Movie Nights: Week in review 8.2-8.8
This week we watched some new ones and we didn’t love them all…
Backwoods (2008)
Backwoods was a pleasant surprise because we were not expecting much. There isn’t really anything original, it has a really basic storyline of a group of friends being tracked and slaughtered by a band of locals. In this case, the group is on a work trip which makes no sense but there is a lot of comfort in a familiar story sometimes. The cast has a few faces that we recognized but no big names, the most notable are Haylie Duff (Hillary Duff’s Sister) and Ryan Merriman (Final Destination 3). We love a good horror or thriller in the woods! It has a low budget Wrong Turn vibes which we dug. This movie is super fast paced and has a creepy and fun bunch of you guessed it, backwoods killers. The writing and plot leave some to be desired but the acting is semi decent, its shot fine and there isn’t really a dull moment other than the regular character introduction scenes. Worth a watch if you’re into semi-bad cheesy 2000’s horror.
STREAMING ON: AMAZON PRIME FREE
Photo Credit IMDB
The Brood (1979)
A friend recommended this one and we had never seen it so we gave it a try! It is VERY weird, the way people talk in it is so awkward and the overall vibe is incredibly uncomfortable. It was a bit confusing because often characters would call each other by different names (first or last interchangeably) and there was a lot of role play therapy (which was also really weird). The concept was a little odd… it started with this woman undergoing some kind of experimental therapy that turns into something much crazier, we don’t want to spoil it but the ending is wild. Despite this film having some really cool effects that look repulsive and super realistic at the same time, it was a long and slightly boring road to get there. This is worth a watch once but we would never watch it again. Not sure David Cronenberg is our cup of tea.
STREAMING ON: HBO MAX
Photo Credit IMDB
Photo Credit IMDB
Scanners (1981)
We watched this after the Brood because it is also directed by David Cronenberg and we thought we’d give another one a first time watch. We didn’t love this one either, again despite some cool effects aka the exploding head and more it was a bit slow. This one doesn’t really feel like a horror movie. It seemed boring, we felt it dragged quite a bit during the middle. We were interested right away when it started, it seemed promising but we didn’t really like the plot or how it was shot, everything felt so slow. The way they all talk is almost unbearable. We didn’t like any of the characters and really felt nothing for them. The second half of the film just felt a little messy which we didn’t expect or like. We loved the effects but that's about all we can say we enjoyed. We also didn’t vibe the score/music throughout at all (Aletha actually strongly disliked it) so that didn’t help. We just didn’t enjoy the overall vibe, it didn’t really feel like a horror movie. I think it was built up too much and overhyped over the years, it is worth seeing once but that’s enough.
STREAMING ON: HBO MAX
All fun and games (2023)
We watched this because of Natalia Dyer’s familiar face. We made a mistake, this movie was not what we expected. It is essentially about a kid who finds a cursed knife that has been cursed by witches of the past. It was pretty cheesy and the ending got pretty wild. The actors were good and even the characters but the plot got away from them. It was a fine watch but there are a lot better movies to watch if you're in the mood for some kind of witchy blast from the past vibes.
STREAMING ON: HULU
Photo Credit IMDB
Cloverfeild (2008)
Cloverfield feels like a mix between War of the Worlds and The Blair Witch Project. The shaky camera work is excused because it is “found footage” but if you get nauseous this one might be tough. The whole thing is shot by a handheld camera by one of the friends in the group this movie follows (T.J. Miller). He was recording for a going away party and just kept recording once chaos ensued. The friend group is pretty believable, Some are more annoying than others but it is a fine group to follow along with this wild ride. We get to watch Lizzy Caplan throughout this one and she is always phenomenal. It is a pretty straightforward monster attack movie, the action starts off fairly quickly once the movie starts, which is always a plus. We love the Monster in this movie, we do wish we saw a little less of it but regardless it’s a good one. There are a few inconsistencies throughout but if you don’t take the movie too seriously it doesn’t take away from the film. The final attack scene was fun but we think they should have left a little more to the imagination. Overall it’s a really fun monster flick and worth a watch if you like found footage horror films.
STREAMING ON: AMAZON PRIME FREE WITH PARAMOUNT+
Photo Credit © 2008 Paramount Pictures.
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