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rayje
Reviews
Devil's Void (2022)
+1 for effort
I wish I could rate this higher. It does seem like it had its heart in the right place, and you can make out the bones of a decent story in there.
The biggest hurdle is the directing and editing, both of which jump the story and setting around to the point of being incoherent. Characters are introduced and then forgotten about for large stretches of time. There is an intro scene which confuses things further, and a poorly placed flashback that could have been avoided as the involved character does a better job of just expositing later.
As for writing, as i said the base story seems like it could have been interesting, but the execution leaves much to be desired between a far too obviously telegraphed "twist" and characters reacting strangely, to put it mildly, before falling into the pitfall over overly preachy morality play.
Still, the acting was serviceable, and the writer/director's heart was in the right place. And I've definitely seen worse.
The Quantum Devil (2023)
Decent, could have been great.
Films inspired by Lovecraft are always a mixed bag, this one being no exception. It is honestly both one of the better ones I've seen, but also the most disappointing in how much potential was ignored.
We start with a stylish opening, with some clunky dialogue that still manages to set up an appropriate atmosphere. We meet our incredibly attractive main characters, but then are given at best an elevator pitch's worth of background on them before we rush off to business. From that point on it's basically a far too brief runaway train where the horror isn't given enough time to marinate or enough room to leave much of an impact. In the end I was left what felt like a tv pilot, leaving me wanting more after a bit of polish had been applied.
Blood Prism (2017)
Mileage may very.
I liked this film more than I didn't. I can see why it was classified as comedy (In that dark comedy sort of way). Definitely a mixed bag but over all one i enjoyed and would watch again.
Pros: Story is fun and the lead actress does well enough with the part. It took a me minute to get into her delivery but once I got what she was going for, it worked. Her spear hand voice remind me of something else but can't put my finger on it.
Cons: Some poor audio mixing and shot framing. Soundtrack could have been better.
??: Subtitles showed broken hex color codes for some reason. Maybe it was my tv?
Warrior Nun (2020)
Better than average YA Chosen one stories
The most annoying part of any "chosen one" story for me is the painfully long time most of them milk the "denying the call" arc. It's not quite as bad here, and we get treated to some gorgeous vistas and incredible fights involving the main character's peers during that time.
Season 2 is where it really shines, seeming to shed its Young Adult trappings and embracing the action. The blood is turned up, the character arcs are a bit more complicated, and we get to see some of the background characters of season 1 shine. If you like action, modern fantasy, or battle nuns, this is show is for you.
Torn Hearts (2022)
+2 for Katey Sagal
So just to be up front, I've never seen Sons of Anarchy, so this is the first time seeing Katey Sagal outside of comedy. GD did she deliver. The movie was decent. Well shot. Well acted. Fairly predictable, but entertaining. It is what it says on the tin.
What elevates it is the acting, and I know my title gives all the credit to Katey, but that's just because I don't really know they other actors enough to know how much of the heavy lifting they did. Everyone was believable in their parts. There was no giant leap in logic where you can't understand why a character did what they did or they acted stupid just so the plot could advance (which I suppose is also a credit to the writers).
Over all one of the better offerings for Halloween I've seen this year.
Hellraiser (2022)
Someone didn't understand the assignment
I was really excited for this when I saw the trailers - Jamie Clayton's Pinhead looked more source material accurate and I enjoyed that the puzzle box was an actual puzzle after so many movies with it basically solving itself if someone bumped into the table it was on. The idea of the story of it focusing on a recovering addict held so much promise.
Unfortunately the addict aspect seemed more just window dressing hardly delved into. All the pain-as-lust and taboo edges were sanded down to safe curves. The simple rules of the puzzle box ("you solved it - we came") became convoluted and inconsistent, and the "rewards" of those that solved was toned down from eons of suffering to just a messy death.
The acting ranged from amazing to "fine i guess" and the production values were good if a bit poorly lit at times - ultimately I would give this a 6/10 as a stand-alone horror movie and a 4/10 as a Hellraiser.