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katerinara
Reviews
The Room (2019)
When you can have anything, what would you wish for?
This movie actually took me down a path I wasn't expecting. It's slow and moody, but it's more a think piece than anything else. I came into this movie with certain expectations, but it didn't go the way I anticipated at all, and I'll always be a fan of that. Predictable movies can be fun but aren't as interesting as the movies that think outside the box. The acting is very good and the plot while not unique (wishes not turning out right) was very original in the places they took it. I enjoyed this movie in it's simplicity, because they didn't take the easy road, they turned this into more than just "evil wishes" which the horror genre is chock full of. It's not full of gore, jump scares or visceral horror, it's more the choices we make, why, and what effect they have on us.
Terrornet (2024)
How am I the only reviewer?!
This movie has no reviews anywhere, so I went into this blind HOWEVER, I'm a found footage junkie and this is a new one, so I'm excited. Right off the bat I'm thinking this is a very clear UK copy of Unfriended or The Host and I was 100% dead on with that (pun intended!). What I didn't realize until a few minutes in was this isn't a "serious" horror movie. Right away you're taken behind the scenes of the main character David via his computer/cam as he prepares for a new web show called Terrornet where people can pay to watch live ghost hunt/exorcism that is done live on cam without anyone leaving their house. It's a fun silly movie that "takes a p*ss" at itself and the genre, but still does a good job storytelling. I feel like the introduction to the original haunting could have been done a little better, but I get where they were coming from since this isn't trying too hard. I loved the way they wove the aspects of the situation together (I can't be more detailed without spoilers), because while it's a comedy horror, they still managed to entertain and keep the plot linear, which a lot of low budget horror movies really tend to lack. The acting was spot on, the effects were minimal and used well, there's very little shaky cam, no gore, and no animals at all.
Malignant (2021)
Hello gory action horror! Nice to see you join the fray
This movie has mixed reviews and I can see why. I did very much enjoy it BUT it does fall under a tired and overdone horror cliche', which I can't talk about because it will ruin the reveal and I go out of my way not to spoil movies for people. I will say the stunt person who played the antagonist was extremely talented and I was super impressed with their abilities. The true story unfolds slowly while still giving you a decent amount of action and gore, so it doesn't feel as slow as other movies that don't have that side action to distract you from the story. It does get a little messy near the end and I figured out the "twist" probably fifteen minutes in, but the execution of the twist is what really sets it apart from other movies in a similar vein. The acting was good but could have been better, sometimes people did things that just didn't make much sense and that hurts emersion for me. All in all I did enjoy this. Fair warning, LOTS of gore. Lots of creative mutilations and deaths.
Deadstream (2022)
A middle of the road comedy horror
I knew going into this it was a comedy horror, and I'm not gonna lie, I literally scream laughed at one scene in particular (you'll know it when you get to it). This movie has a lot of jump "scares" and is so ridiculously predictable it's literally making fun of itself the whole time, but that doesn't make it unenjoyable. It's very Sam Raimi inspired and you can see a lot of similarities in this and evil dead 2, with that super low budget silliness you can't help but laugh at. The effects aren't impressive, the ghosts/demons/whatever are not the best, and aside from laughing at screaming scared dude, it's kind of a throwaway. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table but that's not it's biggest downfall. The ending was very blah and not as deep or interesting as it could have been (I honestly would have ended it entirely differently myself) but all in all it was at least entertaining. Probably not much rewatch value though. There's some "ick" gore but it's so silly it's less frightening and just gross. No animals.
Nope (2022)
Best Peele movie yet
Now I've always said show me a unique and truly scary UFO movie and I will be one happy woman. And this hits all the marks, it's horrifying, it's unique, it really changes the dynamic of the typical UFO general "rules" and manages to have a satisfying ending. As always spoiler free, but I will warn you animals definitely die in this movie, so beware. As a horror story goes this is the first time Jordan Peele hasn't disappointed me in one way or another, and I'm happy to see him lean away from the comedy side of things a bit more. In his movies I have found myself truly frustrated by his injection of humor at suspenseful moments that ruin the atmosphere he so carefully curated, but in this he was very restrained and the comedic parts felt like they actually belonged as opposed to being forced. The way one of the characters's nature saved their butt is brilliant, and I thought the side story teaching how to act was woven in well. I honestly cringed and felt horrified at certain points and that's a real treat for me. The acting was great. The reason for a 9 instead of 10? They did a thing I hate: when characters know not to do a thing and then they do it anyways. It's frustrating as hell watching people do the opposite of what they know they should. Anyways, despite that I had a good time watching this, and it definitely got under my skin in the right ways.
The Menu (2022)
A tasty treat for horror enthusiasts
I specifically avoided trailers and reviews of this movie because I wanted IT to tell it's story without it's reputation to make or break it in my mind. I'm very glad that I did, so I'm going to be as vague as humanly possible when writing this review. Unless you've been spoiled by others, I don't want to be the one to take the magic and unfolding of this story away. With movies such as this you expect it to go one of a few ways, and this is no different. The plot isn't new by any means but it's done well. The commentary on snobby foodies and rich socialites is very clear and obvious, but well written. I enjoyed the acting and the climax pleased me greatly. There are certain things you just like to see in certain genres of movies and this one checked all the boxes for me. The very last scene made me smile and when credits rolled I said out loud to myself "I really enjoyed that". That's the sign of a good movie to me, and that's gonna have me rewatching to capture the smaller details you never catch on the first watch through. Basic plot description: We follow Margot as she joins her date on a ridiculously exclusive special dinner. It's obviously not her "thing" but her partner is super into it in a way that's almost creepy. Things get weird as hell as the dinner progresses. That's all you really need to know. Very little gore, no animals.
The Tunnel (2011)
Very middle road for me
This is one of those small cast closed sets kinda movies. It's about a reporter crew that goes into the underground tunnels of Australia to prove homeless people live down there while the government is trying to use water reservoirs down in the tunnels due to severe drought. It's a creature feature, and while all of the above tends to do well, I was found wanting. I wanted better character development, less talking, less horror clichès, and more creature. The first half is slow but doesn't really do a good job of fleshing out characters, which in itself is a little strange. You know who's going to make it and who isn't, so it's hard to feel connected to the movie in general, you already know who's gonna die and who isn't, so the suspense in certain scenes is lacking. The creature seemed interesting, but it doesn't act logically in multiple scenes. I'm also disappointed in how much screen time the creature gets, as well as it's motivations for doing what it does. All told this wasn't a complete waste of time, but I don't think I'll be going out of my way to watch it again. The problem with this movie is it doesn't have ANYTHING fresh or new, it's all rehashed storytelling, and that's it's biggest downfall. No animals, a little bit of gore, but nothing overt.
Summoning Sylvia (2023)
Funny and fun
I went into this relatively spoiler free, but knowing horror comedy is a hard niche to do well. Regardless of that, this movie was a fun, light, with appropriate "scary" mixed in with the comedy. It's very heavy lgbtq+ and the four original characters are very flamboyant. There is a sex scene involving two men, etc, so if that's a hard limit for you, that's your warning. The premise of the movie is the three friends kidnapped the "bride" (Larry), and they rented a haunted house for the weekend. They do a seance and get a surprise guest or two. Once it takes off it gets more fun and once it hits the crescendo, you're on the edge of your seat trying not to laugh yourself off it. This is not a gory movie, I don't recall seeing even a drop of blood. No animals in the movie either. Just a fun movie with a decent plot.
Le calendrier (2021)
A true horror masterpiece
I went into this with very little knowledge but I know French horror is no joke (Martyrs will forever be one of my top horror movies). I was not disappointed, as this was original, impressive, had phenomenal acting, and was all around a fantastic movie. The horror in this is subtle but strong. It follows a paraplegic woman who is gifted an Advent calendar that's German. The rules are stated in the first candy. I won't spoil more than that because this was like an Advent calendar itself, opening each door was a surprise. There are two parts with French words that aren't translated, at the beginning, and near the middle of the first half. The beginning quotes are "To digest natural happiness like artificial one you must first have the courage to swallow it" Charles Baudelaire, "If you throw it away, I kill you" *I* The one in the movie during a tense scene is "don't throw it away". Yes, I had to pause and type it in, so I'm saving you the trouble. This movie really did a good job of creating an interesting mythos around this beautiful but dangerous box. The story just evolves as it goes on, and the ending..."chef kiss". The dog dies off screen but it's pretty brutal, so definitely beware. All told, I loved this movie. It was dark, it was savage, it held no punches back, and it delivered on scares. Not jump scares and cheap cliches, real horror that's relatable. I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a while and definitely rewatching. It's very rare to come across a horror movie with such a unique concept that has the budget and talent to fully develop the ideas. This is one of those rare gems that are like a work of art, perfect in every way.
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
A fun little ride
This movie had a lot of hype surrounding it. I typically ignore that kind of thing because in the past certain movies are lauded as masterpieces *coughbabadookcough* that not only didn't impress me, but confused me as to where all the praise came from. This one wasn't phenomenal, it didn't show me anything I hadn't seen before, and it didn't blow my mind, but what it was was entertaining. I feel like there's a very distinct separation between the beginning and the actual show "recording", and while they may have thought an introduction was necessary it almost hurts the story due to there being no follow up. No discussion of what we've seen or the repercussions of the uncut recordings we witness. Either go into a FF movie whole hog or do a cap at both ends, anything less cheapens the experience. For the first eight and a half minutes you get a dossier on the talk show host, then the actual show complete with behind the scenes close ups of his intimate conversations, but after all the activity happens it just goes to credits, no conversation about the backlash this supposed live show incurred. If the beginning didn't have the heavy amount of information it did, the plot would be decidedly full of holes, so an end cap would make this a more complete film. Regardless, it's a fun ride if you ignore some of the less glossy unfinished feeling parts. The acting was pretty good, the antagonist was murder worthy, and aside from some mild hokeyness the movie as a whole was entertaining. Very little gore, just a smidge, no animals hurt.
The Order (2003)
Nice little horror thriller
I had this on my list for years and my friend happened to have it, so we watched it during a rather difficult time, so you'll excuse me if my review is a little off. I do enjoy a good Catholic fudgery movie, and if this isn't that I don't know what is. It follows a young priest looking to find out what happened to an ex communicated priest he was friends with who died in a peculiar way. This movie creates an entirely new entity which I greatly approve of (in idea as well as the creativity of it) and to tell you much more will unfortunately spoil story, so suffice to say I was impressed with the ingenuity of the writers. I had to knock off a star for the transparent plot, and another for the hand holding through most of this movie, but if I hadn't seen 50 million movies in a similar vein I would likely give it a 9. The acting was spot on, every character hit their mark. Not much in the way of gore, no animals are hurt that I can remember. It's a shame Heath Ledger didn't survive his brush with Joker and method acting, what little I've seen of him had impressed me (I GREATLY enjoyed The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnusus).
The Oldest View (2023)
Did I watch what other reviewers watched?!
This "movie" was reviewed by slashfilm as the scariest film of 2023. Dude actually said he had to pause it and walk around because it was so scary. Let me tell you, as a person who devours horror like mosquitoes devour people in Florida, this is NOT scary. At all. It's badly done found footage that doesn't make any sense, doesn't answer any questions, and doesn't really offer anything other than "well that's different". This is a YouTube movie (in 3 parts) about a vlogger trespassing on private property when he finds a hole under a tree that leads to stairs. He follows the stairs. He finds what appears to be an abandoned mall. Things happen. That's about it. I'm claustrophobic and not even that aspect of this made me uncomfortable, it's just so ridiculously far fetched I don't even know where to begin. I won't say there's not a story here...maybe there is, but realistically this isn't a movie so much as it is an art film showing off a dead mall. As a found footage junkie I've seen so many FF movies, some decent, some terrible, some I wished I'd never seen (looking straight at you Megan Is Missing and Leaving D. C.). The biggest pitfall in FF is WHY ARE THEY STILL FILMING. In most movies it's because the camera provides light to see in the dark whatevers (typically woods) but unfortunately this movie provides no motive once it actually starts GETTING somewhere for him to continue holding his phone in such a perfect way that we can see everything. There's literally no reason for him to be filming with his phone while he's running through corridors and such, but he is! It's lazy cinematography and it annoys me that the director/writer/whoever clearly paid to get attention and favorable reviews put up. This was an hour of my life I kinda want back, because the only thing scary about this movie is how boring it was.
June 9 (2008)
Nothing good about this movie
I don't know who rated this movie as decent. This movie isn't a horror movie, scary, gory, visceral, or any of the other things glowing reviews are saying in the reviews here. I feel like I watched an entirely different film than was reviewed here. This movie was entirely plotless, pointless, had zero effects or interest, and it was just the second worse found footage movie I've ever seen. The only movie that's actual worse than this was "hallow shoals", which actually had "a" plot but it was so dumb I was mad I sat through it. This movie made me feel the same way, after sitting through the whole thing I wanted that hour and a half of my life back.
I'll sum up the whole movie for you:
Dumb kids play pranks.
Dumb kids keep messing with a house in the woods that's supposedly the home of a crazy woman who murdered her children by hammering their heads in.
Dumb kids keep playing pranks, messing with the house and messing with people around the house.
Dumb kids *spoiler spoiler* the end.
Never again. If you want a decent ff, watch Exists, In Memorium, Exhibit A, etc. There's so many really good ff films along with SO MANY bad ones. Don't settle!