amonteirojr

Or Freaky, that take a premise from a classic 80's movie and adds a slasher spin to it, after Groundhog Day and Freaky Friday now it's time for Back to The Future, and it succeeds. Mostly.

Small town who lives in the shadow of a serial killer attack in the 80's, is terrorized by a new murder from a copycat, the victim is the heroine's mother. Fortunately for her, her genious nerd friend built a time machine! Even thought what follows is predictable, the script manages to keep things energetic and the scooby doo mystery intriguing, loved some visual nods to Halloween.

It may not affect most viewers but it bothered me that this story shares similarities to another movie called "Final Girls" which is a great underrated slasher comedy and it sucked a bit of the novelty to me but it still found it a lot of fun, since I grew up in the 80's I've got a kick out of the generational clashes but it got a little repetitive.

Not surprised with the negative user reviews, if you thought "Us" was weird be warned this is Peele's most authoral piece yet. As I let the film sink the more I'm loving it, just let yourself go with the narrative and striking images as you follow a couple of broke brothers trying to capture an UFO footage, but be prepared for a completely non conventional story with often strange and unpredictable twists, Peele shows incredible range as he tackles several different genres and often displays some very imaginative visuals. Just like "Us", it's meaning and themes are less obvious and will give food for many discussions but you don't need to understand all of it to enjoy it, I'm sure this is one of those movies I'll revisit for years.

Yeah, it wasn't what we expected but hell if I didn't had a great time with Halloween Kills!

The movie moves fast and has a lot of energy, I didn't expect the entire city to be involved and it was a refreshing thing to see in a slasher, well directed and staged scenes with dozens of extras losing control while Myers spreads fear and chaos in Haddonfield. And the body count is high as Michael rips them to shreds with generous amounts of blood.

Not everything works as well as most new characters aren't well done, introductions are rushed and they often make stupid decisions, the big fight between Laurie and Michael was left to the next movie and this, while fun, adds little to the actual story. A filler episode, yeah, but still a worthy sequel imo.

I watch tons of horror movies, it's my favorite genre so I'm hardly surprised, watched this expecting a typical possession/haunted house flick to pass time and it has all the cliches for the first half: You get the kid with creepy imaginary friend (Exorcist anyone?), weird presence in the house, kid draws a spooky figure!! I was a bit bored by it until it actually starts revealing what's all about, and it elevates what could be just another mediocre jumpscare filled haunted house. I'll talk about the final act in a spoiler-filled paragraph next, stop now if you want to have a better experience:

The film slowly starts to unveil some kind of family mystery around the whole 'imaginary friend' and the direction does a decent job to keep their cards hidden until the right moments, it shifts focus from the kid to his mother. We know the entity appeared when she was a child and managed to suppress it for years until it returns for her son, things get worse, their house burns down and her husband dies, in order to save her son she offers herself to the creature and isolates in the house with it, even.. sleeping with it? There's an element of her father who commited suicide as well, a subtle clue that this is actually a child abuse tale disguised as supernatural flick, the "monster" is a manifestation of her traumatic relationship with her father, and how her mental illness destroys her life, there's a priest that tries to help her but she ends up consumed by depression and takes her life, a bleak ending to a movie I wasn't expecting to get so dark. Z is in the same vein of Babadook and Relic, which uses monsters and horror tropes to talk about mental illnesses, only not as well crafted as those but still not a bad effort.

Not hating on the movie and I'm actually glad they moved away from the haunted house formula, injecting a bit of other genres like criminal investigation but even though it's well paced, there's less of those nail bitting moments i love from the series. The cast still deliver the goods and the story, despite having a few weak spots was still engaging, but with far less memorable moments compared to the previous chapters.

From the premise I expected more of a horror comedy, and although it has a delicious irony to it all (that casual satanic cult at the community center!), the movie packs some seriously creepy moments that were a nice surprise.

It's a creative and well realized movie made with a low budget, not overly complex but managed to keep me engaged with the protagonists despite their questionable attitudes, credit must be given to the charismatic elderly leads as well as the clever script that keeps you guessing at how far they'd go. And boy that ending escalates, the conclusion may feel a bit abrupt but the story of those characters is over, wouldn't mind a sequel thought, but it has to be as crazy as this one.

I see the marketing trying to sell this as some kind of possession movie, please stop.

Can't blame people for giving it low scores, A24 films are more geared to art house audiences than those seeking popcorn thrills and this is no different, an apt comparison for Saint Maud is Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' (which is often reffered as a horror movie btw) or another from A24, The Lighthouse, all of these are disturbing dives into the characters' minds.

Rose Glass is a name to remember, her directorial debut is already an impressive film with strong performances and total narrative control, we follow the story through the eyes of Maud, a religious nurse hired to take care of a former dancer with terminal cancer, it slowly escalates and despite having a few violent or disturbing scenes, it's more of a character study on faith, mental health, obsession and loneliness, a damn good one at that too.

I'm reading lots of complaints about lack of explanations which i find bewildering, the movie is an amazing atmospheric horror, and it works because it never shows a cliche character appearing half way to tell the audience what's going on like in 99% of what Hollywood puts out.

Director Bertino is in top form, not only does he push some great performances from the cast but also frames it beautifully, the entire movie is set on a small farm where a couple of brothers return to their sick father, however, their mother seems deeply disturbed. Won't say anything else but what follows is a slow build up to an intense series of days in which the brothers beliefs and sanity will be tested. Slow doesn't mean boring, all scenes are relevant to the story and to me, the climax was tense and very efficient.

At first I thought this would be a typical haunted house flick, but it avoids religious pandering and kept me glued to the chair, there are many truly creepy moments, strong recommend to any fans of the genre.

A restaurant robbery goes wrong in this unpredictable and violent thriller, if you're expecting a more crowd pleasing movie maybe this won't be the best recommendation since this is an often slow and uncomfortable experience (it has one of the most bizarre sex scenes I've seen in a while) but, if you're looking for something less conventional it may surprise. I like how it handles social commentary and the cast is strong, however, the script kinda stumbles at the last act with a rushed and full of holes conclusion that may annoy more than disturb. Still liked it, but with caveats.

There aren't enough people doing this kind of stuff anymore, you know, the kind of movies David Cronenberg used to do, low budget but well crafted, high concept and not afraid to disturb, then lo and behold, looks like his son took the torch and I couldn't be happier. Possessor has some great performances and nice visual choices, the body horror bits do not disappoint as well and I thought the narrative was engaging from start to finish, found no issues with the pacing whatsoever.

We need more creative works like this on horror-fantasy.

A punch in the guts describes 'I Saw the Devil' very well actually, Oldboy star Min-Sik Choi plays a serial killer that picks up a victim in a deserted road but he doesn't know she dates an agent that it's as dangerous as he is. Saying more is unnecesary, the movie starts slow as a typical police chase story and dives into madness as you follow it for over two hours of often stomach turning violence but engrossing narrative and another amazing performance from Choy,

Which is sad. It's rare to see this mix of horror and fantasy and I love the concept, but unfortunately the filmakers can't hide the movie's low budget long enough and the third act ends up falling apart, if the movie was more of a tongue in cheek satire maybe it could've worked better, but the tone was too serious for me to give it a pass.

Having someone document his own possession is a neat idea, unfortunately this movie just didn't quite work for me, I don't mind the low budget but the film uses too many cheap jumpscares and it takes way too long to get to the interesting part as well, there's also a tone problem in which you don't know if this is something to laugh at or to take it seriously and it ends up not being satisfying in any way.

Went knowing pretty much nothing and was surprised at how much fun I've had. I enjoyed Taylor's other energetic and crazy romp, "adrenaline" but i think this one actually smarter and the stylish and creative use os audio and editing striked me as better crafted. I'm not surprised it scored low, it's not for everyone but i can see it gathering a fanbase over the years, it offers zero explanations and it doesn't need to, it's satire, laughed my arse out at certain parts, Nicholas Cage seem to have found his place in this alternative horror flicks, like in "Mandy" his over the top antics feel right, and there's even some heart as well!.

The director is responsible for The Raid movies, an indie sensation that are well worth checking out, Apostle is his attempt at supernatural horror but even with certain strenghts the result is pretty all over the place. I've found the atmosphere and build up lacking despite the competent set design and overall performances from the cast, the script is probably to blame since it's plagued by deus ex machinas that weakened the story which can be engaging in a visceral way, had no problems with it's lenght, I think the pacing was ok despite the forementioned issues, the movie explodes in violence during the final act so the weak of stomach better be warned. Also, the ending is pretty ambiguous, leaving a lot for the audience to fill in but I kinda prefer my supernatural movies to remain mysterious. Conclusion: breaking it down in parts you can find what to like about Apostle' but the sum of it left me unsatisfyed.

No I didn't have problems with the film's lack of an explanation, actually I prefer my movies when they leave something for me to think about and I dismiss any criticism related to that as a fault of the filmmaker when it's a fault of the person watching it. Back to the film itself, I think this was a seriously cool atmospheric little movie, echoes of Lynch and Carpenter are obvious in the music and narrative, I though the first half is more sucessful in setting the tones and pulling you in it's secrets, but Sam simply looked too indestructible in the later half of it and that kind of deflated the tension built up to that point and it bothered me a little. I don't want to dive into spoilers here, I have my own interpretation of what happened and I'm satisfyed with it, think about it as you watch it and find your own conclusions since that is also part of the fun in a film like this.

It's easy to dismiss RPO the movie, it's a lighthearted and predictable adventure aimed for families with a sprinkle of oddities and hard sci fi concepts here and there but never going very deep. But that's ok because the movie does not aim for high art but for pure entertainment, and it delivers.

It's funny all those book fans giving crap to the movie but forgetting completely that was Ernest Cline himself that adapted his story to the screen! And I'm glad they changed it because as a movie a faithful translation of the book would be terrible, there is still a lot of telling and explaining to the audience, which is often a bit annoying but thankfully not very long, the many pop culture references are still here but organically used both as a world building tool or as plot devices that blend with the narrative and not become more important than the movie itself and only for that alone I must say this is a sucessful adaptation even if not a perfect package. And If you are invested in the universe you can still read the book and fill the gaps the movie left, they compliment each other.

The characters are very much archetypes, but still charming enough to invest in their journey, there's a certain naiveness that makes Ready Player One feel like an 80's movie made with today's technologies and sensibilities, i was surprised that Spielberg, at the age of 71, could still speak to a modern audience like this although the good old men still comes out with a slightly patronizing but valid message "kids, don't waste too much time in the virtual world" because as older people (I'm 45) we know that this is some time we'll never get back.

Even if the movie isn't faithful to the book, Garland cements his talent as a writer director with this follow up to the excellent debut that was EX Machina.

Narrative goes back and forth while we follow Lena's journey to uncover the mystery of the Shimmer, a strange phenomenon that is engulfing an isolated region after her husband returns from it, barely alive. The flashbacks slowly uncover what happened and who are these characters, with excellent acting from all parts and well edited pacing that keeps the audience engaged and respects your intelligence by not explaining what doesn't need to.

It's a film in the same vein of Under the Skin or The Arrival, I welcome these new trend of sci fi which is interested in both visuals and substance. Sometimes it brought back memories of late 70's and 80's weird sci fi, complete with some body horror elements. I wish this does well enough that Netflix gets Garland to film the other two books in the trilogy.

Looking at the 1 star reviews exemplifies why this movie is important. This is far, FAR from the worst Marvel movie even if it's not the best as well, but it's definitely alongside the better ones because of how great the villain is and how effective and well realized Wakanda is as a scenario, and how rare is to see a fantasy version of Africa which makes the overall story stand out among other superhero flicks.

Those that complain about the politics are stupid since it's an integral element of the characters. That said, only if you have some prejudice this aspect would trigger you since in it's heart this is still an action blockbuster focused in entertainment and it delivers, cast has a ton a charm and the film is fluid and fun, the emotional bits are poignant without dragging and the comedy is used with precision.

The worse about the movie is that it is a bit predictable and some visual fx look honestly below the standards of the MCU, but hardly something that would completely ruin my enjoyment. Wakanda Forever!

The sequel suffers a bit from the first movie's success and lacks a bit of restrain, script is a bit too reliant on the audiences' capacity for suspension of disbelief and some of it's moral discussions (the war on drugs is a theme) end up feeling tacked or simply not as effective, still, this one keeps the brisk pace and vertiginous fight sequences with a level of technical wizardry that is dazzling, the characters are still charming and I found myself laughing out loud of the absurdity, you are supposed to not take it seriously you know? Still, some of the raunchy jokes of the first were not everyone's cup of tea and this one has even more of those so, be warned.

I think this short story is a masterpiece, smart, provocative, very well acted and directed, and wonderfully shot by freaking Roger Deakins, it reminded me of the best body horror from Cronenberg, it was successful enough to get a stand alone full lenght version but, even with the same people involved, felt bloated and unnecessary but maybe it's because I was spoiled by this one.

The other stories aren't bad, Miike's ghost story is competent but was disappointing because he was so restrained, Park Chan's segment is more interesting and wild but also a bit of a disappointment, despite my criticisms overall this is one of my favorite horror anthologies, it's only that I hold these directors in such a high standard that I always expect more.

I've quit on Shyamalan's movies years ago and never looked back, a friend whose tastes I respect insisted and I gave this a chance. Glad I did.

M Night still has the skill for creating chilling sequences that rely only on his actors and clever framing, there's stuff here on par with his best work, even a twist, his scripts however are the weakest link and this is no exception, there's a certain scene where one character does something so stupid and unnecessary that nearly ruined the film's climax.

Also, this is found footage, a sub genre that is love it or hate it for some people, the kids document everything and the film is made from pieces of this footage, they are constantly breaking the fourth wall speaking to the camera and holding it in their hands. The film looks professional enough though, nothing too blurred and shaky so if you get motion sickened easily there's a hope this won't make you puke.

If you're like me and lost interest in M Night's stuff but loves horror, give this one a chance.

I can see why this is getting so much hate, it's definitely a tad vulgar and will offend the most sensitive, but hell i'd be lying if i don't say i laughed quite consistently.

The tale of a new york couple that struggles with money and failure and finds themselves in a small hippie commune it's simple but heartfelt, Paul and Jennifer are quite good in this and move from serious to awkward with ease, being in my late 30's i could relate with their dilemma since i'm living through a similar f****d up system and the desire to leave everything behind.

It's a comedy for adults so i didn't mind the more uncomfortable bits, there's a lot of nudity (sorry, no Paul or Jen, only ugly folks), I can't recommend it without reservations but I've had a good time.