 Upon reviewing 'The Black Phone,' I think it's safe to say it's one of the better horror films in recent history. It truly impressed me with its unusual take on what would otherwise be a typical kidnapping film with a touch of torture. It introduced a supernatural element that blended a kidnapping movie with something that goes deeper than the real world. It held an eerie atmosphere, the performances were great, and every time things seemed predictable, something else would come along that I didn't see coming.
Over the last few years, however, I never ended up returning to 'The Black Phone' until I refreshed my memory of it before the sequel. I felt like I honestly had to, because the trailers were blowing my mind, and somehow I didn't remember the dream element of the story - you know, half the plot. However, in my defence, it had been a few years. Anyway, upon seeing the trailers, I, like anyone else, figured this could be the answer to reviving 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' without entirely remaking or recasting it. I'm pleased to find out that, at least for me, we were right. Four years have passed since Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) Blake outsmarted and outwitted a creepy neighbourhood stalker known as "The Grabber" (Ethan Hawke). Slight spoiler alert (because it's clear in the trailer), in this process, Finney manages to kill the Grabber, earning him respect at school that he didn't have before, a lot more self-confidence, and, as a bonus, his father (Jeremy Davies) decided to quit drinking and being a source of pain for the siblings. Now, he goes by Finn, and he's no one to mess with, as he gets a big head about his big escape. In the meantime, Gwen is starting to have those pesky precognitive dreams again, which last time involved the Grabber's victims, including Finn. This time, they're a little more otherworldly and involve the Alpine Lake murders of 1957, which her Mother, Hope (Anna Lore), also had precognitive dreams about at the time. Through one such dream, Gwen learns this through a phone call her mother makes to her—like some psychic connection across time. These dreams have Gwen trying to convince Finn to take a trip to Alpine Lake in an attempt to find answers about what her dreams mean this time. Finn agrees to take the trip, knowing firsthand that when Gwen dreams of something, it's crucial. Together, they head to Alpine Lake, along with a young man named Ernesto (Miguel Mora), the brother of Robin (also Miguel Mora) from the last movie, who taught Finn everything he knows about standing up for himself. Upon their arrival, Gwen's nightmares get far more intense and seem to have real-world consequences, much like with an 'Elm Street' movie. Meanwhile, Finn finds himself on a payphone, once again communicating with the dead. This time, it's the vengeful spirit of The Grabber out for revenge against his killer. I get the feeling that several viewers are going to point out that this is simply "ripping off" 'Elm Street', and to some degree, I get where they're coming from, but even speaking as a diehard "Fred-Head," I'd sooner say that this was probably inspired by 'Elm Street,' giving the concept a unique twist instead of just doing a remake of some sort. For that, I give it credit, and can say in all honesty that I'd take these 'Black Phone' movies back-to-back over the 2010 'Elm Street' remake any day. The similarities are abundant, but there was something about this that really hit the spot for me. Despite hearing a few negative reviews on it already (and I mean few), I don't have much to criticize here. Maybe I have a bias towards this film, as it pretty much checks off what I look for, including a truly frightening villain, a wonderfully dark atmosphere, expansion on the story and the rules of this particular world, and, once again, solid performances by all involved. I want to see more of this world, but I also hope it doesn't get run into the ground through repetition and that they keep expanding on things. But as far as mainstream horror goes, with the potential for a new horror icon in The Grabber, this is something I really enjoy. 4/5
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 At this point, it's safe to say that when it comes to horror series, 'The Strangers' is about the furthest from my favourite as any of them get. However, I'm here to offer my opinions on the good and the bad, and in all honesty, this wasn't quite as bad as I had expected going in. However, don't get me wrong, the movie is still pretty bad, loaded with cliches, full of scenes that are either confusing or don't make any sense, and I'd once again point to this as, if anything, an entry-level slasher film at best.
We also see the film drawing from several elements we've seen before, such as 'Halloween II' and its hospital survival setting, while picking up where the last one left off. With all of this criticism coming right out of the gate, I'm sure you're all wondering what that bit about it not being as bad as I had expected is all about. I will get to it, but for now, we'll flash back to the last film, which ends with the lead from the previous movie, Maya (Madelaine Petsch), hospitalized after the events, and in a post-credit scene, waking up next to "Scarecrow" (Matúš Lajčák), indicating that there would be a second chapter. As the film begins, we notice that the post-credit scene appears to have been a dream. Still, it's not long before the dream comes true, as the characters who have become known as "Scarecrow", "Dollface" and "Pinup Girl" discover Maya's still alive and go to the hospital to seek her out, evidently with no one but two people on the job that night, and patients who are sleeping through the whole debacle, and that's not the only bit of nonsense we get throughout the film. Meanwhile, the film takes the time to get the community of Venus' varying opinions on what happened to Maya and her now-executed boyfriend, Ryan (Froy Gutierrez). The film also opens with a bit of text showing some figures involving murder in the United States, and the fact that so many of these murders came at the hands of strangers, surprising no one. However, I believe the idea behind the Venus community and how they talk, which is usually, in a word, "fishy," has to do with the idea of whether or not we can trust anyone, and guessing who among them has a dark side and who doesn't. Even Maya gets stuck with confusion at the matter here, and I can give the film some credit for this - except a handful of these characters have nothing to do with anything, so it's a neat idea that falls apart. Back to the plot, however, when the three masked strangers reach the Venus Hospital to seek out Maya and finish the job, that's when Maya channels her inner "final girl" (perhaps most famous and accepted of all horror tropes) and attempts to escape the hospital and survive her attackers. It's actually not a terrible concept, trying to make Maya someone who can hold her own and become a new Scream Queen, but she may have hit the mark with a better script, as the movie has her do a lot of stuff that I didn't feel worked quite right. For example, at one point, she returns to the scene of the crime she survived while still being hunted. I suppose the idea they had here, namely with her returning to the cabin where she got stabbed, was to have her face her fears and transform into a badass, but I felt there was enough to work with when we see her survival skills in action. But then again, she does light a bonfire while she's surviving a hunt, which, to me, seems dumb. Anyway, that's really all the film amounts to - Maya surviving her attackers. In contrast, the film occasionally flashes back to "Scarecrow" and "Pinup Girl" as children, offering a brief origin story. Ultimately, it's nothing special or surprising, and it's easy to shrug off. 'The Strangers' continues to be among the low-end of horror from my perspective. Even when it tries to do something a little different, it's never enough because it doesn't really bring anything new. I like the concept of mistrust here, particularly the idea of Maya becoming a badass survivor and the notion of a flashback villain origin story; however, none of it is well-executed. All in all, this felt like a film that had some of the right pieces to be at least decent, but it falls apart in specific moments, which halfway insult the audience. To no one's surprise, despite a few things I can ever so slightly forgive, it's yet another dud in the series. 2/5  I've said it before, and many would agree; at this point, we are amid a horror Renaissance, where old and tired ideas and concepts are being either reimagined or done away with altogether. A whole new set of unique filmmakers has been taking the helm lately, and the genre has made a significant comeback. It takes a lot to give me a genuine scare anymore, and I'm constantly on the lookout for the next movie that will legitimately make me lose sleep, feeling that fear I once did in my youth.
Although what I'm looking for is still hard to find, I still enjoy a lot of what I have seen lately, and the more I think about it, the more I appreciate 'Weapons' here. Some of my peers helped overhype me for it, so I went in with my expectations a bit too high, which led to stumbling whenever I encountered something remotely irksome. However, we can chalk that up to a "me" thing, as I so often say, because aside from a few speed bumps, this was very entertaining. There was no loss of sleep on my part, but the film still managed to stick out. Narrated by an unseen child, the backstory is explained, as two years ago, in the fictional sleepy town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, seventeen children from Justine Gandy's (Julia Garner) eighth grade class randomly get up out of beds, run out into the night, and never come back, save for one kid named Alex (Cary Christopher). The community's suspicion immediately points towards Ms. Gandy, and is propagated by a distraught parent, Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), who digs tenaciously for answers as to his kid's disappearance. While Justine tries to find answers in order to clear her name, despite the school principal, Marcus Miller (Benedict Wong) insisting she lay low, Archer does the same, despite the authorities seemingly not taking his requests seriously. But while these two offer the main perspectives throughout the film, several others are offered from supporting characters' perspectives, and the film is cut together in a style reminiscent of 'Pulp Fiction.' To the film's credit, it's interesting how all of the layers get peeled back one by one as all is eventually revealed. I won't go into much more detail, not so much in case I give too much away, but more that it's a matter of going in blind, being much more beneficial. I gave you the bare basics of the plot, but as things unfold, they get weirder and more unsettling, with interesting twists and turns topped with disturbing imagery that will stick with you. In both Justine's and Archer's cases, the horrific aspects of the film become all too real. Justine has to deal with a whole town suspecting her and hating her, and Archer copes with the very real and mysterious loss of his son - both terrifying things to deal with, and both very real and possible. The only real problems I had with the movie are few and far between, and probably shouldn't even be addressed as "problems" so much as "things I didn't get." As an example, dreams play a fair-sized part in this, and the imagery within the dreams is unsettling, so for that, the film wins me over. But with that said, I don't entirely get what the dreams meant in the movie. It's also a little slow-moving for some, but as a mystery, it's hard to criticize its pacing, especially when it adds to the eeriness of everything going on. In the end, I don't want to nitpick too much on this. The truth of the matter is that the film stands out very well as a horror film, playing on not just creepy imagery, but the psychological horror I prefer when it comes to a more serious horror movie. I went in overhyped, expecting too much, but in all honesty, it's one of the better modern horror films out there. It could be overly creepy to those with kids, though. Despite anything I've said critically about it, it still comes highly recommended to horror fans looking for a fresh take on an old idea (that idea being something I don't even wanna spoil). 4/5  When 'M3GAN' was released, I gave it quite a bit of praise. It felt like everything the 'Child's Play' reboot should have been, carried a dark sense of humour, and even struck a note or two that I found original, part of which does indeed include the rarely seen female horror baddie. Face it, we could stand to have a lot more of them out there who could potentially reach "Freddy/Jason" levels. 'M3GAN' showed promise as what I could consider one of the present primary horror villains - sort of a new type of Chucky.
When first seeing the trailer for this, however, I knew I was gonna be in for something a little different than last time, as this takes notes from 'Aliens,' becoming an action movie after a horror movie; 'Terminator 2' in the sense that the baddie from last time becomes good; and, amazingly enough, 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning,' as it's practically the same plot. In other words, and I cannot stress this enough, do NOT go into this expecting some kind of levelled up killer doll movie. This is a straight-up action comedy. As the film opens two years after the events of the first film, we learn that the US Army has managed to steal the technology that created M3GAN (Amie Donald/Jenna Davis) in order to create AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), a more human-looking android designed to be an assassin, because why else would the US government want deadly tech? During a demonstration of what she can do, she immediately becomes self-aware and escapes the control of Army Colonel Sattler (Timm Sharp), who heads a secret research division of the Pentagon, specializing in new technology. In the meantime, our former heroes, Cady (Violet McGraw) and her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams) are still living together. As Cady is now studying computer science, Gemma has become an advocate for AI regulation, warning of the dangers of AI after M3GAN once terrorized them by going rogue. Before long, Gemma learns about AMELIA, and M3GAN appears out of nowhere, saved on a backup in their smart home, and offers her help to stop AMELIA (having the advantage of understanding how she works) in exchange for a body. Gemma reluctantly agrees to the deal, but fist traps her in a much less threatening toy robot until she can prove she's trustworthy. The movie does admittedly get pretty entertaining with this when it comes to the back-and-forth between Gemma and M3GAN, as while Gemma has a hard time trusting her, M3GAN does a good job of reminding Gemma that she created her in the first place, and that her primary objective was to protect Cady at all costs. I give the film a lot of credit for that, reminding us that though its a cautionary tale about AI, it was humankind that created the AI. As the film continues, it proves to be a fun adventure, keep the sense of humour in tact from last time, and for some, it will be an intriguing change of pace from last time. I personally find myself more in the camp of wishing there was more horror involved in the process, but I can appreciate the route they took here all the same, and I don't hate it for not delivering what I wanted. If the series continues after this, it will be a matter of waiting to see where they take it. For example, it could be a case of trying out different genres, all while keeping that dark sense of humour. I'm going to say at this point, the film is passable for what it is, and there were some decent moments that got a laugh out of me, but I'm unsure if it will be something I'll want to come back to in the future. This may very well become another case of the first film standing alone well enough that nothing following it could compare, like 'The Matrix.' On the other hand, it could be something I wanna watch again after a character's development, like 'Black Widow' with Yulena after 'Thunderbolts.' I missed out on what I wanted, but not at all mad about it, and I think one can still have fun with this as long as they go in with the right mind-set. 3/5  I didn't know this going in, and it may mean I haven't been paying enough attention to details, but trust me when I say that it's well worth noting that this ends on a cliffhanger. While the last two were left pretty open-ended, here, it feels abundantly clear that the story is meant to continue, feeling more like the end of a season of 'Walking Dead', and less of a matter of leaving it to one's imagination to fill in the blanks. I say all this because it was honestly jarring for me, the way this ended, but we'll get to that more later.
Here, we leap through time from the previous two films, which take place somewhere between 2002 and 2003, and fast-forward to 2030, where the Rage Virus has finally been wiped out of continental Europe (making the very end of '28 Weeks' pointless). However, the British Isles have been left quarantined, serving as ground zero for everything that went wrong, and the population has been left to fend for itself. This chapter centers on a family of three living in a community of survivors who have their ways, including tradition. One such tradition is shown by the father and son of this family, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Spike (Alfie Williams), in which Spike is brought to the mainland from their tidal island of Lindisfarne by way of causeway to learn some scavenging and survival skills in this world of terror he'd have been born into. Meanwhile, Spike's Mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), stays home sick with a debilitating mental illness that they can't quite figure out with no medical experts present, but they cope however they can. During their time away from home, several things of note occur, like Spike getting his first kill and his first experience with an "Alpha," which is pretty much what it sounds like. While hiding out, Spike notices a fire in the distance that isn't thought too much of, and eventually, the pair manage to make it back home. Spike brings the fire up to their family friend, Sam (Christopher Fulford), a fellow survivor who helps Jamie and Spike take care of Isla. In turn, Sam tells him about Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), an apparent "madman" whom their community fears. All Spike hears in this conversation is "Doctor," and he hopes that he can take what he's learned in such a short time to guide his mother to this doctor for some help. Much of the way the film unfolds, it returns to its original format by focusing a little more dramatically on the people involved. I have to say, everyone is excellent in their roles here and gives it their all, but Alfie Williams impressively knocks it out of the park, and I sense that he's probably gonna be a kid who goes places. Even standing next to Ralph Fiennes, this kid did a great job. The film does a great job of once again bringing us a new set of survivors and a new set of circumstances, focused on a family much like in '28 Weeks,' but set many years after the initial outbreak, and we see a lot of adaptation at work here. It further impresses by showing us pure isolation, even on a large landmass. It's eerie to think that during this, the rest of the world has returned to normal (more or less) while those who have been stranded on the British Isles have adapted a culture of zombie apocalypse survivors. For those questioning the somewhat famous clip of the very gaunt-looking zombie and whether or not it's meant to be what happened to Jim from '28 Days,' it is not him, and this is according to director Danny Boyle. Remember, this ends on a cliffhanger, though, and rumour has it that Jim may be coming back for the next movie, so that's exciting. But I'll say this about the film's cliffhanger ending - it comes out of nowhere. You'll want to pay attention to the film's opening scene for it to make any sense, and you may find yourself wondering what just happened to the movie. I hope there's a good enough reason planned for it to go so off the rails. 4/5  Although this isn't gonna end up being one of my favourite horror flicks due to a lot of cliches and a lot of predictability, I can still give it some credit for what it represents - slasher horror for the next generation, and that idea seems abundant in this movie as it's quite literally about the generation gap between us 80s/90s Millennials, and today's now relatively grown Gen Z's. This film seemed to take the idea of 80s slasher horror and everything that came with it to create something for the "Zoomers" and Millennials to bond over.
The idea of my generation telling this generation, "This was the kind of stuff we grew up with," is not only a subject brought up quite a bit in the film, usually in a comical way, but also, cleverly, precisely what the movie is: an 80s slasher movie for today. The cliches of a standard 80s slasher are here, which some, like me, will appreciate. Some will think it has gotten stale, but where the film shines is its wonderfully cheesy sense of humour, pointing out "Gen-Z problems" in a comical way, like working a rotary phone in an emergency or driving a standard vehicle. Glenn Maybrook (Aaron Abrams) and his teenage daughter, Quinn (Katie Douglas), move to the small, sleepy town of Kettle Springs when Glenn is hired as the new town doctor. As Glenn is generally welcomed with open arms, Quinn seems to get a lot of side-eyed glances from the other adults in town, altogether feeling unwelcome until she befriends some kids at school who we learn the adults seem to have it out for. The handful of friends Quinn makes gets group detention on Quinn's first day, making the classic teenage argument of "they just hate me, I've done nothing wrong" a real thing and not just an excuse. Quinn discovers that her new friends have a YouTube channel where they post creepy videos of themselves getting chased or attacked by the creepy town mascot, "Frendo," the clown who terrorizes the town's youth and resides inside a burned-down factory. After one particular night goes awry for the group trying to show Quinn a fun time, she tunes into the group's YouTube channel to see some video they shot that night only to see a creepy new "Frendo" face in the background. Soon enough, the group realizes that their YouTube prank is quickly becoming a reality that turns on them. All in all, this is run-of-the-mill stuff for anyone used to 80s slasher movies. A lot of the kills are pretty easy to call as far as who will get killed and how; no reveals are really that surprising, and a lot of it feels very typical right down to the idea of a clown terrorizing people, which isn't only classic Stephen King material but imitates the character of Art the Clown from the 'Terrifier' series which has proven extremely successful in its evolution. You also know precisely when a character will be killed, as it's all signalled with a small clown music box that seems to "summon" Frendo (like a 'Hellraiser' light). So now that I've mentioned the film imitating bits and pieces of 'Hellraiser' and 'Terrifier/It,' it feels stylistically like a 'Friday the 13th.' At least one of the kills is lifted (albeit altered) right out of 'Nightmare 4.' So, with all of that in mind, it bears repeating that it feels like a movie meant to bridge the gap in generations, making all of this stuff old and cliche, but somewhat necessary for what the film is trying to accomplish. If nothing else, it does it all with a good sense of humour; it seems self-aware, and I can't be mad at any of it. It's refreshing for people these days to see a slasher movie that isn't just a remake of something old. This movie is an opportunity for a Millennial to catch a fun horror flick that can remind them of the good old 80s as well as share what was typical back then with a Gen-Z horror fan whose tastes are probably more recent and most likely more about hauntings, demons, the paranormal, etc. I can't entirely praise the film for being a true original, but it's a fun watch in its ways, and I can appreciate what it tried to do, although this isn't something I could see having a future several-sequel series of films following it. 3/5  I have a personal trend regarding video game-adapted movies in that I haven't played the game in about nine cases out of ten, and 'Until Dawn' is no exception. So, while fans of these games can poke at everything wrong with these movies, I can approach them from the other side. In other words, I can watch these and ask, "Is it just a good movie?" So, I go in with an open mind, and in this case, I was looking for a good horror movie, and I got a pretty decent one overall, all considered.
As with any video game adaptation, however, this one has been criticized for being unfaithful to the source material and the idea that it's a story that takes place in the same universe to "expand" on the game's lore. Being none the wiser, however, this was conceptually pretty cool, taking the tired concept of a group of teens going up against something horrific and trying to survive. But this took things a step further, even though it's using something that is slowly becoming a trope - the idea of "extra lives," which has been portrayed in horror before with movies like 'Happy Death Day.' That said, however, it seems to also be a part of the game. Sometime before the film's events, a girl named Melanie goes missing, prompting her sister Clover (Ella Rubin), along with her ex, Max (Michael Cimino), and friends, Nina (Odessa A'zion), her boyfriend, Abe (Belmont Cameli) and apparent clairvoyant, Megan (Ji-young Yoo), to retrace Mel's steps and search for her in the surrounding area, which starts with a stop at a gas station, where they meet Dr. Hill (Peter Stormare) who directs them to the sleepy mining town of Glore Valley, where "a lot of people go missing." The group heads towards the town when a violent rainstorm forces them to take shelter at a nearby town visitor's centre, which, oddly, seems to exist in a strange, dry bubble out of the storm. Before long, the group explores the seemingly abandoned visitor's centre, stumbling on things like a guestbook with repeated signatures, a wall of missing person posters, and, most bizarrely, a big clock with an hourglass. As everyone does their separate thing, they don't realize that they've just become part of something sinister. Almost immediately, the group gets killed off, one by one, only to have the clock with the hourglass in it flip over, reset, and bring everyone back to their respective "starting points" to try again. However, with each attempt to survive the night, each person becomes increasingly wounded and deformed, slowly becoming a creature. If they don't get out of this, they'll fully transform into "Wendigos" and "become part of the night." I don't know what's accurate to the game and what isn't, but I had fun with it. In some ways, it reminded me of 'The Cabin in the Woods,' showing how your choices can ultimately lead to your doom. However, this brings it to the point of being afraid to do anything. I won't spoil it, but I will say that one particular night, the group does something incredibly mundane, leading to an almost hilarious kill sequence. I don't want to sound too sadistic, but I did laugh out loud. One thing that worked for me in this movie was that there was a sort of self-awareness that was funnier than I thought it might be. As a straightforward horror flick, this works out well, even if it recycles a trope or two that we've seen repeatedly and becomes somewhat predictable. Fans of the game should probably go in with lowered expectations because it seems the kind of adaptation that veers away from what the fans of the source material are used to, aside from some of the bare basics. I could give it more credit if I saw more positive reviews from the game's fans. As much fun as I may have had with it, accepting it for what it was, I still firmly believe that true fans should come first and keep demanding better. 3/5  While it could be said that the vampire thing has been done time and time again and is old news at this point, I think it could also be noted that this is an interesting and unique twist on the genre, once again showing that if only a bit of imagination is put behind these things, they don't have to come across as "typical." I suggest this isn't entirely a vampire movie, so much as some extension of blues lore. That's right. It's a music movie. And let's face it - music and horror are not realms often dabbled in together.
Let's start with a quick recap of Robert Johnson, a blues singer and songwriter. Legend has it that with his desire to become a great blues musician, he met up with the Devil himself at the crossroads near Dockery Plantation at midnight and sold his soul to succeed with a guitar. Although this story has no direct relation to that legend, it feels like a curt nod to it, as a LOT of it has to do with the combination of great music bringing in terrible evil. On top of that, we're talking about a similar time and place; 1930s Mississippi. Identical twins and war veterans, "Smoke" and "Stack" (both portrayed by Michael B. Jordan) make their return to Clarksdale, Mississippi, after working in Chicago with hopes of opening a joke joint for the black community, using a generous sum of stolen money to purchase a sawmill. They also bring their cousin, Sammie (Miles Caton), into the mix, as he wishes to play for them and show off his incredible talent with a guitar, going against the wishes of his pastor Jedidiah (Saul Williams), who warns of the supernatural element of what music can do. After a recruitment process that involves bringing in pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), singer Pearline (Jayme Lawson), Smoke's estranged wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) as a cook, shopkeepers Grace (Li Jun Li) and Bo (Yao) as suppliers, and a big guy named "Cornbread" (Omar Benson Miller) as a bouncer, the opening night eventually gets underway. Stack also reunites with his ex lover, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who isn't here quite as much as one might expect by the trailers, but I will say that this is one of her better acting jobs, overall. The party goes into the night, and Sammie gets to perform, playing and singing his soul out. At this point, the film takes an incredible opportunity to show us a musical evolution as the camera pans through the sawmill, and we see a massive blend of music genres mashed up together. It's the best scene in the movie, contributing a sense of how, after all these years, music can bring together community in an almost supernatural way. That's what I got out of the scene. It's random, but it works incredibly well. Back to the story, briefly, Sammie's music breaks the supernatural barrier, drawing a band of hungry vampires towards them, led by Irish immigrant Remmick (Jack O'Connell). In many ways, the situation turns into 'From Dusk 'Til Dawn' as a group of survivors, after the vampires show up, lock themselves in the sawmill and do their best to survive until morning. That sounds simpler than it should be, though, as it's when the vampires show up that the film takes off. Until then, it's a slow burn. Any valid criticisms I have about the film are few and far between and, as usual, nit-picky. This is another one that will likely grow on me over time. Overall, I found it a little slow-moving, and when comparing it to 'Dusk 'Till Dawn,' it's the less action-packed of the two. However, I give the film full credit for trying something different with the vampire genre and entertaining me in many ways I didn't expect. So don't watch it just as a vampire movie because there's so much more to it regarding the music of the time and the characters involved. It was intriguing, to say the least. 4/5  Here we have a movie that engaged my curiosity purely based on the subject matter of not unicorns but unicorns as a horror creature, a concept I first saw in one of my faves, 'The Cabin in the Woods.' It stood out because we typically think of unicorns as creatures of purity with some amount of innocence. It is hard to be taken seriously as a creature of nightmares. But despite quite a few criticisms I have for this film, at the very least, they succeeded in that. This is an interestingly balanced film to say the least.
The film opens with Elliot Kinter (Paul Rudd) and his daughter, Ridley (Jenna Ortega), headed to Elliot's boss, Odell Leopold's (Richard E. Grant) estate, mainly for a business deal but also to try to reconnect since the tragic death of Ridley's mother. On their way, during a heated conversation, Elliot slams into a unicorn foal. The pair checks on its condition as it lies dying, and while Ridley makes a cosmic connection with the unicorn, Elliot puts it out of its misery with a tire iron. Luckily for an audience of animal lovers, the thing is heavily CG'd. The Kitners arrive, having stashed the unicorn in the trunk, not quite knowing what to do about their situation, and meet with Odel's son, Shepard (Will Poulter) and wife, Belinda (Téa Leoni), to discuss whatever business they have to discuss. In the meantime, Ridley heads off to wash her face, only to realize her acne completely vanishes. Elliot's vision also fixes itself; it all comes down to unicorn blood and its healing properties. But shit hits the fan when the Leopold family finds the unicorn foal and chooses to harvest this unicorn's blood to act as a cure for Odell's terminal disease. In the meantime, two angry unicorn parents make their presence known and are out for some gruesome revenge. While Ridley tries to warn everyone about these unicorns and their history, along with her connection to the foal, she's generally ignored and patronized by the Odels, who are greed-driven and in it for money. This makes this very much a cautionary tale about killing animals to benefit ourselves. In this case, it's not just meat, clothing, or even makeup but playing God with the effects of immortality. What makes the film reasonably weak is the amount of cliches and predictability within it. There's a ton here; you can see what's around the corner at just about every turn. It's also a horror comedy that I didn't feel gave enough laughs throughout, having many of the jokes fall flat, and it always feels weaker with an all-star cast when that happens. It's a little bland as a dark comedy, but not without its charm, either - like an oatmeal cookie without chocolate chips. But it's not all bad for a horror fan like me. What I appreciated about the film was that it didn't hold back on any of the unicorns' most swift and brutal kills, the kind I like to see in a good horror movie. I'm not a huge fan of torture; I say just get it done like a good old-fashioned Jason Voorhees. And though the comedy is bland, look to the disgruntled Leopold's assistant Griff (Anthony Carrigan) for the real comedy, especially when he and Shepherd are in a scene together. Their exchanges as a "boss" and an "annoyed doormat" were my real highlights. This is one horror comedy I could give more credit to if it wasn't so predictable and if it was just a little funnier. It has its moments, and it's another one that has the potential to grow on me upon multiple views. Sometimes, comparing this to Jason Voorhees again, the predictability can be part of a horror movie's charm, and I could see this developing a niche audience over time. I have to give the movie credit for trying to make something like unicorns scary, and with some of the kills in this, it's relatively effective. It just has yet to be perfected. 3/5 |
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