Horror Movie Talk

• Weapons Review

  Synopsis When seventeen children from the same classroom run out of their homes in the middle of the night and vanish without a trace, a city is in ruin trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how this happened, where the children have gone to, who could have orchestrated such a thing, and why this occurred.  Review This film is mind blowing. I absolutely loved Cregger’s Barbarian, he did something unique and subverted all expectations in his 2022 horror hit so this film was one of my most anticipated of this year, and it did not let me down. I was deeply moved by the end of it, and if I wasn’t in a full theater, I would have let the tears flow. I loved this film. It made me really sad. The way this story is told through its individual characters’ experiences instead of chronologically works in its favor, and as we get more into the stories of our main characters, the horrors of this story unfold in shocking, brutal, and unexpected ways. I am shook to my core more than I thought I would be. I was almost catatonic leaving the theater, relying on my muscle memory to get me back to my car while I pondered the events of the film. This is a poignant and relevant story about the state of this country, about our lack of community, our lack of care for our children and for each other. It shows us the butterfly effect of thoughtless actions and unwillingness to protect one another and how that leads to the destruction of family, love, and the collective. Our community will fail if we continue to turn a blind eye, if we continue to fail each other, and fail our children. The call is coming from inside the house. As if those themes aren’t horrifying enough, there is one particular jumpscare that got me and my entire theater. There’s great gore, and also some great comic relief in an otherwise melancholy film. The acting is great, especially from Cary Christopher (who played the little kid Alex). I loved this movie. No notes. And if you are struggling with what this movie is truly about, there is quite literally a house-sized AK-47 thirty minutes into the movie to remind you. Score 10/10

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• Together Review

  Get ready for a sticky situation as Horror Movie Talk reviews Together, the latest horror movie starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Synopsis Long time unmarried couple Tim and Millie move to a rural town to follow a job opportunity for Millie. Tim leaves behind his circle of friends and his stalled career as a performing musician behind in the city. The stress of the move, sexual troubles, and recent trauma put a strain on their relationship, but they remain committed to each other.  When they go on a hike near their house marked by bells, they stumble into a sunken cave. After drinking from the pool of water in the cave, Tim and Millie get into a sticky situation, and Tim begins to compulsively follow Millie around town. Review of Together If you’ve seen the trailer of the movie, you get the basic premise: parts of their bodies get stuck together and they find it hard to separate. But instead of treating it like an eighties sitcom plot, it’s used as a foil for body horror. It’s an interesting premise that is ripe for meta relationship commentary, and I was interested with where they would go with it. However, in the end, they don’t really do much with the opportunity to explore the theme of codependence and the loss of identity that can come from a long term relationship. Part of the problem is that the script keeps the relationship in the center of the movie in a weird limbo state where it’s not headed towards separation or marriage. Others might disagree, but I think choosing one or the other early on in the plot has more potential for satire and commentary. I didn’t feel like there were real stakes or an emotional core to the film. As a result, the scenes of them getting stuck feel arbitrary and progress predictably, but don’t seem to have a lot of emotional impact. The majority of these situations are shown in the trailer, so there isn’t much surprise when they come, the only thing you get are a couple shots directly looking at the merged body parts. I wish they would have gone harder and done some more extreme and creative body horror throughout, but they leave the majority for the film's climax. In the end it’s not enough to save the lack of an emotional core or strong direction in the plot. With recent body horror bangers like The Substance and The Ugly Stepsister, this feels like an undercooked entry into the sub-genre in comparison. Score 5/10

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• The Others Review

  Synopsis The Others stars Nicole Kidman and her two children finding herself trapped in a bizarre and perplexing marriage to Tom Cruise. Oh wait, that’s just her real life at the time. In The Others she plays Grace a widow in post WWII Jersey living in a mansion with her two photosensitive children Anne and Nicolas. When three workers show up on her doorstep, she hires them as servants to help take care of the children and the estate to replace her previous staff that recently walked off the job. Soon after they are hired strange occurrences start happening and unexplained sounds start emanating from empty rooms. Could it be ghosts? Are her children messing with her? Are the servants trying to drive her mad? Are scientologists trying to silence her? You’ll have to watch the whole twisty turny movie to find out. Review of The Others Drawing heavy inspiration from the Turn of the Screw, this is a really well constructed supernatural film that has more than one trick up it’s sleeve for the audience. Nicole Kidman’s performance and the up tied and high strung Grace is what ties all the tension together. The haunted house genre is well trod territory, and this film explores all of the tropes associated with it adeptly and convincingly. It’s well paced, doling out little clues about the multiple mysteries surrounding the characters, their motivations, and the occurrences in the house. There’s enough revelations and twists and turns that it really does string the audience along until the last 15 mins or so before everything is revealed. This is my second full viewing since I watched it in the theater in 2001, and it’s one of those films that is as enjoyable the second time if you know the ending. I don’t remember being blown away at the time, since it felt like it was riding off the coattails of the surprise blockbuster The Sixth Sense released two years earlier. However now, I can recognize the masterful craftsmanship of Alejandro Amenábar’s script and direction.  It’s an exceptional example of gothic horror, exploring the darker aspects of life and death, maintaining an oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere, and leaning heavily on suspense and mystery. Score 10/10

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• I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Review

  Synopsis In a world where love is in the air and murderous fishhook men abound, a group of friends reunite when Danica and Teddy decide to marry and throw an engagement party. Once the normies head out for the night, the gang decide to smoke a joint and go for a joyride. Once parked at their favorite spot to watch some fireworks (which is just on the edge of a bend on a mountain pass), Teddy inadvertently causes a car wreck which results in the driver flying off the cliff in their Dodge pickup. To keep Teddy out of trouble, they decide to never tell anyone what they did that summer. However, somehow someway, someone finds out what they did last summer and they wont stop until vengeance is paid in blood. Review Right off the bat I will say this movie did make me chuckle. Not from any joke or comical scene but from the production company being named Original Films Productions. It's no secret that this film is aimed at capitalizing off the trend of rebooting or updating classic slasher movies. This trend seemed to have started with the Halloween reboot and has spread through beloved horror franchises such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Scream. But now I Know What You Did Last Summer wants a piece of the pie. So here it is. I won't say that this movie is entirely bad. It kept me entertained enough and the acting was pretty decent for the most part. The thing that bothered me most in this movie was how heavily it relied on slasher tropes. It doesn't try very hard to be unique, and literally plays off the same exact premise as the original with a few twists. To be honest, if you are really into slashers and that kind of horror movie I think you should be outraged by what filmmakers are doing to your sub-genre. But if you just like all things horror and want something to watch, it's not the worst thing in the world. Score 4/10

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• The Amityville Horror (1979) Review

  This week we cover the original movie based on the true fake story about the haunting of the Lutz family in Long Island. Synopsis The Amityville Horror is based on a real life made up story about the Lutz family moving into a house that was the scene of a brutal murder of an entire family. They soon find out that the house is haunted or possessed or something. You can tell the house is evil because of the way it is. George Lutz played by Josh Brolin’s dad seems to slowly go insane while Lois Lane gradually becomes Wendy Torrence. A priest also is in the movie sometimes. Review of The Amityville Horror (1979) The Amityville Horror story is probably one of the most famous hauntings in America. Likely even more famous than this movie. It was one of the first investigations by Lorraine and Ed Warren on whom the Conjuring Movies are based. This film is a grab bag of haunting tropes that later got perfected by better movies. It really felt like the writer couldn’t decide what type of haunting was going on, so they covered every base. It could be haunted by the ghosts of the murder victims, possessed by a demon, cursed by a witch, cursed by native Americans, or just a simple portal to hell. Take your pick. It ends up being a rather unsatisfying story because we’re never offered any real answers.  The Lutz family starts out promising as protagonists — George and Kathy are introduced as newlyweds with Kethy having three kids from a previous marriage. However, this interesting family dynamic is never fully developed and a lot of drama is left on the table.  The plotline of Father Delaney feels tacked on, and never really pays off dramatically. He has one of the most memorable scenes in the movie, but it’s bizarre that the main characters never learn about what happened to him. The movie ends up being an example of the pitfall of having a lot of plot, and no story. The characters seem one dimensional, and the ending feels unsatisfying. Score 5/10

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