I Like Moobies: October 2020

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Halloween Party

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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated 1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going to review every single movie I see. I’m going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses under the ‘About Me’ section).

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Halloween Party EH/OK

I wanted something new and Halloween-related to watch around this time of year, so I chose this. Stop me if you’ve heard something similar before---A message randomly appears on screen with your name and asks what your fear is; it has to be a real fear, not made up, and your real fear will kill you if you don’t answer within the time limit. Sounds like a very run-of-the-mill film you’ve seen at least once (likely more) before, no? It does start that way at first before becoming somewhat of a police procedural wherein two college students are the “police” after learning the film’s title has more than one meaning. I was kind of hoping for a film involving more of a literal Halloween party. The film does look great, I grew quite fond of the main characters, and it does attempt to go for scares towards the end, but it ultimately ends up being just another run-of-the-mill horror film. I suggest you look elsewhere to get in the Halloween spirit. 10/25/2020

Bonus reviews:

The Witching Season OK/G

Anthology series consisting of five episodes totaling roughly 82-minutes (the longest being 31 minutes, the shortest being 9) currently available on Tubi. They all take place around Halloween and while it may be low-budget, it is shot professionally; I’m a fan of the intro too. The first segment, “Killer on the Loose,” is a slasher short containing a twist that didn’t feel too original, but I didn’t expect it here. Also, the original Night of the Living Dead is playing like it always seems to in movies, particularly horror (I should seriously start making a list of films that play the George A. Romero classic). “Princess” involves a stuffed bunny that isn’t as innocuous as it appears. While they did a decent job with camera angles and whatnot, and kudos to keeping it practical, the puppetry could’ve been done better. And it isn’t quite over by the end, making me wish this episode could’ve been expanded upon. The shortest segment, “Not Alone,” is also the weakest, being rather predictable, involving aliens (I assume). I didn’t hate it though and it is only 9-minutes. The longest one, “They Live Inside Us,” was the best and could definitely work as a feature film (ironically it was just made into one which is how I found out about this series after seeing it advertised), it being an anthology series of sorts alone, involving a writer devising scripts with different horror movie monsters in a house wherein a murder/suicide allegedly occurred. I am curious as to how they fleshed it out into a 103-minute film. Lastly, there’s “Is That You?” which contains a dark nursery rhyme in the beginning that eventually comes true for an unfortunate mother and daughter on Halloween night. It definitely could’ve benefitted from being longer, as they all could’ve (one, it already happened for, as I mentioned), at least as longer episodes, not necessarily feature-length films. These creators clearly have ambition and could definitely make something worthy with just a little bit more funding. I’m giving this a slight recommendation being it won’t take up too much of your time as a whole, and that it’s perfect viewing during this (witching) season. 10/24/2020

Cadaver OK

(haiku review)

Norwegian. Netflix.

It overstays its welcome.

Felt derivative. 10/25/2020

The Vanished (2020) OK

(haiku review)

Young girl disappears.

Full of clichés. Not bad though.

Predictable twist. 10/27/2020

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein >>>OK

The Amityville Harvest >>>B/EH

Extremity >>>OK

---Sean O.

10/28/2020

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Tremors: Shrieker Island

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Tremors: Shrieker Island OK/G

Tremors 7. Here is what I wrote about the first film in my review of the previous entry, A Cold Day in Hell---[I’m a huge fan of Tremors and it holds a special place in my heart for being one of the first horror movies I recall watching.]---and you can read my brief opinions of the rest of the series as well as the entire review in the archives---www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com. This time, the action takes place on a jungle island in Thailand and it is explained how the creatures ended up there. Only the Graboids (the original worm-like creatures that burrow underground) and Shriekers (the two-legged creatures spawned from the Graboids first appearing in Aftershocks, and hence part of the title) appear here and they appear to be a combination of both practical and CGI effects, more so the CGI, but look close enough to the real thing (meaning the original practical creatures) to avoid being a complete letdown. Did we really need another Tremors movie though? Probably not, but if movies keep being made and are part of a franchise, you can’t not keep watching them (at least I can’t). These were my last words in my review for the preceding entry---[…someone make me like this franchise again!]---and while I can absolutely say I didn’t dislike this entry, I can at least say it was better than the last two, which were also directed by the same guy behind this one (Don Michael Paul). It also ends rather poignantly, although I have a feeling that poignancy might be rendered null if an 8^th entry is made. Who knows? They already made seven films and a TV series! 10/23/2020

Bonus reviews:

Never Hike in the Snow OK

(haiku review)

Friday the 13^th.

Half hour fan film. YouTube.

Bloody, but too short. 10/18/2020

[Check out my review of its predecessor, Never Hike Alone, in the archives---www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com, which I thought was better and was a bit longer].

The Owners OK

(haiku review)

Bloody but felt stale.

Home invasion gone awry.

End not surprising. 10/23/2020

Every Time I Die OK

(haiku review)

Confusing at first.

Somewhat intriguing throughout.

Sappy, flat ending. 10/23/2020

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

All Hallows’ Eve (2016) >>>EH/OK

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010) >>>OK

The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw >>>OK/G

Ghost Patrol (2016) >>>OK

Liar, Liar, Vampire >>>OK

Rebecca (2020) >>>OK/G

(Netflix)

Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School >>>EH

Scooby-Doo! And the Legend of the Vampire >>>OK

Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire >>>EH/OK

Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf >>>B

---Sean O.

10/24/2020

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

The Haunting of Bly Manor

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The Haunting of Bly Manor (Season One) G

This new Netflix series loosely based on the novel, The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James (which I haven’t read) is 9 episodes with the longest being 65 minutes and the shortest being 45. I did see the filmed adaptation, The Innocents, but barely remember anything, and the other recent adaptation, The Turning, is one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year. This series bears no real connection to The Haunting of Hill House series also released on Netflix two years ago, other than Mike Flanagan’s name being attached (he created this and wrote/directed the first episode) and a few familiar faces returning as different characters. It seems there are plans of making this an anthology series much like American Horror Story wherein a story will be loosely adapted into a Haunting series with some of the same performers returning each season. Reading beforehand that this wasn’t connected to Hill House was the sole reason I even bothered with it. I didn’t dislike Hill House, but I wasn’t too much a fan of the horror juxtaposing with the drama, the drama seeming to take center stage more often, and felt it ended much too sappily (you can read my review for it in the archives---www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com). I did like this series better and part of it could be that I went in expecting more of a gothic romance (which I read on the website provided below) instead of a straight-up horror show. It does contain a romance, more than one, and the series is definitely gothic. It is also a ghost story and gothic ghost stories don’t need to be scary to be effective, as proven here. It isn’t always the most fast-paced, as many gothic ghost stories aren’t, but I was enamored enough from start to finish to want to continue. It does get a bit weird halfway through, but in the sense it spices things up a bit (kind of reminding me of a season from that aforementioned anthology series), and everything is explained as best as it can be by the end. The ending this time is more depressing, but effectively as opposed to how sappily (or at least too positively) it could’ve ended. 10/13/2020

***Here’s a website you should check out before watching, even though you don’t necessarily have to: https://screenrant.com/netflix-haunting-bly-manor-trivia/ ***

Bonus review:

Tales from the Hood 3 OK

[Tales from the Hood is one of my favorite anthology films. It is nearly perfect. Not only were all the segments, including the wraparound, intriguing, but the entire film contained an underlying sense of dread.]

That was the beginning of my review for Tales from the Hood 2 which you can read in its entirety in the archives---www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com. I also said this---[The same director returns along with a sidekick that was the writer of the first, plus Spike Lee returns as executive producer.]---and the same applies for this threequel. I also said this---[All in all, it certainly wasn’t the worst anthology film I’ve seen, but it is still a sequel after all to a much greater predecessor.]---which also applies and that’s the last I’m going to crib from that review. The wraparound segment here involves Tony Todd (the original Candyman for those unaware) taking a little girl into an abandoned building to see her mother; the little girl tells four stories (the segments) while they make their way through said building. The first one, the weakest one, is a typical “revenge from beyond the grave” tale that includes an evil clown I wish was utilized more. The second one involves an irritating white racist that is so stereotypically over-the-top racist, bordering on parodical, making me anticipate his inevitable demise; it does end with quite a clever, albeit loopy, reveal though. The third one reminded me of a film from 2005 (I obviously won’t reveal) after it ended and it did take me by surprise considering I thought the segment was initially going down a completely different route. The last one began kind of goofy and involves a villain being cursed to “walk in his victim’s shoes,” but the phrase takes on quite a different meaning than you’d think. The wraparound segment contains a comeuppance that’s not uncommon for a horror anthology segment with a cute (I guess you can say) nod to the first film. As I implied, this collection wasn’t great, most segments contained reveals better than what came before, but you could do worse when it comes to horror anthology films. I, personally, would just tell you to watch the first film, again or for the first time. 10/10/2020

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

The Bay of Silence >>>EH

Save Yourselves! >>>OK

The Silencing >>>OK

Solo (2013) >>>EH

---Sean O.

10/14/2020

Friday, October 9, 2020

Vampires vs. the Bronx

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Vampires vs. the Bronx OK/G

New Netflix film in which the title is pretty self-explanatory. There are vampires and it does take place in the Bronx (New York). It follows three kids trying to save their neighborhood (I’m not sure of their exact age, but I’ll say early teens), one black and two Latin (for those concerned with diversity, but are you really surprised given the location?); in fact, the only white people are the evil vampires intent on taking over the city disguised as real estate agents (hmm…social commentary?). The film is clichéd and predictable, one character typically knowing everything about vampires and they end up being completely vulnerable to traditional defenses (garlic, wooden stakes, holy water, crucifixes, etc.), but it is still kind of fun (although I doubt it’ll become a classic), and being that it’s rated PG-13 (I only noticed a few cuss words and the violence is largely implied), those that are actually the same age as the protagonists (or even younger) can actually watch this while identifying with them and/or looking up to them. Older audience members that are fans of bloodsucker cinema can enjoy it too, of course. Plus, the vampires have a more traditionally frightening look as opposed to a sparkly benign one! 10/5/2020

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

American Murder: The Family Next Door >>>G

(Netflix)

The Binding >>>B

(Netflix; In Italian with subtitles)

Hubie Halloween >>>EH/OK

(Netflix)

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders >>>OK

---Sean O.

10/9/2020

Monday, October 5, 2020

Ratched: Season One

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Ratched: Season One G

I have a confession to make: I didn’t see One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest until like five years ago and I’m amazed I hadn’t seen it before that considering how often it’s referenced in pop culture and that it’s considered a “classic.” There’re probably many movies I haven’t seen though that would amaze myself as well as others for not having done so. Anyway, the head nurse from that film, and probably the book of the same name by Ken Kesey (which I haven’t read, but might one day), gets her own Netflix series here and you absolutely do not need to watch that film (if you haven’t already) before watching this series; I re-watched it beforehand just in case there were references and there are none that I recall; other than the eponymous nurse, there really is no connection between the two mediums. This 8-episode series, ranging from 46 to 62-minutes each, does take place in the Forties in California, whereas the film takes place in the Sixties in Oregon (released in 1975), so being this is a prequel (made over 40 years later, no less), there really didn’t need to be any correlation. Being that Ryan Murphy’s name was attached (he “developed” this, was one of many executive producers, and directed the first two episodes), there was definitely an American Horror Story vibe, there being at least two recognizable faces from that series, one being Sarah Paulson as the titular nurse, the other being Finn Wittrock. This isn’t a horror series per se though, more of the psychological thriller variety, but like that aforementioned series, it is dark and bloody at times and there are several “colorful” characters we get to meet before eventually learning most aren’t who they initially appeared to be. I can’t deny how interested I was in this series I was initially reluctant to invest in, enough to want to continue without feeling forced; the characters and presentation certainly aided. A second season is planned (according to Wikipedia), and it makes sense considering this season didn’t exactly conclude, and I’ll just hope for the best (or at least acceptable) in letting the creators make another effective 8-episode season that doesn’t overstay its welcome. 10/3/2020

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Aloha, Scooby-Doo! >>>G

First Cow >>>OK

Skateboard Nation >>>G

---Sean O.

10/5/2020