Directed by
Rony Patel

Produced by
Rony Patel

Written by
Rony Patel and Andrew Ericksen
 
Starring:
Atala Arce, Jake Taylor, David Harper, Jeremy Jordon, Mike Thompson, Mikael Mattsson, James McCabe, Nicholas Correnti, Natasha Missick, Lizzie Chaplin, Jazmine Jordan
 
Budget NO DATA                                Box Office NO DATA
 
IMDb 3.3/10               Rotten Tomatoes NO DATA                Metacritic NO DATA

Here we have a brand-new film that releases October 20, 2020, giving us limited data available on the film as you can see.  It’s really a very simple and basic horror flick in the best of ways.  There’s a guy and a girl, they’re in love (of course).  And there’s a killer, a gross, disgusting, creepy, grisly, psychotic looking pizza delivery man.
 
Here is the blurb:
 
An innocent night between a young couple takes a bizarre turn when a psychotic serial killer comes knocking at the door. As the couple starts to fend for their lives, we soon learn there might be more to the lovers than meets the eye. A long fight for survival leads them into a series of unsettling encounters within the criminal underworld.
 
 
Now, I have to be honest, I was surprised by how good this film ended up being.  It definitely had a very Quentin Tarantino quality to the way it was filmed.  You know how Tarantino goes through “chapters” and he titles them?  They did that in this movie.  
 
The movie is split into “chapters” like Tarantino did for Pulp Fiction, naming them such things as “Brother”, “Chop Chop” or “Package”.  It’s a nice little interlude and a good way to lead into each group of scenes.  I’ve always found that transition style to be quite entertaining and at one time very original, so original in fact that I still think it sets a film apart from the normal herd.
 
There is a strange comedic factor to the film that helps prove to viewers anything that can go wrong, will.  Not to mention that there are some really strange and creepy characters in this film. There’s mystery behind this couple in love, not sure who they are or what they’ve done, some creepy dudes walking around in bathrobes.
 
The comedic value and strange levity and oddities build and structure a dark comedic theme throughout the film.  I found this to be a fun addition and felt it added to the total enjoyment of the film.  It is the perfect blend of comedy and sarcasm to balance out the horror in the film, making it nicely well-rounded as a horror flick.
 
Overall, the film had good acting, great special effects makeup, the regular special effects are good.  Although the plot was a little thin and confusing, sort of unclear at times, it was still a very decent horror film.  There’s a decent amount of blood and the kill scenes are done fairly well.
 
As for the total creepiness factor…this movie gets an 8 or 9 out of 10.  The sheer amount of strange and unsettling characters is just absolutely awesome because they all add to the unsettled feeling, you’re supposed to get from horror movies.  Some of these people are the same kind of people that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up or give you the natural urge to cross the street to avoid them because they just FEEL wrong to you.  
 
I do think horror lovers will enjoy this flick.  I know I did.  And my husband, who isn’t near as into horror as I am, even liked it.  So, give it a go!  Think Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses crashes into Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.  I think you’ll dig it!  
 
RATINGS
4/5 Stars

Directed by
George Ratliff
Written by
David Levinson
 
Starring:
 
Aaron Paul as Bryan Palmer
Emily Ratajkowski as Cassie Ryerson
Riccardo Scamarcio as Federico
Francesco Acquaroli as Eduardo
 
Budget $NO DATA                              Box Office $331,704
 
IMDb 5.2/10               Rotten Tomatoes 11%            Metacritic 38%
 
!!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!
 
It’s been a long time since I gave the ending to something in a review for you guys.  But I can’t fully review this movie and have it make sense unless I can address the whole movie.  Therefore, this review contains spoilers.  You have been warned.

Okay, I have to be honest here.  I started watching this movie and I was truly all geared up to watch it.  Then it began and I was sitting there, unable to take my eyes off the screen, completely mesmerized and at the same time thinking to myself, “What the eff am I watching?!”
 
Then, I’m faced with these horrid little creatures, trolls actually, that look like a cross between Hellboy and Gremlins.  Wicked cool looking as they may be, these little monsters cause quite a problem.  In all honesty, they were one of my very favorite parts of this movie.  They are disgusting and wretched little heathens that make you laugh with their party pranks and practical jokes.  They are stars of the film themselves, along with the actual actors and actresses.
 
What was REALLY mind blowing was actually getting to see Richie Ramone (formerly of The Ramones) star in this film.  I have to admit, the whole time I was watching I was kind of repeating here and there “I CANNOT believe that is ACTUALLY Richie Ramone!  This is so cool!” in my head.
 
What I think made me laugh the most (yes this horror film was intended to make you laugh, this particular director has an excellent and very active sense of humor, always down for a laugh) was that I could not stop asking myself, “What the EFF am I watching?!”.  There’s this one part where Richie is getting it on with one of the female stars, her character is Wynnona and we’ll get to her in a minute, but this isn’t just any regular sex scene in a horror film.  Now, you all know that sex in films doesn’t bother me.  I did catch myself thinking, “my God, how long is this sex scene?” because, and I’m being sincere here, it seems like they really took a lot of time and effort putting that scene together and on film.  
 
There’s also this awesome throwback Claymation concert where Richie’s band plays.  I loved that.  It really did take me back to before there was all this CGI stuff and new technology on special effects and animation.  Back when it was simpler, but just as much fun to watch.  The guys DO use some CGI in this movie but it’s in a really fun way, like blood spatter.
 
Richie is awesome.  Totally cool as hell, totally comfortable on camera.  There’s an excellent chill scene, with some killer music for the soundtrack, where Ramone seems completely genuine, very funny and very down to earth.
 
The same with Alyssa Paige, who plays Wynnona.  She came across as if playing her part were effortless and second nature to her.  She’s perfect for the part and a natural on screen.
 
The soundtrack to the whole film is good as far as music goes.  The only thing that I struggled with while watching this film was the sound.  It wasn’t always a consistent level, sometimes it would go up to regular volume, sometimes down in volume, as if they were missing the microphone or something.
 
There is a serious strobe light effect in a scene or two so, if you are prone to seizures or anything like that caused by strobe lights, you might want to look away for that part.
 
Other than that, I felt like the movie did its job.  It entertained me.  It made me laugh and I had fun watching it.  It wasn’t as good as Texas Death Trippin’ Ax-tended Cut, but it was still good.
 
You can find the movie at either of the links below:
 
https://www.pjsandpixels.com/
 
http://crudecomicsinc.com/
 
RATINGS
3.5/5 Stars

Texas Death Trippin’
Ax-tended Cut
(2020)
 
Written and Directed by R. Lopez
 
Starring:
Catherine Daisy Coleman, Bryan Slusher, Cody Calderas, Dakota Danger, Melesa Murphy, Rob Di Perna, Robert Robson, WRGIII, Todd Hughes, George Wang, D.E. Todd
 
Music for film provided by the following:
Merlin
Spencer Jacob Grau
Stone Grower
DJ Halo Dark
Buffalo Bud Buster      
The Death Ray Angels
The Reefer Hawks
Mi Corazon Negro
Occult Wisdom

Now I know if you are an avid visitor to my site you will be wondering why I’m reviewing the same movie twice.  I’m not.  The guys decided to add so much extra footage to this film that is really is a completely different movie than the first time around.  The first version will soon be out of print and THIS is the REAL version of the vision these guys had for this film.
 
While the basic plot of the beginning of the film remains the same, that’s really the only part that they didn’t add something obvious to.  In almost every scene there is new footage, new dialogue, new characters.  
 
What we have is a group of stoners road trippin’ to see a music festival.  And everything seems to be going perfectly as they make their rounds to grab everyone that is going on the trip.  Three guys, two girls.  (Someone is about to be the fifth wheel and they don’t even know it.)
 
So how about a few observations about the characters in the film.  First off, Andy is a sexual assault charge waiting to happen, total perv.  Not that the other guys, Muppet and Sidwell, are much better, but they are slightly.  Sid is driving the 420 white box molester van.  Muppet rides shotgun.  Andy is in the back with the two chicks, Sheena Starr and her gal pal Teresa.
 
Now, think about the road trip those teenage fools took in Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  Now merge that with Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 corpses.  Then, throw in a creature that looks like Swamp Thing and Leatherface had a very ill-conceived child.  Finally, add the smell of a landfill.  This film is like a very whacked out version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre melded with House of 1000 Corpses.  
 
One character, an old guy at a gas station, is the epitome of Otis from House of 1000 Corpses plus Leatherface from TCM.  
 
We also have a character named Malakhy.  This guy, wow.  As soon as I saw him, I was like, OMG it’s the new Vince Neil!  Except maybe a little creepier.
 
This movie also taught me a few lessons that I will live by until I die.

1. Stoners CANNOT set up camping tents.  Leave that to a sober member of the group.
2. Ravioli will no longer be an acceptable food in my cooking repertoire.

 
There is a point where Sheena proves she is one tough badass chick by opening a beer bottle with her teeth. Just watching that made MY teeth hurt.  Then, at one point when she’s running from the mutant swamp thing monster, they show her actually RUNNING.  Not that half-ass side step looking run that victims always use in movies so the killer has time to catch up.  Sheena didn’t want him to catch up.  She RAN ran.  Thank you! Finally!  A chick that can RUN in a horror flick.  
 
This is a dark horror comedy.  The guys meant for it to be funny and it is.  I was laughing through most of the movie.  The simpleton type of comedy, the dark comedic comments, the toilet humor, it’s all constant and perpetual through the whole movie.
 
Now, I watch a lot of horror.  I watch a lot of true crime.  I’ve seen an autopsy.  Very few things can actually gross me out.  I mean, to where I feel nauseated.  Watching the guys eat food in this film is something I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to unsee.  So, fair warning, food is involved and not always in the way you are thinking.  Like Muppet’s insatiable love affair with cold, canned ravioli.  I just, yechhh!  Still the most disturbing ravioli interaction I’ve ever seen, but it was totally funny as hell.
 
Another thing they did so much better this time around are the kill scenes.  The guys got a lot more creative and with the extra characters and added footage, that left a lot of opportunities for some really fun murder scenes.
 
Now, if you are looking for an A-List film with A-List Hollywood actors, this is not what you are looking for.  If you love horror and comedy and want to have a good laugh and have some fun, this IS the film you are looking for.
 
The guys from The Toking Dead make a special appearance in this film too. 
 
Also, this could be the new Reefer Madness except for shrooms not marijuana.  That’s how outrageous some of it gets.
 
Some of the horror effects are truly disgusting and it’s obvious the filmmakers had a lot of fun with the gore factor of this movie.
 
There are some full range bird’s eye view shots of where the group decides to go camping.  It really adds to the realization of the vastness and isolation of where they are.  That, in my opinion, adds a certain chill factor to the whole film.  Along with that, there are some very seriously high-pressure moments that will have you on the edge of your seat.
 
Even though it’s a horror film, the most disgusting part of the whole movie is, well, food.  The things that involve food in this movie are going to be forever disturbing to some people, no matter how hilarious it is.  And this is not entirely a comedy.  Lopez pulls off a few truly eerie and creepy moments that would make anyone’s skin crawl.  Mine did.  (I have this thing about evil or creepy laughs.  It’s such chilling to me.)  Additionally, the flipping back and forth between the various character’s stories add a lot of body and heft to the film.
 
But, here’s the kicker.  Even though we can see the killer, up close and personal, it’s still hard to determine what the hell it is exactly.  This creates the fear of the unknown which is a natural human response to things we feel are out of our societal “normal” range.
 
To top it all off, an ending fit for any horror lover.  Nice and quick, concise, easy to understand and entertaining.  The guys really did go balls to the wall when refreshing this film and adding all the extra stuff.
 
A definite win and a fantastic dark comedy horror film for the avid horror lovers.
 
RATINGS
5/5 Stars

Directed by Robert Altman
Screenplay by Al Hayes
 
Starring:
Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, Robert Downey Jr., Daryl Hannah, Tom Berenger, Robert Duvall
 
Budget $25M                                     Box Office $1,534,569
 
IMDb 5.7/10               Rotten Tomatoes 58%            Metacritic 65/100 

Today when I got up, I happen to catch this movie from the beginning.  My lucky day.  So, with coffee and cigarette in hand, I embarked on waking up to this thriller.  I have to be honest it was the description of the film that was on the info on cable and the cast.  I mean, I’ll watch almost anything with Robert Downey Jr. in it.  Except the Iron Man movies.  (Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know.  I’m the only person on this earth that doesn’t like those movies.  Don’t get all twisted about it. The franchise isn’t going to go down because I don’t watch it.)
 
This was one interesting film.  First off, this is the first time I’ve seen Robert Duvall have so few lines.  I mean he barely speaks at all in this movie.  But he does have a certain creep factor about him.  I think a lot of that has to with his character and appearance rather than the actual script.  Next, Robert Downey Jr. was quite the piece of work in this film.  He pulls off this great accent and plays the drunkard private investigator to damn near perfection.  This was in 1998, during the height of Downey’s drug use and failing career.  So, it doesn’t surprise me that he can pull off a drunk when he’s drunk and stoned all the time himself.
 
So, here’s the set up for the film.  A young woman meets a divorced lawyer with a questionable reputation at a party that he’s attending and she’s waiting tables.  He expects to have a one-night stand but develops feelings for her rather quickly.  She shares with him that her father is stalking her and threatening her, that he’s done things like steal her car and hang her cat to its death.  Seeing as how this lawyer has a personal interest in this gal, he offers the support of his small practice and resources to help get her father committed to a mental hospital for evaluation.  They succeed.
 
Unfortunately, Daddy breaks out of the hospital, with some help, and starts stalking not only his daughter but her new lawyer friend and his kids.  Things start getting violent and crazy.  Next thing you know, people are dying, being abducted, being terrorized and threatened.
 
So, what do they do?  Does she make it?  Does the lawyer?  And why is Dad all crazy anyway? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.
 
I will say that I didn’t have any trouble staying interested in the film.  It was easy for me to watch.  I haven’t read any other reviews on the movie, but the ratings seem to label this film as average.  What really surprises me is the horrible Box Office numbers compared to what the film budget was.  I mean, I don’t think a lot of that budget went to the actual making of the film.
 
At the time this film was made, Downey Jr. had had so many problems with drug arrests and failed drug tests as part of his sentencing that it was almost impossible for the studio to insure him.  It ended up costing over $1 million dollars to insure the actor and filming had to begin with no insurance for Downey Jr.  
 
The screenplay writer, Al Hayes, is actually director Robert Altman.  However, after all the time he put in to write this screenplay, the initial test screening was terrible.  The studio, Polygram Films, decided to go outside the film crew and hire an editor to re-work the film.  This editor criticized Altman’s version of the film, saying that it basically lacked punch and suspense and had an ailing film score.  The new editor made changes and the film was screen tested again.  This time it went over worse than the original Altman version.  
 
Still, when the film released it got decent reviews, a vast amount praising Altman for his touches to the film, citing that it would have been just mediocre fodder without his contributions to the film.  The initial reviews also praised main character star, Kenneth Branagh for his role in the film and attributed a lot of the films interest to his acting as well.
 
Overall I liked the film.  There were a few times I was rewinding the DVR to catch something small that was said or something like that.  I liked the story.  I liked the way it all came together and I like that it’s definitely more realistic in the end than a lot of stuff spewed out of Hollywood.  I do think it’s gonna be a film that I’m going to have to watch a time or two more to really be able to follow all the little ins and outs of how it came together, which doesn’t bother me.  It’s a movie I’m willing to watch again.  In fact, it might be one of those that grows on you.
 
RATINGS
3.5/5 Stars

Directed by
John Badham

Screenplay by
W. D. Richter
 
Based on: Dracula (1897 novel, Bram Stoker), Dracula (1924 play, Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston
 
Starring:
Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Kate Nelligen
 
Budget $12.164,000               Box Office $31,235,812
 ​
IMDb 6.5/10               Rotten Tomatoes 59%            Metacritic NO DATA
 

So, I have to start this off and be completely honest, I have never watched an actual ‘Dracula’ movie.  Vampire movies, yes, but Dracula himself, no.  So, I didn’t have any preconceived ideas as to what to expect from this film.
 
Just as the graphic novel I have (Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Roy Thomas), the beginning is sort of haphazard and unclear.  It is very slow moving and honestly, I expected more, I don’t know, Dracula action, I guess.  I don’t know how to put it.
 
One thing that really threw me off was that there was a lot of focus on wolves in the beginning.  I was sitting here trying to figure out if I was watching a werewolf movie or a vampire movie.  The howling of the wolves seems to play a big part.  Although, you always kinda expect Dracula to be a bat, or turn into one.
 
Now, in this film, Dracula has killed everyone onboard and enters England, appearing to be, of course, a man of extreme wealth.
 
He immediately sets his sights on the daughters of those that are helping him set up his England home, a dreadful looking castle only befitting a character such as Dracula.  The people helping Dracula are the famous Van Helsings.  I know this name to be that of vampire hunters so, this is not a good situation for old Dracula.
 
The rest of the film is Dracula’s pursuit of his prey and the chaos that follows.
 
Again, the strangest thing was that they had Dracula scaling the sides of buildings as if he were Wolverine or his brother Victor.  I’ve never heard of Dracula being anything close to a werewolf type beast.  He’s always changed form into a bat, which DOES happen in this film, but it’s almost like a side note, when I would think it would be of great importance to the Dracula character himself.  Plus, I think I just expected more blood-letting, considering it was a vampire film.
 
In this film, Dracula also has some sort of half living lacky that is like a butler, but with no refinement at all.
 
Donald Pleasence is the father Van Helsing.  He’s fantastic in the role.  I miss Donald Pleasence.  What a great guy on screen in horror, ya know?  He just has this calmness about him even when he’s freaking out, he’s still got it more together than anyone else in the situation.
 
I will say the final showdown is a gnarly one.  But I am not going to give any details.  You’ll have to see for yourself.
 
RATINGS
3.5/5 Stars

Directed by
George Sluizer

Screenplay by
Todd Graff
 
Based on Het Gouden Ei by Tim Krabbé
 
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, Sandra Bullock
 
Budget $23M                          Box Office $14,543,394
 ​
IMDb 6.3/10               Rotten Tomatoes 47%            Metacritic 49/100
 

The other day, I caught an old 90s psychological thriller on TV.  I’ve seen the movie many times so I didn’t have to see it from the beginning to know what was going on at the time I came in on it.  This truly is a movie that I watched as a kid and have remembered very well, even to this day.
 
The gist of the story is a boyfriend and girlfriend, Jeff and Diane (almost sounds like a John Mellencamp song) are road tripping, she goes missing and he spends the next three years trying to find her…unsuccessfully.  During this time, he tries to forge a new romance with a new woman, Rita.  Yet, in the background, he still maintains a stringent search for Diane…unbeknownst to Rita.  It creates lies and problems and of course, they split.
 
Then, just as Jeff has seemingly lost everything and all his hope, the man who took Diane appears at his front door and offers him all the answers he has been seeking.  With one condition.  He must experience everything exactly as Diane experienced it, then he will know what happened to her.
 
Now, I find no need to tell you any more than that about the actual details of the plot.  However, the psychology behind the film is so twisted and out there, it’s like Jigsaw before there was Saw, only with a twist.
 
This guy, the bad guy, Barney, he’s all about philosophy, okay?  He likes to prove things to himself.  Like when he was fifteen, he wanted to prove he had the courage to jump off the balcony of his house, so he did.  And it made him proud.  He claims psychologically that prepped him to jump from a dock hanging out over a lake and save a little girl from drowning.  Now, I personally don’t know anyone that can swim that wouldn’t jump off the dock to save a little girl in a LAKE from drowning, not like it’s the ocean.  But, in his mind, he makes it this big ordeal about how his daughter thinks he’s a hero and that made him feel guilty because he didn’t know if he was really deserving of his daughter’s love. 
 
This is where we get all philosophical, or well, Barney does at least.  He needs to know if he is as capable of evil as he is of heroism.  That in itself seems like a jacked-up reason to hurt someone.  But he thinks this will make somehow a more complete human being, a kindred spirit as he chooses to sort of describe it.  In theory, you can’t have one without the other.  If you believe in one, you kinda have to believe in the other.  Good can’t exist without evil.  It’s like having light without dark or wet without dry.  One state can’t exist without the presence of the other.
 
So, Barney wants to know if he’s a complete human or just a big ol’ softy that cares about others and lives right and contributes to society…oh wait, that’s most normal human beings, that’s right, I forgot for a second.  Apparently though, being average, being normal, being like everyone else isn’t good enough for Barney.  William Shakespeare wrote, “Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable.”  So many people crave to be outwardly special, possess some special talent, have some special gift, something that sets them apart from everyone else.  What they fail to realize is that we are all unique.  
 
Unfortunately, being inwardly unique wasn’t enough for Barney.  He had a wife who loved him and was devoted to him, he had a thirteen-year-old daughter that thought he was a God, he had a nice job, lovely house.   What’s not worth having in that???  Most people, most normal people that is, that would be enough.
 
But, then there’s Jeff.  The inability to accept not knowing is truly an American thing, in my opinion.  We as Americans (the current times are a perfect example) will do damn near anything we are told as long as we are told WHAT and WHY.  Americans LOVE the WHY.  We require explanation, detail, information.  As time wears on through the years, we seem to require more explanation than we used to (kind of worries me just a tad).  We also seem to have a hard time wrapping our heads around the idea of “I don’t know”.  I mean, even as human beings, it’s hard for many when asked about religion or faith to not have SOMETHING they cling to.  It’s a scary thought to a lot of people that things just happen unexplained and for no reason.  That there might not be an afterlife, that once you are dead, that’s it, you’re dead.  People fear the unknown.  And in absence of actual information they will grasp at whatever makes them feel safe and secure.  
 
And as Americans and just plain human beings, we want answers.  And Jeff, well, he just can’t seem to get his life together after Diane disappears.  If he had found her dead or something, that would be different, but he has no idea what happened to her, she was there and then, she wasn’t.  Jeff just can’t stomach that.  No matter how hard he tries, even with Rita at his side he is still willing to give up everything for the opportunity to go back those three years and find out everything that happened to Diane. 
 
Just think about that, I’ve lost people to things uncertain and certainly unexplained, and I can’t say that I would give up the life I’ve built to go back in time to get that one answer.  I don’t think my loved ones would want that for me either.  That strikes me as so entirely self-absorbed.  It’s like Jeff thinks he’s the only person to ever lose someone without answers.  It’s like he doesn’t realize that he’s destroying not only his life, but others.
 
And Rita.  Poor, poor Rita.  She loves Jeff so much and she’s lived through so much that she just doesn’t know how to give up.  Talk about a fighting soul.  This chick is hard core deep down inside.  Jeff doesn’t really know it, but he’s no match for Rita and her resolve.  And neither is Barney.
 
If you want to know how it all comes together, you’ll have to watch the movie.
 
RATINGS
5/5 Stars

Directed and Written by
Tucia Lyman
 
Starring: 
 
Ed Asner as Dr. Howard Arden
Melinda Page Hamilton as Abbey Bell
Julian de la Celle as Greg
Bailey Edwards as Jacob Bell
Janet Ulrich Brooks as Nana Millie
 
Note***This film is so new that budget, box office and rating information is not yet available.  The film’s theatrical premiere release date was March 13.  So, keep that in mind while you are reading this because I am not going to be giving a whole lot away.

I was lucky.  I got sent a screener of this movie to watch and review for you guys.  From the trailer I saw, I was excited to see it and thought it had a lot of potential to be a really good flick.  My only concern was that it was in that kind of home movie/found footage style and sometimes I have a hard time with those films.  But I still wanted to give it a shot regardless because of the plot.  Here’s what got my attention enough to watch the trailer.
 
“A distraught mother (Hamilton) suspects her teenage son (Edwards) is plotting a school shooting, but when he slips through the cracks of the system, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. After installing an elaborate spy camera system in their home, Abbey captures a series of disturbing videos that confirm her worst fears. 
 
Torn between a mother's unconditional love and a mother's acute intuition, Abbey caters her videos to all the other "mothers of monsters" online. Abbey's plan backfires when Jacob uses a dark family secret against her, launching both mother and son on a terrifying, and ultimately deadly, game of cat and mouse.”
 
Right?!?!  How can that NOT sound interesting to a horror fan???  I mean, that should appeal to the very core of the fiber of our being!  So, I had to watch it.
 
Now, what we really see here is a truly desperate single mom, who is at her wits end, making video diary entries of her daily life experiences and video recordings of her son’s behavior, abuse towards her and his escalation of the two in addition to his anger and poor coping skills.
 
This poor woman, Abbey, is a 42-year-old single mom and she just can’t seem to communicate with her 16-year-old son, Jacob.  She’s worried about him.  She’s scared for him.  She’s scared OF him.  So, scared in fact that she installs hidden spy cameras all over the house.  When Jacob is gone, she searches his room (Any teens reading this???  Yes, your parents know way more about the shit you’re doing than you think they do). 
 
Abbey seems truly terrified.  She records these videos as warnings to the other moms out there.  She’s alone and afraid.  She feels like there’s no one to turn to, no one to help her.  These videos she’s making, collecting, they are also, in my opinion, a way of talking through the things she’s going through.
 
Jacob, on the other hand.  Jacob is the typical rude, hateful, mouthy, ungrateful, entitled teenager…kicked up a few hundred notches.  He yells and screams at Abbey, cusses at her, calls her names, insults her, plays mean tricks on her.  He treats her like she’s his mortal enemy at times.  It’s amazing how he talks to her.
 
Needless to say, their relationship is anything but warm and loving, nurturing and caring.  Their relationship overflows with toxicity and negativity.  And no matter what kind of approach she tries, Abbey just can’t seem to get a handle on things.  Jacob makes even the simplest of things, like having a conversation, practically impossible.
 
Abbey is very worried that Jacob is going to end up hurting SOMEONE.  Maybe even her.  She’s voiced these concerns, even to the police, which is hard as a parent, to turn your own child into the police, but it didn’t do any good.  She is basically told he’s fine and to move on.
 
Things between Jacob and Abbey continue to spiral out of control as Jacob finds out about certain things here and there until Abbey is in true fear for her life.  It’s getting extremely tense and time is of the essence.  He’s got her backed into a corner and everything she does makes him mad or frustrated or worse.  It’s decision time for Abbey.  She’s going to have to make a choice.
 
THE END
 
I really, really enjoyed this film.  Like I said before, I was worried about the film style but it actually worked great for this movie.  
 
I thought that Bailey Edwards was exceptional with his part.  He definitely made it easy to hate a bratty 16-year-old.  He expertly splashes the screen with the overflowing teenage angst and deep anger and rebellion a lot of us remember feeling at that age.  (Remember how EVERYTHING was the end if the world and life and death at that age?)  
 
And Melinda Page Hamilton was superb.  Her portrayal of this mom who thinks her son may be a school shooter or a family annihilator is completely believable and totally brilliant.  You see the fear in the red rims of her eyes, the anguish and desperation from crying, all caught in her eyes as she makes her videos.  
 
There was definitely, without question, an eeriness within the film.  Not so much in the beginning, but as the movie gets going you really feel the anxiety build along side Abbey as she gets more stressed and scared.  It’s not really a suspenseful feeling, but it’s for real creepy and sinister.  I have to say, with all my education and research, all the true crime videos I have seen on true crime shows, this duo really does seem to nail the psychological aspects of both sides of this troubled mother/son relationship.  That's exactly why I found this so creepy and disturbing.
 
My only complaint is this…during the entire movie I could hear a low vibrate, two short buzzes at a time, like cell phone on vibrate.  It’s like someone working on editing sound or something had their phone on silent and it was getting blown up throughout the making of the whole movie.  I don’t know if it was accidental or part of some soft and slight background noise I didn’t fully pick up on (I have a slight hearing loss in both ears), but it was really weird.  That buzz may actually have something to do with the eerie feeling.  It’s what happens when your body responds to stimuli you can’t see…basically.  There’s a lot more to it but that’s the basic gist.  
 
So, other than that, I loved the movie.  And I do hope you guys take the time to check this one out.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
 
RATINGS
4.5/5 Stars

Directed by
Tate Taylor
 
Screenplay by
Scotty Landes and Tate Taylor
 
Story by Scotty Landes
 
Starring: Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis, Luke Evans
 
Budget $5M                Box Office $61.1M
 
IMDb 5.6/10       Rotten Tomatoes 55%       Metacritic NO DATA         IndieWire 2/5

I wanted to watch this because it’s listed as a psychological thriller and from the general description that was on the cable summary, it reminded me of a couple of true crime cases I had heard about.
 
The basic premise is this:  A middle aged woman named Sue Ann works as a vet tech in the local vet clinic in a small town where she grew up.  Needless to say, she’s a quiet woman with a soft, loving smile and that genuine church lady love kind of voice that you just can’t walk away from, ya know?  She just seems like such a sweet gal.
 
Flash to our other characters:  A group of misguided teenagers (Maggie, new in town and new to school, Haley, Darrell, Chaz and Andy, who ends up dating Maggie) always looking for someone to buy their liquor and a place to party.  Now, I never had to do this because I hung out with slightly older kids and they always had older siblings or parents even that would buy us alcohol and let us drink at their house (don’t OMG me people, this was a different time!).  However, these kids know the struggle I don’t, so what they have to do is stand outside the liquor store and ask random strangers to buy their goods.  (Like really, does that shit eve work?  Do adults really do that?  How do you know these kids aren’t plants by the cops?  Moving on…)  
 
So, that’s how they meet Sue Ann.  She’s walking her dog and passes by the store and Maggie, the newest addition to the group because she’s the new girl at school, is standing outside and does the approach and ask on Sue Ann.  And it works.  Then Sue Ann becomes their regular hook up.  But even more so, she offers up her basement as their party pad so they aren’t drinking and doing drugs out in the open.  They’ll be safe at her house.
 
[I have to interject here with some logic from a cop’s kid.  Okay, even at seventeen years old, if some random older woman who was willing to break the law to buy me and my friends alcohol wanted all of us to come party at her house which is not in the suburbs, but off in the woods, my answer would not only have been no, it would have been hell no.  I would have NEVER gone from point A to point B with a stranger to a basement with the intention of getting all trashed and drugged and liquored up.  Ummm hello???  Where’s those brain cells????  Moving on…again…]
 
So, being teenagers, they think this is the PERFECT setup and are all in.  And at first, it’s great.  They party, they get drunk, they get high.  Sue Ann has established the rules, which are: Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain, Never go upstairs EVER and Call her Ma.  So, they have fun, Ma has fun.  And things are raging like a techno club for a while.
 
But then, as it always does, real life sets in and these kids have to go to school and do homework, extracurricular activities, sports, spend time with their families.  And eventually, they get kind of tired of Ma always wanting to be around.  See, she’s strangely sort of just inserted herself right in the middle of their “circle” (you know how it is in school), and it makes the kids uncomfortable.  Not to mention that things start getting weird at Ma’s house and some people’s belongings start going missing, things become fuzzy and hazy and questions start being raised.
 
What these kids don’t know is that Ma grew up with their parents.  And that for some people, high school never ends.
 
THE END
 
I have to be honest, when I first watched this movie and I got through the whole thing, originally, I felt a little dejected.  But after thinking on it for a couple of days, I really think this is truly the kind of movie that will grow on you.  There are some things in it that have just stuck with me, just kind of interesting, I think.  I don’t want to tell you what they are because I don’t want to spoil the movie.  But, after rethinking my original reaction, I think I reacted harshly.
 
Octavia Spencer is great in this movie.  We always see her in this role of love and care and support, like the loving mother or the supportive caretaker or the strong supportive female friend, etc.  But in this film, she really comes out of her shell and pulls a complete switch on us.  This is a side of Spencer that we have not seen, but that she was especially good at showing.  I give her fantastic praise for her performance in this film.  She creeped me the hell out, that’s for sure.
 
So, DO give this film a chance.  And if you feel a little, say, shortchanged at the end, do what I did and go over the film in your head a bit and sit on it.  It’s not for gore.  It’s psychological.  Remember that and I think you’ll enjoy the film much, much more.
 
RATINGS
4/5 Stars

Directed by
Deon Taylor

Written by
David Loughery
 
Starring: Michael Ealy, Meagan Good, Joseph Sikora, Dennis Quaid
 
IMDb 5.5/10               Rotten Tomatoes 32%            Metacritic 39/100
 
Budget $5-8M                         Box Office $36.6M

Let’s take a little trip down imaginary lane.  I want you to pretend that you’re newly married.  And you and your new spouse are wanting to start a family.  But not just in any regular old cookie cutter home in the suburbs.  You guys decide to buy a house outside of town, like in the country type kind of place.  The kind of place that is surrounded by big, beautiful trees and scores of flowers and foliage everywhere you turn.  It’s quiet, away from neighbors and the hustle and bustle of the city.  More importantly, it got acreage, lots of room for kids to run and play and grow up.  And you find this house on the outskirts of town and man is it perfect.  It’s everything you are looking for.  You talk to the seller; he seems to be a nice guy.  He gets what you might consider to be somewhat personal but hey, he’s just being friendly like most country folk, just small talkin’.  After a little dealing and signing some papers this dream house you’ve picked out is ALL YOURS.
 
Or is it?
 
Imagine, no sooner do you get moved into your new home and the previous owner starts popping up.  First with housewarming gifts and such and he DOES seem like he misses the house so why not invite him to the housewarming party, right?  Have some dinner with friends, maybe some wine and talk about what you want to do to the house to make it more “YOU”.  Isn’t that what people do?
 
Little do you know that your previous owner has a hard time letting go of things.  He doesn’t like being cast aside or slighted, he doesn’t like having to have sold his home and he sure as hell doesn’t want you changing everything in HIS HOUSE.  Imagine you start putting up, say, security cameras and the old owner comes up and tells the workers to halt working and starts yelling about holes being put in HIS house.  HIS house? Remember, you just bought this house.  Don’t forget that.  This is your property.  Then the previous owner starts showing up unannounced and at inconvenient times.  
 
What’s worse is that as a man in this situation, you also realize old owner dude has fixated on your wife.  And I mean like stalker, gets inside your house and watches you shower and sleep, kind of fixated.  Imagine what it would be like to be terrorized like that and not being able to really do anything about it.  The law is slow and skeptical when it comes to matters like stalking and harassment.
 
We all know that this is going to come down to which man wins the fight defending his castle.  So, who will it be?
 
THE END
 
I really liked this movie.  I thought Dennis Quaid was great.  I don’t normally picture him in a role like this but, I think he really did pull it off quite well.  There is definitely a true on the edge of your seat kind of suspense factor.  The kind where you want to yell at the actors to do something or not to do something, tell them to turn around, not to answer that door…etc.  That ambiance is well kept throughout the whole movie.  
 
I also didn’t feel like there were really any holes in the plot line.  It’s something I often look for, especially in stories involving crime, the legal system, etc.  There is a point where you start to kind of feel for the previous owner, I suppose some people would anyways, but then, as it always goes, the true colors come out and you see who you are REALLY dealing with.
 
I don’t quite know if this movie centers around the married couple or if it centers around the previous whacko owner.  It really seems to focus on the owner quite a bit.  It’s almost as if he’s running the roller coaster and the married couple, and whoever else gets in the way, are just along for the wild, twisted ride.
 
This film is also kind of an eye opener about what people can be like when it comes to being forced out of their homes…and their lives.  Sometimes people can’t take the stress.  Sometimes they take up oil painting or wood carving.  And sometimes, they go attack people they feel have wronged them and helped put them in their current position.  (Hey, I’m not saying that’s right, I’m just saying it happens.)
 
So, other than entertainment value, if you take anything away from this film, it should be this:
 
Don’t become friendly with the previous owner of your new house.  
 
Happy house hunting my ghoulish friends!
 
RATINGS
5/5 Stars