Halloween Ends: On A Par With The First Film

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Halloween finally ends

Spoilers

A lot of people have not liked this film, and most of the critical reviews of the film out so far have been deeply negative, I however enjoyed this film a lot. A little context before we get into it, firstly I really disliked Kills and everything it did to the franchise, secondly I went into this film with incredibly low expectations.

Lets get right to the end and start there. I enjoyed that this film killed off Michael Myers, played by James Jude Courtney, I thought the final showdown with Laurie, played by Jamie Lee Curtis was perfect and liked that they threw his body into a crusher just to make sure. In that same category I liked that the film didn’t kill off Laurie as I always thought the idea of both of them having to die for Halloween to end was dumb, I thought it was sweet they let her character be happy.

I also thought thematically this film worked a lot better with the idea of letting evil in and locking it out and protecting yourself being poignant frames for the film. I liked that the narrative of Laurie’s book intensively fed into the plot and direction of the film. Likewise I thought the idea of generational evil with Corey Cunningham, played by Rohan Campbell, being somewhat of the new Michael Myers was a nice twist. I thought unlike other passing the torch narratives this felt a lot more earned and a lot better structured, we see Corey be tortured by the town and finally break and then join forces with Michael even taking the mask from him at one point. However, I also liked that in the end Michael reclaimed his mask.

Lastly, I also really enjoyed how the film played with the idea of Michael being a supernatural entity. The franchise has kind of set Michael up to be almost unkillable, as he is evil itself, however, here we still see that he has regenerative powers seemingly gaining strength from killing but we are also confronted by his age and the fact that he can’t keep going forever. I think these two contrasting elements work really nicely together to give us a whole new side to Michael Myers.

Overall, a fitting end to a beloved horror series.

Pros.

Generations of evil

Killing off Myers

Laurie finally gets closure

The meta narrative of the book feeding into the themes and plot of the film

Giving Alison, played by Andi Matichak, a much bigger role then what she got in Kills

Cons.

None, I thoroughly enjoyed by time with it.

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Dead Again: The Neo-Noir Really Is Running Out Of Road, Let It Rest

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A private investigator, played by Kenneth Branagh, and a hypnotist, played by Derek Jacobi, help a mute woman, played by Emma Thompson, with Amnesia to regain her memory, sadly it is of a horrible murder.

Honestly I can’t shake the feeling that I have seen this film somewhere before. I haven’t actually seen it you see but the plot is very familiar.

I think widely it is the performances that save this film, at its core you have three very talented actors delivering good performances, which make up for the film’s drawbacks. However, the good acting does not carry between the performers as I found the romance to be very stiff and unnatural feeling.

Branagh really does have a knack for the cinematic, however, I don’t think at this point in his early career he has really worked out pacing as this film has quite a lot of issues on that front. The film often ends up feeling like a slog in which you can’t wait for it to end.

Overall, the performances save it from mediocrity or worse, but the film does have noticeable issues.

Pros.

Thompson

Branagh

Jacobi

Cons.

The romance angle doesn’t work

Pacing issues

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Emily The Criminal: April From Parks And Rec Breaks Bad

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Emily, played by Aubrey Plaza, turns to crime after not getting anywhere in life.

I was very excited for this film before I had seen it, and after watching it I am decidedly more mixed on it. The one thing I can tell you up front is that without Plaza in it the film would have been a lot worse.

I think this film clearly highlights Plaza’s skills as a performer, but more specifically her dark side and dramatic sensibilities. Mainly before this role I have seen Plaza in a lot of dark and or quirky comedies and I think outside of the God awful remake of Child’s Play this was the first time I had seen her tackle something more or less straight with no jokes and I think she nailed it.

My main issue with the film as a whole was that it was a fairly generic breaking bad premise. Person turns to a life of crime, person makes money and doesn’t want to stop, and then they encounter negative consequences and either die or get arrested. For the most part this film was fairly generic only lifted above average by Plaza, however, I did appreciate that the ending didn’t skew the way I was expecting it to with Plaza’s character escaping and for the most part winning.

Overall, the film is been there and done that, but it does have a good ending and it also highlights Plaza’s skills as a performer.

Pros.

The ending

Plaza

It is very watchable

Cons.

It is generic

A lot of the plot is very predictable

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Out Of Office: A Real Work Family

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Eliza, played by Milana Vayntrub, quickly comes to realise that the key to her new job is keeping her boss’s marriage alive, no easy task.

Whilst I didn’t think this film was a laugh out loud hit a minute I did think there was enough charm and heart to make it well worth watching. I mainly watched this film as I am a big fan of Ken Jeong, who plays Vayntrub’s characters boss, and he certainly is the main selling point of the film, he manages to be both quite funny whilst also being vulnerable and emotionally layered. Vayntrub is a capable lead and brings a lot of warmth to the role, you quickly warm to her character and feel some kinship towards her, I would have liked it if the film had taken more time to fully explore her character.

My main criticism of the film would be that it was too breezy. Though the film is very watchable and mostly entertaining you will be hard pressed to note anything that happens in it because nothing really does it is just a series of characters having chats and then that’s it. They try and develop out some character arcs but it most cases these feel underdeveloped it wouldn’t be so bad if it was the start of a TV series or multi movie arc, but as it is it feels shallow at best.

Overall, very watchable but also quite forgettable.

Pros.

It is very watchable

A few good jokes

Jeong and Vayntrub

Cons.

It feels too breezy

More character development is needed

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Dumbbells: Anyone Can Be A Reality Star

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A former basketball star, played by Brian Drolet, now working at a gym has to face change when said gym is turned into the setting for a reality show.

This is an entirely new cut of Dumbbells which is apparently reimagined, I have not seen the first film though, so this was my first time viewing it in any form.

I thought for the most part the comedy worked, Eric Andre is always funny and the rest of the cast do try to give him a run for his money to mixed results. I would say the comedy of this film is more hit than miss, I often found myself laughing which is a good sign.

Though I found the film more broadly as a whole quite easy to relate to, I would say that the lead character is in no way the same. I would argue it was more a scripting issue, but Drolet’s lead never really comes across as someone audiences can warm to or even like, the character feels very vapid and irritating and this hurts his journey as by the end you are just happy that you don’t have to spend anymore time with the character.

Overall, for the most part I enjoyed my time with this film.

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Lou: Netflix Needs To Learn That Having The Most Bad Action Films Isn’t A Good Thing

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Because it is still so fresh and novel, sarcasm, an old person has surprising skills and helps prevent a kidnapping.

So when I saw the trailer for this action thriller film starring Alison Janney I was intrigued, I wanted to see how this film would be different from the hundreds of other films in the genre that share the same premise, and the honest answer is that it isn’t.

This film was a slog to get through because the more it went on the more obvious it became just how generic it is. Nothing happens that you don’t already know is going to happen, in that regard it is certainly one of the most predictable action thrillers I have ever seen. This fact is not even made up for by the action, which is pretty bog standard again.

The performances across the board are instantly forgettable and the film does not use its talented cast in anyway to bring out their skill.

Overall, yet another boring Netflix action film.

Pros.

It has mildly appealing premise

It is sometimes quite unintentionally funny

Cons.

It is boring and bland and so is the action

It wastes a fairly talented cast

It is predictable

It has pacing issues

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Werewolf By Night: The Savior Of The MCU

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Meet the supernatural side of the MCU

I thought this was one of the best things I have seen out of the MCU in a long time. It reminded me of why I care so much about this universe in the first place. I will admit up front that I am a big fan of the supernatural characters in the comics Blade, Ghost Rider, Moon Knight and Elsa Bloodstone has always been a particular favourite so I might be a little bias on this one. However, going against that is the idea that I went into this with a lot higher expectations than a lot of other people who might not care about the characters of Werewolf by Night, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, and Elsa Bloodstone, played by Laura Donnelly. Not only were my expectations met but vastly exceeded.

I really enjoyed seeing these horror elements interact with the MCU formula and I thought that this unlike some of the newer entries into the MCU actually felt quite fresh and new. There is an obvious inspiration from classic horror which works well here, and the use of black and white adds to both that aesthetic but also allows for more violence to be shown. I would say that in terms of gore this is probably the furthest we have ever seen the MCU go, it is not Saw, but for the MCU it might as well be there is some grizzly kills.

Bernal and Donnelly both do a terrific job and easily become beloved, again maybe I am bias. Though I can’t wait to see more of them going forward, I do have two little nit-picky complaints firstly this special does not explain Jack Russell/ Werewolf By Nights origins at all and just throws you into things, I would have added a few scenes highlighting his backstory a little more, and secondly that when the switch to colour does happen Elsa doesn’t have her trademark red hair. I know that second one is pathetically pedantic, but hey.

Overall, a magnificent first outing for Marvel’s special presentations.

Pros.

Donnelly

Bernal

Man-Thing was also really great, didn’t get to him in the review so I wanted to give him some praise here

The horror elements

The gore

Cons.

A few little nit-picky issues

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Jeepers Creepers Reborn: The Youtube Sketch Parody No One Asked For

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The parody film to the Jeepers Creepers franchise.

I liked Iron Sky and enjoyed what they did with it, but that same style was never going to work with a serious horror film. As such what we get is a joke that takes various elements from the previous films and then spits them back at us through a fake out almost spoof lens. This film wants desperately for you to take it seriously, but ultimately it is so damned goofy and silly that it is almost impossible to do so.

Moreover, you can really tell this film was made on the cheap. Now I am not saying there is anything wrong with small budget films, but this one does it in all the worst sort of ways. It gives us lots of close up shots of the Creeper, and he just looks like a dude in body paint. This film goes out of its way to make the Creeper as tame and non-threatening as possible. Also don’t get me started on the baby cult thing.

Really I found there to be nothing redeemable about this film.

Overall, awful just awful.

Pros.

It is laughably bad at times

Cons

It is basically a parody of the series

The Creeper looks awful

The cult of the Creeper thing destroys the monster

It is not scary

It is aggressively average

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Hocus Pocus: Is It The Season Of The Witch

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A trio of witches are resurrected in the modern day by a group of kids.

For a long time I had heard what a Halloween season classic this film was, but had personally never seen it. Now after having watched it I can see the appeal, but I wouldn’t call it a classic.

In my mind this has a very American, very Disney feel to it everything is very comfortably middle class everyone is very white and there is no real peril throughout. Now am I saying that is inherently a bad thing? Not necessarily as sometimes that is the sort of film you want, I enjoyed the whimsy of the film and thought the horror elements were there enough to keep me engaged.

The kids were all fairly bland as they often are in these sort of films, they have very basic issues like relationships and having just moved to town but that isn’t really enough to get you to care about them. The witches played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy far much better and are far more defined, your feeling towards these characters will determine whether you like this movie or not. Personally, I liked all of them and thought they all had their own moments to shine, I would have liked a little more backstory on their part and further character development but it’s a family film so that is unlikely.

Overall, a lot of fun but nothing particularly astonishing.

Pros.

It is fun

The witches are all entertaining

It has a low-fi charm

It has a number of good jokes

Cons.

The witches could be better developed

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Night Of The Living Dead: They Are Going To Get You

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The original zombie film.

Another classic horror film that left me rather cold. Now I can see the merit of the film and I think the social commentary is fairly daring for the time period, especially the ending, but I also thought that the film suffered from pacing issues galore. Whilst watching there were multiple times I thought the film was surely about to end, but then it just kept going.

This film didn’t really do anything new with zombies from my modern perspective, however, it was hugely influential to their development at the time. I thought the zombies here were more goofy than scary, I understand that it was a low budget film but the make up on the zombies doesn’t even look remotely convincing, they look more like angry people who have had a bad day then the undead.

I thought the performances across the board were fairly solid with Judith O’Dea and Duncan Jones both being worthy of being singled out for praise.

Overall, a very important film at the time but one that struggles in the modern landscape.

Pros.

The performances

The social commentary

It is watchable

Cons.

It is goofy

The zombie make up effects aren’t very good

It has terrible pacing issues

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