Ed's Review Dot Com

KatzSmith Productions, Lin Pictures, New Line Cinema,

Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Wyatt Oleff, Jack Dylan Grazer, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor

All of the “Loser’s Club” of Derry, Maine have grown up and moved away except for Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa) who has stayed in Derry. Mysteriously (at least to me) they have all forgotten about the things that happened, but Mike remembers and has been studying the weird happenings. But suddenly, on queue, 27 years later, young people are beginning to disappear again, and it appears Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) has returned on schedule. Mike calls every one of the childhood friends and asks them to return to Derry to fight Pennywise once again. All but one return, and the terror of their childhood returns.

This is a sequel to the earlier IT movie from 2017 which was a remake of the original. This is a LONG, LONG movie, the longest horror movie to receive a regular release. In many ways it was interesting to watch, but it did seem to go on and on and on. The horror of the first film wasn’t really there this time, and it was more about the Loser’s Club members crying over how hard their lives have been and how much they want to go back home. Pennywise is hardly in the 3 hours of this film, and when he is, he’s not near as frightening as he once was. We have to sit though all the angst of the characters one by one as they self reflect and try to remember the past and how they screwed up both back then and today in their lives. It’s a psychological drama piece more than a horror film. And did it say it goes on and on and on? I was rather disappointed in this sequel and really feel like it wasn’t necessary to make this. It seems a lot self serving for the author and the producers to do this, and it seems like they pushed the cash cow a bit too far. I wasn’t really impressed with it and can’t really recommend it. I mean, if you watch a lot of movies, and have the time to spend on this thing then it’s probably worth it to see how the story progresses, but I don’t feel like it was really that good to invest the time into this. I would suggest you just skip it, unless you’re really interested, or really bored, either one.

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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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De Line Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), New Line Cinema,

Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Joey King, Matt Dillon, Ann-Margret, Christopher Lloyd, Kenan Thompson, Siobhan Fallon, John Ortiz, Peter Serafinowicz, Josh Pais, Maria Dizzia, Anthony Chisholm, Jeremy Bobb

Joe Harding (Michael Caine) has been a hard worker for the same company all his life along with his friends, Willie Davis (Morgan Freeman, and Albert Garner (Alan Arkin). Joe is having financial trouble and his daughter’s debts are going to cause his house to fall into foreclosure, but while he’s in the bank a robbery takes place and the masked bandits take off with the money. Joe is very impressed with how easy it was to pull off. When the last straw falls, and the old friends learn their company has been sold and thew owners are cancelling their pension, they decide to rob the bank themselves, in their own style, and steal enough money to get back what they’re owed so that they can live out their days in style. But this is an extremely dangerous operation for the senior citizens to pull off, and when something goes wrong, it starts snowballing into a huge disaster.

This film is a remake of the 1979 film with George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg which was very, very well done. This one updates the story a bit, but is in many ways the same idea. The concept of growing old and forgotten in the U.S. is something that haunts a lot of older folks. They simply want what was promised to them and the young businessmen just don’t get it. It’s not a really over the top comedy, and it has real friendship and a lot of the kind of morality older folks still maintain today, and so there’s a lot to take in. It’s interesting, and it’s entertaining, and this is a great bunch of actors. The three main characters are stupendous, but the rest of the cast really helps them deliver the best they could with this retread of a movie. I found it interesting, and fun to watch, so I wouldn’t want to discourage you from watching, but don’t expect a side splitting comedy, as it’s much more subtle and gently done than that. If you like really great acting from accomplished actors, give it a try though as it’s a nice rental film that is worthwhile to see.

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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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