It’s spooky season, Halloween is close, and I’ve been watching more B-Movies! It’s the genre that truly keeps on giving, with plenty of schlock to go around.
For this first installment of Adventures in B-Movies 2021, I watched films with a lotta drillin,’ resulting in a lotta killin.’
Continue reading “Halloween Adventures in B-Movie Horror 2021, Part 1”
Lightning struck in 2018, with that year’s “Halloween” feature, as it was a return to form for the long-running franchise.
Unfortunately, it appears to have been just a lightning in a bottle scenario.
The movie picks up just minutes after the end of the 2018 picture. Despite the efforts of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her family, the killer Michael Myers survived the trap set for him and is back on the loose.
As Myers emerges from the fire started in the first picture, reports of his actions begin spreading throughout the town. Many of those who learn of Michael’s actions had run ins with the killer when he first attacked in 1978. Intending to bring an end to Myers, they decide to take the law into their own hands, causing even more chaos in the city of Haddonfield.
Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Halloween Kills’ crushes momentum from 2018 installment”
“Malignant” may not be the scariest movie of the year, or of the past few years, but what it leads up to certainly makes it a memorable horror experience.
The flick follows the story of Madison (Annabelle Walis), a woman with an unclear past who lives in Seattle with her Husband. It’s clear from the get-go that their marriage is strained and the film opens with them having a fight.
That night, Madison’s husband is murdered and she has a vision of it happening. From that day on, more murders begin taking place and each time Madison has horrible visions of it taking place. As this happens, Madison begins to dig more into her past to see what the connection is.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Maniacal third act makes ‘Malignant’ worth watching”
There are some movies where the execution of an ending can be so integral that it can make or break the feature.
That’s the case with “The Night House,” and not in a good way.
Rebecca Hall plays Beth in this thriller, a high school teacher who recently lost her husband to suicide. Beth is trying to move on from the tragedy, but she continues to reside at the home her husband, Owen (Evan Jonigkeit), built on the lake, which leaves her with constant reminders.
Those reminders begin to manifest as visions for Beth, who begins to see frightening things related to her late husband in the midnight hours. Because of what she sees in the night, she begins looking into whether her husband had a secret life or not.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Poor ending negates potential of ‘Night House’”
Sometimes, modern horror sequels to older properties can be massive disappointments, such as 2013’s “Texas Chainsaw.”
Fortunately, that’s not the case with the new “Candyman,” penned by Jordan Peele.
This film serves as a sequel to the original “Candyman” from 1992. This time around, the protagonist is Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an artist living in Chicago with his girlfriend Brianna (Teyonah Parris). Finding himself in artist block territory lately, McCoy decides to visit a northern Chicago housing project for inspiration.
While there, he meets a local named William (Colman Domingo), who tells McCoy the legend of the Candyman spirit. The legend ends up being a spark for McCoy who begins making art based on Candyman. However, his spark of creativity ends up reigniting the old Candyman spirit itself.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Compelling and creepy ‘Candyman’ is a success”
Films inspired by a true story often take artistic liberties, which is perfectly fine. They better be well executed, though.
In this case, “Stillwater” was inspired by the story of Amanda Knox, an American woman falsely convicted on the charge of murdering a fellow exchange student in Italy. Abigail Breslin portrays Allison in “Stillwater,” an American woman in France who’s been in prison for four years.
Allison was convicted of murdering her roommate and classmate from a French university, although she maintains her innocence. Also convinced of her innocence is her dad, Bill (Matt Damon). The movie picks up with Bill visiting Allison in jail. During his stay, he learns there might be more evidence to prove her innocence and decides to stay, in case a development happens.
Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Stillwater’ stalls due to poor narrative choices”
The title “Gunpowder Milkshake” makes sense, because like the cold drink, it’s an enjoyable summer treat.
Karen Gillan stars as Sam in “Milkshake,” a young woman who works as an assassin for a mysterious agency known only as The Firm. The agency is helmed by a man named Nathan (Paul Giamatti), who sends Sam out on her assignments.
While her latest mission seems straightforward, though, it turns out to be anything but. Caught in a conflict between two violent faction related to Sam’s assignment is a young girl named Emily (Chloe Coleman). Sam decides to get involved and protect Emily, but it only complicates things as hitmen are sent after her. In response, she looks to get help from her past.
Continue reading “REVIEW: While flawed, ‘Gunpowder Milkshake’ gives audiences a fun experience”
M. Night Shyamalan is back with another thriller, this time based on a graphic novel.
“Old” is Shyamalan’s adaptation of the novel “Sandcastle.” The film follows several people who’re together on a private beach owned by a resort on a tropical island.
While the cast is large, the movie mainly centers on one family, consisting of Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal), his wife Prisca (Vicky Krieps), and their children Trent (Alex Wolff) and Maddox (Thomasin McKenzie). At first, it seems to be a relaxing getaway, but things turn south fast. After a series of events, the group learns that the area they’re at makes people age at an accelerated rate.
Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Old’ is a middling Shyamalan offering”
This sequel may feature “champions,” but the film itself isn’t a winner.
The movie takes place not long after the first picture, with survivors of the past escape room game Ben (Logan Miller) and Zoey (Taylor Russell) seeking to take down the group responsible for the torture set-ups. Their mission brings them to New York City, where they end up being lured into another escape room set-up.
There, they meet with others who’ve made it through the escape rooms, Brianna (Indya Moore), Nathan (Thomas Cocquerel), Rachel (Holland Roden) and Theo (Carlito Olivero). Having made it out before, the players are more familiar with how the game works, but it doesn’t make it any easier with the rooms continuing to have deadly components.
Director S.K. Dale makes his feature film debut with “Till Death,” and it’s a great first effort.
Megan Fox stars as Emma in “Till Death,” a woman whose marriage to her husband Mark (Eoin Macken) has been deteriorating. On their anniversary, though, it seems like Mark wants to patch things up. Unfortunately, the morning after, it turns out not to be the case.
Mark handcuffs himself to Emma and because of skeletons in his closet, shoots himself. It turns out this is the first part of a larger revenge plot against Emma for an affair. Now, Emma must survive against two hired men trying to get Mark’s fortune, one of whom she knows from an incident in her past.
Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Till Death’ delivers with superb suspense”
Matthew Liedke on Film 