Tag: horror

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The Blair Witch Project 1999

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

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Recently, someone posted a topic on Reddit titled “What is everybody’s opinion on “The Blair Witch Project”? Is it a modern-day horror classic? Is it overrated? Is it in between? How does it hold up today?”  While I did see the movie in a theater when it was first released, I can’t remember watching it since.  Given the twenty-five year time lapse, I didn’t trust that my memory of the movie would be accurate and I declined chiming in.  However, reading the comments did bring back memories of the considerable buzz the movie had in summer of 1999.

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Heretic Hugh Grant

Heretic

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This will sound odd, but if I were in charge of The Church of Latter Day Saints, I would promote the heck out of Heretic.  Why?  Because it’s a story that depicts Mormons as being a grade above the nerds of organized religion they’re typically made out to be.  After the thorough skewering the religion received at the hands of The Book of Mormon, any positive depiction of it should be welcomed by church elders with open arms.

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Cobweb

Cobweb

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I enjoy horror movie cliches.  I wouldn’t be able to watch as many horror movies as I do if I didn’t.  For example, most horror movies have at least one scene where a door emits an agonizing squeak while opening slowly.  Just like the light that stops working at the worst possible moment, the creaky door moment is a staple of horror movies.  These cliches and horror movies go together like hands and gloves, bacon and eggs or Michael Myers and Halloween.  Even though I can sense when a creaky door is about to make an appearance, I always appreciate when a movie does them correctly.  The problem I had with Cobweb isn’t that it has at least a half-dozen creaky door scenes, but that none of them had any effect on me.  Even worse is that I had the same reaction to every other scary element in this movie:  none.

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Smile 2

Smile 2

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Smile 2, a sequel to the surprise box office hit from 2022, isn’t content with offering up a rehash of what worked before.  Instead, it takes the original’s core concept and takes it to the next level.  Or perhaps ten levels.  The scares are louder and more gruesome.  There are actual set-pieces.  The actress in the leading role is more than just an exceptional scream queen–she sings, dances and plays the piano.  The soundtrack throbs ominously in the background until it delivers a deafening wallop.  The camerawork is frequently off-kilter, reflecting the protagonist’s topsy-turvy world.  As a piece of filmmaking, Smile 2 is certainly more impressive than the original.

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Ghost Story 1981

Ghost Story (1981)

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If Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, how bad would it be if that woman was a ghost?  According to Ghost Story, that would be very bad indeed for those responsible for her scorn.  In the movie, the ghost is Alma (Alice Krige), and she’s been giving a group of old men nightmares for years.  These men, who collectively go by the name of the Chowder Society, meet once a month to tell each other ghost stories.  The group includes Ricky (Fred Astaire), John (Melvyn Douglas), Edward (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and Sears (John Houseman).  How Alma and the Chowder Society are connected is the central mystery of the story, and I don’t want to give that away up front.  It involves an ill-fated summer romance when all parties were much younger, which led to an accident that became an unspeakable tragedy.  Despite their best efforts to put what happened behind them, the past has not stayed in the past.

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The Substance

The Substance

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The Substance is a grim fairy tale, a horrific bedtime story with one goal in mind: to show men what it’s like to be a woman and live in fear of the day when they become undesirable.  For Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), she’s confident that she hasn’t reached her “best by” date yet and tapes her daily aerobics show as normal.  Unfortunately, her incredibly chauvinistic television executive Harvey (Dennis Quaid) decides that Elizabeth is too old and angrily tells a colleague that it’s time to replace her with someone younger.  Elizabeth accidentally overhears Harvey’s side of the conversation, and knows that they won’t be discussing new opportunities during their lunchtime meeting.  Sure enough, Harvey glibly fires Elizabeth while she sits transfixed by the sight of him devouring a bowl of shrimp.  When it comes to men like Harvey, women are the same as food: something to be consumed and tossed away.

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Speak No Evil 2024

Speak No Evil (2024)

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There’s something not quite right with the Daltons.  That’s painfully evident from the outset, when they choose to wallow in their own misery despite being in a beautiful part of Italy.  They don’t hide their misery, either, wearing it like an irritating jacket wherever they go.  Ben Dalton  (Scoot McNairy) is morose, while Louise Dalton (Mackenzie Davis) is edgy and controlling.  The two are so clenched around each other I imagined they squeak while walking.  Unsurprisingly, the two have unresolved issues between them that will play a consequential role in what transpires. 

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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

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As I grow older, I sometimes wonder what the afterlife is like.  Will it follow the Catholic doctrine I was raised in, and be a celestial wonderland where everyone sings hymns and floats along on wings?  While that certainly sounds nice, I suspect I would get bored with it after a millennia or two.  Or maybe the afterlife will be like what Tim Burton envisioned in Beetlejuice, a world where the dead alternate between haunting the living and traveling to a janky bureaucracy.  Call me crazy, but the latter sounds like more fun.

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Blink Twice

Blink Twice

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One theory about crime that I’ve latched onto is how criminal activity is driven by the need to feel in control.  Generally speaking, criminals want to control the things they lack.  For example, a wealthy person controls money.  When a person of limited means steals it, they obtain control over the other person’s money.  (I’m grossly oversimplifying “Control Balance theory”, by the way.  Search on it if you’d like to know more.)  Similarly, a person can effectively control another person through a variety of criminal behaviors, principle among them being physical assault and murder.  The latter examples came to mind while I watched Blink Twice, where the desire to control another person, both mentally and physically, explains what we see, if only superficially.

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Trap (2024)

Trap

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Serial killers are a fortunate bunch.  While the job does require a commitment to planning, attention to detail and a level of perseverance that few can muster, it’s also heavily dependent upon luck.  Take The Butcher, the serial killer at the center of Trap, who somehow manages his homicidal enterprise in addition to being a devoted family man and a firefighter.  His dedication to all facets of his life is nothing short of admirable.  For starters, The Butcher’s daily schedule must be a logistical nightmare.  He must ping-pong between his home, putting out fires and attending to victims–residing at any one of his covert murder houses–without getting caught.  The Butcher may be good, but nobody’s that good.  Luck is always present to give serial killers a little helpful nudge when they’re so close to being caught.  In Trap, The Butcher is so darn lucky that he must be living the Life of Riley.

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