Three Horror Movies Review (Spoilers hidden)

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So, as the title says, I am going to give my thoughts on three horror movies I have seen recently in theaters. I should probably start out by saying that horror is my favorite genre but I am also really hard to please. A good example is I am one of the only people who really didn't like "The Babadook ." I just say that so that people can get a good frame of mind for me. Anyway, the three movies I am going to review are "The Night House", "Candyman" and "Malignant."

So, "The Night House." I though this movie was fantastic. It was such a breath of fresh air to the horror genre and it was also the first movie I saw in theaters since before all this Covid mess. The acting was really well done. I felt connected to the characters. They all felt very real. I felt their emotions and as if I was on the journey with them. I found the movie to be fairly tense with some good jump scares but without relying on jump scares to fill the movie. Jump scares CAN work when done right and for me, this movie did them really well. The atmosphere in the movie was thick and chilling and when a jump scare happened it felt very effective not just something to scare or wake the audience up. The story kept me interested from pretty much the very beginning. It felt very real. I did start to figure things out by the end but it didn't ruin the movie for me. I actually felt as if what was going on, or at least what I THOUGHT was going on, worked really well and made a lot of sense. The ending is a bit ambiguous and up to the viewer to determine for themselves what happened and what it all meant. This was done really well. Too many times someone will through a open ended ending on a movie just because they couldn't think of anything better and at a failed attempt to give the movie some meaning or originality. When it doesn't work, it usually really doesn't but when it does, it does. This was a prime example of one done right. I am pretty sure I know what happened and I could be wrong, but it was hands down the best horror flick I have seen in a while.

I interpreted it to be that

it wasn't all in her head. I felt as if whatever entity was behind everything was real. The ex husband made the other house in order to trap and trick the entity into thinking it was the real house. He sacrificed women that looked like his wife, the main, character again to trick and appease the entity. It didn't work and he ended up losing to it and killed himself. However, she was able to conquer over it and defeat it, at least for the time being.


"Candyman", the remake of course. First off, it's not too "woke" or any of that bullshit. The original was about racial injustice, albeit more subtle. I think that's such a invalid complaint. I liked this one a good bit but it definitely had some flaws that kept me from loving it. No, it will never be as good as the original but this one wasn't bad it just could have been more. Again I felt the atmosphere was a bit creepy worked well enough. It wasn't anywhere near "The Night House" but it didn't feel stale or lose me. Tony Todd is really creepy in this and he is still a total legend. He is by far the best part of the movie. Some of the kills were done neatly, nothing too special but kind of different. Then for some reason they decided to have a lot of the later kills off screen or at odd angles. This really hurt the movie for me as then it did take me out of it. It just felt cheap for the lack of a better word. Then there was one plot twist that really didn't work. If you have seen it you probably know what it is as it's a common complaint about the movie. It wasn't so awful it ruined the movie..... but it didn't work either. There was another plot twist that at first was iffy for me but upon re-visiting the original I have come to terms with it. I don't think it's a great plot twist but I don't dislike it either. Overall, I think there is some real talent here that just needs some work and fine tuning. Not at bad movie by any means.

The plot twist I came to terms with was that

Anthony was the child from the first movie. I would have spotted that earlier but before I saw the remake, it had been a while before I had seen the original.


The one I didn't like was that

the guy at the laundromat was setting everything up and leading Anthony on. This really didn't work at all and came way out of left field and not in a good way.


Lastly, "Malignant." I didn't like this one. It wasn't completely awful or anything but it wasn't very good. James Wan is hit and miss for me and this was definitely a miss. The story isn't unique at all. The twists aren't very clever and there are way too many clichés. There were a lot of the times myself and the audience were outright laughing at the movie. Scenes that were supposed to be scary but ended up looking very silly. There were a few times where the movie started to get a little better and maybe a little eerie but then it just turned back around and went for some tired old thing we have seen so many times before. The killer was generic, had too many silly scenes and at one point the movie completely shifted gear but not in a good way. The acting was OK, but nothing special. It wasn't bad, it felt believable enough but it didn't stick out.

The twist really didn't work for me. It was

"she did it, but it wasn't really her. She was being controlled" This time it was by a parasitic twin. Yeah, kind of different but in the end pretty much the same thing as a voice talking in her head and she did it the whole time. The killer parkouring down the fire escapes had the audience laughing out loud. We were laughing when the movie went all "John Wick" and Gabriel was turning and growling at the camera. There were a lot of moments everyone laughed and as the credits rolled we were laughing. The whole "Oh, I came back and beat you because of love" was just so silly and predictable.


I definitely recommend "The Night House." I do recommend "Candyman" but it is flawed but overall enjoyable. I do not recommend "Malignant" at all. Have you seen these. What did you think? What are your most anticipated upcoming horror films. "Last Night in Soho" is the one I am most excited for. I have a decent amount of anticipation for "Halloween Kills." "Antlers" looks interesting but..... I haven't liked any of of Del Toro's films. Again, I am picky and hard to please.

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