Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

The Amityville Horror (1979) - I hadn't seen this since the 80's. My biggest overall complaint was that it was generally a "the house MIGHT be haunted, or the family could just be losing it" movie, except in regards to the priest character, in which case it seemed to be "definitely haunted". If you were to tell me that the studio made them add that stuff to cash in on The Exorcist and the Omen I'd say "that makes sense".

I did enjoy it, though. Ultimately, what makes it work is the concept: it's a haunted house story played straight, not for campy laughs. It's not the Shining or the Exorcist level, but it's not drive in or grind house fare either. I will no doubt watch it again, but will not watch the sequel where the kid has carnal relations with his sister ( I think?).

4.25/ 5

[M.10rda]

COMPANION (2025):
The Rev reviewed this in "Theatrical" and I read it, forgot about it, but then watched the trailer w/ Madame before we watched the film proper. If you missed his 3.5/5 review, I am going to recommend you skip it AND skip the trailer and just watch this one blind, as I suspect it will be optimally effective for viewers who don't know what they're walking into (besides it being a violent thriller). Both Rev and the trailer give away the first of two significant twists, and I guessed the second one based on knowing the first one from the trailer. Being spoiled and then guessing didn't ruin the film for me, but I wondered how much more I'd have enjoyed it sans spoilers.

I will say that I think COMPANION works better in the first two-thirds, where it adheres vigorously to the rules it establishes for its universe. During the third act it plays looser with those rules and started to feel a little cheap to me. But a satisfying climax and final few shots, as well as excellent use of an old Bee Gees song, redeem the ending. This could be a star-making vehicle for Sophie Thatcher, who is a much better (young) Juliette Lewis than Juliette Lewis herself on YELLOWJACKETS and who is outstanding in the lead here, if anyone actually sees this. It's also got the always-welcome Harvey Guillen from the "What We Do In The Shadows" series and a couple other actors I recognized. Madame also liked it a lot.

4/5    Reply if you've seen it and would like to discuss in more (spoiler-y) detail - of course I have thoughts! (When don't I have thoughts?)

[Rev. Powell]

Re: spoilers for COMPANION: There's some difficulty to tell enough to get folks interested without risking spoiling the twist. To go in blind is asking for a big leap of faith. The movie itself will spoil the twist fast enough! It's not hard to guess. I got it based on the very first scene. In my view, COMPANION is not like THE CRYING GAME or THE SEVENTH SENSE or something where the twist is the major point. The smaller, action-oriented suspense details of how they get from point A to B, and the overall concept, are the more interesting things (at least to me). But then again, maybe I've just seen too many twists in my lifetime to be really surprised; there were some younger people in the audience who gasped aloud at the second twist, which I thought was even easier to guess than the first!

[lester1/2jr]

Amityville Horror (2005) - This has an 82% approval on IMDB, yet on some level it obviously sucks. I guess, if you want a breezy, easy to follow, full of modern trappings version of Amityville Horror, you could do worse. That said, it adds absolutely nothing to the original and the performances are totally phoned in. I didn't for one second think Ryan Reynolds was this guy in this house. Interesting to see what Hollywood circa 2005 could do with a classic horror script, which is turn it into a nondescript ready for sequels insta movie with no point or lasting imagery.

3/5 It does move well though

[M.10rda]

Re: spoilers for COMPANION: There's some difficulty to tell enough to get folks interested without risking spoiling the twist. To go in blind is asking for a big leap of faith. The movie itself will spoil the twist fast enough! It's not hard to guess. I got it based on the very first scene. In my view, COMPANION is not like THE CRYING GAME or THE SEVENTH SENSE or something where the twist is the major point. The smaller, action-oriented suspense details of how they get from point A to B, and the overall concept, are the more interesting things (at least to me). But then again, maybe I've just seen too many twists in my lifetime to be really surprised; there were some younger people in the audience who gasped aloud at the second twist, which I thought was even easier to guess than the first!

I can't really argue with you. At my age, though, I'd rather know less (often nothing) about a movie before I start watching it... the experience is almost always better for me, personally. It's at the point where I now watch trailers and, at the point at which I decide I want to see the movie, I turn the trailer off or I close my eyes for the duration (if I can't turn it off). The less I know, the happier I'll be!

Lester: I remember kind of liking the original AMITYVILLE and kind of not liking the remake, but I clearly remember both James Brolin and Ryan Reynolds being entirely too blase about their circumstances. Maybe Mr. Luts/DiFeo/whatever his name was just actually was a highly unimpressed and/or underemotive guy.......

[zombie no.one]

mid 2000s was a pitiful time for horror remakes... watched THE OMEN (2006) the other day, totally fails to capture anything that made the original great, despite being virtually scene-for-scene. the kid seems more like an extra than the epitome of evil.

the only 2 of the whole 'mid 2000s to mid 2010s' horror remake bunch I enjoyed were THE HILLS HAVE EYES (to an extent), and MY BLOODY VALENTINE which was surprisingly good

It's at the point where I now watch trailers and, at the point at which I decide I want to see the movie, I turn the trailer off or I close my eyes for the duration (if I can't turn it off). The less I know, the happier I'll be!

same here. can't believe how many trailers give away key scenes!

[lester1/2jr]

Ryan Reynolds clearly uses body hair removal and weightlifting/supplement technology not available in the 70s.

[indianasmith]

mid 2000s was a pitiful time for horror remakes... watched THE OMEN (2006) the other day, totally fails to capture anything that made the original great, despite being virtually scene-for-scene. the kid seems more like an extra than the epitome of evil.

the only 2 of the whole 'mid 2000s to mid 2010s' horror remake bunch I enjoyed were THE HILLS HAVE EYES (to an extent), and MY BLOODY VALENTINE which was surprisingly good

It's at the point where I now watch trailers and, at the point at which I decide I want to see the movie, I turn the trailer off or I close my eyes for the duration (if I can't turn it off). The less I know, the happier I'll be!

same here. can't believe how many trailers give away key scenes!

I thought the 2005 DAWN OF THE DEAD remake was just as good, if not better, than the original.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Dirty Work" (1998)
Two slackers (Norm MacDonald and Artie Lange) with a knack for pranks start a "Revenge For Hire" business, but they may have met their match when a crooked real estate mogul uses them for nefarious purposes.
Directed by Bob "Full House" Saget and featuring cameos by John Goodman, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Don Rickles, and Gary Coleman (!), this cult classic comedy still holds up pretty well.

"Light Blast" (1985)
A tough San Francisco cop (Erik "CHiPs" Estrada) faces off with a mad scientist who's holding the city for ransom with a powerful laser weapon.
A very silly but enjoyable Italian production, directed by Enzo "The Last Shark" Castellari, featuring lots of car chases, shoot outs, and typically awkward dialogue, cheap FX, and dubbing. It's pretty dumb, but it's lots of shoot em up fun.

[M.10rda]

Like Indiana, I also prefer DOTD'05 to the original (which is a classic and a masterpiece, too).

THE OMEN remake does make one appreciate how well-directed the original was. I generally think Richard Donner was a terrible, lazy director, but OMEN'76 really crackles. What '76 didn't have was the tough-to-beat Tall King superduo of Liev Schreiber and David Thewlis, who make '06 worth watching for me. '76 did have Billie Whitelaw but '06 has Mia Farrow, who I called a "wimp" in a recent review but who really goes overboard in the remake trying to prove me wrong.

DIRTY WORK is great. I wish Saget directed more. EDIT: I mentioned Saget's cameo originally. He doesn't have one! He does, however, deliver the only memorable moment in the contemporaneous HALF-BAKED, which my old brain apparently conflates now as part of the much better DIRTY WORK.

[lester1/2jr]

Impossible Horror (2017) - This isn't a found footage movie, but it benefits from how found footage movies have gotten people to accept super low budget movies if they can manage to also be entertaining. The director could probably make the next "Se7en" if he puts his mind to it. That said, I could easily see people hating this and it did kind of p**s me off at certain points. At it's worst, it feels like self indulgent film school-signifying mumblecore piffle, at it's best, it's an antidote to stuff like the 2005 Amityville remake.

A film school student getting over a bad breakup gets involved in a demented late night scene of people who hear a mysterious scream and try and find it's source. Totally unexplained supernatural events (people appearing them disappearing, scavenger hunt type objects left by ?) and unrealistic fight scenes soon follow. The whole thing might be a metaphor for junkies or depression or it might have no reasoning to it I have no idea. 

I watched it more or less straight through in one night. Review are mixed.

4.75/ 5 aspects of it were familiar and some of the wackiness felt extraneous, but really a flagship tubi movie in many ways. The director himself plays a night time security guard constantly trying to drive the people out of the area they are doing all this stuff in.

[M.10rda]

IMPOSSIBLE HORROR's director (and nightwatchman) is Justin Decloux of The Important Cinema Podcast, right? I've been wondering if he could make a proper movie or just talk about them...

[indianasmith]

DARK ANGEL: THE ASCENT (1994)

   I saw most of the films that Full Moon Productions churned out during the 1990's but somehow this gem slid under my radar.  A young female demon gets tired of punishing sinners for their wickedness in Hell, and decides to go topside for a while and see how humans live.  She falls in love with a compassionate young doctor, disembowels a couple of rapists, and is horrified by the wickedness of the human world. Overall, this was a cool film with an interesting take on demons and the role they play.  The lead actress is very cute, too!   4/5

[Rev. Powell]

AMAZING GRACE (2018): Documents the live Aretha Franklin recording of her hit gospel album "Amazing Grace" recorded in the New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts in 1971 (the original planned doc was abandoned after they forgot to sync the sound beforehand!) No-nonsense concert that wisely lets the performance speak for itself. 3.5/5.

[LordGraal]

Predator 2 (1990)

This was the first film I'd seen that felt like an adult-comic book on screen.  Everything about the film is over the top and some of the photography puts me in mind of comic frames.  It might not be intenional as I remember on the first few viewings thinking it was trying to emulate the tension of the first film by using vapid noise and violence instead of creating an atmosphere.  If it had slowed down and created it's world better then it would be a much better film.

But Danny Glover is good.  Him punching out the reporter is one of my favourite movie scenes.  The Predator patching itself up using bathroom tiles is another good sequence.  The film is set during a heatwave and that comes across very well.  The opening 10 minutes or so are pure comic book.  It's a violent and almost charmless film but it just about gets by due to it's design and Glover.  It would be great to see him return in another Predator film.

If only they'd played more on the "f**king voodoo magic, man" aspect it'd be much better.  But saying that, I keep returning to it more than the original.