Tag Archives: Horror

Apr 22 2021

The Deep Ones (2020) Movie Review

The Deep Ones – Lovecraft Fantasy

Director: Chad Ferrin

Writer: Chad Ferrin (Screenplay) H.P. Lovecraft (Writings)

Starring: Gina La Piana, Robert Miano, Johann Urb, Silvia Spross, Jackie Debatin, Nicolas Coster

Plot: A married couple rents a beach side Airbnb only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. They soon discover to be in the grips of a mysterious cult and their ancient sea god.


Tagline – See the light

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Deep Ones starts when Alex (La Piana) and Petri (Urb) arrive at a beach side Airbnb for a romantic weekend, despite meeting the strange owners Russel (Miano) and Ingrid (Spross) who seems to get a hold of Petri bringing him into the mysterious cult they seem to have around the beach.

Alex finds herself feeling left along by the strange goings on, which will see her starting to see her husband acting strange, with the community acting closer than she could imagine, bringing her towards their desires of the cult latest member.

Thoughts on The Deep Ones

Thoughts – The Deep Ones brings a couple to a beach house for a holiday, which will soon turn into a nightmare as the cult surrounding the area looks to take advantage of them. This does continue a trend in horror that will see a group of people wanting something from a couple, one that is getting tiresome now, this one does have an interesting build and is looking to bring the creations of Lovecraft mind. When it comes the effects, we get some strong moments, as we wait to see what we are going to see, but it never reaches the levels of other Lovecraft visions we are seeing. We could have gone a lot deeper into what is going on with more creepy moments involving the creatures from the imaginations.

Final Thoughts – The Deep Ones gives us a look at the imagination of Lovecraft, but only a glimpse of what we could see.

Apr 19 2021

Fear of Rain (2021) Movie Review

Fear of Rain – Rear Window with Schizophrenia

Director: Castille Landon

Writer: Castille Landon (Screenplay)

Starring: Katherine Hiegl, Harry Connick Jr, Madison Iseman, Israel Broussard, Eugenie Bondurant

Plot: A girl living with schizophrenia struggles with terrifying hallucinations as she begins to suspect her neighbor has kidnapped a child. The only person who believes her is Caleb -a boy she isn’t even sure exists.


Tagline – Some voices you can’t outrun

Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Fear of Rain starts as we get to learn how bad Rain’s (Iseman) schizophrenia is, with her parents Michelle (Heigl) and John (Connick Jr) doing everything they can to help her, pushing her into getting back into her medication to hopefully get back to a more normal life.

As Rain looks to get back to normal life with school, she finds herself as an outsider, before new guy Caleb (Broussard) offers her friendship. Rain does start to question the neighbour, believing her she has been keeping a child hostage in her home, but is this just Rain’s mind playing tricks on her again.

Thoughts on Fear of Rain

Characters & Performances – Rain is the teenager that is suffering from schizophrenia with her latest attack landing her in hospital, needing to get back on her medication. With her family’s support she is trying to get back to her life, with school, which leaves her as an outsider and the new neighbour giving her a reason to be suspicious of a new kidnapping and even her new friend Caleb potentially not being real. Rain is trying to hold everything together, not letting her support network be there for her in her time of need. Madison Iseman is great in this leading role, we have seen her take on horror before, which she handles well, with the mental illness side coming off strong throughout the film. Michelle and John are Rain’s parents that are trying to support Rain through her difficult decisions going forward with her life, they will support her, but know they are there for the difficult times. Caleb is the boy Rain meets in the high school, he is the one person that will talk to her, being new to town and offering her the friendship she needs in her life. He might become the perfect friend, but wondering whether he is real not, is the most difficult part for Rain. Israel Broussard does make for the good friend role, bringing the ray of light into the world for Rain.

Story – The story here follows a teenage girl that has been suffering from schizophrenia with her latest bout being one that leaves her in hospital, that returns home to try and have a normal life, only for her own hallucinations to lead her down the path of suspecting her neighbour of being a child abductor. This is a story that balances the superior Rear Window, with the ideas that a mental illness could leave the suspicious one believing something is happening when nobody else would believe so. We are left to see how most of the story revolves around how Rain is questioning each moment of her own life, which will keep us guessing about what is or isn’t real, away from just being the suspect abduction case. The one side of the story which feels poorly written, is how the high school students don’t try to help Rain, basically letting the bully take control of her, not welcoming her back with open arms.

Themes – Fear of Rain is a horror mystery that will give us the balance of what Rear Window or Disturbia did, with the mystery about a neighbour doing something wrong, with the schizophrenia being put into the world that could leave everything inside the head of the character.

Signature Entertainment presents Fear of Rain on Digital Platforms 26th April

Fear of Rain is a modern day spin on Rear Window, that has nice tension, but does look for more twists than needed.

Apr 15 2021

Forget Everything and Run (2021) Movie Review

Forget Everything and Run – Typical Survival Movie

Director: Geoff Reisner, Jason Tobias

Writer: Geoff Reisner, Jason Tobias (Screenplay)

Starring: Marci Miller, Jason Tobias, Danny Ruiz, Cece Kelly, Susan Moore Harmon, Justin Dray

Plot: When a terrifying pathogen is released, one family will fight to save their children against a band of marauders, hellbent on revenge.

Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Forget Everything and Run starts as we meet the Allister family, Josephine (Miller), Ethan (Tobias), Josh (Ruiz) and Mia (Kelly) who are in the middle of a pathogen outbreak with people acting infected, as the family is left to figure out how toe survive in the wilderness.

As the family is looking to get through the most difficult time, they find themselves coming under attack from another couple Desiree (Harmon) and Lincoln (Dray) as they look to open their eyes to the bigger problems of the world.

Thoughts on Forget Everything and Run

Characters & Performances – When it comes to the characters, we get the Allister family, mother, Josephine that is willing to do anything to keep her family safe, in need of making a difficult decision when it comes, Ethan the father is the softer touch, but he actions have often led to more troubles along the way. Josh and Mia are the children that have been taught how to live in this world, but aren’t ready for what it offers them. We have seen these characters done many times before without this version making any side of impact in being original. The performances from the four are all strong without reaching the heights of the same kind of dynamic we saw in ‘A Quiet Place’. Desiree and Lincoln are the typical threat figures, offering a conversation as to why they might be different in this world.

Story – The story here follows a family that are looking to survive in a world after a pathogen has wiped out many of the population, with them turning into blood hunger monsters or other people desperate to survive in this world, as the family finds themselves going head to head with another one just looking to survive. The idea that we are being placed into a world where infected people have taken over and people have found a new safety area is something we have seen before, it is something that always works. The conversations about surviving do add an extra dimension, as both sides just want that, which has led to the problems occurring. The weakness here comes from the title of the film ‘Forget Everything and Run’ this isn’t a constantly moving story, it is two main locations, which leaves us feeling flat from what is expected from the title.

Themes – Forget Everything and Run is an infected population story that follows a family trying to remain isolated away from danger, using the weather conditions as a form of defence. As mentioned before, it does sound like we are going to have travelling in the film, but sadly we don’t, it is more planning for what could come next.

Signature Entertainment presents Forget Everything And Run on Digital Platforms 26th April

Forget Everything and Run is the survival story we have seen before, with potential of deeper meaning behind the outbreak.

Apr 13 2021

I Blame Society (2020) Movie Review

Director: Gillian Wallace Horvat

Writer: Gillian Wallace Horvat, Chase Williamson (Screenplay)

Starring: Gillian Wallace Horvat, Keith Poulson, Chase Williamson, Lucas Kavner, Morgan Krantz, Jennifer Kim

Plot: A struggling filmmaker realizes that the skill set to make a movie is the same to commit the perfect murder.

Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: I Blame Society starts as we meet filmmaker Gillian (Horvat) who is trying to get her film made, with her facing plenty of negative responses, she starts to try and think outside the box, with a movie that could help her commit the perfect murder.

To prepare for this, Gillian looks to commit smaller crimes, as she looks to understand how the mindset works on the criminal side, struggling to find the motivation she needs.

Thoughts on I Blame Society

Thoughts – I Blame Society is mix of found footage in a style of a documentary, looking to show how quickly a desperate filmmaker will find themselves spiralling into a world or criminal activities to find a way to make a movie of her choice. The story doesn’t seem to get the biggest impact it is going for, looking to try and bring through a shock value, without hitting the try creepy levels. It could easily be compared to ‘Creep’ with the nature of Gillian actions, while trying to have a bigger message about what is going on in society. The performances are made to feel natural for the characters we meet, which does help give a nature feel about the project. It is not an easy watch because the nature of the Gillian character goes from ambitious to psychotic quickly.

Blue Finch Film Releasing presents I Blame Society on Digital Download 19 April 

 

I Blame Society will give Creep a run for its money, for the found footage psycho.

Apr 12 2021

The Banishing (2020) Movie Review

The Banishing – Slow Building Horror

Director: Christopher Smith

Writer: David Beton, Ray Bogdanovich, Dean Lines (Screenplay)

Starring: Jessica Brown Findlay, John Lynch, Sean Harris, John Heffernan, Adam Hugill, Jason Thorpe

Plot: The Banishing tells the story of the most haunted house in England. In the 1930s, a young reverend, his wife and daughter move into a manor with a horrifying secret.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Banishing starts when a family Marianne (Findlay), Linus (Heffernan) and daughter Adelaide (McKenna-Bruce) move into a manor house that comes with the new role as reverend in the local town. Linus does find himself getting a visit from Harry (Harris) warning him about the manor house, while his boss Malachi (Lynch) warns him about the local stories being told to him.

When Marianne starts seeing unexpected events around the house, she finds herself starting to question her own sanity, with her husband Linus not wanting to turn away from his faith to believe her, leaving her to try and learn the secrets of the manor.

Thoughts on The Banishing

Characters & Performances – Marianne is the reverend’s wife that is looking to rebuild her relationship with her daughter after being apart for a time, she doesn’t enjoy the size of their new manor home, believing the amount of people suffering could use the additional location. Jessica Brown Findlay does well in the leading role, reacting well to the horror scenes that a built up for the reaction moment. Linus is her husband and the new reverend that is looking to put his life back together with a quiet parish that could offer him peace, he doesn’t want to move away from his beliefs when searching for answers in the house. John Heffernan does bring this traumatised man to life with ease, showing the distant side of his character. Malachi is the man that gives Linus the job, he warns him that he will always hear stories around the town and not to worry about them. John Lynch brings the stricter figure into the film, showing how one person will do anything to hide the truth. Harry Price is known as the town crazy person, though he knows the truth about what has happened in the house, looking for a way to warn the family of what might be coming if they spend too much time in the house. Sean Harris plays this role with ease, he will keep things feeling uneasy like he might be making it up, while also showing the importance of his warning.

Story – The story here follows a family that move into a manor house only for them to learn the manor house has a dark secret, one that starts haunting them to reveal their secrets. This is a story that we do get to see a lot nowadays, following the new family being haunted, with each haunting becoming more intense, while outside the family people are either warning or ensuring them there is nothing to worry about. The story does have a slow pace, which does show when we are not around the haunting moments, which are the more interesting ones to watch, add in the background of the incoming war, that could change everything for the characters. It does end up falling into the warning one, but doesn’t manage to capture the magic we have seen in so many horrors before it.

Themes – The Banishing is a horror that will see a lot of creepiness happening in the darkness or shadows of a remote manor house, with secrets around every corner. Most are slowly built up scares, which are the strongest part of the film, with the scale of the house being added to the mystery about what is going on.

 

The Banishing is a slow moving horror that doesn’t get the scares to become as intense as it could have.