Horror Movie Talk

Dead End aims to finally answer the questions “are we there yet?” This is a tight package of a movie and the simplicity really sells it for me.

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Synopsis

Dead End is the story of a family who are on their way to their grandma’s house during Christmas Eve. Husband Frank (Ray Wise), Wife Laura (Lin Shaye), son Richard (Mick Cain), daughter Marion (Alexandra Holden) and her boyfriend William (William Rosenfeld) are pretty much the only characters throughout the majority of the movie.

As they make their way down the road, things become strange when they pick up a women in white holding a baby. 

Slowly, the passengers start to realize that this road doesn’t seem to end, and they are haunted by a terrible car that occasionally drives by.

Review

Dead End is a French movie by Directors Jean-Baptiste Andrea, and Fabrice Canepa and like so many French horror movies, it packs a punch.

It remains off most people’s radar for reasons that elude me, because this is a special gem.

Our blogger, Keith, reminded me of this vaguely Christmassy movie, and I knew I had to review it. 

Dead End takes a car ride and slowly builds it from something mildly disconcerting to something so horrifying and perverse that I knew it was something special many years ago after I first watched it. 

The dry comedy and believable characters add a charming element that make this something special. 

When you add in the seemingly supernatural goings on around this road that they are driving on and the interesting twist at the end, I think you have a solid horror movie that is sure to make you laugh, and will stick with you in the grossest way possible.

Score

8/10

Final Recommendations

I really enjoy this movie because of how it handles comedy and the characters who are believable but kooky. While it’s not a well-known movie, I think it’s worth a watch because you probably won’t forget it, and that’s what we all love about horror movies.

Where did Remi Weekes come from, and why is he out of the gate, such an amazing horror director? That is the first question I have for this film. His House has instantly become one of my favorite horror movies. That may seem like hyperbole, but I have legit not seen anything like this film, and have rarely felt the same amount of emotion while watching a horror movie.

His House can be found only on Netflix.

Synopsis

Two Sudanese refugees Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) and Bol (Sope Dirisu) arrive in the UK after a perilous journey. After a stay in a detention center, they are granted asylum and a new place to live, which they are assured isn’t just a shit hole, it’s a palatial shithole.

They are given a set of rules that all refugees are given to maintain their status, that being, they are only to live off the meager wage the gov’t provides and not seek employment, and to definitely not move away from their apartment.

The couple who have definitely seen some shit… start seeing shit in the apartment. Soon it is apparent that there is an evil force preying on them.

Review of His House

Without hyperbole, this is one of the best horror movies I have ever seen. I’m reminded of my experience with Hereditary, where I asked myself, “How is this director so good on his first film and where did he come from?”.

The main difference between Hereditary and this film, is that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horror movie like His House before. Sure, at its core, it is a haunted house movie, but the aesthetic and subject material are uniquely new to me.

The best horror movies in my opinion are those that have a human core, that focus on character and relationships while drawing a line to real horrors that people experience every day. Rosemary’s Baby uses the fear of the unknown and social pressure during pregnancy.

The Exorcist uses the terror of having an undiagnosable, severely sick child. The Shining uses Jack Nicolson. In this film, it uses the lived experiences of refugees of war torn countries and the trauma associated with it.

This is exactly the type of storytelling that the horror genre excels at. It amplifies real human emotions and fears to the level of overload, resulting in a uniquely empathetic experience.

I’m very excited to talk about this movie, and also excited to see what Remi Weekes, the director will do next. 

Score

10/10

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As the title of this episode states, we witness the origins of the Bent-neck lady, and learn more about Nell leading up to her death.

In the first episode of the series, we are introduced to the Crain family, both past and present. First we are shown the young Crain family being awoken by the young Nell (Violet McGraw) who apparently had seen “the bent neck lady”. 

Her father Hugh Crain (Henry Thomas) explains how her dreams spilled over and that she was just imagining seeing the scary lady.

Jumping forward, we see all the children now as adults with adult problems and an extreme amount of baggage in relation to the Hill House. 

Something terrible happened in the past that led the family to flee from the house, and now in the present, it seems it is calling back to them.

This is the story of how Theo became the funeral director that she is today. It also does a good amount of setup for many episodes to come.

In this episode we are given Theodora’s back story and are shown how keenly perceptive she is as a therapist as she helps a young girl being haunted by “Mr. Smiley”.

In this episode we learn quite a bit about Luke and his bond with drugs, the Hill House ghosts, and his twin sister, Nell. This episode really helped me to see the humanity in addicts, and those who have suffered a loss.

In episode six, Two Storms we get to witness the most impressive technical achievement of the series, the long-shot cinematic cuts of this episode.

We also get to see two storms, one in the present day and one set in Hill House. These storms did a great deal to shape the characters, and this episode does a great job of showing that this series is more than just stellar writing and character development.

In this episode Hugh Crain tries to slowly make amends with his estranged family and we learn more of the history of the Hill House from the groundskeeper. Also, black mold is bad.

This episode marks the beginning of the end of the series. Luke has gone missing, It’s Halloween, and while Steve and Hugh try to find Luke, Theo and Shirley deal with some nefarious goings on at the mortuary.