Monday, April 22, 2024

Late Night with the Devil/You'll Never Find Me

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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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Late Night with the Devil                                            OK
The new horror movie lauded by many so far, Stephen King and Kevin Smith included, Smith labeling it ‘Rosemary’s Baby meets Network.’  Well, Stephen King (as much as I love the man) recommends a lot of things I don’t agree with (not that I disliked the TV movie remake of The Shining, but he preferred that to the original Kubrick version), and, no Mr. Smith, this is nothing like Rosemary’s Baby just because the Dark Lord is involved (said Roman Polanski film probably being one of the best Satanic flicks out there; yes, I like it better than The Exorcist and The Omen).  This is yet another one of those overhyped films, because my expectations weren’t quite matched when all was said and done.  Did I dislike it?  No.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t engaged for a good deal of the time, but part of me thinks that might’ve been due to anticipating what would eventually transpire.  It takes place on a talk show in the Seventies on Halloween night (that right there is a plus given I adore entertainment from that decade as well as the holiday), presented as if it’s an actual episode airing live (in addition to what goes on during commercial breaks).  The guests include someone that speaks with the dead, a skeptic, and a young girl that was the sole survivor of a tragedy involving a Satanic cult.  You don’t need Horror Movies 101 to tell you something will eventually go down (and do you really think the skeptic won’t be proven wrong by the end?).  Typical possession flick tropes ensue (an exorcism, a sudden inexplicable death, etc.) before the finale, which wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t exactly grand either.  I read of a possible, but unconfirmed, sequel which I might be okay with considering there’s likely more to the story here; it could make this seem better as a companion piece.  4/20/2024

You’ll Never Find Me                                                  G
Australian horror film taking place in one primary location with just two primary characters.  The setting is a trailer in a trailer park on a stormy night, which is a great setup that gives the film an eerie aura.  A middle-aged man lives in this trailer alone.  One night, late too, a younger girl knocks on his door asking to be let in from the storm after running from a nearby beach.  He reluctantly lets her in.  He can’t drive her anywhere and has no phone, but there is a pay phone on the other side of the trailer park behind a locked fence.  But, you know, the storm outside is dangerous.  The girl can leave whenever she wants, the man even telling her she doesn’t have to stay, but something always prevents her from doing so (the menacing storm just one excuse).  Who is the one that needs to be cautious you’ll wonder.  Movies 101 (as well as history) tell us the girl most likely, but there have been Hard Candy instances too, so either one of them could be in danger.  The revelations aren’t completely shocking, but it does get a bit bizarre once they hit; there shouldn’t be too many different interpretations though (before you choose to look up spoilers afterwards).  I think they managed well in making this work with just one location and two characters (that’s not to say you might not get impatient at all during its roughly 100-minutes though).  I liked this one.  I see potential cult status.  4/20/2024

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

The Creeps (2023)  >>>EH

History of Evil  >>>G

Lord of Misrule  >>>EH/OK

Megalomaniac  >>>EH
   (In French with subtitles)

Migration (2023)  >>>OK/G

Mute Witness  >>>OK/G

The Stranger (2024)  >>>OK

Summoning Sylvia  >>>OK

---Sean O.
4/22/2024

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