Movie Review - Fear Street: Prom Queen

Director: Matt Palmer
Genre: Horror/ Mystery/ Thriller
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: India Fowler, Suzanna Son, Fina Strazza, Katherine Waterston, Lili Taylor, Chris Klein, Ariana Greenblatt, David Iacono, Darrin Baker, Ella Rubin, Rebecca Ablack, Ilan O’Driscoll
 
Description: When the “it” girls for prom queen at Shadyside high start to disappear, a gutsy outsider discovers she’s in for one hell of a prom night.
 
Review: “Fear Street: Prom Queen” is based on a book by bestselling author R.L. Stine, known for the “Fear Street” book series, but also the “Goosebumps” books. Teen horror with a fun twist.

At first glance, the story seems unremarkable. In 1988, outsider Lori wants to become prom queen, while her rival Tiffany and het friends make Lori’s life miserable. Tiffany’s boyfriend secretly has a crush on Lori, while Tiffany is under pressure from her parents. Meanwhile, in dark corners of the dance hall, more and more prom queen candidates are being gruesomely murdered by a masker figure in a red coat.

The book came our in 1992 and although his books were for kids and teens, they were always pretty scary. “Fear Street: Prom Queen” is very bloody, but therefor primarily a homage to the 1908s slasher film.

The characters a very cliché and you can predict a little who’s going to die next. But the film has a surprising twist that I personally didn’t see coming. Which makes it a fun slasher with a surprise element.

Rating: 3/ 5

00s Movie Review - High Fidelity

Director: Stephen Frears
Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2000
Starring: John Cusack, Jack Black, Iben Hjelje, Joan Cusack, Lodd Louiso, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tim Robbins, Lili Taylor, Sara Gilbert

Description: Rob (John Cusack), a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.

Review: Everyone who grew up in the eighties, early nighties, recognizes something in Rob Gordon and his store Championship Vinyl. Rob is a 30-something guy, dresses okay, pays his bills, has a good education but is also a little stuck in life. And he is especially crazy about music, all sorts, preferably vinyl or cassette tape. Rob doesn’t care about his career, he rather works with his friends. Of all the important things that happen in his life, he makes top five lists. You might call it juvenile, but it can also be called authentic.
“High Fidelity” is the adaptation of the book by the British author Nick Hornby. The record store moves from North London (book) to Chicago (movie), but that’s not a problem.
John Cusack plays Rob Gordon. I’ve always had a thing for Cusack and I think this is the movie that it all began with. Rob is a sympathetic guy, he doesn’t really do a lot of useful stuff but you like him anyway. Rob just does what he likes to do. The fun thing about “High Fidelity” is that Rob breaks the fourth wall. He talks to the camera, to us viewers, making us a part of his story. Rob is in the middle of a break up with Laura and through flashbacks we see that it’s probably his fault it ended. John Cusack is perfect as Rob, who here portrays one of my favorite male movie characters. Jack Black is fun as Barry, an exhibitionist music freak who wants to be in the music business himself.
“High Fidelity” finds a good balance between humor and drama, but is mostly carried by the music and the meaning of it in the character’s lives. I think it’s an underappreciated movie, more people should love it. As Rob, I’m an avid top 5 list maker and “High Fidelity” is definitely in my top 5 of all-time favorite movies!

Rating: 5/ 5

Movie Reviews - Eli

Director: Ciarán Foy
Genre: Thriller/ Horror/ Drama
Runtime: 98 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Charlie Shotwell, Max Martini, Kelly Reilly, Sadie Sink, Lili Taylor

Description: A boy (Charlie Shotwell) receiving treatment for his auto-immune disorder discovers that the house he’s living in isn’t as safe as he thought.

Review: Young Eli has lived most of his life on the inside of a plastic bubble. And every time he leaves the house, he has to wear suit covering his entire body. He has an auto-immune disorder. Together with his parents, Eli travels to a house where a special doctor specialized in treating people with such disorders lives. But once they are there, Eli starts to see strange things and knows the house isn’t very safe at all. The treatments are painful, but he is also being tortured by seeing things that probably aren’t even there. At least that’s what everyone else says. Only the mysterious neighbor Haley believes him and knows that something shady is going on in that house. Eli starts to distrust the doctor.
“Eli” is a spooky mystery horror film. At first sight, it’s a standard ghost story set in an old mansion with all clichés of ghostly appearances. Some jumpscares hre and there, but everything is too cliché to become scary. Halfway through, this changes and eventually we get to a unpredictable conclusion.
I think the scariest thing is Eli’s personal horror, the decease he has to live with. Not being safe outside, but also not inside. And putting his life in the hands of the strange Dr. Horn.
Even though the movie has a surprising twist ending, I did predict other elements of the film. I will of course not spoil them for you. But the eventual conclusion will also answer some question you have throughout the movie. So, it is necessary to watch the entire film. Even if you think you’re watching yet another haunted house movie.
Overall, “Eli” starts out like an average film in its genre, but eventually pays off. Not a movie that will be remembered for long, but it’s an okay horror flick.

Rating: 3/ 5

90s Movie Review - Ransom

Director: Ron Howard
Genre: Thriller/ Crime/ Drama
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: Mel Gibson, Renee Russo, Gary Sinise, Lili Taylor, Liev Schreiber, Evan Handler, Donnie Wahlberg, Delroy Lindo, Brawley Nolte, José Zuniga, Paul Guilfoyle

Description: When a multimillionaire man's (mel Gibson) son is kidnapped, he cooperates with the police at first but then turns the tables on the kidnappers when he uses the ransom money as a reward for the capture of the kidnappers.

Review: Two million dollars, in unmarked bills. That’s the kidnapper’s demand when they take Tom and Kate Mullen’s son Sean. Else, Sean won’t return alive. Mullen decides to make the trade, but when it goes wrong he no longer trusts them. And he takes matters in his own hands.
Instead of giving them the two million, he puts a price on the kidnapper’s head and will give the money to the one delivering Mullen the person responsible.
Because the identity if the kidnappers and its leader is revealed within the first hour, you think it will loose tension. It doesn’t. There is a cat and mouse game going on and Mullen not settling for a simple trade is adding to that tension.
Mel Gibson and Gary Sinise are the stars here, they are really strong in their roles. “Ransom” is a real solid thriller, with a great 90s vibe.

Rating: 3, 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 91: To the Bone

Director: Marti Noxon
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 107 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves, Lili Taylor, Brooke Smith, Leslie Bibb, Alex Sharp

Description: A young woman (Lily Collins) is dealing with anorexia. She meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.

Review: “To the Bone” is about a young woman struggling with an eating disorder: anorexia. Off course many discussions started when Netflix added this original to its collection. Is the film accurate enough about the illness?
“To the Bone” is a powerful and beautiful film, but off course shows only a small aspect of the illness. Because we’re only following the life of Ellen and a hand full of other patients. It’s a very complex illness, so it’s hard to work it into a movie that is less than two hours long. But director Marti Noxon did manage to create a realistic image. What anorexia can do to a person and to the people that surround him or her.
The treatment in the film is a bit unconventional, but that makes the film lighter even though it’s a very heavy theme. I think that the viewers aren’t waiting for an overly dramatic tear jerker when it comes to this theme. I like the tone of the film a lot. Lilly Collins delivers a very strong performance and I love Keanu Reeves in his role as the doctor. I know Reeves has been criticized a lot for his acting. I’m one that has always defended him and in “To the Bone” he gives away a heartfelt, honest and good performance.
“To the Bone” is a really good film, with an interesting theme and strong performances.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 119: The Conjuring

Director: James Wan

Genre: Horror/ Thriller

Runtime: 112 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Shanley Caswell, Haylet McFarland, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy, Kyla Deaver, Shannon Kook, John Brotherton, Sterling Jerins, Marion Guyot, Morganna Bridgers, Amy Tipton, Zach Pappas, Rose Bachter, J. Donovan Nelson, Christop Veillon, Carmella Gioio, Steve Coulter

Description: Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

Review: The movie is set in 1971 and is based on the true story of Roger and Carolyn Perron, who move to a beautiful house in New England with their five daughters. It doesn’t take long before strange things start to happen. At night the clocks always stop at 3.07, Carolyn has mysterious bruises on her body, unidentified clapping during a game of hide and seek and birds flying against the windows. After an unpleasant event the Perrons decide to call for help. Ed and Lorraine Warren are paranormal investigators and try to find out the dark secrets of the house.

The story of “The Conjuring” has been done so many times, but the way it’s executed is just sublime. Clichés are clichés, but when they are done well it’s not a problem. Old houses are creepy, with their cracking sounds and basement filled with old stuff. The images aren’t new either: doors that open, strange toys, dark corners. It is all done so well, that you’re sucked in and it’s terrifying. With that director James Wan has a great sense of subtle timing, it scares you at the moments you know something is going to happen. This is also because of the good sound effects.

“The Conjuring” manages to avoid the traps. He chooses suspense over CGI and that’s the way I like to see a good horror thriller. The focus is also on the characters. The Perrons are a sympathetic family, they react naturally to the happenings in their house. It always bothers me when characters hold on to “there has to be a rational explanation for all this”. The acting is also fantastic, especially Vera Farmiga is wonderful in her role. You feel the fear they feel.

The first part of the film is the strongest. You feel a constant threat. I always find the things you don’t see more scary than the ones you do see. A movie I found hard to watch by myself, because it’s truly terrifying. A horror movie is good when it genuinely scares you and that’s what “The Conjuring” did.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 46: Brooklyn's Finest

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 132 minutes

Year: 2009

Starring: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lili Taylor, Will Patton, Ellen Barkin, Jesse Williams, Logan Marshall-Green

Description: Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths.

Review: Antoine Fuqua showed us the tough reality of cops and the street life in “Training Day”. Ethan Hawke, who was also in “Training Day”, stars in “Brooklyn’s Finest, together with Richard Gere and Don Cheadle. It’s a cop drama, but not standard: violent, without compromise and gritty as hell.

The effective intro sets the mood. The movie opens with criminal Carlo and cop Sal, in a parked car. The conversation isn’t important, but you can conclude that Sal needs money. He breaks the law for that. Then we meet cop Eddie, who wakes up and drinks a glass of whiskey right before he is about to start the last seven days of being a cop. Last we meet undercover cop Tango who, while driving a BMW, enters an apartment in the projects in Brooklyn with some gang members. It appears that a young dealer has just been shot by a cop.

This is the setup to the film and we shift between those three storylines. We follow them for a week and sometimes the stories intertwine. It gives you better insights in all the characters. For instance Sal, who needs to support his five children, and two on the way. Everyday there is the temptation of taking drug money that is found at the scene of the crime. Sal starts to take more risks. Ethan Hawke really impresses in his role. Eddie is set to pass on his experience to some new rookies. Richard Gere plays his role very subtle, he is a broken man. I liked seeing Gere in a role like this. Don Cheadle is undercover detective Tango and probably has the most interesting role. He managed to infiltrate and become friends with local drug lord Caz, played by Wesley Snipes. He is on the point of a break through and a promotion, so he can say goodbye to being an undercover agent. But his connection with Caz make the thin line between good and bad even thinner.

“Brooklyn’s Finest” is an above average cop drama, that doesn’t succeed because of its plot, but because of the strong cast and the anguished atmosphere. It’s an overlooked movie, that deserves more credit.

Rating: 3,5/ 5