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Wrong Turn 2: Dead End 2007 ★★★
Out of what I have seen from this franchise (How is this even a franchise in the first place? I don't know!), this one is the most fun. It was aware of the silly nature of the concept and had some fun with it. Joe Lynch? He gets it.
Recommended for people who want good, wholesome, gory fun. And for fans of Henry Rollins.
You Should Have Left 2020 ★★★★
I really enjoyed this one.
The haunted house idea was worked out well, with the appearing and disappearing rooms reminiscent of the novel House of leaves.
It gets gradually more and more scary and I like how the effects leave both you and the characters wondering about the fine line between dream/hallucination and reality.
I found Amanda Seyfried convincing as Susanna and I love Kevin Bacon, so he can't do much wrong anyway.
Candyman 2021 ★★½
The much maligned Candyman 2021. From my point of view, it's more of a sequel than a remake, but it gets mistaken as such. By the end, it should however be pretty clear that this is not the case.
It may not be great, but it's certainly not as terrible as some people say it is. The story harbours some good ideas: the main character's back story and his metamorphosis, the idea of there being several candymen over the course of history. The elevator bit is scary and the white people dying first was an obvious twist on a trope, yet well executed. And that's the main thing.
Bringing back Vanessa Williams was a good idea and I also liked Colman Domingo's performance. Granted, it helped that he gave off this “he looks familiar, let's imdb him afterwards”-vibe. In my opinion, he delivered one of the better performances on FTWD.
That said... Overall, it just did not do all that much for me. Apart from the elevator bit, there was not really anything scary. In spite of its qualities, as a horror movie, there was just too much meh for it to stand out.
Lot 36 2022 ★★★½
Lot 36 is the opener for a series of shorts created and introduced by Guillermo Del Toro. In this case, it's even based on a short story written by the man himself.
Lot 36 makes for a good opening.
The story of the army veteran with shady dealings is a good idea. Tim Blake Nelson finds the right balance between bitter, cold and harsh. Embodying the type of person that feels deeply hurt and finds nothing better than to just lash out at the world.
As one can expect from a Del Toro production, the monster delivers. It looks awesome and still manages to be not quite what you expect. And the pay-off to the old lady subplot is sound too.
45 minutes of solid entertainment. Thumbs ub, Gene. Thumbs up, Roger.
Licorice Pizza 2021 ★★½
At its core, it was a rather sweet love story. The story was nice and some of the meet cute glances worked. I mainly liked the dynamics of their friendship. How true friends end up together, no matter what their differences are.
The (Oscar) buzz? Nah.
I understand why, though. It's the type of period piece that the Academy eats up the same way millennials wolf down sriracha.
For me as a viewer, though, it just did not live up to the hype.
Graveyard Rats 2022 ★★½
Graveyard rats is kind of a mash up between Friday the 13th the TV series - the one about the antique shop - and the funnier X-Files episodes.
Not really scary, but overall entertaining. Though one of the final shots does deliver.
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