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