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Angela Anaconda (1999)
Underrated Gem
Don't listen to the bad reviews - this show is great! If you've got a quirky sense of humor, you'll appreciate its weirdness.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
Meh
This is supposed to take place in 1968, but nothing about this movie captures that era except some wallpaper and a blanket. None of the characters look or speak like they're from that time period, nor do the characters portrayed as living decades before seem like they were from the turn of the century. Could those involved in the making of this really not even bother to watch films from then to get an idea of how the cast should speak or have their hair styled?
Also, for those of us who grew up on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this movie barely touches on them. It references a few stories, but this should have just been its own thing since the books weren't justified here. They used the name to get millenials interested, but they failed to deliver anything worth our time on that front.
Grégory (2019)
Well Done, But What Was The Point?
Five hour-long episodes for there to be no more information now than there was in 1984? So what was the point of making this? I kept hoping that Gregory would have been exhumed, or that The Raven would have been identified - something! But no. They didn't know who killed him back then, and they've found out nothing since then. How boring... don't waste your time.
Imprint (2007)
Eesh
I couldn't even make it 10 minutes. Poorly acted, boring, and badly done overall. Perhaps a bigger budget might have saved it, but I wasn't interested enough to invest the time to find out if it was worth finishing.
Bird Box (2018)
Some People Just Don't Understand Thrillers Like This
From the low reviews I've seen here, it seems apparent that some folks can't appreciate a movie unless everything is spelled out for them and neatly tied up with a red bow at the end.
Bird Box has good pacing and a subtle, driving score composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The combination of those along with my wonder of what exactly was going on kept me completely captivated for the first 30 minutes until viewers learned a little more. Then you spend the next 90 minutes wondering if anyone will make it. If you're a fan of The Shining, A Quiet Place, Hereditary, Black Mirror, or Dark (a German series on Netflix), you might enjoy this, too.
Hereditary (2018)
Naysayers Don't Appreciate Classic Horror
Ignore the negative reviewers - they want unimaginative plots with hackneyed jump scares at break-neck speed. This film knows how to build suspense with subtle, disconcerting occurrences amplified by a driving, menacing score. Hereditary moves at a deliberately slow pace to maximize anticipation while delivering enough twists and thrills to keep viewers riveted.
With Charlie being featured prominently in the trailer, her death so early on comes as a shock (though one can see it coming in the moments leading up to it). Peter is unreactive. Both he and Charlie were reserved and seemingly unresponsive to the events in their lives, but this could be due to the trauma of nearly having been killed by their unstable mother years before. When Charlie is killed, Peter immediately goes into shock. He doesn't call the police, he doesn't look at Charlie's body (let alone retrieve her head), he doesn't inform his parents - he just goes home and goes to bed. While naturally there would be an investigation (and likely counseling), Peter barely registers what is going on around him. We see the next few weeks through his catatonic state, which is possibly why we aren't shown the turmoil that ensues after such an unexpected and grisly death of a close family member.
Hereditary is more cerebral than I expected, and leaves viewers with lots of questions. Is Charlie actually possessed by a demon or her grandmother's spirit, or is she simply an introverted, troubled young girl trying to cope (i.e. by developing a clucking tic) with a distressing event that has strained her family's bonds? Is the family truly being plagued by demonic activity caused by Ellen's dalliance with the occult, or are Annie and her children battling mental illnesses that have been afflicting the family for generations? Is what we see terrifying supernatural phenomena, or paranormal delusions and hallucinations provoked by extreme stress and trauma? Who knows?
With the exception of the final 10 seconds (that should have been left on the cutting room floor), this movie exceeds expectations. It's refreshing to see a film that leaves viewers wondering instead of ruining its potential greatness by pandering to an audience with limited intelligence and patience by explaining mysterious plot points and making every minor detail a clunky foreshadowing vehicle.
The story and score are reminiscent of The Skeleton Key and The Shining, respectively, so I imagine if you liked both of those, Hereditary will take its place alongside them in your horror/thriller repertoire.