What was that 2022-released movie about some terrifying, highly intelligent entity that identified and hunted its targets in a way that was anything but human? It might have been called Prey. Wait, maybe it was called Beast. Correct. Both movies (each with an equally unmemorable name) revolved loosely around the same premise. The studios of each movie didn’t do each other any favors with what they could have done, if anything, with the release date. Each film is worth a watch, though I wonder if a home viewing would translate to the enjoyment of a theater viewing. Each was designed to be seen on the largest screen possible.
Category Archives: Suspense
Fall (2022)
I have a weak spot for an “actually could happen” horror film that plays on social phobias that many of us experience. When one of these movies is based on actual events, my interest piques even more. The best example I can give is the 2003 film Open Water, which, despite its poor Rotten Tomatoes audience score (33%), struck a chord with critics (71%). I loved Open Water, but one of the two friends that I went with hated it, saying how frustrated he felt by it. Though “inspired by true events” of a married couple that, through an inaccurate head count by the dive boat crew, were inadvertently left behind in the middle of the ocean during a scuba diving excursion, what we witnessed for the next 80+ minutes was a fictional tale of what may or may not have happened. What we experience with our two leads is the despair of being stranded in shark-infested water until (spoiler…they don’t make it) they are either eaten alive, die of thirst, etc.; what could have happened was they hit collided heads when they each leaped off the dive boat and died instantly. I understand that. It didn’t stop me from being fully engrossed in the film or its first of two sequels.
Emily the Criminal (2022)
One of my life’s little joys is seeing a listing of a previously unheard-of movie playing at one of my local theaters when I’m scanning over showtimes on a Friday as I plan for my weekend. The promotional poster is often enough for me to click and learn more. I’m even more intrigued when there are high critic and audience scores. The promotional poster and the scores encourage me, if nothing else, to watch the trailer. That was what I did with John Patton Ford’s debut feature. It took just 30 seconds before I stopped the trailer. I was convinced. Emily the Criminal was a movie that I needed to see.
The Black Phone (2022)
With its first scene set at a little league baseball game in a small town on the outskirts of 1978 Colorado (knowing that some frightful elements will emerge throughout the film), The Black Phone may feel eerily similar to one of your favorite Stephen King novels. And if it does, it should, as the movie is based upon a novel by King’s son, Joe Hill. In addition, director Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) reunites Ethan Hawke for the first time since 2012’s well-received horror Sinister.
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
It feels rare when the same person likes an original movie and its remake. Often, it seems like if a person likes the original, they are resistant, even disgruntled, to giving the remake a chance. I am the first to say that I fall into this group. Two of the biggest ones are the remakes of Point Break (2015 – 11% critics, 29% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and Flatliners (2017 – 4%, 32%), two of my all-time favorite movies. Likewise, there are times when we watch the remake without ever having seen the original. We like the remake so much that we don’t want to see the original because we either don’t feel the need or think it can be compared.