Author: Natalie Teasdale

I want to share with other movie fans those amazing films that get under your skin and stay with you for days: the scary ones, the funny ones; the ones that get you thinking. With a background in creative writing, photography, psychology and neuroscience, I’ll be focusing on dialogue, what makes a great story, if the film has beautiful creative cinematography, the soundtrack and any movie that successfully scratches the surface of our existence. My aim is to always be searching for that ultimate movie, to share what I’ve found to be interesting (whether it be a great soundtrack, a great director or links to other information of interest) and to give an honest review without too much fluff. BAppSci in Psychology/Psychophysiology; Grad Dip Creative Arts and Post Grad Dip in Creative Writing. Founder of GoMovieReviews.

Imaginary

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★Imaginary

Rated: M

Directed by: Jeff Wadlow

Screenplay Written by: Greg Erb, Jason Oremland, Jeff Wadlow

Produced by: Jason Blum, Paul Uddo, Jeff Wadlow

Starring: DeWanda Wise, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Betty Buckley, Tom Payne, Veronica Falcón and Samuel Salary.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t finish our game.’

I walked into Imaginary with low expectations – a killer teddy bear?

It’s got to be a parody, right?!

Aside for the overacting at times, and mention of a ventriloquist little girl because how is her imaginary friend speaking without the little girl moving her lips?

Again, I use question marks, I know.  But it’s a questionable storyline that is somewhat successful.

From the same producers as M3GAN (2023), I went back and re-read my review and I wasn’t sure how to feel about M3GAN either.  The premise is such a stretch, I wonder how it can’t be absolute trash, but somehow there’s a hook that keeps you watching.

For M3GAN, the humour made the film watchable, here, it was more about the scary, and yes, surprises along the way.

Imaginary opens quietly.  A flickering light down a hallway.  A bloodied woman escapes from a trapdoor in the wall – ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t finish our game,’ she says.

Enter Jessica (DeWanda Wise).  She has nightmares and wakes next to her husband, Max (Tom Payne).

Jessica is the stepmum to Max’s two daughters, Alice (Pyper Braun) and Taylor (Taegen Burns).

Alice is endearing.

Taylor is hard work.

Most of the film focusses on the family dynamic.

After a scary start, Imaginary unpacks the relationships of a step mum struggling with change, getting to know her new daughters while moving back to her childhood home.

It’s here that Alice meets the teddy bear, Chauncey.  Her new best friend.

Her imaginary friend.

‘Meet Chauncey.

He’s not imaginary.

And he’s not your friend.’

Without giving too much away, there’s more then an evil bear here; there’s thought put into childhood imagination and the relationship between children and the imagined entities that become their friends – the theory introduced by creepy neighbour, Gloria (Betty Buckley).

There’s a surreal dimension to the filming that echoed, Insidious (2010), in scratching the door to another world where those unwary get trapped.

And there’s a few surprises that keep up the entertainment, unfortunately some of those twists fell flat.

But in spite of the silly here, there’s some genuine scares, so in comparison, there’s more of a focus on the creepy here than M3GAN (which became funny more than scary).

There’s backstory to Imaginary, making the film a better watch than expected.

 

Dune: Part Two

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★1/2Dune: Part Two

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Based on the Novel by: Frank Herbert

Screenplay Written by: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts

Produced by: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Denis Villeneuve, Tanya Lapointe and Patrick McCormick

Executive Producers: Joshua Grode, Jon Spaihts, Thomas Tull, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Richard P. Rubinstein and John Harrison.

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård and Javier Bardem.

‘Power over spice is power over all.’

This is the mantra of the Harkonnens and the basis of the political intrigue in the Dune series.

It’s now the year 10,091.

Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), the daughter of The Emperor (Christopher Walken) creates a voice memo, introducing Dune: Part Two, where the entire House of Atreides have been wiped out over-night. No warning, no survivors.  Except a few.

The Harkonnens now control the harvesting of spice with the ever-present influence of the Bene Gesserit.

The extent of the Bene Gesserits’ power becoming more apparent as the prophecy of the son, known by the Fremens as Lisan al Gaib, gains momentum.

It’s Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) they believe to be the Bene Gesserit’s son, the Mahdi of the Fremen whom they believe will lead them to paradise.

An ideal originally conjured by the Bene Gesserit and encouraged by Paul Atreides’ mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) as her pregnancy continues and her daughter grows in her belly.

Paul doesn’t fail in his fulfillment as he adapts to the desert and Fremen way of life with the help of Chani (Zendaya).

Even though he’s an outsider, Chani grows to love him – he’s different to the other outsiders.  He’s sincere.

My initial thought at the end of Dune: Part One of, I hope it doesn’t get cheesy, was unwarranted because despite the glimmers of light between Paul and Chani, this is a dark journey filled with moments like the sucking of water out of the dead and… Almost dead.

The Harkonnens’ are particularly brutal, the young nephew of The Baron (Stellan Skarsgård), Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), is known by the Bene Gesserit as psychotic but manageable.

It’s a fight for survival as the Fremans sabotage the spice harvesters with the help of Paul, each success building his reputation as the Lisan al Gaib, confirming Stilgar’s (Javier Bardem) faith.  Stilagar gives him his Freman name, Paul Muad’Dib.

The build of belief catches fire, fierce stories spread about Lisan al Gaib, ‘Our resources are limited.’  Paul explains.  ‘Fear is all we have.’

Nothing can live down south without faith.  And now, instead of friends, Paul has followers.

There’s A LOT to unpack here, but at its foundation, Dune: Part Two has a heavy layer of religion and how religion is used to gain power – the ultimate power: to control the harvest of spice.

Parts of the story were glossed over, like the return of Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin).  And it’s easy to get lost in the intricacies of the story and characters, but there is absolutely never a dull moment in this film (editor: Joe Walker).

This is a vastly entertaining journey, ‘you will see the beauty and the horror,’ all in the dance of shadows over rock, the disappearance of a mother’s face into shadow after seeing her son forever changed – there’s black and white film used to portray the stark and evil of the Harkonnens alongside the red desert and solar eclipse (director of photography: Greig Fraser), flying black suits and pit fighters with black horns like insidious devils (costume designer: Jacqueline West).

All to the beat of a thumper that blends the desert and call of the worms with the beat of intrigue and violence in the capital (composer: Hans Zimmer).

This is a brutally entertaining film that lives up to the hype and is absolutely worth seeing on the big screen.

Better than Part One which is a big call because Part One was brilliant (winning six Academy Awards) and I’m guessing everyone will walk out of the cinema asking, when’s the release of Part Three?

 

Force of Nature: The Dry 2

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2

Rated: M

Directed by: Robert Connolly

Produced by: Eric Bana, Robert Connolly, Jodi Matterson, Bruna Papandrea

Based on the novel by: Jane Harper

Screenplay by: Robert Connolly

Starring: Eric Bana, Anna Torv, Deborra-Lee Furness.

‘How one decision, one small mistake, can change everything.’

Robert Connolly returns as director with another adaptation of a Jane Harper novel, Force of Nature.

Instead of the backdrop of The Dry, of drought and fire, Force of Nature is set in a forest with rain and the green of ferns and towering mountain ash, missing persons.  And serial killers.

Alice (Anna Torv) is a missing person under suspicious circumstances.

Federal Agent Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) is called from Alice’s phone but the line is bad.  Amongst the static and dropping signal all he can hear is, ‘they know.’

Called to the Giralang mountain ranges, a search has begun for Alice after she goes missing from an executive work retreat.

Also on the retreat are four other women including the CEO’s wife (Deborra-Lee Furness), all suspects, the story shown in flashbacks as each character is revealed as the mystery pieces Alice’s last moments so different threads slowly tie together as Aaron races to find Alice – missing 30 hours, exposed in the forest with a storm looming.

As Aaron searches for Alice, he’s forced to face his past as he searches for the missing woman, a person he feels responsible for, an informant he’s pushed too far.

His partner, Agent Cooper (Jacqueline McKenzie) feels no guilt, following the appropriate protocols and procedures.  But Aaron knows if you push too hard, that’s when mistakes are made.  He also knows what happens when people go missing in the forest.

Filmed in the Dandenong Ranges, the mystery is deepened using the vast forest as a place where people get lost, where serial killers are known to lurk – the forest is a place where you feel like you’re being watched.  That you’re not alone.

It doesn’t take much for the paranoia to set in.

Force of Nature is a slow burn mystery with weight; the immersion into the puzzle gripping with the plot turning around blind corners so the audience doesn’t know what will happen next.

But for all the film’s promise, the suspense gets lost with each thread that becomes a dead end so that grip in the first half of the film begins to let go.

Force of Nature is well captured, the quiet, the rain, the mood set with some good reveals but the mystery gets lost in the forest of too many red herrings.

So although there’re good performances here, the story gets spread thin so instead of a big reveal there’s many little revelations that lacked punch.

Overall, a well captured, quality crime mystery that’s worth a watch.

 

Nat’s Top 5 Movies of 2023

Was a wee quiet regarding movie reviewing this year – it’s been busy!  But ITop 5 Movies 2023 still managed to get to ‘Barbenheimer’ that took over the world there for a while.  All I can say is I’m glad I managed to source a pink hair accessory for the Barbie premiere.  It was a very pink affair.  And a surprisingly refreshing feminist message that did balance in the end.  But like everyone, I’ve never seen a film so blunt – ‘I’m a man without power, does that make me a woman?’

I was more drawn to the thriller genre this year – surprise, surprise, with Saltburn blowing away the cobwebs with its sharp wit and extravagance, but let’s start the list with a documentary that I still think about, particularly while watching the TV series, The Fall of the House of Usher with the documentary about Nan showing in the background to underline the correlation her story had with the series about the evils of pharma, meet photographer and activist, Nan Goldin:

  1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – GoMovieReviews

For me, I was captured by those slide shows, the people in the photos like characters in the movie of Nan’s life.

It’s a heavy story, but the telling is simple, measured and driven not by the production, but what felt like Nan herself.

  1. Cairo Conspiracy – GoMovieReviews

Thought-provoking, intriguing with moments of beauty – this is a balanced film that gets you thinking.

  1. John Wick: Chapter 4 – GoMovieReviews

If you’re already a fan of the John Wick franchise, Chapter 4 is obviously a must-see and in my opinion, as good as the previous JW3: the detail, the humour, the dogs, the camera work, those shots from above a seriously successful device to show more of the action…  Action at its very best.

  1. Oppenheimer – GoMovieReviews

Complicated, suspenseful, political, scientific and psychological.  It’s a lot.

But that raging fire and those blurred edges and uncertainty around Oppenheimer’s character to then reveal the truth of all those involved in the creation of the bomb added up to a sophisticated film that demanded full attention.

Somehow, Nolan has captured an aberration using Oppenheimer as a voice.  And that takes brilliance.

  1. Saltburn – GoMovieReviews

Inviting, surprising, edgy and a pleasure to watch, like a guilty indulgence – this is a movie that keeps me coming back to the cinema wanting more.

 

Migration

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★ Migration

Rated: G

Directed by: Benjamin Renner

Screenplay by: Mike White

Produced by: Chris Meledandri

Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key, David Mitchell, Carol Kane, Casper Jennings, Tresi Gazal and Danny DeVito.

‘Just because you’re scared of everything in the world doesn’t mean I have to be,’ explains mother mallard Pam (Elizabeth Banks) to husband Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) AKA scared-of-everything, especially the dreaded herons that are known to eat mallards for breakfast.

Mack is happy, safe at the Pond: there’s food, family, everything they need.

There’s a montage of the mallard family spending time together, Mack and Pam showing their little ones, Dax (Casper Jennings) and Gwen (Tresi Gazal) the ways of pond life: swimming, hunting, frolicking about in the water.

Until a flock of migrating ducks arrive, ‘Welcome to the pond.’

Pam can’t help but be excited by the thought of seeing the world, of going somewhere exotic like Jamaca.

But Mack is not brave.

Then he finds Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito) half buried in the mud on the shores of the pond.  He may have fallen out of his perch.  Again.  He explains his life in the pond as safe and alone.  ‘It’s perfect.’

Seeing Uncle Dan’s half buried form is all the motivation Mack needs to finally take the step to get out and see the world.  To migrate.

Migration is a story about discovery; exploring the world, taking risks and growing.

It’s light-hearted and sweet; about family bonding, parents coming together, getting in sync to make it through the chaos of the world as the kids find their own feet.

There’s a lot of focus on the endearing webbed duck feet, or lack thereof – note peg-leg veteran leader of the pigeon gang of New York (Awkwafina).

So you get the humour – low impact, kid holiday friendly that took a while to take flight but add a non-verbal chief who specialises in duck l’orange ending up with a bandaged nose, there’s a few giggles to be had for parents as well as the kids.

I asked my nephew his favourite part of the film and he liked the little daughter duck Gwen (but not so much the yoga duck).  He liked the storybook style introduction to the film, but I found the basic animation disconcerting, putting me in mind of an old fashioned cartoon style show that took a while to get over.  I did however, relate to the crusty character, Uncle Dan.

 

Wonka

GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★★Wonka

Rated: PG

Directed by: Paul King

Screenplay Written by: Paul King, Simon Famaby

Story by: Paul King

Based on the Character Created by: Roald Dahl

Produced by: David Heyman, Alexandra Derbyshire, Luke Kelly

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant.

‘A place to escape to.’

The origin story of Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) is delightful with attention to detail and a wry humour that is the trademark of director and writer, Paul King (creator of Paddington (2014) and Paddington 2 (2017)).

The story of Wonka follows Willy as he disembarks from aboard a ship to land in England to create and sell his amazing chocolates, a skill he learned to love from his mother (Sally Hawkins).

Whistling is heard before the singing begins as Willy stands atop the ship’s mast, ready to embrace the world while brandishing his hat full of dreams.

I freely admit I’m not a fan of musicals, so I was bracing myself.

But I liked this one.

I was grinning all the way through this movie; the particular brand of Paul King humour had me laughing out loud, the timing and facial expressions and ‘surprisingly good form,’ of these unique characters added to the delight of this movie as Willy makes chocolates that don’t just taste good but have the added bonus of flight or the feeling of a night out or creating a choreographed day like being in a cabaret.

But for Willy to sell his chocolates, he must first get past the establishment of the Chocolate Cartel: Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas) honest to the point of being obnoxious (and then incredibly funny), and Fickelgruber (Matthew Baynton) who can’t say, ‘poor’ without becoming nauseous.

The cartel manages to keep their position as the top purveyors in town by paying off officials with chocolate, including the Chief-of-Police (Keegan-Michael Key) who’s girth continues to expand the more bribes he consumes.

Willy also manages to find himself trapped working in a washhouse, run by, Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman), after signing a contract without reading the fine print.

Trapped but not down, Willy meets his fellow inmates, Noodle (Calah Lane), an orphan and cynic with a mysterious past who tells Willy that his belief in the kindness of strangers landed him in a room in the staff quarters (where the sink is also the toilet).

Then there’s ex-account Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), the never-speaks Miss Bon Bon (Freya Parker), Piper Benz who knows the underground (Natasha Rothwell), and aspiring comedian, Larry Chucklesworth (Rich Fulcher) who can speak like he’s underwater.

A rag-tag team, a kid wanting to make chocolate and singing does not sound like my cup of tea, but there’s an irresistible charm here, think Rowan Atkinson as a chocoholic priest.  Then High Grant as an Oompa-Loompa, described by Willy as a small orange man who’s green hair shines in the moonlight.

But what really got me giggling was the villainous Bleacher (Tom Davis) in his dungarees made to show a bit of thigh.

The aspiring comedian character should not have been funny with his try-hard jokes, but the detail and facial expressions like a small poke of the tongue just before cutting to the next scene added that surprising bit extra and that’s what made this movie such a delight to watch.

Instead of a tired re-wash, Wonka is a refresh of Roald Dahl’s classic character: it’s magical and all very sweet (excuse the pun), and gets away with that sweetness because it’s just so funny.

 

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Rated: M

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Screenplay Written by: Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt

Based on the Novel by: Suzanne Collins

Produced by: Nina Jacobson, p. g. a, Brad Simpson, p. g. a., Francis Lawrence, p. g. a

Executive Producers: Suzanne Collins, Mika Saito, Jim Miller, Tim Palen

Starring: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera and Viola Davis.

‘Run.’

The prequel to the Hunger Games series: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) in his younger years.  Before he becomes President of Panem.

He runs with his little cousin, Tigris (Hunter Schafer) through the snow searching for something to eat.  The dark days.  The hungry days.

His once prosperous family struggle to survive in the Capitol after his father Crassus dies in a trap, set by the rebels.

Their survival depends on Coriolanus making a name for himself in the Capitol, starting with the 10th Annual Reaping Ceremony.  Only this year, Head Gamesmaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul decides to shake things up.  The people have stopped watching the Hunger Games.  She needs to make the Games more entertaining.

This tenth year, each Tribute will be nominated a Mentor to liven things up.  Each Mentor is tasked to showcase their Tribute, to make the people love them, to want to watch them; to hope they don’t die and to then become the winner.

When each of the Tributes are introduced via the small black and white television screen, Snow sees his Tribute for the first time: the defiant, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler).

When selected, she sings then tells the world to kiss her arse.

And so begins the story of the Songbird and the Snake.

Watching the evolution of Coriolanus is set into three parts.

The end of Part II: The Prize, saw a hopeful end to what felt like a long movie.

Then Part III appeared on screen.

Did I say this is a long movie?  It goes for 2 hours and 37 minutes.  It felt longer.

But Part III is what pulls the story together, lifting the experience with a nod of understanding, so if you can make it to the end, it makes the rest of the film worth watching.  Not a great endorsement, and I say that because it’s more than a bit cheesy.  Like the film’s trying to be a musical in between the rest of what is traditionally, The Hunger Games so the tone of the film felt off.

Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray has an amazing voice, but the introduction was premature, felt forced and was far overshadowed by the lament of the Mockingjay in the previous series.

There’s still the action of fighting to the death, and aside humour from host, weatherman, ‘And smile.  That’s why we have teeth,’ amateur magician, Lucky Flickerman (Jason Schwartzman).

And the villainous, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, has some twisted theories about humanity that evolve in conflict with the Academy’s dean, Highbottom (Peter Dinklage).

Peter Dinklage as the dean gives some gravitas to the superficial tone of the young adult story – but the feeling of superficial persisted.

I didn’t relate to any of the characters.  And there were plenty in the film.  It all felt like bit parts, even Lucy Gray felt superficial.  Only the character Coriolanus was rounded-out, which was the point, to understand the origin story of the character, I guess.

But wow, this film takes commitment, all the way to the end to get any satisfaction from watching; it’s somehow bloody yet dry, until that last chapter.

 

Saltburn

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)

Rated: MA15+Saltburn

Directed by: Emerald Fennell

Written by: Emerald Fennell

Produced by: LuckyChap

Director of Photography: Linus Sandgren

Editor: Victoria Boydell

Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Gran, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan.

‘I loved him.  But was I in love with him?’

The chaos of the first day at college sees Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) wandering through the Oxford crowd with his tie and jacket – ‘Hey, cool jacket,’ says a fellow student.  Not in a good way.

Oliver’s a ‘Norman with no mates.’

He spies Felix (Jacob Elordi) through the crowd – happy, popular, beautiful.

Oliver watches him.  It’s creepy, but kinda sweet because he’s so polite about it.  The scholarship boy infatuated.

Felix feels sorry for him.

He invites Oliver to stay with his family at Saltburn for the summer:

‘If you get sick of us, you can leave.  Promise.’

There’s an immediate immersion into the story, irresistible and fun with a dark humour, where college professors care more about who your parents are then if you’ve read the recommended reading list – who reads the St Jame’s Bible the summer before starting college?

The storyline is reminiscent of a modern day, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) – the studious and brilliant boy trying to get ahead in life infatuated with the charming rich, seemingly unattainable.  The invitation to stay.  The inevitable dead bodies.

But Saltburn is also funny and visceral with vomit and spit and menstrual blood. Not off-putting, not sexy even.  It made the unreality of the setting feel more authentic.

Barry Keoghan as Oliver, is quite frankly, a revelation.

And there’s a perfect balance of characters – writer and director, Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman (2021)– directorial and screenplay debut) drawing everything into the camera so the film edges up to the right side of the absurd, keeping the story more mystery and erotic thriller rather than delving into fantasy because the fantasy is the setting and Oliver’s desire, with no holding back.

Oliver’s willingness to be All, to give all, is weirdly endearing while knowingly manipulative.  The audience’s perception twisted like the storyline.

Fennell uses reflections to see the shadow of self, of Oliver only realised later because the reflection of water and the face in a table surface also looks beautiful, disguising what lies underneath.

The use of shadows to add definition.  Those close shots of Oliver’s eyes looking into another – the damaged younger sister, Venetia Catton (Alison Oliver) and smug family friend, rich because of the Catton’s guilt, so basically part of the family, Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) – hypnotise with the wilfulness of Oli.

And seeing Carey Mulligan as ‘Poor Dear Pamela’ does not disappoint.

Can you tell I liked this movie?

Those dark humorous moments are pure gold, Rosamund Pike as Elspeth Catton (ex-model and mother who can’t stand ugliness), stating, ‘the police keep getting lost in the maze.’ You can imagine the hilarity of the moment because it shouldn’t be funny but it just is.

It’s also the pauses from the characters, the individual nuances in body language that delight, the idiocy of the classic English denial played so well by Richard E. Gran as the patriarch, Sir James Catton.

Each performance is outstanding, the character roles perfectly balanced.

Then the humour edges towards the callous changing the mood as the story turns so there’s another layer under the surface: there’s a fine line between dark humour and callousness like there’s a fine line between love and hate.

Saltburn is inviting, surprising, edgy and a pleasure, like a guilty indulgence, to watch on the big screen.

This is the second powerhouse film from Emerald Fennell and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what comes next.

 

The Exorcist: Believer

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★

Rated: MA15+ The Exorcist: Believer

Directed by: David Gordon Green

Screenplay by: Peter Sattler and David Gordon Green

Based on the Characters Created by: William Peter Blatty

Story by: Scott Teems, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green

Produced by: Jason Blum, David Robinson, James G. Robinson

Starring: Leslie Odom, Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum and Ellen Burstyn.

‘The power of Christ works through all of us.’

Created as a sequel to the Academy nominated (first horror film to ever be nominated for Best Picture) ‘The Exorcist’ (1973), The Exorcist: Believer finds Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), the mother of Regan, alone without her daughter who was possessed all those years ago.

After publishing a book about her experience of seeing her daughter undergo an exorcism, releasing her from the demon, Pazuzu, Chris loses Regan again when her daughter can’t forgive her mother for sharing her story with the world.

Walking into the cinema, I wondered if Believer was going to be a legacy movie; like the reboot of the Halloween franchise, Blumhouse is creating, The Exorcist franchise, but I found the legacy aspect here a red herring.

The reminder of Regan was more a touchstone, a cameo, not a continuing thread.

The Exorcist: Believer follows new character, Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom, Jr.), first seen taking photos of fighting dogs in Haiti.

He captures the stills of violence well, his curiosity in the capture of life, while his pregnant wife interacts with it.  She’s a peaceful character, meditative in her wander through the streets, the markets.

A little boy pulls her away for a treat.  A blessing.

A ritual to protect her unborn child: Angela.

Then an earthquake strikes, the chaos of sound rising and falling, images flipping; the peal of a bell sounding through a muffled deafening after the world begins to crumble.

Then back to Victor.  He has to make a choice.

There’s a build to the story, the foundation of the father and daughter relationship a contrast to the inevitable possession of daughter: Angela (Lidya Jewett).

And her friend, Katherine (Olivia Marcum).

Two young girls, two families, a circle back to Haiti and ritual, a circle back to the catholic church to perform the exorcism.

To understand what is happening to his daughter, Victor reaches out to Chris MacNeil, to the catholic church, but the difference here is the exploration of community and combined ritual to fight against evil, so there’s a different take of the view of religion, with the touchstone of the familiar.

‘Are you looking for Regan?’  The question asked from possessed cracked lips and yellow, blood-shot eyes.

Analysing the story, I realise I didn’t find the movie all that scary – because of that familiar aspect to the possessed.

There’s some jumps and twists.  And I appreciated the restraint, building the relationships of the characters rather than over-extending the exorcism (there’s still projectile black spew – classic).

What started to draw a cold shiver was drawn from the montages of cuts back and forth of a young girl reading an old tale of dragons, a ‘snick snack’, as a search continues for lost girls who wander in the woods.

And those new cracks, those hints of old folk lore could have expanded into suspense but were instead filled with a harking back to the beginning of the franchise.  To Regan.  That didn’t really go anywhere.

It will be interesting to see what comes next.

 

Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.2/5)DRACULA VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: André Øvredal

Screenplay by: Bragi F. Schut, Stefan Ruzowitzky and Zak Olkewicz, based on “The Captain’s Log” from Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Produced by: Brad Fischer, Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer

Executive Produced by: Matthew Hirsch

Starring: Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian.

‘Evil is aboard.  Powerful evil.’

It’s 1897 when merchant ship, The Demeter is seen off the coast of Whitby, England.

The ship’s sails are torn, the hull blackened and like a ghost ship, there are no surviving passengers.

Based on the chapter, The Captain’s Log from the iconic literary novel, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), this is the tale of the vampire’s voyage from his homeland across the seas to England.

The setting of the film is aboard the ship, where the captain (Liam Cunningham) and his crew, including last minute addition, Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a doctor looking for passage home, find themselves trapped as the horror begins; first the animals are found slaughtered, then the crew of the ship.  And there’s no way to escape.

Director, André Øvredal (Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark (2019), Trollhunter (2010), and a recommendation to watch if you haven’t already, The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)) focusses on Dracula as the monster – his visage more bat than man, with glowing yellow eyes and needlepoint teeth.

There is no sympathy for the monster, from the outset, Dracula is cast as the ‘Devil’s Serpent,’ a killing machine – and when the animals are found ripped apart, the audience is set firmly against the undead as Dracula preys on the living who have no hope and no understanding of what they’re dealing with.

Until the crew discover Anna (Aisling Franciosi), a girl they first believe is a stowaway, but after blood transfusions from Clemens to save her, she becomes the crew’s only way of understanding the evil that is sailing with them.  She’s not the bad luck that has befallen the ship.  She’s a survivor.

There’re clever devices used to ramp-up the tension, firstly those on board trapped as they wait for the sun to set so the film plays out like a slasher formula as Dracula feeds, picking each member off, one by one.

The crew knock on wood to communicate from the bowels of the ship, so there’s this listening out to hear that knock, to hear if someone’s trapped and about to literally be eaten.

It’s dark, raining, the sea throws the ship back and forth and there’s a monster on board: It’s the perfect set-up for a horror movie.

And I really wanted to love this film.  I’m a fan of the Dracula genre, and horror-thrillers, and there’s a good cast here – Liam Cunningham as the captain (you’ll recognise as Davos Seaworth from Game of Thrones) has just the right amount of gravitas and scores well for humanity putting the audience firmly behind well, the humans.  And the soundtrack adds a foreboding atmosphere, building the tension so there’re some good scares (someone sitting behind me yelped on more than one occasion, which was good fun).

There’s something to be said for watching a scary movie in the cinema where the audience is collectively given a jump.

But because it has that slasher formula, the film starts to feel predictable.