Behind but trying to catch up this weekend.
1.
The Blair Witch Project [yearly rewatch]With this viewing I believe I've crossed into double-digit rewatches. Not much to say other than this movie is a classic and I have yet to tire of it. I still look forward to my October 1st viewing as it gets me in the exact right mood for the rest of the month.
5 / 5
2.
The DiabolicalAn interesting movie that takes a pretty hard turn about halfway through. I appreciated this movie because it feels like I could make a movie this good if given the money.
Ali Larter plays a pretty great MILF and while I appreciated the slow-burn and the semi-emotional core, it wasn't set up or paid off well enough in my opinion. And the scares were pretty lame.
2 / 5
3.
The WitchGreat, creepy movie. Not really horror, but I enjoyed it. Everyone's already seen and loved this one so not much to say. It's great. Wonderful cinematography and well-used music throughout.
4 / 5
4.
Red DragonPretty much a retread of Silence of the Lambs but I really enjoyed the relationship between Hannibal and Edward Norton's character, the latter in particular carrying much of the film on his shoulder. The final "twist" was too telegraphed and while Ralph Fiennes brings a lot of texture and subtlety to his character some of it was a little laughable. Unfortunately the film was short on twists and turns so while it's not my favorite Anthony Hopkins Hannibal movie, it's still a close second. (I don't think Hannibal is terrible but it's clearly the worst of the bunch.)
3 / 5
5.
The Lords of SalemI can't decide whether watching this while being as high as I've ever been was a good idea or a terrible idea. Mostly because I can't clearly remember the ending other than it being a psychedelic witch trip. This movie really surprised and captured me like few others. It's not really scary but sometimes a good "horror" movie isn't. Beautiful visuals (reminiscent of Zombie's Halloween II) paired with an actual cogent story and a likeable main character (which HII sorely lacked.) More movies like this Rob, please.
5 / 5
6.
Darling (2015)Darling is in black and white, so I expected some level of pretension going in. However, this film confused me: I couldn't tell whether it was pretentious or it was just... ignorant? It's very difficult to get my thoughts across.
Basically, a young woman is hired to watch the "oldest and reportedly most-haunted" house in New York City. Over the course of six "chapters" her sanity unravels more and more, although you're kept guessing whether it's actually the house or her that's the cause.
You can tell every single shot is manufactured to be beautiful or eerie - many of them are perfectly symmetrical or otherwise place the subject dead-center, and the movie opens with gorgeous shots of NYC in the daytime that if the music was different would lend a completely different feel.
Most of the "scares" are quick intercut shots of "spooky" things like the woman covered in blood, or jumping off a roof set to "shock" musical chords. When the movie puts aside these juvenile tactics, it actually manages to be decently scary. But again, I feel like the movie is too caught up in itself or too ignorant of how it's coming off to realize this.
It's certainly a different kind of horror film and I'd recommend it on that alone, but there's not a whole lot of meat here. It has a clever twist and a clever post-credits wraparound scene, but I get the feeling the director thought they were smarter than they really are.
2 / 5
