Lifetime Film Review: Sleeping With My Student (dir by Tom Shell)

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, here you are.

You’re middle-aged. You’ve just split up with your adulterous husband. Your teenage daughter is upset because she’s about to start at a new school. Even worse, you’ve just been hired to be the new principal at that school. It’s the summer. You’re at a conference. This is your last chance to enjoy yourself before a new school year begins.

You’re at the hotel pool. Suddenly, a handsome man who is quite a bit younger than you jumps into the pool and, after briefly fooling you into thinking that he’s drowned, he starts up a conversation with you. He’s charming in a simple way. He says that you were sexy when you were concerned that he might be dead. He invites you back to his room and you know exactly why.

Do you go with him?

That’s the decision that Kathy (Gina Holden) is faced with at the start of the Lifetime film, Sleeping With My Student. What does she do when she’s given the opportunity to have one night of passion with Ian (Mitchell Hoog)? Well, your answer is right there in the first half of the film’s title. And, as you can probably guess from the second half of title, Ian eventually turns up as a student at Kathy’s school! Even worse, Ian has a reputation for being a bad boy and a trouble maker and soon, he’s dating Kathy’s daughter, Bree (Jessica Belkin)!

Of course, it all turns out to be about more than just one night stands and bad disciplinary histories. It turns out that it wasn’t a coincidence that Ian showed up at the hotel and jumped into the pool at the same moment that Kathy just happened to be there. It also wasn’t a coincidence that Ian just happened to end up getting transferred to Kathy’s new school. It’s all a part of a massive scheme that Ian has cooked up in order to get vengeance for something that happened in the past. I mean, seriously, no one should be surprised. There are no coincidences when it comes to Lifetime.

Speaking as someone who has seen a few hundred Lifetime films over the past few years, I enjoyed Sleeping With My Student. Gina Holde, Mitchell Hoog, and Jessica Belkin were all well-cast in their rules and the great Gerald Webb showed up as Officer Compton, the school security officer who first explains that Ian is bad news. Yes, the plot was a bit predictable but that’s honestly a part of the film’s appeal. You don’t necessarily watch a Lifetime film because you want to see something unexpected. Instead, the appeal of these films is to be found in their very predictability. There’s something comforting in knowing that, on Lifetime, no one night stand will turn out to be just a one night stand and that the film’s villain will always do something particularly evil at the halfway mark. The best Lifetime films are cinematic comfort food. They give you exactly what you want and they don’t demand much in return and we’re all the better for it!

Lifetime Film Review: Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter (dir by Catherine Cyran)

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I have to admit that, for some reason, I’ve always had a weakness of Mafia movies.

For whatever reason, I just find them to be fascinating, as well as terrifically entertaining. And when I say that I love mafia movies, I’m not just talking about the ones that everyone else loves, either. I mean, sure, I love The Godfather films and Goodfellas and all of that. I can’t wait for the Sopranos prequel to come out next year and I’m eagerly counting down the days until The Irishman drops on Netflix. However, I also love the Mafia movies that everyone else seems to hate. Some day, I’m going to get around to writing a stirring defense of Gotti. Just you wait!

I’m half-Irish and fourth-Italian. As far as I know, I don’t have any relatives involved with organized crime and, to be honest, I should probably be offended by all of the Mafia stereotypes that I’m exposed too whenever I turn on the television. But, I have to be honest. If my father had been in the Mafia, I totally would have used it to my advantage. I would have been like, “You think you’re some sort of big shot, like Frankie Valli or somebody? Do you know who my faddah is? You want me to call him down here right now?”

The Lifetime film Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter is all about being the daughter of a very powerful man. Victoria Gotti herself even narrates the film and appears in cut-away scenes to discuss what it was like to grow up as the daughter of notorious mob boss, John Gotti. At the same time, Chelsea Frei plays Victoria in dramatized scenes, showing her talking to her father (Maurice Benard) and dealing with her good-for-nothing husband, Carmine (Elijah Silva). Because the film is told entirely from Victoria’s point of view, we only see John Gotti through her eyes. In this film, John Gotti is a loving father who is often away from his wife and daughters because he’s either in jail or hiding out from the authorities. He’s fond of saying stuff like, “Nothing’s more important than family.” Despite the fact that Maurice Benard gives a convincing performance as Gotti, you’re never quite sure what’s actually going on in his head. Is he a ruthless murderer or is he just a blue collar guy looking out for his family? The film isn’t sure but then again, Victoria seems to be unsure as well. Undoubtedly, someone like John Gotti had to keep a lot of himself hidden away from even those closest to him.

Because of the film’s Victoria-centric structure, we don’t actually get to see any of the standard mafia action. We hear about people getting taken out by the mob but we don’t actually see any of it happen. Those hoping for a big mafia epic will undoubtedly be disappointed. (The film is nearly over before John Gotti even takes over the Gambino Family.) Instead, the film focuses on Victoria dealing with people judging her because of who her father is and her subsequent marriage to the worthless Carmine. To be absolutely honest, there’s really not much going on in the movie, as most of the major action occurs off-screen. However, Chelsea Frei gives a good performance as Victoria and the film occasionally does a good job of contrasting Gotti family life with Gotti crime life. It’s not a classic mob film but it does provide just enough Cosa Nostra swagger to keep the viewer occupied until the release of The Irishman.

Film Review: The King (dir by David Michod)

Posted on November 3, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Imagine a version of Shakespeare’s Henry V where Prince Hal is a lot less regal but a lot more whiny. Also imagine a version where Falstaff is never publicly rejected by Henry but instead becomes one of his leading generals. Furthermore, imagine that Robert Pattinson shows ups and does his best imitation of the obnoxious Frenchmen from Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Also, finally, imagine a film that’s based on three of Shakespeare’s most popular plays but which does’t include any lines from those plays. Imagine all of that and you’ve got The King.

Yes, The King is an odd film indeed. It’s also a very long film. You might expect that from a film based on three Shakespearean plays but, then again, since the film actually doesn’t feature any of Shakespeare’s celebrated language, you have to kind of wonder if it can actually claim to be a Shakespearean adaptation. For instance, if I made a film about a sullen prince named Hamlet but totally leave out “To be or not to be” or the part where he sees his father’s ghost, am I truly adapting Shakespeare or am I just making a film about a guy named Hamlet? Interestingly enough, while The King isn’t faithful to Shakespeare, it’s also not faithful to actual historical records. It’s not Shakespeare and, despite using the name of actual kings and nobles from the 15th Century, it’s not really historical. It could just as easily be about King Kevin and his struggle to lead the Land of Homily to victory over Possum Kingdom. It’s hard to really understand what the point of this film is.

Timothee Chalamet plays Prince Hal, who will eventually become King Henry V. Considering just how acclaimed Chalamet’s previous work has been (including receiving an Oscar nomination for Call Me By Your Name and probably coming close to getting a second one for Beautiful Boy as well), it’s a bit strange just how dull Chalamet is in this film. As played by Chalamet, the future King of England is alternatively petulant and whiny. He’s not happy about becoming king. He’s even less happy about having to behead those who have been accused of conspiring against him. He hopes to avoid war, even after the King of France taunts him by giving him a ball as an coronation present. Chalamet wanders through the film with an eternally glum expression on his face. When he has to rally the troops, he is unpleasantly shrill in a way that will remind viewers of one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s lesser performances.

Joel Edgerton, who also co-wrote the script, is a bit more convincing in the role of Falstaff. Instead of the cowardly (but wise) buffoon who appeared in Shakespeare’s plays, The King portrays Falstaff as being a great warrior who merely likes to drink too much. This, of course, means that Hal doesn’t have to publicly rebuke Falstaff or any of his friends but it also makes Falstaff a bit of a pointless character. In Shakespeare’s plays, both the rebuke of Falstaff and the subsequent hanging of Bardolph were meant to show that the once irresponsible Hal was now placing his role of king above all else. By removing that aspect of the tale, The King also removes the entire heart of the narrative. That said, Edgerton is at least convincing as a warrior.

As usually happens when it comes to British historical epics, the film leads up to an eventual battle between the British and the French. Robert Pattinson plays The Dauphin and gives one of the most brilliantly strange performances of 2019. Wearing a blonde wig and speaking in an exaggerated French accent, Pattison gets all of the dirtiest lines and he has fun with them. (“You have zee big balls,” The Dauphin says at one point, “and zee little cock!”) In fact, Robert Pattinson seems to be the only person in the film having any fun whatsoever. Chalamet looks miserable. Edgerton comes across like a professional. But Pattinson appears to be having the time of his life and you’re happy to see him if just because he provides a (too brief) respite from the film’s otherwise dour atmosphere.

As I said, The King is a strange film. I’m not really sure what the point of it was. The battle scenes are effectively bloody and the sets are all convincingly 15th century. But otherwise, this movie is too pointless and too long. Just because it’s about the 100 Years War doesn’t mean that film has to feel like a 100 hours.

What Lisa Watched This Morning #204: Your Family Or Your Life (a.k.a. April’s Flowers) (dir by Tom Shell)

Posted on November 2, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The morning, I watched the latest Lifetime Movie Network premiere, Your Family Or Your Life!

Why Was I Watching It?

Your Family or Your Life premiered last night on the Lifetime Movie Network but, because it was All Saints’ Day, I spent yesterday with my sisters, singing Shakira songs, not watching anything on television, and basically staying completely offline. However, I did set the DVR because a non-Christmas related Lifetime premiere is going to be a rarity from now through December.

When I got home this morning, I promptly watched Your Family Or Your Life.

What Was It About?

David Meyer (Alexander Carroll) is a former alcoholic who is now a successful attorney. His work has led him to discover some illegal shenanigans concerning Erica Hearns (Angelica Bridges). Hoping to say out of prison, Erica sends Ed (Eric Michael Cole), the world’s most incompetent hitman, to kill David. Ed manages to make David’s death look like a suicide but David’s widow, Kathy (Jennie Garth) is not convinced. For that matter, neither is David’s stepdaughter, April (Luca Bella). Kathy’s best friend, Michelle (Alexandra LeMosle) has some suspicions as well! Like I said, Ed’s not very good at this.

So now, Ed and Erica have to figure out a way to silence all of the people who don’t think that David committed suicide. Fortunately, for them, they’ve got an inside player. Little does April suspect that her boyfriend, Damon (David Gridely), is actually one of Erica’s relatives!

What Worked?

Jennie Garth is just the greatest! Depending on how old you are, you either know her primarily from Beverly Hills 90210 or What I Like About You. This film had a 90210-style plot with a What I Like About You attitude and it was fun to watch Garth do things like beat up a burglar with a baseball bat. Garth brought a lot of energy to her roll.

Angelica Bridges was entertaining as the villain. Her frustration with Ed was wonderfully performed. When she realized that Ed had basically screwed up a very simple murder, I think anyone who has ever been a supervisor could relate to her frustration.

The mother-daughter relationship between Kathy and April felt very realistic, especially when it came to Kathy’s immediate dislike of Damon. That might be because Luca Bella actually is Jennie Garth’s daughter.

What Did Not Work?

I regret that the film made it clear, from the start, that David had been murdered. I would have preferred a more ambiguous approach, one that left you wondering if David actually had been murdered or if maybe Kathy really was just seeing what she wanted to see.

I also regret that the film did NOT feature the following dialogue:

“Your family or your life!”

“I’m thinking about it!”

“Oh my God! Just Like Me!” Moments

I also keep a baseball bat near my bedroom door, just in case I ever have to use it. I don’t think I could wield it as decisively as Jennie Garth does, though.

Lessons Learned

If you’re going to hire a hitman, spend a little extra and get one who is actually good at his job. Otherwise, things just get too complicated.

Film Review: Doctor Sleep (Dir. by Mike Flanagan)

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Leonard Wilson

If I asked you about Stephen King’s The Shining, would the book or the film come to mind?

DoctorSleepPoster When it comes to adapting Stephen King’s stories to film, it’s not an easy feat. King himself had a problem turning his own short story “Trucks” into something good when he directed Maximum Overdrive. For every great film like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, or It-Chapter One, we occasionally get a misstep like The Dark Tower or It-Chapter Two. As King can sometimes get wordy in his books, I’ve felt the best adaptations were the ones where the director’s own vision came into play. Kubrick made a number or changes to King’s story, including the Grady twins and the hedge maze, which were never in the novel. The film is so widely recognized that most people recall events in the movie, rather than the book. That’s the effect Kubrick had.

With Doctor Sleep, Mike Flanagan once again proves he’s a fantastic fit for King. The film moves at a great pace, with great performances by Rebecca Ferguson and newcomer Kyliegh Curran. In an age where audiences are typically quiet, the applause that occurred in scenes during last night’s preview screening were great to hear. The film manages to pay homage to Kubrick’s The Shining and King’s Novel of Doctor Sleep while still completely showcasing Flanagan’s vision. Of course, we already knew this from Flanagan taking on King’s own Gerald’s Game and Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House. One might even argue that for this film, we may in time recall Flanagan’s tale more clearly than King’s.

Doctor Sleep takes place after the events of The Shining, with Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) suffering from the same demons that plagued his father, Jack. Although the keeps to himself, he drinks too much, gets into brawls, and is unable to hold down decent work. Dan is also haunted by the Overlook Hotel, and the power that drew the souls to him known as The Shining. The Shining (or just the Shine) is a coveted power in King’s lore. When a group of nomads that feed on the Shine (in a way that’s reminiscent of Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers) discover a girl with the same ability, Dan is brought out of hiding.

Fans of the original Kubrick film will see there’s a lot of love here. You’ll be able to count some of the references to The Shining, from objects in a room to different locales. For casting, Flanagan uses a mixture of old favorites and new faces. You’ll recognize some of them right from the start, such as Bruce Greenwood and Violet McGraw. Others, like Jacob Tremblay (The Predator) are welcome additions. Rather than relying on footage from the original Shining, Flanagan recreates certain elements with new cast members, which I felt worked extremely well here. I’m not sure how others will take it.

Ewan McGregor is good in the role of Dan Torrance, which feels more like his Mark Renton character from Trainspotting than anything else to me. This isn’t a bad thing, but it works. The film truly belongs to both Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible: Fallout) and Kyliegh Curran. Ferguson’s Rose the Hat is a wicked villain, and she carries the role with a sinister, yet stylish flair. Ferguson has some of the best scenes in the film, particularly when paired with Zahn McClarnon (Midnight, Texas and Westworld), who plays Crow Daddy. Kyliegh Curran chews up the scenes she’s in, easily handling screen time with McGregor and Ferguson like a pro. Rounding out the cast are Cliff Curtis (Sunshine), Carl Lumbly (Mantis) and Emily Alyn Lind (The Babysitter).

Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) can’t run from his past in Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep.

As for the fear factor, there is some terror in the hunt for Abra and the way that the group interact. Doctor Sleep doesn’t have much in the way of jump scares, but makes up for it with some tense moments. I didn’t feel as scared as I did with It-Chapter One, but I cared enough about the characters to worry about how the story was going to turn out. That might be a turn off for those expecting to watch the movie from between their fingers or run out of the theatre screaming. If you enjoyed Flanagan’s other works, such as Hush or Oculus, you’ll be fine.

Speaking of Hush, Doctor Sleep lacks a Kate Siegel cameo. Flanagan is Siegel’s partner in crime (and husband). Together, they’ve been in almost every film they’d done. I’ve gotten used to going “Oh, there’s Kate!”, while watching his films. It’s not an issue at all, but it would’ve been cool to see her.

The camera work for Doctor Sleep is very even, though there are a few special effects scenes that really stand out and picked up some applause (or gasps) once they were over. The one main drawback I had with the film was that it was a little difficult to keep up with all of the locations and time periods early on. Even though everything’s clearly labeled, it took me a moment to recognize just where and when things were occurring. Not a terrible thing, though.

Overall, Doctor Sleep is an easy film to recommend. It has some great performances, and manages to be a great follow up to The Shining, while showing a lot of love for the source material.

Doctor Sleep hits cinemas on Friday, November 8th, and I’ll make a return visit.

Mac Attack: The Good Son (1993, directed by Joseph Ruben)

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Jedadiah Leland

“Hey, Mark, don’t fuck with me,” 12 year-old Henry (Macaulay Culkin) says to his cousin Mark (Elijah Wood) in The Good Son‘s signature scene. But fuck with him Mark does because Mark knows that evil exists and that Henry’s evil. Henry killed his brother and he tries to kill his sister, Connie (Quinn Culkin), by throwing her onto thin ice. When Mark, whose mother has recently died, decides that Henry’s mother, Susan (Wendy Crewson), is going to be his new mom, Henry gets jealous and tells Mark that he would rather kill Susan than allow her to have another son. Eventually, Mark and Henry both end up dangling from a cliff with Susan holding onto them. Susan has to decide who to save, her evil son or the distant relation that she barely knows. She makes her choice and the camera lingers on the corpse of the less fortunate child on the rocks below. For most mothers, it probably wouldn’t even be a difficult decision. Of course you would save your own child! But Susan has to think about it. Maybe she can see the future and knows that Elijah Wood has the Lord of the Rings to look forward to while Macaulay is destined for something much different.

The Good Son caused a lot of controversy when it came out in 1993, not because it was about a murderous child but because that murderous child was played by the then-biggest star in America. How would people who loved watching Macaulay seriously injure two burglars react to watching Macaulay kill people? The movie actually did well at the box office but it also revealed that the Macaulay Culkin was a limited actor. Elijah Wood was a good actor but Mark still comes across like a little creep. Trying to steal his cousin’s mother? What did he think was going to happen?

Finally, The Good Son was written by Ian McEwan, of all people. In McEwan’s defense, he only wrote the first draft and that was long before Macaulay Culkin was miscast as Henry. Apparnetly, Macaulay’s father and manager, Kit Culkin, demanded that his son be cast as a psycho murderer before he would allow Maccaulay to appear in Home Alone 2. I guess Kit thought making his son look evil would be a good career movie. If only someone had been willing to say, “Hey, Kit Culkin, don’t fuck with the movie.”

International Horror Film Review: Haxan (dir by Benjamin Christensen)

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s always interesting to watch Haxan with someone who has never seen it before.

Because this Swedish film was made in 1920 and released in 1922, it’s a silent film. Because it’s sold as being a documentary, it can be a bit of a hard sell among people who 1) hate to read subtitles and 2) instantly recoil at the idea of watching anything might be a educational. Even the fact that the film is subtitled “Witchcraft Through The Ages” might not be enough to get some people to set aside their prejudices.

So, what you do is you beg. You offer to give them popcorn and a Coke if they watch the movie. You stretch out on the couch, arch an eyebrow and suggest that there might be another reward waiting for them at the end of the film. You do whatever you have to do and you get them to watch.

Now admittedly, the first part of Haxan does come across as being a bit slow. The intertitles, which explain that this film was made to examine witchcraft throughout the ages, can come across as being a bit dry. The numerous scenes about how people used to think that the universe revolved around the Earth and that stars were merely lights hanging in the sky goes on for quite some time. Personally, I like these scenes. I enjoy the fact that director Benjamin Christensen actually uses a pointer, as if he’s a lecturer at a university. But they’re not for everyone.

But here’s the thing, skeptical viewers: KEEP WATCHING!

Because eventually, the film moves on from discussing ancient and medieval astronomy and it starts to discussing why people used to believe in witches and how witchcraft used to be punished and suddenly …. OH MY GOD, IS THAT THE DEVIL BURSTING UP OUT OF NOWHERE!? Yes, it is. And yes, that woman is buying a love potion and that monk has become possessed and that witch is flying through the air!

Haxan is an interestingly constructed film. At the start of the film, it proudly declares itself to be the work of a skeptic. Haxan is a film that, in its own scholarly way, ridicules superstition. Those who once believed in witchcraft are compared to those who once believed that the world was flat and that the stars revolved around the Earth. And yet, the film’s greatest moments are the ones that feature scenes of witches and the devil. I don’t think this is accidental. Instead, I think that Benjamin Christensen understood what D.W. Griffith, Ceceil B. DeMille, and Roger Corman understood. Audiences may want to pat themselves on the back for being pure or rational or whatever but, at the same time, they also want that taste of sin and the indulgence of superstition. Haxan makes the argument for science but not before indulging in some old time religion.

And it’s a lot of fun. Haxan is such a visually striking film with it’s taunting devils and its flying witches that one can hardly be shocked that it was initially banned in many countries and, even when it was released, it was often in a heavily censored form. Watching the film, you can also understand why it influenced future horror directors. The images are frequently the stuff of nightmares and the fact that the images are silent just makes them all the more ominous.

Haxan is definitely a film that every horror fan needs to see. Luckily, there’s a Criterion edition for that! Oh Criterion. What would we do without you?

Horror Film Review: Cujo (dir by Lewis Teague)

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Cujo is a such a depressing movie that I can barely stand to watch it.

Cujo, of course, is the 1983 film adaptation of the book by Stephen King. The book is about a dog that not only gets bit by a rabid bat but also gets possessed by the spirit of Frank Dodd, the serial killer who played a major role in The Dead Zone. The film abandons the subplot about Frank Dodd and, instead, it just deals with a rabid dog that kills a lot of people and who eventually traps Donna Trentonn (Dee Wallace) and her young son, Tad (Danny Pintauro), is a car for several days.

I have to admit that I’m really not the sort of person who should be watching a film like Cujo in the first place. When I was growing up, I was terrified of dogs. According to my family, I was bitten by one when I was just three years old, not that I have any memory of that actually happening. So, up until I was 18, I couldn’t handle being around them. Whenever I would walk home from school, I would run across the street if I heard a dog barking at me from behind a fence. If I was out with my family and I saw a dog approaching, I would hide behind the nearest big person.

I did have one good experience with a big dog when I was about ten years old. My family was up at the lake and this big, black dog started following us around and it was so friendly that I couldn’t help but relax around it. My mom was like, “See, Lisa Marie, not all dogs are bad.” We went to get lunch, leaving the dog behind. When we returned, the dog was there. He was excited to see my mom. He was excited to my aunt. He was excited to see my sisters. Then, he took one look at me and started to growl. I was frozen in fear, just standing there as the dog slowly stood up. My mom immediately stood in front of me, trying to block the dog’s view while I ran back to car. Of course, that didn’t work. The dog started barking and then took off running after me. His owners then showed up and grabbed the dog just as it was about to lunge at me and then they didn’t even bother to apologize! Instead, they told some story about how some other girl had thrown a rock at the dog and, as a result, the dog always growled at “little girls.” They acted like it was no big deal. (My aunt later told me that she had to grab my mom’s hand to keep her from slapping the dog’s owner when they tried to blame me for what happened.) For months afterwards, I had nightmares about that dog.

Fortunately, enough time has passed that I’m no longer petrified in fear of dogs though they still make pretty damn nervous. That said, Cujo, with its growling and killer dog, is exactly the type of film that’s designed to prey on my deepest fears. And yes, the movie does scare me but I have to admit that I don’t really care much about the people who get killed by Cujo. Instead …. I feel bad for Cujo. Yes, even though Cujo scares me to death and I’m not a dog person in general, this movie depresses me specifically because of what happens to the dog.

When we first see him, Cujo is happily chasing a rabbit. When he gets bitten by a rabid bat, he whimpers a little and I have to say that it breaks my heart to hear it. I mean, Cujo is just such a cute dog! And, to be honest, he seems like the type of big dog who maybe could have convinced me that not all dogs are bad. (There’s a part of me that really wishes that I could relax and love dogs as much as everyone else does.) But then he gets bitten by that bat and poor Cujo! Rabies is a terrible disease.

Cujo is a good, straight-forward horror film, one that gets the job done without all of the padding and blather that you sometimes have to deal with when it comes to Stephen King film adaptations. (Thankfully, nobody casually talks about Shawshank Prison or taking a trip to Derry or any of that other nonsense that seems to come up in most King films.) Dee Wallace gives a good performance as Donna Trenton, who is trapped in the car and desperate to save her child. King has said that he felt Wallace deserved an Oscar nomination for her performance and he’s probably right

But my God, I just cannot watch this movie without crying afterwards. I just feel so bad for that dog.

Halloween 2018, Review by Case Wright

Posted on October 31, 2019 by casewright

Happy Halloween!!! I have reviewed A LOT of Halloween movies! They’re pretty… pretty good This one’s good, This one’s not bad this one’s probably my best. This Halloween movie was …. well … fine. There’s a spectrum of Halloween franchise films. Some are amazing, some are epically terrible, and some are fine. Not terrible, just ok. This is in the meh category, but like much of life itself- kinda dull and disappointing as you slowly degrade towards the infinite.

Michael in an insane asylum and about to be transferred….again, but to make it different this time annoying podcasters interview him first. So…. it’s kinda new? But really, this guy escapes custody more than El Chapo, but they keep moving him around movie after movie after movie. I know that this movie is supposed to disregard all the ones after the first one, but that really is just an excuse to recycle the old tropes. I wish they’d taken another route like they did in H20, which is still amazing and holds up really well.

The big change is that Laurie Strode has been waiting for Michael’s inevitable escape. She turned her home in a fortress with all kinds of booby traps. She has an arsenal that my grandma would’ve been proud to see. Unfortunately, it drove Laurie to raise her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) like a special forces recruit and always afraid and a quasi-prisoner. Karen, now an adult with a family of her own, wants nothing to do with her gung ho mom, but her Karen’s daughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) wants the family to reunite by inviting her to mom to dinner and it goes…yikes.

The unsung character of the movie that provides the only comic relief was Karen’s husband Ray (Toby Huss) who got not a tear from anyone when Michael made short work of him. Really, no one cared at all about the dad getting killed, not the wife or the daughter; only Michael seemed to care and he murdered the guy. Poor dads, we’re just cast aside like old meat- no one cares.

The movie have A LOT of bad decisions; if bad boxers lead with their chins, these guys led with their necks. I guess that’s why it was tough for me to feel sympathetic for the victims because they were so dumb that I figured something else would’ve gotten these walking Darwin Awards: stopping on railroad tracks, taking a selfie in a lion enclosure at a zoo, or getting eaten by a Labrador Retriever…somehow.

In any case, I would get this on netflix; it was …fine.

Horror on the Lens: Night of the Living Dead (dir by George Romero)

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy Halloween everyone!

Well, as another horrorthon draws to a close, it’s time for another Shattered Lens tradition! Every Halloween, we share one of the greatest and most iconic horror films ever made. For your Halloween enjoyment, here is George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead!

(Be sure to read Arleigh’s equally famous review!)