Ed's Review Dot Com

Goddard Textiles, TSG Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox,

Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, Chris Hemsworth, Nick Offerman, Russell Crowe, Alvina August, Mark O’Brien

The El Royale is a run down hotel on the border between Nevada and California near Lake Tahoe. Half of the rooms are in one state and the other half are in the other, decorated especially for each state, but there is a red line running down the middle of the main lounge that divides the room in half. The hotel used to be a hot destination, but is dying since they lost their gambling license and all the slot machines are out of order. Now no one stays here. A tired old priest (Jeff Bridges) shows up at the same time as a lounge singer (Cynthia Erivo) who is staying at the El Royale because it is very cheap. When they enter the lobby the find the hotel empty except for a traveling salesman who is also looking for an attendant. Over time, a few more people show up, but nobody is what they appear, all are hiding deep secrets, and things are going to go bad due to a whole bunch of bad choices as well as a great number of misunderstandings, and it truly is Bad Times at the El Royale for everyone.

I was intrigued by the trailer and really wanted to get to see it in the theater, but for some reason I never made it. I was excited when this was released on DVD, and was anxious to see it. It was well worth the wait, and I’m glad I finally got to see this. In fact, it was so much fun, I watched it twice. This is a mystery from start to finish, and it was really fun trying to figure out who the people really were. As you go along, as soon as you figure it out, you find out you’re completely wrong. As the pieces are revealed bit by bit, the puzzle comes together, and it was a really exciting movie. This reminded me a lot of “The Hateful Eight” in the way that nobody actually was who they claimed to be. This was a very insightful film, very dark, but yet somehow really beautiful. The way they built the set completely from scratch, and built the entire lobby building as a single set, allowing them to do long and complex shots in a single take without a cut. It was very well crafted and I enjoyed the movie twice from start to end, and really enjoyed the extra features that were were included on the DVD with info about how and why the film was made the way it was. The actors were superb. Jeff Bridges and Jon Hamm were outstanding. Cynthia Erivo did all the singing herself, and she was exceptional. Though this movie is pretty dark, there are enough puzzles and loose ends to keep us very interested in what’s going to happen. I am glad they didn’t tell us who was in the film at the end. I’m sure I know, but I’m only guessing. I really enjoyed this film.

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Original Film,

Taylor Russell McKenzie, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine, Nik Dodani, Yorick van Wageningen, Adam Robitel, Jessica Sutton, Kenneth Fok, Vere Tindale

Six strangers are given unusual boxes with a ticket inside for an Escape Room attraction, but when they are sitting in the waiting room, they soon come to realize they game has already started. After one close call after another, they soon find out the game is for real and death is not only possible, but highly likely. A sequence of challenges, each harder than the previous one is knocking them off one by one.

This was an interesting film. It is similar to many of the other puzzle films, such as the SAW series, and a number of others, but the freshness of the Escape Room concept is very current. The rooms are very well thought out, and the mix of players is an interesting twist. Each has their own special skills and talents, and the puzzles are certainly very well done. This is a unique look at this genre and it was very well done and worth the price of admission. I totally enjoyed it, and the suspense level was very intense. Very cleverly put together, and one I can recommend for those who love suspense.

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Pathé, Potboiler Productions, Element Pictures,

Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, Charlotte Rampling, Liv Hill, Kate Phillips, Josh Dylan, Anna Madeley, Lorne MacFadyen, Sarah Crowden, Kathryn O’Reilly, Tim Plester

Dr Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson) is a country doctor, who came from humble beginnings in the quiet English countryside. His mother was a housekeeper at Hundreds Hall, one of the stunning spectacular mansions of the past. When he was a child, his mother took him to a celebration at the house, and he was enthralled and instilled with the desire to fit into the gentry himself. In the summer of 1948, he is called to visit a patient in Hundreds Hall, and he becomes obsessed with the Ayer’s family who live there, but the house is in a shambles, and the great days of the past are long gone. He finds his patient Roderick (Will Pulter) and his sister Caroline (Ruth Wilson) who has just returned home to care for her brother and the aging mother (Charlotte Rampling) who are all that’s left in the decaying house. As Dr. Faraday gets more and more obsessed with inserting himself into what he remembers of the glory days of Hundreds Hall, he sets his sights on Caroline who is the unmarried heir of the family and the home. But everyone has a feeling that something is wrong at hundreds house, and someone or something wants to destroy everyone in the household. This mysterious Gothic style ghost story tells the events that happen in a slow, meticulous way that will give you the creeps.

The Little Stranger is advertised as a horror film, which it’s not, and it’s not really a ghost story either. The suspense is real though and I found it fascinating to spend some time watching this DVD. Many critics describe it as slow, which I understand, it is slow for sure, but the methodical deliberate way this story unfolds is very creating and artistic. Obviously some tragedy happened which leads to the destruction of the legacy of Hundreds Hall, but the director is not going to wrap it up and present it to you in the ending. It’s going to take some effort and heavy thinking before you’re going to be able to figure this one out. Many people do not like movies that make you work. Most people are going to either turn this off in the first half hour, or stick with it and find themselves thinking about it for a long while. I did enjoy this movie, and found it very out of the ordinary, which is why I did enjoy it. The key to understanding is to realize before you go in, that this is a psychological study of Dr. Faraday and his burning desire to move up in his station. Being a respected doctor is not enough, he wants to be an aristocrat at whatever the cost. This is not a ghoulish ghost story with lots of blood and guts, but rather a suspenseful journey through some very dark places with a lot of quiet terror along the way. It was very well done, if you know what you’re going into, but if you’re looking for a teen slasher, this isn’t going to make it happen for you. If you can handle a classic horror tale of the old days, this is a good period piece of post war Britain and the mysterious goings on in this house.

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EMI Film Distributors, G.W. Films Limited,

Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Derek Jacobi, Tom Bateman, Marwan Kenzari, Olivia Colman, Lucy Boynton, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Sergei Polunin, Miranda Raison

This remake of the 1974 classic film is based upon the Agatha Christie novel of the same name, a well known series of books about the notable investigator Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Barnagh). A number of passengers aboard the glorious Orient Express a train that crosses eastern Europe are stranded when an avalanche knocks the engine off the track and forces a team from the next station to send workers back to dig the train out. But during the night a passenger named Edward Ratchett (Johnny Depp) is murdered in his cabin, and Inspector Poirot is put to work to solve the case before the train is freed to move along it’s way. Set in the 1930’s this is a classic mystery tale of murder and suspense.

This is a really well done film, and the style and feeling of the movie really takes us back to the great mystery films of old, but with the newer technology making it look old, but sharp and spotlessly clear. The scenery and the train itself are dazzling, and the list of stars is mind boggling, just as the 1974 version was. The only problem I have with this remake is that I already knew the ending, so the who-done-it that makes the story so exciting is gone for me. But since it’s been since 1974, there are new generations that probably have never heard of this story or who Agatha Christie even was. For those folks this is perfect film with an opportunity to see a classic mystery story of old from a whole new perspective. However, the problem is that these kinds of stories are not big on action and adventure, but a close look at how the mind of Hercule actually works and a strong tendency to try to solve the murder as he does. But as someone who has seen the 1974 version and remembers the story, it was a different experience to watch the formulation of the movie and to see the baby steps along the way to presenting the mystery and rolling out the clues. And of course the final solution of the murder and the collection of suspects where Poirot unveils the killer is really classic cinema. This is an excellent film, and whether or not you’re familiar with the story or not, you should give this film a try to enjoy the entire experience.

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Herrick Entertainment,

Shelby Young, Chloe Bridges, Mitch Hewer, Taylor Ashley Murphy, Carter Jenkins, Kyle Fain

Covington Forest is a spooky place. The place is known for teen suicides and, of course, it’s the talk of all the younger folk nearby. Five teen friends decide to play flashlight games daring each other for dangerous games in the forest. But one of the people has a secret of her own which makes the night even more deadly and perhaps no one will survive the night.

This is an unusual horror film, and a nice surprise, especially for a horror buff like me. This film is a new take on the usual found footage films with nausea inducing shaky camera movements. This one, however, is told from the point of view of the flashlight, It’s an interesting take, and this, in my opinion, added a new twist to the story. There are times when the flashlight is shining in the wrong place, or not doing anything at all, which is a weird situation when you wish the camera was looking somewhere else. Like many films of the horror genre, it doesn’t give you all the answers, and is not going to wrap it up with a red bow. It will give you a lot to think about and will make you wonder, but that’s what makes it good. But the thing that impressed me the most was how terribly suspenseful it was. I was really riveted to the screen and found this little low budget horror flick very entertaining. If you’d like to see something way out of the ordinary, this is an excellent choice. Watch it in the dark, with the sound up, but it might be a good idea to bring a friend.

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