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Steve Fearon (84 KP) rated Pyewacket (2017) in Movies

Sep 26, 2018

Pyewacket (2017)

2017 | Horror

6.0

(7 Ratings)

Movie Rating

The cast is solid, and the performances are good (0 more)

This premise is a bit dated, it feels like a 90's film at times (0 more)

This film doesn't know WITCH film it wants to be...

Pyewacket is a witchy teen angst film, that feels a bit like it wanted to be Ginger Snaps for witches, following the life of a teen girl whose father has recently died, and whose mother is not dealing well with the new reality.

Against her protestations, her mother moves them to a house in the woods, and away from her school and friends and after a heated exchange, the daughter decides to perform a dark ritual in the woods.

The crux of the film is that she later regrets the decision and is haunted by ghostly presences in the house that she suspects are the result of her ritual.

The whole film feels out of time, as if it were a late 90's early 2000's teen horror, with the majority of time spent exploring teen angst and cringey cliched subculture banter, rather than really tyring to ramp up any tension or scare the viewer.

At no point is a bad film, but it is trying to walk the line between genuine horror and that sort of 'The Craft' style teen culture movie, and it just doesnt seem to really nail either.

Its not bad, its not great, its just ok.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2498 KP) rated Not a Creature was Stirring in Books

Jan 24, 2019

Who was Enough of a Scrooge to Leave the Dead Body in Merry's Motorhome?

Merry is hoping to turn her Christmas crafting business into a full-time job, and as part of that plan, she's purchased a motorhome from her ex-step-daughter. The hope is she can use it as a mobile crafting studio and a place to show her stuff at some of the more popular craft shows. She's trying it out at the Christmas Holiday Bazaar, one of her favorite events of the year. However, when she's unloading her products, she finds the dead body of her ex-husband in one of the storage compartments. How did his dead body get into the RV?

With as much as I love Christmas, this book was a lot of fun. We got lots of talk about everything Christmas, even comparing characters to famous fictional Christmas characters. I did feel the book needed another polish to flesh a few things out, and I found Merry's concern for her ex-husband's family a little hard to believe considering how short her marriage had been. On the other hand, I loved the majority of the characters, and Merry's relationships with her own kids was fabulous. The plot was good with many twists and turns. I figured out a couple of things early, but I was left guessing about the rest of it until the end.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2498 KP) rated Buyer, Beware in Books

Jan 14, 2020

Buyer, Beware

Diane Vallere | 2013 | Mystery

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Is Samantha in Danger Taking a Dead Buyer’s Job?

Samantha Kidd is excited about another fashion store opening up in her hometown of Ribbon, Pennsylvania. She and some friends attend the opening night party, but the party ends abruptly when Samantha stumbles on the body of a dead woman in the handbag department. The woman was the store’s handbag buyer, and the police quickly rule it a murder. Then Samantha gets another shock – the store’s owner asks Samantha to take over the dead woman’s job and use her position to help figure out what happened. But is Samantha putting herself in danger by taking a dead woman’s job?

I might not normally have picked up this book because of the fashion theme, but I already knew that author Diane Vallere can craft a great cozy mystery. Yes, fashion is certainly an aspect of the book, and even plays into the plot, but it never overwhelmed the story or bored me since the book never loses sight of the fact that it is a mystery first and foremost. And what a mystery! The suspects are all outstanding and do a great job of misleading us. Samantha has to deal with twists and red herrings galore until she finally figures things out. I did feel a few of the details could have been smoothed into the story better, but that’s a minor complaint overall. I enjoyed this book and need to make time to visit with Samantha again soon.