The Hunt

Posted on July 30, 2020 by C966939529

Good idea, poorly executed and marketed.

Well it has been a while but I am back and raring to go! I have found some comfort in the escape of watching films during lock down, but I missed the experience of going to the cinema. I have my own little ritual to my cinema trips. I arrive early, treat myself to a coffee, and start basing my ideas on the trailer and posters I’ve seen.

Normally you can get a pretty good idea about a movie based on the content before the release. So I first saw these posters:

So these were my assumptions and notes:

People are being hunted in the woods
Eerie images – thriller / horror film
Key words as violence and sick

Then I saw the trailer:

People wake up gagged in the woods
They are armed
They get hunted
Some get away and hunt the hunters
Explosions, blood and guts – thriller / horror genre

And then I watched it…..

First things first THIS IS NOT A HORROR FILM!!! This is a satirical political action film. This was my main problem with the film. I went in expecting one thing, and came out with something completely different. I’m going to be honest, I wanted to see some real horror and thriller moments and thats why I watched it but I was left unfulfilled.

Ok I admit there are blood and guts so i’m happy with that but the story was lacking. It is basically an US verses THEM mentality. Which is apparently what they were going for. Producer Jason Blum said “It was read as a satire, no different from The Joker or other movies that are violent. It was read as a movie that didn’t take sides…The audience is smart enough to know that what they’re seeing is a satire”.

So my issue is why not market it as a satire! I think it would have done better if it was marketed with the proper intention.

The one thing I did like was the wardrobe choices. Between the “Elite” and the “Deplorables”. You can see many stereotypes on both sides. Big shout out to David Tabbert, the costume designer. You saved this film for me.

Elite:

Fox hunting gear
Suits
Waistcoats
Professional

Deplorables:

Plaid shirts
Gun toting Redneck
Yoga pants
Ugg boots
Safari hunter
Caps

Overall I think it was an interesting idea, but its been marketed wrongly, and come out at the wrong time. As Crystal says in the film I think it “Depends on whether they’re smart pretending to be idiots or idiots pretending to be smart.” I think its a little of column A and a little from column B. There are always going to be conspiracies but having the link between ManorGate being very close to PizzaGate and the whole Epstein fiasco, I think it is very poorly timed.

2/5

Director: Craig Zobel

Cast: Betty Gilin, Hilary Swank, Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts

Crew: Jason Blum (Producer), Damon Lindelof (Writer)

Genre: Debatable

Rating: 15

References

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/universal-sets-release-hunt-controversy-1278642

Happy Death Day 2 U

Posted on February 17, 2019 by C966939529

If I was stuck in a time loop watching this film – I wouldn’t care!

We have yet another sequel, but I am not mad as I loved the original film. But I always get nervous as films will always be compared to their counterparts. Luckily this film works perfectly.

The original Happy Death Day was set on Tree’s Birthday 18^th September. Happy Death Day 2U is set the very next day, 19^th September. This could be troublesome, but the sequel has remained with the same crew, same director, same cinematographer and same music director.

This lends itself to the smooth transition from one film to the next. This is definitely a film that you need to see the original before seeing the sequel as there are so many Easter eggs! Especially relating to Back To The Future, which was a big influence in this film.

So, of course you know the drill

* SPOILER ALERT*

Some of my favourites are:

The woodchipper scene, which is called Biff’s Tree Cutting Service, a nod to Biff the bully from the Back To The Future trilogy.
There is also in the background of the skydiving scene “Like a Leaf” written on the plane, another homage to the joke Biff always messed up, “Make like a tree and leaf.”
88 mph in the car
Poster on the wall[1]
Red Hawaiian shirt in the background

I live for these sort of references in films!

An extra one the Greek Mythology buffs:

Ryan’s Proton Converting Device. He named it Sissy, which sounds suspiciously like Sisyphus, who escaped death and was forced to roll a boulder up a hill, which constantly rolled back down, for eternity. [2]

The story is as seamless as these references and of course with any slasher film, a higher death count. In the first film there are 14 deaths, 8 of these are Tree’s. In this film there are 20 deaths, but luckily for Tree she only dies 7 times, but of course they are hilarious.

My personal favourites, the skydive and the electrocution.

The comedy keeps rolling even with the costumes.

Speaking of costumes, some eagle eyed viewers may have spotted a huge clue to the multiverse theory. Look closely at these two photos:

Happy Death Day Happy Death Day 2 U

The Gigs are he same band, but different locations….Butterfly Effect is in full effect people!

Happy Death Day Happy Death Day 2 U

Speaking of which DO NOT LEAVE IN THE CREDITS!!! Trust me it makes everything make sense and leads us to thinking there is going to be another film! I am buzzing!

If you liked the original you will love this film, I guarantee it!

My blog so my views I give it 5/5!

Director: Christopher Landon

Cast: Jessica Rothe, Isreal Broussard, Ruby Modine

Crew: Toby Oliver (Cinematography), Jason Blum (Producer), Bear McCreary (Music)

Genre: Science Fiction Comedy Slasher

Rating: 15

[1] https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2467009/happy-death-day-2u-has-a-bunch-of-clever-back-to-the-future-tributes

[2] https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/the-myth-of-sisyphus/

Assassination Nation

Posted on November 16, 2018 by C966939529

A clever feminist take down of society – love, love, love!

This film came out of the blue for me. I hadn’t heard a lot about it until it appeared on the cinema listings. I don’t know why! The premise I love the idea of because in 2018 this is something that could happen. People hacking photos, especially from prominent people, like presidents… oops I meant mayor 😉

The best way I can describe this film is Mean Girls meets the Purge in Salem, Massachusetts during the Witch Hunts. This is even suggested in the costume.

I love these little Easter eggs and think it is really clever. Something else I like in this film is the use of the colour red, and the hues. Red is used in some many ways, it is used to show sexiness, empowerment, danger, and hatred. It comes full circle.

I don’t want to give too much away as I saw this film before it is released on the 23^rd November.

This film gets your thinking about your own online footprint and these are so many fantastic quotes.

This may not be a perfect film, but it made me laugh, made me think and says a lot about society.

So, I don’t care it’s a 5/5 from me! I’m off to see it again!

Favourite Quotes

“You may kill me but you’ll never kill us all”

“I’m not a bitch, I’m a feminist”

“I’m not the monster you think I am”

“The whole world is watching”

“I love this kind of scandal”

“Men who don’t eat pussy in this day of age, is straight up a sociopath” – AMEN!

Director: Sam Levinson

Cast: Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nefi, Abra, and Bella Thorn.

Genre: Comedy Horror

Rating: 18

Slaughterhouse Rulez

Posted on November 4, 2018 by C966939529

More Parody than Horror/Comedy

The last British horror I saw was Ghost Stories and I loved it, I saw it as a great future for the British horror community, so I had high expectations for this film. Especially as it is a Simon Pegg and Nick Frost collaboration. Director Crispian Mills, who has worked with Pegg before in “A Fantastic Fear of Everything”, has described this film as a “distant cousin of the Cornettos”.

As you may recall the Cornetto Trilogy are a collection of comedy horror films consisting of “Shaun of the Dead”, “Hot Fuzz” and “The World’s End”.

Pegg and Frost are executive producers as well as cast and even use this film as their premier for their production company Stolen Picture.

Although this film is classed as a horror, I see it more of a parodist comedy.

Parody

This film is set in a private school which can be described as a mix between Hogwarts and St Trinians. These parallels can be seen through the uniform and the houses.

At Slaughterhouse you have: Andromeda – the all girls house, Olympus – the Jocks, Xenophon – the Nerds and Sparta – who are basically the Hufflepuffs.

You can also see a clear Draco Malfoy, Snape and Neville Longbottom chracters, but I will let you figure them out for yourselves!

The parodies even continue into the Cornetto Trilogy – see what I mean?

I also liked the subtle hints, for instance the schools motto is “Per Caedes Ad Astra” which means “Through Bloodshed to the Stars” In Latin.

The use of fracking is a parody on the environment and it is something that is happening in the world but this is taking silliness to the extreme with the amount of fart jokes which can get tiresome after a while.

Symbolism

The filming itself is quite interesting. They use a lot of drone shots to show the size of the school and as it was filmed at Stowe School near Buckingham, which is 300 years old, it was very effective to show the grandeur of the Private School. This was also mixed in with POV shots, some from the creatures, some from the students as they spy. The school itself symbolises the status of going to a private school against a public school. There has always been a lot of discussion about is it worth paying to go to Private school and mixing with the elite. But at the end of the day no matter what school faces the apocalypse we are all screwed!

Another symbol I liked the use of was the school tie. For many different characters it represents something different.

Don

Woody

Wootton

Clegg

Wolloughby

Don doesn’t want to be at the school and feels very alone so the tie makes him feel alone and abandoned.

Woody graduated many years ago but still wears his school tie on his wrist as a reminder of his brother Teddy who died in the woods. It is a symbol of his past and of his rebellion from the elite.

Wootton bless him has failed the house test on the history of the school numerous times and is punished every time he fails. For him the tie symbolise and is literally a constraint.

Clegg is the head prefect and takes his role very seriously and wears his tie with pride, showing unity in the school and making life hell for the other students.

Willoughby sees the tie as a symbol of death as his roommate hung himself using the tie and he tried to do the same after pulling pranks using the noose as a symbol.

Conclusion

A lot of people have panned this film but I really enjoyed it, but I think I enjoyed it more as a parody than a comedy horror. So I think in the end it all comes down to personal taste, which in the end is what happens with any film. I found it funny and enjoyed picking out the parody nuggets but I didn’t find it scary at all. So if you want to be scared look elsewhere but if you want a lighthearted film with lots of fart jokes. This film is for you.

I give it a 3/5.

Favourite Quotes:

“Super massive Frack Hole”

“Damn, why didn’t this happen under the maths block?”

“To the Skoda!”

“This Is Sparta”

“Tunnels my arse, this is a sewer!”

“I’m gonna die unfulfilled, I’m gonna die a virgin, I’m gonna die in Greek sandals”

Director: Crispian Mills

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Asa Butterfield, Michael Sheen and Finn Cole

Crew: John De Borma (Cinematographer)

Genre: Horror Comedy

Rating: 15

Director: Crispian Mills

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Asa Butterfield, Michael Sheen and Finn Cole

Crew: John De Borma (Cinematographer)

Genre: Horror Comedy

Rating: 15

Ghost Stories

Posted on April 24, 2018 by C966939529

“The brain sees what it wants to see”

When I first saw the trailer for this film, it gave nothing away. All I could tell was it was about a man who was investigating the paranormal trying to disprove it. When I saw the film, it was a whole other story, which I love!

First things first, our directors have completely different backgrounds. Andy Nyman is well known for filming for Derren Brown, the illusionist. He was even accepted into the Magic Circle in 2008 which is a worldwide society for magicians. This set of skills is then mixed with Jeremy Dyson, a comedian from “The League Of Gentleman” comedy troop. So, I was expecting a good mix of suspense and comedy, and I was not disappointed. This film is based off a stage play written by Nyman and Dyson and I really want to see how it is done on stage.

The film is shot as a documentary, it reminded me of The Enfield Haunting from the late 1970s. This supposed poltergeist haunting was investigated by paranormal investigators. The same idea is applied here. Phillip, played by director Andy Nyman, is a film maker who proves the paranormal to be fake.

He is given three cases to investigate.

Tony
Simon
Mike

I don’t want to give anything away but there are a few recurring themes and images that you see throughout the film and the ending brings everything together.

The tagline “The brain sees what it wants to see” is very clever and I really want to watch this film again and again.

4/5

Directors: Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson

Cast: Andy Nyman (Phillip), Paul Whitehouse (Tony), Alex Lawther (Simon), and Martin Freeman

Crew: Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson (Writers)

Genre: British Horror

Rating: 15

Directors: Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson

Cast: Andy Nyman (Phillip), Paul Whitehouse (Tony), Alex Lawther (Simon), and Martin Freeman

Crew: Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson (Writers)

Genre: British Horror

Rating: 15

A Quiet Place

Posted on April 10, 2018 by C966939529

Woohoo! It is one of my favourite genres for this week’s review: Supernatural Horror is back on a high note after Winchester missed the mark. (Sorry Dame Mirren!)

The first point I want to mention is the cast of A Quiet Place. There are only 6 actors in the entire film! It focuses on the Abbott family played by John Krasinski (Lee), Emily Blunt (Evelyn), Millicent Simmonds (Regan), and Noah Jupe (Marcus). The only other actors are Cade Woodward, who plays Beau and Leon Russom, who is the aptly named Man in the woods!

This film is clearly a metaphor for family and parenthood. The parents are faced with wanting to protect their children from all the bad in the world but still finding time for themselves. There is a very touching moment where they dance wearing headphones and this is something that you need as a parent – Balance. Krasinski stated “I was like a wide-open nerve…You have all these fears of keeping her safe—am I a good enough person to be her dad?” (Berman, 2018) I believe that as soon as you are handled that bundle of joy you are constantly focused on keeping them safe and being the best for them, and you will sacrifice anything to protect them.

You assume that it is easier for the cast to work on a film like this that has a limited speaking element throughout the film but, it is actually trickier as facial expressions need to express a lot more, especially with these strong familial routes and terror to portray. Not having any screaming was the worst part for me and I don’t want to make a sound in empathy with the characters on screen. There is something unnerving about seeing so much terror on someone face but unable to hear it.

The cast learnt American Sign Language for the film, although Millicent Simmonds is actually deaf herself. She helped to get over the expression in the signing. In an interview John Krasinski was talking about learning how to sign.

“Millie … pointed out that: my character is very shut off and just wants to survive, he’s lost the ability to know and love the beauty in the world. And [his] signing is very curt, it’s very small, it’s very immediate and direct….Emily’s character is all about, we can’t just survive, there has to be beauty in the world. …she’s very warm and she’s bigger and she’s more affectionate in her signing. And Millie’s character….very defiant, it’s very teenage defiant.” (Loughrey, 2018)

The use of silence is used in a lovely way throughout the film. The little details from leaving the crisps on the shop shelves because they are loud to eat, and completely muting the sound when Regan is on screen. Although we aren’t having a Point of View shot, we have a POV sound bite, or lack of. This was created by using “sound envelopes”. The sound editors, Ethan Van Der Ryn and Erik Aadahl, are used to loud pieces, doing the sound for film such as “Transformers”, “Godzilla” and “The Shallows”, but they were up for the challenge. (Murphy, 2018) These Sound Envelopes reflects what each character can hear such as the trees, the leaves and the breeze. This really brings the audience into the film. If you closed your eyes you could feel that you were there, in a similar way to guided imagery works.

The last point I wanted to make was about the Monsters. I think the best way I would describe them is a cross between Alien and a Giant Spider, which is terrifying enough for me, but the poor actors just had to use their imaginations. The monster was not properly designed until post-production. This creates yet another hurdle for the cast to conquer. I was really impressed to learn that the bathtub scene was done in one take! How?!?! I have no clue but fantastic work Mrs Blunt!

I really liked this film from the concept through to completion. The cast are fantastic and with horror as a genre doing well over the past few years, could Oscar nominations be insight? Definitely! This stands up to other films such as “Get Out” and “The Shape Of Water” (Tapley, 2018).

4/5

Works Cited

Berman, E. (2018, April 5). John Krasinski and Emily Blunt on A Quiet Place, Parenting and Their One True Movie Obsession. Retrieved from TIME : http://time.com/5228564/john-krasinski-emily-blunt-a-quiet-place/

Loughrey, C. (2018, April 5). John Krasinski interview: From The Office to horror sensation A Quiet Place – what inspired his surprising career. Retrieved from The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/a-quiet-place-horror-film-interview-john-krasinski-director-cast-inspirations-emily-blunt-a8291026.html

Murphy, M. (2018, April 5). Making the Sound of Silence in ‘A Quiet Place’. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/movies/a-quiet-place-john-krasinski-interview.html

Tapley, K. (2018, April 8). After Oscar Winners ‘Get Out’ and ‘The Shape of Water,’ Could ‘A Quiet Place’ Tickle the Academy’s Genre Fancy? Retrieved from Variety: http://variety.com/2018/film/in-contention/a-quiet-place-oscars-john-krasinski-the-academy-1202747069/

Director: John Krasinski

Cast: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

Crew: Michael Bay (Producer), Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (Screenwriters)

Genre: Supernatural American Horror

Rating: 15

Winchester

Posted on February 5, 2018 by C966939529

Washed out and wimpish

This horror film (and I use the term horror very lightly), is “Inspired by true events” (Spierig, 2018), based on the Winchester Mystery House in San Diego California. This mysterious house was built between 1883 and 1922 continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 38 years. Why you may ask? This is because Sarah Winchester, the heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune from her late husband, believed she was being haunted by the victims of the rifle. Looking back at the unfortunately luck that followed Sarah Winchester.

HISTORY

1866 – First Winchester rifle created

1866 – Annie Winchester – Born and died at 6 weeks old

1881 – William Winchester died

1883 – House was started to be built

1884 – Sarah Winchester bought the unfinished house

1906 – San Francisco Earthquake

1922 – Sarah Winchester dies and construction stops on the house.

HOUSE

According to folklore, Sarah Winchester kept building the house because she consulted a Boston medium who said when channelling her husband “He says for me to tell you that there is a curse on your family, which took the life of he and your child. It will soon take you too. It is a curse that has resulted from the terrible weapon created by the Winchester family. Thousands of persons have died because of it and their spirits are now seeking vengeance.” (Taylor, 2013)

The film is set in April 1906 just before the San Francisco earthquake on the 18^th April. Before the earthquake the house was 7 stories high, the earthquake brought it down to the 4 stories we know today.

The house itself has 161 rooms and it includes a varied use of the number 13.

There are 13 bathrooms with 13 steps on the stairs that lead to the 13th bathroom and 13 windows found inside. There are also 13 wall panels in the room preceding the 13th bathroom. The Carriage Entrance Hall is divided into 13 sections. There are 13 rails by the floor-level skylight in the South Conservatory, 13 squares on each side of the elevator, 13 holes in the sink drain covers, 13 glass cupolas on the Greenhouse, and 13 gas jets on the Ballroom chandelier. What’s even more interesting than all of that is that there are 13 parts to her will and she signed it 13 times. (Group, 2011) In the film the number 13 is described as a divine number instead of the traditional idea of it being the devils number.

In the film the house is represented as a stereotypical haunted house, with the dark gothic appearance and spooky ambience. I must admit I did expect more from The Spierig brothers. Their last film was Jigsaw last year and I enjoyed that a lot more than this film. I was jumping during that film!

That is my main problem with this film. It is classed as a horror film, so I therefore expect to be scared or at least jump at some point. The one thing I noticed in the cinema was that there was more laughing than jumping. The main “scares” had already been advertised and were in the trailers. WHAT IS THE POINT TO SEE THE MOVIE!?!?

For this reason, I can’t give it a high rating. Not even Helen Mirren can save this picture. Boring, bleak and just plain bad.

2/5

Director: Michael and Peter Spierig

Cast: Helen Mirren, Jason Clark, Sarah Snook

Crew: Michael and Peter Spierig and Tom Vaughan (Writers)

Genre: Supernatural Horror

Rating: 15

Works Cited

Brothers, S. (Director). (2017). Jigsaw [Motion Picture].

Brothers, S. (Director). (2018). Winchester [Motion Picture].

Group, H. H. (2011, October 19). Haunted Travels: The Winchester Mansion. Retrieved from HRS Hotels Group: http://hrshotelsgroup.com/blog/haunted-winchester-mansion

Robinson, J. (2018, February 2). Winchester: The True Ghost Story Behind Helen Mirren’s Haunted House Thriller. Retrieved from Vanity Fair: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/winchester-helen-mirren-haunted-house-san-jose

Spierig, M. a. (Director). (2018). Winchester [Motion Picture].

Taylor, T. (2013). THE WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE The Haunted History of One of America’s Strangest — & Most Haunted — Houses. Retrieved from The Prairie Ghosts: https://www.prairieghosts.com/winchester.html

Williams, J. (2018, January 17). The Legend Of Sarah Winchester. Retrieved from Winchester Mystery House: http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/blog/legend-sarah-winchester/

The Shallows

Posted on August 26, 2016 by C966939529

Jaws on Acid

The first film I ever saw that really stuck with me was 1975’s “Jaws”, I think because of the atmosphere that Spielberg created with John William’s music. The iconic Jaws theme is always singing in my head whenever I am in water, be it the sea, swimming pool or even in the bathtub!

Since this I have developed a love around shark films so I was really excited to see this one. My worry about this film was the fact that there is one main actor. Isolation films are a really interesting concept and can go either really well or really bad. Examples of this are one of my favourite film “Cast Away”, I love it was really well done but in comparison to “Gravity”, that as a different story. Gravity was visually spectacular and I love Sandra Bullock but I was so bored. So I had my reservations about The Shallows too, but they were not needed.

I loved the Jaws throwbacks. There was a lot of similarities between the first shark attack in Jaws and Lively’s attack in The Shallows.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the use of comedy and thriller at the same time. The use of the language barrier was really funny. It is a very fine line between bringing comedy and thrillers together.

One of my other worries about this film was of course the shark. Need I remind you of the shark from Jaws 3?

CGI can be either good or bad….like Sharknado being the bad kind.

The Shallows wasn’t too bad. I think they get away with it because they rely on the viewers imagination reacting to shadows and Lively’s reaction.

Another good point was the use of the surfers Go-Pro cameras and the point of view shots they gave. Used in a similar way to “Hardcore Henry” but less of a main film point. It was used as a good way to connect the few secondary characters together.

I love this film and find it really enjoyable. Blake Lively gives a really good performance and they don’t just rely on her being pretty and thin. Some films like this just rely on bikini clad girls (Piranha comes to mind) but through most of the movie Lively is wearing a wetsuit top and her attire slowly changes by ripping pieces off the suit to cover her wounds. A very good use of wardrobe.

Love love love!

Works Cited

Jaws (1975)

Sharknado (2013)

Jaws 3 (1983)

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Cast: Blake Lively

Crew: Anthony Jaswinski

Genre: Survival Thriller

Rating: 15

Lights Out

Posted on August 22, 2016 by C966939529

“Takes your childhood memories and makes you think…what if?”

This is my kind of film! Horror is one of my favourite genres IF its done right, and this is a great example of it. I have seen other horror films this year but none that really caught me and left a lasting impression. This one did.

I think as a child everyone is scared of the dark and this film really plays on this fear of the unknown. I think at some point everyone thinks they have seen something moving in the shadows and this films makes you think what if it’s not my imagination?

This film is based off a 2013 short film also called “Lights Out”. (Sandburg, 2013)

This is David F Sandberg’s first major film and what a starting point. I really loved the homage to the original short film. The first film starred Sandberg’s wife Lotta Losten so of course he had to include her in the film and even in the same sequence of events turning the lights on and off repeatedly.

(Butler, 2016) (Goethe, 2015)

There was one major difference that he wanted to make with the full feature film. He said

“Early on I felt it was important that we have these rules that we stick to. When we made the short, we just had fun with it, so she turns up in the light and we didn’t really care. It felt like to really have this movie work we need to have these rules and stick to them, which made lighting the movie very difficult. You have someone you can’t light, and I didn’t want to cheat and have rim lights or stuff like that. I wanted her to be a true silhouette.” (Giroux, 2016)

I think doing this took the horror to another level. I loved the use of light and dark and the different types of light. There was a use of candlelight, regular light, and black light. One scene sticks out in my mind of watching Martin the young boy packing his bag. You can see him through his door with the light and the next door is in the dark and you can see his reaction to the dark. Its very pleasing aesthetically.

I have to admit that Diana scared the shit out of me. As a child being scared of the dark was my thing. I had a secret door behind my wallpaper which we never opened. I always used to think I saw a women in the shadows so when I saw the trailer it brought back all those emotions and I knew I had to see it! Fred Topel from Nerd Report gave it high praise calling it “The most inventive horror movie of the year”. (Topel, 2016)

Another reason I was really looking forward to this film was the involvement of producer James Wan. Wan is famous for his horror films, including The Conjuring, Insidious and of course Saw. I love these films and his style. He is influenced by his Japanese heritage and has said,

“Being born in an Asian country and growing up hearing Asian ghost stories and superstitious tales – I think in some ways, without realising it, it affects the way I make my movies. It has a big effect on the way I design my spectral entities, my ghosts, and stuff like that.” (Dawson, 2016)

In this film I noticed a big similarity with the Japanese urban legend of Teke Teke. Teke Teke is about a young girl or women who falls on to the train tracks and get cut in half. She hides at night (in the dark) and she is named Teke Teke as that is the sound that she makes running to catch her victim.

(Teke Teke, 2014) (Warner Brothers, 2016)

As well as the shadowy silhouette similarities I noticed the tapping noise as the vengeful spirit Diana attacks her victims.

The film leaves a lasting impression on you and during the film I kept searching in the dark corners and even around the cinema. I kept looking at the empty seat next to me and wondering if I was safe! I actually waited until the lights came up fully before I left my seat, and I am not ashamed to admit it. This film made me shrink into my chair, jump out of it, let out a yelp and cover my eyes. I did guess the ending but it was kind of inevitable with horror.

I am not looking forward going to bed tonight…might need to keep the light on.

4/5

Works Cited

Butler, M. (2016, April 4). How I turned my short horror film into a major movie. Retrieved from WOW 24/7: http://www.wow247.co.uk/2016/04/04/lights-out-david-f-sandberg-how-i-turned-my-short-horror-film-into-a-major-movie/

Dawson, A. (2016, August 13). Malaysian director James Wan: billion-dollar filmmaker and laksa lover. Retrieved from SouthEast Asia Globe : https://sea-globe.com/james-wan-malaysian-director/

Giroux, J. (2016, July 26). Interview: ‘Lights Out’ Director David F. Sandberg on Subverting Expectations and Not Overstaying Your Welcome. Retrieved from Slashfilm: http://www.slashfilm.com/lights-out-david-f-sandberg-interview/2/

Goethe, K. A. (2015, October 8). 31 Days of Horror Part II: Day 8 – Lights Out (2013). Retrieved from Almighty Goatman: https://almightygoatman.wordpress.com/2015/10/08/31-days-of-horror-part-ii-day-8-lights-out-2013/

Sandberg, D. F. (Director). (2013). Lights Out [Motion Picture].

Teke Teke. (2014, November 24). Retrieved from Scary For Kids: http://www.scaryforkids.com/teke-teke/

Topel, F. (2016, June 9). LAFF Review: Lights Out – Ambitious Horror. Retrieved from Nerd Report: http://www.nerdreport.com/2016/06/09/laff-review-lights/

Warner Brothers. (2016). Retrieved from Lights Out: https://www.warnerbros.co.uk/movies/lights-out

Director: David F Sandberg

Cast: Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Lotta Losten, Billy Burke, Maria Bello

Crew: James Wan (Producer)

Genre: Supernatural Horror

Rating: 15

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