Back from travelling, to a more normal rhythm and bandwidth, and with a couple of days off that allowed for two escapades to the cinema.
I will also admit that, while away, I temporarily re-subscribed to Paramount+ just to be able to listen to this week’s episode of The Detective and the Log Lady. This explains a couple of entries below…
Apartment 7A, directed by Natalie Erika James, co-written with Christian White and Skylar James, based on Ira Levin’s novel Rosemary’s Baby, US, 2024 - ⭐⭐⭐
…starting with this film. In a year that gave us The First Omen, releasing another prequel of a classic demonic pregnancy horror might not have been the best choice. While I wasn’t over the moon about Damien’s origin story, it didn’t just stick to a retread of the first film; Apartment 7A, instead, feels more like a remake/readaptation of Polanski’s movie than a prequel, following the same beats, with the only difference that this time the person that benefits from the ‘perks’ of the role is the (not consenting) mother herself.
Having not watched the 1968 film in twenty years, I didn’t remember Terry Gionnofrio’s (not a real surname) character, so I didn’t notice the inconsistencies nor did I remember her fate, so it’s possible that I enjoyed this film a bit more than I would otherwise.
I like the nightmare scene the most.
Julia Garner was good as the lead character, and I didn’t recognise Dianne Weist. I felt Jim Sturgess was wasted here.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, directed by David Zucker, co-written with Pat Proft, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, US, 1988 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
It’s Enrico Pallazzo! The first time I watched this film I was fifteen, and a schoolmate invited me and another friend to his place to do our homework together. After diligently doing our duties, he enthusiastically showed us a VHS his parents had just brought him: we spent the rest of the afternoon just laughing like crazy.
I watched this film probably once or twice since, and I was amazed at how many scenes I vividly remembered (almost the entire movie). That’s the sign of a classic.
Rosemary’s Baby, written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on Ira Levin’s novel, US, 1968 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Let’s get this out of the way: I am not able to separate the art from the artist. So, my policy would normally be to avoid Polanski’s films as long as he might financially profit from me watching them. I’m not proud of this exception (I wonder how much he gets each time one of his films is streamed).
Also, I couldn’t avoid appreciating the film: albeit a bit repetitive, it’s a terrifying story that leads you to really empathise with poor Rosemary, for the way she’s treated by her ’loving’ husband as much as for the horrifying circumstances of her pregnancy.
The dream sequence is a surrealist masterpiece, and, make it counterpart in Apartment 7A pale in comparison.
Drop, directed by Christopher Landon, written by Jillian Jacobs and Christopher Roach, US, 2025 - ⭐⭐⭐½
Everybody says Landon’s latest film is a ‘Hitchcockian thriller’, but I would also compare it to a ‘Sunday-afternoon Saw’.
It’s an enjoyable movie, that maybe gets a bit repetitive in its central part; from this point of view, the change of pace in the last act (which I’ve heard people criticise) was refreshing.
Landon is a skilful director, and this might be the reason I enjoyed it much more than the previous scripts by the authors of Fantasy Island and Truth or Dare.
The Castle, directed by Rob Sitch, written by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy and Rob Sitch, Australia, 1997 - ⭐⭐⭐½
This Australian comedy was the theme of this month’s IndieWeb Movie Club, and I wrote about it in a dedicated post. In summary: a feel-good funny film, although not particularly groundbreaking in terms of its plot. It features (in a few scenes) a very young Eric Bana.
Sinners, written and directed by Ryan Coogler, US, 2025 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
An excellent, multi-layered story about cultural assimilation and resistance. Michael B. Jordan is great in a dual role, but the whole cast (Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku) is faultless, as is the soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson. I personally had trouble telling the twins apart (which one is Stack, which one is Smoke?), but every critic mentions how distinct they are and praises Jordan for his characterisations, so I suspect me being a non-native English speaker forced me to focus on the dialogue/subtitles and neglect other, non-verbal, elements.
Hundreds of Beavers, directed by Mike Cheslik, co-written with Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, US, 2022 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was very very sceptical that this silly, cartoonish, essentially dialogue-free live-action film with a videogame-type plot would be able to live up to the hype, but it won me over by continuously reinventing itself and its heightened visual style. The fact that I didn’t lose interest in it for (almost) the whole duration of it is no small feat at all.
Hell House LLC, written and directed by Stephen Cognetti, US, 2015 - ⭐⭐⭐½ (up from ⭐⭐½ )
I’ve rewatched this film to follow the Evolution of Horror’s found footage mini-season, and despite my reaction being similar to my first impression (very tense first half building anticipation, disappointing second half, inexplicable character decisions), in the end, I was less critical about it. The non-clown-related scares were more effective than I remembered (the clowns, in my view, are the weak point of the two films I watched in the series).