Driving home to her secluded estate after meeting at a local bar, a player out to score thinks his beautiful, mysterious date will be another casual hook-up. While getting acquainted, their flirtation turns playful, sexy and sinister. Hoping to get lucky, his luck may have just run out.
House Of Darkness has very little to it which is unfortunate because there’s a great idea here, the cast are at least solid particularly Justin Long and Kate Bosworth. The main issue here is the dreadful pacing and the movie leading up to something that the viewer could figure out within the first 10-15 minutes. There’s definitely a few interesting bits here but a lot of the movie is awkward small talk that doesn’t make for a 1 hour and 29 minute film. It would be one thing if this were a short (in fact I think this movie would have been far more successful as a short) or if the small talk was investing, unfortunately that’s neither of the cases here making the movie fall short. The final act is fine enough but by then it’s way too late.
House Of Darkness is available on all VOD platforms
A struggling filmmaker who is forced to confront his idealised self after unlocking a portal to an alternate dimension where all his dreams have come true.
Unless you haven’t seen a single Twilight Zone episode or haven’t watched a low budget Sci-Fi movie before this might not be a bad watch. Otherwise prepare for a lot of Sci-Fi tropes that really don’t add anything new to the genre, there’s some decent shots here considering the budget and the acting isn’t as bad as you would expect. But this ends up being more of a chore to finish than anything else.
A young woman discovers the rental home she booked is already occupied by a stranger. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the night but soon discovers there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.
Barbarian is truly something else and I mean that in the best way possible, first and foremost It should be noted that going into this film knowing as little as possible or knowing nothing at all is the best way to experience the movie. The movie is filled to the brim of twists and turns, horrifying moments and actually quite disturbing ones as well. The cast is quite fantastic Georgina Campbell and Justin Long are quite great here and give some strong performances that add to the film’s atmosphere. Speaking of which the atmosphere is truly masterful which is mainly due to the mystery feel of this film, where anything could happen at any given moment. Each of the three acts really compliment the film very well and eventually lead the movie to go completely off the rails much like last year’s Malignant. The first act gives off this urban legend type feel that is truly horrifying and once again compliments the atmosphere quite well, Georgina Campbell really stands out particularly during the first act where she gives a genuinely raw performance. The filming is truly fantastic as well, with tons of up close and tight shots that give the location a lot of personality and detail. The second act does a lot of what the first act did but with Justin Long who is just as fantastic plus the movie gets more and more bizarre as it keeps going. Finally the third act is where it goes completely off the rails with truly a thrilling and horrifying ride that feels like a roller coaster, there’s so much to the film that absolutely needs to be seen to be believed. The writing is truly fantastic especially combined with the acting and the many ideas of the film that work so well. Overall Barbarian is one of the best films of the year, it’s a bizarre film that ups the ante with each passing scene. Go in knowing as little as possible!
The proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, who together with her husband, Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), once served a congregation in the tens of thousands. But after a scandal forces their church to temporarily close, Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must reopen their church and rebuild their congregation to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.
I was originally going to see Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul at the Sundance Film Festival back in January, but due to scheduling issues I couldn’t see it. The wait was definitely worth it however as it is a pretty fun little film. Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall completely steal the show here, they both such energetic and quite hilarious performances that are truly charming in every single way possible. The mockumentary elements truly are effective here, the film switches back in forth between being a narrative and a mockumentary which doesn’t completely work all the time. But there are moments that the movie benefits from this, the mockumentary part of it is definitely stronger as it fits the whole satire of the megachurch a lot better than the narrative portion. It’s not that the narrative portion is bad, it’s that it’s not as investing as the satire portion is. As I said before Hall and Brown completely make this film, the two really show they are some of the best actors working currently. It’s very impressive to see how many fantastic jokes each of them can deliver in each scene their in. One scene could have 20 jokes while being 2 minutes long, overall Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul might feel a bit uneven at times but it’s a hilarious and solidly done mockumentary that I recommend!
Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul is available on Peacock.
What Margaux wants, Margaux gets. As seniors celebrate their final college days at a smart house, its highly advanced AI system, Margaux, begins to take on a deadly presence of its own. A carefree weekend of partying soon turns into a dystopian nightmare as they realize Margaux plans to eliminate them one way or another. Time starts to run out as the group desperately tries to survive and outsmart the smart home.
Steven C. Miller is back once again only this time it’s another horror movie rather than an action thriller. But unfortunately this is a pretty dull one with not a whole lot to it. There’s some decent kills here that lead to gore, the location itself is pretty nice and Madison Pettis is by far the standout from the cast. Outside of that however it plays out exactly how you think it’s going to, the idea of a an AI system in a smart house attacking people is a great idea that’s not executed all that well here, the dialogue is on the weaker side, the budget definitely holds the movie back from doing anything noteworthy. A lot of the movie is common teen horror movie tropes (despite being rated R) Margaux isn’t something I would call horrible, it does have it’s positives and it is entertaining towards the end. There’s just a lot of missed potential here.
Two strangers believe in love but never seem to be able to find its true meaning. In a wild twist of events, fate puts each in the other’s path on one stormy New Year’s Eve.
About Fate is exactly what you think it’s going to be from the plot, but the movie manages to still work quite well. Is it absolutely cheesy and feels a bit like a Hallmark holiday movie (despite being released in September)? Oh absolutely but what makes the movie is Emma Roberts and Thomas Mann plus their chemistry is very charming, the movie has some genuinely cute moments that are full of heart and are actually quite touching. Not every scene is successful but there’s enough here to satisfy romantic comedy fans.
About Fate is available on all VOD Platforms.
6/10 C+
Six high school seniors are offered a last chance to graduate by taking a one-day makeup class on a Saturday. The students find themselves sitting beside classmates they never took the time to get to know during the regular semester.
The Class is what happens when you take The Breakfast Club and you make it unfunny, uninteresting and terrible. I genuinely don’t know what to say here to be quite honest, the cast are fine particularly Lyric Ross who definitely tries with the script she’s given. A lot of this movie just reminds the viewer they could be watching a better movie combine that with a painful 1 hour and 54 minute running time that feels like an eternity. The script is very bare bones and doesn’t give a lot of the characters proper development, the ending is sweet but by then it’s too little too late. Just watch The Breakfast Club instead.
When a family moves their troubled daughter to a small town and their neighbors start mysteriously dying, they fear something evil has followed them.
The audacity to make The Harbinger nearly 2 hours long is through the roof, there’s absolutely nothing to this movie that is even remotely interesting. There’s tons of dull dialogue that doesn’t move the story forward at all, which leads to a huge amount of pointless scenes. It also attempts to try this over the top comedic horror effect which falls completely flat on it’s face mainly due to the horror elements being very limited and are restricted to a couple of jumpscares. I really have no idea what on earth they were trying to go for here but whatever it was they completely missed.
The Harbinger is available on all VOD platforms.
1/10 F
A mysterious stranger tells the twisted tale of seemingly unconnected strangers caught in a series of otherworldly events whose lives will change in incredible ways forever.
Tiny Cinema is another very uneven horror anthology that really misses it’s mark, I was hoping that this could provide some entertainment since it’s directed by Tyler Cornack who previously directed Butt-Boy. But a lot of the segments are either forgettable or are just bad, there’s some shots here that aren’t too bad and I guess the acting isn’t the worst. But a lot of it really doesn’t use it’s ideas to their full potential.
A gang of young women in Brazil try to control everything around them, including other women, by roaming the streets and beating up those they deem too sinful.
There’s definitely a lot going on here thematically with Anita Rocha da Silveira’s Medusa, there’s themes of beauty standards, physical and mental trauma for women and even some Greek mythology or tragedy Included as well. Unfortunately this is the type of movie where those themes aren’t explored all that well, the filming and visuals are at least quite captivating and at times hypnotic as well. There’s some solid acting bits here that give the characters some personality and give them time to shine. The main problem here is the running time it’s 127 minutes long, which you would think would give it more time to explore it’s themes. However it somehow ends up being very surface level at best and drags for the sake of dragging, the writing is nowhere near as strong as the movie thinks it is. It introduces themes, does a little bit with them and then moves on to the next idea. Medusa is definitely not a terrible movie as it is very well made but this is the very definition of style over substance.
Adam and Margo start to suspect their new friends are actually duplicitous strangers with a dark secret.
Who Invited Them is definitely one of the better home invasion movies to come out recently, there’s some decent acting here along with the thrilling atmosphere intact. It’s not exactly hard to figure out what’s going to end up happening unfortunately which does take away some of the suspense, but what makes it standout is it’s actually pretty entertaining. The ending could have definitely used some work, I get what the movie was going for but in this case I don’t think it quite sticks the landing. Despite that the movie is entertaining and is a decent quick watch, just don’t go in expecting anything new.
A young woman takes a trip to romantic Verona, Italy, after a breakup, only to find that the villa she reserved was double-booked, and she’ll have to share her vacation with a cynical British man.
What is there to say about Love In The Villa? It’s yet another Netflix romantic comedy movie that is written like a bad fanfiction, the chemistry is just not there between the two leads it’s about as interesting as a rock on the side of the road. There’s some unintentional hilarious moments that aren’t enough to save the movie and the whole movie is a huge chore to sit through, there’s the typical bad writing and one dimensional characters that are always in these Netflix romantic comedy movies. This movie just boils down to “if you have seen one of them before you have seen this one”.
Jerome Reviews... 