My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Christopher Cross"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Ryan Murphy 

Jeremy: "What do you need?"

The Assassin: "A protégé. A killer."

Oh now this was quite an episode. The decision to pair Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope as actors. Brilliant. These two work so well together. They're easily the highlight of the whole episode. I'm not kidding.

The Assassin started his day by killing the guy that infected Jordan before being ordered by Byron to clear up another mess caused by Dr. Dilegre. Yes, that pesky surgeon came afoul of The Assassin by not before tricking Jeremy into revealing his location.

Jeremy apparently didn't bother going home. Instead he stayed in that hotel and continued to sleep with and kill women. Then Jeremy found himself coming face to face with The Assassin and he was forced to bring the latter to the home of the last woman he slept with.

Needless to say the newly infected woman ended up being dead and Jeremy's lack of concern for his own life softened The Assassin's stance towards him. In fact, both The Assassin and Jeremy had riblets at Applebee's and by the end of the episode, the latter became a new protégé for the former.

As for The Corporation aka Byron Forst, well he's such an obnoxious jerk that even his wife, Franny (Isabella Rossellini) prayed for his demise. The woman had one scene and she already made me want to root for her. I do hope she gets to see Byron die in such a horrible manner.

Last but not least, the incident that was supposed to bring Cooper and Jordan back to New York was shown at the start of the episode. If you wanted to see someone going feral on Ben Platt and Meghan Trainor, then the character of Harper Rose (Amelia Gray Hamlin) more than sufficed in that regard. It's a comically violent opening scene that's capped off with Cooper back in New York to face the survivors of that incident.

- Jordan was a no show this episode, while Meyer advised Cooper to detach himself from her. Meyer also had some backstory about his brother.

- The Assassin's name was revealed to be Antonio, he had a son and he's 65. Jeremy's father abandoned him and Byron/Franny also have a son.

- Standout music: Phil Collins Easy Lover and Christopher Cross's Sailaway. The Assassin's a massive fan of the latter.

- Chronology: Venice, Croatia, New York and Indianapolis.

Beautiful Christopher Cross brought about a great double act with Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope. They're a brilliant pair to watch and got the best scenes of the episode. Everything else was pretty good too.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Jordan"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Alexis Martin Woodall 

Byron: "Beautiful people seem to think that the rules don't apply to them."

If we needed a face/villain for The Beauty, then low and behold, we've got Ashton Kutcher. I mean the guy's not the most likable of people in real life, so he's aptly cast as The Corporation here. He's also known as Byron Forst.

He's only given one scene in this episode and it's a scene where he's instructing his henchmen, known as The Assassin (Anthony Ramos) to dispose of a traitorous former partner named Mike (Joey Pollari). The Assassin's too good at his job because we don't get a chance to get to know Mike before he's promptly killed off.

With the bad guys making their presence known, we also had both Cooper and Jordan hitting up Venice before being ordered to go back to New York. I said in my review for the first episode that Cooper was more into Jordan than she was into him. This episode proved me right.

Jordan even took Cooper to task when his clear jealousy of her sleeping with other men reared it's head. Of course, Cooper also downplayed by pointing out how their job was incompatible with a relationship but Jordan didn't seem entirely convinced. However, the exciting stuff with them happened away from each other.

For Cooper, he was nearly killed by two men in black types in an action packed sequence that I didn't think Ryan Murphy had it in him to write. Nor did I expect Evan Peters to deliver quite the action man performance he did. Cooper got to be something of a bad ass in distress. Someone sign Evan Peters up for another action role now.

As for Jordan, she got the biggest shocker of the episode. She hooked up with a hot Italian guy, only for the episode to end with her being the latest recipient of that transformation. I guess it's goodbye Rebecca Hall and hello Jessica Alexander moving forward with the show. I'm surprised the show did this so early.

- The Assassin really did look like a Bond villain with a silver eye patch.

- How many people other than Byron are dispensing this miracle drug? Mike surely wasn't the only one. 

- Standout music: Massive Attack's Teardrop.

- Chronology: Mostly Venice bound for the whole episode. 

Beautiful Jordan was shorter than the opening episode (and likely won't be the only short episode this season) but the fact that it'd switch up actors this quickly, that genuinely surprised me. How will Cooper react to Jordan's new look when they meet again?

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Pilot"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson

Directed by Ryan Murphy 

Jordan (to Cooper): "Beauty is pain, my friend."

What would happen if Ryan Murphy decided to go into the sphere of comic books? Well, he'd picked up an obscure title like this one and the results would be if Nip/Tuck and American Horror Story had a love child.

This ambitious, globetrotting show opened at the Balenciaga show in Paris where a model named Ruby (Bella Hadid) went feral on the crowd in order to quench her insatiable thirst. Spoiler alert: the thirst didn't quench, people died and she spontaneously combusted.

Ruby's violent death led to our protagonists - an FBI pairing of Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall). They're a likeable and seemingly competent pair who are also sleeping with each other on the side. Already, there's strong chemistry between Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall.

I can't believe how quickly I liked Cooper and Jordan. They genuinely had some funny banter between them and while I get the feeling that Cooper's feelings run deeper than Jordan's, both of them spark off each other so well. I guess this means that they're clearly doomed as the show will progress.

For the duration of this episode, they're in Paris and deep into trying to figure out what happened to make Ruby combust. This resulted in learning that Ruby along with other models that went the same way looked very different beforehand and their gorgeous features weren't plastic surgery related.

As the premise for the show made it clear, it's an STD that's caused this transformation. Cooper and Jordan's superior, Meyer (John Carroll Lynch) likened it to a cross between HIV and rabies but not quite. This episode also focused on another recepient of this treatment.

That recepient being an incel named Jeremy (Jaquel Spivry/Jeremy Pope). He was as stereotypical as you could get with his desperation making him a target for an exploitative surgeon, Dr. Dilegre (Jon Jon Briones) and some party girls. Eventually an encounter with a woman named Claire turned things around for him for the better. Jeremy became a Chad in almost no time whatsoever. 

- I had to laugh when the consultant referred to Glen Powell as a Chad seeing as that was the character the latter played in Scream Queens (2015-2016).

- We learned that Cooper's a former Navy SEAL, Jordan had a boob job and there seems to be a two year limit on the recipients of the Beauty.

- The show opened with a triple bill for FX. Half the regulars appeared in this first one.

- I know Cooper was likely joking about Grindr but if he hooks up with a man in a later episode, I won't complain.

- Standout music: The Prodigy's Firestarter and Modjo's Lady (Hear Me Tonight).

- Chronology: Current day Paris. Cooper and Jordan also left for Venice, Jeremy was from Jersey but travelled to Indianapolis and there were similar incidents in London and Berlin.

For an opening episode, Beautiful Pilot managed to have the right amount of everything needed. It wasn't too shocking or exploitative, set up the general premise well enough and gave us two likable leads in Cooper and Jordan. I'll catch up with the next two episodes within the next day.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Oddity (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Damian McCarthy 

Darci: "Curses are lifted at the time of purchase."

Yesterday I reviewed Damian McCarthy's debut Caveat (2021) and today, I'm gonna talk about his second one. These movies aren't connected to one another by the way. This one had a very different story.

The opening scene had a married couple - a psychiatrist named Ted Tinnis (Gwilyn Lee) and his wife, Dani (Carolyn Bracken). They're doing up a nice house in the middle of nowhere. Dani's at the house by herself one night when she encountered Olin Boole (Tadhg Murphy).

A year later and it turned out that Dani was murdered and Olin was the main suspect. Ted moved on to a new girlfriend named Yana (Caroline Menton) and the latter didn't particularly care for the fact that Ted had kept the house where his wife had been murdered. 

Yana was also less keen on the presence of Dani's twin sister, Darcy (Carolyn Bracken). It turned out that Darcy wasn't convinced that Olin killed Dani and wanted to track down the real killer. Yana just wanted to be as far away from Darcy as possible. Yana might have been the only sensible one here.

Taking some notes from his previous movie, once again we've got a killer husband. It turned out that Ted was cheating on Dani with Yara and hired creepy Ivan (Steve Wall) to do the job. Darcy tried to use a Golem in order to get revenge/justice but overestimated her brother in law.

The Golem plot was handled pretty well as it had been seeded throughout the movie along with Darcy's own abilities. There's hints of a comeuppance of sorts or Ted when he foolishly decided to ring a call bell. 

- I do like that the movie made an effort to make both Dani and Darcy look different from one another.

- We can add cannibalism to this movie as Ted managed to find cannibal to get rid of Ivan.

- There's more backstory for the character of Olin in a short film called How Olin Lost His Eye (2013).

- Chronology: Present day West Cork, filmed in the same location as the previous movie.

Oddity (2024) was definitely the stronger movie. I think Damian McCarthy really nailed the tension with all the characters and even delivered a stronger ending as well. He's an interesting voice for the Irish horror genre.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Caveat (2021)

 

Written And Directed by Damian McCarthy

Moe: "I don't see what the problem is. This is a job. Every job has a uniform."

Isaac: "That's not a uniform. It's a leash, and I'm not putting it on."

I thought it was time for some Irish horror this month and during the last two days, I watched the movies from Damian McCarthy. Needless to say that I preferred one over the other but both managed to intrigue me.

For this debut film from McCarthy, there was a man named Isaac (Johnny French). Hes got amnesia and he's a bit of a drifter. He's also been suckered into a job by his landlord, Moe Barrett (Ben Caplan). It's the kind of job that Isaac should've turned out. 

I mean, looking after Moe's niece, Olga (Leila Sykes) seemed simple enough but the girl was prone to catatonic attacks and for some reason, Isaac had to wear some harness that limited his mobility. Oh and he was stuck on a remote island. He definitely should've said no to this job.

Looking after Olga resulted in strange things happening rather quickly. It didn't take Isaac long to figure that Olga's mother (Inma Pavon) was murdered by her father (Conor Dwane) and Moe. Isaac also ringing the latter was also something that he shouldn't have done. 

I do think where the movie succeeded a bit more was the gradual reveal of Isaac's true relationship with both Olga and Moe. Isaac spent most of the film not remembering a past event, only for the reason why Moe wanted him looking after Olga to become clearer. After all, Isaac was responsible for the death of her father.

It's a good reveal and there's an interesting enough cat and mouse with Isaac, Olga and Moe as the three fight for survival from one another. Saying that, the movie did end on something of a frustrating note.

- The movie went to a few film festivals before it ended up getting released on Shudder.

- There's a dog in the movie that fortunately made it out of the movie alive.

- Isaac brought no supplies for a job that was going to last for five days.

- Chronology: The movie was filmed in West Cork and it's clearly meant to be set in Ireland in the present day.

For a debut horror, I'd say that Caveat was a modest start for writer/director Damian McCarthy. The ending was a letdown but mostly everything else prior to that worked well enough. 

Rating; 6 out of 10 

My Review of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: "The Hedge Knight"

Written by Ira Parker

Directed by Owen Harris

Egg (to Dunk): "Every knight needs a squire and you look like you need one more than most."

We go a year without a Game Of Thrones prequel show to enjoy and 2026 we get two of them. While the third season of House Of The Dragon won't air on HBO until the summer, this somewhat lighter show finally made it's modest debut.

Based on George R.R. Martin's Tales Of Dunk And Egg series, this opened with Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) burying his master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) while also claiming three horses as well. Oh and he really wanted to be a Knight.

That's pretty much the premise of this opening episode. Dunk was determined to get into a tourney and that meant encountering several characters along the way. The most important character being Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). Every knight needs a squire after all.

Egg's determination to become Dunk's squire, I'll admit it's admirable. He didn't give up until Dunk agreed and considering how nearly every other character was more dismissive of Dunk, I can see why the latter relented and agreed. Already on this episode, the dynamic between Dunk and Egg seemed spot on.

As for the rest of the characters, there was Plummer (Tom Vaughn-Lawlor). He thought of Dunk as a farmer but pointed him to Ser Manfred Dondarrion (Daniel Monks). The latter wouldn't vouch for him but that didn't seem to deter Dunk.

There's some better scenes with Dunk's interactions with Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford) but his scenes with Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) were also a highlight in this opening episode. Lyonel seemed a little similar to a certain character who made it out of the main show alive. I'll let you guess which one.

- There was no title sequence for this episode and it's the longest one we'll get in this series. The rest will be shorter.

- We were also introduced to Ser Steffon Fosdoway (Edward Ashley) and his cousin Raymun (Shaun Thomas). Oh and we also saw Prince Daeron Targaryen (Henry Ashton) upon meeting Egg.

- I definitely could've done without seeing Dunk actually doing his business so graphically tbh. I'm guessing the flashbacks to his younger self and Ser Arlan will be a weekly thing.

- Dunk earned his nickname because of Tanselle and her friend. We also got a dragon puppet show.

- Peter Claffey is a Galway man. It's nice to see someone from my county in this franchise.

- Chronology: 209 AC. It's after the events of House Of The Dragon and before the events of Game Of Thrones.

The Hedge Knight made for a decent opening episode. It's definitely a lighter show compared to what's come before and the comedic scenes definitely feel broader as well. It's not as strong as either of the first episodes of the shows but there's potential here.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Lost Daughter (2021)

 

Written And Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal

Leda: "I left. When the oldest was seven and the youngest was five, I left. I abandoned them and I didn't see them for three years."

Nina: "What did it feel like without them?"

Leda: "It felt amazing."

Going into the Oscar season, I decided to go back and look at a movie that previously got an award contender much needed attention. That and the fact that the director has a certain movie coming out in March I cannot wait to see.

Yes, my first paragraph into this review was hinting at both Jessie Buckley and Maggie Gyllenhaal and they're quite a combination here too. Of course, there's also Olivia Colman at the heart of this drama. This might be one of Colman's best performances to date.

Taking on the role of translator and university professor, Leda Caruso, both Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley were able to delve into the character in both the present day and the past. Their performances perfectly compliment one another.

In the present day, Leda's on vacation in Greece and encountered a roughish New York/Greek family. In particular, Leda seemed to see something in young mother, Nina (Dakota Johnson). The latter was married to Toni (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) but was sleeping with Will (Paul Mescal) while also clearly going through a form of depression. Oh and Nina's daughter's doll went missing, which made up a huge part of this movie.

In flashbacks, the younger Leda struggled to be a mother to her own daughter's Bianca and Martha and often seemed exasperated by them. This led to conflict with her partner, Joe (Jack Farthing) and an affair with Professor Hardy (Peter Skarsgard). At one point, Leda even abandoned her children for three years. 

I did think this movie balanced the use of flashbacks and present day rather well with Leda given some moments of sympathy amidst her coldness at times. I would've liked a bit more time with Leda and Nina as the latter seemed fated to do something similar to the former. Oh and maybe a hatpin isn't such a good gift to give someone who you've stolen from. Just a thought.

- The movie's based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante.

- There's some nice supporting performances from Ed Harris and Dagmara Domińczyk as Lyle and Callie in this movie.

- Standout music: Bon Jovi's Living On A Prayer and Talking Heads People Like Us.

- Chronology: Present day Greece. Leda mentioned being 48 during Callie's birthday celebrations.

The Lost Daughter turned out to be a sobering debut for Maggie Gyllenhaal as a director. It's not an easy watch but it's anchored by a trio of terrific performances from Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley and Dakota Johnson. All three of them are given great material to work with.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Totally Killer (2023)

 

Written by David Matalon And Sasha Perl-Raver And Jen D'Angelo

Directed by Nahnatchka Khan

Jamie: "Fucking time travel!"

It's a bit early in the year for a Halloween themed movie but I was bored and in the mood for a fun, goofy slasher flick and then I realised something. I hadn't actually watched this particular movie at all. Time to rectify that I guess.

The movie itself focused on a teenager named Jamie Hughes (Kiernan Shipka) who had planned to go see a rock concert of one of her mother's peers. The mother being Pam (Julie Bowen) whom Jamie had a bit of a testy relationship with.

Anyways, Jamie lived in a town where over thirty years ago, three of Pam and Blake's (Lochlyn Munro) classmates were murdered by the Sweet 16 Killer. The killer was never caught but their presence made both Pam and Blake hyper vigilant and alienated Jamie. Then Pam ended up being killed early into the movie.

Jamie grieved her mother's loss and took her anger out on unhelpful cop Kara Lim (Patti Kim) but then realised she could use her best friend Amelia Creston's (Kelcey Mawema) time machine and prevent her mother's death by catching the killer. Well, there was that and nearly being killed herself that inadvertently brought her back to the day of the murders.

For Jamie this meant seeing younger versions of her parents, played by Olivia Holt and Charles Gillespie. It also meant seeing their friends/peers such as Tiffany (Liano Liberto), Kara (Ella Choi), Marisa (Stephi Chin-Salvo) and Heather (Anna Diaz) as a as Randy (Jeremy Monn-Djasgnar), Doug (Nathaniel Appiah) and wannabe reporter Chris (Nicholas Lloyd). Most of these characters were slated to die, two were meant to hook up later and two of them would be the killer in different timelines. 

At least Jamie had the help of Amelia's mother, Lauren (Troy L. Johnson/Kimberly Huie) in both the past and present. Jamie of course did manage to save her mother, stop two killers, learned more about herself and her parents past. She also altered her present day and ended up with a gay older brother and was now known as Colette. 

- Randall Park popped up as the father of Kara Lim and wasn't interested in anything Jamie had to say.

- The movie might have made too much of a point in referencing Back To The Future. Jamie even compared herself to Marty McFly at one point.

- Standout music: Bananarama's Venus and Bob Crawford's He Loves Me He Loves Me Not.

- Chronology: The Sweet 16 killer struck between October 29th to 31st 1987 while Jamie herself was from 2023.

I do like an 1980s nostalgia fest and while there have been better efforts, there's something rather charming about Totally Killer. It's nothing revolutionary but it's enjoyable nonetheless. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Pillion (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Harry Lighton

Colin: "Roses are red, violets are blue. Each day at your heel, brings me closer to you. Your hand on the throttle, your leathers so tight. I crave your command, from morning to night. Your grip is a promise, your gaze a hot flame. Next to you I am nothing, but I'm yours all the same. The pleasure you give, the pain that you bring. I'll take it all, Ray, for you are my king."

I was really hopeful for this movie. A gay BDSM erotic/romantic comedy of sorts. It felt like a tall order. Would this movie be able to pull off all those elements? It mostly did to be fair.

Now the BDSM part in a mainstream movie was never going to be an easy sell. It's certainly a bit more restrained but there were scenes that also felt authentic and ridiculously funny in parts too. The movie essentially did the best it could in regards to that subject matter.

Looking into the sub and dom relationship at the movie's core. You've got the timid Colin (Harry Melling), a parking attendant who sang in a barbershop quartet as a hobby. During Christmas he ended up in a relationship with aloof biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). Well, it's kind of a relationship.

The relationship being that Colin would cook for Ray, wrestle with him and generally do as he's told. Needless to say this did lead to several interesting scenes as Colin took to orders well but his mother, Peggy (Lesley Sharp) was less impressed by Ray's treatment of het son.

Peggy was established to be dying very early in the movie but we also got to see both her and Pete (Douglas Hodge) cared about Colin. Peggy's death also changed something in Colin and Ray's relationship, sparking an assertiveness in the former that the latter didn't know how to deal with.

As great as the movie was, the last act really pushed it a level. Of course Colin and Ray couldn't end in a more conventional relationship but the day off they had definitely hinted at what could've been. Saying that, there's a nice sense of growth for Colin during the last scene.

- Colin ended up with another dom named Darren (Anthony Welsh). Ray's Rottweiler was named Rosie. Jake Shears from Scissors Sisters played a sub named Kevin.

- The movie's based on Adam Mars-Jones's Box Hill.

- Standout music: Alessi Brothers Seabird.

- Chronology: Started at Christmas and it looked like Colin and Ray's dynamic lasted nearly a year.

I might have been a little nervous but Pillion (2025) really pulled off a lot of what it was attempting to do. The chemistry between Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård was beautifully on point and unlike another movie series that attempted similar themes, this absolutely knew what it was talking about. It's very funny and sexy in the right places.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Steve (2025)

 

Written by Max Porter

Directed by Tim Mielants

Kamila: "If 1996 Shy could say anything to 1990 Shy, what would he say?"

Yesterday I picked a movie at random to watch and I stumbled on this rather tense affair. Anything with Cillian Murphy being stressed as fuck, character wise has to be a winner, right?

With this movie, he played the role of a caring headteacher named Steve. Steve worked in a school that tried to educate the type of boys that society had mostly written off. He genuinely cared about each and every one of them, in particular a lad named Shy (Jay Lycurgo).

Steve's relationship with Shy got tested throughout the movie as the latter openly challenged Steve's motives for caring so much. Shy also wasn't shy in flouting authority. He even went as far as to publicly berate Sir Hugh Montague Powell (Roger Allam) just because he could.

In fact, it's Shy's spirit that Steve seemed to admire the most as he talked about some of the other lads including Jamie (Luke Ayres), Riley (Joshua J. Parker), Tarone (Tut Nyuot) and Nabz (Ahmed Ismail) to name but a few. While Shy had the most screen time out of the lads, the others do get some scenes as well.

The main crux of the movie however did seem to be about the school that Steve was a headteacher being filmed by a crew over the course. There's also the threat of closure from the school, something which even Amanda (Tracey Ullman) was powerless to stop.

On top of that, there's a little insight into Steve's life outside the school. He's married and had two daughters. He was involved in a car crash and still had the lingering scars and guilt from that experience. The movie had him spiral a bit too while also wanting to fight to keep the school open. Steve really went through it as a character.

- The movie's based on Max Porter's 2023 novella, Shy. Cillian Murphy appeared in a stage production of Porter's other work, Grief Is The Thing With Feathers.

- Cillian Murphy has previously worked with director Tim Mielants on Small Things Like These. He'll appear next with Jay Lycurgo in The Immortal Man.

- Standout music: Kruder and Dorfmeister's Deep Shit Parts 1 and 2.

- Chronology: Set during 1996 in an English school.

Steve (2025) really worked as an exploration into a school on it's last legs. There's great performances from both Cillian Murphy and Jay Lycurgo. I really liked this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

Avengers: Doomsday Trailer And Other MCU Bits

Every once in a while I do cover Marvel related stuff on this blog and over the last few weeks, there's been one thing in particular that's been looming. Of course I'm talking about Avengers: Doomsday. 

In the last few weeks, the Russos have been teasing about their choice in charactera being spotlighted in a series of trailers. The characters have included some of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Black Panther (Letitia Wright). For a movie that's not due out for another eleven months, it's pretty early.

The trailers themselves have been decent enough. Not revealing anything too major but raising enough curiosity as to why these characters are drawn into whatever chaos that will be caused by Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.). When the first proper trailer gets released in a few months, it'll undoubtedly break the internet.

However there's still eleven months to go and closer to time we've got a few things on Disney+ to watch first. There's the imminent arrival of Wonder Man, with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the title role. All eight episodes of that will drop from January 27th. Also on Disney+ through the year will be the second seasons of both Daredevil: Born Again and X-Men '97, a special presentation for The Punisher and the upcoming Vision Quest. Oh and on July 31st in theatres there's also Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Overall, a pretty solid year for Marvel fans.

Avengers: Doomsday will be in theatres from December 18th 2026.

My Review of The Home (2025)

 

Written by James DeMonaco And Adam Cantor

Directed by James DeMonaco 

Dr. Sabian (to Max): "Sometimes when things are bad on the outside, we have to look on the inside."

For this month, I will be catching up on more movies from last year I didn't get to see for whatever reasons. This was one that I wasn't in an immediate rush to watch but found myself oddly drawn to nonetheless.

As an actor, Pete Davidson can be somewhat hit and miss. In this movie he's playing a petty criminal named Max who's basically forced to work at a retirement in order to avoid more jail time. After this movie's events, jail time would've been the better option.

Anyways, Max had to deal with sexually active pensioners, bodily fluid disasters and rather hostile supervisors who seemed determined to make his life even worse. On the other hand, there's Norma (Mary Beth Peil).

Norma seemed to be one of the few people in the home that wasn't out of her mind and took a liking to Max. Mostly because Max reminded her of her dead son but the bond between the two of them was rather lovely to watch until Norma was killed off as things got worse in the home.

Max kept having crazy dreams and when he came back to visit his foster parents, even they were out to get him. It turned out that his dead foster brother was actually alive but aged and thanks to fellow resident Lou (John Glover) and the sadistic Dr. Sabian (Bruce Altman), things were about to get worse for Max.

The premise being that the old were in a cult that stole the essence of the young in order to stay young themselves was a good idea. Unfortunately, it's rather rushed in execution but it didn't stop Max from practically killing nearly everyone at the home in order to survive himself.

- Anything involving eyes and teeth would be an ick for me and there were too many scenes involving both that genuinely disturbed me.

- James DeMonaco, the co-writer and director of this movie was also responsible for The Purge franchise. It's on my review list.

- Co-writer Adam Cantor also played the role of Les, one of the workers who seemed to really hate Max.

- Chronology: Present day America. The movie was filmed in New Jersey.

The Home (2025) isn't a bad horror movie but it's not a must see one either. I will say that Pete Davidson did put in a good performance and there's some decent gross out moments. It's just a case of a premise that could've been tackled better.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)

 

Written by James Gunn 

Directed by Raja Gosnell 

Shaggy: "This is tied for the most terrifying day of my life!"

Velma: "Tied with what?"

Shaggy: "Every other freaking day of my life!"

With the first movie proving to be a success, it didn't take long for a sequel to emerge as Mystery Inc. were back together and seemingly more famous than ever as a team.

The movie opened with Fred Jones (Freddie Prinze Jr), Daphne Blake (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma Dinkley (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby-Doo (Neil Fanning) returned to their old home, Coolsville for the grand opening of the Coolsonian Criminology Museum. It was a chance for the gang to look at some of their past cases.

It was also a chance for the main villain - Evil Masked Figure (Tim Blake Nelson/Scott McNeill) to ruin the event and destroy the Scooby Gang's credibility as well. Also a bit too willing to help with the latter bit was journalist Heather Jasper Howe (Alicia Silverstone), who seemed to have a particular disdain for Daphne.

Of course the gang while somewhat demoralised by events in this movie did suspect that a former enemy of theirs - Doctor Jonathan Jacobo could be behind the whole thing. Of course they're absolutely right about the whole thing but on the other hand, there was a lot of monsters to be had in this movie.

The monsters were an interesting bunch but by the time we get to the third act, they're easily defeated. There's a fun moment with Scooby-Doo and Shaggy changing body proportions and intelligence while Velma had an amusing romantic subplot with Patrick Wisely (Seth Green).

After the first movie with the gang largely at odds with one another, I do think the strength of this one was having a united front with the gang this time around. There's a nicer sense of teamwork this time around, which helped.

- There are cameos from Pat O'Brien, Tasmanian Devil, Ruben Studdard and Big Brovaz.

- A third movie was planned but scrapped after this one underperformed at the box office.

- Standout music: New Radicals You Get What You Give and Mark Provart's Monsters.

- Chronology: A while since the events of the first movie and set in Coolsville.

While not as fun as the first one, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed made for an okay sequel. There was a better sense of teamwork with this one and the likes of Seth Green and Alicia Silverstone were on good form.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Scooby-Doo (2002)

 

Written by James Gunn And Craig Titley

Directed by Raja Gosnell

Shaggy: "Gee, Scraps, you didn't have to freak out like a jerk and kill all humanity."

Scrappy Doo: "And I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling sons of..."

With Netflix planning their own live action television series for this particular property, I thought it was time to go back and revisit the duology from the 2000s. It was something that had a mixed reception.

The movie started with Daphne Blake (Sarah Michelle Gellar) being captured by the Luna Ghost aka Old Man Smithers (Nicholas Hope). Once this mystery got resolved, there was a falling out with Daphne, the vain Fred Jones (Freddie Prinze Jr) and nerdy Velma Dinkley (Linda Cardellini). The falling out caused the Scooby Gang to disband, much to the dismay of Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby-Doo (Neil Fanning).

Of course with enough time and a mysterious invite from Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson), the whole team were grudgingly reunited to solve a mystery on Spooky Island. It did take the promise of all you can eat buffet to tempt both Shaggy and Scooby-Doo to venture onto the island itself.

As for our gang, it was an awkward reunion with them all competing to solve the mystery. Velma quickly learn about the island having demons courtesy of actor N'Goo Tuana (Steven Grives) and his henchman, famous luchador Zarkos (Sam Greco). Daphne on the other hand had her own encounter with voodoo priest (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.).

As for Fred, both him and Velma got captured by demons on the loose while Shaggy had a romantic subplot with fellow tourist, Mary Jane (Isla Fisher), who happened to be possessed for a bit. There's a plot where the Gang had their bodies taken over and a random bit of body swapping that's largely played for laughs.

Getting to the actual villain of the story, I did assume it was going to be Emile and even Fred raised the possibility but the reveal of it being a vengeful Scrappy-Doo (Scott Innes/J.P. Manoux) actually made for a good surprise. It was a way of dealing with an often maligned character from that world.

- There's cameo appearances from the likes of Pamela Anderson and Sugar Ray.

- Daphne and Fred became a couple by the end of the movie and even Velma seemed to have a male admirer on Spooky Island.

- Standout music: Scott Storch's Freaks Come Out At Night as well as the variations of the theme.

- Chronology: Two years passed before the Scooby Gang ended up on Spooky Island.

Scooby-Doo (2002) definitely felt like a movie from a bygone era. The humour can be very hit and miss at times, even a bit too juvenile. It's largely saved by the cast bouncing off each other so well and the use of Scrappy-Doo.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Caravaggio (1986)

 

Written by Derek Jarman And Suso Cecchi d'Amico And Nicholas Ward-Jackson

Directed by Derek Jarmen

Caravaggio (to Ranuccio): "Give me your hand. For eternity and a day."

Last year and for the first time I sat down and watched Sebastiane (1976) by Derek Jarmen and I loved it. Naturally I had to watch his take on a certain artist in a movie that's approaching it's fortieth anniversary.

Yes, it's Caravaggio (1986) and things got off to something of a bleak start as Caravaggio (Nigel Terry) himself had been in exile and was dying from lead poisoning with the mute Jerusaleme (Spencer Leigh) as one of the few remaining allies in his last moments of life.

The bulk of this movie of course would be told through flashbacks. Things started off with a younger and more brash Caravaggio (Dexter Fletcher) who hustled and painted his way until attracting the attention of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte (Michael Gough). Then things started to get better as the young artist suddenly had influence on his side.

There's a nice look into the different types of people (urchins and prostitutes) that were subjects of Caravaggio's work while the artist's hedonistic lifestyle and entitlement also saw him at odds with the church as well. It's not hard to see why Caravaggio would clash with such an institution.

Anyways as Caravaggio got older and more influential, he eventually found himself drawn to a ruffian named Ranuccio (Sean Bean). Their relationship was certainly volatile and not helped by the presence of Ranuccio's girlfriend, Lena (Tilda Swinton). The latter also falling pregnant brought about another complication and a bloody ending to the whole affair.

The flashbacks making up the bulk of the movie certainly gave the opening and final scenes the right level of weight. Caravaggio succumbed to being poisoned, mused on his life choices while also having hallucinations of himself as a boy (Noam Almaz). It's a tragic ending to a volatile artist.

- Tilda Swinton would go on to work with Derek Jarmen on several other movies after this one.

- The movie did features certain anachronisms, which seemed fitting considering the subject matter.

- Standout music: Missa Lux Et Orgio was used rather nicely.

- Chronology: Caravaggio died in 1610 in Porto Ercoli, State of the Presidi. A lot of the movie took place in Milan.

While I definitely preferred Sebastiane (1976), I also really enjoyed Caravaggio (1986). There's great performances from Nigel Terry, Dexter Fletcher, Sean Bean and Tilda Swinton. It's beautifully shot as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Wolf Creek 2 (2013)

 

Written by Greg McLean And Aaron Sterns

Directed by Greg McLean 

Paul: "So it's sort of like 'Who Wants To Be a Millionaire'?"

Mick: "Yeah! Except you don't get to phone a friend if you get one wrong because you'll be too busy screaming in fucking agony!"

There are times when a sequel will turn out to be much better than the original. It doesn't happen often but it does happen every once in a while. For me, this sequel was better than the first movie itself.

Once again, you've got the return of xenophobic misogynistic serial killer, Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) and once again, he's out to cause absolute terror to anyone who would have the misfortune to encounter with him.

For the first half an hour, those caught in Mick's reign of terror included two highway patrol officers named Gary Bulmer (Shane Connor) and Brian O'Connor (Ben Gerrard). It's not that surprising that Mick would hate the law as much as he does foreigners given the sadistic delight he took in killing both Bulmer and O'Connor.

However going back to his main love, Mick happened to find a tourist couple named Rutger (Philippe Klaus) and Katarina (Shannon Ashlyn) and it didn't long for the former to be killed and for the latter's escape to bring about a true challenge for Mick before being killed off herself.

The challenge for Mick being an English tourist named Paul Hammersmith (Ryan Corr). Yup, Paul was an ordinary enough bloke but for some reason, he managed to both anger and intrigue Mick long enough to make it out of the movie. Unfortunately even surviving Mick came a huge consequence to Paul.

The dynamic between Paul and Mick, which involved finger grating, drinking and general knowledge questions did give a better insight into what made Mick tick a bit more. This was something the first movie lacked and Paul was a sympathetic enough everyman protagonist to make those scenes worked.  I even got the impression that Mick had a grudging respect for Paul.

- Ryan Corr who played Paul Hammersmith actually is Australian. Paul had a girlfriend he was talking to before getting caught up in the main event. Paul was reported back to the UK and sectioned.

- Following this movie, there was a TV series that ran for two seasons. A new movie is coming out later this year.

- Standout music: Slim Dusty's When The Rain Tumbles Down In July.

- Chronology: Set shortly after the events of the first movie.

Yup, for me, Wolf Creek 2 was definitely the better movie. It did help having a somewhat better written everyman character in Paul and the scenes with him and Mick were definitely the strongest. The ending was bleak but not unexpected.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Wolf Creek (2005)

 

Written And Directed by Greg McLean 

Mick: "What was it your mate said again? Oh, yeah, that's not a knife - *this* is a knife!"

Okay, I may have caught up with another horror franchise that's going to release a new movie this year. This time around, it's an Australian one where the wilderness really can be a dangerous place.

Let's throw in three backpackers shall we? These people are Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips) and his two British friends, Liz Hunter (Cassandra  Magrath) and Kristy Earl (Kestie Morassi). All they wanted to do was to explore Australia. Unfortunately they encountered the wrong man in their quest.

The wrong man of course being Mick Taylor (John Jarratt). Mick picked up the trio when their car predictably broke down, they were stranded and couldn't get reception. At first Mick seemed odd but harmless but that changed quick enough into the movie as the trio found out the hard way.

Mick turned out to be quite the character. In the sense that he's a xenophobic serial killer with a particular hatred for British tourists. Mick's logic was to kill any tourists he encountered but he spent a great deal of the movie tormenting both Liz and Kristy while leaving Ben alone.

It did feel very stereotypical horror with both women being excessively terrorised by Mick. We did have them trying to rescue one another and both did their best to pose a direct threat to the misogynistic brute. Unfortunately, this isn't a horror franchise with a Final Girl in mind.

Both Liz and Kristy ended up being brutally killed by Mick and when Ben managed to escape himself, his fate was treated like an afterthought by comparison. Needless to say, Mick managed to get away with his crimes by the end of this movie.

- The movie's loosely based on real life involving backpackers being murdered in 1990s and 2001 by two different men.

- There was a romantic subplot between Ben and Kristy that got it down with the final edit of this movie.

- Standout music: 78 Saab's Sunshine.

- Chronology: Set during 1999 with the backpackers going from Broome to Cairns, Queensland via the Great Northern Highway. They also stopped off at Wolf Creek National Park.

Grisly and unpleasant and with a vile antagonist on display, Wolf Creek doesn't make for a pleasant viewing. It's a good movie with some strong kills and decent performances. Not to mention a much better sequel.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

 

Written by Pete Young And Vance Gerry And Steve Hulett And Ron Clements And John Musker And Bruce M. Morris And Matthew O'Callaghan And Burny Mattinson And Dave Michener And Melvin Shaw

Directed by John Musker And Ron Clements And Dave Michener And Burny Mattinson

Dr. Dawson: "From that time on, Basil and I were a close team. We had many cases together, but I'll always look back on that first with the most fondness; my introduction to Basil of Baker Street, the great mouse detective."

Last year marked the fortieth anniversary of The Black Cauldron but I had not seen the Disney animated movie that followed it. Anyone care for a mouse version of Sherlock Holmes? That's exactly what this offered.

Now this isn't a new thing for Disney as well had gotten the animal version of Robin Hood and I will get to that at a later point, review wise. Anyways, on to this movie itself.

Our detective duo are mice named Basil (Barrie Ingham) of Baker Street and his sidekick David Q. Dawson (Val Bettin). Their case for this movie came at the behest of a young mouse named Olivia Flaversham (Susanne Pollatschek). She needed their help in rescuing her father, a toymaker named Mr Flaversham (Alan Young).

The latter had been kidnapped by Professor Ratigan (Vincent Price). He's a rat but don't remind him of that or he'll feed you to the cat. Ratigan also had a bat named Fidget (Candy Candido), who almost got eaten by the cat itself when he wasn't doing Ratigan's dirty work.

Mr Flaversham was needed to aid with a robot clone of the Mouse Queen (Eve Brenner). Ratigan planned to get rid of the real queen while using the robot to take over the country. He almost succeeded and even almost succeeded with getting rid of Basil, Dawson and Olivia but had gravely underestimated the trio.

As a team, they're a lot of fun and the supporting characters are great too. There's Basil's exasperated housekeeper, Mrs. Judson (Diana Chesney) and an entertaining dog character that also helped with the cases. As for the real Holmes and Watson, of course they appeared in their own way.

- Archive recording of Basil Rathbone was used for Sherlock's voice while Watson was voiced by Laurie Main.

- The movie also went by the title of The Adventures Of The Great Mouse Detective.

- Standout music: Miss Mouse's Let Me Be Good To You and Ratigan's The World's Great Criminal Mind and Goodbye So Soon.

- Chronology: It's 1897, London.

The Great Mouse Detective (based on a children's book series) was a lot of fun. Great choice of voice actors, nice nods to the world of Sherlock Holmes and decent songs, though not many. I enjoyed this.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Insidious: The Red Door (2023)

 

Written by Leigh Whannell And Scott Teems 

Directed by Patrick Wilson 

Josh: "It's happening. Something's following us."

After two movies that took a breather from the Lambert family (that also happened to be prequels), we're back with that family in question and it's been a while for them. Things have not improved.

In fact, this movie opened with the funeral for Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) and it was quickly revealed that Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) are separated and Josh's relationship with oldest son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins) was also on rather shaky ground. In fact, it was rather hostile between father and son.

Also because so much time passed since Insidious: Chapter 2, Dalton was now in college and ended up sharing a dorm with a girl named Chris (Sinclair Daniel). She's an instantly likable character who proved to be a good sounding board. 

In fact, Dalton's more the focus of this movie with Chris being almost the second. Chris certainly seemed to have more screen time than either Josh or Renai and there was even a bit of a romantic vibe between Dalton and Chris. I really liked both of them as a team.

As for the monster/evil spirit in question, this time it was Ben Burton/Smash Face (Daid Call), linking into both Josh and Dalton's and connecting thr frat setting of this movie. There's memories unlocked for both Josh and Dalton as events from the first movies were addressed here to resolve present day issues.

In some ways this felt like a nice final chapter for the Lambert family as a whole. I mean, they're not entirely reunited but the issues between Josh and Dalton were resolved and quite frankly, I'm not sure I'd bring them back for further movies unless the story really justified it.

- There's smaller roles for Elise (Lin Shaye), Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) as they're relegated to YouTube videos. Elise and Josh do get a brief last scene together.

- Patrick Wilson directed this movie, making his debut in that field.

- Standout music: Ghost's version of Stay.

- Chronology: The movie was set in 2019, so nine years after the events of the second movie.

If I hadn't been aware of the fact that there was another movie in this franchise coming out this year, I'd think Insidious: The Red Door was a good final instalment. It certainly was for the Lambert family at the very least.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Insidious: The Last Key (2018)

 

Written by Leigh Whannell 

Directed by Adam Robitel 

Audrey (to Elise): "You know, you've been blessed with a gift. You're special. Some people are afraid of special people."

With the first two movies focused on the Lamberts and the third one being a prequel about the Brenners, I'm surprised this was also a prequel. Two prequel movies in a row? It did seem like an odd decision to be honest.

Then again, the focus happened to be on a young Elise Rainier (Ava Kolker/Hana Hayes). Years before being a demonology, Elise learned the hard way that her brute of a father, Gerald (Josh Stewart) didn't take kindly to get abilities. In fact, he seemed to delight in punishing Elise for something she couldn't control.

Horror movies certainly do love the abusive parent trips and Gerald Rainier was pretty horrible to watch as a character. His brutality wasn't just reserved for Elise as her younger brother, Christian (Pierce Pope/Thomas Robie) also fell victim to Gerald as did their mother, Audrey (Tessa Ferrer). When the latter died, Elise copped the blame until she couldn't take it anymore and left home.

In more recent times, the Elise we know (Lin Shaye) was now in business with Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) and a case brought Elise back to her old family home. There was a man named Ted Garza (Ted Acevedo) who needed Elise's help but it turned out that he was holding a woman prisoner as he believed she was possessed.

On top of that, Elise was reunited with her brother, Christian (Bruce Davidson) and met her nieces, Melissa (Spencer Locke) and Imogen (Caitlin Gerard). Needless to say that Christian harboured resentment at his old sister for abandoning him while Imogen revealed that she had the same abilities that Elise had as well.

The rest of the movie played out with the reveal of both Ted and Gerard being influenced by Keyface (Javier Botet). We did get to see both Elise and Christian make amends with one another and put some ghosts to rest, so to speak. 

- The last scene of the movie did set up the events of the first movie. There's an appearance from Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) as well.

- A minus but definitely could've done without both Specs and Tucker trying it on with Melissa and Imogen.

- Standout music: Oak Street Blues Band's Long Holidays.

- Chronology: Flashbacks to 1953 in Five Keys, New Mexico as well in 2010 to lead back into the first movie.

Insidious: The Last Key managed to be a better prequel than the previous movie. I think Elise Rainier really has been the glue to this franchise and I sometimes do wonder if there was a regret in killing her off so early. I'm glad that even death hasn't prevented this franchise from exploring the character much further.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)

 

Written And Directed by Leigh Whannell 

Elise: "Time spent in conversation is never wasted."

After two movies with the Lamberts, it was time to park them as a unit and put the focus on the true star of this franchise - Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye). Oh and Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson).

Their talents were needed for the Brenner family. At the start of the movie we had teenager Quinn (Stefanie Scott) contacting Elise in order to talk to her dead mother, Lily (Ele Keats). Needless to say that Quinn was advised not to talk to her dead mother. This was advice that Quinn didn't take.

Throw in a neighbour named Grace (Phyllis Applegate) who had her own demonic encounters and a testy family dynamic with Quinn and her father, Sean (Dermot Mulroney). It's a different enough dynamic from the Lambert family in the previous two movies.

In fact, Quinn's aspiration of getting into acting resulted in her being in a car accident and being possessed by The Man Who Can't Breathe (Michael Reid MacKay). I'll admit the names for these evil spirits in these movies have been rather amusing.

Once again, there's a trip into The Further as well as an insight into Elise's past life. Her relationship with former husband, Jack got some exploration, in particular when Elise knew that The Man Who Can't Breathe was using his appearance to manipulate Elise into killing herself. Obviously that didn't work.

As a break away from the Lamberts, I didn't mind the Brenners. They're sympathetic enough and I also didn't mind Quinn's snarky friend, Maggie (Hayley Kiyoko). I also liked learning more about Elise's life prior to meeting the Lamberts as well.

- Leigh Whannell has written all these movies so far and has appeared as Specs. For a directorial debut, he did good here.

- James Wan popped up briefly as a theatre director. We also saw a younger version of Josh Lambert as well.

- Standout music: Deep Dish's Sacramento.

- Chronology: This was set in 2007, three years before the events of the first two movies.

Insidious: Chapter 3 marked the first of two prequels for this franchise. It's a good departure from the first two movies with a sympathetic family with the Brenners and a nice look into Elise's past.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)

 

Written by James Wan And Leigh Whannell 

Directed by Leigh Whannell 

Josh: "I know what happened. I went in that place to get our son back and something evil followed me, who killed Elise."

With the first movie being such a hit, it's not a surprise that a sequel happened at such a quick pace. Nor was it surprising that the ending of the first movie would have consequences for this one.

At the end of the previous movie, we saw the death of Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) at the hands of a possessed Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson). Needless to say that freaked out his wife Renai (Rose Byrne) more than just a tad.

Naturally Elise's death got the police involved and both Josh and Renai along with Dalton (Ty Simpkins), Foster (Andrew Astor) and baby Kali went to live with Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) and that also evoked old memories.

There's flashbacks to a younger Josh being possessed and Barbara seeking out the help from Elise in order to save her son. The return of Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) did reveal how much of a threat that Josh now posed to his own family and there was The Bride In Black (Tom Fitzpatrick).

A serial killer known as Parker, aka The Bride In Black, I thought he made for a decent antagonist in this movie. However it's Patrick Wilson playing the possessed Josh that truly terrified in parts with Dalton having to be the one to save his family from his own father.

The only downside to this movie would be that once again, we've got memories suppressed. I got why the first movie did it but I didn't like it being done a second time. It's a trope that I don't particularly care for.

- The movie set up the events of Elise being able to visit a comatose girl named Allison.

- Jenna Ortega had a small role in this movie as Annie.

- Standout music: Alan Ett's Waiting For You.

- Chronology: Set in 2010 with 1986 flashbacks for Josh, Lorraine and Elise.

As a follow, I do think Insidious: Chapter 2 made for a decent sequel. We got further expansion on the Lamberts and Elise, a good antagonist with The Bride In Black but memory suppressing knocked it down for me.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Insidious (2011)

 

Written by Leigh Whannell 

Directed by James Wan

Elise: "It's not the house that is haunted. It's your son."

It's amazing that in the last two decades that nearly every prominent horror franchise has had the involvement of both James Wan and Leigh Whannell in some capacity. With this movie, the former directed a script from the latter.

We've got a seemingly normal family. Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) have moved into a house with their sons Dalton (Ty Simpkins) and Foster (Andrew Astor) and baby Kali. Already you can tell where this was going to go.

It didn't take long for a mystery force to render poor Dalton into a coma and nor did it take both Josh and Renai long to realise that their new home had other occupants to boot. The married couple were out of their depth and needed help.

That was where Josh's mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) came in handy. Specifically her connection to medium and this franchise's most prominent character in Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye). If she couldn't help the Lamberts with their problem, then no one could.

Elise's team included the duo Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson). They're comic foils of sort but surprisingly competent as Elise took Josh into The Further and raked through various repressed memories in order to rescue Dalton. It turned out that both Dalton and Josh can astral project.

Of course there's a mean old lady spirit as well as other things such as Lipstick-Face Demon (Joseph Bishara), Dancing Boy (Ben Woolf) and Long Haired Fiend (J. LaRose). There's also a rather shocking end for a particular character who's only going to be more emphasised in later movies.

- Both Wan and Whannell worked on the Saw franchise while Patrick Wilson would be instrumental in The Conjuring franchise.

- The post credit had the old woman blowing out a candle.

- Standout music: Ludovico Einaudi's Nuvole Bianche.

- Chronology: It's set in the 2010, Dalton was comatose for three months and we had flashbacks to Josh's childhood.

Insidious as a franchise got off to a modest start with this one. The scares are decent, the Lamberts are a sympathetic lot with their own secrets but it's Lin Shaye's Elise that somewhat stole the movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10