Film Review : Brightburn

It is interesting how this movie was marketed in a way to let us know it is what if Super-man was born bad , without coming out and saying that is what it is. I know super hero movies are all the rage right now , but I can't wait until we hear the outcry from parents who went in as uniformed consumers take their kids to go see this. This is not a super hero movie it is a horror movie. In fact one with gore done very well. So well it impressed me and even grossed me out a little. It has ties to super hero movie due to James Gunn being the producer. It's director also directed "the Hive" . At first it is paced a little slow and could have been edited better so the story telling on the front end was more compact and lets us get to the good stuff before midway into the film.

The plot is the same as Super-man's origin when he fell to Earth , just minus any looks  at Krypton. The main character Brandon is a 12 year old boy who's changes are first written off as puberty. In an age of school shootings I think it is interesting to look at how he doesn't need a gun in fact when his uncle tries to give him one for his birthday, his father won't let him have it and this pisses him off. But all the other Columbine like elements are their the weird kid who gets picked on and rejected lashes out at the world. The first target is his crush. I think in this p/c world it took some balls for them to have her break her hand as I can here the argument the SJs might make against this .

is funny because I was on a horror forum and people were talking about how 'original" or "cool of a concept" this was and I responded with "wasn't this once called the Omen". My prediction is right as heat vision aside, the Omen is the movie this has the most in common with. Not as dark or as creepy, but it makes up for that in the gruesome way he does nt hold back with his powers. So for the more sadistic comic book fan... like myself who wants to see super heroes kill more and not hold back, well this movie is for you. They should use this as inspiration for the Sentry movie and just add schizophrenia,  addiction and a solar deity complex. It's the Omen meets Super-,man without a doubt, but it was fun and I liked it.   

Film Review : "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile"

This year has found Netflix really step up their game and make movies that are as legit as anything in theaters. While not a horror movie. It is a grim character study that is propelled by the fantastic performance of Zac Efron, who really loses himself in the role. I think the measure of restraint the director chose by not showing the murders which would have made it a horror movie was a commendable choice.  This could have been a slasher, but instead the movie focused on  just how charismatic  Bundy was. To the point that even though you know the end result you might find yourself siding with his protestations of innocence. John Malkovich also bolsters the film with his role as the Judge during the big trial in Florida.

The question I go off of these days when measuring how good a movie is, now has become how long did it take me to finish it? Since the bulk of my movie going doesn't take place in the theater and is watched at home, is it something that got dragged out because I only watched it in short intervals or was I engaged and drawn to watch as much of it as I could. I would have finished this is one sitting if I had not started it at a late hour and needed to go to bed. The pacing and sense of suspense were compelling and kept me wanting to watch it. Could there have been less emphasis placed on the relationship with his girl friend at the beginning ? I would normally say yes, but it almost gave it an unexpected twist, by showing the role she played in his story. I  think this also humanized him more. I am sure there will be some kind of continued outrage online with people complaining about making him sexy. But due to the groupies he had in court I think it is a very real part of the story and they should get over themselves since the guilty dog barks the loudest.

My only complaint is the fact it did not factor his mental health into the equation aside from a brief mention at the end. I went online and searched his diagnosis to find he was not a psychopath , but bi=polar. I also found the reason this was not a focal point is because people think it would be stigmatizing. As some one who is bi-polar I call bullshit on taking this approach, because one to make it in this world as someone who is mentally ill you have to have thicker skin and hold yourself accountable. This was more of a dire warning to me of what could happen if I did not take care of myself than something to make me feel bad. I don't feel bad because I do take care of myself. I think it was in fact less stigmatizing to show crazy is not Norman Bates or Leather Face , but can be a high functioning facade that goes wrong . Mental health in the 60s and 70s was no where near where is today, so that factors in. I am fascinated with serial killers though Bundy's case was not as fark as Gacy or Gein so I never immersed my self in his story so this shed a different light and is a great film for fans of true crime. 

Film Review : "Us"

I did not even bother with Jordan Peele's first movie, due to word of mouth that it was not a horror movie , but a thriller. When I saw he was fully committing to horror I decided to give it a shot. When things first kick in it's pretty much a rip off of "the Strangers". Then comes the twist that the home invasion is the shadow side of the protagonists. The acting is terrible. The antagonist side or the shadow of the protagonists, is the worst side of the equation as their ability to come across creepy , scary or evil, comes across as just wide eyed or retarded. To the point that the movie was almost unwatchable. Midway into this shit show , I just had to dig in and force myself through it.

Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss is the only character that was tolerable. The problem with this is you don't get invested enough in the characters to care if anything happens to them. Even in the campy 80s horror movies they achieved this more often than not. The stupid don't get out of the car or go in the basement moments abound. Not in a way that creates tension for the characters, but due to uneven writing. The humor seems more natural than the horror. Though I am calling this horror, that term suggests that it is scary. This makes it a bit of a misnomer.

To say this movie is well made by any stretch of the imagination is like giving a kid an award for participation. This movie are any horror movie should be able to stand on it's own two feet alongside other horror movies. In this case I am not asking it to be as good as "the Shining" or "Psycho" , but to measure up against movies more closely related like "the Purge",  "Funny Games" or "the Strangers " which it fails to do. I am glad I did not pay to see this movie.

the Top 10 Horror Movies of 2018

It was a weird year for Horror. It did better at the box office while competing with Netflix. Horror has a interesting way of reflecting society so the fact that post-apocalyptic themes are seeing a resurgence should come as no surprise. The four best movies played off of human aggression rather than ghosts or monsters.Only a few of these are b-grade horror of the 80s kind and many have as much depth as anything that came out.
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10- Hellraiser - Judgement

This movie took a dive towards the end, but started out as a different take on the franchise that played into the mythology rather than trying to reboot it and kept a Clive Barker inspired feel.



9 -Slender Man

It got panned on Rotten Tomatoes, but in creating a mainstream horror movie for teenagers it did better than the bulk of the Blumhouse drivel.



8-the Bird Box

It's cool to hate on this one due to the hype and it felt a little derivative of  " A Quiet Place" , but it was well done and hit some tense moments much like "the Mist" which is another film it could be compared to.



.7-Halloween

Not a reboot, a sequel , that is the best thing Blumhouse has done so far. I think it was very fair with the mythology, not the best of the the Halloween movies but a decent into for kids.



6-A Quiet Place

A tense science fiction movie that felt like "Signs" . It was well done and worth watching.




5-Wildling

I like that this movie was such a different take on coming of age mixed with lycanthropy.




4-Strangers 2- Prey At Night

It was tense and bloody from the get go. If you had to choose between this and the last Purge film this one would win for sure.





3-What Keeps Us Alive

This one is pretty intense and of the top three might be the scariest in terms of what makes horror work, the other two films were just more well made and acted,






2- the House that Jack Built

Lars Von Tier made something that blends a serial killer film with an art film. Not a white knuckle grip your seat horror movie, but does has disturbing qualities like when he hunts down a family.





1 Clovehitch Killer

This movie needs and Oscar. Dylan Mcdermott gives the performance of a life time and is disturbing in the same way Psycho is disturbing. This is a better movie than any of the films nominated. Its the best movie I saw this year.