Scary Stories (from a Dark Allie)

Despite its distinct lack of Lauren Ashley Carter, I liked this movie. I realize it’s a remake of the Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters, but since I’m generally subtitles-averse it’s unlikely that I’ll watch the original any time soon. But I like Emily Browning (I have a thing for wide-eyed brunettes I guess?) and I liked this movie.

This movie raises a lot of questions (and eyebrows), but I found myself unable to turn away from it. From the straight-out-of-the 1980s soundtrack to the sudden, over-the-top violence, this movie is ridiculous and weird. And, you know, I like that sort of thing.

I think I have a new favorite movie. Or at least new favorite movie of the moment. Maybe it’s because of my newfound adoration of Lauren Ashley Carter. Maybe it’s because the movie is black and white and my favorite shade of pink.

Maybe it’s because I discovered that you can change the appearance of subtitles on Netflix to make them giant and bright pink (and you haven’t lived until you’ve seen subtitles screaming FRENCH LOUNGE MUSIC at you in bright pink).

I hesitate to admit that I tend to stay away from movies made in the 1960s or earlier. I don’t have a great reason for it, either – I finally saw a Hitchcock film (Vertigo) this year and thought it was pretty good, and it’s not like I’ve had many bad experiences that might steer me away from old movies.

I’m torn on how I feel about this movie. I think it’s got a lot going for it – an interesting story, a pretty terrifying antagonist, and familial drama as a backdrop. But the pieces don’t all fit quite right and it frequently feels like there’s more focus on being a dark and mysterious piece of art than there is on telling a scary story. I don’t like films that are artsy for the sake of being artsy (though I’ll admit that may just be personal preference).

Okay, can I just be a fangirl for a minute here? Not about this film (though I do like it), but about Lauren Ashley Carter (who plays Ada). She was awesome as Peggy in last night’s movie, awesome as Ada in this movie (though – oh, and spoiler warning – I do wonder if she’s going to get pigeonholed as the girl who gets pregnant by a close relative), and apparently awesome in real life.

Wow. I liked this movie way more than I anticipated. I watched it in broad daylight and it was still absolutely terrifying.

This is a reasonably interesting take on an old story, but it’s too ambitious for its format.

I really liked this addition to the franchise. I liked that it serves as a sequel (in fact, it starts directly after the events of the original) while also providing some interesting and relevant background to the original.

Here’s a Michael Bay remake I can get behind. Sure, that’s mostly because I wouldn’t have realized Michael Bay had anything to do with this if I hadn’t looked it up, but still.

I don’t have too much to say about this one either. I like Tobe Hooper, and this is definitely the film that put him in the spotlight, but it’s also definitely not his best film.

I was excited to see this one finally available on Amazon Prime Video, but a little disappointed now that I’ve actually seen it.

The hype was definitely better than the movie on this one.

I like this one quite a bit, though I have very little to say about it.