Scary Stories (from a Dark Allie)

What’s with all these relatively short movies feeling like they’re dragging on so slowly? I kept kind of losing interest in things, but I ultimately found a good amount to like here.

Okay, this is another movie I was all in on for the first hour before it got weird and a bit silly.

Also, it’s French. As in, English subtitles for a French-language film. Which I wasn’t expecting for a movie called Deep Fear.

I went back and forth a bit on how highly to rate this movie, but it eventually won me over. There are a lot of pieces that don’t add up…until they do, and then they really add up.

I don’t think this movie was great, but I do think it took the best parts of the original and tried to make the most of them in a remake. I don’t think it always succeeded, but I can appreciate the attempt.

I was really torn on how to rate this one. The opening and closing were fantastic, but the whole middle seemed to drag on. And it’s not a long movie.

Okay, I’m glad this is the last Scream movie I have to watch this year. And honestly, I was prepared for this to be way worse than it was. You read about things being “critically panned” and it gets in your head and…yeah.

And yet, once again, this movie was fine.

I first saw this movie on a plane in 2022. It turns out I hadn’t actually seen the previous film before, so there were some references (the lemon squares?) I didn’t catch until this viewing, but otherwise I don’t feel like I missed much. I was under the (mistaken) impression this movie was supposed to be a full reboot anyway, so I wasn’t expecting to need the context when I watched it the first time - and I didn’t, the story made sense to me.

Well, that’s kind of a bummer…this is the first installment I could barely make it through. And it’s the last film Wes Craven directed. Both the last film in the Scream series directed by him, and the last film he ever directed.

Oh, did I forget to mention yesterday that I’d be watching all the remaining movies from the Scream franchise this week? Hope you don’t mind!

I’m a little worried I might mind by the end of it…I’m not sure I ever saw this one or Scream 4. Some scenes felt familiar but it could just be because there’s not a whole lot of “new” in this.

Look, I don’t think anything was ever going to live up to the first movie, not even (especially not?) a sequel as self-aware as this one. And it doesn’t, but it’s fine.

Honestly, as soon as the opening scene started, I remembered most of this movie, which probably didn’t improve this viewing for me. But it’s fine. The movie, I mean. It’s just fine.

I love it when remakes/reboots are meaningful and can stand on their own, and I feel like this movie does just that. I liked it about as much as the original, which is impressive considering that that was a Joel Schumacher film, and you know I love those.

This one’s also a bit darker and scarier than the original, also impressive given its PG-13 rating.

When I originally picked Dead of Winter for this week, I wasn’t fully expecting it to actually BE the dead of winter for us, but I probably should have. We’re blanketed in snow and it’s freezing outside. Below freezing, even.

But if I was hoping this movie would keep me warm, I was wrong. There’s a good story in there (and apparently this was a loose remake of a 1945 film?), but it takes way too long to tell it, and there’s not enough tension or action to keep the audience hooked for so long.

I read the book this movie is based on, The Cabin at the End of the World, several years back, and really liked it. I’ve liked most of Paul Tremblay’s work, though surprisingly more of the longer works than his short stories.

Anyway, I was excited last year when I heard this was being made into a movie, so I reread the book in anticipation before it was release.