The Nun, 2018 – ★★★

Another trip into the extended 'Conjuring' universe finds us at the earliest entry into the franchise to date with 'The Nun' a film that represents the cinematic equivalent of copying the smart kids homework' and does little else but flesh out a brief scene from the first 'Conjuring' movie and expands on a few seconds long sequence in 'The Conjuring 2'…Essentially; this film exists to add a smoothing layer of context to a handful of moments in the mainline films that noone really asked for…But hey ho! its not the point, its the journey that counts! And so we're here!

This film takes place in 1952 in a convent in Romania, the same Convent that 'Sister Charlotte' attended between 1954 and 1956 before leaving for America and her involvement in 'Annabelle: Creation' as strange happenings are afoot. a deeply demonic presence is being felt in the Convent, and after a string of mysterious suicides, including one of a Nun herself who's spotted by a local villager delivering supplies. News reaches the Vatican of the incident and the decision is made to investigate.

They decide to send one 'Father Burke' a priest who's just settling into life as a regular every day priest after a harrowing period of time working as a parson during the second world war in france, who also has done a little bit of demonology and the old 'exorcism' lark on the DL.

His mission is simple, he's to be paired with a Nun in training who hasnt taken her vows yet called Sister Irene who is known to have visions and extra sensory perception, 'A gift from god' and the pair are to travel to the convent and find the source of this mysterious evil.

On arriving they meet the villager who found the nun, 'Frenchie' and the trio head up to the convent, where things are indeed troubling. Blood that will not dry lines the steps of the convent, the nuns are trapped in 24 hour prayer to keep the evil at bay, and reports of a demonic presence in the form of a Nun who stalks the halls of the convent by night attempting to pick the nuns off are whispered throughout the building…

Non the less, Father Burke, Sister Irene and Frenchie begin their investigations, and discover a horrifying history on the site of the convent, in which tremendous evil forces were summoned, but not fully sealed away, and a temporary preventative measure to keep the beasts of hell from breaking free, appears to be crumbling away. Leaving the trio with a harrowing mission to locate the source of the evil, fight the forces protecting it, and restore order and light to the convent. Or lose their lives trying.

For anyone just getting into Horror as a genre, or someone whos maybe well tuned in on the new stuff, but is a bit lacking on a touch of the old 'Horror history' I could see how this film could be percieved as being a bit of a refreshing change of pace and a strike away from the typical fodder the 'Conjuring' films are known for…However; I am not one of those people, and BECAUSE im an annoying film critic with a touch of the horror historian in my blood. I spent most of the runtime being THE WORST person you can watch a movie with…the 'OH! They nicked this bit from THAT movie!' kind of viewer.

Because dear reader…The Nun isnt an original idea…not by a long shot, in fact its basically a finely mashed up paste of sequences, scenarios and ideas 'Alf Inched' from about half a dozen other, more recognisable, better horror movies. Just a handful of things I picked up on (not the full picture or this review will be double the length) is Directional and cine choices copy/pasted from 'The Evil Dead 1&2', plot lines predominantly stolen from 'City of the Living Dead' that were SO aggregious that I feel that James Wan and Corin Hardy should send a cheque to the estate of Lucio Fulci, colour notes and plot themes from 'Susperia' and
'The Church', Directional and plot threads from 'Hellraiser 1 & 2', 'The Exorcist' is low hanging fruit, Elements of 'Sinister' are present here and they even pinch bits from their own franchises entries to mash into this thing.

And while I wont say the film is ENTIRELY without its own originality or merit. The fact that SO MUCH of this film is just 'Hey that was great in that OTHER movie, lets do it in OURS!' really means I'd be being disingenuous to sing its praises beyond the remit of its own purposeful movements.

The plot itself is just kind of middle of the road, its consistent, has good pacing and the three act structuring is fluid and transitions fine enough, the dialogues good, the ending is satisfying…but its nothing remarkable. its a fine enough solid build for a horror film. But the over reliance on other peoples plot points and scares left a very bitter taste in my mouth honestly.

The characters feel a bit underdeveloped, they do have backstories and do get a *bit* of depth, but they're tremendously generic characters ultimately that I just didnt feel all that invested in truthfully. The film tries…But at this point the main issue I had was wondering why I should care about any of this, as non of it has really tied all that heavily into any of the other films barring passing mentions and a few flickered seconds on screen. A well written script can make that not matter…So I ultimatlely have to conclude that this isnt a particularly well written script.

The directions much the same…altogether (sans the 'homaging') it holds up as a relatively solid work…but when you take into account that 33% of the time we have original stylistic choices and shots that feel refreshing, 33% of the time we have just kind of 'Middle of the road' fodder thats neither great nor awful, and 33% of the films direction and cine is just tidied up but largely cribbed sequences and ideas from other movies…it again just leaves a lot to be desired. I came away less thinking it was a creative venture, and more that it was a technical exercise…which snt what I want from my films really.

The cine as mentioned is a mixed bag because of this, and while the edit is pretty tight for the majority of the runtime, its a drab and somewhat colourless experience up until the closing 5 minutes or so when they use colour as a contrasting element…which is fine…But i'd have rather it been the other way around and had an hour and a half of colour and vibrancy with a closing grey with the occasional flicker of life than a grey and drab film that occasionally is bold enough to flash a bit of red. The ends looking like 'The Lord of the Rings'. Again, to reiterate, its a solid looking picture, its just not anything new or interesting and is largely cribbed.

Performance wise Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet and Damien Birchr are fine as our leads for this picture, theyre arguably the best part of this film as their on screen chemestry is solid, if not a little bit heavy on the theatrics, and their Physicality and delivery choices are decent enough, if not a bit over the top. Bonnie Adams as 'The Nun' gives a solid turn again…its not for me, but I can totally understand why some people find the appeal in her perforamance. its good!…Just not my kind of 'Scary'.

The supporting cast barely get a sniff in, and that does put a lot more pressure on the core cast to deliver the goods…which I feel on the whole they do.

The soundtrack however is totally unremarkable. generic drone and choral stuff again, the same as almost all the other Conjuring movies…and by this point Im just finding it all a bit stale. I REALLY want them to explore horror soundtracks beyond just loud tones and drone honestly…

All in all? if your not that familiar with the world of 'Older Horror' and want a consistent scary movie that ticks all the boxes, 'The Nun' will be the film for you. If you've been around the block a few times and know your onions, you'll likely find 'The Nun' a frustrating sanitisation and compacting of a better era of horror than this. I'd say its worth watching once if its in your hands or playing on TV and theres no effort in trying to hunt it down. If your new to horror, its a good short hand for a lot of horror films best moments…But if its ANY more involved than 'type 'Nun' into a streaming service and hit 'play'…Then you may wanna look elsewhere.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-nun-2018/

by tytdreviews

Host, 2020 – ★★★½

It was the Missus' turn to pick the horror film tonight, and she chose one with a short runtime because we've been quite busy today, 'Host' is a Pandemic era horror movie that *just* manages to breach an hour long runtime.

The plots pretty straightforward, set during the height of the pandemic when lockdowns were commonplace. a group of girls (and Teddy…a guy who's only in this for collectively around 8 minutes) decide to spice up their time stuck at home by paying for an online spiritualist to hold a seance with them. But when one of the girls who doesnt take the activity seriously decides to poke fun of the event. She inadvertently releases a tremendous evil onto the group, that slowly begins to infiltrate and take down the ladies one by one…

The entire film is framed as a 'Zoom' call, and the best way I can describe this feature is, it feels like the 'skype' segment of 'V/H/S' combined with 'Ghost Watch' and just a smidge of irreverent British-ness to finish the mix.

This isnt my first rodeo into this genre, and I suppose the best way I can sum up my feelings about it, would be to say that its a very well made film, but ultimately one that isnt a particularly original or innovative idea.

The script itself is a bit slow to get going, taking almost a quarter of the runtime to even really BEGIN to sow the seeds of malevolence that will eventually lead to the film getting going. And that opening slow burn where we get to know the characters better CAN be an effective way to give the audience a sense of familiarity to the characters and their scenarios…But it just goes ON for SO long. That by the time spooky stuff actually DID start to happen, had I been watching this on my own, i'd have probably already checked out.

Mercifully, somewhere between the 25% – 40% mark, the film finally DOES get into gear, and from that point on things really do pick up, as the pacing really ramps up, the characters get a lot more depth and backstory, and theres some interesting uses of both the Pandemic 'lockdowns' and how conference call tech like 'Zoom' operate which really helps give the narrative a good lick of paint.

If I were in a less generous mood, i'd say that this was essentially just someone pinching bits of 'ghostwatch' and trying to 'update' the 90's TV special to bring it into the internet age. And while I do feel that is kind of the case…I also have to admit that, if it does that, and does it well. I cant honestly be too put off. I like 'Ghostwatch' and if someone makes something thats vaguely 'Ghostwatch' adjacent thats actually pretty solid as work…Im not exactly going to refuse it.

While I was a bit bothered about the overreliance on jump scares, and the fact that a lot of the plot isnt really given enough context or background to really properly lead to a satisfying conclusion. I'd say at least half of this movie is pretty bloody good. and the other half feels like a mixture of dead weight and good ideas that just didnt quite land.

The direction is predominantly presented as an unbroken zoom call. and I think they pretty much nail that, it looks and feels like a very accurate depiction of what being on a conference call feels like. I had a bit of a gripe around the mouse movements being a bit too smooth, and I had a bit of an issue with continuity around who's 'screen' we were supposed to be viewing this from, as the girl we open with is established as being the 'POV'…but she steps away from her screen at multiple points and the call continues to operate as if she's still there. Which was a bit odd.

But otherwise, its a very convincing and accurate run, even small details like signal interference, connecting/disconnecting noise and other bits help sell it as an authentic piece and the cine across the board equally matches the aesthetics and vibes of how people set up their phones/webcams when streaming for things like this.

The cast all feel very genuine and sincere, rock solid performances in my opinion across the board, with the only break in reality for me being a moment where the girls lose contact with the spiritualist on the zoom call, and decide to phone her. At which point she sounds clear as a bell through a phone being held up to a laptop mic…Despite the fact she'd sound a lot more garbled and border incomprehensible because of the distortion and feedback that kind of thing causes.

Ambient room tone and desktop 'pings' comprise the soundtrack pretty much, its very effective and really helps establish a sense of coldness…especially when everyones just silently staring on in horror as things go horrendously wrong.

All in all? this ones a game of two halves for me. the front 20 minutes or so are slow, a bit hard going and while it does help to better establish the tone and the characters lives and backstories…I'd have really rather it been 10 minutes shorter, and we got 10 more minutes with the crazy weird and spooky stuff. the final 20 minutes of this however are incredibly well done, thoroughly held my attention and absolutely made me glad we ended up checking this one out.

As i've said, if your a fan of 'Ghostwatch' you'll almost certainly enjoy this. And if you can get past the first 15-20 minutes, then even more so! One I can recommend just about…with the caveat that if you have low/no tolerance for slow burn stuff…you may end up bailing on this before it really gets a chance to show you what it can do.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/host-2020/

by tytdreviews

Annabelle: Creation, 2017 – ★★★

To say I was VERY dissapointed with 'Annabelle' would be a bit of an understatement. While I dont particularly hold 'The Conjuring' films in high regard (They're fine enough 'haunted house' movies, but I feel they're WAY over-bloated and have various other issues dragging them down) They are at least decent enough scare movies both plot wise and technically to enjoy every once and a while…

'Annabelle' was their first attempt at expanding the franchise into an extended universe. And it was laboured, heavy handed, overly simplistic and overly safe, with poorly written dialogue, bad character structuring, bad plot structuring and ended abruptly and in a way that left me fairly dissatisfied…In short, after watching that one, I REALLY wasnt looking forward to having to sink another 2 of these.

Well! I shouldnt have worried! Because 'Annabelle: Creation', While still a bit off being something truly 'Great' IS absolutely moving things in the right direction and was STREETS ahead of 'Annabelle' on all fronts.

The film acts as an 'origin' story for 'Annabelle', The film opens in 1943 as we're introduced to the 'Mullins' family, Mr. Mullins is a doll maker and bread winner for his wife and child 'Bee' (formally: Annabelle). In the introduction, we get to see a happy and fun, freeloving church going family loving life and everything in it! That is until tragedy strikes! when, while fixing a flat tyre by the side of the road, 'Bee' runs into the road to grab a Nut that fell of the tyre and is instantly obliterated by an oncoming truck.

We then flash forward 12 years to 1955, and we're introduced to Janice, a young girl whos just survived Polio, is recovering in a leg brace, and is on a bus with a whole bunch of other children who are being relocated to a new 'permanent residency' as they're orphans being cared for by the catholic church.

Sister Charlotte is leading the trip, and when they arrive at their destination, its non other than that 'Mullins house'! But things have changed somewhat, the lively and happy family home is now a drab and deteriorating place, with Mrs. Mullins seemingly kept out of sight at more or less all times, and Mr. Mullins being a shadow of his former self.

The girls are given free roam of the house barring two rooms, a downstairs space where Mr and Mrs Mullins primarily reside, and a locked room upstairs that Janice tries to explore, but is stopped by Mr. Mullins who tells her the room is locked, and that she's never to go in there…

Well, Janice is a bullied Polio survivor with only one other friend 'Linda' who is split between wanting to support and help Janice, while also wanting to just…Be a kid and explore and have fun with the other girls…Needless to say this creates a small bit of animosity between the pair, and a great sense of isolation for Janice who, when things finally DO get too much, decides to break into the room to see whats going on.

She finds what appears to be a little girls room, and after exploring for a bit, she finds a key, and after exploring for a little bit more she finds a door, and on opening that door, she finds the 'Annabelle' doll seemingly locked in what appears to be a closet filled with Bible passages (im sure this wont be an issue…)

Anyway; as you can imagine, once that doors opened, strange things begin to happen in the house, people start going missing, getting injured, the Annabelle doll starts teleporting around the house, and a sense of unease grows and grows as Linda begins to worry about her friend and the dark forces that are congregating on the house. Eventually leading to a devastating incident and revelations about the Mullins family that will result in a fight for life, death and a battle against the forces of good and evil.

And across the board, theres some big improvements here over their original attempt at spinning this series off. For a starters, the script is much more compelling, much more engaging, has nowhere near as much 'character fluff' or meandering while character info dump heavily. the pacing is a lot tighter and quicker than the first film, the dialogue feels a lot tighter, more naturalistic and believable, the characters feel deeper, more complex and it feels like they actually get some decent development across the runtime.

There are still a few moments where things lull a bit, and what im assuming is plot points where the camera will linger on a shot for a while (I assume to create a sense of tension) where instead, it'll just feel a bit boring. This one also is about 10 minutes longer than the first film, and I do feel it could have benefitting from one more pass through on the editing front to tighten it up just a *bit* more…5-10 minutes tops…but that really would have made a difference.

Otherwise? this is a pretty solidly scripted venture, that I was engaged with pretty much throughout. And while, again, it isnt the most original or refreshing watch in the world. its definitely a step up on what preceded it. and is getting closer to something I could wholeheartedly endorse.

On the direction front, again, its much the same. This outing felt a lot higher quality. the previous film had moments that bordered on 'asylum' level quality in terms of a creative vision, whereas this outing felt much more in line with the 'Conjuring' films in terms of stylisation, tone and creative direction. Theres still an heir of drabness to the colour choices and set design. But they have mixed at least a BIT more vibrancy back into the fold, creating a kind of compromise between 'what I want, and what I'll settle for.' It looks fine, it feels like an actual studio grade picture! which, given it IS an actual studio grade picture is definitely a plus!

Same goes for the cine, compositions are MUCH more considered than 'Annabelle' was, sequences feel more thought out and are better structured. it results in a smoother, neater and MUCH more professional looking production. And while again, it isnt exactly redefining horror cinema. It feels visually like a sturdy and grounded piece intent on just, really nailing the basics. Which I think it does rather successfully.

The performances too are a massive step up, I wont talk about the child actors in this, as per my own personal moral rules around not critiquing people who are still in the VERY early years of a professional career. Other than to say I had no broad issues with any of them, and they all brought a decent sense of 'realness' to the production.

Stephanie Sigma and Anthony LaPaglia as Sister Charlotte and Mr. Mullins are basically our human cast for this production outside of the kids, and they're both fairly solid…if I was going to be crtitical, I think LaPaglia's performance is a little flat and one note, I appreciate theres a reason for that (which I wont get into because…spoilers) But even so, I do feel like he could have given the deliveries just a little more range, even if it was within the area that hes been asked to work within. Theres PLENTY of shades to be played with a flat/depressed character style…but his turn feels like we spend most of the film with him just constantly idling in one gear…which is a shame. Otherwise though, they're both very solid performers who more than meet the brief!

As for the soundtrack…its trying to be 'Insidious'…I mean, theres nothing INHERENTLY wrong with wanting to try and imitate the music cues and styles from 'Insidious'…it did it quite well! But, thats how the music and timings and cues came across to me when watching this, it felt like a slightly poorer attempt to copy it…and…it works for this movie, but it does also make it feel a bit half hearted at the same time. I think they'd have been better off trying to give this thing a new voice musically, something that seperated it from the ambient malevolence combined with old novelty 'jukebox' hits style that a LOT of films from this time, and now, repeatedly find themselves falling into…I know its asking a bit much for the 2nd 'Annabelle' spin off to try an original 'strike out' against the status quo…but its an ask non the less…

All in all? 'Annabelle Creation' is a solid work. theres nothing here I can inherently point to that completely ruins the work, and I came away from it thinking that it was a sturdy, but ultimately kind of 'safe' watch that I wished had gone a bit further than it did. One I can almost certainly see myself watching again, and as for whether I can recommend it or not? Well; i'd say if you liked 'The Conjuring' films, movies like 'Sinister' or 'Ouija: Origin of Evil' But REALLY didnt like the first 'Annabelle' this one may be worth your time…If your more of a 'cream of the crop' horror fan though, you may want to look elsewhere.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/annabelle-creation/

by tytdreviews

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, 1971 – ★★★★

One thats been on the back burner for quite some time 'Lets Scare Jessica To Death' is a kind of pseudo Hitchcockian work crossed with a dash of 'The Wicker Man'. an oft forgotten mid budget studio flick thats had a larger resurgence over the past few years. I'd had it recommended to me a few times over the past few months, so I swiped it from Shout factory during a recent OOP sale and I really dont have any regrets.

The film follows 'Jessica' a new yorker whos spent the last 6 months in psychiatric care for 'unknown' reasons. Who's travelling with her husband and best friend out to the 'sticks' to get away from the hustle and bustle and hopefully start a new life in an old orchard and farm house.

The locals to the area however dont take too kindly to the gang when they turn up with a Hearse packed with their personal belongings…nor are they happy that said hearse has a tiny 'Love' hippie logo on the side of it. and so, the gang are more or less immediately shunned.

Nevertheless, they head up to the farmhouse, only…Jessica is having a bit of an issue, she keeps seeing strange women staring at her from a distance. She tries to convince herself that they arnt looking at her, but when she gets into the house she finds a squatter who frightens the life out of her. This, is Emily. A woman with almost no background, history or explanation for how she got where she is. She almost packs up and leaves then and there…But Jessica and the gang are an affable bunch and ask her to have dinner with them, and to spend the night.

But things start to go a bit strange from there. Emily seems to have a bit of a hypnotic presence over the household. the gang find various antiques in the place that Emily tries to pursuade the gang to keep, rather than sell…and when Jessica and her husband finally DO take some of the antiques down to a local trader. He explains that, unbenownst to the pair, the house they've purchased has a bit of a macarbre history, with theories ranging from ghosts, to vampires, to murderers and beyond being flung around.

As Emily begins to get more and more involved in the gangs lives, and slowly Jessica begins to feel more and more isolated, paranoid and unwell. the tension escalates into a violent and thrilling finale that'll have most on the edge of their seats!

And, i'll be honest, while some people rave about this film (Kim Newman claims this is his favourite horror film of all time) I thought it was a really solid slow burn psychodrama/horror piece…But not one without its faults.

The plot itself is, as mentioned, very slow burn, very much around building up atmosphere and tension, and I think it really succeeds at that. the pacing is a little bit *too* slow in places for my taste, but when it gets the balance right, its a masterclass in building unease and suspense. the tone has a serious feeling of forboding running right through its core. Which it also handles fantastically.

We have a clean 3 act structure with borderless smooth transitions that work fantastically, the characters are detailed enough to make you care, vague enough to keep you asking questions. they all get decent exploration and development across the runtime, and their various payoffs I feel are very much worth it.

The ending is a little bit sudden, but is ultimately still satisfying, and the twists and turns will make sure you're firmly planted to your seat throughout!

The direction and cine is gorgeous, taking on an almost 'folk horror' aesthetic. The choice to shoot this in early fall creates a misty, amber toned colder toned feature that really puts you in the mood for that autumnal vibe. Theres a clear and distinct creative vision behind this that really helps keep the audience hooked and the consistency really has to be applauded.

Same for the cine, beautifully choreographed shots that have rock solid compositions, are creative and burst with colour and rich detail. I loved the visuals here, and while it does share some elements of its cinematography with films like 'Night of the living dead' it feels in many wayt to be an evolution of that style. All of this is beautifully curated into a wonderfully precise edit that I really just fell in love with.

The performances are where I do have to dock it some points. while, broadly speaking, the cast are pretty solid and DO get some really great moments to work through a good range of emotions with some VERY meaty dialogue. I really struggled at times with some of the delivery choices…particularly from Zohra Lampert and Mariclaire Costello…Both of which were fine for about 75% of there deliveries…but that 25% where they didnt nail it, either came across as totally unbelievable, or overtly campy in a way I am (assuming) was not intended.

The soundtrack was also a bit of a mixed bag for me, its a very stripped back ambient piece of heavy bass, synth and acoustic guitar. A strange brew for sure, and one that hits about as much as it missed for me. I still cant quite make my mind up as to whether I loved it, or hated it…

All in all though, colour me impressed! I thought 'Lets Scare Jessica to Death' isnt an overt horror in the traditional sense. It has more in line with 'The Haunting' or 'Footprints on the Moon' than it does more traditional horror offerings. But its script and aesthetic really won me over, and I can definitely recommend checking this one out if you havent seen it before. I personally think it would pair up as a great 'warm up' film for something like 'The WIcker Man' as a double feature.

But if your looking for a more soft touch psychological horror this Halloween, then I think you should really give this one a go.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/lets-scare-jessica-to-death/

by tytdreviews

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments — Sting of Death, 2026 – ★★★★

After the 'Netflix'/'Gizmoplex' era came to a rumbling halt. The IP for 'Mystery Science Theater' was purchased by 'Shout! Studios' who decided to contact the chaps and chapettes behind 'Rifftrax' to see if they'd fancy having a go at making a few episodes of the show. Which…well, they did (otherwise I wouldnt be writing about this right now).

'The Rifftrax Experiments' is more of a 'homecoming' experience, than an experiment to modernize. Whereas the 'Netflix' era of the show wanted to experiment and grow MST3K into a more modern iteration of the show started on public access nearly 3 decades prior. The Rifftrax Experiments aims to preserve as much of the core foundations of MST3K from 'The Mike Years' but simply update and modernise the technical standards of the old show to a more modern sensibility. If the Netflix era of the show was taking the house back to its bones and remodelling with 'tasteful' sensibilities, the 'Rifftrax experiments' is very much renovating the place while trying to retain as much of the original structure, design and aesthetics as possible.

And they've really gone all out on that front bringing back Bill, MIke, Kevin, Mary-Jo, Trace, Frank and as many of the original 'Mike Era' production staff as could be traced and willingly pulled back into the mad house. all older, all wiser and all ready and willing to go with the paint rollers and spackle.

My biggest concern with this iteration was that it may pander a bit too much to 'fanwank' as its dubbed. I love MST3K when its good, and something that would stop that dead in its tracks would be a show that was overly self referential, a little TOO happy to pat itself on the back, and willing to sacrifice quality for easy 'low hanging fruit' style gags.

And Im VERY pleasently appeased to say that while this very much has the face of the 'Sci Fi' years, its absolutely moved with the times and is embracing the new world. Mike and the bots glide naturally back into their roles, the humour is a 'moved with the times' update on their original patter. It feels different to their 'Rifftrax' offerings in terms of joke structure. but it feels more open to darker or stranger humour than the original MST run. And while their are still obscure witticisms to be had, they never go for the easy targets.

A big critique I had with the 'Netflix' years was the quality of jokes felt a bit inconsistent, and the pacing was so breakneck that it meant there wasnt room for the humour to breath. While we're only one episode into this 'limited time event' series. I felt the humour was consistently good, the tone was well balanced between whimsy, dark humour and goofball riffs. and the pacing was WAY more in line with the original MST3K giving the audience some time to process what was ACTUALLY being said.

To that end, 'Sting of Death' is a fantastic choice for an opening gambit, giving me mild 'Blood Waters of Dr. Z' vibes its a cheesy pseudo 'monster movie' from the 60s comeplete with a 'hick-a-doo-la' soundtrack. its just the kind of thing that viewers need for familiarity. Its a truly cheesy movie, and the gang relish the chance to take it to town. I dont know if I could stomach watching it 'unriffed' but riffed, it definitely takes on a new dimension.

In short, this is a REALLY strong start for the new era of the show. One im glad I backed on kickstarter, and if you had any doubts about the quality of this run, I can absolutley confirm, this is very much like slipping into some well worn and very comfy shoes. With a strong personality and sense of familiarity. 'The Rifftrax Experiments' are definitely worth checking out if your an old school MSTiE. And im very much looking forward to seeing what comes next.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/mystery-science-theater-3000-the-rifftrax/

by tytdreviews

Insidious: Chapter 3, 2015 – ★★★½

Having enjoyed the first two chapters in the 'Insidious' franchise last Halloween. Myself and the missus decided to continue on this spooky season to the next entry for better or worse. and throwing even more 'danger' into the mix, this ones a prequel…

'Insidious: Chapter 3' follows the 'Saw' pathway to sequels and prequels, in the sense that it takes place just before the original 'Insidious' but because the first film jumped around in time between the *then* present and the more distant past. Characters and elements from the 'past' segments of that film end up tying back into this film helping create a firmer bridge in the narrative storytelling of this world.

Our story here is set a year or two before the first 'Insidious' and our main character is 'Quinn' a student who dreams of getting into a performing arts academy in New York, and has been handed a golden opportunity to interview for a placement there. When we meet Quinn however for the first time, she's on a somewhat different mission. As she arrives at Elise's house looking to try and make contact with her mother who passed away from Breast cancer a short time ago.

Elise politely, but firmly tells Quinn that she doesnt contact the dead anymore. But after hearing how far Quinn had travelled to meet her, and how desperate she is for closure, she reluctantly agrees…triggering a horrifying incident for her that brings the meeting to an abrupt end.

Things go from bad to worse for Quinn, when her audition flounders somewhat, and she gets increasing pressure of her Dad to 'step up' in supporting him in running the house. AND, to cap it all off. She randomly gets mowed down by a car.

The injury nearly kills her, but she just about manages to hang on. With two broken legs, a neck brace and a LOT of bruises, she's essentially bedbound and feeling very depressed about the whole incident. But when she starts hearing noises in the wall, she thinks shes found a friend…Little does she know this new found friend is anything BUT friendly…in fact, they're rather 'Insidious!'

While this goes on Elise starts to really struggle with the fact that whenever she tries to contact the dead, her special skill and a gift she's used for years, she winds up in a horrifying recurring scenario. Not only that, but her husband recently took his own life, and she's still trying to process the grief from that.

When Quinn begins to have bizarre and distinctly paranormal events happen to her, her dad reaches out again to Elise asking for help, she steps in, but is quickly overwhelmed. WIth the spirit thats invaded their apartment seemingly having untold levels of terror and a thirst to claim as many new victims as it can…it'll be down to Elise, Quinns family and some paranormal investigators to find out what is attacking Quinn and the family, and put a stop to it.

I was skeptical going into this one. The first two insidious films were fine enough, definitely enjoyable, but I felt kind of flawed…So I was pleasently surprised to find that this one, while not exactly 'groundbreaking' was a step up from the last two entries for me.

The script moves at a clip, its 98 minutes long and feels a lot shorter than that. The plots engaging, contrasting some really nice horror moments with some more lighthearted segments in a blend that I feel by this point has really been perfected. The tone of the film is consistent and has some genuinely eerie moments across the runtime. While it didnt exactly 'wow' me. I appreciated what it was trying to do, which was keep things simple, but very well done. And I feel they succeeded at that.

The act structuring is solid with nice, smooth transitions; the characters all get some nice depth and complexity, almost all of them have decent arcs that leave the characters clearly in a different place from where they started. We get a lot more backstory and depth to Elises character which is nice, and it helps set the ground work for the first film up nicely.

My only concern with this series at this point is that I feel that this series is going to encounter the same problem as the 'Saw' films have had, which is that they killed their central character in the first movie…Which means every subsequent film either has to be a prequel to the first, a film that happens in parallel with the first film, or in the case of 'Insidious' as a weird kind of 'force ghost' cameo in each movie that cant interact with the main story, but can appear to offer vague cryptic advice or to help kick the ghosts in the nads. I dont think it'll be a dealbreaker. But the more they add to this franchise with Elise as the lynch pin, the more bizarre and disjointed the series will likely become.

Other than those gripes, theres quite a good run in this! The direction here is a good solid piece of work with some nice developments on ideas brought in through the first 2 films. There are some Parallels to be drawn with the way this film is shot creatively, and the creative choices in 'The Conjuring 2' which I thought was interesting…But! whats here works well, they dont often lean on jumpscares which wins it some points in my books and they manage to give the film an unsettling feeling without having to 'try' to be scary all that much.

The cine isnt revolutionary, but this is a sturdy work with maybe a smidge too much CGI for my tastes. But shots are consistent and follow the rules. composition is interesting and engaging. with lots of nice tracking and motion shots helping create sequences that flow and ebb smoothly creating a seemingly constantly moving picture that I actually had quite a soft spot for.

Performances here were a bit up and down. Stefani Scott as Quinn is a bit of a wasted opportunity for me. shes set up as the lead, but doesnt really get much chance to shine. While she does get a reasonable range to work with, The film basically pulls her out of the hot seat around halfway into the 2nd act, and she never really gets to have the deserved level of closure that her character should have had. She gets a rushed closing to her story that, while tying off all the loose ends. Felt unsatisfying.

By contrast Lin Shaye has the opposite problem. Shes brought into the film initially as a supporting character that *should* have ended up as the B-plot soft launching her character into a more main character position that would be 'Insidious'…But as this film goes on, she slowly creeps more and more into the forefront, eventually turning the entire film into an 'Elise' movie. Her performance for the most part is really solid. But as her character slowly but surely minimises everyone elses requirement to be in this film. shes put in increasinly 'fan fiction' style scenarios that I simultaineously found a bit cringy…But also bizarrely watchable. I really like Shayes performances in these movies, because she genuinely seems to be enjoying herself and she gets a really good range to work with…But there were moments here where I really wish the scriptwriters hadnt leant on her quite so much.

The rest of the cast run a spectrum of 'Passable' to poor. and much like my comments on Shayes performance. how good/bad they are is generally determined by how much/little they're on screen. Are they a support character thats got 30+ minutes of screen time? they're pretty solid. Are they a Z-list character thats on screen collectivley for 2 and a bit minutes? they're horrendous. theres no middle ground.

And as for the soundtrack? well…they mainly stick to ambient drone here…sometimes harsh, sometimes soft. with the occasional jukebox track to break things up. Its inoffensive, but kind of unoriginal…It would have been nice for them to have tried something a bit different. Though, I will say, they use 'silence' here VERY effectively in creating horror and suspense. its particularly notable I feel.

All in all? I think this may be my favourite 'Insidious' film up to this point. Its got a decent runtime, solid cine and direction. the scripting is maybe a little basic, but sturdy. And even though I feel the characters and performances have some issues. They seem to have compensated for it by giving these characters a bit more depth and personality.

This is the first 'Insidious' film i've seen that I think i'd have absolutely no problem popping on for a rewatch in future. Its a smooth watch and perfect background fodder. I'd also be more than happy to recommend this one, and given its a prequel you could watch this one first and not really have anything spoiled in the later movies. So yeah! This halloween, check out 'Insidious 3' why dont you! its pretty good!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/insidious-chapter-3/

by tytdreviews

Annabelle, 2014 – ★★

The first 'spin off' film from the 'Conjuring' franchise is pretty much the definition of 'Did we REALLY need this?' as we get a prequel that partially explains how 'Annabelle' a possessed Doll came to be trapped in a glass case in the basement of the Warrens house…Its…its not as interesting as you'd expect.

The core plot revolves around Mia and John, a good wholesome happy couple who are expecting their first born child…when…im GUESSING (its never firmly confirmed) 2 members of the 'Manson family' break into their house, stabs Mia in the stomach, murders their neighbours and beats up John. The cult members are ultimately killed via a mixture of police gunfire and a suicide. But the event shakes Mia to her core.

The pair are relieved to find out their baby has survived the incident, but Mia is told to essentially spend the rest of her pregnancy in bed. But while that works out for a while…eventually she begins to notice strange goings on around the home, items moving of their own accord and such…eventually a full on fire breaks out in the place forcing the pair to move into an apartment complex…and the only constant in all of this is a strange doll bought shortly before the home invasion as a gift to Mia, a doll she'd been looking for for a VERY long time. That contains a terrible terrible evil.

When Mia's baby is born, the pair are delighted. But Mias blissful early days of motherhood turn into a nightmare, as the demons that plague the mysterious doll begin a horrifying attack on the family with even worse outcomes for all involved.

The story of the original 'Annabelle' doll isnt really all that interesting (Basically a nurse brought a doll from a second hand store, they then claimed they saw some unusual antics like stuff moving around the apartment. one of their room mates didnt like the vibe it gave off…they spoke to a medium who said a young girl possessed the doll…then one of the room mates claimed the doll or *something* attacked them while they slept. Which bought the Warrens in, who claimed that the doll in fact contained a TERRIBLE demon…and the pair offered to take the doll off their hands for safe keeping…) But that wouldnt make an all that interesting story…so we ended up with a very poorly made, badly handled analogy for post partum depression instead.

Yeah…I really didnt enjoy this one. The plot itself isnt as engaging or interesting as the 'Conjuring' movies, there really wasnt much of a need to do this honestly…the subtext of depression is handled very heavy handedly and doesnt feel satisfying or well done. The characters arnt particularly interesting or well written, the dialogue feels incredibly throw away and seemingly written to get the runtime up past feature runtime and thats about it.

I think the biggest problem this film has is that its just not that fun. It feels like a contractual obligation of a film, rather than something that had earned its chance to exist. It feels like its constantly TRYING to be a horror film. or what ITS interpretation of a horror film should be. and the problem with that is that it ends up resulting in a film that feels simultaineously cliche, NOT scary and frankly a bit beige and by the numbers.

The pacing is glacial, it feels more like a series of short films with the same characters rather than one coherent narrative plot. given its 45 minutes shorter than 'The Conjuring 2' it easily felt longer than any of the Conjuring movies up to this point. Tonally it doesnt feel in line with the other films in the series. Annabelle as a paranormal 'being' isnt scary, barely gets anything to do for most of the runtime…she's just a very dull and uninspiring villain, and absolutely not strong enough to carry this movie…im honestly amazed theres (at least) another 2 of these. I can only assume the folks who unconditionally love this film are the cinematic equivilent of giving a victorian orphan 'Baja Blast'.

The direction feels cheap, again is very cliche and really did nothing for me. its coherent as a studio work. But this really is the very VERY barest of minimums. When I say i've seen low/no budget films look better than this. Im not kidding, and thats BEYOND depressing.

The cine is flat, lifeless, desaturated and bland. I hate to feel like a broken record, but its all very cliched again….the sequences cut together fine enough, and theres a couple of nice moments here and there. But on the whole, its a very boring watch.

The cast are fine…theres no inherently awful performances. But nothing great. they're all just kind of on the level. Unremarkable is about as good as I can describe them, and when I say they're also the best part of the film. I hope that emphasizes how below the standard we are…

throw in a soundtrack that sounds mainly like recycled tracks from a sound library. and we have a film that I would derogatorily compare to a 'Tubi Original' if it wasnt for the fact that i've actually seen Tubi movies that were better put together than this.

I dunno, im not a parent, maybe if you are, you'll get more out of this than I did…But i'll be honest, I spent a big chunk of this drumming my fingers waiting for it to be over…which took a LOT longer than I expected. I cant recommend this one, its really not worth your time, and it'll be a good while before I give this one a second chance.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/annabelle/

by tytdreviews