Winchester (2018)

Directors: Peter & Michael Spierig

Cast:

Helen Mirren – Sarah Winchester

Sarah Snook – Marian Marriott

Jason Clarke – Eric Price

Summary:

“Winchester” is the latest horror film to hit theatres and it stars Jason Clarke and Helen Mirren. Jason Clarke is a scientist who is sent to investigate the health and status of Mary Winchester (Mirren), owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Mrs. Winchester claims that the dead souls from the rifles are haunting her estate. Clarke’s character doesn’t buy it even when he sees people that aren’t there. He claims it is all in his head due to the hallucinogens and endless amounts of alcohol. The Spierig brothers directed this film well enough but all of the scares come at a false pretense as they add sound to elevate the effect and it comes off as cheap. This movie was a wasted opportunity as they decided to make the Winchester house a basis for a generic ghost story. Clarke and Mirren do their best to entertain but in reality “Winchester” is a bland ghost story that gains recognition because of its name.

Score: 2/5

Insidious: The Last Key (2018)

Director: Adam Robitel

Cast:

Lin Shaye – Elise Rainier

Leigh Whannell – Specs

Angus Sampson – Tucker

Josh Stewart – Gerald Rainier

Summary:

The fourth chapter of the “Insidious” franchise takes us to the beginning. Set in the Five Keys of New Mexico, young Elise Rainier can talk to the paranormal. This upsets her father who punishes her whenever she claims to see a ghost. Now an adult, Elise receives a call that a ghost lives in her childhood home and only she can stop it. Played excellently again by Lin Shaye, Elise travels back to her childhood home to put an end to the evil that has lived there for so long. “Insidious: The Last Key” brings back screenwriter Leigh Whannell and that’s just about it. This film is not scary and it relies heavily on jump scares. Adam Robitel helms this film and he utilizes a few clever horror tricks but is never able to deliver a full scare. The supporting cast around Shaye is fine with the returning duo of Specs and Tucker making some laughs. The ghost in the film was a weak villain that made no effective scares. This film drops Easter eggs to other films in the franchise and it felt unnecessary as they had already done that in the previous film. “Insidious: The Last Key” is a wasteful attempt at continuing the “Insidious” franchise and serves as a generic horror movie.

Score: 2.6/5

Jigsaw (2017)

Director: Spierig Brothers

Cast:

Matt Passmore – Logan

Tobin Bell – Jigsaw

Callum Keith Rennie – Det. Halloran

Hannah Emily Anderson – Eleanor

Laura Vandervoort – Anna

Paul Braunstein – Ryan

Summary:

“Jigsaw” is the eighth installment in the “Saw” franchise and is the first film in the franchise to come out in seven years. After the series ended in 2010 with the “Final Chapter”, Sony took a break from the franchise and now, 7 years later “Jigsaw” has come out and is a reboot sequel. The “Saw” films were never really serious horror films, but torture films that hacked limbs and showed gore. “Jigsaw” reluctantly deduces the gore for a more psychological approach. The film stars a whole new cast and takes place after Jigsaw’s death, then bodies start turning up and they all point to Jigsaw. The Spierig brothers brought crisp and clean direction to this film with nice wide shots and the editing tightly wounds to a whole. Where the movie falters is it’s cliché as hell. The cast is fine but the movie for whatever reason recaps the entire film at the end and that was just irritating. This became the deciding factor as the story itself was uneven with some fine performances but ultimately “Jigsaw” is just another attempt in the “Saw” franchise that falls short.

Score: 2.75/5

It (2017)

Director: Andy Muschietti

Cast:

Jaeden Lieberher – Bill

Jeremy Ray Taylor – Ben

Sophia Lillis – Beverly

Finn Wolfhard – Richie

Chosen Jacobs – Mike

Jack Dylan Grazer – Eddie

Wyatt Oleff – Stanley

Bill Skarsgard – Pennywise

Verdict:

“It” is directed by Andy Muschietti and is the big screen adaptation of one of the most beloved novels of Stephen King of the same name. The film follows seven kids known as the “Losers Club” in the town of Derry as they attempt to uncover the missing kids of the town. The seven kids themselves did a terrific job as they were given so much to do and they pulled it off with tremendous force. Jaeden Lieberher plays Bill and he is the one that leads this Club as he becomes consumed by the fact that there is a sinister presence involved with the missing kids. This is due in part because his brother Georgie went missing without a trace and the authorities and adults alike just come to the conclusion that he’s dead and that’s the end of it. Bill doesn’t believe it and one by one, children start going missing left and right with no worry in sight. After convincing his friends that there is an evil force at hand, Pennywise (Skarsgard) begins to show himself to each member of the Club and he does so through each child’s fear. It all comes to a head when the Losers discover where Pennywise is hiding and they confront him all at once to take him down once and for all. As I’ve said, the group of kids were terrific as they each brought their own sense of humanity to the film. I will say though, at times some of the kids were acting differently than the others, but it could be that, that was each kids way of coping with the reality that this clown is real. Bill Skarsgard was fantastic as Pennywise as he completely transformed into something I have never witnessed before. For instance, the infamous Georgie scene shows Pennywise presenting himself as a friend to Georgie as he is giddy and fun, but once he convinces Georgie to go for the paper boat, he changes into a demonic force of nature and it scarred me. The scares were set up incredibly well as the build up for each scary scene was met with tremendous dread and fear. The movie however, was heavily reliant on CGI and it worked about half of the time. Also, Wolfhard’s character of Richie was funny for the majority, but when the movie shed its more dramatic lights of inspiration, Wolfhard shoots it down with some joke and that is due in part to the writing of the film. “It” is a tremendous Stephen King adaptation that took the shining moments from the miniseries of 1990 and incorporated it with some of the sources tremendous material and it made for one great package.

Grade: A-

Annabelle: Creation (2017)

Director: David F. Sandberg

Cast:

Lulu Wilson – Linda

Talitha Bateman – Janice

Anthony LaPaglia – Samuel Mullins

Miranda Otto – Esther Mullins

Stephanie Sigman – Sister Charlotte

Verdict:

“Annabelle: Creation” is the sequel to the 2014 hit “Annabelle” and serves as a prequel to that film. This film explores the origins of the Annabelle doll and how it came to be reckoned with. The film starts us off with a family who specializes in making dolls and in this instance it just so happens to be the Annabelle doll. Unfortunately for this family, they lose their daughter in an accident and it haunts them from then on and the film then jumps 12 years ahead to where an all girls orphanage happens to stay at their house and this leads to disturbing and creepy tension throughout the house. This movie is an extreme improvement over its predecessor thanks in part to David F. Sandberg’s direction as he utilizes atmosphere and wide angle shots to give us a taste of what’s to come. The scare factor however, is utilized well enough to a point but never comes close to that of the James Wan horror films; “The Conjuring” and “Insidious.” The two lead child actors (Wilson and Bateman) are the strongest part of the film as they share a friendship that resembles that of two sisters that would do anything for each other. One of the girls is unfortunately confined to the house due to her polio and this helps give the film opportunities to present genuine scenes of terror. The other girls in the house are just there to make a scare and it became a cliché whenever there would be a shot of the sister nun or the group of girls and then there would be a scream and it would lead to them running towards the source. I would say that the first act of the film is the strongest and when it comes time for the third act, it becomes cheesy. There is a nice little Easter egg for “The Conjuring 2” in the film and by the end it shows us its connection to “Annabelle” and this made for nice closure to the series. “Annabelle: Creation” is a well shot and made horror film that is a step up from its predecessor that could have used more tension and less cheese throughout.

Grade: B

Blair Witch(2016)

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast:

James Allen McCune – James

Callie Hernandez – Lisa

Corbin Reid – Ashley

Brandon Scott – Peter

Wes Robinson – Lane

Valorie Curry – Talia

Verdict:

“Blair Witch” is directed by Adam Wingard and is the true sequel to “The Blair Witch

Project.” In this film a group of friends go out to search for Heather, the sister of James. In

doing so, he and his friends bring along another pair of teens who claimed to have found

the footage of Heather and her friends, so they go to the spot and begin to experience

paranormal events. I for one, was not a fan of the original film, so I was skeptical upon

viewing of this film. Boy was I surprised, as this is the most effective found-footage film

I’ve seen since “Paranormal Activity 3.” This movie actually made me respect the original.

Adam Wingard continues to impress as a director and this film is no different. The

performances given in the film were extremely authentic. The only issue I have is what all

found-footage movies have, too many jump scares. Other than that, this movie is perfect.

The pacing of the film is spot on and even though the scares don’t elevate until the last

act, the movie continues to be intriguing. As I said, the last act is where it picks up, so

that’s where I would like to elaborate on. For one, they actually reveal the creature which

excited me, because that’s what irritated me about the original film. Another thing was

they integrated parts of that PS4 game “P.T.” which made for effective tension and

suspense. Lastly, when this movie ended, I wanted to know more, which is exactly why I

think this film is hiding its true self within “Blair Witch” but its all speculation. I would

love for you guys to comment on this review after you’ve seen the film to give me your

thoughts and theories about what you see. “Blair Witch” is an effective thriller that makes

good use of found-footage while surpassing as well as elevating the original.

Grade: A-

Lights Out(2016)

Director: David F. Sandberg

Cast:

Teresa Palmer – Rebecca

Gabriel Bateman – Martin

Alexander DiPersia – Bret

Maria Bello – Sophie

Verdict:

“Lights Out” is directed by David F. Sandberg and is based on his short film of the same

name. In this film, Teresa Palmer plays Rebecca, a young woman who has been living on

her own and has been out of touch from her mother (Bello) who has since gone insane due

to her husband’s untimely demise and her brother (Bateman) who lives with their mother.

Strange things start to occur at this boy’s house during the night as he sees and hears

someone in the house. The mother informs her son that it is just her friend and this freaks

the boy out and he leaves her in search for his sister. This movie had a lot of buzz going for

it due to its suspenseful trailers, and I’m here to tell you that this film was a watchable

movie. For me, this film was set up well by its haunting opening scene, but after, the films

two acts are slow and drag as our characters try to figure out what this dark being is.

Teresa Palmer I thought gave a compelling performance as this young woman who is

worried for her family. Maria Bello was very good as the schizophrenic mom who doesn’t

know what is reality and what isn’t. Gabriel Bateman was tremendous as the young boy

who is frightened by his mothers actions and he was great. The film makes unique use of

light as the monsters weakness is light. One scene in particular had to do with a car that

was very crafty. As I said, the first two acts were sluggish and dragged along but when it

came to the final act, man this film didn’t hold back. “Lights Out” is a unique horror film

that drags in its first two acts but delivers a powerful third punch.

Grade: B

 

The Conjuring 2(2016)

Director: James Wan

Cast:

Vera Farmiga – Lorraine Warren

Patrick Wilson – Ed Warren

Franka Potente – Anita Gregory

Frances O’ Connor – Peggy Hodgson

Simon McBurney – Maurice Grosse

Madison Wolfe – Janet Hodgson

Verdict:

The Conjuring 2 is directed by James Wan and is the sequel to the very effective The

Conjuring. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return as Lorraine and Ed Warren and this

time they travel to London to take on a paranormal case. This movie was fantastic. Vera

Farmiga and Patrick Wilson were rock solid once again. Lorraine Warren is very skeptical

about helping people again do to a premonition she saw at the Amityville house. This was

interesting because her view was flipped from Ed’s skepticism in the first. Frances O’

Connor and Madison Wolfe play a mother and daughter and they were very good as well.

The scares in this film were phenomenal, particularly with the scenes involving this

terrifying looking nun. James Wan uses a ton of practical effects and there are no cheap

scares. The film has a twist that is very effective and it pushes the story forward with full

speed. Another plus to the film was that there was a scene that didn’t explain what

happened to Lorraine that took a toll on her in the first film, in this film it fills in the gap.

The only minor negative I have with the film is that a CGI character is very noticeable and

it didn’t look good. The Conjuring 2 is a phenomenal horror sequel that expands upon the

first one.

Grade: A+

 

The Conjuring(2013)

Director: James Wan

Cast:

Vera Farmiga – Lorraine Warren

Patrick Wilson – Ed Warren

Lili Taylor – Carolyn Perron

Ron Livingston – Roger Perron

Verdict:

The Conjuring is directed by James Wan who is known for the Insidious films as well as

the underrated Dead Silence. This film tells the true story of a haunting that occurred in

1971 and how Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) helped

a family with their problem. This movie was amazing as it had great characters and a great

story. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson were fantastic in this film as Vera Farmiga’s

character is very gifted and knowledgeable but is also damaged and scared all the time.

Patrick Wilson’s character is very knowledgeable as well but is very fearful for his wife.

The supporting family cast was also very good as they felt like a real family. The two

parents were very good as they weren’t overselling their performances. The movie feels so

authentic and I like how practical the film is as well as how they use cameras from that

era. The movie has a strong theme on how family can help overcome darkness and if you

are passionate for your family, then nothing can stop you. The Conjuring is a masterful

horror film with legit scares and great characters.

Grade: A+

The Darkness(2016)

Director: Greg McLean

Cast:

Kevin Bacon – Peter Taylor

Radha Mitchell – Bronny Taylor

Lucy Fry – Stephanie Taylor

David Mazouz – Michael Taylor

Verdict:

The Darkness is directed by Greg McLean and stars Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell as a

married couple who after going camping in the Grand Canyon, return home and start to

notice strange things happening in their home. This movie isn’t very good, the plot and

story arc behind it is interesting because their son is autistic and when he takes home

these rocks with strange markings on them, events occur and the family pits themselves

against each other. The film was intriguing because it delves into Native American

mythology, but unfortunately there was very little scares and the movie was clichéd

throughout. Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell were good though. So in all, despite an

intriguing plot and set-up, The Darkness is nothing more than a clichéd horror film.

Grade: C