My Review of The Haunting Of Hill House (2018 Netflix Miniseries)

 

Written by Mike Flanagan And Liz Phang And Scott Kosar And Meredith Averill And Jeff Howard And Charise Castro Smith And Rebecca Klingel

Directed by Mike Flanagan 

Hugh (to Steven): "Your mother. She was not crazy. Neither was your sister, neither is your brother and neither are you. It's that house."

For the last few days I've been quietly watching this miniseries from 2018. Yes, it took me six years to see what the fuss was about and I truly get it. This miniseries was extraordinary. Maybe one of the best things that Netflix have ever made.

Alternating between two different timelines, you've got the Crain family renovating the Hill House that they've also chosen to stay in before they flip the property. Unfortunately for them it's a cursed house with far too many spooky goings on and when the matriarch, Olivia (Carla Gugino) died in the house, it was something that continued to impact everyone involved.

For her husband, Hugh (Timothy Dutton/Henry Thomas), it irreparably damaged his relationship with his children right into their adulthood. He essentially checked out as a father with their aunt Janet (Elizabeth Becka) having raised them. Throughout the miniseries he attempted to reconnect with them and by the finale, he made a sacrifice in order to save the remainder of his family.

As for the children, let's break it down by order. The oldest one, Steven (Michiel Huisman/Paxton Singleton) tried to get over the trauma by writing a book (much to his siblings chagrin) and avoiding having children with his wife, Leigh (Samantha Sloyan). That didn't necessary work in his favour but as the show progressed, he faced the things he tried to ignore about himself and the house.

Second child Shirley (Elizabeth Reaser/Lulu Wilson) struggled with keeping control, her marriage to Kevin (Anthony Rivuver) and running a funeral home. There was also residual family resentment and a secret fling with Ryan (James Lafferty), all of which blew up as the series progressed.

Middle child Theodora (Katie Siegel/Mckenna Grace) had a gift of feeling that often sent her into distress but out of the siblings, I think she was my favourite. Her relationship with Trish (Levy Tran) was nicely developed over the series and like her siblings, she does have a very strong arc.

Then there's the twins - Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen/Julian Hillard) and Nell (Victoria Pedretti/Violet McGraw). Their stories were definitely laced with more tragedy than their older siblings. Both haunted by different things (Bent Neck Lady, Bowler Hat Man, etc) and both serrmed to stuggle the most. Even Nell having some happiness with Arthur (Jordane Christie) was short-lived.

As for Luke's story, he struggled with addiction, hit rock bottom multiple times, came close to death quite frequently but unlike his twin, whose death happened early in the show, he managed to just about come out the other side. There's a trauma conga line this guy goes through with his mother, Olivia going through an even worse one throughout the season.

Last but not least, there were the Dudleys - Clara (Annabeth Gish) and Horace (Robert Longstreet), caretakers of the house. Mostly they provided exposition when telling each Crain family a bit about Hill House's awful history but they're also a tragic couple, dealing with loss, including their children and there's something cathartic about their ending too.

- Episode titles are Steven Sees A Ghost, Open Casket, Touch, The Twin Thing, The Bent-Neck Lady, Two Storms, Eulogy, Witness Marks, Screaming Meemies and Silence Lay Steadily.

- The Red Room served as many different rooms to every family member without them realising it until the finale explained it.

- The show is based on Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name but it's a very loose adaptation of the source material.

- The show had a follow up of sorts with The Haunting Of Bly Manor, which I plan to watch next.

- Standout music: From the soundtrack by The Newton Brothers, I'd say Main Titles, Hill House, The Red Room, Haunted Past and Beginning Of The End Movement IV.

- Chronology: Alternating between 1992 and 2018 in California throughout the series.

I genuinely loved The Haunting Of Hill House. Yes, it took me way too long to watch it but I'm glad I finally did. Utterly brilliant from start to finish, stellar performances from all of the main cast and the perfect blend of family drama, chills and horror.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Superman And Lois 4x06: "When The Lights Come On"

 

Written by Kristi Korzec And Brent Fletcher And Todd Helbing

Directed by Ian Samoil

Lex: "What are you thinking?"

Amanda: "Well, the first thing we need to do is get you a killer suit."

Now we're into the second half of this season (and it's going by so fast), you'd think losing the chance to be in his daughter and grandson's life would make Lex reevaluate his choices. Nope, he's just going to double down on them even more.

Determined to relocate LexCorp to Smallville just to antagonise the Kent family, Lex's overt fixation on getting even had even Amanda McCoy questioning his judgement. For a moment, I thought she was going to abandon him. Then that last scene happened instead.

Amanda went from trying to make Lex see some sense to actively encouraging his vendetta. She suggested a killer suit. Lex bloody well needs one because even when his strength and powers are dampened, Clark can beat the shit out of him.

That fight scene between Clark and Lex under the red lighting might be one of the best onscreen sparring we've seen with these two in Gheorghe 80+ years of history. Both of them really went for it and while Lex could partially claim a "moral" victory, he underestimated his opponent yet again. Better get that suit rather sharpish, Lex.

Of course, while Lex got his ass beat by Superman, he also made enemies out of the Smallville residents too. He couldn't get Aidy Manning to sell her farm for 10 million and his attempts to get Lana taken out by Otis failed due to a baseball bat wielding Sarah. Yeah, it really wasn't Lex's week anyway you look at it.

As for the Kents themselves, Lois had no problem filling Amanda in on Elizabeth while Clark resorted to hair dye to combat the salt and pepper look. As for the Kent Boys, they did either too much, too little and took Sarah to Greece while she planned for a life outside Smallville. I think the reduced episodes have done wonders in striking a balance with the teen stuff for this show.

- Everyone in Smallville knows that Clark's Superman and now he knows they do too. Coach Gaines even tried to get the Kent boys back on the football team.

- Amanda's clearly being written as someone who has romantic feelings for Lex. The latter's also clearly aware of it too.

- With all this talk of being human, I do wonder if this show will have Clark retire as Superman with Jonathan and Jordan sharing his legacy.

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

This was another strong episode. When The Lights Come On absolutely delivered with that fight scene between Clark and Lex as both Tyler Hoechlin and Michael Culditz really went for it. Im at the point of looking forward but dreading each episode as we get closer to the end.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Oz The Great And Powerful (2013)

 

Written by Mitchell Kapner And David Lindsay-Abaire

Directed by Sam Raimi

Glinda: "A carnival magician's going to put on a show."

Oz: "I'll put on the show of a lifetime! The likes of which the land of Oz has never seen! Magic! Mystery! Prestidigitation! It'll be my greatest trick yet."

With Wicked Part 1 coming out in a fortnight, I knew I had to go back and watch this prequel from eleven years ago. It has it's critics but it was a hit and quite frankly, there's plenty to admire with it.

Being a prequel, you are getting the origins of the deceptive wizard and to no surprise, in Kansas, Oscar Diggs (James Franco) pissed off a lot of people with his antics before his escape in a hot air balloon got caught in a tornado and he ended up in Oz of all places.

Yes, a man called Oscar ended up in Oz and the first person he encountered was a witch named Theodora (Mila Kunis). She was convinced that he was the prophesized wizard that would free the people of Oz from the Wicked Witch. Theodora's sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz) was more dubious of Oscar's actual abilities.

Of course Oscar was more interested in the benefits of being a wizard rather than the actual helping to free Oz in general but soon he formed a team with a winged monkey named Finley (Zach Braff), a China Doll named China Girl (Joey King) and eventually the meeting of the Good Witch Glinda (Michelle Williams). 

For a team, they make for a motley crew along with other characters such as Sourpuss (Tony Cox) and Master Tinker (Bill Cobbs) also added into the mix. The main threads of course being the sisters with Theodora manipulated by Evanora into embracing her greener disposition. While Theodora's full on raging over Oscar's rejection of her, it's Evanora who was the worst of the bunch.

I do think that both Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz play these roles so well and both seemed to relish being truly over the top. In between their antics, there's a romance bubbling between Oscar and Glinda but it's by far the weakest element of the movie with both Franconand Williams lacking the chemistry to pull it off.

- Yes, there's allusions to the likes of the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion in the movie.

- Like The Wizard Of Oz, the Kansas scenes aren't in colour. It doesn't work as well here but it's a nice enough nod.

- Standout music: Mariah Carey's Almost Home is quite nice to listen to.

- Chronology: 1905 Kansas before heading into the wonderful world of Oz.

Oz The Great And Powerful served as a decent prequel movie. It's certainly vibrant and colourful and tried it's hardest to capture the spirit of the 1939 classic and feel like it could fit in that continuity. The witches steal the movie from their divisive leading man if I'm being honest.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Hush (2016)

 

Written by Mike Flanagan And Kate Siegel

Directed by Mike Flanagan 

The Man (to Maddie): "I can come in anytime I want. And I can get you, anytime I want. But I'm not going to. Not until it's time. When you wish you're dead... that's when I'll come inside."

I should warn you that you're going to be seeing a lot of Flanagan related posts as I'm going through his Netflix shows at the moment and also some of his movies. This one in particular really stood out.

Released on Netflix, it was on the app, taken off and now has resurfaced digitally. Given the title, I almost expected a silent movie. I kind of got something in between with the protagonist of the piece. 

The protagonist being a deaf and mute horror writer named Maddie Young (Kate Siegel). For some reason Maddie's living in the woods while also trying to finish her latest novel, given the critical acclaim of the previous one. She's also brushing up on her culinary skills and friendship with Sarah Greene (Samantha Sloyan). The latter also wanted to brush up on her sign language.

Anyways things take a very dark turn when it's actually dark in the woods and a serial killer named The Man (John Gallagher Jr) killed poor Sarah and then took an overzealous delight in terrorising Maddie during the majority of the movie, making it impossible for her to get away from him.

Worse still for Maddie was that even Sarah's well meaning but unfortunate boyfriend, John Stanley (Michael Trucco) couldn't outsmart The Man. He did to his credit to give Maddie an advantage but it didn't quite take. 

The last few minutes between Maddie and The Man definitely ramped up the tension. You had Maddie thinking through every scenario for freedom before having to face off with The Man in her own home. The ending's pretty fucking tense but it certainly was the highlight of the movie.

- Maddie's book was Midnight Mass, which Netflix released as a seven part series in 2021. Siegel literally played Erin Greene in that show.

- There's a brief appearance of Maddie's sister, Max (Emma Graves) via video chat before the main event itself.

- An alternative black and white cut known as The Shush Cut exists for this movie.

- Chronology: Presumably the present day for this movie. 

Hush is a fantastic film with an excellent premise, a fairly unique protagonist within a setting that's a horror staple. Everything just works with a brilliant performance from Kate Siegel and ingenious use of certain things (a flash alarm for example) in an attempt to stay alive from a very ordinary killer. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Penguin: "Top Hat"

 

Written by Vladimir Cvetko

Directed by Kevin Bray

Oz (to Francis): "You deserve the best and I'm gonna get it for you. I promise. And I ain't gonna quit til I do."

Oh, Oswald, talk about promises. We know he loves his mother but it's a love that doesn't entirely bring out the best in him either. I've loved watching Oz and Francis's relationship unfold over the season but it's also undeniably toxic one too.

In flashbacks, you've got the young Oz (Ryder Allen) being somewhat jealous of the attention Francis (Emily Meade) gave his brothers Jack (Owen Asztalos) and Benny (Nico Tirozzi). In fact, Oz's jealousy of his own brothers quite frankly led to their deaths.

In some ways I'm not surprised that Oswald was responsible for making himself an only child but it does add another dimension between him and Francis. Was there a part of her that knew what he did? Is that why she made him promise to make her happy? I kind of think so.

Speaking of Francis, an absolutely sublime performance from Deirdre O'Connell this week with her scenes with Sofia. Watching Sofia trying to work out Francis while also witnessing one of her episodes made for quite an intense scene. It's clear Sofia viewed Francis as responsible for Oz being the monster he is but at the same time, a lot of Francis's words affected Sofia too.

I do love that yet again, Sofia did get the upper hand with Oz by blowing his operation sky high. That was after Oz had gotten his own upper hand with Sal's death. I'll admit if the episode has a minus, it's in the somewhat anticlimactic way that Sal was wriiten out. Sal really didn't get enough time to savour getting one over on Oz.

Saying that, Oz really isn't in a good position either. Sofia has his mother, blew up his operation and managed to get her goons to capture him. For Oz's sake, he better hope that he's got a Plan B before Sofia finishes him off for good.

- We finally met Rex Calabrese (Louis Cancelmi) in flashbacks before Oz disposed of his brothers.

- Sofia had Gia committed to a children's home and seemed perturbed when she realised the latter was cutting herself.

- Julian really will do anything Sofia tells him to do but would he have been fine with her if she had harmed Gia?

- Victor was still alive and trying to get more muscle for Oswald while shit was going down.

- Standout music: Nice use of Islands In The Stream at the start of the episode.

- Chronology:  The flashbacks had to have been in the 1980s considering that Oz told Francis that Jack and Benny went to see Beetlejuice.

Top Hat definitely gets points for those flashbacks and that scene between Sofia and Francis. It's a top notch penultimate episode as the ante got well and truly upped between Oswald and Sofia. Sal's death could've been better done but that's a minor quibble.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Speak No Evil (2024)

Written And Directed by James Watkins

Ben: "Why are you doing this to us?"

Paddy: "Because you let us."

Sometimes the people you make friends with on holidays are the type of people that you should never contact once the holiday is over. That's definitely the moral of this movie as one couple discovered how much of a nightmare another can be in their own surroundings.

The sane couple in question were Americans named Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben Dalton (Scoot McNairy). Work had relocated them to England and while on holiday in Italy they ended up meeting English couple Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi). At first, it seemed like a couples match made in heaven. Even the kids got along with each other.

Then Louise and Ben along with their daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) made the mistake of spending the weekend at Paddy and Ciara's farmhouse where the latter couple kept giving red flags. The biggest ones, not just in relation to their lack of boundaries but also surrounding their mute son, Ant (Dan Hough). 

As the movie progressed, Louise was the one to mostly realise that something was amiss with Paddy and Ciara and tried to get Ben to leave with her and Agnes. They nearly got away too until Agnes toy bunny provided an obstacle for them to return and have to deal with Paddy's erratic behaviour.

By the time we get to the third act of the movie, it's revealed that Ant wasn't Paddy and Ciara's son but one they kidnapped after stealing from and murdering his real parents. They also cut out his tongue and the same fates were intended for Louise, Ben and Agnes. At this point, this was where the movie got rather unhinged.

I never quite imagined James McAvoy would fully embrace the horror baddie but he absolutely went for it as Paddy dropped all pretences and tried to kill the American couple. It's a delightfully nutty performance but while Paddy might have embraced his craziness, this didn't end well for him as this time both him and Ciara picked the wrong couple to try and kill. Let's say he absolutely got his just desserts.

- This Is a remake of the Danish-Dutch film of the same name that came out in 2022. I'll have to watch sometime.

- The original film being inspired by a Danish and Dutch couple. Ant was also Danish and there was a Danish couple at the start of the movie.

- Standout music: Let's just say James McAvoy gave a very memorable rendition of Eternal Flame and that's putting it mildly.

- Chronology: Present day in both Italy, London and Devon.

Speak No Evil from what I can tell (having not seen the original) is definitely a worthy remake. Purely for the delightfully unhinged performance that James McAvoy does give in the film and the remote surrounding adding to the tension overall. A great horror film in a year that's had quite a few of them.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

You're Getting The F Of A Lifetime

Yes, it's been several months since I've last done this and the next one likely won't be until January (excluding the 2024 In Review blog). Um, here goes.

911: I spent a few weeks properly catching up on the sixth and seventh seasons and while I missed the chance to talk about them as they were airing (minus that Buck story), I won't with this eighth season. The first five episodes had a shit tonne of bees, a plane that Athena had to stop from crashing, Bobby as a technical advisor on a show and the temporary tyranny of Captain Gerard. Then we had a totally batshit Halloween episode where Buck disturbed an old corpse and paid for it immensely throughout. This show does revel in it's absurdity. 

911: Lone Star: Again, I played a game of catch up with the third and fourth seasons of this show. However my focus will be on the first five episodes of this fifth and final season. So far, it's off to a good start. I mean there was a poison cloud, both Marjan and Paul competing for Captain, Judd returning as a probie, Tommy's relationship with the pastor ending and Owen getting a temperamental horse to boot. There was also TK and Carlos going through some marital strife as well but they seem to be on better terms during the last episode.

Agatha All Along: After the success of WandaVision, there was a part of me that wondered if Disney+ had left this show too long for audiences to care. I was wrong because audiences certainly cared as Agatha Harkness and Billy/William Maximoff/Kaplan made for quite a team with a great rapport between Kathryn Hahn and Joe Locke in this nine episode series. Plenty of magical hijinks, Easter Eggs, flashbacks and some strong supporting performances from Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza, Ali Ahn and Sasheer Zamata. Easily one of the best Disney+ shows the MCU has done.

Kaos: Falling victim to Netflix's increasingly cancel happy ways, I knew this show was doomed from the start with the lack of hype surrounding. By that way, that's a shame because it's a rather good take on Greek mythology in a current day setting. The stories range from Olympus, the real world and the underworld. There's great performances from several actors (including Jeff Goldblum being a man child like Zeus) and a few nicely done love stories and some great LGBT rep to boot. Yeah, it's worth watching but the cliffhanger will annoy you for the obvious reason.

Only Murders In The Building: Even though this show does weekly episodes, I always leave it until the season has wrapped up and binge watch it in a few days. That's exactly what I did with this fourth season, which focused on the death of Jane Lynch's stuntwoman Sazz. In this season we also had some Hollywood glamour with Eugene Levy, Zack Galifianakis and Eva Longoria playing the movie versions of Charles, Oliver and Mabel respectively and I liked that the show managed to split the time between New York and LA this season. Add in a subplot about another group of renters, Jan's return, Oliver and Loretta getting married, Donna's love for Zack, Paul Rudd as an Irish stuntman and this was another top notch season. Even the killer reveal was decent enough.

Rivals: Oh Disney+. It took them a while to realise that being a glorified babysitting app for kids wasn't going to be enough to sustain them. Going all in with Hulu/Star was necessary but also, so was making original adult content. This adaptation of Jilly Cooper's racy book of the same name certainly helps a bit. There's sublime performances from the likes of David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Alex Hassell, Nafessa Williams and Bella MacLean to name a few. There's plenty of shagging, back stabbing, one upmanship and general madness while set to a 1980s backdrop with the likes of Thatcher and the AIDS crisis playing their part in this delightful show. If Disney+ don't renew this for a second season, then they better adapt more from Jilly Cooper's books and soon.

• Yerin Ha has been cast as Sophie Baek, the love interest for Benedict Bridgerton as Season 4 of Bridgerton has now gone into production.
• The next 911 spin off may be set in Hawaii but that has yet to be confirmed. It's currently a rumour.
• Season 3 of Yellowjackets has wrapped production and will be released on Showtime/Paramount+ in early 2025.
• And Just Like That Season 3 has also wrapped production for a 2025 release on Max.
• Marvel fans will have six shows on Disney+ in 2025. Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man (January 29th), Daredevil: Born Again (March 4th), Eyes Of Wakanda (August 6th), Ironheart (September 3rd), Marvel Zombies (October) and Wonder Man (December)
• Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis will play sister in upcoming Amazon series, Scarpetta. The show has been ordered for two seasons.
• HBO have renewed Industry for a fourth season.
• Netflix will be releasing second season of Squid Game on Christmas Day.
• UK audiences will have two Christmas specials of Call The Midwife to enjoy over the festive period on BBC1.
• Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny will be the main cast for the second season of Beef for Netflix.
• Kathy Bates version of Matlock has bagged an early second season renewal by CBS.
• Expect a crossover between Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
• Family Guy will release a Christmas special on July from November 25th.

My Review of Mr Malcolm's List (2022)

 

Written by Suzanne Allain

Directed by Emma Holly Jones

Lord Cassidy: "Becoming a suitable bride is quite burdensome. I almost feel as if I'm being trained up to become a wife."

Selina Dalton: "I know. God forbid someone decided to enter a marriage based on love."

Lord Cassidy: "What a wonderful thing to say."

If the success of Bridgerton wasn't enough to sate your Regency hype, then perhaps this rather modest and sweet natured movie might also help. It's got quite the goings on in.

First of all, you've got the titular Mr Jeremy Malcolm (Sope Dirusu) himself. He wants a wife and not any woman will do. He's got a list of things any potential wife must tick off and if you don't, then you may end up being an unintended caricature.

This was the fate of one Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton). She didn't meet Malcolm's List and found herself a source of mockery. Now, Julia didn't take that lying down. By her own logic, revenge was the order of the day and Malcolm was going to get a taste of his own just desserts.

For this to happen, Julia needed help and she enlisted her dandyish cousin Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and childhood friend, Selina Dalton (Frieda Pinto) to execute plan. The plan being for Malcolm to fall in love with Selina and for the latter to hit with a list that he wouldn't meet.

It's a very petty plan but it's one that also took some fairly predictable albeit enjoyable twists. Of course Malcolm and Selina would fall in love with each other. Cassidy saw it coming and actively rooted for them while Julia herself seethed over the prospect and tried to sabotage the budding romance.

Of course while Julia might have been resentful of her friend finding love with the man who embarrased her, she got the secondary romance with Captain Henry Ossery (Theo James). That in turn did soften her resolve towards Malcolm and Selina as the movie sped towards a romantic ending for the lovers. 

- The movie was based on a book by the same name with the author having adapted the script.

- Oliver Jackson-Cohen wanted to play Lord Cassidy as a gay man and he more or less did, despite the director not totally going with it.

- I liked the use of caricatures for the closing credits of the movie. It was a nice touch.

- Chronology: 1818 Regency London. 

Mr Malcolm's List turned out to be a nice, frothy and feel good Regency romp. While not exactly as pulse racing as a certain Netflix show, there's a lot to enjoy with her. Both Sope Dirusu and Frieda Pinto are on winning form with the central romance that some of the more predictable moments are charming for it.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

 

Written by Caroline Thompson And Michael McDowell

Directed by Henry Selick

Santa: "'Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems in a place perhaps you've seen in your dreams. For the story you're about to be told began with the holiday worlds of auld. Now you've probably wondered where holidays come from. If you haven't I'd say it's time you begun."

Is it a Halloween movie? Is it a prelude to Christmas? Did I pick the right time to actually review this one? Those are not the most earth shattering of questions but a "yes" to all three of them. 

Let's get into the story itself. You've got a fantasy world called Halloween Town with every imaginable monster in it and it's up to the Pumpkin King Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon) to organise the annual celebrations for Halloween. Except he's tired of the same old routine.

Fortunately for Jack, the discovery of a tree shaped door led him into the world of Christmas but trying to get his community to embrace the idea of Christmas wasn't a successful. Jack had a solution for that - kidnap Sandy Claws aka Santa (Ed Ivory). It wasn't exactly the best plan he could've had.

Of course it was met with obstacles, including assistants who took a while to actually get the right guy. Not to mention when Jack decided to do a swap with Santa, the latter ended up being in danger by Oogie Boogie (Ken Page), a villainous bogryman. Still this movie served as a learning curve for Jack.

With Christmas not being his area of expertise and Jack almost being killed as a result, the lesson here was that Jack was better in his Halloween later. Then there was the romance with ragdoll Sally (Catherine O'Hara).

Sally's a good love interest for Jack and something of a mischievous one too. Her various attempts to be free of her possessive creator Doctor Finkelstein (William Hickey) had her resort to attempting to kill him and he absolutely deserved it. By the end of the movie, Sally did get free of him and both and Jack declared their love for each other.

- Tim Burton developed the story, initially as a three page poem for Walt Disney Feature Animation.

- There are alternative scenes on the DVD release for the movie.

- Danny Elfman provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington.

- This was the first Disney movie not to be traditionally animation with it being more stop motion. 

- Standout music: This Is Halloween, Jack's Lament, Making Christmas, Oogie Boogie Song and Finale/Reprise.

- Chronology: Both Halloween and Christmas within this movie as well as a look into the real world.

The Nightmare Before Christmas truly is a delight. It's enjoyable during Halloween, Christmas and in between. Great characters, great songs and a nice love story. What's not to like?

Rating: 8 out of 10 

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