My Review of Doom Patrol's 4x08: "Fame Patrol"

 

Written by Eric Dietel

Directed by Bosede Williams

Isabel/Immortus (to TV presenter): "Where have I been? I guess you could say I was lost in the fabric of reality."

That's one way to put. Also who knew that Immortus would be something of a sour puss over the Doom Patrol? This episode took saltiness to a new level with not wanting to share the spotlight.

The Doom Patrol in question were splintered themselves this week over dealing with Isabel/Immortus. Larry was all for leaving them alone while Rita had more bloodthirsty designs. However it was Laura who kept noticing that something was amiss with things.

Such as every time that Isabel/Immortus would have an outburst and then rewind the scene again. However with the mayor more interested in celebrating the Doom Patrol than the lost Isabel, it didn't stop Immortus from letting out one hell of a scream during the parade.

As for the rest of the episode, it was fun seeing characters paired off with each other. Fans of Larry and Rama got the pair helping each other out and some lovely romantic overtones with the duo. Let them have a happy ending, damn it.

Then there was Dorothy doing her best to help both Casey and Cliff. She somewhat succeeded on both counts while Casey and Jane even got some great scenes together. Still though, Cliff's Parkinson's is worsening, Jane can't find her way in the Underground and Larry's still dying.

Last but not least, Victor also got some choice moments with Derek and Rita. Both of whom reminded Victor that he wanted more than Cyborg and he had more to give. Overall, the character moments in this episode were sublime.

- Cliff let the group know while they were on the parade float that the zombie butt was on the loose. Jane reacted accordingly.

- Dorothy tried to get Cliff to use Niles's chair, only for the latter to tell her he ignored her father's ghost. She also tried to give Casey her father's ship.

- Casey can enter Jane's head, which the latter didn't like one bit. She also arranged the puzzle pieces in colour order.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Fame Patrol had fun with the idea of our misfits getting a small but loyal following to the outrage of the main antagonist. It also delivered several fantastic character moments throughout the episode itself.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Jason X (2001)

 

Written by Todd Farmer

Directed by Jim Isaac

Brodski: "What's going on?"

Rowan: "Jason fucking Voorhees. That's what's going on."

In the last two movies, both New York and Hell were the main setting or should've been as neither were utilised for a plethora of reasons. Can this venture into space buck the missed opportunity trend? Kind of, but there's still enough to disappoint along the way.

We open with a slight jump into the future considering this movie's release where the only smart person in the room, Rowan LaFontaine (Lexa Doig) has to remind every other idiot in there not to fuck around with Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder). They don't listen, Rowan gets stabbed and both her and Jason wind up frozen.

Then we cut to over 400 years later and the Earth is inhabitable. However there's an Earth II and we're on a crew ship where you guessed it, both Rowan and Jason wake up. Rowan also learned that 400+ years into the future and there scientists daft enough to still think they can mess around with Jason without consequences. Some lessons clearly don't get passed.

Not only does Rowan and this mostly incompetent crew (minus an android named KM14, played by Lisa Ryder) have to deal with Jason but they have to also deal with a cyborg version of the character. Yup, two Jasons for the price of one movie here. Sort of. 

Anyways it's mostly a fight to deal between the crew and Cyborg Jason with a hologram harkening back to the latter's days at Crystal Lake provided enough of a means to defeat him this time. Saying that, Jason's never truly gone as the ending for this one indicated yet again.

- This franchise seems to have some of the dullest romance subplots with KM14 and Tsunaron (Chuck Campbell) being painfully yawn inducing.

- Both Peter Mensah (Brodski) and David Cronenberg (Dr Wimmer) are very much wasted here.

- While this movie actually flopped theatrically, it did make money through physical releases.

- Chronology: We start in 2008 while the majority of the movie takes place in 2455.

Jason X isn't quite as horrible as I expected it to be and that's largely down to Lexa Doig giving a good performance as Rowan and the movie making decent use of it's environment. Still though, it's a bit of messy with a largely poor supporting cast. 

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Doom Patrol's 4x07: "Orqwith Patrol"

 

Written by Tamara Becher-Wilkinson And Bob Barth 

Directed by Bosede Williams

Rita: "There could be anything on the other side of this."

Laura: "Our friends are on the other side."

It's been far too long since the first half of this final season had aired and with scant promotion, there's a feeling of (HBO) Max just getting it out of the way. A shame, because I am going to miss this show.

Since we last left off, the majority of our main players (and Derek) were stranded on Orqwith. Every main player minus Cliff had lost their longevity and Wally Sage was a problem connected to Immortus. Caught up now? 

Now we got an episode with three connecting plots. First of all there's Rita and Laura who managed to escape the Ant Farm. For a brief moment, it appeared as though Rita and Laura were going to take a step backwards in their improving relationship. Then they banded together, got drunk and made their way to Orqwith to save the day. Mixed results there.

Then there was Jane and Cliff. The latter being tempted by Wally to surrender his longevity and caving in with the former doing her best to stop him. At least ast Jane did try her best.

As for Victor and Derek, both got some badass moments while the former also gave a real account about his time as Cyborg. Larry on the other hand seemed determined to remain in Orqwith in order to be a better parent to Keeg.

Of course it's the arrival of Dorothy and Casey where Wally's big prophecy came into effect and Immortus arrived in the shape of Isobel Feathers. Rita wasn't the only one surprised by that outcome.

- Laura wasn't wrong about Rita being a serial killer. Let's say this episode certainly gave shippers more to enjoy with the pair.

- The farting donkey from the first season was called Peanut Butter.

- Rama was a no show here. Hope he's back soon.

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

Orqwith Patrol was a little bit shorter than expected but made for a solid mid season opener. The Rita and Laura scenes were the biggest highlight though. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

Halloween - Miramax Acquire Rights For Movie And TV Franchise

I mentioned this last month but now we have concrete factors. The Halloween franchise just got a little more expansive. Or it will.

Yesterday it was confirmed that Miramax in a deal with Trancas have not only bagged the movie rights (again) but also the TV rights to this franchise. On top of that, they're planning a cinematic universe. 

Oh look, Halloween Ends really wasn't the end for Michael Myers after all.

You really can't keep the Boogeyman down for long.

Now this personally excites me more than it should. I know one are fatigued by this franchise but I'm happy to see more. I said in a previous blog that any potential TV series should go down the anthology route and I'm going to repeat that again. It's the best place for that idea to successfully land while also retaining some connective tissue to Michael Myers and Haddonfield in general.

As for the next movie, again, keep it simple and have Michael Myers at the forefront terrorising mostly new characters. If there has to be a past link, then it makes sense for it to be Dr Loomis. Surely there's a relative of his that can be a new foil for Michael. 

Other than that, let's see how this cinematic universe fares over the next few years.

My Review of Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

 

Written by Jay Huguely And Adam Marcus And Dean Lorey

Directed by Adam Marcus

Coroner (re Jason): "My professional opinion: this guy's deader than shit. Ha ha ha ha ha. Um, strike that last comment from the record."

With the last movie somewhat being a missed opportunity in the Big Apple, this movie's title made a promise that it straight up didn't really keep either. Yup, another disappointment incoming.

The movie opened with Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) back at Crystal Lake chasing down a young woman (Julie Michaels). Only this time around, it's Jason who's about to be the victim in this scenario as the woman's revealed to be an FBI agent and Jason's flanked down and killed by more agents.

Yup, he's dead. Surely the movie then took an actual trip to Hell to see how Jason would fare. Nope, instead he somehow managed to manipulate a coroner into eating his heart and possessing him instead. Yeah, that's the plot here.

Also after previous movies making references to other family members, Jason suddenly has a half sister named Diana Kimble (Erin Kimble) but she doesn't survive long enough to care about her. However Jason does need to possess a blood relative in order to regain his strength and live again.

That's where Diana's daughter, Jessica (Kari Keegan) factored into things. However for most of this movie, it's largely Jessica's baby daddy Steven (John D. LeMay) and bounty hunter Creighton Duke (Steven Williams) that have a bigger emphasis as characters than Jessica. It doesn't help that both are arguably more interesting than her.

Granted, Jessica does improve towards the third but between a shitty TV reporter boyfriend, Robert (Steven Culp) and being overly hostile towards Steven at first, I found the character somewhat grating. However she's the key to Jason's demise here and does take him out in a relatively cool way.

- The movie set up a crossover with Freddy Krueger that literally wouldn't happen until after we got both Wes Craven's New Nightmare and Jason X.

- Creighton might have had a little too much fun in testing Steven's desperation for information on Jason.

- This was the first film in the series that New Line had the rights to, also explaining the switch up in titles as well.

- Chronology: I'm guessing the 1990s as this was the only film from this franchise released in that decade.

Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday has its moments but it's a continuing downward trend of poor movies. The family angle feels a tad too late and compared to other franchises that played with the angle in later movies, it's just poorly handled. Also we should've actually seen Jason in hell.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

 

Written And Directed by Rob Hedden

Rennie (re Jason): "Look, you don't understand. There is a maniac trying to kill us."

Waitress: "Welcome to New York."

After seven movies of Crystal Lake being the hotbed of terror from Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder), his mommy and a copycat killer for that one movie, this movie traded a cursed campsite for the Big Apple. Let's just say the results are not that great.

First of all, I don't mind a departure from Crystal Lake but you can definitely tell that the budget wasn't really large enough for them to get the best movie based in one of the most iconic cities in the way. Still though, it tries to have a good time.

Sadly though, it's largely very flat. Anyways electricity in the water frees/revives Jason and he's soon stowed away on a boat called the SS Lazarus with a bunch of teenagers and their chaperones. You can see where this is going.

The teenagers are either having sex with each other or being mean to the new protagonist of the movie. This one being a young girl named Rennie (Jensen Daggett) who has a well meaning but not very helpful guardian in Charles McCulloch (Peter Mark Richman). The same guardian who in one bizarre gets honey trapped by a bitchy student before Jason killed her off.

For the most part, it's really the SS Lazarus that's the central hub of the film, which does help to add a certain amount of claustrophobic tension on board as Jason dispatched of most of the very bland support cast here.

Rennie does have an ally in her boyfriend Sean (Scott Reeves) and yet again, there's a belief of Jason being done for good. Except it's very short-lived given that the movie ended with him being very much alive in New York - a city we don't really see enough of here.

- Despite it's title, it was largely filmed in Vancouver with some stuff filmed in New York and Los Angeles.

- Ken Kirzinger actually appeared in this one. He'd later play Jason in Freddy Vs. Jason. 

- The New York Tourism Committee weren't impressed with some of the marketing for this one.

- Chronology: Unspecified time since the previous one.

Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan on paper sounded like a great idea. It's just a shame the script is mostly bad and the budget constraints limited it's overall potential. Such a missed opportunity.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Story: Delicate - Vanishing Twin

 

Written by Halley Feiffer

Directed by John J. Gray

Virginia (to Dex): "Jesus has nothing to do with it. Satan does."

Ooh, with a few choice scenes and some new introductions, this feels like we're moving somewhere exciting now. Of course this season was going to link its way to both Coven and Apocalypse. They've been telegraphing it for a bit now.

Opening with a true departure for the show, we got to 1555 England where Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to a baby and handed it over to two creepy bird headdress ladies, played by stalwarts Billie Lourd and Leslie Grossman. Oh and they made Queen Elizabeth I barren too.

Cut to the present day and Anna's been hauled into Siobhan's office where the Ashleys aka Ashley (Billie Lourd) and Ashleigh (Leslie Grossman) have the best idea to revive Anna's award chances. Yup, it's a feminist themed reel, which despite being written as a straight up parody actually seems to work.

It's not the only good fortune for Anna as it turns out that she's still pregnant. Saying that, it doesn't help that she's still not being taken seriously by Dex and yeah, there was that gross final cene where Anna ate a rotting raccoon. I had to look away during that scene.

As for Dex, he's still a crappy husband who seems to barely tolerate Anna but he try to defend her a few times against his mother, Virginia (Debra Monk). Virginia however was more memorable for talking about Satanic abuse by her ex-husband. Yes, we're getting Satan stuff.

In general it seems that babies are being used to make deals for success. In this episode alone we saw that with the opening flashback and also in a tense conversation between Siobhan and Hamish. I should've seen their arrangement a mile off, give the way she was with him at the Gotham awards.

- Ivy showed up to creep Anna out in the parking or but there was a lack of Ms Preecher this week.

- Nicolette does seem to have some boundary issues and it's interesting she's only interacted with Anna so far.

- Dr Hill was a little too shocked that Anna might have been carrying twins. He did explain the episode's title though to Anna and Dex.

- I wonder if the Ashleys are aware that there's two witches currently alive that look just like them.

- Did they edit this episode to reference "repost" instead of "retweet" lol?

- Chronology: 1555 England as well as the present day. 

Vanishing Twin delivered one of the best opening scenes that the show has ever done and ended with one of the most disgusting scenes as well. That's the beauty of the show and there was a lot to enjoy here.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

 

Written by Manuel Fidello And Daryl Haney

Directed by John Carl Buechler

Nick: "Jason? Where's Jason?"

Tina (re her father): "He took care of it."

After three movies with an ever changing Tommy Jarvis, it was time for the franchise to go back to a female protagonist. One I should point seemed maybe a bit too influenced by Carrie but at least it meant that Jason would have a challenge.

Following the events of the previous movie with Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) at the bottom of Crystal Lake, we all knew that he wouldn't remain there. Very quickly into this movie a telepathic girl named Tina Shepard (Jennifer Banko) would cause the death of her abusive father by inadvertently summoning Jason from his watery resting place.

Then we cut to Tina, now played by Lar Park Lincoln who's a young woman being largely manipulated by her mother's new boyfriend, Dr Crews (Terry Wiser) who takes too much of an interest in triggering Tina to a ridiculous degree. Fortunately her mother, Amanda (Susan Blu) does wise up to Crews exploitative nature and does try to protect Tina from him.

Unfortunately for Amanda, she's also one of the many kills by Jason in this movie but on the plus side, so the horrible boyfriend and the mean spirited girl who antagonised Tina in the movie. On a plus side for Tina, she also has Nick (Kevin Blair) as a love interest and co-protagonist in the movie.

Yes, it's really up to the pair of them as Jason does his usual mass murders around Crystal Lake. I'll admit that Tina's powers are rather cool and it's interesting that for the second movie in a row Jason's just trapped underwater rather than outright killed. Tina's a fairly decent main character to follow Tommy.

- Had things been different this movie wouldve been a crossover with Freddy Krueger. We'd get that fifteen years later though.

- Tina was initially meant to recur but like other Final Girls in this franchise, this was a one time movie for her.

- This was the first time we had movies with three horror icons in the same year, albeit with mixed results.

- Chronology: Three months, then seven years from the events of the previous movie.

Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood isn't quite the disaster it's reputation led me to believe but it's a bit of a comedown after the Tommy Jarvis trilogy though. I'm being generous so let's say it's fairly middling stuff.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

 

Written And Directed by Tom McLoughlin

Lizabeth (re Jason): "I've seen enough horror movies to know any weirdo wearing a mask is never friendly."

Ah, the last part of the Tommy Jarvis trilogy and the first noteworthy thing would be that he's regenerated again. This time it's Thom Mathews in the role and Tommy's not the only one getting a regeneration here.

After sitting out the events of the last movie, it was wisely decided that Jason Voorhees (C.J. Graham) was too pivotal to keep dead permanently so he too got a new lease of life. It's funny how a strike of lightening can affect the old disposition.

Anyways to Tommy's horror, Jason got reborn while new friend, Allan Hawes (Ron Palillo) got quickly killed off and let's just that being dead only amplified Jason's bloodlust. Being alive again made him up his body count and then some.

As for Tommy, he managed to make an enemy out of the new Sheriff (David Kagan) while also making a more positive impression on the latter's daughter, Megan (Jennifer Cooke). There's something of a romantic subplot between Tommy and Megan but it's very undercooked.

Still, Megan's a likeable female co-protagonist and ultimately it's a team effort with both her and Tommy in giving Jason his final rest. Then again, this being Jason, we all know he won't be resting for too long. Give it about two years, considering the next one.

Something different with this movie compared to the others that for once, there was an actual focus on the kids attending Forest Green (formerly Crystal Lake). One girl called Nancy had the good sense to be afraid of Jason and even the counselors actually seemed to care about keeping the kids safe from him too. That did make a nice change of pace.

- I had to laugh at the horror movie savvy Lizabeth (Nancy McLoughlin) and her less bright boyfriend, Darren (Tony Goldwyn) who were quickly off by Jason.

- Unlike the last two movies, this one somewhat toned down the sex but definitely not the violence.

- The original script referenced Jason's father, which I wish they had kept in it. 

- Chronology: Not long from where the last movie left off. 

Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives had to end Tommy Jarvis as a character by having him face off with Jason one last time. It's a strong face off and possibly in the best movie since the first one in my opinion.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Friday The 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

 

Written by Martin Kitrosser And David Cohen And Danny Steinmann

Directed by Danny Steinmann

Mayor Cobb (to Sheriff Tucker): "Jason Voorhees? You outta your fucking mind? You been out in the sun for too long. Jason Voorhees is dead."

Given that the fourth movie went from being an intended closer for the franchise but instead managed to breathe further life, you can't blame the writers for having a spring in their step. With Final Girls such as Alice, Ginny and Chris not staying the course, they had something else up their sleeves.

Yes, the something being a Final Boy and yes, I'm talking about Tommy Jarvis. Briefly appearing in a nightmare sequence, we got to see Corey Feldman one last time as Tommy. Then Tomy woke up in a car, years had passed and he was now played by John Shepherd.

The fact that years had passed was an indication that this franchise knew it needed to shake up it's format. Of course given the reputation of this movie, it's not the only thing that got shaken up. Let's just say what this movie does with its big threat will be replicated in another horror franchise nearly forty years later.

Tommy finds himself at a halfway house run by Dr Matt Letter (Richard Young) but it's his assistant Pam Roberts (Melanie Kinnaman) and a young boy named Reggie (Shavar Ross) who form a trio of protagonists with Tommy against "Jason". As for everyone else, you know the drill: cannon fodder.

Again, it's a mix of oversexed young adults and teens, a hillbilly mother and her dimwitted son as one by one, they're killed rather brutally by Jason. Well, that's the thing though. For once, it's not actually Jason doing the killing. Second time really.

Instead it's a paramedic named Roy Burns (Dick Wieand) whose motives for the mass killings are straight from Pamela Voorhees playbook. Unfortunately he's not developed enough as a character to make this plot really come alive. However he's afforded a death scene as gruesome as the ones he subjected to various characters throughout the film.

As for Tommy Jarvis, I do think John Shepherd does a good job portraying a darker and more tortured version of the character. There are multiple times in the movie where it felt like even Tommy would be a danger to the group on a bigger scale before his escape at the end.

- Tommy's penchant for monster masks came up with both Reggie and another guy playing around with them. Reggie's brother being called Demon was funny though.

- One of the actors in this movie was Deborah Sue Voorhees who played Tina. Also this movie had more sex and violence than the last one.

- Not only was this the first movie since the original not to have Jason as the killer but even the numbering isn't here.

- Chronology: A few years since the events of the previous movie.

Friday The 13th: A New Beginning might be a tiny step down from the previous movie but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The kills are great, it doesn't overstay it's welcome and while the Roy Burns reveal is clumsily handled, it didn't ruin the movie either. 

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)

 

Written by Bruce Hidemi Sakow And Barney Cohen

Directed by Joseph Zito

Trish (to Jason): "You son of a bitch. I'll give you something to remember us by."

It's funny. Had things gone as intended, the subtitle of this movie would have been true. This really could've been the final chapter for this particular franchise. Had it been true, it would've ended on a strong note because this film was an improvement on the previous two.

Which is also funny as it's borrowing elements from all the movies so far and picking up where the last one left. However while this again picked up from where the last left off, yet again it's a new bunch of kids/young adults that Jason Voorhees (Ted White) to play around with this time.

Like with the previous movie, there's an attempt to give a character a past connection with Jason. This time it's a man named Rob (Erich Anderson), the brother of one of Jason's previous victims and like his sister, Rob's own encounter with Jason doesn't end well for him.

While the previous movies have had their fair share of deaths, it felt like this one really went to town with the body count. Several characters who were either hooking up, getting stone or watching old pornographic movies were taken out by Jason in some of the most inventive and outright gruesome of ways.

With Rob being more of a false protagonist, we did get a decent pair of protagonists with Trish Jarvis (Kimberly Beck) and her younger brother, Tommy (Corey Feldman). Easily two of the best characters in the franchise and let's just say that Tommy made quite a foil for Jason.

Having Tommy making himself look like Jason as a child was not a plot twist, not the rather overzealous way in which Tommy actually took Jason out. Still though the final scene with Tommy and Trish at the hospital did end this one on a rather creepy note.

- By far (or at least so far), this film not only upped the violence, blood and gore but also the nudity and sexual references.

- This movie was actually released on Friday the 13th. 

- The original idea for this movie was going to be a prequel but luckily we got this instead.

- Chronology: From where the previous movie left off.

Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter really could've been a strong ending for the franchise but if anything, it served as the opening part in a trilogy of movies for Tommy Jarvis. This movie alone cemented him as a rival for Jason Voorhees.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Friday The 13th Part III (1982)

 

Written by Martin Kristosser And Carol Watson

Directed by Steve Miner

Chris (to Jason): "No, you can't be alive."

After the events of the second movie, you'd be forgiven in assuming that perhaps some continuation would be happening in relation to Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker) versus Ginny (Amy Steel) and Paul (John Furey) but things take a quick turn here.

Aside from an overextended recap of the last movie, both Ginny and Paul are out of the equation and instead we get Jason bumping off a couple from a store where Jason gets some new clothes. Bit rude there, Jason but I digress.

Of course with Ginny and Paul not coming back for seconds and Jason refusing to abandon Crystal Lake, it didn't take long for a new batch of teenagers/young adults to come into contact with the overgrown mama's boy. Oh and in something quite random, a biker gang also to make up the numbers.

The characters in question included Chris (Dana Kimmel) and her older boyfriend, Rick (Kratka). Along with them there was also the pregnant Debbie (Tracy Savage), prankster Shelly (Larry Zerner), whose biggest contribution was giving Jason part of his iconic look and of course that biker gang.

Anyways, one by one, Jason takes out as many of the newcomers as he can, only for Chris to be the one that he can't quite kill. It's certainly not from lack of effort as he really did try to take Chris out and even got close enough to succeeding only to die himself. However death does tend to be meaningless for Jason.

As for Chris, she's an okay enough Final Girl. I'd say she's on a par with Alice (just about) but truth be told, I wish we had gotten a second run with Ginny. I do like that the movie attempted to add a past connection between Chris and Jason though.

- This was the very movie where Jason got his infamous hockey mask (thanks to Shelly). We also saw Pamela Voorhees rotted head again.

- We got 3D titles for this movie as well as the use of Roman numerals to boot.

- Debbie's pregnancy in other TV versions of the movie was removed along with Chili and Chuck's scenes referencing pot smoking. Rick also has a similar jumper to Pamela.

- Chronology: From exactly where the second movie left off.

Friday The 13th Part III managed to be a bit better than the second movie but not by much. Still though, at least this movie did give audiences the iconic look for Jason and the supporting cast were decent enough.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Story: Delicate - When The Bough Breaks

 

Written by Halley Feiffer 

Directed by Jennifer Lynch 

Ms Preecher (to Anna): "Your baby isn't dead."

If you've read the book, this won't be a plot twist but if you haven't read the book, it's definitely a plot twist. Last week's episode made it clear that Anna had a miscarriage.  This week, it appears not.

The episode opened with Anna in a lovely field playing with her baby before the baby disappeared and her dress turned bloody red. Then we had her and Dex argue over trying for another baby before Anna took a walk, had a creepy encounter with Ms Preecher and lost more hours in her life.

Of course the big part of the episode this week was Anna getting drunk and lurking around Talia's basement where she discovered a secret passage and of course those creepy women in black robes and strange head pieces tie her down and inject her with something. It's from then onwards that Anna started to feel like her baby wasn't dead.

However everyone else didn't share her enthusiasm, specifically both Dex and Dr Hill, who refused to entertain the idea that Anna didn't miscarry after all. However Anna's suspicions were justified when she got cryptic messages via her planner that her baby was still alive.

Anyways with the baby still being alive, whoever is after Anna will obviously try and force her to miscarry again. As for Preecher, her scenes were more muted this week compared to the first two episodes. It also appears that she's trying to warn rather harm Anna.

As for Siobhan, we saw her for a few scenes this week and got some insight into her own miscarriage woes of the past. You want to believe she's looking out for Anna but with this show, it's likely not the case. Not to mention that blemish on Anna's face that's getting more noticed by other characters.

- We met Nicolette (Michaela Jae Rodriguez), a new mother and Talia's house manager this week. She had some nice scenes with Anna.

- If Dex isn't sleeping with Sonia Shawcross, even I'll be surprised.  Anna's likely justified in her suspicions.

- I wonder why there was so much emphasis on Siobhan's method for slicing up a cucumber.

- Kamal did end up believing Anna after he saw Preecher later in the episode. 

- This episode somewhat went overboard with the use of that particular nursery rhyme.

- Chronology: Not long after the previous episode left off.

When The Bough Breaks does help with moving things along a little this week. I'm definitely convinced we're about to get a link to a fan favourite season as well as things move along.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist (2005)

 

Written by William Wisher Jr And Caleb Carr

Directed by Paul Schrader

Father Merrin: "I believe God let us decide between good and evil. I chose good. Evil happened."

Quick question: do you see this version as an alternative or the intended prequel for The Exorcist? Also if you've watched both versions, which do you consider the better take? I have to admit, I can't really decide here.

Basically the beats are mostly the same. Stellan Skarsgard's still the former priest known as Merrin and Julian Wadham also remains as Major Granville. Everyone else on the other hand are played by different actors with varying results.

Gabriel Mann for example gives a decent performance as Father Francis, a follower of Merrin but also weary of the latter's lack of faith. Like the previous iteration of the character, his determination to perform an excorcism on a possessed boy - this time named Cheche (Billy Crawford) would result in his demise. However it's a different death this time around.

Then there's Rachel Lesno (Clara Bellar) who has more or less he same backstory as Sarah did in the other prequel. Except no husband and the romance between her and Merrin was dialled down. Not to mention not really being possessed and surviving the events of this prequel to boot.

Where I do think this prequel does somewhat better is the possession itself. It's still Pazuzu pulling the strings and toying with Merrin's guilt. Billy Crawford also does a solid job as the possessed Cheche and the ending marked a nice enough departure from the other prequel.

As for Merrin, Skarsgard's performance was about the same in both versions with his altercation in Nazi Germany backstory handled only a tiny bit differently. Overall, the studio probably should've just released this version originally instead of making two versions but there's a lesson to be learned here.

- This was originally meant to be a DVD extra before it got a very limited theatrical release.

- The original title for this prequel was meant to be Exorcist: Dominion.

- Standout music: Dog Fashion Do's March of Satan.

- Chronology: Pretty much the same timeline as the other prequel was.

Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist ain't much better or worse than Exorcist: The Beginning. It's more violent in some ways and less in others but overall, it's a serviceable horror flick that doesn't really standout in either a positive or negative way. 

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

 

Written by William Wisher And Caleb Carr And Alexei Hawley

Directed by Renny Harlin

Sarah: "Sometimes I think the best view of God is from hell."

Well, I'm at the point in my reviews for this franchise where I'm in prequel territory and my previous comment about them being pointless stemmed from the fact that both of them tell the same story with one actor in both of them. So, which did it better? I'll reveal that in the next review.

For now though, going back to previous sequels where we got updates on both Regan and Father Karras after their encounters with Pazuzu, this focused on Father Merrin's (Stellan Skarsgard) first encounter with the demonic creature. It was also a time where Father Merrin's faith had been shattered and he was no longer a priest.

Instead he was a jaded man who lost his faith following the events of Nazi Germany and the horror he was forced to partake there. Winding up in Nairobi, his faith would return but so would a lot of horror, bloodshed and death as well. It wouldn't be an Exorcist film without it.

Aided with Father Francis (James D'Arcy), Merrin was on a mission to retrieve an artifact by Semelier (Ben Cross) while an old Christian-Byzantine church was being excavated by the villagers. It also didn't take long for it to appear that a young boy named Joseph (Remy Sweeney) to appear to be a host for Pazuzu. Except there's a twist here.

The twist being that Jewish Doctor Sarah (Izabella Scorupco) who ended up being the host. Sarah had spent the movie either as a love interest of sorts for Merrin while her backstory with archaeologist Monsieur Bession (Patrick O'Kane) added a bittersweet context to things. Either way, Merrin's feelings for Sarah gave him something to lose with Pazuzu.

A battle of wills between the demon and the fallen priest panned out predictably but made for a good last quarter of the movie. With Merrin's faith restored, of course he resumed his calling, serving as a nice lead in to the first movie.

- Pazuzu definitely channeled similarly inappropriate dialogue when possessed Sarah as they did with Regan in 1975.

- Plenty of gross moments involving missing hearts, maggots and dead crows. Both Jefferies and Granville got some memorable deaths.

- The next film, Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist is basically the original version of this one with a largely different cast.

- Chronology: 1949 Nairobi for the majority of the movie with some scenes in Egypt.

Exorcist: The Beginning gave a reasonable origin for both Merrin and Pazuzu and in spite of its bad reputation, I found it decent enough. Largely down to Stellan Skarsgard's performance and some solid supporting characters. However, let's see if the intended version will be better.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981)

 

Written by Ron Kurz

Directed by Steve Miner

Paul (to everyone): "Jason's out there ... watching .... always on the prowl for intruders. Waiting to kill ... waiting to devour ... Thirsty for young blood."

I'm slowly working my way through this franchise and I was looking forward to this sequel. Mainly because it's the first one that actually has the not so dead Jason Voorhees (Steve Daskewisz/Warrington Gillette) front and centre as a villain. Let's just say that his first proper outing's a bit of a mixed bag.

Following the events of the first movie, a traumatized Alice (Adrienne King) wants to regain control of her life. Unfortunately for her, she ended up being Jason's first kill and spanning a trend of survivors being bumped off in follow up movies. It's also a rather anticlimactic death for the character.

Anyways with Alice out of the way, there's a time jump and Crystal Lake has reopened again with a fresh batch of young adult for Jason to bump off, one by one. Not to mention a new final girl named Ginny (Amy Steel).

One of the positives about this dry run for Jason movie was that I found Ginny to be a slightly better protagonist than Alice. She seemed to be open to the idea of Jason skulking around and killing people and when faced with him, the movie delivered one of its most interesting moments in the franchise.

Having Ginny impersonate Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) in order to buy herself time from being killed by Jason was both reckless and clever in equal measure. Saying that, Ginny also had her hunky boyfriend Paul (John Furey) to help as well.

In terms of characters, I don't really feel this sequel had a lot of memorable new players. None of the other camp counselors were bad, just not very interesting so to speak. I did however like the brief return of Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney) but even he suffered from sequel death syndrome. 

- Ginny was revealed to be majoring in child psychology. It does explain how easily she played on his feelings for his mommy.

- Jason wore a burlap sack for this movie. His iconic hockey mask being introduced from the next one onwards.

- Unlike another horror franchise, the cute dog actually survived. Nice one, Muffin.

- Chronology: The pre title was two months after the first movie, then we got a five year time jump.

Friday The 13th Part 2 was a sequel I had greater expectations for and was a tad disappointed when it didn't really live up to them. It had its moments but wasn't quite as good as the first one, even though Jason got some good kills and I liked Ginny as a final girl.

Rating: 6 out of 10

DCU Blog - September 2023 Edition: DC Studios Update, Aquaman Sequel Trailer and DCU Returnees

With the writers strike officially resolved and the actors strike about to be as well, you can expect more developments for the future of DC as we head towards the final quarter of the year. For now, here's the latest news.

After months of waiting, we finally got our first trailer for Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom and it's still keeping its December 20th release date.

Some recent toys revealed a new character called King Kordax while Willem Dafoe will not be returning for the sequel.

Superman: Legacy should begin filming next Spring, once the SAG strike has been resolved.

Blue Beetle has grossed over $125 million worldwide and went to digital early this week.

James Gunn has confirmed yet again that Xolo Mariduena, Viola Davis, John Cena and Freddie Stroma will be returning for the DCU.

DC Studios will be expanding it's production hub in the UK for many of its future productions.

Creature Commandos will be released in 2024 and is officially the first project from the DCU.

The second half of the final season of Doom Patrol will begin streaming from October 12th on Max.

Fans will be able to buy the first season of The Sandman on DVD from November.

Batman is unlikely to appear in the second season of My Adventures With Superman. 

All three seasons of Pennyworth, including a complete series box set is now available to buy.

Colman Domingo and Hasan Minhaj will voice Batman and The Riddler respectively in the upcoming Spotify limited series, The Riddler: Secrets In The Dark.

Superman And Lois fourth season will now likely not air until next summer. 

Gail Simone revealed recently that she had a pitch meeting for a Harley Quinn solo movie.

Matthew Vaughn apparently is committed to an upcoming DCU project. 

That's your lot for this month. Let's see what the final quarter of the year will bring for the DCU.

My Review of The Exorcist III (1990)

 Written And Directed by William Peter Blatty

Patient X (to Kinderman): "I still hear from her occasionally, screaming. I think the dead should shut up, unless there's something to say."

If ever a horror franchise had its run of bad luck sequels, it would definitely be this one. However after the critically reviled second entry, this third one actually has enough going in it favour to be fair.

First of all, it makes a point to ignore the events of Exorcist II: The Heretic while being written and directed by William Peter Blatty himself. Does it mean this movie happens to be on a par with the first one? Not quite but there's a lot to like here.

Focusing on an older protagonist here, we have Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (George C. Scott) and his rather spiky friendship with chain smoking Father Dyer (Ed Flanders). They have great scenes together and then the latter got brutally murdered and suddenly, links to a past killer resurfaced.

The past killer in question being the Gemini Killer (a not so subtle Zodiac Killer stand in) and suddenly things get a bit strange for Kinderman. Notably because the Gemini Killer died fifteen years ago and then in a facility, Kinderman spotted someone who looked just like the presumed dead Father Karras (Jason Miller), claiming to be the Gemini Killer aka James Venamun (Brad Dourif).

Fairly soon, it's made clear that Karras did die and Pazuzu (Colleen Dewhurst) just to be a petty shit managed to put the Gemini Killer in Karras's body and have the latter obediently serve him. In terms of performances, both Jason Miller and Brad Dourif perfectly sync with one another, despite the literal restrictions in their movements.

For the rest of the movie, there's an excellent back and forth between Kinderman and Pazuzu/Gemini Killer with the bodies lining up, including Father Morning (Nicol Williamson) as the latter was unable to defeat Pazuzu a second time before Karras managed to get some free will and a gunshot ended Pazuzu this time around. 

- William Peter Blatty based this movie on his book, Legion, which was what he wanted to call the movie in order to distant it from the previous one.

- The Gemini Killer claimed to kill at random but went after victims with a K in their names and to spite his father.

- I liked that sly reference to Child's Play. They did cast Brad Dourif so why not?

- Chronology: 1990, fifteen years after the events of the first movie. 

The Exorcist III easily made for a better sequel than expected. The combination of excellent performances from the leads, William Peter Blatty's script and a genuine sense of terror all helped. It's too bad the next two installments are contradicting and rather pointless prequels.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Story: Delicate - Rockabye

 

Written by Halley Feiffer 

Directed by Jennifer Lynch

Anna: "Thank you for saving me from myself."

Siobhan: "I mean, I am trying."

After last week's modest enough opening episode, this week decided to add a little more blood and gore into the mix. Has Anna's pregnancy quest come to a horrible end so early?

Somehow I don't think so and going by the source material, obviously not but this episode did end with Anna and Dex believing the former had miscarried. Maybe there is a conspiracy after all for Anna not to get pregnant. Oh and Siobhan's raising more questions too.

The episode started with Siobhan giving Anna a rundown of what the latter needed to do be a serious Oscar contender while giving Anna some B12. The B12 also made Anna puke her guts up but Dr Hill also confirmed her pregnancy before the events of this episode went the way they did. Anna really had a hell of a time here.

The Gotham Awards should've been her time to shine between a younger rival, an overly familiar fangirl in the bathroom and passing out on stage, she became tabloid fodder instead. Not to mention Siobhan was a bit too physically close to her in one particular scene. Are Siobhan's intention towards Anna's baby journey really selfless? I don't think so.

Then there were the stalkers again. Ms Preecher was still posting creepy shit about Anna on Reddit while Ivy finally interacted with Anna, while posing as a nurse. Anna almost clued together that Ivy was her stalker up it wasn't until the last scene where it was practically spelled out.

As for Dex, he seemed less horrible to Anna in this episode but still too suspicious nonetheless. Conveniently going out to get dogfood while Anna was being stalked in their home, his phone calls to Sonia and not being there when she miscarried. If he's not a baddie, I'll be shocked because it looks like he's a part of whatever gaslighting is happening with Anna.

- Anna's birthday was revealed to be January 17th 1988, making her 35 during this time. Babette Eno (Taylor Richardson) was born after 1991 at least.

- We met the hunky bodyguard,  Kamal (Maaz Ali) while also learning that Talia is a lesbian with a non binary partner. 

- I've seen some people speculate about Adeline and Somia being the same person and after one specific scene here, it does look like that'll end up being true.

- Anna's director Hamish Moss (Dominic Burgess) seems to have a rivalry with Siobhan. Siobhan looked like she wanted to kill him during the awards. Nice but brief appearance from Zachary Quinto as awards presenter, Craig.

- The Reddit pages had topics on super humans and a Hollywood coven among other things. 

- Chronology: From where the last episode left off.

Rockabye felt like a stronger episode compared to the first one with some genuinely shocking moments more akin to seasons of old. There's some heavy handed talks on nepotism babies (both applicable to two of our leads this season) and gaslighting overall, but saying that, I liked this episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Future Of The Halloween Franchise - New Developments

It's been less than a year since the Blumhouse trilogy came to it's divisive (but financially successful) conclusion with Halloween Ends.

If you were hoping for the long running horror franchise to take a rest, you may be disappointed with the latest developments then.

Although rumoured for months by horror fan accounts, it was confirmed this week that the Akkads were shopping the rights for the next chapter in the Halloween franchise, including a potential TV series as well as a new movie. With Blumhouse out of the running, two potential owners are in the mix.

The owners being either Miramax (who have a history distributing past movies such as Halloween H20 and Halloween: Resurrection) or A24, the latter known for their elevated horror films such as Hereditary and The Witch. Out of the two, I know which one I'd rather see this franchise go with but either way, I expect development to move fast with this.

In terms of what should be done next with the franchise, it's time to go down the TV series route. At this point, it's a miracle that this format hasn't already happened and for the fans who want either the anthology setting or even a requel to Halloween IV: The Return Of Michael Myers, it's something I see a streaming show more inclined to do than the next theatrical release.

As for a new movie, we still have the 50th anniversary in 2028 and there's no way that big milestone is being passed up. I get the arguments for retiring this franchise permanently and I even agree with them but as long as there's an audience for Michael Myers and Haddonfield in general, it'll never fully rest for good.

What are your thoughts - a new movie or a TV show? Or is it too soon for this franchise to be returning?