My Review of All Hallows Eve (2013)

 

Written And Directed by Damien Leone 

Timmy: "See it's just a scary movie. Let's watch it."

For those who wanted to see what Art the Clown (Mike Gianelli) was like before his solo adventures, this anthology movie somewhat predates his first movie. Needless to say, he wasn't nice back them.

As a framing story, you've got responsible babysitter Sarah (Katie Maguire) looking after kids, Tia (Sydney Freihofer) and Timmy (Cole Mathewson). They're done with trick and treating and Timmy happened to be given a VHS of a movie that Sarah's got reservations about them watching. As she should.

Of course the video gets watched and there's a slew of violent encounters, all of which have Art the Clown as the common denominator. The less interesting of the bunch was one involving an alien encounter with a woman named Caroline (Catherine Callahan) but it's also the most different of the bunch.

The rest of them are very typical to things we've seen within the Terrifier movies themselves. The first one being focused on a woman named Casey (Kayla Lian). She's kidnapped by Art with a bunch of other women and sacrificed as part of a Satanic ritual, involving witches as well. It's an unsettling first tale and the strongest of the bunch.

The last story on the other hand would be the one that would justify the critical belief of there being a misogynistic undertone to this franchise. An unfortunate costume designer (Marie Maser) tried to escape from Art in the middle of nowhere. It ended horrifically for her but what Art does to the woman's body was just too much in my opinion. Stuff like that even I think Leone is better with scaling back.

Overall, while the three stories are a mixed bag, the fascinating part would be that Art coming into the real world and killing both Tia and Timmy with Sarah left to face the consequences. It's a very brutal ending to an anthology movie that wasn't holding back to begin with.

- The three stories are called The 9th Circle, Something In The Dark and Terrifier.

- Katie Maguire who played Sarah would also appear in Terrifier (2016) as bitchy talking show host Monica Brown.

- There's an unrelated sequel out there too that I might watch next year.

- Chronology: It's set during Halloween.

All Hallows Eve really does set up everything about Art the Clown and the hyper violent world of his. I mostly enjoyed it to be honest, minus a weak middle story and aspects of the last one too.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Interview With The Vampire (1994)

 

Written by Anne Rice

Directed by Neil Jordan

Lestat (to Daniel): "Don't be afraid... I'm going to give you the choice I never had."

Having watched two seasons of the show of the same name, it was definitely time to go back and revisit this one. Does it still hold up? You bet it does.

In the present, you've got the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) being interviewed by Daniel Molloy (Christian Slater). Daniel's a bit sceptical about his subject being a vampire, so Louis decided to make a believer out of him.

With Louis, you get his life as a Plantation owner and a man who lost both his wife and child. You've got also his meeting with the charming Lestat de Lioncourt (Tom Cruise). Instead of killing Louis, Lestat saw something in the dissatisfied man to make him into a vampire.

Unfortunately for Lestat, turning Louis into a vampire wasn't the best idea. Louis seemed more fond of eating rats than humans and when he did done on humans, he didn't feel good about it. Then there was the addition of orphaned girl Claudia (Kirsten Dunst). Talk about a character who widened that divide between Louis and Lestat.

Claudia might have had Lestat's bloodlust but she felt as stifled by him as Louis did and the two of them did manage to break away from Lestat's control with extreme force. Saying that, we all know how that turned out for them.

It resulted in Claudia's death at the hands of Santiago (Stephen Rea) and Armand (Antonio Banderas) as well as a vengeful Louis. Add a tense reunion with Lestat, Molloy missing the point of Louis's tales and that final encounter between two characters and it played out as well as it had done the first time i watched this movie.

- Anne Rice (who adapted the script from her own book) wasn't keen on Tom Cruise's casting and while I get it, I think he did hold his own as Lestat.

- Due to Hollywood homophobia at the time, Rice had also considered retooling Louis as a female character. Obviously she didn't.

- River Phoenix was originally cast as Daniel Molloy. There's a tribute to him at the end of the movie.

- Thandiwe Newton also had a small part in this movie. Her character doesn't last that long.

- There's a loose sequel called Queen Of The Damned.

- Chronology: 1791 Louisiana to 1994 San Francisco as well as time in Paris and New Orleans.

It's been thirty years since it's release and Interview With The Vampire remains one of the best vampire movies to date. Both Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise on paper feel like such odd choices for Louis and Lestat but they're the driving force behind it's success. Both are on fine form here.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Grotesquerie: "I Think I'm Dead"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Jon Robin Baitz And Joe Baken 

Directed by Alexis Martin Woodall 

Lois: "This is not the real world. This is the other world and I am dead."

And just like that,  we have a cliffhanger finale. Gotta admit, I am disappointed with the choice of prolonging the identity of Grotesquerie. Saying that, at least we can rule out one character for the killer. That's something, right?

The character who isn't Grotesquerie was Dr Charlie Mayhew. Now maybe he does or does not have sex origins and maybe he does think Lois is a bitch but given that he was strung up and bleeding out in The Last Supper, it's not him. Which means everyone, except Lois and maybe Megan could be Grotesquerie.

Now, irs more like that these murders are the consequences of the Mexicali Men's Club, which had every single male character of note in attendance and was led by Dr Smythe. It also had a mullet free Ed recruit the recently cancelled Marshall and it didn't take much for the latter to make an impression on that archaic club.

Actually the first half of this episode was very much about Marshall. His attempts of trying to get a throuple dynamic between himself, Lois and Cherry was a failure all round and then he was accused of sexual assault by Mary Colsby, losing his job. Not to mention one of the victims with  Charlie was also Colsby. Doesn't look good for Marshall, does it?

As for Lois, she convinced herself that she was still in a coma and her scenes with Witticomb had her trying to rationalise recent events, though it didn't stop her from comparing Witticomb to a clever demon. I mean, he's clever because he definitely turned it around on Lois as she committed herself.

However it was Megan who got Lois to snap out of her funk by telling her the truth about what to Justin's body and it was the new murders that gave Lois some determination again. At this point, the show better hope it did enough to secure that second season.

- Gale Hanover does exist here and Glorious McKall was whom Megan contacted to clean up Justin's body.

- When Merritt was talking about children to Marshall, I did think she was going to reveal her being pregnant.

- Every male character in that club but Charlie's killed? Maybe he had a moral objection to their foundation plan. 

- Chronology: Not long since the previous episode. 

Finale wise, I Think I'm Dead was a lengthy episode and certainly wanted to have a deep dive into masculinity,  MeToo and so on, but did it offer anything new or insightful to those conversations? I'm not sure it did tbh. I can't help being a bit disappointed with this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Carrie (1976)

 

Written by Lawrence D. Cohen

Directed by Brian De Palma

Margaret: "Witch. Got Satan's Power."

Carrie: "It has nothing to do with Satan, Mama. It's me. Me. If I concentrate hard enough, I can move things."

Keeping with some horror classics for the month of Halloween, this iconic adaptation of the Stephen King novel was also on my list to watch. It's had it's remakes but this version remains the best one to date.

In a career defining role, Sissy Spacek was perfectly cast as the titular character. A shy girl under the tyrannical rule of her religious mother, Margaret White (Piper Laurie), Carrie's school life wasnt much better to be fair.

In fact because she was something of an odd one, Carrie found herself being bullied by the likes of Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen). Chris seemed to take great pleasure in tormenting Carrie and even when her awful treatment of Carrie incurred the wrath of Miss Collins (Betty Buckley), it wasn't enough to get Chris to back off.

There was some hope for Carrie with the remorseful Sue Snell (Amy Irving) getting her boyfriend, Tommy (William Katt) to take Carrie to the prom. Of course that act of kindness would result in the worst possible outcome as Margaret's fears about Carrie were suddenly very much justified. She might be a religious fanatic but she wasn't wrong about Carrie's ability to cause carnage.

Getting a bucket of pig's blood poured over was more than enough to set Carrie off on a destructive rampage. Carrie really tapped into her dark side and those who had been stupid enough to torment her did suffer the consequences for their misdeeds. However, so did many innocent bystanders.

With Carrie in full villain mode, it's more or less Sue Snell that became a protagonist of sorts. She managed to survive Carrie's bloody rampage but was also severely traumatized by it as well. The end scene certainly didn't help Sue get peace either.

- The remakes came out in 2002 and 2013 respectively while a sequel called The Rage: Carrie 2 was released in 1999.

- The first adaptation of a Stephen King novel and it certainly set the bar for the many we'd get over the next 48 years.

- John Travolta appeared as Chris's boyfriend, Billy. It didn't end well for him. 

- Chronology: Despite the novel bring released in 1974, this movie in 1976, it's actually set in 1979.

Carrie is an absolutely brilliant adaptation of King's novel. Sissy Spacek just gave a sublime performance throughout as Carrie and the final act was the highlight. It really did set up he gold standard for King adaptations.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

DCU Blog - October 2024 Edition: NYCC Debuts, John Stewart Casting And More

Oh yes, it's been a very busy month for DC fans. Most of it good but some setbacks too. Let's dive in, shall we?

After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that Aaron Pierre would be starting as John Stewart for the upcoming Lanterns show, filming from January 2025 for a 2026 release on HBO. Pierre's previously appeared in the SyFy series Krypton.

Kelly MacDonald has also been offered a mystery role for Lanterns. She will play the role of Sherriff Kerry as well as a love interest for Hal Jordan. James Hawes will direct a block of episodes for the show.

James Gunn has confirmed that a trailer for Superman (2025) has been cut and will release soon. It's possibly for CCXP in December. Ultraman will appear in the movie along with Krypton, following confirmations from both a toy release schedule for the former and the latter confirmed by Gunn himself.

Casting for the character of Ruthye has gone under way for the upcoming Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. Expect that to be revealed very soon.

Both James Gunn and Matt Reeves took to Twitter (not calling it X) earlier in the month to announce upcoming animation/puppetry movie, Dynamic Duo. It will likely be set in the DCU and will focus on Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. Matthew Aldrich has written the script.

Matt Reeves has also confirmed that another spin off set within The Batman universe will be happening, following the success of The Penguin on HBO.

James Gunn has confirmed that there's been movement on Paradise Lost and the DCU's Wonder Woman.

Josh Brolin hasn't ruled himself out of a future DCU role despite turning down the role of Hal Jordan. 

Creature Commandos made it's debut at NYCC with a new trailer and confirmation of characters such as Clayface, Rupert Thorne as well as actors such as Benjamin Byron Davies, Michael Rooker, Linda Cardellini, Gregg Henry, and Peter Serafinowicz in voice roles. Premieres on Max from December 5th.

Peacemaker will have a new helmet design in the second season as well as a connection to Creature Commandos. Filming should conclude soon for the Max series. Alethea Jones has directed for the upcoming season. A mystery character was also teased.

The Milton Fine version of Brainiac will appear in the final season of Superman And Lois but that's not Tom Cavanagh's role.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story continues to get a wider theatrical release. I'm hoping to see it next month.

In bad news, Joker: Folie A Deux has unfortunately bombed at the box office, pulling in a measly $201.4 million. It's been available on digital since October 29th.

A trailer for Watchmen: Chapter II also released. It'll be available from November 26th on digital with a physical release on December 3rd.

Harley Quinn TV series on Max was slated for a November release but will now likely be held off until early 2025.

Beast Boy: Lone Wolf is now officially available to watch on Cartoon Network.

A good month for the most part as we wind towards the end of this year for DC and in general.

My Review of Superman And Lois 4x05: "Break The Cycle"

 

Written by Adam Mallinger

Directed by Elizabeth Henstridge

Elizabeth (to Lex): "If you truly want to break the cycle, you'll leave this all behind. Please, it's the only way, Dad."

With one episode, all I'll say is can we see more of Elizabeth Henstridge please? Because the scenes between her and Michael Culditz were incredible in this episode.

All season has seen Lex in pure vengeance mode because Lois's action cost him seventeen years. Its also been greatly emphasised that Lex's anger has been over losing those years with his daughter, Elizabeth. With this episode, he got the reunion he wanted, thanks to the woman he hates. 

However, any chance of Lex actually breaking his own cycle of anger and hatred just couldn't be broken. Clark/Superman tried to get through to him as a father and Lex rejected his efforts. Then there was meeting Elizabeth as an adult and expectant mother.

Yup, the reveals with Elizabeth came pretty heavy here. She had been living in France, adopted a British accent, had completed medical school and was six months pregnant with a boy. Yet none of that was enough to get Lex to relent in his determination to take out the Kents. Elizabeth did make the sensible decision to walk away from her father and his fanatical tirade.

Of course, while appealing to Lex's humanity, I love that Lois also had a plan B too. I thought she was mad summoning Doomsday but appealing to his humanity and getting him to flee actually worked. Is that it for the character? I'm not entirely convinced we won't see him again before the finale but it was satisfying to see Lois get a win over Lex.

Last but not least and proof that it really has been a long time between seasons, I completely forgot about both Candace and Denise as characters. Both returned this week for the Jonathan and Jordan subplot. The former figured out their big secret and the latter had to be told by Jordan. At this point, just get Clark to do a social media post revealing he's Superman before Lex outs him out of spite.

- Elizabeth went to lengths to not tell Lex about the identity of her baby daddy. The younger version of Elizabeth was the focus of the flashbacks.

- As well as appearing in the episode, Elizabeth Henstridge also Directed it and did and did an excellent job.

- A lot of absences in this one too. It's really now you notice those reduced supporting roles.

- Chronology: Clark was dead three weeks ago. Lex guessed that alien technology revived him.

I thought Break The Cycle might have been the best episode yet this season. The arrival of Elizabeth and her scenes with Lex, Lois's risky back up plan actually paying off and even the subplot with the boys. I liked all the plots this week.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

 

Written by Tom Hardy And Kelly Marcel

Directed by Kelly Marcel

Venom: "Eddie ... It is time."

What an appropriate subtitle for the last in this trilogy and the only success story in these Spidey adjacent movies that Sony insist on making. Weirdly though, for a movie that was meant to end a trilogy, it seemed more interested in setting up more stuff that I'm not sure will be resolved.

For example, the main villain of the piece, Knull (Andy Serkis) has his presence felt but not once do we get to see him share any screen time with Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy). It's such a baffling choice and Hardy co-wrote the script.

From last time we saw Eddie/Venom they were in a bar, where the bartender (Cristo Fernandez) was getting freaked out by him to finding out that Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham) was dead with Eddie as the main suspect. Except he's dead.

Instead Mulligan's holded up in a secret facility because he's gotten himself attached to a green Symbiote. Our secondary antagonists of the piece included Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and scientists Teddy Payne (Juno Temple) and Sadie Christmas (Clark Backo) and even then, they're not really that bad.

Most of this movie was spent with Eddie and Venom bonding along the way, meeting up with a hippie alien fan family, led by Rhys Ifans and bumping into Mrs Chen (Peggy Lu) during a stay in Las Vegas. There's a very funny dance scene during that particular moment.

As for the rest of the movie, the third act's pretty rushed with Knull's Xenophages on the loose, fight scenes between them and the symbiotes and something of a rushed separation between Eddie and Venom. I mean the scene did hit the right moments but it needed a bit more time to breathe, even if a reunion of sorts was implied.

- The credit scenes included the bartender looking at a destroyed Area-51 and Knull planning his next move now Venom out of the way.

- In the comics, Teddy Payne became Agony. She's attached herself to a purple Symbiote towards the end of the movie.

- Standout music: Yes, it was the uses of Don't Stop Me Now and Dancing Queen.

- Chronology: From where the events of that scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home left off.

I didn't mind Venom: The Last Dance too much. I mean, it's a disjointed mess that felt more set up than a natural trilogy ender. There's fun to be had with it but it's not the greatest way to end what's been a mixed bag anyways.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Penguin: "Gold Summit"

 

Written by Nick Towne

Directed by Kevin Bray

Oz (to the gangs): "To taking back Gotham."

Oh, Oz. Every time you get a bit of success, you also manage to make things just that worse for you. It took very little time for both Sofia and Sal to get one over on you and they did it twice.

First, we had Sofia and Sal work together to put the frighteners on anyone caught selling Bliss on Oswald's behalf and when the bodies hung up, Oz had to think of another way to get back support. To his credit he had a plan that kind of worked.

I mean he assembled all the rival gang leaders, including Triad leader Zhao and shared a beer with the lot of them. He also delivered a speech about taking back Gotham, trashed Sofia and owned his faults. Apparently those things were enough to get rival gangs to his side. Too bad he wasn't paying closer attention to his enemies.

Sofia and Sal broke into his apartment to try and find evidence that there at least someone in his life he cared about. That led Sofia to seeking out and let's just say there's an exquisite conversation between both women. I mean Criston Milioti and Carmen Ejogo are utterly sublime in that scene with both Sofia and Eve coming out of it, knowing a bit more about each other. I think they even got each other too.

Of course, because of their exchange, Sofia knew that Oz was holed up in Crown Point and worse for Oz, she's now very much aware of Francis still being alive. Speaking of Francis, I got to give Deirdre O'Connell props because she's brilliantly heartbreaking in this episode with Francis becoming more aware of her deteriorating health and the scenes she had with both Oz and Victor.

Speaking of Victor, that poor boy's doom has definitely started to catch up with him. If he only has left Gotham when he had the chance. Now he killed Squid in order to stop the latter from ratting out Oz. Oz basically told him that killing would end up getting easier the more he does it. A great moment with Colin Farrell and Rhenzy Feliz too. 

Last but not least and I'm still in a praising mood, I love how dimensional this version of Sal Maroni has felt. Clancy Brown has done wonders with the character in these last two episodes. Sal's grief for Nadia and Taj felt palpable and the sort of bond he's formed with Sofia has been nice too. I still think he's a goner though.

- Julian seems to enjoy being in a somewhat BDSM relationship with Sofia and yes, he's the submissive. 

- Sal made Sofia a Persian dish with yoghurt (which Taj preferred). I thought that was a nice touch.

- Eve deliberately chose to reveal her natural self when preparing Sofia's visit. Oz doesn't like Eve as her natural self.

- With all this talk of Oz's dead brothers and father, we have yet to find out what happened to them.

- Standout music: Chris Isaak's Black Flowers and Mill Brothers Glow Worm.

- Chronology: About a week since the events of the previous episode.

Gold Summit continued the momentum with so many beautiful character moments through within the midst of the escalating gang wars. Sofia/Eve, Sofia/Sal and Oswald/Victor/Francis. The best scenes involved those characters and given the ending, I cannot wait for Sunday.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Psychoville - Halloween Special + Series 2 Review (2010-2011)

 

Written by Reece Shearsmith And Steve Pemberton 

Directed by Matt Lipsy

Maureen (re blackmail letter): "Not again. Who could've sent it to you? They're all dead."

David: "Not all of them."

With this review, I've completed my watch along of the Shearsmith/Pemberton trilogy, even if I didn't do this in the correct order. Anyways, I liked the first series of this show a lot and this second series was just as fun to watch.

Kicking off with a Halloween special over a year after the first series cliffhanger and we got a sidestep into that big cliffhanger. The special has some non canon stories involving the likes of Mr Jelly (Shearsmith), Joy (Dawn French), Oscar Lomax (Pemberton) and serial killer obsessed duo David (Pemberton) and Maureen (Shearsmith).

As stories, each one of them stuck the landing while in between those you had a film crew member (Shearsmith) talking to a traumatized Drew (Alex Waldmann) about his own encounter with Edwina Kenchington (Eileen Atkins). Not only that but we do go back to the cliffhanger and set up the antagonists for this second series.

The antagonists being Grace Andrews (Imelda Staunton), her right hand man, Kelvin (Daniel Ings) and murderous detective, Finney (Mark Bonner). The latter who had no problem murdering the likes of Joy, Robert (Jason Tompkins) and Oscar within the first half of the series.

This was a series that had a secret organisation that not only tied in the deceased Kenchington but also Nazi sympathiser shop owner Peter Bishop (Jason Watkins) who was paired with Michael (Daniel Kuluuya). His murder of the latter was particularly brutal as like many characters they had been looking for Kenchington's locket.

The series had a slew of new characters that tried to tie into the main story and mostly worked. Obsessive librarian Jeremy Goode and his counterpart, the Silent Singer (Shearsmith) mostly worked but the man obsessed Hattie (Pemberton) and her mistreatment of Sharouz (Elyses Gabriel) were less successful as they were removed from the main story. 

Along with Mr Jelly's pairing with Claudia Wren (Vilma Hollingbery) and the cancer plot with David and Maureen, those two elements for me worked the best this series. I also liked how the former pairing tied into the Andrews plot while the latter took a suitably macabre turn very reminiscent of Psycho. 

- Episode titles for this series were Psychoville Halloween Special, Survivors, Dinner Party, Hancock, Sunnyvale, The Hunt and Andrews Nanotech.

- Characters like David, Maureen, Mr Jelly, Robin (David Bamber) and Emily (Sarah Solemani) would later appear in the Inside No. 9 episode, Death Be Not Proud.

- In scenes that haven't aged well, that scene with Maureen dressed as Tina Turner miming Simply The Best just felt tone deaf, even for 2011.

- Mr Jelly doesn't care for Exorcist: The Heretic. He also has sixteen appliances for his missing hand.

- Joy had taken to treating the catatonic Jenny as the new Freddie before she was killed.

- Chronology: Months after the first series ended. 

Barring one or two bits, I'll admit this was a great second series for the show. The Halloween Special in particular was a delight while the surviving characters and most of the new ones worked well. I would've liked a third series but this was a good one to end with.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of B&B (2017)

 

Written And Directed by Joe Ahearne

Marc (re Fred): "I'm staying here with my husband."

Josh: "If you want to call him that, I'm not going to stop you."

Marc: "You won't stop us expressing our love either."

I thought I'd add some gay themed horror into the mix and I went with this British movie that also had a very prominent Doctor Who connection. Yes, I'm talking about a certain actor.

In this movie, Paul McGann played the owner of the Christian B&B named St Jude's. His character Josh got sued by Londoners Marc (Tom Bateman) and Fred (Sean Teale) and now a year later had to take them in once again.

This was a situation that didn't exactly bring out the best in everyone. Josh was steadfast in his Christian beliefs, dismissing Marc and Fred's marriage as much as he could get away with. Marc in retaliation seemed to take immense pleasure in getting on Josh's nerves in return. I'm mostly on Marc's side here.

Fred on the other hand seemed determined not to make any waves but found himself caught in the crossfire of Josh's closeted teenage son, Paul (Callum Woodhouse) and a peeping tom Russian named Alexei (James Tratas). The Russian in general fired up a debate between Marc, Fred and even Josh.

Marc thought he was gay, Josh delighted in him making Marc and Fred uncomfortable and Fred thought he was dangerous. Out of the three, all of them were somewhat right. It did appear that Alexei had bad intentions with Paul but it wasn't until near the end of the movie that Alexei's real purpose had been revealed.

Having both Marc and Fred begrudgingly work with Josh in order to dispose of a body while also having the latter come to terms with his son's sexuality certainly drove all of their actions. There's a bittersweet ending to this movie. Both Marc and Fred realised that not everyone could be saved while Josh and Paul were confined to prisons of their own making.

- We got see the likes of Bing, Samsung and Vodafone referenced on screen by Fred at different points in the movie.

- The start of the movie had a donation box for legal fees and by the end, there was one for freeing Josh. 

- Joe Ahearne who directed and wrote this movie has also worked on Doctor Who.

- Chronology: Present day setting. Josh also got five years in prison while Paul was blackmailed into having a relationship with a woman.

As a horror thriller, B&B does move at a decent pace and managed not to outstay its welcome. There's nice chemistry between Tom Bateman and Sean Teale but I definitely felt they could've pushed it a bit more. Aside from a few kisses, Marc and Fred feel a bit chaste as a recently married couple. It's still a good watch though.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Raven (2012)

 

Written by Ben Livingston And Hannah Shakespeare

Directed by James McTeigue

Ivan (to Edgar): "I always knew you had one story left in you. When you stopped writing... I must admit I went kind of mad."

I'm not sure if this movie entirely qualified as a horror film but considering that it's one focusing on Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack) and the events that transpired in it, the film might as well be one.

Our literary protagonist doesn't have the greatest of reputations in this film. He's being pestered by his publisher to write another story as gripping as The Tell Tale Heart, the local barkeep won't serve, the publicans take amusement in humiliating him and he's incurred the wrath of Captain Charles Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson).

On the plus side, he's also won the heart of Hamilton's daughter, Emily (Alice Eve) and despite his cursed relationship with women, Edgar seemed determined to take Emily to be his wife. However a killer inspired by Edgar's works had other ideas.

Yes, I said it. There's a killer who was a fan of Poe's writing and decided to re-enact that writing in the most deadly way possible. The unfortunate Ludwig Griswold (John Warnaby) ended up having to live out the outcome of The Pit And The Pendulum and he wasn't the only one to suffer by the literary inspired killer.

Emily herself became a victim of the killer with Poe's work such as The Masque Of The Red Death and The Cask Of Amontillado factoring into the poor woman's fate. At least Poe had a season Inspector Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) and his would be father in law helping him to try and track down Emily. 

As for the killer himself, it was paper typesetter Ivan Reynolds (Sam Hazeldine) and he almost got away with it. I mean he did succeed in outsmarting Poe and causing the man's death but he failed to kill Emily and during the very last scene, Ivan got his just desserts with an avenging Fields.

- Other references to Poe's work included The Murders In The Rue Morgue.

- Poe's death was always shrouded in mystery, though he did mention the name Reynolds before dying.

- Standout music: Lucas Vidal's Munster Buttermilk, Nocturne, es-dur, OP.9 and Rakish Paddy.

- Chronology: October 7th 1849 Baltimore, Maryland.

I know this movie doesn't have a great reception, I actually enjoyed this version of The Raven. John Cusack gave a good performance as Poe and in general, the film had a great Gothic atmosphere to it.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Halloween Week"

 

Written by Joe Baken And Byron Crawford

Directed by Tessa Blake

Robert (to Avery): "Halloween. The one week where my great vessel becomes a clown car."

There's always that divide with Halloween, isn't there? You've got those who revel in it and those who are far less enamoured with it. Funnily enough, our four main characters are evenly split on Halloween.

For Max and Tristan, it's just a lot of fun but also another case where their rivalry reared it's head again. Fortunately not over a girl but due to the fact that they seemed to be in sync with costume ideas. Needless to say this annoyed Tristan more than it did Max as there was a Costume Competition that he seemed to win every year.

Being annoyed with Max upstaging his costuming ideas certainly made him paranoid and on a ship where a lot of the clients were displaying their own symptoms (one guy was sweating blood, another zombie like), Tristan himself also succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.

On the plus side, Max and Avery did get to him in time and a costume change did seal his win of that competition, so this was mostly a win for Tristan. Now what about everyone else this week?

Robert's dislike for Halloween was something fairly sympathetic. He didn't really hate it, he just didn't like that he missed out celebrating it with his children when they were growing up. At some point, we're going to meet his kids and I'm assuming here, grandchildren, right?

Max and Avery on the other hand were best utilised in a story involving a lesbian couple who decided to go look for cursed treasure. One half of the couple nearly lost an arm until Avery came up with an alternative. It was also nice to have that off ship as well as giving a bit more screen time to Corey. 

- Both Max and Tristan had Jack Sparrow and Neptune/Poseidon as costume ideas before Tristan went as the Captain. Max and Avery as medical versions of Dracula and Nosferatu was amusing.

- I sense a bit of a potential rivalry between Avery and Vivian when they briefly had the same costume idea. 

- It only took them five episodes to actually mention The Love Boat and not in a way that amused Robert.

- Chronology: It's Halloween, hence the episode title. 

I found Halloween Week to be a lot of fun for all of the main characters. Also while this show isn't horror, I did appreciate the attempts to try and create some horror among the patients. Tristan was also giving some Final Boy vibes at one point in the episode.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Dracula Untold (2014)

 

Written by Matt Sazama And Burk Sharpless 

Directed by Gary Shore

Master Vampire: "Why spill blood if not for the pleasure of it?"

Vlad: "Because men do not fear swords. They fear monsters. They run from them. By putting one village to the stake, I spared ten more. Sometimes the world no longer needs a hero. Sometimes what it needs... is a monster."

I've nearly gone through the majority of this month without watching a vampire movie and while there are better ones to choose from, I also found myself drawn to this one. 

If you wanted a story where Vlad III "the Impaler" Dracula (Luke Evans) was the hero of the piece, you've got this one. Yup, our titular protagonist apparently didn't relish his high body count and instead was trying to keep a low profile after his infamous escapades.

Unfortunately for Vlad, the Sultan Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper) and the Ottoman army had different ideas. They wanted a 1000 boys for their battles and one of those boys included, Vlad's own son, Ingeras (Art Parkinson). Vlad and his wife, Mirena (Sarah Gadon) wasn't keen on that idea at all.

Vlad even offered himself up as a trade for his boy but when his gesture backfired and his family rebelled against the Sultan's demands, a choice had to be made. Incurring the Sultan's wrath was going to have consequences for Vlad and his family and the former Impaler took the most extreme choice.

Yes, he went to the Master Vampire (Charles Dance) and got all the vampiric strength and weaknesses needed to help go up against the Ottoman army. He also had to resist the urge to drink blood or else his transformation would be complete. You can imagine how that fared.

The death of his wife, his own supporters turning on him, an antagonist monk (Paul Kaye). All were enough for Vlad to take the inevitable path he was always going to down on. The final battle between Vlad and the Sultan had it's moments but felt rather undercooked with it's almost swift outcome.

The last scene itself though was setting up a Dark Universe that never came to be. Vlad in the present day courting Mina Murray (Gadon) while a better looking Master Vampire looked on. Had things panned out differently, this could've led to an interesting showdown between both vampires but circumstances dictated otherwise.

- Originally Sam Worthington had been cast as Vlad and Charlie Cox as Caligula (rumoured to be the Master Vampire) before we got Luke Evans and Charles Dance.

- Vlad's armour had the dragon motif and was crimson. He also embraced Dracula by the end of the movie. 

- Chronology: 15th century Transylvania before moving to the 21st century for the final scene of the movie.

I'll admit that Dracula Untold was pretty decent as a movie. There has been better movies about the infamous Count and arguably worse. Luke Evans does a fine job as the titular vampire and I did like the ending, despite it leading nowhere due to that whole universe being scrapped.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Grotesquerie: "The Stinging Aroma Of Sulfur"

Written by Ryan Murphy And Jon Robin Baitz And Joe Baken 

Directed by Alexis Martin Woodall 

Lois (to Megan): "Did I bring this monster back with me?"

Into the penultimate episode and for Lois, dreams are becoming a reality and maybe she's a prophet after all. Just not one who sees good things but the worst of them.

Remember the Burnside family in the first episode and the grotesque way they were killed? Yeah, well Megan got to stumble into that particular scene and brought Lois out of retirement in order to get her opinion on the matter.

Lois didn't particularly want to get involved but once she did, she was convinced that her dreams were coming true. She feared she had brought a monster into the real world. It also a little weight to her therapy session with Witticomb and his colleague, Dr Milton Smythe. Those made for some interesting scenes.

Then there was Lois's altercation with Megan's abusive partner, Justin. I was happy when Lois killed that guy but at the same time, even he started parroting stuff about the dream and waking worlds. How much did Megan tell him? Or was Lois right about still being in a dream? Just one more episode to go before we get the answer. 

Speaking of dreams, Lois had one to leave town and go to Tarpin Springs in Florida. She even served Marshall divorce papers but her scene with Marshall only made Redd realise she didn't want him either. Marshall really did come across as particularly venomous with Lois, even when she gave him an out to their marriage.

As for the brief scene with Merritt - of course Lois returned that slap and gave Merritt some harsh home truths. Meritt likely needed both if those things. Will she ever forgive Lois? Does she even love Ed? Also was Marshall more ashamed of Merritt's weight gain than Lois? I think he was.

- Witticomb attended a "de-evolution" seminar in New York about people losing their empathy/also prophecising future events. 

- Merritt has had a slew of shirty boyfriends and was in a cult. Lois's father was the gas station attendant from earlier in the season.

- Standout music: Peggy Lee's Is That All There Is at the start of the episode.

- Chronology: Not long from the previous episode.

For a penultimate episode, The Stinging Aroma Of Sulfur didn't feel like it was as big as it could've been but it certainly had some good moments. Next week's episode really does have to stick the landing.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Grotesquerie: "In Dreams"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Jon Robin Baitz And Joe Baken 

Directed by Elegance Bratton

Lois (to Dr Witticomb): "And what about Grotesquerie? Does that represent me?"

In some ways, this felt like a redux. With Lois out of her coma and her actual family uninterested in wanting to be around her, she had to attend her physio without their support and even do a deep dive into her psyche, also without their support. She was truly isolated.

The deep dive in general came through her session with Dr Witticomb, who definitely stood out as an intriguing character. We got a decent look into how Lois thought about the people in her orbit while also wondering if Grotesquerie represented her. It was fascinating stuff.

As far as things went for Lois, her relationship with Merritt was the one that impacted her the most. She slept with her own daughter's husband and the latter wasn't in a forgiving mood. Even I found Merritt's words to be stinging and Lois felt more pained by them than the slap she had gotten by Merritt.

Then there's the relationship with Chief of Police Megan Duvall. The woman idolised Lois but resented Lois's recklessness over the Andrea Salana case and the vert real consequences of that. Lois also made a point of pointing out about Megan being possessed as well. Megan didn't really take kindly to that.

As for Lois and Marshall, they didn't interact in the episode, but I noticed that both of them knew their marriage was over. Lois even admired Cherry for putting up with Marshall while Marshall himself no longer wanted to be married to a woman he considered mentally ill.

As for Dr Charlie Mayhem, I love that he's on Lois's radar. She still viewed him as a killer and for all we know, she might be on to something. He did very little in the episode  to make himself appear trustworthy. Perhaps Lois will be justified in her suspicions of him.

- Marshall literally compared himself, Lois and Cherry to Charles, Diana and Camilla. He didn't speak of Diana favourably. Maisie was also the Tryon housekeeper.

- Megan has an abusive partner named Justin, whom she walked out on to go face to that motel. She had also made an awful purple punch at Lois's retirement party.

- Standout music: Baby Rose's Slowly Burns. 

- Chronology: Lois had been in a coma for six weeks. 

In Dreams was very bittersweet with Lois facing the reality of her actions now that she was awake. While it might have been devoid of kills, it did examine how being around them had influenced Lois and the way she had alienated those in her life.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Smile 2 (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Parker Finn

Skye: "Stop smiling at me!"

The last few months have certainly been heating up on the horror front, delightfully giving something for everyone and a sequel to a surprise hit from two years can also be added into the mix. This one has got to be admired for it's ambition.

With the first movie being somewhat grounded in its approach with that demonic smiling curse, this one took it to a new level. First of all, it did commit the horror trope of killing off the previous movie's survivor in order to pivot the story to a new protagonist.

Kyle Gallner had a great supporting role in the first movie as police officer, Joel but here his role was to to use his curse to take out some bad people and then die. It's a bit disappointing if you wanted to see more of the guy. Not meant to be here.

With Joel quickly done with, the focus was on recovering drug addict popstar Skye Riley (Naomi Scott). If Trap didn't serve you enough concert goodness, this movie won't either. Yes, there's performance, weird fan encounters and rehearsals from hell but they're all a backdoor to the main event.

By making the mistake of hooking up with her dealer, Lewis (Lukas Gage), Skye ended up getting that curse and spent most of the movie, trying to survive while scaring the shit out of her manager mother, Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt) and assistant, Joshua (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) when not taking measures to stay alive.

There's some truly brilliant moments in this movie with Skye's character. We saw her destructive relationship with deceased boyfriend Paul (Ray Nicholson) through flashbacks as well as a fractured friendship with Gemma (Dylan Gelula). Skye's a total mess as a character with Naomi Scott delivering an incredible performance. As for the final outcome, oh they really set the stage for a third outing.

- Drew Barrymore appeared as herself in the movie. She interviewed Skye on her show.

- Skye's look was inspired by Kristen Stewart and Lady Gaga. Nai Scott has previously worked with the former.

- Lewis's surname is Fregoli. The Fregoli delusion is a real thing that somewhat fits into the Smile Entity's mantra.

- The movie certainly found a few nifty ways to incorporate a smile besides the obvious one.

- Standout music: Skye's songlist included Grieved You, New Brain, Just My Name, Blood On White Satin and Death Of Me.

- Chronology: Six days after the events for the first movie. Skye's comeback concert was in New York.

Smile 2 wins points for it's sheer ambition and the ability to pull off those ambitions. There's a star turn performance from Naomi Scott, who's utterly sublime throughout. I enjoyed the first movie but this one was so much better. I'm hoping we get a third.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Superman And Lois 4x04: "A Perfectly Good Wedding"

Written by George Kitson And Max Kronick

Directed by Gregory Smith

Thug: "You're supposed to be dead."

Superman: "Not bad for a dead guy."

At the end of last week's episode, Sam Lane had died and Superman got his heart in return. The very opening sequence does t waste time in having Clark return to Lois and his sons and it's a beautifully executed reunion.

However, beautiful as it was to see the Kent family reunited, it also was a strained one too. Clark/Superman had to lay low from Lex as he recovered and having the heart of a 60 year old man came with its own limitations. Clark learned that the hard way while also training Jonathan up.

It seems that in two episodes, Jonathan has mastered a lot of the basics where once again, Jordan's feelings of inadequacy reared their head. Fortunately we did have him talking to both Lois and Sarah at different points in the episode that made this subplot a bit better to watch. I'm over Jordan's insecurities at this point.

However if Superman was hoping to have the element of surprise over Lex, that certainly went out the window by the end of the episode. The world was now aware of Superman bring alive again and all thanks to him stepping in when Jonathan was out of his depth on a rescue mission. Eh, it had to happen.

Of course between Kent family drama and Superman outings, there was also Kyle and Chrissy. I hadn't missed them so far this season but this episode touched base by having Chrissy's mother be a spanner in the works for their upcoming nuptials. A spanner or a much needed mirror into this thrown together couple?

As the episode unfolded and the Kent barn served as a wedding gathering, both Kyle and Chrissy realised they were rushing into a marriage that neither prepared for. No, they didn't break up but they did put their wedding on hold and for a subplot I didn't initially have much interest in, I appreciate how the show managed to handle the story in between the better material of the week.

- Gretchen real name was Cheryl and she did feel bad about Sam. She's also known Lex for over thirty years.

- Kyle's favourite colour is burnt orange and Chrissy is laying off the gumming due to her pregnancy. She also wore her mother's wedding dress, who had Chrissy when she was 19.

- Coach Gainss provided the music while Lana, Lex, John and Natalie were absent from the episode.

- Chronology: Weeks passed but I notice from Sam's headstone that the show is in 2024.

For a wedding that didn't happen, I thought there was enough good drama going around to keep A Perfectly Good Wedding interesting. The Kyke/Chrissy subplot managed to compliment the main plots and the limitations Superman now has to deal with are an interesting development.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Wiz (1978)

 

Written by Joel Schumacher 

Directed by Sidney Lumet

The Wiz: "Dorothy ... Can you do something for me?"

Dorothy: "They've had what they've been searching for in them all along. I don't what's in you. You'll have to find that out for yourself. But I do know one thing: you'll never find it in the safety of this room. I tried that all my life. It doesn't work. There's a whole world out there. And you'll have to begin by letting people see who you really are."

With the imminent arrival of Wicked in cinemas next month, it was time for me to revisit this particular movie. Yes, it was a box office bomb that eventually became a cult classic. It's also the trippiest version of this story you'll ever see. Probably.

First of all, this ain't Kansas anymore. It's Harlem and Dorothy Gale (Diana Ross) ain't a kid. She's a 24 year old elementary school teacher having to deal with her Aunt Em (Theresa Merritt) and Uncle Henry (Stanley Greene) setting her up on dates while lamenting about her life not being satisfying. 

Then there's Toto, still an adorable dog who ran off into a snowstorm in which Dorothy followed him into. Yes, it's this very thing that would transport both Dorothy and Toto to Oz where things would get strange for the pair.

You've got Dorothy and Toto meeting the Munchkins, their benefactor Miss One (Thelma Carpenter) aka the Good Witch of the North and the death of of the Wicked Witch of the North. Also sticking the source material, it was Silver Slippers that Dorothy found herself wearing while taking the long way.

From that point onwards we got the introductions of the Scarecrow (Michael Jackson), Tin Man (Nipsey Russell) and Cowardly Lion (Ted Ross) and they're fun introductions. Then again, so was the Wiz (Richard Pryor) himself. However there was one character I was really curious to see again.

Yup, I'm talking about Evillene (Mabel King). Yes, she's the Wicked Witch of the West and she certainly did her best to make up for the short screen time she actually had in this movie. I wish we had seen more because I do feel the third act was somewhat rushed between Evillene's scenes and Dorothy heading back to Harlem.

- Glinda (Lena Horne) has something of a smaller role compared to the 1939 movie.

- Ted Ross previously played the Cowardly Lion in the stage production of this.

- The only musical from director Sidney Lumet and Joel Schumacher used his fashion connections to get many of the costumes for the movie.

- Some of the lighting choices really added to scenes, particularly the use of red for Evillene.

- Standout music: Can I Go On?, Soon As I Get Home/Home, Ease On Down The Road, You Can't Win, Is This What Feeling Gets and Everybody Rejoice/A Brand New Day.

- Chronology: 1970s Harlem, New York during Thanksgiving. 

I have a soft spot for The Wiz. It's a different spin on the source material and one that I think does work a lot. Retooling Dorothy as an older character certainly worked in its favour and Diana Ross gave a very underrated performance. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

Psychoville - Series 1 Review (2009)

 

Written by Reece Shearsmith And Steve Pemberton 

Directed by Matt Lipsey

David: "I did a bad murder."

How do you follow up the cult success of a show like The League Of Gentlemen and especially when you lose half of your team? For Shearsmith and Pemberton, it's with this odd ball series that in some ways isn't dissimilar to their previous success but nor would it be a rip off.

Formatting it as a central mystery involving a blackmailer terrorising a group of eccentric characters all connected to each other was the way to go. On top of that, there's a great effort to get to know these characters as well, so I'm going to delve into them from favourite to least.

Starting off, there's mother and son duo Maureen (Shearsmith) and David Sowerbutts (Pemberton). They're obsessed with serial killers and even take to killing themselves when a misunderstanding about David's murder mystery job bring out their murderous impulses. In spite of that, there's a genuine sense of affection between the two. 

Then there's Mr Jelly (Shearsmith) - a disfigured children's clown whom you wouldn't recommend to any party. When he's not beefing with everyone in sight, there's a nice team up with him and pensioner Claudia (Vilma Hollingbery) as well as a rivalry with more appealing clown Mr Jolly (Adrian Scarborough). To be fair, Jelly has good reason to resent Jolly.

Further down the line would be eccentric blind billionaire Oscar Lomax (Pemberton) and his assistant Tealeaf (Daniel Kuluuya). Oscar's mostly obsessed with getting a stuffed crocodile and there's an amusing rivalry between him and Siamese twins Kelly-Su (Alison Linott) and Chelsea (Debbie Chazen) in order to get it. When he's not being outsmarted by a seven year old.

As for dotty nurse Joy Aston (Dawn French). She's got a doll named Freddie that she treats like an actual baby, much to the exasperation of her husband George (Pemberton) and his mistress, Nicola (Elizabeth Berrington). There's an attempt on her life but Joy's too crazy to kill as Nicola learned the hard way.

The least favourite but still good storyline involved a panto production of Snow White And The Seven Dwarves. There was the much ridiculed Robert Greenspan (Jason Tompkins) was mocked by co-workers like Christopher Biggins and Brian McMillan (Shearsmith), fancied the vapid Debbie (Daisy Haggard) while also the object of fellow cast member's Kerry (Lisa Hammond) affections.

As for the main plot. It involved a locket, a sadistic head nurse named Edwina Kenchington (Eileen Atkins) and her eager too please son, Stuart (Scarborough). It led to our main characters back in the asylum they never really escaped from and an explosive ending. Fortunately this would be a cliffhanger that would be paid off.

- Episode titles were Black Mail, Lomax, Jelly, David And Maureen, Joy, Robert and Ravenhill.

- Mark Gatiss's appearance in the fourth episode was under his pseudonym Sam Kisgart. That episode also served as the basis for Inside No. 9.

- Robert was involved in dwarf porn, Joy and George lost a son, Stuart accidentally cut off Jelly's hand and Lomax hated a certain celebrity.

- A Halloween special followed up this series. I'll review it with the second series.

- There's a brilliant moment in the fifth episode where David is serenaded by infamous serial killers, including Jack the Ripper.

- Chronology: Several years passed between the characters time in Ravenhill and the current timeline. 

This first series of Psychoville certainly delivered. A great follow up series, doing it's own thing and with slightly less problematic writing and acting but without the show attempting to be too politically correct either. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Penguin: "Homecoming"

 

Written by Breannah Gibson And Shaye Ogbonna

Directed by Helen Shaver

Sofia (to Sal): "Ten years ago, some measly driver spun a bullshit story about me. He betrayed me, the daughter of the Falcone Don and he got rewarded for it. And now here we are, both of us suffering at the hands of the same man."

If there was a man who could bond two warring families together, that man would be Oz Cobb/Oswald Cobblepot. I mean, he really fucked up here because even I think he's going to be out of his depth with this pairing.

In the comics, we know that Sofia Gigante (more on that in a bit) and Salvatore Maroni were romantically involved and I'm hoping the show can continue to sidestep that aspect. Anyways here, their mutual hatred for Oz turned out to be the thing that would band them together.

Already Oz murdered Alberto and gaslit Sofia into believing the Maronis did the deed until Nadia clued her in. This week, Oswald kidnapped Sal's son, Taj (Aria Shahghasemi) in order to regain control of the Bliss operation. Then he decided to burn both Taj and Nadia, which he succeeded with. Getting Mikey to kill Sal on the other hand was a failure. 

Now with Sal out of prison and willing to work with Sofia to take down Oz, the latter found everything else going wrong for him. Eve rejected him and no amount of vase smashing changed her mind while Francis pretty much told Oz he was a failure when he needed her the most.

The only reprieve Oz managed to get was finding the abandoned underground trolley station. It was the perfect place to start up his Bliss operation and Victor himself also seemed pleased for Oz after being mostly relegated to babysitting Francis for most of the episode.

As for Sofia, even without getting Sal on board she was making a lot of moves in establishing herself as a threat to Oz. She kept Johnny Viti long enough to be useful and dispatched of him when he served his purpose. I can't say I'm going to miss the guy and had Sofia spared him, he would've been a future problem for her.

Another thing I loved about the Sofia story this week was her rejection of the Falcone heritage while also reclaiming her Gigante legacy. Yes, the speech she gave was a bit heavy handed but it had the desired effect and got a lot of people willing to fight for her. Having a lot of Falcone cash was another added incentive. 

- This week, it was Chief Mackenzie Bock's (Con O'Neill) turn to appear, with him being suspicious of Sofia murdering her family. Where was Gia during this episode?

- Julian Rush really is like a puppy dog for Sofia. He knew what she did to her family and still willingly joined up with her.

- That abandoned trolley station Oz and Victor station. It's funny that Bruce and Alfred have commandeered one and Oz/Victor this one.

- Oswald told Victor about the Rex Calabrese story as well as talking about his dead brothers.

- Standout music: St Vincent's Reckless.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Homecoming wasn't fucking around. The Sofia story upped it's game as did Oz's and depths he'll sink to in order to come out on top certainly knows no bounds. Isn't it great that this show has truly embraced Oz as a villain, even with the occasional glimpses of his humanity on display? 

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Death Becomes Her (1992)

 

Written by Martin Donovan And David Koepp

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Madeleine: "You should learn not to compete with me. I always win!"

Helen: "You may have always won, but you never played fair!"

Madeleine: "Who cares how I played? I won!"

Last month, this gem of a movie turned thirty two years old and leaving it for the month of Halloween, I knew it was something I was going to want to watch. Oh I love this one.

Giving some of their best career performances to date, you have the strangest love triangle. The meek writer Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) and her boyfriend, the plastic surgeon Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis). Going to the play of rival Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) saw everything go wrong for poor Helen.

I mean she lost Ernest to Madeline, gained a shit tonne of weight, lived like an absolute slob in a grotty apartment and when in therapy, drove everyone else up the wall with her obsession over Madeline. Fortunately for Helen, things could get better for her.

On the other side of things, Madeline and Ernest were a rather miserable couple with the former obsessed with ageing and the latter almost drinking himself to death. Then Helen re-emerged as a successful writer and looked absolutely sensational just to stick the knife in to Madeline.

The reason for Helen's transformation of course wasn't a good diet, exercise and plastic surgery. Instead it was down to a magical potion by Lisle (Isabella Rosselini). Madeline soon took the potion while Ernest and Helen were plotting her demise.

This was where this movie truly shines with Ernest's attempts of murder going spectacularly wrong and both Madeline and Helen realising they had far more in common than they thought. As a team, they ultimately became Ernest's worst nightmare with their abuse of their bodies and desperation to remain youthful.

By the end of the movie, Ernest had managed to find a meaning in his life when he got away from both Helen and Madeline. As for the latter two, yes they took care of each other (not through choice) but the last scene when they fell apart really cemented the general folly of trying to hold on to youth.

- Tracey Ullman had a role as a bartender named Toni that was cut from the movie along with extraneous jokes.

- Kevin Kline was originally cast as Ernest but was replaced by Bruce Willis.

- Standout music: Meryl Streep's Me.

- Chronology: The movie goes from 1978 to 1985 to 1992 to 2029 in Los Angeles.

Death Becomes Her has more than earned its status as a cult classic. It's a product of its time and an absolute joy from start to finish. Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis are brilliantly cast in these roles and all three deliver sublime performances. It's also hilarious as well as horrific during the right moments.

Rating: 9 out of 10