[Spoiler Alert] Film reviews and ratings

Totally agree, couldn't wait for it to be over.

 

I needed something to take my mind off of the football, so I’ve decided to do an overly long post on all the movies I’ve seen in the last month or two.

It’ll also end up being a pseudo advertisement for a bunch of streaming services (and a sad indictment of my social life).


The Oak Room (2020) - 4oD

A guy who runs a small, rural bar somewhere in Canada is closing up for the night, when the son of his recently deceased friend turns up after having ghosted everyone for two years. The younger guy owes money to both the bar owner (for sorting out his dad’s funeral) and some other dodgy guy who is en route to collect. Younger guy offers to tell a story about something that happened at another bar (the eponymous ‘Oak Room’) which he claims will square him up with the owner in lieu of payment (and also to pass the time).

This is apparently based on a stage play, and you can kind of it see with how it’s structured. It’s mostly just pairs of characters having conversations in one of the two bars - with one or two exceptions.

There’s a couple of interesting moments (one quieter, the other more intense) and the central mystery of ‘What’s actually the point of this story?’ was just intriguing enough to keep me engaged. The major problem however, and what would probably put me off recommending it to anyone, is that for a movie that’s effectively 98% buildup the ending ending sort of comes out of nowhere, while also feeling incredibly underwhelming.



The Tunnel (2011) - Tubi

An Australian found footage horror that I’ve been meaning to check out for a while (and if you don’t fancy using Tubi, it’s actually free on YouTube, albeit in a not so great 360p).

In order to address a water crisis affecting Sydney, the government drafts up a plan to recycle water from abandoned WW2-era train tunnels. However, the plan quietly gets dropped, which seems to coincide with rumours of homeless people going missing, prompting a local TV news crew to investigate.

It’s a decent enough watch, and thankfully relies a bit more on tension than jump scares (although there are a couple of those). It mostly peaks early for me, but there’s still some decent moments throughout.

Worth a watch if you like this sort of thing.



Pulse/Kairo (2001) - Tubi

A Japanese ghost movie, and something of a cult classic.

It’s a bit of a strange one to describe without getting a bit too spoilery, but it’s essentially about ghosts interacting with people via technology, which in turn appears to be connected to a growing number of mysterious disappearances. The film largely focuses on three characters and their interactions with the strange goings-on.

Unfortunately this movie was a victim of me having seen this being hyped for years as one of the scariest movies ever made. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly atmospheric with a strong sense of existential dread, and there are some legitimately creepy scenes, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the movie that some comments would perhaps lead you to believe.

All that said, it’s definitely worth checking out if you fancy something a bit more moody this Halloween season.



Butterfly Kisses (2018) - Tubi

This was one I came across randomly and seemingly had some decent reviews. It’s also apparently free on YouTube (in 1080p this time!).

Another found footage film, albeit one that leans a bit more in to the meta side of things. A documentary crew is making a film about a guy (a failed filmmaker, turned wedding videographer) who’s in-laws discovered a bunch of tapes in the basement of their new house which apparently belonged to a couple of film students who in turn were making a documentary about an urban legend called ‘Peeping Tom’. The failed-filmmaker wants to take the students footage, which he believes to be real, and turn it into an actual film, while the documentary crew is more or less trying to verify whether it’s all one big hoax.

Honestly, I’m pretty ambivalent on the film as a whole. The ‘real’ documentary is a bit dull and the ‘Peeping Tom’ stuff, while having the odd moment, is a bit dumb overall.

I’ve seen a lot worse, but I’ve seen plenty better.



Dinner in America (2020) - Tubi

This was a major highlight for me.

Through a chance encounter, an angry, punk-rock guy forms something resembling a friendship with a shy, socially awkward girl (the movie never outright states it, from what I remember, but seems to imply that she’s perhaps autistic) with an overbearing family. Not the most original premise, but very well executed.

Honestly this is a movie where I’d say maybe have a quick peek to see if it’s something you might be interested in, and then just go watch it. While it’s not filled with crazy twists, it’s pretty lowkey and straightforward if anything, but it’s one of those where I think you’re better off jumping in and letting the movie play out.

It’s a film with genuine heart without feeling schmaltzy or overly saccharine, and it’s funny without necessarily being particularly jokey. My only real knock against it is that there’s one scene, or more like a five minute stretch, that feels like it’s from a different, worse, movie but that might be a me thing (and I can still sort of get why it’s there).

There’s a part of me that believes that had it been released in the 90s or early 00s instead of 2020 we would be talking about it as some sort of cult classic.



The House of the Devil (2009) - Tubi

This is a film by Ti West who’s perhaps best known nowadays for for his recent X/Pearl/Maxxine trilogy

Set in the 1980s, a college student in urgent need of money takes on a babysitting job for a couple living in an old, out of the way house.

I enjoyed this for the most part, but it’s very much an acquired taste. A significant chunk of this movie, and we’re talking a good 60-70 minutes, is basically our lead actor just walking around a house and occasionally looking a bit scared/worried. The atmosphere is fantastic, and from a technical perspective it’s pretty much immaculate in capturing that late 70s/early 80s horror vibe, but it’s a movie that I imagine plenty of people will find a bit boring.

In saying that, it probably makes for a nice movie to ease in to the horror movie mood for October.



The Innkeepers (2011) - Tubi

Another Ti West film.

This follows a young woman employed in a supposedly haunted hotel that’s getting ready to shut down permanently. Said woman and her coworker both have an interest in the supernatural, having set up a website to document the spooky stories involving the hotel, and want to find some actual proof before the hotel shuts for good.

Like with The House of the Devil there’s some pretty strong atmosphere, and some nice creepy moments (although it does take a while to get there). Although, at times it actually felt like the movie could’ve pivoted away from being a horror entirely and instead gone down some sort of coming-of-age/drama route.

One thing that I did find a bit ‘off’ was the portrayal of the relationship between our protagonist and her friend/coworker. So the lead was in her early 20s when this movie came out and her character is roughly the same age, while the actor playing her coworker was 39/40 and they never really establish what age he’s supposed to be (comfortably in his 30s/more or less his actual age was the impression I got). This is maybe somewhat of a spoiler, but as the movie progresses it becomes apparent that the coworker has romantic feelings towards the protagonist. While it never goes anywhere and just sort of gets dropped without ever really being addressed, it feels a bit unintentionally creepy. It’s like watching one of the guys who reads way too much in to a woman being nice to them. What’s seemingly supposed to be an endearing friendship, ends up feeling like an older guy creeping on a much younger woman

That aside, it’s still a decent movie and another nice October watch.



Honeymoon (2014) - Freevee

A couple decide to spend their honeymoon at a lakeside cabin belonging to the bride’s family. A series of strange events and odd behaviour leads to increasing tension between the newlyweds.

It’s a movie best described as watchable. There’s interesting stuff going on, but some of the acting is questionable to put it lightly.

To start with the positives: Even though you can probably guess the broad strokes of what’s going on, the movie does a decent enough job of building up a sense of mystery and keeping you guessing on the exact nature of what’s going on, There’s also some effective, albeit extremely gross * in this movie( I made the mistake of eating/casually snacking while watching it and I regret it).

The first major issue is that while the characters in the movie are supposed to be American, it quickly becomes apparent that neither of the actors portraying said characters are in fact American. In theory that isn’t a problem, but when they obviously struggle to maintain the accent or develop some strange new one, it does become a bit distracting. There’s also some questionable overacting in the early part of the movie that I’ve read people justify as being intentional, but whether that’s true or not, it’s still not particularly great.

Sort of in keeping with the previous film (which I suppose is a bit of a pun), the male lead in this film is written in such a distractingly, seemingly unintentionally, creepy way. There’s multiple scenes involving the husband character where if someone showed them to me in isolation, and told me that it was from an upcoming drama series about domestic abuse, I’d probably believe them. Even in the context of the movie, when we’re still mostly in the pre-* going down phase, there’s this strange undercurrent to his performance that feels out of sync with what we’re supposed to be getting.



The Night of the Hunter (1955) - Freevee

This is obviously considered to be an all time classic film, but I’ll probably write less about this than some of these low budget horror films.

Two young children are terrorised by a man calling himself a preacher as he searches for stolen money hidden by their father.

It’s a film with some beautifully crafted shots and Robert Mitchum puts on a fantastic performance as the sinister Harry Powell (although there is one moment towards the end that was a bit hammy).

What I will say though, is that for a film in which children play a pretty significant role it has some of the worst child actor performances I’ve ever seen. I’ve genuinely witnessed better performances in a primary school Nativity play than in this movie. *, I put on a more convincing portrayal of a sheep in my Nativity than some of these kids do at portraying a human child.



Backcountry (2014) - Freevee

A couple head out for a camping trip in the Canadian wilderness, get lost and run afoul of an angry black bear (it’s apparently loosely based on real incident).

It’s a decent enough little movie, albeit a very slow one, with a couple of standout moments. The stuff involving the bear is well done, and when it finally gets going it does actually get pretty * up (in an effective way). I think the scene is on YouTube if you want to save yourself 85 minutes.

I do have a couple of issues though:

The first is that there’s a fairly well done, tense scene early in the film involving our leads meeting an Irish guy played by a someone who quite clearly isn’t Irish. I don’t if he’s supposed to be based on someone who exists and is Irish and they felt compelled to stick with that, or if it was just bizarre creative decision, but it’s distracting in an otherwise decent scene

The other is that the movie really is 90% buildup, 5% bear action and then 5% follow-up leading to a quick and underwhelming wrap-up. While I still quite liked the movie, and the slow building of tension is pretty well done, I do feel like they could have maybe found a slightly better split of buildup to payoff.



The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - Netflix

While investigating a house where multiple people have seemingly been murdered, the police discover the seemingly fresh, half-buried body of a woman in the basement. The sheriff asks the local coroner (played by Brian *) to expedite the autopsy of said woman, and so he and his son (who works as his assistant) get to work.

It starts off well, and it does maintain a pretty decent sense of mystery throughout as the father/son team try to make sense of the titular Jane Doe, but it get’s a little too over the top for my tastes by the end.

Maybe worth a watch if you’re in a horror mood.



Pyewacket (2018) - Freevee

A teenage girl with an interest in the occult has a strained relationship with her recently widowed mother. In need of a fresh start, the mum decides to sell the family home and move in to a semi-remote house/cabin in the woods. The relationship between the two continues to deteriorate and the daughter, in a fit of anger, conducts a ritual which calling on a spirit (the eponymous Pyewacket) to kill her mum - something she soon comes to regret.

This is another relatively low budget film, which I found out after the fact that was apparently directed by the same guy who did Backcountry.

‘It’s alright, until the ending’ is probably the most succinct way to sum up this film. There’s a couple of creepy scenes, although it commits the cardinal sin of showing too much (for my tastes, anyway). The ending really is a stinker though, to such a degree that I’m not even sure I’d recommend the movie. I’m not someone who needs movie characters to be ultra logical at all times, especially in a horror movie, but the level of plot induced stupidity that’s involved is staggering.



Black Dynamite (2009) - ITVX

A cult comedy and love-letter to 70s Blaxploitation films, the eponymous Black Dynamite seeks revenge against the men responsible for his brother’s death while simultaneously unraveling a sinister, drug related conspiracy.

If you’re looking for a bit of a laugh, and after tonight I imagine many of us are, it’s worth a go. It’s been a bit since I watched it, and there’s still a few lines that I’ll randomly remember and have a little chuckle to myself.



Cobweb (2023) - Netflix

A young boy who lives with his strange, overbearing parents begins to hear noises late at night coming from behind the walls of his bedroom.

This is a movie I’ve really wanted to see for a while, and it sadly didn’t quite live up to my expectations in the end. It’s generally well acted (Lizzie Caplan as the mother of our protagonist is probably the standout) and the first two acts are legitimately great, with an intriguing mystery and well crafted sense of unease, but sadly culminates in a not so great finale. I’m wary of getting into details, because I do genuinely think it’s still worth checking out, but it’s one of those where for me it inherently invites nitpicking (which is something I don’t particularly like doing)

I think if you were wanting to watch a creepy movie with someone a bit younger, as a sort of entry into horror, this could be a decent pick. It almost feels a bit like a Goosebumps book in all honesty (although there are a couple of scenes that do arguably push it a bit beyond that).



Watcher (2022) - Netflix

An American woman and her husband (who’s Romanian-American) move to Bucharest when the latter gets a promotion. She’s unemployed and doesn’t speak much Romanian, leading her to spend most of her days either at home or just sort of wandering around. Things take a turn however when she starts to believe that she’s being stalked.

Like Cobweb, this was another one I’ve been wanting to see ever since I saw the trailer a couple of years back, but this one stuck the landing for me. It’s very much a slow burn which won’t be everyones speed, and it’s not particularly subtle in its message (although I can’t blame them for that), but it’s just such a well executed movie. I actually discovered after the fact that I’ve previously watched a short film by the same director which touches on similar ideas as well.

It was interesting to read that had it not been for the Pandemic the movie was apparently going to be filmed and set in New York rather than Bucharest. The foreign setting/language barrier feels like such an integral part of the movie that it’s weird to think it wasn’t always the plan.



Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - Netflix

Switching up from live-action to animation, and watching what many consider to be not only one of Studio Ghibli’s greatest films but one of the best animated films ever made.

A Japanese, teenager struggles to look after his young sister in the dying days of WW2.

While undoubtedly deserving of its reputation as one of the greats (even though I would personally rate some of their other movies more highly) this was another instance of too much hype hurting the experience for me. So much of the discourse surrounding this movie is about how emotionally devastating it is, and while it very much is a sad movie, with some genuinely affecting scenes, it wasn’t the complete emotional devastation that people have perhaps suggested.



Horror in the High Desert (2021) - Plex

This is a super low budget horror movie that’s sort of a blend between the Blair Witch Project and a true crime documentary with interviews/talking heads.

A 30-something year old loner and hiking/outdoor enthusiast fails to return home after going on a multi day hike in Nevada’s High Plains. The movie then details the investigation in to his disappearance and the mysterious/eerie details that have since been uncovered.

According to IMDB most of the cast of this film (and we’re talking about five or so people) didn’t have any acting credits before this movie and while it absolutely shows, it does help to make it feel a bit more ‘real’ - although there is one guy playing a private investigator who just isn’t very good.

While it’s undeniably a very slow and dry movie, I was in to it for a decent chunk of the runtime. Unfortunately as it goes on silly plot contrivances start reading their head, before culminating in an extremely misguided ending (which is a shame, because they did have something for a moment). For a movie that owes a lot to the BWP, they didn’t seem to understand what made that movie (and particularly the ending) so effective.

They’ve apparently churned out two sequels, with another two apparently being planned. I did contemplate watching the second one, but the novelty wore off for me and I couldn’t be arsed with more of it (the reviews I could find said it was worse than first one, which wasn’t exactly encouraging either).



Triangle (2009) - Pluto TV

I saw a couple of mentions of this (and the next film) recently and I decided to give it a watch.

A struggling, single mother is invited by a friend to join a group outing on his boat. The group gets caught in a freak storm out at sea damaging the boat, before eventually finding rescue in the form of an old seemingly abandoned cruise ship. Once on board strange events begin to unfold.

It’s a decent little watch all in all, and perhaps not the sort of film you would necessarily expect going in (I did sort of have that spoiled for me). I’m not sure I’d ever call it scary, at least in the traditional sense of a horror movie, but it’s got some interesting stuff going on.

My one major gripe about the film, and it is a bit of a silly one, is that despite being a British-Australian co-production they try and portray both the characters and setting off as American. The movie itself was filmed in Australia, but it’s supposed to be set in Florida. Most of the main cast is Australian (one of them is a Kiwi) but they’re all attempting to do American accents with mixed results (a couple of them, including our protagonist, really do struggle).


Coherence (2013) - Plex

A group of friends meet up for a dinner party on the night a comet is due to pass close to the Earth. As said comet passes overhead, strange things start to happen.

This is a cool little movie that does a lot with very little. It was made on a budget of $50,000 and was filmed almost entirely in the directors house. I don’t want to say much more about it, because it’s another one where you should go in knowing as little as possible. What I will say is that it’s one of those movies that I was still thinking about days after I watched it.

The one thing I could see maybe being a bit of a turn off is that while the major beats and plot points are scripted, a lot of the movie and particularly the dialogue is improvised(I didn’t know it going in, but you can tell pretty quickly). I think the film pulls it off for the most part, but I can see how people might not entirely be in to that style.

Well worth a watch.



A Dark Song (2016) - Plex

A woman hires an occultist to perform a ritual in order to conduct a ritual so she contact a recently deceased loved one.

One of those that I’ve seen mentioned over the years that I finally decide to check out. It’s very much a slow burn, leaning more towards creepy/unsettling (with one particularly stand out scene in that regard) than outright scary. Like I’ve mentioned with a few other movies, if you know too much going in, and too much really is anything beyond the basic premise, I think it ends up hurting it.

I will say that the ending sort of lost me, more so in execution than in concept, but it’s still an alright watch overall (and a decent movie for this time of year).