Sunday, April 18, 2021

Jakob's Wife/Honeydew

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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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Jakob’s Wife                                                                G
A vampire movie with some (ahem) bite!  Well, at least the vamps look old-school and there is violence, yes indeed!  Barbara Crampton, no stranger to horror (Re-Animator, Chopping Mall, Puppet Master, You’re Next, The Lords of Salem, We Are Still Here, to name a few), plays the eponymous character to a minister played by Larry Fessenden, no stranger to the genre himself (Google him for a list of works he’s acted in, wrote, and directed).  There are underlying themes about the confines of marriage and how the patriarchy plays into traditional unions, and it’s fine to have messages in movies, but that’s all usually subsidiary to me.  I only care if I enjoy the movie or not.  I wouldn’t lump this in with my favorite films in the subgenre (The Lost Boys, Near Dark, the original Fright Night, etc.), but I grew up with those movies so of course they’re always going to be incomparable in my mind, and it’s always too early to assign new movies cult status, but I think I can add it to the list of worthy bloodsucker movies.  4/17/2021

Honeydew                                                                   OK/G
A couple is driving in a rural area, they camp out on private property (as they’re eventually told), their car conveniently doesn’t work, so off they walk until they come across a house with a seemingly welcoming old lady.  If you’ve seen movies, horror specifically, I’m sure you can guess their peaceful stay eventually won’t end up being so peaceful.  The film was shot in Massachusetts, but I’m not sure if it actually took place there; I don’t recall any indication of where it took place, but I would’ve never guessed New England; I would’ve guessed a southern or Midwestern state (I guess I shouldn’t go by what the media portrays).  I can see comparisons made to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre the most, and there’s a touch of David Lynch, although it’s not too surreal, but it’s definitely twisted as these movies tend to be.  It may feel clichéd, and there’s no denying it is at times (what really isn’t these days though?), but it does manage to play around with some of its conventions and I was generally curious as to how everything would all pan out, making this one of the better “people stumble onto the wrong property in a rural area” films that try imitating the aforementioned legendary Tobe Hooper feature.  4/17/2021

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

Cat People (1982)  >>>EH/OK

Leap of Faith:  William Friedkin on The Exorcist  >>>EH

Shook  >>>OK
   (Shudder)

32 Malasana Street  >>>EH
   (Shudder; In Spanish with subtitles)

---Sean O.
4/18/2021

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