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When a Stranger Calls (Original) Review

by Finn the Brave, posted in Movies

Introduction

Traveling was a major part of my childhood, both overseas and stateside.  My family’s love for exploring was definitely passed on to me, and some of my best memories were made on these trips.  Roadtrips in particular were, and still are, my favorite way to go on adventures.  As an adult, before I go on trips, I always download plenty of audio books to listen to as I drive.  This is another habit I developed as a kid; because I used to get really car sick, I couldn’t ever read or draw during long drives. Instead, I got used to listening to books while looking out the window.  When these books were finished, or we just needed a break from a narrator blaring over the speakers, my mother would tell me stories.  

Now I don’t know what kinds of stories “normal” parents tell their kids, but my parents are far from “normal”, which is probably why I grew up hearing urban legends, movie plots, and serial killer case files as stories.  One of these stories that scared me the most was an urban legend “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs”.  I used to babysit and be left alone a lot when I was younger, which is probably why this one affected me so much.  Apparently, this legend was based on the real murder case of Janett Christman, a cold case file from 1950 that remains unsolved to this day.  

Multiple movies have been inspired from this  urban legend, and I have seen almost all of them except the original: When a Stranger Calls.  Made in 1979 by Fred Walton, it did well financially but received poor reviews by film critiques due to lack of “scares”. With this in mind, I sat down with some popcorn, made the room as dark as possible, and turned on the movie, ready to judge for myself whether or not it was a good horror film.     

Horror Elements

In the hushed stillness of the night, where every creak of the floorboard becomes a sinister symphony, and each ringing phone note holds the potential for unspeakable horror, emerges a cinematic classic that will have you glancing over your shoulder long after the screen fades to black.  As the clock ticks away, echoing through the corridors of suspense, we embark on a relentless journey into the depths of fear, where an innocent babysitting job turns into a nightmarish confrontation with the unknown.  The piercing ring of the telephone becomes a haunting melody, foretelling a series of events that will send shivers down your spine and make you question the safety of your own home- the one place that should be safe.

Well, at least the first 20 minutes of the movie do this, and I do mean ONLY the first 20 minutes.  In my opinion the rest is weird, unflowing, and extremely boring.   However, the film does end up contributing greatly to the horror genre as a whole, and one of these contributions is accomplished through the main character.

Are the characters unique?  In simplest terms, no.  Both the antagonist nor protagonist is particularly unique as there have been many babysitters and many serial killers in many, many horror films.  However, focusing on the protagonist, what does make her unique is her believability.  Jill Johnson, the main “good” character within the filim, stands as an unwavering pillar against the encroaching darkness.  She is portrayed with haunting authenticity, her character epitomizing resilience in the face of unimaginable terror.  As the unsuspecting babysitter plunges into a nightmarish ordeal, her journey unfods as a masterclass in survival against the enigmatic stranger lurking in the shadows.  With every pulse-quickening encounter and each nerve-wracking phone call, Jill’s tenacity becomes a beacon of hope, proving that courage can emerge even from the darkest corners of fear.  This really is one of the first females to emerge victorious within the horror genre, and I feel she contributes greatly to an ever-growing “heroine turns the tables on evil” sub-genre that seems to be cropping up ever more.    

Another horror element they excelled at were the film’s audio cues.  These serve as an invisible puppeteer, manipulating the audience’s emotions with every creak, every whisper, and every heart-stopping ring of the telephone.  The masterful use of sound design amplifies the tension, creating an atmosphere where the silence becomes as terrifying as the crescendo of haunting melodies.  The subtle orchestration of footsteps, the ominous hum of background noise, and the nerve-rattling phone calls work in symphony to immerse viewers in an auditory nightmare.  I wanted to address this aspect within the “Movie Elements” section, but considering the sound did an excellent job in actually scaring me, I decided to mention it here, though it could as easily transitioned us into our next topic of the “Movie Elements”.

Movie Elements

Bathed in an eerie palette of shadows and suspense, the cinematography of “When a Stranger Calls” stands as a testament to the artistry that elevates a horror film from a mere scare-fest to a visual masterpiece.  The film’s visual language, expertly crafted by the cinematographer, weaves a tapestry of tension and unease, immersing the audience into the heart of psychological terror.  Each frame becomes a calculated brushstroke, creating an atmosphere where every dimly lit corridor and ominous silhouette serves as a harbinger of impending dread.  The play of light and darkness becomes a character in itself, intensifying the spine-chilling narrative and amplifying the audience’s sense of vulnerability.

As the clock ticks through the corridors of cinematic history, “When a Stranger Calls” stands as a paradox, with its opening 20 minutes etched in the annals of horror brilliance.  The initial scenes, featuring the ominous phone calls and the ever-growing tension of the babysitter’s plight, are nothing short of masterclass in suspense.  The calculated use of silence, the gradual build-up of dread, and the harrowing realization that the call is coming from inside the house create an unparalleled sense of unease.  However, as the narrative unfolds, the subsequent acts fail to sustain the same level of intensity, leading to a diminishing return of the initial promise.  To me, this was just un-forgivable.  

Conclusion

Though I love the opening scene (have I already mentioned this?), I can understand why the overall film got negative reviews.  Most of the movie was boring and didn’t seem to flow well, nor make much sense.  Honestly, perhaps I’m biased, but I feel my mom tells this story better than the movie itself did.  Despite this, I would recommend at least seeing this movie once, as it is a classic within the horror genre, which helped numerous other films work their way into our nightmares.  Thank you for joining me as we navigated the chilling narrative, examining the artistry that goes beyond the jump scares, plunging into the psyche of a movie that has become synonymous with the fear of the unknown.  As you finish reading this, are you ready to answer your next call?  Because once you pick up the phone, there’s no escaping the terror that lurks on the other end.

Final Scare Me Please Score: Just watch the first twenty minutes, out of 100

Sources:

When a stranger calls (1979 film) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_a_Stranger_Calls_(1979_film) (Accessed: 29 July 2023). 

Eyes:  The Horror Game Review

by Finn the Brave, posted in Games

Introduction

Let’s start this Review off with a tangent:  why are eyes so scary?  Typing that question into an internet search popped up a ton of websites discussing ommetaphobia (fear of eyes), but also a few that used the term “Uncanny Valley”.  Originally a formal study conducted in 1970 by Masahiro Mori, a professor of robotics in Japan, this concept has been used within the horror genre for decades.  Essentially it’s the notion that when a humanoid takes on too great a like-ness to humans, yet does not look “real” it creates a fear/disgust response within us.  There’s a lot of ideas why this happens, ranging from it being an inherent survival instinct all the way to the perception of morality.  I fully plan on doing a deep dive into this topic later, but for now it answered my question.  Basically, eyes are scary when they’re “off” (not quite right/normal).  

What initially led me down the valley of uncanny tangents was a game I saw on sale titled “Eyes:  The Horror Game”.  Here’s the e-shop summary:  

“You’re alone.  No one will save you and what’s worse, it was your choice… All you need to know about that this place is that it was a really bad idea.  You have to be brave and determined to learn all the secrets hidden in dark corners.  Good luck, you will need it.  Do you dare to face the revenge-seeking, bloodthirsty Krasue or the haunting demon Charles?  This is just the beginning, more monsters are waiting for you.  Collect as many bags of money as possible and escape from creatures.  If by some miracle, you manage to find out where the threat came from and what is lurking around the corner, you will have a chance to solve this puzzle!  Discover the secrets of an abandoned homestead, try to survive in a haunted hospital and walk the corridors of the possessed school.  There are traps at every side, you can’t feel safe anywhere.  Collect runes – eyes – painted on the walls.  Thanks to them, you gain the ability to see through the eyes of your opponent and you can try to predict his movements.”

It sounded awesome and being only a dollar on sale (free on mobile) I downloaded it and hoped to be scared.  

Horror Elements

Developed by Paulina and Michael Pabis, it’s essentially a stealth-survival horror game in first person perspective.  There are certainly “jump-scare” type moments when the monsters catch you, but I wouldn’t consider this a reaction based game at all.       

As with any game where there are no mechanics that allow the character to fight back, there is a general sense of disempowerment.  However, this is drastically reduced for much of the gameplay due to the programmed monster patterns and distraction items.  To avoid the various monsters completely, all they have to do is jump into a room, closing the door behind them.  There is one level (the school location) in which this isn’t always possible because the doors are on a timer to open, allowing the monster access to places that would normally be considered “safe”.  The sense of fear is almost eliminated, however, by the addition of the “meat” item.  Collected throughout the level, meat can be thrown to distract the monster (Good Boy), creating a buffer to allow for escape.  The exact phrasing of this enemy is, “This hellish beast dwells in the dark corridors.  Bribe it with raw meat- or prepare to become it’s meal.”    

Considering there’s nobody in these abandoned places except yourself and the monster chasing you, the sense of isolation is done well.  Out of all the horror elements, I feel the ones done the best is the sense of of uncertainty as you’re forced to navigate the level while avoiding an evil entity.  Add to this the realization that you cannot escape until you collect enough money bags (forcing you to explore) and you have a great level of tension that stays with you each round.  

There is minimal character development, so you don’t feel particularly attached to your character.  Some development is given to the levels and characters which helps form a plot-line somewhat.  I think the scariest level for me was the initial Mansion with Krasue.  For some reason, she really terrified me, even her summary was unsettling:  “A desire for revenge made Krasue into a bloodthirsty demon.  You will suffer as she did.”  Even her animation (floating head with long hair) and movement patterns (floating in a jerky way) creeped me out.  The first-person perspective at least helps you feel more engaged with the story, making it easier to pretend you’re actually in the game.  Honestly, I was never sure if going around a corner quickly or slowly was better and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I screamed quite a few times while playing.  

Gameplay Elements

In total, there are three monsters within the game that can chase you and three different maps.  By default, the main three places to unlock are the Mansion containing Krasue, the Hospital containing Charlie, and the School containing Good Boy.  The developer did a decent job keeping gameplay interesting by altering mechanics slightly depending on the location.  For example, the hospital level contains an additional item besides coinbags to collect:  “Explore an old haunted hospital, use the mysterious potions to your aid… or doom”.  The map summary briefly mentions the potions available here that you can mix together various ways to allow for different outcomes, benefitting (increased speed, pinpointing money bags) or hindering (disrupting movement, lowered visibility) the player.  In addition to this, there are multiple levels of difficulty, different modes the player can manipulate, and even a sandbox mode, to learn the location layout without being chased by a demonic floating head.

Controls are simple which is good because game play is simple.  There’s only one button that allows for interaction with items within the environment and a button that enables an auto-run for a set duration of time.  To add to the simplicity, the button configuration is shown as a small icon at the bottom of the screen at all times and any extra features are blended into the game environment.  For example, there are potions that can be collected and used during the hospital level with the recipes found on various walls within this location.  This blends in quite well so it looks like graffiti but is done in a different color scheme so it still stands out.   

Graphics overall are decent, but nothing spectacular.  The same goes for the audio and sound effects.  I do have to point out how amazing the detail of the wood flooring was within the mansion level (bizarre to notice that, I know).  That truly is the standard all other games should have to hold themselves to when developing texture.  Out of everything, the most unique part of the game to me were the Eye Runes.  Upon using one, it gives a few seconds of visual from the monster’s point of view; this is the only way to determine where the enemy is at any time.  I’ve never played a game like that before, so I really enjoyed that new game mechanic.  Playing this game has sparked my interest in finding and playing other games similar in concept and play style.             

Conclusion

Out of all the things I expected from this game, I have to be honest and admit that none of them came to fruition.  Despite ranging from the free-dirt cheap price range, the game was incredibly addicting.  Eyes:  The Horror Game does an excellent job with making a low-budget game re-playable and entertaining.  

My main complaint is the over-abundance of coins but barely anything to spend them on after initially unlocking the different game modes.  It would be nice if you could use them to unlock various cosmetics or even items (eye runes, meat, etc.).  My only other disappointment was the double trouble mode; you can combine Krasue and Charlie to be in the same game, but can’t add Good Boy to another character, nor can you add all three monsters together.  This is by no means a deal breaker, but it would be a nice addition.

Before reviewing a game I spend at least ten hours playing it to be certain I’ve given it a fair chance.  I was apprehensive about reviewing this game, thinking it would be a dire struggle to force myself to play it that long, but I enjoyed it so much I easily hit the ten hour mark and am well beyond that now.  It continues to make my heart beat faster when I’m being chased by the monster, which on this blog, is a positive attribute.  Ultimately, I’d recommend giving this game a try and hope the developers continue showing it love.

Final Scare Me Please score:  Just rob a different building, out of 100

The Hoarder Review

by Finn the Brave, posted in Movies

Introduction

So far the movies I have reviewed here have been decent picks. Then came The Hoarder, a slasher film I watched for free on one of my favorite platforms, Tubi. Directed by Matt Winn in 2015, I was excited to watch this one based on the description:

“When Ella discovers that her boyfriend is renting a secret storage unit, she becomes suspicious. She breaks into the storage unit with her friend Molly and discovers something sinister.”

They don’t give away too much and the use of the terms “suspicious” and “sinister” appealed to me.

Being completely free and having a surprisingly large number of horror films, Tubi pretty much meets all my criteria for a number one app on my TV. What it doesn’t include, however, are trailers or ratings. Now this can be good or bad. This “blind” choosing has lead me to gems such as “Aftermath” and “Wretched”; I’m very thankful to have watched. On the bad side, it’s also caused me to endure The Hoarder.

When I write these reviews, I always watch the film at least two times, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything and give it a fair chance. That means, that since I suffered two times, YOU should have to experience it too. So grab a drink, find a comfy place to sit, and prepare yourself for 1500 words of nitpicking.

Horror Elements

There is absolutely no backstory to this film at all. No reason why the fiancé is so untrusting, no reason for the antagonist’s actions, no reason why anyone does anything that they do. There might be a sentence or two in an attempt to enrich character development/plot, but nothing more. Audio/music was about the same and the only suspense I had was wondering how much longer I had to deal with the characters before they got killed.

Nothing about this movie was realistic; allow me to give some examples (i.e. complain). For starters, why in the world would the main character think her fiancé would keep a journal of him cheating on her at all, let alone in a storage unit. If he actively used it, then he’d stash it at his office and if it was past inequities, then he would’ve just junked it. Overall just a lame plot set-up.

Next, why the heck are there so many people in those storage units right when it’s closing? Is that just where people go to hang out in the evenings? I can understand a couple, but there were seven for crying out loud! Then, the lady sees her friend get killed by the “creature” and she seriously refuses to leave without her- no way. She would’ve ran outside, called the police, and stayed out there while they handled it. While we’re on the topic of the “creature”, why was he even going around killing random people? How were any of them able to eat if their mouths were stapled shut? And why wouldn’t they just pull the damn staples out?? And WHY was a pudgy, middle-aged man who works a sedentary job, able to beat up everyone else so easily, despite them being younger and in much better shape??? I mean in the final scene, it was two against one and the two even had a gun! Sadly, these are questions I may never know the answers to.

I also feel it pertinent to mention how incredibly unrealistic one of the end scenes was: the main character is being chased by what she now knows is the psycho killer. He is attempting to capture her so he can staple her mouth shut and imprison her forever in a storage locker. While madly running away, she stumbles into a box that has her name on it. What does she do? Did you guess: Run right past it to the nearest exit, grabbing something along the way to use as a weapon, escaping outside to her car, driving away while calling the police? If you did, then you were wrong! Instead, she stops to go through her belongings very very VERY slowly, giving the killer ample time to sneak up on her, thus enabling him to add her to his perverse assortment of prisoners.

Tangent

I know I’ve been pretty negative so far in this review, so let me try “The Sandwich” technique for this section. If you’re not familiar with what this is, I’ll explain it to you. “The Sandwich” is used when giving feedback, particularly if there’s a criticism involved. Basically, the person giving the feedback starts with a compliment, or something positive. After this comes the criticism, followed up by another bit of positivity.

For Example:

Compliment: Wow, that’s a really cute hamster at the beginning of the film.

Critique: I can’t stand any of these characters, how long does this film go on for, just be done already, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to make it through another 20 minutes of this acting, why why why did I pick this to watch…

Compliment: Well, it’s not the worst I’ve seen.

Now with that brief lesson over, back to the review.

Movie Elements

To start with a positive, there’s a really cute hamster in one of the scenes. The hamster doesn’t die and looks really happy. It’s also a bit plump, which adds to the cuteness.

Cinematography was “meh”; It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great. I have nothing to remark on in regards to the pacing either. Plot, however, is a different story. Let’s start with the event that sparked the main characters even going to the storage unit. Two of the characters are talking at the beginning, one is about to get married while the other is her friend.  

Allow me to just share the first sentence I wrote during my review:

“It’s been 15 minutes and I already hate all the characters.”

Poor acting, stale dialogue, and zero character development. I really don’t know what else to say about this. If the actors would have intentionally tried to be terrible, it would have almost been entertaining, but as they were taking things serious, I can’t even give the “entertainment” factor a thumbs-up.

Despite it’s flaws, I will give the movie credit for originality in regards to the plot’s premise. Did it go in a great direction? No. Did I like the ending? No. Could the idea be redone and turned into something super scary and horrific? Yes. Honestly, this movie could have been really good; the claustrophobic feeling of being stuck within the units, being chased by some humanoid creature, not sure how to escape, no cell service with the thick walls of the building- all this could easily equate to high quality horror.

Conclusion

If the previous paragraphs weren’t clear, allow me to summarize my thoughts: I did not like this movie. As mentioned earlier, it was a good idea that had potential to be a great scary movie… but it just wasn’t. Honestly, it was the details that killed it for me. I can forgive crap acting and lame dialogue, if attention is paid to the small details. This film felt like a family got together for a reunion one year and decided, “Hey, let’s make a movie!”, and slapped everything together over a four day weekend. It just didn’t feel like any passion for horror went into this at all, which leads me to our rating:

Final Scare Me Please Score: The Hamster was the Best Part of the Movie, Out of 100

Have you watched this movie? What did you think? Anything we missed? Have an idea for what we should watch next? Drop a comment below to let us know!

Lit up house with a pool

Suspense and Horror: Why Aftermath Stands Out

by Finn the Brave, posted in Movies
Lit up house with a pool

Introduction

Imagine after months of saving and searching, you’re finally moving into your new dream home.  After haggling with the owners, you manage to knock down the price into a range that you can afford.  You never imagined being able to live in such an upscale house you are ecstatic when the paperwork goes through.  There is some dark history behind the house, but that’s easy to ignore when you jump into the swimming pool, your swimming pool.  Does this sound ideal?  It certainly did to the main characters in the movie Aftermath, a film directed by Peter Winther that was released in 2021.

Just like the theatrical trailer, the film summary provided on Netflix, where I watched the movie, is vague as to what exactly is going to unfold within the story:

“Desperate to save their marriage, a young couple takes a deal and moves into their dream home, but disturbing events reveal the house’s troubled history.”

I very much appreciate when trailers do not give away too much about the film and this one certainly did not.  It was difficult to classify what type of horror this film was as there’s a bit of a twist to it, but ultimately I’d classify it a mixture of mystery/thriller/horror.  

Horror Elements

Based on a true story (which I’ll delve into later), the movie has a captivating introduction of a 9-1-1 call and an unfolding of a crime scene.  This will play a role later on, but for the introduction it provides backstory that sets the stage for the rest of the plot to play out.  Why was the couple able to move into a house that is well out of their price range and yet once the paperwork is done they feel stuck there?  Well, because of the murder/suicide that took place there, that’s why.  

The two antagonists in the film were nothing special; certainly creepy, but not particularly scary once you actually know what’s going on in the story.  Personally, the idea of somebody being that devious and taking away your feeling of safety within your own home was far scarier then when the main characters finally saw the flesh-and-blood person in their home.    

With a lot of the plot being based on a true story, the whole movie felt a lot more “real” than most.  Add great acting, well-developed characters, likable protagonists, and boom- you have a sturdy base for your horror movie to stand on.  Something I wrote multiple times in my notes while watching was “FINALLY SMART CHARACTERS”.  What do I mean by this?  To start, whenever the wife heard a scary noise or saw something spooky, she immediately grabbed a weapon and/or called the police.  None of this “is somebody there?” nonsense you typically see in movies.  Also, the main character was relentless in proving there was something wrong with the house by investing in security cameras and hiding a secret camcorder in her bedroom, an action that eventually leads to the antagonist being caught.  

Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki on Pexels.com

One of my favorite lines from the movie, and one I feel to be extremely realistic, takes place right after the couple wake up in the middle of the night to a loud noise.  Hearing footsteps downstairs, the husband bolts out of the room, leaving his wife alone.  Instead of waiting for him to return, like I’ve seen in countless other movie scenes, she yells, “Kevin don’t f*cking leave me up here!” before running out of the room to follow him.  She also made sure to stab the killer again even after he was presumed dead, just to make sure- thank you! 

 Music and audio cues for each scene are executed extremely well, including the jump scares, in which there were only three in the entire movie, one of which made me scream so loud I got a sore throat.  Suspense, however, is what sets this movie apart from others.  There’s no clear look at the “monster” until the final climax scene which occurs during the last 15 minutes of the film.  Instead, the audience has a full 1:45 minutes of complete dread to sit through until it can finally be released through the final fight scene.  In fact, this tension got high for me, I actually had to pause the movie at about 45 minutes in, to just breathe and let my heart rate return to normal.  

Movie Elements

Though I felt the movie creatively added certain horror elements to an already scary situation, I can’t give the filmmakers full credit for originality considering it’s based on the true story of a young couple from California.  Basically, a young couple ended up outbidding someone on an amazing house in Carmel Valley, CA.  After moving in around November, weird things started happening.   The wife began to receive flowers with creepy notes, their mail kept getting stopped, and hundreds of dollars worth of magazine subscriptions were delivered in their names.  

Things escalated around Valentine’s Day, when eight irate neighbors descended upon the husband; all the wives in the neighborhood received inappropriate gifts that had the young couple’s address/the husband’s name on it.  Finally, things reached their peak when multiple strangers dropped by the home attempting to rape the wife.  It was then discovered an ad had been put in the paper advertising the address with a picture of the wife, inviting men into her home.  It was shortly after this discovery was made that the police arrested Kathy Rowe, the person whom the couple had originally outbid on the house.  

All of this was included within the movie, (in addition to a few twists and additions) which to me, made everything a bit scarier knowing it had been a real story.  The pacing was great and kept my interest the entire two hours, quite a feat considering I have ADHD.  I will say there was a bit too much drama for my taste, but despite this, the movie was still quite entertaining.  I’m not quite sure where to mention this, but I have to acknowledge how much the dog Odie added to the movie too.  There were quite a few scenes (at least five) that were made scary only because of the dog.  For example, at one point the wife is playing fetch with the pupper when the ball rolls under her bed, getting stuck.  She leaves the room (he follows her) to retrieve something long to get the ball unstuck.  When she returns a few moments later, the ball is sitting on top of her bed.  No change in music, no image of the antagonist, nothing dramatic whatsoever, yet it produced the desired effect:  fear.  Fear is at its peak during horror scenes when the director understands and allows the audience’s imagination to take over in place of “special effects”.

Cinematography, though not elaborate, was great, with the entire set feeling “dark”.  Lighting was not an issue either, as despite the gloom, the audience could still see everything going on.  For some scenes, there was a “fisheye” effect used, which at first I thought would be distracting, but ending up making the scene more intense as it hyper focuses on the main character in the middle of the screen, allowing for the edges of the lense to appear stretched, distorted, making anything (or anyone) you see to appear way creepier than normal.  I have seen this done in other films before in such a way that was distracting, I believe because there was too much of the effect, too dramatically done, whereas the effects and angles in this film were subtle.   

Conclusion

After looking around the internet for other reviews, I was discouraged to see Aftermath didn’t seem to do too well.  Though not an award winner by any means, I still feel it should get more credit than it did and is certainly one I would recommend watching.  It did an excellent job building up a thick layer of suspense for the audience, making it an excellent choice for mystery/thriller fans.  This movie did a lot right, but one major critique would be the “why” behind the old lover living under the stairs.  During the final 15 minutes, there was a flashback in conversation that went into it slightly, but there were no details, and the final explanation during the end scene felt rushed at best.  Again the audience has to make some of their own inferences, which is fine,  but certainly it could have been a bit smoother.  All in all, a worthy watch and one that isn’t diminished when rewatched either.  

Final Scare Me Please Score: Just padlock the door under the stairs shut, out of 100

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Have you watched this movie? What did you think? Anything we missed? Have an idea for what we should watch next? Drop a comment below to let us know!

Official Trailer

Sources:

San Diego couple still scared after a year of torment from jealous home   bidder. ABC7 Los Angeles. (2015, February 13). Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://abc7.com/rape-san-diego-kathy-rowe-jerry-rice/475504/ 

Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, March 23). Aftermath (2021 film). Wikipedia. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftermath_(2021_film) 

Ouija : Origin of Evil Review

by Finn the Brave, posted in Movies

Introduction

There are a lot of films that use Ouija boards as the main element of their horror, but only a few do this well.  Ouija:  Origin of Evil is now among my top three favorite ouija-themed horror films, Veronica and I Am Zozo being the other two.  Made to be a prequel to the original Ouiji movie, this film came to theaters just two years afterwards in 2016.  Directed by Mike Flanagan, this summary of the film was provided by Paramount Pictures:

“In 1967 Los Angeles, widowed mother Alice Zander unwittingly invited authentic evil into her home by adding a new stunt to bolster her seance scam business.  When the merciless spirit overtakes her youngest daughter Doris, the small family must confront unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.”

I’m not quite sure what was meant by “authentic” evil, but overall this is a pretty darn accurate preview of what is to come.  The official trailer, on the other hand, I was not a fan of.  I feel as though way too much of the movie was given away, especially certain plot twists that were surprising.  If the trailer was condensed into just the first minute, it would’ve portrayed the lighthearted feel of the beginning and touch upon the fear that will soon intrude on the characters’ lives. 

As this is the first movie review in this series, I’ll include the six horror elements I’ll examine:  Unique Antagonist, realism, backstory, suspense, audio cues, and believable protagonist.  

Horror Elements

Supernatural subgenres of horror films have a tough time coming up with unique antagonists as so many have already been done.  This is probably the weakest element of horror within the entire film.  Essentially, there’s a demon invited into a house that possesses a child; I’ve seen at least 100 scary movies with a similar plot line.  The “monster” in this is not unique in any way, shape, or form.  

Thankfully, the director did an excellent job making the movie seem “real”.  Not only does the music, setting, and speech create a feeling of being in the 1960s, but the character’s actions are realistic as well.  This is prevalent when the board helped the family find money when they were about to lose their house; it creates a believable reason as to why they accepted this supernatural entity, allowing it fully into their lives. 

Another few realistic points I appreciated happened towards the end of the film. Despite wanting to immediately leave the home, the youngest daughter calls for help from downstairs, and, being a close-knit family, they feel it necessary to go after her.  Honestly, if there was a demon in my house and I was calling for help from the basement, I know my family would come for me too (not like we’ve discussed this in great length before), so this was highly relatable.  In addition to this, the characters agree that splitting up would be a terrible idea, they immediately throw the ouija board in the fire, and the priest mentions he has no idea if burning it will actually work, so nobody should let their guard down.  Thank you!  Finally, smart characters!

Though I plan on reviewing the first Ouija movie in detail sometime in the near future, I will say that it left quite a few plot holes that this prequel did a satisfactory job filling.  It gives a reason for the Ouija board being in the house, the reason for the hidden basement, and a reason for why the three main characters appear the way they do in the other film.  Incorporating the post-war story also made the whole plot stronger and feel more realistic.  

The music and sound effects, though nothing special, were effective nonetheless.  Suspense, on the other hand, was done quite well as the entire first 45 minutes (half the movie) didn’t show the supernatural entity at all, leading to a continual build up of tension.  Jump scares were also kept to a minimal level which I respect.  Even the initial introduction of the ouija board was done in such a normal, nonchalant way, it developed a sort of “unsettling” feeling that lingered throughout the entire film.   

Movie Elements

Though not an original idea (it was a prequel afterall), nor particularly creative, I will cite again the great job done in regards to filling plot holes in from the first movie.  I understand this does not encompass the definition of creativity within film; however, I still believe it deserves some credit as it requires imagination and good story telling (both require creativity) in order to accomplish this successfully.  Cinematography also did a great job of progressing the plot in the background as a story was unfolding in the foreground.  

A great example of this is when the family arrives home to a “Foreclosure” notice on their front door.  The mother is sitting on the front steps upset and the older daughter is out there attempting to comfort her.  With the front door ajar, you can see the youngest daughter moving around in the background, and although it’s blurry, ends up being a significant factor within the story.  This was an excellent storytelling technique as it forces the viewer to pay more attention to the story, all well telling more within the same amount of time.  

With no concrete image of the antagonist until 45 minutes into the film, the pacing was also done quite well.  As I mentioned earlier, this creates an authentic feeling of suspense.  Pair this ominous mood, with the minimal jumpscares, and you have the audience on edge throughout most of the movie as there was no way to release tension until they actually start to fight the demon at the end.  To me, this is when things stop being scary, but I understand scary movies like a good final fight scene.   

Pacing direct scares did not make the movie boring by any means; it was quite entertaining and I have now watched it multiple times.  You can enjoy this movie without having any idea there is a second one, though it is kind of fun to catch the references.  The characters are believable and the acting is good.  Overall, the change in personality of the little girl is eerily done, starting small with the cursive scene (since when can you write in cursive?) to the more brutal scene of the slingshot (did that kid lose his eye?).  This only works because of the initial character development done early on in the film when we are shown how close these three women truly are.

Conclusion

Though it’s not on my “Top Ten” list, I certainly did enjoy Ouija: Origin of Evil.  It did an excellent job with foreshadowing and creating a suspenseful mood.  My favorite (scariest) scene was when the priest does a reading with the family where he asks the ouija board questions himself.  Essentially he “tricks’ ‘ it by thinking incorrect answers so as to prove it was not really his beloved wife he was “speaking” with, but a malevolent force of evil instead.  This, to me, was executed so well it still gives me goosebumps when I watch it.  I also enjoyed that it was a bit of a “throw back” to the original film where one of the characters attempted the same thing, with similar results.    

My biggest complaint with this movie was the ending.  It would’ve been acceptably scary if it ended with the older daughter staring at the psychiatrist from within her cell at the mental institution.  He had glimpsed two girls in the room as he walked past, double backed, and made creepy, prolonged eye contact with her.  It should have just ended right there, but unfortunately it did not.  Instead, it ended with a cheap jump scare, showing the demon girl crawling on the ceiling before cutting out.    Is it too much to ask for a subtle ending?  Does no director believe in the “less is scarier” concept?  This was a huge let down for me, contributing to it not being higher on my list of favorite horror movies.  

Final Scare Me Please Score:  Splitting up sounds like the dumbest thing in the world right now, out of 100

Have you watched this movie? What did you think? Anything we missed? Have an idea for what we should watch next? Drop a comment below to let us know!

Don’t Be Afraid Review

by Finn the Brave, posted in Games

Introduction

When deciding which horror game should launch my first “Let’s Play” video, alongside a gaming review, the choices were overwhelming.  Type in “Best Horror Games” or “List of Scariest Games” into any web browser and the results kicked back will encompass many pages worth of titles.  So what exactly was my criteria for selection?  Did I research other horror game review articles until I found the highest rated one?  Did I watch endless horror game playthroughs until I stumbled across one that seemed truly terrifying?  That all seemed a bit too complicated, so instead,  I pulled up current sales and picked the most discounted one I could find.  The final result was Don’t Be Afraid, normally $10, but costing me only a couple bucks on sale.  

Though I ended up playing on the Nintendo Switch, it is also available via Steam, Play Station, and Xbox.  As of writing this, there is a DLC available for free on Steam called The First Toy.  Self-labeled as an “adventure horror” game, it could be considered “stealth horror”, played in first person and it does contain a few simple puzzles.  Hydra, a gaming company based in Poland, provides this summary of their game:

“Don’t Be Afraid  is an adventure horror game that allows you to personate a boy, kidnapped by a psychopath.  You have to survive, escape and find out how you were kidnapped.  Exploring the gigantic, mysterious house of your torturer, you will soon reveal many secrets hidden inside it’s walls…”

Spoilers are sure to follow within the rest of this article, so consider this to be fair warning if you continue reading.  Without further ado, let’s examine both the horror and gameplay elements of the game that will lead up to our ultimate Scare Me Please rating. 

Horror Elements

As this is the first article in our game review series, I’ll briefly list the six elements of horror being examined during gameplay:  disempowerment, isolation, tension, uncertainty, lingering fear, and the protagonist.  

By taking on the roll of a young kid that’s just woken up in a locked, dungeon-like room with the memory that a deranged man kidnapped and put you there is an amazing start to the game.  Immediately, you feel helpless as you have no idea where you are, and being the size of a child, seem very small in the dark environment you’re thrust into.  The mechanics of the game provide no option of fighting enemies, so you’re aware quite early on that you must use stealth and quick thinking to escape whatever challenges arise.  Combine this with the extinguishable candles that you use to make your way around in the dark and the unease, especially within the first area of the game, reaches such a high level that I actually had to pause a few times to remind myself it was only a game.  

The feeling of disempowerment was excellently done, until you notice your surroundings.  There are literally weapons scattered everywhere. Axes, knives, tools… if there’s something small and sharp that could be used for protection, it was in the game somewhere.  By the third occurrence I actually wrote in my notes, “Why are there so many weapons/tools laying around… just pick one up dammit!”.  This availability of protection, whether you’re playing as kid or not, took away a lot of the fear element for me as it just wasn’t realistic.  

No other friendly NPC is encountered in the game, nor does the setting betray any glimpse into the world outside of the dungeon that you, as the main character, find yourself in.  Along the way you discover multiple tapes left behind from another victim who wants to help you escape.  This interaction takes away the feeling of isolation and uncertainty the game had initially done an excellent job of building.  Though parts of the later game did illicit quite a few jumps and screams from me, I’ll say there’s no other part of the game that scared me quite as badly as the first 30 minutes did.  A lot of this is due to not quite seeing the “monsters” yet (it made my imagination go into overtime with possibilities), though I will have to say that some of the stealth levels, especially the final clown one, do a great job of creating anxiety while you navigate around the obstacles.     

Gameplay Elements

Controls were straightforward, if not a bit tedious, though this may be attributed to the difficulty of bringing a computer game to a console.  Thankfully the game allows you to fully adjust the x and y axis, making the find/click portion a bit easier, though still not as smooth as using a mouse would be.  I also was not a fan of only having an auto-save feature; this is fine to have, but please include a normal save option as well.  Because of this, I ended up having to redo quite a bit of the game as I wasn’t always able to play through to a save screen.

Though the setting is a bit contradictory (at one point the game implies you’re in a basement, then later it seems to be an abandoned school) it ultimately does an excellent job of setting the mood.  Again, I can’t speak for the computer version of the game, but the console version was hit or miss in regards to graphics.  For example, some of the corpses/mannequins were so incredibly detailed, I had to close my eyes as I sprinted past them, sure they’d come to life specifically to chase me.  Other times, the detail was so poor, they almost appeared blurry; I also noticed this for various textures, wood in particular.  

Inconsistency prevailed within the quality of the audio as well; some sections were extremely realistic, while other sections of audio were so poor you could hear the soundtrack on loop.  This was particularly evident during one of the stealth sections and was a major source of frustration for me as it lost all scare value to be replaced with irritation instead.  To summarize the problem, you need to get past a hostile character while avoiding detection.  There are multiple sections like this in the game (four to be exact), but the one with “Lydia” was designed quite poorly.  Her footsteps never faded nor did her voice change volume to indicate when you could move, so you’re just stuck waiting for what seems like an eternity to creep along this section. This problem didn’t seem to be evident with any of the other stealth sections, only hers.  It was also within this section she says approximately two lines that I could hear “click” every time it replayed itself.  

Though there was minimal character development (having played through the game a few times now, I still find no attachment/interest in any of the characters), I will say the plot was unique in that you’re playing as a helpless kid versus the typical adult.  There was only one main inconsistency to the storyline; it is reiterated multiple time throughout the game that the antagonist only targets children, yet during gameplay you see countless adult corpses throughout each level.  Why were there so many?  How long has he been at this?  Were they all originally kids that were kidnapped? Did the psychopath kill them all once they reached a certain age?  None of this is explained, making it more of a “gore for the sake of gore” type of attribute.  

The only other section that struck me as odd was the “Before Kidnapping” scenes.  Not only is the dialogue unbelievable (really, your mom is gonna tell you to eat candy and then go to bed?), but I feel as though it adds nothing to the story.  You get kidnapped trying to go to a friend’s house, but why?  Some of the story context alludes to him already knowing you (in fact, he kills your parents during one ending) and yet it seems as though you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Despite this, I did replay the game twice trying to get different endings (there are three) and this was actually fun to do as there are many choices throughout gameplay that lead to a different ending or accomplishment.

Conclusion

Ultimately, I don’t regret buying or playing through Don’t Be Afraid.  They really did an excellent job with the various puzzles you had to solve, especially the ones that require you to read the notes lying around or pay attention to the environment in order to progress.  I also cannot praise their introductory/tutorial level highly enough; the use of tutorial pictures on the walls were unique and helped the story progress without the distraction of a full-blown tutorial.  That whole opening scene caused my heart rate to spike more than the rest of the game combined (except maybe the clown chase level… I did scream a lot during that part).  If I could summarize the problem areas of the game in one word, it would be “inconstistency”.  If the same effort were put into all of the game it would be absolutely amazing and as it is, I look forward to what other games Hydra adds to the horror genre.      

Final Scare Me Please score:   Just pick up a damn weapon, out of 100