Change Your Image
szdjpgyzk
Reviews
Host (2020)
Very effective, well made and scary
This is a taut, effective and well-made found footage ghost story that, fortunately, is way too short to outstay it's welcome.
Six friends bored in lockdown hire a clairvoyant to guide them through a Zoom sèance. That's all you need to know; at 56 minutes the remaining events take place in real time.
Performances are universally convincing (crucial for doing this sort of thing well) and the six actors do a great job of creating chemistry with what I assume to be a largely ad-libbed script.
The direction is the real star here, though, and Rob Savage does great things with restricted webcam angles and excellent practical effects. What (very) little CG there is, is similarly excellent and used to maximum impact.
It's unusual for a modern horror movie to know its own limits, and operate well within them, but here is a great example of what you can achieve with intelligent storytelling and simplistic design. Nothing complicated happens in "Host" and you won't experience any complex back stories or character building. This frees up both cast and crew alike to focus on delivering effective scares - which they do, beautifully.
"Host" is as simple and straightforward a ghost story as it's possible to get. Originally watching it in 2020 when lockdown was still new, the premise resonated differently... four years later though, and "Host", thanks to its brevity, confidence and quality, remains a scary good time.
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
Wildly overrated
Yes, the premise is cool. Yes, it's a refreshing take on a bog-standard possessed girl tale. Yes, it's got some (only some) great performances. But all these good points unfortunately cannot save "Late Night With The Devil" from a terrible script and bizarre plotting.
David Dastmalchian is really excellent as Jack Delroy, a 1970s B-List chatshow host. Played with a compelling mix of honest desperation and seedy showmanship, Dastmalchian shines in the role that holds the entire plot together, making him the effective eye of an increasingly horrific storm.
Another effective turn comes in the form of Fayssal Bazzi as Christou, the phoney clairvoyant. After a run of clearly faked parlour tricks, Bazzi leans fully into the script and produces a very believable performance, which is a great close to the first act of the movie.
For my money, I'd put Ingrid Torelli's performance as Lilly right up there with Linda Blair in The Exorcist, or Alex Wolff in Hereditary. I thought she was astonishing. As other reviews have mentioned, her performance IS weird, and it's VERY disconnected from what's going on around her - but taken in context with how her character is written into the story, Torelli's portrayal becomes deeply unnerving. Lilly is not an innocent corrupted, like Regan MacNeill, or an unwilling participant, like Peter Graham - she's something else entirely: Torelli's approach to Lilly's character showcases this "otherness" very effectively.
The edit deserves a mention here, too: it keeps Lilly's screentime to a bare minimum, making Torelli's performance all the more impactful when it is shown.
And that's the end of the good stuff. The rest is either just meh, or downright awful - I won't share any major plot spoilers.
Firstly, supporting performances aren't as strong as the leads. Most are just 'fine', but clearly a select few were told to turn their Acting Switch up to Maximum, and let 'er rip - this is the kind of chiaroscuro !!!ACTING!!! You associate with Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest, or Tommy Wiseau in The Room. At one point, one of the cast ACTUALLY uses the line "the power of Christ compels you!" - I am not making this up.
Secondly, the CGI is pathetic. And frustratingly, this movie didn't need it, AT ALL. It has excellent practical and makeup VFX, which are well-implemented. These are, sadly, overshadowed and ruined by zaps of blue electric lightning that look almost hand-drawn.
Thirdly, the plot and script for the last part of the movie turn everything into a cheap action film. Animated blue lightning (see above) heralds the arrival of crashing, bashing, shouting, screeching, murdering and explosions. Remember when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nicholas Cage tried horror? Well, this is similar.
Ultimately, "Late Night With The Devil" suffers from the same thing as a lot of smaller movies. It starts very strong, but lacks the confidence to follow through. What starts as an eerie, creeping, dread-filled talkshow ends up full of bad action and bad CG. The final sequence was, I suspect, intended to replenish some of the missing horror - but it's not successful.
In the final analysis, "Late Night With The Devil" loses itself in this identity crisis. The best expression of this is one fantastic bit of dialogue - "we go way back - we met amongst the tall trees" - which is delivered with a bone-chilling resonance and focus.
Sadly, the ramifications of this are left unexplored, in favour of explosions and things falling over.
Stellar Blade (2024)
Meh.
This game wouldn't have survived in a release window with stronger competition. As it stands, it's a passable button masher with triple A graphics, tacky design and a ridiculous script.
Our protagonist, a comically modeled schoolgirl dressed like an early elimination from an episode of Drag Race (complete with heels, black lace choker and thirty six inches of virgin remy) rushes about like Danté or Bayonetta hacking up generic Whatevers, while disposable music takes you out of whatever moment the devs were going for.
The script and voice acting vacillate between WAY over the top, and bizarrely calm. It breaks the connection to the character and I'm left feeling that what I'm doing with my controller has nothing to do with what's unfolding on the screen. I don't like the latest iteration of the Tomb Raider series, but character and plot development is something those games do very well: Stellar Blade fails on this front.
Which would be fine if there was some blistering gameplay to sink my teeth into!
Nope. Bash bash bash. Done. And, as one other reviewer pointed out, character movement feels funny - it's stilted and lacks flow.
Stellar Blade isn't the worst PS5 title I own - far from it! - you might get some enjoyment from the campaign mode if you're nursing a hangover, and need something undemanding and basic. But for a full price release, I expect far better than that.
The Exorcist III: Legion (1990)
A worthy companion piece, excellent in its own right
This is a fantastic bit of cinema. It hits a lot of the same home runs as the original "Exorcist" - stellar performances and cinematography, gripping plot and a strong script. But where it diverges (brilliantly) is in theme: this is a mystery movie with supernatural elements, as opposed to a horror film with Christian elements. Legion: Exorcist III uses a serial killer plot to explore overarching themes of existentialism, faith and - yes, there's a clue in the title - demonic possession.
This is a very different experience to the 1972 predecessor, and so comparisons are unfair. While not unsettling in the same ways as the first film, Exorcist 3 still provides ratcheting tension and impressive scares over the course of its generous runtime. The lasting impression we're left with is one of a riveting story, supported by outstanding performances from Scott, Dourif and Nancy Fish (whose work here isn't recognized enough - she's unsettling, and brilliant).
As before, William Peter Blatty (in my opinion, one of the finest writers. Full stop, no qualifiers.) adapts his own excellent novel into a tense, finely-drawn screenplay which runs along at a brisk pace. One could argue that the final act is more explicit, and ultimately less effective, than the rest of the movie - but that's a matter of personal taste, as opposed to an objective quality issue.
I can't recommend this enough - it treads difficult water, between an epic prequel and its own subtler self, with great success. A definite recommendation!
Lies of P (2023)
Meh.
Graphics: 6/10
The characters are really beautiful! Gorgeous design, and really well animated. Lips sync well (and not in that hilarious Bluepoint Demons Souls Remake way, where it looks like everyone is sitting on a nest of wasps) and animation is well done. However, the lighting isn't particularly dramatic (there's a lot of milky looking haze in the middle distance), the locations themselves lean towards the bland (particularly the early city and factory areas), and the level design is very boring. If you turn the brightness up (maybe you're playing in a bright room?) you really start to see the issues with some plain, bizarrely low-res textures. Bosses are largely impressive looking, but those encounters are in the minority: footsoldier enemies are dull as dishwater.
Sound: 4/10
It's overproduced in my opinion. This is a game about a puppet, so it's definitely "themed". It's got more clicks and whirring than a desperate YouTuber trying bad ASMR. Musical score has been done more effectively in literally every other FromSoft game. It's not that the tracks are poor, they're actually quite good - but their implementation, and the sound design overall, could really have used an edit. Voice acting however, is of a very high standard.
Gameplay: 4/10
By the time I got to Rosa Isabelle Street the gameplay had split into two modes: slash-slash-defeat boring footsoldiers, and crash-burn-fail ultra hard bosses. The difficulty contrast between enemies and bosses is very extreme... there's also a lot of ganking and artificial difficulty in the game's more boring areas. This cycle becomes pretty unbearable about four hours in, and because this game does not have FromSoft's expertise in designing fluid, engaging gameplay, you're effectively stuck like a hamster on a wheel.
Overall: 4/10
"Bloodborne 2", it ain't. While Lies of P has lots of superficial points to recommend it, it has none of the gameplay diversity, engaging design, or overall charm of any of the FromSoft games. I don't mean to suggest that Lies of P is a total waste of time: it's often beautiful to look at and it does provide a (monotonous) challenge. And, while it's missing the online aspects of Soulsbourne, FromSoft fans may still find rewards to glean here, while waiting patiently for better games. But manage your expectations: I've seen lots of reviews comparing this to Bloodborne, and Lies of P's level design, art direction and gameplay balance are sadly not in the same league - making for a generally blander and more frustrating experience than another run 'round Yarnham.
Hellraiser (2022)
Cheap Tween Nonsense hits rental market in time for Hallowe'en Shocker!
This is grubby, horrible little movie. Every character in it is physically dirty. Like, actually in need of a wash. Not sure why.
The first eight minutes are pretty decent, echoes of a darker and more frightening movie, sadly overlaid and diluted with fakewoke marketing AI tickboxes, and ridiculous dialogue.
A fool and his money are soon parted: I'm the fool, now you don't have to be. There's no need to watch this at all. Imagine The Sixth Sense written by a Kevin Smith or a Joss Whedon or one of those people. Nobody will remember having seen this in eighteen months.
I need 25 more characters.