American Horror Stories, The Thing Under The Bed
We’ve reached the final episode of American Horror Stories, season three. After the ups and downs of the season, I didn’t know what to expect. I felt that we were due a big finish, Killer Queens. But I feared we were in for a big letdown.
As it turns out, The Thing Under The Bed was neither.
The story
We begin our story with a little girl named Mary, who is scared of something under her bed. She sneaks out of her room, only to be caught by her father and sent back to sleep. And of course, there is something horrible waiting for her under her bed.
This scene cuts away to a woman named Jillian. She has strange dreams, including one about Mary. But her husband, Mark, doesn’t want to hear about it. He’s only interested in a little lovemaking because he wants a baby. Jillian doesn’t, which makes total sense because she’s already married to one. But her irritation with her childish husband goes away when he goes away. And by goes away, I mean he’s sloppily devoured by something vicious under their bed.
What worked
In short, this episode just worked. The acting was professional and believable. The cinematography and lighting work were wonderful, adding spooky effects and startling moments without impairing visibility.
Best of all, the story was solid. There were no plotholes to be found. Our main character, Jillian, was relatable and sympathetic.
This was maybe my favorite part of the story. I thought Jillian was a remarkably sympathetic character. She was dealt a hand she never asked for, having her husband slaughtered in their bedroom. I don’t think she missed him, so much as she was afraid of the legal ramifications of being caught with literal blood on her hands.
Then, when it would have been safest for her to just lay low and save up for a good defense attorney, she instead goes into unlikely hero mode. She does her best to save people, putting herself in legal and physical danger. It’s hard not to root for her.
It’s also a little hard not to root for the antagonist, too. I don’t want to ruin the twist for you, so I’m going to tread lightly here. But it’s great when you have an antagonist who might be off their rocker, but also maybe has a point.
What didn’t work
I can only really think of one complaint with this episode. And that is how frequently one character says the word Chickadee. And if you’ve seen the episode, you know what I am talking about.
I get it, he has a pet name for his daughter. It’s adorable. It’s meant to convey that the two of them have a healthy loving relationship and I get it. We all get it. Blind monks get it. But the fact remains that no parent on Earth calls their kid by their pet name every single time they speak an individual sentence to them. It was just too damn much.
All in all, this was a good episode. It was a classic story, turned on its head, told by professionals from start to finish. And I hope that if there is another season, we see more stories like this one. But after the efforts put into this season at large, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last we see of American Horror Stories.
(4 / 5)
Oh, the 90s, the renaissance of the slasher genre after it crashed and burned in the mid-80s. Halloween H20 is the seventh installment in the Halloween franchise. It hits a reset button on the canon, which utilizes the strong points of the decade. Without any further ado, let’s dive in!
Plot
We start with seemingly random characters as they die at the hands of Michael Myers, who is back for vengeance. He wants to find Laurie and is not willing to let anyone else stand in his way. Here is where the franchise diverges into a different canon that ignores all the movies after the second one.
After a wonderful tribute to the late Donald Pleasance we see Laurie. She is now a headmistress at a boarding school in California, with a new name and a son. Laurie appears functioning on the outside, but she is still traumatized by the past events, medicating both with prescription meds and alcohol. Not even her love interest (a fellow teacher) knows anything about her past.
Her son John doesn’t understand the severity of what his mother has been through. He repeatedly tells her to get over it (not the brightest moment despite him being a teenage boy). More teenage characters are introduced in the form of his girlfriend played by Michelle Williams in her Dawson’s Creek prime, and two friends.
John and the group want to stay at the empty boarding school while everyone else goes on a camping trip. What they think will be a romantic couples’ weekend turns into anything but. Michael catches up to Laurie and finds his way into the premises. What ensues is a blood-shed with some creative kills and full-on suspense.
Laurie takes a stand against Michael as she chases him down axe in hand, ready to finish this once and for all. This leads to a showdown with a glorious finale as Laurie decapitates Michael, seemingly ending his reign for good (or so we think).
Overall thoughts
Halloween H20 is a great overhaul of a franchise that was running out of steam. It encapsulates everything about the 90s, from the camera work to the soundtrack to the cheesy one-liners. It has a star-studded cast of the sweethearts of the decade and who could be mad at Jamie Lee Curtis’s comeback?
This movie takes an interesting approach to Laurie’s character. She spends the second movie kind of helpless waiting for someone to save her, however this time she takes the lead and faces her trauma head-on. Other characters have just enough development to make you care for their survival. The atmosphere is very reminiscent of the first one as well, with a bit of a slow burn before the big finish.
Ultimately, this is the most entertaining instalment of the franchise and has a lot of rewatchability for those movie nights. Slasher 2.0 at its best.
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin (Actors)
- Steve Miner (Director) – Debra Hill (Writer) – Bob Weinstein (Producer)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2025-01-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Movies n TV
Luiso Berdejo’s Feature-Length Debut, or The New Daughter
The New Daughter (2009) is a PG-13 horror film & Luiso Berdejo’s feature-length debut based on John Connolly’s short story of the same name.
The New Daughter (2009) is a PG-13 horror film and Luiso Berdejo’s feature-length debut. The film is based on John Connolly’s short story of the same name. The New Daughter stars Kevin Costner, Ivana Baquero, Samantha Mathis, and Gattlin Griffith. As of this review, the film is available on VUDU Free, The CW, Hoopla, Tubi TV, Freevee, and Plex, with additional purchase options.
John James (Kevin Costner) moves his children to a rural South Carolina town to start anew after his wife leaves him. Louisa James (Ivana Baquero) can’t stand this change, and Sam James (Gattlin Griffith) doesn’t understand why his mother isn’t with them. But after finding a burial mound, their attitudes suddenly switch. As John uncovers more of their new home’s history, he realizes there’s much to fear.
What I Like About Luiso Berdejo’s Feature-Length Debut
Despite its 2009 release date, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films nominated it for the Saturn Awards’ Best DVD Release in 2011. As Luiso Berdejo’s feature-length debut, the film manages to hold an audience with a tight script and direction.
The acting sells this ominous mystery, which might otherwise become obscure amongst others in the genre. In particular, Kevin Costner’s John James and Ivana Baquero’s Louisa James center The New Daughter around their characters’ strained father-daughter relationship.
Ultimately, The New Daughter thrives in its atmosphere and execution. If we take the film plot point by plot point, The New Daughter doesn’t break the mold. Between Luiso Berdejo’s direction and the writing of John Travis and John Connolly, however, the film executes this uncomfortable tension that invests viewers.
Last update on 2025-01-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
It’s in The New Daughter‘s execution where it haunts its audience. There’s this uncomfortable powerlessness as John attempts to protect his family against the horrors in the mound and its corrupting influence.
The ending might seem uncommitted, but I would disagree. The film executes a balance between hope and horror that leads to ambiguity but doesn’t leave the audience dissatisfied. A bolder film might conclude with an unhappy ending, but The New Daughter gives a sliver of hope in its dark ending.
Tired Tropes and Triggers
A cat dies in the film. The act isn’t shown, but I understand this can be a dealbreaker. In loose connection, there are also animal carcasses.
There’s a loose and underdeveloped connection to Native American mythology, following along the idea of “Indian (Native Americans) burial grounds.” While this initial thought proves inaccurate, it still holds familiar plot points that might irk some.
There are some strange decisions revolving around Louisa. Needless to say, a part of the plot revolves around her beginning puberty. While nothing is explicit, the creatures require a mate, which suggests sexual assault.
What I Dislike about Luiso Berdejo’s Feature-Length Debut
The aesthetic of the burial mound doesn’t seem particularly noteworthy. This becomes a problem when it looks like any hill in a forest. I don’t particularly see how the James family recognizes this as something strange and worth fixating on. As the film progresses, there are obvious reasons, but the aesthetic doesn’t execute this strangeness.
As addressed above, the premise remains familiar and safe, perhaps too safe. A family moves into a rural home, escaping a past withheld from the audience. The mother is out of the picture, and the father struggles to connect with his young daughter. I don’t subscribe to the idea that these are lazy points, but it might seem formulaic with how thick it dominates the film’s beginning.
Final Thoughts
The New Daughter is an impressive feature-length debut but one with notable flaws. There’s a familiarity and safety in the plot that hinders what could have been. However, the ominous mystery and acting provide the needed execution to create a haunting experience. If you’re looking for a horror following a terrified family against supernatural creatures, The New Daughter delivers.
(3.5 / 5)
After taking a week off, Dexter Original Sin is back. And while no piece of art can ever be entirely perfect, this was as close to perfect as I think we can expect.
The story
We start this episode right where the last one left off. Dexter, with a body in his trunk, finds his dumping grounds swarming with cops. So, keeping his head as cool as ever, he pulls out his forensic badge and pretends he’s supposed to be there. Then, he feeds the remaining arm from his second kill to the alligators before anyone can print it. But, not before Angel recognizes a distinct ring on the hand’s finger.
Jewelry really will be the death of Dexter.
While he might have gotten himself out of that mess, he still has a body to deal with. He decides to take it to a dump in broad daylight. Sometimes he acts like he wants to get caught. But then, maybe he does.
Meanwhile, the police are still looking for whoever kidnapped Nicky. There’s a horrific scene in this episode in which the poor kid has his finger chopped off. But this finger might well be the evidence that Miami Metro needs to catch the kidnapper because Dexter notices a sense of hesitation before the cut on Nicky that wasn’t present on the first little boy.
He also finds a drop of blood that doesn’t belong to Nicky.
Once again, it all comes back to blood.
What worked
As I’ve watched this series, and after consuming all of the rest of the work this franchise has offered us, one thing has become more and more clear.
Harry Morgan is a terrible human being.
Let’s just take this episode as an example. We see him strongarming a CI that he had an affair with, threatening to stick her in jail and drop her kids into foster care if she doesn’t keep risking her life for him. We then see him go home and lecture his wife, who he cheated on, for not forgiving him fast enough. And we know how this all ends for the Mosers. We know that Laura ends up dead and Harry takes the baby he liked, leaving Brian to the horrors of the foster care system.
- Michael C. Hall (Actor)
- Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Last update on 2025-01-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The thing is, we were never supposed to like Harry. More and more I realize that Harry is the bad guy. He’s the antagonist of Dexter. And as I’m rewatching the original series, I see clearly that he’s been the bad guy from the start. And I think that’s such a brilliant idea.
Not quite as cool, but still impressive was the serial killer advice scene in this episode. Dexter, struggling with where to hide his dead bodies, researches how other serial killers have done so. We see him talk to Ed Gein, David Berkowitz and John Wayne Gacy. This scene brought the absurdity of the series to the forefront. Our main character admires these men. These monsters did horrific things. And we still, somehow, against all decency, like him.
Let me also just say that Scott Reynolds who played Gacy did a fantastic job. The body language and line delivery were just so creepy. For someone who wasn’t on screen for more than a few minutes, he knew how to make a killer impression.
Finally, I want to applaud the twist in this episode. But, as always, I want to do so without giving it away! I will only say that there is a large reveal regarding the person who killed the judge’s son and abducted Nicky. And, I have to say, I didn’t see it coming. It was amazing and raised so many questions. Questions I cannot wait to have answers for.
Honestly, everything in this episode worked. It was well-written, well-acted, and well worth my time. My only complaint right now is that there are only three episodes left.
Of course, it’s usually the last episode of a Dexter show that ruins the whole thing. Let’s see if they can avoid that this time.
(4 / 5)
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