Hostel 2 (2007) #491

 

"Hostel 2" is a smart and engaging sequel to its notorious original in the series, which is also written and directed by Eli Roth. "Hostel" is often times credited as one the films to inspire the term torture-porn, and while there are a few such scenes in this film, it is not the primary focus. Eli takes this opportunity to further explore the inner workings of the Elite Hunting Club and how members become involved. The film also examines how a group of women would be lured to the hostel in Slovakia, with obvious different motivations than the men had in the first film.

The movie begins with Paxton, the primary character from the first film. He has a long and detailed dream about the aftermath of his escape. When he awakes, his girlfriend tells him that he's being paranoid. She becomes distracted, leaving the room for a few moments, but upon her return, she finds that Paxton has been killed and his head removed.

The next scene then introduces this film's group of friends who are currently in Rome; practical Beth, outgoing Whitney, and introverted Lorna. The three women meet Axelle, who convinces them to join her on a spa getaway. They arrive in Slovakia and check into the hostel, where the quirky desk clerk from the first film takes their passports and uploads them to Elite's website, where men and women from around the globe begin placing bids on the auction for the three women. 

An American named Todd wins both Beth and Whitney, celebrating his win while on the golf course. He then calls his best Stuart to tell him about his plans, and together the two quickly fly out to Slovakia. The two arrive in time to watch the women at the annual harvest festival. The friends notice that the cider is extremely strong, so Beth decided to stop drinking while Lorna is convinced that the drinks are not alcoholic. Beth is then hit on by a local, whom she politely declines several times before he declares that "I could have helped you". She then meets Stuart, and the two talk for a few moments. At this time, Lorna is escorted away down the river where she is kidnapped and delivered as a prize to the woman who won her auction. 

Beth eventually becomes separated from her friends, waking up in the spa without her belongings. She is chased by a group of men, losing them in the woods only to be stopped by the street children from the first film. Before any harm can come, she is saved by Axelle and her boss, Sascha. They return to Sacha's mansion, were Beth accidently finds a trophy room with decapitated heads, including Paxton's, set on display. She is then gaged and taken to the torture factory. There she is joined by Stuart, dressed in a smock and ready to begin his torture. At first, he is reluctant but when he finds out that Todd has been killed because he couldn't finish off Whitney, he completes his friend's task before coming back for Beth. He explains that Beth reminds him of his hated wife, and this will be as close to killing her as he can get. Beth is able to get free and chains Stuart to the chair. The pair are interrupted by Sascha and a host of guards. Beth negotiates her freedom by buying the chance to kill Stuart, in which she does so in a very gruesome fashion. Beth becomes an Elite Hunting Club member, the only way to ensure her safety.

What I enjoy about this movie is how Eli shows the process of the auction and Todd's and Stuart's initiation into the Elite Hunting Club. Before we learn about Stuart's motivation, we hear how insecure Todd is and how killing someone will somehow make him someone to fear and respect. When Todd and Stuart arrive at the factory, they are required to receive the Club's official tattoo. Stuart is hesitant, knowing that his wife is not going to approve and ask too many questions about it. He only relents when he realizes that his and Todd's life are on the line if they don't go through with every requirement that the Club enforces. And we see what happens to Todd when he is unable to kill Whitney after he accidently maims her with a bone saw.

Doctor Sleep: Director's Cut (2019) #475

 "Doctor Sleep" is the sequel that we never knew we wanted. It is not a cheap cash-in like so many sequels are; case in point, the movie came out twenty-nine years after the "The Shining". This film builds upon the reality that the Stanley Kubrick film first establishes, complete with near perfect, young look alike actors filling in for Shelly Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and even Jack Nicholson. "Doctor Sleep" is rich in nostalgia in a good way as we revisit Danny, Wendy, Jack, Dick and our favorite haunted hotel and find out how they've grown over the past forty years. 

I've read both "The Shining" and "Doctor Sleep" and I have seen "The Shining" more times than any other Stephen King adaptation. The film follows the first half of the novel almost faithfully before taking a decidedly different turn...for the better. Director/Screenwriter Mike Flanagan, known for "Hush", "Oculus" and "Gerald's Game", adapted the Stephen King's story to follow the events from "The Shining" film and not from "The Shining" novel. This means that the Overlook Hotel is still standing and was not blown apart from the boiler exploding. Just like the actors, the Overlook Hotel looks nearly exactly the same, just forty years older. This is where the showdown between good and evil takes place in the very epic finale. 

A major theme in both books and both film is dealing with alcoholism. Mr. King has been very open about his struggles with substance abuse in his past and it feels like "Doctor Sleep" is a way for him to share what it could feel like. Just like his father, Dan Torrance is a full blown alcoholic, and when we first see him as an adult, he is hitting rock bottom. Luckily for him, he is able to find a fresh start when he hops on a bus and ends up in Frazier, New Hampshire. He befriends a man named Billy Freeman who helps him find an apartment and a local support group. Dan becomes sober but does battle some temptations throughout the story. The most intense temptation takes place in the Overlook, as Dan shares a deeply personal conversation with the ghost Lloyd the bartender. This scene is easily one of my favorites in the film.

Besides alcoholism, the other villain in "Doctor Sleep" is the Trueknot, a vagabond group of psychic vampires. They track down those with the shine to feast upon their power, which comes forth like a mist from the victim's mouth. Pain and fear cleanse the shine, makes me more delicious. But sometimes they recruit and turn those with a gift that the Knot could use to their gain. The newest member of the Trueknot is Snakebite Andi, a young teen who can hypnotize someone with a single word or phrase. They are led by Rose the Hat, a truly evil and sly antagonist. The concept could have come across as campy but that is not the case here; they are truly terrifying.  

Mr. King has written several different characters in various books who have a touch of the shine. In this story we are introduced to perhaps the brightest shine of them all, Abra. Growing up, she uses her powers not knowing that she is special, scaring her parents when she psychically plays the piano when she should be sleeping or imitating a magic trick that she saw a party magician perform. She even reaches out to Dan and leaves friendly messages on his large black board wall in his apartment. What I love about how this character is that she knows that she is powerful; she is never the damsel in distress. Ignoring the warnings from Dan to hide herself, Abra uses her powers to search for a young boy whom the Knot had feasted upon. When Rose the Hat learns of Abra, the two have more than one psychic tug-of-war with Abra winning each time. But when Rose the Hat becomes involved directly and the Trueknot comes to claim Abra, the young girl knows that she will need Dan's help

Again, my favorite scene is when Dan battles the temptation to drink and to face his past with his and his father's weakness.

Jigsaw (2017) #464

Jigsaw Movie Trailer

After an eight year hiatus, the “Saw” franchise is back and as deadly as ever. The series was a perennial favorite around Halloween, and “Jigsaw” hit theaters in late October in 2017. The previews leading up to the film’s release teased the possible return of Jigsaw himself, even though he died as violently as some of his victims in the third film. The previous films made clever narrative choices to include the The Jigsaw killer and this film delivers an equally interesting move. At any rate, it’s great to see the charismatic Mr Tobin Bell back with his devious devices.

The film begins nearly a decade after the death of the famous Jigsaw Killer, John Kramer. So police are thoroughly confused when they corner a criminal on the run with a strange device around his neck, who tells the police that he needs to begin a new game in order to live. Before he's able to say more, he's shot down by the officers on the scene. And so begins a new series of death traps for a group of five unlucky players. Like previous installments, the chosen five are not innocent and are being taught to atone for their transgressions.

One of the attractions of the series are the different death traps that John Kramer and his associates designed and the traps in "Jigsaw" do not disappoint. There are some very clever ones this time around, and as usual, there is sometimes a deeper meaning behind them. This film also includes a character that has begun collecting the different traps that John has created; but are they the originals are merely impressive fakes?

From a narrative standpoint, "Jigsaw" is a well craft story that honors the previous films in the series. Unlike a couple of the previous films that were written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, there doesn't feel like any obvious plot points that were planted to continue the film franchise. If there was, they were more subtle like those found in the first three films. We may soon know what clues may have been left behind by "Jigsaw" writers Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger when  "Spiral: From the Book of Saw" premiers in 2021

Final Destination 5 (2011) #461

 

A return to a favorite series, “Final Destination 5” follows in the exact foot steps of the previous films. The main character has a premonition about a massive disaster and how several people experience a gruesome death. The main character then warns everyone before the disaster occurs, temporarily saving those several other people before they end up dying in some other horrible fashion. The disasters include a plane explosion, a massive traffic pile up, a roller coaster falling apart, a racetrack speedway accident, and finally a suspension bridge under construction falling apart.

Like part 3 and 4, the survivors in “Final Destination 5” are simple character tropes that don’t have their moment to become fully developed as actual people. They have there one outstanding trait to lead them narratively to the situation that will cause their death. Since this is a horror movie, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this but I had high hopes since this felt like possible jump start to the series after part 4 was named “The Final Destination”. 

Nicolas D’Agosto stars as Sam, an inspiring chef as well as a sales associate at a manufacturing plant. He is the lucky one to experience the premonition this time around, convincing half of his coworkers to leave the bus that they were on before the bridge falls apart. He saves his girlfriend Molly, played by Emma Bell  “Frozen“, his best friend Peter, coworkers Nathan, Candice, Olivia, Issac, and his boss Dennis. He then spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out why people are still dying and how to save them. A new idea on how to stop the cycle is suggested by Bludworth, once again played by the amazing Tony Todd ("Candyman"and "Night of the Living Dead").

The main appeal to the "Final Destination" series is watching the huge disaster in the beginning and the jaw dropping crazy ways that people die afterwards. In comparison to the other films, this one does not disappoint. What doe set this one apart from the other is the fact that this was released during the most recent era of 3D movies, a time when almost every film that was released in theaters had a more expensive 3D version to watch. You can tell early on that this is the case as the film makers took every chance to use the 3D effect through the movie. This isn't too distracting if you know about this before hand and have had previous experience with such films. 

Favorite moment - Besides the main disaster scene in the beginning of the film, my favorite moment is watching Sam walk through the restaurant that he works in, seeing each and every kitchen that could be used to kill him. So, so many different ways to die in in kitchen!

Second favorite moment - Each film references the previous films, usually the original, and I love how this film does the same thing.

Blair Witch (2016) #440

"Blair Witch" is a respectable sequel that continues the original legend that is established in "The Blair Witch Project". There are some familar feeling moments in the film as well as some clever use of modern technology, such as ear piece camera/mics and a video drone. The origin of the Blair witch is discussed, what happened after Heather, Mike, and Josh went missing and how the residents reacted. I enjoy the reason why the campers go into the woods, Heather's little brother wants to find the mysterious house where she was last seen alive. I like how the people who go with him are lifelong friends as well as a girl making her own documentary. And I approve how the people who found the most recent clue want to tag along as well. This tallies six potential victims to be picked off one by one. 

"Blair Witch" does stumble slightly as a sequel when it comes to adding something new while building on the original. The downsides of the film, for me at least, include too many cheap attempts at having people jump into the camera and horrible non-subtle noises in the woods at night, a weird Bermuda Triangle style effect about the woods, an odd infection that one of the campers suffer from, and almost the same story beats from the original "The Blair Witch". Finally, this film ruins what the original did so well, it shows too much. 

The ending of "Blair Witch" leaves the question - what happens next? The actual ending of this film isn't as ambiguous as "The Blair Witch Project", but I can't help but wonder if there will be an attempt to make yet another sequel? How would they expand the existing story and what would they add to the established mythology? Will horror fans remember this film as fondly as the original? 

Overall, I enjoyed the movie even though it felt more like a remake than a sequel. There were moments that I laughed out loud at the characters, and parts that I felt engaged and had no idea what was going to happen next. I wished it had been a bit more original but at least I wasn't completely disappointed.