Scary Stories (from a Dark Allie)

I’m a bit tired tonight so this will be short.

(Spoilers ahead because it’s kind of hard to talk about this one without them) I’d seen this movie before, so I should have remembered how thematically similar it is to last night’s movie. It’s…not quite as good, though.

Overall, I really like this film. It’s well cast, well acted, and beautifully filmed. It’s not perfect, and it’s not scary, but it is entertaining.

Well, this was a not-so-subtle, incredibly heavy handed social commentary on, well, social commentary. Or more specifically, social media and the voyeuristic tendencies it brings out in people.

This is another made-for-TV adaptation of a Stephen King novel. One of my favorite Stephen King novels, in fact! It’s second only to The Regulators, which takes place in the same universe, sort of.

After watching this for the first time tonight, I’m wondering how had I not seen this before tonight? It must be the end of the year, because I’m pretty sure I’ve used that joke before.

This was weird, dark, and disturbing, and entirely about family, love, and loss, so of course I liked it. I’m continually impressed with Rory Culkin’s performances, especially after tonight. He didn’t just play Jack here – he was the titular character.

I liked this one about as much as I liked the first one. The camerawork and lighting was a bit better. The characters were almost as unlikable as the first group, but I’m a little more forgiving because they’re a bunch of college kids.

While the concept of this film is reasonably interesting (though not terribly original), it never quite falls into place. Everything feels just a little bit off. It’s watchable, but nothing special.

Okay, a lot of things make more sense the second time around now that I’ve actually seen the first film. Not everything, though. This film left me with about as many unanswered questions as the first. Which is okay – I don’t expect every story to be perfect, especially in horror movies. And for the most part the plot makes sense and there aren’t any obvious holes.

Watching this movie tonight, I realized I’d never seen it before. Which wouldn’t be worth noting except that I’d watched its sequel last year because I thought I’d already seen this one. I probably should have realized this when I didn’t recognize any of the characters or context from the original in the sequel, but nope. It took watching this in its entirety to realize I’d never watched it before.

I liked this movie about as much as I liked the original. Which is to say, I liked it okay.

I forgot that this was another Michael Bay remake until the Platinum Dunes opening logo popped up. And in fact I almost forgot again while I was watching the film, which says something. Right up until the sex scene, which had Michael Bay written all over it.

Aside from that, it’s quite tame compared to some of his other remakes. It stays mostly true to the original film (based on the book, based on the questionably true story) except for a few minor details.

(Spoilers ahead) We’re in the last month of the year, so I feel it’s time to admit something: I’m a sucker for a happy ending.