Category Archives: Thriller

First Reformed

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First Reformed                  4 stars

First Reformed has been described as a comeback for writer director Paul Schrader, who is known for writing Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ.  He has not produced any real notable films of late until First Reformed showed up earlier this year.  The film tells a dark story of Rev. Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke), an ill, alcoholic pastor of a small declining, but historic church who is facing a crisis of faith.  Toller is asked to counsel a troubled young man by the man’s wife (Amanda Seyfried) who happens to be pregnant with their first child.  The husband is an active environmentalist and is very troubled by the amount of pollution that the planet is seeing.  He may even be teetering on the edge of self destruction. Things take a dramatic turn for the worse and Toller sinks ever deeper into depression and his drinking.  This is all going on at the same time that a 250th anniversary of the church is being planned for the church which is subsidized by a nearby megachurch led by Rev. Jeffers (the comedian Cedric Kyles, aka Cedric the Entertainer).  These events serve as devices that drive the film to a very startling and intense conclusion.  The film has a very stark and slow moving style that is unlike most films from Hollywood.  One can see that the director’s religious background has a lot to do with the message being told.  Be forewarned.  Some parts of the film are disturbing, but it is certainly worth seeing if only as a means of discussing one’s own faith.  First Reformed is also greatly aided by the strong performances of all of its main stars, especially Ethan Hawke.  This is likely one of his best performances to date.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web

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The Girl in the Spider’s Web                        2 ½ stars

The Girl in the Spider’s Web is the new reboot of the “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” series of movies that first came from Sweden , then remade in the US.  It is the first based on a novel not written by author Stieg Larsson nor was it directed by David Fincher.  This movie continues the story of Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy), a brilliant cyber tech hacker and vigilante against men who hurt women.  The journalist she teamed up with before, Mikael Blomkvist is still here but has a much smaller role in this film, so the chemistry between the two has completely vanished this time around.  Also missing is the personal nature of the conflicts that are so unique to the earlier films.  Instead Salander has almost become a female James Bond who is seeking to protect the world from a nuclear threat posed by a sinister international terrorist organization called the Spiders.  There is plenty of action as Lisbeth makes many daring escapes and rescues the targets of these terrorists.  There is also a certain amount of intrigue as the intensions of many players are only slowly revealed, a trademark of any good international thriller.  The use of technological gadgetry leads to some amazing scenes that sometimes stretches the limits of believability.  I found that to be somewhat distracting at times.  Also, I found that there were a little too many references to the name Spider.  About the sixth time that a spider crawls out of a hole or crevice I wanted to scream “OK. I get it already. It’s about spiders!”  Hopefully, this will be the last of the Dragon Tattoo series.  This story has been pretty well spent.

The End of Oak Street

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The End of Oak Street    4 stars

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you happened to see a dinosaur outside your house one day? That is the question addressed by the filmmaker of It Follows and Under the Silver Lake, David Robert Mitchell. He takes his penchant for freakish happenings and applies it to the creatures run amok genre in The End of Oak Street. He starts us out by following the Pratt family at an outdoor block party in a 1984 suburb complete with sack races and hot dog roasting. This all-American family consists of husband Greg (Ewan McGregor of Star Wars and Moulin Rouge) and wife Denise (Anne Hathaway (who seems to be working non-stop this year. See Mother Mary and The Odyssey.)) and their children Audrey (Maisy Stella of My Old Ass) and Brian (Christian Convery). Although they appear to be normal from the outside there are hints that something is not right in this family. Greg is troubled and has been taking odd jobs to earn more money. Daughter Audrey is very interested in science and wants to attend Cornell. (She even mentions Carl Sagan.) Brian has taken an interest in a new girl who has moved into the neighborhood but is also avoiding contact with the local bully. Denise is the strong member of the family who is holding it together while working on her novel hoping to be published. She has a very direct way of dealing with a particularly irritating neighbor. But then after some strange happenings involving flashing lights at night and loud noises, things are profoundly different for the family and everyone else in the neighborhood when large dinosaurs, straight out of Jurassic Park appear and chase down the residents, occasionally turning them into a light snack. Some investigations of the surroundings reveal that the entire neighborhood has been transported back in time for hundreds of millions of years and now exists surrounded by jungle in a prehistoric era which is inhabited by dinosaurs of all varieties. Between episodes of being chased by these creatures and keeping the family alive, we see the fear on Denise’s face, but also the frustration of dealing with Greg’s inability to come to grips with the reality of their dire situation. The movie is really sold by the acting talents of Anne Hathaway who surely will get at least one Academy Award nomination this year. A great deal of the movie is devoted to the characters facing each new threat from a different creature and successfully handling it. (The same cannot be said about some of the neighbors who become dino food.) Things become more terrifying when the family members become separated from one another. In one notable scene, an enormous boa is seen wandering silently through the house until the moment it is about to strike. The End of Oak Street is obviously influenced by Steven Spielberg’s films, but it definitely has a sharper tone to it. There are some scenes you would not see in a Spielberg movie, such as the enormous piles of dinosaur excrement dotting the lawns and some of the graphic deaths. There are a few “Holy Shit” moments. It shares some aspects of certain Twilight Zone episodes as it shifts into another dimension. Without revealing anything about the ending I will say that the resolution of the whole situation feels rather convenient. Overall, I highly recommend seeing this one. David Robert Mitchell is reportedly working on a sequel to his hit horror movie, It Follows, which I will be watching for.

The Teachers’ Lounge

The Teachers’ Lounge                    5 stars

Who would think that a middle school could be the setting of a top-rated mystery thriller? That is what we find in the Oscar nominated 2023 drama The Teachers’ Lounge by Turkish Director Ilker Çatak. Carla (Leonie Benesch of The Crown), a Polish immigrant is a new teacher in the German middle school and is full of ideals as she navigates instructing her sixth-grade students in math and physical education. She approaches the class with enthusiasm and is very encouraging toward the wide variety of students in her classroom. Then it is reported that a series of thefts have taken place including in the teachers’ lounge and it is suspected that one of Carla’s students is the thief. Carla finds it offensive when some teachers try to persuade the student leaders to rat out who they might suspect. When a Turkish immigrant student is accused, Carla is especially incensed being an immigrant herself. She takes matters into her own hands and in a lapse of judgment does something against school policy resulting in accusations against one of the school’s long-term staff members. Tempers flare and more people become involved pitting teachers against each other and bringing parents and students into the conflict. Carla’s own students turn against her, launching a smear campaign against her and staging a participatory strike in the classroom. Finally, one student decides to resort to violence. The pressure on Carla rises to such an extent that she and her class execute a primal scream together. The screeching violin score behind the film serves to further escalate the tension as things get more frenetic seemingly through the entire movie. You will be kept guessing about the outcome in this exciting thriller about institutional control and freedom of expression in a middle school. And you will never find it boring. The movie received numerous awards and nominations.

Scream

Scream                 4 stars

Since I have seen all of the Scream franchise movies except one I had to go back and see the 2022 entry in the series, Scream. This is the fifth entry in the series and the first since Scream 4 in 2011. A Scream movie has certain rules that must be followed. They center around a fictional series of slasher movies called Stab in which the characters are hacked to death by the mysterious knife wielding character, Ghostface. They rely on the audience having a good knowledge of horror movies like Halloween and others. There is always a new killer in each Scream movie since the previous Ghostface has been killed off by the main characters. And there is always more than one killer that work together. All these rules are followed here, and the movie follows the same pattern we have seen since 1996 when the babysitter played by Drew Barrymore first got hacked to death in the town of Woodsboro. This time Ghostface strikes first, again in Woodsboro on teenager Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega (Death of a Unicorn and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)) who is home alone. She manages to survive multiple stab wounds and ends up in the hospital. Her sister, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera (Scream VI and In the Heights)) comes back to town to take care of Tara, with the two having been previously estranged. It is up to her and a new assortment of teenagers to try to solve the riddle of who the new Ghostface killer is, but as we all know the killer or killers may be among them. Another rule is that the original Scream characters must return to take part in unravelling the mystery and that is fulfilled when the teens call on sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette of Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4 and Scream 7), who is now retired from law enforcement. He in turn gets our reliable heroes, the final girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell of Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4 and Scream 7) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox of Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, Scream VI and Scream 7) involved as well, all of whom have left Woodsboro for new lives. Weathers is now a well-known news anchor in New York City. One more previous character, Deputy Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton of Planet Terror) returns in this installment as well, but briefly. Two new characters are the sister and brother act, Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding of Booksmart). Mindy believes she has figured out the secret that the new killings are related to the release of the new movie Stab 8, and a revolt by the fans who object to the inauthenticity of the latest entry. These new killings are very similar to the original Ghostface spree. Mindy calls it a requel. (Since I already knew that Mindy and Chad are in the later Scream movies, they could not be the killers.) I can give you one spoiler here and that is that one original character may not make it out alive. Co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (who also brought us the Ready or Not movies) have returned to the roots of Scream and given the fans of this comedy horror franchise something to scream about. So far Scream has been followed with Scream VI and Scream 7 with perhaps more to come? Whatever happens, just remember, Shoot ‘em in the head!

Them That Follow

Them That Follow.       4 1/2 stars

Them That Follow is a first time feature by two new directors that takes place in the Appalachians of Kentucky.  It is about a young woman who is part of the snakehandling Pentacostal Church. The church is under the control of the pastor played by Walter Goggins who sets all the rules of the small mountain community.  He is aided by Sister Hope played remarkably by the incredible Olivia Coleman who keeps a watchful eye over the flock.  The church is often persecuted by the outside world because of their practices with handling poisonous snakes as part of their rituals. The real story starts when we see that the pastor’s daughter has a secret she is hiding that could impact many lives of this small fellowship.  The story was well put together and was aided by some top notch acting. Also in the cast was Jim Gaffigan the comedian in a very uncharacteristic role.  I warn you there are some very intense and graphic scenes. Some of it was too much for some audience members.  I especially liked this one which I picked because of the casting of Coleman in a key role.

Society of the Snow

Society of the Snow        4 ½ stars

You have probably heard the story before. I know I have a few times. In 1972 a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and friends and family crashed in the snow-covered Andes mountains while on their flight to Chile. The plane had 40 passengers. Several of the passengers survived the crash. Weeks later after the search was abandoned two members of the team crossed the Andes on foot and told the world that they were alive. 16 people were still alive having survived in part by resorting to cannibalism on the bodies of those who died. The incredible story was previously made into the English language movie Alive in 1993. Society of the Snow is a Spanish language telling, made by J. A. Bayona, who previously made The Impossible, the story of a family caught in the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. The new film depicts the events of the tragedy including acts of heroism performed by several of the young victims who were mostly young men in their twenties. It shows the initial crash that most of the passengers somehow survived, the hope for a rescue that didn’t come, and an avalanche hitting the fuselage taking more lives. The movie shows how they were forced to choose to use the dead as nourishment and how a select few had the task of retrieving the food so that the rest would not know who it was they were consuming. The film also focuses on the emotional aspects of the ordeal and the members’ devotion to one another. Bayona and the actors have made the film one about survivalist adventure but also about spirituality. At times it is a tough one to watch but is certainly worth it. It was nominated for two Academy Awards in 2024. The film is available on Netflix. If you see it be sure to check out the How the movie was made, video. The roles were all filled with non-actors, and they had to do the scenes chronologically so they could lose weight progressively during the filming.

Backrooms

Backrooms          2 ½ stars

I went to see the new horror film Backrooms after seeing the trailer and have to say it is one of the most unusual horror movies I remember seeing and maybe the most unsettling. It’s amazing how scenes of empty rooms or hallways with a few ordinary objects can cause terror but the maker of the movie, Kane Parsons somehow pulls it off. We meet Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)), the owner of a discount furniture store in 1990 who has a temper and is going through a difficult time after his wife has kicked him out of the house. He has sessions with his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value, The Worst Person in the World)), who is trying to help him through his anger issues. Clark has been having electrical problems with the lights in the store turning on and off. An electrician has found some mysterious switches in the store’s lower level that should not be there. One night while sleeping in the store Clark discovers a hidden doorway below ground level and falls through it. There he finds a lit-up room that contains a pile of various furniture that looks very haphazardly arranged. He ventures further and finds hallways and rooms that seem to stretch endlessly, some lit and others dark. The walls are constructed in a way that makes no sense and in places the floor is slanted up or down to a small opening that a person can only crawl through it. In places there is furniture and other objects embedded in the floor or walls. Some places appear clean while others appear to be decaying and dirty. At one point we get a view of a man monitoring Clark on a closed-circuit TV without explanation. Eventually, Clark makes his way back to the doorway and tells others about the mysterious discovery. Among them is Mary who only halfway believes Clark after he sketches out what he thinks he saw. (Now, Mary has had her own problems having grown up with an unfit mother who kept her from going outdoors, so she has issues herself.) Later, when Clark doesn’t show up, Mary goes looking for him at the furniture store only to discover the secret door herself and enter this strange world. I won’t go into what happens to both of them, but what follows can be described as equally troubling and terrifying. There are more than inanimate objects down there. There are beings that may not be entirely human. We never find out what this place is about, but it is described as a minimized version of what places are. The place is like having a dream where you can only halfway remember what is there. Don’t expect there to be any resolution to the situation. I think the point is to make something beyond creepy for the viewer. If that is the point, it succeeds, but the movie is short on plot at best. The director, 20-year-old Kane Parsons, has never made a movie before and is known for making creepy YouTube videos as a teenager. Somehow, he got the backing to make this movie with studio A24 using A-list stars. Given the lack of resolution, I can’t say I enjoyed it. It is more like an extended version of a Twilight Zone episode than a movie. I will say that the production design team must have had a ball designing the sets for it. They outdid themselves at every turn. There is talk of Parsons making this into a series of movies in the future. I am sure he is full of more ideas.

Velvet Buzzsaw

Velvet Buzzsaw.     4 stars

Of the films I saw today the one that probably has the widest audience appeal is Velvet Buzzsaw. This is a satire thriller that absolutely skewers the art world with its representation of the pretensions of artists, critics, buyers and museum curators and the greed infecting these people. The film seems like a big budget Hollywood movie with its A list stars and big sets in Los Angeles. Cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Billy Magnussen and John Malkovich. Since it is a satire, I am not sure how many people might like it. Some of the comedy is a bit high brow, but at the same time it’s also a silly comedy. I can’t go into detail on why it’s so silly without giving away the plot, but suffice it to say the greed of many of the characters gets the best of them in highly unusual ways. The satirical nature of the movie can be compared to The Death of Stalin and Vice, two recent movies that if you liked might mean you would like Velvet Buzzsaw. It was one of the better comedies I have seen at Sundance. I hope it will do well in theaters.

Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil                       5 stars

I recently viewed Orson Welles’ classic film about an ethical lawman facing off against a corrupt police captain, Touch of Evil, starring Charton Heston as Mike Vargas, the Mexican drug enforcement officer, and Welles as Hank Quinlan, the corrupt American police captain. It is a film full of notable performances but is equally known for Welles’ inventive ways of filming shots and for its labyrinthine plot. It’s important to note that I saw the restored version that was made in 1998 based on the extensive notes that Welles wrote after his disappointment with the edited version that the studio released in 1958. The story takes place in and around a Mexican-American border town with rundown storefronts, hotels and brothels. In one of Hollywood’s best known long takes we follow a doomed car with a planted bomb driven by a wealthy American through the streets of the town for 3 minutes and 20 seconds before it finally explodes. (In the restored version we hear the sounds of the street and background music instead of the theme music the studio used.) The investigation is led by the very heavy and alcoholic Quinlan with bystander Vargas inconveniently inserting himself into the case. Vargas’ new American wife, Susan (Janet Leigh) is accompanying him and eventually finds herself the subject of attention of a local gang. The story becomes rather complicated but basically involves Quinlan trying to frame the car bomb crime on a local Mexican boy with Vargas getting in the way, then Quinlan getting revenge by setting up Vargas and his wife to take the blame for murder and drug crimes. With the longer restored version the plot becomes easier to follow than in the original studio version. As the plot progresses, the drunken Quinlan, who has a history of faking evidence, becomes more obsessed and reckless with a scheme to stop Vargas. Toward the end of the movie in a scene with a fortune-telling madam (Marlene Dietrich), Quinlan asks, “Come on, read my future for me.” She responds prophetically, “You haven’t got any.” Quinlan is racist and has contempt for the local Mexicans he encounters. My only criticism is that Heston does not make a convincing Mexican. He has only a couple of short lines spoken in Spanish. Otherwise, Touch of Evil is a masterpiece by Welles and his cinematographer, Russell Metty. They implement multiple tracking shots with a moving camera in Welles’ innovative style. Two other notable appearances are Zsa Zsa Gabor as a strip club owner and Dennis Weaver as a very odd night clerk at a seedy motel. The film was named the best picture at the 1958 Brussels World Fair, but got even more recognition much later from film critics in the late 1990’s. If you can find it be sure it is the 1998 restored version. You will be pleased.