Thirtieth review is a film that had an aggressive online marketing campaign and then had the internet in shambles upon release. Experiments, sibling rivalry, wild transformations, weird romantic subtext, brazy fight scenes, and under ground tunnels. Includes #spoilers :
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Malignant (2021) Pros: The twist was really unexpected for me, I had no idea they were both in the same body. And how they transformed, the sound and visual of the head breaking open 🙈 It made me think of some questions though tied to some cons. I did really like the police station action scenes, those were pure mayhem, wild, and stylish.
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Cons: My face for the majority of it was 😒 The intro scene’s style confused me, it almost felt like a parody. Most of the burning questions were answered in the last 10 minutes but I also don’t believe that the abusive boyfriend didn’t hit that lady’s head in all of his abusive episodes. The lusty looks from the detective and flirtation just felt really misplaced and messed with the overall tone. The plot gave me Beyond Two Souls, but that was well written and well acted. This was neither of those things. At the VERY beginning where the boyfriend hit her into a wall and immediately started to apologize I was taken out of it because there was absolutely no nuance, no finesse. And hold up, Gabriel was supernatural, right? Dodging bullets and talking through telephones and exploding pace makers, why? They mention him being an abomination but how and why? And the swift turn in the end where shorty can take control of the hallucination made me yawn. Also the music that repeated during scenes that were meant to be seen as the turn or revelations was just not good and placed awkwardly. Nothing would be happening and the film’s theme music starts to play making me feel like I missed something. Overall I think it was unbalanced and not well written or acted.
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I give it a 3, doesn’t deserve anything higher or lower. The marketing team did well to make this seem like a really exciting movie but it left me day dreaming about the ice cream I am about to eat.
#halloween #malignant #horrormovies #review #new #explorepage
Twenty-ninth review is for a not so hidden gem from a director that has made some of my favorite things, Guillermo del Toro. Historic, atmospheric, haunting, greed, war, unlikely orphan heroes. Includes #spoilers :
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El Espinazo Del Diablo [aka The Devil’s Backbone] (2001) Pros: Starts really foreboding with a voice over, alright I’m in this. Appreciate the atmosphere, and that the ghost presents itself pretty early. The ghost kid design, What!? It’s so slick, creepy, and gives me a little Tokyo Ghoul vibe. The story was exciting and I wanted to see how everything would play together. Are they in a time loop kinda vibe like Triangle or is it just normal events with a creepy backdrop? The main bad guy Jacinto was sympathetic and greedy, and came to act! When he as drowning and had all the gold in his pockets I was like Damnnn, that’s a bad hit homie. I think all the actors did amazing, and the ending was an ending, it circles back to the quote from the beginning and it feels nice to see the boys start their journey away from that place.
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Cons: I don’t know how long that bomb has been there, but we know the spirit of Santi was there since that day. I explained it in my mind that the only reason why the ghost started showing itself more directly was because he was able to sense that something evil was coming and needed to get to work. And the boys led Jacinto to where Santi died because it’s more of a full circle, righteous moment. But same as The Night House, this spirit can move stuff around, open doors, spill water, Jacinto could have been long dead before all those kids and adults were killed by the explosion. He coulda popped in and poured some water on the flame that’s all I’m saying.
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I give it a strong 6, it entertained me, everytime the spirit popped up I was excited, the budding friendship between Jaime and Carlos was cute. Santi just needed to be a little quicker with getting his revenge, Jacinto shoulda never had a good night sleep. Like The Orphanage, Haunting in Connecticut, and maybe The Exorcist 2.
#halloween #elespinazodeldiablo #review #horrormovies #spanish #explorepage #new
El Espinazo Del Diablo [aka The Devil’s Backbone] (2001)
Twenty-eighth review is for a campy, bizarre Italian cult classic that had a remake in 2018. New to my watch list, had me entertained. Campy, bizarre, stylish, cultish, paranoia, witches, light on the ballet, heavy on the suspenseful sound effects. Includes #spoilers :
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Suspiria (1977) Pros: Vibe of movies from the 70s and 80s like the Exorcist that has a sinister score from the beginning credits. Also gives me A Clock a Work Orange with the voice over and the stylish interiors, murals, and furniture. The first death was campy, stylish, and the same thing as when you pour too much water in a cup, over the TOP! I’m a fan though. The maggots coming out the ceiling 🤢 Loved the color schemes of deep blues, yellows, reds, and greens. 40 minutes in I still didn’t know if it was a monster, possession, haunted house, a witch, or stress mania. The story of the start of the school is exciting, I want a prequel!
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Cons: The overlapping whispering, cowbell, guitar strumming, unsettling, loud sound hurt my ears. It repeated several times and each time I turned the volume realllll low. Too much of that, I felt like the shit was tryna posses me. The scene when shorty is hiding in a side room and the person chasing her is trying to jimmy the lock from the outside😂 The tension was building and was slowwwww moving THEN shorty SWAN DIVES into a bunch of barbed wire. Unexpected but she was wylin out, swiming up in the barbed wire and screaming. When she stood up it’s like someone told her nahhhh dive back in that. The attack of the bat😂 All this suspicion, and people dying left and right, like Girl from jump you knew it was time to go. The ending was almost satisfying but just looked like Nickelodeon’s Secrets of the Hidden Temple.
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I rate it a healthy 5, not terrible not great. I can see why the plot is exciting to make more movies, and see how they could push the story further from the source material. Love that the main character faught back but I did spend a lot of the run time muting the sound, laughing, and furrowing my brow in confusion. Like Black Swan, every Twilight Zone episode, The Witches, and Poltergeist. #halloween #review #suspiria #explorepage #new #october
Suspiria (1977)
Twenty-seventh review is for a claustrophobic, vampiric, action lover’s wet dream. Blood, vampire, enclosed spaces, mother and son, sacrifice, greed, morality, experiments, adrenaline. Includes #spoilers :
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Blood Red Sky (2021) No need for a cons list: Wow wow wow. This was amazing, unexpected twists, realistic character actions, great use of a tight space, the monster design evolution was wild. The writers were like “Everything the viewer wants to see happen, is about to happen.” From shorty turning full vampire after getting shot, to the most sinister and unhinged hijaker turning himself! And further more that mother fucker breaking out of the hull and going ape shit on the rest of the passengers which led to a great scene after they finally land where the Swat team gets into the plane and doesn’t understand how much pain they are about to feel. It also only had one song with music I can remember and the rest was a score that perfectly went with each moment. Cinematography and acting on point. The amount that I was audibly reacting to the film was also something worth noting cuz it just kept upping the surprise and unexpected shit. And the moment when she was dying and the son cut himself to feed her like from my favorite vampire movie Blade!!!! Other movies do it, but Blade was/is ELITE okay🔉🔊
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I wholeheartedly give this a 10, I can’t think of anything that would have made it better, even the ending just leaving the scene how it was was good for me. If they had an extra scene to show the son grown up or that Farid actually was infected just took him longer to change (like in Army of the Dead) that could have worked but I like closing the door of the story at the explosion. Well done, I definitely recommend it! Like 30 Days of Night, Afflicted, Red Eye, and Blade of course.
#halloween #bloodredsky #october21 #review #explorepage #new #horrormovies #vampire
Blood Red Sky (2021)
Twenty-sixth review is for the first Black horror movie. Has been on my to watch list for some time now and after watching, I’m sad. Ancient Eastern and African spiritual objects, experiments, practical effects, Black stereotypes. Includes #spoilers :
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Son of Ingagi (1940) Pros: The intro of a wedding with lots of Black folks celebrating a union was beautiful. Acting, singing, introductions to new characters, and the hijinx were top tier. When Dr. Helen Jackson hit that gong after she set up her will, I was ready to go wherever this movie was tryna take me. “Last thing you took was 10 years in the penitentiary,” shady. The spiritual object conjuring a caveman like creature was maaad unexpected. The creature seemed like a gentle giant, misunderstood and died trapped alone, but the main characters end up safe with mad gold in the end! That was unexpected.
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Cons: I think any con I can think of would be tied to how film has historically flattened, sterilized, and controlled Black people. Ingagi (1930) was a film about a tribe of gorilla-worshipping women in the Congo who sacrificed African women to be Ingagi’s sex slaves. Reading about this after helped me figure out where this creature comes from. So he’s part monkey, got it. Can he leave the basement when he wants or when the gong is rang or that line from the Bible is said? I was entertained by the sandwich shenanigans. I just have so many questions about how this huge man/creature is in this woman’s basement? He’s there to guard the gold? Why did she not tell the newlyweds about him? This Zuite suite wearing mf calling the son of Ingagi a Jungleman, like someone really made a movie about killing off your roots to Africa for bags of gold.
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I rate this a 4, for the all Black cast, how they grew the tension of fear around the creature’s presence and the curiosity the creature felt observing the new family. I can’t shake the vibe of killing your savage, spiritual Africaness to conform to Western rules about what is “proper.” Like Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, Frankenstein, and my favorite horror movie The Zombies of Sugar Hill.
#halloween #horrormovies #blackhorror #explorepage
Son of Ingagi (1940)
Twenty-fifth review is for an Indonisian remake of the 1980s film of the same name. It was such a joy to watch because it blended so many things I love about demon possession/haunting movies but it did leave me with questions that have me a little stuck. Demon possession, grief, haunting, occult magic, zombies, family, Islam/religion, protection beyond the grave. Includes #spoilers :
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Pengabdi Setan [aka Satan’s Slave] (2017) Pros: Mixing a new culture with a possession story, loved. That first scare with the mother screaming got me, I was petrified, and her make up and the way her eyes would just pierce into you reminded me of the man in Parasite. The red RetroViewer toy scene, I was a little annoyed with myself that it got me, but well done. Not all the scares had sound cues which I liked because it gave a little gift for paying attention. That twist that the youngest, Ian, is Satan’s offspring and the grandma and mother have been trying to take him out, nuts!
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Cons: I was never suspicious of Ian, that just threw me for a loop but could be a good thing because not having hints just made it more surprising when he’s out in the field waving and talking with his “friends.” We never found out how much the father knew about what was going on, he seemed so surprised. The mom getting normal sick meaning they can’t have another kid makes sense, but since she showed more signs of possession than regular sickness and dies before the son turns 7 confused me too. The lore started building at the end with the couple but I was confused, why would they still need to follow this family? With the info the family knows, why are they not curious about searching to find out how deep this cult goes? Makes me think about The Night House, you got so close to answers, & just started doing some other shit.
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I rate this a solid 7.5 because I really enjoyed that this was able to scare me and induce fear that I haven’t felt in a while. The questions I had caught me up at the end but I still had a good time watching.
Similar films: Insidious, Rosemarys Baby, Shelley, Hereditary.
#halloween #satansslaves #review #horrormovie #explorepage #new #haunting #indonesia
Pengabdi Setan [aka Satan’s Slave] (2017)
Twenty-fourth review is for a movie that is technically labeled a Japanese horror-action dark fantasy animation. I’m shook, did Men in Black get their whole inspo from this film? Creatures, foul language, lots of nudity, sexual assault, taboo and bizarre imagery. Includes #spoilers :
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Wicked City (1987) Pros: Love this style of animation always. When I watched Cowboy Bepop and Akira for the first time I had the same feeling. The excitement in the fighting, different forms of the demons, great voice acting. So many things had me in a chokehold. I knew this is not a regular sci-fi animation because of different classic horror elements: Shape shifting creatures, walls with creepy arms busting out of it, eerie music/sound cues, and more. When! Shorty! Transformed! Into! A! Vagina!? Shook! Her whole torso was a vagina and was luring Taki’s whole body into her, it was the kind of bizarre that you can’t look away from. Reminded me of Bilquis from American Gods who would basically absorb men into her through the yoni. Chile, sign me up! So much of this was creepy and strange, but also so much had happened and I checked the time and there were 20 minutes left after I thought the big rescue and conflict was complete, a pro for me. The scene with the spider shorty slashing Taki’s back and laughing was nightmare fuel. The twist that Mayart, the Stinkmeaner looking dude, was there protecting them the whole time was unexpected, and the ending was a nicely wrapped bow. Leaves possibility for growth or to build off the source materials written by Hideyuki Kikuchi.
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Cons: The movies I’ve watched so far this month have been really tame with the showing of sex and sexuality, so I was more caught off guard by the wild sexual assaults. Movies usually pose that the worst way to punish a woman is to abuse her sexually, it was happening so fucking much in this.
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I rate this a solid 8, it’s the style and creativity for me. The fact that I’ve seen movies like this but not like this at the same time. But all the sexual abuse can go and the rest can stay. Similar to: Men In Black, Akira, Resident Evil, and The Thing.
#halloween #wickedcity #review #explorepage #new
Wicked City (1987)
Twenty-third review is for a movie that has some of the best “Good For Her” moments. This has been on my to-watch list for some time and finally took time to watch. Generational trauma, family control, naïveté, mentions of sexual assault, abortion, swallowing sharp things. Includes #spoilers :
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Swallow (2019) I was pleasantly surprised that I was not completely grossed out by her eating objects you’re not supposed to eat, like batteries, thumbtacks, statues, and much more. It didn’t linger on the chewing or swallowing, making the noises really grotesque, but highlighted how she felt during and after. They also planted ideas that kept coming back, the dude asking for a hug, the mother trying to further control her and her appearance, the photo of the father/rapist who gets a part in the final act. The fear she had after they pumped her stomach for the first time!!! I was scared too like damn shorty, that’s a lot of stuff just sitting in your body. I enjoyed her convo with the therapist and her escape at the end with the help of Luay, and how casual the abortion in the end was, she just flushed the toilet and went to start her life. Good for her✨
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Cons: I did want to see some kind of moment where she got money from the husband and the father/rapist but she seemed to float out of that bathroom in the end with hope and endless possibilities, in control looking free. If she had some kind of money to be able to start out her new life I would have felt a little more relief and not worried at the ending credits.
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I give it a 9, only thing to make it better would probably be small tweaks that made it more of a horror film, Killing the father/rapist or the controlling family she married into, that would have satisfied me but this one was a quiet rebellion and more body horror. And she stayed soft spoken and sweet but when she got control was just a tad more bold, it wasn’t like a 180 where she’s using language she hadn’t before and completely shed her shy persona. Slow burn that burned well like Raw, We Are What We Are, and Hunger.
#halloween #review #horrormovies #swallow #explorepage #spoileralert
Swallow (2019)
Twenty-second review is for a movie similar to The Night House that I was anxiously waiting for, but different in that I really had a great time watching it. Surveillance, suspicion, infidelity, isolation, drugs, violence, terror. Includes #spoilers :
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The Rental (2020) Pros: Dan Stevens is a white actor I trust to be involved in great, twisted things (Legion, Apostle). And the vampire from A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Sheila Vand, stared in this too. This did not disappoint. I knew the basic set up but had not watched the whole trailer. The cheating element was really juicy and the revelations were teased out at perfect times. The killing was so abrupt that I was like “Ooooo” every time it happened. The plot, action, and tension were exciting, the acting itself was great. When I saw the camera in the fucking shower my mind was blown. I was like EWWWWWWw. I didn’t know this story was gonna go the hidden camera killer way. But he didn’t do it as a creepy thing like 13 Cameras, just for murder, blackmail, and scare tactics. I would connect this to Hell Fest where the killer’s identity was teased at the end of the movie and there were other Easter eggs like Josh finding polaroids in the basement, that could be brought up in a sequel/prequel that I would watch.
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Cons: I think the revelation at the end that this killer is doing this a lot was on the iffy side. And the renting process, shorty was using the same website I believe to rent out that spot before the other dude. I think it would have been a clearer A-Ha moment if they had been using different apps or it was clear that the killer had his own situation like folks were finding the spot through Craigslist or something off the grid. Makes the rental scenario of filling these places with cameras and then murdering them make sense. Because in the end it shows him doing it a lot, but there would be a paper trail so I do not think he would be killing that many people tbh.
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I give it a strong 8. For the confusing part that I mentioned about the renting process, no supernatural elements, and my high interest in seeing a sequel.
#halloween #therental #review #horrormovies #explorepage
The Rental (2020)
Twenty-first review is for an Iranian vampire femme fatale, art-house movie. Since it came out I have seen this movie poster all over the place and finally took time to watch. Vampire, drugs, class struggles, naïveté, survival. Includes #spoilers :
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A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) Pros: The use of contrast with the black and white was exciting to watch, the sound mixing went together really well, the sound effects and score more than the music. The introduction to each character was exciting and the father and son dynamic was heartbreaking but we see how Arash’s morality keeps slipping and slipping due to stress. When he was on drugs and encounters the vampire girl, I was so entertained. He was smacked, cooked, fried, all of that and her mix of adoration and pity for him was clear to see.
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Cons: Skipped a bunch of scenes that just went too long, the scene where they listen to music in her spot, the dancing with balloons, when he’s looking around her apartment at the end when he says they should leave and the cat he stole in the beginning strolls up. It’s def a stylistic choice, and those scenes didn’t need to be removed just severely edited, because after the 3rd time skipping through a scene I felt like I was being punished, all shade. And that ending, chillllllle 🚩 🚩🚩: He don’t know your name and gifts you diamond earrings, you walk away, and then he shows up to your house like “Pack a bag.” I was prepared for her to be like, “Ohh actually you’re not a good guy, gimme that neck vein.” And when he SAW the cat he didn’t ask the most obvious of questions: Where you get that cat? And the ending was equal parts, Aww this is the beginning of their adventure AND anticlimactic, like the space for confrontation was like a fire that was snuffed out by a heavy boot.
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I rate this a healthy 7. The pros were great, but the cons keep me from wanting to rewatch it or give it my cosign as a movie that made me feel interested for the whole run time. I lost some of my steam in the middle but I would recommend it to folks. Similar movies: Let the Right One In, Nicole, Nosferatu, and Final Girl
#halloween #review #horror #vampire #agirlwalkshomealoneatnight
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
Twentieth review is for this sci-fi/horror that popped up to me on Amazon. While watching I was on board by the time we enter the house. Dimensional portal, relationship drama, déjà vu, mania, suspicion, teamwork, chaos. Includes #spoilers :
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Coherence (2013) Pros: I really enjoyed this. I didn’t know where the story was gonna pull me but the different anecdotes about comets and their own friendship dynamic was so dope. I especially loved the moment in the end where the main woman walked through all their possible timelines. They used the setting really well, having just the house, the street, the car as the setting and not making it feel boring. All the chaos and suspicion excited my spirit.
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Cons: I just can’t relate to these folks in their murderous “There can only be one me” motive. I wouldn’t run from another version of myself. I’d be like “Okay, Hello” at least. Then we might share a big cookie and twist each others fros, I’m pretty sure that would happen. The ending was not the red bow on the nicely wrapped gift but left me with a “I see what you did there” little smile like I felt for The Old Ways. It didn’t release all the tension with the action at the end with one moment, she just slides through killing her self but her partner notices a difference.
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I’d give it an 8, if it had black folks, more realistic actions, and more likable characters it would go up more. But I overall enjoyed the banter, the chaos and mania, and how they tried to gain control by leaving a marker so they would know which house was theirs. This film is mainly marked as science fiction but when the sinister tone and murder began I knew it was horror for real. Similar movies: Another Earth, Primer, and Project Almanac.
#horrormovie #review #coherence #october #october21 #scifi
Coherence (2013)
Il Legame [aka The Binding] (2020)
Nineteenth review is for an Italian spiritual horror movie that has a very exciting trailer but didn’t deliver on everything I hoped to see. Malevolent spirits, spiders, rituals, secrets, misleading acting, eerie atmosphere. Includes #spoilers :
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Il Legame [aka The Binding] (2020) Pros: The atmosphere, the scene with the sick trees, the scene with the girl scratching in her sleep and all of the sound engineering, slicckk. Also some of the misleading behavior that made you think that the mother-in-law was doing some kind of black magic, but more on that later.
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Cons: To be brutally honest, I faded out at the end. I didn’t care about any of the characters by then. The spiritual lady was a little too cryptic for me. You doing spells on my daughter, we would have had to have a conversation right there. Just saying “I’m doing this to protect her” without offering more is wild. Bags packed, seatbelts on, car in drive. And since Emma is about to be a part of the family, I would have changed the story to have the spiritual head of the household teach them and turn them into believers starting with the trees and ending with the malevolent spirit. & YOU’RE telling me, if your daughter got bitten by a big ass tarantula you gon keep sleeping in the bed with no hesitation? Also the story with the malevolent ghost who the man had cursed while she was pregnant with his baby, I didn’t care about her either, though I wanted her to get her revenge. (Reminds me of Bones, The Grudge, Gothika, & La Llorona about spirits and revenge) The effects were great but in the end the revelations were unsatisfying and I found more creepiness in the house being haunted and the mysteries around the sick trees. That never came back. Them sick ass trees just stayed sick and shorty stabs the ghost and it disappears? And homeboy tussles with the ghost, dies, but doesn’t die?
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I give it a 3 because it doesn’t deserve a 2 and it had so many things I love: Haunted, spiritual, cultish places but it just went all over the place at the end. And then the father breathes and that’s the end? Nahh not for me.
#illegame #thebinding #halloween #october #horromovie #review #afro #explorepage
Il Legame [aka The Binding] (2020)
Furie [aka Get In] (2019)
Eighteenth review is for a French horror/thriller. I was introduced to this through online suggestions, and this one is a must watch for sureee, mmhmm! Extreme violence, racism, manhood, life liberty property, drugs, revenge. Includes #spoilers :
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Furie [aka Get In] (2019) I don’t have a cons list, because it gave me everything it needed to give me: Revenge, the meek outsmarting the strong, women fighting back, Black folks who have perspectives about race like the character was written for a Black man, all the dialogue was useful, the people you want to die, die (mostly), and a happy ending (literally😏). That second act where them intruders started puting the gruff squatter AND the pregnant lady into vacuum seal bags, BANANAS. A few other scenes that stood out to me: When Paul was going back and forth in those buildings to get help and it ended with them saying there was nothing he could do and then it shifts to him trying to get into the trailer but struggling with the keys, the sound effects are building and he’s about to snap and then his friends and family come out with a cake for his birthday. The whole scene where he popped a pill, got a bj from a chick with vampire teeth😬 (I was like don’t let her go down there sir Paul), and then saw his student outside gettin beat up by Paul’s new friends. (There’s always someone bigger and stronger than you, message). That whole set of events at the end where he starts fighting back against his ex-allies just taking them out one by one by being stealthy and cunning.
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I wholeheartedly rate this a 10. There is nothing I would change. The cinematography, acting, and story all worked together extremely well. Kudos to Adama Niane who played Paul, I saw myself in him. The person who plays by the rules, is empathetic, is less likely to make a scene if someone cuts them in line. But it was his father’s house, then his house, and he’d be damned if all them pigs wanted to come and tussle with the wolf. Also loved that symbolism, Get in, not Get Out. Similar movies: The Strangers, 7 Days (also French), The Purge, Funny Games, Don’t Breathe.
#furie #getin #halloween #horrormovie #explorepage #france #afro #blackactors
Furie [aka Get In] (2019)
The Wailing (2016)
Seventeenth review is for a Korean and Japanese horror film that has been on my to-watch list on Netflix since 2016. Mystery, virus, zombies, possession, traditional medicine, xenophobia, cannibalism, and a little girl who came to act baybeeee. Includes #spoilers :
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The Wailing (2016) Pros: The intro had me so invested, I really appreciate the crime/horror/comedy/mystery vibe. The hospital scene with the first infected person we saw where his collarbone popped in his chest, wilddd. Every off-beat, funny moment like the convo about adult diapers, the side eyes from his family when he’s having nightmares, the fight with the zombie where they kept fumbling. Also love me some hijjnx and Asian movies love to include some kind of odd, funny scene that cuts the tension (The Host, As The Gods Will, Ichi The Killer) The crows, multiple healing and spiritual traditions. The ritual duel was dope, intense and well done. Not mad at the runtime. That daughter child actor came to act okay!!
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Cons maybe: The ending got a little confusing for me but I think if I were to watch it again it would put all the pieces I learned at the end together. Was the demon and the other shaman working together like disciple and master (hence the diapers) or just the same being showing a different body at different times? Unlikely because why would the Japanese older version be battered and bruised hiding in a cave when he coulda just switched around? Was the lady in white actually good and keeping the bad spirits away? Because in the time that homeboy ran through the spiritual barrier to the house the girl didn’t have the time to cut up her family so was she slicing while the lady spirit delayed him? Reading up on it after answered my questions but if you had these questions too you are not alone.
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I rate this a 9, for all the positives I mentioned, it surprised me, kept me along for the mystery, and that little girl was murking people which is usually a taboo in film. Kids are to be protected but nah, they gotta stay away from her. Would recommend✨
#thewailing #halloween #horrormovie #review #southkorea #explorepage
The Wailing (2016)
Pontypool (2003)
Sixteenth review is for a Canadian movie that randomly was suggested to me on IMDB and it caught my eye. Claustrophobia, auditory stimulation, radio, off screen death, eerie, virus, zombies. Includes #spoilers :
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Pontypool (2003) Pros: Wow this had so many great moments, did well with a claustrophobic setting and adding more characters to heighten the stress level. Also the intro was fantastic.
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Cons: The pros were very good BUTTTTT this had the issue that The Happening had, vague virus and the explanation we got was so randomly explained away with no depth. Words being infected sounds like a great concept, but it lost me at how he cured the girl in the end and then they tried to relay that information over the radio but in such a clunky way, and in English. English was infected only? The DOCTOR came in and he literally could have been anybody off the street. He had no significance for real, he just seemed like a sleazy conman type, just shifty. Its hard to rate this one cuz the ending just killed it for me. The kiss and homeboy main character starts trying to redefine words on the radio? I think if I read this in the original book form I’d have a little more reverence, first seeing it in my imagination and then on screen, but that ending just felt like I was kicked out of a party because I didn’t know the host. I was having fun and now I feel like an intruder who doesn’t get to continue to have the fun I was having earlier.
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I’d give it a 4-5. The intro makes it not a 3, but the complete second half was like what in the damn hell, shorty had to think Kill means Kiss? When it cut off I was like, Get this the fuck far away from me. I still would recommend it because so many things happened that were exciting, and I’m glad I watched it, I would not watch again cuz once is enough.
#pontypool #halloween #review #horrormovies #explorepage #afro
Pontypool (2003)
Voyagers (2021)
Fifteenth review is for a sci-fi, thriller, horror mash up recommended by a friend✨ Survival, control versus nature, aliens?, murder, naïveté, and scary ass space. Includes #spoilers :
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Voyagers (2021) Pros: Off rip I was so excited to see what was about to happen. I didn’t see a trailer so I came into it with fresh eyes. The style, crispness of the futuristic tech and thoughts on human nature reminded me of series Brave New World, (canceled too soon just after 1 season, I still recommend) how it adapted the book and really brought us through the look of utopia and how everything works smoothly, and then BLAM some white boys stop taking the wonder drug and egos go a fucking mess. Events escalated from Richard’s death to the insurrection and people fucking in common places, to the finding of weapons, to the final battle scene then montages of the aftermath. The acting was exciting and well done from the leads. I recognized some of them youths, good for them. I like how in the end they decided to mesh the rules with doing their own thing.
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Cons: So why not castrate them and tell them about it? That ends half the problem right there. What was the plan for reproduction on the ship? Maybe I missed that. Zac got a slick ass tongue, but how he flipped everything and relied on fear had me rolling my eyes a little bit because they just let him speak and take control, in real life they woulda yelled over him, and he wouldn’t get out any of that bullshittiest of shit. When will y’all learn (Brave New World, Level 16, Midnight Mass) if you lie, them kids gon investigate.
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I give it a 7.5. It had diversity, chaos, many characters in a small space, and other things I love. I wanted an alien, I wanted the gestures they took from Alien (airlock final battle) to be elevated. I also had a sneaking suspicion that it was gonna be revealed that they were all related or atleast Sela was to Richard to make it eww that they was bumping and grinding but nahhhh. Also the free spirit side off the blue had no redeeming qualities. Free to love yeah, but mostly we got murder and a witch hunt. In the end, an exciting watch.
#voyagers #halloween #horrormovies #afro #explorepage #review
Voyagers (2021)
Kadaver (2020)
Fourteenth review is for a Norwegian movie that has been on my watch list since it came out. Apocalyptic, dark, eerie, immersive theater, cannibalism. Includes #spoilers :
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Kadaver (2020) Pros: Has a short run time but packs a full, well rounded story in there. Loved the cinematography, acting, mystery. When she ran through the kitchen and realized the whole food supply was a facade, shook! The misleading moments like when she started hearing her daughter, the fake blood, the mystery of the people walking into paintings, the photograph of the director’s daughter and news clippings. If it turned into a haunted town situation I wouldn’t have been mad but the ending of her leading them people to expose the inner workings of the hotel and then ending up leaving with her daughter was well done. & Hey Black Norwegian man.
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Cons: Got a little damsel in distressy but she ended up fighting back. We gonna assume the nuclear bombs destroy the world, and this hotel has been doing this for a while as noted by all of the clothes, would there be no word about all the missing people? Watching this I had a similar moment I had with Antebellum, nothing made this woman any different or special than the other people before her who love their families. In Antebellum, shorty’s ability was yoga. In this, Leo slipped through the cracks to start a rebellion and make the story move forward, but her ability to act also wasn’t flexed in a way that made her exceptional. If she did a Shakespearean monologue or something while she was leading them folks away, but she just hid in plain sight and then caused a riot. A dope riot, but still. Also I get the randomness but I would have benefitted from a scene where before they bout to kill these people they ask their skills. Stupid to kill a doctor, chef, carpenter, or people skilled in a craft that was rare.
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I rate it a 8.5. I did bts shooting for an immersive theater project where actors went room to room in a building and it was exciting. You don’t know what you’re getting into in different rooms and I loved how that played out in a horror space. Would recommend.
#kadaver #horrormovies #review #halloween #explorepage #afro
Kadaver (2020)
Spell (2020)
Thirteenth review is for this movie that was highly anticipated for me, felt like it came right on time and presented so many things I love about Black Horror movies: Diasporic spiritual traditions, dark magic, suspense, determination, a good ending, and Loretta Motherfucking Devine. Includes #spoilers :
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Spell (2020) Pros: I truly enjoyed this as a whole, the acting, the tension, and the scary gross out moments was gross. When he pulled that nail up out of his foot THEN stomped that nail back into his foot I was squirming and fighting myself not to look away cuz I’ve definitely seen worse (Kuso, Slither, Bite, lord if I could scrub those three from my mind) The steps that he took to escape were also really exciting to watch, had me stressed TF out, palpitations n eyyythang.
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Cons: The intro to the family was just tropes, I understood them, but there is nothing to pull me into the characters. I think they did well to wrap up the story in the end but I’m curious if Marquis’ father was actually dead or was it a ploy to get them up there? Nothing marked his dad as an ally, an enemy, or an immortal like the people in the community, where was he at? They never followed up on the kind of spirituality his father exposed Marquis to. The questions don’t keep me up at night, but that lady really fed his son’s hand to him. That’s OD. I was curious at why the family was not involved in the revenge. Trauma, okay, but we started with this son having a bully and there’s no foreseen positive growth for any of them, just a tense, PTSD filled ride home.
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I don’t want to rate it, I keep thinking of the gross parts and get a sick feeling, but I’d give it an 8. I would rewatch it with friends looking for a goood horror movie with literally only black folks in it, creepy acting, gross, suspenseful horror moments, Loretta Motherfucking Devine, and a “Yes, They got away” ending. Also it’s the type of movie that doesn’t have one big plot twist that would make rewatching it just a count down to that moment, it’s the bumpy ridddee TO FREEDOM!
#spell #horrormovie #review #halloween #afro #explorepage #lorettadevine #omarihardwick #blackhorror #blackhorrormovies
Spell (2020)
The Night House (2020)
Twelfth review is for a movie that when I watched 20 seconds of the trailer, I immediately put it on my list. I have been waiting for it to come out on streaming and right this second after watching it I’m let the fuck down. Lake house, creepy, haunting, suicide, demon, witchcraft, black woman sideeyes. Includes #spoilers :
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The Night House (2020) Pros: The sound design was perfectly balanced, I think it really helped cue when some of the evil silhouettes were present. Rebecca Hall is always an actress I trust to give me a great performance and this was heavy on her face so I enjoyed that. The house was gorgeous, that’s what I want to see with a house by the lake. The story had potential to build in several ways (also a con) The black lady teacher out getting drink’s disapproving looks made me smile.
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Cons: She all over there touching the totem, damn girl. From what I saw nothing the husband did worked, kept the demon away from her, but still plagued him. Why would the creature go bother the husband if it could curl shorty up in a pretzel with ease? She went to the book store to do more research about the reverse house & totem, why did she stop? The trickster said the husband sacrificed the other women to confuse him, but wouldn’t one woman suffice? Not many women over years? Building it up in several ways was a con because I was excited at the potential that he built a second house in some weird dimensional portal (like the movies Coherence / Palm Beach) with another version of herself and then she finds it and her and her other self gotta figure shit out. I was ready for that, but this was a slow burn to her facing off with a version of death who could throw her around, but needs her to kill herself? She sees all these dead bodies in a house that her husband built and just calls her friend and takes a shower? & teasing the story isn’t over with a silhouette in the water at the end, what’s the point?
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I rate this a 5, not terrible not great. Too many questions, interesting paths untaken, silly ending, but nice cinematography, entertaining acting, and they used their budget.
#thenighthouse #halloween #explorepage #afro #haunted #demon #review
The Night House (2020)
The Old Ways (2020) t
Eleventh review is for a well-made Mexican brujería exorcism movie, The Old Ways. It has demonic imagery, excitement, bad ass women, style, atmosphere, ancestry, and spiritual/natural healing. Includes #spoilers :
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The Old Ways (2020) Pros: I found this the same day I watched it and woah, it was stunning in all the right ways. The plot, the way the story teased out, the use of music, sound, editing, costuming, effects, all of that! The use of a small space interspersed with flashbacks of the cave (La Boca) and further into Christina’s past. Also the cinematography was beautiful, loved that each frame had something exciting for the eye. Also, movies some times do this but it was really nice to see a sort of cyclical origin story, like self-fulfilling prophecy (The Matrix, the Scream series?, all time travel movies). The OG bruja missing an eye, and now here comes this lost woman who came to die, loses an eye in an exorcism and therefore introduces the new way from what she learned from experiencing being saved by the old way. It also built its own lore with a wall of symbols representing demons, reminds me of Thirteen Ghosts and The Conjuring, giving you a taste of what has been discovered so far. I would LOVE a sequel/prequel/triology/TV adaptation, wherever they want to go. If they leave it at this tho I’m cool because it wrapped up the story with a “This is just the beginning, The story continues” vibe and I enjoyed it.
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Cons: The very ending when the red demon was revealed I was like OH SHIT, the character design is NUTS but it shifted to more of a Charmed/Buffy The Vampire Slayer/ anything from the CW animation, serviceable but stiff/weird looking. That was a small take away though from a movie that kept giving and giving.
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I give it a solid 9.5, I enjoyed myself, it kept coming with the things I love from horror movies especially when they deal with POC and traditions. Growth, motive with actions, badass women, music I had to add to my playlist, alladat. Highly recommended.
#halloween #horrormovies #moviereview #theoldways #netflix #afro #poc #mexico #ancestry #stylish #explorepage