MOVIE REVIEW: ABIGAIL

 

A group of would-be criminals kidnaps the 12-year-old daughter of a powerful underworld figure. Holding her for ransom in an isolated mansion, their plan starts to unravel when they discover their young captive is actually a bloodthirsty vampire.

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Cast: Alisha Weir, Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito

Release Date: April 19, 2024

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, pervasive language and brief drug use.

Runtime:1h 49m

Review:

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's Abigail might be a little light on scares but it more than makes up for it with its fun, over the top energy and a game cast that make it one of the funniest horror comedies in recent memory.  The directing duo recapture the energy that worked so well in their 2019 breakout, Ready or Not, with a bloody blend of cartoonish characters and increasingly outrageous dark comedy which plays like a mash up of Reservoir Dogs and From Dusk till Dawn.  Those expecting anything new or terribly deep will be left disappointed since neither the story nor characters are fairly thin and straightforward.  Thankfully, this is the kind of film that doesn't really require much from either, especially with an ensemble cast that's having as much fun as the directors are.  Melissa Barrera is steady in the lead role, playing it straight for the majority of the film even as things get gorier and bloodier.  The supporting cast is made up of familiar faces that are clearly relishing the chance to lean into the characters personas.  Dan Stevens delivers another strong performance as a NY cop turned criminal, further proving his ability to morph into anybody onscreen.  Kathryn Newton, in full Avril Lavigne cosplay, is great fun as the ditzy tech nerd of the group who gets some of the film's best lines.  Kevin Durand brings a goofy likability to his meat head muscle highlighted by some solid chemistry with Newton.  Angus Cloud, in his final screen performance, gets a few moments early on but his screen time is fairly brief, much like Giancarlo Esposito, in the grand scheme of things.  Alisha Weir, who plays the kidnapped tween ballerina, really shines throughout as she shuffles between tween and ancient ghoul with incredible ease.  She possesses a confidence onscreen that makes the film work far better than it would have been in lesser hands.  Abigail stumbles a bit in the final act where you get the sense a few bits could have been excised to make for a leaner experience.  It’s a minor issue and something that's easy to overlook once the film wraps up its goofy, gory trek that's sure to leave plenty of people smiling.  

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: SCREAM 6

 

Four survivors of the Ghostface murders leave Woodsboro behind for a fresh start in New York City. However, they soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when a new killer embarks on a bloody rampage.

Director: Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin

Cast:  Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Hayden Panettiere, Courteney Cox, Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, Samara Weaving

Release Date: March 10, 2023

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and brief drug use

Runtime: 2h 2m

Review:

The Scream franchise has always been a strange one for me since I've never really had the deep affection that a lot of people have for the series.  The meta schtick was an interesting take but it'd run its course which brought about the semi revival that hit the screens last year.  This follow up entry, again directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, feels more confident and self assured than their first run.  Moving the setting and resetting the characters give the series a boost of life that makes Neve Campbell's absence a bit easier to take for long time fans.  This entry delivers some solid energy from the start with the performers more than ready to take the handle of the series.  Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin set up some solid sequences, the subway portion is particularly well done, but there's nary a sense of tension or actual scares throughout the entire thing.  That being said, they are entertainingly choregraphed even as they get increasingly goofy due to plot armor that allows characters to survive various forms of bodily harm even though the script overtly promises nobody is safe.  It’s one of my overreach issues with the series since it's never as edgy and it thinks it is before it falls into standard genre tropes.  It's a good thing the cast is game enough to make it all so watchable.  Melissa Barrera, whose eyebrows should be their own character, and Jenna Ortega make for a solid duo even as they spout out some terribly stilted dialogue.  There are hints here and there about Barrera's character that could make her much more interesting but much like the previous entry it only scrapes the surface of her mental state.  Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown return with another fun supporting turn as the brother and sister movie buffs.  Hayden Panettiere and Courteney Cox return with varying degrees of effectiveness with Cox's character feeling mostly inconsequential for the most part.  Dermot Mulroney performance as an NYPD detective is straightforward initially before it jumps off a cliff into cartoonish, much like the final act, territory by the time the film ends.  Scream 6 is still peppered with the issues that have plagued the series overall but it’s entertaining enough to make for mindless fun.  

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: SCREAM

 

Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, Calif., a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town's deadly past.

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Cast: David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Dylan Minnette, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mikey Madison, Sonia Ben Ammar, Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich, Heather Matarazzo, Roger L. Jackson

Release Date: January 14, 2022

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language throughout and some sexual references

Runtime: 1h 54m

Review:

Wes Craven's original Scream was a nice bit of self referential satire on slasher films.  It's the type of film that would have been better served if its subsequent sequels never existed.  It's heavy meta approach wasn't ever all that clever, Craven had done it before with his series send off for Freddy Krueger with New Nightmare.  As the film's have progressed the self reflection and satire has slowly devolved into self parody.  This fifth entry from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett is unintentionally funny in parts and rarely if ever scary to any tangible degree.  The script riffs on elevated horror here and there while being a prime example of why most of the slasher genre is dead and buried.  They are clearly fans of the genre but they deliver some uninspired, bland and mildly boring bits of what can barely be called horror.  The kills are fairly rudimentary with them choosing brutally over creating any palpable sense of tension.  David Arquette, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox all return with varying degrees of impact with even certain moments that should register emotionally falling flat.  Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and Jack Quaid do the heavy lifting for the better part of the film with Quaid being the only who seems to be having a good time.  Barrera is surprisingly flat with her eyebrows leaving the biggest impression on the film.  The who done it at play here sadly isn't all the complex or terribly intriguing as it tries to make a point about toxic fandom.  This fifth entry feels like it should be the last in the series and probably for good reason.

D

Cindy Prascik's Review of In the Heights

 

My dear reader(s)…if I have any left after my persistent absences: This past weekend I took the opportunity to check out the big-screen adaptation of Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights.

Some ordinary - and not-so-ordinary - days in the lives of the residents of Washington Heights.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn’t know from the trailers.

For three days I’ve struggled to write something about In the Heights. It’s an upbeat show that is never weighed down by its more somber moments. In its costumes and choreography is a genuine feel for the community it honors. In its humor is the resilience of people accustomed to smiling in the face of life's challenges. In Anthony Ramos and Gregory Diaz, IV, it has revealed a couple potential superstars. In its tunes are the seeds of what would later become the once-in-a-generation show Hamilton. For all these reasons, it is a movie worth seeing, but…I didn’t love it. I wanted to love it. It feels almost mean not to have loved it. But I didn’t love it. I don’t think the show translated all that well from stage to screen. Some content hasn’t aged well, and not in the kitschy 80s way of Cats (the show, NOT the movie) but in a way that just makes it feel…off…in 2021. Where it attempts to connect to current events (the deportation of DREAMers), it feels contrived. Some of the casting misfires badly. (Has Jimmy Smits ever been this bad before?) There were too many exteriors that looked like low-budget green screen. Perhaps I'm being too hard on it. Perhaps I just miss Broadway too much to accept it on a screen anymore.  Perhaps I should have gotten out to see it in a cinema instead of settling for HBO Max on the biggest TV in my orbit. Perhaps all of the above kept me from getting lost in this movie as I needed to get lost in this movie, but...I didn't love it.

In the Heights clocks in at 143 minutes, and is rated PG13 for “some language and suggestive references.”

In the Heights is a positive, uplifting production. Given what the world has suffered in recent months, that should be enough, but somehow it isn’t. Of a possible nine Weasleys, In the Heights gets six and a half.

In the Heights is now playing in cinemas, and streaming on HBO Max.

Fangirl Points: Stephanie Beatriz! Patrick Page! (And, yes, Jimmy Smits, even though I thought he was terrible in this!)

Until next time…

MOVIE REVIEW: IN THE HEIGHTS

In Washington Heights, N.Y., the scent of warm coffee hangs in the air just outside of the 181st St. subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies a vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is a likable and magnetic bodega owner who hopes, imagines and sings about a better life.

Director: Jon M. Chu

Cast: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Jimmy Smits

Release Date: June 4, 2021

Genre:  Drama, Music, Musical 

Rated PG-13 for some language and suggestive references

Runtime: 2h 23min

Review:

In The Heights is rousing celebration of community heritage and striving for a better life.  Jon M. Chu's film is a vibrant wall to wall musical that's filled with easy to love musical numbers that'll elicit a wide range of emotions throughout its runtime.  The musical numbers written by Lin-Manuel Miranda have an energy to them that feels personal and heartfelt with numbers like 96,000, Paciencia y Fe and Carnaval del Barrio leaving a lasting impact.  Chu's direction takes full advantage of the spectacular choreography during some of the larger ensemble pieces and veers into fantasy in select spots without going full Baz Luhrmann.  The story itself is fairly straightforward but covers a broad array of topics from gentrification, cultural identity and self discovery. This broadness extends to the characters who play more as types than fully realized people.  As such, the characters relationships, especially the main love story, doesn't connect emotionally the way it should.  The impressive part about the film is that it overcomes this shortcoming thanks to it's engaging cast lead by Anthony Ramos who posses a natural performers charisma that shines through the screen.  The supporting cast is made up of an array of Hispanic Broadway actors or singers including Olga Merediz who reprises her role from Miranda's original stage play and shines in spotlight.  The rest of the ensemble are given their chance to shine throughout the film's extensive 2 hour plus run.  Throw in a few moments where you might experience a sensation of déjà vu with the film adaptation of Rent.  That being said, In The Heights feels like more complete adaption of its source material for the big screen. 

A-