My first (and only, up to this point) “experience” with The Grudge franchise was the first American remake in 2004. What little I remember of it has failed to leave a lasting impression on me. With the impending release of yet another remake/re-imagining, I figured I would seek out the original and see how it stands up in 2020. Of course when I say “original” I’m talking about Ju-On: The Grudge, which is apparently the third in the Japanese Ju-On series. The film follows a somewhat unconventional and non-linear format, jumping from character to character to chronicle the spread of […]Read more »
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The release and somewhat unexpected success of Andy Muschietti’s 2017 remake of It started a wave of sorts of Stephen King adaptations. Not that we’ve had any shortage of them in the past, but there seems to be an ignited public interest in re-imagining his classics since the Loser’s Club reassembled on the big screen. I’ve been a casual fan of King’s work, so this has been an exciting time for me, despite the missteps. It was this success and renewed interest that made it no surprise that the studio would fast-track a somewhat star-studded sequel to cash in on […]Read more »
Venom is a spin-off of sorts within the Sony-controlled but Marvel Studios-sanctioned Spider-Man universe. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy, playing a character previously portrayed by Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3) is an investigative reporter working out of San Francisco that comes in contact with the titular alien lifeform while investigating Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) and allegations against his company regarding unethical human testing. Despite technically taking place in the same world as Tom Holland’s Spider-man, and by extension the rest of The Avengers, this film operates entirely apart from any references to the established Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While there’s always going be exceptions, the general conceit of the slasher horror movie subgenre is that it exists as a form of violent escapism. When the slasher genre started to wane a couple decades ago, the “torture porn” genre (ex. Saw, Hostel, etc.) flourished in its absence. As long as the movie hits a few key notes and leaves buckets of blood in its wake, audiences are going to get what they came for. Hell Fest is in many ways a return to form for slasher movies but at the same time it fails to clear this very basic benchmark.
Horror movies that succeed best at getting under my skin are always spun from relatable scenarios. While I have not personally experienced tragedy to the degree that the characters of Ari Aster’s Hereditary have, key moments of the film can be reflected in the lives of nearly every human being, regardless of their upbringing or background. It is because of this that I will likely never forget some of the things the film has put inside my head.
Upgrade is the newest film by Leigh Whannell, co-writer of a good chunk of the Saw and Insidious movies. As his writing partner James Wan has gone on to have a very prolific and successful directing career, Whannell’s began back in 2015 with the less-than-stellar third entry to the Insidious franchise. While he has yet to really prove himself as a director, I was still looking forward to seeing him working on an original project to get a better sense of his artistic style.