THE FIRST PURGE :: HORROR :: 084

The First Purge (2018)

Let me start by saying that the concept of The Purge as a horror film is brilliant! However, this fourth version to franchise lacked believability on numerous occasions! Even if you are a fan of The Purge: Election Year (2016) or any of the ones before this one, I think you’ll find a plethora of faults in this particular film.

PLOT
The New Founding Fathers decide to enact an experiment on New York’s Staten Island; no laws for 12 hours. Even though no one has to stay, money is given to those that do stay on the island during the purge and even more so to those that participate.

THE CAST

The film’s cast only has a handful of recognizable faces: Y’lan Noel (Insecure), Luna Lauren Velez (Dexter) and Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny).

Marisa plays the scientist that came up with the idea of a purge and was able to turn the whole Staten Island into her grande experiment.

Y’lan plays drug mogul Dmitri, who when things go bad, decides to protect his ex-girlfriend (who he continues to have feelings for) and her troubled, younger brother Isaiah (played by Jovian Wade).

THE REVIEW
The story is set as a prequel and is compelling in concept. Though it lends itself to great potential, especially when watching previews, The First Purge instantly falls apart when you start to question the reality created.

With 75% of Staten Island’s population being white, the film portrays the borough as an island filled with a majority of poverty-stricken minorities (which isn’t remotely accurate to the total population living on the island). Though I recognize the intent was to show how minorities are targeted for political gain (especially since the only Caucasians in the film played the antagonist and the hero was an African American drug dealer), I do think there could have been a better way to portray this without taking away facts.

Obviously many things will cause people to opt for a life of crime. Poverty does create a dire need to make one’s life better. In this case, a sink overflowing in Isaiah’s home was the “final straw” that motivates him turn to streets only to encounter a psychopath named Skeletor (played by Rotimi Paul).

The wife and I do not understand the purpose of Skeletor other than to antagonize Isaiah to leave his home during the purge. In the beginning of the film, when interviewed by scientists, he seemed like a demented individual that belonged in the psych ward. However, on the streets, the neighborhood referred to him as a crackhead. I have never seen a drug-induced individual act in the manner that he does with such purpose and clarity. Thus, making his character an excessive and unneeded addition to the story.

One major sour spot for us was when Dmitri fights (alone) against a group of people, using kung fu-ish movements and shooting a gun better than any special forces soldier. When I saw this “super soldier” choreography in a sweaty, white tank top, my mind immediately jumped to Die Hard (1988). Die Hard on steroids. The likelihood that a drug dealer would be a master at martial arts and have those kind of skills with an automatic weapon is not believable without an authentic backstory – which the story lacked.

It’s hard to say who was most at fault with this picture – director Gerard McMurray, writer James DeMonaco, or any number of people that molded this film into the disappointment it was. But once you dismiss all of these glaring abnormalities, the film can, but only at times, be entertaining.

What did you guys think? We’d love to know.

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Trailer:

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HOCUS POCUS :: FANTASY:: 083

HOCUS POCUS (1993)

The year 1993 was the time for making terrific movies and according to IMDB, the Halloween classic Hocus Pocus was the most popular of them all! Listed among other classics like Schindler’s List and Mrs. Doubtfire… Hocus Pocus (directed by Kenny Ortega) rose to the top – which surprised me.

PLOT
A trio of 17th century witches are brought back to life in 1993 when a teenage virgin lights the magical, black-flame candle. To save the lives of the community, the protagonists must find a way to reverse the spell and send these evil spell-doers back to the abyss.

CHARACTERS

The Sanderson sisters (played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) were absolute magic together (pun intended). You had Winifred the leader and master sorceress (Midler), Sarah the ditsy and boy-crazy (Parker), and Mary (Najimy) the witch with a bloodhound ability to sniff out children.

One trivia that stood out was that the lead kid role of Max Dennison – the Salem transplant from sunny California- (played by Omri Katz) was originally cast for Leonardo DiCaprio. However, Leo turned it down to star alongside Johnny Depp in the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). But had Leonardo DeCaprio played the role of in Hocus Pocus, I am fairly certain he wouldn’t have gotten his Academy Award nomination, so…. well-played Leo!

The performance from the rest of the main cast was subpar. To my surprise, Max’s younger, eight-year-old sister Dani (Thora Birch) was the most natural actor of the bunch (excluding the witches) – though her sobbing could have been worked on.

Sean Murrey, who plays Thackery, was horribly bad. However, similarly to The Room, his overacting was forgivable as it gave the movie a comedic touch for the wife and me. Additionally, the performances may have been overlooked because of the intended target audience – children.

THE REVIEW
Since the first day of October, social media was flooded with people of all ages recounting their evenings watching Hocus Pocus. As the Disney film leads on the popular scale (ahead of movies like Jurassic Park), it is obvious nostalgia is the reason for its success. Nonetheless, after watching this holiday-themed classic, it’s pretty easy to see how Hocus Pocus is a great choice for family-friendly entertainment.

My wife did gripe about the length of the movie as the storyline was stretched thin. Once the group of kids rally together, after what they think is the end of their horrors, the witches find a way back into their lives. It was quite unnecessary to us, but let us know below if you disagree in the comments below!

In conclusion, Hocus Pocus garnered more of a cult following than any fortune-teller could foretell. Though you can clearly identify the age of the film from its special effects, theatrical acting, and adventurous storyline, who can fault a children’s movie in the 90s; especially when it takes you back to those trick-or-treat nights as a child. I certainly can’t! But alas, I must critique this film objectively as possible, so I tried to analyze it with my little boy hat on. I hope I did it justice.

Do you agree with my review?

Yes or no… please let us know in the comments.

• As a little Easter Egg… spot Doug Jones (from The Shape of Water) as Billy Butherson, the man brought back from the dead.

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TRAILER:

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LIGHTS OUT REVIEW :: HORROR :: 066

Lights Out (2016)

Light’s Out is the first film from David F. Sandberg, who after this, went on to direct Annabelle: Creation (2017). This story, based on Mr. Sandberg’s film short in 2013 (watch below) proved a hit although the reviews for the feature film are rather scattered.

The Plot
Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) must come to the aid of her younger brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) who is losing sleep over the creepiness and potential violence that resides while living with his manic mother Sophie (Maria Bello). The mother lives with a possessed spirit that haunts the her house in times of mental stress and is revealed when it’s “light’s out.”

The Review
Being the first feature film from David Sandberg, I’d like to start the review by applauding him. While I personally thought some of the acting was on the weak side, each actor had their strong moments. Additionally there were many more strong acting moments than weak ones. The only other negative is at the story could have been added on to, although the duration of the film makes it easier to keep the tension. Still, at a mere 1 hr and 21 minutes, something closer to the 2-hr mark would be nice.

The scares were steady, even starting off the film – which you don’t often see. They were mainly of the “shock” variety and came quite unexpectedly at times (as one would hope from a horror film). The director had several hurdles (it appears to me) while making this film. The obvious one is that for the possessed spirit to endanger any of the characters, he had to manufacture ways of keeping them in the dark (i.e. flashlights going out, candles flickering, etc.).

As someone who thinks that true horror films should all be R-rated (with only a few exceptions), he had another obstacle in that he kept it PG-13 – keeping gore and violence to a tolerable level per the studio’s guidelines. This is almost always a mistake. In this movie, it would have helped, but not to a great extent, in my opinion. The one thing that I think they did exceptionally well was that the characters reacted rather realistically to the situations presented… for example, something scares you, get a weapon… lights go out, check the fuse box, et cetera.

Online user reviews are always quite harsh – especially when it comes to horror. People have widely different tastes and, as such, many get scared/shocked/grossed out differently. Though purists will likely scoff at Lights Out, it is definitely a movie to give a try. I think it’ll surprise most.

Did you see it? What were you impressions of the film?

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Trailer:

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Original LIGHTS OUT Short (2013):

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