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Movie Review – The Vanishing

The Vanishing (1988)
Written by George Sluizer & Tim Krabbé
Directed by George Sluizer

Each life hurtles through time & space on a course that the person who bears it can never truly predict. These lives cross with each other, but more often than not, they make no impact, brief encounters that dissolve. We can feel trapped in these lives, a passenger unable to exert their own will on the trajectory. Look at how so many people will simply follow the path of a parent or choose an identity based on how they will be perceived by the society around them. Even many “expressing individuality” are working from blueprints created by others, a manufactured uniqueness. But then some collide with your life, upending the sedate normality. What if our intersection with them is another moment we cannot escape, pulled into the event horizon of chaos? What is it to see something evil coming over the horizon and be unable to fight against its pull?

Movie Review – Insidious: The Red Door

Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Written by Leigh Whannell and Scott Teems
Directed by Patrick Wilson

At one point (maybe still), we could have had an Insidious/Sinister crossover. I saw Sinister around the time it was initially released on DVD, and I remember really liking the vibe of the film, especially the bizarre films within the film. However, I can’t imagine a crossover would be any good. Insidious has really failed to live up to my already low expectations. Blumhouse got the old gang back together for a film that would serve as a direct sequel to Insidious: Chapter 2. This makes the Insidious chronology as follows: Insidious: Chapter 3, Insidious: The Last Key, Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious: The Red Door. It’s not as confusing as the Fast & Furious chronology, but it’s definitely up there.

PopCult Podcast – Phantasm/Phantasm II

It’s spooky season. This episode Ariana & Seth watched the first two installments of a cult horror franchise that delivers a lot of unexpected & unique terrors.

Movie Review – Insidious: The Last Key

Insidious: The Last Key (2018)
Written by Leigh Whanell
Directed by Adam Robitel

Much like the continuity of Saw or the Fast & Furious franchises, Insidious became a tangled-up non-linear film series. This particular film takes place after Insidious: Chapter 3 (the earliest film in the timeline), though The Last Key starts with a flashback that is the furthest point back in the timeline thus far. That honor used to belong to the prologue of Insidious: Chapter 2. The Last Key takes place around a year before the first film and focuses entirely on the backstory of Elise, the film’s somewhat main protagonist. As I have said in all these reviews, stating unequivocally who the main character or villain is in these films is utterly impossible as they flail around from picture to picture.

Movie Review – Insidious: Chapter 3

Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)
Written and directed by Leigh Whanell

After the conclusion of the second film, the story of the Lamberts & their haunting seemed to be over. Yet, Blumhouse wanted another installment. Leigh Whanell returned to write this script, while James Wan moved on to direct Furious 7. A few months into production, it was decided that Whanell would make his directorial debut with Chapter 3, and I can tell you it didn’t inspire confidence in me to learn this fact. Whanell would go on to direct The Invisible Man remake in 2020, which, aside from some clever ideas, just failed in the execution. For a person who has devoted so much of his career to horror, you would think Whanell might just once pull off something actually scary instead of the same level of horror you find in your local seasonal haunted house attraction.

Movie Review – Insidious: Chapter 2

Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
Written by Leigh Whanell
Directed by James Wan

The first Insidious felt like it was always made with a sequel in mind. It makes sense that James Wan & Leigh Whanell had a lot of success with the Saw franchise, so they wanted to repeat it with something new. Insidious Chapter 2 picks up exactly where the first film ends and never feels like it’s creating a story where there is none. Loose ends from the first picture are continued and resolved, so the conclusion is an excellent place for the series to stop. Of course, that won’t happen, and three more movies will come later. I didn’t enjoy the first entry in this series, and it won’t surprise you that I enjoyed this picture even less.

Comic Book Review – The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume Six

The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume Six (2014)
Reprints Swamp Thing #57-64
Written by Alan Moore and Stephen Bissette
Art by Rick Veitch, John Totleben, and Alfredo Alcala

As Alan Moore’s Watchmen maxi-series was making waves in comics, he was also writing the final issues of Swamp Thing. The writer was interested in connecting the elemental hero with the space/cosmic elements in the DC Universe. While the delve into the occult was successful because Swamp Thing’s character lent itself to that genre, this foray into science fiction is a more mixed bag. Moore is clearly being more experimental, and that causes the series to lose some of the humanity that made it so compelling in the early collections. These aren’t poorly written stories, but I could see them turning off some readers because of how Abby gets sidelined for a big chunk.

Movie Review – Insidious

Insidious (2010)
Written by Leigh Whanell
Directed by James Wan

I’ve never seen one of the Saw films, and I probably never will. Just doesn’t look like my thing. However, I remember being curious about the stylized world of James Wan’s follow-up franchise, Insidious. I saw the film at the time of its release and remember being somewhat entertained. I decided to watch the whole series this year because the fifth film was released. I found that the things I remember liking about this first film had aged poorly. In fact, I am confident in saying I think Insidious is the most boring, least coherent horror franchise I’ve ever seen. And I’ve watched all the Halloween movies, so that’s saying a lot.

Movie Review – The Exorcist III

The Exorcist III (1990)
Written and directed by William Peter Blatty

Exorcist II: The Heretic was a disastrous flop for Warner Bros. During the premiere, the original novel’s author recalled laughing out loud moments into the film starting. It seemed he would have his response in the form of a third film only years after the comical sequel. Even the first film’s director, William Friedkin, was on board with Blatty’s concept and how it would continue the story. Then creative disagreements broke out and came to the point where Friedkin left the picture.

Movie Review – Exorcist II: The Heretic

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
Written by William Goodhart
Directed by John Boorman

Warner Brothers knew they wanted another Exorcist film after the success of the first picture. However, screenwriter William Peter Blatty and director William Friedkin had no desire to revisit this world. They told a complete story in the first picture, and the sequel would just be a silly idea. At first, the plan was to cut/paste the plot, but things quickly spiraled into unhinged territory when playwright William Goodhart was hired. He would retroactively add a backstory to Father Merrin from the first film by including the theories of a Jesuit priest who had some views about why demon possessions occurred and why some people seem to be targeted by them. Linda Blair would return as Reagan MacNeil, and even Max Von Sydow reluctantly returned to cameo as a younger Merrin. Kitty Wynn, as Sharon, the friend of the MacNeils, came back, but Ellen Burstyn flatly refused to come back as the girl’s mother. Not a great start.