Matthew Brady

Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel is a downgrade to the first film rather than an upgrade. It's not a bad movie or anything, just an underwhelming one.  The acting is atrocious, and the dialogue is poor. Although, the atmosphere is eerie once again, as it has the feeling that something is off. The horror works best in darkness.    I liked the idea that the evil entity that lives in the house would draw in any random person to the building. You could be far away or going past the house, and it will find a way to trap you in its web.

How is this for a horror movie: A haunted house that is actually haunted? Before watching, I initially had no high expectations for this one, as I thought this would be one of those cheap and crappy horror movies just judging from the poster, but this was better than I was expecting. However, the film does fall into the horror cliches, with characters being typical stupid horror movie characters that hearing spooky noises at night is a great time to investigate it with low batterie lights. What is even more frustrating is that none of them turn on the switch lights, which work fine, and yet, for some reason, they don’t turn them on. The characters are an annoying aspect of the film, which hurt some of my enjoyment of the film.  Other than that, I thought the film did well in using the haunted house setting effectively, which uses the environment and all the usual horror attractions you would commonly see to its advantage.  Some scenes were genuinely creepy. As I said in another review, if a horror movie makes me look away from the screen because I am too scared, it is doing something right. I had that a couple of times during this. Hell House LLC has genuinely creepy moments and is a decent horror flick.

It's often rare when a great concept for a movie, especially in horror, gets the justice it deserves. Don't Breathe exceeds not only in its concept but also adds an extra level of grim and icky horror. The real horror is the things we don't see or are aware of. What's an even scarier thought is being put in a horrible situation where nobody is aware, hears, or sees, and nobody is coming to help.

Here are the things I learned from Wolf Creek 2: 1. DON'T GO TO AUSTRALIA 2. But if you do, learn the entire history of the country. 3. Don't stand out as a tourist 4. Mind your damn business 5. Being a smart-ass may save your life If you can't do any of that, then don't go. But if you can, WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA COCKSUCKERS!

Forget found footage. How about found photos? If you have been on the Internet for a while, you may have seen or come across creepy or out-of-context photos that become disturbing when you learn the context behind them. It's either moments before disaster or the last moments of someone's life. Or how about ¹creepy and disturbing-looking photos that you don't know the context behind but are still horrifying? A single frame of horror forever captured. Savageland is all about that. Taking place in the Bordertown of Sangre De Cristo, Arizona, which holds over 58 residents, but in one night, all 57 residents are killed, except for one man, a Mexican photographer named Francisco Salazar, who, in the eyes of the white man law, is quickly believed to be responsible for the killings of 57 people (yeah seriously), and he is on death row. Throughout his time in police custody and in court, he remains silent. The public response towards him is no better. Everyone is in a rage and wants his blood. All those innocent people, children including, were killed brutally and savagely in the hands of one monster. However, you know there is something that doesn't make sense about all of this. How could one man kill 57 people with a machete and pitchfork in one night? A single man managed to wipe out an entire town. You don't need to be a detective to know something is wrong. But then they discovered his camera, which may tell a different story of what happened that night. The photos are a series of black and white photographs of the townspeople going mad and killing each other with extreme motion blur that makes them appear monstrous and deformed creatures from hell. They did a fantastic job with the photographs because they look terrifying, and you wonder what is happening. Some are hard to tell what you are looking at, and that alone is unnerving. But did any of this happen, or is this a setup? Are the photos real or fake? Is Salazar lying or telling the truth? You will have to watch the movie to find out the answer. The movie is a mockumentary, which uses fake interviews to give it some authenticity, making it appear that these are real people providing authentic interviews. You know, after seeing many horror movies that reuse the same genre tropes, but when a movie comes along and does something different with the formula and does it well, its effect will stay with you long after it's over.

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes..." The story of Macbeth has always been my favourite William Shakespeare play. Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet are the only plays I understand with the language, themes, and characters. But understanding them is different from what makes them fantastic. There have been hundreds or even thousands of essays and people analyzing his plays that better articulate their importance and how each story can still have relevance in modern society than I ever could put into words. The Tragedy of Macbeth takes an old-school approach by not modernizing the text through setting and period but by being as faithful as possible. Sometimes, it is like watching a 1950s theatre production, and I do not mean that in an awful way. With it being as faithful as possible, it resorts to its original roots, the theatre. Even so, it still manages to be cinematic with its excellent cinematography and production design, sometimes reminding me of an Orson Welles movie. The set, at times, looks stagey with the background scenery that feels non-existent, or at points, the environment seems like it is taking place on a stage, which is done intentionally with the whole being faithful to Shakespeare's play. The black-and-white cinematography is a cinephile’s wet dream. Haunting and every frame have implanted in my mind—one of the best-looking movies of 2021. Denzel Washington captures the power of hunger, poisoned at heart, and the greed that consumes Macbeth. We have seen the influences of Shakespeare's work in modern media, like Walter White in Breaking Bad and Frank Underwood in House of Cards. So, people unfamiliar with Macbeth might see some similarities and maybe realize how vast Shakespeare's work has transcended across their favourite media without even realizing it. His dagger monologue was epic and another perfect portrayal of the character that you can add to the collection of previous Shakespearean performers. Overall rating: Even if you do not understand the words or know everything happening, it will keep you engaged through its rich and beautiful visuals, which can help tell the story without the language barrier.

“[touching Adam’s chest] Don’t let this get tangled up again.” All of Us Strangers is a devastating but beautiful film about love, loss, depression, and loneliness. Andrew Scott delivers a raw and emotionally devastating performance, where his character is scared by tragedy at an early age and the absence of parents growing up. The supporting cast of Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell were terrific in their parts, and the moments we see with them are the most heartbreaking. Director Andrew Haigh gives the movie a dream-like quality, where we slip in and out of the present and revisit our past, where the ghosts of familiar faces haunt them. A lot of the time, you do not know what is present or not because you are in the perspective of a grief-stricken man stuck in the past and hurting from it. But he also allows the scenes to breathe and for us to connect with the characters. The real pain in dealing with the grief of a loved one is often the things that we did not get to say or the things we wish we did. It is the things that are left unfinished, open, and raw. Tragedy can happen when we least expect it and can rob us of the opportunity to say our goodbyes. This film deals with that in such a broken but brilliant way. Overall rating: All of Us Strangers is a brilliant movie about the echoes of grief. While it can be a heavy watch, besides the dark cloud that hovers over the film, it does have its funny and sweet moments and some mesmerizing visuals. It is a love story that you won't forget.

"I wonder if it remembers me..." I never thought I would cry at a Wes Anderson movie, but here we are. Anderson's films, especially his recent ones, can be hit or miss for me, but I liked this one—quite a lot. I liked the characters, the story, the humor, Henry Selick's stop-motion animated section with the fictional sea creatures, and the emotional aspects of the film. People often talk about the style, writing, and visuals in Anderson’s movies, but they never talk about when things get depressing, they hit hard like no other. He has a unique way of presenting loss, death, and the emotional hurt in characters.

Me back in 2016: "Why didn't Eli Roth not make this into a movie instead of "Knock Knock" and "Green Inferno"? I'll totally watch it." Present day: Well, here we are. I can't believe my wish came true, but is the film good? It's got flaws and some things could have been better, as the kill scenes could have had a bit more punch to them, as they just end and move on to the next scene. But overall, I enjoyed it. I'm glad it's getting well-received by critics and audiences because if it wasn't, then this review would be me apologizing.

Anatomy of a Fall is a clever and compelling drama about a woman who must prove her innocence after the unexpected death of her husband. It's not quite a mystery/why whodunnit, or a full-blown courtroom drama. And it's not a foreign movie either, as it slips in and out of English and French. It’s a movie about the complications of a situation and the language barrier to get information across, both literal, as our main character has some trouble speaking French, as she is originally from Germany, and metaphorical with trying to communicate what we are feeling and saying to people who don’t seem to listen. We slowly learn what type of relationship it was between her and her husband during the trial, as she shares personal information to prove her innocence or a secretly recorded audio during a heated moment that gives you a better idea of their relationship. Sandra Hüller's performance was fantastic, and her character is complex. One scene is when she delivers a fiery monologue, and it holds you in your place. I was unaware of her work beforehand, but after this film - she is on my radar. I cannot wait to see her in the Auschwitz film The Zone of Interest. There is a stellar child performance from Milo Machado Graner and a challenging part, especially for his age, but he blew me away. The final speech he delivers towards the end is both beautiful and devastating. All the acting from the cast was superb. Even the family dog was fantastic. The directing and camera work was superb, and every shot was well thought out and presented effectively. The script was tremendous, as the dialogue and plot were terrific, but it also gave the actors a lot to work with. My only issue with the film is the courtroom stuff, which slowed the pacing. While those scenes weren’t awful, they just got repetitive after a while. Overall rating: Anatomy of a Fall is a gripping drama that keeps you guessing. Both while you are watching the movie and long after it’s over.