TYTD Reviews

One that piqued my interest based on the premise and tagline alone. 'The Blackening' is a horror comedy with a fairly simple premise: Take an all black cast, lock them in the equivalent of a 'Saw' style trap and see what happens, because; as the tagline quips, they 'Cant all die first.'

As a result, the film is a mixture of self aware comedy highlighting black oppression and poking fun of how the media percieve black characters in horror films, while also presenting an actually quite compelling Slasher movie. Initially when I landed on this on Tubi, I was expecting something of the same vein and ilk as the 'Scary Movie' films…But having now seen it, I can say this is much MUCH more thoughtful and much more subtle than I had anticipated.

At this point i'd usually talk about the plot, but what I described in the opening of this review *IS* essentially the plot of the movie, a group of friends take some time to hang out in a log cabin style house in the woods, they find a boardgame called 'The Blackening' and that triggers a 'Saw' style fight to survive with the friends quipping and arguing about who is 'The blackest' while crossbow armed killers stalk the grounds and try to slowly pick them off.

The script itself is a little slowburn truthfully, but its a satisfying burn that delivers on the premise *IF* you go into this knowing that its not going to be an intense 'in your face' style slapstick comedy, and is in fact something a bit more thoughtful in what it wants to say. The pacing may be a bit on the slower side, but it eeks out a satisfying narrative and tone across the runtime that I thought was quite endearing honestly.

The dialogues a little mixed in terms of some rock solid one liners that made me gut laugh, through to some lines that felt a little thin on the ground. But its the topics the film deals with (such as how 'black' a bi-racial woman is vs how 'black' a guy who's parents were from south africa is) that fuel a lot of the humour and push the film along.

Tonally I think it gets the balance about right, leading with a horror edge, but contrasting at a 40/60 rate with largely intelligent humour aimed at making the audience think a bit beyond the usual slapstick. Can I say I laughed at every little thing the film threw at me? No. But I can say it kept my attention for the full runtime, and I did a few gut laughs along the way, which worked for me.

The film actually does a pretty good job of keeping the characters fairly shallow in terms of complexity and depth. But still managing to make them endearing and enjoyable to watch. I think its a good sign when I still care and am invested in the characters when the film doesnt really do a lot to bed them into having a history that extends beyond the titles and credits. So that definitely is working in its favour.

It has a fairly solid 3 act structure, seamless transitions between those 3 acts, the ending is pretty satisfying, and while there were no plot twists that made me double take, it was still fun seeing the twists unfold and how the characters reacted to them.

The direction and cine is relatively strong, given this was more of a 'mid budget' production, I think its definitely in the upper half of the bracket for creative quality, cinematography, sequence building and the edit was pretty rock solid too. Its nothing groundbreaking. But its a rock solid production that does take some risks here and there, that largely pays off what it tries to put in. So its a big win in my books.

The performances are fine as well, nothing incredible, maybe just a smidge too eager to lean into stereotyping for a quick laugh than I personally would have liked, but the cast deliver the lines almost word perfect, bring a good physicality to proceedings and made me laugh with reactions to scenarios and their joke pacing/deliveries. So I'll say they're a solid bunch honestly.

As for the soundtrack? while its nice to get away from ambient drone music thats plagued the horror genre now for over 15 years. The score for this is mainly rap and R&B tracks…which isnt entirely surprising. But at the same time I dont feel it always *quite* works with the narrative and edit thats being presented. there are moments where it feels a bit out of step with the action or story on screen, and i'd say it maybe hits about 30-40% of the time. It would have been nice to have seen the score editing be a bit tighter, as it does somewhat let the film down and gives it a vibe that more closely resembles a 'Straight to Tubi' film.

All in all? I was quite surprised by 'The Blackening' Is it one of the best horror films of 2022? No. but I was expecting a campy and tacky stereotypical, 'lowest common denominator' comedy horror film, and what I got was an actually pretty solidly made horror film with decent social commentary and some good laughs in there too. Put it this way, theres a sequel, and after seeing this im MORE than curious to go check that one out too. So I guess i'd say, if your curious, its more than worth checking out at least once. Will it change your life? No. But its definitely worth the price of admission, even if it is a 'one time watch.'

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-blackening/

I've put off checking out 'Creepshow 2' for WAY too long…in part because for the longest time it was only available on VHS in the UK, and in part because it just never really worked its way to the top of my backlog…but tonight was the night I finally gave it a shot, and i'll be honest…I dont have a lot to say about it that I didnt cover when I originally wrote about 'Creepshow'.

I dont wanna be lazy about my thoughts on this one, but its kind of hard not to be…This has the same vibe and tone as the original 'Creepshow' with my only feedback being that I dont much care for the framing device (the original framing device was the audience flying through a comic book confiscated by a grounded boys father. This introduces a horror host called 'The Creep' who introduces each segment, and while the original was a mixture of live action and animation. These segments (barring and intro and outro) are almost exclusively animated.

I feel the framing device of the first one worked a lot better and wasnt as intrusive as the sequel. I didnt TOTALLY dislike the sequels framing. I just dont think it hangs as well.

I also didnt care much for 'The Raft' the other two stories are as enjoyable as the entries from the first film, but 'The Raft' specifically just felt a bit thin on the ground and didnt really offer much of a satisfying conclusion. it dragged and left me wishing they could have done something a bit more interesting with it.

My final critique is that across the board it just comes across as a bit cheaper on a technical level, theres less interesting cine choices such as adding in 'comic book' panel style framings. the lighting isnt as interesting or experimental, theres less colour gel work, the stories seem less experimental or 'out there'… I still enjoyed the film and as mentioned, its really not THAT different from the original in terms of quality and standards. I still wholeheartedly recommend checking it out, but you do need to prepare for the fact that this looks and feels like someone trying to make the 'original' creepshow on a lower budget, and that it doesnt quite flow as smoothly as the original either.

If you can get your head around that though, this ones great fun!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/creepshow-2/

One thats been on the backlog for a good while now, When Vinegar Syndrome announced a 4k release of 'Devil Times Five' I decided to take the plunge and finally pick it up…admittedly, its taken me a little while since its release to get to it…But thats by the by.

The plots relatively straightforward, a group of friends head up to a mountain retreat thats under heavy snowfall to iron out the details of the opening of a new Sanitarium. Theres some tension between the adults for various 'slights' and personality clashes thats just about managable given the distance and space of normal society, but in the cabin conditions, things become a bit pressurized.

Complicating and inflaming matters further however, a minibus containing 5 mentally ill murderous children is run off the road (under MYSTERIOUS circumstances that may have involved the murderous children being…murderous.) killing the driver and a nun who was acting as security. The children wander through the snow, eventually find the retreat, and…by playing dumb and pretending to just 'be kids' the adults willingly let them in, and try to reassure them help will be on the way.

And what follows is about 50 minutes of increasing tensions between the adults that bubble over due to cabin fever, with an added level of terror and fear as the adults all slowly start to get picked off one by one by the kids…in a film that I can only really suggest either features VERY stupid adults, or VERY clever kids…

I'll be honest, I was a bit disappointing by this one, after the initial pitch and some time on the backlog, I had high expectations, expecting something like 'Mikey' or 'The Children' in terms of consistant pacing and over the top kills. But the reality is, this is more of a slow burn psycho-drama with horror elements, which takes a good while to spin up, and once it does get going, does reward the viewer…But doesnt quite meet expectations.

The script itself has glimmers of good moments across the runtime, odd dialogue snatches, some of the kills are interesting, and the third act finally revs up to something a bit more in line with expectations. But that first act is PAINFULLY slow to get started, splutters into gear through most of the second act but is fighting to keep momentum till closing. The characters are all a little undercooked, and you REALLY have to suspend your disbelief for a big chunk of this in terms of the choices the characters make throughout this. Because if you apply logic for even a moment, you'll start tailspinning.

the pacing is lumpy, there isnt so much of an act structure present, the first act is pretty clean…but the 2nd and 3rd feel a bit homogenized. Tonally it feels like it wants to aim for something like 'Theater of Blood' in terms of being dark with a tongue in cheek element…but it doesnt quite nail the humour, nor does it really get dark enough. its campy on and off…but never quite feels consistent enough to nail it.

I would talk about the direction and cine here in depth, but being honest, the technical specifications for this film are problematic to say the least. Theres a few solid set pieces that do work in the films favour. But the edit is INCREDIBLY rough, theres an overreliance on slow motion or just…freezing the frame of the film for seconds at a time…for reasons that arnt fully explained. One kill is played entirely in slow motion and runs for at least 2-4 minutes…unbroken. Which is painful honestly to sit through.

Its definitely a distinct look and feel…but something can be 'distinct' and 'unique' and still be kind of rubbish…

As mentioned, the edit is hard work, cuts happen too soon or too late for most of the runtime, B-roll is just…tossed around, whether it makes sense or not. as mentioned the slow mo and freeze frame stuff is in abundence and really pulls the viewer out of the experience….its a frustrating piece. 'Distinct'…but frustrating.

Not helped either by a mixed ability cast thats split down the middle between blunt, campy and WAY too over the top…and not in a fun way, to just about okay…but a little dry. There isnt really any standout performances, nothing I can point to to say this is worth watching for this particularly scene/moment…its just middle of the road and backsliding from start to finish.

And the soundtrack, is basically one melody with about 7 varients, that plays almost on a loop for the full runtime. It works for the film and is somehow edited in better than the visuals. But its mind numbingly overused and will haunt me as an earworm for the rest of Halloween….

All in all, It didnt meet my expectations, thats not a bad thing inherently as there were moments that I thought were fun. But even so, there was a LOT of missed opportunities here. It really just wasnt for me ultimately…I think this could possibly pair as the 'lesser' film in a double feature with something like 'Sleepaway Camp'…But unless you REALLY dig your 'Killer Kids' movies…you probably can afford to give this one a miss.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/devil-times-five/

8 Years after the series commenced, and 5 years since the last mainline entry…and multiple MULTIPLE spin offs and sequels that were 'alright', but didnt properly cut the mustard for me personally. The series seems to return to some form of 'form' with 'The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made me Do It'. a film that actually surprised me that it was actually quite a bit better than i'd expected.

The film continues to follow the Warrens as the explore and document the occult and supernatural. Its 1981, and the film opens with them taking part in an exorcism of a little boy who is seemingly possessed by a demon. However; during the exorcism, Ed suffers a bad heart attack and the demon possessing the boy, seemingly jumps into the boys sisters boyfriend 'Arnie'.

Ed's rushed to the hospital, and everyone assumes, since things have stopped flying around and the kids alright, that the exorcism was a success. But a short time later, Arnie is picked up on the roadside covered in blood after murdering the owner of a local kennel. Though; its quite quickly apparent that the demon is FAR from exorcised, and that something MUCH more sinister is going on than just your bog standard possession.

With Ed on a strictly 'take it easy' instruction from the hospital, The Warrens are summoned to the prison, where Arnie explains that he believes the demon has possessed him and killed, asking Ed and Lorraine to help them prove that 'the Devil made him do it.' the court, solicitors and the police are MORE than skeptical. But Ed and Lorraine believe Arnies story, Putting the Warrens on an journey to trace how the demon possessed the family in the first place…and down an even darker pathway of satanic rituals, witchcraft and a direct attack on the Warrens that threatens to take the pair out for good.

And, this is probably the most solid work that 'The Conjuring' franchise has offered since its initial entry. I'll be honest, after 6 films of 'Ghost/demon possesses someone and everyone gets spooked for 2 hours' I was starting to get fatigued. By introducing cults, witchcraft and other forms of possession into the mix, and shifting the action away from a single entity possessing a household and terrorising a family, it gives this entry and great refresh to explore the characters and scenarios in a way that the series hasnt really done up until this point.

Across the board, I have very little to complain about, the pacing moves at a reasonable clip, the act structures are clearly in place and have seamless transitions to flow between them. the characters have a decent complexity and arc to help develop them, the script itself is largely serious but contrasts very dark moments with some genuinely funny edits and tonal changes that help create a sense of variety across the runtime. Which is something I can say this film does quite a bit better than the first entry.

There are a few moments where things slow down a little bit, but these are minor quibbles, and the film ends about as strongly as it could do given the plotting. All in all it feels like they really learned from their mistakes while making the spin offs and older sequels and really tried to bake in fixes that do help to keep the thing boiant.

Outside of that? the directions pretty solid, maybe not as adventurous as it could have been, but definitely a step up compared to all other previous entries. Its a studio picture, so the basics are a given, but here it really does try to create a stylish and engaging output that I felt was satisfying to watch.

Same goes for the cine, which is well composed, and looks equally stylish and brings a good creative flare to proceedings. the edit is razor sharp, and really elevates the footage to the next level. I feel had this bit just been 'Competent' the rest of the film would have badly suffered for it. But I have to say, I think this really is a solid piece of work, that definitely bumps things up in my opinion.

The performances are a bit of a mixed bag, the supporting cast I personally thought were a bit flat and didnt quite come across as believable. I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth. but it just never quite gets there for me. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are slowly on their was to flandarization as Ed and Lorraine Warren, but they are still the strongest performers, and get the widest range to work with in this, which they do very well. I feel here, their relationship is portrayed the most genuinely of the trilogy, after the first film felt a bit too 'hallmark-y' and the second one felt WAY too heavy on the 'WE LOVE EACH OTHER!!!' vibes. Here, it still gets a bit schmaltzy at times…but it feels more realistic, especially when dealing with Eds heart attack and the fallout that comes with that.

And the soundtrack? is the same as it always has been, ambient drone and spooky orchestral tracks intercut with jukebox hits of 1980/1981. Its a good mix and blend here that helps keep things interesting, well used for the most part, but still feeling a tad generic to me.

The 3rd 'Conjuring' film left me overall pleasently surprised. I liked the pivot away from the usual 'haunted house' efforts. and across the board it felt like improvements had been made to correct issues the franchise has been struggling with for years. However; while it IS a lot of big improvements across the board, some pacing issues, dialogue choices and performance choices did hold it back from being an out and out success for me. I still dont believe these films *need* to be 2 hours long. and had this one been 10-15 minutes shorter, i'd have probably been a LOT happier.

Nevertheless, I can happily recommend this one, whether you've seen any of the other 'Conjuring' films or otherwise…this is probably the best entry since the first one. and is the first one I can definitely say I'd want to watch again without being prompted to. So yeah! I'd say, check it out.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-conjuring-the-devil-made-me-do-it/

Do you like the works of 'Ed Wood'? Did you enjoy the movie 'Teaserama'? Are you opposed to 'The Amazing Criswell' channeling his performance from 'Plan 9 from Outer space' as he plays the prince of Darkness. An evil being who lusts for sins of the flesh, lest he destroy everything? Then buddy, have I got the movie for you.

An offering somewhere in the haze of Ed Woods 'post horror sci fi' days. But in the earliest days of his ventures into 'Adult' movies. We have 'Orgy of the Dead' a film written by Wood, but not directed by him (though, for how it looks and feels youd be forgiven for thinking he directed it) that quite literally is the answer to the question 'What id 'Teaserama' had Halloween themed DLC'

The plots paper thin. Featuring a young couple who are deeply in love, who crash their car off a cliff and wake up on a graveyard where Criswell and his bride in all things darkness. Are commanding a sensual burlesque show to appease the lord's of darkness.

Naturally the couple are quickly captured by the wolfman and a mummy, tied up, and are forced to watch these 'Lurid' acts, with a claim made on their souls if the dances fail to satisfy.

And what follows is basically 90 minites of Burlesque dancing featuring girls in skimpy halloween costumes. Intercut with occasional comedy from the wolfman or the mummy and occasional narrative points by Criswell.

Much like 'Teaserama' I cant say this is one id watch regularly. By the 15th minute of topless women doing VERY similar dance routines just in a slightly different skimpy costume, I found my attention waining. That being said, I think this offering *is* marginally more watchable than 'Teaserama' purely for the spooky 'plan 9' thematics, Criswell, and the fact the thing even HAS a wafer thin plot to begin with.

Its colourful, pops and has all the creaking charm youd expect from an Ed wood offering. Id definitely say its worth seeing at least once if your a fan of Woods horror and Sci fi work. But I think a lot of people will start drifting on this one fairly early on. Its cheesy goofy fun, but probably best enjoyed with a drink or three.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/orgy-of-the-dead/1/

I first caught 'The Cat' about 6 years ago when the wonderful folks over at 'Dead Formats' introduced me to it via a VCD copy of the film that had apparently been quite hard to come by. I was absolutely mesmerized by it, and was beyond dissapointed to hear (at the time) that it was very unlikely to ever get a legitimate western release…letalone a HD one. Skip forward 5 or so years though, and 88 Films COMPLETELY out of left field decides to just casually drop 'The Cat' on bluray in the UK, fully remastered with extras. It was basically a day 1 purchase for me. And while it has taken me a while to get around to rewatching it. I have to admit I loved it almost as much as I did the first time.

The film is set in the not too distant future of 1996 and predominantly follows 'Wisely' a journalist and paranormal investigator who also acts as our narrator for the film. who picks up on several bizarre thefts and murders in his local area and decides to investigate. it quickly becomes apparent that the thefts and murders are linked, but what Wisely doesnt know is that these are all of extra terrestrial origin!

We meet an alien princess and her defender named Errol who are both taking care of a supernatural cat with super-extraordinary powers and abilities. And while at first we're led to believe that they're up to no good. Its quickly revealed that they are in fact biding their time to take on ANOTHER alien species known as the 'Star Killers' that are essentially a kind 'Blob by way of 'The Thing' creature' thats able to ooze around and envelope humans essentially killing them and taking over their bodies in the process. When the princess and the cat steal an ancient artifact, Wisely begins to try and hunt them down. But when he finally DOES catch up to them, its revealed that the artifact may be the only thing thats able to save planet earth (and the galaxy even!) from total annihilation.

And ultimately; what I love about this film is the same thing that I love with 'House (Hasu)'…Which is that, on the surface this seems like a somewhat spooky science fiction action film. But every so often it takes THE most surreal left turns you'll ever see in your life. creating the kind of tonal whiplash that I seldom think many will experience in their lifetimes.

The pacing is positively ADHD driven, breakneck plotting with a clean and smooth 3 act transition. its a sloppy SLOPPY film, seemingly almost entirely running off of vibes and instinct. But that total chaos really helped to keep me engaged and on my toes for most of the runtime. While it doesnt always land the eccentricities perfectly, it has a bloody good hit rate, that caught me off guard the first time I Watched it, and continued to do so on the rewatch.

I think some of the dialogue is a little stiff and awkward at times, sometimes that works to the films favour in helping give the feature a more 'dream like' tone. but sometimes its just a bit creaky. the characters as well dont get a tremendous amount of depth and some of the scenes do drag a little past their strongest end point. But again, I dont so much mind that when the action is so breakneck you dont get TIME to wonder about the casts backstories.

Its really the 'vision' for this film that really takes it to the next level, absolutely bonkers levels of creativity are on display here with everything from puppets, to animatronics, to stop motion to guys in suits are utilized to the fullest. and combined with a VERY vivid and colourful colour palette, this is probably one of the wildest movies i've seen in a good while. the cinematography is sharp, crisp and B-roll is plentiful, leading to robust sequence building and a SUPER sharp edit that really appealed.

The visual effects are just delightful. and the cine is some of the most creative and interesting i've seen in a while. all in all, even if you dont care much for the plot of this one. its almost undenyable that this is a pretty good looking feature.

Add to that that the performances, while a little threadbare on detail are rock solid, and that the score is solidly memorable and probably one of my favorite Eastern horror soundtracks. and you've got a rock solid slice of fried gold on your hand. I wholeheartedly recommend you try and catch this this halloween season, its a trip and a half, and I really need to watch this WAY more than I have in the past.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-cat-1992/1/

As a fan of both Bill Rebane and Tiny Tim, I was MORE than piqued when I first found out about 'Blood Harvest'. An almost woozy, dreamy take on the horror film experience. And after waiting for the better part of 10 years to get a high quality copy of the film, I was a little underwhelmed. But! Its been at least 5-7 years since I last watched it, So tonight while on the road to Halloween, I thought i'd give it another spin.

The films about as straightforward as it comes, opening with a grizzly double suicide in a barn, followed by reports of murder/suicides in the surrounding area, before the film flashes forward and we're introduced to Jill. Jills a local to the area, but has been away for a few years studying. However; she's returned to her hometown with her partner 'Scott' to try and settle back in. And on returning she decides to drop by her childhood/teenage friends place to see how they're doing.

Jills friend is Gary, and; for a time, the pair were a little romantically involved. But nothing really ever got serious enough to go 'official' and then Jill left for her studies…and on returning Jill gets the fright of her life when standing in Garys kitchen, is a lumbering terrifying looking clown brandishing a bouqet of ruffled, hand picked flowers.

The clown, is 'Merv' (Tiny Tim) Garys brother who…at best is described as eccentric and at worst, mentally ill. Merv is a bit detached from reality, he was a bit quirky as a kid, and enjoyed largely talking to the animals on his parents farm. But when they were all slaughtered to bring money in to try and help keep the farm afloat. Something snapped in Merv and he slowly became more and more detached, and more and more into taking on the persona of a clown.

With the players all set in place, the film begins proper, and its basically a low budget slasher. with a mysterious killer appearing in town, having a VERY special interest in Jill and slowly but surely picking off all her friends and connections, with the ultimate goal being to 'get' Jill…The film HEAVILY implies that 'Merv' is the killer…but…it couldnt be Merv right?…right!?

What we have here is a CERTAINLY memorable, but not necessarily well made offering from Rebane, that mixes genuinely bizarre situations and choices with a LOT of padding, basic technical ability and a genuine struggle on line deliveries.

Tiny Tim is the only element here that elevates the script out of being THE most generic slasher movie of the 80s. And almost all of his moments in this film could be removed and it wouldnt make a lick of difference to the story or plot overall.

Tims sequences (with literally 1 or 2 exceptions) are largely isolated out of the main plot, and are the main reason to check this film out. He struggled badly with trying to remember lines, had to rely on cue cards and method acting when in his clown make up to make it through the scenes. and honestly, its a memorising performance that has to be SEEN to be believed. Dancing the line in places between something pseudo lynchian and horrendous. Its great!

The rest of the script though? well…its not the most inspiring slasher ever made, the pacing sluggishly pushes things along, there is a clean three act structure but its a bit heavy handed and doesnt quite flow naturalistically. The characters get a bit of backstory, but nothings seriously developed, the character arcs are all a bit shallow (with one or two exceptions) and the ending is 'shrug' worthy. Without Tiny Tim playing Merv. id have said this was a bore of a slasher film you could easily skip. But the deliveries he gives of the script combined with his improvisational moments really pull this production up to something that I still cant outright say is good, or even meets the basic brief of technical ability…But it IS fun in places and I cant deny that I enjoyed at least a good chunk of this one.

outside of that though? its generic across the board, Rebane as a director wasnt exactly known for being a polished creator or for pushing the medium into new places. He was a 'boxy' director who clunkily and painfully dragged his vision across the celluloid on multiple occasions. and 'Blood Harvest' is no different. we have a quite flat, low on flare, low on colour, low on finer detail and cast direction affair that feels blunt, aggressive in its minimalism and largely for function over form. This is not a pretty film, it communicates what it needs to, no more, no less.

The cine too is quite rough, compositions arnt always in focus, composed to the rule of thirds or following 'the line', sequences feel 'cleavered' together, and theres a burning sense that Rebane didnt have the time, budget or inclination for multiple takes. What was shot, was shot, and what was good enough got into the edit. In a way I admire that mentality of brutalism. But at the same time…it sits like sandpaper to any willing viewer.

Performance wise, Ive already sung the praises of Tiny Tim, who is just…SO bizarre and stilted in this thing, he's easily worth the price of admission and its clear to see why the branding reflects this. But credit I feel also has to go to Itonia Salchek as Jill. While the rest of the cast have very narrow tunnels to work with in terms of bringing their characters to life and defining their performances. Salchek gets a VERY meaty turn here with a good range of emotions to work with, a chunky set of dialogue and she relishes the chance to bring some real physicality to the role that the rest of the cast seem to have all but given up on (apart from Tiny.) Shes fantastic here and easily has some of the 'other' best moments of this film.

And as for the soundtrack…its synthy gubbins, but I liked it! and if you needed selling on it, check out the 'end credits' theme tune sung by Tiny himself! its a real trip!

''Blood Harvest' isnt a particularly well made film, its saggy, draggy and VERY rough around the edges. But it also has a cultish charm that I really appreciated. This absolutely wont be everyones cup of tea, Im not even 100% sure I can actively recommend it. But I can say that, for the most part, while I cant commend it for its quality. I did enjoy it, and I sat through the whole thing waiting for the next oddity to pop up.

So…my advice, if you have the patience for the more generic elements of this movie, and want to see Tiny Tim get PARTICULARLY weird…this may well be the movie for you!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/blood-harvest/1/

The Third (and currently final) film in the 'Annabelle' series is effectively an 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo' effort. A film that dares to ask the question: 'What if the Warrens leave a house full of horrifying demonic and cursed entities in the hands of a babysitter, her friend, her crush and their child for the night'? Well; if you ever wanted to know, this film will answer that question.

Thats…pretty much literally the plot, the film opens with the Warrens collecting 'Annabelle' from the nurses (as seen in 'The Conjuring') they bring her home, put her in a glass box, and then about a year later on a random tuesday, they have to head out to go and attend to spooky business, leaving the house and their daughter Judy in the capable hands of the local babysitter Mary and her friend Daniela. Daniela has a bit of a troubled past and is obsessed with the occult. So while Mary takes Judy round the block to break in some new roller skates, Daniela sneaks into the Warrens 'Cursed' room and just…touches absolutely bloody everything.

AND! As a result, she allows half a dozen demonic entities (and more) escape the room into the Warrens house and gardens. leading to a night of SPOoOoooOoOKY Shenanigans as the girls fight the forces of evil to get Annabelle back in her case before dawn, seal the evil away AND get Judy to bed at a reasonable time or Old Man and Lady Warren are gonna be like…SO narked dude…

I really wish there was more to it than that. But this honestly feels like the kind of movie you could show your kids as a gateway film into 'real' horror…only *slightly* scarier than your average 'Goosebumps' episode and with a distinct 'adventure/comedy' vibe running through it. I'd argue it defangs the demonic entities that this franchise has spent so long trying to uphold…But that would imply I was invested enough in these films to have been spooked by them to begin with.

To quick cut across all fronts, the plot, the cine, direction, music, performances…they're all generically fine. In fact, most of this movie feels like a generically fine tween adventure horror film…something like 'The Monster Squad' or The recent 'Goosebumps' movies…just a lot smaller budget and a lot smaller scale. In that sense, I quite enjoyed it. Its nothing particularly adventurous. But on all fronts its a fairly robust, but not groundbreaking watch with a handful of fun moments, and a handful of scenes, shots and plot points that elevated it just above average.

Id be being dishonest if I didnt say that I had fun with this one…Its a grilled cheese sandwhich of a movie, nothing fancy, and it isnt going to change your life. But when you want a grilled cheese ONLY a grilled cheese will satisfy.

It puts me in the rather difficult position of struggling honestly to decide whether this film deserves to rank higher than the other 'Conjuring' movies that DID push the boat out, DID try and experiment and had a mixture of successes and failures…because at least those films DID try to do something outside the box…this film is arguably one of the safest 'Adult' horror films i've ever seen…and its enjoyable…but…I dont know, part of me would feel bad saying this was better than say 'The Conjuring' 1, 2 or 'Annabelle Creation' which at least TRIED to move the needle a bit…

I may need a rewatch to fully appreciate my feelings on this one truthfully…All I can say with any degree of certainty, is this isnt a classic, this isnt even a particularly great example of what its trying to do…But I liked this one, in fact, i'd go as far as to say its an active recommendation, and especially so if you didnt enjoy the mainline 'Conjuring' films and want to see what a reconfigured version could potentially look like.

I'd say if your at a bit of a loss and can get your hands on a copy of this this halloween, go check it out! its a surprisingly fun, if not a tad generic watch.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/annabelle-comes-home/

This review may contain spoilers.

An offering I picked up not *too* long ago from 'Bleeding Skull', 'The Soultangler' is an SOV horror film that has a strong and vocal cult following, and given 'Bleeding Skulls' reputation for releasing some of the strangest and bizarre cinema from the world of SOV. I figured it was my moral duty to see what this was all about. After reading up a bit about the film, I decided to watch the 'Directors cut' for my first time viewing. In part because, its what the director has decided is 'their' vision for the film. But also because apparently 99% of the cuts made to shrink the film down to a brief 62 minutes are just extended walking and driving sequences, with a handful of dialogue scenes truncated to help keep the pace…Sounds like my kind of party.

The plot follows Dr Anton Lupesky, a genius in his field who has begun to explore the supernaturalistic world of 'Soultangling' a process wherein, by injecting ones self with a drug he's developed called Anphorium, a person is able to transfer their soul into a dead body, essentially reviving the corpse and allowing the drug taker to live on through the corpses body.

Naturally; when he tries to publish his findings, he's labelled 'insane' and laughed out of his workplace, promptly fired and struck from the register. Leading him to relocate to the backwoods of a small rural community to continue his work on the serum and on transference.

Its here that we meet Kim Castle a reporter for a local paper who's learned of Lupesky's works, has discovered his staying in the local area, and is doing everything in her power to get an interview with the scientist. Which she does…albeit a brief interview that is VERY passive aggressive and ends with her leaving his lab with barely a word exchanged. But the conversation doesnt put Kim off, and slowly but surely she begins to piece together that the isolated doctor may be working on something quite sinister, using his henchmen to secure unwilling victims for his 'experiments'…

From here Kim enters a hallucinogenic rabbit hole of blood, guts, gore and some half decent special effects for SOV. As the dark past of Dr. Anton is revealed, and Kim finds, she may be next on the block for the doctors experiments.

Quite honestly; I dont have a lot to say about this one, I wish I did, because all the reviews I read about this film before I purchased it, REALLY sold it to me as something not to be missed…but the reality is, I found it kind of slow paced and flat…even at only 62 minutes.

For a starters, this thing has 'Reanimator' printed all over it. The misunderstood glasses wearing illusive genius mad scientist working on a serum that allows him to resurrect the dead is here given a small twist by introducing henchmen and a 'mad laboratory' set to work from…But thats about it.

I think when people rave about this film, they're really raving for about 5 minutes collectively of surreal trippy scenes dusted across the runtime…and the final 10 minutes, which genuinely are pretty amazing for SOV and showcase a real talent for special effects…Otherwise. This things SO slow. Slow to the point that I cant even BEGIN to imagine how slow the 90 minute cut must be.

The plots glacial for about 45 of the 62 minute runtime. Most of that time is either the doctor monologuing about how misunderstood he is, the henchmen kidnapping people or Kim wandering around town and talking to people. very VERY little actually happens for most of that time, barring the occasional psychedelic freakout sequence where Kim will rip the skin off her own arm or get chased by zombies. those moments are fleeting, but fun. The rest…is SO slow.

The 3 act structure is super loose and doesnt transition between the acts particularly well. The characters are all just either kind of boring, or are heavily cribbed. the dialogue is a bit bland and stale…not helped either by the fact the soundtracks louder than the audio track at times making it near enough impossible to hear whats ACTUALLY being said…made all the worse by the fact that Bleeding Skull didnt include a subtitle track on this release…So I had to guess at what was happening on some of the more critical parts of this film.

To be blunt. it all feels a bit thrown together, less like a coherent, carefully thought out plotted story, and more like they got the key scenes down, which came to about 18 minutes. and then they fleshed the rest of the story out with extra sequences from there.

The direction is pretty much lifeless outside of the surreal trippy sequences. the cine is ultra basic too with compositions that are FAR from inspirational. However, I will say that the final 10 minutes in which a HUGE freakout featuring puppets, body doubles, prosthetics and full on severed head gory action is actually pretty incredible (and is what makes up the bulk of the stars i've given for this overall rating) Had the film NOT had this kind of quality up its sleeve throughout this production. I'd have probably said this was one of the dullest SOV's i'd ever seen…mercifully when this film DOES rev up, it becomes a creative powerhouse which just about pulls it back.

The performances arnt great, strange deliveries of lines…but not fun strange…just awkward strange, are present throughout. The cast dont really emote physically all that much creating a somewhat bland set of performances, and because cast placement wasnt really factored into the direction, quite often cast members will have their full backs to the camera, be off shot, be randomly plonked down within the scene…its a mess.

I will say though that I absolutely LOVED the soundtrack for this one, an artistic, synthy rocky score that gives this film an unmistakeable presence and energy that I loved…with the only issue really being that, as mentioned, the music drowns out the dialogue. Making it hard to follow along.

All in all? I went into 'The Soultangler' hoping for a crazy over the top gore fest of horror and surreal comedy. And what I got was 45 minutes of slowboil 'lore' dropping, married up to 15 minutes of some of the best directed and produced gory psychedelia i've seen in a LONG time…unfortunately though, thats not enough for this one to coast on far enough for me to give it the pass.

Soultangler is worth checking out for that 15 minutes or so of good stuff…IF you know what your getting into up front. Otherwise? There are WAY better SOV flicks out there that would more urgently need your time. 'Boardinghouse', 'Things', 'Sledgehammer', 'Ozone' and 'Video Diary of a Lost Girl' are all WAY better explorations of the subgenre and FAR more worthy of your time. This one? is one you can mop up after catching most of the greats.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-soultangler/

We span the 'roulette wheel' tonight for our Halloween pick of the day, and wound up with 'Slender Man' the 'Official' cinematic adaptation of the creepy/pasta created in 2009, popularised through 2010/2011 and slopped half heartedly down the cinematic meat chute in late 2018…the PRECISE window of time needed for a film like this to be positively fossilised in terms of cultural relevance…but also WAY too early to fall into the 'Nostalgia' window that can have folks like me going 'Oh yeah…I remember that!…Kind of…'

Right out of the gate theres a pretty significant problem with this movies plotting. The original 'Slender man' was created to take part in a photoshop contest. with a short story outlining what it was and what it does. Then in the early 2010s a 'Slender Man' video game came out…which assumed everyone had read the short story before playing, and was basically a multi-stage 'fetch quest' in which you had to collect 8 pages of 'reference' to Slender man lore while also surviving being hunted down by 'Slender Man' himself.

Thats the version of 'Slender man' that I would *think* most people are aware of and know about. Well! This film decides to basically airlock 90% of the lore, fanfiction and R34 imagery in favour of a reinvention of the character that keeps the absolute barest bones of the ship, and then runs with it as its own thing.

The film follows Wren, Katie, Chloe and Hallie. 4 high school girls getting up to high school girl stuff (This film doesnt clarify) who, while 'girling' around or whatever teens in 2018 were getting up to. Hear that a similar gathering is happening with the guys on the other side of town, and that they're going to attempt to summon 'The Slender Man'. A mysterious entity that may or may not be real…But you can summon him by watching a video on the dark web.

So, the girls decide to watch it…and at first not much happens. But then the next day, the girls are all feeling a bit offside, and while walking to school Katie stops at a nearby woodland…and seemingly vanishes.

The other girls are in shock, and after ruling out all the logical options for what might have happened. Wren, the member of our gang who's obsesses with paranormal happenings and knows a fair bit about 'Slender man' to begin with, suggests that maybe Slender Man has taken her.

the girls are dismissive at first, but as time goes by they all begin to become more and more paranoid about Slender Man, and increasingly begin to see visions, hallucinations and false realities of Slender man. Slowly, but surely, the girls all begin to deteriorate, and an attempt to appease 'Slender Man' goes horribly wrong taking another of the girls…leaving the survivors to try and find a way to sever the ties to Slender Man, or end up joining him.

I'll be honest, I really didnt have the time or inclination for this one. 'Slender Man' as a 'Thing' was fun for a glint in time around 2010/2011…But by 2018 it had really died of death, Indeed, the very idea that a studio like Sony would license the distribution of a film based on a game, a wiki full of fan written 'Lore' and a photoshop job from the 'Something Awful' message boards' feels like a level of corporations trying to be 'relatable' that I actively baulk at…and thats BEFORE we even GET INTO the fact that a lot of the charm this creepy internet lore…thing…had. Was utterly obliterated in 2014 when two mentally unwell girls tried to murder a 12 year old in a woods near their house because 'Slender Man told them to.'

Its kind of hard to pop up the popcorn, and dive into this as 'Entertainment' when a studio knowingly pushed this film out only 4 years after that event happened…

What this film is, is a generic horror film of its time, with 'Slender Man' branding wrapped around it and unceremoniously booted into theaters because Sony would lose the exclusive rights to make a 'Slender man' movie otherwise. And its every bit as generic as you'd guess.

The plot is nonsensical, relies heavily on people doing THE stupidest options consistently, doesnt have grounded rules for what 'Slender Man' can and cant do, doesnt have consistent caricaturisations of our core cast. doesnt have consistent pacing or plotting, doesn’t move through its three act structure particularly well or effectively, and ends in a dissatisfying way, that makes the viewer feel like the preceding 89 minutes were ultimately kind of pointless.

The characters are VERY generically coded, the dialogues rougher than ladies night down at the 'happy clam'. and…if I get to the point where I start asking 'Wheres Slender Man?' while im watching a movie called 'Slender Man' I do feel the films somewhat missed its brief.

The direction is super generic, it largely feels like elements of the 2013 'Evil Dead' movie, with some trippy visuals and a STRONG over reliance on CGI to smooth over the fact that the direction that isnt CG'd up the wazoo just…isnt really that interesting or good. It generic, low effort stuff that doesnt really pull you into the world, and doesnt even really try to make this look or feel any different than any of the other hundreds of movies that have this exact same style and tone that can be found dumped on Tubi from 2012 – 2020.

The cine is much the same, dull, lifeless cinematography that overly safe, compositionally strong, but now HEAVILY let down by the CG, which…now even only 8 years on is creaking HORRENDOUSLY. Sequences feel roughly cut together, CG transitional cuts dont work right, its an ugly movie truthfully, with almost nothing really redeeming of note that I can raise. Its not the worst thing i've ever seen. but the bare minimum isnt a sign of a winner in my books.

Performance wise, you would think with a cast consisting of Annalise Basso (Of Ouija: Origin of Evil fame), Joey King (of 'The Conjuring' and 'Fargo' fame) and Jaz Sinclair (of 'Paper Towns') that there'd be some decent turns here…but there isnt really. Of the lot, i'd say Joey King is probably the strongest performer of the bunch. But the material they all have to work with is so dire, even with their best attempts its a slow deflation of an acting gig. These ladies are all decent in their other respective works…but here, they all looked bored, and seemingly could barely work up the energy to go much above the barest of what was asked.

And the soundtrack is just droning…just ambient droning and weird clicky sounds periodically…bleh.

All in all, dont bother. thats all I have to say. They'll no doubt make a MUCH better 'Slender Man' movie 10-15 years from now. This? this was a contractual obligation on Sony's part…and it shows.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/slender-man/