thriller films – Page 6 – The Nerd Corps

Fear Street Trilogy: A Detailed Review

Posted on August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 by luigonword in Reviews

Viewer Discretion is Advised!

Before anything is said about this trilogy I want to address and warn before watching these movies that in these films there are scenes and dialogue that may be triggering to some viewers. These films include trauma in characters, talk and attempted suicide as well as self harm, including deaths of children or people under the age of 18, not to mention the extreme gore. It goes under their R rating, but be advised if such activities listed above are triggers for you, these films may cause harm please tread carefully when watching.

If you or a loved one suffer from self harm or suicidal tendencies please reach out, you may call the hotline for suicide prevention at 800-273-8255.

Fear Street: It’s NOTHING Like Elm… It’s Better!

If you grew up watching or reading R.L Stine’s Goosebumps then you are familiar with the kiddy horror that we love. Classics like Night of the Living Dummy, The Haunted Mask, The Cuckoo Clock of Doom, and so much more are fan favorite, but what if I told you that R.L Stine’s first horror series of books were oriented more for a young adult reader?

Now, what if I said these books were mixed with cult classic horror films like Jason, Scream, and others? Well Netflix’s newest addition to their originals exclusives is the Fear Street Trilogy.

These films are not of the normal trilogy making though, normally when we think of trilogy movies we think and expect to find these movies a few years apart in their release date. This isn’t the case for these three films, in fact, they were released one after the other in the same month, July to be precise, during 2021. It’s an unexpected move from major companies to pull especially if we are talking about creating demand for more, causing more potential financial benefit. Well Netflix was confident enough that these movies were going to gain fans and decided to released them as I mentioned, and with all honesty they were CORRECT! Now I DON’T want to spoil the films so I’ll keep the reviews as spoiler free as possible.

OverView

As an overview, these films are great for what they are marketing, having Fear Street: Part 1 1994 build an amazing start to the series and honestly left me wanting to finish all 3 by the end of the first one. To be completely honest I watch all three in one night and having each be 15 minutes short of 2 hours in runtime, that goes to show how good they were at keeping one’s attention for a total of nearly 6 hours of one’s day.The only problem I have was these movies were the extremely low light shots and sometimes I couldn’t tell if my tv was on or off. Yet these films are a mix of society’s favorite pop culture horror villains while having it’s originality in their origins. They are a great weekend watch if you want to have a watch along with friends, or if you need something to binge Saturday night because you’re not prone to going out, like myself, they’re also great. I’d say they are currently on my top 3 in the horror genre and without spoiling, the twist endings will give you chills. But with all 3 out now, I HIGHLY recommend watching them or atleast check out the trailer below.

Review

Part 1: 1994

The story begins in 1994 as the title suggests, with a town ironically named Shadyside, in which we have one of our major characters we’ll be following named Deena played by Kiana Madeira and Josh, played by Benjamin Flores Jr, her brother. Shadyside lives in infamy as mass murders seem to be a recurring thing, happening every couple of years, with the first recorded event being in 1666 which is rounded to about 300 years worth of killings.

Deena has had troubles after recently breaking up with her closeted girlfriend Sam, played by Olivia Scott Welch and Josh is a shy introvert deeply knowledgeable on murderers, conspiracies and the town’s “lure”. Now after a recent mourn from a recent mass murder the town and their neighboring town, called Sunnydale, certain events led to an escalated situation and then to Sam finding the bones of Sarah Fier a witch from the 1600’s who placed a curse before she was hanged for witchcraft. This curse is speculated by a few to being the cause for the murder sprees that have happened over the years, while others simply blaming the poor providence turning junkies and going psycho. This statement coming from Sunnydale’s Sheriff Goode played by Ashley Zukerman.

So far everyone in town believed it to be just that people having breakdowns and going on murder sprees. Things get intense as Deena, Sam and their other friends fighting to survive the night. When they figure out who and what the killer is, they figure out how to temporarily stop them or at least how to stop it from killing them, in addition to finding out there’s only ever been one survivor setting up for the second film.

All in all, the first part of this trilogy really sold how the other movies were going to be. It’s a thrilling horror movie that really sells the use of practical effects, as at times I was a bit sick at looking at the gore which normally doesn’t happen. There are twist all while technically being the first act out of three total and by that I mean part 2 and part 3 not the structure for a film. Netflix and the films’ director Leigh Janiak really made three films feel like one whole, not time skips just in the way plot and story telling were used here.

Part 2: 1978

We move forward to Part 2 of the trilogy, which sets up after Deena and Sam find out that a survivor exists, being Ziggy Verman played by Sadie Sink as the younger version in 1978 and Gillian Jacobs as the older 1994 version. Although during the first film, Ziggy never actually helped to figure out how to stop the killers, instead she warns the girls at the end saying it will never stop. Deena goes on to find her and ask her to explain and to help them, which Deena finds out that she was actually a survivor from the 1978 camp massacre.

Clearly taking a crack from the original Friday the 13th, it was fun to see that films plot mixed in with the story of the towns curse not to mention the double action in all the gore and violence that takes place in these films. Now I do need to mention that here is where most of the advised triggers happen and although they were rough to see and hear, it added more depth to characters and their stories.

Now seeing as this film is majority the retelling of Ziggy’s memories of that night, we see Sadie’s version as the main character. Sadie and all the other actors like Ted Sutherland who plays a younger version of Sunnydale’s sheriff, were incredible in their roles. She and the others play off of each other in a sense that seemed like we actually got to project someone’s memories onto our screens and I don’t mean like a first person perspective more so that Sadie actually had these events happen to her and used that trauma to play the role. Not to mention the work of McCabe Slye who plays Tommy Slater and the killer in this film, who kept the same monotonic rhythm like I’ve seen Robert Patrick play in T2 as the T-1000.

After we finish the story of that night Ziggy reveals that there might actually be a way to stop the curse of the town which brings us to part 3.

Part 3: 1666

In part 3, as it is titled 1666 it places us in the 1600’s were we see the town’s first establishment. This part really takes a turn and reveals so much on the history and origin of what the town calls a curse. Up until this point we’ve acknowledged that the curse can’t be easily stopped unless we bring an object to where Sam first came in contact with it. When Deena goes on to find the object, upon returning it to the first contact spot she unlocks the truth through obtaining the memories of Sarah Fier, the supposed witch who placed the curse. These memories taking place as if Deena was the witch, and all the towns’ folk being her friends, bringing back the original cast from the first and second part as well now all together.

With that, the first and third act we find out the truth of who and what the curse is, leading to a very climactic third act in the film, and not just for the film but of the trilogy’s entirety. WHEN I SAY YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THE TRUTH YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME.

As I mentioned the revelations that come out of 1666 are so unexpected but they also make sense if you went Sherlock Holmes while viewing at the very beginning. While I was watching, the end of the second act gave me chills and left me with goosebumps on my skin until the end. I also have to mention the person that stole the show for me was McCabe Slye as Mad Thomas who without a doubt gave a performance like Robert Pattinson as the old preacher in The Devil All The Time. All I could think about was the similarities between the two and how McCabe’s performance sold for a mad preacher that would blame anyone as heathens and even prosecute innocents as witches and other. But nonetheless Kiana Madeira does an amazing job at playing her part as Sarah Fier.

Final Thoughts

Overall, as I tried keeping it spoiler free, I want to just say that these films were great to watch and a fun time. Kiana, Olivia, McCabe, Sadie Sink, Benjamin Flores Jr, and everyone else really did an outstanding job.

There was ever only one problem that was out of their hands and left in the production crew which was lighting, as many of the night and dark scenes were literally too dark to tell what was going on. It thankfully wasn’t enough to take me out of it but seeing as I watched in complete darkness with no glare on the glass, it was still a problem.

From that being my only take away, I really hope that people who enjoy horror and overall good films go and watch these on Netflix, even if you don’t have one ask a friend, ask your parents, borrow a neighbors account, you have to watch. But as I always say don’t take my word for it, go go go and watch for yourself and let me know what you think, till next time, peace.

‘Old’: A New Concept Wrapped in Unstable Execution

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Raúl Alejandro Mendoza in Reviews

The newest M. Night Shyamalan film crashes and burns with its interesting concept of the horrors of aging at a beach stuck in accelerated time.

M. Night is back with another film since his 2019 effort, Glass. This time he is back in theaters with his new thriller, Old. The film stars an ensemble cast of Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Kreips, Rufus Sewel, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, and Emun Elliott. There are quite some familiar faces in here and quite the range of actors within the film. One would think that this means that M. Night is about to lead us into a wild ride of a film especially after watching that trailer. You are not wrong if that is what you were hoping, but this wild ride is nothing to write home about.

The film looks at various families who leave on a tropical vacation, and while there are invited into a secluded beach where time seems to be accelerating throughout the day. This is a really interesting concept but its execution just lacks overall throughout the film. The presentation is interesting but the cinematography is so jarring that it makes it really hard to follow what is going on at times. While some performances are better than others overall it feels like direction is being met. Some performances feel very forced or just fall flat. The problems of this film really feel as if it falls on the script and direction. Of course, the film features another irresponsible portrayal of mental illness by M. Night that seems to be his norm by now that needs to stop already. It is really hard to pull something out of this that is not the thematic conversation being had by an interesting concept thought up by M. Night.

The film excels at bringing up these feelings of anxiety and panic because of situations that our characters are put in that are out of their control. We see many characters react certain ways towards each other or themselves. Our characters are stuck and just cannot move back because they are being forced to move forward without some solutions or comfort about their current situation. Of course, it feels all too reminiscent of our lives since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For that, I commend M. Night on having that conversation throughout the film that gave it its emotional backbone.

Old is playing theaters at the moment and has no VOD release date at the moment.

‘La Llorona’: The Incredible and Haunting Film From Guatemala

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Raúl Alejandro Mendoza in Reviews

La Llorona (2020) excels to create an interesting new take on the folk tale filled with horror and insightful nuances.

Just like many Latinos, I was told the fear inducing story of La Llorona at a very young age. I was about six years old and my abuelita told us the story of this “weeping woman.” Now, the version I was told goes as follows. La Llorona was an indigenous woman who lived by the border. She had two kids, a boy and a girl, who she loved very much but she fell in love with a man who lived in the United States. La Llorona falls for the man but his feelings aren’t as strong as hers. After a rocky relationship he leaves her and she stays in Mexico while he travels up north for work. La Llorona believes that nothing could be wrong with her that could cause this man to leave her. She comes to the conclusion that her kids are at fault and one night she takes her children to the Rio Grande River to drown them. As they lose their life being drowned La Llorona realizes that she has done wrong and proceeds to drown herself. As she meets her creator, her God tells her that she cannot enter their kingdom until she finds her children and truly understands the severity of her acts. La Llorona comes back down to Earth and every night she weeps “mis hijos (my children)” as she searches for them. If you encounter her she may take your children from you especially if they roam the river alone.

I would like to remind you all that I grew up on the border so this kept me far away from the river which was possibly the goal of this story being told to me at such a young age. The story of La Llorona has gone through changes various times that we don’t really know the actual story or where it originated from. One thing is true though, all of its incarnations have been fear inducing. The story of La Llorona has been translated onto the silver screen before but was done terribly at adapting such a terrifying story. On the contrary, what I watched on Shudder was far from being terrible.

La Llorona (2020) is set in Guatemala as General Enrique Monteverde is tried for genocide after him and his army murdered many of the local indigenous population in the 80’s. At first, Monteverde is tried and found guilty of genocide but because the old man is not in the best of condition he is allowed to stay at his home under a form of house arrest. After losing all but one of his helpers at the home he employs a beautiful indigenous woman with long black hair and a white gown. Once Alma the new housekeeper starts to work for them and various protests happening every day, something starts to feel very strange within the home as the effects of isolation start to settle in.

Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona (2020) is exhilarating, nuanced, and downright incredible. First of all, let me talk about the bare minimum, La Llorona is an indigenous woman and the fact that she is played by an indigenous actress is beautiful to see. Not only is she casted appropriately but her and the various indigenous people in the film talk different dialects of the Mayan language. Such important characteristics that seem to be the bare minimum are never represented in Hollywood. The way that this Guatemalan film incorporates the folk story makes for an incredibly interesting retelling. The modern retelling and commentary of Latin American politics within this horror film is vastly nuanced. Instead of focusing entirely on the folklore of La Llorona, the film uses the story more as a backbone to create the bone chilling atmosphere of the picture. Maria Mercedes Coroy as Alma/La Llorona is incredible and goosebumps inducing. Every deep stare from her feels like it is looking deep into your soul. Everything from the performances, cinematography, and fluid direction makes for quite a picture. La Llorona (2020) is truly a masterful effort from Bustamante and their team of creatives.

This film is one of the best of the year, and I highly recommend you all watch it as soon as possible. Watch La Llorona (2020) on Shudder.

Tenet Review: Don’t Try to Understand it, Feel it

Posted on August 30, 2020August 30, 2020 by calatkinson in Reviews

Christopher Nolan’s back at it again, a triumphant return to save or at least help keep cinema progressing in these uncertain times we are living.

What for me might be his best comes after a myriad of delays and issues through some of the most trying months in recent decades, and he still delivers the cinema experience. The film was a welcome and dearly missed feeling for 2 hours and a half (add on up to half an hour depending on your cinema’s add and trailers). I completely forgot about 2020 and everything that has been happening as of late.

From Nolan’s masterful sound design, the way it blends brilliantly crafted gunshots and other audio effects with Ludwig Göransson’s massive and bo bass-driven score to the way these tease Travis Scott’s “The Plan”-written for the film by Göransson, Scott and WondaGurl (Ebony Naomi Oshunrinde). There are multiple times the film is bringing in enough of the intro to the song to notice without feeling overbearing to the point it feels natural when it plays later.

If you weren’t all-in on John David Washington already, I don’t know what your excuse can be post-Tenet. The man leads this film without any hiccups when it comes to action while going toe to toe with Robert Pattinson and Kenneth Branagh dramatically. His performance builds and maintains chemistry with Elizabeth Debicki and forming one formidably charismatic duo with the aforementioned, Pattinson. If this film dragged or had many issues, this duo could probably mask quite a few, given that it doesn’t have any glaring ones of note, they shine all the brighter. These core four are surrounded quite well with some notable smaller roles where Michael Caine, Clémence Poésy, Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia, and Aaron Taylor Johnson all do very well with their screentime.

Tenet is a film that plays with palindromes, metaphors, and contrasting ideas while planting enough seeds throughout, for there always to be something in the background to enjoy upon a rewatch or further inspection, and while Nolan plays with the ideas of inversion the actions scenes involving these are sublime. Even the smaller, more mundane aspects have you walking out of the cinema as if you were the one inverted for at least a few steps. And I don’t know in the end, as a viewer I can’t get over the birds.

We may have no friends at dawn, but if you enjoyed Tenet, you have one in this fellow viewer. Tenet is playing in theaters internationally and will be opening limitedly in the United States on September 2nd.

75 Films From Asia: SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE (2005)

Posted on July 5, 2020July 5, 2020 by Raúl Alejandro Mendoza in Reviews

Park Chan-wook conclude his Vengeance Trilogy with one of the most underrated pieces of cinema ever created.

The final film in Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy is another fantastic inclusion in the masterclass of work that he has created. Lady Vengeance (2005) follows a similar pattern to Oldboy (2003) as it follows a woman released from prison for a murder she did not commit. Lee Geum-ja played by Lee Young-ae seeks revenge from the real murderer and this gets bloody fast. Now, even if the story sounds similar to Oldboy (2003), Chan-wook turns the table on you and creates another riveting and nuanced installment in his trilogy. The film not only follows by the beat of its drum but it also manages to include some of the most beautiful imagery I’ve seen yet.

Park Chan-wook is a director of many skills and this movie shows how rough his work can be but also including such tender nuances like the importance of a Mother being there for her daughter, sharing trauma to move past it together, and truly not being able to move on from trauma even if it is “fixed.” The world of this film is grim with a prison system that is so corrupt and unorganized that it allows for sexual assault and power structures to emerge inside. There’s a scene that truly empowers the idea of “teamwork makes the dream work.” I am so happy that I watched these three incredible films, and cannot wait to finish the rest of his filmography. One thing is certain, Park Chan-wook is my favorite Korean director and I am one hundred percent confident of that.

Watch Lady Vengeance (2005) on Shudder. Follow along with the rest of this challenge on Letterboxd or the google doc that has the rest of the films on this challenge.