Gerald's Game and a Goodbye from me

GERALD'S GAME 2017

 
"If there's a monster under your bed it won't bother you if you're asleep," Gerald whispers to Jessie, and in that moment Gerald's Game is summed up in one beautiful sentence.

First of all, Gerald's Game is one of my favorite Stephen King novels. I read it far too young at a tender age of 12 where I learned far too much about the scary world of adults. But it has always stuck with me. I learned a lot from Gerald's Game that didn't scar me, life lessons that I subconsciously carried with me as I grew up. I re-read the story when I was 18 and it was like a light bulb went off in my head. Gerald's Game had taught me to fight so incredibly hard despite the odds. And in the tumultuous year where my Dad had left my family and my Mom had mentally checked out and I had to drop out of college....I never once stopped fighting. Because when I was 12 I read a book where a woman was in a lose/lose situation and against all terrifying odds, she fought and battled her inner demons and came out triumphant. And that woman never left me.

That might sound dramatic, but there's a reason I'm such a huge Stephen King fan, because I'm not exaggerating when I say his books have changed my life.

Tonight I watched the new adaptation, Gerald's Game, directed and written by Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard. And I am happy to say that this film exceeded my expectations and kept what was the most important about this story and brought it to the screen.

Jessie and Gerald are a married couple who are slowly falling apart, they decide to escape up to their cabin for the weekend and play a sexy game where Jessie is handcuffed to the bed. But when things get quickly out of hand, and Gerald has a massive heart attack, dropping dead on the floor, Jessie finds herself in an impossible situation she must escape from. Or else she'll die, whether it be from dehydration, her organs shutting down, or that wild, starving dog that's sniffing around.

Ultimately this story is about survival, but it also speaks to the lengths we go to keep our darkest secrets buried. Jessie experienced something when she was younger that she has never told anyone, and without realizing it, it controls every decision she makes in her adult life. It isn't until she's locked in this situation that she's finally forced to deal with her trauma. It's an important lesson that we all learn in life, that holding secrets will slowly destroy us from the inside out. This film is incredible at how it handles the dark story line. It touches just hard enough that you completely understand what's going on, but not enough that it discredits the careful line its walking.

The story is also one about the fear that you never truly know the ones you love the most. You can be married to someone for ten years and one day they'll say something or do something and you suddenly realize you don't know that person at all. That maybe they were also keeping a deep dark secret they didn't want you to know.

Stephen King always understands the darkness that lies within every person. And Flanagan has brought that to life in this amazing adaptation.

I'm going to get into a little bit of spoilers here so skip ahead if you need to:

First of all, I'm so thankful that Flanagan kept the Dolores Claiborne reference in this film. It's so important to the story and it's a nice little nod for hardcore King fans. There was also a fun little Cujo reference which I appreciated.

Secondly, I want to talk about the horror element of it - there's some real creepy scenes in this movie that keeps the tension high and keeps the story going. Raymond Andrew Joubert, played by Carel Struycken, is incredibly creepy and his first scene caught me totally off guard. I also loved the final court scene with him. Obviously, I also need to touch on the wrist cutting scene. Reading it in the book had me squeamish but seeing it come to life...wow. I was completely unprepared. It was one of those moments where I realized I was yelling out loud and clutching my face, and actually had no idea how long I'd been yelling for (once again, I'm so sorry to my neighbors). I had been pondering how they would pull that off and they WENT THERE. The camera did not pan away once. It was horrific and so well done. An absolutely amazing scene!

Thirdly, I want to talk about the acting performances. Carla Gugino plays our lead Jessie with perfection. From the losing of her mind to the multiple personalities showing through to the final scene, this was an award winning performance. She was so believable, and raw, and emotional, and tough. Bruce Greenwood plays Gerald and it's another great performance. The scenes where Gerald is taunting Jessie, just hanging over her in bed whispering anxieties into her ear were so realistic and such a great portrayal of how having chronic anxiety really feels. Such great casting.

End of spoilers...

Flanagan is proving to me that he can't make a bad movie. This man is a powerhouse who, in my opinion, has already cemented himself as a master of horror. Gerald's Game is just another notch on the belt of a near perfect career and I honestly can't contain my excitement for whatever he has coming next.

Overall, Gerald's Game is a stunning, almost perfect adaptation of an author who many people have struggled for years to adapt. I will aggressively recommend it to everyone I know.

Solid 10/10

 Now, I have some sad news. This will be my last review on this blog....

BECAUSE I'VE BOUGHT A DOMAIN NAME FOR HORROR BOUND AND AM MOVING TO A REAL WEBSITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've wanted to create my own horror site for awhile now but wanted to do it the right way. In April I bought the domain name for my birthday and I've spent the last few months creating the site. It will officially go live this Sunday on October 1st for the 31 day horror movie challenge.

It's time for Horror Bound to go big and not be just a little blog anymore. I've spent almost 6 years writing on this blog so I will be sad to not come here anymore and yell at everyone about how great horror movies are. I will keep this archived though for those of you who want to read old reviews, and mostly for my own nostalgia.

Going forward, you will need to visit horrorbound.net for all your horror bound needs. A MASSIVE thank you to those of you who have visited this blog over the years. It's been so much fun to watch my stats grow and have you reach out on twitter about my reviews. It's helped me blossom into a real writer and move into writing for other great websites like morbidlybeautiful.com and addictedtohorrormovies.com and now my own website! I hope you follow me over there.

As always, follow me on twitter, follow me on instagram, and on Sunday, October 1st, check out the new and improved and OFFICIAL Horror Bound.

Stay spooky forever,

Top Ten Stephen King Cameos!

TOP TEN STEPHEN KING CAMEOS

Stephen King is obviously a huge part of our culture and has been for decades. He's also my hero and just an all around great guy. His 70th birthday is coming up so I've rounded up some of his best cameos so you can keep an eye out when you re-watch! 

In no particular order:

#10 - Band Leader in The Shining miniseries

There was a Shining miniseries I hear you asking? Yes my spooky friends, there was a miniseries. Mick Garris directed this three part series for ABC in 1997 who would only adapt it if King promised to not bad mouth the film version. Both Sam Raimi and Frank Darabont cameo in it too! But King shows up as the creepy mustache wearing band leader named Gage Creed and it's pretty great.

#9 - Hoagie Man in Knightriders

I think this is his first on screen cameo and it's Romero's 1981 film Knightrider. Romero and King have a really cute friendship and it all started here. He plays a heckler at a medieval parade, uttering the phrase "you know, I don't have the balls to wear a thing like that!".

 

#8 - The Cleaner in Sons of Anarchy

King was a huge fan of SOA and was thrilled when he got to cameo as Dick Bachman aka The Cleaner in a 2010 episode. He gets to ride a motorcycle, wear a cool leather jacket and show he's always going to be a total bad ass. In the show he's the go-to man for cleaning up the messes and listens to 80's music while doing so.

#7 - Jordy Verrill in Creepshow

One of my favorite Creepshow stories, King reunited with Romero to play the title character in the anthology Creepshow. King shows some serious acting talent here playing a redneck who gets consumed by alien vegetation.

#6 - Truck Driver in Creepshow 2

King was invited back for the sequel and in this round he plays a hillbilly trucker with a couple of lines. Romero wrote the screenplay for the second film and Michael Gornick directed it.

#5 - Asshole at the ATM in Maximum Overdrive

One of the craziest films I've EVER seen is Maximum Overdrive, a cocaine fulled nightmare. King's directorial debut and his only ever attempt at it, he also claims this is the worst adaptation of all his books. But that was before Cell was made....I JOKE, I JOKE! This is one of my favorite cameos.

#4 - Cemetery Groundskeeper in Sleepwalkers

Written by Stephen King and directed by Mick Garris, this cameo is epic because it includes Tobe Hooper and Clive Barker. THE HOLY TRINITY. Sort of.

#3 - Minister in Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary is one of my favorite King books and one of my favorite adaptations. It came out in 1989 and is directed by Mary Lambert. Never forget how TERRIFYING Zelda is....
King plays the Minister overseeing the funeral of Gage Creed and there's something really spooky about that performance.

#2 - Teddy Weizak in The Stand

Probably one of King's adaptations that most people talk about fondly and absolutely a fan favorite book. The Stand was a TV mini-series that played in 1994 and King gets to play a 2 episode arc as Weizak. He really shows off his acting chops in this one and has to do a very emotional scene.

#1 - Himself in The Simpsons

That's right, King got to play a Simpson's version of himself in the episode "Insane Clown Poppy". Drew Barrymore also appears in the episode as the character Sophie. Barrymore was in two King adaptations - Firestarter and Cat's Eye. It originally aired in 2000 on November 12th. Marge encounters King at a book fair where he tells her that he didn't feel like writing horror anymore so was writing a biography on Benjamin Franklin. It's a really funny moment!

So there you have it! My ten favorite King cameos!

Stay spooky everyone and keep updated with my latest articles over at the other site I write for addictedtohorrormovies.

Oakley Court - a hidden horror Mecca

Oakley Court....a beautiful and tranquil hotel with eclectic architecture, never-ending lawns, a tasty restaurant and footpaths that lead you alongside the River Thames. When standing on the lawn gazing up at the hotel you get the sense that you've stepped into a place from another era. But despite the gargoyles that leer down at you from every surface, and the one tiny hallway scattered with horror movie posters, you'd have no idea that this is ground zero for some of the best horror movies of all time.

This year I visited Oakley Court and stayed the night to experience the incredible hotel for itself and wallow in its' incredible history.

Built in 1859 for Sir Richard Hall-Say in the style of a French Chateau to comfort his homesick young French wife, it had many owners until 1919 when Ernest Olivier bought it. He was a Turkish consul and used the Court as a place to impress and entertain foreign diplomats. During World War 2 it was rumored that Charles de Gaulle had an office there and there's a room there now that is named in his honor. But it wasn't until post World War 2 that Oakley Court became a horror Mecca when Olivier decided to rent the building out as a filming location.

In 1949 Hammer/Exclusive Films started using the building and for twelve months the Court was used to make 5 films. Over the next few decades Oakley Court became the go-to location for British productions to use as an exterior for haunted houses and castles. You can find the Court in films like The Brides of Dracula (1960), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and Vampyres (1974). 

But in 1965 when Olivier passed away the house was divided up and used as shelter for young, local families in need. They could rent rooms and cottages and it stayed that way through the 70's. But because of this it allowed productions to film inside the now dilapidated Court. And so next up were Girly (1970), The Night Digger (1971), and The Man From Nowhere (1975).

There's also a rumor that in the late 60's, shortly after Olivier's death, there were satanic cults that would use the grounds for their Sabbaths. There's an old crumbled structure near the riverfront that was rumored to be the site. The local historian, Jake Roche, believes witches used to meet on the grounds.

Of course, what is an old, spooky Court without its' ghost stories? There are many stories of ghostly presences and events that have filled Oakley Court including in 1972 when a woman claimed her two children drowned after seeing white-hooded figures roaming the grounds late at night. Even just reading the modern day reviews of the hotel you'll find a couple of ghostly experiences thrown in among glowing reviews of the restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn't experience anything myself, but it was absolutely very spooky walking through the hotel's many twisted staircases and long hallways by myself.

In the 1970's as residents began to leave, the building was purchased by the Muggleston family to convert it into a resort. They restored Oakley Court to its former glory spending $5 million to do so. They also included additional wings to accommodate more guests.

Now Oakley Court sits as a proud, well reviewed hotel, but keeps its' horror history pretty quiet. Every year they host the Time Warp Picnic where fans of Rocky Horror gather to watch the Transylvanian flag raise from the tower and then watch a screening of the film together in costume. But let's just call ourselves lucky that Oakley Court is still standing and being carefully and lovingly restored, and a tiny but important piece of horror history is kept in tact.

My stay there was wonderful, and as you can see littered throughout this article are photos I took during my stay. The room was great, the food was great, and I loved just wandering around the grounds and discovering so many different buildings and strange artwork like an entire suit of armor placed in a corner for seemingly no reason. Or an entire room of giant mirrors. Or a neon light sign that reads "The Butler Did It'.

It's a odd place.

But I love it, and I highly recommend that if ever given the chance, you go stay there too, or at least explore it!

Little Evil - Netflix original

LITTLE EVIL 2017

The new Netflix original horror comedy came to our screens last week and last night I sat down to watch it. Let's talk about it!

Written and directed by Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil) Little Evil has an incredible cast including Adam Scott, Evangeline Lilly, Donald Faison and Chris D'Elia.


Gary is recently married and moving in with his new wife and his new stepson, Lucas. But something is wrong with Lucas....like seriously wrong. In fact, he may just be the antichrist.

Very much like Craig's film, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, this story is a satire. We all know parenthood is a disaster on its' own, but Gary is essentially struggling with Satan for custody over his new stepson which creates a lot of hilarious moments. There's a lot of great horror nods - The Shining, Poltergeist, The Omen, Rosemary's Baby etc. And some really hilarious setups, my personal favorite being when Gary is forced to join a stepdad support group and all of the other dads are sharing their "evil kid" stories which sound very similar to Lucas, except for the minor detail that Lucas is being controlled by the Devil.

Most of the film relies on Adam Scott to pull this wacky story off without becoming too much of a joke of itself. Luckily Adam Scott is incredible at what he does, playing off that dead pan humor like its' the easiest thing in the world. He shows enough drama and emotion in the more serious parts, but can pull us easily out of a scene in the best way with one raise of an eyebrow. Owen Atlas plays Lucas and does a really stand out job of playing that Damien style horror. Without many words he can stare you down through the camera and creep you the fuck out. Evangeline Lilly plays her character very well with that undying love of a mother who can't see that anything is wrong with her child, because as she says many times, "it is never the child's fault."


The horror elements while fun and campy, never actually hit that true satisfying horror moment so this is absolutely more comedy than horror.  And the ending for me personally felt a little too cheesy, but I'm not sure how else it could've ended, so I won't complain too much.

Overall it was super entertaining - I had a few laugh out loud moments and enjoyed spotting all the horror movie nods.

7/10

Stay Spooky!

DEATH NOTE - Adam Wingard knocks another one out of the park!

Death Note is officially out on Netflix and last night I watched it. Let's talk about it!

 DEATH NOTE 2017

It's like you said, sometimes you gotta choose the lesser of the two evils. 

Directed by Adam Wingard (You're Next, The Guest, Blair Witch) Death Note is a Netflix original film and is based on the manga series by the same name. The series was written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. I've read the manga series and it's INCREDIBLE but for this review I'm going to just review this as a stand alone story and not compare it. It's an adaptation and I'm over just nit picking adaptations for missing every little detail. So I'm going to look at this film as a separate entity.

Death Note is a simple premise with a lot of complex rules - set in Seattle, high school student Light finds a notebook with the words "Death Note" engraved on the front. As he picks it up a Death God named Ryuk appears and explains to Light that if he writes the name of someone in the book and a way of death, that person will die. He encourages Light to put in a school bully's name and Light watches horrified as that kid is suddenly decapitated.

At first, Light is terrified by the book and Ryuk, but when he puts the name of the man who killed his Mom in it and realizes the true power this book could wield, he quickly changes his tone. Soon he teams up with a classmate named Mia and the two of them start killing off bad guys left and right, leaving the name Kira in their wake. Soon the world comes to idolize Kira and sees him as an all powerful god of justice. But not everyone likes what this Kira guy is doing, and soon the police and a mysterious detective who goes by L are on Light's trail.

This is a solid cast - Nat Wolff plays Light and does a pretty decent job of handling the high powered emotions that this character goes through. Margaret Qualley stole my heart with her portrayal of Mia. Mia is a very complex and psychotic character and Margaret made it incredibly believable. Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out) played L and OH MY GOD WAS HE AMAZING?!?! L is such a cool character - he has no family, has been trained since he was a child to be the best detective in the world, and lives off of candy. He really stole the show.

What did I like about it?

• I loved Ryuk, voiced by Willem Dafoe. I loved that they kept him to the shadows and never ruined your perception of him by CG-ing the hell out of him in the daylight. He's always just off to the side, or with his back facing and he's so incredibly evil and well done.
• The final showdown was really great and super confusing but in the best way. At the very end when it all unravels you're just like holy shit and your mind is blown.
• The movie looks SO cool - the scenery, the coloring, the death note, the characters, the shots, the music!!!!!!!! Solid all the way around.
• It moves quickly - there's no fucking around. Within the first half hour you know the entire story and quickly find yourself in a cat and mouse chase. In some parts I do wish it could've been extended, get a little more story, but I'm not going to complain that a movie isn't three hours long. This is a solid running time and you don't feel cheated.
• Wingard's black humor is prominent in this film and I like that. Some moments felt very Final Destination like which made me SO happy!
• It's surprisingly very gory - again giving me Final Destination vibes.
• I only wish we got to see more of Montauk because that was an incredible couple of scenes.

Overall

Death Note may not be perfect, but it's a hell of a ride and I'll definitely watch it again and again!

9/10

Stay Spooky!

XX - amazing female driven anthology

Stating the obvious - but XX was fucking awesome! Let's talk about it!

XX  2017

Released this year, XX is a horror anthology created entirely by women - each short was written and directed by females and each short follows one woman's journey touching on motherhood, being a wife, and being the odd one out. This movie is a milestone and something I think we should all be proud of for having out in the world. Quite frankly, there's a lot of anthologies out there and XX is a lot better than most of the male-dominated ones. I really hope they re-visit this and do another highlighting more women directors and writers.

The Box:

Written and directed by Jovanka Vuckovic, this short is based on the shorty story by Jack Ketchum. A family is riding the subway when the young boy asks a stranger next to him what's in the present sitting on his lap. It's a red box with a bow on top. The stranger shows him and from that point on the young boy refuses to eat and starts wasting away. When asked what was in the box, he responds nothing. It soon starts to spread to the rest of the family as they slowly starve to death.

The vibe of this short is incredible - it builds this sense of dread that sits with you long after it's finished. I'm seeing a lot of people not loving the pay off at the end, but I didn't mind it. I like that whole leaving it up to your imagination situation. It reminded me quite a bit of the ending to the original Martyrs.

There was one particular sequence which was a dream moment where I actually audibly gasped because it was so shocking and outside of what the short was doing. It was really great.

8/10

  
The Birthday Party:

This one was my personal favorite - written by Roxanne Benjamin and Annie Clark, and directed by Annie Clark. It is one morning in the life of Mary, a wealthy suburban mom who has a seemingly perfect life - money, nice house, one beautiful little girl, and a Nanny. But as the short continues on you realize this woman has many anxiety issues and is having trouble coping. Something happens to her husband, but she has a birthday party for her daughter happening so she is forced to cope with the more and more bizarre situations that are arising.

I would love to see this one somehow developed into a full movie because there were so many paths that could've been followed - I was so curious about the Nanny, and the husband, and the strange neighbors. I also loved the coloring of this short. Really well done. Also the reveal at the end of the full title is really hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud a few times in this short - very dark humor.

10/10

Don't Fall:

This was my least favorite - it was by no means awful, or badly done, it just wasn't for me and almost felt a little out of place compared to the other three. Written and directed by Roxanne Benjamin it follows four friends who have found a camp spot in the middle of the desert. They found the spot after bribing a guy at the nearest gas station. When hiking they find a beautiful lookout and on the wall are some sort of creepy cave drawings. That night, back at camp, everything quickly falls apart and we come to realize what those cave drawings were warning us of.

The characters were really fun, I liked all of them immediately. They had some great dynamics and it all felt really natural. The scenery was beautiful, the effects were great, and it felt very wrapped up - beginning, middle, and satisfying end. And honestly, if this short had been in another anthology I think I would've really enjoyed it. But again, compared to the other three, the tone of this didn't fit for me personally.

7/10

Her Only Living Son:

Written and directed by Karyn Kusama, who previously brought us The Invitation, this short plays like a love letter to Rosemary's Baby. A mom is struggling with her teenage son who's acting out in more and more horrific ways. He's about to turn 18 and his Dad is out of the picture. But as the short unravels we start to realize his Dad is not who we think it is, and this young man is going through way more changes than just puberty.

It's a really creepy piece that ends in a shocking, yet satisfying way. There's many things at play here including white male privilege when the Mother is confronted about his actions in the school, and obviously the exploration of coming of age and single motherhood.

Screencrush.com called it Rosemary's Baby fan-fiction and I kind of like that - it's very much a follow up to the book/film and what happens after that final scene when Rosemary is confronted with what she produced.

Although side note - in 1997 Ira Levin put out the sequel to his original, Rosemary's Baby, called Son of Rosemary. While it's nowhere near as amazing as the original, the sequel is a kind of fun, crazy thrill ride - very quick read. Go pick it up!

9/10

In between each short is the connective tissue provided by stop-motion artist Sofia Carrillo who brought some incredibly disturbing and heart breaking images to life. And quite frankly the stop-motion doll parts moving around is the creepiest part of this anthology. She really did an incredible job.

Overall I'm giving XX a solid 9/10, I'll definitely re-visit and recommend, and some of these shorts will stick with me for a long time.


Stay Spooky!

.....and....WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!!!!!!!?!

(I couldn't resist)

The Bye Bye Man is not that bad! (And neither is The Dark Tower)

The Bye Bye Man is not as awful as the critics made it out to be - so let's talk about it!

THE BYE BYE MAN 2017

 Don't think it. Don't say it. Don't think it. Don't say it. Don't think it. Don't say it. Don't think it. Don't say it. Don't think it. Don't say it.

Look, I fell for it too - back when this movie first came out in January, everyone was jumping on the hype train and hating on this movie. So I just went with it and didn't bother to watch it. But over the past few months I've been making a conscious effort to form my own opinions on films and not jump into the circle jerk of it all.

Most recently I saw The Dark Tower in theaters, which is getting destroyed by critics and fans. As readers of this blog will know - I am a MASSIVE Stephen King fan and have read all his books, a lot of them multiple times. I saw The Dark Tower and had a really great time. It's exciting, it's fast paced, the gunslinger scenes are awesome, Idris Elba is a damn powerhouse, and while I wasn't a huge fan of Matthew Mcconaughey, it didn't ruin anything for me.

So please, I'm begging you, King fans and non-King fans, if you've read the books or you haven't, go see The Dark Tower or rent it when it comes out on DVD. It's a super fun, exciting ride and while it's not a perfect (or even close) adaptation, it holds its own.

Anyway, the point of that derail is that I've decided to make a conscious effort to make my own decisions on films - even if they're rated like 5% on RT or whatever, I may still like it!

Which leads me to The Bye Bye Man which recently popped up on Canadian Netflix!

Directed by Stacy Title and written by her husband Jonathan Penner, who was also on one of my favorite seasons of Survivor, the story is based on a chapter from the book The President's Vampire by Robert Damon Schneck. Apparently this book is about real supernatural events that happened in America.

This movie follows three college students who rent a big old house off campus and discover some old coins in an old dresser that then lead them into a terrifying real life nightmare involving someone called The Bye Bye Man.

The film's lead, Elliot, is played by Douglas Smith, who does a great job of slowly sinking into madness. Once he learns the mystery of The Bye Bye Man he realizes that he can't speak it, think it, or say the name or it gives this entity power. His girlfriend, Sasha, is played by Cressida Bonas. While I'm sure she's a wonderful actor, I was actually quite disappointed in Sasha's role in this movie which seemed to be mostly just sleeping a lot and saying maybe three words. The third player is John, Elliot's best friend, played by Lucien Laviscount (who you might recognize from Scream Queens). He did a really good job, and while his character wasn't completely fleshed out, he made it interesting at least.

Carrie-Anne Moss plays the Detective, and she's amazing as always! And Doug Jones plays the Bye Bye Man himself, Jones is of course famous for playing lots of spooky roles like the Ancient in The Strain, the ghost in Crimson Peak, and one of the Gentlemen in the scariest episode of Buffy EVER - Hush. 

The story was twisty and turny and I liked that, the Bye Bye Man plays tricks on those he's haunting, he makes them see things that aren't there. So for a lot of the movie while all is being revealed to you, it's fun to try and figure out what is a trick or not.

The backstory was good too, I like that it kind of leaves it up to you to think about how long the Bye Bye Man has been in existence. We see a lot of flashbacks from 1969 which help pull the story along.

When the Bye Bye Man is finally revealed, it does rely quite heavily on some not so great CG for some of it, but it still does give off a creepy effect. He's very imposing and kind of looks like the fisherman from I Know What You Did Last Summer. 

Overall I think this movie got a bad rep for nothing. While it isn't ground breaking or anything new, and it does have its' flaws and some not so well thought out characters, it does its' job. For the casual horror viewer I think they would find the jump scares and spooky vibe effective. I wasn't bored once, and I had a great time watching it.

7/10

Stay Spooky! And don't let those critics sway your view!

Saw Franchise Watch - Saw 3 and 4

 

Last night I watched Saw 3 and today I watched Saw 4 and I am left with a lot of questions and concerns, but I was also taken on a journey. 

Let's talk about it!

SAW 3 2006

"Death is a surprise party"

Darren Lynn Bousman takes up the director reigns again and worked from a screenplay by our favs Leigh Whannell and James Wan. This is the highest-grossing film in the series.

Kerry returns in this sequel along with Rigg (Lyriq Bent) who finds the aftermath of a Jigsaw game while looking for Matthews. Kerry is quickly captured soon after and put into her own trap. But we quickly realize these new traps are not meant to be survived which is very unlike Jigsaw.

A Doctor is kidnapped (Bahar Soomekh) by Amanda who is Jigsaw's apprentice and held captive as she tries to save Jigsaw's life. While this is all happening - a man is going through a series of Jigsaw tests seeking revenge for his child who was killed.

Overall

Ohhhhh boy....I LOVED this one. This might actually be my favorite so far of the series. There were so many twists and turns and I was kept guessing until the very end. There were even more intense scenes where I was clutching my face and freaking out - when Lynn is performing brain surgery on Jigsaw, when the husband is going through the test with the judge drowning in pig guts, and that final scene. Amanda was phenomenal in this - and I loved the reveal of how much and for how long she's been involved. Lynn and her husband's story I did not see coming at all.

The traps/games to me took a back seat in this movie and let the characters really take the lead which I enjoyed so much. Learning all about Jigsaw and his relationship with Amanda was really well thought out and acted.

Games/Traps

#9 - Jeff's Final Test
This one aggravated me because Jeff is an idiot. At this point he should've learned his damn lesson and also listened to his wife and Jigsaw and saved everyone BUT NOOOOOO, he let his anger and bad attitude get the best of him
 

#8 - The Freezer Room
Honestly, this one is really intense but could be stopped pretty quickly if homeboy had just sucked it up and reached for the key. Also when he put his face against the freezing cold pipe and ripped his skin off?? Bud?? You're wearing like three layers, take one off and cover your face before going in for the key....

#7 - The Rack
This is pretty fucked up and complex, but ultimately it depends on the other person getting the key and unlocking you. 

#6 - The Angel Trap 
This one is unwinnable and pretty intense. You've got a contraption locked into your rib cage and you're hanging from the ceiling. The key is in a jar of acid and there's a timer. I kind of love these one's where it's like "here's the trap...BUT ALSO THERE'S BROKEN GLASS AND IT'S RAINING"

#5 - The Shotgun Collar
While this is a simple premise - the idea of your life being controlled purely by another person's, specifically the person who put you in this situation, is really intense.

#4 - The Pig Vat
This one was DISGUSTING - and also so emotional. Also there were maggots and I almost lost it.

#3 - The Classroom Trap
This one was super gross. And also cheating - because it was unwinnable. But the psychology behind this one is fucked and I couldn't imagine having to rip chains out of my body.

#2 - Amanda's Test
The most complex of all of these - ultimately trying to teach her a lesson that taking people's lives is far different from giving people a choice to take their life or not. It took a hell of a lot of work to set this one up and I had NO clue it was a test until the end when it was revealed. 

#1 - Jeff's Trial
I think ultimately this one is the most clever and emotionally damaging. Putting a guy in the situation to exact revenge on everyone who played a part in his son's death.

Ultimately this is another solid 10/10....I am LOVING these movies!

 SAW 4 2007

"You think it is over, but the games have just begun." 

Directed again by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Marcus Dunstan, Patrick Melton, and Thomas Fenton.

Rigg is back and he's found Kerry's body, but he still hasn't found Matthews so his hunt continues. But now the FBI are involved, Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Perez (Athena Karkanis), and they believe a third person is involved in all of this. When Rigg returns to his apartment he finds himself in the middle of a Jigsaw run game and is shown his boss Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Matthews are a part of it.

Overall

This one was....confusing? Most Saw movies so far have confused me but at the end I'm like OMG TWIST I GET IT. But this one? I'm still lost. I have a lot of questions. Like who the fuck is Hoffman and why did he get involved with Jigsaw so long ago? How did we get from the end scene with Strahm getting locked in the surgery room to the opening scene in the morgue? How much did Donnie Wahlberg get paid to just hang there in a jump suit? What happened to Jeff's daughter? And how is this all happening at the same time? WHAT TIME FRAME IS THIS?

Me right now tbh:

So I don't know how I feel about this movie...I spent most of it confused and feeling like I was trying to catch up on a story I should've already known. Some of the traps were cool and ultimately I was riveted. But....SO MANY QUESTIONS. I'm hoping 5 will answer most of them...

I did really appreciate all the backstory about Jigsaw and his wife and his lawyer and how he came to be the way he is. I really found that interesting. 

Games/Traps

#7 -  The Bedroom Trap
Homeboy had to choose between damaging his eyes or his body....which I didn't really understand? But it didn't seem to matter because he damaged an eye and then his whole body got ripped apart soooo....

#6 - The Ice Block Trap
I don't think I fully understood this one....right around the time this one was revealed was when I started losing track of the plot. But the melting giant ice cube while someone's hanging and resting their feet on it is pretty cool.

#5 - Rigg's Trial
This was so complex with one of those great Saw trap endings where if you basically do nothing, you survive. 

#4 - The Scalping Seat
This one fucked me right up because I have incredibly long hair and I swear I could feel this one physically just by watching it. 

#3 - The Spike Trap
I liked this one a lot simply cause that guy seems like he deserved it. And making the abused wife do it was pretty cool - that's some exposure therapy if I've ever seen it.

#2 - The Knife Chair
This is one of the more simpler Saw traps that just remains incredibly effective and scary. I can't even begin to imagine what I would do in this scenario. Cry a lot, probably.

#1 - The Mausoleum 
This was incredibly fucked up - two guys wake up chained together, one has had his eyes ripped out and the other has his mouth sewed shut. So they can't communicate whatsoever and basically lose their shit.

I'm giving this one an 8/10 due to confusion. 

Alright! Another two done and three more to go!

Stay spooky!