Freddy's Friday's (2023)

I took a couple days away as I continue to battle this cold.  Plus,  I've been caught up trying to finish a few quests in Fallout 76, last night being one with the Cult of Mothman, so that's been fun.  But,  today I decided to dive back into some horror with 2023s Freddy's Friday's. 

Plot: A detective begins to investigate a series of mysterious murders that are connected to a demonic book that brings dolls to life. As the body count begins to rise, the detective soon learns the curse of the demonic Friday and must find a way to stop.

If you thought this was gong to be a ripoff of Five Nights at Freddy's from looking at the cover, you would be so off base. That is what I thought as well,  until I started watching it.  Instead,  I found an erratic and strange low budget summoned demon slasher influenced film that had some masked, almost animatronic, looking killer's. While there was potential here, the casting, performances, effects, and execution was lacking throughout. It was really a hard watch. Yes,  I did find it interesting,  but not enough to recommend it to anyone. Stay away.

Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)

I took a couple of days off from the blog to attend a few movies and take part in a couple of horror trivia contests. I love horror trivia, but I will admit, the questions that these people are asking are getting harder and more difficult to answer. Who knew how crazy the Polish movie poster for Alien looked like the Spaghetti Monster. In preparation for the next installment of this series, I revisited the Hell House LLC franchise, with Part 2, the Abaddon Hotel being my next entry.

Plot: It's been eight years since the opening night tragedy of Hell House, LLC and still many unanswered questions remain. Thanks to an anonymous tip, investigative journalist Jessica Fox is convinced that key evidence is hidden inside the abandoned Abaddon Hotel-evidence that will shed light on the hotel's mysteries.

Like with many sequels, this movie doesn't quite live up to the baseline established by the original. In fact, while not terrible, it misses the mark in a ton of ways. The performances are uneven, the characters are not as interesting, and the overall storyline is not as nuanced or effective as the original. Yes, there are some moments where things work and they make it interesting, but the performances of the cast do not come close to what was experienced in the original film. That is definitely something that hold this film back and prevents it from matching the feel and quality of the original. Not a terrible movie, but one that could have been so much more with a different cast. 

Transhuman (2017)

Last night, I decided to spend my time focused on Twin Peaks: The Return, and I am glad that I did. This past episode was one of the most satisfying of the series and I can’t wait to see the final night. I did watch a couple flicks on Saturday and I have to finish those reviews. The first one is the 2017 low budget flick Transhuman.

Plot/ Transhuman follows a young journalist into the underbelly of a transhumanist cult, spanning generations leading back to the Nazi’s during World War II.

I picked this one up at Family Video on a whim, mostly because the combination of journalism and cults seem to go together nicely. Unfortunately, the synopsis was the best part of the film. Okay, the acting, the production values, and the scenery were not bad either, but those facets are wasted in the film. Unfortunately, the lack of depth within the storyline truly takes its toll, especially for those that do not quite understand the transhumanism movement. In case you don’t know, Transhumanism is an international intellectual movement that wants to alter humanity by using technologies to enhance intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities. Actually, a pretty deep subject that was lost somewhere among the multiple flashbacks that overwhelm this film. In the end, this one really does nothing to make it likable and it is in no way memorable. Stay away from it at all cost.

The Cat o'Nine Tails (1971)

Tonight was an awesome night as I finally was able to see Not Always What It Seems performed in front of an audience, and it was an amazing experience. This was an amazing moment and one that left me wanting to write more things for the stage. After a great dinner with PJ and AJ, I decided that it was time to review the one movie I did watch last week before all of the craziness started with the schedule. That movie is the 1971 giallo The Cat o’Nine Tails.

Plot/ A newspaper reporter and a retired, blind journalist try to solve a series of killings connected to a pharmaceutical company's experimental, top-secret research projects and in so doing, both become targets of the killer.

As a fan of Dario Argento, I often view this movie as one of his more overlooked films. While I do understand, why people overlook it, I don’t necessarily agree with them. Sure, it does lack many of the more memorable attributes of a typical Argento giallo, but it does offer an intriguing (albeit sometimes incoherent) storyline that is quite entertaining. Besides that, the performances are solid, the atmosphere is heavy, and as usual, the soundscape is outstanding. Yes, the film does lack the typical violence of an Argento flick, the camera work is not as crisp, and the surrealism that became an integral part of his later works just is not there. Plus, the scripting does seem to be all over and at times unfocused and the character development is uneven, but those elements would not be a huge issue if this wasn’t one of his films. In the end, while this is nowhere near Suspiria, it is a memorable giallo that would definitely be viewed differently if it wasn’t part of the Argento catalog. If you have not seen it, give it a shot. You may be surprised.

10 Days in a Madhouse (2015)

While working on some edits on my 2017 NaPoWriMo epic poem Salvation, I decided to put on a period piece to keep my mind focused and entertained. After some debate, I decided on 2015s 10 Days in a Madhouse.

Plot/ In 1887, at age 23, reporter Nellie Bly, working for Joseph Pulitzer, feigns mental illness to go undercover in notorious Blackwell's Island a woman's insane asylum to expose corruption, abuse, and murder.

I had debated myself about this movie for a few weeks and what I found was both interesting and disappointing at the same time. While the overall story is amazing and one that must be told, the execution was not there to back up the quality contained in the story. This is extremely surprising considering the budget was larger than some of the small budget flicks I watch and the pull everything together in a robust fashion. As a whole, the film felt disjointed and confused about what direction it wanted to take, the scripting was uneven, and the performances were flat and uninspiring. In the end, it is a shame this film did not ever reach its potential. The chance was there to make something that would leave a lasting impression; instead it is another movie that has already basically been forgotten.

The Ring (2002)

After taking a few days off to do some writing on my project, I decided to start the weekend off with a review of one of the classic films from the early 2000s. While I am sure many have watched this one, with a sequel in theaters, it was a nice trip back in time. That flick is the 2002 entry The Ring.

Plot/ A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape, which seems to cause the death of anyone in a week of viewing it.

There are times when I like to revisit some films in preparation for seeing sequels and such, and that was the case with the Ring. While some call this a remake and others an adaptation of the Japanese film Ringu, it does not matter because it is one of the best horror films of the 2000s. There are a ton of positives with this film, as the writing is tremendous, cinematography/direction is stylistic and creates a great atmosphere, and the cast does a tremendous job bringing the characters to life, as well as bringing the layered storyline out to a creepy and dark place. Yes, there are some smaller flaws with the amount of jump scares added in and some of the pacing felt off, but those do nothing to bring the film down. In the end, this is one of the most memorable films in the genre, and a film that must be seen. If you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for?

Snowden (2016)

Here it is, post number 1500 at the Ringmaster's Realm. As I said in yesterday’s post, I put a lot of thought into what movie I would review and decided on Snowden from Oliver Stone. To me, this was a very important story that must be told, and there is no one better than Stone to deliver the goods. No matter where you stand on Edward Snowden, he is a hero and should not be subjected to the hatred and ridicule he has faced. In fact, no whistleblower should be treated in this manner and if the United States government was not so corrupt, did not have so much to hide, and did not treat whistleblowers like criminals, this ordeal may not have ever happened. This is a perfect example and a powerful look at the Military Industrial Complex and the globalist community (led by the United States Government) that wants to enslave not only America, but also all of humanity.

Plot/ The illegal NSA surveillance techniques are leaked to the public by one of the agency's employees, Edward Snowden, in the form of thousands of classified documents distributed to the press.

Any time I sit down to watch a movie by Oliver Stone, I am excited about what minuscule detail will be brought out for the entire world to see. That was especially the case with Snowden. No matter what your political ideology is, the truths revealed by Edward Snowden opened the door for a more transparent society and again proved that you cannot trust the government. This is a great movie about a man that should be viewed as an American hero. Stone again delivers with his great eye for a story, and also proves he is not afraid to say things within his films that a great many people believe, but do not have a platform to speak from. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is outstanding as Snowden, and should be in line for recognition during award season. The rest of the cast is also top-notch and their performances are solid. The storyline and script is well developed, the cinematography and editing are tremendous, and the amount of information provided to the viewer is powerful. It was an easy watch and a movie that kept me glued to the screen. The only real negative with the movie is the fact that everything felt a bit compressed for the runtime. Yes, there will be viewers that discount the authenticity and will blindly believe that the surveillance infrastructure is fiction, but for them I would say wake up. Since the inception of the Patriot Act, no one has been free, and this story again proves that what many believe are conspiracies and indeed truths. In the end, Snowden is a powerful movie that should rank up there near the top of the Stone portfolio. It is a movie that must be seen full of information that should be embraced. Find it and watch it!

All the President's Men (1976)

There are times where messages in movies are important. However, nothing can replace true stories that tackle some of the most important events in history without steering it to match a narrative or agenda. Unfortunately, that is an art form that seems to have been bypassed in recent years, replaced by storylines that seem to mirror the agendas of the ruling classes of the establishment. This plague has not only overtaken Hollywood, but it has overwhelmed the main stream media and majority of newsprint outlets, which act more like propaganda arms than actual news outlets. One movie that shows the importance of clear journalism is the 1976 classic All the President’s Men.

Plot/ Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.

Every once in a while I have to sprinkle in a classic on the sight. While there is really nothing more that I can add to a review, this is a movie that must be kept in the spotlight, and actually in some ways still has tremendous relevance today. In this era of subpar journalism, where the mainstream media acts more like a propaganda wing for the establishment, this movie demonstrates the true power of the press. Based on the true story of reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and their tenacious investigation of the Watergate scandal, this movie succeeds even though the events are known. Between the Oscar-winning script, the amazing performances, and the natural tension everything works to perfection. In the end, this is a movie that is fact, and a movie that journalists or those interested in journalism watch and digest in its entirety. There is no agenda or hidden messages; it is just a tremendous reminder of when politics mattered less than the truth.