Zombieland: Double Tap Review

This review is spoiler-free. As I'm late to the party on this one I'm guessing anyone who wanted to see this film already has so I didn't tread extra lightly but I still don't give anything away of the plot.

Let me start by saying that the first Zombieland is a movie that I consider to be the definition of just "fine", certainly not bad, very watchable but not something that connected with me in any huge way. I re-watched it a week or so ago and my opinion hadn't changed; it was enjoyable enough but nothing special. So perhaps it's faint praise to say this but I enjoyed this sequel way more. For starters the film's stars have all gone on to win, or at least be nominated for, multiple awards including Oscars. Naturally they've become better actors in my opinion and this shows here as they perform somewhat effortlessly with the added advantage that they are all visibly having fun whilst still maintaining the reality of the performance. That fun vibe really spreads to the audience in my opinion. It's not just the returning cast either; Zooey Deutch steals the show in a wholly comedic performance, Luke Wilson & Thomas Middleditch appear to fulfill the Bill Murray gag spot in the movie's second act (whilst being nowhere near as gimmicky) and though she's a bit of a deus ex machina Rosario Dawson's likeability shines as well.

There's actually far more story and developing of this world here too. It doesn't get into over complex, deadly serious "Walking Dead" territory but it does explain some things and actually evolve the antagonists in very interesting ways. Likewise time is taken further developing the familial connections of the core group through conflict, resolution and character development. All while maintaining some vastly improved jokes in my opinion and a far more compelling central journey.

Horror-wise this is very much a comedy and while there are a couple of decent zombie kills that's never really the focus or the point. Indeed some potentially horrific moments are played for excitement or laughs. But I think it should be obvious that that's exactly the tone that was aimed for so criticising that would be silly.

The film left me feeling more entertained and engaged than I expected with a few really good laughs and an overall entertainment factor that left me leaving feeling good. The mid-credits scene was a nice cherry on top and could be a favourite part for many viewers but was even unnecessary for me. Unlike the first movie I left the theatre legitimately interested to see more of these characters and their world, having grown to like and root for them. And it further cemented my love of a few things nerdy whilst also leaving me with a definite increased appreciation for The King of rock; Zombieland 2 - thank you very much.

**** (4/5)

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The Invisible Man (2020) - Trailer

The first trailer has dropped for Blumhouse's take on Universal's classic The Invisible Man. This looks really interesting; going for tense and disturbing using the idea of not seeing what's stalking and tormenting you. And Elisabeth Moss looks like she's going to crush in the lead role. Check out the trailer below;

(Courtesy of JoBlo Movie Trailers on YouTube)

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Doctor Sleep - Movie Review

I will try and keep this review spoiler free but if you haven't seen Doctor Sleep or read the book then be warned that I will allude to general plot points. Also if you haven't seen Stanley Kubrick's film of The Shining or read Stephen King's book then firstly what are you doing here but also you might want to check those out before reading this review.

The movie's opening introduces us to the new antagonists in a truly menacing scene before re-establishing the characters from The Shining. This is an almost exact recreation of the opening of King's Doctor Sleep book following young Danny dealing with his ordeal and abilities. There are a couple of slight spoiler differences which firmly establish this as a sequel to the movie of The Shining rather than the book but it's good to get up to speed on this quickly. It also provides us with some great horror-fantasy emotional beats and our first explicit return to the horrific visuals of that movie. Right away I must say that the film is not quite as eerily atmospheric or outright scary as Kubrick's movie or even director Mike Flanagan's brilliant adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House, but it's nevertheless still effective and sets the tone of this particular story really well.

One scene of note which I did register was from the very start of the novel (which I have read previously) when the now-adult Dan is at his lowest moment. This scene in the book is almost uncomfortably bleak and emotionally disturbing, which is present here but only in more vague hints and less viscerally. This is partly due to the loss of Dan's internal monologue and conversations with his own conscience, here represented only fleetingly by another character's presence (although acted brilliantly). It's hard to say if it's better or worse, merely different. In any case it works for this movie and in all honestly King's writing in the book is a little plodding and drags on too much.

Similarly the next part of the film brilliantly condenses into about 20 or 30 minutes what took the book about a third of it's length to do. If you enjoy the fleshing out of Dan's new life or new protagonist Abra's family and maturation then you may be disappointed but I think this is a brilliant example of how to adapt a story into movie length. We hit all that we need; introducing Abra and her level of unique skills whilst also establishing Dan's struggles, continued possession of his own abilities and his new friends. This leads to connecting the two protagonists in ways that seem natural and relevant, culminating in gentle then explicit references to Danny's childhood at the Overlook hotel.

I want to focus now on the movies antagonist's; the True Knot. Their leader Rose "the hat" is an absolute powerhouse performance by Rebecca Ferguson. Absolutely the film's third lead who captivates and owns every moment on screen in a way that's vital to this character. Likewise young Andi is as intriguing as her book counterpart and her pathos brilliantly played. And in supporting roles everyone in this movie is brilliant with no bad performances and everyone delivering their character's purpose in a pitch perfect way as far as I'm concerned. At the risk of sounding repetitive young Jacob Tremblay appears in a role that grabs your heart and breaks it in two. Through acting and a truly disturbing horror sequence that's hard to watch he proves that this young man is already a skilled actor to watch.

The movie settles into it's main focus as the villainous characters are developed and thrust on a collision course with the protagonist. The pacing here is what I would call deliberate, cooling down a little after some real horror but never too slow or boring and often tense. These scenes are a definite improvement over the laborious writing in the book giving events more menace and urgency in my opinion. The young lead who plays Abra is outstanding, easily carrying the movie here. Director Flanagan also imbues these scene with very Kubrick-like images of weirdness that seem trippy and ethereal, which works so well, particularly as we start dealing with internal life as in something like Inception or the Elm Street movies, for example.

Though not exactly scary the film leads into an action sequence of sorts to round out the second act. There are definite horror images and one particularly harrowing moment even here though. The effects work is outstanding which I'd single out here in particular. The movie handles plot twists with a steady hand and like the spirits of the Overlook it slowly pulls you into the final act...

This last act is truly where the film becomes a sequel to what's come before. If I were feeling mischievous I would call it "Stephen King's Stanley Kubrick's The Shining 2 by Mike Flanagan". The film beautifully trades on the iconic imagery of Kubrick, even re-staging scenes that are arguably ingrained on our collective consciousness at this point. I'd also note here that the movie does some slight re-casting in moments that would potentially have employed cgi in recent times but which prove that good acting, directing and make-up can be far more effective. The film reaches a climax where it cannot use the book due to it's status as a film sequel but that surprised me incredibly pleasantly by closing it's narrative ironically using faithful reference to King's first book of The Shining! It brings things brilliantly full circle in every way and truly cements this as a worthwhile sequel with it's own story to tell in this world but which absolutely enhances and stands with what's come before. I can only say bravo.

The movie ends with a coda which pleasantly surprised me again with a beautiful message of hope in it's facing of horror and loss. Overall the movie thrilled and engaged me, although in honesty it didn't really scare me, being more of an emotional or psychological horror than any terror or jump scares. The cast and direction are near flawless though. The film is arguably still slightly too long but I wouldn't want to lose any of the third act and it's still positively breezy compared to it's source novel. Like King's novel the title seems almost incorrect involving a fairly minor part of the narrative but that's hardly the movie's fault, I personally think it's a better thematic sequel than the book and far more effective. I honestly can't wait to watch it again and see more work by everyone involved. Shine on, you crazy diamonds.

****1/2 (4.5/5)

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Terminator: Dark Fate - Review

I realise this movie isn't strictly horror but it's the (probable) end of a franchise that began as very much in that genre, and still contains many elements of terror; unkillable assassins targeting final girls, a nightmare future, even some body horror. So indulge me as I post this action sci-fi review in this horror blog.

This movie is an oddly fitting culmination to the trilogy of failed attempts to make a new Terminator trilogy. You may have heard it trumpeted as something approaching a grand return to form but I'm afraid I found no such glorious comfort; this movie has different issues than the previous three but they are no less egregious and ultimately, despite vastly improved action and a stellar return performance by Linda Hamilton, it joins them in my heart as equally fine "what-if" alternate timeline tales which don't come close to the first two movies or the lore they establish. I'll try not to be overly explicit but slight possible spoilers follow so be warned.

The movie starts out like another attempt to make a sequel to a stellar James Cameron sequel; Alien 3. In much the same way as that movie's introduction rendered the entirety of what you went through in the second movie completely moot, this film in it's very opening scene wipes out existing lore, established characters, developments & a lot of logic. And that's before the credits roll. It's a baffling move that the movie fights to recover from for the next two hours with only partial success right at the end. Why the writers chose to develop the storyline this way is unclear, and much as I don't wish to embolden such claims I can see the argument that it was just an attempt to make a more culturally & gender diverse redo of T2. Ultimately the plot winds up being exactly the same, despite attempts at clever rebranding. In a universe where a key message is "no fate but what we make" it seems like the nightmare of human apocalypse to machines & AI is inevitable, which again leaves the movie struggling for a story reason to exist.

The film wipes the previous three movies out of continuity, in seeming acknowledgment of their flaws, only to cherry pick elements literally from each of them to paste onto a remake of Terminator 2. It all just feels like we've seen it before but this time the disrespect to lore and underlying repetitive nihilism leave me not really caring. This isn't helped by a new character that everything hinges on who we never get anything close to development for, believability and who we are not given anything to connect emotionally to in any way other than to invoke characters you know to compare them to (a big mistake). The performance itself is also awful, the worst in the film and one of the worst miscastings I have ever personally felt.

It's not all bad though, as I've said. Linda Hamilton gives a performance that elevates everything and emotionally propelled me right back to the feeling I had of loving this woman in Terminator and especially T2. Mackenzie Davis is also fantastic, coming off as effortlessly tough and complex as a protector with more character than the person she so wants to protect. Arnie returns to something like we saw in Genisys with an aged T-800 showing a balance with some well-acted humanity in the machine and the most levity the film gets through some great humorous lines and asides. And there is a moment that came very close to eliciting the same response as a certain thumbs-up through molten steel (and which did have some people in my screening openly weeping).

The action is mostly amazing, with Deadpool director Tim Miller you'd have a certain expectation here and he delivered for me. The film is a little too long and so the final, most intense action sequence was hard for me to really register and focus on, I struggled to tell where each character was ending up and how. But the new antagonist is a clever idea that lends itself brilliantly to some awesome, unique and clever visuals and fight choreography. And with another great performance from Gabriel Luna (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D's Ghost Rider) who encapsulates the menacing smarm of Robert Patrick with the relentless dread of Arnie's early model (credit to the VFX people as well here).

Sadly the movie writes out two of it's most interesting characters, leaves huge logic gaps and has no interest in anyone else (a key character literally disappears from the narrative left behind never to be mentioned again). But like all the other Terminator movies I found the whole very enjoyable and entertaining, possibly because I just like the franchise. And by the end I felt like the movie had fought back to leave me genuinely thrilled, entertained and moved. But it's also finally got me too tired of seeing a franchise I once loved offering nothing particularly new. Judging by the abysmal box office this franchise won't be back, and I'm ok with that. It ended with the conclusion of T2, gave us a decent trilogy conclusion if we want it & three tales of alternate timelines that entertained but must stand alone because they have nowhere to go. I liked this, I'll buy it, I'll watch it again. But do I want to see more? Negative.

*** (3/5)

Halloween Night part 2 - Jesse's Revenge

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 2 - Freddy's Revenge

As I mentioned yesterday I only had time to watch one horror movie this Halloween night. I wanted something short, familiar but that I'd never really seen & I have an Elm Street box set that I still haven't worked through yet. So I decided to finally watch the first sequel to the original movie. Spoilers follow for a 30 year old movie. 

I had read a lot about this film during my Film Studies degree when I was at university. This film is infamous as a prime example of a "queer theory" reading, something which has permeated through to pop culture and discourse around the movie. It was pretty blatant but with some things which don't fit necessarily. But we'll get to that. 

The movie opens with a pretty fantastic sequence, especially for the 1980s as we are straight into a nightmare involving a school bus careening into a cavern that winds up looking like an old death-metal album cover. The titular antagonist appears to a helpless Jesse (mocked by & powerless to protect two women, interestingly) and forces him to wake with a pretty girly scream if I'm brutally honest. Still the best sequence in the film though, it's just a shame it's literally the first few minutes. 

The plot, such as it is, develops from here and really kicks the queer readings into high gear; Jesse has a girl friend who he has yet to make a move on, despite visible interest. When prompted on this by the hunky school bully he proceeds to wrestle him in a homo-erotic display that would make the volleyball scene in Top Gun blush. It's also established here that the strict gym teacher has a masochistic streak with his boys, even being rumoured to frequent S&M fetish clubs. In the 80s it's probably quite deliberate that homosexuality was viewed as a similar deviant fetish, which I don't love. The shades of films like Carrie here are kind of cool but the film doesn't linger beyond any interest in the "male deviance" it wants to set up. Indeed Jesse's next nightmare sees Freddy almost caressing Jesse as he literally says that he "needs" him because "he's got the body"; a stretched reading perhaps but given the set-up it's hard to ignore. 

This leads us into the main thrust (no pun intended) of the movie; ostensibly a possession plot that Freddy wants to "come out" of Jesse into the real world, stalking his subconscious & making him act in ways that he finds uncomfortable. On face value this plot could have been a really interesting horror twist on the ideas set up by Wes Craven's first movie but the film makes no attempt to reconcile this with any of the "rules" established there. Instead a lot of critics have read this story as a horror allegory for closeted homosexuality. It's hard to disagree during the film's most notorious scene in which Jesse genuinely sleepwalks into a gay bar, encounters his "deviant" teacher & goes back to the locker room with him for a punishment that seems way past a school employees jurisdiction. During this punishment "Freddy" (acting through Jesse & as an unseen force) strips the teacher naked, whips his bare butt raw with towels, claws down his back and then slashes him to death. I promise I'm not making any of that up! I could review this scene but honestly it was so overly blatant that I just found it hilarious. Is that good? I'm guessing not for a horror movie.

The film proceeds with Jesse finding himself compelled to attack his younger sister; either an attempt to negate the queer reading or an incredibly troubling equating of homosexuality to paedophilia. Thankfully this is brief and we end up at a house party where Jesse begins to finally make out with his girlfriend. In the heat of passion Freddy's tongue begins to emerge from Jesse. This is a possible homage to the original "I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy" scene but it confused me; is it another attempt to move away from the idea that only homosexual passion is triggering the "deviance", is it implying bisexuality or is it a symbol of disgust? Either way the film doesn't take long to return to form; subtext rapidly becoming text as Jesse runs to his (now befriended) school bully's room to stay the night. Again, I had to laugh as I wanted to try & review the movie fairly and not read into it but then it gave us this exchange;

At this point I gave up any attempt to look beyond the obvious interpretation and surrendered to the fact that all the critics were very right. From Jesse "birthing" Freddy in Alien-style when sleeping next to Grady, to eventually having Jesse cured by the loving kiss of a good woman. It doesn't help that Jesse actor Mark Patton was also gay and has since described in detail how incredibly uncomfortable he was with the things he was made to do. Check out his writing and both his documentary and "Never Sleep Again" for more fascinating insights than I can get into here.

Regarding my attempt to review the horror elements here, the movie doesn't fare well. Every murder takes place inexplicably in the real world, abandoning the entire established lore and unique point of this universe. Indeed both Robert Englund (Freddy) & several production crew have stated this as their least favourite Elm Street movie, mainly for that reason. And as Freddy chases teens round a pool party like a generic slasher he ends up looking totally ridiculous, with none of the powers and thus menace he was imbued with by his debut.

Overall this is certainly a fascinating movie. In a way it's worth watching just to believe it and understand the masses of writing & making-of material surrounding it (which seems largely better than the movie). There's some occasional good effects, some surprisingly decent acting and it's all wonderfully eighties-tinged. Easily the worst Elm Street movie I've ever seen but far from the worst horror. Watchable to study, laugh at or just kill 90 minutes watching schlock. But as a representation of Freddy; this film is a total nightmare.

**1/2 (2.5/5)

Halloween Night 2019

It's that time of year again. Time for my annual Halloween viewing post. Feel free to go back to previous years to see more and discover the origins (involving a cinema and an all-night horror fest).

This year was a little different. I usually like to try and watch three horror or Halloween-themed movies but this year time just wasn't on my side. I did watch one movie for the first time, which I'll discuss later, but also three or four other pieces of Halloween entertainment from the ridiculous to the sublime. Let's start with the first thing I watched...

NOT GOING OUT - HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

This actually aired on the night of the 30th but I honestly didn't know it existed until checking Twitter later that night. As such I watched it on BBC iPlayer as the very first thing in my traditional Halloween viewing night. I'll be honest I was less than impressed. For a supposed comedy it seemed like it forgot to be funny, and for an extended 45 minute runtime the lack of any discernible humor was very noticeable. There was literally one decent gag and it was in the first two minutes. Following this comment from main character Lee regarding taking the kids trick-or-treating;

I did have a slight chortle at wife Lucy's response; "don't worry, next week we'll be back to wholesome British traditions like celebrating a terrorist plot to overthrow government by burning a scarecrow".

A lot of the episode seemed like it was trying to build tension and act as a possible audition to make & direct a future horror movie, like someone saw Edgar Wright go from a horror sequence in Spaced to making Shaun of the Dead and desperately wanted to copy him. There are some good horror worthy angles and shots but naturally in a comedy they just seem out of place here without careful handling. 

Overall, the costumes were cool. And there's a certain charm in the effort here. But this is not something I'll ever want to revisit and don't feel especially glad to have watched, sadly. 

*1/2 (1.5/5)

CELEBRITY JUICE - HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2019 

I was always told that if you have nothing nice to say then not to say anything at all, so this may be brief. In all seriousness though Leigh Francis (aka Keith Lemon) always brings a real effort to Halloween costumes, and that was evident again here. It was especially cool to already see a cosplay of Harley Quinn from a Birds of Prey movie that's only released a trailer and isn't out for several months. It was clear that effort had gone into the games, from the make-up and props to the locations used being transformed into a horror maze. It was clear that everyone involved was having fun and the atmosphere was probably great, but in the end it just felt like watching a Halloween party that someone filmed which you weren't invited to. Like the zombies that were peppered throughout the episode this show has gone rather lifeless and needs to be put out of it's misery I think. 

** (2/5)

AHS: 1984 - THE LADY IN WHITE

Thankfully it got better. I watched a decent episode of Modern Family (their last Halloween episode in this final season). It was great but not especially noteworthy for longer reviewing. And so I turned to the latest episode of the current season of American Horror Story. 

  Full disclosure; I have been watching these every Thursday anyway but it was still pretty fortuitous that an episode fell on Halloween. I'm loving this season. Unashamedly ripping off 80s slasher films like Friday the 13th (made super blatant in this episode) but doing it with reverence, style and some brilliant acting! 

Special mention has to go to franchise veteran Lily Rabe who makes her return for a guest spot in this installment which turns out to be crucial. She is essentially playing the Mrs. Voorhees of this show, but with more tragedy, pathos, menace, emotional impact and significance. I can't praise this highly enough. 

  The entire cast are great here and it's hard to single anyone else out; the characterizations range from camp to classical but everyone is doing their part absolute justice. One last special mention to occasional AHS star John Carroll Lynch who steps up an already great performance to genuinely make you feel for what could have easily been a soulless monster cliche. 

Slightly less successful is the storyline with Brooke & "Donna" encountering yet another killer; another franchise returnee in Dylan McDermott, who doesn't acquit himself as well. It pushes believability too far but gets away with it (just) by seemingly being a cool play on Thelma & Louise used to boost our protagonist up to the "final girl" role with enough feminine strength & smarts to actually seem like she might survive this. 

In my opinion this has been the best season of AHS in a long while, and easily my favourite since Freak Show. There are some sillier moments that threaten to undercut the reality but the 80s setting covers them well enough for me. The story has also been genuinely engaging and interesting. Whilst I'm sad there are only two episodes left I'm truly excited to see what happens next. 

****1/2 (4.5/5)

There was one more thing I watched but I'd like to devote more time and review it separately tomorrow. There is a lot to say and that has been said about what I watched. I'm pretty shocked I haven't seen it before because I've certainly heard about it. So until tomorrow; don't have nightmares...

Happy Halloween everybody. Hope you all had a safe but spooky fun time. Sleep well...

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