John’s Horror Corner: The Hills Have Eyes II (2007), the brutal sequel showing us that sometimes more is just… well… more.
MY CALL: Barely a worthy sequel to its 2006 predecessor, but entertaining nonetheless for fans of brutal, shocking, gory, disturbing cinema. And if you are, the opening scene alone is worth a blind purchase. MOVIES LIKE The Hills Have Eyes II: If you hadn’t seen it yet, start with the similarly brutal prequel The Hills Have Eyes (2006). You could also see how it all started with the original The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1984), classics which today feel overly tame. Then go with movies like Just Before Dawn (1981), the Wrong Turn franchise (2003-2014) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and remakes (1974-2000s).
The Hills Have Eyes (2006) was brutal; so brutal that many loathed it simply for that alone. It delivered a bit more of the implied “potential” rape of the 1977 original and doubled down with some perverse forced breast-feeding just for the sake of making us uncomfortable. Despite all that, for some reason it drew the line at nudity. Now, as if scoffing at its mild-mannered predecessor, this sequel opens with a scene every bit as gross, brutal and inappropriate as anything to be found in 2006. We find a long-imprisoned pregnant woman (Cécile Breccia), topless and covered in filth down to her inch-long curled toenails, screaming her way through this viscerally exploitative birth scene. It’s gory and it really wants to test our limits as we see way more than we should of the mother and her monstrous child as he emerges from her and not just the child, but the umbilical cord, is forcefully yanked out of the suffering woman and we see it all happen! That’s the kind of movie you’re in for… you know. Classy.
Unlike Alexandre Aja’s 2006 remake, this sequel makes no effort to emulate the plot points of The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1984) but makes every effort to cross the boundaries of our comfort. Director Martin Weisz (Grimm Love) has only ever made three feature length films (including this one), and I’m surprised he never returned to horror. Whereas this film is clearly inferior to the 2006 film, it’s still quite entertaining to fans of disturbing cinema (e.g., Saw (2004-2017) and Hostel (2005-2011) films).
In this sequel there is no mystery to the monsters. Everyone knows they exist. After the events of the first film, the army conducted a series of search and destroy missions to rid the lands of these disfigured flesh-eating mutants. And if you think it sounds crass to pit a bunch of forgettable military characters against a bunch of forgettable cannibals, you’re right! These characters are ill-written and I found myself ill-invested. We eventually come to care for some of them and they do have distinct fleshed-out personalities. But there’s no comparison to the Carter family from the original or remake.
Our monstrous cannibals’ appearance is both exaggerated and a bit inferior to 2006, but every bit as feral. The monster make-up isn’t exactly bad but, for lack of a better description, it just seems cheaper. Papa Hades (Michael Bailey Smith; A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5, The Hills Have Eyes) is a thick mucus-slobbering hulk (striking like Victor Crowley in Hatchet) and the reproductive rape-y elder of the tribe. The others have their own distinct appearances, but none particularly interesting. However, as far as effects go, the slippery rubber guts are not only more abundant, they look great!
The action (i.e., weapon swinging and striking) behind the execution of the death scenes also falls a bit short of 2006, and the acting before the death scenes is stiff. But the death scenes themselves, oh they’re still fun! We have a mean contorting leg-break (think the castle window back-break in Lurking Fear), some massively lacerated head wounds and headwound-gauging, a gooey eye-gauging, and a chunky sloppy head smash. There’s also a gross port-a-potty gag that reminds me of the silly outhouse scene in Friday the 13th Part V (1985), although the feces-smeared victim is much more disgusting. All told, it doesn’t match Doug’s gruesome final act of 2006. Only the opening scene reaches that level.
Despite some vicious scenes/moments and that epic opening sequence, the movie finds very little tension or dread. And for all the unpleasantness of the rape scene, the utility of such a scene felt squandered. Really, instead of using it to realize the animalistic nature of the cannibals, it was just mean for the sake of meanness.
We explore deep into the subterranean mine lair, which is labyrinthine and full of chambers sorting the belongings of past victims (as in Wrong Turn) and severed-head trophies (a la The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). And let’s not forget the macabre butcher shop accoutrements complete with meat grinders, bloody chopping blocks and slabs of human like hanging sides of beef.
Not a very good movie, per se, but this sequel has its place for lovers of brutal cinema and disturbing scenes. Overall, this clearly falls short of the quality of its 2006 predecessor. But it remains highly entertaining for those with the stomach to endure its more difficult scenes.
Share this post:
The MFF Podcast #164: The Best Horror Films of 2018
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
2018 was a fantastic year for horror films with Mandy, Hereditary, A Quiet Place. Strangers: Prey at Night, Unfriended: Dark Web, The Ranger, The Endless, Annihilation, Unsane, The House That Jack Built, Overlord, Revenge, Apostle, Ghost Stories, The Babysitter and The Ritual providing legit scares, thrills and chainsaw fights. It was such a great year we brought in award-winning horror director Zach Beckler to discuss the best horror movies of 2018. In this podcast, you will hear us talk about “new wave” horror, decapitations and hugging our Blu-ray copy of The Endless. If you are a fan of horror you need to listen to this podcast.
Revenge is so good.
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the pod!
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
Share this post:
John’s Horror Corner: Mandy (2018), like a hallucinogenic graphic novel fever dream of Heavy Metal, nightmare fuel, and next-level Nic Caginess.
MY CALL: This is a hallucinatory headtrip of scintillating beauty and unsightly brutality. MOVIES LIKE Mandy: Hard to say… Perhaps Antichrist (2009) or Natural Born Killers (1994).
Red (Nic Cage; Mom and Dad, Drive Angry) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough; Oblivion) seem to exist in a magically intoxicating cabin in the woods, their life peaceful and euphoric. Despite their obvious deep connection, there is a general disconnection with reality permeating all aspects of their world… except, of course, their undeniable kismetic link to one another. I’m reminded of the disorienting surreality of Antichrist (2009) or Natural Born Killers (1994).
Their quiet, otherwise simple, life is shattered when the disturbed leader (Linus Roache; Vikings, The Forgotten) of a cult of spiritual zealots sees Mandy and finds the debilitating need for her. This is where things start to get really weird. A man blows the (perhaps magical) “horn of Abraxus” and apparently summons biker Cenobites to collect Mandy and facilitate Red’s suffering as he witnesses everything.
This trance-like film really lets Nic Cage spread the wings of his mania to full span. He has manic screaming contests with himself, he blacksmiths a Final Fantasy weapon of his revenge which I could only describe as a Klingon fire axe, he cackles with his face doused in the blood of the throat he just slit, and… well… more Nic Caginess. It’s like a vastly extended cut of the last 30 minutes of The Hills Have Eyes (2006) mixed with a mean acid trip!
Cage spends half the film with his face splattered in blood as he works his way through biker Cenobites like videogame bosses, one after another. We have ax-fighting, all-out living room brawling to the death, and a blood-splattering chainsaw duel. Needless to say, this film was stimulating!
An excerpt from Mark’s review of Mandy…
“Mandy is so much more than a “Nic Cage freaking out” movie, and I’m certain it will become a cult classic that is celebrated at midnight screenings full of loving fans who celebrate every blood splurt that sprays in Nic Cage’s face. It can best be described as a thrilling experience that bombards your senses with bright colors, loud noises and ultra-violence, that will either make you cheer or cringe.”
The blood runs abundantly amid the brutal Mad Max-ian violence as if they were the final surviving villains and heroes of the Apocalypse. Yet, interspersing all the physical mayhem are stylistic Heavy Metal-esque (1981) animated scenes (e.g., nude Mandy) and silhouetted action shots (e.g., the head throwing) reminiscent of Frank Miller’s Sin City (2005). The eye-popping head squeeze was another such delight.
All the hazy pink, red and purple light filters were simply dream-like. I just can’t get over how powerful some of the photography is in this film; whether ominous or gorgeous. And this film is just so metal! From the time of Mandy’s abduction, I feel as if I could watch the movie on mute and simply play an old Pantera, Sound Garden or Sepultura album to score it.
Let’s keep an eye out for whatever director Panos Cosmatos decides to pursue next.
Share this post:
John’s Horror Corner: May the Devil Take You (2018; aka Sebelum Iblis Menjemput), Evil Dead goes to Indonesia.
MY CALL: Essentially, this is an Indonesian Evil Dead with plenty of Asian “hair horror” and magical curse motifs. It’s not as intense, gory or violent as I’d hoped, but it remained entertaining enough. MOVIES LIKE May the Devil Take You: Evil Dead (2013) and the Colombian Evil Dead: The Damned (2013).
A frightened family man (Ray Sahetapy; The Raid: Redemption) nervously welcomes some sort of witch into his home to engage in an obviously occult ritual as she grumbles semi-possessed guttural incantations to bring him wealth. This film instantly immerses us in tension and we have no illusions that some spiritually foul misdeed has been conducted in this world rich with dark arts. Years later, he suddenly declares bankruptcy and falls into a coma, leaving his now adult children with many questions.
Seeking answers regarding her father’s condition, Alfie (Chelsea Islan; Headshot) returns to the long-abandoned house were the arcane rites were conducted in the now nailed-shut cellar. Alfie’s stepsiblings Ruben, Maya and Nara come along to the old house, which is conveniently isolated in the jungle—like a lonely cabin in the woods.
By design, this film will toy with you at first. There are momentary images of ghostly forms, some so brief you’d miss them with a blink. The special effects are decent, and a bit gory. We get a healthy dose of classic Asian demon-witch imagery, along with deadly Asian demon hair. But even more familiar is how we wander deep into Evil Dead (2013) territory with graphic black blood vomited into faces, wall-crawling and hovering, demands for fresh souls, and infectious snaggle-toothed bites. In classic Evil Dead (2013) fashion, once possessed our spastically kooky demons spit up black bile and bite like zombies. And like the classic, a demon lurks in the cellar and evil preys on our human sympathy for loved ones.
My greatest criticism would be that once the Sam Raimi-inspired infection is revealed, it’s more like it’s trying to duplicate some aspects of Evil Dead (1981, 1987, 2013), rather than using it as inspiration. The muddy finale, all the black gooey regurgitant, the locality, and the taxidermized tiger were among such aspects. But this film has other things going for it—not relying entirely on Raimi’s foundation—including the obvious Asian horror motifs.
Writer/director Timo Tjahjanto (The Night Comes for Us, Headshot, ABCs of Death, V/H/S 2) has made a respectable horror film. There is no comparison to the intensity of The Night Comes for Us (2018) or the films of Rob Zombie or Alexandre Aja, but the violence is still at least moderate. We see horror drags with fingernails brutally torn asunder, people forced to kill possessed loved ones, some nasty bone-breaking use of a Voodoo doll, and there’s a mean face-tearing scene.
Despite all this, I was never really surprised, scared (not even by a jump scare), tense or impressed. This is an entertaining movie, but I was largely underwhelmed. However, the mixture of Raimi influence and classic Asian horror themes leaves me willing to recommend this anyway. I may not have been impressed, but I was always wondering what was going to happen next.
Share this post:
The Top 10 Movie Villains of 2018
2018 was a great year for villains as movies like Widows, Black Panther, The Night Comes for Us and Bad Times at the El Royale introduced the world to some world class baddies. In honor of these jerks we decided to put together a list of the best villains of 2018. This list is very eclectic and features random villains who made each movie better with their adherence to thievery, chainsaws and total lack of world ending snaps.
Here is the list! Let us know about your favorite villains in the comments.
8-10. All three of Walton Goggins villainous characters in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Tomb Raider and Maze Runner: The Death Cure
We here at MFF love Walton Goggins and embraced all three of his villainous roles with open arms. The best thing to come out of him being a villain is a moment in Ant-Man and the Wasp when Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) asks a crowd of people “Anyone seen a southern gentleman carrying a building?” The world needs more Walton Goggins being a villainous southern gentleman.
.
7. Jatemme Manning (Daniel Kaluuya) – Widows
Jatemme is the classic badass who reads books before killing his prey and embraces every villainous movie trope that comes along with being a cinematic villain (makes people dance, has many henchmen). Widows is a very good film because you believe in the menace of Jatemme and that raises the stakes to an almost unbearable level.
6. Phoenix Buchanon (Hugh Grant) – Paddington 2
Hugh Grant’s performance in Paddington 2 is award worthy and I love how he plays off his past to bring a whole lot of charm to the role of a pretentious actor. His performance is loose, fun and makes a great movie even greater (hyperbole warranted).
.
5. August Walker (Henry Cavill) – Mission: Impossible – Fallout
What I like most about August Walker is that he is a bruiser who embraces blunt force tactics above all else. He is solid foil to Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) because he legitimately threatening, over-confident and has a sweet mustache. You can tell Henry Cavill loved being part of the action, and embraced being a bad guy who would inevitably lose, but put up a helluva fight in the process. Also, we love the bathroom fight and appreciate how he threw massive haymakers while Hunt was more cerebral in his fighting style.
.
4. The Cenobite(ish) Weirdos – Mandy
The cenobite(ish) baddies in Mandy are evil incarnate and I can’t think of the last time villains made me so uncomfortable. They are leather clad jerks who love potent LSD who can be summoned by a magical horn which gives them a mystical feel that makes them even scarier. Once they’re unleashed on their prey the results are nasty, and their brutality actually warrants a cinematic Nicolas Cage freakout. The best part about these villains is you want to see them perish, and when they bite the dust, it makes you very happy.
.
3. Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) – Black Panther
Michael B. Jordan is a very good actor and he brought a welcome dose of humility and pathos to a character who could’ve come across as a stock baddie who wants to murder thousands. He is a big part of why Black Panther was a SMASH hit at the box office because his performance gave the film a formidable villain who has turned to the dark side, but is still sympathetic. Also, Jordan made you believe he could beat up pretty much everyone with ease.
.
2. Arian (Iko Uwais) and Pretty Much Every Other Character – The Night Comes For Us
The Night Comes for Us is the best action film of 2018, because it features Iko Uwais (and Joe Taslim) destroying people. You will cringe, cover your eyes and yell at the screen during Iko’s fights because he stabs people with broken bottles and slices legs with shards of glass. The best part about The Night Comes for Us is that everyone is basically a terrible person, so you cheer during the insanity because they are all getting what is coming to them. I don’t know why Iko Uwais isn’t the biggest action star on the planet, hopefully this movie gets him closer to that goal.
.
1. Billy Lee (Chris Hemsworth) – Bad Times at the El Royale
What I love about Billy Lee is how he oozes a false sense of confidence that can shaken by a person who sees through his shit. He is dangerous to a point, and I love how he can go from uber confident to super petulant in a moments notice. A lot of credit has to go to Chris Hemsworth for understanding the fragility of the character while knowing he doesn’t mind killing people. Billy Lee is the best villain of 2018 because he is also the most layered.
.
Who are your favorite 2018 villains? Let us know in the comments.
Share this post:
The MFF Podcast #163: The 2018 Random Awards!
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The world famous MFF Random Awards are back and better than ever! If you are a fan of incredibly random awards you will love this podcast because we celebrate cinematic coffee drinking, southern gentleman and characters who are just too busy to save the world. Join me (Mark), John and Megan as we unleash the randomness and discuss our favorite 2018 movies like Revenge, Widows, Ant-Man & The Wasp, Paddington 2 and Mandy. Also, make sure to check out the piece I wrote about the 2018 random awards to experience more awards that weren’t mentioned on the podcast. If you have any random awards please let us know on Facebook or Twitter!
Revenge is a very good movie.
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the pod!
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
Share this post:
John’s Horror Corner: Malevolent (2018), an unimpressively formulaic Netflix original about scam ghost hunters and a haunted house.
MY CALL: Yeah, sorry. This just isn’t good. It’s… a passable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. But it’s flat writing and unoriginality leaves it difficult to recommend. MOVIES LIKE Malevolent: For more (and better) films about skeptical paranormal investigators getting in over their heads, try The Last Exorcism (2010), Grave Encounters (2011), Grave Encounters 2 (2012) and Ghost Stories (2017).
Angela (Florence Pugh; The Falling, The Little Drummer Girl) and Jackson (Ben Lloyd-Hughes; Tormented) lead a team of fake paranormal investigators that are long overdue for their comeuppance. Typically, a paranormal team’s arrival to their first site often serves as the ice breaker in these ghost hunter and haunted house movies as the film finds its personality—and thus introduces us to the tone. We’ve seen similar scenarios in Poltergeist (1982), Grave Encounters (2011), Paranormal Activity (2007), Demonic (2015) and Insidious (2011). Only here it packs no punch as a result of shallow characters and generally weak, color-by-numbers, over-expository writing. So, this film is not off to a promising start.
Much as in The Last Exorcism (2010) and Grave Encounters (2011), our skeptical investigators come to learn that one of their scams stumbles across some supernatural truth. I’m sorry to say that much like the writing, the execution of the horror imagery and scares also falls quite flat (for my taste and/or experience). As Angela “asks” the ghosts to “consider leaving the house” I’m awash with astonishment at the brazen idiocy of the character.
Shortly after Angela begins to suspect actual supernatural connections, they accept a job at an estate outside of Glasgow with an alleged haunted history. As soon as they enter house we are bombarded by predictably formulaic, uninspired events. I’m sorry to say that you’ve almost certainly seen everything here before, and you’ve seen it all done much better elsewhere. Yet, despite my buckets of criticism, this movie remains passably entertaining. But, to be clear, I’m recommending this to no one.
Director Olaf de Fleur Johannesson’s first feature length foray in horror is proficient as a movie, but very weak as a film. The only success is in the easy victory behind the creepy kids motif. Some of our ghosts are disheveled and disabled young children with their lips sewn shit, and that’ll work to some degree in any movie. Another workable aspect of the film is that it takes place in 1986, thus removing the conveniences of cell phones and the internet.
The team’s client Mrs. Green (Celia Imrie; Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Highlander) is the only strong or interesting character. And the special effects, while not particularly demanding for this film, were just good enough to avoid earning scathing remarks. So, no recommendation from me. But you could really do worse.
Share this post:
The 2018 MFF Random Awards: A Celebration of Beer Can Tattoos, Coffee Drinking and Screaming Bears
The MFF random awards are back, and you’re going to love this year’s collection of awards. If you haven’t heard of our random awards, just know they are random and celebrate everything we loved about 2018 cinema. If you get a chance make sure to check out our past random awards and their corresponding podcasts.
Sit back, relax and enjoy our awards.
Best Usage of a Table to Kill a Guy Award
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is my favorite 2018 movie and a big reason for that is the opening segment featuring Tim Blake Nelson being very violent.
.
Best Skull Faced Hurricane Award
I love Hurricane Heist because it’s bonkers and embraces that fact. For example, the hurricane takes the face of a skeleton TWICE!
.
Best Security Guard Who Drinks Coffee Award
Barry the security guard in Paddington 2 is my favorite 2018 character. The guy is totally inept but insanely likable despite the fact that he is virtually unhirable.
Simon Farnaby is my hero
Best Screaming Bear With a Bear/Human Skull That Screams “Help Me!” Award
Homerton the Screaming Bear is terrifying and awesome. You need to watch Annihilation.
.
Best Finger Removal Award
The Night Comes for Us is the best action film of 2018 AND it features an insane moment involving a character pulling off her finger during a crazy brawl.
You need to watch this movie
Second Best Finger Removal Award
I had to throw in another mention of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
.
Third Best Finger Removal Award
Gareth Edward’s Apostle is a gnarly little movie that is loaded with island gods, blood mountains and finger removal. Watch it now on Netflix!
This scene hurts.
Best Goblin Who Loves Cheddar Award
The Cheddar Godlin scene in Mandy is perfection because it let’s the audience know it’s totally cool to laugh along with Mandy. It’s a nice respite from the insanity of the film.
.
Best Southern Gentleman Carrying a Building Award
The world needs more of Walton Goggins battling Paul Rudd in Marvel movies. I love Ant-Man and the Wasp.
.
Best “I’m a Busy Guy” Award
The Tomb Raider reboot is very underrated and we hope it gains an audience throughout the years. One of the things we appreciate most is Daniel Wu’s “very busy” character who helps out Alicia Vikander’s Lara Croft.
.
Sexiest Pizza Award
Anytime a movie character says “I want to f**k this pizza,” you know you got a sexy pizza. You should watch Set it Up.
.
Best Running Award
You probably think we were going to go with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. However, we think Cynthia Erivo’s Belle character in Widows is the best runner of 2018. She flies in this movie and is a legit runner in the real world.
.
Best Gif Worthy Dance Montage Award
We are big fans of The Babysitter (listen to the pod about it) and appreciate a fun dancing montage involving Foghat.
.
Best “See You Later” Award
Where did Wong go in Avengers: Infinity War? He shows up for a battle, fights the battle, and then ducks out to do something else.
Wong ducks out in this movie.
Best Job Offer Award
Sorry to Bother You is a fantastic movie that features committed performances and an amazing job offer.
.
Best Beer Can Phoenix Tattoo Award
If you ever get impaled on a tree in the middle of nowhere, you should consider pulling a Revenge and cauterizing the wound with a beer can that has a phoenix on it.
You need to watch Revenge.
Best “I Know Kung-Fu” Award
Upgrade is an instant action/horror classic that features a brilliant moment involving a guy realizing he is a killing machine. It is an awesome moment and you need to to watch this movie.
.
Best Magical Creature Riding a Champagne Cork Award
We love Nifflers. We didn’t like Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. However, don’t hold that against the Nifflers.
.
Best Singing in Front of a Two-Way Mirror Award
Bad Times at the El Royale is a badass movie that will most certainly make our 2018 top 10 list. The two-way mirror singing scene is fantastic.
.
Most Convincing Horror Performance That Gives Me Real Life Anxiety About Leaving My House Award
Unsane is a beautiful stress bomb that features a fantastic Claire Foy performance.
Best Use of a Severed Head Moment Award
We are going to spoil anything about the decapitated head in Hereditary. Just know the decapitated head is used in a very squirmy way.
.
Most Baffling WTF Moment Award
Hold the Dark is baffling, beautiful and weird. We recommend you bask in the experience, and don’t try to analyze Jeremy Saulnier’s violent-epic too much.
.
Best Bathroom Fight Award
Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill engage in one of the greatest bathroom fights ever in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. You know a fight is great when it’s intensity exhausts you.
Such a great fight.
Best Rib Breaking Award
We really like Daisy Ridley’s rib breaking rabbit in Peter Rabbit.
Let us know your favorite random awards in the comments!
Share this post:
John’s Horror Corner: Boarding School (2018), an R-rated, young adult, dark coming-of-age.
MY CALL: There’s no way to describe this film without spoiling it. So, I’ll just say it’s a good yet weird horror film geared for audiences transitioning beyond PG-13… and it’s very unconventional. Expect murderous scenes depicted with lighter-than-expected moods—but far from funny. MOVIES LIKE Boarding School: For more coming-of-age horror, try The Company of Wolves (1984), Society (1989), Ginger Snaps (2000), Teeth (2007), Jennifer’s Body (2009), Raw (2016), The Neon Demon (2016) and It (2017).
After learning that preteen Jacob (Luke Prael; Eighth Grade) never met his recently deceased grandmother because his mother thought she was a horrible woman, I was already feeling aftershocks of Hereditary (2018). And when a freaky old lady commented that his eyes were “just like hers” at her funeral, I was all but certain I was in for a similar “witch grandmother possession” ride. But boy, was I ever wrong!
Jacob suffers from night terrors, he’s bullied at school, and he shares a strained relationship with his mother (Samantha Mathis; The Clovehitch Killer, The Strain, American Psycho). Life was already hard. But after he’s caught dressing in his late grandmother’s clothes, his parents place him in the hands of Dr. Sherman (Will Patton; Halloween, The Mothman Prophecies, The Fourth Kind), the principal of an isolated boarding school for troubled kids.
Jacob’s fellow students are caricatures of disturbed youths to such manner that Jacob is the most normal student there. But the weirdness is not limited to the students when considering the questionable motives of Dr. Sherman, who readily beats classmate Christine (Sterling Jerins; The Conjuring 1-2, World War Z) at every opportunity.
The tone of the film shifts to odd degree, briefly feeling dark and serious at first, then a lighter “young adult” mood (and often upbeat adventurous score) is adopted as we’re introduced to the boarding school and Jacob’s classmates. Like an R-rated Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018), Christine finds that their schoolmasters have secrets and Jacob finds a dead classmate. But still, things remain playful in tone. Playful, but while toying with gender roles, sexual identity and coming-of-age. Writer and director Boaz Yakin (Max, Safe, Uptown Girls, Remember the Titans) isn’t exactly known for his horror movies. In fact, this is his first in a career built largely on wholesomeness except for the R-rated Fresh (1994) and Safe (2012).
Even as its tendencies manifest increasingly slash-and-gash homicidal, the atmosphere remains a feisty; slightly more mature than young adult level—imagine Goosebumps (2015) if Jack Black happily lacerated some kid’s face with a straight razor as blood splattered across his smiling face… but keep most of the other aspects the same. Yeah, it’s a little hard to describe this tone. I’d recommend it to those transitioning from PG-13 to R horror with an open mind regarding the unconventional.
Share this post:
The MFF Podcast #162: High Noon and Rio Bravo
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The MFF podcast is back, and this week we’re talking about High Noon and Rio Bravo. These western classics are very similar, but very different (does that make sense?) as they both focus on outnumbered lawmen dealing with murderous rogues and younger women. We love the intensity of High Noon, and we really love the laid back charms of Rio Bravo. In this podcast, you will hear us talk about the production, plot differences and cultural effects (Tarantino loves Rio Bravo) of these two great films. If you are a fan of classic westerns you need to listen to this podcast.
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the pod!
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
Movies, Films & Flix 