Ghostbusters Afterlife: The Freakiest Third Act Surprise You Will Ever See

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A family move into an old farm house left behind by their deceased grandfather, shown to be Harold Ramis’ character from the previous films, there they learn a little bit about themselves and their family history and of course save the world from a ghostly invasion.

This film did everything correctly that the previous film, the reboot, botched. It merges the older films and a soft reboot perfectly; it is a legacy sequel done right. There is enough call backs and involvement of surviving cast members to touch on the nostalgia factor of fans of the original whilst also giving us a new generation of Ghostbusters to care about.

In many ways this is Mckenna Grace’s film, she is the central character and carries the film for a lot of the run time. However, Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd are also scene stealers and make the most out of the scenes they are given, hopefully a sequel will do more with them and give them more on screen time together.

I found this film to be quite funny at times, again particularly Grace’s lead. The older Ghostbusters have some good lines but I would say on the whole they are used sparingly as to not upstage the new characters. I am split on the CGI Harold Ramis, I do like that they give him a proper emotional send off and have each of the characters have a moment with him, however I don’t like the use of CGI to bring back dead actors as a concept, it is troubling.

Overall, a strong revival for the franchise.

Pros.

Grace

Coon

Rudd

Giving the older characters one last hurrah

Cons.

Pacing issues

Finn Wolfhard’s role could be played by anyone

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Spencer: Abolish The Monarchy

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Recounting a Christmas that Princess Diana, played by Kristen Stewart, spent with the Royal Family one Christmas

This film is haunting. If going in expecting a standard Royale biopic, expect to be shocked at every turn. Indeed this film plays more like a horror film, with the social anxiety themed horror becoming unbearable at times. However, the real horror here is the cold and almost sadistic way Diana is treated at every turn by the hands of the Royals and their staff. Now this film is not based on actually events, as far as I am aware, it takes certain elements of Diana’s life and takes a bit of creative license with them, but if even one scene of this film is true it should be enough to make any decent Brit question their support of the Royal family.

Prior to the release of this film I made several comments saying how terribly miscast Kristen Stewart was in the role and how she would eventually doom the piece. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Stewart is chameleonic here and blends so seamlessly into this world that you will be hard-pressed to not see her as Diana. From her movements to her mannerism to even her accent Stewart nails the role perfectly.

Moreover, Stewart is supported by an incredible British cast with Sean Harris and Timothy Spall being equally as commendable.

Overall, this is a magnificent film and Stewart deserves to win awards for her performance here.

Pros.

The tension

It feels more like a horror film

The more out there elements

Stewart

The ending

Cons.

A few slight pacing issues resulting in a drag in the third act

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Chucky: Cape Queer

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The gang realise Chucky, voiced by Brad Dourif, is going to be harder to kill then they thought. Meanwhile series main character Andy, played by Alex Vincent, returns to the fray.

I think now that the series has all its pieces together it is really going places, I am excited to see where this series will take us and how that will in turn effect the wider Child’s Play universe. Hopefully we will get one hell of a showdown between Chucky, Tiffany, played by Jennifer Tilly, a possessed Nica, played by Fiona Dourif, and the forces of good in the final few episodes of the series.

I think Fiona Dourif is quickly becoming the star of this series. I forgot in my review of last weeks episode to talk about just how good of a job this series does of having her play the role of Chucky, in human form, in the eighties. They make her look so much like her dad it is a little eerie, the resemblance is uncanny. Moreover, on top of that Dourif also really excels in the role and really nails the mannerism. I would say she is better used in the flashbacks then in the present day scenes as she is given less to do in those.

Additionally, outside of Nica I also think the series finally seems to have a handle on who these new characters are and what it wants to do with them, as in previous weeks they have verged on annoyance, but here they seem to be well used and contributing.

Overall, the series is getting even better as it progresses.

Pros.

Fiona Dourif

The threat

The coming showdown

Andy is back

The series finally knows what to do with the new characters

Cons.

Fiona Dourif isn’t given much to do in the non-flashback scenes, she deserves more screen time.

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Deadcon: Influencers Finally Having To Face Their Fans

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of influencers head to a convention where they are met by an evil spirit.

My oh my this film was poor on so many fronts it is hard to know where to begin with it. Firstly, unlike something like Big Foot Famous that I reviewed recently that used this idea of influencer culture in a meaningful way, this film relegated it to a gimmick at best. All of the usual cliches were there, most of which are born out of an out of touch fear of the young people and their ways on the part of aging executives.

Secondly, I understand that this film is going for the B movie esque approach and not trying to take itself too seriously but that backfires into massive tonal inconsistencies. With some moments feeling too silly and others feeling too dower, and this imbalance is something the film never recovers from.

Thirdly, the plot is incredibly contrived and has been done much better in the past. I feel like I have already seen this film several times over before, with this iteration of it almost feeling like a spoof film.

Overall, the best thing I can say about this film is that it is short. It is so riddled with problems that it is doomed from the start.

Pros.

It is short

Cons.

It feels played out

The horror doesn’t land

The tone is deeply inconsistent

The influencer characters are awful

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Nobody Sleeps In The Woods Tonight 2: Who Wanted A Mutant Romance Arc

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

After the summer camp massacre the Polish police force goes in to investigate only to become terrorised by a new mutant.

There was no need for this sequel. I enjoyed the first film to a point it did not set the world on fire and had a fair number of issues but it had its moments, this on the other hand runs out of steam after about an hour and then you are just left with its rather obvious efforts to kill time.

Continuing on the theme of things no one asked for this film diverts attention away from the big battle of the third act by having a mutant romance and sex scene. Now who thought this was a good idea? To have the cops basically defeated within the second act was a terrible decision, it then left a huge gap that needed to be filled in the film’s run time and this is what they did with it for reasons known only to those that made this film. Not only does this romance arc drag on but it amounts to nothing. Making matters worse it runs out of time before it can give us the showdown between the special forces and the mutants the whole film has been teasing out, instead just showing the special forces capturing them. To say it is anticlimactic is an understatement.

Hopefully this series is dead and there won’t be a third film.

Overall, whoever decided to include the mutant romance single handily derailed this film.

Pros.

The opening is neat

The first act has promise

Cons.

The battle scene is over too quickly and at the wrong part of the film

The terrible romance plot

An underwhelming ending

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Bigfoot Famous: What One Has To Do To Stay Relevant

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

No longer famous influencer Coley, played by Steph Barkley, and her boyfriend and fellow influencer Jericho, played by Sam Millman, head out into the woods in search of Big Foot as a means of regaining the public’s collective attention.

I enjoyed this film far more than I than I thought I would, often when films revolve around influencers doing things it is usually done in a gimmicky way, that is either ‘oh look at how stupid kids are today’ or ‘aren’t we down with the kids’, I found this to be neither of those and actually be in possession of some real heart.

I thought Barkley did a great job in the lead and made Coley more than two dimensional. I thought the film examining her relationship with Jericho was interesting as it allowed her to be more vulnerable and get beyond the influencer mask. I thought the emotional core of this film was actually quite strong as a whole.

My one criticism of this film would be that often the humour didn’t work for me. Now obviously humour is subjective so what didn’t work for me might work for you, however I found this film to be painfully unfunny each time it tried to go for a laugh.

Overall, a film with a lot of heart but not a lot of laughs.

Pros.

Using the influencer characters in a non-gimmicky way

The heart

Steph Barkley

Cons.

The humour

The ending and its message

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Chucky: Little Little Lies

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The kids do battle with Chucky, voiced by Brad Dourif, and think that they have killed him how wrong they are.

I enjoyed that this episode brought back not just Tiffany, played by Jennifer Tilly, but also Nica, played by Fiona Dourif. It is nice to see the series tying into the wider Child’s Play universe hopefully we will also get the return of other characters from previous films as well.

I thought Fiona Dourif did a terrific job of playing a possessed Nica, she was both chilling and also endearing when she momentarily broke free. I am interested to see where the series is going to take her and see how she will become a bigger part of the narrative- I have high hopes.

I thought that this felt like a very middle of the road sort of episode, it was nice to see the kids get there moment of victory even if we all knew that it was never going to last as there is always another doll body for Chucky. However, it was nicer still when all hell broke loose during the assembly and everyone learnt things were far from over.

Overall, a strong episode with a lot to love for fans of the franchise, maybe a little slow in parts but great for the most part.

Pros.

Brining back Nica and Tiffany

Fiona Dourif

The wider Child’s Play universe

The ending

Cons.

A little slow in parts, the parent’s storylines are just not interesting

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Dawn Of The Dead: Fighting Zombies In A Mall, Where Have I Seen That Before

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of survivors of a zombie plague must fight for their continued survival.

In a sea of faceless, samey zombie films this one actually manages to have a decent amount of heart in it. Over the course of the film I found myself actually caring for the characters, the film did a good job of evolving the characters over time to so they felt like real people who grew with time and experience rather than a group of cliches and stereotypes.

Though that is not to say that this film does not fall back on genre tropes because it does. Truly the worst thing about this film is that it feels played out, there is nothing particularly new or interesting to the story it has been done before and it will be done again: this is more of a critique on the zombie sub-genre but it is a key issue for this film.

I thought the performances were good for the most part with one or two side characters letting the side down a bit. I would say Ving Rhames is the standout star of the film as he is the heart and soul of the piece and feels the most human out of the characters on screen.

Overall, this is a good zombie film sadly though that is not enough and because of how played out this film feels and how afraid it seems to be to hit new ground it stifles itself out of being anything better.

Pros.

The heart

The characters for the most part

The ending

Cons.

A few weak side characters

It feels played out and done before

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Chucky: Just Let Go

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Chucky, voiced by Brad Dourif, is finally exposed as Jake, played by Zachary Arthur, and his friends finally decide to put a stop to the evil doll.

It is a shame that the series didn’t go down the Chucky’s apprentice route it would have made things more interesting, instead we get the fairly standard all of the characters teaming up to stop the killer, with Jake staying firmly on the light side. However that is not to say this was a bad episode, in fact I actually quite enjoyed seeing Jake and Lexi, played by Alyvia Alyn Lind, team up, I thought it was an interesting way to take their characters and having them both be honest with each other was a masterstroke. I thought the scene in which Jake is saying how he wished her dead because she is a bad person and she is actively scared of him was powerful.

I also enjoyed the continued backstory of Chucky. I like how each episode is giving us more and more of his early years thereby expanding out the Child’s Play world and building on the character.

One thing that I didn’t like was Detective Evan’s, played by Rachelle Casseus, interrogation of Jake. She has no evidence, he is a minor and she tries to force him into confessing, yet we are still supposed to like and root for her character, as she is doing it with good intentions? No, I find her and her moral outrage to be quite infuriating, with her character often just getting in the way of the story.

Overall, a good episode if one that felt a little safe.

Pros.

The team up

The ending

Chucky’s backstory

The needle kill

Cons.

It felt too safe

The integration scene

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Await Further Instructions: A Precursor To Lockdown Life

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A strained family spend Christmas together, however the day after they arrive they see themselves quarantined by a strange unknown entity that only communicates with them through the television.

I think part of the genius of this film is that it resembles so closely our own lives over the last few years entirely unintentionally. It adds to the dread and the horror that these ideas of isolating and illness have become our norm. If I were a different person I might be so inclined to say that the makers of this film had some kind of future knowledge as they reference pandemic life, yet I know that is just silly.

I enjoyed this films comments on conformity and believing a narrative without question, I thought it made a number of good points. The juxtaposition between the abusive for queen and country patriarch, played by Grant Masters, and the more free thinking son, played by Sam Gittins, couldn’t be more stark and in that lies the beauty.

My only complaint of the film would be that by the end the film demystifies itself and the answers it gives are unsatisfying. Throughout the film the key questions are what’s going on and who is doing it, then we get the reveal of the TV snake creatures, this in and off itself is not bad but then the film goes out of its way to show why they are doing it and tries to explain their existence, this didn’t work for me as I felt like the ending needed to be more open ended.

Overall, a surprisingly relevant horror film.

Pros

The dread

The unknown aspects of what’s going on

The comments on conformity

The performances

Cons.

The monsters

It loses its sense of mystery

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