Let’s Talk About The Cursed

The Cursed (2022)

Writer/Director: Sean Ellis

Gothic Horror

What it’s about

It’s 19th century France. A pathologist arrives in a remote rural village to investigate what appears to be wild animal attacks, attacks like he’s seen prior from his own village. He uncovers a sinister mystery that’s affecting the villagers. 

There are gypsies and creature effects in this one.

What I Thought

Normally, I don’t care for period pieces, a lot of horses in this one. People riding horses, Neighing horses, flaming horses. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. The story flowed nicely, the acting was good, starring Kelly Reilly (Eden Lake), Boyd Holbrook (Narcos; The Predator) and Alistair Petrie (The Terror). The pacing was great, the movie starts off with a pretty intense action packed scene, and the writing was well done. Definitely not a slow burn. It’s been a while since we’ve had a nice gothic horror story like this and you can definitely sink your teeth into this one. 

I enjoyed the mythology aspects, the intensity, and there were some really well done brutally gorey scenes. After basically attempting a genocide of the locals, the gypsies place a curse on the wealthy villagers for taking their land. It’s no ordinary curse. 

Let’s just say, you’re going to have to mold some large silver bullets for this one.

Final Thoughts

4/5

If I had to complain about anything in this movie, it would be the lighting. It’s often dark, foggy, outside at night, or indoors by candlelight. Although this adds much to the tone of the movie, it also makes it hard to see at times. The creature effects were pretty exceptional. Not your typical hairy beast. It was much more frightening, almost self-aware. It was also nice to see an original story again in the theater. Not a sequel or prequel, just a brand new story.

I enjoyed the acting and there are a few scenes that’ll leave your eyes popping and jaw agape. This is a classic Gothic horror story with a sophisticated edge. Scary where it should be and beautifully eerie. Definitely worth the watch. 

Where to find it

Theater release, not on any streaming platforms just yet.

Photo: IMDB

Have you seen The Cursed Yet? Thoughts?

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My First Horror Experience With Sledgehammer Horror

About a month ago, I sat down with Ken from Sledgehammer Horror for their “My First Horror” series. I talked about my very first sit-down experience with a horror movie. My first horror movie was…

My First Horror with Sledgehammer Horror

Be sure to give them a like/follow/Subscribe!

Let’s Talk About X

X (2022) Ti West

Written/Directed/Produced by Ti West

Distributed by A24

What it’s about

A group of twenty somethings set off to film an adult film in rural Texas, renting a location from elderly couple – Howard and Pearl. With dreams of stardom and celebrity, the crew of six begin filming their movie only to learn that something is terribly off about Howard and Pearl. 

Mia Goth (Suspiria 2017) plays a double role in the film. Maxine Minx, the porn actress AND Pearl, the old lady. This was the best part about the movie- her duality. It wasn’t until after the film that I realized it was the same actress portraying both characters. The team of six are determined to make the most artful and successful pornography film ever, truning them all into massive stars. With RJ at the camera helm with his artsy direction, girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega- Insidious: Chapter 2) on audio, Wayne (Martin Henderson- Little Fish 2005) the hot shot producer and the stars; Jackson, a former marine, Bobby Lynn,a southern seductress and Maxine.

What I Thought

If Boogie Nights met Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Only instead of Leatherface we have a creepy, horny old lady.

Although a decent slasher, it wasn’t perfect for me.

I DID like the practical effects, the gore scenes and the sheer amount of blood used in this movie.

I did NOT enjoy the pacing, waiting until almost two thirds in before it really picked up. I also found a lack of character development, so I had a hard time feeling any real empathy or connecting to any of the characters, other than Pearl. 

You feel bad for Pearl. A former dancer and beauty queen, she’s now stuck inside her senior body, not able to do the things she once loved. Like, making love to her husband for example. Howard has a bad heart so their physical connection has dwindled making her feel extremely lonely and empty.

Seeing the young crowd of “filmmakers”, creepily watching them perform their scenes through windows, awakens a visceral spark inside, turning this meek old lady into one brutal killer.

I loved all the gore once it started rolling. Some fantastic makeup and special effects. LOTS OF BLOOD. The soundtrack was also pretty great considering the film takes place in 1979. 

The only outstanding performance in this movie for me, was Mia Goth. 

Final Thoughts

3.5/5

I think it could have been better. If only we just cut out one or two of the many sex scenes to explore the characters more. Although it was refreshing to see a brand new Slasher flick that WASN’T a remake, it didn’t deliver for me like I had hoped. It wasn’t as tense as I expected, and I didn’t love it. A decent watch but don’t go in with high expectations.

Where to find it

In theaters.

Photo: IMDB

What did you think of X?

Let’s Talk About The Privilege

2022’s The Privilege

Directors: Katharina Schöde, Felix Fuchssteiner

Horror/Thriller/Conspiracy

Germany

*Contains minor spoilers

What it’s about

It’s six months before graduation at an elite high school for the wealthy.  Finn, has suffered a life changing trauma as a child with the loss of his older sister, Anna. He’s heavily medicated, only to find out something suspicious is going on in town. There’s a few things happening here; we have a supernatural element, a possible cult, a large conspiracy, oh, and a parasitic demon fungus that’s primed to take over hosts.

What I Thought

I liked it. It started off well, no slow burns here. When you have a bunch of horror tropes in one movie it can come across as over ambitious, bordering on pretentious. However, this movie pulled it together and wove a very interesting and unique story. The young leads were all exceptional. There were some really creepy scenes and the overall ominous tone made it appealing.

Finn still has flashbacks of the night his older sister, Anna died. He’s being treated for trauma and depression with medication. He has a non-identical twin sister, Sophie who seems relatively unaffected by the passing of their sister. You also have the very Stepford-like parents who go about their days, never mentioning the death of their eldest daughter.

Finn begins seeing supernatural hallucinations and sleepwalking. His family simply write him off as being crazy. He lives a very privileged life you see, and he should be grateful he’s told, but his grandfather is also dying and he shares a very close bond with him. And although he feels something is just not right with the people around him, everyone assures him, it’s just him. It’s all in his mind.

At the same time, Finn is trying to finish high school and we have a scene of foreshadowing in biology class where the teacher is explaining fungus. Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis in particular. A pathogenic fungus that attacks insects, ants in particular. The fungus inhabits a host, takes over its body and reproduces, essentially turning the host into an unwilling zombie.

When sister Sophie, now approaching 18, the same age Anna was when she died, starts changing, Finn becomes concerned and on high alert with his best friend Lena. 

Upon closer examination of the medication Finn takes, the two discover something inside. Something moving. After confirming with their teacher that it’s indeed a fungus they track down an expert. Luckily she’s also an expert in the occult as well because THIS particular fungus?… It’s demonic.

This is where it really picks up. 

There’s a town conspiracy amongst the rich elite that they’ve been hiding for decades, almost all of the kids are being medicated, and Finn and his friends are about to blow the whole thing wide open.

Final Thoughts

4/5

I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the movie was shot really well with a pretty high production value, Also, FYI- the English dub is excellent. Some really creepy scenes, a few well done jump scares, a little body horror and gore, paired with some humor made it an exciting watch. A couple of dips but nothing to really complain about. I even liked the ending. I’d say it’s definitely worth your time if you’re in the mood for something different. 

Was this a social commentary of the overmedication of young people? Perhaps. What did you think?

“Talk to your doctor about Trychozepam today. Side effects may include: hallucinations, possession, unsightly fungal growth, a rapid change in personality, and the end to everything you thought was true.”  

Where to find it

Netflix

Photo: IMDB

High Horror With Anya & Sam: A New Monthly Podcast

I’ve been keeping busy with podcasts as you can see from my Podcasts page.

In addition to my own podcast, Let Us In that I host with three other creators from TikTok, I’ve also teamed up with Anya Gorre from Horror And More With Anya Gorre.

Once a month, we’ll get together to review a horror movie. Last year we were going to review Anything for Jackson (2020) (You can find my review highlighted. What ended up happening is that we ABSOLUTELY lucked into the pleasure of speaking to Keith Cooper, (the writer of Anything for Jackson) directly for a phenomenal interview about the film. We learned so much about the production of the film, the Easter eggs they intentionally placed in the film, the experiences with the actors. It really was the highlight of my podcast career.

Take a listen: The post can be found here.

So we finally go together to actually review the film in all its glory!

Take a listen! ⬇️🎙️

https://omny.fm/shows/horror-and-more-with-anya-gorre/high-horror-episode-1

X: A Movie Review with Fandom at Random

X (2022) Ti West

I Sat down with Brian from Fandom at Random and we discussed the new Ti West film, X. Episode below- and give them a Subscribe!