The Wind: Sleep With A Shotgun In Your Hand, Just To Be Safe

The Wind is a western, horror film directed by Emma Tammi. The plot centres around a frontier couple who begin to experience increasingly alarming supernatural happenings, with Lizzy (Caitlin Gerard) believing it to be the workings of a demon.

The Witch is probably my favourite horror film and is my second favourite film generally; Lost Boys is my favourite film and would be my favourite horror film though I don’t really view it as one. So, when I read that this film was basically a western version of The Witch, I was intrigued and put it on to see if it could live up to the high standard set, and I am pleased to say dear reader it more than did.

In the beginning the time hopping narrative didn’t make a lot of sense and I was lost, but as the film goes on it all wraps together nicely. The issue is that though we might be seeing a flashback, or a flash forward the film does not announce it as such, which can be a bit jarring.

The demonography of the American Frontier is fascinating, and I am surprised other films haven’t explored it more deeply before. I thought the film benefited from creating a very isolating atmosphere, that worked perfectly with the threat of the film and the idea of constantly being under siege. The larger scares towards the end of the film when we actually get to see the demons, in their human vessels, is incredibly menacing and actually managed to unsettle me; not an easy task as I have become quite desensitised over the years of watching horror films.

Overall, I think this is a superb horror film that more than deserves its comparison to Egger’s masterpiece. A must watch!

Pros.

The scares

The atmosphere

The demonology of the American Frontier

Gerard

Cons.

The timeline is a little confusing

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Watchmen: Nothing Ever Ends

Watchmen is a superhero drama series created by Damon Lindelöf, it continues the narrative of Alan Moore’s acclaimed graphic novel, rather than trying to remake it. Watchmen tells the story of Angela Abar (Regina King), a costumed detective of the Tulsa police department, who tries to stop the evil plans of far-right terrorist organisation the Seven Cavalry. Whilst doing this there is a wider mystery at play, that involves some of the original characters from the graphic novel.

First off, I just want to say that yes, this show is political, but unlike a lot of other entertainment shows and films it doesn’t ram it philosophy down your throat, the writing is far too subtle for that.

I think this show was criminally under watched when it was on, as someone who is a huge fan of the graphic novel, I have often wondered what life would be like in a post-squid world and this show scratched that itch for me. It was fun seeing Silk Specter (Jean Smart) and Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons) again, I liked what the show did with there characters and thought that all of the Ozymandias scenes when he was off world were really intriguing.

What the show did with Doctor Manhattan (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) was good, I liked the romance angle between him and Angela, my only issue with his character was that we didn’t really get a good look at his powers, but that is probably because it was confined to a TV show budget. My other little gripe is, because the show brought back all these classic characters the new characters they introduced really needed to standout and in the case of Angela this was a detriment. Though Angela had some interesting scenes a lot of the time I was begging the show to return to Ozymandias or show me more of other characters as I found her to be a bit dull.

However, the best character on the show was one of the new characters, Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson). Looking Glass or Wade, is a fascinating character to watch on screen, as he has been emotionally and psychologically scarred by the events of squid night and watching him deal with that over the course of the season and then seeing him learn it was all one big plot is one of the best things I have seen on television recently.

Overall, this is a masterpiece of a show, it successfully follows up the great graphic novel in a way that feels new and fresh, adding something to the world overall. I am glad it is not coming back for season two as it works better as a one of thing. Must See TV!

Pros.

Looking Glass.

How it deals with returning characters.

The world it sets up.

Fascinating character work.

Cons.

Angela isn’t the best lead character and is often out shadowed by others.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke