Horror gang, it's been a while since I had time to dive into some new horror properly. But this weekend, I got to have some fun on Shudder and hit the theatres for the first time since quarantine...because I NEEDED to feel A Quiet Place 2 with a theatre vibe.
Starting with the streams...I loved Psycho Goreman! It's got humor and gore that took me back to the old Toxic Avenger movies. An alien who destroys whole galaxies lands on Earth to kill humanity...but a little girl gets a hold of a jewel that gives her full control over him. So we have a murderous alien being controlled by a little girl and her brother. It's pure jokes and fun with effects make-up. It has spontaneous timing and humor that takes advantage of tropes with the Adult Swim stoner humor stylings. That's right up my alley. Scary? No, it's not trying to be. Funny? I laughed at a bunch of the bits. Ridiculous? Absolutely.
The Unholy was a dope concept. A mute girl is healed and then begins healing people around her community, all in view of a disgraced journalist who's a skeptic that embellished supernatural stories for money. The spin is that, while everyone thinks the girl is possessed by Mary Jesus' mother...there's something more nefarious at play. So they've taken some common beats and tweaked them just enough to feel original. The good all comes down to the play on belief and faith turned on its head. People are genuinely healed and hopeful, the area is suddenly livened up with new support for the local parish. The people are getting played in a way that's fully understandable.
Then there's the bad...which I'll call rushing. Everything feels rushed, from the plot developments to the actual scares. That helps tighten up the run time and hit us with a constant flow of "scare" moments, but most don't build up enough to have full effect. They also have a habit of showing the "monster" too much...she appears for a lot of jump scares but doesn't catch enough bodies and when that happens, the creature stops feeling dangerous to me. If the jump is just gonna startle a character, then I won't be as worried about the threat of the next jump scare sequence. Oh and that's basically the heart of almost every scare, they're 90% jump scares. It's very Hollywood imo, which is too bad because there are good actors and some nice plot ideas that don't get to fully breath. Still, I thought this caught more flack than it deserved when it dropped. I saw critics hating on it, but it's actually not a bad horror to throw on when you want something new and a quick run time.
A Quiet Place 2 had too much of a hype train for me to ignore. I enjoyed the first one but also thought it got a little bit overrated by the time I checked it out. That said, I was excited to see how they handled a sequel and honestly...I think this one improved on the original and also served to make the first one worth a rewatch with even deeper appreciation. That's because the world expands to include more characters, showing us how others have handled life after invasion. It also gives us a window into the first days of the creatures arriving, which is one of the best scenes of the two movie set. That's not to call this perfect though...far from it.
One of my issues with the original was that I didn't always like character choices and that expands to the growing list of people in the movie. Sometimes people do things that seem convenient for creating a scary situation and it feels a bit forced. It's never bad enough to ruin the vibe, but it can be frustrating when you're chalking up a bad choice to panic for the 10th time. It also ends a bit abruptly, leaving you hanging on some obvious resolutions and issues that I can't get into without spoilers. That said...this is a great theatre vibe of a movie. There was a scene that gave me the same energy as being a kid watching characters hide from the Raptors in the original Jurassic Park. The gut-clinching stress has been mastered by these creators and I would totally dive in for a third installment that finalizes the trilogy. This one definitely got my stamp of approval.
Now I just need to catch the Conjuring sequel next week.
and this is not like the early -mid 2000s where the students/friends could pass as young enough to play teenagers and look believable; this is on the “why tf are 36 year olds hanging out at high schools??” Until you realize they ARE the high schoolers. Some of them look like they could pass as high school
