Scary Movie Night - Halloween 2020

Halloween isn’t really celebrated here in The Netherlands, but I wished it was. Because I love it and everything about this holiday. I usually have a scary movie night on Halloween, but I never really shared anything about it on my blog. This year I will. And I will do more of these in the future, whenever I have a themed movie night. My favorite kind of ‘party’ to host.
 
This year we chose three films. All horror, but three very different films. I won’t review them here, but will give you links to the reviews of the movies we viewed.
 
My scary movie night partner in crime this year was my brother Frank, who is a horror fan and has seen some of the most obscure films in the genre and is an expert when it comes to scary films.
 

The first film we watched turned out to be the most shocking and heavy one of them all: “Sinister”, starring Ethan Hawke. The film shines because of its suspense and tension build-up and had some really big, effective jump scares. I realized that my heart rate went way up when I watched “Sinister”. Check out my review HERE .
 

Number two was a rewatch and a personal favorite for both of us: “Fright Night”. The original version from 1985, with Chris Sarandon as Jerry Dandridge. This film is not so much scary, but extremely entertaining, funny with horror elements and a great 80s throwback. It was a nice change from the heavy material we saw before. Check out my review for “Fright Night” HERE .
 

We finished with a movie I had never seen, but is one of Frank’s favorite horror movies of all-time. And I think a favorite for most horror fans: “Hellraiser”. This is scary because of the gore. It’s a body horror film with pretty disturbing and bloody images. Also very eighties. You can read my review HERE .
 

I was a fun scary movie night, with some real good scares. What did you watch on Halloween?

10s Movie Review - Sinister

Director: Scott Derrickson
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Ethan Hawke, James Ransone, Vincent D’Onofrio, Juliet Rylance, Fred Dalton, Danielle Kotch, Michael Hall D’Addario, Clare Foley, Rob Riley, Tavis Smiley, Janet Zappala, Victoria Leigh, Cameron Ocasio, Ethan Haberfield, Blake Mizrahi, Nicolas King

Description: Washed-up true crime writer Wllison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) finds a box of super 8 home movies in his new home that suggest the murder that he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose work dates back to the 1960s.  

Review: Few horror movies manage to make the audience feel uncomfortable within the first twenty seconds. “Sinister” does. The opening image is downright disturbing: a man, a woman and their children are each standing with a bag over their head and a noose around their neck, under a tree. Exasperatingly slowly a large branch is sawn off, which serves as a counterweight. The foursome struggle and their agony seems to last forever. But then the bodies hang lifeless from the tree. The ominous tone is set.
For crime novelist Ellison Oswalt this type of movies are interesting source material. His career as a writer has been on hold for a while, so he could use a good story. He decides to move with his family. Ellison assures his wife that this time they didn’t move close to a former crime scene. But in reality they are moving in to the house of the family from that snuff movie. In the attic, Ellison accidentally finds a box with a Super 8 camera and film rolls. It looks like family movies with titles such as Family BBQ and Sleepy Time. Ellison decides to watch them in his office and is shocked by what the films contain.
Ellison knows he has to let the dark past rest, yet he is curious and watches all the reels. Even when the projector starts spinning by itself, his son suffers from sleepwalking and his daughter makes macabre drawings, he continues the search. Who was responsible for these insane acts? Why was the family hanged? Why was everything recorded? One thing is clear: I know why the movie is called “Sinister”.
This is a horror movie that understands the formula. It masters the build-up of tension and suspense. Knowing something is not right. Ethan Hawke is an actor I always enjoy watching and I think he is kind of underrated and he doesn’t get enough praise. He is so good in “Sinister” and really carries this film.
“Sinister” gets under your skin and pulls the audience into the obsession of the main character. The film is scary because of its realistic and disturbing images and it has some very effective jump scares (that are not cheap). One of the ‘family films’ especially has a very shocking moment, which is considered one of the better jump scares in a horror movie.
I also want to give the movie bonus points for its ending. I won’t reveal anything, but it something that doesn’t happen enough in horror these days. Most of them play safe, but “Sinister” actually did a very unconventional and controversial thing.
“Sinister” really scared me, a movie best watched in dark room for maximum effect. My heart rate went way up while watching this film.

Rating: 4/ 5

Netflix Friday - Volume 27

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres. 

Action: Bad Boys II (2003)
Tow loose-cannon narcotics cops (Will Smith, Martin Lawrence) investigate the flow Ecstasy into Florida from a Cuban drug cartel.
 

Drama: Apocalypse Now (1979)
A U.S. Army officer (Martin Sheen) serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forves Colonel (Marlon Brando) who sees himself as a god.
 

Comedy: Bridesmaids (2011)
Competition between the maid of honor (Kristen Wiig) and a bridesmaid (Rose Byrne), over who is the bride’s (Maya Rudolph) best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef.
 

Animation: The Willoughby’s (2020)
Convinced they’d be better off raising themselves, the Willoughby children hatch a sneaky plan to send their selfish parents on vacation. The siblings then embark on their own high-flying adventure to find the true meaning of family.
 

Romance: Notting Hill (1999)
The life of a simple bookshop owner (Hugh Grant) changes when he meets the most famous film star (Julia Roberts) in the world.
 

Horror: Sinister (2012)
Washed-up true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) finds a box of super 8 home movies in his new home that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose work dates back to the 1960s.
 

Science Fiction: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
A solider (Tom Cruise) fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.
 

Crime: Inglorious Bastards (2009)
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theater owner’s (Mélanie Laurent) vengeful plans for the same.
 

Thriller: A Simple Favor (2018)
Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) is a single mother with a parenting vlog who befriends Emily (Blake Lively), a secretive upper-class woman who has a child at the same elementary school. When Emily goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate.
 

Documentary: Icarus (2017)
When Bryan sets up to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller.
 

Family: Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007)
Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a trip to Cannes where he unwittingly separates a young boy from his father and must help the two reunite. On the way he discovers France, bicycling, and true love.

Movie Trailer Sunday (42)

This weeks trailers are about a wallflower,

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Description: Introvert freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman) is taken under the wings of two seniors (Emma Watson and Ezra Miller) who welcome him to the real world.
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Emma Watson, Nina Dobrev, Dylan McDermott
Trailer: Trailer "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
Comment: I'm really looking forward to see this movie. First I want to read the book though.

Sinister
Description: Found footage helps a true-crime novelist (Ethan Hawke) realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity.
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio
Trailer: Trailer "Sinister"
Comment: Disturbing...

2 Days in New York
Description: Marion (Julie Delpy) has broken up with Jack and now lives in New York with their child. A visit from her family, the different cultural background of her new boyfriend, her sister's ex-boyfriend, and her upcoming photo exhibition make for an explosive mix.
Director: Julie Delpy
Starring: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock
Trailer: Trailer "2 Days in New York"
Comment: Chris Rock doesn't look all hysterical. Thank you!!

Shadow Dancer
Description: Colette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough): widow, mother, terrorist. A woman who has lived the Republican cause for all her 29 years. A woman whose brothers are both heavily involved at the senior levels in the IRA, whose husband was killed by the British security forces. A woman who is now an informer for MI5. Arrested in an aborted bombing attempt in London, Colette is given two choices: talk and see her children again, or stay silent and spend the rest of her life watching them grow up from behind the bars of a prison cell.
Director: James Marsh
Starring: Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson
Trailer: Trailer "Shadow Dancer"

Big Easy Express
Description: Folk rock and bluegrass musicians Mumford & Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes travel together by train from San Francisco to New Orleans in the spring of 2011.
Director: Emmett Mallow
Starring: Mumford & Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show, Edward Sharpe and the magnetic Zeroes
Trailer: Trailer "Big Easy Express"