Can we play the shooty game,Uncle David? I don’t want usto get in trouble, Felix. We’ll have to play it with the sound off.
Well, there’s always the award “Disappointment of the year”. I’m afraid this year the film “Little Monsters” will take the credits for this. I had regained confidence in the combination of horror and comedy after watching “Monster Party” and “The dead don’t die“. I’ve always had a problem with it when moviemakers mix these two genres. But these last two films managed to rekindle my enthusiasm. Well, “Little Monsters” has nipped that enthusiasm in the bud. There were some highlights in this zombie movie. But overall, I was plagued by a yawning attack and I was constantly annoyed about certain situations.
Not my kind of humor.
I do understand that all kinds of new perspectives have to be devised nowadays to make the zombie genre even more interesting. In “The dead don’t die” they largely succeeded in that. But that’s personal taste. Coincidentally this film used the type of humor that I like the most. In “Little Monsters” the humor was generally absent. The absurdist tone of “The dead don’t die” was traded for flat and childish humor. Believe me, the amount of irritation exceeded the allowable level several times. After 2 minutes I was already annoyed by the opening scene where Dave (Alexander England) and his girlfriend constantly yelled at each other. Just like their friends, I felt ashamed on their behalf. And that wasn’t the only time while watching this film.
Lupita dazzles.
First, let me list the most positive aspects. Without a doubt, there’s first and foremost the presence of Lupita Nyong’o. This Oscar winner moved me in “12 Years a slave“. And played a hair-raising role in the movie “Us“. In this movie, she’s such a ray of sunlight with that dazzling yellow dress. Probably strategically chosen so it contrasts sharply with the splattered blood. And with her ukulele and catchy version of Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off“, it seemed like I was looking at a modern Maria from “The Sound of Music“. Certainly when the entire classroom joins her with the song like a real Von Trapp family. But apart from the fact that she’s very musical and fashion-conscious in this film, you also have to admit that Lupita is simply a beautiful woman. Even if she opens her mouth in a panic and produces an uncontrolled scream with her eyes wide open, she’s still adorable. And she’s actually the funniest one in the film.
Dave. An annoying big kid.
To a lesser extent, I also thought Alexander England was pretty good. This irresponsible, sometimes imbecile klutz, is quite annoying at times. But nonetheless, due to his clumsy attitude and behavior (mainly in terms of social skills), he still manages to arouse some sympathy. I found his encounter with Miss Caroline quite endearing. That suddenly emerging urge to seduce this teacher. But then, in the next scene, you see him giving a demonstration of solo sex on the toilet while drooling over a class photo (with school teacher Carolina in it of course) of his nephew Felix (Diesel La Torraca). Would I be a teenager, I would chuckle about this. Now a raised eyebrow was the only result.
It’s a zom-com.
This would-be-creepy zom-com also had its charms. The clumsy way in which Dave tries to impress Miss Caroline is quite funny to see. And of course, eventually, she gives in, even though she hates Dave from the start because of his brutal and stupid remarks. And finally, there are a few very funny moments such as the Darth Vader scene and the horde of singing zombies. I got the most spontaneous smile on my face when I saw a bewildered zombie attempting to clap to the rhythm and he found out that both his arms were missing. And here and there there was a pretty good joke or one-liner.
A lot of irritating stuff.
But still. Unfortunately, the number of irritating things was overwhelming. I was relieved when this zom-com ended. First of all, I thought the zombies were extremely ridiculous. It was like a school project in which the creatures were played by fellow students. A Wednesday afternoon activity that involves a lot of fun. You can’t call it a horror, in my opinion, because of the lack of tension. The most bloody scenes always take place off-screen. This is probably due to the budget. Perhaps the much-used photo with Lupita covered in blood and those anxious-looking children in the background, raised wrong expectations for me. And as I mentioned before, the humor was missing. But mainly I was annoyed by the figure of Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad). Such an annoying character. If I could, I would have personally fed him to those bloodthirsty undead. I know it’s an Australian indie. But to be honest, it looked really cheap (literally as figuratively). The only question I had was: “What’s a famous, talented Hollywood star like Lupita doing in this movie?“.
The following piece was written during the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie material being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 6 October 2023 in theaters / 27 October 2023 on Shudder
Director: Demián Rugna
Writer: Demián Rugna
Distributed by: IFC Films & Shudder
Production Companies: Shudder, Aramos Cine & Machaco Films
Thanksgiving | Official Trailer — In Theaters November 17, 2023
After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the infamous holiday.
The following piece was written during the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie material being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Genre:
Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date:
November 17, 2023
Director:
Eli Roth
Cast:
Patrick dempsey, Rick Hoffman, Gina Gershon, Addison Rae
Plot Summary:
After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the infamous holiday.
The following piece was written during the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie material being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Plot
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.
Sophie Wilde as Mia (A24)
Movie Review
The movie starts off with quite a shocker, leaving you with a few questions. It doesn’t take too long to get into the action and soon you realize you are in for quite a scare. In a nutshell, the movie is about a group of friends playing a timed game where the communicate with the dead using an embalmed hand, and allow the dead to speak through them, with the emphasis on timed. However, as with all rules, some end up broken, and when the game goes on a little too long things go south, resulting in far reaching consequences. The main protagonist in the story Mia plays this game of talking with the dead, while at the same time working through the loss of a loved one as well. As a viewer I experienced her feelings of grief and it felt real because her performance was just next level.
Both Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird‘s performance as Mia and Riley really grips you, making the feelings of fear on-screen real for the audience. The make-up and effects throughout the movie was really done brilliantly. The ending delivers a unique twist making you hungry for more action and story. The cast really brought life in a horror story focusing around the dead.
Talk To Me (A24)
There is no post-credits scene, so no need to wait to the end. Trailer is amazing and delivers an even greater scare and doesn’t spoil any important parts of the movie. My rating for Talk To Me is 5 out of 5. Talk To Me is a bone-chilling supernatural horror that delivers a real scare on-screen, hands down. I’m all for seeing a possible sequel of Talk To Me one day, or even a prequel where the origin of the embalmed hand is unpacked. But the movie is still brilliant as a stand-alone movie.
Make sure to catch it at a cinema near you or watch online.