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The Baylock Residence (2019)
The Baylock Residence (2019)
2019 |
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Patricia Woodhouse left this house years ago, she is drawn back during the war after her sister’s death, she wants to start a new life here, because the war has taken nearly everything else from her, but the past she spent so long trying to forget has come back to haunt her, as she looks for the truth of her sister’s death. Annabel is the help around the house, she stays after Patricia requests for her to stay and help her with the transition, she does help fill in about the past, including what happened to Susanna. Susanna is the sister that has passed away, we are left to wonder what caused her death.

Performances – Kelly Goudie in the leading role isn’t the strongest leading lady, when it comes to the reaction or horror scenes, we don’t get anything bad, it’s the everyday moments which come off flatter than they should do. Sarah Wynne Kordas is the only other main cast member that does everything needed without getting the best scenes.

Story – The story here follows a woman that returns to her home after years away to deal with a family loss, only to learn that the house has a bigger secret that hasn’t been unlock just yet. This is story that plays into the idea that your past can hold answers no matter how hard you look to forget it, it does also play into the ideas that a family can have secrets which will only disturb. The pace of the story isn’t the most convincing, with large amounts of the film being stuff happening behind characters most notable Patricia, we also end up teasing an idea to what is happening, only it just gets forgotten which would have added extra dimension to an abuse victim. The war time theme doesn’t help because the same story could easily happen at any other era too.

Horror – The horror in this film comes from how Patricia is struggling with the visions that she is having, not being able to balance reality with supernatural.

Settings – The film is set within the one house, which doesn’t look time accurate from the outside, it does show how the family home can be reunited from tragedy.

Special Effects – The film does use effects sparely, when they are used they do add an element to horror in the film.


Scene of the Movie – The secret room.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The non-horror moment conversations feel out of place.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror thriller that does have moments of strong tension, only it doesn’t keep this up for long enough to make us what to learn the truth.

Overall: Slow Burning Horror.
  
Wind River (2017)
Wind River (2017)
2017 | Action, Crime, Mystery
Between Sicario and Hell or High Water (both of which landed on my year-end best lists for 2015 and 2016 respectively), Taylor Sheridan has already proven to be an incredible talent at crafting slow-burning thrillers that also serve as in-depth character studies. His new film, third as a screenwriter and second as a director, may move at quite a faster pace than his previous two screenplays, but it is no less accomplished, either in plot or in character development. Though some may leave the theater feeling that they haven’t seen anything new, and they’d be right to as there isn’t anything particularly flashy or unique in the direction or cinematography, Wind River however finds its strength in its simplicity. It’s a simple story concerning the death of a young girl on a Wyoming reservation, of the tracker (Jeremy Renner) for whom the circumstance strikes too close to home, and of the presumably untested FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) forced to face the darker side of her chosen profession.

 

For Jeremy Renner, Wind River marks a career best. He displays restraint in a role that others would have played far too arrogantly and when he lets us in to share in his character’s painful past, the melodrama inherent in the dialogue is delivered with dignity and humility. Complimenting his performance beautifully is Gil Birmingham as Martin, the father of the murdered girl. Much like his work opposite Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water, his scenes with Renner are the highlight of the film. Every line he delivers reverberates with truth and with the weight of losing of two children, one whose life is thrown away to drug use and one to an untimely, mysterious death. Veteran actor and longtime favorite of mine, Graham Greene is also on hand to give a competent turn as the local sheriff who in equal measures doles out tension-relieving humor as well as reminding us of the gravity of a bleak situation.

 

In amongst a predominately-male cast, Elizabeth Olsen shines. This film was an undoubtedly a tough task, as her character is given no soft options, and her performance gave me cause to reflect on a young Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs. I don’t just draw this comparison because of the fact they both play young agents thrust into a situation beyond their level of experience, but because of the scenes in these films where they are called upon to confidently take command of a room full of men and to show great physicality in moments of unexpected violence. It’s another top mark in her filmography comparable to her breakout in Martha Marcy May Marlene and hopefully, in-between bouts of this bloated Marvel Cinematic Universe nonsense, we’ll continue to see her in roles of some substance.
  
The Turn of The Key
The Turn of The Key
Ruth Ware | 2019 | Thriller
10
7.7 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’ve read some pretty spooky books in my time, but none have had me on the edge of my seat in quite the same way as Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware did! There’s an underlying menace in this book - nothing explicit - and I think that makes it all the more frightening. I can’t even tell you the amount of times I told the lead character, a Nanny from London, to just pack up, leave the children with the housekeeper, and go home!

So, as I’ve already begun to say, Rowan is a Nanny who has been employed to look after the children of a wealthy husband and wife architecture team. They work away from home, and need someone to take care of their young children (plus a 14 year old who comes home from boarding school at the weekend). It all seems very rushed, and when Rowan turns up to take her post, Sandra (the mum) drops the bombshell that they will both be leaving for a week the next day. The children haven’t even had a chance to get to know Rowan with their mum there! Sandra leaves a huge folder with instructions for EVERYTHING regarding the children, and a very quick lesson on ‘Happy’, the house computer system (kind of like Alexa, but less chatty and far less easy to use!). I would’ve said something here, but Rowan seems to be desperate for the job. She seems to be a nice enough person, but she does make allusions to her temper, and does seem to lose it with the children quite a bit. But I’m not surprised - she is woken up every night, either by bumps and pacing sounds, or Happy seemingly having a huge glitch and playing loud music whilst turning on lights throughout the house in the early hours. Well, Maddie, the 8 year old, did warn her about the displeasure of the ghosts at her interview.....

I loved how creepy this was - I didn’t know what was real and what Rowan was imagining because of sleep deprivation, but it made all of the days seem to merge together. You could feel how tired and scared she must have been.

The last fifth of the book was something else though. I can’t think of many books where I’ve actually told a character out loud “No!” (It made my dogs stop and look!). The last few (yes, FEW!) revelations and twists kept the tension running right up to the end.

Have I said that I loved this book? This is my second Ruth Ware book, and it certainly won’t be my last - this is even better than The Death of Mrs Westaway (if that’s possible!).
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book - you did it again! Another absolutely cracking choice!
  
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Spree (2020)
Spree (2020)
2020 | Comedy, Thriller
8
6.1 (10 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
When he was younger, Kurt Kunkle was a streamer but life got in the way and he had to get a job as a 'Spree' driver (an Uber driver). Now he has an Idea of haw to get his viewers back, by streaming him self as he goes on a killing Spree of his Spree customers.
Spree is a warning about the impact streaming and Vlogging can have, both on the streamers and the viewers. Both Kurt and Jessie are shown as being addicted to getting views, although for different reasons; Kurt feels that, if he isn't getting views and streaming everything then he is nothing, he even looks down on others because they are not streaming. Jessie, on the other hand streams to get her act and message across and (to begin with) see's herself as a different, more superior kind of Vlogger to Kurt.
The viewer are shown as being detached from the reality of Kurt's actions (At least until the very final scene). To begin with they think it's all fake, where as Kurt is shown as thinking some other blogs are real, and no-one is really interested until the killings get more extreme, then the viewers don't seem to care whether it's real or not and even involve themselves by egging Kurt on and joining in with polls.
The Spree customers are shown almost as stereotypes, most are self centred and obsessed with their own streams, or they are racist or sexist.
The story is good and not overly reliant on gore, a lot of the actual kills are made off screen with just blood that needs to be washed off the car. One death you don't even see.
Spree is shot mainly as Kurt's stream and often goes split screen as he crosses over with other streams an, at times this can be a bit distracting as, as well as the video footage you also see the comments which are, most of the time, flowing too fast to read, only slowing down when necessary or flashing up on the main screen if they are important enough.
This is the only problem i had with Spree though. As a light weight slasher it lacks some of the tension (at least at the beginning) you might expect but still has some decent kills and manages to make some social statements although the biggest one is probably after everything has happen and we are shown how the video lives on on the web even when it has supposedly been taken down, which is odd because this also has the feel of a set up for a possible sequel.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Tenet (2020) in Movies

Aug 28, 2020 (Updated Aug 28, 2020)  
Tenet (2020)
Tenet (2020)
2020 | Action
Confusingly brilliant
When it comes to Christopher Nolan, I may be a little biased. I’ve loved every film he’s ever made, and most of his films feature in my list of favourite films of all time. So unsurprisingly, I loved Tenet even if it did completely mess up my head.

This film is a complete mind f**k. Excuse the language, but there’s no better way to describe it. Right from the opening scene, you can appreciate the sheer brilliance of this whilst being totally confused at the same time. And I’ll admit I spent the majority of this film wondering what on earth was going on, but that doesn’t make it any less of an enjoyable thrill ride. As with all of Nolan’s films, the cinematography is top notch and you really can’t fault it. The action scenes are epic and hugely impressive, especially when you consider that they’ve been done without CGI. I wish other filmmakers would take not when it comes to their over reliance on CGI! The score and soundtrack are fantastic too, so dramatic and really help with the increasing the suspense and tension.

Cast-wise, I had been concerned about John David Washington mainly because I haven’t seen him in much, but my concerns were unwarranted. He makes for a likeable lead and action hero and can definitely hold the weight of this film. Robert Pattinson, who I’ve never really liked thanks to Twilight, is also rather good and I actually wish his character had been in this more. And I spent the last part of the film debating if Aaron Taylor-Johnson was Ives (he was) who also should’ve been in this a lot more.

Despite my gushing, this film isn’t perfect, I found Elizabeth Debicki’s character Kat rather irritating at times and felt like her character could have been made into someone better. I also felt when there were dips in the action and the film ran into some quieter moments, my mind tended to wander to try and dissect and understand everything I’d already seen so far which probably made me miss more! The science behind the inversion is pretty deep and confusing, especially if you try and overthink it like I did.

That said, how this film unfolds and it’s ending are brilliantly done. There are a lot of lightbulb moments in this towards the end that made me go “ohhh” when I realised it explained or referred to an earlier moment in the film. And the ending itself was both unpredicted, genius, and also tugged on the old heartstrings a little. I loved this film a lot, but I definitely need to watch it again to really appreciate it fully.
  
Show all 4 comments.
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Kevin Phillipson (10072 KP) Aug 28, 2020

Totally agree Sarah on your review

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Erika (17789 KP) Sep 16, 2020

I've seen it 3x now because there's nothing else out! It does get even better with multiple viewings!