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Saturday is Horror Day #160 – Poor Things, Dead Shack

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Poor Things

Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) is a brilliant and scarred scientist who discovers a woman (Emma Stone) who has just drowned herself. To his horror, he discovers she is pregnant. In an unorthodox move, he removes the brain of the infant and transplants it into the woman, saving her life. He names her Bella, and watches as she must re-develop from an infant, despite having the body of a grown woman. Godwin’s assistant Max (Ramy Youssef) falls in love with Bella and they become engaged. All is well until Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) comes along, and leads Bella down paths she has never imagined, opening the world to her.

Poor Things is a creative re-imagining of the Frankenstein story. In this case, the scientist is the one with

scars, the result of his father’s direct experimentation upon his son. The cinematography is very lovely and well done, the acting superb, especially Mark Ruffalo as the villain Wedderburn. And yet… and yet… I found myself very disturbed because at the end of the day, Bella, despite having a woman’s body, had the mind of a child, so what happened felt… wrong.  I just couldn’t help but feel disturbed that she was having sex.

Be warned, there is a ton of sex in this movie. A TON OF SEX. I understand what the director was going for. The independence of women, the ability to control their own sex lives, to not need men to control them. I don’t have a problem with the prostitution aspect, that doesn’t bother me. It’s just the idea that intellectually and emotionally, Bella is a child. Maturity does not happen that quickly. Plus, although many will disagree, I didn’t see Emma Stone’s performance as the tour de force some have suggested it was. I thought her performance rather awkward at times, and stiff. I would never watch this again, spend another two and a half hours on it. It’s a matter of taste. Poor Things was just not to mine. I’ll give this film 3 Stars.

Dead Shack

Jason (Matthew Nelson-Mahood) is invited to go camping with his friend Colin’s (Gabriel LaBelle) family, including Colin’s sister Summer (Lizzie Boys), their dad Roger (Donavan Stinson) and Roger’s girlfriend Lisa (Valerie Tian). They end up in a cheap cabin in the middle of nowhere. The teens are pretty free to do as they want while the so-called adults get drunk. They wander through the woods and discover what appears to be an abandoned house, with a lot of junk cars on the property. But there is more here than meets the eye as they quickly discover this neighbor (Lauren Holly) is definitely not the neighborly type.

This film combines horror and humor in a tale of cannibals and zombies. It has some funny moments,

including the drunken father who is too focused on drinking, his young girlfriend, and being his kid’s friend to be the leader they need in a crisis. One has to wonder how Lauren Holly ended p here in a suit that’s a cross between dominatrix and welder, but that’s anyone’s guess. Maybe she is friends with the director or something. Not the best, not the worst, but not a complete waste of time either. It’s only 81 minutes, and I’m fine with that. I’ll give this film 3 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #159 – Saw X

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Saw X

John Kramer’s (Tobin Bell) cancer isn’t getting any better. He attends a support group made up of fellow cancer patients. A few months later, he runs into one of them, Henry (Michael Beach) who tells him a miraculous story – he is in remission. And he owes it all to a doctor he found on the internet, Cecilia Pederson (Synnove Macody Lund) whose father is a world-renowned surgeon. John begins to see hope where none existed before and contacts Cecilia. Shortly after, he is on his way to Mexico City.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and this is no exception, as John discovers to his horror. But these people made a serious mistake when they decided to scam John Kramer.

The latest installment in the Saw franchise takes place some years before, when John is still alive. I was glad to see him actually back in the picture. Once I realized he’d been duped, I knew he would get revenge as only John can. And justice.

The devices are just as complicated and gory as ever. So many people were involved in this plot, but John is fair. If someone passes his test, they go free, as we’ve witnessed in the past. He gets Amanda  (Shawnee Smith) to help him, but I confess to being distracted by her strange haircut. We get to see and hear Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) but only briefly.

This was everything I’d hoped for and more. I was really impressed by the writing and character development. The next Saw is coming out in September and takes place right after this one. I’m looking forward to seeing that. I’ll give this film 4.5 Stars

Saturday is Horror Day #158 – The Other Side of the Door

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The Other Side of the Door

Sarah’s (Sarah Wayne Callies) world collapses when her young son Oliver (Logan Creran) dies in an accident. She’s having a difficult time accepting what happened, despite the best efforts of her loving husband Michael (Jeremy Sisto) and her daughter Lucy (Sofia Rosinsky). They live in India, having fallen in love with the country while searching for antiques for their business and relocated there. Sarah’s housekeeper Piki (Suchitra Pillai), knowing how devastated Maria is, tells her that there is a way in which she can communicate with Oliver one last time, in order to get closure. But she warns Maria that there are strict rules that have to be follow. Whatever happens, she tells her, do not open the door.

Despite the warnings, Maria can’t help herself, and she opens the door. Has Oliver really returned? And what will the consequences of her actions be?

This wasn’t a bad film, and I think it could have been better, having a different twist on horror. But it

wasn’t great either. I think one of the problems is that the underutilized Jeremy Sisto (whom I really like) overshadows the main actress. I think this movie might resonate more with parents, who can identify with the grief of losing a child and wanting to see that child so badly you’d disobey the rules to do so. I admit I didn’t see the ending coming either. I’ll give this movie E for effort and 3 Stars

Saturday is Horror Day #157 – The Barrens, May

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The Barrens

Richard Vineyard (Stephen Moyer) is trying to bring his family closer together. He has a daughter Sadie (Allie MacDonald) by his late first wife. He’s married to Cynthia (Mia Kirshner) now and they have a six-year-old son Danny (Peter DaCunha). Sadie doesn’t respect Cynthia and finds Danny annoying. He decides to take them on a camping trip to a place called The Barrens, in New Jersey, where his late father used to take him. The trip will also serve to scatter his dad’s ashes in this place where they once bonded. Danny doesn’t want to go because his dog Oscar is missing, but he is persuaded to go.

Along the way, they pass a sign advertising the Jersey Devil. Richard assures Danny that it’s just a story, nothing to worry about. They arrive and check in to the camping area, then head to a site to set up. To their dismay, a number of people are there, not quite the idyll he had anticipated. That night, there is a campfire and ghost stories, and a young man scares Danny, which angers Richard and he overreacts. The same young man makes friends with Sadie, which doesn’t sit well with him either.

The family ends up leaving the the next day for another site. But so far this trip hasn’t helped in any

way, and Richard is acting more and more oddly, favoring his arm. But he won’t let his wife look at it. And he is not only overprotective of his daughter and paranoid about his wife. Things go from bad to worse when they run across an abandoned camp with a couple of dead bodies. Richard becomes convinced it’s the work of the Jersey Devil, and he’s been after him ever since he was a child.

I’ll be honest, I was primarily drawn to watch this because of Stephen Moyer, but I really liked this movie. It kept me guessing the whole time as to what was going on, whether Richard was imagining things because he was ill or was there really a monster known as the Jersey Devil? The acting was good, it felt like watching a family disintegrating in so many ways, but it’s also about the love that ultimately keeps them together. Plenty of suspense and scary moments. This was written and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who also brought us Repo the Genetic Opera and a couple of Saw films, including Spiral, which I plan to rewatch soon. This was a good film. I’ll give it 4 Stars.

May

As a child, May (Angela Bettis) had few friends because of her lazy eye. Her mother gives her a strange doll in a glass case, warning her not to remove it from the case, and she becomes May’s only friend. May grows up socially awkward and lonely and becomes a veterinary assistant at an office where she works with Polly (Anna Faris). May is still shy, but Polly is always nice to her, and May is good with the animals. One day she spies a good-looking young mechanic named Adam (Jeremy Sisto). she develops a crush on him, especially his hands, and goes out of her way to insert herself into his life. She is ecstatic to become his girlfriend, but things don’t work out. Then May and Polly get together, and once again, things don’t work out. So May decides to take the best parts of the people who have wronged her and make herself a friend.

May is a quirky and unusual film, not your run of the mill horror story. I found it hard to actually root

for May, because she is not very tightly wrapped, when you get down to it.  You gotta worry about someone who takes advice from a doll, and holds conversations with it. And though Adam was good to look at, he wasn’t necessarily nice inside. Polly really cared about May but she wasn’t serious enough to settle down. It is an interesting film, but sometimes I found my mind wandering, so it didn’t completely catch my attention. It is worth watching, though, even if not exactly my cup of tea. Worth it to see Jeremy Sisto.  I’ll give this film 3.5 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #156 – Silent Night (2021), Lake Mungo

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Silent Night (2021)

The apocalypse is happening… and everyone knows when. Nothing can be done to stop it. In preparation for the event, the government has provided citizens with Exit Pills, to avoid suffering when it does occur. Nell (Keira Knightley) and Simon (Matthew Goode) have a happy marriage and three sons. They decide they don’t want to face this alone, so they invite their group of long-time friends to join them at a house in the countryside to have one last hurrah and see each other one last time before they accept the end by taking their pills. Everyone seems to be in relatively high spirits, and much drinking ensures. But not surprisingly, loose tongues reveal long-kept secrets, straining even the best of relationships as this group of friends waits for the apocalypse to occur. And one of Nell and Simon’s sons, Art (Roman Griffin Davis) questions what the adults are doing.

I found this a very thought-provoking film, and one that it isn’t impossible to envision. If not this

particular scenario, then something similar. Like Art, I had so many questions about what was going on and how the adults were responding. This is the perfect what-would-I-do movie as you imagine yourself in their shows and think about how you would react to what is going on. Yes, there are some secrets revealed that might have/should have been kept to the grave, but some people just can’t hold their liquor. It’s also about love and shared history and togetherness. It’s well acted, especially Knightley and Goode. I am a huge fan of Goode, which is how I became interested in watching this when I accidentally ran across it while looking up the other series, the Silent Night, Deadly Night series. Similar name, totally different. Also, you might remember seeing the boy who plays Art in JoJo Rabbit, which is a very interesting film.

My only real complaint, and a minor one at that, is something I found their accents difficult to understand, but if anyone is concerned about that, you can always turn on close captioning. I didn’t, and I was fine with it. Like I said, this film gives you a lot to think about, and unlike a lot of horror films, it is a believable scenario. I’ll give this film 4.5 Stars.

Lake Mungo

Alice Palmer (Talia Zucker) is only 16 when she drowns. Her parents, June (Rosie Traynor) and Russell (David Pledger) are grief-stricken, wanting to know why this happened, as is her brother Matthew (Martin Sharpe). But after her death, strange things start to happen, and the figure of the late girl begins appearing in new photographs.

The search for understanding what happened leads to the discovery of things about Alice her family didn’t realize, that she led a secret double life.

To be honest, this film didn’t do it for me, although I’ve seen a number of good reviews for it. They talk about grief and how to deal with it, but that wasn’t the kind of ghost story I was expecting, so maybe that’s why I wasn’t impressed. I kind of lost interest early on but kept going anyway. If this sort of thing interests, give it a try, just wasn’t for me. I’ll give this film 2 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #155 – Red Eye, Saw VIII: Jigsaw

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Red Eye

Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is flying back home after attending her grandmother’s funeral. A flight delay is frustrating because she needs to get back to her job as manager of a high end hotel where a VIP is expected shortly. Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) has also had his flight delayed. When they end up next to one another in line, he invites her for a drink while they wait. Hesitant at first, she accepts, and she finds him charming company. But then, when she finally boards her flight, she finds he is her seatmate, and suddenly things seem very unreal. Especially when he confesses that he was there because of her – they’ve targeted her father Joe (Brian Cox) and unless she does exactly what they tell her to do, her father will die.

Red Eye is a Wes Craven movie. You know, the Nightmare on Elm Street guy. I think he’s stepped up to a

new level with this film. Cillian is both charming and menacing, which he does well, while Rachel McAdams character refuses to be intimidated by him and is constantly trying to thwart his plans and save her father. What she is expected to do involves the VIP guest that is arriving. She finds herself between a rock and a hard place. Great suspense, well written and acted. It kept me in suspense, with definite unexpected moments. I wasn’t sure how it was going to end.

 

I am a huge fan of Cillian Murphy, he is a very versatile actor who can take any role and make it his. This was an enjoyable watch that I definitely recommend. I’ll give this film 4 Stars.

Saw VIII: Jigsaw

John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, has been dead for ten years – or is he? The body count is rising, each death more gruesome than the lasat. And all the evidence seems to point to John Kramer being the culprit. How can that be?  Five people awaken inside a barn with buckets on their heads and chains around their necks. As they are pulled toward a wall of buzzsaws, a voice tells them they must each sacrifice blood to survive. And so the game begins anew…

The theme for the eighth film in the Saw series seems to be confession and penitence. Detective

Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie) and his partner Detective Hunt (Cle Bennett) are tasked with investigating the murders. Halloran becomes suspicious of two pathologists, Logan Nelson (Matt Passmore) and Eleanor Bonneville (Hannah Emily Anderson), especially after Eleanor confesses herself to be a Saw fangirl. Meanwhile, the five in the barn have dwindled in number as they continue to face test after test.

I enjoyed seeing Matt Passmore, who was in The Glades. And it’s always good to see John Kramer. Despite seeing some negative reviews, I liked it. In fact, I saw it at the theater once and streaming once. I would watch it again. It has all the elements of a good Saw story but with fresh elements and new progragonists. I’ll give this film 4 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #154 – The Mimic, Silent Night (2012), The Midnight Meat Train

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The Mimic

The Jangsan Tiger is an urban legend of South Korean, a creature that lures its prey by mimicking sounds such as a woman’s wail. Hee-uyeon (Yum Jung-ah) and her husband Min-ho (Park Hyuk-kwon) are unaware of this. All they know is their son has been missing for five years and they feel the might to get away.; They take their daughter Jun-hee (Yu-sul Bang) and Hee-yon’s mother Sun-ja (Heo Jin) to the countryside in an effort to get away from their troubles. But new troubles arise, including Jun-hee’s growing dementia. Min suggests the woman needs care, as in a home, but Hee-yon won’t hear of it, unwilling to lose another family member.

Their new home is near an old forest, and in that forest is a cave…

The Mimic is a horror story, but it’s also about loss and grieving – the woman who mourns the son who disappeared and won’t accept that he is probably dead, as well as the loss of her mother as she has always known her. The movie has an interesting opening, involving a couple who are up to no good at the cave, foreshadowing what is to come.

Everything clicks in this film, acting, writing, direction… It has a tremendous tension and suspense that only grows as the film goes on. The little girl is very cute too. I thought it was very well done, and I recommend it. I’ll give this film 4 Stars

Silent Night (2012)

Twas the night before Christmas in a small Wisconsin town, but all is not well. Deputy Jordan (Brendan Fehr) is missing, so Aubrey (Jaime King) has to come even to cover his shift despite having plans with her family, to her dismay. But Sheriff Cooper (Malcolm McDowell) has decreed it, so she has no choice. She hopes it will be a peaceful night, but no such luck.

Her first call concerns a Santa that is telling kids disturbing things. Santa Jim (Donal Logue) is rather

disgruntled and quite the cynic. After that, her next call leads her to a dead body… and suddenly the town is faced with the knowledge that someone dressed as Santa is on a murder spree. Trouble is, there are a lot of people dressed as Santa tonight, since it’s Christmas Eve. And this guy is an equal opportunity killer – men, women, or children, he kills them all.  Ho, ho, ho… Merry Christmas!

This was touted as a remake of the original Silent Night, Deadly Night, but they might as well have called it Silent Night Deadly Night 6. To be honest, it was better than I expected, given the last few films. But not great. I wasn’t bored, and it didn’t drag. Lots of violence and gore, which is what you expect from these films. Malcolm McDowell was wasted, though, as I never did buy him as a small town Midwestern sheriff. Should have saved the money and gone with someone else. The high point of this film, in my opinion, was Donal Logue, who improves anything he is in. He does every character he plays well. Also, listen for the line “what is this, garbage day?” That’s a reference from Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, spoken by Eric Freeman as Ricky (no, there’s no Ricky in this one). Just gonna plus Eric’s website, https://www.theeericfreeman.com/, where I bought a magnet with a photo of Garbage Day, and it was signed by Eric to me. For these two things, I’ll give this film 2 Stars.

The Midnight Meat Train

Leon (Bradley Cooper) is a photojournalist with big dreams, but so far he isn’t getting anywhere. An art gallery owner (Brooke Shields) suggests he isn’t really “getting it”, that he needs to go deeper. So he begins to wander the streets at night, desperate to achieve something, taking photos of random people, to his girlfriend’s (Leslie Bibb) dismay. He comes upon a gang of young men harassing a young woman in the subway station late one night and photographs the interaction before convincing them to leave her alone. He thinks he understands now, but when the woman turns up as missing, he is shocked. He begins to haunt the late night trains, not sure what he is looking for. But then he finds it…

This film is based on a short story by Clive Barker. What is odd is that until I started to watch it, I had

forgotten that I already watched it years ago, maybe when it came out in 2008. It’s not a bad story and not a bad film, but it’s also forgettable. Obviously, I forgot about it. I couldn’t seem to care about any of the characters, and I found the photographer’s obsession with the man on the train not just unsettling but stupid and not worth risking his life over, much less his girlfriend’s life. And then the ending…. it was like I said to my kid after I watched it – it was all about the destination, not the journey. I think the ending was meant to shock, but it was more like, Really?

If you like Clive Barker, do yourself a favor and stick to Hellraiser (just the first two) or Nightbreed. Like I said, it’s not a bad film, I just think it could have been done better. Maybe find the story and read it first before you decide to watch it. I’ll give this film 2.5 Stars

Saturday is Horror Day #153 – Lake Bodom, Marrowbone

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Lake Bodom

Atte (Santeri Helinheimo Mantyla) is a young man who is obsessed with his country’s greatest unsolved mysteries – the fate of four young campers who were brutally knifed while sleeping in a tent on the shore of Lake Bodom. Only one person survived the onslaught, and he was in no condition to remember what happened. Many years have passed since then. Atte and his friend Elias (Mikael Gabriel) persuade two girls who are friends of theirs and attend the same school, Ida (Nelly Hirst-Gee) and Nora (Mimosa Willamo) to come camping with them. But they never mention they are going camp on the very shore of Lake Bodom.

Ida is not doing well, having become the target of scorn by her fellow students for nude pictures of her

that have been circulating. She thinks maybe Elias is the person who took those pics, but she has no proof.  That doesn’t keep her from going off alone with him, leaving Ida and Atte in the tent. Suddenly, someone grabs them through the tent. Atte goes to investigate, but he is stabbed. Nora and Elias come running back, but it is too late. Now the three survivors can only run and escape whoever has targeted them.

Inspired by but not based on the Lake Bodom murders, this is a well-done, and very chilling horror/mystery. Everything seems fairly normal at the beginning, until it’s not. From then on, things go downhill fast. I never saw the twists and turns coming. It keeps you guessing until the end, and even then, one can’t be sure. Well worth the watch, I recommend seeing this. I’ll give this Film between 4 and 4.5 Stars.

Marrowbone

A mother (Nicola Harrison) flees England with her four children to America to have a new life. But sometimes fate is cruel and the mother dies from illness. But not before she tells her oldest son, Jack (George MacKay) to keep her death secret until he turns twenty-one, for fear of the family being broken up by child welfare. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there is something sinister in that huge house. The three older children tell young Sam (Matthew Stagg) that he is hearing the screams of a ghost, and that is also why they keep the mirrors covered.

Jack, Billy (Charlie Heaton) and Jane (Mia Goth) have a friend in Allie (Anya Taylor-Joy), although she

is not privy to their secret. She and Jack are especially close. But when a lawyer named Porter (Kyle Soller) arrives at the library where she works, it turns out he is sweet on her himself and none too pleased with Jack’s presence. However, he learns something he thinks can benefit him financially and he isn’t afraid to use it.

I thought this was a very well written, acted, and directed film, with twists and turns you wouldn’t expect before the truth is arrived at. You might remember Charlie Heaton as Jonathan from Stranger Things, and Kyle Soller from Andor. The little boy who plays Sam is terrific. It’s scary, spine-tingling, and also sad. If you haven’t heard of it, I would definitely place Marrowbone on your radar, it’s well worth the watch. I’ll give this film 4.5 Stars

Saturday is Horror Day #152 – The Keeping Hours, Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toymaker

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The Keeping Hours

Mark (Lee Pace) and Elizabeth (Carrie Coon) are a loving, laid-back with a son named Jacob (Sander Thomas) whom they both adore. But tragedy strikes and Jacob is taken from them. The couple fall apart and divorce. Years later, Elizabeth has remarried and is a stepmother to two daughters who she loves, while Mark is single and a successful lawyer. He still owns the house where they once lived, and rents it out. After a pair of tenants trash the place, he goes there to clean it up, and encounters something he totally didn’t expect to see – his dead son. Except he doesn’t look dead. And he hasn’t aged a day since he died. A startled Mark runs to tell Elizabeth about this, although they have nor relationship any more. At first, she is furious and refuses to listen, but gradually, she comes around. How is this happening…and why?

While the Keeping Hours is a ghost story, it isn’t necessarily one in the traditional sense in that it isn’t

spooky or horrifying. Rather it’s evocative and emotional. It’s a story of loss and love, but also of forgiveness. I was really moved by this film. I have to say I am a huge Lee Pace fan, and he is terrific in this. So is everyone else, including the young boy playing Jacob. I am including it here both because it is a ghost story but also because I don’t feel enough people know about it, which is a shame.

I will give this film 4 Stars

Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toymaker

Derek (William Thorne) is a little boy whose world goes silent when he witnesses his father being killed by a toy that mysteriously arrived at the house on Christmas Eve. His mother Sarah (Jane Higginson) is trying to help her son while dealing with the loss of his father. She takes him to a local toy store owned by a toymaker named Joe Petto (Mickey Rooney), but there is something odd about Petto and his strange son Pino (Brian Bremer). And then there is a mysterious guy who hangs around both the toy store and the Quinn home. What does he want?

I’ll start by saying that the fifth installment in the Silent Night Deadly Night series is better than the one before, but honestly, that’s not hard to be. Again, it doesn’t have the Santa Killer theme, but t does have a sort of horror take on Pinocchio and Gepetto.. Clint Howard returns as Ricky, and his only scene involves him and the mysterious lurker, who are both seasonal Santas. If you didn’t look at the credits, you’d have no idea he was playing Ricky, and one wonders why bother. I guess to preserve the somewhat shaky continuity. Also, how did they talk Mickey Rooney into doing this film? One has to wonder.

The acting is still pretty lousy and so is the writing and plot. Wait until you find out who the mysterious stranger is and how quickly he is accepted into their lives. Seriously? The good news is that this is the last in the series, as the next one is actually a reboot of the first film. I have requested that. Also, I hear that another film is going to be made. I assume that it’s part of the reboot, not the original franchise.

I’ll give this film 1.5 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #151 – Saw VI, Saw: The Final Chapter

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

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Saw VI

Agent Strahm learned the truth about Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), but the knowledge didn’t help him as he let his own arrogance get in the way and he died, while Hoffman lived to see another day.  FBI agent Erickson (Mark Rolston) is getting closer to the truth himself. Will he survive the knowledge, once he finds out? Meanwhile, the game continues, beginning with two co-workers at an insurance company who must give up the proverbial pound of flesh in order to save themselves… or should I say, save one of them, for only one can win this game.

The sixth installment in the Saw series continues where the fifth left off. Hoffman has been acting as Jigsaw’s accomplice, but it seems as though the FBI might be closing in, having realized the voice on the tape isn’t John Kramer’s. What if their analysis is successful? Will they unmask Hoffman? Why does Agent Erickson focus so heavily on Kramer’s ex, Jill (Betsy Russell)? She was an innocent pawn in all of this… wasn’t she?

In this installment, the game centers around employees of an insurance company who have long defrauded their customers, including John Kramer. Despite being dead, he had everything planned, and he intends to show these people the consequences of their actions. It’s easy to make a decision about someone’s life when you don’t know that person and never will. But what if it’s someone you do know, whether friend, co-worker… or loved one?

I find the character of Mark Hoffman to be very intriguing. I think he is a better assistant than Amanda. The series continues to be very interesting. I like the acting, the plot, the direction. It’s still very enjoyable, and I went ahead and watched the next one, which I am going to review next. I will give this film 4 Stars.

Saw: The Final Chapter

Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), John Kramer’s (Tobin Bell) ex, seeks protective custody, but will she give up Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) in order to get what she wants? Detective Matt Gibson (Chad Donella) is counting on it. Meanwhile, Jigsaw survivor/self-help guru Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) is making a living by assisting other survivors to cope with the aftermath of their torturous time with Jigsaw. But his own dark secrets threaten to overwhelm him and he is forced to fight to protect his family and friends. Will he succeed?

As in the other installments of this series, the emphasis is on how actions have consequences, the same

thing John Kramer has said from the beginning. The people he targets all have something to atone for, and they all have choices to make. Hoffman is carrying on Jigsaw’s legacy, despite being hindered by Jill.

I know others think the series went downhill after the first film, but I disagree. And despite being labeled the final chapter, spoiler alert – it isn’t. I know of three more, and another one is coming out this year. So it’s far from dead. The games are good good, as well as gory. I am especially looking forward to Saw X, since it takes place earlier in the series and we’ll see more of John Kramer. Bobby Dagen deserves what he gets, trust me. I did like this one too and I’ll give it 4 Stars.