Runtime:96 Minutes
Post Credit-None
Plot-"A priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun".
Starring-Talissa Farmiga, Demian Bichir and Bonnie Aarons
My Thoughts
Before I get into this I want to preface by saying anyone who knows me will tell you I am a big fan of the Conjuring Universe. I enjoyed The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2 and Annabelle:Creation, I was not a big fan of Annabelle but not every movie can be good. I was eagerly looking forward to this film and sadly it disappointed overall. After having seen the film I can say that "The Nun" as a monster wasn't a great choice, in theory when this film was announced I imagined everything being well done and showing the nun as a entity in a tasteful way. unfortunately the writes of this film and the director went the Sinister 2 route and decided to show the monster too many times and ruined the shock factor, in films of this nature showing the monster a lot can reduce the spooky factor and makers the monster seem less threatening and that is what happened here. The plot for the film overall was pretty weak as well and the origin of "The Nun" was a letdown as well and I expected something a little more imaginative. The acting was the best part of this film, overall the cast did a good job and all the performances were solid, no bad performances among the main cast. This film had a "Conjuring" vibe to it which was good but out of the 5 films in the conjuring universe I would say this film is only better than "Annabelle" which is not saying much. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 25% saying "The Nun boasts strong performances, spooky atmospherics, and a couple decent set-pieces, but its sins include inconsistent logic and narrative slackness". For fans of the conjuring films I say see this as it does tie in with the other films and expands the universe but for anyone expecting a good film on the level of The Conjuring 1/2 or Annabelle:Creation I say skip it.
Rating
Letdown for me as i was really looking forward to this. 5.5/10!!
The second film to review is The Predator.
Runtime:107 Minutes
Post Credit-None
Plot-"When a young boy accidentally triggers the universe's most lethal hunters return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race".
Starring-Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay and Yvonne Strahovski
My Thoughts
I am going to keep this review short, I had low expectations for this film so I went in not expecting much. this film to its credit started off well and kept me engaged, I liked the bond the group of soldiers led by Quinn Boyd Holbrook. The acting overall was okay, no terrible performances but none that stood out. the plot for this film was where it really fell apart, as i mentioned the film started off strong but around 45 minutes in the film feel off the rails and it lost me and it really took away from the film. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 33% saying ": The Predator has violence and quips to spare, but its chaotically hollow action adds up to another missed opportunity for a franchise increasingly defined by disappointment". I agree overall the film did have plenty of violence but not much else and it is a shame i was really hoping thi would be a film that would reboot the franchise but after thsi film it looked like another reboot will be needed, i don't recommend this film to anyone.
Rating
Can not recommend one of the worst films I have seen this year, looks like another reboot will be needed, which is a shame. 4.5/10!!!
The third to review is Hell Fest.
Runtime:89 Minutes
Post Credit-None
Plot-"A masked serial killer turns a horror themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show".
Starring-Bex Taylor-Klaus, Amy Forsyth and Reign Edwards
My Thoughts
Not going to spend much time on this, overall this film falls into the meh category, it was not terrible but wasn't good wither. the plot was standard horror fare for fans of the genre. the cast did a good job doing what they needed to be which was rowdy kids, it has been done dozens of times. one saving grace for this film was that it was rated R which meant the filmmakers were able to have some good kills which i will say it did not disappoint. The film is filled with the standard horror film tropes and the ending was predictable but I had a good idea what to expect going into this film so I cannot say I was super surprised by anything I saw.Rotten Tomatoes does not have a review for this fil but the score at the moment is 35%. As i mentioned this film was nothing special but not the worst film I have seen this year. if you are a fan of slasher films I say see it.
Rating
What I expected, nothing mroe nothing less 6.0/10!!!
The fourth and final film to review is Assassination Nation.
Runtime:110 Minutes
Post Credit-Yes (Ending music sequence)
Plot-"This is a thousand percent a true story about how the quiet, all-American town of Salem absolutely lost its mind".
Starring-Odessa Young, Hari Nef and Suki Waterhouse
My Thoughts
This film came onto my radar very late, But I will say I am glad that it did. this film I didn't now what to expect going in I watched the trailer but it did not give away too much of the plot and what exactly was going on.Now having seen the film I can say while the film starts off slow and there is some randomness thrown in, it overall was a good film. The plot of this film teeters between how popular the internet (specifically social media) is and the influence it has over all of us in this day and age the film also has a message of how hard it is being a girl and the expectations that are placed on them in society and the double standards they have to deal with. It was actually pretty interesting and engaging plot overall, was kind of fresh for me as movies made like this are rare and I enjoyed it. The acting i nthis film overall was pretty good, the main cast did a good job and there were not any bad performances I could find (other than Bella Thorne I found her character very annoying and I am not sure if that was due to her acting ability or her character in general) but solid jobs all around. As i mentioned earlier the film for me starts off slow (but I will say it did a good job of character development of r the main cast) but once the carnage breaks out this film really got going, it was very visceral and there were moments of tension, which I enjoyed I love a film that can create tension and a sense of investment in the characters and seeing how they will handle the situations they are put in. With the film being rated R there were plenty of bloody moments which is always a plus for me. One aspect of the film I did not really like was the randomness of some of the scenes, I felt some scenes were in the film for shock and awe and to me it came off as trying to hard to be different, I understand that this film was intentionally trying to be different but some of it missed the mark for me. This film did a really good job of showcasing just how important Social Media is in our socity and some of the dangers it can bring if too much is invented into it. I enjoyed seeing all the different characters handle what was going on, the added bonus of the majority of the action taking place at high school made it even better. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 68% saying "Assassination Nation juggles exploitation and socially aware elements with mixed results, but genre fans may find it too stylish and viscerally energetic to ignore". I agree overall the film was trying to be stylish and that leads to what I was saying about the randomness of some of it, it was also very visceral but I enjoyed that aspect of the film. this film for me was better than I thought it would be and I enjoyed it.
Rating
Better than I thought it would be, well acted, very visceral and had an interesting message behind it. 7.5/10!!!
