SIGNIFICANT OTHER (2022)
-MonsterZero NJ
-MonsterZero NJ
Documentary written and directed by Joe Bandelli starts us off with a brief history of found footage horrors from Cannibal Holocaust to The Mcpherson Tape, to The Blair Witch Project. We then meet Oren Peli who details how he got the idea for the first film, in this now classic franchise, from his own experiences hearing strange noises in his new home. He details the casting of Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, who then join the documentary to give anecdotes of their own, on filming the first Paranormal Activity on a shoestring budget and with what barely could be called a script. The film then takes us on the long road to its eventual theatrical release, with interviews from various producers and horror journalists, as the film becomes a box office smash, and a franchise is born. Bandelli then brings in a host of actors and filmmakers as he takes us on the journey of the making of the film’s sequels, leading up to the recent seventh film that was still filming when this documentary was completed.
Bandelli crafts a fun and informative look at the history of one of modern horror’s most famous and successful movie franchises from the perspective of those involved. The writer/director brings in a host of talent from behind and in front of the cameras, to give a detailed and entertaining look at how what was basically little more than a home movie, turned into a near billion-dollar movie franchise. If you are a fan of this series, it is fun to see the stars from the original film, and all the sequels, return these many years later to describe their time working on the flicks, and even some honest commentary from the people involved on what led the series into its decline in the later installments. If you are a fan of the Paranormal Activity films and are curious about how it all came together, this is definitely a recommended watch on Paramount+.
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Julie Rivers (Melissa Barrera) is expecting her second child along with her husband Daniel (Guy Burnet). Julie is nervous as she lost her first child and the couple have moved into a big old house to start their family. An accidental fall places Julie on strict bed rest and while she convalesces, she begins to see and hear strange things. One of those things is the spirit of a little boy she believes is her dead son Andrew come to warn her about impending malevolent intent towards her unborn daughter. Is she going stir crazy or are there actually supernatural forces conspiring against her baby?
Haunting horror is written and directed by Lori Evans Taylor. While basically a very routine and cliché haunting flick, it has some effectively spooky moments, and the material is elevated by strong work by Scream‘s Melissa Barrera as Julie. Presenting the material seriously also helps it dramatically. As in many movies like this, no one believes Julie is seeing ghosts and it makes her isolated and alone. She is also forced to investigate the house’s past and that of its former occupants, leading to a disturbing but expected reveal. Barrera has us liking Julie and believing she is not bonkers…or is she? The conclusion is a bit over-the-top after what is a mostly subtle build-up and Taylor does provide some solid chills and uses the old house setting very effectively. The movie also covers some serious themes such as loss, mourning and letting go, as Julie’s predicament brings back painful memories of losing her son at childbirth. Currently streaming on Tubi despite what the movie poster says!
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Netflix streaming version of this classic tale is a darker and far more serious telling of the story. This Pinocchio takes place in fascist Italy where woodworker Geppetto (voiced by David Bradley) loses his ten-year-old son Carlo (Gregory Mann) during the first world war. Decades later he is a lonely man prone to drinking and when in his cups decides to build a new son out of wood. A wood sprite (Tilda Swinton) takes pity and brings the puppet to life dubbing him Pinocchio (also Gregory Mann) and giving charge of the puppet to cricket Sebastian (Ewan McGregor). Soon Pinocchio begins to get lots of attention, especially from greedy circus owner Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) and the Podestà (Ron Perlman), a fascist official who sees Pinocchio’s ability to come back from the dead as an opportunity to turn him into the perfect soldier for the current war…and did I mention it is a musical?!
Stop-motion animated flick is directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson from a script and story by del Toro with Patrick McHale and Matthew Robbins, based on the original book by Carlo Collodi. On the plus side, the visuals and production design are absolutely stunning, as is the stop-motion animation and FX, absolutely amazing. What holds this version back is the dark and sometimes bleak telling of what was basically a children’s story. Not here, as del Toro and company’s version covers themes of death, loss, war and fascism. Some may appreciate the non-Disney approach, while others may find it very heavy-handed. This Pinocchio rises from the dead, which in all fairness, so did the Disney and book versions. He is killed multiple times, and as he is basically an enchanted being, he returns from the dead to live again. Here it becomes an actual plot point as this would make him a perfect soldier in the eyes of the fascist Podestà. Add in Geppetto’s bitter drunkenness, Pinocchio being trained to fight in a war and fascist Benito Mussolini (Tom Kenny) actually being a character in the film, and this is no kid flick! Not to mention that at 117 minutes it’s a bit too long, especially for it’s far too serious tone, and the musical numbers…yes there are songs…are not very memorable. Visually and technically, it is close to being a masterpiece, and has a great vocal cast. As a movie, though, it’s a bit too dreary, especially at two hours long, to really enjoy. Currently streaming on Netflix!
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Netflix streaming monster movie takes place in the Norwegian mountains where blasting for construction on a new railroad awakens a massive rock-like creature. Scientist Nora Tidemann (Ine Marie Wilmann) believes it to be a gigantic troll right out of Norwegian folklore. As the military fails to destroy it, Nora must now find a way to stop the monster as it heads towards heavily populated areas.
Norwegian creature feature is directed by Roar Uthaug (Cold Prey, The Wave, Tomb Raider) from his script with Espen Aukan. It’s a solid and entertaining giant monster flick, though could have used a bit more of a sense of fun. Uthaug has directed horror and disaster movies and makes this with the same serious tone. It is a double-edged sword as that does help us go along with the fantastic storyline, but it also makes the flick take itself a touch too serious to really be a good time. Only Yusuf Toosh Ibra as government official Amir brings a little levity to the proceedings. All the giant monster movie clichés are there and well done, from arrogant government leaders (Anneke von der Lippe) to heroic soldiers (Mads Sjøgård Pettersen) to Nora’s sympathetic scientist. The troll even gets to wander into a crowded theme park and shows mercy towards children. The SPFX are quite excellent thought the creature itself could have used a bit more personality. It does earn our sympathy in the last act as we learn the truth about its past. A decent enough if not perfect giant monster flick from Norway and director Roar Uthaug. Currently streaming on Netflix!
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Flick follows the adventures of sexy, busty ace reporter Hunter Hazelton (Brigitte Kingsley) as she covers the opening of an old mine using new laser technology. Hunter becomes trapped in the mine with a group of others when the dig awakens a giant Cthulhu-like creature. Hunter’s problems get even worse as the giant octopus-like deity decides it wants the intrepid reporter as it’s sacrifice and sends the now zombified survivors out to collect her. Can the resilient Hunter and handsome miner Casey (Landy Cannon) escape with their lives?
Fun flick is written and directed by Andrew Cymek and is an entertaining, sexed up version of an old-fashioned serial like The Perils of Pauline. It follows Hunter as she finds herself in and out of all sorts of predicaments including zombies, lava, horseshoe crab-like insects and being tied to a sacrificial alter. There flick offers voluptuous star and producer Brigette Kingsley plenty of opportunities for plucky Hunter to be scantily clad or less and the proceedings are presented in a tongue in cheek tone. In a more contemporary spin, the tenacious reporter gets herself out of most of her scrapes with the somewhat dim hunk Casey being little help. The cast are all actually pretty good, with Kingsley being a fun and sexy lead, and get the tone of the material with performances bordering on, but not quite spilling over into camp. The sets, make-up FX and costumes are not bad either with the only weak point being some very substandard CGI. Overall, it’s a fun little action-adventure movie with a spunky and sexy heroine who is endearing enough to want to see return in another spicy adventure. Also stars Patrick Kwok-Choon as Hunter’s trusty, gay camera man Cam, Sara Mitich as Hunter’s devious rival Annie, and also stars movie veteran Art Hindle as Hunter’s dad. Canadian flick is streaming free on Freevee and Tubi.
MonsterZero NJ
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Finnish horror finds young Tinja (a wonderful Siiri Solalinna) caring for a bird’s egg after she is forced to put its wounded mother out of her misery. The egg starts to grow to an unnatural size and soon hatches into bird-like creature. The animal endears to Tinja and she to it, until it becomes obvious it’s means of pleasing and protecting Tinja are quite lethal.
Creature feature from Finland is directed by Hanna Bergholm from a script and story by she and Ilja Rautsi. By giving Tinja a pair of self-absorbed parents (Sophia Heikkilä and Jani Volanen) it makes the girl sympathetic, and also believable that the child could keep such a creature in her room unnoticed, except by her brat of a little brother (Oiva Ollila). The creature is an interesting design and portrayed by some nice old-fashioned prosthetics and proves to be very intelligent, as well as, quite dangerous. There is also an unnerving caveat of Tinja having a mental connection with her surrogate child and having seizures and visions when it kills. They also feel each other’s pain. The creature she dubs “Alli” becomes a conduit to releasing Tinja’s inner turmoil. It makes for a tense and sometimes disturbing monster movie with some effective gore once “Alli” starts to viciously protect Tinja and also begins to transform into something quite startling. Altogether an impressive horror feature debut from Hanna Bergholm.
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