Tag: Thriller

Goosebumps review

Director:
Rob Letterman
Cast:
Jack Black
Dylan Minnette
Odeya Rush
Ryan Lee
Amy Ryan
Jillian Bell
Rated: PG

“Goosebumps” is a film inspired by the childrens’ books written by R.L. Stine. The film is, in a way, in the same vein as “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare,” since R.L. Stine (Black) is actually a character who has to face his own creations.

The movie follows Zach (Minnette), a teen moving to a new city because of his mother getting a new job. As he gets settled into his new home, he meets Hannah (Rush), a teen living next door whom he befriends. He comes to find out, though, that her father actually is Stine. Stine right away comes off as frightening and things go from bad to worse when it’s discovered that his novels can come to life when they open.

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The Visit review

Director:
M. Night Shyamalan
Cast:
Olivia DeJonge
Ex Oxenbould
Deanna Dunagan
Peter McRobbie
Kathryn Hahn
Rated: PG-13

In “The Visit,” a pair of siblings named Becca (DeJonge) and Tyler (Oxenbould) are sent by their mother (Hahn) to visit their grandparents they’ve never met. While doing so, Becca decides to film the visit to create a documentary. Upon meeting the two grandparents, played by Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie, the brother and sister find them to be nice and welcoming.

This begins to change, though, when the grandparents begin exhibiting odd behavior and eventually start acting somewhat threatening.

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Insidious 3 review

Director:
Leigh Whannell
Cast:
Dermot Mulroney
Stefanie Scott
Lin Shaye
Leigh Whannell
Angus Sampson
Rated: PG-13

The third installment of the “Insidious” franchise serves as a prequel rather than a sequel in the franchise’s timeline. The film follows a girl named Quinn (Scott) who is being haunted by an evil spirit.

As the haunting gets more severe Quinn and her family seek the help of Elise (Shaye), a spirit and demon expert who may be able to assist. The only problem is Elise is dealing with problems of her own.

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Poltergeist review

Director:
Gil Kenan
Cast:
Sam Rockwell
Rosemarie DeWitt
Kennedi Clements
Kyle Catlett
Jared Harris
Rated: PG-13

The 2015 remake of the 1982 film “Poltergeist,” doesn’t stray too far from its original roots. Like the first film, “Poltergeist” follows a family with a father, Eric (Rockwell), a mother, Amy (DeWitt) and a couple of kids. The family is under a financial strain, however, they do move into a new house hoping that their fortunes will change.

Long story short, they don’t. After getting settled in their new home, the family starts coming across strange occurrences, each growing more frightening than the last. It’s made worse when the parents learn that their house was actually constructed on a burial ground.

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Ex Machina review

Director:
Alex Garland
Cast:
Domhnall Gleeson
Oscar Isaac
Alicia Vikander
Rated: R

Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb in “Ex Machina,” a sci-fi film directed by Alex Garland. Caleb works for a company that is more or less the equivalent to Google in our world. The film opens with Caleb being invited to spend a week at the home of the tech company’s founder and owner.

Upon arrival, Caleb learns that the CEO Nathan (Isaac) lives in a subterranean type home and his residence is actually used for research and development.

Currently, Nathan is trying to create an artificial intelligence system and asks Caleb to test the A.I.

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It Follows review

Director
Andy Fickman
Cast:
Kevin James
Raini Rodriguez
David Henrie
Neal McDonough
Rated: R

An unstoppable evil entity is the antagonist in “It Follows,” a movie that is a throwback to the horror movies of the late 70s/early 80s. The film is about Jay (Monroe), a woman dating a man named Hugh (Weary). After the two have sex, Hugh informs Jay that he has actually passed on the evil spirit that had been following him.

Now the entity, which can take on the appearance of anybody, is following Jay and she has to discover how she can stay one step ahead.

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Unfriended review

Director
Levan Gabriadze
Cast:
Heather Sossaman
Matthew Bohrer
Courtney Halverson
Shelley Hennig
Moses Jacob Storm
Will Peltz
Renee Olstead
Rated: R

A group of high school friends decide to hang out on a Skype chat in “Unfriended,” a movie that completely takes place on a computer screen. It seems like a fairly average night for the group until an unidentified person joins their Skype chat.

The group soon begins to believe that the unidentified person is actually their friend who committed suicide after a series of extreme cyber bullying.

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Run All Night review

Director:
Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast:
Liam Neeson
Ed Harris
Joel Kinnaman
Boyd Holbrook
Rated: R

“Run All Night” follows former mob hit man Jimmy (Neeson) who doesn’t exactly have the best luck in life. Jimmy is an alcoholic, poor and is estranged from his own son. The only person in the world who even gives him the time of day is his former boss and friend Shawn (Harris).

Problems increase for Jimmy, though when Shawn’s son gets involved in some bad crime and ends up killing another drug dealer. Jimmy’s son Mike ends up seeing the killing while on duty as a limo driver. This sets in motion a plot where Mike is on the run from Shawn’s cronies and needs the help of his father if he has any hopes of surviving.

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Nightcrawler review

Director:
Dan Gilroy
Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Bill Paxton
Riz Ahmed
Rene Russo
Rated: R

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Louis in “Nightcrawler,” a man who lives in a small apartment in Los Angeles and appears to just drift through life, staying up all night and working in whatever jobs he can get. One night while looking for a way to make some money, he comes across a horrific accident and sees a van full of photographers go to the scene and shoot video.

The event gives him the idea to try this himself and sell his videos to a news station. There are moments very early on, though, that show that Louis isn’t just an ambitious young man, he is a mentally unstable person and will stop at nothing for a good video to make the morning news.

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Gone Girl review

Director:
David Fincher
Cast:
Ben Affleck
Rosemund Pike
Neil Patrick Harris
Tyler Perry
Carrie Coon
Kim Dickens
Rated: R

Ben Affleck plays Nick Dunne, a man who lives in the suburbs of St. Louis and is for the most part seems happy in his marriage to his wife Amy (Pike). After coming home from a visit to the bar he owns, though, he finds broken furniture and his wife missing.

Nick immediately calls law enforcement and officers and detectives, including lead investigator Rhonda Boney (Dickens), stop by the house to see what evidence they can find. The only problem, though, is that as a short time passes, both law enforcement and the media start seeing Nick as a potential suspect. And that is just the first of many twists.

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