Saturday is Horror Day #224 - Nosferatu (2024)

 Nosferatu (2024)

Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) dreams of a man, a man who wishes to possess her. A man she wishes to be possessed by. Is he real? She doesn't know, but she is all too aware that she is a newly married wife with a husband she loves, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) Thomas is a rising star with his law firm, and eager to please. When he learns that he is to deal with a new client, he is pleased, until he finds that the man is infirm and cannot travel, so he must travel to the man - to his home in the distant Carpathian Mountains.

Of course he does not refuse, although Ellen pleads with him not to go. On his arrival, the local folk are less than welcoming, especially one he has revealed his destination - Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard)'s castle. The trip to the castle is an eerie one, and his reception by Count Orlok just as odd. Especially his obsession with Ellen, whom he spotted in a locket - and promptly took, refusing to return. Things go from bad to worse when he finds himself a prisoner in Orlok's castle, and he discovers the true nature of the client he has come so far to serve.

Meanwhile, at home, an anxious Ellen confides her fears to her best friend, Anna (Emma Corrin), who is married, with children, to Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and pregnant with another child. Ellen, who has always been supernaturally sensitive, continues to have "visions" of her dream lover, suffering from mysterious fits which alarm her friend. They send for an eminent professor, Albin Eberhart von Franz (Willem Dafoe), who arrives, as well as Dr Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson). They are at a loss to explain her fits, and the suggestion is made to send her to an asylum for the insane to safeguard the others. And Ellen is concerned that Thomas has not returned from his business trip - and he is long overdue.

Nosferatu is a reboot of the original 1922 film, which was itself a ripoff of Dracula, for which the makers were sued. It is very similar to that, and to the 1979 version, which I previously reviewed. Cinematically, this film is breathtaking, each shot carefully planned and framed. The performances are extra-ordinary, particularly that of Lily-Rose Depp who is, of course, the daughter of Johnny Depp. The story does indeed resonate with what came before, but in its own way. It was very well done, but at the same time I found myself somewhat dissatisfied in ways I can't completely explain. The dynamic between Ellen and Orlok drew me in at the beginning, but I feel as if it could have used some more depth, especially considering the ending (which I won't reveal, of course)

I did like it much better than the 1979 Klaus Kinski version, but I felt the storytelling was perhaps uneven. I'm sure a lot of people will disagree. I'm not denying it's a very good film. But perhaps not as satisfying as I would have wanted. I'll give this film 4 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #160 - Poor Things, Dead Shack

 Poor Things

Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) is a brilliant and scarred scientist who discovers a woman (Emma Stone) who has just drowned herself. To his horror, he discovers she is pregnant. In an unorthodox move, he removes the brain of the infant and transplants it into the woman, saving her life. He names her Bella, and watches as she must re-develop from an infant, despite having the body of a grown woman. Godwin's assistant Max (Ramy Youssef) falls in love with Bella and they become engaged. All is well until Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) comes along, and leads Bella down paths she has never imagined, opening the world to her.

Poor Things is a creative re-imagining of the Frankenstein story. In this case, the scientist is the one with 

scars, the result of his father's direct experimentation upon his son. The cinematography is very lovely and well done, the acting superb, especially Mark Ruffalo as the villain Wedderburn. And yet... and yet... I found myself very disturbed because at the end of the day, Bella, despite having a woman's body, had the mind of a child, so what happened felt... wrong.  I just couldn't help but feel disturbed that she was having sex.

Be warned, there is a ton of sex in this movie. A TON OF SEX. I understand what the director was going for. The independence of women, the ability to control their own sex lives, to not need men to control them. I don't have a problem with the prostitution aspect, that doesn't bother me. It's just the idea that intellectually and emotionally, Bella is a child. Maturity does not happen that quickly. Plus, although many will disagree, I didn't see Emma Stone's performance as the tour de force some have suggested it was. I thought her performance rather awkward at times, and stiff. I would never watch this again, spend another two and a half hours on it. It's a matter of taste. Poor Things was just not to mine. I'll give this film 3 Stars.

Dead Shack

Jason (Matthew Nelson-Mahood) is invited to go camping with his friend Colin's (Gabriel LaBelle) family, including Colin's sister Summer (Lizzie Boys), their dad Roger (Donavan Stinson) and Roger's girlfriend Lisa (Valerie Tian). They end up in a cheap cabin in the middle of nowhere. The teens are pretty free to do as they want while the so-called adults get drunk. They wander through the woods and discover what appears to be an abandoned house, with a lot of junk cars on the property. But there is more here than meets the eye as they quickly discover this neighbor (Lauren Holly) is definitely not the neighborly type.

This film combines horror and humor in a tale of cannibals and zombies. It has some funny moments, 

including the drunken father who is too focused on drinking, his young girlfriend, and being his kid's friend to be the leader they need in a crisis. One has to wonder how Lauren Holly ended p here in a suit that's a cross between dominatrix and welder, but that's anyone's guess. Maybe she is friends with the director or something. Not the best, not the worst, but not a complete waste of time either. It's only 81 minutes, and I'm fine with that. I'll give this film 3 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #25 - Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave, The Lighthouse

 The Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave

Just when you thought the zombies were a thing of the past.... Uncle Charles (Peter Coyote) is determined to make money from the cannisters of Trioxin he looted from the Army. He sells one to foreign agents, but they insist on a demonstration. To prove that this is the real deal, he injects a couple of dead bodies. Is anyone surprised when this goes horribly wrong? Little does anyone know that he has two more cannisters hidden away in his brother's attic.

Charles has been raising his nephew Julian (John Keefe) since the death of their parents. Naturally Julian is devastated to be handed at note, while at school, telling him of the death of his uncle. Alone in his late parents' house, he begins to tidy things up and comes across something weird in the attic. Looks like something was dragged, but to where? He enters a secret door only to discover two strange metal cannisters.

Julian calls his girlfriend Jenny (Jenny Mollen) and then they decide to consult with their nerd friend 

Cody (Cody Hardrict). Cody runs some tests and determines that the liquid inside the cannister has some properties very similar to ecstasy. Against Julian's wishes, he produces large quantities of the stuff in order to make some money. Luckily for him, raves are popular, and Halloween is only a week away. Jenny's brother, Jeremy (Cain Manoli) is throwing a huge rave. What better way to turn people on and make money? Unbeknownst to all of them, though, two Russian Interpol agents are on the case, Aldo (Claudiu Bleont) and Gino (Sorin Cocis). 

I am really glad that this is the last of this series, cause it's really abysmal. I suspect they were going for a combination of humor and horror, but what they came up with was just cringe and suck. Some people might consider it so stupid it's funny, but I'm not one of them. First off, these are the same characters from the last film and yet none of the kids remember the zombies, seemingly, and seem shocked at what they discover in the cannister. Also, what happened to Julian's little brother Jake? Nowhere to be seen. 

In each film the zombies get worse and worse. But in this one, they are using the drug known as Z and producing zombies out of live people, which makes no sense. If zombies are dead people brought back to "life" - and I use the term loosely - then how can you take living people and create zombies?

The Interpol agents are ridiculous and cartoonish, but I suspect they are meant to double as comic relief. But I did some digging and I discovered that Interpol works with government agencies, but does not have its own agents. It's purpose is intelligence, not enforcement. So that whole subplot sucks from the start. Not to mention the ridiculous shooting that goes on.

Another thing I disliked was that the filmmaker took every opportunity he could find - even if he had to create them - to show naked boobs. Like a college frat boy gone wild, as though he's never seen them before (who knows, maybe he hasn't).

This film isn't funny and it isn't scary, and I would not recommend it. I'm giving it a very shaky 1 Star just because someone might appreciate the stupidity.

The Lighthouse

Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) and Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) arrived together on a remote island to serve a four week maintenance shift. Wake is a veteran lightkeeper, while Winslow is new at the task, having previously been a lumberjack. He is to replace a former partner of Wake, who went mad.

The cantankerous Wake is quick to let Winslow know how it's going to be, and he will be the one in charge, no matter what the manual says. And that includes keeping watch in the lamp. Winslow grumbles but there isn't anything he can do about it. The older man is a harsh taskmaster and bullies his young assistant, forcing him to work harder and harder. Winslow is stewing, both about his treatment, and because of lack of access to the lamp, which bothers him no end.

Winslow can't help but wonder what is happening up in the lamp, but Wake keeps it locked and Winslow can't get to the key. A teetotaler when he arrived, Wake has him drinking more and more until they become regular drinking buddies. Winslow found a small figuring of a mermaid, and in his quieter moments, he masturbates to its image. One time he caught a glimpse inside the lamp, and oh what he saw....

Bothered by a sea gull, Winslow kills it, despite having been told by Wake that that is the worst thing a sailor can do. And sure enough, a rough wind begins to blow, bringing a terrible storm, and they are unable to get off the island when they're supposed to because no ship can get close enough. It's only a matter of time until truths come out, and true ugliness is revealed.

This is one unusual film. Directed by Robert Eggers, and written by Robert and Max Eggers, it is a deep look into the psyche of two men whom circumstances bring together, and whose very isolation threatens them both. The film is shot in black and white, which only enhances the eerie quality of the story. There is some damn fine photography here, so let me give a shout out to the director of photography, Jarin Blaschke.  And the film editor, Louise Ford. These are two very fine performances by Dafoe and Pattinson, for which I understand they received no recognition at all from the Oscars. Not surprising if you consider that those awards are so politically based it's not funny, and an Oscar is basically meaningless anymore.

If you watch the film and have to look up what the ending means, don't feel bad, I did too. But wait until it's over, let it sink in for a moment, then read to your heart's content. This is a very fine film, and I'll give it a string 4.5 Stars.