Scream VI (2023) Review

Scream VI (2023)

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

Starring: Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Mason Gooding, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Jenna Ortega, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, Samara Weaving, Hayden Panettiere, Courteney Cox

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
Scream VI follows a new Ghostface killer who targets the survivors of the “Woodsboro legacy attacks” in New York City.

My Opinion:

I think the first Scream film is a brilliant slasher classic. I saw 2, 3 & 4 when they came out but have never rewatched them & admit I remember almost nothing about them now. As a series, Elm Street is my slasher franchise of choice (Wes Craven obviously knew how to make these). As with pretty much all horror sequels, both the Elm Street & Scream ones didn’t even come close to the first film (well, except for Dream Warriors which kicks ass) but I do remember the Scream ones still being much better than the majority of slasher sequels (I’ll rewatch them someday).

So, with little knowledge of 2, 3 & 4, I’d say this reboot (or requel if I must use that stupid word) has worked quite well for me and I think Scream 5 was a very good introduction of the Scream series to a new generation of younger fans. They’ve stayed pretty respectful to the original characters (more than I can say for the Star Wars sequel trilogy!) and the new characters are decent. Both 5 & 6 are a little too “same old same old” but that’s what people tend to want from a slasher franchise and I don’t think this formula is too boring yet. Didn’t like the look hubby gave me when they mentioned Letterboxd users, though. Ha. Nice one, Scream VI! You know your shit.

At first, I was maybe enjoying this one a little more than number 5 and I liked the city setting (which they could have done SO much more with) but this one fell apart for me at the end. Not my favourite “reveal” in this series. Wouldn’t say I loved the end of 5 either, though, but to be honest I’m almost always disappointed by horror movie endings – they’re rarely perfect. Overall, I think 5 was a stronger film but they’re both a good start to some new Scream films & I look forward to another.

My Rating: 7/10

Ready Or Not (2019) Review

Ready Or Not (2019)

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
The film stars Samara Weaving as a newlywed who becomes hunted by her spouse’s family as part of their wedding night ritual.

My Opinion:

I’ll keep this brief. I enjoyed this film but I do absolutely love the “horror comedy” genre. I of course did a top ten once (My Top Ten Horror Comedies). So, as far as this genre goes, I have to say that Ready Or Not comes nowhere near making it onto my Top Ten list. It was a fun one-time watch, though, and I loved the ending. I’m often disappointed with how horror movies end so that was a plus.

I agree with everyone saying that Samara Weaving was good in this. She’s certainly the star, as expected, but I’d say the rest of the characters are weak in comparison. I’d say we also don’t get a lot of character development when it comes to her character – just a very tiny bit of backstory involving foster homes. But it’s a pretty ridiculous setup anyway and it’s a comedy so I wasn’t exactly expecting anything too “deep”. It will be fun to see how she does as Bill S. Preston’s daughter in Bill & Ted Face The Music. I can’t wait for that movie!!! To be honest, I think her role in The Babysitter was more fun than in this but I think Ready Or Not is definitely the better movie of the two.

Be warned that this one is pretty gory. It’s rated 18, which is very rare in the UK these days unless it’s a Tarantino movie. A lot of it is very fake gore, though, as it’s played for laughs. I did worry beforehand that this might be similar to You’re Next as the trailer gave me the same vibe for some reason. Luckily, it’s far more enjoyable (I kind of hated You’re Next). I’d have liked even more humor than there was, but maybe that’s just me. This movie doesn’t go as all out on the comedy as in something like Grabbers but the few big laughs did get a good reaction from the crowd. It very much sticks with only dark humor, which works perfectly for the ending that I really enjoyed. Overall, Ready Or Not is a fun addition to the horror comedy genre but, as we have so many great horror comedies, I wouldn’t say it feels quite as original or unique as people are saying. Maybe I just watch too many movies…

My Rating: 7/10

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Review

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Directed & Written by Martin McDonagh

Starring: Frances McDormand, Caleb Landry Jones, Kerry Condon, Sam Rockwell, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, Željko Ivanek, Peter Dinklage, John Hawkes, Samara Weaving, Clarke Peters

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
The film follows a mother who, when the police in her town fail to find a suspect in her daughter’s murder, rents three billboards to call public attention to the unsolved crime, polarizing the community.

My Opinion:

I watched this the other day as part of a “double feature” with Coco (which I reviewed HERE). I love Pixar and was expecting to like Coco far more but I preferred Three Billboards. It’s a great film! I don’t know why but maybe it’s because my expectations were low whereas they were very high for Coco.

It’s that time of year in the UK when we get the “Oscar-worthy” stuff like this. Because what better way to make the shittiest month of the year even MORE depressing than by releasing all the dark & dreary Oscar dramas?! Manchester By The Sea? Hell yeah! Just what I want to watch in f*^king January! But I kind of loved Three Billboards. It’s another “Oscar drama” but it’s so well-written and wonderfully acted and the dark humor throughout it really made it a much more rewarding watch (for me, at least) than the usual heavy Oscar dramas. Okay, I know the Oscar nominations aren’t out yet but this will most likely be one of them and, at the moment, I can say I’d be happy to see it win. We’ll see what it’s up against – most of the films still aren’t out here yet.

Where do I begin? With the acting? I loved everyone in this. I’m a bit weird in that I don’t care too much about the acting in a film, as long as it isn’t terrible and as long as it’s not someone I can’t stand the sight of (like Gwyneth Paltrow or something). But, man – everyone did a brilliant job in this. Our main three, Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson & Sam Rockwell, were insanely good. Like, I want to hug them and thank them for being in this movie. Seriously. And I hate a lot of actors! When did Woody Harrelson get so great??? I loved him in Edge Of Seventeen as well. He’s going to end up a favorite actor of mine at this rate. I wouldn’t have expected that ten years ago. Everyone else as well, though, even down to the small parts – all were great. Perfect casting. I’d love to see the acting win plenty of Oscars for this film.

I’m not sure why my expectations were so low for this film. I really enjoyed Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges. I also thought Seven Psychopaths, though flawed, was pretty good overall. Three Billboards is now easily my favorite (yes, even over In Bruges). And no Colin Farrell in this! Yay! I’d recommend this to anyone who was a fan of McDonagh’s previous two films as it has the same sort of style. However, this is much darker material (a teenage girl is murdered) and the emotions feel more genuine than in his previous films. The movie gets the right balance between drama & humor and it wasn’t a “heavy” watch in the way I was expecting. I’m actually not a fan of things like Fargo (I never finished it) and preferred the way that these characters felt more real to me. I suppose it’s a combination of the acting and the writing, which has come together perfectly in Three Billboards whereas McDonagh’s other two films didn’t work quite as well overall. I’m now really looking forward to seeing more of his films in the future. And as he likes to re-use actors, I hope he sticks with McDormand, Harrelson & Rockwell.

My Rating: 8/10

The Babysitter (2017) Review

The Babysitter (2017)

Directed by McG

Starring: Samara Weaving, Judah Lewis, Hana Mae Lee, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Andrew Bachelor, Emily Alyn Lind, Leslie Bibb, Ken Marino

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDB)
The events of one evening take an unexpected turn for the worst for a young boy trying to spy on his babysitter.

My Opinion:

I liked the sound of this Netflix movie so decided I better watch it quick before October finishes and I’ll feel like taking a break from horror movies for a while. Plus, it’s a horror comedy and I’m often preferring those to just plain horror these days. It’s a fun movie but doesn’t quite make it onto My Top Ten Horror Comedies list (but I did add it as an honorable mention). At least it’s a hell of a lot better than Cooties, the only other horror comedy that I watched this month. And a quick shoutout to another horror comedy that I only saw for the first time last year and really liked plus I just realized I hadn’t yet added it to the above list: Trick ‘r Treat (2007). I got to thinking of it since Leslie Bibb was in that as well as The Babysitter. Both these films are worth checking out if you enjoy horror comedies.

The best part of this movie is the friendship between 12-year-old Judah Lewis and his sexy 16-year-old “babysitter” Samara Weaving, employed by his overprotective parents. The babysitter is protective of this awkward 12-year-old, sticking up for him when he’s harassed by bullies after school. She’s hot, of course, and he’s obviously got a crush on her but I liked that the movie didn’t make it weird: they’re more like a nerdy brother & protective older sister. Their conversations, although clearly written for nerd culture fanboys & fangirls, were a lot of fun. I’m always a sucker for good movie quotes & references.

Not at all predictable…

They do all they can to make the babysitter in this a nerd’s dreamgirl but that’s okay – that’s the whole point of this movie. Hot people (especially hot chicks who like Star Trek & Alien) and plenty of gore. This movie is meant to be fun and it is. As an added bonus, it’s actually pretty well-written, too – especially for this genre. And by that, I mean the characters & their lines. The overall story is pretty lame (I’ll stay spoiler-free so I won’t say what this freaky babysitter gets up to when the kid is asleep). But the focus is definitely only on comedy, gore & hot people. There’s no suspense or moody atmosphere or anything the slightest bit scary. The “horror story” is an afterthought, which is fine as long as you aren’t looking for a creepy film to watch for Halloween. The Babysitter is the movie you might start with as part of a Halloween marathon, when it’s not yet dark outside and you just want some laughs before moving onto the scary stuff.

There’s not much else that I can say about this one. The movie was exactly what I expected and I enjoyed it. Our two main characters were really good as was the smaller role of the boy’s classmate & neighbor girl (Emily Alyn Lind), who convinces him to stay awake to see what his babysitter gets up to after he goes to bed (since, of course, sexy babysitters all have orgies once the kids go to sleep). The other teens who show up include Robbie Amell & Bella Thorne, who were both in The DUFF (which I actually really liked). These actors mean nothing to me since I’m old but I know that young people on Twitter hate Bella Thorne with a passion for some reason (I have no idea why. Teen drama!). They both did well as the disposable asshole characters they’re meant to be. Hana Mae Lee, the funny mumbly one from Pitch Perfect, is another one of the teens as is Andrew Bachelor, who I’ve not seen in anything else. Sorry. And I see they’re all mid to late 20s other than 20-year-old Thorne. Ha! As I assumed. Gotta love how movie teens are usually pushing 30. Or 40, like in Grease. 😉

My Rating: 7/10