The Devil's Muse

Category: horror cinema

  • Horror Cinema: There’s Something Wrong With the Children / The Ruins

    There’s Something Wrong With the Children succeeds in creepy, unsettling moments. The story, however, fails to satisfy, and I left the movie with more questions than answers. Throughout the movie, I kept thinking about a much better film that had what felt like a similar premise of nature as the villain, The Ruins (2008). I’m not sure, though, if nature was the villain in There’s Something Wrong With the Children, or if it was supernatural. If the story had provided more background on the mysteries it introduced, I think the whole would have been better.

    Benjamin, Roxanne. There’s Something Wrong With the Children, Paramount Home Entertainment, 2023.

    If you have not yet seen The Ruins, I highly recommend it. The horror is a slow build, but, once it hits its peak, you will be in for a gore show that you could never imagine.

    Smith, Carter. The Ruins, Dreamworks / Paramount Distribution, 2008.

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  • Horror Cinema: Jigoku (1960)

    Jigoku is a truly unique movie. The narrative loosely follows a series of deaths and murders that all happen in the protagonist’s life as if he is cursed, and the final scenes of the movie follow the dead characters and the protagonist in hell. The addition of the afterlife journey gives more depth to the characters.

    My favorite part of the movie was the brutal death scenes. They were bold, like bodies falling off a rope bridge, and gruesome. As a bonus, the final hell scenes went full throttle on the gore, and it was great!

    Nakagawa, Nobuo. Jigoku, Shintoho, 1960.

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  • Horror Cinema: Onibaba (1964)

    The 1964 Japanese horror movie Onibaba is a slow burn. Much of its horror centers around the crimes and abuses caused by a war, particularly against women. Set in the past in a rural area, it evokes the discomfort of a very difficult era in history. From the start of the movie, death is ever present, and you know you are watching a horror movie.

    The slow burn was worth it, for me. The struggles of the relationships between a small group of people transformed throughout the narrative, ending with a final paranormal twist that was believably built into the story.

    Shindo, Kaneto. Onibaba, Toho, 1964.

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  • Horror Cinema: A Page of Madness (1926)

    I discovered A Page of Madness from a curated list of Japanese horror films on an Instagram account (@cathodecinema). I start with this note because the movie was not a typical horror movie. It was a fascinating piece of surreal art and storytelling that did culminate around what seemed to be a murder, but it was not the paranormal creepiness or crime I was expecting from a horror movie.

    The movie was easy to find online, and I would recommend it. A silent film, the narrative is told through vivid imagery. The story is woven through scenes of patients of an insane asylum who are shown living their fantasy while living their suffering in an asylum cell. Madness abounds throughout the movie, but it is balanced by scenes of a dancer and her escapism fantasy.

    I can’t say I have seen anything like it, and I marvel at the fact it was made in the 1920s.

    Kinugasa, Teinosuke. A Page of Madness, Kinugasa Productions, 1926 (US: New Line Cinema, 1975).

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  • Horror Cinema: Pearl

    As a prequel to X, Ti West’s Pearl is an excellent companion piece. What I liked most about it was that it was not an overly complicated story written only to justify or launch the drama in X. Instead, it was a character study of X‘s villain. I also liked how Pearl was told in a very different way than X, more like a drama than a gore flick.

    Pearl had a slower pace, which reminded me of the pacing in West’s The Roost. A slow build. The movie was held together by Mia Goth’s outstanding performance that delivered a mix of desperation, naivety and vengeance that was disturbingly relatable and sincere.

    I can’t say that Pearl went onto my list of favorite West movies like X did, but it did not let me down, and I would consider it an achievement that West can be proud of.

    West, Ti. Pearl, A24, 2022.

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  • Horror Cinema: Smile

    I like that I found a good new horror movie on Paramount+ at the heart of the holiday season. It was a nice palate cleanser from the Christmas vibes of most everything else I am watching this month.

    I went into the movie with low expectations, but I was delightfully surprised. Jump scares are my favorite, and this one has a healthy amount, and they are scary and satisfying. For that alone, I would recommend this movie. The story was also good and followed the creepy vibe of a curse like the Ring series, which, again, my favorite. I enjoyed it and think it would be worth checking out.

    Finn, Parker. Smile, Paramount Pictures, 2022.

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  • Horror Cinema: Sadako vs. Kayako

    This Halloween, I revisited the Ring and Grudge series of movies. In addition to the classics, the US remakes and the Netflix Grudge series, I discovered movies that were new to me, Ring 0, a Japanese prequel to the Ring series, and Sadako vs. Kayako, a mash-up movie of the two franchises.

    Ring 0 was good and worth the watch, but it was Sadako vs. Kayako that captured my imagination. I was ready to like it because the director was Kōji Shiraishi, who made possibly one of my all-time favorite horror movies, Noroi: The Curse. The style of Sadako vs. Kayako is nothing like Noroi, but Shiraishi succeeded in making another scary movie.

    I fully expected and even wanted the cheesiest, corniest movie out of a Ring-Grudge mash-up, akin to Freddy vs. Jason. It held up to my expectations in the best possible ways, with jump scares and spooky scenes with Sadako, Kayako and the cat-crying boy, Toshio. What I liked more was how unforgiving and cruel they were.

    What I liked best about the movie was how it told the story of two cursed girls: how they got cursed, crossed paths and fought together to break their curses. I cannot say that I loved the ending of the film, but the way it took a flimsy and kitschy idea and turned it into a tale of two cursed girls was enchanting and lasted with me.

    Shiraishi, Koji. Sadako vs. Kayako, PKDN Films (via Universal Pictures), 2016.

    Images from IMDb and Fear Forever.

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  • Horror Cinema: Gone in the Night (2022)

    As a teen in the 90s, I loved Winona Ryder. Her movies, from Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael to Reality Bites, shaped much of my adolescence and coming of age. I was excited to see that she recently starred in a horror movie, Gone in the Night.

    Image from Cover City

    I admit that I went into the movie with low expectations because I haven’t liked much of Winona Ryder’s work over the past 10 or 20 years. But her renewed popularity being on Netflix’s Stranger Things gave me hope that she could be working on a better quality movie.

    Image from JoBlo.com

    I enjoyed the film. The characters were interesting, and how the story unfolded kept my interest. Although it had plot reveals throughout it, there were clues in scenes well before the reveals, which I appreciated. I don’t like twists and turns that blind-side me, so I liked how I could piece together the story as the protagonist uncovered the plot’s mystery.

    The movie could have ended in one of many ways, and I liked how it concluded. It felt just artsy and weird enough to make me feel satisfied that I was watching a Winona Ryder movie.

    Image from Readsme

    Horowitz, Eli. Gone in the Night, Vertical Entertainment, 2022.

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  • Horror Cinema: The Sentinel (1977)

    I discovered the 1977 horror movie The Sentinel on late night tv as a teenager of the 90s. With its mix of ghosts and strangeness—like the birthday party for a cat—I was hooked. By the time I saw The Sentinel, I was already a fan of Rosemary’s Baby and the 1930s movie Freaks, so, when the movie ended with the heroine being forced into the role of the sentinel after being groomed for it like Rosemary as the mother of the anti-christ along with actors with deformities crowding the halls as the denizons of Hell, I knew that this movie would be a personal favorite. Over the years, I have revisited The Sentinel, and I always enjoy its quirkiness and creepiness.

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    Researching trivia on the movie, I was surprised to learn that it was fraught with problems. The story’s writer, Jeffrey Konvitz, did not like the director, Michael Winner, or what Winner did with the casting or film. Konvitz commented that Winner was “too pedestrian a director” to make the film a good horror movie like The Omen and called him an egomaniacal maniac in a bluray commentary. Konvitz did not like that the protagonist looked different than the protagonist from his story, and he would have cast an unknown in the part who looked more like the story’s character.

    Winner himself was not happy with the casting. He originally wanted Martin Sheen to play the male lead, but he was told that Sheen was a “tv name,” so he could not cast him. The producer wanted Chris Sarandon because he had recently been nominated for an Oscar.

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    For how much I love this movie, I was also surprised to find out that it is not a popular film. In fact, most people hate it.

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    Despite its problems, The Sentinel tells a great ghost story with that slower pace common of 70s movies that builds toward a creepy ending.

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    Winner, Michael. The Sentinel, Universal Pictures, 1977.

    Behind-the-scenes facts from IMDb Trivia: The Sentinel (1977).

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  • Horror Cinema: Grave Encounters

    Full disclosure: I love Zak Bagans and Ghost Adventures.

    The host, Zak, is endearing and kind to others but becomes angry and dramatic around ghosts and ghost activity. I live for ghosts caught on camera, and the show has some of the best audio and video recordings that send chills up my spine. I also like that the episodes are thoughtful in their storytelling about the locations they visit, with their mix of spookiness and a reverence for the past and the spirit world.

    Watching the movie Grave Encounters, I was immediately connected to the characters because they were a parody of the Ghost Adventures crew, and I felt like I already knew who they were. I love jump scares and all things ghosts, so I truly enjoyed the movie. I was particularly surprised by the turn of events in the last quarter. It was not what I was expecting, but it was everything I never knew I wanted! Grave Encounters is one of a few horror movies that I liked from beginning to end, and on multiple viewings.

    A sequel was made that I did not like as much, but I would recommend it for the purists who want to see it for themselves.

    The Vicious Brothers. Grave Encounters, Tribeca Film, 2011.

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