Film Review- "Weapons"

This film, brought to you by Zach Creggar, who made the 2022 film "Barbarian," goes with a different shade of creepy for this one, that is still dark enough to kick off the Halloween season. The promotion of the film kept things vague, you know, kids go missing.  Bigger-name actors flourish in this film to create an interesting character study that is woven together in a fashion not unlike something  M Night Shyamalan might do, but it was not saved for the twist at the end. 

The occult nature of the antagonist is very effective, with the villain falling somewhere between "Longlegs" and "Heredity" in scope of creepiness. The title in some ways fakes you out.  The violence is well-paced, and don't go in the basement moments while plentiful are done in a manner that makes sense. The characters, even when supernatural flavors surface, are all very real-feeling. There is frame framework to magic which I can appreciate rather than just a magic can do anything plot hole. 

The writing is the real star, the characters are a well-balanced mix of straights rather than 2-d stereotypes. None of the casting or personality of said characters seems forced; everything flows naturally. When shit hits the fan and gets chaotic, well, suspension of disbelief has already been established enough for it to not be a jarring left turn. So far it's one of the year's best horror movies, perhaps not the scariest but one of the most engaging stories to escape into. 

Film Review -"Gretel & Hansel"

Saw this movie a couple weeks ago and just now getting around to typing out my thoughts. Not the title is Gretel and Hansel, not Hansel and Gretel. This classic piece of Germanic  folk lore is being spun in a way that places the focus on Gretel. She is older than Hansel who is just the little brother she takes care of in a paternal manner after he mother goes crazy and kicks them out. That is when things take on a creepier tone. This movie is a horror movie in the same tone as "the VVitch" . There lurking dread more than jump scares or the less subtle forms of typical modern Blumhouse film making that seems prevalent in today's horror movies. This movie is very visual, sometimes it might even seem slowly paced. We all know the story. Once they get to the witch's house we know things are not going to go well, though once they arrive the plot takes a turn from the normal story.

The acting is great, because you can not really imagine any of the actors as any one other than their roles. It also works that these are not big name faces you have attached to other roles in your head. In some ways this takes  a more realistic take on the classic story. The house is not made of candy. There is a not a big oven. Though there is that element. I would say the direction they take this movie is darker than the original story, It explores Gretel's darkside and young Hansel often seems like the voice of reason.  The witch sometimes seems pretty reasonable. This makes her scarier. There is a strong feminist under current to the film's main message In today's culture of instagram witches, it might be a cautionary tale as every thing comes with a price. .This echoes the original story . You can not just eat a candy house without knowing you are being buttered up for something. That sounds like a message Bernie Sander's followers could stand to hear,. The writer for Plugged In, did not like the message and thought it was hollow. This is because he is also a fucking idiot.

Oz Perkins, yes... Norman Bate's son, did and excellent job directing this. When things got gruesome its well done. . Yet pushes the bounds, especially when you consider children being eaten is part of the premise.  Jessica De Gouw plays the young witch, if she looks familiar that is because she played Mina in the Darcula show that came out a few years ago with Johnathan Rhys Meyers. Would have like to see more of her , but you get what you get. Overall, if you like gothic supernatural horror that works off mood then this movie is worth your time. 
  

Film Review : "Hereditary"

I would tell you not to read this review since reviews are part of the problem here.  seem to always fall for the movies that are supposed to be the most disturbing film ever. But it is unlikely that those reviews come from fans of the horror genre. This movie got a buzz at festivals like Sundance so it drew in critics who wanted to see it for it;s artful guise, So I  might be a little jaded with 35 years of watching horror movies under my belt.The threshold for what I need to be scary is high. This one benefited from a smoke screen of clever marketing . I was well made. Well written? that's another story, since it follows some pretty predictable “hollywood witch” troupes Now the scariest film of the year ...so far, mmm I might have argue "the Strangers : Prey at Night" was more intense.Based off the trailer I would have told you the movie was going to be about a little girl who plays with weird dolls and makes things happen. This could not be farther from the truth. There is magic. The little girl plays more of a role off screen than on.  The little model houses look like the are going to play a bigger role in the plot than they actually do.

When the movie begins to pick up it’s stride , the depressing tone is very tangible. I would have liked to have seen this played off of more.It could have captured the same kind of heavy bleakness “It Follows” had. Instead the tone sometimes doesn’t take itself as seriously. Now this movie also served as an interesting test of how the demographics of where you go to see the movie influences the experience. This is not the first time I have seen a horror movie in an urban theater where they talked and laughed when they became uncomfortable. Though I think the movie played off a few beats of comedic relief for similar reasons.