Categories: Movie and Series Reviews, Horror

Midsommar (2019) 2.5/5

Categories 2.5/5, Drama, Horror, Movie and Series Reviews, Mystery, Thriller

There are elements of greatness to Midsommar that are undeniable but I treat each review with how I valued the movie and not necessarily the merits I can objectively see. The production is incredible and the design is used in interesting ways that emphasis all of the effort that was put into pulling it all together. However, and I know I am regretfully kicking at someone a lot of people loved and I wanted to love, I just didn’t think Midsommar was a great movie and I found it often to be superficial.

I normally connect to the oddities that come out of A24 a bit more, but I just couldn’t do that here. The characters all ended up feeling apart from the scenarios they were in, and not in an artistic way but in a nonsensical way that felt like the script was in the room with us most scenes. The situations were all just too much fantasy and the characters universally reacted with words and emotions that did not make sense unless we accept that they have to make sense for the goals of the story.

I have no doubt that the director, Ari Aster, is extremely talented. I still need to watch his other work, Hereditary has especially been on my list for some time. I am hoping to see an equal amount of strength in the story as I found in the atmosphere here. For someone like me, who often feels most at home with movies that take place in a single place, I felt my patience was going to be rewarded with Midsommar rather than wanting the time back that I spent.

I am glad people enjoy the movie more than me. I feel like they should. There is a treatment to grief that I feel it is good to consider. Ultimately it feels like a modern take on the slasher movies of old, with very patient shots and the destination taking priority.

True Detective: Season 4 (2024) 2.5/5

Categories 2.5/5, Crime, Drama, Horror, Movie and Series Reviews, Mystery, Thriller

Season 4 of True Detective benefits a lot from its cast, with everyone involved turning in great performances. Kali Reis and Jodie Fosters, the leads this go around, give nuance to their characters that make them compelling to watch. Reis has to play it a bit more straight while Foster gets to come across more as an antihero, and it is legitimately fun to watch. Reis does get an interesting romantic relationship though that flips what we are used to seeing and that was exciting.

Not all of the supporting cast can say they get as much to do. Christopher Eccleston is a presence that is around until he suddenly isn’t, and Fiona Shaw is mysterious and underdeveloped for the role that she plays. Again though, nobody does poorly with what they get.

The first episode sets high expectations and is truly unsettling. Unfortunately it did not pay off, and the final episodes explanation just made me wonder if these were really True Detectives if so much went unnoticed. What is worse is the use of horror-like elements sometimes come across cheap. An orange can be a powerful way to connect ideas together and imply something going on with a persons mind, but what are we to think of random spirits behind our characters that they never see? There is no story there, unless the implication is that the audience is hallucinating or going through something spiritual.

Benefiting the show is its cold atmosphere, set in the remote town of Ennis, Alaska. The sets are great and become a bit of characters themselves. Visually, the show should be commended. It really sells this cold setting and the cast leans into it.

Jodie Foster’s character asks people around her to ask the right questions, but you aren’t rewarded for doing that here as the audience. Why was there a need for secrecy in these two peoples relationship? There wasn’t. Why did that guy sit up in his bed and say what he said? Spooky vibes. And on and on. The show wants to be really smart, but it does not stand up to even the most basic questions.

By the end of it all, I felt a bit cheated. It never reaches Lost levels of not paying off, but it doesn’t slouch either and its final explanation and whimsical sendoff did not feel good. This is a story that promises a lot and delivers very little. If you can survive on vibes alone though, they are there and they are good. I’m not really mad, just feeling a bit let down. For a show that started so strong, and felt like it had something to say, it could have gone with a much stronger writer to make it all feel connected. I may never know who wrote, or had the time to write, “we are all dead,” but I certainly died a bit from the lack of cohesion.

Alien Romulus (2024) 3.5/5

Categories 3.5/5, Horror, Movie and Series Reviews, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Alien Romulus is ahead of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth films purely by not being upsetting. There is probably reason to be upset for some, in fact I am sure of it, but not for me.

The cast are doing well with what they are given, even if some side characters feel purely like stand-ins setup to die and little else. Everyone has the benefit though of not being asked to say or do stupid things compared to prior films in the series.

There is a scene I would strongly like to change. I’ll stay vague, but it uses a piece of dialogue that is famous from the third film and it should have just stuck to using half of the line to feel more honest to the new character. As well, there are two instances of face-to-face with an alien that lasts some seconds too long. The film could do with some more immediacy to the dangers within it.

My final hope is that the Weyland Corporation is shown a little differently next time. Aliens (Alien 2) showed the Corporation as unpleasant as ever, but I did not have the sense that they could casually double workloads. The mustache twirling takes away from the tangible evil of the corporation, done better even in the franchises lesser films.

All that having been said, I like Rain and Andy. I actually am open to seeing more of these two if that is the direction it goes. Andy is inherently interesting and Rain is flawed and could become more compelling. More importantly, both actors were enjoyable to watch. I may even be tempted to get the Rain skin in Dead by Daylight at some point, if only though because Ripley does not look like Ripley.

Overall, I feel this is the most honest Alien sequel since the first two. Is it perfect? Definitely not. Is it even amazing? Not really. However, it didn’t offend me in any glaring ways and that is the most that I can say about an Alien movie in a long time.

The Deep House (2021) 1.5/5

Categories 1.5/5, Horror, Movie and Series Reviews, Thriller

It is actually very shallow. After watching the flick, a quick search showed that the leads are as follows: someone who primarily identifies as a model and Jagger’s son. She does a serviceable job. He does something else. I really needed to know why he seemed so out of place, and that explains it enough for me.

What is worse, is the wastefulness of the setting. The movie initially holds some promise. How exciting is it to do a haunted house film underwater? That is a great idea! So why then is the whole house experience cliche after cliche! It is absurd because the setting actually works and the film stands a little taller despite what may have been a smaller budget, and yet it inflicts self-wound after self-wound while trying its best to sap out any originality that held promise.

Also, why are the only two characters for the majority of the movie constantly calling out to each other by name? Even underwater, wired directly to one another, they constantly speak to each other in this weird way. You would think that they had just met, not that they were partners.

I’m mostly just frustrated after watching The Deep House. A great idea does not make a film alone, and the execution here just is not it. Not the direction, not the script, and the cast is tied down. The movie is haunted.

Apocalypse Z (2024) 3/5

Categories 3/5, Horror, Movie and Series Reviews, Thriller

Apocalypse Z, with its slower patient beginnings, makes you think it may offer unique insights. Those never come though and everything the movie does is completely predictable to even the most undiscerning of eyes. However, as a dumb zombie flick there is still something here. A lot of tired repeats of the genre are avoided and those that are there are fleeting, so it is not an offensive outing in a well worn path.

On the audio side, I feel the need to speak out against the use of pig sounds for zombies as it completely ruins any enjoyment of those moments. Visually it is up and down, with most sights being solid and others feeling like old Syfy channel flicks made on pocket change. The cast is great though, from little old ladies to our lead.

If the movie were a bit more clever and less by-the-numbers then maybe it would be more than middle of the road. However, I have read that this is a part 1 of a series, so perhaps we will get to see a bit more ambition in a sequel. I certainly have enough good will to watch another.

Oddity (2024) 4/5

Categories 4/5, Horror, Movie and Series Reviews, Thriller

Oddity is excellent at building tension and has perhaps one of the creepiest scenes I have seen in a movie. However, I can’t help but feel it would have benefited from telegraphing itself a little less. That being said, I think the story is strengthened by its patient telling through a carefully constructed atmosphere that chills.

I am also pleased by the handling of jumps and visual horror. I am not to keen on being startled but I felt like each was led into rather than cheaply surprised. I also find a lot of visual violence hard to appreciate, and so I enjoyed that only the aftermath is ever shown.

Ultimately, I am in a bit of a spot on how to rank this movie. I want to say Oddity is a flawless movie, but I find myself longing a bit more for the cards to be held a bit closer to the chest and for characterizations to be little less on the nose.

You will benefit a lot from skipping the trailer or synopses for this one, I know I did.

Alien Resurrection (1997) 2/5

Categories 2/5, Action, Horror, Movie and Series Reviews, Sci-Fi

Whedon does not get a pass for this. I had to search for this, he commented that the movies script was mostly intact but the direction was bad. Then he commented the casting was bad later. Everything was bad except his script.

Don’t get me wrong, the direction is extra bad and there are bits where you could see the writers intent vs what we got, but its bad. A tone correction to pronouncing fork would not have fixed this mess. I don’t think this would have been a Serenity, and I don’t think jokes about Walmart show any appreciation for the setting. Whedon is not one to take blame though, clearly.

It is amazing how many recognizable faces are in this and yet how squandered it all is. Whedon complained about typcasting but I think actors who know how to play a type is a small issue in the grand scheme. Winona Ryder is the only one who seems to struggle a bit, with any other issues being down to directors interpretation of scenes. That direction will definitely be noticeable though, as at the time the director did not speak english and I believe this is why jokes are often said loudly or seriously.

There are just far too many nonsense things that happen and make no sense. Also, basketball. In general though, it feels as though Whedon didn’t really get what came before. Established things are not taken seriously, like if a face-hugger gets on you all the way then you probably aren’t getting it off.

Being brave with a series isn’t the worst. A franchise like Scream has suffered from beating the same drum over and over again in my opinion. I think the idea of injecting more humor, as the script seemed to want to do, isn’t necessarily wrong. The first movie was horror, then action, then whatever the third was (worse action?), and this could have been a blend or some such. It needs to respect the foundations though, and it struggles to find any footing.