Ed's Review Dot Com

Blumhouse Productions, Entertainment One, LStar Capital,

Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Kirk Acevedo, Bruce Davison, Spencer Locke, Caitlin Gerard, Ava Kolker, Hana Hayes, Josh Stewart, Javier Botet, Tessa Ferrer, Marcus Henderson

In the beginning of this fourth entry into the world of Insidious, we see Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) as a young girl (played by Ava Kolker) as she grows up with a monster of a father who is warden of a prison in a little town in New Mexico. Elise and her brother Christian (Bruce Davison) (child played by Pierce Pope) fear their ferocious father who particularly hates the fact that young Elise has the power to see dead people and talk to the dead. Finally, Elise has had enough and leaves Christian behind and heads out on her own. This prequel is shown us because in this film, Elise gets a call from a person who lives in her old home needing her help. She decides she must go back to the house, find the evil that she brought out decades ago. In the process she learns the truth about the things that happened in that house, reconnects with her estranged brother and his two daughters.

This is another entry into “The Further” with Elise. Elise has been the centerpiece of all the films, one of the best horror franchises ever, but in this film we really get to learn her back story. I found that particularly interesting. Most of the scary parts of this film are very similar to the rest of the franchise, but the story itself is what makes this so enjoyable, although I did get really scared a few times. The location is really creepy, and this house is a star. It’s really nice to fill in the story of Elise’s background, and this is a first rate horror film. It has some fierce competition in the box office, but this is a great horror film, and fans of the genre definitely ought to catch this one. I really enjoyed it.

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August Heart Entertainment,

Taryn Manning, Lin Shaye, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Eric Roberts, Shiri Appleby, Beverly D’Angelo, Spencer Locke, Emily Alyn Lind

Cindy (Taryn Manning) is a single Mom with 3 kids from 3 different Dads. She’s trying to get by having fun, sleeping around, and isn’t doing very well for herself. Three ghosts come by to visit to try to make her realize the errors of her ways, and work toward a better future in this “white trash” version of A Christmas Carol.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am hooked on Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. I have watched every version and every knockoff of this film that I have ever been able to find. I have always thought of this as the most absolutely perfect story ever written. I didn’t think it was possible to do a bad version of this story. I’ve been through the silent films, and watched everyone from the Jetsons, to the Flintstones, to Mr. Magoo, to the Muppets, to Mickey Mouse, and dozens more. Even Sam Kinison pulled it off on a Christmas episode of Married With Children. This is, I believe, the story that has been made into film more than anything else. I had my doubts about this version however. It was rather pathetic, in it’s own way. These people are such stereotypical white trailer trash cutouts that it had to be horrible. Well, it turned out not to be a awful as I thought going into it. After the first fifteen minutes or so I was debating on turning it off, but I kept up with it, and it somewhat redeemed itself as it went on. There are some good actors in this movie, and though the story is a bit thin, with this kind of talent, it worked out much better than I expected. I had to get into what they were really trying to do, and I realized that it was supposed to be lampooning the story. Once I caught on that they were not trying to make a serious film, but it was all tongue in cheek (No one can be that bad), I was able to get into it a little bit. If you’re a fan of the TV show “Raising Hope” (which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, trust me) you’ll probably get this movie as well, as the feel was very similar to that show. It a caricature of people living that kind of life style in the same way. Though I thought this film was more or less a waste of time, I guess it’s just like pizza. There’s no such thing as a bad Scrooge.

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