A Halloween Special: Girls Nite Out ( 1982 )

A lot of people worldwide celebrate Halloween weekend in many different ways. Some love to dress up as their favoutite horror characters such as Leatherface, Jason Voorhees or Senator Ted Cruz ( i should warn you, anyone coming close to Ted Cruz might be so scared that they actually run in fear ). And then you have people who carve pumpkins or loves to go trick or treating across the street hoping to get some candy. I personally have one favourite way to celebrate Halloween weekend and i dress up as congress woman Marjorie Taylor Greene and sit with a sign that says:- Im stopping climate change by sitting on this wall. I personally feel that this is the most brilliant Halloween celebration anyone have ever done in history and i am pretty sure no one have ever done this before. I do enjoy to have coffee spiced with pumpkin flavor while watching a horror film, because everyone knows this is the big horror weekend of the whole year. Over my 47 years living on this planet i have seen so many horror films im trying to remember as many as possible. Luckily i do have several recommendations for Halloween weekend and for example i would recommend 3 horror films from the specific year of 2007 and they are known as Dead Silence, 30 Days Of Night and the antholohy Halloween horror film known as Trick ´r Treat. If you manage to watch these 3 films on streaming or on physical media during Halloween weekend i guarantee you will have a lovely time. If you would rather watch something older from let´s say the 1980´s then i would highly recommend director Tom Holland´s classic vampire horror film Fright Night from 1985. It is one of those vampire classics that definetly holds a very special place in the hearts of horror fans worldwide. Not that long ago i was asked to do a special Halloween movie review of a horror film that one of my readers picked. As you all know i am always grateful to be asked to write about any film they would like to see me review. The film that was chosen is the 1982 horror film known as Girls Nite Out, a film i have not seen before. Is this a perfect film to enjoy during Halloween weekend or is Girls Nite Out not the fun experience i was hoping it would be?

At a remote Ohio college, a killer dressed in the school´s bear mascot suit stalks several  young women participating in an all-night scavenger hunt.

If you remember college movies of the 80´s where sex and acohol was a big part of that period i can tell you that Girls Nite Out makes sure we have both of these ingredients included. I would imagine that if a Swedish Feminist would see this film in today´s society she would definetely not be happy, but luckily i am happy instead. You see i happen to enjoy this light hearted sense of humour where everything is not meant to be taken seriously. The 80´s was a time filled with lots of nudity, sex and alcohol so why would Girls Nite Out try to do anything differently? If you can accept all of this i think you might actually have some fun with this film. There are some really wacky characters in this film that would probably be thrown out a party if things would get too wild. For example the characters Charlie Keiser ( played by actor Larry Mintz from the 1986 classic Tough Guys ) and Ralph Bostwick ( played by actor John Didrischen ) are exactly what we need at a college party where limits does not exist and you just live for the moment. Wonderful to see legendary actor Hal Holbrook from classic anthology horror film Creepshow in this film as well as the character Jim MacVey. When this film changes direction later on and become a traditional slasher film we do get some blood and violence included. I wouldn´t say that the slasher scenes are very frightening but maybe it´s because i have seen so many horror films that it takes quite a lot to affect me personally. One thing i do feel Girls Nite Out manage to do quite well is combine college comedy with slasher horror scenes. The plot isn´t anything you will remember much of and that´s completely fine, not all slasher films need a complicated story to function. So anything negative to say? To be honest this is not a film that we are supposed to think too much about and just have fun with it. Director Robert Deubel deliver a college horror film that knows what audience it was made for and give us a simple but fun time for fans of the slasher genre. Girls Nite Out is a pure nightmare for Swedish feminists and that´s good enough for me to recommend this film. Party on people im going for another whiskey.

Rating: DDD

A Halloween Special: Bram Stoker´s Dracula ( 1992 )

If you go back and read about horror stories from the past you will find out that people used to believe in a lot of things. For example in Scandinavia people believed that trolls actually existed while in countries like Austria they believed that the Christmas demon known as Krampus was in fact real. But then we have historical horror stories that actually happened in real life such as The Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa, USA. In the year of 1912 at this house there were six children and two adults brutally murdered by having their skulls completely crushed by an unknown perpetrator with an axe. You can actually stay at this house if you dare, where they say people have heard screams from children. Let us move forward to a completly different country and let´s talk about a very special author who grew up in Ireland. We are of course talking about author Bram Stoker who in the year of 1897 released his world famous gothic horror novel Dracula. If you talk to horror fans worldwide about horror novels regarding their favourite books in this genre, there is a big chance that this classic novel will be in the top ten of that list. I have read this book myself right after the millenium in the year 2000 when i bought myself a copy. This is an excellent novel that you should read if you love horror in general. It may be very old but it still very effective and very well written by author Bram Stoker. It was this novel that inspired the character known as Dracula to become a horror icon in cinema for many years and i have seen the 1931 horror film Dracula with legendary actor Bela Lugosi, a film that basically gave this character a franchise for many generations ahead. In my opinion the really good Dracula film that got me hooked up on this character was the 1958 horror film Dracula with legendary actor Christopher Lee as Count Dracula. There were plenty of sequels made with Christopher Lee as Dracula, some were ok while others were not as good as i was hoping they would be. Since then the Dracula franchise continued on in many different versions but it was in 1992 when director Francis Ford Coppola ( director of classic films such as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now ) really wanted to bring the novel of Dracula to life with his adaptation of the novel called Bram Stoker´s Dracula. I saw this film in cinema in early 1993 and fell in love with the film. It´s been quite some time since i revisited this film so decided to do a special review of Bram Stoker´s Dracula for the upcoming Halloween weekend. Is this still a very solid horror film or have this film aged more than i expected and lost some of the magic it once had?

In 1462, Vlad Dracula ( Gary Oldman ) returns from a victory in his campaign against the Ottoman Empire to find his beloved wife Elisabeta ( Winona Ryder ) has commited suicide after his enemies falsely reported his death. A priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church tells him that his wife´s soul is damned to hell for commiting suicide. Enraged, Vlad desecrates the chapel and renounces the Christian God, declaring he will rise from the grave to avenge Elisabeta with all the powers of darkness. He drives his sword into the chapel´s stone and drinks the blood that pours from it, becoming a vampire. In 1897, solocitor Jonathan Harker ( Keanu Reeves ) takes the Transylvanian Count Dracula as a client from his colleague R.M. Renfield ( Tom Waits ), who have gone insane and is now an inmate at Dr. Jack Seward´s ( Richard E. Grant ). Jonathan travels to Transylvania to arrange Dracula´s real estate acquisitions in London. There, he meets Dracula, who finds a picture of Jonathan´s  fiancée Mina Murray ( Winona Ryder ) and believes she is the reincarnation of Elisabeta. He leaves Jonathan trapped at his castle with some female vampires while he travels to London to make Mina his Elisabeta.

It doesn´t take very long until we see that Bram Stoker´s Dracula have a very erotic tone in this film. Especially where the almost completely naked vampire women show their bodies and manage to set the right tone for this film, where lust and passion becomes one with these creatures of the night while they feed on fresh human blood. I do think this gives the film strength daring to cross over some of the typical Dracula ingredients we have seen in much older film adaptations, where nudity feels like a much welcome detail that matches really well with darkness. There are so many different details that i appreciate with this film adaptation based on Bram Stoker´s classic book. For example the costume design in this film is really well designed, you can tell they really made a big effort to try and capture the right look for each of the most important characters we meet in this film. I also feel that the background story of  Count Dracula is told very well with some fascinating details regarding his life as a human in the past, as well as we get a sense of how hes struggling being the monster he is transformed. We have to talk about the acting in this film and i have to say, Gary Oldman as Count Dracula is not only one of the best acting performances i have seen Gary Oldman do in his career but i also feel that his portrait of Count Dracula is extremely powerful, emotional and very effective. Especially in the scenes where he show himself as a vampire beast, the make up effects are absolutely brilliant to his incredible performance. Legendary actor Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing doesn´t need any introduction, right from his first scenes as this character you feel his presence by his powerful dialogue. Cary Elwes is here as well and it comes to no surprise he´s just as good as you would expect him to be. What about the horror influences, do they match well with this film? I would say for a vampire film this may be one of the best looking films in this specific horror genre. There is no doubt in my mind, this is definetely the best film adaptation of Dracula we have so far and it may be the greatest we will ever have. Director Francis Ford Coppola really proved with this film that it is possible to make a very powerful vampire film with all the right ingredients. A must see if you want to see a true horror vampire classic, Bram Stoker´s Dracula hits all the right notes.

Rating: DDDD

The Crow

I have been told in the past by my mother Lena that i have a very good memories of years, especially what happened during the 80´s and 90´s in our own lives plus big events that took place during these time periods. I will admit that some things have been more difficult to remember from the early 80´s but when it comes to the 90´s i can mention quite a lot of things. But not all things that i remember are positive and there is espcially one date in the year of 1993 that i will never forget. I even remember what i did that day when i heard the news on April 1st in 1993. I was watching morning news before going to school that martial art action actor Brandon Lee have been killed while filming his latest film The Crow on set on the night of March 31. When i arived at school this was something everyone was talking about in my class, everyone was really shocked. One of my school friends Mathias went down on the lunch break to the closest super market to buy the Swedish newspaper Expressen so we could read about this horrible tragedy. I remember as we sat down in the school cafeteria we started talking about the roles of Brandon Lee and Mathias mentioned classics such as Showdown In Little Tokyo and Rapid Fire. I had seen both of these films on VHS back in the day and i even owned Showdown In Little Tokyo on VHS from the UK ( since the Swedish VHS version was censored ). After a couple of months we found out that the Swedish ciname date for his last film The Crow was announced and it was November 18 that year. I went to see this film on the premiere weekend in my local town and all of my friends loved this film. The Crow turned out to be something completely different from what we have seen before based on a comic book character. Brandon Lee was brillant as the character Eric Draven and the film felt very epic with beautiful city scenes and dark images. Director Alex Proyas delivered a film that not only looked really good but worked really well as an action film. After this film we had several years of different sequels and even a TV series with martial arts action actor Mark Dacascos. The sequels were not good but the TV series was ok at least. After many years there was a buzz in Hollywood about doing a remake. In one way i wasn´t surprised but it didn´t feel like we needed one. Not only because the legacy of Brandon Lee but also because that film was meant to be left alone as it is. But here we are in 2024 with the new The Crow remake starring Bill Skarsgård as Eric Draven. 

At a rehab center for addicts we meet Eric Draven ( Bill Skarsgård ), a young man who is not popular at all and pretty much spend most time on his own. The new rehab patient Shelly ( FKA Twigs ) find herself falling in love with Eric as she not only find him fascinating but also his dark poetry and paintings. They are slowly building a relationhip where nothing can tear them apart. One day while spending time together Shelly finds out people from her past are visiting the rehab center to get her, Eric understand that her life might be in danger. They both escape the facility and make it to the city. Unfortunately crime lord Vincent Roeg ( Danny Houston ) knows how to locate people with the right connection and find them both. Roeg´s men kill them both but Eric wakes up in another world where he meets Cronos ( Sami Bouajila ) who tells him he is in a purgatory-style halfway house where he have been given a chance to get Shelly back to life. He must revenge those who killed her or it won´t work. Eric have no other option than to revenge her death to rebuild a future with the love of his life.

I personally don´t have a problem with a remake as long as it is done in a professional way with great performances and a solid story. It depends on what category the remake belongs to and there are actually remakes that turned out to be better than i expected ( especially the 2003 horror remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film i revisit now and then still to this day ). When it comes to this latest modern version of The Crow you might think that they would be respectful to the original fim from 1994 knowing it has a huge fan base worldwide. To be completely honest i have some big issues with this remake and i will get into why i don´t think this remake is not that good. First of all this film have no depth or any similar darkness that surrounded the original film and made it so unique. This film feels more like a Dollarstore copy of The Crow that was just made to look cool for a younger generation. I think what they should have done is at least made an effort to make this film look cool in a more updated version as well as keep the mystery and darkness surrounding the character Eric Draven fascinating or at least interesting. Another detail i feel this film lacks off is very boring dialogue. It is almost as if most actors are just saying what they need to say but without any effort or passion in delivering dialogue. If you have seen the original The Crow film you remember that dialogue was a detail that was important since Brandon Lee actually did deliver dialogue that matched the story so well. Here in this latest The Crow remake it is almost like Bill Skarsgård is just waiting for his coffee break instead of caring about the character. The love story between Eric Draven and Shelly ( played by actress FKA Twigs ) doesn´t feel as deep as i would have liked it to feel. The music selection is quite strange with for example Joy Division when i feel Black Light Burns song Lie would have been a much better choice. Ok so to the small positive things and there are a few action scenes i can accept, especially the Opera scene that´s quite violent and fun to watch. The horror influences could have been much more effective in this film to be honest. We do have legendary actor Danny Huston as the main villain Vincent Roeg, at least hes more fun to watch than most other characters. At the end of the day this is not the remake i was hoping to surprise me. It is boring, pretty lifeless to be honest and nowhere near the quality of the original film. Director Rupert Sanders did give us the entertaining adventure fairytale action film Snow White And The Huntsman in 2012, but his attempt to give The Crow new life for a new generation doesn´t have much to offer. A few action scenes saves this film from getting the lowest rating i have but i still can´t recommend this one. See the original film instead, that´s the best advice i can give at this point.

Rating: DD

Oddity

Everytime you go to a clothing store there is a chance you will see some mannequin dolls. Usually it is to show off some clothes that´s new for the season or they might use them for other purposes as well. Whenever i see a mannequin doll in a store i don´t really think much about them, but i do remember when i saw a strange one in Germany on my second trip there in the autumn of 1998. I was on a cruise ship vacation to the German city of Kiel and in this city they had like a horror shop with everything from horror merchandise, VHS horror movies, horror board games and some strange horror objects i have never seen before. Inside this store there was a strange looking mannequin doll standing towards a wall and it was especially the face that looked strange. It was almost like it had been burned and was deformed in some ways. If i had a camera with me i would have taken a picture but i didn´t carry one with me and back in 1998 we didn´t have cell phones with a camera so i can only describe it. It was definetely the most creepy mannequin doll i have ever seen. I remember that the owner noticed that i was looking at it and first spoke in Germany and i said:- Im sorry i don´t speak German. He said:- No worries, i was just saying a pretty cool mannequin doll right? I said:- Yes indeed, i have never seen anything like it. We talked about the mannequin doll and he told me he bought it from an older gentleman who collected mannequin dolls in the countryside. A very bizarre story and he said this older man was seen as very odd having this odd hobby collecting them. I had to leave after our conversation and go on board the boat again ( we were only allowed a couple of hours on land until the boat leaves ), since i had dinner before visiting this store. A creepy memory of my mannequin experience in Germany. Speaking of mannequin dolls there are some horror movies that include mannequin dolls worth a watch. For example if you have not seen the 1988 horror movie Pin from director Sandor Stern ( who also directed Amityville 4 - The Evil Escapes ) this is a film you should check out if you want a horror film with a mannequin doll, or from a medical standpoint would be called a anatomy doll. An interesting story where you have to figure out if Pin really exist or if it´s just your imagination. Legendary actor Terry O´Quinn plays Dr. Linden and as always deliver solid acting. Let´s stay within the mannequin dolls territory and talk about a horror film known as Oddity. This is a film i have only have read the plot about and seen the poster and it did caught my attention for the cool poster design. This is an Irish horror film and i have really enjoyed Irish films in the past so of course i had to give Oddity a chance. Is it possible that Odity is much better than i expected or is this a film that will mostly be forgotten about once you have seen it?

One year have passed since Dani ( Carolyn Bracken ) was found brutally murdered in her and her husbands Ted´s ( Gwilym Lee ) house. One day Dani´s blind sister Darcy ( Carolyn Bracken ) shows up at Ted´s house where he introduce her to his new girlfriend Yana ( Caroline Menton ). Darcy believe she knows what happened to her sister since she is a psychic medium and confront both Dani and Ted. But something seems odd with the strange gift that Darci brought with her to the house.

At certain moments every year we come across a horror film that actually feels a bit refreshing and turns out to not be too predictable. And that´s exactly how i felt while watching Oddity since this film actually tries to stay away from mainstream horror films and moves in a different direction. Are there elements of mainstream horror in Oddity? Sure, but considering the mystery surrounding the strange mannequin doll you see in this film that´s a detail that really helps Oddity become interesting. If you look at the details of this mannequin doll you can clearly see it looks like no other mannequin doll you have ever seen. This is something i really appreciate that they decided to make this doll very different from what we have seen before. I think it´s important to be creative if you are going to include a doll in a horror film instead of copying other films in a similar genre. But that´s not all to be pleased about and i have to talk about the gorgeous cinematography from Colm Hogan ( who also did cinematography on the beautiful Irish film Foscadh ). You can tell he really wanted to put in a lot of effort in certain scenes by capturing a very powerful presentation. The acting in this film is of top quality right from the start until the finish and there is especially one actress we need to talk about. And that is actress Carolyn Bracken ( who i recognized from the horror film You Are Not My Mother ) who actually plays two sisters in this film. How she was able to play these two sisters and make them feel like two very different characters, that´s very difficult to do as an actor and she does this brilliant. The horror scenes are very effective and they are more atmospheric than i expected so that was a nice surprise. Director Damian Mc Carthy does not only deliver one of the most good looking horror films of this year but this is definetely one of the better horror releases in general this year. Oddity is powerful enough to show that there is hope for the horror genre if you use the right tools and creativity as well. A must watch if you are a true fan of creepy horror films and want to experience something different and fascinating. Irish horror is alive and well and Oddity is a living proof of that.

Rating: DDDD

The Deliverance

There are those who believe that evil spirits are among us everyday. They can be found in an old hotel, an old factory or even in an old house. A spirit from a human who didn´t leave completely to the other side and may be seen by certain people. I have in the past told a story before of what happened to me personally as a very young boy, for some reason i seemed to have blocked that memory but my father never forget that day. It was 1983 in my hometown known as Uddevalla ( a smaller city in Sweden ) and while my father was upstairs in our home i was in the kitchen. Next to the kitchen was a pantry that used to be closed for the most part unless they needed to put cans or other groceries in there. According to my father he came downstairs and saw me completely pale of fear. He have never seen me so frightened. When i finally began to speak i told him how the spirit of a very old man appeared right out of the pantry while the door was closed with a very evil look. My father still remember that day even today and even though he didn´t know who the man was, he was always curious of why the spirit of this old man showed himself infront of me. Either way i have tried to remember what happened but it seems like i can´t recall that moment at all. Speaking of spirits we have seen in a lot of horror films over the years different kinds of stories based on true events. I personally may not believe every story that claims to be true but there are exceptions of course. Like the story regarding the 2013 supernatural horror film known as The Conjuring telling the story of the Pellon Family moving into a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. As the family begin to live their lives at their new home paranormal events occur the very first few nights. The Conjuring is based on a paranormal case of the famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren ( in the film played by actors Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga ). A very effective horror film no matter if you believe in this case or not that should be seen from director James Wan. The sequel The Conjuring 2 is also worth checking out. Every year there are plenty of horror films released that includes evil spirits and i can mention at least 10 films you should see in this category of horror. Either way i decided to give the  Netflix horror film The Deliverance a chance just to see if it would be any good. I have read some positive comments online from people who watched this film so i felt curious to see if this is something i would appreciate as well. Is this a perfect horror film to watch while it´s getting colder outside in the autumn or should you skip this one completely and watch The Conjuring instead?

Ebony Jackson ( Andra Day ) is a mother of three: eldest teen son Nate ( Caleb McLaughlin ), teen daughter Shantee ( Demi Singleton ), and youngest son Dre ( Anthony B Jenkins ). The four of them have just moved into a new home, the third in a short time frame. They are joined by Ebony´s elderly mother Alberta ( Glenn Close ), who is going through a cancer disease. The family is struggling with money and at the same time Ebony is still a struggling alcoholic. One day Ebony hear Dre talking to someone who isn´t there. Dre claims he is talking to his friend Tre and at first Ebony doesn´t feel worried about it. But once strange things begin to happen in this house it seems that they are not alone.

Since there are so many supernatural horror films to choose between you could easily say that The Deliverance does not bring anything new to the table. Once you have seen this film i guarantee you will remember at least 5 films you have seen in the past that feels similar to The Deliverance that includes supernatural horror, That doesn´t mean this is a bad film in any way because i actually enjoy it. So let´s get into what i appreciate with this film and i will bring up one detail i feel could have been done better. To the positive i will say i think the story of a struggling single mother is actually quite effective in this film. Lead actress Andra Day ( who did a really good performance as Billie Holiday in the biographical film The United States vs. Billie Holiday ) playing the character Ebony give us a realistic portrait of a strong black woman carrying a lot of pain inside of her. Andra Day manage to capture this pain through facial expressions and her dialogue as well. Trying to give her children a good childhood who is an alcohol addict, while her elderly mother Alberta ( played really well by legendary actress Glenn Close ) is struggling with cancer. This is actually the strength of The Deliverance giving us a struggling middle class family just trying to survive. I do think the children give solid performances as well. Ok, so no to my biggest issue with The Deliverance. If you are going to do a supernatural horror movie that´s effective you need to make the horror scenes work well with the story. This is something that i feel doesn´t feel as effective as i was hoping to see. Im not saying this film fails as a horror film but certain scenes feel mellow when i want to be scared, If you want to capture the audience you have to create certain moments where the atmosphere grabs you such as in The Conjuring. Director Lee Daniels ( who is the director of The United States vs. Billie Holliday ) may not take any chances with The Deliverance and rely on old school 1970´s horror, if you are a fan of exorcist films then this might be worth a look. I can´t really complain about The Deliverance it´s a simple horror film but does it´s job by delivering a good looking film with a solid cast. Does anyone have any holy water left? I might need some for my demonic neighbor.

Rating: DDD

The Moor

Every year there are missing children and teenagers who may never be found, and if they are found hopefully they turn out to be ok. Unfortunately in some cases some of these children are taken by child trafficking kidnappers or even murdered. Different parts of the world have different statitics of how many children are missing every year so let´s bring up one example. In the United Kingdom there are over 100.000 children missing every year, just let that sink in for a moment. Those are really horrible numbers and of course some children will luckily be found at some point so there are moments where we do get some positive news. I remember when i was Marocco on vacation where i found out that there are a lot of migrant children who disappear and no one knows what happened with them. One of the people i talked to actually worked at a nonprofit organization helping people in need in Marrakech so he told me some information regarding Marocco. When you hear things such as this you feel sick, no child should have to be taken away for trafficking, child slavery in any form or used in any other way. There are several films in the past that brings up missing children in many different stories, no matter if it´s connected to trafficking, a serial killer or someone who just kidnap children to get paid by the parents if they want their child back. One example of a missing child story is the 2019 Netflix film known as Fractured from director Brad Anderson. This film tells the story of father Ray Monroe ( Sam Worthington ), his wife Joanne Monroe ( Lily Rabe ) and their young daughter Peri Monroe ( Lucy Capri ). While driving to celebrate Thanksgiving weekend at Peri´s grandparents she needs to go to the bathroom. They stop at a rest stop while Ray clean up the backseats after spilling coffee. While Joanne goes to look in the restroom if Peri forgot something there a dog confronts Peri near a working site. She falls together with Ray after he jumps after her falling in the pit. She is injured and need a hospital. Ray remember a hospital on the way and get them there as fast as he can. As his daughter get help only one parent is allowed to the xray room. So Ray waits outside in the waiting room but finds out many hours later that no one at the hospital have seen his wife or daughter. He will not stop looking for them until someone reveal the truth. This is a really solid thriller and i think every parent would do the same as the character Ray does, until we find out what really happened. Sam Worthington proves he can act well in this genre and the twists in the plot works as well as the film takes a completely different turn towards the end. Definetely worth a look if you want to watch a good thriller on Netflix. There is a British folk horror film that came out this year known as The Moor that have received some positive reviews. The Moor is inspired by missing children stories and i am always interested watching a film bringing up this subject. Is this a film you should see this Halloween or is it not as interesting as it may sound?

In 1996 a young boy named Danny ( Dexter Sol Ansell ) goes missing inside a store after his friend Claire ( Billie Suggett ) use him to trick the store owner to steal candy. As she waits outside the store for Danny to return to her, he is nowhere to be seen. The store manager says he followed with a man who claimed to be his father. 25 years later the father of Danny named Bill ( David Edward-Robertson ) asks Claire ( Sophia La Porta ) to help him investigate where David went missing. Bill contact a medium and they assemble a team to head out to the moor, a very large mountain terrain where according to the medium is the location they should find Danny. As they search the locations where the medium give information of, there is much more hidden beneath these hills than they expected.

As most of us know who have seen a lot of great British thrillers and horror movies over many years you know they are usually well made and include great acting performances, sometimes even better than American horror movies. In the case of The Moor i will have to be honest and say this is definetely for you if you are a fan of British films in general. Let us begin with what i feel work with this film and i have to say the location of Yorkshire fits very well with the plot. You really do feel like they knew this location would match the story and it does feel like it´s possible a child could have been buried out in this rough mountain terrain. The area is massive and director Chris Cronin capture this in a beautiful way with majestic scenes, even when it´s very rainy and windy at certain moments. The search for the young boy who went missing 25 years ago is very well told thanks to the solid acting performances, and i have to say actor David Edward-Robertson playing the boys missing father Bill really capture the facial expressions of a man carrying so much pain not knowing what happened to his son. The horror scenes works well once they finally get started, it takes a while before certain things start happening during the 2 hours runtime of this film. Ok so now to one of my issues with this film. Towards the end it´s almost like this film turns into a found footage film and ends kind of unexpected. When they managed to build up tensions so well around 90 minutes into the film it feels that towards the end it´s supposed to feel like a suspensful ending. It felt more like they ended this film too simple, and they had such a great story that could have made the mystery even more effectful. With that said i do think this film is a good choice if you are looking for a horror film that actually includes great acting ( something we don´t see too often unfortunately ) and love horror films in general. Director Chris Cornin is clearly a talented horror director and i appreciate the way he told this story when we know missing children is a big problem worldwide. Even if there are some paranormal events in this film i think it´s good that we bring the subject up how parents struggle not knowing what happened to their children. The Moor should find it´s rightful place in the horror community and i suggest you give it a chance. This is a film that holds up well and i am sure will be enjoyed by horror fans of all ages.

Rating: DDD

Longlegs

As long as i can remember i have always been a fan of atmospheric horror movies. What do i mean by atmospheric? Films that manage to capture my attention because they don´t need lots of blood or flesh wounds to be good. With the right location, sound effects and a well crafted plot this can be much more effective than the traditional horror films. It doesn´t have to be a complicated plot either it´s mostly about how effective you use the right sounds and manage to capture fear in a realistic way. There are several titles we could discuss that belongs in the category of atmospheric horror films such as the 2018 horror film Hereditary ( well worth a watch ) but let´s talk about a completely different film that does not get mentioned often. And that is the 2019 psychological horror film The Lodge from directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. The Lodge was released by independent production company Neon and tells the story of Richard Hall ( Richard Armitage ) who´s wife Laura Hall ( Alicia Silverstone ) takes her own life after she finds out her husband plans to marry a woman named Grace Marshall ( Riley Keough ), a woman he met while researching a book about an extremist cult. Grace was the only survivor of the mass suicide, led by her father. Laura´s death devastates her and Richard´s children, teenage Aiden Hall ( Jaeden Martell ) and young Mia Hall ( Lia McHugh ). Six months later, Richard announces that they will spend Christmas with Grace at the family´s remote Massachussets lodge to get to know each other. What was supposed to be a lovely Christmas turns into a pure nightmare. The Lodge manage to combine religious cult horror and psychological horror very well crafted together. There are some scenes that are more creepy than i expected, where we find out about the past of this sadistic cult. I did review this film and gace it a very high rating and i still really enjoy The Lodge, not only because i love religious cult horror films but i also feel that this is a very well made film in several ways. I highly recommend this one no matter if you watch it on streaming or on physical media. Speaking of the distribution company Neon i finally got a chance to sit down to watch the horror film Longlegs that have both been praised by some critics and criticized by others in a more negative way. Since i am a fan of several releases from distribution company Neon, is the horror film Longlegs definetely worth a watch this Halloween or should you definetely skip this one and choose a classic horror film instead?

In the 1990´s, FBI agent Lee Harker ( Maika Monroe ) is assigned by her supervisor William Carter ( Blair Underwood ) to a case involving a series of murder-suicides in Oregon. Each case involves a father killing his family and himself, leaving behind a letter with Satanic coding signed "Longlegs" whose handwriting belongs to none of the family members. Lee discovers that each family had a nine-year-old born on the 14th of the month, the murders all occured within six days before or after the birthday itself, and the murders form an occult. One night Lee get an unknown visitor leaving her a birthday card from signed "Longlegs", that also includes Satanic coding as well. For each family they find murdered it´s becoming more difficult to deal with her work life and personal life, where Lee barely sleep anything. But she made a promise to solve this case no matter what it takes.

While watching Longlegs i noticed a very interesting detail. It felt like this film was inspired by the famous Zodiac serial killer that took place between the years 1968 - 1969. Especially with the coded letters that they find with every victim the killer used codes to communicate. This detail is just one of the interesting things i find fascinating with the film Longlegs but the other part that captured my interest is the atmospheric horror scenes during the investigation of these horrible murders. There is also a connection to religion in here as we find out that Satanists are connected to these ritual murders. The investigation itself is actually quite interesting especially between FBI agent Lee and her supervisor William. The acting from both actors Maika Monroe and Blair Underwood are both solid, where especially Blair really manage to capture the right personality for William who reminded me of the 1987 character agent Eliott Ness ( played by legendary actor Kevin Costner ) in the classic The Untouchables. One of the strongest acting performances comes from actor Nicolas Cage in this film as the very disturbing and odd character Dale Kobble, also known as Longlegs. At first i didn´t recognize him completely so they did a really good job with the make up effects on him. The horror scenes are pretty effective and even the brutal scenes that we do see at certain moments works well. I would also say that this film manage not to be too predictable and that is thanks to the character of Longlegs. Any issues i have with this film? I could probably find some smaller details if i digged deeper but in general i had a good time with Longlegs. It´s not the most original horror film i have seen but it is definetely better than some ordinary releases. Director Osgood Perkins directed the gothic supernatural horror film I Am Te Pretty Thing That Lives In The House released on Netflix, a film i did enjoy. I would say that Longlegs deliver more stronger horror scenes compared to that film so i am pleased he stepped it up and managed to surprise me. If you are a fan of atmospheric horror you should check Longlegs out, you might enjoy this film as well as i did.

Rating: DDD

New Life

Physical media may not be as big as it used to be but there are people like myself who still buy them. I love to have a big movie collection of many different categories, i can watch any classic i want without looking on Netflix if they have any of the titles that´s on my mind. Usually i buy some more titles during holiday weekend like Christmas when they sell out certain titles and if im lucky i can get some really good deals. However, at certain times i have preordered films that i really want to see during it´s release week and especially ordering the films from other countries than Sweden. You see some independent films doesn´t get released here compared to in the UK, Germany and France, so i have bought a bunch of titles over the years all across Europe. For example from Germany i did buy a physical blu ray copy the 2019 sci fi horror film The Dustwalker, a film that never was released in physical media here in Sweden. I especially loved the front cover of The Dustwalker, it reminded me of B movies of the 70´s and 80´s with a creature that looked like a deformed sand worm. Luckily the German release wasn´t completely dubbed ( some physical releases are in Germany ). The film itself turned out to be average only and i did review this film in this blog, so if you want to know my personal opinion regarding this film go read my review published back in 2020. If i mention the name of Sonya Walger some of you might recognize this name. If you have seen the survival psychological TV series Lost that went on TV between the years of 2004 - 2010, you might remember her character Penelope. That was actually the first time i have seen actress Sonya Walger on TV so when i saw she released a horror thriller called New Life this year i decided to order a physical blu ray from France since it was released there in September. I thought it would be interesting to see her doing a independent horror film that´s completely different from the TV series Lost. Is this a film you should check out this Halloween weekend or is it not as good as i was hoping it would be?

A young woman named Jessica Murdock ( Hayley Erin ) is travelling across America on her own, trying to find somwhere to sleep and eat. She finds an old barn out in the middle of nowhere and the next day enter the old house. The owner Frank ( Blaine Palmer ) and his wife can see she have had a rough time and they offer her to stay for a meal. She is more than welcome to stay at the farm and help if she wants but Jessica wants to move on with her journey. What Jessica doesn´t know is that she is carrying the deadly disease Ebola and everyone she meets along this journey could be infected. She has to be stopped or many people could end up in a body bag.

Since i didn´t really know anything about this film other than seeing the movie poster i basically knew nothing about the plot of New Life. And to be honest that´s actually the best way to approach certain films, especially if you want to know as little as possible in case the film have some unexpected twist. New Life may seem like a horror film only through the poster but this is more of a mixture of a thriller and a horror film. The most interesting part about this film is that the private contractor known as Elsa ( played by actress Sonya Walger ) is suffering in the early stages of the disease ALS, where she can feel it is becoming more difficult to work even though she have promised to finish this job. The second part of this film that´s also interesting is that the main character Jessica ( played by actress Hayley Erin ) is carrying the disease of Ebola and doesn´t know it, yet everyone she is near becomes infected and will eventually die. So you have two different characters both dealing with very serious health issues where private contractor Elsa have to capture Jessica before she get more people infected. I suppose in some ways this film reminded me of the virus thriller Contagion from 2011 even though these films do have very different plots. In general the acting is good especially from actors Sonya Walger and Hayley Erin and i do feel that you get to know interesting details regarding some of the characters. I like the approach this film does regarding an investigation that´s quite different from we are used to see. For example when Elsa is trying to hunt down Jessica she can´t run, she has to use a walking stick since the ALS disease is making her weaker. The few horror scenes we are offered here do work and i do enjoy the plot in general. Anything that could have been done better? I am not sure, i think this film in general managed to made me pleased with the final result. New Life may not be original but i do feel this film have found a way to combine two fascinating characters into the plot. Director John Rosman deliver a beautiful looking film that may not be for everyone, but if you are interested in diseases and a deadly virus i feel that you should give this film a chance. New Life is definetely worth a watch if you want to see something different from most VOD releases.

Rating: DDD