Scary Stories (from a Dark Allie)

Okay, so, fair warning, I’m going to watch all five Scary Movies this week. I figure I did it for Scream, I might as well do it for this. I’ll probably regret it by the end of the week. I might already regret it now.

This is a TENSE movie. It’s slower than I normally prefer, but it works here - because a lot of the tension is internal, the slow build and slow unraveling of everyone involved fits with the storytelling and doesn’t feel too drawn out.

I had fun with this one! Despite, or perhaps because of, how awfully relevant each of these stories still feels today.

I loved this movie. It’s not a terrific scary movie, but it is an epic, fantastic story. And EVERYONE in the movie was just so good.

This movie is is a bit heavy, and slow (and English-subtitled, as it’s primarily in Wolof). It’s beautifully acted and the story is an interesting one.

Other than “a whole lot of WTF,” I wasn’t really sure what to expect from a film referred to in at least one article as “the movie that traumatized Sundance”, and whose director defended the film by saying “only like 20 people out of like 400” walked out.

And I feel like I did get more than JUST a whole lot of WTF… but I don’t really have the words to describe what I got?

It’s been a while since I’d watched a Saw movie. I was a bit worried - especially since the last one I watched was originally billed as the “final chapter” (though I did like that one).

Anyway, I guess this is technically a standalone story? With Darren Lynn Bousman returning to direct. And I was pleasantly surprised by it.

This movie started out a bit slow, and had me worried. Films relying on very little dialogue can be a bit rough, but not always a disaster (see The Monster, and Silent House which I could’ve sworn I already reviewed but apparently need to fit into this year’s schedule instead…).

And this film picked its pace up quite nicely and kept me entertained throughout. And it turns out I really like Kiersey Clemons? She was fantastic in this.

Well, it’s usually not a great sign when I only realize halfway through a movie that I’ve seen it before. Especially one with Marisa Tomei!

I thought this movie was beautiful, hypnotic, weird, and smart, and just a little too long.

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope for this holiday you do literally anything but watch this movie.

I think there’s something to be said for a movie that gives you exactly what you expect of it, and that’s basically how I felt about this one.

I don’t have too much to say about this movie, but I didn’t like it very much.