My Favorite Movie: Ghostbusters

          One of my favorite movies is the 1984 scifi/comedy "Ghostbusters". It stars SNL 

   alums Bill Murray & Dan Akyroyd as paranormal scientists investigating paranormal 

   occurrences in a woman's (Sigourney Weaver) apartment. The late Harold Ramis
   is Egon Spenger, the inventor of the team. Ernie Hudson joins the team as Winston
   Zedmore, an ordinary guy looking for a paycheck. They have a secretary named Janine
   played by Annie Potts. This movie features good comedic moments & decent action
   scenes. Despite this movies effects not holding up, it's still worth a watch. 

  

IT (2017)

IT (2017)

Dir: Andy Muschietti

Cast: Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Bill Skarsgard, etc.

     Clowns have never really scared me but for some they can be total nightmare fuel.

   The movie IT reinforces that idea. Based on the best selling novel by Stephen King, 

    IT is a re-imagining of the 1990 TV miniseries that starred John Ritter.

       

       It's summer 1989 in the fictional town of Derry, a little boy named Georgie goes

    missing. A group of bullied kids band together to track down something more 

    sinister. They find a shape shifting, demonic clown named Pennywise, who feeds

    on the fears and flesh of young kids every 30 years. 

       The Good: The acting was fantastic and as was Bill Skarsgard's take on the 

   character originated by Tim Curry and made it his own. His performance was

   downright scary. There was some CGI but that was to be expected featuring

   a clown that takes the form of the kids fears. I could really relate to some of

   the problems kids faced as well as 80's references. I liked the fact that every

   time a red balloon showed up, Pennywise was nearby. It made all the more

   creepy.

      The Bad: As with every movie, there were a few plotholes that could be 

  explained but could easily be resolved with the upcoming sequel. The swearing 

  was a little too excessive for their ages but since this movie followed the book
  pretty closely, I'll let it pass.

     Overall: IT  lived up to my expectations. It was funny, creepy and nostalgic

  to the core. Muschietti tried to not make it a carbon copy of the original. There

  had to be lines added in just for the sake of nostalgia. It's hard to remake a 

  movie that's as good as the original and it left me wanting more. It's one of the
  best horror movies this year. Believe me, you'll float too.

Grade: B (8/10)

Annabelle: Creation

Annabelle: Creation

Dir: David F. Sandberg

Cast: Talitha Bateman, Anthony LaPaglia, Miranda Otto, Stephanie Sigman

      If you haven't been keeping track, Annabelle Creation is the prequel of the prequel 

  of The Conjuring 2 with a third Conjuring movie in development. 

      

      This is the latest from Swedish director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out). It tells
  the story of a grieving dollmaker (LaPaglia) and his wife (Otto) who open their
  doors to a small group of orphaned girls and their caretaker (Sigman). Creepy
  things start happening centering around a doll. They soon realize the house is
  haunted by the dollmaker's dead daughter.

      Talitha Bateman plays Janice, a polio stricken girl who investigates the house
 and finds that the spirit is after her. The girls team up to fight the demon that
 resides in the house.

  The Good : This film had a lot of effective jump scares that gave me a jolt out of
  my comfy chair. The sound effects that accompanied those creaking house parts
  made it all the more scarier.

  The Bad : Some of the scare scenes seemed predictable and the plot felt non-
  existent that caused it to drag on. It relied too heavily on some of the horror 
  movie tropes such as flickering lights, closing doors and creaky floorboards.
  It tried too hard to emulate the same religious theme that made The Exorcist
  so scary. 

  Overall : Annabelle: Creation is a step up from the first one and a decent horror
  flick to end the summer. It's an unnecessary entry to an unnecessary franchise.
  This film nods itself to The Conjuring Universe that has been established and 
  hints at another time jump to a new place: Romania. Until then, A:C will do 
  just fine for the time being. 

 Grade: B-

Jacob's Ladder

Jacob's Ladder

Dir: Adrian Lyne
Cast: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello

Recently, I had been browsing a movie forum when I heard about good horror

movies to watch. One of them was called Jacob's Ladder. Directed by Adrian

Lyne, this 1987 psychological horror stars Tim Robbins as a Vietnam War vet.

He starts experiencing horrific nightmares and hallucinations as a result of being

in war. Is he really seeing those things or are they just due to his PTSD?

The faceless beings coming after him and the head twitching heads I 

found very disturbing to watch. This film switches between the modern day

and flashbacks of his time in Vietnam, bleeding to death. This was a very

unsettling movie to watch. If you're looking for a scary but underrated 

horror film, look no further.

 

Grade: B (8/10)