The Basement

MY RATING: 5

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info:  14 Sept 2018

Genre: Horror
Writers/Directors: Brian M. Conley and Nathan Ives
Running Time: 1 Hour and 30 Minutes

Staring: Jackson Davis, Cayleb Long and Mischa Barton

Rating? TV-MA

SPOILERS? YES

STORYLINE

A seemingly innocent man is abducted by a notorious Los Angeles serial killer who forces his victims to role-play with him so that he can enact his capture, torture and murder fantasies.  

MY REVIEW

This was a suggestion for me from Netflix. The premise sounded interesting and it had a 4.6 on IMDb. It could be that I was a bit distracted while watching by the cutest little half-munchkin kitten Dexter Morgan but I actually thought this was just okay, nothing less, nothing more. It has flaws but its interesting. Should you see it on Netflilx? Well... I wouldn't say that you should, but if you do, please don't do it beccause I suggested. Let's review, shall we?

What I DID LIKE about this movie:


SPOILERS AHEAD!

• Acting was actually pretty good for a sub-B level movie.  Mischa Barton is not the greatest actress in the world, but i thought she did good with what she had. She was a lifeless, almost like she was playing the role like she thought Kristen Stewart would play her.
• Torture porn adjacent. It was ALMOST a good torture movie, if they would have shown a little more of the gore.. and who loves gore? That's right, THIS GIRL!
• Jackson Davis does a pretty amazing job as the Gemini Killer. Multiple personalities aside, it was a cool twist. I mean, again, the name of the guy alone told us what to expect but

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• WRITING. The story was unique albeit overdone. The "Gemini" killer is kidnapping and torturing people in the San Fernando Valley, CA. Right there, right off the bat was the plot all summed up in the name of the killer. Gemini (Jackson Davis). Obviously a twin. Famous musician (Cayleb Long) is kidnapped and his wife (Mischa Barton) and her friend are at the house waiting.. it becomes painfully obvious that the wife is the twin and she knows that her hubby is f-ing the friend and she's gotten her brother, the Gemini killer to off her cheating man. This was not subtext at all. Handed to the viewer on a silver platter. So much predictability that it was actually a bit boring.
• English Accent- Come ON! Invent in some acting classes or get a real Englishman!

There's just not that much more to say. It was not good and not bad. 

IT- Chapter Two

MY RATING: 5

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 6 Sept 2019

Genre: Horror
Director:Andy Muschietti
Writer:Gary Dauberman and Stephen King
Running Time: 2 Hours and 49 Minutes

Staring: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader

Rating? R

SPOILERS? NO and YES 
(It's clearly marked where the spoilers begin)

STORYLINE

Twenty-seven years later their first encounter with the terrifying Pennywise, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back.

MY REVIEW

I want to start with the obvious. Stephen King. I LOVE Stephen King. His novel “The Tommyknockers” was one of the first books I read followed by Christine. He's an amazing writer but this brings me to the inevitable. Stephen King movie adaptations that stick to the bones of the story are difficult and end up going off the rails because I think his words are more suited to paper than the screen. 

Click HERE to read my review for IT Chapter 1.

IT Chapter 2, joins the list of King novels that were better off left in the pages of a book. The read was terrifying and lives in a world of internal psychological fantasy while the screen adaptation fell flat for me. I mean, I didn't hate it, but it wasn't a completely enjoyable 3 hours. Yep, three hours. UGH! 

This part of the review is Spoiler Free, so enjoy but if you want to remain so, STOP when I say so.

Director Andy Muschietti used a bit too much narrative and tried to fit way too much story into the already long film. Some of the pieces should have been left on the cutting room floor. Let’s not even talk about the few continuity issues.

Was it scary? Nope. It was light on Pennywise and heavy on the Losers, not entirely a bad thing, but Pennywise is IT!  I was in love with  Bill Skarsgård's performance in the first movie. I hate to say it but I think they showed all of the good Pennywise scenes in the trailers. Speaking of the Losers - - Richie Tozier, played by Bill Hader was solidly my favorite. I’ve read a few reviews that extol his performance as the highlight of the movie. While he was good, his part was pretty much a mash up of one-liners that he delivered with perfect comedic timing. He also had a few emotional scenes that proved his humor could be tempered with emotion. He was my favorite Loser.

James McAvoy delivered a great performance as Bill Denbrough. I liked that McAvoy played Bill with a bit more edge than you would've thought from the character that we were shown in Chapter 1. His story line though, I think could have been better. 

The rest of the Losers Club was good, but no one really stood out with a great story however all provided a decent performance. James Ransome as Eddie Kaspbrack. Isaiah Mustafa as Mike Hanlon. (Isaiah was the fun Old Spice commercial guy.)  Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom,  Andy Bean as Stan Uris and finally, Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh.

Thanks Morbidly Beautiful for the Pics

Did I love this movie? No. Was it passable? Yes.  I mean, you should see this movie if you are a horror fan and liked the first one. It’s not the worst wrap up to a story, BUT, don't spring for the fancy theater, get one of the discount ones, matinee if you can find one.

The next section contains SPOILERS- STOP!!!

I warned you. So, it’s your own fault if you keep reading this and spoil the movie! Let’s start with the story. Again, Stephen King novels are notoriously difficult to translate into film. So, Mike Hanlon in a drug induced haze, discovers the way to kill Pennywise is to perform this Ritual of Chud. What he doesn't share with the Losers, who he’s convinced to help him perform the ritual, is that the one time the ritual was performed it was an abject failure.  This ritual sent the Losers on a movie long journey to find their talismans. Although the personal journey’s they take give the view insight into their stories and reintroduce Pennywise in various forms, the tasks and items they brought were summarily discarded. Seemed a waste.

The movie did however; bring in the Native American history that was prevalent in the book. It almost brought in the whole Wendigo part. There was a little hint of a picture in Mike’s montage. 

I am still shaking my head at the whole love triangle between Bill, Mike and Bev that seems a little overdone. Didn't really need to go that far to show the audience that Bev had no idea that Ben was the original author of the love note. Your hair is winter Fire. January Embers. My Heart burns there too.  Worst near haiku known to man.

The Eddie/Richie gay subtext was there in a way that I think even Stephen King didn't intend to show in the book. It was less than obvious on the first read, but it showed up on the second and third. It was a nice add-on for me to see this aspect played so well by Bill Hader and James Ransone. My heart broke a little for Richie as he held the recently deceased Eddie in the sewers and kissed his cheek. 

The opening scenes with the locals gay-bashing and beating the couple was unnecessary. Small town small-minded dicks are everywhere. I thought Pennywise only killed kids. Did he need to kill the random adult?

Fear paralyzes Pennywise and he is “diminished” by the Losers standing making fun of him. Felt reminiscent of the scenes in Nightmare when Nancy turned her back on Freddy. It was hard to take the idea at face value for which fears exist only in their subconscious.

CGI was overdone. IT was less of a spider and more of a crab? That was just weird.

I absolutely LOVED the last voiceover..  

“People want to believe they are what they choose to remember. The good stuff. The moments. Places. The people we all hold onto. But sometimes, sometimes we are what we wish we could forget.”