Ed's Review Dot Com

Atomic Monster, New Line Cinema,

Linda Cardellini, Roman Christou, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, Raymond Cruz, Marisol Ramirez, Patricia Velasquez, Sean Patrick Thomas, Tony Amendola, Irene Keng, Oliver Alexander, Aiden Lewandowski, Paul Rodriguez, John Marshall Jones, Ricardo Mamood-Vega, Jaydan Valdivia

A social worker receives a strange warning from a desperate mother wanting to protect her children, but she doesn’t pay attention to it as it seems too strange to believe. Soon she and her own children are drawn into a supernatural world where La Llorona is looking to replace her lost child. Thing go from bad to worse as they strive to fight this evil curse as the story blends modern day social work with an ancient curse in this chilling thriller horror film.

We have been spoiled of late with some top rate intense horror films, but New Line Cinema usually does a pretty decent job of bringing true horror to the big screen, and this film wasn’t a disappointment. Granted, there is a lot of competition out there lately as good horror films are arriving almost weekly, but this one does really stand out in a way similar to “The Nun” from a some months back, as it’s a really creepy story based on a very old legend. This film is actually a part of the same universe of films as the entire Conjuring series, and is comparable to the other films. There are a few references to the other films, and it shares a few of the characters, particularly notable is the priest Father Perez is from the first Annabelle film. The suspense is immense, as you would expect, and the horror is really unsettling. Scary, dark, and terrifying, this film does it’s job and is very well made. If you are a fan of horror, this is a film you must see, since although it is not the best of the series, it’s certainly good enough to command your attention. I found this film really intense, and I did enjoy it, and found it a bit different than the run of the mill serial killer flick. This was one movie I really enjoyed, and I certainly recommend it for horror fans like myself.

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Atomic Monster, New Line Cinema, RatPac-Dune Entertainment,

Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Michael Cimino, Samara Lee

The Warrens, Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) are returning Annabelle to their home where they have a room filled with objects that have been haunted or cursed, or possessed. The sooner Annabell (the doll) is put back in her case and locked up the safer anyone will be. But when they have to leave town and leave their daughter behind for a weekend, they have a couple older girls keep an eye on her. But one of the older girls has some personal issues of her own, and finds the keys and opens the room, but even opening Annabelle’s case allowing the evil spirits to cross over to the house and terrorize everyone for one long scary weekend.

This series of films featuring the real life Warren family have been really outstanding and very scary. Annabelle has been the center of attention before, but this one brings the whole thing back around to the start. In the last movie, we learned the history of Annabelle and where she came from, but in this film Annabelle is not the central character, although she is responsible for being the conduit for all the evil in the film. The Warrens themselves are only a small part of the movie as well, and the main story is about the three teenage girls left behind in the home and what happend to them. As a result, my wife and her sister who watched this with me didn’t care for it and didn’t think it was scary. Their biggest complaint was that the setting was all in one house with only the three girls in the cast, and it was too simplified and not scary enough. I, on the other hand, felt is was extremely creepy and had lots of real suspense without all the cheap “sound” scares, and I really enjoyed it. So consider this, when you decide whether to see this one or not, that it’s different from person to person. I like horror films that are simple not extremely complex and hard to figure out, and this one suited me very nicely. I found it very suspenseful, and at times pretty terrifying, and I recommend this film for horror film junkies like me who like a good scary movie.

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Atomic Monster, New Line Cinema,

Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson, Philippa Coulthard, Grace Fulton, Samara Lee, Tayler Buck, Anthony LaPaglia, Miranda Otto, Lou Lou Safran, Mark Bramhall

Bee Mullins (Samara Lee) is a sweet little girl who lives with toy maker Sam Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife Esther Mullins (Miranda Otto). When Bee is killed in a sudden accident, the little family is devastated, but try to move on, but a really evil doll, Annabelle who we met two movies ago, decidedly did not want any peace in this house. 12 years later, Samuel and Ester (who is now bedridden and unable to walk) decided it was time to make amends, and invite a nun, Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) and six young women and girls who are orphaned, into their home for a kind of penance for the evil that has overtaken their house. They think it is save, but two of the little girls are very curious of what is hidden away, and the evil is free again in this prequel to a prequel to a great horror movie series. But the team that puts together these stories is really good, and even though you wouldn’t expect it, this film is awesome. It is very, very scary in a number of different ways. I mean, there are great jumps and jolts from the awesome camera work mixed with loud noises, that we often decry as cheap scares, but the are mixed in with a really truly creepy story that keeps building and building suspense. The children who play the orphans do a wonderful job, and the two main children have a quite challenging role for each to play, but the do it stunningly. Mr. and Mr. Mullins are also very good, especially

This whole series of movies has been extremely good for the most part. In Conjuring 1 and 2 we met the Warren’s, a husband and wife who ran a paranormal investigation team and had a cellar full of haunted and possessed artifacts, the key one being a very scary looking doll in a glass case named Annabelle. We knew from the very first time that we saw her that this doll must have had a demented history. We found out what the doll could do as a conduit of a demon in the first movie, a prequel to the Conjuring films called Annabelle. The very end of this film is the actual opening of Annabelle, and though Annabelle told the story of the what the doll can do, this prequel to a prequel, Annabelle: Creation tells us the story of how the doll was made, how the demon came to control it, and what happened to the original owners before the last movie. Since this is a while ago, this becomes a period piece of sorts, and even though it’s awesomely presented in the past, the year really doesn’t matter. But even though it shouldn’t be, it is really an awesome movie! This thing is really very scary. There are a nice mix of scares, and though there are some well done jump scares with the excellent camera work combined with loud noises from a great soundtrack, sometimes these are decried as cheap scares because they are overused. But these are excellently done because they are mixed in with some really intense suspense that builds and builds throughout. The team that puts these films together are masters of suspense, and that is why it is doing so good in the box office this week. The girls who play the orphans in the movie are really good, especially the two girls who play the leads. These two girls are the youngest and best friends, a lot because the other 4 girls exclude them from the group as much as possible. These two do an unbelievable job turning in this difficult performance, and it is nearly perfect. Mr and Mrs Mullins are also very well played, both as the happy young couple with a lovely daughter , and as the worn out and nearly destroyed couple that take in these kids as a sort of last attempt at redemption. Anthony LaPaglia is especially good since he is a major part of the film, where as his wife has a much smaller, yet critical role. But I think I was most impressed by Stephanie Sigman who plays Sister Charlotte who also did an excellent job. She is hopeful and cheerful while trying to do her best to keep her girls together even though times are very tough. She gave a wonderful performance. The special effects are really top notch, and the setting and camera work is excellent. All in all, this was a really good horror film and one that any fan of scary movies should see. This film helped save my summer. Well done!

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Atomic Monster, Grey Matter Productions, New Line Cinema,

Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander John DiPersia, Rolando Boyce, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Maria Bello

Young Martin (Gabriel Bateman) lives alone with his Mom Sophie (Maria Bello) since his father was savagely killed. Sophie is a bit crazy, having spent a time in a mental institution, but Martin thinks something worse is happening at night when it’s dark, and he’s been falling asleep in class because he is unable to sleep at home. The school calls his half sister Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) to pick him up, and though she left her mother years ago, she comes back to help the family battle some real demons in one of the most horrific horror films of 2016.

This is a very terrifying piece of film making by David F. Sandberg who apparently made a short film version of this story in 2013. He expanded it to a hour and 21 minutes which must have taken a lot of effort. I would love to see the short film, as it sounds really good from what I’ve heard about it, but this feature version suffers from the lack of material. That is the weak point of this movie, and it shows a lack of depth in the story. We don’t get enough of the back story, nor is it clear what it’s all about. There are many ways this could have developed, but the intent was I’m sure to leave you guessing. The threat appears to be gone, but we don’t really know what quite happened to make this all possible. But setting that aside, it is a really terrifying movie, and one that will certainly scare the bejezus out of you. It’s done with real suspense and horror but has excellent sound effects and jump scares as well that are actually pretty well done. I am really glad I went to see this film, as it was really fun, even though it could have been better with a bit more material, perhaps. Still, it made me jump. At one point there is some strange noise going on in another room behind us, and the sounds that were coming out of the back left speakers made everyone in the theater turn around and look to see what the heck was going on back there. About the time we figured out it was part of the film. we turned back to the front and got slammed. It was one of the cleverest horror moments I’ve ever experienced. This was about a 2/3 full theater, and the crowd, including us, screamed a couple times which shows that it was really worth it. If you love horror, ignore the haters and watch this.

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New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, Evergreen Media Group,

Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Frances O’Connor, Madison Wolfe, Lauren Esposito, Patrick McAuley, Benjamin Haigh, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Simon Delaney, Franka Potente, Simon McBurney, Shannon Kook-Chun, Abhi Sinha, Steve Coulter

We heard of the warrens, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) in the original conjuring (and some of their offspring) and they are back in The Conjuring 2. Ed and Lorraine are based on the real Warrens and gets them the notation “based upon a true story” in the opening credits. We all have heard of their most famous case, The Amityville Horror, but this story from their files is just about a bad, but takes place in the late 70’s in England where a single mother Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor) is struggling to make ends meet for her 3 children, 2 girls and a boy. The middle child, Janet(Madison Wolfe) has starting having some problems in school and is complaining of seeing things which is how things usually start. But as things escalate quickly, the story gets out around town about the history of the house, and when it hits the airwaves, the church is anxious to bring Ed and Lorraine over to figure out if it’s a hoax or a real haunting. They learn that there is something much more sinister at work here then meets the eye.

This film starts out so cheesy (as all of these films set in the 70’s do, mostly I think to set the mood) that I was rolling my eyes and thinking I blew a lot on what would be a lousy movie. But boy was I wrong. This story takes a while to get going, mostly because we’re tortured with the Warren story one more time for the folks that aren’t keeping up. But once it gets rolling, this is a horror film of great worth. This team really has it down as all the related movies are pretty good. This is a long film. It took well over 2 1/2 hours but it was really intense.
Miss Wolfe did a wonderful job as the middle child who the movie is based around. All of the actors are pretty good, but this gal really nailed it. She had a very difficult part (as this is an R rated film from start to finish with the scares and violence) but she was certainly up to the task and I could find no fault in her performance. The house is extremely ugly which helps to creep us out, and the special effects, sound editing, and cinematography all join to make this a really scary film. The sound system in the theater I saw it in must be brand new, and it was amazing. For a while I thought we were in “sensurround” (ala Earthquake in the 70’s) with all the shaking going on. The building vibrated when things started flying through the air and crashing into walls and windows. Major kudos for the script, and the lion’s share to the actors who performed very well. This is a top notch, first class horror film, and an excellent example of how to do it right at this time in cinema history. See this one in the theater if you possibly can.

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