Sunday 31 October 2021

Special: Halloween Kills, Muppets: Haunted Mansion, Werewolves Within Mini-Reviews

Halloween Kills

Synopsis: Minutes after Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie's basement, Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor. But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie's trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself against him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster. The Strode women join a group of other survivors of Michael's first rampage who decide to take matters into their own hands, forming a vigilante mob that sets out to hunt Michael down, once and for all. Evil dies tonight.

My thoughts: The previous installment breathed a lot of new air into this long struggling project, though I will admit I liked the Rob Zombie Halloween but just like that movie I was disappointed by the follow-up but unlike that one I didn't completely despise Halloween Kills, it simply didn't move the needle forward as much as I would've liked. Of course a sequel is already in the works so let's just hope this is the issue of a prolonged second act to get us to a worthwhile finale in it's own film.

Final verdict: 3.5 Shatner masks out of 5.

Muppets: Haunted Mansion

Synopsis: The Great Gonzo – world famous daredevil artiste, has done it all, seen it all, and survived it all. But on Halloween night, the fearless Gonzo takes on the greatest challenge of his life by spending one very daring night in the most grim grinning place on Earth …The Haunted Mansion.

My thoughts: This Muppets special won't gain many new Muppets fans. It's simply a situation where if you like the not quite a mop, not quite a puppet characters, you'll like this. Will Arnett and Taraji P. Henson seem to be having a blast making this which does show and Haunted Mansion gives us all the heart and soul we expect from a Muppets production. They've been a little hit and miss recently and this isn't a hit like past Muppets movies you fondly remember but not the misses like you recall as well. It's comfortable in the middle but given the track record of late you'll take that.

Final verdict: 3.5 Disney rides out of 5.

Werewolves Within

Synopsis: After a proposed pipeline creates divisions within the small town of Beaverfield, and a snowstorm traps its residents together inside the local inn, newly arrived forest ranger FINN (Sam Richardson) and postal worker CECILY (Milana Vayntrub) must try to keep the peace and uncover the truth behind a mysterious creature that has begun terrorizing the community.

My thoughts: Based off a VR game, which is based off a card game that I like, Werewolves Within, had a good set up and the movie kept you guessing. I felt like they focused a bit too much on the comedy element and not enough on the horror element unfortunately. But that was really the only downside as I felt this cast of relative unknows did well and the visual effects weren't too bad given the budget the filmmakers were working with.

Final verdict: 3.5 twists out of 5.

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