Director: Mikael Håfström Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ciaran Hinds, Alice Braga, Toby Jones, Ruther Hauer, Colin o’Donoghue. USA. 1h 54m
Loosely based on a book that centres around a real life priest Father Grey Thomas, this choppy and sentimental possession movie attempted to enlighten viewers with real possibilities of demonic possession and gives a more relaxed approach to exorcism process, sometimes it takes times to battle a demon but in the ending showdown the movie reverts back to the classic trope of a priest vs demon verbal slagging match.
Director: Thomas Grieser
Starring: Thomas Grieser, Ursula Grieser, Wolfgang Grieser, Timo Homburg Germany. 1h 09m
There’s something about Griesers career as a movie director that has hints of Don Dohler, not necessarily, subject and quality but determination and drive, it’s a similar energy. For those who aren’t aware, Dohler had a run of trashy sci fi movies in early 80’s including Fiend, Galaxy Invader, The Alien Factor and Nightbeast which have recently started gaining a small cult following.
Director: Alejandro Hidalgo Starring: Joseph Marcell, Will Beinbrink. México/Venezuela/USA. 1h 38m
Every few years there’s another game changing exorcism movie, and these stand out to the weekly releases of the same old tripe. But what makes this heavily laced CGI movie stand out from the rest? First it challenges religious scripture with a bit of cray logic but unfortunately it takes an ice age to get to the fun bits but audiences are entertained with shock moments, jump scares and lots of grisly CGI faces, sometimes with some familiarity to his previous gothic house masterpiece The House at the End of Time (2013). Having grown as a director since then he’s developed his eye but leaves behind the suspense for full out vile visuals but it won’t distract from the silliness that keeps corrupting this horror.
Director: Scott Derrickson Starring: Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn, Chris Coy. USA. 1h 58m Adapted from: Beware the Night – Ralph Sarchie
From the dawning of The Exorcist every possession movie attempts to become the scariest movie ever made, and yet, through the decades there’s a building up of different styles and techniques which seems to flavour the films throughout the decades and sadly Deliver Us From Evil falls into a series of modern tropes while bringing together some brilliant actors who are often underused for a plot which is apparently based on real events.
Director: Stephen Cognetti Starring:Vasile Flutur, Jillian Geurts, Joy Shatz .USA. 1h 29m
When a team insists on making a trilogy the second movie often fails to hold up it’s own narrative and becomes a filler, this is exactly what happened to Hell House II. After the massive success with the original movie in 2014/5 which broke all the rules, the sequel lacked in energy and passion but just managed to keep the dream alive for the next installment… but first you have to get through this unbalanced, squiffy movie.
AKA Black Voodoo, as well as Beyond the Living, Hospital of Terror, Killer’s Curse, and Hands of Death.
Director: Al Adamson Starring: Jill Jacobson, Marilyn Joi, Geoffrey Land , Prentiss Moulden. USA. 1h 28m
Nurse Sheri is a dramatic possession horror/slasher from the height of the exploitation era it tantalises with sexual innuendos and buckets of psychedelic entity antics as Sheri tries to battle against a dark forces that were brought into the hospital by a dying cult member.
Al Adamsson uses a combination of grindhouse trashy murders with mediocre acting, a touch of eroticism and some animated graphics to highlight the story of a nurse who is accidently present when an occultist dies in her hospital and becomes a vessel for an otherworldly feind on a mission.
Director: Guillermo Del Toro Starring:Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam. USA. 1h 59m
With the lack of modern genuine gothic literature making it to the big screen, Crimson Peak had a lot to make up for, however despite it’s well crafted story, delicious cast amongst opulent sets, I wasn’t blown away by this epic ghost story. There’s a massive divide between Guillermo Del Toro’s Spanish and American work. Crimson Peak battles with its style and substance, for the most part it will wow it’s audience with an oil slick blend of colours but it seems to pluck the worse elements of gothic literature to mix but remains true and doesn’t step a foot out of the box. Continue reading Crimson Peak (2015)→
Director: Juan Frausto Starring: Katherine Munroe, Johnny Ortiz .USA. 1h 33m
For a majority of my armchair criticism I am always asking for directors to try and bring something new to the genres that their film straddles, however in the case of the Possession Diaries, and similar uncreative movies, I see no problems with people trying their hand at the tried and tested tropes, but at least try to make your copy as solid as possible. For all the planning and effort going into this project, it just doesn’t come across as being as polished as it could and ends up being a tad boring. Continue reading Possession Diaries (2019)→
Starting out with a gothic feel, in a graveyard a couple of teenage girls Dominique and Ursula, set out to perform a spell but it turns out to be a punk’d style prank. While leaving the site a lightning bolt strikes a grave and a strange book is left in the shadow of a tombstone, each girl picks it up but only one is drawn to Ursula and thus the fight of good and evil ensues and a wonderful friendship is challenged Continue reading Devils Diary (2007) TV→
Director: Rob Savage Starring: Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb, Radina Drandova, Caroline Ward, Teddy Linard, Seylan Baxter. UK. 58m
There’s been a long hate trail behind the found footage genre and each new title had to content with being compared with The Blair Witch (1999) and while I defend the experimental movies there are a few which are really hard to defend *cough* Moth*cough* but what i absolutely love about this short exhilarating horror is just how it gets about it’s job and doesn’t care what you think.
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