Hocus Pocus

Three witches (played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker) find themselves resurrected three hundred years after their deaths, and they begin to wreak havoc on modern (circa 1993) Salem, Massachusetts. A couple of kids are the only ones who can stop them. This movie is just some good, dumb fun. It's probably better if this is a movie you have some form of nostalgia for. To give an example, I can easily recognize that some of the fish out of water humor with the witches can be inconsistent. Yet, this is something that has never really bothered me too much. The absolute best thing about the movie is the acting from Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker. These women are clearly having a ball. That's not to say the rest of the cast is bad. For example, I actually do enjoy Thora Birch as the little sister of the main protagonist. She does a pretty damn good job as the annoying, bratty little sister. It helps that she's just sympathetic enough that she can still be likable. In short, she actually feels like a kid to me. Some of the visual effects haven't entirely held up, but they don't look awful either. In short, this movie is just a fun little watch around Halloween, especially if you're looking for something to show to kids. 

6 / 10 

A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting

Teenager Kelly Ferguson has to find her charge when he is kidnapped by a monster on Halloween. This is a movie I could easily see kids getting a kick out of. There are some moments that I think work well enough to creep younger audiences out a little bit. Looking at this movie as an adult, I saw mostly as a fun little Halloween watch, nothing more. The best part of this movie is easily Tom Felton as the main villain. The man just seems like he is having a ton of fun. I do think there is something of an 80s vibe to it. There is some stuff in this movie I thought was actually pretty imaginative. I will say that the main character is just okay as a character. I actually think one of the supporting players would have worked better as the lead. She has a more interesting backstory, and a better tie to the main villain. The CGI isn't really anything special. I did find it to be less distracting as the film went on. Overall, I think this movie had just enough imagination to keep me interested while I watched. I also could see this being a decent gateway movie for younger kids trying to get into horror. 

7 / 10 

Deadly Friend

 

Deadly Friend is about a genius-level teenager who revives his best friend (and crush) as a cyborg after she is accidentally killed by her abusive father. Of course, when this happens, she isn't quite right. Starting things off with the positives, this movie has what might be one of my favorite kills in any horror movie ever. If you are at all familiar with this movie, you probably already know what kill I'm talking about. If not, I'll just say it involves a basketball. I also actually really enjoy Kristy Swanson as the titular "deadly friend." I think she does a solid job differentiating who the character is before and after her death. I really do feel like these are two completely different people. I also like the movie's ending. In a movie like this, I wouldn't want the main character to get a happy ending, and really, he doesn't. I won't necessarily spoil exactly how and why though. But, this is far from being one of Wes Craven's best movies. I think there are some pretty major pacing issues. At times, the tone doesn't entirely feel pinned down. Part of that could come from the fact that Wes Craven originally intended this to be a slowly paced, more cerebral, gothic romance. But, he was forced to add in more blood and gore. So, it doesn't entirely feel like these two elements always go together. I actually wonder if the original intent would have made for a better movie. It might have actually fit the sort of Frankenstein story better. Judging what this movie is, I think it's one of Craven's more middling efforts.  

5 / 10 

Deadly Blessing

Deadly Blessing is one of Wes Craven's earlier films, and was an early attempt for the man to dabble with the slasher sub genre. The movie centers around a young pregnant woman who finds herself widowed and makes an attempt with a couple of her friends (one of whom is played by a young Sharon Stone) to solve the murders. For those who may not know, Wes Craven is one of my all-time favorite directors. I should admit that I have not seen all of the man's work, and I am currently working to rectify that. This one is interesting for me because I don't have strong feelings about it one way or the other. I think it's perfectly fine. The acting is hit and miss. The only ones I really think stand out are Ernest Borgnine, Michael Berryman, and Sharon Stone. The rest of the cast I kind of see as just there. The characters are hard for me to get a read on sometimes, and not necessarily in the best way. This is a movie that has been described as a transitional movie for Craven, and it really does feel that way. There are a lot of parts to this movie that just drag for me. Overall, I found Deadly Blessing just alright. I feel like this movie had some growing pains for Wes Craven as a director. I'd really only recommend this to hardcore fans of Wes Craven.

6 / 10 

  

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 

Ouija

Ouija is a 2014 horror movie about a group of idiot teenagers who unwittingly summon evil spirits just because they mess with a ouija board. I'm going to be completely transparent. In my opinion, this is probably one of the worst horror movies of the past ten years. A couple of performances worked well enough for me, I suppose. But, for the most part, the acting is just bland at best. As far as scares go, this is a film that solely seems to rely on shitty jump scares. Every now and then, there might be one scare that almost works. Almost. Ok, there is one thing that really sinks this movie into being among the absolute dreck of horror. Let's talk about the film's twist ending. Our idiotic heroes make the assumption that for all of their nightmare to end, they have to set the spirit of a young girl free. The twist is: the little girl was the evil spirit all along. The ghost of the girl's mother was trying to prevent this from happening. Here's the problem. The mother's ghost is the actually doing most of the killing. So, when you really break it down and give it any genuine thought, this is a plot twist that actually creates plot holes. Honestly, just watch the prequel, and avoid this piece of dogshit at all costs. 

2 / 10 

Deep Blue Sea 3

 

Deep Blue Sea 3 follows a research team and a team of mercenaries as they each try to deal with the surviving sharks from Deep Blue Sea 2. The first thing I want to say is that this is a much better movie than Deep Blue Sea 2. While some of the acting in this still leaves a lot to be desired, it is a good deal better here. I also feel that the effects are noticeably better in this film as well. There are definitely some rough spots in terms of the effects, but the second movie also did them a lot worse too. I should also say I liked some of the characters in this one more than I liked the characters in the last movie too. None of that makes this a great movie by any means. There are some character and story beats that I did find pretty predictable. However, in this movie's defense, I don't really think it matters all that much. Quality-wise, I think I would put this about on par with the first movie. It's not something I would necessarily call good, but I did have fun with it. If you enjoyed the original movie,  I would say give this one a shot.

6 / 10