Fairly dull sequel to the 2019's decent animated hit. In this outing, the Addams' go on a cross country vacation after finding out Wednesday may have been switched at birth and thus not an Addams. Charlize Theron and Chloe Grace Moretz continue to do decent vocal impressions of everything that made Anjelica Huston and Christina Ricci's performances huge successes. Oscar Isaac, however, really seems to nail his own variation of Gomez, suggesting that a new live action version might not be such a bad idea. (Yes, I agree with the suggestion of Eva Green for Morticia.) I think the most amusing bit involves their RV's massive interiors, as most of the gags illicit more groans than anything. GRADE: C
(John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper, 1993)
A made for TV anthology that originally aired on Showtime, I'm guessing this was that network's attempt at its own Tales From the Crypt. (After researching this, I was right. It was supposed to be a series but was never picked up.) Carpenter directs the first two stories, one involves a woman being stalked at her new job as a gas station night attendant. The second is about a man who gets more than he bargained for when he gets hair regrowth surgery. The third story, directed by Hooper, is about a ball player whose vision is impacted after an auto accident. He gets a new eye from a recently deceased donor and begins having murderous visions. The first story is easily the best and yields some decent suspense. The second and third seem to follow that "Be careful what you wish for!" lesson that many Crypt stories did. The stories are introduced by a morgue worker (Carpenter himself) who makes a bunch of death puns exactly like the Cryptkeeper. With Mark Hamill, Stacy Keach, and slew of cameos by some famous horror directors and genre faves. GRADE: C+
(Prano Bailey-Bond, 2021)
This hit quite a few of my own obsessions: Video stores! Video Nasties! 80's horror! Screening rooms! A young woman who works as a censor for the British Board of Film Classification during the Video Nasties era becomes obsessed with a potential link between a series of real life murders, her own sister's disappearance, and a film producer's violent productions. A very promising start from newcomer Bailey-Bond, and a great showcase for actress Niamh Algar. (She was nominated for a BAFTA last year for the film Calm With Horses, which I really need to see.) I think it loses a bit of steam towards the end, though I loved the subtle switch in aspect ratio. I sometimes am not a big fan of films where people lose the line between reality and fantasy, but felt this was exactly how to do it right. GRADE: B+
(Rodo Sayagues, 2021)
Kinda awful sequel to 2016's superior thriller in which the blind man (Stephen Lang) must fend off a new band of intruders with the help of a young girl he has been raising. The film flips Lang's character from villain to anti-hero. I'm not opposed to this kind of sequel changeup - Hey, the Terminator series did it quite successfully - but this ignores the fact that he kidnapped and raped a woman in the first film. The sequel also seems to only occasionally remember he is blind. Also, for the love of God stop it with the yellow and blue! GRADE: D+
(David Gordon Green, 2021)
Disappointing follow-up to 2018's strong reboot in which we witness the epic meltdown the town of Haddonfield goes through during the remainder of that Halloween night. A Halloween night that apparently lasts, like, 5 days. Michael continues his killing spree after firefighters mistakenly free him from Laurie Strode's house/trap. That's all fine, but instead we get the town turning into a raging mob screaming "Evil dies tonight!" for half the god damn running time while Laurie and her family are in the hospital. It seems like they had a vision for the new trilogy that had a strong beginning and (finger crossed) a good ending, but the middle chapter has been stretched thin. The last 15 or so minutes are actually pretty good, and the gays did a decent job flipping the Meyers house. As for the rest, it doesn't quite hits the lows of Halloween Resurrection, but it occasionally comes close. But, hey, that Kyle Richards lady was okay. I'm almost glad Paul Rudd didn't get to play Tommy, let this shit for Anthony Michael Hall. GRADE: C-
(Thom Eberhardt, 1984)
Cult 80's film that plays like a combo of Valley Girl, Dawn of the Dead, and The Omega Man. After a once in a generation comet flies by Earth just before Christmas, a young woman wakes up to find that most of humanity has turned to red dust that now fills the air like smog. She finds her sister is still alive, and the two take refuge in the local shopping mall, where they must fend off zombies and a sinister military group. I think I avoided watching this because of the PG-13 rating, and I may have confused it for the various other "Night of..." films that opened around the same time. It ended up being a total blast with fun characters and memorable lines. Despite the storyline feeling a combo of many other cult classics it still comes off like a true original. With Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney and cult fave Mary Woronov. GRADE: B+
And some anniversary watches...
(Sam Raimi, 1981)
I always go by when the film was released theatrically in the United States for year of release. So happy 40th to this film which actually opened in 1983. Ooops. Turns out it played at a festival in '81, but didn't get a proper release until the beginning of '83. Oh well. I previously watched this during my 2002 summer movie marathon, and I don't think I've seen much of it since then. The second film and Army of Darkness are occasionally on television, as is 2013's remake. I was due for a rewatch after all these years. Bruce Campbell stars as Ash, a college student battling demons who have possessed his friends in a cabin in the middle of the Tennessee forest. Exhilarating, DIY horror, with amazing practical effects and makeup. That homemade feel has been a staple of the genre going back to Night of the Living Dead. And full circle, this was one of the original video nasties! GRADE: A-
(James Wan, 2011)
After 10 years and one terrible & two mediocre sequels, I'm happy to report this still holds up. With its steady buildup of masked monsters constantly jumping out, it gets right what so many PG-13 horrors have failed to. It also makes us care about its characters. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne play a couple whose son has slipped into a coma-like sleep. Turns out he's an astral traveler who has gone into another dimension known as "The Further" and his body is now a potential host to demonic forces. Great supporting work by Barbara Hershey and especially Lin Shaye, Insidious may often rely too heavily on its aggressive sound. While the ending resembles walking through a haunted house, the earlier scenes where the devilish creatures start to appear are unnervingly hair-raising. Are we going to get the Insidious/Conjuring crossover so I can get two Patrick Wilsons? Yes, please. GRADE: B+
(Alejandro Amenabar, 2001)
A sleeper hit when it was released at summer's end in 2001, The Others follows Grace (Nicole Kidman) who in the last days of World War II must protect her children from a sinister presence in their quiet, foggy Jersey manor. That summer marked a magnificent one-two punch for Kidman, having just received rave reviews for her work in Moulin Rouge!. The year firmly established her as my favorite actress, one not afraid to take big risks with fascinating filmmakers. The Others is an elegant ghost story that has that "instant classic" aura about it. The cinematography and score were some of the year's best, and the actors backing Kidman (child actors Alakina Mann and James Bentley, and Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan) deliver superb work. Despite the timeless nature, it delivers effective chills including the famous "I am your daughter!" scene. I've always preferred it to The Sixth Sense, a film it was compared to mostly because of their similar twists. GRADE: A-
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