-------------------------------------------------------------------
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).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Paranormal
Activity: Next of Kin OK/G
Part 7 of this franchise, but really only an in-name sequel,
available on Paramount+. I can say I’m a
fan of this franchise as simple as it may be.
Part 4 was the only one I wasn’t too crazy about; I gave it an EH/OK
rating according to my archives.
Apparently this is the first film in the series I’m writing a review
for; the others I just rated since I didn’t start this blog yet (the first
three I was still doing star ratings and I gave the first one 3 ½ out of 4
stars, 3 out of 4 to the second one, and 3 ½ out of 4 to the third; part 5-The Marked Ones-I gave a G/VG rating,
and part 6-The Ghost Dimension-I gave
a G rating). As is apparent, I liked the
first and third one the best. As of this
writing, this entry only received 28% out of 40 critics on Rotten
Tomatoes. It is not that bad, not at
all, considering there isn’t much to expect from a Paranormal Activity movie, and the fact there’s countless
paranormal entertainment out there. It
has the same eerie setup as the other ones with that pervading sense of dread
knowing anything can happen at any time, usually closer to the end, with the
build-up generally always being better (nighttime scenes in homes, especially empty
hallways or staircases, are always going to be effective). This time the events occur at an Amish
community in which a girl returns to in order to learn about her real family,
and, as anyone that’s seen movies can deduce, and given the franchise it’s in,
something is clearly not right about this community. Granted, there are clichés (i.e. cheap jump
scares and, seriously, a car still doesn’t start until it’s convenient?!), but
how can there not be in a film made in 2021, and, again, with all the other
paranormal shit out there? The film does
end on a dark note, like all the others in a way, and I think, for the most
part, it’s a fairly worthy addition to the franchise (as far as seventh entries
go and being unrelated to the others).
It was better than part 4, that’s for sure, and better than the
director’s (William Eubank) previous film, Underwater. 11/26/2021
Bonus review:
Autumn Road OK
Horror drama I had a love-hate relationship with. Its very indie quality is what gives it its
charm. This looks like a real small town
with very real people. Let’s see, it
includes a haunted attraction, twin brothers that run the attraction after their
father passed, a girl returning to this small town, and it takes place around
the Halloween season (during more than one time period). Plus there’s a pretty nifty owl mask (not
quite like the one in Stage Fright
though) worn by one of the twin brothers, who is obviously psycho. Sounds like the ingredients for a decent
film, no? The ingredients are really all
it entails, because this film doesn’t really involve much when you truly think
about it. Oh, that girl returning home
had a sister that went missing years ago on Halloween, but we as an audience
see what happened to her in the beginning.
The haunted attraction scenes we did get glimpses of seemed pretty
spiffy, but I wish more time was spent on it.
Like I said, there is somewhat of an appeal to this indie horror drama,
while, at the same time, it’s really not that great of a film. Time may tell if it ages better, but for an
indie horror drama done well, check out Lightning
Bug, an example that comes to mind first.
11/24/2021
Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
The Amusement Park >>>EH
Bloodthirsty >>>EH
The Boy Behind the
Door >>>OK
(Shudder)
The Columnist >>>EH
(In Dutch with
subtitles)
Horror Noire (2021) >>>EH
(Shudder)
A House on the Bayou >>>OK
(Epix)
Prisoners of the Ghostland >>>B
The Strings (2020) >>>EH
Tailgate >>>EH/OK
(In Dutch with
subtitles)
---Sean O.
11/28/2021
No comments:
Post a Comment