy.

Diane Warren continues to get Original Song nominations for movies no one has seen, with the latest being for the film Flamin' Hot

As far as random nominations go, El Conde for Cinematography feels like the most random, give or take Golda in Makeup/Hairstyling

France didn't submit Anatomy of a Fall for International Feature, which means we are denied a battle between it and The Zone of Interest for that particular award, which is a shame.

Review: Glass Onion

Of the various weird things that have occurred over the last 5 or so years (and man, have a lot of weird things happened), one of the more pleasant ones has been the resurgence of the traditional whodunnit feature.  Knives Out and Murder on the Orient Express heralded the start of this, and I am thankful for their success, particularly the former, since I enjoy the Benoit Blanc character immensely.

We follow Blanc in this sequel, Glass Onion, as he goes to a the private island of billionaire Elon Musk Miles Bron (Edward Norton) under mysterious circumstances (an invite was sent to him that didn't originate with Bron, although the other characters attribute it to him as the theme of the party is a murder mystery).  In the great Agatha Christie tradition, the guests are a motley (if rich) collection of characters: Governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), currently running for Senate; scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr - making a second whoddunit appearance after also appearing in Murder on the Orient Express) who works for Bron; former supermodel/current fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) with her much harried assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick); video game streamer and men's rights activist Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) and his assistant/girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline); and - most importantly - Bron's ex-business partner Andi Brand (Janelle Monae) who has kept herself separated from the group after Bron's legal maneuvering got her ousted as CEO of his company, Alpha.

All of these character owe a debt to Bron, save Brand: Bron is a major contributor to Gov. Debella's Senate campaign; he helped fund the start of Birdie Jay's clothing company; he helped Duke recover after being banned from Twitch for saying problematic things; Lionel actively works on Bron's biggest project: all of them have a reason to have stuck with Bron over the split with Brand, but all of them also have motives to want to be free of his influence and the potential pitfalls of being aligned with him.

This motley collection of (mostly) horrible characters isn't quite as great as the one in Knives Out - though it does continue Rian Johnson's tradition of the rich being fairly awful and awfully stupid from that first film - but you can tell that certain members of the cast, namely Hudson and Norton, are having a blast with their roles.  No one gives a bad performance, save maybe for Bautista in some parts: he doesn't come across quite as mean-spirited as the script calls for in certain scenes.

Really, that is a good summation of this movie compared to its predecessor: Good, but not as good.  It does play around with the structure of the story in such a way that makes rewatching it fairly rewarding, but several of the story beats are far too similar to the original.  The fact the Monae's character isn't immediately awful is a pretty good indication of who his sidekick is going to be this time around (and Monae does hold her own - on par with Ana de Armas' performance from the first film), and the recurring gag of Derol (Noah Segan) randomly popping up isn't nearly as funny or effective as Marta's puking-when-lying is in the original.

Still, the movie is a blast, with celebrity cameos that work well within the structure of the story, plus an absolutely fantastic ending involving a rather famous painting that went in a direction I never would have expected.  While I would've loved a standout performance akin to Jamie Lee Curtis or Toni Collette's in Knives Out, I can't be too hard on this movie's best-in-shows for not being quite on that level (For the record, that would be Janelle Monae and Edward Norton, with an honorable mention to Jessica Henwick).

A solid way to spend 2 hours.

8 out of 10