Category: Movie

It’s What’s Inside

Posted on by Mikey

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Netflix

Genre: Science-fiction, comedy horror

What It Reminds Me Of: Talk To Me, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Clue

Writer: Greg Jardin

Director: Greg Jardin

Premise: A group of friends gather for a pre-wedding party that descends into an existential nightmare when an estranged friend arrives with a mysterious game that awakens long-hidden secrets, desires and grudges.

My Premise: A reunion turns from sexy to crazy when old friends live out their long-awaited desires, including revenge.

Cast: Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell, David W. Thompson, Madison Davenport

Review:

This movie is being hailed as this year’s Talk to Me, and I agree. It’s an indie horror film that feels very original, fresh, and innovative. Instead of drugs, a group of friends sits in a circle and experiments with something new, something mind-altering.

I was definitely confused at certain points during the movie. I think it’s one of those films you might need to watch once or twice to fully grasp. Watching it with captions can help too, as the dialogue clarifies who is who. One thing I really appreciated about this movie is that the writer and director also edited it. I love when that happens because it’s rare, and in this case, it feels essential. The movie can be confusing at times, but the director uses unique methods—such as lighting, lenses, moods, and other techniques—to help us easily distinguish between characters.

I liked how the movie starts off with a sexy, intriguing vibe and then descends into madness. It begins with characters exploring their curiosities and missed opportunities, but it quickly turns into something much darker. There’s a strong presence of lust and greed, and both come with consequences.

The film tackles themes like jealousy, the pitfalls of social media, missed opportunities, and the boundaries between friends and lovers. Now that I think about it, it has a bit of a Shakespearean feel. It would actually make a cool stage play.

It also reminded me a little of Clue—a modern-day murder mystery, a “whodunit” with a technological twist.

I love when TV shows or movies involve body-swapping, where actors have to mimic the mannerisms, features, and reactions of other characters. It takes a special kind of actor to pull that off, and this ensemble cast does an amazing job.

Also, the editing was really cool when the group was gathered together. It reminded me of the scenes in That ’70s Show when the gang passes around a joint—except in this movie, the substance has real side effects, is highly addictive, and… well, you’ll have to watch the movie to see the rest!

Trailer

Mr. Crocket

Posted on by Mikey

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Hulu

Writer: Brandon Espy, Carl Reid

Director: Brandon Espy

Premise: In 1993, a mysterious children’s show host, Mr. Crocket, magically emerges from television sets to kidnap young children, brutally slaying their parents in the process. After Mr. Crocket snatches her son, one determined mother embarks on a perilous quest to track down the demonic entertainer and rescue her boy.

Cast: Jerrika Hinton, Elvis Nolasco, Ayden Gavin, Kristolyn Lloyd, Alex Akpobome.

Review: If you ever wondered what it would be like if someone made a movie that was The Ring meets Pee Wee’s Playhouse, look no further. I, at first, thought of this as more of a Mr. Rogers inspired character. But it wasn’t long until I got the Pee Wee vibe. I won’t give away much but the whole set of characters on his show comes alive.

Every Halloween, Hulu unveils a new release of original horror movies. When I first saw the trailer for this one, I was hooked. It is really original. It definitely has some parts that are inspired by other movies, but the premise is original and we really need that right now.

This movie was really cool. Innovative, fun, dark, supernatural. It provides backstory of the antagonist, which is really nice. You learn why he is the way he is. How he got there. How he does what he does.

I really wish that this got a theatrical release. I read that it started as a short film and I am so glad it got the funding to make it feature-length. It needed a full-length version. And it wasn’t too long. It didn’t drag on.

And the opening scene. You will be all in once that scene opens.

Trailer

V/H/S/Beyond

Posted on by Mikey

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Shudder/AMC/Prime

Writer: 

  • Jordan Downey and Kevin Stewart (“Stork”)
  • Christian Long and Justin Long (“Fur Babies”)
  • Justin Martinez and Ben Turner (“Live and Let Dive”)
  • Virat Pal and Evan Dickson (“Dream Girl”)
  • Mike Flanagan(“Stowaway”)
  • Jay Cheel (“Abduction/Adduction”)

Director: 

Premise: 
Six bloodcurdling tapes unleash horror in a sci-fi-inspired hellscape, pushing the boundaries of fear and suspense.

Cast: 

Review: These movies play a big part in my love for horror. I saw the first one when it premiered at the Independent Film Festival Boston in 2012. My friend used to work for a film rental company, and we would get free passes to the festival. I remember how much I loved the first V/H/S movie. Some people found it too disturbing, and some found it to be too much of a shaky cam, found-footage movie.

Since the release of the first film in the franchise, there have been seven anthology films, two spinoffs, and a miniseries:

1. V/H/S (2012)

2. V/H/S/2 (2013)

3. V/H/S: Viral (2014)

4. SiREN (2016) – Spinoff film

5. V/H/S: Video Horror Shorts (2018) – Miniseries

6. V/H/S/94 (2021)

7. V/H/S/99 (2022)

8. Kids vs. Aliens (2023) – Spinoff film

9. V/H/S/85 (2023)

10. V/H/S/Beyond (2024)

The only film I didn’t like in the franchise was V/H/S: Viral. I felt it tried too hard to be a political statement, and it didn’t really have any scare factors. SiREN was also decent, but I feel it worked better as a short.

Anyway, V/H/S/Beyond is a great installment. It is a little different, as they went more in the direction of sci-fi versus horror. But that doesn’t mean the movie isn’t filled with disturbing and terrifying things. Just like the ones before it, it features a bunch of new concepts and stories by new creators in the V/H/S franchise.

I didn’t know what score to give this movie. I don’t like when people compare and contrast things and give the follow-up an unfair chance. A lot of people, including myself, didn’t like Us as much as Get Out. Was that because it wasn’t as good, or because we were challenging Peele to make the same type of movie and avoid a sophomore slump? The first time I watched Us, I said, “It wasn’t Get Out.” And it wasn’t—it was its own movie. The second time I watched Us, I loved it. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t love V/H/S/Beyond as much as the first movie, but that’s fine. It’s its own movie—its own series of shorts made by completely different people. While this one focused more on sci-fi vs. horror, I still really enjoyed it. All horror fans love sci-fi, right?

I went into V/H/S/Beyond without watching a trailer. I didn’t want to know anything going in. However, right before watching, I did read that Justin Long, Mike Flanagan, and Katie Siegel were behind a few of the shorts, and that got me pumped.

Without giving away spoilers, Justin Long and his brother co-wrote and co-directed one of the shorts, and it is very reminiscent of a previous Long movie. This shouldn’t give anything away, as the scream king has a long list of horror films he’s been in.

The last short in the film is the one that will stick with me. It was pretty interesting throughout, but the ending was absolute chaos, leaving the protagonist in the worst-case scenario. It was pure terror.

Trailer:

A Horror Movie a Day

Posted on by Mikey

Happy October! The most wonderful time of the year. When the weather starts getting cooler and the lawns in your neighborhood start decorating for the best holiday of the year.

I don’t know if I have ever actually watched a horror movie a day throughout the month of October. I have probably done it other months, though.

This month, I am challenging myself to watch not only one horror movie a day, but one horror movie that I haven’t seen before. A classic. Each day, I will update this with the movie that I watched. Tonight was the first night and I watched The Fly. I was in the mood after watching The Substance for some more body horror.

October 1st – The Fly

October 2nd – An American Werewolf in London

October 3rd – Fright Night

October 4th – V/H/S/Beyond

Stranger Things Season 4 Premiere

Videodrome

October 5th – Parasite

October 6th – Re-Animator

October 7th – The Frighteners

October 8th – The Killing of a Sacred Deer

October 9th – Evil Dead 2

October 10th – The Mist

October 11th – Cheap Thrills

October 12th – Mr. Crocket

October 13th:

October 14th – It’s What’s Inside

October 15th – Oddity

October 16th – Stopmotion

October 17th – Cronos

October 18th – 6 Souls

October 19th – Misery

October 20th – Woman of the Hour

October 21st – Loop Track

October 22nd – Caddo Lake

October 23rd – Predator

October 24th – Carved

October 25th – Smile 2

October 26th – Don’t Move

Straight Edge Killer

October 27th

October 28th – Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2

October 29th – It’s a Wonderful Knife

October 30th – The Last Winter

October 31st – Vamps

The Substance

Posted on by Mikey

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Theaters

Writer: Coralie Fargeat

Director: Coralie Fargeat

Premise: A fading celebrity decides to use a black-market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid.

Review: Holy crap! This movie was such a ride. I feel like it was this year’s Barbarian.

It seems rare that a body horror movie makes it to the theaters. And even more that it has such a worldwide release and gets such great reception. There was The Thing, The Fly, The Human Centipede, Tusk. Of, course others. Now, there is The Substance.

I was excited for this one because I feel there aren’t a lot of female directors who make body horror films. And also because I love horror. And body horror.

I haven’t seen Demi Moore in something in a while and she was fantastic in this movie. Some people want her to win an Oscar, but horror never gets the awards it should. A nomination would be nice. Her descent into madness throughout this movie was, well, madness.

Margaret Qualley was also fantastic in this movie. She’s in pretty much every movie right now and now I can see why. Playing a younger, more spry version of Moore, she did a great job

Dennis Quaid was awful in this movie. In the best way. Although the second and third act are filled with some of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in some time, I will tell you the two things I found the most disgusting. The first being Dennis Quaid eating prawn on screen. Quaid plays the head of the network that produces Moore’s workout show and he plays a hyperbolic version of what this person is like in real life. At least, I hope it is hyperbolic. Maybe not. I mean, isn’t that kind of the whole point of this movie? How do people in Hollywood keep up with Hollywood standards? The other part I found to be the grossest was a scene with puss. It reminded me of the end of Requiem for a Dream.

The opening shot and last shot are the movie are beautiful and twisted and perfect. They are artsy and experimental and symmetrical. And they make a perfect sandwich out of the film. With everything in between being the meat. And there is a lot of it.

I wanted the film to go in a slightly different direction in the third act. It still did pretty much just what I wanted it to do, but slightly different. Regardless, the brief but powerful third act is wild. My girlfriend had to leave the theater right before it started into the absolutely descent into madness. Let’s just say, I think that Fargeat was trying to beat Fede Alvarez’s record for amount of blood used in a film.

Go see this in theaters!

Trailer:

Trap

Posted on by Mikey

Ray Liotta score of:

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Theaters, On Demand

Writer: M. Night Shyamalan

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Premise: A father and his teen daughter attend a pop concert only to realize they’ve entered the center of a dark and sinister event.

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Alison Pill.

Review: The Happening, Old, a few others. I stood by M. Night’s side. I have always loved this man even though the horrible movies he makes are so horrible. But I don’t know if I can do it after this movie. What a terrible, terrible movie.

What is this Dr. Grant supposed to be like Clarice? The whole movie they talk about how successful she was at taking down 10 serial killers before. Has she taken all 10 down before by trapping them inside of a concert arena that was a fake show put on just to catch a killer? How oddly specific. And she still couldn’t catch him.

And a pop singer that somehow only had a limo driver but no manager, agent, security, or anyone else with her? What person would be that courageous? And the scene in the limo and bathroom with M. Night’s daughter using her eyebrows only to display emotion. I mean, a few days of acting school classes not have hurt. What an awful, awful, truly awful film.

And even M. Night’s cameo was too long. The whole two hour movie was almost worth it for the end scene with the merch guy.

I feel there has been a rollercoaster of his movies over the many years. Everyone loves a movie he puts out, everyone hates the next one. It took me about a year to laugh about how bad Old was. The movie was one of the first I had scene aftrr not going to movies for over a year due to the pandemic. I was so excited. The premise was great. The execution was not.

M. Night’s other daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan, made a better movie called The Watchers this year. Go watch that instead.

Trailer:

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Posted on by Mikey

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Theaters

Writer: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar

Director: Tim Burton

Premise: After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe.

Review: This movie was a lot of fun. It has the original cast and has new cast members that really add to it. Jenna Ortega couldn’t have been a better choice to play Lydia’s daughter. Justin Theroux was insufferable, in a good way. Willem Dafoe played a dead action star turned detective and it was, somehow, his most sane role.

The film uses practical effects, props, and sets to make the movie feel just like the original. Even the sandworms weren’t updated, which I loved. The writing felt a little off, at times, but the movie came in under two hours, didn’t drag on, and was a great movie to see in theaters.

Trailer:

Alien: Romulus

Posted on by Mikey

Posted on by Mikey

Rating: 

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Theaters

Writer: Fede Álvarez, Rodo Sayagues

Director: Fede Álvarez

Premise: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu.

Review: This was one of my most anticipated films of the year and boy did it hold up. It also lead me down a deep nerd rabbit hole. One I haven’t been on in years. Since maybe even the Cloverfield days. I watched Alien I-IV, Promethesus, Alien: Covenant, and both Alien vs. Predator films prepring for this movie. I also started playing Alien: Isolation, a game I bought years ago and had been sitting on my shelf. And I spent a good amount of time on Reddit learning more about Wayland enterprises, the comics, the novels and so on.

I went opening night, on Thursday. I was able to get the popcorn bucket with the facehugger on it. The employee asked if I wanted the popcorn in the bucket or not. I didn’t even know that I had that option!

A lot of the reviews that I read about the movie said that it felt like a video game. And I guess it did, in a way. Because I had just played the game and the movies took place inbetween Alien and Aliens. I also read a lot of reviews that said the movie just felt like it rehashed from previous movies. While it did pay homage to previous movies it also

Fede Alvarez must have had a good time working on this film because he would like to make an Alien vs. Predator sequel and split directorial duties with Dan Tratchenberg who directed Prey, the most recent Predator film.

Also, an Alien television series is headed to FX for Hulu next year. It is called Alien: Earth and you can learn more about it here: https://www.space.com/everything-we-know-about-the-alien-tv-series

Trailer:

Twisters

Posted on by Mikey

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Theaters

Writer: Mark L. Smith

Director: Lee Isaac Chung

Premise: A retired tornado-chaser and meteorologist is persuaded to return to Oklahoma to work with a new team and new technologies.

Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, Sasha Lane.

Review: I wound up seeing this instead of Trap. There weren’t any good showtimes left or Trap, but I also heard it wasn’t. great. Twisters was a lot of fun. It knew what it was. I wish I had seen it in 4D to make it even more enjoyable. I didn’t see really any 3D or IMAX options for it, just 4D at the limited theaters across the country.

I love Glen Powell. He is my new Channing Tatum. He chooses perfect roles and this was one of them. There is a cool twist to the story, revealed early on that really makes you root for him. I also really love Anthony Ramos ever since seeing him in Hamilton and A Star is Born. The cast is all around very stacked. Maura Tierney is in it. Kiernan Shipa, who I didn’t even know until right before I saw it. David orenswet who is the new Superman. Paul Scheer has a fun cameo at the end. And even Bill Pullman’s son has a cameo, to pay homage to the late actor who starred in the first film.

The synopsis is pretty much a John Wicks/heist type of movie. The protagonist, a now retired storm chaser, goes back for one last job. But we all know what one last job is like. Also, she loses people in a tornado and seeks revenge on tornados once and for all. I was surprised there wasn’t a scene where she punched a tornado.

The VFX editor for the film was told by the director not to add a cow to the film, but did so anyway. And got it past the director. I spent most of the movie looking for it. Now, I will just look it up.

The soundtrack to this movie is all country music. It is fitting, as the movie takes place in middle America. It’s not overly done, though, and fits the movie and scenes where it is played.

This is a popcorn movie. You go to it for fun, you don’t overthink it, and you have a good time.

Trailer:

Deadpool & Wolverine

Posted on by Mikey

TV show or Movie: Movie

Where to watch: Theaters

Writer: Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, Shawn Levy

Director: Shawn Levy

Premise: Deadpool is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine to save his universe from extinction.

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Aaron Stanford, Matthew Macfadyen.

Review: I very much enjoyed this movie. It was absolutely hilarious, very fun, had a great soundtrack, and it was over the top. I believe that it was a little too over the top with it’s pop culture references and breaking the fourth wall, but that’s what it is.

The movie has a very similar synopsis to the last Spider Man movie and some of the other recent Avenger films: A character goes back in time and/or visits different timelines to alter their own. That being said, this had a different feel as it plays out more like a comedy than anything and also because this is the movie that was supposed to and did help get the next Avengers phase going and get viewers back on board.

This movie is packed with pop culture references, nods to Disney now taking on the Deadpool character, a soundtrack that will make you wonder how any of it was acquired, and forgotten and never brought to life Marvel/Sony charcters.

Trailer: