Soda & Telepaths sent me another fun movie to review, a horror film that’s been doing the film festival circuit called A Ghost Waits and I kinda enjoyed it, go read the fun words I wrote about it
Evil Eye (2020) – You Made A Fool Of Me
Released: 13th October
Seen: 20th October
The “Welcome to the Blumhouse” series on Amazon Prime has been something of an underwhelming series of films but I want to make one thing clear about the entire concept before we begin this final entry… I genuinely love that Blumhouse looked to four minority groups, mostly women and POC and handed them a budget to make a horror film while casting from underrepresented groups. Even if the films themselves haven’t been great, they’ve all shown how easy it is to make a film with underrepresented groups and some serious potential from the filmmakers, two big things that excite me so much.
Continue reading “Evil Eye (2020) – You Made A Fool Of Me”
Nocturne (2020) – Creepy Concerto
Released: 13th October
Seen: 17th October
The term Faustian Bargain dates back to German legends that told the tale of a man named Faust who, while bored, called on the devil and made a deal to give Faust knowledge and magic powers. The Devil, being a swell chap, said “Sure but eventually I’m taking your soul for this” and they made a deal. Well, SURPRISE, turns out the Devil is a bit of a dick and Faust’s powers actually ended up corrupting him as a person and soon he was dead and in hell where he became the Devil’s plaything because that’s what happens when you make a Faustian Bargain. This legend is the basis of many horror stories, including Nocturne which is another entry in the Welcome to the Blumhouse Anthology which is an anthology I’m slowly realising is made up of films that Blumhouse probably didn’t think they could sell to a mainstream cinema market so they threw them on Amazon and hoped for the best.
Continue reading “Nocturne (2020) – Creepy Concerto”
The Lie (2020) – Pants On Fire
Released: 6th October
Seen: 17th October
One of the many repeated tropes of horror that has worked time and time again is “Someone does a murder, they or someone who loves them helps them lie to cover it up, the secret comes back to haunt them in the end”. This simple concept has led to literary classics like The Tell-Tale Heart, to cinematic classics like Rope and even been used in fun 90s slashers like I Know What You Did Last Summer. When done right, it’s a setup that creates tension right off the bat and the way the characters react to the knowledge of what they’ve done (or how what they’ve done turns them into the ultimate victims) creates the emotional core of the story… when done wrong you get The Lie.
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Black Box (2020) – Black Mirror Out
Released: 6th October
Seen: 17th October
In recent years, Blumhouse has become the place to go for a shot of good, fun horror. They’re responsible for intelligent gems like Get Out and Happy Death Day, monster hits like The Purge series and revivals like Halloween all came from this one little studio that is known for giving a lot of freedom to directors who are willing to work with a micro budget. Well, in 2020 they would’ve released a new Halloween and Purge movie by this point in the year but, you know, we live in an apocalypse so we can’t have nice things but what we can have is a quadrilogy of horror films that’s been grouped into a series titled “Welcome to the Blumhouse”. Now I’m aware that there’s apparently 8 films in this series but I only have 4 of them out now to review and I don’t know when the other 4 are meant to come out so I’m going with quadrilogy. Now let’s talk about Black Box.
Continue reading “Black Box (2020) – Black Mirror Out”
The Cleansing Hour (2020) – This House Is Cleansed
Released: 8th October
Seen: 12th October
Ever since The Exorcist, the horror genre has treated the idea of demonic possession in a fairly standard way. Introduce a likeable protagonist, have her start behaving strangely, find some way to isolate her and bring in some priests, oops she’s actually the devil and now they have to yell bible verses at her until she returns to the likeable protagonist stage. Along the way some characters might die, some others might have a crisis of faith but in general, that’s the way exorcism movies have gone. It’s very rare for someone to try a new tactic in the exorcism genre of film but fortunately for us, the people behind The Cleansing Hour tried something new and did a great job of it.
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An Unquiet Grave (2020) – Be Quiet Outside
Another film review for Soda & Telepaths where I get to talk about a quiet little indie horror film that just didn’t quite do it for me… go, read, enjoy
Bloody Hell (2020) – Blood Outside
And now, my review of one of the most insanely fun films of the year… that’s over on Soda & Telepaths. Please go and read, it makes me look very good
Antebellum (2020) – The Horror Of The Past
Released: 1st October
Seen: 7th October
In my review of Vampires vs The Bronx I opened with a lengthy paragraph about how great Horror is when it’s used as a metaphor for some kind of social issue. Race is one that pops up a lot in horror, the genre has always been a useful way to put that issue into ways that can be understood by all. If you would like to know more about the history of race in horror cinema I suggest you go watch Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror which is easy to find, Shudder put it up for free and I’m linking you to it so go and learn. Go and learn so then you can come back here and sit with me as I try to understand why Antebellum just didn’t work for me as much as it could’ve.
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Vampires vs The Bronx (2020) – Don’t Mess With The Bronx
Released: 2nd October
Seen: 6th October
I’ve said it before, I will probably say it again, Horror is one of the best ways to handle social commentary. It can be a subtle critique of consumerism, like in Dawn of the Dead, or it can be so gloriously blunt that the movie might as well just beat you with a hammer with the movie’s message attached, like in Get Out. It can be a great way to put an indescribable feeling into something that can be easily described and get that feeling across… or it can just take a real world scenario and have some fun with it.
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