this movie sets the mood and just sticks to it.
I know a lot of people did not appreciate the tongue in cheek attitudes of some of the characters,
but it was a nice offset to the absurdity of the horror in the film
like others stated in earlier posts you can tell , Wan is getting his feet wet, i felt there were about 5 too many jumpscares
you can tell he was building up the Conjuring series with this.
I gave myself a few days to reflect before I decided to drop some thoughts on Smile 2...but my enthusiasm for it hasn't changed. I really think it's a GREAT horror movie that's built for the theatrical experience, particularly in one of those Dolby Digital surround sound rooms where the score can really immerse and hit you. It's probably gonna crack my top-5 favorite horrors of the year, but more importantly, it was the best time I've had at the theater all year.
The Smile movies do something that I wish more horror films would, which is to play with audience anticipation. Everyone can spot a jump scare set up, but the Smile movies just capitalize on that. They play with timing so that even when you expect a scare, you're locked in the moment a little longer than you'd expect. Some of Smiles "jumps" will have you staring at the entity and just waiting for it to move. Combined with the score, it's incredibly effective, and I know because the audience around me was losing it!
Also, one of the jump scares in this film got me to jump. That happens maybe once or twice a year in a good year. Anyway, that's all "theater" focused stuff...let's do a bit of movie talk:
The good:
The best thing about this movie is that it takes the strengths of the original and expands on them. We get a protagonist with trauma in their past that they've padded over rather than overcome. The entity uses that trauma to break them and their thin veil of "control" falls apart. This time there's a bigger audience, a darker trauma, and more aggressive illusions.
The other strengths of Smile are more aesthetic. The lead actresses have to do a LOT of work to slowly slip into madness, and I dare say that Naomi Scott managed to surpass Sosie Bacon's incredible work from the first movie. This is some convincing ish right here:
The score of Smile 1 was brilliant, and that carries over into this sequel with fantastic sounds, music, and timing for the drops.
Combine all of that and the key for Smile becomes Atmosphere. This is a movie that can put you in a dark hallway or bright lights; leave you alone in a small room or surrounded by a huge group of people; and you STILL feel trapped whenever the entity comes after the MC. It's relentless!
The bad:
Though Smile 2 plays into the series strengths, that means it doesn't reinvent the wheel. It's practically a paint by numbers copy of Sosie Bacon's journey in part one. There aren't any big pivots, beyond one subplot that I'll revisit in the next section. But otherwise, it's the same mystery as part one without any new revelations. The entity's illusions are bigger and more invasive, but they're the same as last time.
This didn't hurt much because our new protagonist was so different from Sosie Bacon in the first one. But a third movie is going to have to switch things up before the scares feel recycled, and the plot beats become too predictable. So, the bad isn't so bad this time...but could get annoying without some innovation to the formula going forward.
Also, some bits went too far into comedy. I LIKE the emotions swinging from light to heavy in a lot of parts, but some stuff made me laugh. Like this image wasn't scary to me:
The Ugly:
I'm all for ambiguity in horror, but I like when the ambiguity is grounded by rules we can apply and follow. The original Smile walked that line well in terms of the illusions that Sosie Bacon faced. But this sequel never draws clear lines between what is an entity illusion and what was real.
I walked out of the theater and talked with three friends about what we'd just watched, and we each had completely different interpretations of what was real and what wasn't. We had to exchange notes to come to some firm conclusions, and we still weren't sure about parts...one of the friends I went with, was watching it for the second time and still wasn't certain about some aspects of the plot!
The problem with being uncertain about what was real is that a bunch of important events in the movie feel worthless in retrospect.
So she didn't stab her mother? Was the male nurse real and when did interactions with him shift to the entity if he was real at any points? Why did the entity wait until now to try and infect more than one person at once? How did Crowbar man's line of deaths stop?
Anyway, this movie leaves more questions than answers like a new episode of From or Lost. From a pure "scares" POV, it's been fantastic as a film series. But I think the plot could fall apart without big changes to the formula.
Conclusion:
Plot over-analysis aside, this joint slaps. It's a horror movie that's actually made for you to experience in a theater, with an audience, and fully immersed. I really enjoyed it. I'm just hoping it doesn't become too repetitive going forward....Insidious, The Conjuring, even the Scream trilogies seemed to go off track by their third films. So, I'm primed to be skeptical here.
Still...this is a firm 8 out of 10 for me. There's so much clever ish I could talk about from camera pans to scare setups, and from dialogue cues to visual tricks. I'm a fan of the Smile series so far.
props… but man, if you can get those d-box seats if available, you have to try it with that experience. It was my best horror theatre movie experience ever. Legit like a roller coaster ride and those certain scenes hit on the speaker of your seat right next to your ear… I gave the movie a 9 out of 10. might end up giving it a 10 after I watch it some more times.
props… but man, if you can get those d-box seats if available, you have to try it with that experience. It was my best horror theatre movie experience ever. Legit like a roller coaster ride and those certain scenes hit on the speaker of your seat right next to your ear… I gave the movie a 9 out of 10. might end up giving it a 10 after I watch it some more times.
I haven’t tried D-Box or 4DX yet, but that’s similarly to how I feel with Dolby screenings. Absolute game changer. A lot of the direction plus Cristobal’s score practically demands these type of formats to maximize the immersion.
Wish my local AMCs weren’t so damn filthy because I’d frequent them all the time otherwise.
I find the concept of Mary Shaw creepier than anything else Wan has tackled. The grey cinematography popped out immediately. You get a sense of just how much of a chokehold Mary’s presence has on Raven’s Fair and could feel the dread hanging upon every frame. Judith Roberts has a few money shots in this that made me wonder how things would’ve gone if it ended up getting a sequel.
There are some cheesy ass moments that had me questioning how they made it onto the script:
- Donnie Wahlberg always arriving on the scene with his electric razor and shaving his everlasting stubble. Pulling out not a pistol, but a shotgun as if he’s chasing down Hannibal Lector. It’s Jason Stackhouse, my guy.
Mary Shaw beefing with kids after getting called out and holding decades-spanning grudges on families because of such is some of the most ridiculous shyt ever.
This has one of the most batshyt insane twists I’ve seen in horror. The ‘Saw’ influence shows out like crazy, and that franchise was already known for stylizing their signature, ending montages in a similar manner. They probably should’ve changed it up just a little bit like how ‘Insidious’ did.
Overall, it’s a cool flick to look back on to watch Wan take them baby steps and see the growth in his work afterwards. Could’ve had more success if it had bigger names, maybe. Wan does a better job sprinkling in the humor in his later works and not having it take away from the horror.
P. S. — That throwback Universal Pictures intro needs to make a comeback. Bringing it back out for ‘Wolf Man’ wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Horror thread's 31 days of Halloween List - Day 24 - Sinister
A controversial true-crime writer finds a box of Super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer whose legacy dates back to the 1960s.
There's a damned good reason that whenever they hook people up to heart monitors, Sinister winds up in the top-five for most effective horror movies. It's probably my favorite example of "Priming" an audience in horror. Priming as in, as soon as a sound or visual cue hits, the entire audience tenses up before anything even happens. As soon as Ethan Hawke starts setting up the film reel to run, your stomach sinks.
On this watch I kinda honed in on what a PoS Ethan Hawke's character is. None of his family wants to move, they don't have money problems, he's just looking for one last "hit," and I think that language was used deliberately to mimic an addict. For as much as his character is home (he even uses it to guilt-trip his wife), he's not particularly present for his kids. Dude rewatches his greatest hits and never shows remorse for getting an innocent person in trouble while a killer roamed free from his last work.
Since I was focused on that bit, the last line of the movie hit WAY HEAVIER than I recalled. "Don't worry daddy, I'll make you famous again" with the axe in hand...That's a quote that I owe more appreciation.
On the bad side, there are always two scenes I trash. First is the boy in the box. It has zero purpose or set up, and the night terrors never actually amount to anything in the broader scheme of things. The second wack scene is with the kids running around shushing at Ethan Hawke. I just find that bit corny. The rest of the movie is a masterpiece...
The List:
1. Triangle (Prime)
2. The Loved Ones (Paramount+)
3. Salem's Lot 2024 (Max)
4. Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (Tubi)
5. VHS Beyond (Shudder)
6. *Choose your own* - Haunt (2019)
7. Don't Go in the House (Tubi, Youtube)
8. Cure (Internet Archive)
9. Masque of the Red Death(Pluto/Apple TV+)
10. The Eyes of My Mother (Max)
11. Henry Portait of a Serial Killer (Peacock)
12. Curse of Chucky (Netflix)
13. *Choose your own*
14. Junk (2000) (Youtube)
15. Detention (2011) (Tubi)
16. Sleepaway Camp (Peacock)
17. The Skeleton Key(Peacock/Apple TV+)
18. The Witch (Max)
19. Brain Damage 1988 (Tubi)
20. *Choose your own* Thesis 1996
21. Audition (Tubi)
22. J. D.'s Revenge(Tubi/Brown Sugar/Prime)
23. Dead Silence (Tubi)
24. Sinister (Max)
25. World War Z (Paramount Plus)
26. The Burbs (Youtube)
27. *Choose your own*
28. 28 Days Later
29. Black Christmas (Tubi)
30. The Shining(MAX/Apple TV+)
31. John Carpenter's Halloween
Next up, the most threatening version of zombies in cinema history imo...only competition comes from Train to Busan.
This ran only 2 seasons with 9 eps total. It’s a nice twist on the zombie genre and a good show. The finale is disappointing and left open for a potential season 3, but it never happened. Surprised it didn’t continue on because it was entertaining. Maybe too much of a budget?
This is pretty solid. It’s not a movie I think has replay value, but worth a watch. Nice cinematography. Felt The story could’ve been fleshed out more to show more of how much of a weirdo cult they were.
It's time for 'Halloween II' 1981. I will never understand how some don't fukk with this as a direct sequel. You can't match the premise of the original but as a sequel this gives you everything you want building up the characters, motivations and upping the kill count. I like how some of the early outdoor scenes are shot, almost handheld looking, documentary style as Michael ravages through the neighborhood and the police try to piece everything together. At the end, we get that iconic shot of blood pouring through Michael's mask. There's also a decent pair of titties in this one. Don't sleep Lol.
Have you guys seen more Halloween decorations this year than ever before? There's a few houses by me that went all the way out.
I think I'll watch all the OG Halloween movies this year. I only remember 1, 3, and a little bit of Resurrection
Last Night I watched Before I Wake (2016) Mike Flanagan
It was ok. Here you can see he works in family issues with horror. Pretty sad story, husband and wife getting over the accidental death of a youngchild.
The villain in the movie looks bad. There's a lot of cgi, but I don't know how they could do it without it. I was interested because some people said it was like NoES, it really isn't. He relies on some tier 1 scares here. You know character check under bed and when they come back up something ther, or there infront of the mirror in the bathroom and something appears when they close it. There's some tier 2 scares in the corner where you won't see it if yoy don't pay attention. No where near the level of Hill House.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
