My Review of The Exorcist (FOX TV Series, 2016-2017)

 

Written by Jeremy Slater And Heather Bellson And Dre Ryan And Adam Stein And David Grimm And Laura Marks And Charise Castro Smith And Marcus Gardley And Franklin Jin Rho And Manny Coto And Rebecca Kirsch And Alyssa Clark And M. Willis And Sean Crouch

Directed by Rupert Wyatt And Michael Nankin And Craig Zisk And Jason Ensler And Jennifer Phang And Tinge Krishnan And Louis Milito And Bill Johnson And Dean Sarafian And Ti West And So Yong Kim And Alex Garcia Lopez And Steven A. Adelson And Meera Menon And Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum 

Father Tomas: "I was told you were an exorcist."

Father Marcus: "Who exactly told you that?"

Father Tomas: "Does it matter?"

Father Marcus: "Yeah, I think it does."

About two years ago, I watched and reviewed every single sequel/prequel to The Exorcist but there was something that i had missed out on. That thing of course being the television series itself.

This show ran for two seasons on FOX, clocking in twenty episodes overall. It was also a reasonably well received show with two very captivating lead performance from Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels. 

Herrera played the more inexperienced Father Tomas Ortega while Daniels played the hardened exorcist in question, Father Marcus Keane. It would be dreams that would ultimately bring these two men together and demonic possessions that would rest their relationship with each other and respective faith.

The first season of this show played out like a legacy sequel to the classic 1973 movie. Yup, this meant the return of Regan MacNeil (Geena Davis), going under the name of Angela Rance. Of course that wasn't revealed until halfway through the season when we had a few episodes with her mother, Chris (Sharon Gless) returned and old family tension reared it's head.

Yes, Pazuzu (Robert Emmet Lunney) effectively was the main threat of the season, terrorising Regan's daughter, Casey (Hannah Kasulka) as well her husband, Henry (Alan Ruck) and other daughter, Kat (Brianne Howey). I'd say as a legacy sequel, this was overall better than expected.

Now while I don't think the second season turned out as good, it was still better than it should've been. This time the focus was on foster dad Andrew Kim (John Cho) falling victim to a possession, which played on his guilt of deceased wife, Nicole (Alicia Witt) while putting his adopted kids like Verity (Brianna Hildebrand) and fellow social worker Rose Cooper (Li Jun Li).

Andy's story isn't as compelling as the Rances from the first season but I did appreciate it trying to be a bit different. In between both possession stories, there was also characters like Father Bennett (Kurt Egyiawan) and Mouse (Zuleikha Robinson) trying to stop the church from actually integrating with demons. It took a bit too long for that plot to circle back to our main cast in the second season.

Now the strength of this show was definitely the team up of Tomas and Marcus. Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels are fantastic casting and both are given some compelling material to work with. As characters, they may have certain conflicts but they largely balanced each other out and their separation at the end of the series was expected but slightly sad to watch.

- Season 1 episode titles: And Let Me Cry Unto Thee, Lupus In Fabula, Let 'Em In, The Moveable Feast, Through My Most Grievous Fault, Star Of The Morning, Father Of Lies, The Griefbearers, 162 and Three Rooms.

- Season 2 episode titles: Janus, Safe As Houses, Unclean, One For Sorrow, There But For The Grace Off God, Go I, Darling Nikki, Help Me, A Heaven Of Hell, Ritual & Repetition and Unworthy.

- In the first season, Tomas had an affair with a married woman named Jessica (Mouzam Makkar) while in the second season, Marcus was seeing a man named Peter (Christopher Cousins).

- Fans of Yellowjackets would've spotted Sophie Thatcher as a younger version of Regan in the first season.

- Creator Jeremy Slater would go to run Moon Knight for the MCU and is one of the architects for the DCU.

- Chronology: The first season is set in Chicago while the second season takes in a few different places, including Nachburn in Seattle. 

For a show that would've a little constricted by network television rules, it's impressive just how good this version of The Exorcist turned out to be. Tbe writing for the most part was strong, the scares and possession scenes really effective and the dynamic between Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels. Definitely worth watching.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Black Phone (2021)

 

Written by Scott Derrickson And C. Robert Cargill

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Finney (to The Grabber): "It's for you!"

With a sequel due in theatres in October, I thought it was time to catch up with this one. I remember there seemed to be some positive buzz, so I had certain expectations for this movie.

Setting in the same year where movies like Grease, Halloween and Superman: The Movie was released, you had a town in terror. Why? Oh, because of a child snatcher named The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) of course.

In this movie, the focus was on sibling duo Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) and their alcoholic father, Terrence (Jeremy Davies). Terrence vented his anger out on his children while both also had to deal with bullies in school and classmates being victims of The Grabber.

Before we got to the halfway point of the movie, it was established that Gwen's dreams had a tendency of predicting future events (something she got from her deceased mother). This was something that Terrence literally tried to beat out of her until even he was forced to accept that she was telling the truth.

As for Finney, he became the latest victim of The Grabber. During his captivity, Finney had to play The Grabber's twisted "Naughty Boy" while also receiving phone calls from a black phone. The calls being from the ghosts of previous victims, including Finney's friend, Robin (Miguel Cazarez Mora). The latter encouraging Finney to fight back against The Grabber.

Of course between Gwen working with the police and her dreams providing clues and Finney giving The Grabber his just desserts, Finney ended up being the sole survivor of the serial killer's reign of terror. If anything, this movie seemed to give a very permanent comeuppance for The Grabber but we're getting a sequel.

- James Ransome (IT: Chapter 2) had the role of Max, who was the brother and final victim of The Grabber.

- A sequel of sorts titled Dreamkill does factor in anthology movie, V/H/S/85.

- Standout music: Pink Floyd's On The Run and Blind Blake's Early Morning Blues.

- Chronology: This film took place during 1978 in North Denver, Colorado.

The Black Phone made for a good cat and mouse serial killer/horror movie. There's strong performances between Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames but it also felt like something that should've been a one and done deal.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Peacemaker: "A Man Is As Only Good As His Bird"

 

Written by James Gunn 

Directed by Greg Mottola

Peacemaker (to Vigilante): "Looking in your own eyes just fucks you up."

And we're into the second episode of this second season. Last time we left things, Peacemaker just killed his other self but that's not the only thing that's bothering him this episode.

However seeing as it was the most important of the opening episode, it did make sense to (badly) resolve it first. That meant getting Adrian to help him go all Dexter Morgan on his other self with the body disposal. I guess being responsible for killing your other self can do a number on you.

On the plus side, there was a chance to do some 11th Street Kids celebrating on the roof of Harcourt's apartment block and that mostly went well. I think Chris trying to get Emilia to open up about her self destructive behaviour was where things went wrong. Trying to contact her other self might also be an unwise idea.

Circling to Economos, he had the task of a flashback which introduced Rick Flag Sr as his boss and in the present day Sadha thought it best for him to be accompanied by handler, Fleury (Tim Meadows). I think the words "loathsome character but great performance" spring to mind.

Throughout the episode,I found myself either annoyed or disgusted by every single thing that came out of Fleury's mouth but Tim Meadows also gave such a great performance. I did laugh when Fleury and his team's attempts to break into Chris's house had Eagly do a lot of damage to that team. 

Other than that, this wasn't an episode to hugely move forward much. There's bitterness between Leota and her estranged wife, Emilia snapped at a sympathetic woman and Adrian yet again showed jealousy over Chris having a sex life. I did like the scene with Leota and John though.

- Fleury has a bird blindness, bragged about having sex with women in Oregon and gave his team politically incorrect code names.

- Some archive footage was used from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker knows that Flag Sr wants revenge on him.

- The post credit was Fleury bragging more about his sexploits. Economos got "Ginger Cool" as a nickname. Waller got "A Dubs" by Economos.

- Is this show being sponsored by Bud Light? Other beers and alcoholic drinks do exist. 

- Standout music: Foxy Shazam's Evil Thoughts and Hardcore Superstar's We Don't Need A Cure.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off. Flag Sr has also been ARGUS's leader for the last eight months.

I didn't like A Man Is As Only Good As His Bird as much as the opening episode but it was enjoyable enough. Some nice character moments and further proof that Eagly is the most lethal character on the show.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

 

Written by James Wan And David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

Directed by Michael Chaves

Ed Warren: "The court accepts the existence of God every time a witness swears to tell the truth. I think it's about time they accept the existence of the Devil."

Usually things end in threes and this really could've been the end of both this part of the franchise or the entire franchise in general. It had a feeling of finality to it.

Once again, we're with paranormal couple, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) but this time, we're not dealing with haunted houses as such. This one was definitely more about the possessions and a bout of occultism in the mix as well.

The movie started with a family's young son, David (Julian Hilliard) being possessed by a demon that Ed and Lorraine really struggled to get rid. In fact to up the ante, Ed ended up hospitalised and in a wheelchair for a bit of the movie. Of course that wasn't the only consequence of saving David.

David might have gotten the demon taken out of him but his sister, Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook) didn't fare as well. The demon instead up residence in her boyfriend, Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruari O'Connor) and as a result, he ended up stabbing his landlord twenty two times and was sent the prison for his crime.

This film tackled the issue of demonic possession being claimed as a defence while also putting Ed and Lorraine through their paces. Along with their assistant, Drew (Shannon Kook) they worked on trying to save Arne from the death penalty while drawing a link to another case involving an occultist (Eugenie Bondurant). 

Unlike the previous movies that were in spin off setting up mode, there's a good focus on the actual threat at hand. Isla/Occultist made for a good villain, the demon certain had both Ed and Arne act, Lorraine had more to do and there was a strong supporting role from John Noble as Kastner. I think this might have had the strongest third act so far.

- Once again we see items from previous movies and spin offs with voice over work filling in the gaps of the real life case this movie was based.

- James Wan co-wrote but didn't direct this one. His wife Ingrid Bisu had a role in this film as well.

- Standout music: Eddie Money's Baby Hold On and Blondie's Call Me.

- Chronology: 1981 in Brookfield, Connecticut as well as Dancers, Massachusetts.

I think I might have liked The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It the best of these movies so far. The story helped by being a little different from the first two. It's also the movie where I think the reshoots helped strengthen the actual plot and third act itself.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Conjuring 2 (2016)

 

Written by Chad Hayes And Carey W. Hayes And James Wan And David Leslie Johnson

Directed by James Wan

Lorraine Warren: "After everything we've seen, there isn't much that rattles either of us anymore. But this one... this one still haunts me."

Following the events of the first movie and spin off movie, Annabelle, it was time to venture into the first sequel of this franchise. This meantt another case with husband and wife demonologist team, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga).

Back in the 1970s, it wasn't just the US having their share of paranormal cases but even the UK had an infamous one with the Enfield Haunting. It was time for the Warrens to take a trip overseas for this particular case.

The case focused on a single mother, Peggy Hodgson (Frances O'Connor) and her family, Janet (Madison Wolfe), Margaret (Lauren Esposito), Billy (Benjamin Haigh) and Johnny (Patrick McAuley). Let's just say kids really shouldn't be messing with ouija boards.

It was Janet and Margaret playing with one that suddenly saw their home being terrorised by the ghost of Bill Wilkins (Bob Adkins), who communicated through Janet and certainly made the effort to unnerve Ed during their initial encounter in the house.

However, it wasn't just one ghost. No, there was also the Crooked Man (Javier Batet) terrorising the house and even Ed and Lorraine needed the helps of others such as Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney) and Anita Gregory (Franka Potente) in saving the Hodgson family.

Then there was another spin off to help set up. Lorraine was having visions of a demonic nun named Valak (Bonnie Aarons) and there's a battle between the pair in order to save Ed. Personally, I found this set up a little clumsy and distracting from the main plot itself.

- The last scene contained the Annabelle doll, a haunted "Crooked Man" zoetrope and one of the Perrons music boxes.

- There's some nice supporting performances from Maria Doyle Kennedy and Simon Delaney as a couple who were friends with Peggy and her family.

- Standout music: Elvis's I Can't Help Falling In Love With You and The Clash's London Calling.

- Chronology: The movie started with the Lutz family in Amityville in 1976 before moving to the Enfield Haunting in 1977. Christmas played a part here too.

The Conjuring 2 for the most part did make for a good sequel. I liked the London setting, the jump scares were still good but it did feel like they could've weaved the Valak story a lot better into the movie or just hinted at it in a post credit scene instead.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Conjuring (2013)

 

Written by Chad Hayes And Carey W. Hayes

Directed by James Wan

Ed Warren: "The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow."

With the last month of these movies due for theatres next month, I went back to rewatch the first three. This franchise has definitely been a good mine for WB but often a mixed bag in terms of quality.

Focusing on real life couple Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), these two are quite the experts in the paranormal field. Though their credibility has often been called into question.

With this movie, we open with the demonologist couple investigating the infamous Annabelle doll that has been terrorising friends Camilla (Amy Tipton) and Debbie (Morganna May). Of course that would be more in line with setting up the next movie in this franchise rather than the crux of this one.

Instead the action pivoted towards the Perron family. You had Roger (Ron Livingston) and Carolyn (Lili Taylor) moving into a new home with their five daughters. It's not long before strange stuff happens at a specific time, Carolyn wound up with bruises and the poor dog Sadie ended up being dead as a result.

Of course that meant the Perron family getting Ed and Lorraine to try and sort out their supernatural problem along with their assistant Drew Thomas (Shannon Kook) and police officer Brad Hamilton (John Brotherton). Honestly, the Warrens needed all the help they could get.

The house had a history of Satanism and Witchcraft, notably Bathsheba Sherman (Joseph Bishara). The remainder of the film played as a tense battle for two families souls and it's one that's played well enough with the Warrens being able to save the Perrons from their Satanic house.

- The end of the movie set up the events for Annabelle (2014), which in my opinion is still the best film in this whole franchise.

- The real Lorraine Warren had a cameo appearance in the movie.

- Standout music: The Zombies Time Of The Season and Dead Man Bones In The Room Where You Sleep.

- Chronology: The film started in 1968 for the Annabelle case before the main events in Harrisville, Rhode Island during 1971.

The Conjuring was a strong start to this franchise, adapting the real life Perron case and setting up the events for another movie. James Wan does good with the jump scares and there's no denying that Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are excellent in these roles.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008)

 

Written by Hans Rodionoff

Directed by P.J. Pesce

Edgar Frog: "Let's get one thing straight, I hate damn vampires!"

The 2000s really were the wildest time for the horror genre. If it was an unnecessary reboot, it was also the unnecessary sequel. This was 94 minutes of my time in which I should have something far more constructive with my time.

Take two siblings - Chris Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrink) and his sister, Nicole (Autumn Reeser). Throw them into a certain town, renting a house from their aunt Jillian (Gabrielle Rose) and you'll see where this one will go.

The sister Nicole being the rebellious one of the bunch made some new friends such as surfer dude, Shane Powers (Angus Sutherland). It doesn't take long for Nicole to be tricked into drinking blood or for Shane and his friends to be the new vampires of this town.

It also didn't take long for Chris to "join" Shane and his gang in a bid to rescue his sister and stop her drinking from local boy Evan (Greyston Holt). Of course there's another aspect of this movie I've not touched on.

Having a link to the 1987 movie, there was also the return of Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman). He's become a vampire hunter, had an unconvincing grizzled accent and teamed up with Chris and Nicole to take out Shane and his friends. His performance was horrible and that's putting it mildly.

- A post credit scene revealed that Sam Emerson (Corey Haim) became a vampire between movies.

- Alan Frog (Jamison Newlander) had filmed scenes that were ultimately cut from the movie.

- Alternative scenes included subplots with Edgar, Sam and Alan that likely were meant to set up Lost Boys: The Thirst.

- Chronology: 2000s, Luna Bay in California.

Awful, just awful. I can vibe with a terrible sequel but when it's as draining and as dreadful as Lost Boys: The Tribe, I'd rather not. If you haven't seen it, don't bother. 

Rating: 3 out of 10 

My Review of The Lost Boys (1987)

 

Written by Janice Fischer And James Jeremias And Jeffrey Boam

Directed by Joel Schumacher 

Grandpa: "One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach; all the damn vampires."

With Autumn fast approaching, I'm definitely in the mood for some vampire flicks and one of the best would be this gem from the late 1980s, directed by Joel Schumacher. 

Focusing on a single mother - Lucy Emerson (Dianne Wiest) and her sons, Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim). They move to Santa Carla in order to live with Lucy's father (Barnard Hughes) and it's not long before they learn that their new town has some secrets of its own.

Notably the vampire population but it's the brothers who learn of this first. With Michael, he met a girl named Star (Jami Gertz). Star happened to be a vampire and so did her friends, David (Kiefer Sutherland), Paul (Brooke McCarter), Dwayne (Billy Wirth) and Marko (Alexander Winter). It didn't take Michael long to become one as well.

Then there's Sam. He's a massive comic book nerd but not much of a horror fan. He met up with the Frog brothers - Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jamison Newlander). They brought Sam up to speed about vampires and were not best pleased upon learning that Michael was one of them. Still, they were handy to have around for this movie.

As for Lucy, she was mostly exasperated by her sons being different now they were in a new town. She was also trying to start a relationship with local man, Max (Edward Herrmann). Max seemed like a nice guy but looks can be deceiving.

Max being the head of the vampires was a nice twist but obvious. Wanting Lucy to be the mother of his made family was also expected. Grandpa being the one to set things back to normal before casually dropping that he knew about vampires all along. That I didn't expect. Good reveal though.

- Being invited into a home can make vampires immune to garlic and holy water. Michael, Star and Laddie reverted to normal at the end.

- Sam was something of a DC fan, specifically Superman. Eight years after this movie Joel Schumacher would direct Batman Forever and then Batman & Robin.

- Standout music: Good Times by INXS and Jimmy Barnes, Lost In The Shadows (The Lost Boys) by Lou Gramm and People Are Strange by Echo And The Bunnyman.

- Chronology: 1980s Santa Carla, California.

The Lost Boys lives up to its reputation. It's a fun vampire movie with great characters, some nice scare moments and scenes that are genuinely funny. A very enjoyable movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10