Scary Movie Time…
It’s that time of year again. You know the time… You don’t? Well…
It’s the time when I realise that we’re a week into October and this prompts me to make loads of bold statements about making it an October where I really make a dent in all the horror that I need to watch and read. Then it gets to the beginning of November, I look back and… you guessed it.
Well, we’re a week into October. Lets see how much of a dent I can make in all the horror, lurking about the place, that I still need to watch or read ;o) We’ll start off with an easy post. Reading hasn’t come easy, this week, but I’ve had a little more luck watching movies so… lets talk about those.
‘Pet Sematary 2’ (1992)
Some movies don’t need a whole blurb included here… :o) If you’ve seen, or read, ‘Pet Sematary’ then you’ll know what ‘Pet Sematary 2’ is all about. And that was kind of the problem here; the names (and pets) may have been changed but it felt like an awful lot of trouble was taken to basically tell the same story all over again. Don’t bury your dead in the Indian Graveyard, especially if they’re human…
Luckily for ‘Pet Sematary 2’, it is a vicious film that demands your attention, even if it is retelling the same story. One of those films where the bully dies and you can’t help but think, ‘wow, he did not deserve to go out like that’. And Clancy Brown has far too much fun, playing an undead Sherriff, for anyone to stop watching. I couldn’t :o)
I’m not sure if ‘Pet Sematary 2’ is a movie that I’ll be in a rush to rewatch but ultimately, I’m glad I gave it a go.
‘Return to Silent Hill’ (2026)
When a man receives a mysterious letter from his lost love, he is drawn to Silent Hill, a once familiar town now consumed by darkness.
Prime Video has been trying to get me to watch ‘Return to Silent Hill’ for ages but I’ve held out, mostly because I’ve had minimal contact with the franchise (I’ve seen the original movie with Sean Bean, that’s it). In the end, Prime Video did that sneaky thing where it auto-plays another movie and that movie was ‘Return to Silent Hill’. I figured I may as well give it a go :o)
And…
‘Return to Silent Hill’ wasn’t bad but is definitely a movie that fans will get more out than a casual viewer like me. It was pretty creepy (although some of the CGI was a little ‘too CGI’, if you know what I mean) but I came away with questions that I wouldn’t have had if I’d played the PS1 game, read the book etc. Like… Why was the town of Silent Hill so messed up? What happened? That was a pretty big one for me, it all looked impressive but… why? And why did that guy have a pyramid for a head?
I can’t really blame that on the movie though, I just don’t think I’ll be back for more.
‘Infirmary’ (2026)
A security guard’s first night on the job turns into a nightmare as the old psychiatric hospital, that he is patrolling, hides more secrets than anyone realizes…
How much story can you tell using just atmosphere? The answer is pretty obvious, not a lot at all. You need at least some kind of a plot to tell a story. Well, it’s like no-one mentioned this to the makers of ‘Infirmary’; either that or they decided to see how far they could spin a movie out on just some dark corridors and a couple of jump scares at the end. And they gave away something big far too early, at least as far as I was concerned.
The thing is, the film is actually really successful at establishing that dark, tense atmosphere; there were a few moments where I realized that I hadn’t taken a breath. ‘Infirmary’ just doesn’t build on these moments with enough story to make them mean something. From where I was sat then, ‘Infirmary’ had a lot of potential that wasn’t really met. Oh well…
It’s the time when I realise that we’re a week into October and this prompts me to make loads of bold statements about making it an October where I really make a dent in all the horror that I need to watch and read. Then it gets to the beginning of November, I look back and… you guessed it.
Well, we’re a week into October. Lets see how much of a dent I can make in all the horror, lurking about the place, that I still need to watch or read ;o) We’ll start off with an easy post. Reading hasn’t come easy, this week, but I’ve had a little more luck watching movies so… lets talk about those.
‘Pet Sematary 2’ (1992)
Some movies don’t need a whole blurb included here… :o) If you’ve seen, or read, ‘Pet Sematary’ then you’ll know what ‘Pet Sematary 2’ is all about. And that was kind of the problem here; the names (and pets) may have been changed but it felt like an awful lot of trouble was taken to basically tell the same story all over again. Don’t bury your dead in the Indian Graveyard, especially if they’re human…
Luckily for ‘Pet Sematary 2’, it is a vicious film that demands your attention, even if it is retelling the same story. One of those films where the bully dies and you can’t help but think, ‘wow, he did not deserve to go out like that’. And Clancy Brown has far too much fun, playing an undead Sherriff, for anyone to stop watching. I couldn’t :o)
I’m not sure if ‘Pet Sematary 2’ is a movie that I’ll be in a rush to rewatch but ultimately, I’m glad I gave it a go.
‘Return to Silent Hill’ (2026)
When a man receives a mysterious letter from his lost love, he is drawn to Silent Hill, a once familiar town now consumed by darkness.
Prime Video has been trying to get me to watch ‘Return to Silent Hill’ for ages but I’ve held out, mostly because I’ve had minimal contact with the franchise (I’ve seen the original movie with Sean Bean, that’s it). In the end, Prime Video did that sneaky thing where it auto-plays another movie and that movie was ‘Return to Silent Hill’. I figured I may as well give it a go :o)
And…
‘Return to Silent Hill’ wasn’t bad but is definitely a movie that fans will get more out than a casual viewer like me. It was pretty creepy (although some of the CGI was a little ‘too CGI’, if you know what I mean) but I came away with questions that I wouldn’t have had if I’d played the PS1 game, read the book etc. Like… Why was the town of Silent Hill so messed up? What happened? That was a pretty big one for me, it all looked impressive but… why? And why did that guy have a pyramid for a head?
I can’t really blame that on the movie though, I just don’t think I’ll be back for more.
‘Infirmary’ (2026)
A security guard’s first night on the job turns into a nightmare as the old psychiatric hospital, that he is patrolling, hides more secrets than anyone realizes…
How much story can you tell using just atmosphere? The answer is pretty obvious, not a lot at all. You need at least some kind of a plot to tell a story. Well, it’s like no-one mentioned this to the makers of ‘Infirmary’; either that or they decided to see how far they could spin a movie out on just some dark corridors and a couple of jump scares at the end. And they gave away something big far too early, at least as far as I was concerned.
The thing is, the film is actually really successful at establishing that dark, tense atmosphere; there were a few moments where I realized that I hadn’t taken a breath. ‘Infirmary’ just doesn’t build on these moments with enough story to make them mean something. From where I was sat then, ‘Infirmary’ had a lot of potential that wasn’t really met. Oh well…
I wonder if Stephen King was on board for Pet Sematary 2. Or if he made any money out of it.
ReplyDeleteA quick look at Wikipedia shows that King had his name removed from the movie prior to its release. I'll bet he made some money off it though.
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