Gary Dauberman – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: I remember this as America’s answer to Dracula.

Vampire Bat: Do you think that Uncle Dracula would ever want to visit the United States?

Vampire Owl: Some parts of the nation are suitable for him.

Vampire Bat: You are talking about New Orleans where he won’t be an alien.

Vampire Owl: Uncle Dracula would need more than just one town or city.

Vampire Bat: You think that he still wishes to spread the undead curse?

Vampire Owl: I have read that it was the dream of the vampire elders.

Vampire Bat: Well, the vampire elders, even for a vampire lifespan, were too old to be alive.

Vampire Owl: They were still in their senses, even though tortured by light.

Vampire Bat: They are only that much in their sense as Dr Frankenstein during a science exhibition.

[Gets an egg puffs and three cups of tea with boost].

What is the movie about? :: In the 1975, a strange man from Europe opens an antique store in the town of Jerusalem’s Lot and starts residing in the long-abandoned Marsten House, which has a history of murders. It is then that Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) has returned to this hometown after a very long time, this time as a writer. He falls in love with Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh), who also wishes to leave the town one day. The place seems to be a peaceful little town where almost nothing happens, and there is almost nothing of interest. But the new entrant from Europe has a huge coffin in there, and something sinister seems to be lurking in the shadows of the night. There are boys who go missing, and as no clue is found, the locals begin to be suspicious about Ben who had only recently arrived and after which these missing cases started. The police is unable to find any clue about the particular missing.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: After the disappearance of the boy named Ralph Glick (Cade Woodward), his brother Danny Glick (Nicholas Crovetti) is also attacked, and after spending some time in the hospital, the boy dies, and is soon buried. Mike Ryerson (Spencer Treat Clark), gravedigger who buried the boy is soon attacked by the undead version of him and gets sick. It is Matthew Burke (Bill Camp) who first notices and identifies the signs of vampirism in the gravedigger and is able to connect the same to recent disappearances, illnesses and corpses. But things are worse than he could imagine as this is not a case of a random vampire attacking a few people in the town. Kurt Barlow (Alexander Ward) is an ancient vampire whose origins go a long way back, and is a source of pure evil. He would stop at nothing as the intention is to turn the whole town into a vampire colony and spread the undead curse even further. Can anyone even come close to stopping him?

The defence of Salem’s Lot :: The movie takes us to the 1970s feeling, and we see that again, and most of us who were not alive during the time can only know them through movies – this one seems to show that nicely, and place the vampire curse right in between. Finding the vampires around would be more chilling at that time as it is displayed in the movie, because there is no friendly neighbourhood vampirism as it has been popularized now. The movie maintains that original essence, and has vampires as the true evil creatures of the night, all prepared for some nocturnal hunting of humans. The setting is really well-constructed and the world suits works with perfection. The vampire attacks are shown with all the required intensity and the fear elements get good dose as the movie demanded. With the old style vampires with the long-established weakness and fear generation, the nostalgia returns like it has wings.

The claws of flaw :: The movie struggles to rise from the tag of just another old-style vampire movie which offers nothing new, and do not even make the book feel better with its content. There is the feeling of lack of depth at times, and the movie struggles to maintain pace. The length of the movie does not seem to justify itself and we see a lot of lagging in between. The struggle feels real, but it should not have been the case with a film which has the base material set from a long time ago – the whole things should have been as safe as adapting Dracula and adding so many new things to it, and still having the vampire world to work like a dream. Some characters do not really develop and we do not feel for them, even when they are dead. The emotional strength feels to be lacking, and the establishment of pillars of the movie might have been the problem as they threaten to fall. The mystery could have been deeper and it is to be noted that the new world would never cease to be terrifying even without vampires, as there are already existing monsters.

The performers of the soul :: The cast nicely blends into the 1970s setting and their work and appearance give us the best feeling of the time period. The blending into that world and characters work like a dream. The journey is led well by Lewis Pullman, who plays the protagonist who comes across the least possible evil and has to react quick enough to survive. Bill Camp is solid in a role which could be this movie’s Van Helsing, even though he does not survive that long with the undead curse spreading faster than that of Dracula. Makenzie Leigh seems to be the one person best suitable for the age with the work, and the character holds on so well. Alfre Woodard also keeps the anti-vampire battle going on well. John Benjamin Hickey could have had even bigger role to play when we see how things have been going. And then, the master vampire works really well, reminding one of Nosferatu.

How it finishes :: Salem’s Lot could have improved on the content of the book, but here it seems like just trying to use the available content and do nothing much to add to the same. There were lots of opportunities to bring a classic touch or visualize better, but the same are not taken by the movie. But the horror arrives well, and we are ready to accept the same. After all, horror is the one true feeling that everyone experiences and believes in, unlike the movies with college romance which is more myth for people who do not experience them. As part of the one true genre of horror, the movie has managed well. We are not supposed to expect more than what meets the eye as a usual thing though. This journey is indeed in the right direction to bring more horror to the scene, and take us back to the original vampire world – not that of the blood-drinking entities that glitter and live in the house on the other side of the street.

Release date: 3rd October 2024
Running time: 113 minutes
Directed by: Gary Dauberman
Starring: Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, John Benjamin Hickey, Bill Camp, Jordan Preston Carter, Nicholas Crovetti, Spencer Treat Clark, William Sadler, Pilou Asbæk

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

What is the movie about? :: Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) continues their paranormal investigations, and manage to take the Annabelle doll home, as it had been terrorizing those who had kept it at home. During their return home, they are forced to stop the car near a cemetery, and the spirits summoned by the doll almost kills Ed. The couple are quick to take the doll to the artifacts room and is blessed by Father Gordon (Steve Coulter) before any other terrible events happen due to the demonic connection that the doll makes. The doll is kept inside a glass case, and a warning sign is provided outside, so that nobody would even think about opening the case, in case they get inside the artifacts room ignoring the warning given outside. At the same time, they continue the paranormal investigations, and add more items to the artifacts, filling the space with remains of the supernatural.

So, what happens with the events here? :: Judy Warren (Mckenna Grace) doesn’t have a good time at school as students lead by Anthony Rios (Luca Luhan) makes fun of her in the name of her parents’ paranormal investigations, and even refuses to attend her birthday party in the name of the same. Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) is the one in charge of babysitting her, and she is only happy to listen to the stories about spirits and exorcism. Mary Ellen’s friend Daniela Rios (Katie Sarife) also comes to visit her, as the two try to make cake for Judy early, even though the birthday party is still scheduled a few days later. But Daniela’s aim is not the birthday, as she is haunted by the guilt of driving the car when her father was killed in an accident. As the Warrens are believed to have connections with the death and the undead, she hoped that something there would help her.

And what else follows with the happenings? :: When Mary and Judy are outside the house, Daniela offers to check the cake, and at the same time sneaks into the room where the artifacts are kept, hoping to find something to connect to her father. Only a message from her father could comfort her and save her from the guilt. While trying to find something that could help her and failing in doing so, she opens the glass case where Annabelle doll was held, and leaves it open, as the spirit is unleashed, looking for a human soul. Mary Ellen’s crush Bob Palmeri (Michael Cimino) arrives outside at the same time, and finds himself facing another spirit which Annabelle had awakened among the others. The house soon finds itself infested by more than one spirit, with Annabelle, the Bride and the Ferryman only some of them, as night arrives. Each space seems to be taken over by a spirit, as they try to find a solution.

The defence of Annabelle Comes Home :: We are never short of a little bit of horror, as there has been the need. The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, The Nun, Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation and now this one has left us full of this franchise which never really seems to leave us. There is enough horror in store in this movie too, with danger lurking behind the doors, windows, curtains and within the shadows. There is also more than one spirit in store here, and the room of artifacts is once again clarified to be the one place nobody should be visiting even during day time. The movie does mark a certain return to form for the franchise, as within this movie, we can see hope for further spin-off versions. Well, the doll is nothing that never ceases to catch our interest, even more than Chucky, the Child’s Play doll of our childhood. The characters of this movie are also nicely worked out, with the older people left out, and those who have no prior knowledge of such terror being forced to face it. As usual, we have those nice sound effects as bonus.

The claws of flaw :: Annabelle Comes Home has the predictability which has been there with the horror movies up to an extent, but it does rise above the same on occasions. Even with the repetitions, we have enjoyable moments, but it seems to keep some of those with pride. The movie does take a little bit of too much time to get into the horror mode, and considering the fact that this is a movie franchise which has had a lot of time already, and understanding the idea that Annabelle needs no more time to begin the hunt, we could have began this earlier in style. Even then, the story isn’t developed that much, as all these converge into one point. Annabelle doll could also be scary with its moments, and there should have been the realization that it should be the scariest among them all, as it is the movie of the doll, and not of the other demonic abominations which could have had smaller space in comparison.

The performers of the soul :: In a horror movie, you often look forward to the performances of the ghosts, demons, vampires, zombies and werewolves instead of the humans, but here, we are blessed with the younger actors who can act, and adds as a bonus to the flick. Mckenna Grace, the child actress seems to be perfect fit for a horror movie, as she displays the skills here. She already has some horror movies to her credit and more is to come up – for the common audience here who rarely watches Hollywood movies, she played the childhood of Captain Marvel’s titular character. Madison Iseman who played Bethany in Jumanji is also here, along with Katie Sarife, all of these having good scope for future considering their performances. Patrick Wilson and Vera Fermiga have very less to do this time, as facing the demons in the house is left to the teenagers.

How it finishes :: Annabelle franchise has another interesting movie, and The Conjuring franchise also has another welcome addition. But it has to be said the horror genre hasn’t been that powerful these days, with what strength was displayed by The Conjuring when it released in 2013 not staying. As long as you are a horror fan and a fan of the franchise, this one should stay to keep the momentum going for the series, but a lot of these have been getting repetitive. Still, this one manages to continue to be strong, and we can watch it and enjoy the movie with the doll. But we are always looking for more, and now at the time of the Corona Virus, the evil spirits are not the ones which are the scariest among them – and even a medical thriller like Virus can be scary; so we are to work more and find better ideas to make such premises work better, and until then enjoy this movie.

Release date: 26th June 2019
Running time: 106 minutes
Directed by: Gary Dauberman
Starring: Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Michael Cimino, Paul Dean, Steve Coulter, Luca Luhan, Anthony Wemmys, Alison White, Stephen Blackehart, Sade Katarina, Kenzie Caplan