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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Jacob's Ladder (1990) in Movies
Jan 31, 2020
Hallucinations and Flashbacks
Jacob's Ladder- is a really great psychological supernatural horror thriller. Tim Robbins is excellent in this film.
The Plot: After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie (Elizabeth Peña), and ex-wife, Sarah (Patricia Kalember), try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis (Danny Aiello), fails to reach him as he descends into madness.
Its also super underrated, not alot of people talk about this film or know about this film. Its a must watch psychological twisted supernatural horror film.
The Plot: After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie (Elizabeth Peña), and ex-wife, Sarah (Patricia Kalember), try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis (Danny Aiello), fails to reach him as he descends into madness.
Its also super underrated, not alot of people talk about this film or know about this film. Its a must watch psychological twisted supernatural horror film.
Dean (6921 KP) rated The Tripper (2007) in Movies
Apr 30, 2019
A strange, stoner slasher produced and directed by David Arquette (Scream). It's quite a decent modern slasher, quite odd but the back story as to why this guy goes off the rails killing hippies is explained. Less so the high regard Ronald Regan is given. It's funny in places, has a fair bit of gore, I found the tripping hallucinations a tad annoying. There is even a brief cameo from Courtney Cox-Arquette. Overall pretty good compared to many recent slasher offerings.
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Gerald's Game (2017) in Movies
Oct 12, 2017 (Updated Oct 12, 2017)
Psychological horror at its best
I had to text the entire time, and fast forward through bits because it is terrifying at points on so many levels.
Gerald and his wife attempt to reignite their marriage by going to a secluded location to play sex games. Unfortunately he leaves her handcuffed while having a heart attack. In between, there are deep psychological traumas and hallucinations, gore, and you wonder what's real as she continues to run out of time.
It's pure Stephen King, mixing real emotions with the downright frightening. That last scene would never have happened but my heart is still racing.
Gerald and his wife attempt to reignite their marriage by going to a secluded location to play sex games. Unfortunately he leaves her handcuffed while having a heart attack. In between, there are deep psychological traumas and hallucinations, gore, and you wonder what's real as she continues to run out of time.
It's pure Stephen King, mixing real emotions with the downright frightening. That last scene would never have happened but my heart is still racing.
Ali Abbasi recommended Naked Lunch (1991) in Movies (curated)
Alan Tudyk recommended All That Jazz (1979) in Movies (curated)
Alan Zornes (1 KP) rated Betrayal at House on the Hill in Tabletop Games
Apr 2, 2019
Randomized board layout. (2 more)
50+ scenarios each with it's own set of rules.
Great teamwork and strategy.
Awesome co-op game
You start the game as an unlikely group of explorers who venture inside a creepy haunted house only to have the door shut and lock behind you, now you must find a way out. As you explore the various rooms you begin to find items like weapons, ritualistic artifacts and other "useful" things. If it's not an item or an empty room its an endless barrage of haunting, psychological events and hallucinations that keep the game thrilling and entertaining. When enough hauntings have occurredone of the explorers fall victim to the evil within the house and turns traitor. At this point you desipher what scenario you will be playing based on what cards/character initiated the haunt. After this each team (explorers vs traitor) takes their designated guide book and discovers their new goal. The game includes 50 scenarios with an addition 50 in the Widows Walk expansion. Every game is like you've never played it since the board layout, items, events, and even win goals are random every time. Just don't get trapped in the basement!?
David McK (3162 KP) rated Infinite (2021) in Movies
Mar 11, 2023
I'm not sure this ever got a theatrical release - at least, it flew beneath my radar if so - with me only seeing it when it was shown on channel 4 relatively recently.
I have to say that - while the bigger screen of the cinema may have helped somewhat - I don't really feel that I missed all that much.
The plot revolves around Mark Wahlberg's character of Evan McCauley, who learns that the hallucinations he has been having throughout his lifetime are actually glimpses of past lives he has lived (and of which he retains the muscle memory) and that there are actually others like him throughout the world: the Nihilists (who want to bring about Armageddon so they can finally die) and the Faithful (out to stop them).
Despite the somewhat intriguing premise, It's not the best of movies, I'm afraid, with some of the action scenes looking somewhat ludicrous even on the small screen and with plot holes big enough to drive a truck through (if the bad guy has a gun that can trap those being reincarnated in limbo and just wants to die, why not just use it on himself?).
I have to say that - while the bigger screen of the cinema may have helped somewhat - I don't really feel that I missed all that much.
The plot revolves around Mark Wahlberg's character of Evan McCauley, who learns that the hallucinations he has been having throughout his lifetime are actually glimpses of past lives he has lived (and of which he retains the muscle memory) and that there are actually others like him throughout the world: the Nihilists (who want to bring about Armageddon so they can finally die) and the Faithful (out to stop them).
Despite the somewhat intriguing premise, It's not the best of movies, I'm afraid, with some of the action scenes looking somewhat ludicrous even on the small screen and with plot holes big enough to drive a truck through (if the bad guy has a gun that can trap those being reincarnated in limbo and just wants to die, why not just use it on himself?).
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Astonishing Color of After in Books
Mar 29, 2018
Evocative descriptions (1 more)
Good characters
Just WOW. The Astonishing Color of After is about a teenage girl, an artist, dealing with her mother's depression and ensuing suicide. Part of what makes the book so fascinating is Leigh's constant description of colors. She uses color as shorthand for emotions - her grandmother might have a vermilion expression on her face, or she might be feeling very orange while staring at her mother's coffin at the funeral. Between colors-as-feelings and her insomnia-induced hallucinations (or magic - the book is deliberately, I think, noncommittal on whether some things only happen in her head or not) the entire book feels a little surrealistic. But grief and mourning DO feel surrealistic. The book is amazingly evocative and emotional and I absolutely adore it. This, along with City of Brass and Children of Blood and Bone, are definitely on my Best of 2018 list.
As an added bonus, the author is the American child of Taiwanese immigrants herself. So all the ghost traditions and folklore from Leigh's journey to Taiwan are from her ancestry as well.
This book was gorgeous. It may need a trigger warning for depression and suicide. If you can handle those themes, read it.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
As an added bonus, the author is the American child of Taiwanese immigrants herself. So all the ghost traditions and folklore from Leigh's journey to Taiwan are from her ancestry as well.
This book was gorgeous. It may need a trigger warning for depression and suicide. If you can handle those themes, read it.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
natmac (13 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies
Oct 14, 2019 (Updated Oct 14, 2019)
Phoenix's performance is what holds the movie up, it feels realistic, desperate and sad. (2 more)
The cinematography is amazing and Gotham has never been seedier.
The third act of the film is really enjoyable and tense because of how low the stakes are and how well defined the characters are.
It straight up rips off both Taxi Driver and King of Comedy. (2 more)
It spells out the story even though I thought it was pretty obvious what was happening anyway.
Subtlety is absent from the film.
Joker is very original if you're a fan of superhero movies, but a rehash if you've seen the essential scorcesse flicks.
Contains spoilers, click to show
It would have been interesting if they took the story in a different direction and steered away from the King of Comedy Route. They should never have told you that some of the stuff that happens are hallucinations. The flashbacks were not needed at all to spell it out, I found them kinda annoying. To be honest, I don't know how I feel about the Joker's first kills being out of self defense. I like that this joker is quite different to previous interpretations, but what I love about the character is how he defies any sort of morals or logic.
Becs (244 KP) rated The Silent Patient in Books
Jun 6, 2019
Twisty and captivating!
My rating: ☆☆☆☆
TRIGGER WARNINGS: talk of suicide, mental illness, depression, stalking, cheating, loss of a parent, and child abuse.
The Silent Patient is told through two different point of views: Theo's, who narrates majority of the novel and Alicia's diary entries. It starts with talking about Alicia and her husband, the life they had, and that one fateful night that changed multiple of lives.
Alicia was seeing things, a man who watched her but she could never see his face clearly. She tried talking to her husband and a therapist about the stalker, but they didn't help one bit. They put her on medications for hallucinations, Alicia didn't take them because she didn't believe that they were hallucinations she was seeing. Then one fateful night, the police barged into the apartment to see Alicia standing standing over her now dead husband. He had been shot five times in the face by Alicia.
Alicia went to court and was charged guilty with her husband's murder but did not speak at all. She became a mute and instead of being sent to prison, she was assigned to a psychiatric unit called The Grove. This is where Theo comes in.
Theo is absolutely obsessed with Alicia Berenson and is determined to get Alicia to talk as nobody else has been able too. But he soon realizes that it isn't what he wants to hear. This is the big twist and I can't tell you cause that would be a spoiler and I don't want to spoil you. *insert winky kissy face*
“That's how therapy works. A patient delegates his unacceptable feelings to his therapist; and she holds everything he is afraid to feel, and she feels it for him. Then, ever so slowly, she feeds his feelings back to him.”
Reasons why I rated it 4 stars:
1. The plot:
The Silent Patient was not only compelling, but captivating as well. It did start a tad slow but soon became unputdownable!
2. My enjoyment:
I really enjoyed the twists, turns, Greek stylized tragedy, and the mysteriousness of both the main characters' stories.
3. Character and story development:
Wow! The development in The Silent Patient was really amazing. Background was given for both characters and story. There was development, even with the switching of POV's. I was not expecting to be enthralled with both Theo and Alicia's stories.
4. Grammar and spelling:
This is a freebie star as I listened via audiobook. But everything sounded grammatically correct!
5. The overall story:
At first, The Silent Patient was slow and I was pushing myself to just get it finished. But it eventually picked up and I was blown away with the mysteriousness and enthrallment of the story.
“We're all crazy, I believe, just in different ways.”
TRIGGER WARNINGS: talk of suicide, mental illness, depression, stalking, cheating, loss of a parent, and child abuse.
The Silent Patient is told through two different point of views: Theo's, who narrates majority of the novel and Alicia's diary entries. It starts with talking about Alicia and her husband, the life they had, and that one fateful night that changed multiple of lives.
Alicia was seeing things, a man who watched her but she could never see his face clearly. She tried talking to her husband and a therapist about the stalker, but they didn't help one bit. They put her on medications for hallucinations, Alicia didn't take them because she didn't believe that they were hallucinations she was seeing. Then one fateful night, the police barged into the apartment to see Alicia standing standing over her now dead husband. He had been shot five times in the face by Alicia.
Alicia went to court and was charged guilty with her husband's murder but did not speak at all. She became a mute and instead of being sent to prison, she was assigned to a psychiatric unit called The Grove. This is where Theo comes in.
Theo is absolutely obsessed with Alicia Berenson and is determined to get Alicia to talk as nobody else has been able too. But he soon realizes that it isn't what he wants to hear. This is the big twist and I can't tell you cause that would be a spoiler and I don't want to spoil you. *insert winky kissy face*
“That's how therapy works. A patient delegates his unacceptable feelings to his therapist; and she holds everything he is afraid to feel, and she feels it for him. Then, ever so slowly, she feeds his feelings back to him.”
Reasons why I rated it 4 stars:
1. The plot:
The Silent Patient was not only compelling, but captivating as well. It did start a tad slow but soon became unputdownable!
2. My enjoyment:
I really enjoyed the twists, turns, Greek stylized tragedy, and the mysteriousness of both the main characters' stories.
3. Character and story development:
Wow! The development in The Silent Patient was really amazing. Background was given for both characters and story. There was development, even with the switching of POV's. I was not expecting to be enthralled with both Theo and Alicia's stories.
4. Grammar and spelling:
This is a freebie star as I listened via audiobook. But everything sounded grammatically correct!
5. The overall story:
At first, The Silent Patient was slow and I was pushing myself to just get it finished. But it eventually picked up and I was blown away with the mysteriousness and enthrallment of the story.
“We're all crazy, I believe, just in different ways.”