Dear friend,
this was a cinema-less week - too much to do during the week-end, and with some streaming difficulties (broadband monthly limits…), but still I got to see a decent number of films, with a vaguely vintage theme…
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Saltburn : just before the end of the Amazon Prime subscription, I convinced myself to watch this second Emerald Fennell film. I wasn’t intrigued by what I had heard about it, and kept being mostly indifferent for its whole duration (is there a character we are supposed to root for?). Anyway I didn’t find the final act as annoying or shocking as everybody says
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The Borderlands (or Final Prayer): I didn’t know this film at all, but after listening to the Evolution of Horror ’s episode on Death of a Vlogger, in which it is mentioned, I decided to give it a try. As a found footage film it is not particularly effective, except for one scene at the middle and the final one, which definitely I wasn’t expecting. The poster is cute and inspired to the Cabin In The Woods one, but it’s a bit misleading
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The Changeling has been in my watchlist for a while, and I finally tracked it down. A ghost story from 1980 with George C. Scott as an investigative composer. Really creepy and effective. Maybe it doesn’t hold together under scrutiny, but it doesn’t matter
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Scream VI : in need for a comfort watch, and one that would be available in my Blu-Ray collection, I turned to Ghostface. On the second viewing, the rating doesn’t change, but I have noticed even more the ‘requel’ links to Scream 2, in terms of setting, plot and general mood. Like that film, the resolution is not great, but it includes some of the tensest set-pieces in the whole franchise
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The Exorcist III , or, the unintentional return of George C. Scott, ten years after The Changeling. This was a really satisfying watch, and though the last act is a bit disappointing, there are enough great sequences to make up for it (even if I had been spoiled that scene): ‘Oh, wait, since when this guy looks like Brad Dourif?’. Though Dourif made me think of Child’s Play, and when he actually said ‘Child’s play’ (followed by a scene with a red-haired child), I wondered if that was on purpose. Also, did I imagine Father Dyer quoting Spaceballs?
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Exorcist II: The Heretic : yes, I watched III before II, after checking that there was no actual plot link between the two. Boy, this film is as bad as they describe it. I lost my faith after half an hour, and it never recovered.
…plus I finished 3 Body Problem. I’m not sure how I feel about it, as I don’t feel some of the plot points make sense for now. But I also would have liked more episodes to be available already.