Random Acts Of Violence: A Reflection On Our Society

Random Acts Of Violence is a horror thriller film directed by Jay Baruchel. The film follows Todd (Jesse Williams), a comic writer who starts seeing the murders within his comic come to life around him, as the serial killer that the comic is based on becomes active once again.

I enjoyed this film for having a hard look at violence within our society. What inspires what? If a killer watches a violent movie that then inspires there killing does the movie bare any responsibility? Obviously the answer is no. Can we become trapped in cycles with forces that define our life for the worst almost forming a co-dependant partnership with them? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but the film sure does take a good stab at it.

I thought the idea itself was quite novel, moreover the execution was incredible; especially considering that Baruchel is an inexperienced director. The tension and real sense of fear in this film is unlike anything I have seen in a long time; it is a very human threat that we could all be susceptible to.

My one issue would be due to this strikingly real-life theme, the film itself is quite depressing. With something like the Conjuring you can divorce it from reality, because it is so larger than life, however you can’t do the same with this. It is not really an issue though as it is to be expected with this type of film.

Overall, a startingly good debut for Baruchel, very well done.

Pros.

The sense of genuine fear

The premise

It keeps you on the edge of your seat, pardon the cliched phrase

You care about the characters

Cons.

Maybe it is a little too dark, a little too close to home

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives Here: The Most Pretentious Film Of All Time

I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House is a horror mystery film directed by Oz Perkins. The film follows a young live in nurse Lily (Ruth Wilson), as she slowly starts to unravel the past of the house she is staying in.

I am not going to lie to you even after watching this I still have very little idea of what went on and why. The reason for this is because the story is told in one of the most obtuse ways I have ever seen in cinema, there are cuts to a novel (which is also real life), and a constant stream of narration that only serves to make the film more confusing.

Perkins doesn’t seem to understand that by being pretentious it does not make his film good, nor does it make it deep and meaningful. This film seems to be in love with itself, it thinks it is so clever and well put together and it thinks you should think that to. Well sadly, it just comes across as a mess of confusing pretentious airs with little charm or engaging story telling to keep you invested.

Overall, this film wastes the talents of Ruth Wilson and is far to up in own arse to ever be good.

Pros.

Ruth Wilson

Cons.

It is confusing

It is pretentious

The storytelling doesn’t hold up

It is smug

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Survival Skills: A Few Steps For How To Survive On The Job

Survival Skills is a drama film directed by Quinn Armstrong. It is a fake police training video done in the style of an 80s after school special. We follow officer Jim (Vayu O’ Donnell), during his first year on the job. As the film goes on we learn that nothing is at it seems, and things start to get trippy.

I have to hand it to this film; I have not seen anything this unique in a long time. It is a wild crazy ride and it is very hard to tell what is going to happen next. I enjoyed the retro style of the film and think that it added a keen sense of personality to it. However, it did come with a few noticeable visual draw backs.

I found the story of Jim trying to stop a domestic abuser whilst keeping to his policing rules to be truly riveting. It was compelling and we much like Jim really want to see the abuser get what is coming to him, the film shows Jim’s breakdown as he is roadblocked by red tape and turns to taking the law into his own hands.

Overall, I found this to be a very fun watch, nothing was quite as it seemed, the drama was compelling, and the horror was chilling. A very well-done film that is guaranteed to be the most unique film you see this year.

Pros.

The Style

The overlap and crisscrossing worlds

The trippy nature of the whole thing

The horror and the drama

Cons.

The style is a double-edged sword

4.5/5

Mother: A Lot Of Pretentious Allegory

Mother is a horror thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky. The plot tells the story of a couple whose happy tranquil retreat is ruined by the arrival of unexpected, unwanted guests.

So this one is going to be a controversial for sure, even now years after it has come it is still polarising people, you either love it or you hate it. I find myself torn.

There is a lot of debate as to whether this is even a horror film, but I think it is. I also think the later in the film sequences where all hell breaks loose, which are arguably the horror scenes are strong and work well. The scenes when the followers descend to the house and fight to get a glimpse of the new baby are downright menacing and claustrophobic.

On the flip side, I hate the narrative of this film in so many ways. Firstly it has no story or plot just random events and allegory, it is one of those films where the director wants you to put it together yourself; in other words an excuse for poor writing. Moreover, the clear Bible reading (that everything that happens in the film is reflective of the Bible and the events therein), are so incredibly obvious that it basically beats you in the face with it. Yet in has to be pretentious and act like that is not true and that it has multiple meanings.

Jennifer Lawrence does an admirable job and I will applaud her for steeping outside of her comfort zone.

Overall, divisive to the core you will have strong feelings about it, for me I thought the narrative was weak and obvious, but the practical execution and the acting was spot on.

Pros

The acting

The ending

Some genuinely quite tense scenes

Cons.

The stupidly pretentious narrative

Having no form of story

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Omen: A Cursed Film Through And Through

The Omen is a horror film directed by Richard Donner. The plot sees US ambassador to the UK Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck), become worried that there is something wrong with his young adopted son. Little does he know.

So this is a horror classic, I remember watching this when I was little and the scene when the nanny says, “this is for you Damien”, and then hangs herself has stayed with me all these years later, it scared me then and it scared me now.

The reason why this film works so well is because it builds the horror and the scares slowly over the course of the film, things become more demonic as they go on and then reach a fever pitch at the end. Moreover the scares come from the atmosphere and the premise itself rather than from cheap jump scares, which is something that plagues modern horror films.

Scenes like Damien’s first trip to the church work so well as they are very ordinary type events but then gradually become increasingly sinister. Harvey Stephens the child actor who plays infant Anti-Christ Damien is also doing a lot to make this film good, he can play both sweet and innocent and also chilling very well all at the same time. It is one of the few cases were a child actor actually helped to make a film better.

Overall, a classic for a reason, you can see how this film has inspired a lot of what has come after it. What’s more there are several scenes that stand the test of time and are still in 2020 just as scary as they were when this film first came out, a hopeful reminder of what horror can be.

Pros.

Stephens

Slowly building its world and its threats

Genuinely frightening

Well executed

Several iconic scenes

Cons.

Maybe a little familiar in modern times

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scary Movie: What’s Your Favourite Scary Movie

Scary Movie is a comedy film directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans. The plot serves to lambast slasher films of the 80’s and the 90’s. We follow Cindy (Anna Faris), and her group of friends who are haunted down by a masked killer.

So, this film was a huge deal when I was a kid, huge, and yes in recent years it has had some less than stellar attention on it, but it still stands up as one of the best “Movie” movies and one of the best spoof movies of the early 2000’s. I must have seen it well over ten times.

Maybe it talks to my comedic sensibilities, but this film was and still is funny to me, even though a lot of the references from it went over my head on first watching, I still found them and the characters funny. Out of all the Scary Movie films this one was easily the best, though I am partial to all of them.

Faris is a very likable lead and she manages to nail both the comedic moments as well as the moments that required her to be a genuine final girl. Some of the most quotable lines of the whole series are hers.

The best moment of this film to me is the ending, which is a spoof on The Usual Suspects, it is just so cool, and the musical choice greatly enhances it.

Overall, a hilarious gem of my childhood that still holds up, though the comedy won’t be to everyone’s taste.

Pros.

The jokes

The spoof

Anna Faris

The ending

It feels like a loving roast of the horror genre

Cons.

The comedy might not be to everyone’s taste

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Wretched: Naughty Neighbors

The Wretched is a horror film directed by Brett Pierce and Drew T. Pierce. The plot sees troubled teen Ben (John Paul Howard), go and stay with his Dad (Jamison Jones), in a quiet seaside town. However, as they often do, things start to go awry, and Ben soon discovers that there’s a witch preying on the town’s children and the two set out to destroy each other.

Something I thought whilst watching this is that it has a very Goosebumps vibe to it, yes admittedly it is much scarier than your standard episode, but there was just something about this teen solving mysteries and defeating evil, with none of the adults believing him that gave me that impression. That is by no means a bad thing.

I thought the look of the Witch was good and scary, especially when she is shown in a less human form. The practical creature design is very effective, and they do a lot with facial acting and physicality.

I thought this film has several tense sequences that kept me on edge throughout. There were one or two good scares that felt like they had been built towards rather than achieved through a cheap jump scare, which is something I will always applaud. That said some of the scares fall flat or didn’t work.

My one issue with this film is the twist reveal that main protagonist Ben has had a brother this whole time that the Witch had made him forget about. My problem with this is that it feels redundant, it serves no narrative purpose to do this as we have already been shown at this point that the Witch can make people forgettable about their child relatives. Also the argument of this being done to give Ben more of a personal motivation also doesn’t work as he already has plenty of skin in the game by the time this reveal is made.

Overall, a very well-done horror film, that borders slightly on the teen horror side of things at times. If they had not done that dumb twist I would probably have given it full marks, alas they did.

Pros.

The facial acting and physicality

Building its scares rather than using jump scares

The Goosebumps feel

It has some good scares

Cons.

The needless twist.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Zombieland: Words To Live By

Zombieland is a comedy horror film directed by Ruben Fleischer. The film revolves around a rag tag group of survivors in a zombie apocalypse as they try and find something to live for. Little do they know that they have already found a reason to be, in one another.

So, this is one of my favourite comedy horror films of all time, I have seen it a countless number of times and no matter how matter how much watch it, it remains excellent. This was the perfect storm of comedy, heart and peak Jessie Eisenberg.

My one complaint about it would be that it is not a horror film, it is classified as horror comedy, but it leans into the latter far more than the former. It is in no way scary.

Each one of the characters in this film seems so perfectly cast and brought to the screen and the interplay they have with one another is simply magical. The relationship between Eisenberg’s character and Emma Stone’s character is so believable and sweet that you would have to have a heart as cold as ice not to feel anything about it. The same can be said for any number of other character relationships in the film.

Columbus’s (Eisenberg) rules for surviving “Zombieland” are all terrific and will make you laugh, there is also a kernel of good wisdom in there if you look close enough. However, the real standout comedy moment of the film has to be the Bill Murray cameo, which is simply superb.

Overall, this was the perfect storm, lightning in a bottle. A once in a generation comedy horror film that everyone should see. I like to pretend the sequel never happened.

Pros.

The chemistry

All of the actors are on perfect form

The heart

The comedy

Bill freaking Murray

Cons.

It is not a horror film

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

End Of Days: Arnie Died For Our Sins

End Of Days is a fantasy action film directed by Peter Hyams. The plot sees muscles for hire Jericho (Arnold Schwarzenegger), become wrapped up trying to stop Armageddon. Jericho must protect a young girl, Christine (Robin Tunney), from turning into the reincarnated wife of Satan (Gabriel Byrne). His mission is to stop Satan consummating the union before the stroke of midnight of new years eve thereby brining about the end times and save Christine from her diabolical destiny.

So there is something almost therapeutic about watching Arnie beat the crap out of the Devil. This film does not really require much attention to watch and is a great passive viewing experience. It is dumb and the more you think about it the dumber it gets, but that is part of the fun here.

The film manages to be genuinely quite tense and scary when it wants to be. It uses Lucifer’s powers to get effect creating some chilling scenes. I also enjoyed the powerless feeling Schwarzenegger’s character had for most of the movie, it is interesting to see him play a character who can’t just punch or explode his problems away; though he does in the end.

Byrne is a lot of fun as the Prince Of Darkness, he plays the character with a lot of wicked menace but is also not afraid to crack a cool one liner every now and again, so that this film is not a completely dower affair. I also enjoyed watching his character interact with Schwarzenegger and I thought the two had great on-screen chemistry.

Overall, a great action horror thriller, there aren’t many of these types of films that work, but this one does to great effect.

Pros.

Byrne as the Devil

Schwarzenegger’s powerlessness

The tension and the horror

A few cool one liners

Cons.

The ending undoes the helplessness and Arnie just blows everyone up.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Rental: The World’s Worse Air BNB: Imitation Is Not The Finest Form Of Flattery

The Rental is a horror thriller film directed by Dave Franco. The premise seems two couples head to a rental house for the weekend, once they get there they notice that it is the Air BnB from Hell and things quickly escalate.

Now, I had mixed feelings on this one. I thought for what it was trying to achieve and for a first-time directional effort it was good, but in a lot of other ways It was critically let down.

I thought the actual story itself was well done and well executed, it was tense and it used that tension well throughout. What I didn’t like however, was how blatant it was in its homage. This film feels like Franco is trying to make a Hitchcock film, there are several sections that seem directly inspired, I didn’t enjoy that. Mimicking the classics does not make your film a classic.

The characters are also a mixed bag. On the one hand you have Alison Brie as Michelle, the nice person of the group, she is likable and should really be the hero of the story; however she is unceremoniously killed off. The other 3 main characters are differing degrees of bad people and their unpleasant actions make it very hard to sympathise with them.

One more thing that bugged me about this film was the weird racism subplot from the start of the film. It plays into character motivations eventually and gets better over time, but at the start of the film it did not fit at all and felt forced and clunky. Trying too hard to be relevant.

Pros.

A solid first effort

Uses tension well

Alison Brie

Cons.

It feels like a poor imitation of one of Hitchcock’s lesser works

The racism subplot at the start of the film does not feel natural

3/5

Reviewed by Luke