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Considering the Cinema Horror Movie Review: The Perfection (2019)

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By Jay of the Dead

Written Movie Review: The Perfection

There’s a wild little Horror flick that released on Netflix on May 24, 2019. I got up early and watched it that same morning before going to work. It was getting a lot of buzz, and I agree with what everyone says: Watch it before someone spoils it for you.

Rest assured, I will not spoil “The Perfection” for you, so you can feel completely at ease to finish reading this review, spoiler-free.

“The Perfection” stars Allison Williams (the girlfriend in “Get Out”) as Charlotte, a cellist who took a several-year sabbatical away from her blossoming career, in order to help care for her terminally ill mother. As the film opens, we are at the end of her mother’s life, so Charlotte is ready to return to her elite music conservatory, where another fantastic cellist, Elizabeth (Logan Browning), has stepped into Charlotte’s shoes. At this point in the film, only a few minutes in, we can tell two things: Charlotte obviously feels despondent about the detour her life has taken, and it seems that Elizabeth has taken her rightful place and perhaps all her opportunities.

And that is absolutely all I can reveal about the plot of “The Perfection.” The reason I can’t tell you more is “The Perfection” is full of surprises, twists and turns. It is the type of film that redefines itself as it unfolds, thereby redefining our expectations and conclusions about what it is or what it will become. Continue reading →

Considering the Cinema Horror Movie Review: The Hunted (2013)

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By Jay of the Dead

Written Movie Review: The Hunted 2013

When a film opens with the phrase, “Based on Actual Events” or something of the like, you can usually dismiss it altogether. We’ve learned over the decades that this typically means there is a kernel of truth that inspired the story.

Writer-director (and star) Josh Stewart was inspired by actual events that he experienced to write “The Hunted” (2013). I’ll come back to this story at the end of the review, but here’s the premise of the movie: Jake (Josh Stewart) is trying to launch a hunting reality TV show, so he travels to the woods of West Virginia with his camera man (Ronnie Gene Blevins) and tries to bag a large buck that’s been eluding hunters. Jake’s plan is to shoot a decent proof-of-concept, pilot episode that he hopes to sell to investors and a network.

But the two TV hosts become increasingly concerned when they keep hearing blood-curdling (and I mean blood-curdling) screams in the darkness of the woods. Is it an injured bobcat? Or is it a wailing ghost woman?

So, what you have here is a Found Footage film that’s in the vein of “The Blair Witch Project” (1999), but even better for my money. (Yes, co-directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick created a historically significant Horror film. Even Roger Ebert listed “The Blair Witch Project” among his “10 Most Influential Films of the Century”!) So, I’m not trying to take anything away from “The Blair Witch Project,” especially since it probably informed “The Hunted.” But 14 years later, we have a film that works even better to me. Continue reading →

Considering the Cinema Movie Review: Long Shot (2019)

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By Jason Pyles

The Monster Problem

All movie reviews are inevitably burdened (and occasionally blessed) with subjectivity. There is no such thing as a purely “objective” review, nor should there be.

So, I will confess up front that, while I fancy myself as a person who has a good sense of humor, I typically don’t appreciate films that are Comedies. I simply don’t find them very funny. And perhaps part of the issue is that I prefer films that are dark, violent, crime-infested and troubling.

This same weekend, “The Intruder” (2019), was released in theaters, starring Dennis Quaid, Meagan Good and Michael Ealy. That film appears to be a Horror film, or at the very least, a Thriller, but I “boycotted” supporting that film in the theater due to its egregiously, three-act-revealing trailer.

Therefore, I opted to see “Long Shot” Saturday night, a Comedy starring Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen. “Long Shot” was directed by Jonathan Levin, who also directed “Snatched” (the Amy Schumer / Goldie Hawn trainwreck). As ominous as that seems, I still had hope because Jonathan Levin wrote “Warm Bodies” and “The Wackness.” But most of all, I had faith in Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen. Continue reading →