The Taking Of Deborah Logan

The Taking Of Deborah Logan is a found footage horror film directed by Adam Robitel. The plot sees an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s become possessed by an evil malevolent presence. Of course, there is a student there with a film crew recording the whole thing because she is doing a thesis about the disease. I don’t know, but she is there.

Let’s get one thing nice and clear right off the bat, this film had no reason to be a found footage film, did it add anything? No. Did the constant shaky cam and cuts to black make the film any scarier? No. If anything the use of found footage derailed this film and ultimately killed it; the final sequence boils down to the same thing you have seen a thousand times before shaky cam running down a dark hallway where everything is hard to see and there is a constant screaming that makes you want to say “shut up”. It is aggressively average.

What makes this sad is the potential the film had. Mental illness, especially the sort of ones that feature in this film, bring a special type of very real fear with them. The film could have played with the idea of is she possessed, or is her mental state getting worse rapidly, that would have been interesting. No, the film just decides yeah lets go for the predictable boring demon angle and it flushes all the potential it had down the toilet.

Overall, this is nothing new. There is promise in the first twenty to thirty minutes, but the rest of the film promptly ruins that. From a filmmaking point of view this film points out to be all the issues with found footage films and the genre as a whole; barely seeing something for half a second isn’t scary. The found footage genre is dead.

Pros.

It has promise

Cons.

It ruins said promise

The storyline is played out

The found footage filming style is grating

The third act is barely watchable

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Extra Ordinary: Meal For One?

Extra Ordinary is an Irish horror comedy film directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman. The plot sees reluctant medium Rose (Maeve Higgins), forced back into the game when Satanists steal a virgin to sacrifice to their dark lord. She must believe in her gifts once again and stop the growing evil.

I actually thought this was rather good, the comedy didn’t always hit the mark for me, but it did make me laugh several times and when it didn’t, I still had a smile on my face. I was surprised to see Will Forte pop up, I was unaware of who was in it when I put it on, but he played a failed musician turned master of the darks arts with a real sense of flare that I enjoyed, he was delightfully over the top.

Moreover the dynamic between Forte’s Christian and his wife Claudia (Claudia O’ Doherty), was priceless. They had a really great back and forth and the chemistry between the two of them was palpable for all to see. O’ Doherty has been popping up in some really heart stuff recently and is really making a name for herself as a comedic actor; she practically stole the show in The Festival.

My one complaint would be the lead, while Rose is likeable enough, I found her to be a bit too bumbling, a bit too awkward, it felt forced and I didn’t really buy it. I also thought that her jokes were by far the weakest, as a lead she was a disappointment.

Overall, a subpar lead doesn’t slow this film down much as it has enough laughs and charm to keep you happy and satiated until the end.

Pros.

The comedy

The world/ the world building

Forte.

Claudia O’ Doherty

Cons.

An unpolished lead.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Addams Family 2019: The Horrors Of Animation

The Addams Family (2019), is a computer animated family film directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, inspired by the classic cartoon. The plot sees the Addams Family having to adapt to life in the 21^st century, whilst still keeping their old-world traditions alive as they become the target of a home renovator and her suburban horde.

When I put this on, I was expecting the worst, I was expecting a film that fundamentally didn’t understand the characters and in the process of making them appeal to a modern market ruined what made the franchise special. I was expecting another Scoob, yes that’s right I am still not over it, however, while this is far from good it is not terrible either.

The two positives I’ll give it are that the villain of the film Margaux Needler (Alison Janney), is incredibly hateable and that Oscar Isaac does a good job voicing Gomez; that’s it. Even these compliments highlight the issues with the film.

Janney’s Margaux is hateable because she is irritating and constantly in your face. Is that the reason your villain should be hated, surely it should be because of their evil actions? Furthermore, the only reason Isaacs’ vocal performance draws any praise is because of how bad the rest of the cast are. Each member of the Addams Family sounds wrong, especially Nick Kroll doing the same voice as one of his Big Mouth characters.

Moreover the animation is not easy on the eye, rather it is horrible to look at and is frequently off putting, not because it is showing you anything grotesque, but because of the way the characters look and the way they move. If you like quality animation this is not the film for you.

Overall, while this film is not offensively bad, it does nothing to resurrect the Addams brand and instead feels like a very blatant attempt to force an old franchise back into the public eye with very poor results. Next time hire a better cast and animators.

Pros.

Isaac

A hateable villain.

Cons.

Miscast.

Hateable for the wrong reasons.

Poor cheap looking animation.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo And The Reluctant Werewolf: Made To Sell Toys

Scooby Doo And The Reluctant Werewolf is a made for TV animated film directed by Ray Patterson. The plot sees Dracula (Hamilton Camp), and his legions of doom seek out Shaggy (Casey Kasem), to take up the role of the werewolf driver for the Monster Road Rally.

This film is the epitome of rose-tinted glasses. I remember watching this film as a kid and enjoying it, clearly as a kid I had no taste.

This much like the recent released Scoob film is not a Scooby Doo film, the core element of what makes Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo, which is solving mysteries, is nowhere to be found. The film seems more focused on being some kind of racing film, or perhaps some botched spin-off of Whacky Races. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film was just made to sell toys.

For a film that just skirts the hour and a half mark it feels very long. I for one found all the racing, which makes up a good portion of the second half of the film to be tiresome and repetitive; it was the same thing over and over again to the point where you just wanted it to be over.

Moreover, some of the comments made in this film are blue, they would have been blue for a kids animated film in the 80’s, but in today’s climate they are even worse. There are multiple jokes where Dracula threatens to beat his wife, yes, I understand he is the bad guy, but why put them in a kid’s film? I get that it is a reference to the Honeymooners, so I am left asking is this for the parents watching?

Overall, unlike many of the childhood films I have reviewed recently this one didn’t hold up. It was boring and to me not a real Scooby Doo film.

Pros.

Neat monster characters.

Scooby and Shaggy have fun.

Cons.

The domestic abuse jokes.

The repetitive racing.

It is just boring.

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Sleepaway Camp: Sickening

Sleepaway Camp is a slasher horror film directed by Robert Hiltzik. The plot sees a traumatised young girl be sent off to summer camp, while she is there things go from bad to worse and people start dying left and right, but who is the killer?

I will start this review off by saying I don’t like this film, it felt uncomfortable to me in a lot of ways. I think some of the scenes, that I will get to, felt very predatory and the whole film as a whole felt very icky. I would strongly recommend no one watches this film as it doesn’t deserve it, it deserves to be forgotten.

Let’s get to the root of my issues with the film. Firstly very early in the film it is revealed that one of the staff at the camp is sexually attracted to kids, this is then treated by the other characters as no big deal. He then tries to assault one of the kids, again no one seems to say anything. Yes, the character is the first to die, but I ask you what was the need to include him in the first place? Did it add anything to the story? I don’t think so.

My second issue comes from a scene later on in which a camper is showering, it tries to parody Psycho, my issue with this scene is that the girls’ age is questionable, she look quite young and the way it is shot feels predatory. It is almost as thought the film is trying to sexualise this character, despite her supposedly being young. There are a lot of other tasteless scenes scattered through that raise alarms for me, but no doubt some people will call me puritanical, these scenes made my skin crawl and like I keep saying are very unnecessary.

The twist at the end, I didn’t see coming, but it also didn’t blow me away.

I think this film likes to think that it can compete with other 80s slashers, maybe it even thinks it is better than them, but to me this film shows everything that is wrong with the time period and the genre. Give me Friday The 13^th or A Nightmare On Elm Street any day of the week over this predatory trash.

Pros.

I didn’t see the twist coming.

Cons.

It is way too sexual about young kids.

The needless peado character.

The shower scenes that feel icky.

It is slow for an hour and 20 minutes.

It shows the worst of the genre.

0/5

Reviewed by Luke

Personal Shopper: Texts From A Ghost?

Personal Shopper is a drama thriller film directed by Oliver Assayas. The plot sees personal shopper/ medium Maureen (Kristen Stewart), become stalked by an unseen mysterious presence after a ghostly run in. She hopes the otherworldly presences might be her recently dead brother, but it turns out to be far more malicious than that.

This film had me up until the last five minutes. The last five minutes put me off the film. Said minutes beg the question was this presence actually real at all or was it all in Maureen’s head. This to me is like saying it was all a dream and none of it matters because all of the drama all of the tension is taken out and rendered pointless.

I did enjoy the text conversations between Maureen, and I guess either her bosses’ killer boyfriend or this ‘ghost’, I liked how they built in tension over the course of the film, treading the line between menacing and friendly at times. It would have been nice if the film could have made clearer who was texting her, but I guess that is all part of the mystery the film ruins at the end.

I think Stewart is actually alright in this, she has moments of greatness where I buy her as a serious actor and think hey maybe she has something. However, she doesn’t seem to be able to maintain this throughout and it is definitely here and there rather than being consistent. I don’t think this will be enough to convince her detractors that she can act.

Overall, if we could ignore those last five to ten minutes, I would score this film highly, but because we can’t I have to give it a middling to positive score. I think this film does some really cool stuff and poses some interesting ideas, Stewart has her moments and there is some great tension to be enjoyed, it is just a real shame about that last scene.

Pros.

The mystery.

The tension.

Stewart to a degree.

Cons.

The mystery should be clearer.

The ending basically tell you that you have wasted your time.

Stewart is not consistent.

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Lodge: Effective Birth Control

The Lodge is a horror thriller film directed by the due behind Goodnight Mommy Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz. The plot follows a father (Richard Armitage), and his two children who go on a camping retreat with their father’s new girlfriend Grace (Riley Keough), after the death of their mother. Spooky stuff related to Grace’s past in a cult keeps happening which makes her question her sanity.

This film is unpleasant, I had to do something else while I was watching it to even finish it. I expect a lot of people will have a very strong reaction to this film either positively or negatively; it is very polarizing like that. Personally, I hated it. I will give the film one thing though, it shows the effects of gaslighting perfectly and I applaud them for taking that risk, simply it wasn’t for me.

The spooky things I mentioned earlier include the oldest boy hanging himself, or at least so we think. It turns out that the kids hate Grace so much, for no reason they hate her from the off, that they have faked everything including the hanging to get her to kill herself. This twist is what put me off the film because it unravels it in two ways.

Firstly, the idea that we are supposed to believe two kids concocted and executed this incredibly elaborate plan is beyond ridiculous. Then when you start to think about the implications this causes for the rest of the film it falls apart even more.

Secondly, after all this is revealed we are supposed to still care about the kids. Why? Why should we care about them after this. Frankly I don’t sympathise with them, they get what they deserve for trying to make a woman kill herself for no reason.

Overall, it was certainly trying to provoke a reason, sadly it wasn’t a good one it got out of me.

Pros.

It has guts to pull that twist.

Cons.

It makes no sense.

The kids are detestable.

It all feel pointless and done without reason.

It was off putting, but maybe that was the point.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo And The Witches Ghost: The Classics

Scooby Doo and The Witches Ghost is an animated family horror comedy film directed by Jim Stenstrum. The plot sees the gang travel to New England to meet up with famous author Ben Ravencroft (Tim Curry); a not so subtle play on real life horror novelists like Stephen King. The town believes the witch that is plaguing them is actually the ancestor of Ravencroft, he denies the claim, so the gang set out to get to the bottom of it.

After watching the monstrosity that is Scoob the other night I needed this, I needed to watch the good Scooby Doo; the Scooby Doo I grew up on. The animated straight to video Scooby Doo films of the late 90’s early 2000s will always have a special place in my heart and this is chief among them for several reasons.

The first is that for once in Scooby Doo lore the monster turns out to be real, yes, this isn’t an old man in a mask this is a real witch and real magic. Personally, I don’t mind this deviation from the norm if anything I think it gives these films an edge; this would come to become a staple of these animated films.

The other reason this film is a tour de force when it comes to Scooby Doo films is simple, The Hex Girls (Jennifer Hale, Jane Wiedlin and Kimberly Brooks respectively) . The Hex Girls feel like they belong in the world of Scooby Doo, they feel organic and baked in. Of the new characters created for these films The Hex Girls are easily the most memorable and their song at the end is a terrific way to end the film.

My one note would be, because Ravencroft and The Hex Girls have such big parts it can leave the gang at a bit of an end. Scooby and Shaggy (Scott Innes voices both), have something to do, but what are Daphne (Mary Kay Bergman), Fred (Frank Welker) and Velma (B.J Ward) doing?

Overall, good classic Scooby Doo that reminded me why I cared about the characters.

Pros.

The real witch.

The Hex Girls.

Scooby and Shaggy.

Nice animation and a distinct tone.

Cons.

The gang outside of Shaggy and Scooby aren’t used meaningfully.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

An American Haunting: The Danger Is Closer To Home

An American Haunting is a horror film directed by Courtney Solomon. It follows a family that is cursed by the supposed Bell Witch after a property dispute, things then take a turn for the paranormal and then a twist leads to a far darker revelation; but no spoilers just yet.

So, this was not the film I thought it was, I was looking for the Owen Wilson staring horror film The Haunting and mistakenly put this on. However, it wasn’t entirely terrible. Yes, a lot of it was very samey, it was all very safe, and no boundaries were pushed, and you will have seen a lot of ‘the scares’ before in other films.

Despite that this film does two thing I think are worth talking about, two things that I think save it from being a stinker.

The first is the period setting. The horror genre has become infested with horror films set in modern times, where someone is always recording everything on their phone, or live streaming a demonic possession so, it is nice to see a film like this that strips away all the modern flair and gets back to basics. I think the choice of setting really does a lot to help the film stand apart from other more modern horror films.

The other is the twist. Spoilers here. The twist is that there is no curse, no demon. The girl’s father has been going into her room at night and abusing her both physically and sexually; he was the entity. The latter half of the film has a focus on parent child abuse and explores some really dark areas, revealing that both the mum and daughter knew about it, but blocked it out. I will applaud them for having the balls to land this twist.

Overall, a fairly generic affair, but it does have its moments where you can see little bits of potential.

Pros.

The twist.

The period setting.

Cons.

It wasn’t scary.

A lot of the horror is stuff we have seen better before.

None of the characters were memorable.

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Swallow: Prepare To Wince

Swallow is a horror thriller film directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis. The plot sees often pushed to the side wife Hunter (Haley Bennet), start to eat inedible objects as a coping mechanism for her failing marriage and her fears about giving birth to a child. The horror comes from the very real situational drama/ tension and Hunter’s descent into mental illness.

This film will make you wince, watching a pregnant woman eating a nail is an uncomfortable sight and it only gets worse from there. I think calling this film a horror film might be a misclassification, which might be reductive to the film overall. I certainly understand how people could view it as a horror film, but it fits far better as a drama thriller.

This film has a very similar vibe to The Invisible Man from earlier this year, it deals with very similar themes. Hunters relationship with her husband starts off bad and ends up hellish. The real ‘horror’ of the film as I said would be the way Hunter’s husband and his family treat her; cycles of abuse and escape are both key themes to this film.

I think though this film certainly is original, I have never seen anything like it before, there isn’t enough plot to really justify the runtime. I often pick apart films because of pacing issues and I do this because I think an overly long film is terrible and turns me off. All the best films are tight, every second counts, you can’t look away, however that is not something I can say for this film. This film could have done with a tighter edit, it had some pacing issues, but they weren’t terrible.

Overall, it is a deeply unique quirky film, that I think is wrongly classified as a horror, though there certainly are many horrifying parts of it this is far more of a drama; if slow burn is your thing, I would say it is a must watch.

Pros.

Haley Bennet is good.

The themes.

The uniqueness.

It makes you wince.

Cons.

It could have been tighter, and some bits made me lose interest a bit.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke