There are few things that bug me more than movies that open with ‘Based on a True Story’ because more often than not they’re based so loosely on anything resembling truth that it’s barely relevant – a market James Wan has cornered with The Conjuring and its sequels, which neglect to tell viewers that the […]
Last week I chose to see the reboot of Candyman (2021) over Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and while the former was not terribly scary, it wasn’t a decision that I regretted. Partially because the aspirations of Shang-Chi seemed a bit high (I tend to watch movies because I enjoy watching movies, […]
I know the idea of ‘aggressive mediocrity’ is somewhat contradictory in that mediocrity is almost by definition milquetoast and lacking in passion, but there’s no other way I can find to describe James Wan’s The Conjuring 2. The original movie was one of those horror movies that was so risk-adverse that (much to no one’s […]
I was particularly impressed by Ole Bornedal’s The Possession (2012), so much so that in my review I mentioned how much I preferred it to the horror of James Wan’s movies, The Conjuring in particular. There was a problem though, namely I haven’t seen it in quite awhile, so I was comparing Bornedal’s movie to […]
I’ve never been particularly fond of the bulk of the movies that make up James Wan’s Conjuring universe (The Conjuring (2013), The Conjuring 2 (2016), The Nun (2018), Annabelle (2014) and Dead Silence (2007, that latter as far as I’m aware isn’t actually connected though is directed by Wan) because he seems to care more […]
Jorge Olguín’s La Casa revolves around Casona de Quinta Normal in Chile, which was been associated with paranormal events for decades…even after it was converted to a community center. Which sounds like a really interesting thing to make a movie about, except that La Casa isn’t really about Casona de Quinta Normal, not really, more […]
I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say that Mike Flanagan is among the best – if not the best – directors currently working in horror. And you likely noticed that “Mike Flanagan” isn’t either Guillermo Del Toro, James Wan or Andy Muschietti. And that’s because Del Toro – while never far from the […]
I’ve said it before and I’ll reiterate it here: Mike Flanagan is literally the best director working in horror today. James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring franchise), Andy Mucheletti (Mama, IT)…they’re okay but don’t hold a candle to Flanagan. He’s not afraid of depicting actual violence–unlike Wan (Saw notwithstanding)–and he’s able to weave a narrative like […]
Let me be clear: I think Zach Snyder ruined the DCEU (which isn’t for a moment to imply that he did it alone. He had plenty of help from executives that were apparently so ignorant of their own IP that they let Snyder–whom no matter what he says in public does not like these characters–ruin […]
I understand the moviemakers sometimes have to sacrifice accuracy for realism when producing something based on a comic book because what looks good in a drawing doesn’t always translate well to real life (which is why we’re likely to NEVER see a comic-accurate Scarlet Witch in the Avengers movies). That being said, the goal should […]
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