Tag Archives: written review

Considering the Cinema Horror Movie Review: The Perfection (2019)

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By Jay of the Dead

Written Movie Review: The Perfection

There’s a wild little Horror flick that released on Netflix on May 24, 2019. I got up early and watched it that same morning before going to work. It was getting a lot of buzz, and I agree with what everyone says: Watch it before someone spoils it for you.

Rest assured, I will not spoil “The Perfection” for you, so you can feel completely at ease to finish reading this review, spoiler-free.

“The Perfection” stars Allison Williams (the girlfriend in “Get Out”) as Charlotte, a cellist who took a several-year sabbatical away from her blossoming career, in order to help care for her terminally ill mother. As the film opens, we are at the end of her mother’s life, so Charlotte is ready to return to her elite music conservatory, where another fantastic cellist, Elizabeth (Logan Browning), has stepped into Charlotte’s shoes. At this point in the film, only a few minutes in, we can tell two things: Charlotte obviously feels despondent about the detour her life has taken, and it seems that Elizabeth has taken her rightful place and perhaps all her opportunities.

And that is absolutely all I can reveal about the plot of “The Perfection.” The reason I can’t tell you more is “The Perfection” is full of surprises, twists and turns. It is the type of film that redefines itself as it unfolds, thereby redefining our expectations and conclusions about what it is or what it will become. Continue reading →

Considering the Cinema Horror Movie Review: The Hunted (2013)

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By Jay of the Dead

Written Movie Review: The Hunted 2013

When a film opens with the phrase, “Based on Actual Events” or something of the like, you can usually dismiss it altogether. We’ve learned over the decades that this typically means there is a kernel of truth that inspired the story.

Writer-director (and star) Josh Stewart was inspired by actual events that he experienced to write “The Hunted” (2013). I’ll come back to this story at the end of the review, but here’s the premise of the movie: Jake (Josh Stewart) is trying to launch a hunting reality TV show, so he travels to the woods of West Virginia with his camera man (Ronnie Gene Blevins) and tries to bag a large buck that’s been eluding hunters. Jake’s plan is to shoot a decent proof-of-concept, pilot episode that he hopes to sell to investors and a network.

But the two TV hosts become increasingly concerned when they keep hearing blood-curdling (and I mean blood-curdling) screams in the darkness of the woods. Is it an injured bobcat? Or is it a wailing ghost woman?

So, what you have here is a Found Footage film that’s in the vein of “The Blair Witch Project” (1999), but even better for my money. (Yes, co-directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick created a historically significant Horror film. Even Roger Ebert listed “The Blair Witch Project” among his “10 Most Influential Films of the Century”!) So, I’m not trying to take anything away from “The Blair Witch Project,” especially since it probably informed “The Hunted.” But 14 years later, we have a film that works even better to me. Continue reading →

Considering the Cinema Horror Movie Review: The Intruder (2019)

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By Jay of the Dead

Written Movie Review: The Intruder

I know, I know. So much for principles. I caved and saw “The Intruder” (2019), that crazy Dennis Quaid film which I was publicly boycotting seeing in the theater because its marketing department carelessly revealed story beats from all three acts in the trailer. I won’t start ranting about that again, but I knew that trailer depicted the entire film in microcosm, and after seeing it, I was right. Sure enough, the trailer depicts all three acts, so there are very few surprises.

Many if not most modern-day narrative films are divided up into three acts. For “The Intruder,” the act breaks are so distinctive that the film changes genres with each act: The first act is a Drama. The second act becomes a Thriller. And the third act descends into Horror. Really, it’s a very natural progression because “Drama Is Conflict.” And if you escalate and intensify that conflict until it devolves into violence and death, then the tone changes and it becomes Horror. Therefore, my genre classification for “The Intruder” is Drama / Thriller / Horror, in descending order.

Here’s the Premise: Scott and Annie want to move out of the city and find a nice home where they can start a family. Dennis Quaid plays Charlie, a seller who just wants to make sure his beloved home is purchased by a good family. So, the couple buys Charlie’s house, but the only problem is, Charlie doesn’t seem to want to let it go. Continue reading →

Considering the Cinema Horror Movie Review: The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

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Written Horror Movie Review: The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

By Jay of the Dead

Note: If you’d prefer to listen rather than read, here is my audio podcast review. (It starts around the 22-minute mark.)

Before I discuss “The Curse of La Llorona” (2019), I would like to begin this review with a preface about grief-stricken mothers and drowned children. Uplifting, I know. (Oh, and incidentally, for those who don’t speak Spanish, it’s pronounced “La Yo-Roh-Na.”)

Most monsters don’t start out monstrous. They are made monstrous by some terrible experience that happens to them or someone they love. The saddest love songs are always “somebody done somebody wrong” songs. Horror movies are built the same way: Somebody done somebody wrong… Just as vegetation grows out of nutrient-rich volcanic soil, the most potent Horror seems to grow from the fertile aftermath of deep sorrow or deep rage, usually both.

Spoilers for the original “Friday the 13th” (1980) ahead:

All Horror fans know that the slasher killer in the first “Friday the 13th” movie is revealed to be Jason’s mother, Pamela Voorhees. Presumably, she was not always a monster. She only became a monster after her little boy, Jason, drowned in Camp Crystal Lake, due to the negligence of distracted counselors who were too busy “gettin’ busy” to watch her son. Continue reading →