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Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +5

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I Trapped The Devil (2019)
2.65 out of 4stars

An interesting low budget psychological horror movie on Hulu about a guy that thinks he's trapped the devil in his basement and things get more complicated when his brother and sister in-law come over to visit for Christmas. Honestly, the first 1/3 of the movie is a bit slow with the story set-up, then from then on it heats up with interesting stuff it makes you think about, and the last 1/3 is solid but a couple of the choices it makes you will either love or hate (as shown in it's rottentomatoes score being polar opposites for critics and audience: 75%/39% respectively). It's a very short movie at 82minutes if you're curious about it, the trailer convinced me to check it out.
 
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A Special Day (1976) Directed by Ettore Scola 5A

On the spring day in 1938 when Hitler meets Mussolini in Rome to celebrate Fascism, a lonely man (Marcello Mastroianni) and a frustrated housewife (Sophia Loren), with six children and a prize ass of a husband, meet by chance and spend the day together. They are exact opposites in every imaginable way, politically, educationally, socially and…er…sexually. Though she wishes he wasn’t, her new friend is gay. While there are other actors in the picture briefly, A Special Day is basically a two person show that probably saw the first light of day as a stage play. Still, for an Italian production in the mid-‘70s to tackle gay and (lightly) feminist themes, not to mention with the two biggest stars in Italian movie history in tow, is worthy of some notice. Unfortunately, despite fine performances by both super nova, the script goes thud, especially by today’s standards. For instance, Sophia’s solution to their romantic dilemma is to ignore it, press on. and give it her best shot. Can’t blame a girl for trying. Well, not back then anyway, I suppose. Still, to see these two wonderful old pros who co-starred in 14 movies (A Special Day was their 12th such collaboration) work their considerable magic together remains a treat.

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OzzyFan said:
I Trapped The Devil (2019)
2.65 out of 4stars

An interesting low budget psychological horror movie on Hulu about a guy that thinks he's trapped the devil in his basement and things get more complicated when his brother and sister in-law come over to visit for Christmas. Honestly, the first 1/3 of the movie is a bit slow with the story set-up, then from then on it heats up with interesting stuff it makes you think about, and the last 1/3 is solid but a couple of the choices it makes you will either love or hate (as shown in it's rottentomatoes score being polar opposites for critics and audience: 75%/39% respectively). It's a very short movie at 82minutes if you're curious about it, the trailer convinced me to check it out.
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It took me until the end of your summary to realize that I watched that last year. I thought that it was decent, especially for a low budget directorial debut. Even at only 82 minutes, though, the premise was really stretched out. I agree with one of the reviews that it feels like it would've better belonged as an episode in an anthology horror film. That could probably be said for a lot of new horror debuts, though, since the writer-directors have to leap from doing 15-minute shorts to 90-minute features, even if they're maybe not ready for it. A good premise goes a long way, though, and this one has one. IIRC, the ending is the main thing that divided audiences, and this is one of those movies for which your overall feeling is liable to depend on how much you liked the ending. I think that I was kind of in middle on the ending in that I didn't really find it satisfying, but I didn't hate it, either. Overall, I don't think that my impression was much worse than yours. It's an interesting low-budget, slow-burn horror that may not be for everyone.
 
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My review from last year...

I Trapped The Devil [2019] :

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Verbal Kint

It's Christmas and a couple arrive at the husband's brother's home. There are Christmas lights, which is always good. There is also a man trapped in the basement, which is never good. The brother says he trapped the Devil, and the couple think he's nuts, but they can feel evil coming from behind the locked door. And, for the record, the brother is nuts, but that doesn't mean he's wrong about Satan being in his cellar!

I Trapped The Devil is really well done. There are no special effects, no jarring noises, and nothing jumping out at you. It's just a scary story with terrific lighting and a score that makes your spine tingle.

The film also nailed the ending - which is rare and often the weakest part of suspense films.

I'm not sure if it's my Catholic faith, or the fact that I watched this movie in a dark room late at night, but I Trapped The Devil is the scariest movie I've seen since The Witch In The Window.

8.5/10

Edit : The movie's plot was taken from the 1960's Twilight Zone : The Howling Man. I hadn't seen the episode until after my review.

 
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OzzyFan said:
I Trapped The Devil (2019)
2.65 out of 4stars

An interesting low budget psychological horror movie on Hulu about a guy that thinks he's trapped the devil in his basement and things get more complicated when his brother and sister in-law come over to visit for Christmas. Honestly, the first 1/3 of the movie is a bit slow with the story set-up, then from then on it heats up with interesting stuff it makes you think about, and the last 1/3 is solid but a couple of the choices it makes you will either love or hate (as shown in it's rottentomatoes score being polar opposites for critics and audience: 75%/39% respectively). It's a very short movie at 82minutes if you're curious about it, the trailer convinced me to check it out.
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I loved, loved, loved this movie. Scared the <bleep> out of me.
 
Osprey said:
It took me until the end of your summary to realize that I watched that last year. I thought that it was decent, especially for a low budget directorial debut. Even at only 82 minutes, though, the premise was really stretched out. I agree with one of the reviews that it feels like it would've better belonged as an episode in an anthology horror film. That could probably be said for a lot of new horror debuts, though, since the writer-directors have to leap from doing 15-minute shorts to 90-minute features, even if they're maybe not ready for it. A good premise goes a long way, though, and this one has one. IIRC, the ending is the main thing that divided audiences, and this is one of those movies for which your overall feeling is liable to depend on how much you liked the ending. I think that I was kind of in middle on the ending in that I didn't really find it satisfying, but I didn't hate it, either. Overall, I don't think that my impression was much worse than yours. It's an interesting low-budget, slow-burn horror that may not be for everyone.
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I'm disappointed you didn't like it more. :(
 
Osprey said:
It's OK. I was at a disadvantage because the Devil convinced me that he didn't exist. I'm sure that it would've scared the <bleep> out of me, otherwise!
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Ahahahah, very nice.

Even though I'm antitheist and find all beliefs despicable, for some reason the whole demonic/possession stuff is often effective for me. I'll try to catch this one.
 
The Devil All The Time (2020) - I really liked it. I'm kind of surprised people are so lukewarm on it. Kind of makes me want to check out the source material and the author. The setting and plot is fairly typical Southern Gothic (a literary genre I tend to greatly enjoy for whatever it's worth) but I think it was very effective, helped by a very tight direction that handles its large number of characters and interwoven storylines with care. The director doesn't rush the narrative, and instead gives the viewer time to indulge all of the characters, even if what makes them tick isn't always gifted to the viewer, but to me, isn't with much importance either. If one wanted to, they would be fairly easy to assume and guess at, and I think it would be simple conditioning that would make a viewer complain that elaborate motivations are not offered or dwelled upon. An almost imperceptible soundtrack impresses, especially towards the last stretch of the film, where it sneaks on the viewer as to how effective it had been during the entire runtime. I also thought it was a nice change of pace that the director didn't seem to dwell upon the landscape as much as other directors may have been tempted to out of habit. It stayed focused on the interactions of its multiple characters, some worthy, some weak and incompetent who are the quick snacks of djinns and some who are djinns themselves. The actresses dominate their male counterparts and Robert Pattinson, despite a valiant effort and dedication, was not born to play a southern preacher. Although he certainly does not hurt the film, only he doesn't give the performance folks have come to expect. Not much is asked of its main character either, Alvin Russell, played by Tom Holland, but he does what is required. The lesser known male actors (Jason Clarke and Sebastian Stan) are the ones who seem to punch above their weight. Still, quite a fun way to deliver what on paper is a typical story of the southern grotesque, but puts a nice spin thanks to strong dialogue and originality of action, without insulting the viewer or trying to force a reaction.
 
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This weekend I watched:

The Lighthouse - Robert Eggers 2019
Great mood piece with outstanding directing. I appreciate that it can be enjoyed at face value as a story about the degradation of one's mental state with some WTF moments, or as a kind of art film where the entire sequence of events presented to us might be questionable. The combo of black-and-white, and the unique aspect ratio made for a very memorable viewing experience, and overall I probably will want to re-visit this movie again some time. Pattinson and Dafoe are also great here.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - David Fincher 2011
Thoroughly enjoyed this movie - intriguing crime-thriller with great performances by Craig and Mara. It's not a top-tier Fincher movie, and as far as this genre goes, I prefer Prisoners and Fincher's more recent Gone Girl. It's a good movie though, and one of the better films of a bit of a weak 2011 year.

The Blair Witch Project - Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez 1999
I had only seen a few minutes of this movie before, and having seen the entire thing now I really appreciate the innovative creative process behind this film. It's short, concise, and above all, a perfect example of how mood can influence the experience of watching a film. To mess with the actors to the point where they end up not even acting, but rather giving genuine performances out of sheer terror is a hell of bold and difficult way to make a movie, and it is damn near impossible to replicate as so many poor imitators have proven subsequently.
 
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McOilers97 said:
The Blair Witch Project - Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez 1999
I had only seen a few minutes of this movie before, and having seen the entire thing now I really appreciate the innovative creative process behind this film. It's short, concise, and above all, a perfect example of how mood can influence the experience of watching a film. To mess with the actors to the point where they end up not even acting, but rather giving genuine performances out of sheer terror is a hell of bold and difficult way to make a movie, and it is damn near impossible to replicate as so many poor imitators have popped up since 1999.
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Never saw this one, but I do remember the shaky camera work was a problem for some people. Any thoughts on that?
 
Darcy Loewen said:
Never saw this one, but I do remember the shaky camera work was a problem for some people. Any thoughts on that?
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I know it's a problem for some people in terms of making them feel sick, but I've never had that problem. It just made the movie more engaging to me, because I ended up feeling like I was right there with the characters.
 
Darcy Loewen said:
Never saw this one, but I do remember the shaky camera work was a problem for some people. Any thoughts on that?
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I went with my (future) wife to see it in the theatre, along with my brother and a friend.

It was so packed that we had to split up into pairs.

An employee showed up and announced before the movie that it could cause vertigo in some viewers, so Future_Mrs_NyQuil immediately left to see Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and I ended up watching it by myself.

Basically there are some running scenes where the camera bounces around but that kind of shooting is much more prevalent now so I don't think you'd have a really big problem.
 
NyQuil said:
I went with my (future) wife to see it in the theatre, along with my brother and a friend.

It was so packed that we had to split up into pairs.

An employee showed up and announced before the movie that it could cause vertigo in some viewers, so Future_Mrs_NyQuil immediately left to see Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and I ended up watching it by myself.

Basically there are some running scenes where the camera bounces around but that kind of shooting is much more prevalent now so I don't think you'd have a really big problem.
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Did your wife like Runaway Bride?
 
Darcy Loewen said:
Never saw this one, but I do remember the shaky camera work was a problem for some people. Any thoughts on that?
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In some movies shaky camera work really annoys me (The Bourne Ultimatum comes to mind), but it wasn't a factor in this movie. All I can say is that Blair Witch Project scared the hell out of me when it was released, and I am usually immune to that sort of thing.
 
ORRFForever said:
Alone (2020) :

In the movie Alone, there are 2 Jessica's...

The first is the "too nice Jessica". She's the one that wasn't clever / forceful enough to make the creepy guy with the moustache go away - all she had to do was take his picture and tell him she's sent the picture to the police because he's scaring her. Problem solved! He'd never bother her again.

The second is the "resourceful Jessica". That's the Jessica that appears after she's kidnapped and that Jessica is a BEAST.

Then there's the bad guy - along with having a heck of a right hook, he's smart and scary, but not over the top like you see in other movies.

To the writer's/director's credit, Alone did its best not to be predictable and it succeeded - there were a few times when I thought I knew where the movie was going, but it took me in another direction. Bravo!

While the final 5 minutes was too much and there were better ways to end Alone, it was a heck of a ride and the 98 minutes flew by.

7.75/10

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Your review and the RT scores convinced me to check this out, so I looked it up and started watching. 10 minutes in, I started to wonder if it was the same film, mainly because the acting is pretty bad. It turns out that what I'm watching is another 2020 horror film named Alone that is also about a woman being terrorized in a cabin in the woods. On top of that, I've found that there's yet another 2020 horror film named Alone, but about zombies and starring Donald Sutherland. What gives? Does no one check these things? Is this what happens during a pandemic when the film industry's left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing?

Alone (2020)

Alone (2020)

Alone (2020)

^That is not the same link pasted three times
 
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