A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his-luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last – IMDb

The only reason I’m mentioning 13 Sins is to remember not to watch it again. The only terrifying thing about this movie would be to forget about it, and then end up watching it again some day. The beginning may have looked promising, but it became tedious before the middle and ended up in a boring snore fest. It had absolutely nothing likeable, not even one character.

TLDR: this movie is a 1h 33m waste of time, not worth it!

Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, The Pope’s Exorcist follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden. (Rotten Tomatoes)

I don’t want my reviews to turn into a critic of the critics, but the more I read people’s comments, the lonelier I feel. I mean, am I the only one who’s watching these movies for the contortions, the body fluids, the inverted crosses, the out-of-the-tomb voices and the priests being tortured by evil entities? Because it’s all in there, and the scenario is deeper than “my daughter is possessed, do something!”.

When I said to a workmate that we were planning to watch The Pope’s Exorcist, he answered “Isn’t it the bad exorcist movie carried by Russell Crowe?”. He didn’t even watch it but his mind was made. That’s the most common thing that I’ve read in the critics and, somehow, it made its way into the mind of my workmate. Well, it isn’t true! Of course Russell Crowe is great and is a perfect match for Gabriele Amorth, but the rest of the movie is good.

My only complaint is that the rhythm of the movie is a bit on the slow side, with an uneven alternation between the scary scenes, the story scenes and a bit too many crisis of faith scenes.

While it may not be as fantastic as the original Exorcist, The Pope’s Exorcist is a good movie with a solid story, great acting and decent effects. Too bad for the slow pace which had me fight to keep my eyes open at times.

Trivia: While researching the life and work of Fr. Gabriel Amorth, Russell Crowe discovered that Amorth’s personal favorite movie was The Exorcist (1973), so much so, that Amorth became good friends with its director William Friedkin who later directed a documentary of Amorth’s work as an exorcist, The Devil and Father Amorth (2017).

A student desperately hoping to get a letter of recommendation to an elite university from the wealthy parents of her classmate, invites herself to his ‘Heaven and Hell’ party which turns into a nightmare.

When it comes to movies where teenagers go on a rampage and start slaughtering one and other, I’m all in. While the movie was entertaining enough, all I could say to describe it is “meh”.

I understand that the main character, Eden, was quite desperate to get a letter of recommendation, but she was pestering her classmate so much, it was cringe. The characters were unlikable, there wasn’t one I wished would be the final girl. Not to mention the bad writing, I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes throughout the entire movie. At least it only lasted 1h 34m, and with the action packed scenes, it remained entertaining enough to keep me awake.

Would I recommend this movie? Sure, I’d still give it a shot (just don’t expect too much), but I would never re-watch it.

An artist relocates to the Hudson Valley and begins to suspect that her marriage has a sinister darkness, one that rivals her new home’s history. (IMDB)

The worst part about the movie are the reviews. Have people lost the ability to be entertained or have they just become movie snobs? Sure, this is neither an horror movie, neither a pure thriller and I guess that the fans of these two genres may have transposed their purist disappointment in their harsh critics. However, if you don’t mind watching a movie that belongs to the “thriller with supernatural elements” category, I’m sure that you’ll enjoy Things Heard & Seen.

Throughout the movie, a sympathy is build for Catherine (Amanda Seyfried), who lives with a husband who not only doesn’t love her but is actually a real jerk. That sympathy is what keeps the tension up during the movie. Part of me didn’t want anything bad to happen to her, and the other part wanted her husband to be punished for treating her the way he does. The supernatural elements help keeping the movie from turning too dramatic.

Overall, Things Heard & Seen is a pretty good supernatural thriller with a 70s vibe. A nice fit for a rainy Saturday evening.

The All Hallow’s Eve series introduce the psychotic ART the clown from the Terrifier movies. Being a fan of the Terrifier franchise, I had high hopes for All Hallow’s Eve. Truth be told, it was very bad. I don’t mind amateurism in horror, I think that sometimes it adds to the vibe of the movie (especially in the found footage genre), but amateurism apart, it is unwatchable. Slasher movies rarely make me nod off, but this one was a 83 minute long battle against sleep.

While some actors did a better job, others had the charisma of a wood stick. Not one you could take a liking to. The storyline is a big bag of “I don’t know where I’m going with this”. I’ve read on IMDb that “the alien in the second story was originally going to be a puppet, but when the puppet didn’t work, it was replaced by a man in a suit instead”. I can tell you, it looked like a dude in a very poor quality Halloween costume. For a slasher this is pretty bad.

I will not watch the other two All Hallow’s Eve movies, and most certainly not recommend watching this to anyone.

1956 – France. A priest is murdered. An evil is spreading. Sister Irene as she once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun.(IMDB)

I’m not gonna lie, I love evil nuns. BUT, I love them sexy (and a bit slutty). I sometimes wish that it was Taissa Farmiga who portrayed a bad, bad, nun 😉 However, she wouldn’t be as creepy as Bonnie Aarons and my version wouldn’t belong in the horror category.

However, I don’t think that we get to see the Nun enough. I understand that they wanted to create a huge build up but it led to many unnecessary dramatic scenes.

It is still a solid entry in the series and probably a necessary foundation to the story of the franchise. I just expected it to be more than a long and slow story sparkled with a few jump scares.

A man is strung up by his tongue in a subway tunnel. That man is a police detective with a lengthy record of perjury allegations. Will he cut out the tongue that wrongly put innocent people in prison, or is it now him who will be railroaded?

We watched the movie to get our sadistic gore fix, like the ones we’re used to get from a Saw movie, however we also received a story, and a good one.

If you’re seeking the classic Saw experience, you will get it. Blood is spilled, fingers are cut off, and skin gets peeled away. But you will get more than gruesome special effects. Spiral is a thriller laced with copious amounts of gore and the result is good, so good that it made me forget how much I don’t like Chris Rock.

A sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. (source: IMDB)

Some people wanted more than just a gruesome movie… I did not. I’m not especially interested in John Kramer’s dramatic story, I just want to see poor fucks being thought a lesson in the most possible brutal and sadistic way. I’m not sick (well, not really), I’m just a dude who likes to get what he pays for. If I buy horror, I like to get it. If I would buy drama (which will never happen, not in a million year), that’s what I’d like to get. The only mix I enjoy is stracciattella ice cream, because it’s delicious. However don’t sprinkle my horror with your sob dramatic stories!

I didn’t have a bad evening watching the movie, I was just disappointed not to have another classic Saw. While I understand that the franchise needed a breath of fresh life and a prequel with a (more) solid plot was a good idea, I found it often more draggy than ruthless.

When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. (IMDB)

Of all the movies we had in stock, we didn’t think that this one would be good enough for our end of the year holidays. I think that the trailer suggested more psychological stuff than real horror, and you know how much we hate fake horror movies… However, the movie is actually great. It’s so rare to see a movie with a fresh new concept succeed in being different and creepy.

The idea to use an embalmed hand to conjure spirits isn’t the only original thing about the movie… I thought that the casting was also very different from the usual teens that we normally get to see in such a movie. Btw, the movie was banned in Kuwait due to the appearance of trans actor Zoe Terakes. Well, who cares about Kuwait anyway?

Due to the pandemic, Parker and her best friend decide to quarantine at the family lake house alone – or so they think. (IMDB)

Honestly, I thought that the movie we would get after the pandemic would have been a catastrophe flick with The Rock as a scientist who’s saving the world by single-handedly creating the vaccine and dodging evil Chinese spies while jumping from a rooftop to an helicopter and punching an alligator in the face.

Instead, what we got is a slasher movie happening during the pandemic. Well, I’m not disappointed! It’s a good slasher without drama, there’s even a plot twist. Also, it is shot in a dream house.

So, once again, I must thank Covid-19… Not only has it brought us the most interesting year of the last 2 decades and promoted home working while making my inner introvert very happy, but it has also, years later, inspired a not-bad-at-all slasher.