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Hara05 (11 KP) rated The Haunting of Hill House in TV
Jun 30, 2019
The Haunting Of Hill House has brought horror back.
In an era of horrors which use chewed up, over used clichés - ridiculous, poorly times jump scares, unrealistic gore and mundane character profiles, to name a few - this Netflix series was both nostalgic and fresh at the same time.
From the moment the series started, I was on the edge of my seat. It does such a good job of building tension and fear that it's impossible to take everything in, indeed, on second viewing I noticed things I had completely missed during my first viewing. This series doesn't rely on simple jump scares and musical scores to make the view scared - it's so much more polished and intricate than that. It isn't just a series of blood and gore, of murderers chasing pretty girls with a kitchen knife or teenagers playing with ouija boards. Yes, there are ghosts. Yes, it's based in a haunted house but there is so much more to it!
The depths this series goes to draws you in from minute one. The well fleshed out characters, the great acting, the clever dialogue all mingles together to create an atmosphere the viewer gets lost in and a family the viewer grows to love. The family which this series is centred around is relatable, charasmatic and mysterious all at the same time. The horror is sometimes simple, sometimes obvious but always believable.
It's not very often that a series can have you crying from fear and heartbreak at the same time. The Haunting of Hill House not only manages this but does it splendidly. It's beautiful, harrowing and haunting all at the same time.
This series should be welcomed by anybody who loves the horror genre. It echoes some of the classics and is capable of redefining modern horrors at the same time. It's so refreshing to see the genre stripped back and cleverly delivered. So much of the genre is so repetitive now that my expectations for this series were low. Needless to say, it smashes those expectations.
In an era of horrors which use chewed up, over used clichés - ridiculous, poorly times jump scares, unrealistic gore and mundane character profiles, to name a few - this Netflix series was both nostalgic and fresh at the same time.
From the moment the series started, I was on the edge of my seat. It does such a good job of building tension and fear that it's impossible to take everything in, indeed, on second viewing I noticed things I had completely missed during my first viewing. This series doesn't rely on simple jump scares and musical scores to make the view scared - it's so much more polished and intricate than that. It isn't just a series of blood and gore, of murderers chasing pretty girls with a kitchen knife or teenagers playing with ouija boards. Yes, there are ghosts. Yes, it's based in a haunted house but there is so much more to it!
The depths this series goes to draws you in from minute one. The well fleshed out characters, the great acting, the clever dialogue all mingles together to create an atmosphere the viewer gets lost in and a family the viewer grows to love. The family which this series is centred around is relatable, charasmatic and mysterious all at the same time. The horror is sometimes simple, sometimes obvious but always believable.
It's not very often that a series can have you crying from fear and heartbreak at the same time. The Haunting of Hill House not only manages this but does it splendidly. It's beautiful, harrowing and haunting all at the same time.
This series should be welcomed by anybody who loves the horror genre. It echoes some of the classics and is capable of redefining modern horrors at the same time. It's so refreshing to see the genre stripped back and cleverly delivered. So much of the genre is so repetitive now that my expectations for this series were low. Needless to say, it smashes those expectations.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Jigsaw and the Fan in Books
Nov 15, 2019
When Albert Carter, staunch shop steward at Jebson's glue factory and upholder of worker's rights, dies and sees the light at the end of a tunnel it seems there's a problem. The next world is on strike and before Albert can even find out if he is heading up or down he is banished back to Earth as a ghost to wait until the strike is resolved.
Finding himself stuck in Marlston Manor a stately home owned by a Lord, he soon rails at what he sees as the injustice of the common working man having to pay to have a look around and decides that as a ghost, perhaps he can teach a lesson the to aristocratic owner by scaring everyone away. A battle of wits ensues, with the other resident ghosts and the mortal staff pitted against Albert's scheme. But Albert has a terrible secret. He knows he is right and so won't be denied his opportunity to settle the social injustice he perceives. But little does he realise he is just a pawn in a the latest match of a long game being played by adversarial guardian angels.
The whole of this book is a blast from beginning to end. Bint makes good use of all the characters and situations, pushing everything to the maximum for farcical effect. And it works, there are so many good chuckles throughout the book and a smile will not be far from the reader's face. He also manages to weave in a neat thread of social satire, always perceptible but never unsubtle, taking in allusions to the miner's strikes of the 1980s as well as every class war that has ever been fought, seemingly at the whims of the guardian angels. But as they say, who watches the watchers?
This is a whole load of fun and if you want something a bit lighter to make you smile, this book is perfect.
Finding himself stuck in Marlston Manor a stately home owned by a Lord, he soon rails at what he sees as the injustice of the common working man having to pay to have a look around and decides that as a ghost, perhaps he can teach a lesson the to aristocratic owner by scaring everyone away. A battle of wits ensues, with the other resident ghosts and the mortal staff pitted against Albert's scheme. But Albert has a terrible secret. He knows he is right and so won't be denied his opportunity to settle the social injustice he perceives. But little does he realise he is just a pawn in a the latest match of a long game being played by adversarial guardian angels.
The whole of this book is a blast from beginning to end. Bint makes good use of all the characters and situations, pushing everything to the maximum for farcical effect. And it works, there are so many good chuckles throughout the book and a smile will not be far from the reader's face. He also manages to weave in a neat thread of social satire, always perceptible but never unsubtle, taking in allusions to the miner's strikes of the 1980s as well as every class war that has ever been fought, seemingly at the whims of the guardian angels. But as they say, who watches the watchers?
This is a whole load of fun and if you want something a bit lighter to make you smile, this book is perfect.
Scarlett Mysteries: Cursed Child
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Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Annabelle Comes Home (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
Annabelle's Horror Doesn't Live Up To The Hype In Her Homecoming
Annabelle is a 2019 supernatural/horror movie written and directed by Gary Dauberman and from screenplay co-written by James Wan. The film was alos produced by James Wan and Peter Safran and by New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster Productions and The Safran Company and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie stars Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Patrick Wilson, and Vera Farmiga.
Four years after Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmigia) brought the Annabelle doll into their home, they leave Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), a babysitter, in charge of their daughter, Judy (Mckenna Grace) while they investigate a case overnight. Mary Ellen's friend Daniela (Katie Sarife), sneaks into the artifact when she comes over uninvited and accidentally leaves Annabelle's glass case unlocked causing the terror that ensues.
This movie was pretty good. I liked it and thought that it was genuinely scary in certain parts for a PG-13 movie, but then afterwards I looked it up and saw that it was rated R. I don't feel that this movie lived up to its potential, it being rated R and also being in The Conjuring franchise. The plot felt very loose and not very put together and instead of being about the couple, it centered on their daughter. This I felt definitely made it feel a little scarier since she has none of the experience and knowledge of her parents when it comes to fighting these evil forces but I felt the audience was robbed of a better story the franchise could have told with the parents not really being involved at all. Also I felt that they tried to add too many ghosts/characters for one movie, which was kind of cool in certain ways but also seemed less because of it. All in all, if you like The Conjuring franchise you'll like this movie and I give it a 6/10.
Four years after Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmigia) brought the Annabelle doll into their home, they leave Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), a babysitter, in charge of their daughter, Judy (Mckenna Grace) while they investigate a case overnight. Mary Ellen's friend Daniela (Katie Sarife), sneaks into the artifact when she comes over uninvited and accidentally leaves Annabelle's glass case unlocked causing the terror that ensues.
This movie was pretty good. I liked it and thought that it was genuinely scary in certain parts for a PG-13 movie, but then afterwards I looked it up and saw that it was rated R. I don't feel that this movie lived up to its potential, it being rated R and also being in The Conjuring franchise. The plot felt very loose and not very put together and instead of being about the couple, it centered on their daughter. This I felt definitely made it feel a little scarier since she has none of the experience and knowledge of her parents when it comes to fighting these evil forces but I felt the audience was robbed of a better story the franchise could have told with the parents not really being involved at all. Also I felt that they tried to add too many ghosts/characters for one movie, which was kind of cool in certain ways but also seemed less because of it. All in all, if you like The Conjuring franchise you'll like this movie and I give it a 6/10.
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Ju-on: Origins in TV
Jul 15, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
Ju-on: Origins is the prequel to the original Ju-on The Grudge on Netflix.
The story mostly follows two story lines:
The first is of paranormal author, Yasuo Odajima and T.V. Hostess Haruka Honjo and follows Yasuo as he tires to find the cursed house to write about.
The second is Kiyomi Kawai who is taken to the house by two of her new classmates.
The series shows how curse of the house affects the two main characters but is also interspersed with snippets of the lives of other people who have lived in the house and flashbacks from the memories of other characters and, at times this can make the show a bit hard to follow.
Ju-on: Origins has an 'Amityville' vibe to it but more so, as in the original films the cures is not restricted to the house, meaning that, even if you get out you may not be safe.
The series is very atmospheric but , although there are ghosts it does focus more on the people who have lived in the house which makes this very grim in parts.
There was something familiar about some of the scenes in Ju-on: Origins, at least part of this is due to the original film, the scene where Kiyomi and her friends first go the house is slightly reminiscent of the school girl sequence in the first film although it does go in a different direction.
Now for some warnings. As i said Ju-on: Origins has some grim sequences. It's a Netflix series and, almost as soon as it went on (At least here in the UK) there were complaints about the auto start trailer which skirts around one of the main scenes which involves rape.
As well as rape there are murders (It makes 'American Horror Story; Haunted House' look tame) violence towards women, children, men (although i don't recall any animal abuse), sex and implied, possible incest so you have been warned
The story mostly follows two story lines:
The first is of paranormal author, Yasuo Odajima and T.V. Hostess Haruka Honjo and follows Yasuo as he tires to find the cursed house to write about.
The second is Kiyomi Kawai who is taken to the house by two of her new classmates.
The series shows how curse of the house affects the two main characters but is also interspersed with snippets of the lives of other people who have lived in the house and flashbacks from the memories of other characters and, at times this can make the show a bit hard to follow.
Ju-on: Origins has an 'Amityville' vibe to it but more so, as in the original films the cures is not restricted to the house, meaning that, even if you get out you may not be safe.
The series is very atmospheric but , although there are ghosts it does focus more on the people who have lived in the house which makes this very grim in parts.
There was something familiar about some of the scenes in Ju-on: Origins, at least part of this is due to the original film, the scene where Kiyomi and her friends first go the house is slightly reminiscent of the school girl sequence in the first film although it does go in a different direction.
Now for some warnings. As i said Ju-on: Origins has some grim sequences. It's a Netflix series and, almost as soon as it went on (At least here in the UK) there were complaints about the auto start trailer which skirts around one of the main scenes which involves rape.
As well as rape there are murders (It makes 'American Horror Story; Haunted House' look tame) violence towards women, children, men (although i don't recall any animal abuse), sex and implied, possible incest so you have been warned