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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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The Cellar G
Irish film available on Shudder starring Elisha Cuthbert as
a married woman with two kids that just bought a new home. Her teenage daughter goes missing after
walking into (drum roll…) the cellar after a power outage. There are theories she comes across
suggesting an otherworldly presence, eventually learning it is something quite
evil. The title sounds as generic as
they come (I came across at least three movies with the same title in a
search), and the beginning may appear to hint an indistinctive haunted house
flick is coming, but this actually ends up being better than I thought. It does not disappoint. At least I didn’t think so (I really am my
own critic since it currently holds a 31% rating out of 62 critics on Rotten
Tomatoes). Sure, it does contain
familiar tropes (it’s not perfect), but it’s definitely a worthy atmospheric
gothic horror film. [You know that
feeling when you ascend basement steps by yourself, especially at night, and
there’s that subconscious notion someone or something might be following you and/or
grab you? I think this film does a swell
job of evoking that sense of dread at times].
It doesn’t exactly end positively either, concluding adequately enough without
suggesting a sequel. 11/9/2022
Pearl OK
Prequel to X
taking place in 1918, a time when the First World War was coming to an end and
a pandemic occurred much like ours. Mia
Goth returns as the younger titular character living on a farm (the same farm,
yes) with her parents, her father sick and needing care. She dreams of dancing in motion pictures, but
her mother says it’s a silly dream (you know the drill). I was disappointed with X (you can read my review for it here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2022/05/x.html),
and while this is a bit different (as I knew beforehand), it really isn’t in
terms of themes, just looks (I liked this one a bit better). It starts off as a psychological thriller,
more of a character study, before becoming a slasher film. Its Technicolor aspect reminded me of The Wizard of Oz and apparently other
critics thought so too (there’s also a scarecrow here and Pearl riding her bike
into town reminded me of The Wicked Witch of the West, and Dorothy too, for
that matter). It does effectively show
how one can become unhinged due to isolation and feeling stuck, and I was sort
of impressed with the majority of kills, but I really didn’t think this was anything
special (much like its predecessor/“sequel”); it’s often predictable too. I like these two films as ideas and Ti West
(who directed both) definitely earned his stature as a horror filmmaker, and
perhaps I will appreciate them more over time as I would really like too (I
will watch the planned sequel for X
as well), but first impressions tell me that neither one was too
extraordinary. 11/10/2022
Bonus review:
Malibu Crush OK/G
I would never have heard of this indie comedy had
director/writer/producer/star James Pratt not reach out to me asking to watch
and review it. I do feel somewhat
honored when asked even though I am always upfront in saying I’ll be honest in
my review. I know filmmakers and critics
aren’t meant to be friends, but I respect all filmmakers regardless of their
finished products since I know the painstaking process of putting something on
celluloid. Like I always say though, and
what a professor once told me, content is the ultimate key. Well Mr. Pratt, for a film you informed me
was shot on a $0 budget with a $1200 camera, I’m gonna have to say, not
bad! James stars as an actor in
California who travels to Australia with his roommate/best buddy posing as
filmmakers to meet up with an old flame he allegedly had a son with. Things naturally go wrong once they arrive,
these two not being the brightest of the bunch, but their idiocy is often funny
as opposed to irritating or unfunny.
There are funny moments, some laugh-out-loud, others internal (it was
rather funny what happens when they finally meet up with this old flame). Now, I’m picky as all hell when it comes to
comedies, especially if they’re not dark comedies, indie comedies, or are
intended to make you laugh. There have
been comedies that didn’t necessarily make me laugh, but were fun to watch and
that works (I don’t always have the biggest sense of humor to begin with). This was fun enough and barely reaches the
72-minute mark, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome. I will say I liked this better than many
Hollywood comedies featuring famous faces.
Thank you, James Pratt, for making a film I didn’t hate. Oh, but one other thing---I came up with the
word ‘pumpkinfucker’ years ago, way before that stupid Deadpool 2 movie as well, and can have several people attest to
that, and I can prove it by pulling
up posts in my social media history; so, sorry buddy, that is not your word! 11/10/2022
Other movies and TV show(s) I’ve seen and their ratings (see above):
A Friend of the
Family >>>OK
(Peacock; 9
episodes)
Mystery Spot >>>B/EH
Resurrection (2022) >>>B
---Sean O.11/13/2022
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