Halloween Ends (2022) - REVIEW

 

The sequel everyone has been waiting for or maybe not for that matter considering Halloween Kills wasn't really that good.  I remember the director saying when Halloween Kills came out that they intended to take the movie in a new direction.  I also remember me thinking to myself: How can they really do that?  The final showdown between Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney).  It seems like it has been done before, quite a few times actually.  Is it really the end this time?

"Four years after the events of Halloween Kills, Laurie is living with her granddaughter Allyson and is finishing writing her memoir. Michael Myers hasn't been seen since. Laurie, after allowing the specter of Michael to determine and drive her reality for decades, has decided to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life.

But when a young man, Corey Cunningham, is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can't control, once and for all." IMDB.com

First, I want to say that whatever expectation you have going into this film.  You can just squash it!  This is completely not what I expected to watch. The direction they took this story in is very different and not the traditional Halloween movie that is expected.   This may be where all the bad reviews I have been seeing pop up for this film.

 I think this was really well written and as original as it could be considering it is the 13th movie in the franchise.  It starts off just a bit slow but does gain momentum pretty quickly.  Once it does, I found myself getting more and more into this movie because I couldn't predict how it was going to end.  Jamie Lee Curtis gives a great performance as well as the newcomer to the franchise in 2018, Andi Matichak as Laurie Strodes Granddaughter. 

You may agree with my review or you may not and that's OK but I really enjoyed watching this.  I thought the best part was the ending.  The ending gave me a sense of closure to the series and I really hope they don't make anymore.  As great as Michael Myers films are, it's old and tired.  Much like Michael appears to be.  I enjoyed this trilogy as a whole but lets be done now. Stay Twisted everyone!

 

The Birds II: Land's End (1994) - REVIEW

 

Until about a month ago I didn't even know The Birds had a sequel.  A made for TV movie from 1994.  Still doesn't ring any bells.  I figured I would go ahead and give it a try and see if it was any good.  Knowing that this was not going to compare to the Alfred Hitchcock classic from the 60's.  I usually like a good bad movie.  Did that make sense?

 "A biology teacher and his wife take their two children to an island summer house to enable him to write an important thesis while getting over the death of their son.

While they are there, large flocks of birds appear and begin to attack individual humans for no apparent reason. The town mayor (who is also the local doctor) refuses to believe that birds are responsible for the spate of injuries that are occurring but, before long, he has no option but to believe as the birds begin attacking larger groups of people. "-IMDB.com

This is the sequel you didn't know you needed.  Do you know why?  Because you didn't!  This movie is a shitshow and not even good for a made for TV movie.  I'm ok with the fact that no big name actors or actresses are in it but you give a small role to Tippi Hedren, who was in the original movie, and it's not even the same role.

I mean, Cmon!  The story is lacking, not developed well and takes too long to get to any action in the movie.  This may have been ok if it was building suspense but it really wasn't.  The only star I can give this is that the deaths were done pretty well.  I guess they tried to make up for the fact that the movie itself was awful.  It doesn't of course but at least it gives people one lone positive thing to say. 

The Birds II was just released about a month ago on Blu-Ray by Vinegar Syndrome.  The transfer and the quality of the film was really good.  I am a big fan of Vinegar Syndrome and as usual they did not disappoint in that aspect.  They found a way to polish a turd. 

Stay Twisted Everyone

Devour 2005 - REVIEW

 

Let me just start off by saying, I’m a huge, HUGE Supernatural fan (Dean girl all the way) so I was surprised that I had never heard of this movie before. Not gonna lie, the movie poster and tag line didn’t really do it for me but the lure of seeing Jensen Ackles in something other than the role he’s most known for definitely did it for me. 

College student Jake Gray (Jensen Ackles) has spent a lifetime dealing with waking nightmares but has managed to separate dreams from reality in order to function. On his 21st birthday, his friends, Conrad (Teach Grant) and Dakota (Dominique Swain) present him with the gift of The Pathway; a computer game that quickly becomes more than they bargained for. While Jake gets drawn further into the game, the people around him start committing violent crimes and harming themselves and his visions become more and more disturbing. As his life crumbles around him, he starts to believe the game is to blame for everything. With the help of his last remaining friend, Marisol (Shannyn Sossamon), he looks to the developer of the game, Aiden Kater (Martin Cummins)  for answers and ends up getting much more than he bargained for. 

I obviously wasn’t looking for Oscar worthy performances from anyone but with such an experienced cast, I was expecting decent, if not good, execution. Here’s the problem… you can have the best cast on the planet but even they can’t save a poorly written film. At times the dialogue seems trite and forced which in turn, comes off as very wooden. The only saving grace is William Sadler as a heartbroken husband and father. Unfortunately, he only appears for a few minutes and it’s most definitely not long enough to pull Devour out of it’s tailspin. 

When I first read the description, my mind immediately went to Stay Alive but where Stay Alive thrives, Devour falls far short. The entire premise of the movie hangs on the illusion of ‘The Pathway’ but the game is never explained. You can infer why they introduced Jake to it but how did they come across it and why did they decide to participate? Beyond that, the film also suffers from very little character development which leads the audience to not really care who lives or dies. Speaking of deaths, most of them are implied, rather than shown so you’re cheated out of the elation of watching these unlikable characters meet their demise.

All in all, Devour is slow, predictable and disappointing in every way. Somewhere in there, the whole premise, The Pathway, falls to the wayside and a whole different plot line takes over. Take the first, middle and end and make three different short films and they MIGHT be watchable. As it is, this pathway leads to nothing more than mediocrity.