Movies
Simple but perfectly executed horror/comedy that illustrates you shouldn't mess with brides on their wedding day. The comedy is fun and effective, the horror is tense and graphic. It's definitely not the most extreme film you'll ever see, but it's definitely on the more entertaining horror flicks in recent years.
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett trying to revisit their Ready or Not success. Abigail is a good enough attempt, but it doesn't hold a candle to their first film. For that, the promotion material was too spoiler-ridden, while the film itself feels a little too repetitive, and the overall quality is lacking in places. A group of criminals is sent out to kidnap a young girl. They need to hold her overnight so her wealthy father has time to come up with a big lump sum. The first part of the job is easy enough, but they have no idea who they're actually kidnapping. And as it turns out, the girl isn't quite as innocent as she looks. It's weird that the promo material of the film spoils a lot, whereas the first third is still trying to be mysterious about the plot. The performances are a little iffy too, luckily the setting is pretty cool, the cinematography is on point and there are some fun, gory moments to keep things interesting. Definitely not a bad film, but the potential was there to be even better.Read all
Part 6 in the long-running Scream franchise. I've seen them all, but I've forgotten all about the previous parts by the time a new episode is released. Not ideal for a self-referential film series, but I'm not very keen on self-referential things in any case. So for me, these are just regular slasher flicks (with more elaborate twists). Ghostface is back in town, Samantha, her sister, and a couple of their friends gear up to survive yet another attack on their lives. This time the police and FBI are there from the start to help them out, but since it's Halloween Ghostface masks pop up all over town, making it hard to feel safe even in public. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are starting to feel at home in the series. It's a shame Weaving didn't get a better/bigger part, but the rest of the cast is solid, the set pieces are fun and the build-up of the tension is pretty good (the scene in the metro is lovely). Two hours is a bit long and the twists aren't great, but this is probably the most fun I've had with a Scream film so far.Read all
Southbound
The latest Scream is just more Scream. Being the fifth in the franchise, it's becoming easier and easier for the films to be self-referential, though the writers make sure there are plenty of nods to other horror franchises and directors. Many are a bit too obvious, then again it's probably good to remember a lot of younger people might not even pick up on them. After a little hiatus, the ghost face killer returns to Woodsboro, and he starts killing people right away. This time, he focuses on victims who are in some way linked to the main characters of the first film. Enter the requel/legacyquel, a new kind of franchise continuation that has its own set of rules. It's a solid entry in the series, with plenty of internal and external references, jokes for horror fans and some meta-commentary on the horror scene itself. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are a little wasted as their directorial style is swallowed by the strict format, but they do the Scream franchise justice. I prefer more visceral horror cinema, but this was decent fun nonetheless.Read all
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