The Rite: Anthony Hopkins Was Made For Horror Roles

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A faithless trainee priest, Colin O’ Donoghue, is send to Rome to become an exorcist.

I went into this film excited because I like Anthony Hopkins and he usually does horror very well, so I had high hopes and whilst the film isn’t bad it certainly is mixed. I think the main issue with this film is the fact that it has all been done before so many times over. This film is content to retread old familiar ground without actually doing anything all that new with it and therein lies the problem.

Whilst there are some scary moments here and there, mainly dream sequences for some reason, I found a lot of the horror to again be overly familiar. The issue with this is that the horror then loses some of its impact as you know what is going to happen before it does.

Hopkins is good as he always is, even in a low budget horror film he brings his A game. However that just isn’t enough to make this film good as the material he is given to work with is bad and his co-stars likewise fair poorly: with the exception of Ciaran Hinds who again tries valiantly but is limited by the material given.

Overall, a few good scares but nothing you haven’t seen before.

Pros.

Hopkins

Hinds

A few good scares

Cons.

Very predictable

Not all the scares land

The ending

It is very up the Catholic Churches rear end

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Demonic: The Fight Against Demons Has Evolved

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Carly, Carly Pope, has to meet her mum after years of cutting her out after she committed a series of murders. As she enters her mum’s mind, literally, she begins to see things were far darker and more supernatural than they first appeared. A battle for Carly’s soul soon follows.

For full disclosure here, I am a big fan of Neill Blomkamp so bare that in mind throughout this review.

After Chappie, which I have a soft spot for, but a lot of people didn’t like, Neill Blomkamp had a lot of bad luck. Both his Alien and Robocop projects were passed on and it wasn’t clear what was next for the director. However, then I saw the first trailer for this and knew he was back.

There is a lot of demonic possession films out there, I have seen, and reviewed for this blog tons and tons of them. After a point all of these films start to feel similar and you start looking for something new and different enough to bring you back to the genre again, this film did that. Whether it is the black ops army of priests hunting demons, or the new tech that allows said priests and others to venture into the mind of the possessed to fight demons in cyberspace, there are a lot of new ideas here and they mostly work.

Moreover, I enjoyed that the demon looked distinctly different from what we usually see in these type of films, which is either a human with glowing eyes or a red skinned horned entity. I thought the look of the demon with the bird head was distinct enough to be memorable and crucially scary.

In terms of scares this isn’t the scariest film in the world, but it did give me a few good scares throughout.

Overall, it is nice to see Blomkamp back in the game and bringing something new to the genre.

Pros.

The demon costume design

The new tech focus

The army of black ops exorcists

A few good scares

Cons.

It could do with being scarier

A few pacing issues

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The Seventh Day: The Devil In The White Collar

The Seventh Day

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

A lot of possession or exorcism films play a lot of lip service to the Church, as such it is nice to see a film that takes a different approach and asks the question what if the monster/demon was the priest? It is an interesting idea as yes, if a demon was possessing people why wouldn’t they possess priests, figures that are trusted by thousands of people. It reminded me a lot of Robert Kirkman’s terrific comic Outcast.

That said, despite the twist being interesting it is not executed well. It is clear which of the priests is evil almost from the get-go, and the film does not subvert your expectations in anyway, the one you think is bad is.

I thought the ending was a little too sequel baity for my taste, and I don’t think this film is really good enough to warrant sequels. The horror was very iffy, some moments were strong and had real promise and other moments were painfully by the numbers and played out.

Guy Pearce brings a lot to the film, but even he cant save this film from mediocrity.

Overall, a few good moments but for the most part very average.

Pros.

Guy Pearce

A few good scares

Cons.

It is painfully obvious

The ending teases an unearned sequel

More than a few bad/ generic scares

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Little Evil: That Kid Is Looking At You Funny

Little Evil is a horror comedy film directed by Eli Craig. The plot sees a new step dad (Adam Scott), have to deal with his new step son who as luck would have it, turns out to be the Anti-Christ; can the power of the father son bond overcome even the greatest of evils?

I found the parody of things like The Omen funny at first, but as the film went on and on and kept repeating the same parody jokes over and over again they quickly became played out. The same can be said for a lot of the humour of this film.

I will give the film praise for getting the balance of horror and comedy closer to even then it normally is in these sorts of films. The film obviously favour the comedy elements over the horror ones, but there are a few good scares that I actually found quite effective, the worm scene and the early scenes with the hand puppet would be what I point to here.

Adam Scott is just likeable enough to allow you to root for him, and he has enough dad vibes to make his and Lucas’s (Owen Atlas) relationship believable and have emotional resonance.

A final point would be that it is uncomfortable to see Chris D’ Elia in this film, and he features quite prominently as well. He took me out of the film and soured the film as a whole somewhat.

Overall, this film is goofy fun. Is it the best horror comedy film you will ever see? No. Is it without any problems? No, again. However, if you just want something mindless to sit and turn your brain off to then you can do worse than this film.

Pros.

Scott

The initial parody

A few funny jokes and a handful of good scares

Cons.

It gets tiresome

Chris D’ Elia

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Witches Of Eastwick: The Powers Of Liberation

The Witches Of Eastwick is a dark fantasy comedy film directed by George Miller. The film sees 3 suburban women go on a voyage of self-discovery and sexual exploration after a mysterious man (Jack Nicholson), comes to town and tempts them out of their boring lives.

I enjoyed the more overt references to the supernatural and the implication that Nicholson’s character was the Devil (or a demon of some kind), I thought it added a nice extra something to the film and really enriched Nicholson’s character.

I thought the performances were strong from everyone involved, Cher, Sarandon and Pfeiffer all gave great performance and I liked seeing their journey over the course of the film, when they became ‘witches’ the character transformation felt earned.

My one complaint would be that at nearly two hours the film is far too long. The film definitely could be improved by being shortened as a lot of the scenes have very obvious bloating and plot padding, the latter of which takes away from the drama of events after they have happened and effectively derails the film.

The monster CGI form the film’s final moments is laughable at best and does not feel in any way tense, but this was probably good for the time, so I won’t be too harsh.

Overall, an interesting premise boosted by some strong performances is let down by poor pacing and an inability to form meaningful tension.

Pros.

Strong performances

An interesting premise

Hints of the supernatural

Cons.

Poorly paced

Lacking in tension

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Vigil: Waking The Dead

The Vigil is a horror film directed by Keith Thomas. The plot sees a young man (Dave Davis), perform an overnight vigil for a recently deceased member of the Jewish community. However, once his watch begins thing begin to go wrong, and the man must fight off the efforts of a demon if he ever wants to leave that house again.

This film genuinely unnerved me, that is not something I get to say very often. I think by capitalising on an underrepresented type of horror, Jewish horror, we really get to see something fresh and unique. When thinking about these sort of films, possessions films/ demon films, we often are presented with a narrative from a Christian view point, and it is nice to explore the idea of demons from another faith’s viewpoint. The only other obvious example I can think of a similar film would be the Jeffery Dean Morgan stating The Possession where we get the Jewish view point represented.

I think the scares are very well done here and I enjoyed a lot of the slow burn horror scenes. This film does have a few jump scares in it, which is usually a point of derision, but here they actually work well within the film and the film as a whole doesn’t feel reliant on them.

My only negative would be that this film is very bleak and will make you feel sad after watching, which personally I was not anticipating, but be warned.

Overall, a very original film that is brimming with exploration and novel approaches.

Pros

The focus on Jewish mythology

The demon itself, the look and design

The horror

The ending

Cons.

It is very bleak

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

May The Devil Take You Too: Yet Another Chosen One

May The Devil Take You Too is an Indonesian horror film directed by Timo Tjahjanto, serving as a sequel to May The Devil Take You. The plot follows the immediate aftermath of Alfie’s (Chelsea Islan), escape from the demon summoned by her father, we see her drafted in to help a group of wayward orphans whose guardian also made a deal with the devil; she is the only one that can stop the evil.

My biggest issue with this sequel is that it is too ambitious. The sequel adds a whole lot of lore and exposition on top of the premise from the first film and has Alfie as some sort of mythical being?, or destined to become some form of immortal being? I don’t know, and that is the problem. There is a lot going on here, a lot of set up and worldbuilding, which is crammed in and not really mentioned in the first film; the film as a whole feels overstuffed and by the end you have no idea what is going on.

The scares are still strong, and it is still nice to see the film’s very unique take on demons. I enjoyed the look of these creatures and their design especially endgame boss Moloch, I though they all looked well realised and quite menacing.

Overall, though the acting is still good and the scares still strong the film suffers from too much going on at once making it a confusing mess that leaves the world have developed.

Pros.

The scares

The creature design

The acting

Cons.

There is far too much going on

The plot easily becomes confusing

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

May The Devil Take You: Never Look Behind Hospital Medical Curtains

May The Devil Take You is an Indonesian horror film directed by Timo Tjahjanto. The plot follows Alfie (Chelsea Islan), a young woman who learns that her father made a deal with a demon to attain wealth and now must deal with her fathers end of the bargain, namely said demon wanting her and her sibling’s souls.

This is a very striking film. I have watched a lot of horror films over the years and never yet have I seen one quite like this. Whether it how the film chooses to show The Devil, or the communing ritual at the start of the film, there are multiple scenes that push the horror genre in a new direction and inject it with fresh blood.

I enjoyed the physicality of the performances of those who were possessed, as more than one person was over the course of the film. I thought seeing these demons jumping about the room, or running up walls was truly a sight to behold it was both terrifying, but also visually impressive from a filmmaking stand point.

The film had a lot of good scares both in terms of jump scares, which this film actually manages to pull off well, and scares from its atmosphere: both of these are incredibly effective. In terms of similar scares I would compare this to the TV series Marianne.

Overall, this is a very well-done horror film that is brimming with new ideas and strongly thought out scares.

Pros

The scares

The physicality

The visuals

The performances

Cons.

The ending is a slightly weak, and off the mark

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Wind: Sleep With A Shotgun In Your Hand, Just To Be Safe

The Wind is a western, horror film directed by Emma Tammi. The plot centres around a frontier couple who begin to experience increasingly alarming supernatural happenings, with Lizzy (Caitlin Gerard) believing it to be the workings of a demon.

The Witch is probably my favourite horror film and is my second favourite film generally; Lost Boys is my favourite film and would be my favourite horror film though I don’t really view it as one. So, when I read that this film was basically a western version of The Witch, I was intrigued and put it on to see if it could live up to the high standard set, and I am pleased to say dear reader it more than did.

In the beginning the time hopping narrative didn’t make a lot of sense and I was lost, but as the film goes on it all wraps together nicely. The issue is that though we might be seeing a flashback, or a flash forward the film does not announce it as such, which can be a bit jarring.

The demonography of the American Frontier is fascinating, and I am surprised other films haven’t explored it more deeply before. I thought the film benefited from creating a very isolating atmosphere, that worked perfectly with the threat of the film and the idea of constantly being under siege. The larger scares towards the end of the film when we actually get to see the demons, in their human vessels, is incredibly menacing and actually managed to unsettle me; not an easy task as I have become quite desensitised over the years of watching horror films.

Overall, I think this is a superb horror film that more than deserves its comparison to Egger’s masterpiece. A must watch!

Pros.

The scares

The atmosphere

The demonology of the American Frontier

Gerard

Cons.

The timeline is a little confusing

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Cleansing Hour: The Hottest Live Stream In Town

The Cleansing Hour is a horror film directed by Damien LeVeck. The plot focuses on a live stream exorcist Father Max (Ryan Guzman), who pretends to fight the forces of evil and rid the world of demonic forces. However, one night, on a stream, rather unexpectedly it all becomes far too real and Father Max comes face to face with the Devil himself.
This was an unexpected treat. I recently joined back up with Shudder to watch Anything For Jackson, and as I have it for a month I thought I would check out some of their other newer offerings as I already had the service earlier in the year. As such I stumbled across this film, I went in with low expectations of vapid teen focused fare and walked away genuinely surprised by one of the best twist endings I have ever seen in a horror film. The ending I am still thinking about now, well over a week after I watched the film.

I enjoyed how the demon fed of the secrets and lies, this resulted in slow drip-fed character development and an exploration of the character’s world and inner motivations. This made me care about the characters and made me invested in their story and survival. Likewise, I thought Guzman was a strong lead, the wayward priest who has fallen to the dark side but who still longs for a more noble cause is a role he plays well; in this he adds new emotional depths to the standard character architype and adds his own spin.

Overall, this is a horror gem that you can’t let pass you buy.

Pros.

The ending

The twist

Guzman

The character development

A novel new approach that felt, at least to me, very original

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke