Watching Movies Oct 18

Talk about tonal whiplash. This movie goes from workplace #metoo drama to survival story to romcom to murder mystery to revenge thriller and finally to horror. It's all very green screen and has an ugly beige cast to the image - even the studio logo - that looks awful. I had to check that my screen wasn't messed up. But it's a Sam Raimi movie, and he occasionally goes just a little bonkers, and you just wish he'd keep going. C'mon Sam, pull out the stops and let's have fun.

A fun take on a familiar man-machine story, and I wish the movie was more fun because there's a lot of potential and the lead actor Logan Marshall-Green seemed game to take it further. It's hampered by a low budget and tries too hard to be a cool, poorly lit dystopian future instead of a fun mystery/action movie. "Tries too hard" is also a phrase I used on Leigh Whannell's follow-up The Invisible Man, so I think we just have different sensibilities.

The most boiler-plate by-the-numbers slasher movie imaginable, devoid of anything notable. The wide-eyed killer offers some camp value, and there is one murder while someone is watching TV that's well put together, but that's about it.

The Entity is the boring version of Poltergeist, which was released just a few months earlier. It's more grounded in reality with rape and molestation themes, but lacks the thrills, exciting pacing, and memorable characters of Spielberg/Hooper's suburban ghost story. The only thing The Entity has going for it is Barbara Hershey's performance and that it's supposedly based on a true story (no doubt the same story inspired Spielberg to write Poltergeist). If Spielberg is too fantastical for you, then here's your alternative. 

Few films balance humor and horror as well as this one does, where the humor never undermines the horror and instead enhances it. No wonder it's the definitive werewolf movie.