Identity

Identity follows a group of strangers stranded at a motel who must eventually work to stay alive when a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one. This is a movie I had heard of but had never seen until recently. Now that I have had a chance to check it out, I am so glad I did. For starters, I love the cast. The actors in this film include John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, and Jake Busey. This movie starts off fairly simple, and you think it's going to go one way. But, there are a couple of solid twists in the movie that I won't spoil in my review. Props should also go to director James Mangold. The man does an excellent job building up atmosphere in this movie. I could potentially pick apart the characters for not being too deep. However, in this movie it almost feels like it's by design. That's not me saying they're super shallow either. I personally feel that this movie gives the characters just enough depth. Overall, Identity works as a mystery-horror movie with some legitimately clever twists. It's not one I hear talked about a lot in day to day conversations, But I honestly think it deserves to be. If you get the chance, give this movie a watch.  

9 / 10 

The Invisible Man

 The Invisible Man is the latest remake of the original H.G. Wells story. This version follows Elizabeth Moss as a woman, Cecilia, who escapes from her abusive boyfriend, a scientist named Adrian Griffin. After Adrian apparently dies, Cecilia begins to think something suspicious is happening, and that Adrian is somehow behind it, even as those around Cecilia believe she may be going crazy. So, between this and Upgrade, I know that Leigh Whannell is someone to look out for as a filmmaker. There's a fantastic sense of tension. The acting is very good too, especially Elizabeth Moss in the lead role. She convincingly pulls off a performance that feels both sympathetic and unhinged. This also feels like a perfect off-set for a villain that is actually very cold and calculated. Some of the supporting characters could probably be a little bit deeper, but they still work pretty well for me. I kind of feel as though they serve their purposes within the context of the film. The pacing of the movie is suitably slow. It feels like it builds more and more as the film progresses. I also really have to compliment the film's visuals. The digital effects are actually pretty seamless. It feels like there is a pretty solid mix of both digital and practical, at least from what I was able to tell. Overall, I really liked The Invisible Man. This is a movie that makes me feel like there's an understanding of how to make a movie (and story) like this work in a modern setting.   

9 / 10 

Apt Pupil

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Todd Bowden (played by Brad Renfro) discovers that his neighbor, Arthur Denker (played by Ian McKellen) is a Nazi war criminal. Todd has an obsession with the awful things the Nazis did during World War II. Todd blackmails Denker into telling him all of these horrible stories. So, Apt Pupil is a movie I had been interested in for a while. Now that I have finally seen it, I will say this. I absolutely loved this movie. It's based off a story by Stephen King, and I suppose I should start there. I have not read the story this movie is based off of. That said, this is a type of horror that I don't really see Stephen King explore all that often, meaning real world horror. The acting is excellent all-around, especially from the film's two leads. A lot of the tension comes from the cat and mouse game between these two. It also helps that you're never fully sure who is who in this scenario. Yes, Denker is a former Nazi war criminal who had been suppressing a lot of his more sadistic urges. However, Todd shows a lot of his own sadistic tendencies throughout the movie, and you feel each of them trying to attain a sense of control. In my opinion, this was a great little movie, even if critics and audiences didn't really respond to it.

9 / 10 

Escape Room

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A group of strangers find themselves invited to participate in a series of increasingly immersive and increasingly dangerous escape rooms. This is a film I was actually pretty intrigued in from the beginning. The concept actually seemed really cool. The execution was…OK. I definitely didn’t hate this film, and I wasn’t really disappointed when I saw it. The actual escape rooms were genuinely unique, and I actually liked watching the characters have to try and find their ways out. The acting is solid, even if the characters themselves weren’t the greatest. I think there might have been one character I enjoyed more than the rest of them. I also have to appreciate that there was an attempt to develop our protagonists, some of them more than others, I will admit. Ultimately, these issues are a byproduct of the main issue I had with this film, the writing. As per usual with a film like this, there are attempts at levity. If anything, they mostly felt strange to me. It didn’t seem natural, so much as feeling like these characters are being forced to say certain things. The twist at the very end sets things up for a sequel, and as I write this review, I genuinely don’t know how I feel about it. There isn’t really much more for me to say. Escape Room feels best described as just good enough. It shows up and does its job. Am I curious about the sequel? Yes. Am I highly anticipating it? No. Escape Room feels like it is perfectly fine. It isn’t great. It isn’t bad. It’s somewhere in the middle. 

6 / 10 

The Haunting of Sharon Tate

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The Haunting of Sharon Tate stars Hilary Duff as the murdered actress. The movie is about the nightmares she had in regards to her untimely death. I can see why this film was released direct to on-demand. From the very first shot, the film just had this cheap look to it. The film’s poor acting certainly didn’t help matters either. To be fair to the actors in this film, most of the blame need placed on writer-director Daniel Farrands. The dialogue in this film is so atrocious that any actors would struggle to make it work or sound natural. “In movie speak…” This is how an actual line in the film starts. It’s honestly so bad, I think I legitimately blocked the rest of it from my memory. The writing in this film is so bad, it makes George Lucas look like Quentin Tarantino by comparison. Think about that. Aside from that, the movie throws in themes of fate and destiny. Because this film is horribly written, it comes off as incredibly forced. Going even further into the sins of the film’s writing, the screenplay feels largely padded. The film is 90 minutes long, and nothing of note really happens until the half-hour mark. of course, when it actually looks like something is going to happen, the film falls back on the lazy, forced, tired dream sequence cliche. I almost wish that I had more to say about this movie simply because I hated it that much. The problem is that when a film that is bad meanders this much doesn’t really leave me with that much to say. The last thing I really think I can say about this piece of shit is that it is the worst movie I have seen so far this year. It is a film with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and I feel bad just for potentially drawing attention to it. 

0 / 10 

Glass

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Glass serves as a sequel to both Unbreakable and Split, and is effectively the final chapter of M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 Trilogy. Following the events of Split, David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis) is hunting Kevin Wendall Crumb a.k.a. The Horde (played by James McAvoy). When they cross paths, both men are captured and institutionalized alongside Elijah Price a.k.a. Mr. Glass (played by Samuel L. Jackson). While the three are institutionalized, they are studied by a a doctor (played by Sarah Paulson). Her goal is to convince them that they are not super powered, like they believe they are. First things first, the performances in this film are excellent all around. The one that I think makes me the happiest is Bruce Willis. In the past several years, the man seems to have stopped caring. So, I’m happy that David Dunn is a character that Willis himself seems invested in. One of the biggest criticisms I have heard levied toward this movie is that there isn’t enough of Glass in this movie. I can certainly understand that criticism, but I personally don’t agree with it. Glass is sort of the mastermind, pulling strings behind the scenes for a lot of the events within the movie. The other criticism I have heard levied heavily against this film is the ending. The ending for this film didn’t bother me either. If anything, it felt bittersweet to me. Neither Unbreakable nor Glass were particularly happy movies to begin with, so the ending to the film actually made sense in my eyes. The trailer actually makes this film look a little more action-packed than it actually is. Don’t go into Glass expecting this to be a major action film. I will admit that some of Shyamalan’s awkward dialogue does slip here and there. Fortunately, it feels incredibly limited in this movie. I have to give Glass a recommendation, though I would advise cautious optimism due to this movie’s divisive nature. 

9 / 10   

A Quiet Place

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A Quiet Place follows a family trying to survive day to day after an apparent alien invasion. John Kraskinski (who wrote, directed, and starred in the film) cited Alien, Jaws, and No Country for Old Men as influences. This is something that clearly shows in the final product, and I mean that in the best way possible. Kransinksi clearly understands tension, as he manages draw dread out of noises that we normally take for granted. For example, the family lays down paths of sand in order to easily walk barefoot. I wouldn't normally think about how loud a footstep might be. Without going into spoilers, the opening scene is the clearest example I can think of for this. Another element to this movie that works with building tension is the moment you see that Evelyn (played by Emily Blunt) is pregnant. The alien creatures hunt, attack, and kill based off of what they can hear, and babies are naturally loud. They don't have the world experience to know that they need to be quiet in given situations. Much of the film is silent, spoken only in sign language with subtitles at the bottom. There's actually a couple of levels to this. The first level is that the family's eldest child (played by Millicent Simmonds) is deaf. The second level (as I've already talked about) is the creatures hunting and killing people based off of noise. Krasinski sought Simmonds out to play the daughter because she legitimately is deaf, and he felt that would add authenticity to the movie. The moments where characters actually speak are legitimately jarring, and I mean that as a compliment. This is easily one of my favorite movies so far, and I highly recommend it. That said, I do have a couple of warnings. First, because the movie is so quiet, it really does force you to pay attention to it. Second, the movie is slow-paced, and that will be a turn-off for some people. Having read this review and knowing where I stand personally, by now you'll know whether or not this movie is for you.

10 / 10      

Dressed to Kill (1980)

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Dressed to Kill is a 1980 erotic thriller film. It is written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars Michael Caine, Nancy Allen, and Angie Dickinson. Housewife Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) is murdered. The only witness is call girl Liz Blake (Nancy Allen). The killer begins stalking her, while she attempts to evade the killer and solve the crime herself. She teams up with the victim’s teenage son Peter (Keith Gordon), who wants revenge. Nancy Allen and Michael Caine provide solid performances. Allen, in particular shines as call girl Liz. She provides some weight to the character of a woman who witnesses a murder, and over the course of the film, finds herself both a target and a suspect. For the most part, the film is well directed. This comes as no surprise because Brian De Palma is a master director. However, I did feel that there were certain points where he would just let a scene play out a little bit too long. It doesn’t feel relevant by the time the scene ends. It feels more like begging for the audience to notice his directing instead of letting the story play out. I had mixed feelings about the end of the film. On one hand, De Palma really does a good job building up tension. On the other hand, it falls into one of the ultimate horror clichés of all time. Something I found interesting about the film was the (possibly unintended) similarities to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. However, they aren’t bad, as they work well enough within the context of the movie’s plot. Overall, Dressed to Kill has its rough spots that easily could have been smoothed out better. But, the performances by Michael Caine and Nancy Allen, and the film’s mystery aspect make this movie a fine one-and-done.

6 / 10

Split

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Three teenage girls (Anya Taylor-Joy, Hayley Lu Richardson, and Jessica Sula) are kidnapped by a man (James McAvoy) with 23 separate personalities. These three girls are meant to be “sacrifices,” so to speak, for the 24^th personality. I have to say I’m glad that The Visit wasn’t a fluke. Split signals that writer-director M. Night Shyamalan is definitely back. This is a really damn good movie anchored by fantastic performances from James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. McAvoy in particular really stretches his acting muscles. Each of the personalities he portrays feels distinct from one another. The primary personalities are “Patricia (a British woman),” “Hedwig (a nine-year-old boy),” “Dennis (a man with OCD),” “Barry (a man with a penchant for fashion),” “Kevin (the real identity),” and “the Beast” (the forthcoming 24^th identity). Now, I don’t want to take away from the rest of the cast because they’re solid enough They just can’t reach the levels that the two main performers do. Throughout the movie, Shyamalan lets this feeling of unease build and linger. As the film progresses, you really feel the protagonist and the antagonist come into their own, feeling more and more real as the movie progresses. With most horror and thriller movies, setting is crucial. Much of this movie is contained to a basement (we aren’t told exactly where it this basement is until the end) and it actually adds a feeling of claustrophobia and tension to the movie. The twist is incredible, probably Shyamalan's best since Unbreakable. When you see what the twist is, it works and feels like it naturally belongs in this movie. I have but one flaw with this movie (a minor one at that), and that is that occasionally, the dialogue feels odd. Other than that, Split is a fantastic film that cements Shyamalan’s comeback.

9 / 10     

Hell or High Water

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Two Texas brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) carry out bank robberies early in the morning. All they really want to do is give themselves better lives. Things for the brothers grow more tense, however when a sheriff (Jeff Bridges) catches wind of them, and starts hunting them down. The three main actors in the movie all manage to carry the weight of their performances. Pine and Foster have fantastic chemistry with one another, giving a sense of believability to their on-screen relationship as brothers. Foster, in particular stands out. His character Tanner is an ex-con. When we first meet him as a character, he appears to be unpredictable and dangerous (in truth, I wasn’t sure exactly where hints would end up with his character). But, as the film goes on, you understand and learn the layers to him. He never had a great relationship with his mother, but actually fights to hold back tears saying he would’ve helped her near the end if she would have asked. I would also like to extend praise to writer Taylor Sheridan. He makes the dialogue in this movie feel realistic. These conversations feel like real discussions real people would have with one another. The movie opens with a fairly simple, yet haunting score (one I wish would’ve carried throughout the movie a little bit more). While I will admit I am not a huge fan of country music, the use of it in the movie works as a backdrop for the movie’s Texas setting. David Mackenzie’s direction feels simple. For that reason, it is actually incredibly effective. If I have but one flaw (and it really is a nitpick for me), the lighter humorous moments that are occasionally spiced into the mix of the movie don’t always work. They don’t necessarily feel natural, so much as forced. However, everything else comes together, working in Hell or High Water’s favor. 

9 / 10     

The Girl on the Train

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The Girl on the Train is directed by Tate Taylor and stars Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, and Luke Evans. Blunt portrays Rachel Watson. She is divorced from her husband, and is an alcoholic. She rides the train every day, constantly watching the people she sees, even imagining fictional lives for them from time to time. One day, Megan Hipwell, (Haley Bennett) the woman she watches the most, goes missing. Rachel decides to take things into her own hands. She also has to deal with being one of the suspects because she had been seen in the area, and was blacked out in a drunken stupor. Now, this movie is something of a slow burn, and it’s going to turn a lot of people off. But, I really liked this movie. The mystery itself was intriguing, and I was invested the entire time. Emily Blunt is probably one of the best actresses working today, and this movie is no exception. The entire time, I was engrossed in this drunken, broken, borderline psychotic woman who may just be the best female antihero I’ve seen this year. This is almost entirely because of Blunt herself. The climax works mostly because the entire film to me felt like a powder keg waiting to blow, and this was when things finally blew up. Honestly, I didn’t see the twist coming at the end. On the other hand, this isn’t something I see being put on the same pedestal as Fight Club, The Sixth Sense, or The Empire Strikes Back. They kind of play with the idea of an unreliable narrator in a way I don’t normally see. There are certain characters I started to suspect, but I also wasn’t 100% percent sure if I was right or wrong in my personal suspicions. There are some character moments in the movie that didn’t gel with me all that well, and the slow pace can bog the movie down a touch at times, but it never really compromised the movie for me.

9 / 10  

Red Eye (2005)

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Red Eye was released in 2005. It is directed by Wes Craven and stars Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy. A hotel manager is going home, and must take the red eye flight. At the airport, she meets a charming, almost unassuming man, and they seem to hit it off. When they are seated together on the plane, he reveals his true intentions. He is a hit man contracted to kill a diplomat staying at the woman's hotel. She must do what he says, or he will have her father killed. This is one of those Wes Craven movies that I feel has kind of been lost in the shuffle. It never really reached the level of movies like Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Cillian Murphy excels in his role as a charming, but coldhearted killer. The chemistry between Murphy and McAdams makes me feel a little uneasy, and I mean that in the best way possible. There's a genuine feeling of possible romantic feelings, but I also am aware that, essentially, these two are predator and prey. Wes Craven is one of my favorite directors of all time, as he was the one who molded my love for the horror genre. He handles the material he's been given by building tension, and much of the film has something of slow burn style build to it. There's a battle of wits between our heroine and villain throughout much of the movie. The last few minutes, where it takes place in the house of McAdams' character is where the movie wavers a little bit. It's not bad, per se, it just isn't nearly as good as what came before. The stuff on the plane is tense, confined. I wasn't quite sure how the heroine was going to get the upper hand. Red Eye is a movie that I would recommend giving another chance.

9 / 10 

Green Room

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A hardcore punk band books a show at a Neo Nazi bar in Portland, Oregand. The band witnesses a murder, prompting the leader of the Neo Nazis (excellently played by an unusually villainous Patrick Stewart) to kill the band as a way to eliminate witnesses. The bar in the movie looks like an honest-to-god shit hole. I like this because it shows how good the production design is. Green Room is a violent movie, so watch at your own risk. The violence in Green Room isn’t flashy like Tarantino. It’s gritty, brutal, and visceral. The use of a punk band works because I feel like the whole movie is shot edited with a sort of grimy, punk rock look and feel. Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots previously starred in the Fright Night remake together. Their chemistry clearly carries over. In a weird way, it feels like two movies stitched together, but they flow seamlessly. The first half is almost a slow-burn thriller. The second half transitions the movie into a violent slasher film where the main characters have to survive. The reason this works is because you feel like the second half of the movie is what the first half is building up to. As far as flaws go, I would say the characters could have been developed better. Green Room is otherwise further proof that the horror movies this year have really come to play. If you are into horror movies, I would recommend giving this movie a watch.  

9 / 10      

Seven (1995)

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A serial killer in an unnamed city begins a spree inspired by the seven deadly sins. Two detectives, expertly played by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, are assigned to the case and do everything in their power to find the villainous John Doe and bring him to justice. Seven presents a cold, harsh, visceral, bleak outlook on the world, something David Fincher typically excels at. Doe is one of my all-time favorite movie villains. This is thanks in no small part to Kevin Spacey’s performance. He’s barely in the movie, but his presence is felt throughout, and it feels earned and meaningful when he does show up. The violence in the movie is muted, which adds a layer of unease. More than anything, it serves as a backdrop. We are really left to imagine how brutal everything was. Nowhere is this more evident than in the famous “what’s in the box” scene near the end of the movie. On repeat viewings, that moment grows more and more stomach-churning, despite never showing what exactly is in the box. Freeman and Pitt have excellent chemistry with one another. I want to be honest about the ending, though. I loved it. Without giving much away, it’s very bittersweet. It feels like it belongs within the world that this movie sets up. This is one of those movies where everything from the acting to the writing to the directing to the editing comes together to make a fantastic and tense movie. Overall, Seven is one of the best neo-noir thrillers of all time, and a personal favorite of mine.

10 / 10  

Don't Breathe

 

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A trio of friends rob houses with the purpose of saving up enough money to leave their broken, crappy lives in inner-city Detroit. One of the houses they decide to rob is the house of a blind army vet. The vet proves to be a formidable opponent (and one of the best horror movie villains I’ve seen in a long time). One of the things I like about this movie is that director Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues understand character development. In any other movie, I would probably hate the three main characters. However, the characters are fairly well-developed, especially Rocky (played by Jane Levy). I understand her dilemma, and actually want her to succeed. Now, do I feel the character development is as strong as, say, Lights Out? No, but I do feel that it’s there. The beginning of the movie is a little slow. I actually like this because it builds character. Once they enter the house, the shit hits the fan. I loved the use of music in the movie too. It almost always seems to have sense of putting the viewer in edge. Stephen Lang as the blind man gives a performance that simultaneously makes the blind man frightening and sympathetic, something essential to a good villain. The blind man’s house makes for a great contained setting. It looks like an actual, run-down house, and it feels lived in. There are moments in the movie where certain sounds drop out, and they are incredibly effective. I also want to praise some of the more disturbing scenes (namely one involving a turkey baster). Don’t Breathe works as a nerve-racking display of suspense and horror, making for what I believe to be the best horror movie of the year so far.

9 / 10             

Lights Out

 

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In Lights Out, a family finds themselves tormented by a spirit from beyond the grave. The only catch is, this spirit can only attack when the lights are out. The family consists of Sophie (played by Maria Bello), a woman who has a history of mental illness, Martin (newcomer Gabriel Bateman), whom the spirit seems to affecting rather strongly, and Rebecca (played by Teresa Palmer), the protagonist of the film and my personal favorite character. Her struggle to help her estranged family and piece the overall mystery of what’s happening together. This is a movie I actually was very interested in, ever since I saw the trailer. The premise was something that intrigued me. First of all, I really want to compliment first time director Dan F. Sandberg. This is a guy who shows he knows how to build tension, and use scares effectively. But, he and writer Eric Heisserer also show an understanding of something I feel a lot of horror filmmakers today (save for a select few) miss is the idea of building character development, and actually making you care for the people who are in the movie itself. The characters are all strong and feel like they serve a purpose to the overall story. The actors all come to play and are pretty damn good in the movie. Teresa Palmer and Maria Bello are really good in the movie, in particular. Palmer gives off a performance as a young woman who has flaws, but genuinely cares about her younger brother. Bello, meanwhile plays a character who actively seems to care for her children, despite clearly not being all there. Occasionally, the movie will break its own rules, but not often, and never to a point I would’ve called this a bad movie. The spirit, called Diana, is a very effective villain in the movie. She makes the most of those moments where she has power, and I like that sort of determination in an antagonist. I can’t really call Lights Out the scariest movie I’ve ever seen, but it certainly is creepy. There are genuine moments of suspense and dread that are built up by strong acting, writing, directing, and editing for a really damn good summer horror movie. 

9 / 10        

The Invitation

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 The Invitation is about a man, who along with his girlfriend attends a party hosted by his estranged ex-wife. The two lost their son, and she had grown depressed, going so far as to attempt suicide. As the night goes on, the man grows more and more suspicious that there may have been an ulterior motive behind this dinner party. I’m not sure why, but from the second the movie began, I never really bought the acting. I feel like this is one of those movies that I just didn’t like, and I can’t entirely put my finger on why I didn’t. The setting is intimate, perfect for a horror-thriller like this one. The house was a normal house, which I liked, making it feel a bit more real. Outside of the main character and his ex-wife, I feel that the character development was either thin or non-existent (with the exception of the character of Pruitt, played by John Carroll Lynch, who I felt had some development and was the best-acted out of all the characters). Lynch manages to make the fact that his character’s a bit off work. But you also kind of understand his reasoning for his involvement in everything. If anything, I would say that this movie ultimately reminds me a lot of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. It’s a movie that didn’t really have much of anything visibly wrong with it, and for all intents and purposes, I should have been able to like. Also, like Henry, I think the script just wasn’t very engaging, for the first two acts anyways. The third act has the shit hit the fan and transition from something sort of dull into a tense, violent slasher flick. Sadly, a solid third act and some decent character development amid a whole lotta meh just isn’t enough to save The Invitation.

5 / 10  

Darling

 

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If I had to describe Darling in one word, I would say haunting. From the very beginning it is clear this movie is influenced by old school genre classics such as The Shining and The Haunting. The movie centers on a young woman who agrees to watch over an old mansion with a dark past, by herself. One of the first things I have to appreciate with this movie is that it is shot almost entirely in black and white, giving it a sort of vintage look and feel. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the music is atmospheric. Right from the beginning, you know that something is off. Lead actress Lauren Ashley Carter is the movie’s ultimate anchor. Her gradual slip into madness is believable and tense, so much so, that at first it’s hard to tell if the house is toying with her, or if she has always been crazy, or even if it’s a little bit of both. She manages to give a performance that is equal parts insane, vulnerable, nuanced, and mysterious. Sometimes she’s even able to do this all at once. Interestingly, none of the characters in the movie have actual names.They are credited simply as Darling, Madame, or even, the man. As much as I really did enjoy Darling, I will admit that it isn’t the most original movie in the world, borrowing heavily from many films that came before it. However, there are so many good elements to this movie that I can easily look past that. Something that I liked was that even though they explained that the house has ghost stories surrounding it, and is supposedly haunted, whether or not it actually is haunted is never explained. Darling is ultimately an excellent psychological horror film that gets all of its elements almost to a tee.  

9 / 10