Not-horror movie review...

 

HERETIC (2024) had an excruciatingly slow build-up. I almost quit early on because the two missionary sisters were so irritating that it made it hard to stay invested in anything happening to them.

This was also pretty misleading. It’s sold like a horror movie, but it’s really a psychological thriller, and not a very thrilling one. A lot of talking. A lot of circling the same ideas. Very little payoff.

I kept waiting for some kind of mind-blowing ending that would justify sitting through the rest of it, but that never came. By the time the movie wrapped up, I realized I didn’t actually care whether the main characters lived or died.

Overall, it felt slow, talky, and underwhelming. If you’re expecting horror or a strong payoff, this probably isn’t it.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Tuesday Terror: SIGNIFICANT OTHER

If you love both science fiction and horror, Significant Other (2022) is absolutely worth your time. It starts out like a low-key relationship thriller, almost deceptively normal, then slowly lets something much stranger creep in. When the shift happens, it feels earned, not like a cheap twist. It’s one of those movies where you realize halfway through that you’re watching something smarter than you expected.

What makes it work is how the sci-fi doesn’t replace the horror, it sharpens it. The film uses its science fiction angle to dig into fear around trust, identity, and intimacy. The scares are personal. It’s not just about survival. It’s about realizing the person beside you might not be who you think they are, and what that means emotionally as well as physically.

It’s tense, contained, and surprisingly thoughtful. The setting does a lot of heavy lifting, and the performances keep everything grounded so the concept actually lands. If you like horror that gets under your skin and sci-fi that isn’t afraid to be weird and intimate, this one hits that sweet spot. Give it a chance. I think you’ll be glad you did.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Movie Review: WEAPONS

I don’t watch a lot of movies anymore. My free time usually goes to books, so when I sit down for a film, it’s because something really caught my attention. The trailer for Weapons did exactly that. It promised something dark, unsettling, and genuinely disturbing.

The movie itself didn’t live up to that promise.

Instead of feeling tense or frightening, a lot of it came across as unintentionally comedic. Scenes that should have been eerie landed flat, and moments that seemed designed to unsettle felt more awkward than scary. I kept waiting for the tone to shift into something truly menacing, but it never really got there.

The characters didn’t help. I wasn’t invested in any of them, and without that connection, the stakes never felt real. Horror works best when you care who survives. Here, I found myself detached, more aware of the setup than immersed in it.

The trailer is honestly the best part of this experience. It sells a movie that feels sharper, darker, and far more effective than what’s actually on screen.

If you’re going in expecting something genuinely frightening, you may be disappointed. This one never became the horror film it wanted to be.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Undead Train Trap | Horror MOVIE Review | AstraDaemon

I have a limited amount of free time, so I almost always choose books over movies. However, there have been many great horror releases in the last five years or so, and I've been trying to catch up with my watch list. I am happy to say, I finally viewed TRAIN TO BUSAN and everything about this film is awesome!

First of all, the Infected and the speed of the virus are frightening. I've always enjoyed zombie films, but this one managed to give me nightmares. Second, the train is a great setting because you have the feeling of being trapped, while showing glimpses of what is happening around the country...so much better than showing the usual news clips in the background. Last but not least, the characters are the perfect mix of survivors.

While there are a few obvious stereotypes such as the evil executive and the clueless parent, some of the others really stole the scenes they were in. For example, Dad-To-Be is like a freaking super hero, throwing down to save others, instead of just saving his pregnant wife and himself...he also provides comedic relief...definitely the kind of person I'd want in my survivor group. The baseball player and the cheerleader gave a coming-of-age touch to the situation, transforming from hormonal teens to responsible adults and rising to the occasion instead of giving up.

One of my favorite scenes is the face-off between the two groups of survivors: the ones who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves and the ones who refuse to leave anyone behind without a fight (not to be confused with survivors who throw away their lives in a wasted effort).

If you haven't watched this movie yet, you really need to make the time. I truly think this is the greatest zombie film ever made!

As always,

AstraDaemon

Highway to Hell Week | MOVIE REVIEW | AstraDaemon

PHANTASM, written and directed by Don Coscarelli, is one of the few horror movies which scared the crap out of me when I was a teen. (I didn't see it until the late 1980s). The idea of  discovering something so horrific happening to an entire town and eventually forcing a kid into a life on the run (in the sequels), overwhelmed my young imagination. I hadn't been a horror fan for very long, and, to be honest, something about the Tall Man and the demonic dwarves still creeps me out to this day.

While Freddy is most commonly associated with dreams, the Tall Man is a master of mixing horror and mindgames while blurring the line between being awake and asleep. He makes the old guy in Poltergeist look like a kind gent. Don't even get me started on the silver sentinels.

If you haven't watched this cult classic yet, make time for it. If you have friends who started decorating for Christmas before Halloween, make them watch it with you.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Throwback Thursday: Movie Review

THE DEAD by the Ford Brothers is a very pleasant surprise. I noticed right away the quality of the film is more like a big screen film production than the home-movie quality some indie films seem to have. Also, no stupid camera movements like the shakes, which is refreshing. Not sure about the budget for this particular film, which runs about 90 minutes, but someone definitely spent some money on this project, regardless of the claim that it was “low-budget.”



The movie starts with an American soldier, stranded in West Africa after the last evacuation plane crashes in the ocean in the African desert (American actor Rob Freeman as a US military engineer), shooting a zombie, then flashes back to how he ended up in the desert, continuing along until the guy’s storyline reaches the first scene of the movie. I think it's a cool manipulation of the timeline.

He is joined by an African soldier (African actor Prince David Oseia) who is searching for his son, after his village is overrun. I love the comparison and contrast between these two survivors, which gives the plot some depth. I do think they could have spent a little more time on the military tension between the two, but the idea of them agreeing to work together is believable.

The village outbreak is a great zombie scene, but despite the great action sequences, quite a bit of the film follows the two survivors driving through the wilderness with zombies constantly appearing in the peripheral. There are many intense scenes during the drive, each time they have to stop for repairs, etc. I jumped a few times…catching me off guard with a high suspense factor.

The special effects are excellent, and I'm really glad to see the zombies have the same qualities of the original Romero undead. For that reason alone, if you’re one of those zombie fans who thinks there is no hope for zombie indie films, you should really give this one a chance. There’s never an explanation of the source, but there is a great conversation between two African soldiers that reflects on the outbreak.

I did have some issues with some of the behavior of the survivors (i.e. taking too many risks) which had me yelling at the characters, but that just shows how engrossing the film is. The DVD extras left something to be desired with only one deleted scene & background scenes set to music (absolutely no commentary, which would have been welcomed). The Ford Brothers missed a golden opportunity by not including more special features.

 Check out the trailer, and see for yourself.

As always,
AstraDaemon

March Movie Review

Most of us are used to zombie movies where the survivors have some decent firepower…but imagine trying to fight off an undead horde with a musket, and you’ll have the gist of Exit Humanity. Taking place in 1870’s Tennessee, and centered on a Confederate soldier named Edward Young, the movie begins with a brief scene with Edward facing off with an undead Yankee. Moving forward six years, Edward has lost his wife to the outbreak of “dead-alives,” and his son is missing. In his search for his son, Edward reluctantly agrees to help another man, Isaac, rescue his sister from the nutjob known as General Williams. The General is gathering people to intentionally infect, so his snake-oil doctor can test his “cures.” Further into the movie, Edward and Isaac cross paths with a woman who has a supernatural explanation for the undead.

There’s more emphasis on the despair from the post-Civil War era than the actual fighting against the zombies, and there isn’t as much gore as some horror fans might prefer…basically it’s a historical fiction movie with zombies…but it’s a zombie movie that isn’t about the usual humans vs. undead battle, and I think viewers are going to pleased with the effort put into the script. The cast includes Bill Moseley from Devil’s Rejects and House of 1000 Corpses, as well as some other actors that you might recognize.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Throwback Thursday Movie Review

I first saw this movie on the Sundance channel, and it was listed as "OK Garage." The TV listing had a more accurate description of the movie than this product description. I'm not sure which came first, the All Revved Up marketing or the OK Garage marketing, but they need to release the DVD under the OK Garage marketing...anyone who falls for the All Revved Up description will be expecting something else, and therefore disappointed with an indie movie that I think is surprisingly well done -- if you have the right expectations.

I had zero expectations the first time that I watched this movie, so I wasn't disappointed. The only reason I even watched it in the first place is because I love the three main actors (I thought it was great to see them all together in the same film): Will Patton as "Sean," John Turturro as "Johnny," and Lily Taylor as "Rachel." The plot is simple enough: a series of misfortunate encounters brings the three main characters together to demand a refund from a shady mechanic at the OK Garage. (By the way, I've watched it dozens of times, since then, and I still haven't gotten tired of it yet.)

I thought the title, OK Garage, worked on more than one level. There is nothing "ok" about anyone in this movie; for example, there is a small scene where a bartender who only has a few lines in the entire movie (who happens to be played by Turturro's cousin, an actress you might recognize from The Sopranos) tells Sean that she doesn't date...she'd sleep with him, but she won't date him (the way she blurts it out caught me off guard - I had to watch the scene more than once to catch what she says to Sean). Basically, everyone in this movie has some weird quirk about them, and it's refreshing; I get so tired of movies where everyone looks & acts perfect and live wonderful (unrealistic) lives. I also enjoyed the fact that the characters don't have the right answer for everything; they say disturbingly messed up things to one another (like Johnny admitting to Rachel that he watches his female neighbor undress), and it really propels the storyline in a unique manner.

Some of the scenes might seem unnecessary, such as Patton's scenes with Sean playing with his lizards as his boss accuses him of being a woman-hater, or Johnny discussing masturbating into a sink with another guy...but, not only does it add depth to the individual characters, it also helps you realize the personal obstacles they had to overcome to band together at the end, and right the wrong done to Rachel.

Johnny first meets Rachel through Sean, who lives in the same apartment building with Rachel. Johnny likes Rachel, but (even though the guy seriously needs to get laid) he sabotages himself if women show the slightest interest in him, and he's no different with Rachel (and Rachel likes to say crazy stuff as well, which makes for some great scenes between Turturro and Taylor). Rachel comes across as someone who doesn't like to rock the boat, even if she has every right to speak up and defend herself, but she doesn't want to be a troublemaker. As a result, Rachel is ripped off by a mechanic at the OK Garage, and Johnny convinces Sean that they have to do something to help her get her money back.

What none of them realize is that the mechanic is involved in a car theft ring, as well as some other a-hole characters that cause other problems for Sean and Johnny. In the end, by helping Rachel, Sean and Johnny end up helping themselves as well. I absolutely loved how all the various storylines came together at the end of the movie. Some of the scenes made me laugh; I'm not sure if they were supposed to be funny, but I found the characters to be very entertaining. Even the supporting cast did a fantastic job.

Will Patton has one of the absolute best lines/scene at the very end of the movie, as Sean poses a question to Johnny about Rachel. I don't want to give it away, but it is one of the best endings that I've ever seen in an indie movie.

Ignore the stupid "All Revved Up" marketing, and just watch this as a quirky indie movie to avoid being disappointed. If you are a fan of Patton, Turturro and/or Taylor, this is a must have for your movie collection.

As always,
AstraDaemon