'Obsession' A Review

Obsession is a cringe horror set in an ambiguous time about a group of ambiguously aged friends. Perpetually hang-dog borderline-pathetic incel-presenting Bear(Michael Johnston) consults his frat bro cliche friend Ian(Cooper Tomlinson) about confessing his feelings to Nikki(Inde Navarrette) their friend who is very transparently only interested in Bear as a friend even though Sarah(Megan Lawless) the 4th in the friend foursome very much is. Bear balks when he gets his opportunity to be honest with Nikki, makes a wish with a knick-knack he bought that Nikki love him and then she does but it's weird!

Navarrette is the clear star and standout putting in a captivating layered performance both physical and emotional. The whole movie hangs on what she's able to do and all the menace as well as all the pathos comes from her. Both Johnston and Tomlinson are miscast, neither demonstrate much in the way of range presenting the same emotion and facial expression in virtually every scene. It's especially startling in contrast to Navarrette and to a lesser extent Lawless(who just has less screentime), who come across as real actors conveying characters that resemble actual humans. 

Visually the film is rich, stylized and effective, the score equally so. The production design, shot mostly on location LA, is evocative. The main issue is mostly with the script, the ground covered feels very derivative, monkey paw 101, and the story isn't taken in any new or unique directions, it's basically just that classic premise played out over almost two hours, it feels more like a short than a feature. Without Navarrette's performance the whole thing would really stall.

It's impossible not to compare this with the other Gen Z youtube creator directed box office scorcher right now Backrooms. Both stumble in terms of narrative but Backrooms has the captivating location to really hold interest. Obsession has Navarette but she can only do so much and ultimately the themes are immature and simple, the characters thinly drawn, and the overall impact is more pedestrian.  But both have really got the Gen Zers to the theaters and regardless that is a huge success. Part of the box office issue was not only the pandemic disruption but that disruption coming at a pivotal time for the 18-34 demo, historically hugely important to the box office, but slowly but surely they are coming back and it's important they have movies that speak to them from creators that are their contemporaries.

A Christmas Carol for an incel.

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'Backrooms' A Review

Backrooms is a horror/thriller about Clark(Chiwetel Ejiofor) who finds a portal to a seemingly infinite labyrinthine space in the basement of his furniture store.

After his just win for 12 Years A Slave Ejiofor has worked steadily but hasn't really been given his due as one of the best actors of his generation and that's showcased here. This is an odd film with little plot, more a vibe than a narrative, and he's the perfect actor to anchor it all with some humanity. He's emotive, reactive, and above all compellingly present. It's also just a nice bit of casting for the audiobook listeners as he is the(incredible) narrator for the exceptional liminal space novel Piranesi. The film somewhat faulters when the perspective changes from Clark to his therapist Mary(Renate Reinsve). Reinsve has talent, no question, but she's yet to demonstrate much range. The kind of fraught reserve she deploys here is the same we saw in Sentimental Value and Worst Person In The World. Her presence doesn't detract, it's effective enough, but she's unable to provide the same kind of focus Ejiofor does, channeling the genre elements through the human lens, and that the film needs to elevate it beyond an inspired conceit.

The production design is immaculate and inspired. The backrooms space, the seemingly endless corridors and furniture and rooms are an incredible place to explore, mostly(if not all) practical sets. It's marvelously transportive. On top of that the 90's esthetic and subtle but unceasing score really create this compelling mood with startling clarity. The production, in short, is a triumph.

The film somewhat stumbles when it comes to narrative but honestly this kind of film doesn't really even need much of it. There's a tension between simply enjoying and reveling in Ejiofor's Clark explore this creepy fascinating space and the need to tell some kind of cogent story. Clark's divorce, Mary's agoraphobic mother, how the backrooms ultimately work are explored but what's most interesting is the space itself and a compelling human(Ejiofor) navigating said space.

Ultimately the film soars over any plot concerns with its originality, sharp complex ascetics, and a superb Ejiofor.

Currently in theaters.

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'Exit 8' A Review

Exit 8 is a horror movie based on the 2023 video game of the same name. While on the subway The Lost Man(Kazunari Ninomiya) has an awkward phone call with his ex who has recently discovered she is pregnant. As he exits the station he becomes trapped in an abandoned section of hallway that loops, on the wall is posted instructions, he is told to turn back if he notices any anomalies and to continue on if he does not.

The performance from Ninomiya and from the limited cast are effective if not super complex, this is a concept movie and although the acting is decent it is not a focus. The corridor, its rules, and how the characters trapped within it navigate them is. The production design is simple and borderline immaculate, making you feel like you are also trapped, making the constraints contagious and the mundanity of the subway maddening. The elegant narrow premise allows for some real thrills and some rich themes, hanging over the entire movie is this question of parenthood but the ultimate message is left up to interpretation. 

A tight, unique, compelling piece of genre cinema.

Currently in theaters.

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'They Will Kill You' A Review

They Will Kill You is an action/horror movie about Asia(Zazie Beetz) an ex-convict who infiltrates an exclusive high-rise as a maid in order to find her estranged sister who has fallen into the hands of a satanic cult.

Beetz is a dynamic screen presence and is able to switch focus from character to action with alacrity. She elevates a relatively pedestrian narrative and absolutely soars during the extended practical action sequences. The limited supporting cast has a lot of great talent just having fun- Patricia Arquette, Heather Graham(good to see you girl!), Tom Felton, Myha'la,- it's not a particularly complicated and even original plot but the limited location and the propulsive near-constant action keeps the momentum going and the charisma of the cast carries the day.

On a limited budget the (mostly) singular location and (mostly) practical effects make the action feel tactile, feel real, and Beetz is clearly doing a fair amount of her own stunts and choreography. It's reminiscent of the kind of fun, effective, nuts-and-bolts action flicks that don't get made as often anymore. The climactic showdown is a bit wonky and is the only scene with substantial CG but still all in it's a solid down-the-center piece of almost pure action storytelling.

The incomparable Beetz makes this relatively routine single-location action flick a thrill.

Currently in theaters.

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'Ready Or Not: Here I Come' A Review

Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come is a horror/thriller, a sequel to the 2019 flick, picking up right where that movie left off. After surviving her attempted sacrifice Grace(Samara Weaving) must endure a double-or-nothing game this time pitted against the various other members of the Satanic cabal and they've brought in her sister Faith(Kathryn Newton) as extra incentive.

Weaving maintains her top tier Scream Queen/Final Girl status and it's great to see her again in this role. Newton is a wonderful addition and although some of the exposition the two are saddled with is a bit clunky they have great chemistry. The supporting cast is even richer than its predecessor- Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, and Néstor Carbonell, among others- all deliciously play the avaricious satanists.

On a limited budget the movie makes the most out of its(mostly) singular location and focuses(again) on practical effects and fight choreography, it's potent and it's fun although maybe not a well we necessarily needed to go back to. It's somewhat bogged down by unnecessary lore, similar but not nearly as egregious as the John Wick movies, what was compelling about the original was Weaving surviving and kicking ass not the specific machinations of the Satanic cult and contract. It doesn't noticeably detract but the movie could definitely be tighter, more propulsive.

Solidly entertaining, a wonderful cast, but not particularly surprising.

Currently in theaters.

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'The Bride!' A Review

The Bride! is a horror movie inspired by Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein. The movie opens in purgatory(?) with a monologue from the spirit of Mary Shelley(Jessie Buckley) waxing poetic about the sequel she wants to write, she then posses(?) Ida(Jessie Buckley) a woman in 1930's Chicago who dies and is revived at the request of Frankenstein(Christian Bale). The two then go on a crime spree(kinda?) a la Bonnie & Clyde.

Buckley, who has had a totally earned bangers year or two, give this everything she has. She's pouring her talent, energy, and self into this part and unfortunately all that effort can't really make sense of the clunky script or the uneven tone. Similarly Bale, one of our best living actors, brings all his focus and eccentricity to give Frank some electricity but neither of them is able, despite truly colossal effort, to resurrect the movie. The supporting cast has substantial talent but none of them have much to do(Annette Benning particularly is woefully underused) and all struggle with the wooden dialogue and convoluted plotting.

Where the film shines is in its production, the costuming, the make up, the dance sequences, the soundtrack are all rich with ideas and artistry the issue though is that all design aspects(as well as the acting and narrative) all feel like disparate components that are never synthesized, there is no unifying vision or tone, it's thematically rich but underdeveloped even confused. Writer/director Gyllenhaal conflates female rage with female empowerment, agency is addressed as far as the titular Bride's name but not in how the character actually behaves and reacts to situations. We ultimately don't even know who she is, is she Mary Shelley's ghost, is she Ida, or is she The Bride? Her personality, her personhood isn't clearly explored in favor a series of violent confrontations/situations. Gyllenhaal is ambitious here both artistically and narratively but the result is more cacophonous than impactful.

Despite the considerable powers of Buckley and Bale the monster fails to animate.

Currently in theaters.

Don't See It.

'Send Help' A Review

Send Help is a survival horror/thriller about Linda(Rachel McAdams) an awkward and timid(but extremely competent) corporate strategist and her new boss Bradley(Dylan O'Brien) a misogynist nepo baby who get stranded on a tropical island following a plane crash. Their dynamic shifts as Bradley is injured and Linda is a surprise survival enthusiast.

McAdams is one of our great movie stars, her presence, authenticity, and versatility just grows with age and that is very apparent here. She's having a ball and giving this character all different kinds of dimensions- menace, humor, pathos- the whole gambit. In one pretty incredible solo sequence on the island she discovers a waterfall and baths, notices her skin glowing and hair shiny, she's transformed from her beaten down office drudgery into the woman she's always wanted to be. McAdams just conveys this ocean of history and subtext with an effortlessness that's just stupendous to watch. And O'Brien is good too! Out of all the crowded Hollywood leading-men hopefuls O'Brien is actually one I can get behind. He's got talent and good lucks but also a grounded approachability and naturalism that for my money puts him head and shoulders above the Austin Butlers and the Chalamets. And the two have magnetic chemistry. The support cast is limited, it's basically a two-hander, and as such a real pleasure just to watch McAdams and O'Brien work off each other.

Visually the film is relatively simple yet evocative with a couple pretty spectacular gore set pieces and judicious use of CGI. The score is subtle and effective, overall the production design is focused, effective, if not particularly flashy(which given the budget, works perfect). The film somewhat stumbles in the third act but the journey is fun enough it doesn't particularly matter. A near perfect January release, a welcome piece of well-done dimensional entertainment to offset the long shadow of overly serious 2025 awards flicks still in theaters.

McAdams for the win.

Currently in theaters.

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'Five Nights At Freddy's 2' A Review

Five Nights At Freddy's 2 is a horror sequel to 2023's Five Nights At Freddy's based on the video game series. The movie opens on a flashback to 1982 on a different Freddy's location from the original where an isolated girl Charlotte sees owner and serial killer William(Matthew Lillard) kidnapping a little boy, in attempting to rescue him she is killed and her ghost is trapped. Twenty years later Mike(Josh Hutcherson), his sister Abby(Piper Rubio), and their friend Vanessa(Elizabeth Lail) struggle to adjust in the wake of the events of the first movie when Charlotte's malevolent spirit reaches out to interfere.

Hutcherson, Rubio, and Lail are all great and committed and serve as the grounding point for all the absurdity and violence and give those things emotional stakes making it fun, entertaining, and if not believable exactly than at least plausible. Lillard isn't in it as much as the previous movie but he's got one great, terrifying dream sequence. The supporting cast is all solid and there's one piece of really inspired casting with Skeet Ulrich as Charlotte's dad, a cool bit of resonance with Lillard calling back their Scream villains.

Visually the movie sticks to its roots, focuses mostly on practical effects and coherent tactile action, there's minimal CG and what there is is integrated smoothly and effectively. With a bigger budget they're able to use more locations and the flagship Freddy's location is expanded allowing more animatronics, more elaborate kills, and more visual flare. The soundtrack is catchy and fun, if there's a flaw it's that the plot is a bit convoluted and it ends on a cliffhanger(presumably setting up a third in the series). Still, it's fun, funny, well paced, and above all entertains.

A solid B-movie horror sequel, great counter programing to the season's Oscar hopeful glut.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to Peacock.

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'Black Phone 2' A Review

Black Phone 2 is a horror movie, a sequel to 2021's The Black Phone. Four years after the events of the first film Finney(Mason Thames) is traumatized and violent, fighting kids at school and smoking weed at night to numb out. His sister Gwen(Madeleine McGraw) has also struggled with being an outcast while her promotions and psychic insights have gotten stronger. In a vision she sees her mother as a teen at a camp in the mountains. As a result Finney, Gwen, and their friend Ernesto(Miguel Mora) go to investigate.

Both Thames and McGraw, great in the first film, are even better here and are asked(and excel at) playing even more complicated emotions incorporating the damage and the fallout of the first film into their characters behavior and development in the second. The supporting cast is all great- Mora, Demián Bichir, Jeremy Davies, Arianna Rivas, and of course Ethan Hawke who reprises his role as the Grabber but this time as a malevolent ghost rather than a flesh-and-blood serial killer and the adjustment he makes in the performance, making it more expressionistic, having more fun, is really a treat.

Visually the film is rich and goes even further than the original with extended sequences taking place in an alternate dream reality with a Super 8 style graininess. The soundtrack is incredibly effective, the sound mix really potent, just all the way around great, inspired, risky(in a good way) production design. The only fault is that there's a scene or two at the camp which is clearly green-screened but even then the performances are so good, the tension so expertly ratcheted it doesn't really matter.

A solid piece of emotionally complex horror that thrills as well as inspires. An object lesson in what small and mid-budget flicks can do when there's a solid story and a clear vision.

Currently in theaters.

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'Good Boy' A Review

Good Boy is a horror movie that follows the perspective of the dog Indy as his owner Todd(Shane Jensen) leaves the city to hole up in his deceased grandfather's cabin in the woods. Todd is plagued by a mysterious lung disease(and a mysterious figure), the situation goes from bad-to-worse.

Indy is indeed a good boy and his performance is pretty stunning and emotive if almost exclusively reactive. Jensen and the few supporting characters don't do much and the actual nature of the supernatural threat isn't super explicit. It's a vibe film and the narrative is appropriately fuzzy given we are taking it in from the dog's POV.

It's inspired visually, always tight on Indy catching his reactions, trying to convey his dog-thoughts. The score is simple and effective, the script is a little lean. At 73 minutes it's too long for a short but a bit under baked as a feature.

An intriguing and somewhat satisfying experiment showing incredible promise from co-writer/director Ben Leonberg.

Currently in theaters.

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'The Long Walk' A Review

The Long Walk is a dystopian horror/thriller based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. In an alternate America ruled by a totalitarian regime there's an annual competition, the titular Long Walk, 50 teenage boys walk none-stop until only one is left.
 

Cooper Hoffman is the defacto lead Garraty who finds moments of authenticity but stumbles during any outburst of emotion or monologue. He has talent but is still incredibly green, if he weren't a nepo baby there is no way he would be getting leading roles at this point, he's not terrible here but he clearly doesn't have the chops of the other cast members. This is particularly evident by contrast with co-lead David Jonsson who plays McVries who continues to show he has a long career ahead of him with a lot left to show. This is the second film in which he's the best part of it(Alien: Romulus being the first). His presence is not only the heart of the movie but his magnetism and commitment ground it when it veers off into overly sentimental territory making what, on paper, would be some questionable monologues effective. The supporting cast is filled with young talent- Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, and Joshua Odjick among others- who all make their mark but none are given that much dimension(as they are in the book) presumably in the interest of time. Most, if not all, of the character development and emotional work is left to Hoffman and Jonsson who mostly succeed.

Visually the film is simple, sharp, and effective. Shot chronologically and mostly without CGI it appropriately evokes a relentless bleakness and inevitability with a subtle but sharp style. The score is mostly effective but becomes a bit overwrought in the third act. The script takes some necessary diversions from the absolutely brutal book to inject some needed compassion and hope, focusing more on the friendship of McVries and Garraty and changing the ending(to questionable success). Not a perfect King adaptation but a solid, entertaining, and sadly relevant genre flick.

A great production and a great cast lift up an uneven Hoffman and a shaky third act.

Currently in theaters.

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'Weapons' A Review

Weapons is a horror/mystery about the disappearance of a third-grade class. Told through nonlinear, overlapping chapters from different characters perspective the mystery and it's impact is explored. Tension slowly builds with scares and some laughs to a surprising crescendo.

The ensemble cast is all around stellar with some faces we haven't seen in awhile and some old school tried-and-true character actors. Julia Garner(alcoholic teacher), Josh Brolin(grieving father), Alden Ehrenreich(struggling cop), Austin Abrams(relentless junkie), Benedict Wong(PC principal) and child actor Cary Christopher(shockingly poised) each have their own chapter and each carve out an interesting character with nuance, some humor, and complexity. The structure allows them to give slightly different performances of the same interactions based on whose perspective the scene is from. The whole thing is just really rich and you can tell the cast is giving it everything they got and having a blast. And that extends beyond the main cast to pretty much anyone who even has a cameo- Toby Huss(old school police chief), June Diane Raphael(jilted lover), Justin Long(beta dad)- it all just weaves together intricately and works in harmony to present these rich characters and community while simultaneously ratcheting up the tension and unspooling the mystery. Out of this impressive cast the big surprise, the show stopper, is Amy Madigan who gives an absolutely magnetic, terrifying, layered performance. She goes for it and it pays off huge. She's always been an impressive(and working) character actor but it's so great to see her get this kind of spot light, this kind of scale, this late in her career which should(if there's any actual merit in these things) lead to awards recognition. She is sensational.

Visually the film is subtle but innovative, the horror sequences are inspired as are the camera angles and shot set up just in the "regular" scenes, there's two really thrilling dream sequences, and it all culminates in an edge-of-your-seat heart-pumping finale that is the most cathartic endings to a film since Winston Duke's recitation in Nine Days. The score is eerie and subtle, the costuming and set design evocative, all the production elements and the script and the cast all work together melodically to present this unified story. All elements are working towards this singular vision and purpose. It's clear the promise of Barbarian was not a fluke and this from writer/director Zach Cregger is even better. He shows here his ability to translate his vision and perfectly manage tone. It's impressive for a sophomore feature and easily one of the best films of the year.

Rich, dynamic, fun, scary, provocative, slippery, all of the above.

Currently in theaters.

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'The Ugly Stepsister' A Review

The Ugly Stepsister is a dark comedy/body horror an inversion/adaptation of Cinderella. After their new stepfather's untimely death all financial pressures of the family are put on Elvira(Lea Myren). Through Elvira's own self hatred and her mother Rebekka's(Ane Dahl Torp) prodding she subjects herself to increasing tortures and humiliations in order to become beautiful and compete for the Prince's affections with her conventionally attractive stepsister Agnes(Thea Sofie Loch Næss).

Myren gives a full-on, everything-she's-got performance, leaving it all on the screen. The performance is incredibly brave, vulnerable, and fully realized. The character, with her compromises and complicity, is complicated and Myren lays it all bare. Torp is effective and appealing as the severe and avarious evil stepmother and Loch Næss is good as the supporting Cinderella. The other stepsister Alma played by Flo Fagerli brings much needed contextualization and eccentricity to it. The rest of the supporting cast are all really effective save for the men who are, deliberately and justly, two dimensional.

Visually the film is brimming with style, the shot composition beautiful and meticulous. The body horror sequences pretty difficult to stomach(ie effective). And there's a really interesting blend of the pastoral and the grotesque. The score isn't quite as effective, plays a bit immature at times sounding a bit like stock scoring or 8-bit video game tracks. Overall though the production helmed by first time writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt is brimming with ambition and talent. Perhaps doesn't quite hit as hard coming just a year after The Substance which if a very different movie but goes after very similar themes. Where it falls a bit short is that it doesn't quite come together, ultimately isn't super potent, more idea and premise than effecting narrative.

Not quite equal to the sum of it's parts.

Currently available to rent on most VOD platforms.

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'28 Years Later' A Review

28 Years Later is a post-apocalyptic horror movie, the third in the series following 2002'a 28 Days Later and 2007's 28 Weeks Later. The rage virus has been contained to the British Isles which are under indefinite quarantine. A community of survivors live on an island village connected to the mainland by a tidal causeway. Jamie(Aaron Taylor-Johnson) takes his 12-year-old son Spike(Alfie Williams) on a coming-of-age hunt while his wife Isla(Jodie Comer) convalesces from an unknown illness.

Taylor-Johnson puts in a decent performance as does Comer but the family drama is the weakest and most convoluted part of the script and they both struggle to push through. Williams is a competent child actor but again the interpersonal issues in the family strain credulity and serve pretty much exclusively to distract from what the movie does well and Williams is too young to be able to juggle it all. Ralph Fiennes shows up half way through and he is so good, so locked in, it throws into contrast the leads short comings. Jack O'Connell pops up at the end to tease the sequel and he's equally excellent.

Visually the film has style, shot mostly on iPhone rigs with snappy, inspired cutting and evocative dream sequences, it recalls the grittiness of the original and raises the stakes artistically. The score is equally effective as is the make-up and zombie work, mostly all practical. There is a level of polish and depth with Danny Boyle back in the director's chair and Alex Garland penning the script. They build out the world both narratively and visually and there are bits of fun and excitement pretty much at every little stop along the journey. But the problem is that core bit of family conflict which is both not particularly believable as well as unnecessary. The idea of the rage virus evolving, a decades long quarantine, and what people would do to survive those two things is plenty. Putting a clichéd overbearing dad and a soap opera-esk mentally deteriorating mom in the mix is overkill and unnecessary.

Wild, ambitious, frequently thrilling but overly plotted.

Currently in theaters.

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'The Shrouds' A Review

The Shrouds is a drama with elements of body horror about a businessman Karsh(Vincent Cassel) who's grief over the death of his wife Becca(Diane Kruger) caused him to obsess over her dead body such that he invented a shroud to watch her decompose through a screen on her gravestone and via an app GraveTech, which he commodifies into a business for other mourners.

Cassel is awkward, uncompelling, and one-note. He's not bad as a heavy but he ain't a leading man, at least he's not pulling it off here. Kruger is much better, playing the deceased wife, her sister, and voicing Karsh's digital assistant but the issue really is the script which is both overly complicated and profoundly boring, like a sad pathetic boomer's meditation on their impending death as well as their child-like technological misunderstanding.

Writer/director David Cronenberg recently said he doesn't find the theatrical experience "all that great" and that certainly shows here both in the uninspired dull screenplay as well as the flat, washed out, lethargic cinematography, with a movie like this David I don't want to watch it in a theater or otherwise! Cronenberg has always been inconsistent and like many of his lauded contemporaries he shouldn't write: Cosmopolis -shit, Maps To The Stars- great. Thematically The Shrouds is so confused and dumb, misogynistic and small-minded, it postures at depth and provocation but ultimately is pompous, anemic, and facile.

Worst of the year contender.

Currently in theaters.

Don't See It.

'Sinners' A Review

Sinners is a period horror film set in 1932 Mississippi about twins Smoke & Stack(Michael B. Jordan) who return to their home town, after serving in WWI and working for the mob in Chicago, to open a juke joint. They gather local musicians, their cousin Sammie(Miles Caton) and hometown legend Delta Slim(Delroy Lindo), as well as old friends and old flames to help with the grand opening.

Jordan, following in the footsteps of many A-listers, gives his first double role and does so with nuance, energy, heart, and contagious assurity. He's a stellar anchor and beating heart in a stand-out cast in a ambitious kaleidoscopic film. He's always had talent but hasn't really had that much room in which to stretch since Black Panther so it's such a treat here to see him really soar. The supporting cast is absolutely stacked- Lindo(a national treasure), newcomer Canton(primarily a musician), Wunmi Mosaku as Annie(Smoke's wife, who steals every scene she's in), Omar Miller as Cornbread, Li Jun Li as Grace, Jack O'Connell as Remmick the heavy(who hasn't had a role that popped stateside since 2013's Starred Up and really goes for it here), Hailee Steinfeld as Mary(Stack's ex, also doing some of her best work in years) and on and on. All in all the cast just works seamlessly together creating this world and bringing the story to life, each with their moments to shine, all clearly committed to the singular vision and focused on, above all, translating a vibrant and electric humanity.

Visually the film is beautiful, rich and evocative with a grace and deliberation to the way the camera moves that is seldom found in a genre picture. The costuming is immaculate and pitch perfect but it's the score and soundtrack where the film really ascends. The score is thrilling, ever-present, and transportive and the diegetic performances are transcendent, one being a shoe-in for scene-of-the-year. Thematically the film is packed with allusions and allegory about race, art, love, ambition, grief, community, you name it. The plot, especially when the vampire element really ramps up, becomes a bit over stuffed and complicated but that doesn't really detract. The ambition and the ecstatic joy of it all is so apparent, so compelling, any structural narrative messiness is rendered irrelevant.

An infectious, occasionally transcendent, film brimming with confidence and vision. The best soundtrack since O' Brother Where Art Thou? and a glorious return by writer/director Ryan Coogler to non-franchise filmmaking.

Currently in theaters.

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'Death Of A Unicorn' A Review

Death Of A Unicorn is a horror movie(billed as a horror/comedy) about Elliot(Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley(Jenna Ortega) as they travel to a remote lodge for a weekend business trip of Elliot's. On their way there they hit a unicorn and troubles ensue.

Rudd brings his patented aw-shucks affability to the role but it doesn't really play as his character, as written, is a shit and his shoehorned moment of redemption at the end is unearned and unmotivated. Ortega fairs better as the only recognizable human being in the entire cast but she is equally hamstrung by a script that feels like it was only in its first draft. The supporting cast have some spark- Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, and Richard E. Grant- all playing terrible rich people and Anthony Carrigan as their obsequious servant is great. But there's simply not enough comedy and what of it there is lands inconsistently.

On a small budget the movie looks surprisingly good and it's judicious and effective with the CGI unicorn monsters where tension is well built, maintained, and paid off. The plot though and the characters inhabiting it are mostly bland, uncompelling, unbelievable, and at times grating. Writer/director Alex Scharfman fails at his #1 job which is to manage tone. The comedy almost categorically doesn't work, the attempts at social commentary(ie eat-the-rich) are confused, but the monster movie aspect is quite successful. All in all it's diverting but more streaming quality than cinematic.

A good idea with uneven execution.

Currently in theaters.

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'The Monkey' A Review

The Monkey is a horror comedy about a magically murderous monkey that haunts a family over decades.

Theo James in a twin role is effective as Hal, the lead, who also narrates, deploying some versatile emotion with some genuine depth. As Bill, the other twin, he is kind of uninspired, not particularly scary or interesting and James wears his wig and costume poorly. The supporting cast is pretty stacked but many of them are seen too briefly- Tatiana Maslany as Lois Hal and Bill's mom in flashbacks, Elijah Wood as Ted the stepdad of Hal's son, Adam Scott as Petey Hal and Bill's dad in flashbacks, Sarah Levy as Ida Hal and Bill's aunt. They're all perfectly cast but only get a scene or two each which lessons their impact. The bigger issue isn't the cast it's the unique but inconsistent tone and thematic confusion.

Writer/director Osgood Perkins has style, at this point that's inarguable, the film looks great with wild and funny gory deaths, immaculate set design, visually the film is inspired. The soundtrack and score weave together thrillingly but the script is just a bit thin and a bit confused as to its intent. The gross out comedy moments are really effective there's just not quite enough of them, at the same time there are feints made at actually trying to say something- about death, familial trauma, parental responsibility etc.- but those two objectives, as deployed in the film, come across as incongruous. As a result, much like Osgood's 2024 offering Longlegs, it stumbles in the third act, fails to finish, and kind of muddies the whole as a result.

Ambitious, intriguing, at times thrilling, but lacks cohesion. Perkins clearly has a great film in him but we haven't seen it yet.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

'Presence' A Review

Presence is a supernatural thriller about a family of four that moves into a large suburban home inhabited by the titular presence. As they navigate their own interpersonal issues they butt up against the spirit at various times culminating in the unraveling of its mystery.

Lucy Liu as Rebecca the matriarch is the biggest name in the cast and has the biggest presence, its a treat to see her in something this intimate and grounded given her recent cinematic offerings were Red One and Shazam 2 she's able to really stretch here and do some subtle, interesting stuff and the character has some darkness to it. Chris Sullivan as Chris Rebecca's husband is good but he struggles a bit with finding a groove and matching the tone, the same is true of Eddy Maday as Tyler, neither of them are bad but their calibration is off. Callina Liang as Chloe fairs better and effectively grounds and gives emotional stakes to the story and her scenes with Sullivan are his best. The big sore thumb of it all is West Mulholland as Ryan, partly a result of the absurd dialogue he has to speak but also he seems totally ignorant of the tone. The performance has no subtlety, comes across like a mustache twirling villain more appropriate as a bully in a 80's teen comedy than in this. His casting severely limits how far the film can go because of the nature of the role and how flatly and obviously he plays it.

No surprise coming from Soderbergh, visually it has some flair, shot from the POV of the spirit, the camera floats around the house(and is constrained within it) and cuts in-and-out based on it's own whim resulting in not only a cool look but a unique way we get to know the family and it's situation. The soundtrack is subtle and eerie, the location(its all in the house) effective. Soderbergh does what he does best, makes a pretty good movie fast and on the cheap.

An engaging distraction with a heavy that drags down much of its potential.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

'Nosferatu' A Review

Nosferatu is a period horror movie, an adaptation of the 1922 silent film, itself an unauthorized take on Dracula.

Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter is uninspired, similar to his turn in Juror #2, he seems lost, adrift, and unable to really find the character or appropriately transmit the greater artistic intent. Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter is miscast and stands out in the cast as not up to the demand, the extended scenes of her moaning, rolling her eyes, and convulsing move quickly from terror to laughability. In both instances Hoult and Depp simply do not have the kind of movie star wattage this kind of tone piece with minimal character dimension requires to make work. Ana Taylor-Joy was originally slated for the Ellen role and Bill Skarsgård for Thomas, knowing this its impossible not to imagine how much better the movie would have been had that initial casting gone through. Skarsgård as Count Orlok the titular Nosferatu is decent but he's shown too much too soon which hamstrings what Skarsgård is able to do in the building of mystique and tension. Similar to Gladiator II the only actor who knows what movie their in and excels is the grizzled vet in this instance Willem Dafoe who's large wild-eyed performance compliments and accentuates the mood.

The production design- across the board- is impeccable. Intricate vibrant locations, pitch perfect beautiful costuming, an ominous creeping score. There is no doubt of writer/director Robert Eggers' skill or artistry when it comes to production(not a surprise given the first part of his career was as a production designer). But after his freshman effort The Witch his screenwriting, casting, and ability to work with actors has been not bad but certainly inconsistent. And that is certainly the case here with the ultimate result clearly being negatively influenced by a protracted development and production disruptions by COVID and the actors/writers strikes.

A rather hollow tone poem caught between conventional narrative and artistic ambition.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.