Category: Horror/Thriller

6.1

I found myself asking “but why?” quite a lot in this hour and a half. Leave it to me to try and find the deeper meaning here. Shocker – this was my first time watching this one front to back. I now understand the cult following.

In the vein of “Hostel” and “Terrifer,” this movie cranks the gore up to 11, and doesn’t let up until you’ve either lost your lunch or have left the theater. For the brave that forge on until the credits roll… congratulations? We can now never speak of this again, unless it’s to use it as the bar by which we measure the “WTF” factor of future features. Not since “Cannibal Holocaust” have I been more concerned with trying to find some sort of purpose to cling to and not since “Terrifier 2” have I been less inclined to enjoy a snack during a feature presentation.

7.3

… And you thought farts were the worst thing that could be trapped in a jar.

This film really nailed a pervasive feeling of dread through beautiful cinematography and clever setups from start to finish, minus the finale. It went full “Mother” and showed the monster too much in the final battle and kind of took me out of it. Until then, it had me hooked and on the edge of my seat as we followed Sam on her journey into possession. A possession that may have followed the typical tenets of the genre, but did so in a way that felt surprisingly fresh. I found myself genuinely invested in the characters and having a much more visceral reaction to the scares than I expected. The contrast in music was so expertly curated, and really helped take the actions on the screen to another level when paired with the breathtaking sound design.

Side note – since the wannabe boyfriend is dead (spoiler alert), can I snag his gorgeous red Mach 1? Please, movie?!?!

6.8

This one’s complicated. I had low expectations that the movie hurdled with ease early on. There are some incredibly well crafted scares and sequences here. However, it falls into the traps we’ve come to expect from the “Conjuring” universe and ended up being okay for the most part. We’re tipping the scale into the “ok now, you’re diluting the brand now” territory. Which I hate to admit, because this universe has been some of the best studio horror of the past decade.

6.7

Far better than I expected, but a bit of an enigma. For a Stephen King adaptation, it has a great ending. However, far too much of this story was missing for me. There’s a lack of connection to the characters that cheapens the experience. This bummed me out the further we got into the runtime because the film is so well crafted! The tension building and scares are top tier. But there’s nothing it’s built upon, which leaves it feeling somewhat hollow. All in all, surprisingly good that could have been great.