Don’t Leave Home: An Obtuse, Confusing Masterpiece?

Don’t Leave Home is an Irish horror film directed by Michael Tully. The plot sees American model maker Melanie Thomas (Anne Margret Hollyman), travel to a remote part of island to take a commission from a disgraced priest Alistair Burke (Lalor Roddy).

This film has been called a lot of things “Ireland’s equivalent to Get Out”, “A modern Wicker Man” and thought to some extent I can see what people are saying with the second quotation, that is not how I would describe it. I honestly don’t know how I feel about this film, I enjoyed it and it kept my attention and there truly isn’t anything else out there like it, it is also incredibly obtuse and confusing and I would never choose to watch it again.

During the rest of this review I am going to go into spoilers, so if you haven’t seen it stop here as I really think if you’re going to watch it you should go in blind.

That said let’s get into it, this film reminded me in a lot of ways of something like Midsommar, in that it even after watching it, it still doesn’t really make sense until you watch it a few more times. There is an art house approach to horror that seems to be at the core of these sort of films that can come across as pretentious at times, but personally I think this film was one the right side of the line.

The premise of this woman traveling to Ireland to make a model for this former priest isn’t in and of itself scary, the fear comes from how quickly the situation sours once she gets there, there is an intense uncomfortability that runs throughout this film; you know it is going to end badly and then it does.

I still don’t understand how the priest’s paintings makes people disappear, or go to heaven as the film says, frankly I think the twist doesn’t really make any sense it just kind of happens midway through and you are left to pick up the pieces and make some sense of it. I think the whole sequence with “the collectors”, and the auction was weird and didn’t feel like it belonged to the same film as everything else, it was jarring.

Overall, I can’t really end this by saying watch it, or don’t watch it, as I still haven’t really made my mind up about it. It is definitely not something you have ever seen before and it is staggeringly original, if a little inspired by modern art house horror hits, I would say if that description appeals to you then check it out.

Pros.

Original.

Scary and troubling.

Good characters.

Cons.

Obtuse and hard to understand.

It ends with a whimper rather than a bang.

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Raid 2: This Time It’s Personal

The Raid 2 is an Indonesian action martial arts film directed by Gareth Evans. The plot takes place not long after the events of the first film, Rama (Iko Uwais), has to go undercover within the Jakarta underworld to try and protect his family. His brother is also killed at the start of the film, so Rama is on a side mission of vengeance; seeking out evil rising mobster Bejo (Alex Abbad).

The Raid 2 had a hard job to do, it had to live up to the scale and intensity of the first film, while also raising the stakes and taking everything to the next level. I have to say the film does both of those things. It shows us the wider underworld that was only slightly hinted at during the first film and we get to see some interesting new characters and players. Also, the fight scenes are on a whole new level as well, the prison fight sequence is brutal and relentless.

However, while it is doing all of these things it sacrifices the personal threat and tension from the first film. For those of you who haven’t seen it the first Raid film is all set within a tower block and there are a lot of fight sequences that take place within very tight areas, this makes the film feel very claustrophobic which adds to its overall greatness. The second film really leaves this element behind.

This film introduces some new character who I found to be cool. I don’t remember their names, but I refer to them as Baseball guy and Hammer Woman, they were both very gimmicky in their fight style, but I did really like the final showdown between them and Rama at the end, I thought it was on a par with the first film’s fight sequences.

Finally, I loved the ambiguous ending this film has, it ends with Rama stood in front of a wave of Japanese gangster foot soldiers with him saying he is done. Does he die will he survive we don’t know and with no plans to do a third film any time soon we might never know, but it is a neat way to end things.

Overall, a very solid follow up that does a number of impressive things that raise the stakes and surpass the first film. My only issue is that by doing that it loses some of the things that made the first film great. Both are definitely worth checking out.

Pros.

Larger scale.

Rama’s ending.

The new characters.

The fight sequence between Rama and Baseball Guy and Hammer Woman.

Cons.

It loses some of the tense claustrophobia of the first film.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Crucifixion: The Best Possession Film?

The Crucifixion is a horror film directed by Xavier Gens. The plot follows reporter Nicole, (Sophie Cookson), a woman without faith, who travels to Romania to cover an exorcism gone wrong that resulted in the death of a young woman. Nicole wants to prove that it was superstition and mental illness that motivated the murder, but when she arrives, she finds out there might be far more afoot.

When I put this film on, I was worried it would be just like every other possession horror film out there, the genre has been done to death, however I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had enough originality to standout. For a start the premise of the film an investigation into whether possession is in fact real, is something that hasn’t been done to death yet, there is still new ground to be found and this film found it.

Moreover, it is nice to see a possession film focusing on Orthodox Christianity, rather than Catholicism. It adds a nice new flavour to the type of film, and as such is infinitely more interesting. The country of Romania is one of my favourites in the world and it is nice to see a horror film set there, it is a beautiful country and also a very mystical one which really adds to the atmosphere of the film.

The scares of the film are a mixed bag, when the film is trying to be creepy and using its setting and atmosphere to make you feel uneasy it works, it works very well. However, when the film uses cheap jump scares reminiscent of the bastard spin-off Conjuring films it doesn’t work, they are laughably bad and incredibly obvious.

Overall, this is a good possession film with enough newness to it that it stands out from the thousands of other films like it. There is something special about this film, it is a shame it went under most people’s radars when it came out, but it is defiantly worth a watch. The jump scares ruin the scenes they are in, but everything else is unique and interesting.

Pros.

The horror.

The setting.

Changes from the genre standard.

Interesting plot line.

Cons.

Jump scares.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Bay: Don’t Go In The Water

The Bay is a found footage film directed by Barry Levinson. The plot revolves around a small town that has something in the water, parasites. These parasites invade the body and then eat you away from the inside out, soon most of the town is dead and it is up to one blogger to try and get out the truth of what happened as the US government has since suppressed it.

This film genuinely surprised me, when I put it on, I had low expectations, but as the film went on, I found that I enjoyed it more and more. The premise is great and scary, what makes it scary is the fact that it could happen, we as a world have environmental disasters all the time, so something like this is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Furthermore, there were several moments in the film that actually made me jump, which is rare. As such the horror of the film really worked for me, and I found it to be one of the scariest films I have seen recently.

My one issue with the film was that the story was told through vignette style, as such there were multiple different characters and each of their stories were explored, the issue with this is that some of the stories are more interesting than others. I cared about the French scientists/ divers; I didn’t really care about the young teen couple.

I thought this film was fascinating, I couldn’t take my eyes off it as I watched it. Found footage as a genre has been done to death, but this film managed to find new ground to explore, making it almost like a faux environmental documentary, I applaud the imagination and creativity behind it.

Overall, this film is great for the premise alone, but it was made even better by the fact that the execution was also fantastic. It was scary, fascinating and I could have easily watched another hour of it, perhaps one of the best of the best-found footage films I have ever seen.

Pros.

It is fascinating.

It is scary.

It does something new with found footage.

It made me jump!

Cons.

Some of the characters are more interesting than others.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Innkeepers: Please Someone Close This Inn Down.

The Innkeepers is a supernatural horror film directed by Ti West. The film revolves around two employees at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, who try and prove the existence of the supernatural goings on at the hotel before it is closed; things quickly escalate.

I have heard people talk about this film for a while, so imagine my surprise when I did finally watch it and was left underwhelmed to say the least.

This is very much a film of two halves and much like Housebound that I reviewed recently, the two don’t work. The first 30/40 minutes of the film seem to be quite a light quirky comedy and then all of a sudden it becomes a horror film. This transition between the two is incredibly abrupt and a little jarring as well.

I think there is an interesting idea here, the premise leaves itself open for great scary moments, however, it just can’t deliver. Whilst watching I was not scared at all, not even mildly creeped out, if anything I was bored, this once again is a film that drags on and on.

Sara Paxton is fine; she is serviceable if not memorable in anyway. She does nothing to elevate herself or the character above the standard horror leading lady. This might not be her fault and might instead be a script and characterisation issue.

Defiantly the worst thing about the film for me is the casting of Lena Dunham. Her personal life aside, she can’t act, she is painfully herself in everything she is in; she can’t play characters just slightly different versions of herself. Though she is only in this film infrequently, whenever she does appear it serves to take you out of the film, as her performance reminds you that you’re watching a film.

Overall, this is a film of two halves if they had been blended together in a better way they could have worked, but as is they clash and the two feel jarringly different. There is nothing here to elevate this film beyond mediocrity.

Pros.

The scarier half is okay.

The premise is good, but poorly executed.

Cons.

It is boring.

The two halves clash.

It is uninspired in near every way.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Housebound: The Boy Before Brahms

Housebound is a New Zealand horror comedy film directed by Gerard Johnstone. The plot follows criminal Kylie (Morgana O’ Riley), who is sentenced to house arrest in her childhood home, once she arrives back home, she realises that something is wrong, there are supernatural goings on, or at least that is how it first appears.

This film is a horror comedy, that I don’t think works hugely well as either, the horror isn’t very scary; though there are a few good moments that will make you jump. The comedy is defiantly the central focus of this film and that didn’t work for me either, I didn’t find myself laughing and as I watched it, I wished they had focused on one for the other.

What’s more the film is oddly paced, there is a twist, that I will talk about in a minute, but rather than have the twist near the end of the film, it happens midway through. The reason this is an issue is it makes the film feel like two separate features and both seem to drag on.

The twist of the film is that their house use to be a halfway house that was the site of a horrific murder, however there is no ghost, rather all of the strange goings on are a result of a man from the halfway house who still lives in the walls; yes it is The Boy, about two years before it.

For me I liked the twist, I think it fitted perfectly into the manic absurd nature of the film, I didn’t see it coming.

Furthermore, I think O’ Riley makes this film, she is fantastic throughout and you get to watch her character develop throughout the course of the film. She starts off the film as a troubled youth who doesn’t really care about anyone but herself, but by the end of the film she rises to the occasion as the hero and proves she does care about those around her.

Overall, I think that this film has moments of greatness and O’ Riley is superb, however, for me the comedy and the horror don’t work together and instead clash horribly, which heighten the already bad pacing issues.

Pros.

Morgana O’ Riley is great.

The twist is good.

There are some good scares scattered throughout.

Cons.

The two styles don’t mash.

The pacing issues ruin it.

3/5.

Reviewed by Luke

Finding Your Feet: Everyone Needs A Second Act

Finding Your Feet is a British romantic comedy directed by Richard Loncraine. The film follows Sandra (Imelda Staunton), a woman who finds out that her husband is cheating on her, as a result of this she moves out of her life of luxury and moves in with her hippy sister and sees a different side of life.

The plot of this film is fairly standard, it’s a wrong side of the tracks romance, where a rich person experience life and love outside of their rigid social circle and see that life in high society isn’t so bad.

It has been done before. However, I don’t think that the romance is the strong part of this film, I think the strong part of this film is the drama.

Though for the most part this film is light-hearted viewing, with nothing too challenging to process, there are some very raw emotional scenes that cut you right to the core. The scenes I am talking about are when Sandra is speaking at her sister funeral and when Charlie (Timothy Spall), goes to see his wife in the home and she doesn’t recognise him; these moments break your heart.

These scenes help the film to feel real, rather than just positive fluff, because just like in real life there are good times and bad. The performances in this film are first class as well, Staunton and Spall both give powerful performances that show to anyone who was silly enough to doubt them that they still have it.

You really end up caring about the characters and want to see them happy, when it looks like Sandra is going back to her husband and isn’t perusing her relationship with Charlie it breaks your heart and you actively say “noooooo” out loud.

Overall, this is your standard feel good family comedy, it makes you smile, it makes you laugh and every now and again it makes you cry and that is what sets it apart from other films like it; it has an ability to strike you right in your core and that makes it powerful. Yet another hit for Staunton and Spall.

Pros.

Great emotional stakes.

Spall and Staunton are both fantastic.

Very feel good.

Cons.

It is a bit too long.

The character don’t make decisions normal people would in the same situations.

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Aeronauts: Life In The Outer-Atmosphere

Aeronauts is a biographical adventure film directed by Tom Harper. The plot follows a pilot Amelia (Felicity Jones), and a scientist, James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne), who try and go higher in the air than anyone has ever done before, in doing this they hope to prove that the Earth’s atmosphere and layers and that the weather can be predicted.

Even thought this film isn’t a horror film it scared me more than a lot of horror films I have seen recently. The reason for this is because I have a huge fear of heights and every time, they were hanging off the balloon, with just a bit of rope stopping them from falling to their deaths, it gave me sweaty palms and a keen sense of anxiety.

Both of the leads do a good job, Jones is the better of the two, her sub-plot about her husband who died is well done and all of the flashbacks feel relevant. Redmayne is serviceable and doesn’t really do much to impress, the only scene that made me feel something is when he talks to his father who has dementia; it is sweet and well done.

This film actively made me scared to got in a hot air balloon, as it seems like dangerous business, so if it was going for a thriller angel it did that well. I think it had a palpable sense of dread throughout, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time; I actively wanted both characters to survive until they made it back and that is a testament to the film.

Overall, I think this film is a great one-time watch, it is thrilling and more than a little bit informative, there are sense that will have you sweaty and wincing; especially if like me you have a fear of heights. However, it is not something that I would watch again as it doesn’t have any re-watchability.

Pros.

The thrills.

The sub-plot about Amelia’s dead husband.

The scene between James and his dad.

Cons.

It is forgettable.

None of the performances blow you away.

3/5.

Reviewed by Luke

Body At Brighton Rock: A Body, A Bear And One Hell Of A Bad Night

Body at Brighton Rock is a horror thriller film written and directed by Roxanne Benjamin. The plot sees park ranger Wendy (Karina Fontes), get lost in the woods with a dead body, and a potential killer on the loose. She has to rise to the occasion and survive the night, protecting the crime scene until the police and the park rangers arrive in the morning.

This film is a triumph in multiple ways, firstly the very idea of being lost in the woods and having to say their overnight is terrifying. As I was watching this film I was anxious the entire time, and the character acted the way a normal person would, she was scared and worried, she didn’t immediately adapt to the situation and think nothing of it, like a lot of film characters do, I liked that.

Secondly, the idea of a killer roaming the woods adds extra anxiety to an already tense situation, the interactions Red (Casey Adams), has with Wendy all have an underlying threat that builds over the film. What’s more the twist at the end, that the killer was a ghost all along and is in fact the man whose corpse Wendy has been with this whole time is inspired and adds a nice extra element to the ending, adding rewatch value.

Finally, I really like the style of the film, the editing, soundtrack and the use of camera angels all create a very distinct sense of personality that makes this film unlike anything else you will ever watch. The sequence of Wendy listening to music and dancing down the trail can’t help but make you laugh.

My only issue with this film, the one thing that stops it from being a 5/5, is that I think it drags a little bit especially in the second act. The whole film feels like it is on for far longer than it actually is and that is something that ruins the film just a little bit.

Overall, this is a terrifically original film, it is a triumph in many ways and is defiantly a must watch if you have Shudder.

Pros.

The premise.

The originality.

The killer/ or lack thereof.

The dancing sequence.

The anxiety of it.

Cons.

It drags on.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Shazam: Big 2.0

Shazam is a superhero film directed by David F. Sandberg, it is the 7^th instalment in the DCEU. The plot follows Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a young foster kid who has spent most of his life trying to find his biological mum after she abandoned him at a fair. One day an old wizard calls upon Billy to take up the mantel of Shazam (Zachery Levi), and stop the evil that the 7 Deadly Sins have bought into the world, as well as defeat evil scientist Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).

Of all the DC Comics heroes Shazam is probably the one that I am the least familiar with, as such it was neat to learn his origin story. I think the story choice of having Billy be a foster kid that constantly runs away from foster homes to look for his mum, who he believes is the only family he needs, only to have it turn out that his mum deliberately abandoned him is an inspired choice. This choice was surprisingly dark for a family film and I appreciated that. What’s more this gave the moment when Billy finally excepts his foster family far more emotional weight.

As anyone who has ever seen Chuck can tell you Zachery Levi might be the most charming man on the planet, he was great in the Thor films though he only had a small part and he is terrific here in a larger superhero role. He perfectly captures the Big mentality, being a kid’s brain in the body of a grown man, as he plays the character with a healthy does of innocence and naivety. When his big hero moment finally comes it feels earned.

Furthermore, Mark Strong does a great turn as the villain, his character is threatening and menacing and dominates the screen every time he appears. Strong proves once again that he is one of the most versatile actors currently working. The boardroom scene is one of my favourites of last year, you will know why when you watch it.

I think this might be the most underrated and perhaps the best DCEU film. The emotional stakes are pitch perfect, Zachery Levi is magnificent, and the film isn’t afraid to get dark, which it does several times to great effect.

Pros.

Zachery Levi.

The darkness.

The humour.

The emotional stakes.

The wider universe.

Cons.

None, I have seen this several times and it holds up each watch.

5/5

Reviewed by Luke