Oct 19 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – S – Satanic Panic (2019) Movie Review

Director: Chelsea Stardust

Writer: Grady Hendrix (Screenplay) Grady Hendrix, Ted Geoghegan (Story)

Starring: Rebecca Romijn, Arden Myrin, Hayley Griffith, Ruby Modine, AJ Bowen, Jordan Ladd, Jerry O’Connell

Plot: A pizza delivery girl at the end of her financial rope has to fight for her life – and her tips – when her last order of the night turns out to be high society Satanists in need of a virgin sacrifice.

Tagline – Sacrifices must be made

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun Horror

Story: Satanic Panic starts as Sam (Griffith) takes a new job as a pizza delivery girl, she gets to meet the colourful characters while delivering pizza, with one of her final drops being at Danica Ross (Romijn) residence, the same night she is looking to do a satanic ritual.

Sam becomes the target of their sacrifice, as they need a virgin to complete the ritual, only Sam is joined by Judi (Modine), Danica’s daughter in an attempt to escape the ritual.

Thoughts on Satanic Panic

Characters – Sam is a pizza delivery girl on her first day of the job, she is trying to learn how the system works with tips, which sees her unwittingly walk into a satanic ritual, where she must try and escape the followers trying to use her as the sacrifice for their devil. Danica Ross is the leader of the satanic cult, she does everything to make followers happy, which will include giving up her own daughter if that makes the devil happy, she remains calm even if things don’t go as followed. Judi is the daughter of Danica who is also being prepared for sacrifice, she will help guide Sam through trying to stay ahead of the worshippers, using her knowledge of the cult to hopefully lead them to freedom.

Performances – Hayley Griffith does well in the leading role of this film, with her performance showing us the pure confusion about being thrown into this world. Rebecca Romijn as the leader of the cult is great to watch, filling the screen with the pure confidence required in the film. Ruby Modine completes the main cast with a performance that does fill in most of the gaps for the audience.

Story – The story here follows an innocent pizza delivery girl that gets caught up in the middle of a night involving a satanic cult, that want to make her their latest victim in their attempt to summon a demon. The story shows how somebody’s life (Sam’s) can be turned upside down in one night, when they need to learn how to survive a cult in a big city that are worshipping the devil, showing us how the cult will do anything to get what they want, with their early stage magic. The story plays out over one night, which does show us just how the battle to survive will unfold, with just one main option to survive and will break some of the more traditional ideas of the cult movies, adding in plenty of over the top ritual ideas for kills.

Comedy/Horror – The comedy in the film comes from seeing how different character act through the night, be it Sam’s fighting back or the cult members reactions to certain things that happen, this does hold back the pure horror side of the film, with most horror moments looking to end in a laugh more than anything else.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show us just how the world is unfolding, we start in the everyday neighbourhoods, where Sam is working, but when she ends up in the high society end of town, that is where everything takes place for the chaos side of things.

Scene of the Movie – Drowning

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not enough horror involved.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun horror that gets plenty of laughs, while not capturing enough scares, we have a strong cast who each get their moment to standout through the film.

Overall: Enjoyable Horror Comedy.

Oct 18 2021

#Like (2019) Movie Review ‘Intense Thriller’

#Like – Intense Thriller

Director: Sarah Pirozek

Writer: Sarah Pirozek (Screenplay)

Starring: Marc Menchaca, Sarah Rich, Jeff Wincott, Ramon Nunez, Samantha Nicole Dunn, Dakota Lustick, Liz Meinders

Plot: “Woodstock teen, Rosie, mourning the first anniversary of her younger sister’s death discovers the mysterious man who sexploited and bullied her sister to commit suicide is back on-line trolling for new victims. After the authorities refuse to get involved she finds a darkness she never knew she had when she takes justice into her own hands.”

Tagline – The story of a girl who writes her own ending.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: #Like starts as we meet Rosie (Rich) who has been in mourning for the last year after her younger sister Amelia (Dunn) committed suicide, Rosie has started to look into her social media posts, where she starts to unfold an online troll that has been holding information of Amelia.

After Rosie starts to learn more about the man behind the trolling her sister, Rosie looks to find the Man (Menchaca) she believes was behind it, in an attempt to get her own revenge for what she believes he did to her sister.

Thoughts on #Like

Characters & Performances – Rosie is the mourning sister that has always been looking for answers to why her sister killed herself, she lives with the pain of not being around when she needed her, deep diving into her personal life, learning about an online troll that looked to ruin her life. She will find herself crossing the line in an attempt to get revenge on the person she believes caused the trolling, leaving her with the battle of what is or isn’t right to cure the pain she is going through. Sarah Rich does an excellent job in this role, where you can see just how much is going through her characters mind. The Man is a local construction worker that Rosie believes is behind everything, he comes off on the shadier side, but there is the element of doubt, as he doesn’t know everything going on. Marc Menchaca will give us a man that you might not trust, but does have an element of innocence about him.

Story – The story here follows a mourning older sister that decides to start look deeper into her younger sister’s suicide, which will lead to her going down a path she isn’t prepared for, as she searches for answers. This is a story that will dive into the same direction as ‘Hard Candy’ where a young woman is looking to find a way to get revenge for something by taking an older man hostage, demanding answers. This will give us the fine balance about whether people are behind it or not, it won’t give anything away at any point in the film. It is more about the balance about whether things are happening or have happened in the past, more letting us see how Rosie is letting her own mind create what she wants to see in the future.

Themes – #Like is a thriller that puts us into a situation where we get to see how somebody believes they should be dealing with a potential online troll, it will balance the line of not having the real evidence to make this a reality or not. The location in the film does create a place where somebody could get away with a form of torture on someone. In what is trying to create extra thrills, we go through the typical interrogation sequences, which will see minor additions to the bigger picture.

#Like will be available on Digital Download from 1st November

Final Thoughts – #Like is a thriller that will put you in the position of asking what is on the moral compass.

Oct 17 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – Q – The Wretched (2019) Movie Review

This is under Q because of actress Gabriela Quezada Bloomgarden.

Director: Brett Pierce, Drew T Pierce

Writer: Brett Pierce, Drew T Pierce (Screenplay)

Starring: John-Paul Howard, Piper Curda, Jamison Jones, Azie Tesfai, Zarah Mahler, Kevin Bigley, Gabriela Quezada Bloomgarden

Plot: A defiant teenage boy, struggling with his parents’ imminent divorce, faces off with a thousand year-old witch, who is living beneath the skin of and posing as the woman next door.

Tagline – Something wicked wants inside.

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Wretched starts as Ben (Howard) and his father Liam (Jones) are living together after the divorce, which will see Ben looking over the neighbours, noticing something isn’t right, with the son Dillon who seems to be spooked by something in his house.

When the neighbour continues to act weird Ben continues to watch over the family only to learn there is a much more sinister creature living next door, looking for victims.

Thoughts on The Wretched

Characters & Performances – Ben is a teenager who has been struggle with his parent’s divorce, he is getting used to his new life but soon starts to find himself noticing strange things in the neighbours and starts to try to learn the truth about what is happening, nobody wants to listen to anything he is saying and he must prove what is going on alone. John-Paul Howard does give us a role that we are used to seeing a female character take more often than not. Mallory is the new love interest for Ben who has been getting to know Ben and showing around town, she is one of the few that will help Ben looking into everything, only she isn’t completely behind his ideas. Piper Curda does give this character a bigger impact than the script would like to. Abbie is the neighbour who starts acting strange, she either lurks or gets right into someone face, using the change she is going through to give everything about her a much more sinister nature, one which would make you fear being around her. Zarah Mahler gives this character the fear factor we need, never looking like an everyday neighbour, as we often see her through the eyes of Ben. We do meet other characters including Ben’s father who is trying to move on with his life, but believes Ben is playing up to stop that and the other potential victims of what is going on.

Story – The story follows a teenager that starts to believe something strange is happening in his neighbour’s home, which will lead him to investigate, only for him to learn the shocking truth about what is going in the house. This does have the core story of rather generic characters, but where this story truly stands out, is where the evil goes, seeing what they are up to in this world, will leave you shocked. It is nice to see a horror that doesn’t hold back and doesn’t give us a true answer to everything going on, waiting for us to see everything unfold. The story does dive into a myth and legend, which only adds depth to everything involved with the evil we see.

Themes – The Wretched isn’t afraid to bring the horror, with tension and blood curdling moments, the evil is always sinister and is slowly being revealed to us, like it is to Ben. The locations used in the film will include the home, which isn’t as safe as you would like it to be, along with the forest which has eviler than anyone could have imagined in it.

The Wretched is a horror with great scares, creations despite the two dimensional characters holding things back.

Oct 16 2021

Bigfoot Hunters (2019) Movie Review ‘Mockumentary 101’

Bigfoot Hunters – Mockumentary 101

Director: Zach Lamplugh

Starring: Brian Emond, Jeffrey Stephenson, Mo Arora, Justin Beaudrot, William Childress, Will Copeland, Chris Dortch II

Plot: A clickbait journalist is sent to the Appalachian foothills to cover a Bigfoot Convention where he discovers there’s more to this listicle than meets the eye.

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Bigfoot Hunters starts as we meet downtrodden clickbait journalist Brian (Emond) who has spent his career reporting stories that are clickbait, rather than digging into real stories, which gave him the original passion for journalism.

Brian must reluctantly take the latest assignment of meeting a bigfoot expert as they look to show the Bigfoot Convention, where he meets Jeffrey (Stephenson) who has been studying Bigfoot for decades, but learns there is more than meets the eye.

Thoughts on Bigfoot Hunters

Thoughts – Bigfoot Hunters brings us into a Mockumentary style film that will play into the similar ideas that ‘What we do in the Shadows’ did to the vampire world of horror, only this time using the legend of bigfoot. This does look to play into the different types of people in the world, the quirky loner searching for bigfoot, the disgruntled journalist who wants more from his career along with a twist in the story. The comedy can feel awkward in places, with everything feeling balanced between trying to be serious and trying to play into the idea that everything is meant to be comedic. The location is just random woodland, which helps with the budget, but offers nothing to what is going on in the bigger picture. The performances in the film are interesting with Brian Emond being the most interesting character to watch, who clearly doesn’t want to follow the story, which you could see many journalists going through at times. If you want to see a completely deadpan mockumentary, this will give you the basics for it, with a few twists along the way.

Bigfoot Hunters is in cinemas 22 October and on digital 25 October from Fractured Visions

Final Thoughts – Bigfoot Hunters will fit all the typical mockumentary creations, getting the odd laugh in the bigfoot world.

Oct 15 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – O – Outback (2019) Movie Review

Outback – Plain Bad

Director: Mike Green

Writer: Brien Kelly, Mike Green (Screenplay)

Starring: Lauren Lofberg, Taylor Wiese, Brendan Donoghue, Kym Cramp, Jim Winton Porter

Plot: Down Under for an adventure-filled vacation, a young American couple quickly find themselves stranded in the unforgiving Australian outback.

Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Outback starts as we follow two America tourists Lisa (Lofberg) and Wade (Wiese) as they head to Australia for an adventure of a lifetime, even though it doesn’t start well after Lisa rejects the proposal from Wade. Wade has planned the trip, but Lisa wants to change the plan, which will see them drive into the outback and get lost.

The two try and figure out their position, only to find themselves lost on foot, separated in a battle to survive the elements and nature itself.

Thoughts on Outback

Characters & Performances – Lisa is the woman that just broke her partner’s heart by rejecting his proposal on their trip of a lifetime, she pushes Wade into going off the plan they had made before arriving and spends most of the time moaning at everything he does, including they when get stuck in the outback. Wade is down after having his heart broken and isn’t wanting to spend the time with Lisa, despite the trip being a dream of his too, he is left to try and find help, not willing to ask for directions or get a satnav to help them on the journey. The biggest problems with both these characters come from their decision making process, which is just terrible through the whole film, leaving you shaking your head at everything they do. The two actors really struggle to make anything from these bad characters.

Story – The story follows two American tourists that get lost in the Australian outback and must battle the elements to survive. This is a story that will leave you frustrated with just how stupid the characters, you will find yourself shaking you head for the whole movie, because the story is so paper thin, nothing actually happens, we do end up watching a bloke piss for a solid 10-minutes combined time, which we don’t need to see, but he won’t blow the horn on the car after he finds it.

Themes – Outback is a horror thriller that shows the harsh reality of the outback in Australia if you get lost in it, we see how a couple are trapped here facing a hopeless outcome. The outback itself is the best part of the film, looking beautiful, while being deadly.