Category: Horror

Kong: Skull Island

kong skull island

Besides the MCU, I consider the Monster-verse probably the second best out there. Godzilla King of Monsters (Savior) opened my eyes to why this series has garnered so much love for so long, so I took a bit to catch up on the universe and see how they approached the legendary ape, King Kong.

Monarch is a small organization with a huge problem, they are about to go extinct because frankly, why waste money on paranormal shit, especially in the wake of the Vietnam War. Bill Randa, head of Monarch, desperately has a plan to find the ancient creatures he seeks- the mythical Skull Island. Assembling a crew of scientists, soldiers, a anti-war photographer and a professional merc and tracker they set off to discover a hostile land teeming with giant beasts, the hideous Skull Crawlers, and the king of it all, Kong..

This is probably the most fun, most epic adaptation of King Kong to date. The Monster-verse takes him a new direction, making him angrier, bigger, and smarter than ever before with a new motivation while surprisingly keeping a lot of the character’s pathos. Sam Jackson, John Goodman and John C. Riley steal the show, especially Riley during some sad moments. The action scenes are plentiful and well done, set mostly to well placed 70’s rock. The Island itself isn’t boring, it’s the opposite. The beginning is a bit slow and feels pretty cliche at first but once Kong is introduced, the movie picks up the pace. In the end, it’s a fun monster brawler with some good performances that’s worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Black Widow trailer 1

So the day finally comes when we got our first peak at the first movie of phase 4 in the MCU, Black Widow’s solo movie. While I rock with a majority of Marvel fans thinking this movie should’ve been a solid R rated movie, what we got so far looks pretty solid. The stunts look badass and I’m just happier to dive deeper into Widow’s character. I hope for a nice solid start to phase 4. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Carriers

Carriers is an odd movie for me. It is a movie about a sort of plague illness that spreads across the world that is quite contagious but seems to only be in certain situations. If you get blood on you from a carrier or such you can catch it, but not being near someone with it. But everyone is wearing masks as if you can get it from the air.

The movie itself is about a couple and a brother and a random girl they never really explain very well as to why she is there. They are attempting to get to an old beach house the two brothers used to vacation at. Chris Pine, the oldest brother, plays the role of the hard headed jerk that does what needs to be done very well. In fact they all do.

As the movie goes on they slowly turn on each other, which is done in a rather interesting way. The issue really is much of the story is pretty much filled with weird holes that easily could have been filled. Like where did the 4th member of the group come from and why? It’s never explained very well. And if Pines character worked buring people with the plague how did he never get it if the thing was so easy to get? Any why the mask if you can’t get it that way?

The movie was fun, but far from great. Go check it out but keep expectations low.best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Us

us

Here we come to another anticipated movie I awaited this year and sadly had to skip on til my Black Friday haul. I’ve heard plenty of hype around Peele’s work so I was excited what he had to bring to the horror table.

Adelaide suffered trauma as a little girl, wandering off from her folks during a beach trip. As a an adult, her husband what’s to return to there summer home near the same beach. Adelaide begrudgingly agrees to go, but the whole time she feels an impending dread. Her suspicions seem valid when a family of strangers shows up on there lawn, all dressed in matching dark red jumpsuits. There night of terror has only just begun against the the greatest enemies we have, ourselves…

I’m going to be blunt here, Us is one hell of a subjective movie. The cinematography and score are great. The family chemistry is genuine and the actors are believable while Lupita Nyong’o steals the show for me as Adelaide and her Tethered self. The plot is downright strange and multiple viewings maybe required to grasp everything to do with the Tethered and there endgame. While I  appreciate the mixture of humor, horror, and WTF Twilight Zone style sci-fi, I feel there was a little too much comedy that hurt some pretty vitally creepy parts. I can’t say for sure if I liked it, but I will say it’s a unique movie and I do respect it and think it deserves a watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Brightburn

brightburn

I was so hyped for this movie with an awesome premise, what if Superman was a horror icon instead of a superhero. During Black Friday I went nuts admittedly catching up on all that I missed in movies, one of which being this. Did it live up to my hype but the hype of so many others?

Tory and Kyle Breyer are good folks living in the small town of Brightburn Kansas who wanted nothing more than a child to love. They get there wish in a startling event when a ship crashes in there front yard, giving them there son Brandon. For the first twelve years of his life, Brandon Breyer is a sweet kid until he hears a voice calling out to him from the barn. Not long after he begins discovering marvelous but terrible things about himself and how powerful he truly is. How far will Tory and Kyle go before they see there son maybe wasn’t such a gift from above?

If you saw the trailers and thought this was going to be a horror twist on Man of Steel than I’d say you are kinda right. I do love the concept and the actors do give the movie there all. Brandon Breyer is a cool horror icon who feels unique but also pays tribute to Superman a lot too and there are some messy kills to make him a badass. My biggest issue is the pacing. This movie feels destined to be a full fledged two and a half hours but it’s only 90 minutes. I feel like more could’ve been explained and things like his change happen too suddenly or where the design of his mask came from. It does have a nice after credit scene that gives us a window into a sequel but I hope next time it’s more explained. In the end, while not a mega hit, Brightburn is a fine horror movie and worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Borderlands 3: Heist of the Handsome Jackpot DLC trailer

Borderlands 3 was such a mixed bag for me, so I was really curious what the DLC would look like. Essentially it looks like Ocean’s 11 with a Borderlands skin. I’m a bit disappointed but hopefully there is a decent story and awesome loot here. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Half- Life: Alyx teaser

I always wanted to jump on the Half-Life bandwagon but I never got a chance to. Alyx appears to be a VR game which seems odd. Not really having any connection to the series, everything about this trailer seems kinda meh to me. The VR aspect doesn’t look that great. For the fans, I hope it looks great but as a casual it looks meh. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Antebellum trailer

I do love when random horror trailers pop up in my YouTube feed. Antebellum looks pretty interesting for a lot of reasons. I like the historical throwbacks rather than looking like a straight demonic ghost story. The cinematography looks good and the producers behind it look promising. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Loch

loch

Here we have a request from my friend Autobot, who has a love of Cryptozoology; this review is for you kid.

Loch, nicknamed after the famous Loch Ness  Monster, is fascinated by legendary sea life and the expeditions he and his sister get to join the there dad on. There dad, Sam Perkins, is a  big marine biologist who is sadly working for a dick named Cavenger who is obsessed with capturing a monster of his own. During a expedition to a quiet lake, prehistoric beasts are discovered, the most powerful of which kills a cameraman. While picnicking, Loch and his sister Zaidee uncover a baby creature they call Wee Beastie, a friendly, playful creature that means no harm. Cavenger is on the warpath, assembling a stock of high powered munitions to gun the creatures down. Can Loch, Zaidee, and Cavenger’s daughter Sarah save the creatures before it’s too late…

Loch is a pretty short and sweet book meant for younger folks between I’d say ages 8-13. There are a surprising amount of gory deaths that younger readers will find cool that aren’t overly graphic. The main characters are fun and the story is overall pretty solid; I like that it doesn’t sequel bait, unlike something like this made in modern day would be. The pacing of the book is good, only taking me two days to finish reading it. In the end it’s a solid monster book I’d recommend for younger folks. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pure

pure

I have to say, reading the synopsis for this film, watching the trailer, and seeing the movie I can’t help but feel bait and switched. I was expecting something like Stepford Wives meets the Wicker Man. I was pretty damn mistaken…

Shay is on her way to her first Purity Retreat with her dad and sister, a family she is still new to. During this retreat, the girls celebrate there virginity and purity by signing contracts during the forthcoming Purity Ball. With no phones, dressed all in white for those 3 days, they are contorted by the radical beliefs of pastor Seth. One night, Shay and a few girls have some fun and perform a ritual summoning the mythic Lilith Seth always speaks about. Strange things begin to happen as Shay begins to realize this camp may not be a harmless thing after all…

I have some positives before I drop some huge negatives. The cinematography was good and the main actresses were pretty solid. The movie has a lot to say about overbearing men in religious positions of power and some discussions could be started because of this movie. As for the negatives, the rest of the movie. Not much really happens in the movie and what does is either surprisingly tame or just lame; there is a ludicrous amount of obnoxious jump scares throughout. The indie music they play gets annoying quick too, especially when the damn jump scares follow. I can see a lot of the views expressed in this movie pissing someone off pretty bad. A lot of the male actors I felt weren’t great. In the end, I can’t really recommend this Hulu original because it has a good premise but a mostly crap execution. May the gaming gods bring you glory.