Author Archives: Tennyson

Frozen Empire

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Vampire Owl: I feel that this movie is about the Lich Queen.

Vampire Bat: Are you talking about that witch who called herself the Lich?

Vampire Owl: She is the Lich Queen, and it is a status bigger than the regular witch.

Vampire Bat: Only an undead female sorcerer qualifies as a lich.

Vampire Owl: Well, witches are hard to kill in the world of magic.

Vampire Bat: You should see that undead sorcery is of another level, outside regular magic.

Vampire Owl: I am sure that she possesses the ancient frozen power.

Vampire Bat: Well, only if she is already dead and risen.

Vampire Owl: That would make her a vampire, a nosferatu, right? A vampiric officer on duty?

Vampire Bat: Liches once tasted the frozen evil would never be vampires. They also have no nocturnal qualities, and wait until dawn to unleash their full potential. The separation can be clearly seen in the atlas.

[Gets a masala bonda and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: The team of Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), Callie Sengler (Carrie Coon), Trevor Spengler (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) goes through a fight in the streets of New York, three years after the battle in the countryside. The come across Hell’s Kitchen Sewer Dragon which they manage to capture, but only after causing quite some destruction to the city. The mayor of the city Walter Peck (William Atherton) finds this as a fine opportunity to threaten the team and close the Ghostbusters down for the best. He fins Phoebe to be under eighteen years old, and as a minor, warns her in specific. This leads to the team leaving Phoebe behind during their adventures, much to her dismay. As she is disappointed and wanders around in the park, she comes across the ghost of a girl who was killed in fire, Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), with whom she becomes a friend and plays chess to free her mind.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Things change when a man named Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) sells a strange brass orb with Mesopotamian ritual markings to them. There seems to be something sinister about it, as Nadeem also disappears, and it also seems to affect other artefacts. As something seems to be coming and as they can feel the energy, they contact Dr. Hubert Wartzki (Patton Oswalt), a New York Public Library research librarian and anthropologist, but what they do not understand here is that an ancient power is ready to be awakened, and it would not stop until it takes over the world. It is revealed that the orb was supposed to be a prison built over four thousand years ago somewhere in South West Asia by four sorcerers serving as the masters of fire to imprison a creature of ice that wished to conquer humanity with its power of Death Chill. Now, things would get more serious – can they stop this villain from being unleashed in the modern world?

The defence of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire :: The movie tries to keep up with the spirit of its predecessor and is partially successful in doing the same. There is fun in between and the spirit has its role to play too. The presence of a dumb little kid who makes all the mistakes to unleash the evil is once again here in the form of the foolish daughter who is not really old enough to be even talking to ghosts, as revealed in being the silliest creature in the universe – well, we require a usual dose of such dumb people to bring evil upon this world so that it can be saved. There are some fine visuals at the end of the movie to support the same time too. The ancient monstrous entity looks good, even though it is there for only a few moments. The ghosts look fine, even though there could have been bigger and better-looking ones. The combination of science and supernatural is good, even though the talking could have been less and action should have been more. The performers do try to bring as much fun in here as possible.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is surely too long for anyone, and there are too many dialogues in a film that should focus on action. It would have served the previous movie more as some introduction was needed, but not this time. Too much talking kills more than one ghost cinema for sure. After all, people in this part of the world are not fans of this particular series of movies, and the nostalgia that means to these people about it is very low. This kind of an approach is also not going to be appealing for the children of this age who are looking for quick results and have very less patience in comparison to our generation and the one that follows it. The funny side could have also been stronger, and the danger often leaks in its strength, even though there Is something greater needs to be there for this work for bringing the entertainment. Well, with kids not acting like they need to be, you know this movie also has its limitations. The grandeur that we were expecting is not really there and the evil struggles even though it is ancient and all – it should have been creating that demonic spectacle that we never get here.

The performers of the soul :: This seems to be one fun-loving cast that tries to keep this world interesting, even when there seems to be some limitations regarding the same. They also seem to keep a certain amount of nostalgia going, even though most of do not have it due to our love focused on other movies like Evil Dead and more. But this cast makes it work indeed. Paul Rudd is the one who leads the way in style, even though we keep wondering why he was not given more action. The movie focuses more on Mckenna Grace, and even though she does good, there is too much of focus on her character while others are shown less in comparison. Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard follows well, even though gets limited. Kumail Nanjiani nicely adds to the fun and there is some humour whenever he is around – he also gets it big in the final stages of the film. Emily Alyn Lind makes a fine ghost with a melancholic side that would stay with us for long. The other characters play along well.

How it finishes :: This version of ghostbusting tries the best to bring some nostalgia along with some scares and fun, and all these are partially effective as we look at them. There are many funny and scary ways that this film could have gone, and it is surprising to say that it is sticking to the minimum instead of bringing some innovation of our times. Without even a classic ending, it does struggle, but manages to hold on at times to keep some entertainment going. The movie required to have more of a soul than what it displayed. The lack of enough screens here does not come as a surprise as people do not really think about a movie like this, as it might not have had much with the earlier version too. It is that kind of a movie which we can go through on an OTT platform, and speed things up in between. This will make us feel like the overall length has been reduced, and is enough for us to spend a weekend when there is not much to do.

Release date: 22nd March 2024
Running time: 115 minutes
Directed by: Gil Kenan
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Furiosa

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Vampire Owl: I remember watching Mad Max: Fury Road.

Vampire Bat: Yes, that was when you arrived late in the movie theatre.

Vampire Owl: I was not that late because there were too many advertisements.

Vampire Bat: Still, you arrive late each and every time.

Vampire Owl: I am only as late as it is required of me.

Vampire Bat: You fail to watch the beginning of every movie.

Vampire Owl: Some of the beginnings are not that worthy to be watched.

Vampire Bat: What is a movie without its beginning?

Vampire Owl: We often start our vampire lives in the middle, don’t we?

Vampire Bat: I would agree to that. Why shouldn’t I?

[Gets a chilly chicken pizza and three cups of Kodaikanal tea].

What is the movie about? :: Many decades have passed after the grand apocalypse that has turned the lands to the wastelands with no hope of returning to the green glory. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) maintains control over the wastelands with his biker gang and manages to get his hands on a child who seems to be from a land of plenty far outside the world known to them. With her mother who attacks them tortured to death for not revealing the location of that particular place, he adopts the child as his own without hesitation while murdering anyone who has a second opinion about such ideas. Years later, there is new clue about the place with abundant resources, and Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) who rules the Citadel with hidden resources finds himself attacked by Dementus and his gang, but manages to defeat the bikers with ease with the help of his fanatic, suicidal War Boys. Dementus manages to capture Gastown, an oil refinery which supplies power to the Citadel, which helps him to come up with a deal for resources from Immortan Joe, but losses the child Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) in the process.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Furiosa manages to escape from being the future wife of Immortan Joe or any of his children, and disguised as a mute War Boy, Furiosa works her way up through the ranks of Citadel. She helps them in building the War Rig, a heavily armed fuel supply tanker that could survive the wastelands where there is no law, but ruthlessness. As she teams up with Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) and manages to win impossible battles, she becomes Jack’s second-in-command and is promoted to the ranks of a Praetorian, despite everyone including Immortal Joe coming to know that she is not a War Boy, but a girl in disguise. She gets the honour and privilege in the Citadel, even from the toughest warriors, and is feared by many. But she does not stop thinking about escaping from the situation and go back to her original home and live with her people. For this, Jack also pledges to support her, and they make plans to escape. But can they really get away from the Citadel? And what will Dementus at Gastown think about it?

The defence of Furiosa :: Here is one prequel that leads well to the next one with its story and the narrative. The establishment of connection seems to be one thing done with precision and so is the choice of the main character, the titular person who makes all the difference, even though the other characters often get lost in the process. The fights here would not seem any big for those who have watched the predecessor, which set the world as something grand for vehicular mayhem, but this one adds the emotional touch to it, to make things feel better. The world still looks grand, with the land after apocalypse is just as we would expect it to be, both with the looks and the content. The feeling of danger is there, and so is hopelessness, as we see a world without greenery of expectations – the environment seems to have finally met its end here, as it expected with so many fake environment lovers wandering around even in our world who make absolutely no impact, and instead creates some nonsense just to escape from their responsibilities, and in the process, wastes the time of people and much of the resources too. At the same time, the fights on the truck remains the best, and the titular character is a classic action character doing the same, and the support makes an impact too.

The claws of flaw :: Slower than its predecessor and with its main character talking so less, the movie has a little bit of struggle at times to keep going on a path similar to what happened on that Fury Road with Max. It takes too much time to get into action and has too long a run-time. There is also too much time when nothing really happens. The green place is not a believable thing at all in that world, considering the various features of it, even though after an apocalypse, everything else shown there feels not just real within that universe, but even possible now. The greenery in the nothingness would have been better if it was established as something not that big. Then, the villain is too unpredictable, and it’s the kind of villainy that takes the funny side for no reason instead of staying menacing at all times. It keeps one wondering if the same thing happened because of the Thor series going dumb and silly after Thor: Ragnarok. We know that there has not been a likable Thor with the same actor since that classic movie with God of Thunder fighting the Goddess of Death. It could be the Marvel foolishness discovery syndrome. The franchise which was full of vehicular mayhem could have done better with this one and should have come at least close to the fast-paced quality of the screen that was displayed by its predecessor.

The performers of the soul :: The movie belongs to Anya Taylor-Joy who comes up with a performance which perfectly blends into the mood of the movie, and we feel with her here. Alyla Browne who plays the same character at a younger age is not that far behind in performance either. Anya excels with her facial expressions, limited dialogues and the actions sequences which seems to make a point that she has got a diversion from The Witch, Morgan, Split and Glass. From the possibility of becoming the next scream queen, she might be going on to be the one action star whom we can have in those futuristic action movies that have had remakes in the past or are going for a few, Total Recall for example. It is sad that most of her movies never really released in this part of the world, and even if they did, never really had enough screens to prove their existence in busy theatres showing movies of too many languages. Chris Hemsworth makes a fine impact, but the focus is never really on him, and we end up forgetting him due to the way the movie is written. So, it is Tom Burke who makes the next fine impact. Then there is Charlee Fraser who rules the first few minutes of the movie.

How it finishes :: The movie could have been better than Mad Max: Fury Road, but that level is surely not reached. A prequel could have done so much, but this one only manages to connect well and add a little bit more of reason of the happenings of the film which released earlier. There is no bigger battle or something of grandeur that raises the level of this one, as it goes through a slower path. But this one manages to do its job as a prequel which acts as a raising stone for sure. With some fine performances, one can be sure to enjoy the Fury Road better after watching this tale of Furiosa – it is how things should go, and not the other way around. If this prequel is watched first, the quality of the 2014 movie would improve even more, and that should be the way to go. This one provides the wastelands with a beginning for the new generation, as the other movies of the series go a long way behind, and they were never among the best known action films in this part of the world for sure.

Release date: 24th May 2024
Running time: 148 minutes
Directed by: George Miller
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, George Shevtsov, Lachy Hulme, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, Elsa Pataky, Nathan Jones, Josh Helman, David Field, Rahel Romahn, David Collins, Goran D Kleut, C J Bloomfield, Ian Roberts, Guy Spence, Rob Jones, Clarence Ryan, Tim Burns, Quaden Bayles

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Borderlands

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Vampire Owl: When was the last time you went near the border?

Vampire Bat: You mean near the werewolf territory.

Vampire Owl: No, the zombie lands on the other side.

Vampire Bat: When did we begin to check the wastelands?

Vampire Owl: I believe that there is something more than the walking dead there.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that the movie is not referring to such borders.

Vampire Owl: Are we going for interplanetary borders then?

Vampire Bat: That has always been a better choice, for they are more open.

Vampire Owl: I have heard about those space vampires.

Vampire Bat: The space does have its own variety of blood-drinking species.

[Gets a blackcurrant shake and three cups of black tea].

What is the movie about? :: It is said that a long time ago, the whole of galaxy was ruled by an alien race known as Eridians, whose power and technology were far beyond the understanding of human race. But human beings were able to find some part of this science and use it to their advantage, thus becoming the reason for bettering their world and making themselves scientifically advanced enough to make an impact in their world above other species. But the best of such scientific knowledge was hidden in a vault in a planet known as Pandora. Corporations, criminals and treasure hunters who made peace impossible in the planet and nearby have been killing each other in an attempt to find the secret vault for no success in the end. Then there was the prophecy about a daughter of Eiridia who would restore peace. More people have died searching for this than all the wars which had occurred in the past. There is almost nothing good happening in the one prosperous planet with enough natural beauty to inspire enough tourists from Earth. But the only tourism event happening there might be a treasure hunt for vault.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) who is the daughter of Deukalian Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), the richest man around, and one of the most powerful corporate magnates in the galaxy, gets kidnapped by a rogue soldier Roland Greaves (Kevin Hart) and a psychopath Krieg (Florian Munteanu) who is released at the same time by accident. Despite the soldiers trying their best, the group of three manages to get out of the area and travel to the wastelands of Pandora where they do not come in the areas under scan. The job is given to a legendary bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett) who is almost ready to retire, but the offer is a little too much for her to reject. She is considered the best with a great history of bounty hunting by too many people to avoid her as an option, even though troops of Atlas are also after the kid. As she lands on Pandora to search for the missing girl, she comes across Claptrap (Jack Black), a robot that says that it was programmed a long time ago to assist her. With the help of the robot, she finally traces the location of Tina and embarks on the journey.

And what does this world bring in between all the chaos and destruction? :: There, she finds out that Tina was not really kidnapped, but had decided to escape with the rogue soldier and the psycho intentionally to avoid her father. She attacks Lilith with her two friends, and it is then that the troops sent by Atlas Corporation reaches the same area and attacks all of them. This leads to the strange new team of the teenage runaway girl, rogue soldier, bounty hunter, psychopath and the old robot escaping from there, with the soldier team known as Crimson Lance on their trail. It is discovered that Tina was not human or the corporate daughter as everyone had thought – she was a genetically engineered alien created with the biological parts taken from the Eridians, the ancient race that once lived and bettered Pandora. She was created through experiments by Atlas so that she can open the vault where lost civilization’s advanced science and technology are kept. Atlas Corporation intends to rule the world with the new advanced weapons they intend to gain. Can the one strange team stop him in time? Or will the gates to unlimited technology be opened to a greedy villain who would become invincible?

The defence of Borderlands :: There is some nice world detail that we see here, even though not perfect, there is something to watch out for at every corner here. Ariana Greenblatt adds more to the fun than the others here. The funny side mostly works in this movie, unlike those movies with ridiculous jokes like Deadpool and its strange relations. The battle scenes are truly exciting, and the detailing on small things will catch our attention. A good science fiction movie comes first out of the world where it is set, and this one wins there, and takes it to the side of action, where it secures another win for most of the time. There is also the reminder that this is from a game, with some fine weapons being shown, and explosions as well as stylish chases all around. The post-apocalyptic feeling is also present, like in Mad Max: Fury Road, but this one is surely the much lighter version, without that eternal depression of world going out of hand with no chance for a return. This feels mostly because of the knowledge about the existence of an alien life which would mean more than just giving up for humanity.

The claws of flaw :: The movie should have taken itself more seriously, and we feel the silliness a little too much in between. The main character should have been younger and got someone other than Cate Blanchett to play it, as we get the feeling of having the suitable one for the tale of such a past. The twist used in the movie seems to be rather too comfortable and safe for anyone’s liking too, and it is something about which one feels the need to bother less. The colours of the movie could have been reduced a little bit outside and used more inside the alien world within the portal, as we have too much of an opposite. Jamie Lee Curtis surely feels to have been more wasted than anyone in this particular role. The villain could have also had more to do in the earlier and middle stages of the movie. There could have been more of a journey of a mystery adventure which the movie leaves behind. As the movie came when my gaming times had mostly reached the beginning of the end stages, I could not really comment on a game – movie comparison, but positive reviews in that case were not found.

How it finishes :: As this movie is based on a computer game, the negative reviews were always expected. But like Until Dawn, Need for Speed, Hitman, Doom, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Warcraft, Mortal Kombat and others, this keeps the gaming side moving well to the cinematic world. I would love to see Mass Effect game made into movie, and it would have similar settings, but considering its capabilities as a game itself, there would be a big movie, with the looks of Jupiter Ascending, but that one would satisfy more critics. For now, for some simple entertainment during the weekends, this is the kind of movie that we would want to watch. Let us not go through too many of those negative reviews, as there are so many positives about this movie, which comes back every time we feel that there would be a problem. Maybe, a sequel could do this one a lot of good, with a lot of worlds to explore in a Star Trek or Star Wars model. Then we go back to the game and come back again to enjoy this.

Release date: 9th August 2024
Running time: 101 minutes
Directed by: Eli Roth
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Jamie Lee Curtis

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Grave Torture

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Vampire Owl: What kind of tortures did vampires historically endure?

Vampire Bat: There is certainly no torture in the grave.

Vampire Owl: You think that all outside graves are the same.

Vampire Bat: All coffins are the same, which makes all graves the same.

Vampire Owl: Well, Uncle Dracula says that death is only the beginning.

Vampire Bat: It is quite a well-known fact because the shadow world is there to be taken.

Vampire Owl: You feel that the afterlife will have a shadow world?

Vampire Bat: It is why people do not enter the world of shadows.

Vampire Owl: Well, they say that we become one of them.

Vampire Bat: Well, vampires are already people of the shadows, as nocturnal as we can get.

[Gets an Uzhunnu Vada and three cups of Vagamon tea].

What is the movie about? :: Sita (Faradina Mufti) and Adil (Reza Rahadian) are siblings who have had a troubled past. Their family owned a bakery in the city, and it was standing strong enough despite facing so many problems from different franchises often with multinational backgrounds. But an attack by a terrorist who believes in the Islamic concept of Siksa Kubur or Grave Torture had shattered their world by the worst way imaginable. The siblings who had to study in an Islamic boarding school due to their newly achieved status as orphans do not keep that much of faith after growing up, especially Sita. She vows to prove that the idea of Grave Torture does not exist, and as she works in a nursing home, finds a wealthy man who had run those orphanages and boarding colleges in the name religion. She feels that the man had wronged her brother in some ways, maybe even did child abuse, and tries to prove that torture of sinners in the grave do not exist by getting under the sands with him.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The man who seems to be a child molester by using religion as cover would be the perfect to go through this process when a person is tested and judged in the grave shortly after burial, and for a terrible person, the torments in the grave would act as a preview of the afterlife punishment. Sita buries herself with the sinner and gets out without hearing anything. But when she tries to air the footage in a television show, it is simply not there. She is branded as a kafir/non-believer due to the same, and she suspects that it is all the fault of Adil. At the same time, she also begins to have visions of dead people or strange things from the other world. As she goes even deeper into the world of the dead, there is more disturbing and supernatural terror on her way. Sita’s highest level of disbelief of the supernatural is gradually weakened by the horror that comes across her, but due to her childhood trauma, she continues to try her best to get to the bottom of this. But the question remains if she can find anything substantial and whether she herself and her brother would survive this. And there is also the question about how the religious authorities would take this.

The defence of Grave Torture :: The movie focuses on what comes from the other world rather than anything else. It gives the early feeling that something grand is to be revealed from the supernatural or created mystery from the beginning itself. The setup from the main character’s skepticism, sibling trauma and religious themes seems to draw the audience to the feeling of upcoming evil really well. The fear elements do start working, and gets better by the end. There is also that emotional side that somewhat works. The family setup in the beginning had provided the emotional touch and the following tension goes through lighting, sound and use of settings—the graveyard, nursing home and every place works just fine. All of these are realistic in what would otherwise feel supernatural, and always watched over by evil which never ceases to exist. As we have known for a very long time, evil always finds a way.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does seem confused in between about what it tries to prove. It seems to be rational at times and during some moments, it seems to focus too much on religion – the result is just unwanted complication which comes in and gets bigger. The struggle can be seen further by the end of the movie, as there is a little too much added here and there to lead to the world of complex natural and supernatural blending. The loss of connection also comes up in between as if to make an unwanted point, and some resolutions are never really reached as if they are subplots going nowhere. Why there are so many things around here which goes on like islands is beyond us. The incoherent ending seems to come right out of this confusion, while the cliches do not leave either. The questioning power of the movie is lost for no real reason, and that strange ending seems to be too forced for anyone to be impressed with. Let us all have faith, but not by fear, and may there be belief with hope without always thinking about torment and torture.

The performers of the soul :: The main character is played by Faradina Mufti as an adult and Widuri Puteri as the teenager, both coming up with some performances of magnificence. Widuri makes a perfect sceptical teenager, and that works for her like a dream with perfection, as her world changes so much, with belief and lack of the same coming from two sides – the child gets caught up in things of seriousness and that grief can be seen all around her. The hopelessness of a child is well-portrayed by her and its worth appreciation as happiness moves into terror in such pace. Faradina is fantastic while playing the adult. Her search for truth rooted in a tragedy of the past makes us feel, but what happens to her character in the end remains a shame. Whenever she is there, we feel confident and so close to unveiling mysteries with a twist. Reza Rahadian is not far behind as the borther-figure, and neither is Muzakki Ramdhan who plays the younger version of the character. The other characters do not feel that much of relevance, and can leave our minds early enough, but not the situations.

How it finishes :: This movie travels in a different path from the other Indonesian movies reviewed by me, but surely is not better than them. Impetigore, Gundala, Photocopier and Ivanna are surely ahead of this particular movie more with content than anything else – they also seemed to have a bigger canvas for characters. There was so much that this movie could have done after that fine beginning, and the struggle could have meant more, but it seems to be happy with what all are already around, and that surely feels safe. To claim safety, it might have left its core behind, but remains an interesting work with enough dose of horror here and there, even though getting too stretchy in between. A better ending would have been more satisfactory, but we are okay with what we have. The Indonesian movies are surely having some interesting elements and the experimentation is surely on the right path. There is always a lot more that we can expect in this particular industry.

Release date: 16th September 2024 (Netflix)
Running time: 117 minutes
Directed by: Joko Anwar
Starring: Faradina Mufti, Widuri Puteri, Reza Rahadian, Christine Hakim, Slamet Rahardjo, Muzakki Ramdhan

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

<<< Click here to go to the previous non-Asian version of supernatural.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Nokturno

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Vampire Owl: This should surely be about us.

Vampire Bat: Why do you keep feeling that so many movies would be about us?

Vampire Owl: Well, because we are the true nocturnal creatures?

Vampire Bat: Even zombies walk around only at night.

Vampire Owl: I have seen a few like a smaller army in daylight though.

Vampire Bat: They are not zombies, but humans without brains.

Vampire Owl: There are many humans like that?

Vampire Bat: Yes, mostly the fans of some celebrities and blind supporters of political ideologies.

Vampire Owl: I did not know that they were not extinct.

Vampire Bat: Well, they are surely rising in power, stronger than ever in the human world which faces many apocalyptic events at the same time.

[Gets a packet of Milk Bikis and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: Jamie (Nadine Lustre) has been working as an overseas worker in Dubai and has returned to her hometown of San Sebastian following her younger sister Joanna’s (Bea Binene) mysterious death. Her mother Lilet (Eula Valdez) feels that a sinister curse which is part of the Filipino folklore of the kumakatok is haunting them and also took her daughter to the grave. According to the folklore, these are ghostly figures that knock on the doors after midnight, and those who open them are doomed to be die or at least lose a loved one within three days. Jamie does not believe in any of these, and feels that her mother is mentally sick, in need of treatment. Joanna’s boyfriend Manu (Wilbert Ross) feels that the curse is real, as his girlfriend had talked about the same before death and he has also been having some hallucinations after her death. He wishes to stop this, but is too afraid to do anything about it.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The explanations of the police officers do not seem to satisfy any of them. Most of the locals think that it was a suicide just like those self-proclaimed logical ones. It seems that the curse has bound itself to the family, and escape only gets more and more difficult as time passes, and someone or the other is taken from among their beloved, and their father was just one of them. These kumakatoks need lives and they are not going to stop, as it is told by more than one person who have heard about the folklore. Jamie is still not a person of villages and small towns of the country. She had left this lesser-known simple world a long time ago and would not have come back there under any circumstance. But is this the beginning of the end for them? Can the family stick together and fight against this centuries-old pure evil that takes souls to another world? Is there really some kind of supernatural force or is there some sinister person or mental disorder at work? Is it already late to act and find a solution or can the protagonist return in peace?

The defence of Nokturno :: The Kumakatok myth from the folklore of Philippines has been used well, and it is something that our world is not aware of, and is not seen that much around. The atmospheric horror works really well, and the focus on rural areas makes some moments even more interesting with the mysterious supernatural side. The sound effects also add nicely to the horror, and it seems to be around at all times in the background. The connection between modernity and a largely ignored world of the past can be easily seen. The mystery is present at all times, and we know that the danger awaits, even though there is nothing directly shown around here. The folklores of all nations should be part of a knowledge system based on horror, and it is something that we should keep learning as part of understanding different cultures and traditions. After all, myths based on demons are stronger than any other, as we are all driven by fear and the lack of understanding of the supernatural, which drives this movie too. To add to the same, there is an emotional side around here too.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is still too slow as it moves forward, and the horror is not that much mainstream terrifying, as the common audience look at it. This means that the commercial side will not keep the movie going forward. The smooth transition to horror is not always there, and slowing down seems to come naturally to this movie. There is a little bit of too much talk around here instead of getting the horror wings. We never really get to see a monster with all its glory, and most of the time it is all about finding the knocks at night and being afraid of something which might happen because there is this folklore about which the mother-figure believes so much. There is too much left to the imagination, and the problem with the same is that some people might end up choosing not to imagine at all, and there is lies the true lack of horror, and a curse that could not be fully effective. There are a few things that will always work in the case of horror movies, and this one seems to forget that with a certain amount of convenience.

The performers of the soul :: The movie has an outstanding performance by Nadine Lustr who connects to both the horror and emotions really well. She provides the character with the much-needed emotional depth, as it is that kind of a character who returns home after such a long time, and some grief and regret are to be present. Bea Binene has her moments in the first few minutes, and we would wish to have seen her for a longer period of time. She seems to suit a scream queen situation quite well, and would suit bigger roles in many horror movies which are to come. Eula Valdez adds further emotional depth to the tale, and the tragic side of this story remains close to her performance. Wilbert Ross has also come up with an emotionally memorable performance. JJ Quilantang as the younger brother also has something do around here, and the same is done well. Ku Aquino’s work also remains memorable, as his character creates a certain amount of hope against all odds.

How it finishes :: This only the second movie from Philippines being reviewed here, and the first one was also quite an emotional horror work in the form of Outside, with the presence of zombies and the world almost reaching an end. I had heard a lot about this movie, and I was sure that it had to be watched sometime soon enough – it could have been the first Filippino movie to be reviewed, but missed the same in the first attempt. This one might not be everyone’s cup of demon, but in a world of evil humans, we need all the demons we can take, and taking them from folklore would always be the best option. The movie might not that much be liked for the pace, and people would have wanted to see more scary things on screen, but this remains strong enough, even without the same. The soul of the horror here lies in the certainty of loss and the absolute grief that will haunt them for an eternity, if they survive. Well, horror has always been the true human reality, unlike most of the fantasy that they show with romantic and feel-good movies.

Release date: 31st October 2024
Running time: 99 minutes
Directed by: Mikhail Red
Starring: Nadine Lustre, Eula Valdez, Bea Binene, Wilbert Ross, Ku Aquino, JJ Quilantang

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Witch: Revenge

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Vampire Owl: Is this a witch that we know?

Vampire Bat: We no longer know any witches.

Vampire Owl: But there are many in the north.

Vampire Bat: There are no wars anymore, and they live there in peace without contact.

Vampire Owl: They do not eat child vampires anymore?

Vampire Bat: I feel that they are more afraid of being bitten by child vampires now.

Vampire Owl: So, the treaty among species have weakened them?

Vampire Bat: Yes, by a long way, because we gained territory.

Vampire Owl: I am sure that the zombies or werewolves might be still at war with them.

Vampire Bat: I have heard that they are on war with elves and dwarves over the custody of magical forests which they use for creating their special potions.

[Gets a parippu vada and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: Olena (Tetiana Malkova) is living a happy life with her fiancé Andriy (Taras Tsymbaliuk) in a small town in Ukraine, but their life meets new struggles as they have to face the Russian Invasion, which quickly reaches their place, and feels the needs to quickly escape into the woods. Olena suggests moving further into the dark forest, as Yevdokiya (Olena Khokhlatkina), her aunty is there to take care of them, and people do not usually go that way. But on the way, they are attacked by a Russian military unit, and Andriy is murdered with their dog injured, and Olena just manages to escape from a sexual assault. They reach the place of her aunt, and she remembers her earlier nightmare about death. Back there, angry, frustrated and in grief, Olena releases another side of her, that of a witch, as she has been an immortal being of magic for a long time, only to renounce the same after falling in love with a man whom she met. She unrobes in front of a mirror to reflect the ancient signs engraved on her and lets the ancient magic run through her naked eternally young body yet again.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Being an immortal guised at a mortal, she lets go of the human side and embraces ancient magic with its darkest elements in search of brutal vengeance. She combines forces from various nodes of power to become something more than the supernatural witch she had ever been. It is then that another girl named Katya (Oleksandra Pankova) gets kidnapped and sexually assaulted by the invading soldiers. Even though they decide to keep her for more abuse by the other soldiers, the effects of the witch force them to leave her in the middle of nowhere. But she is also found by Olena who promises her a chance at having revenge. Katya, who is on a desperate state after that brutal violation will stop at nothing to have her revenge. But the soldiers remain remorseless and looks to punish the locals as much as possible, as they move further into Ukrainian territory. Meanwhile, Olena has transformed into something different, and she seems to resemble something other than humans even though she retained her human form. Can Olena and Katya have their revenge in the most brutal way or will the soldiers somehow escape?

The defence of The Witch: Revenge :: The movie scores the best with its visuals and there is some beauty about even the most evil of acts and the gore with goes with the same. This comes after some of the most colourful and happy moments that a movie can have in the beginning, with the true love feeling running through. On one side, there is that terror of modern warfare in the form of Russian invasion of Ukraine which seems to have no end, and on the other side, there is that mastery of the supernatural, which bring multiple levels of strength to the movie. Those elements of magic and witchcraft are nicely shown, and blood often makes a stylish entry, looking even better in the presence of snow. The atmosphere feels always suitable, and the emotional side also makes an entry at times with confidence. The witch becomes a metaphor for the Ukrainian resistance with ease, as there is the talk about ancient folktales. The mood of folklore is at the best with dark forests, candle-lit interiors and ritual elements while being bold with its true reflection of war-related violence among the weak.

The claws of flaw :: The movie seems to stop trying at times, and keeps moving on the ordinary path when there was so much of a chance for greatness. With the Ukrainian side taken, one would wonder if the feeling of one-sidedness will be omnipresent. There is only one kind of portrayal of the Russian side, and showing the two sides in black and white will not be satisfying at all times, with the grey side definitely missing. Despite the understanding that invasions can keep being brutal, the grey side is expected at some points. Even though the movie is rather short, we feel that there are moments when it stretches from within, and some moments could have just been avoided. We feel that some touch is lost in between, as a venture through the classic revenge in a tale of brutality and chaos. The male protagonist is killed too early and there is no character development regarding him. The villains just seem like the usual antagonists without any variety between them. All women characters other than the protagonist does not seem to rise that much and pales in comparison to her.

The performers of the soul :: The movie is strongly and soulfully led by Tetiana Malkova, who remains at the core, setting the bar high. It has always been easier to portray vampires and zombies than witches these days, and we are lucky enough to have a good one here with a fine performance as the supernatural creature. The romantic side was also strong with her, as it was where her transformation began and went on to the other. The romance feels as much real as the revenge and the feelings behind them are portrayed very well. The next one to catch our attention is Oleksandra Pankova who also leads the way in an act of revenge, and this search to bring deaths to the violators also has the same intensity, even though not that much of witchcraft and sorcery. Taras Tsymbaliuk as Andriy does a good job as the lover and Olena Khokhlatkina as Yevdokiya plays a believable aunty with magical roots. The villains in the form of soldiers does fine even though too restricted in the second half with nothing much to do.

How it finishes :: We have had our movies with the presence of witches, from the action adventure of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters to a more classic kind with The Witch and much twisted versions from Russia like Baba Yaga and Mara that went the divergent way in comparison to what we have been seeing in Hollywood. This is only the second Ukrainian movie on this website after The Rising Hawk which also had its moments, and I would love to expand on this Eastern European movie collection, as some of the finest movies from the Romanian work named The Whistlers to the Serbian film The Balkan Lane are from that side. Still, let us hope that there will be no more wars to become background for future movies, and that there can be imaginary battles or some Nosferatu to replace the same. Until then, we watch this movie, and enjoy it even though not without some small troubles that come here and there. One can find that there is something about this movie, which can also have a sequel, and by that time, there will be no war, but lesser problems running in the background.

Release date: 22nd August 2024
Running time: 100 minutes
Directed by: Andriy Kolesnyk
Starring: Tetiana Malkova, Oleksandra Pankova, Taras Tsimbalyuk, Olena Khokhlatkina, Pavel Vyshniakov, Ivan Sharan

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Atlas

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Vampire Owl: I have known others with the name Atlas before.

Vampire Bat: I believe that it was Cloud Atlas.

Vampire Owl: So, you feel that there is nothing common among the two.

Vampire Bat: There should be a little bit of future related things in both.

Vampire Owl: A world of future never gets old in the past or present.

Vampire Bat: Well, the future does seem to be very much different than what we thought many years ago.

Vampire Owl: Yes, third world war is too late in human world.

Vampire Bat: And the space colonization has been delayed too much.

Vampire Owl: What about time travel? I believe that there was going to be a time machine with a rage of 10000 BC to 12000 AD.

Vampire Bat: Well, we do not even have teleportation yet.

[Gets some Paneer 65 and three cups of orange tea].

What is the movie about? :: It is the year 2043, and humanoid artificial intelligence terrorist Harlan Shepherd (Simu Liu) leads a war of machines against humans, which leaves about three million people dead, proving the scientist who adopted him as his son, and the founder of the programme Val Shepherd (Lana Parrilla) wrong in her theories and expectations about a better future with Artificial Intelligence. The group of machines seem to be too powerful a force to counter for any nation and its military power. An apocalyptic event which soon lead to the extinction of humanity seems imminent, with Harlan having full access to all machines and controlling all similar forces. There are talks around and the military forces of the world join together to form a group known as International Coalition of Nations (ICN), and this leads to the humans finally winning many battles against Harlan much to the dismay of the machines. This forces him to escape Earth and locate himself in outer space, with a promise to come back and finish what he had started with determination.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: After twenty-eight years pass without the machines making any direct battles with humans, Atlas Maru Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez), an analyst, the daughter of Harlan’s designer, has been hunting for a chance to find the escaped machines who are responsible for that near-apocalyptic event. After one of Harlan’s AI agents is captured and interrogated by her using special techniques, she finds out that Harlan can be found on a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. As she provides this information to the others, keeps insisting that she should come along and face Harlan, something which she has wanted to do for a very long time. The military hopes to use AI-assisted giant robots known as ARCs which connect to human rangers through a neural link, but Atlas in not ready for the same as she distrusts all kinds of Artificial Intelligence. But Harlan’s drones attack their spaceship just before entering the planet’s atmosphere, and Atlas is forced to enter an ARC herself and falls right on to the planet’s surface.

And what more can happen between humans and machines now? :: Atlas is not happy about her situation within a machine, but she manages to gain basic control of the ARC despite her distrust of the Artificial Intelligence who introduces itself as Smith in a very friendly manner. As they move, the two combine forces and soon find the rest of the rangers dead, and somehow manages to escape to escape from the humanoids chasing them despite the link between her and the machine being weak. She reluctantly agrees to directly interface her mind with Smith, allowing for greater control of the ARC. This allows them to move on with a hope to escape, as finding and defeating Harlan seems to be almost impossible now as she is no monster hunter and the enemy is too strong. But is there still a chance to stop Harlan, and should they take it instead of going through the route to the escape pod? Is there something they can do, and is there a chance that Harlan will directly come to get them? Is Harlan actually a villain or is there something more to him than what meets the eye?

The defence of Atlas :: The biggest advantage of this movie is its stunning visuals with some fine Computer-Generated Imagery and visual effects that elevates this movie so much that people would have wanted to watch the same on the big screen. The spaceships, visuals of space and the planet in Proxima Centauri, along with the stylish AI machines are joy to watch, often reminding one of some computer games – remembering MissionForce: CyberStorm of 1996. Then we know Pacific Rim and its sequel. The messages of Artificial Intelligence and trust, along with the idea about human future being devastation does keep all the thinking going forward. All the action makes things more interesting, and the alien planet is something that everyone would look forward to. Jennifer Lopez mostly manages to handle this quite well, even though the role would have suited a newer, younger or lesser-known actress better with the tale seemingly going in that path. There are no unnecessary complications of science here though, and without an Interstellar-kind of scientific overdose, the move scores more on the true science-fiction and not that science-reality mode that keeps the viewers struggling. The Mech-AI and bonding feels nice too.

The claws of flaw :: The movie not having a younger main character to suit the situation more does hurt it at times, and there are moments when it seems to go into a silly mode. There is too much focus on one character even when this is about saving the world. It does not feel appropriate to see that the most trained leader of the rangers and his fully matched AI companion falls too easily while the analyst gets to defeat advanced Artificial Intelligence humanoids with powerful weapons with ease – it is quite the disgrace to the soldiers and their battle-hardened commander intending on saving the world. Somehow, their only duty seems to be focused on keeping the seemingly useless emotionally struggling elder lady who might be mostly out control, safe at all times. In that case, they should have kept her back home, as she is nowhere close to as guide as she claimed to be with the Artificial Intelligence leader, with her missing out on the most predictable part of the movie. The basic idea about Artificial Intelligence seems to be overused, even though we do not come to know that it is what we are dealing with, until the movie is somewhat closer to its end.

How it finishes :: Atlas could have surely been a better movie with less predictability, with more of a consideration on its basic strengths, but it remains an entertainer, and for that much there is no doubt. The repetition itself holds it down, but the same seems to be the one thing that would drive movies like this forever. The film was surely not well-received by the critics and Jennifer Lopez was even nominated for the Worst Actress category at the Golden Raspberry Awards – but you know that critics often make no sense, as they recently did with Madame Web, and we know that even the best movies do not make money, like John Carter. This movie could have at least received some accolades for its graphics and visuals, for the settings in space need not always be this good, and not all science fiction are spectacles of this quality, not even those much-famed superhero movies of Marvel. You watch this one for the beauty on the screen and another world of future with an emotional and classic touch. Well, you need movies like these at regular intervals to keep the love for science fiction going, and not those silly stuff which deviates from the genre’s core.

Release date: 24th May 2024 (Netflix)
Running time: 120 minutes
Directed by: Brad Peyton
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Sterling K Brown, Mark Strong, Gregory James Cohan, Abraham Popoola, Lana Parrilla

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Watchers

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Vampire Owl: We vampires are the true watchers of the world.

Vampire Bat: We could have also been teachers, but humans do not learn.

Vampire Owl: At least we have made sure that the zombies learned.

Vampire Bat: Zombies did not learn from us, but stopped learning their own.

Vampire Owl: Still, the result is that they are more like vampires now.

Vampire Bat: You know that most people never really differentiated between the two.

Vampire Owl: But we are that much different, you know.

Vampire Bat: We are all divergent from the undead.

Vampire Owl: There is no title as the people of the grave.

Vampire Bat: Yet, there are nocturnal children of the night.

[Gets a ghee dosa and three cups of cardamom tea].

What is the movie about? :: Mina (Dakota Fanning), a young girl who lost her mother to an accident on road and is still grieving for it, gets the duty to deliver a parrot in Galway at a zoo located near Belfast. But on the way to the destination, her car breaks down on a road in the middle of a forest. She walks through the forest to find help, but only end up losing her way, with no car in sight. As she keeps on walking, she comes across a building which looks like a bunker, and as there seems to be something haunting through the forest, she gets in as requested by a strange woman who introduces herself as Madeline (Olwen Fouéré). There she finds two other people, Ciara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan). There is also the talk about a missing person named John (Alistair Brammer), Ciara’s husband. The place seems to be the only safe place in the forest which seems to have creepy creatures wandering around during nightfall, and could finish them off if they go out in the darkness.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Madeline tells her the rules of the forest, to stand in front of a mirrored window at night where the creatures called watchers could see, not to go out at night, and never to enter the underground tunnels where the creatures stay during the day due to a certain aversion to sunlight. Daniel helps Mina explore the underground, from where she finds items like a camcorder and a bicycle and is almost caught by a Watcher. That night, when someone who claims to be John appears outside the bunker and asks for help. Madeline refuses to let him in, sure that it is just a Watcher imitating John to get inside the bunker, as these creatures have been watching them at all nights. The Watchers are angry, but they leave. Days and nights pass, but they are not able to escape from the area. Soon, it seems that a certain amount of hostility comes in between them. Can they survive more, or can they defeat the creatures, and can they actually get out one day?

The defence of The Watchers :: The feeling of wandering through a folk-tale world is clearly there to be taken in the movie. Everyone needs to go through such a world where there is mystery as much as there would be nightmare. A dark fairy-tale never gets outdated as long as the dark effects are used well, and there is enough darkness to keep things going forward. It takes you into it without giving a chance for a second thought, and fear generation is active early enough, as soon as the forest is entered and darkness falls with no way to escape. The feeling of mystery is provided to leave the viewers with the feeling of danger all the time. The background tales come out of nowhere to create an impact in something divergent. A dark fantasy in a modern world has also been a requirement. There are some simple twists which get added at the same time. The possibility of a sequel is added in the end as expected, and with this premise, it could surely be a lot better. As long as one doesn’t think how this would have been brought to the screen by Guillermo del Toro, everything would be just fine.

The claws of flaw :: The Watchers is too slow a movie throughout its run. It seems to think that the creatures of the night have an eternity to come, and we can wait until we age and die. Even when things get very serious and the situation would mean death, there is no real picking up of pace. The movie should have been much shorter in length, for there are moments which show the struggle and nothing much happens in between some minutes. You keep having the feeling that something grand is going to happen every time, but there is no real ups and downs for this movie. The final resolution is also too easily reached, when so much danger was there to be unleashed. It should have used more grandeur right there, as so much talk was done regarding the creatures from humanity’s long gone past. One has to keep wondering if the tale could have been told differently and also whether the creatures could have been defined in a more classic manner. The special effects could have also been added in a better way with more classic views of the creatures.

The performers of the soul :: There are only a few characters here, and so the emotional investment of the audience is limited to them, wondering whether they would escape from the grave danger beyond understanding that surrounds them. Dakota Fanning comes up with an interesting performance here, as she plays someone who carries the guilt along with the fear. She does not start off playing a likable character, and in the end, she is a much better person with a dynamic character. There are moments when we feel her confusion, and we get to move forward with her with ease. Georgina Campbell plays more or less the realistic character around there though, and she often fails to understand the mysteries that well and even feels that her husband would come back in the dark. Oliver Finnegan provides a stable work, while Alistair Brammer’s character dies too early. John Lynch drops in with a character from the flashback that makes the difference, and a solid one indeed. Olwen Fouéré as Madeline has some strong moments, and they will be remembered.

How it finishes :: The Watchers remains the movie which will continue to remind us of the movies of Manoj Night Shyamalan, in the form of this work directed by his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan, as similar feelings are evoked. A similar environment seems to be at work here consisting of elements which remind us of a style which we had loved with many different movies. We remember his movies of interest in the last ten years, The Visit, Split, Glass and Old. The connection to a past of fantasy being brought here also makes us feel that we are into another world. A fantasy world which stays so close to this world, and seemingly without exaggeration will keep us going. About Ishana, post this debut as the director, there is surely a lot to follow. The horror fantasy needs its imagination, and she might be bringing us the same, something which we are going to cherish for long with one classic work which is yet to come. For now, we enjoy the beginning, for the genre of fantasy is indeed forever.

Release date: 7th June 2024
Running time: 102 minutes
Directed by: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, Oliver Finnegan, Alistair Brammer, John Lynch

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Tarot

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Vampire Owl: So, vampires can now try these too?

Vampire Bat: Well, vampires are all about beliefs, the myths and legends.

Vampire Owl: We are the demons of humans who come out of their hell.

Vampire Bat: We are surely much more than that when awakened.

Vampire Owl: The question remains about what we are to those humans.

Vampire Bat: Why would you want to know about what they think?

Vampire Owl: I want to know what they feel to be different from what they know, for I shall sacrifice my identity to be better than their thoughts.

Vampire Bat: We will always be what we are, of blood and eternal night.

Vampire Owl: There are no better nocturnal creatures, I know. Ours are classic horror stories of many nights.

Vampire Bat: Go for more of horror then, fellow vampire, stay furious.

[Gets a butterscotch shake and three cups of ginger tea].

What is the movie about? :: A group of friends from the same college, Haley (Harriet Slater), Grant (Adain Bradley), Paxton (Jacob Batalon), Paige (Avantika Vandanapu), Madeline (Humberly González), Lucas (Wolfgang Novogratz) and Elise (Larsen Thompson) rent a mansion in the middle of nowhere to celebrate Elise’s birthday in peace. They have some drinks and try to enjoy their time away from city. Haley and Grant just had a breakup, and to make things feel better, Haley read their fortunes using some very old seemingly hand-painted tarot cards taken from the basement. Elise gets the High Priestess, the first card which seems to be scary enough to feel something sinister; Lucas gets the Hermit; Madeline is attached to the Hanged Man; Paige becomes the Magician; and Paxton finds the Fool. Finally, a reluctant Grant receives the Devil while Haley herself does not find it too surprised as she gets the Death card and remarks that the love will be the death of her. Even though Paxton feels that he saw a shadowy figure outside, things go on without any incident.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As the group returns to campus, they tend to forget about the tarot readings. But on the very next night, Elise feels that there is something in the attic, and there she is attacked by a strange creature, resembling the High Priestess on her tarot card, and after being pushed down the attic, she is killed using ladder. Haley tries to console her grieving friends as they all wish that one of them was with Elise on that night. The very next night, Lucas is terrorized by the Hermit from his tarot card and chased into the restricted area of a nearby train station. He keeps running away from the chasing monster, but ends up being killed by a speeding train. The group gets together and tries to figure it out as two of their friends are already dead. Haley feels that there is some relation between her readings and how her friends died. She talks about the same to her friends. But it seems that they need an expert on this. But what they come to know would not make them any confident about surviving? Can at least some of them remain alive in the end?

The defence of Tarot :: The movie does offer some genuine scares, and the demons on display here brings the scares really well. These creatures are nicely detailed, and suits the situations really well. The environment nicely moves to horror with ease whenever there is the supernatural coming in to take a soul to the other world. The different deaths make fine impact, and the variety in them needs some appreciation beyond the usual. The fear factor is always present, and in the darkness of the night, gets even better in evil and terror. When one wonders how the next death can happen in a situation, there is that quick appearance, like in the case of that bridge. The flashback remains spooky, and adds to the scary elements with the curse that keeps the creepiness factor high enough. There are many Eastern European myths which could come in here, and a Cabin in the Woods environment with them going back to where it all started would have been nice, but lives are already lost when the chance is there in the movie.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does miss out on some of the chances which it could have easily taken, especially related to the death – the first one could have been the most classic of them all, and the second one could have taken another twist. The supernatural menace could have taken lives in a Final Destination mode or with even better varieties. Some more violence could have also made an entry, as this is that kind of a movie when we look at it from a distance. There is a certain amount of laziness or easy-going mode seen at some parts. There were so many paths which the movie could have taken after those initial moments of unleashing the curse. The darkness of the movie needed to have that special punch, something which Until Dawn could display in a better way. Sometimes, we do feel that all these might not be enough to make the victims think enough, as they often end up looking in the internet instead of anywhere else, even after having an expert out there. Just like those strange horror films, sticking together is not an option here too.

The performers of the soul :: Harriet Slater leads the way as the true protagonist of the movie who tries to the save everyone including herself. With a depressing past and a breakup, the character needed the attention she has provided the same. Her desire to genuinely solve this problem and even take the blame can be seen reflected here. Avantika Vandanapu is the next person who catches our attention, and plays a character that we wish to see survive in the end. She would make a fine scream queen in another horror movie as we witness the signs. The run from the magician is a sign indeed. Jacob Batalon is the one who brings the funny side to the screen, and he does the same well to keep the humour alive in between all the horror and deaths. Humberly González and Larsen Thompson goes through the unexpected deaths well, and the fear factor is well-displayed with them as death stalks all around. Olwen Fouéré scores as the tarot and astrology expert in between all the never-ending curses.

How it finishes :: Tarot makes its horror working with the usual stuff and a little bit of addition to go with the same. Let us not fall into the trap of negative reviews, as we horror fans are better than that, and we know that most of the critics do not rate the films of the genre well enough. But this one thrives on its supernatural side, and keeps the horror moving forward. There is death lurking in the shadows, and the audience is surely aware of the same, as they wait for the evil to pounce upon the youth whose fate was told through the tarot and horoscope. While watching this movie, I had the feeling that this kind of topic would suit a Malayali horror film more, as this deviation from the usual methods of the genre directly aligns with many traditions we see around. After all, there is no shortage of myths and legends for us, and the connection could be more easily established. Let horror come back to us, and we will accept it as a common thing in life, unlike the very rare elements like romance and feel-good.

Release date: 3rd May 2024
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg
Starring: Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika Vandanapu, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson, Olwen Fouéré, Jacob Batalon

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Nosferatu

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Vampire Owl: Finally, our Count is coming back to the big screen.

Vampire Bat: This one is not really the true Dracula Uncle.

Vampire Owl: Well, Count Orlok is not lesser than Count Dracula.

Vampire Bat: I have heard from humans that this Orlok is an illegal version.

Vampire Owl: Well, there are no such rules in vampire kingdom, right?

Vampire Bat: Human rules need not apply here, but we should know.

Vampire Owl: We will never really know the humans.

Vampire Bat: We will know everything except their inherent evil.

Vampire Owl: Well, which is why we do not transform humans into vampires anymore.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that they want to; the greed for eternal life and perpetual youth.

[Gets a tea cake and three cups of Ooty tea].

What is the movie about? :: Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) is a recently married young woman who has had too many nightmares in her life in the past, and it is revealed that her recent bad dream about being married to death and everyone around her dead. It is revealed that while looking for consolation from her loneliness and depression in life, during her random chants and prayers, she had ended up creating a psychic link with Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), or what they villagers of Romania used to call Nosferatu, with Romanian roots. The nocturnal creature of pure evil had marked Ellen from thousands of kilometres away, and this connection often led her into situations of seizures and sleepwalking. She keeps having hallucinations and a feeling of being with death, from which escape seems almost impossible. She has been living in the German town of Wisborg with her husband Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) and is irreversibly in love with him as it seems, but this connection seems to have journeyed through the unimaginable, the darkest of the woods and deepest of the rivers and lakes.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is then that Thomas accepts the offer to sell the partially ruined Grünewald Manor to a reclusive lord named Count Orlok located somewhere in Romania. Ellen talks about her nightmares and pleads Thomas not to leave for those unknown lands where a certain cursed evil lurks, but the offer from his employer is too much for him not to accept this opportunity of a life time. He leaves her in the care of his wealthy friend and famous shipbuilder Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna Harding (Emma Corrin) who lives with their two little daughters. As he arrives at the Carpathians in the Transylvanian area of Romania, Thomas is warned not to wander around during the nights and not to visit Orlok. During the same night, he still wanders around and witnesses a group of gypsies running a ritual with a fully naked woman on a horse which ends with the exhuming and impaling a vampire’s corpse with a wooden stake, ending the undead life with a lot of blood coming out of its mouth. The next morning, he finds no help or support, and leaves for the count’s castle alone and on foot.

And what is to follow as the Count maintains all the control over the world known to him? :: In his castle, Count Orlok welcomed Thomas as the aristocrat that required respect at all times. But soon, his existence as something more than human is revealed to Thomas, who hopes to escape, but the paths of the castle only lead to the crypt where the count is sleeping in his coffin, and he is not able to attack him as the vampire awakens, and so do his demonic hounds. He understands that he will have to remain a prisoner in the castle forever, as the document which the count made him sign might not be the Romanian version of the deal concerning the property, but a document dissolving his marriage to Ellen and the vampire had also taken his locket, containing a lock of her hair. He understands the vampire is going after his wife, and jumps into the river below the castle to escape. But the count has already started his journey and has infested a ship which is on its way to Germany. He will not stop at anything unless he becomes together with Ellen. Can anyone stop this evil from embracing her and also spread through the whole of Western Europe? Or will the blood-seeking demon have a blood feast that will last forever?

The defence of Nosferatu :: The movie achieves atmospheric horror and thrives with the sound effects as much as the visuals. There is fear running through the air, as we rarely see a world thriving on light here. The psychological side very strong here, and the performance of Lily-Rose Depp is truly magical here, with so many moments to remember, and the final few moments of her is out of this world. I cannot stop myself from not being the new admirer of Johnny Depp’s daughter as I have been a fan of him. I can say that I have never seen the main female character of any version of Bram Stoker’s work getting such attention which is supported by a performance of grandeur. The connection to the demonic creature and talk about all of this terror has never been so perfectly detailed and connected to the female lead. Nicholas Hoult and Willem Dafoe works the roles just as expected, while Bill Skarsgård’s demon is something we have not seen before, well divergent in looks and actions to create more terror. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corin move through expected paths. These are not just characters, but people who immerse us in their wisely created world with fine performances.

Positives and negatives :: It can be said that there is no movie based on Bram Stoker’s work that has provided an emotional and haunting touch like this one, and a terrifying vampire movie becoming an emotional tale of love and selflessness keeps us rooting for the film even more, like never before. The movie basically like music which strives for a fight against the most terrifying form of evil with love. By the end, here we know that as evil always finds a way, so does goodness and self-sacrifice. Finally, we know that the melancholy of the main character is not hers alone, but of all of us. It is a poetry on what it takes to thrive against the most ancient forms of evil. The sequence in the forest makes a fine reflection which is to come, and there are some classic shots in the castle that elevates this movie to a psychic-psychological mood which is rarely seen in the adaptations. The final image from where the camera zooms out reflects the same, and that too with a melancholic beauty. There is also some work with demonic possession, which is actually shown without any overdose. This is indeed a fine Gothic work that reflects the Victorian Age even when not in Britain. The one thing that we might really be missing is the Brides of Dracula.

How it finishes :: This is the one movie which becomes a fine divergent tribute to both the 1922 version of Nosferatu and the many later versions of Dracula as well as the original book, along with being a different entity in itself. There seems to be so many inspirations, and many creative ideas placed around here. This version is sure to be remembered as a classic in future, no matter problems critics would find, which would be lost in the process. This version might be the one which needs even more attention than what it has managed. This is that version of the vampire that maintains all kinds of feeling which are related to a vampire as a nocturnal creature that feeds from the lifeforce of humans. There are not many movies which can pay homage to so many of its predecessors and still remain something new. This one, with some fantastic performance and an atmosphere which would put even the high-budget movies to shame, manages to rise and seek theatre experience – it is quite depressing that the movie was not really found in theatres when it released.

Release date: 25th December 2024
Running time: 132 minutes
Directed by: Robert Eggers
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Katerina Bila

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Apocalypse Z

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Vampire Owl: Are we going to watch the end of the world again?

Vampire Bat: We are never tired of watching it.

Vampire Owl: Would this be like World War Z?

Vampire Bat: Well, there is never really a shortage of movies showing the end.

Vampire Owl: How beautiful can the end of the world be?

Vampire Bat: I would say that it would be a life with less anxiety and depression.

Vampire Owl: Train to Busan showed a lot of anxiety.

Vampire Bat: It was lessened with Peninsula, right?

Vampire Owl: You know where Resident Evil stands.

Vampire Bat: Still, not all sequels of Resident Evil stands at the same level.

[Gets a paneer puffs and three cups of Sikkim tea].

What is the movie about? :: Manel (Francisco Ortiz) and his wife Julia (Iria del Río) returns home after visiting his sister Belén (Marta Poveda) and her husband Mario (Oriol Ruiz), and meets with an accident on road while losing focus during an argument about having children. Following the incident, he leaves the town and lives in isolation with his cat. Due to the same reason, he does not care about a new virus called TSJ which has spread around the nation and even outside the continent like COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Then, the one thing which is not said in the news is that this particular pandemic differs from the corona virus and would cause people to turn into flesh-eating zombies. The whole Europe has been under attack and going down for some time, and the Germans had already evacuated Berlin. As Belén’s family is evacuated to the Canary Islands, Manel tries to join them, the government closes the borders, and declares a general state of emergency which cancels all the flights and leaves people where they are.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: With no option to join his sister and brother-in-law, and having all routes closed, he promises her that he will stay there safe and within the house, only to lose all internet and communications soon enough. While going out to collect supplies, he finds out that people are quickly turning into zombies, and finds even police officers turning into zombies or killing themselves to escape from the terrible fate. Running out of supplies and while searching for food in nearby homes, he comes across an old lady named Gabriela (Amalia Gómez) who has also run out food herself. They help each other, as she knows where he could find the food and he get them with relative ease. Soon, they are able to intercept a radio transmission which has a message from the survivors who feel that they would be evacuated soon and it is safe where they were staying. This provides hope for both of them, even though Gabriela is not sure if she would survive the journey.

And what more can follow in a zombie-infested world? :: Gabriela understands that she would only slow him down and could end up being a burden, and commits suicide when Manel comes to get her on the next day. This leaves him and his cat to go through the journey to the place which might be a safe haven. With the cat Lúculo, and with a diving suit and a speargun for defense, Manel barely manages to escape from a zombie horde, but finds all larger boats either taken away or unusable. After finding a little zombie toddler, he is only able to use an inflatable dinghy to travel to his destination, with all roads taken over by zombies. On the way, he finds a few Russians who asks for his help while on the way and offers him a cabin to stay in their big boat. But Manel feels that the Russians are not that straightforward as they claim to be, even though the only person in the ship who can speak Spanish denies his suspicions. Now, it seems that it would not be that easy to get away and reach the new place which is claimed as a safe house. Can he somehow do what he has been planning to?

The defence of Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End :: Some of the most interesting foreign movies which I have watched were in Spanish, and the movies like The Platform has always gained the attention of a wider audience. As the main character grapples with the zombie-powered societal collapse and fights to reunite with his only family, this movie remains strong both as an emotional as well as terrifying one, with an adventure that keeps us going. The man’s survival from a tragic loss makes this another journey of a flawed character who wishes to finally get back to his family from that self-inflicted solitude. All those real‑world COVID-19 pandemic responses like acts of selfishness which are not limited to panic buying, along with those lockdowns and quarantine that we have experienced will keep us close to the movie’s reality, for it does not give away the fact that there are zombies involved until quite some time into the film. The terrifying elements do follow, and they are pretty much effective along with the emotional side.

Positives and negatives :: There might be similarities to the other titles dealing with similar topics, and it is not easy to come out of that feeling that we know what would happen, and it is know how this would keep going. Yet, powered by the performance provided by Francisco Ortiz, the movie rises above the usual expectations. One cannot help wondering how well the Spanish movies have managed to keep its side strong, no matter what kind of a genre it deals with. The support is really good too, even from the kids and one cat. There is a certain amount of realism when the zombies are shown, as they also seem as much desperate as humans for food, seemingly emotional too, unlike the usual mindless displays. It is also based on the novel by Manel Loureiro, and how much this one stay close or deviates from the original, is something we can only understand from the fans of book. The heartfelt zombie film seems to be appreciated enough to bring more viewers to the same on OTT.

How it finishes :: We are never short of some fine zombie movies, and the apocalypse is something we can never stop waiting for, whether in fiction or in reality as an inevitable fate. There is a fine journey through the world affected by the terrifying zombie reality which is slowly destroying the world as it is known. The terrible situation is shown with a fine scary side as much the emotional moments which makes this one a thriller drama as well as part of the genres of horror and adventure. This movie becomes another addition to that fine list. The ending makes sure that a scope for sequel is there to be taken, and from what is heard, it is there to come soon enough. Among the movies about the end of the world, it seems that the Spanish has managed to get on a higher level. We can have many similar movies to follow, but in between the earlier movies and those which are to come, this one has maintained some fine class while keeping the entertaining side high enough.

Release date: 31st October 2024
Running time: 118 minutes
Directed by: Carles Torrens
Starring: Francisco Ortiz, José María Yazpik, Berta Vázquez, Iria del Río, Marta Poveda, Amalia Gómez, María Salgueiro, Yuri Mikhaylychenko, Oriol Ruiz

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Under Paris

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Vampire Owl: It is a small world, isn’t it? We are now watching a French movie.

Vampire Bat: We have watched and reviewed movies of thirty-one languages.

Vampire Owl: Yes, the last language to be added being Filipino.

Vampire Bat: Those were also the movies which required our attention.

Vampire Owl: Yes, we should actually go for more Filipino movies.

Vampire Bat: Here, the French movies are actually among the biggest categories of foreign language films to be reviewed.

Vampire Owl: Yes, after Korean and Spanish, and just more than Russian.

Vampire Bat: I believe that these would make more than half of the foreign movie collection here.

Vampire Owl: I have seen that the most read foreign movie review here is still of an Italian one.

Vampire Bat: Yes, the one named Don’t Kill Me with fine flesh-eating zombies reminding us of those undead beyond the border.

[Gets an onion vada and three cups of elaichi tea].

What is the movie about? :: A famous marine researcher who is worried about climate migration, Sophia (Bérénice Bejo) and her team have been studying the shark species and the changes that come across them while also checking the garbage which has been spread around as a patch four times the size of France. The focus is near the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and search narrows down on Lilith, a shortfin mako shark which was tagged by them some time ago. They end up seeing similar female sharks hunting together as a pack, which feels quite unusual. They find the shark named Lilith, but also finds out that it has grown in size and is now double the creature it used to be, and makes Sophia wonder what has changed in the oceanic environment. As it des not seem to be aggressive, the team tries to take a sample, only to find it killing her husband and other divers. Sophia jumps into the ocean to hunt it down, but becomes entangled in a net and is dragged into the depths of the ocean, and even though she could break free and come up, there are injuries sustained due to severe alternation of pressure underneath.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Three years later, Sophia is still scarred by that incident for which she blames her own calculations, and works in an aquarium in Paris, explaining to the visitors about the oceans of the world and the marine life that inhabits it. She comes across Mika (Léa Léviant), and environmentalist who is looking forward to saving marine life which has been hunted vigorously by greedy humans, and also has a group that tries to do the same all around the globe. She tells her that the tracker which was set on Lilith is still active, and that the shark has travelled all the way from the Pacific Ocean to the River Seine of Paris. As it is not a freshwater creature, she feels that the shark might end up dying underneath the city if it is not found and diverted to the ocean. The police officer Adil (Nassim Lyes) who had found shark bites on a man found dead in the river, and hopes that Sophia can help him to kill it, but just like any other environmental and animal lover who do gives least value to human life, Mika switches off the tracker on the shark, leaving any human near the river prone to death.

And what more is going to happen with the shark right there in the river? :: Sophia knows how devastating the shark can be, and is reminded of her dead husband. Mika remains a third-rate animal lover who does not care for human lives, and stands by her idea that sharks do not attack without a valid reason, but Sophia knows better. Mika is still too good in making emotional pleas to save the shark as if she really means it. But for some reason, she is infatuated with just one shark and not bothered about anything else. She wonders how dare they try to attack that shark and not vice versa. She feels like a student who skips classes regularly for some environmental indoctrination as she is beyond logic. Her friend Ben (Nagisa Morimoto) who realizes that Mika is an environmental extremist who cannot be reasoned with, decides to meet Sophia and tell her that the shark even has underground sewage access. At the same time, Sophia and Adil request the Mayor of Paris to postpone the upcoming triathlon which would invite a large number of athletes to the area. The mayor refuses as billions of euros have already been spent on the event, and it is necessary for a build-up to Olympics. Now, one wonders what can happen next and who all will die.

The defence of Under Paris :: The movie manages to be a thrilling journey with a shark under water and people not realizing its danger. The most satisfying moment of the movie is the death of the one activist who brought all these upon humans and other living beings by unleashing an apex monster adaptation of the original shark. Even though human extinction is not that bad a thing for nature conservation, this one was a nature terrorist, and seems to be taken right out some people whom we regularly find on the media. The character shows the activist who lives without doing any other job, and seems to be interested in being in the spotlight and show face in the videos all the time. This one is surely not like the dedicated people working for environment, not looking for reels and selfies. The fear element is always present in the waters, and you keep wondering who is going to get the worst of the shark attacks. The shark attacks are all effective, and the final moments take the terror to the next level. In the end, we see that there is no hope left at all, unless there is that powerful a sequel which changes everything like a fantasy dream of wonderland. Bérénice Bejo and Nassim Lyes make a good team at the same time.

The claws of flaw :: The movie could have focused more on the shark rather than those activists, with more movements within the shots of the city to induce further fear. Due to the lack of any thinking people among those who are looking for conservation, a good message is lost. Just feeling that others are responsible for stealing dreams of the younger generation and doing some nonsense in the name of saving nature and oceans would never even come close to being somewhat sane. There could have been more chilling visuals of the shark hunting, and also more action in the ocean instead of just switching so quickly. The catacombs and sewers could have a scarier world in store for us. Paris could have also had more stylish shots to support its glamour, after all, everyone wishes to visit the city one day. The movie has been rather less known in this part of the world, and that is a disappointment because there is more appreciation to come for tales of shark horror with Netflix widely used.

How it finishes :: Among the European movies featuring sharks as the main nemesis, this one surely has maintained a space for itself. It will surely have a sequel, as the ending seems to suggest that the sharks have spread all over the world with oceans connecting to the rivers and lakes, and with the ability to live in saltwater as well as freshwater. The second part is surely going to be grand, like an alien invasion A Quiet Place or 10 Cloverfield Lane, with people having less areas to find shelter, as flooding could also follow. Well, we know how the Resident Evil films defined survival, and let us see how far this franchise can go. This first movie sets the tone nicely, and we know that there is much more to come. In the movie, we find that things go much similar to how real-life situation would go, with all these activists and the authority acting as if they know everything, until the world around them collapses due their acts of foolishness, and it is their own people that suffer, even though they would not live long enough to witness the same. This could indeed be the revival of the shark-themed movies, even though it might not become as good as the first Deep Blue Sea, which extended the Jaws mode really well and 47 Meters Down up to an extent.

Release date: 5th June 2024 (Netflix)
Running time: 101 minutes
Directed by: Xavier Gens
Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Nassim Lyes, Léa Léviant

<<< Click here to go to the previous European film review.

<<< Click here to go to the previous horror thriller review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Platform 2

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Vampire Owl: Do you remember the last time a platform was lowered in the castle?

Vampire Bat: I am sure that we have different kinds of platform here.

Vampire Owl: Like a platform to display the skills?

Vampire Bat: All vampires have the same special skills.

Vampire Owl: There are no two vampires belonging to the same species.

Vampire Bat: One a vampire, always the same species.

Vampire Owl: The undead is not a species, for it is a status.

Vampire Bat: We are beyond all status in all territories.

Vampire Owl: There is something more running underneath.

Vampire Bat: You are listening too much to the blasphemy by Mr. Frankenstein.

[Gets a kadai chicken puffs and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: In the first movie, it was seen that a number of inmates are housed in pairs on different numbered levels of a very massive tower-like structure without doors which seems to have no beginning and the end. It was also seen that a platform filled with food descends once per day from the top to the bottom, stopping for a very short time on each level’s cell. Each floor had two occupants with a central hole for the platform to pass. The top floors used to get a lot of food while the lower floors got nothing – nobody was allowed to hoard the food either. A young woman named Perempuan (Milena Smit) and and a big man called by the name Zamiatin (Hovik Keuchkerian) find themselves in the same floor as partners in the food which is to come from above in the structure which is known to have 333 floors. The reach level 24 this time, which means that they can have some food now, until a change occurs. Next month, they could end up having more, or most probably much less food going nowhere.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: This vertical prison would need more than just a random plan to survive. The two new members are introduced to the informal rules of the prison – they should join the loyalists who follow the rules, and only eat what they had chosen as the favourite food before entering the prison. This would ensure that the maximum levels of people can get the food and nobody would die. They call those people who are against these rules as barbarians because they eat as much as they want, leading to food shortages due to the platform not being bigger than a usual dining table. As the new entrants try to keep the law as much as possible, they gather more information like on the existence of The Messiah, a mythical figure that could survive without food and then sacrificed his own leg to feed others who were going to die by starvation. His followers known as the Anointed Ones, keep the loyalist laws alive and punish those who violate these rules after appearing all of a sudden without invitation.

And what more is there to surprise us? :: Zamiatin who understands that he had broken the laws and will be punished along with his cell partner, sets himself on fire and jumps into the pit to death. This saves Perempuán from the possible punishment, and the very next month, she is paired with a one-armed woman named Sahabat (Natalia Tena) on level 51. She talks to Perempuán about Dagin Babi (Óscar Jaenada) who is the Anointed One that punishes everyone who makes even the smallest deviations from the law. She shares the story of how her arm was cut off and the girl who was her partner was stripped naked and tied to the platform in a spreadeagle position after removing all the food, to be eaten alive by the people of lower levels. She hopes to end this fearful existence by faking their deaths by consuming portions of an oil painting at the lower level, which would also make them immune to the gas which knocks out all prisoners. But can she succeed or will both of them face similar fates as their predecessors who did not obey the rules?

The defence of The Platform 2 :: The two big performers lead the way, Milena Smit and Natalia Tena, and the former making an impact in the least amount of time. Hovik Keuchkerian also leaves a mark in the process. The movie successfully becomes a reflection of our society where some people get them all and succeed through selfish ways, while the selfless remain without success. Selfishness and dehumanization are natural in the movie, just as reflected in human world. The world is once again nicely detailed, and so is the brutality, and if it was not shown well enough, the same would have been lost in the process. The movie does not take a step back in most of those cases, as the world begins to feel real despite the fictionality in which it is placed. This makes the film the perfect survival movie. There has never been a movie that has better shown so many selfish humans in one place, with all the terrifying sides present.

The claws of flaw :: The movie feels like a repetition of the first movie, and struggles to bring that innovation which has kept this franchise apart. This time, some part of an explanation could have been shown about this particular vertical prison and how it has existed and the reason for its inception along with who controls the same like a lab. The movie leaves one with no hope, as the world seems to continue in the same way, with no hope for redemption to the inmates. Even though one feels so many genres within this movie, there seems to be the lack of satisfaction with most of them. The movie could have also developed the character of Natalia better, and a certain flashback could have been shown to further spread the uneasy fear. All the violence in the movie may not be suitable for everyone, but nobody can doubt its requirement within the film – considering the background tale, the gore cannot be considered as that much.

How it finishes :: I have liked The Platform 2 as much as I liked The Platform. There was the feeling of innovation with the first movie, and with version, the feeling of terror seems to be elevated with the presence of even more cruelty and hopelessness even without bringing more innovation. The reality of the present world is more or less reflected yet again, as the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. It is that kind of a world which was shown in the Malayalam film Mukundan Unni Associates long ago, as those who find themselves in control and with success here are those who manipulate the system, ruthlessly exploit others’ misfortunes and find no morality in actions. The truth about humanity and their hoarding of wealth remains the same, and it would never change. The movie symbolically points to the same many times, and we are not tired of watching any number of movies with platforms of food.

Release date: 4th October 2024 (Netflix)
Running time: 101 minutes
Directed by: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Starring: Hovik Keuchkerian, Milena Smit, Natalia Tena, Óscar Jaenada, Iván Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Stream

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Vampire Owl: I am not that much in support of streaming. I am a DVD person.

Vampire Bat: There is no DVD in the vampire world.

Vampire Owl: We had taken a few from the human world.

Vampire Bat: Well, we are too advanced for even internet streaming now.

Vampire Owl: We had kept a few for the vampire museum.

Vampire Bat: The vampire museum no longer accepts human electronic items.

Vampire Owl: I have read the full guidelines and this is now towards infinity.

Vampire Bat: All of these are new for vampires lasting so many centuries.

Vampire Owl: So, nothing for the museums unless they belong to BC.

Vampire Bat: I was thinking pre-historic as far as the vampire elders are concerned.

[Gets a Malai Kulfi and three cups of Coonoor tea].

What is the movie about? :: Roy Keenan (Charles Edwin Powell), wife Elaine Keenan (Danielle Harris), elder daughter Taylor Keenan (Sydney Malakeh) and younger son Kevin Keenan (Wesley Holloway) are going through some rough times, due to Taylore being a miserable young girl who is too much attracted to drinks and sex, thus descending into crime at times. She is arrested by the police for shoplifting liquor and is brought back home to her father in handcuffs as they decide not to press charges for this time, much to the dismay of Roy and Elaine. To solve their daughter problem, they decide to go on a trip and book a room in a hotel, where they are told that there is no internet, much to the dismay of Kevin who had wished to play his video games online. There, they find a sexually hyperactive pair of husband and wife (Stephen Hongach and Serafina Leavy), a lesbian couple making noises in the adjacent room (Tara Fitzgerald and Phuong Kubacki), two French men with whom Taylor is sexually attracted (Jadon Cal and Andrew Rogers), and a retired police officer Tim Reid (Bernard Davidson).

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Then there is the supposed owner himself, identified as the very friendly Mr. Lockwood (Jeffrey Combs). What the new residents do not understand is that the actual owner of the hotel, Linda Spring (Dee Wallace) was brutally murdered by a masked figure and that the whole place has been locked down to start a special showdown. In the next few hours of night, until the residents are finished, the game would go on, at least until dawn. The cameras in the hotel begins streaming online, and four masked killers in stylish gaming outfits; the classic Player One (Jason Leavy) with the usual weapons; the stylish as well as psychotic brother-sister duo of Player Two (David Howard Thornton) and Player Three (Liana Pirraglia) with the stylish weapons; and the muscular Player Four (Mark Haynes) with brutal weapons are focused as they move to get hold of the inmates of the hotel, and any real hotel employees remaining out there.

And what more is to follow in this gaming stream of unlimited deaths? :: With access to all rooms and private spaces, the killers, after finishing the original employees, begin by attacking the husband and wife having sex in a jacuzzi, and after drowning in the husband, chases and catches the woman running out naked from the tub, without anyone noticing at all. At the same time, Taylor had sneaked into the room of the French men, looking for some exciting moments. They move to the rooftop of the hotel to have some fun, and her parents discover it only later after waking up to the voice of some lesbian intimacy on the other side of the wall. Elaine asks her husband to check out for their daughter and take Kevin with him as he has also woken up. With the help of the cameras, the players who realize this, manages to finish Elaine off, and it is Player One who gets the score this time. It is then that the retired police officer Tim Reid gets into action, but can he end this madness and save the rest, or reach the grave with them?

The defence of Stream :: Stream manages to stay ahead as a leader of its kind during 2025, and might maintain that status throughout the year. The film realizes the necessities of the genre and works accordingly after establishing that fine premise. The murders are all very nicely done, from the jacuzzi kill to what seems to await in the end of the film. There is a certain amount of creativity there and too much of CGI is not used. The nostalgia factor is awakened whenever necessary, and shocks are provided as needed. The performances are standard, as it would suit a movie of this kind. It is to be noted that Danielle Harris who has been part of many horror movies including the Halloween and Hatchet series plays the mother here, but is killed too early for our liking. Charles Edwin Powell stabilizes things in between. Jeffrey Combs makes quite an interesting villain even though not having that much of overall power as the character. Tim Reid makes a quick impact in between while all the killers work without any doubt.

Positives and negatives :: Stream keeps us positive about future serial killer movies, and the use of internet streaming for the purpose keeps more possibilities open. Yet, the choice of survivors would keep one not impressed, as it provides least poetic justice with the person who should have surely died to have any peace of mind lives. The movies with the worst characters surviving might help the idea that evil always wins, as reflected in our present world. The movie still should not have been this long – it remains entertaining, but the length could have been reduced, especially with the dialogues going a little too far as we check. It could have done even better with more hype and with the creation of a terrifying serial killer face that would be remembered for a very long time and turn to a cult character. So many serial killers have the same, and keeping something special here to be remembered must be a priority.

How it finishes :: Stream is that psycho killer film that we have always wanted, with the support of gaming streams – well, we know how much these people are focused on gaining viewers, and murdering people would be just one of the options. In an internet-dominated world, fame is all that matters without morals, and to become viral one goes to any extent as reflected here – we have seen similar incidents in Nerve a few years ago, but this one takes a step forward. The ending leaves us with scope for watching even more of the same with a sequel. The scene after the credits was very much interesting, seemingly getting to a Jigsaw model. The fact that psycho killers are more of a reality in our world than romance, one cannot deny the need to watch more movies of the kind. The mental health of people has been going down, and we know that serial killers just need a small chance to become active – in this case, being viral means the perfect scope. Killers are forever, and movies like these are as close to reality as we scream.

Release date: 21st August 2024
Running time: 123 minutes
Directed by: Michael Leavy
Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Charles Edwin Powell, Tim Reid, Dee Wallace, Wesley Holloway, Sydney Malakeh, Jason Leavy, David Howard Thornton, Liana Pirraglia, Mark Haynes, Daniel Roebuck, Mark Holton, Felissa Rose, Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Serafina Leavy, Stephen Hongach, Al Cerullo, Michael Cantanzaro, Andrew Rogers, Jadon Cal, Joey Ochoa, Sarah Brill, Thomas Rickman, Terry Kiser, Allison Pitel, Kimberly Crossman, Stephen Della Sava, Becky Boggs

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The Substance

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Vampire Owl: What kind of substance would this be?

Vampire Bat: I am sure that this cannot be tea.

Vampire Owl: Well, tea is a substance.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that they are talking about some illegal substance.

Vampire Owl: There is a list related to that with killer names too.

Vampire Bat: I heard that there are vampires of substance.

Vampire Owl: Would they be related to this?

Vampire Bat: We cannot be sure about that.

Vampire Owl: This move still seems to be a very different in its approach.

Vampire Bat: Well, it was a much-appreciated movie, so we can trust it up to an extent.

[Gets a vegetable samosa and three cups of Darjeeling tea].

What is the movie about? :: Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), who has been one of the most wanted celebrities and models of her time, finds herself in a struggle and would soon be fired by her producer (Dennis Quaid) who finds her too old for the job that involves a lot of aerobics and exercise. She no longer has any role to play in Hollywood with everything that she had done in her youth immediately fading into an oblivion of forgetfulness, and the only people who seem to admire her are those classmates and old friends from a past when she used to look stunning in their eyes. She is distracted by these happenings, and crashes her crash, landing her in a hospital only to have a nurse provide her with a USB drive advertising an illegal drug known as “The Substance”, which comes with a promise of a much younger and more beautifully perfect version of oneself that aligns with the demands of the market around them. A killer body is indeed what she would need to rise like a phoenix from the ashes instead of descending into madness.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Desperate to get to her days of beauty and glory, she buys the drug and injects herself with it only to find a young naked young lady coming out of her body. This seemingly perfect nude body would be known by the name Sue (Margaret Qualley), and living within the new skin, she finds each part of her to be flawless. Even though the old body becomes inactive, the two bodies must switch consciousness every seven days, with the inactive body remaining unconscious and fed. Daily injections of stabilizer fluid taken from the original body is required for the new body to remain the same without losing its parts. Sue becomes very popular with her new body appreciated by everyone including Harvey, while her photos in swimwear and bra and panties become sensation and part of many billboards, magazine covers and cutouts. She is chosen to prepare for a grand programme which is to follow, but it is to be seen if the new body will work perfectly for the same.

The defence of The Substance :: There is a strange beauty about the movie, and it is not just about the charm of the leading cast who manages so well. There is the ideal vision of beauty, and then there is the attempt to maintain the same while bringing out the worst in the process. Both the leading actresses seem to have put a lot of effort in their respective avatars, not just with the performances, but also with their bodies, which deserves all the appreciation. The birth of the new body sequence is one grand spectacle with a fantastic work from Margaret Qualley which nobody needs to miss – each and every sequence involving both these actresses seem to bring out the best from both. The final moments, even though happening just as expected, makes an impact and ends the idea of temporary beauty really well. One watches that and is reminded of the consequences of being fake and focusing only on the outside beauty, seeking glory and appreciation all the time while losing one’s soul in the process.

The claws of flaw :: The movie remains a complicated one and defies logic as one would expect, with the world going into an allegory, leaving the reality behind, as if to keep a message running out there with enough strength at all times. The ending of the movie is too much predictable, and there is no innovation or class added to that, which is a shame. The idea could have been brought about more logically, maybe with the right science fiction or fantasy elements, but the movie has chosen to just use a drug status instead. Instead of just taking the new face and body to fame, a tale about the process could have also added, but the storyline never really has any focus here, with things just happening and nobody caring about a lot of things which happens around. Even a random vampire romance movie made for teens would focus more about the story and could force better logic out of nowhere to satisfy even the least bothered fans. With such an addition, this movie could have even had a fine sequel at some point.

The performers of the soul :: It is Margaret Qualley’s performance that sets this movie apart, from that naked rebirth and look at her own body, to living like a dream, her expressions make the happenings feel so real. When she takes a shower, her focus on her nude body becomes a reminder that it not hers, and that this perfection is not something that she deserves. The way she looks at herself and others is a reminder of how much she gets into the character. There might be not many other people who would suit these perfect looks, as there seems to be not even a blemish in her performance or the appearance. Demi Moore is not far behind in being shocked and pleasantly surprised at her own new appearance, and the naked other that stays unconscious on her, never failing to appreciate her own perfect body reborn as another. We remember some of those special movies of her, and she maintains that charm. Dennis Quaid makes different quick impacts during his existence as a deciding factor in the movie.

How it finishes :: The Substance is that kind of a movie which you can watch for the underlying message about beauty, while also going through the beautiful people whom you witness throughout the run and not in a flash, especially Margaret Qualley coming up with a performance that will charm and haunt the viewers for a long time. There is never losing the idea about what the movie intends to convey, even when the focus on storyline and logic is lost. Being a body horror comedy with that message which makes no innovation, this is not the movie for everyone, that much we can be sure about. But with the divergence surely there, this is a film which we can watch for the variety it brings, even with so much predictability hidden within. The movie has been a much appreciated one, and it becomes the duty of most movie lovers to check out the reason behind the same.

Release date: 20th September 2024
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Coralie Fargeat
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Demi Moore, Dennis Quaid, Edward Hamilton-Clark, Gore Abrams, Oscar Lesage, Christian Erickson, Robin Greer, Tom Morton, Hugo Diego Garcia, Yann Bean

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.