Tag: Sequel

SCREAM 7 (2026)

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Directed By: Kevin Williamson

Written By: Kevin Williamson and Guy Busick

Story By: James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick 

Cinematography: Ramsey Nickell

Editor: Jim Page

Cast: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Joel Michael, Anna Camp, McKenna Grace, Ethan Embry, Celeste O’Connor, Jimmy Tatro 

Sidney Prescott has built a quiet life in Pine Grove, Indiana, running a coffeehouse with her husband, Mark, and raising their teenage daughter, Tatum. That fragile peace shatters when a new Ghostface begins targeting Tatum and her friends, first attacking during a school theater rehearsal and then turning the family’s home and Sidney’s business into killing grounds. The threat becomes more personal when Ghostface contacts Sidney through video calls, appearing as an aged and scarred Stu Macher. As Sidney tries to protect Tatum, the attacks spread through the town, forcing her to confront the possibility that Stu survived and that someone is using her traumatic past to manipulate her family. With Gale Weathers, Chad Meeks-Martin, and Mindy Meeks-Martin drawn into the crisis, Sidney must uncover the killer’s identity before Tatum becomes the next chapter in her mother’s history of violence.

Spoilers ahead! If you haven’t seen Scream 7, I wouldn’t recommend reading this review. Then again, after watching the movie, you might wish somebody had warned you about that, too.

First things first: I love the original Scream. I like Scream 2, too. And for whatever reason, I’ve generally found myself enjoying the even-numbered entries in this franchise more than the odd ones. Honestly, they could have ended things with Scream 4, which I think more than makes up for the shortcomings of Scream 3.

At some point, I would have liked to imagine Sidney Prescott finally getting to live a normal adult life. You know, maybe raise a family, enjoy a quiet afternoon, and go grocery shopping without having to worry about some masked lunatic turning her errands into a crime scene.

But money talks, bullshit walks, and apparently, Ghostface never retires. So the franchise kept going, and I kept showing up.

Unfortunately, the plans for another trilogy centered on Melissa Barrera’s character fell apart after Barrera was fired following her public comments about Palestine. Jenna Ortega subsequently exited, and director Christopher Landon also departed the project. With the original plans in disarray, the franchise returned to Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, bringing her back into the spotlight after the salary dispute that kept her out of Scream VI.

I wasn’t particularly interested in paying to see Scream 7 in theaters, but I was curious enough to check it out once it became available on streaming. 

This is a pale imitation of the movies that came before it. For a franchise that once felt clever, personal, and genuinely interested in playing games with its audience, this installment feels strangely disposable. It could have been any modern slasher or mystery horror movie, just with the SCREAM name slapped on the poster.

What makes that especially disappointing is the involvement of Kevin Williamson, the man who wrote the original Scream and helped establish what made this franchise so special in the first place.

You would think that having the guy who helped create the magic back in the director’s chair would be a good thing. Instead, the movie feels like a reminder that knowing the ingredients to a successful recipe doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll make a good meal.

Perhaps the last-minute changes and rewrites are partly to blame. Whatever the reason, the movie never feels as though it has much of a personal identity. It feels like a franchise trying to keep itself alive rather than a story that genuinely needs to be told. And that’s a shame, because there was a time when Scream felt like it had something to say.

One of my biggest problems is that the movie seems to think more gore automatically means more impact.

There’s certainly plenty of blood, guts, and gruesome business to go around. Apparently, every victim needs a mandatory serving of extra violence before they’re allowed to leave the movie.

The problem is that you barely get to know most of these people. They become little more than targets waiting to be crossed off the list. When somebody dies, you’re less likely to feel sad than to wonder whether they were the killer, a red herring, or simply another body to decorate the floor.

I find it ironic that when the original SCREAM came out, the filmmakers had to cut back on Drew Barrymore’s opening death to secure the R rating. Here, the gore is practically flying everywhere. We’ve certainly come a long way from the days when a little blood was enough to get the ratings board reaching for its scissors.

And while I can give the film some credit for its willingness to get nasty, there’s a difference between being shocking and simply being excessive. 

There’s also a particularly uncomfortable death involving a teenage Black girl that feels unnecessarily brutal. The violence is already clear, and the extra punishment adds nothing meaningful to the scene. It comes across less as effective horror than gratuitous overkill. And speaking of overkill, the movie has another annoying habit: refusing to let certain deaths remain deaths.

Characters who appear to have been killed turn out to be alive, sometimes after what should have been fatal encounters. The film wants to be coldhearted, but then seems to get nervous about following through.  You can’t have it both ways. If you’re going to play rough, at least commit to the game.

I understand Sidney wanting to protect her daughter from the horrors of her past. That’s a perfectly reasonable instinct for a mother.

But considering that Ghostface has repeatedly turned Sidney’s life into a never-ending episode of Who Wants to Be Murdered Next?, you would think she’d have given her daughter a little more information about the danger she might face.

There’s a difference between shielding a child and leaving them completely unprepared for a family history that practically comes with its own true-crime documentary series.

Still, one of the film’s better aspects is Sidney herself. Neve Campbell remains the heart of this franchise, and it’s nice to see her back on the big screen.

I appreciate that Sidney isn’t reduced to a shrieking victim waiting for somebody else to save her. She fights back, takes action, and tries to teach her daughter how to defend herself. That’s the Sidney Prescott I remember: a survivor who refuses to go down without a fight. But even that comes with a bittersweet feeling. How many times does this woman have to do this? At what point does she get to enjoy the life she’s fought so hard to preserve?

I know horror franchises thrive on bringing their survivors back for another round. But I would have liked to see Sidney get something resembling a happy ending. Maybe a peaceful family dinner. A vacation. A few years without a phone call from somebody wearing a Halloween costume and carrying a knife. Is that really too much to ask?

Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are the other returning cast members from the newer generation, and at this point, they feel like the franchise’s attempt to create another Dewey.

The difference is that Dewey generally had a stronger purpose in the story. Here, these characters sometimes feel like human pincushions, repeatedly getting attacked, somehow surviving, and then wandering right back into danger.

You’d think after everything they’ve experienced, they’d have considered moving somewhere with better security and fewer suspicious phone calls.

But they’re among the few links to the previous installments, so their presence at least gives longtime fans something familiar to hold on to.

Unfortunately, familiarity is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

When the killers are finally revealed, the whole thing feels less like a clever mystery and more like an episode of SCOOBY-DOO. You can practically hear somebody pulling off a mask and announcing that they would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling survivors.

The motivations are even more disappointing. Previous SCREAM movies understood that the killer’s identity was only half the fun. The motive needed to add something to the story, whether it was a commentary on fame, fandom, revenge, or the horror industry’s obsession with recycling itself.

Here, the explanations feel weak, impersonal, and downright silly. The reveal doesn’t make you reconsider what you’ve watched. It makes you wonder why you spent so much time trying to solve the mystery in the first place.

Even one of the killers feels so inconsequential for much of the movie that their eventual involvement in the big reveal barely registers.And the opening sequence, which should be one of the franchise’s signature moments, isn’t particularly effective either. It tries to make you suspect that the killings might be connected to one of the characters we’re meant to question, but the setup ultimately feels like much ado about nothing.

The opening victims may be recognizable to a few particularly devoted film fans, but they don’t have quite the star power or cultural recognition that might make their deaths especially memorable.

There’s nothing wrong with the actors themselves. The problem is that the sequence never quite achieves the impact of the franchise’s best opening scenes.

The movie does deserve a little credit for finding a way to bring back familiar faces from the past, much as the previous installments kept finding ways to incorporate Billy Loomis. It’s a fun idea in principle, but there are only so many times you can revisit the same tricks before they stop feeling inventive.

It’s not all bad news. There are very few savi g graces 

Gale Weathers gets a memorable entrance, and it’s refreshing to see her make it through the movie without getting repeatedly beaten, stabbed, or otherwise treated like a punching bag. For once, she seems to have figured out that self-preservation is a perfectly respectable career choice. And Neve Campbell is still a welcome presence. There’s something comforting about seeing her return to the role that helped define the franchise. She brings a familiarity and strength that the film desperately needs.

The gore is another point in its favor if that’s what you’re looking for. There’s an undeniable enthusiasm for practical nastiness, even if the movie occasionally mistakes excess for effectiveness. But these are small victories in a film that never quite comes together.

What’s especially strange is that this installment comes from Kevin Williamson, whose original screenplay helped make SCREAM, such a refreshing horror movie in the first place. Perhaps this is a case of the material needing a different perspective, or perhaps the franchise has simply run out of fresh ideas to say about itself.

I still like certain aspects of SCREAM 3, despite its flaws, because at least it felt as though it was trying something different. Its Hollywood setting and comedic elements gave it a distinct identity, while its commentary on the movie business and the people who control it offered more to chew on than simply guessing who was behind the mask. In retrospect, the film’s satire of Hollywood’s abuse of power also takes on an uglier dimension. which also seemed to be taking shots at DIMENSION FILMS and Harvey Weinstein in particular. 

SCREAM 7, by comparison, feels like a repeat performance in a different town, with fewer interesting things to say.

What makes this disappointing isn’t simply that it’s a bad sequel. Bad sequels are practically a horror tradition. It’s that SCREAM was once a franchise that made you feel as though you were in on the joke.

It understood horror movies, their clichés, their audiences, and the people who loved them. It could be funny without becoming silly, violent without losing its personality, and self-aware without making you feel as though the filmmakers were congratulating themselves for being clever.

The original movie helped make horror feel exciting again. It was sharp, entertaining, and genuinely surprising. It’s a movie that helped me

To take a greater Interest In horror films. Even when the sequels stumbled, there was usually something to appreciate, whether it was a new setting, an interesting idea, or another memorable performance from the returning cast.

With SCREAM 7, I mostly felt the absence of any of that 

It feels like filler masquerading as a full-fledged sequel, a movie that exists because the franchise is still profitable rather than because anyone has a particularly compelling story to tell. And given how much money these films can make, I doubt Ghostface will be hanging up the mask anytime soon. Another sequel seems inevitable, even if we don’t know when it’ll arrive.

If that happens, I hope the filmmakers take a step back and figure out what makes this series worth revisiting. Give us characters worth caring about, a mystery worth solving, a motive worth remembering, and something to say beyond the fact that people keep getting murdered.

For longtime fans, SCREAM 7 might be worth watching just to complete the collection. It’s nice to see Neve Campbell again, and there are a few moments that remind you why this franchise mattered in the first place.

But for me, this is one of the least memorable entries in the series, right down there with SCREAM 3, though that film at least had a personality of its own.

I wouldn’t recommend it as a starting point for new horror fans, either. It’s the seventh movie in a franchise, after all. There are better places to begin, including the very film that made all of this possible.

Ultimately, the saddest thing about SCREAM 7 is that it leaves me feeling less excited about the next installment than nostalgic for the first one.

I remember when seeing a new SCREAM meant looking forward to a clever new mystery, memorable characters, and the possibility that the franchise might surprise me all over again.

I wouldn’t be upset if this was the last in the franchise and they finally let it rest in peace but then again I said the same thing at the end of three and the force one ended up being spectaculat so We’ll see.

Grade: C- 

ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS (2021)

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Directed By: Adam Robitel 

Written By: Will Honley, Maria Melnik, Daniel Tuch and Oren Uziel

Story By: Christine Lavaf and Fritz Boum

Based On Characters Created By: Bragi Schut 

Cinematography: Marc Spicer

Editor: Steve Mirkovich and Peter Pav

Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Indya Moore, Holland Roden, Thomas Cocquerel, Carlito Oliver, Lucy Newman-Williams, Deborah Ann Woll 

Six people unwillingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive. Joining forces with two of the original survivors, they soon discover they’ve all played the game before.

This sequel just came along way too fast and you can tell as everything feels rushed on the plus side it gets to the point, but we considering we already know or most of us should know what’s to be expected. You don’t mind if we at least got to know more of the characters or the film offered something like a little more behind the scenes of how everything works.

Even as the film and it filmmaker, expect the audience already to know everything and like most equals just seems to get to the action, but then offers pretty much the same premise that the original film offered only this time the characters are more in the no, which is why one would guess that we don’t really get to know them

The film is not written by the first films writer. So it seems like they brought in a new writers trying to put a voice to someone else’s songs and while this is a common practice in Hollywood, it feels like maybe this new script is a little bit or chooses to be more pop when maybe it should’ve had a little more depth with the music and lyrics. 

though it could also be as there are four listed Screenwriter on this phone that everybody was overwriting each other, and then trying to make it simple, not to mention that the story for the film apparently needed two people to come up with it as that how how bonkers this film seems. 

Not to mention this a film that has a bigger budget, but still manages to look cheaper than the first film as truly here everything looks like it is happening on A set or on various sets throughout a studio lot

As we only really get to know the characters right before they perish, which seems to let the audience know what’s about to happen so the film doesn’t really offer any mystery. Which leaves it to be predictable and uninteresting for the most part.

Even towards the end of the film. It just seems to throw out familiar faces to keep the first films audience interested in how did that person get there?

The first escape room film was surprisingly fun and entertaining playing more like a guilty pleasure. This sequel feels like there was very little effort made. It feels more of a cash in that believes that it’s smarter than what it is, unfortunately wasting the cast, especially lead Taylor Russell, Holland Roden and Indya Moore. Talents and times

Grade: C-

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 (2026)

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Directed By:  David Frankel 

Written By: Aline Brosh McKenna

Based on characters created by: Lauren Weisberger

Cinematography: Florian Ballhaus 

Editor: Andrew Marcus 

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Gucci, Emily Blunt, Lucy Liu, Tracie Thoms, Justin Theroux, B.J. Novak, Simone Ashley, Kenneth Branagh, Tibor Feldman, Helen J. Chan, Caleb Hearon, Patrick Brammell, Rachel Bloom, 

Andy Sachs reunites with Miranda Priestly as they navigate their careers amid the decline of traditional magazine publishing.

This film from the get-go was a mix bag as I loved the book and I loved the first film and was partially looking forward to a sequel even though I partially believed it’s probably not going to be as good and then once I saw the trailer is that feeling became more and more apparent.

The film is not based on the book sequel REVENGE WEARS PRADA: THE DEVIL RETUENS 

So now that I have finally seen this film, I can honestly say it doesn’t hold a candle to the first film. It’s more like a nice try, but it’s not entirely all of the films fault as it’s nice to catch up with the characters and see what they’re doing the problem with this film is really how times have changed.

How when the first film came out, there were still magazines. It was still an industry, and the fashion industry still felt creative and of quality when it came to art photography, even though it’s all about sales in the end and showcasing they just seems to be a grand or presentation when it came to magazines and print, and at least there were articles and interviews that seem to make it more worthwhile whereas now everything is on the Internet, so kind of has a gloss to it, but it feels uninspired more shiny sort of like the materials at some clothes are made up how some of these days are more disposable then build to last and that is the fate of this magazine within a film and it feels like that is the state of this film. As well as where it almost feels like culture is going.

It’s very glossy, but it feels impersonal and very disposal. It’s not as much fun and ultimately becomes disappointing now maybe because the first film dealt with growth and learning from a young female character learning her way around the ropes and now we have this character more at middle age coming to terms with her life so that’s not as endearing to the audience, even if it is partially identified and though there are stakes, they don’t seem to be very high or dramatic. Again it’s almost like the Judd apatow movie. THIS IS 40 where we’re watching the trials and tribulations of the characters, but they are in such a verified error of the 1% and that it’s really hard to really feel anything or truly worry because you know they’ll land on their feet quite easily they just might not have the same high positions they wanted

While the film obviously has its moments it also never quite feels fun like the first filmed, especially as everybody just seems to be going through the motions. they might seem to be having fun to revisit these characters and come together, but they also still feel a bit on autopilot making them mainly bland, even though why they stood out in the first place was that they were colorful one can understand that for Anne Hathaway‘s character as she was growing up and morphing in the first film here she just feels very bland, but wisened.

Miranda Priestley as played by Meryl Streep is still an iconic character, but while she still continues to have her high maintenance, the film softens her and gives examples of how she has to handle herself in this more delicate culture. 

Luckily, the film isn’t all bad and it does try but again it just never feels quite inspired or creative as it could be just like how the offices in the first film felt a little more grand and permanent but by the time we get to the sequel, the offices feel small filled more with people that you’re not quite sure what they do in while being more modern it doesn’t quite feel built to last. It’s good enough for now, but no one will claim to miss it within a few years.

Happily, they never really lean into a romantic angle, even though they hint at it as it seems that all films with women over a certain age being single we must throw one a love interest, even if it kind of feels like it’s padding the movie down with filler and to give her some kind of life outside of the office

It never feels as grand as it should privileged sure but never as much as a spectacle. It has the same effect as when Glenn Close went from 101 DALMATIONS to 102 DALMATIONS  movies where it doesn’t have quite that same magic when it goes off the reservation and away from where it was based so much.

This is a sequel that never really needed to be made but for fans of the original, you’re going to want to see this film probably as completed, but don’t say you weren’t warned

Grade: C 

28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE (2026)

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Directed By: Nia DaCosta

Written By: Alex Garland

Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt

Editor: Jake Roberts 

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams, Jack O’Connell, Erin Kellyman, Emma Laird, Chi Lewis-Parry, Mirren Mack, Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Connor Newall 

As Spike is inducted into Jimmy Crystal’s gang on the mainland, Dr. Kelson makes a discovery that could alter the world.

A sequel, the second film in a plan trilogy of 28 years later continues from where the last film left off with a refines still running his patch of land and dealing with the tree trunk Alpha zombie known as Sampson and strangely finding him as a savage companion. yet also trying to cure him. Yes again there is full frontal. 

the character of Spike is  introduced in indoctrinated into the gang of the Jimmy’s and violent apocalyptic cult based on the Teletubbies and the late disgraced comedian Jimmy Saville 

As they wear color coated, Adidas track suits and wigs the same color and style as Jimmy Savile lead by a self appointed leader, who says that Satan speaks to him, and that they are his hand to save and savage those they come across unless they can prove themselves in a fight, one on one, then they can join the gang

Two parallel plot lines that you know eventually are going to have to intersect, but getting there is quite brutal. This film is much more violent than the first 28 YEARS LATER, but is also kind of more savage did that film in on screen violence against uninfected, humans and psychologically.

That leads to question what is worse those who are infected, and don’t know any better going off what they believe their thoughts and mind is telling them or humans who choose to massacre and pillage by choice rather than necessity

It also shows the danger of idolatry and believing in false gods and how it can lead down a dark road, leaving you worse for where if not completely destroying you, as you do the bidding of the one you have faith in who has you commit things against your own morals for them getting your own hands dirty for their sins. 

As the Jimmy’s are all young, looking for survival and needing something to believe in and here comes this so-called leader who brainwashes them and use them for his own ends, giving way to darker impulses just as the real life Jimmy Savile was well beloved, but a monster who sexually abuse children and women in plain sight, but was so beloved no one dared think bad of him and even celebrated him.

Now, while all that is going on the film does keep up the tension, action and thrills throughout and director needed. DaCosta gets to build off of the world that was created by Danny Boyle in the first film working with the same Screenwriter Alex Garland here we get more of the desperate landscape away from the small village of the first film that we got glimpses and travel through, but now get a little more into the different settlements and mindset of those who have made it on this mainland for so long

Wow, this is certainly a thrill for fans of the franchise in those following discontinuing story. It still doesn’t feel a satisfactory as it’s supposed to be a continuation, though it feels more like a sequel. As for some this film will remind them of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI after THE FORCE AWAKENS as well. It continues. The story of characters were introduced in the first film. It feels like a side step a side story or a level that the characters have to go through to make it to the next one the finale, though it also gains some new characters or at least one to continue onto the next one and eliminate some that were introduced in the first film. It also charged the evolution of the characters. Expanding the corners of the lands.

Though with all of this discovery, for some odd reason, it doesn’t come across as ultimately fulfilling it’s not worthy, but for some odd reason, it feels like there should be more, and I say this as a fan of the franchise and films.

At least this one has a little bit more of a slight sense of humor, even if dark at times as well as refines having more screen time and still managing to steal the movie

The middle of the film even has a long drawn out scene at a survival farmhouse that becomes a torture session that feels elongated. It might remind some viewers of the movie DETROIT only thankfully here it is more made up by Screenwriter, whereas unfortunately what happened in the movie DETROIT is based on historical fact.

It also has a few more pop, culture references, and music hits rather than any original score or soundtrack that was quite strong and helped support the first film of this current hopefully trilogy.

It hints at rather than opens up all these deep meanings, ideas and thoughts made. Truly giving you something to think about afterwards and more than just simple entertainment.

The cast is all excellent especially one of my favorite actors Ralph Fiennes, the scene stealer of the film is Erin Kellyman, as one of the rebellious jimmy’s 

The film is in a failure by any means and should delight most audience has messed up as it ends up being though it’s just not a total victory. But leaves you with plenty to think about if you choose to look past, the film has just entertain entertainment.

It also involves an ending that helps to bring the film’s full circle and stay connected. 

Grade: B- 

BLACK PHONE 2 (2025)

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Directed By: Scott Derrickson

Written By: C. Robert Cargill

Based on the Short Story “THE BLACK PHONE” by: Joe Hill 

Cinematography: Par M. Ekberg 

Editor: Louise Ford 

Cast: Mason Thames, Madeline McGraw, Demian Bichir, Ethan Hawke, Miguel Mora, Arianna Rivas, Jeremy Davies, Maev Beaty 

As Finn, now 17, struggles with life after his captivity, his sister begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp known as Alpine Lake.

When I was younger, I remember going to the movies with my friends to go see the conjuring. It was a movie. I really was not at all that hyped or really that interested to go see, as at that time, I felt like I was a film, know it all, and had superior taste almost like a cinematic insider in my own mind, but they all were going with or without me and being a movie fan and wanting to hang out and not go home. Ended up attending with them gave the movie a chance, ended up, loving the film and the experience.  it was pretty much story wise what I expected, but the film in itself was a surprise for me how enjoyable and entertained one was by the end. Please don’t ask me about the sequels or the franchise in general, but that first one remain a special memory for me.

These days it’s very rare that I am surprised by a movie. I don’t get to go out to the movies as much with friends and their whims anymore to go see films that I didn’t necessarily plan to in the first place. The first black phone movie might have been one of the last of those types where I didn’t overwhelmingly not want to see it, but had limited interest where I felt. I could wait by the end. I truly enjoyed the film as it felt like a film of the time period that it was sat in as it wasn’t cookie cutter. It was brutal. It was violent. It wasn’t looking for sympathy. It was a matter of fact with not necessarily likable characters, though some of them didn’t deserve the fate that was doubt, and it only had a hint of the supernatural.

Now, while the sequel is a continuation of this seems to focus more on the supernatural aspects of the character, story and film, where the formula seems to be

Take 1 part STRANGER THINGS, 2 parts A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET , mix in a little of THE SHINING and you get BLACK PHONE 2. The sum of its parts. It Feels like the filmmakers took what they were fans of and what they were watching at the time. As well as what was popular and made this film. Which has great style but is a bunch of build up. Yet feels rather thin and stretching. It feels like it was obligated and this is the best they could do with the time. It’s somewhat creative but ultimately disappointing. Especially compared to the first film. While being a sequel and prequel of sorts 

The film isn’t bad. It’s just disappointing and less than the original I guess living up to it being a sequel. This film stays more remote in its location and feels more like a production because of it with limited amount of characters. Who seemed to just be there for dressing as they are small pieces of the puzzle there to represent certain emotions or ideas rather than being true characters like the ultra religious lady who works for the camp who seems only to be there to accuse characters and just generally be a deterrent so that later in the film when she’s abused and the constant verbal abuse that one character gives her seems well warranted, and her husband just seems to be there. He doesn’t really play that much of a role.

Even their father returns for the film, but he seems just as ineffective as before. 

As I presented before and what it feels like the formula for this movie, there is a more Freddy Kruger element for Ethan Hawke’s character who comes back to haunt, and it works as a sequel and a prequel, as it is a continuation of the character from the first film, but it also gives us a look into the past of the villain from the first film. 

With the characters being haunted and psychic and teenagers being the main characters is where you get the nightmare on Elm Street, but also the Stranger Things elements.

The film is stylish as ever and that’s one of it saving grace as the rest of the film does feel as of the time. Period but it also fails as it just feels like it’s a very thin and stretching. I don’t know if it’s meant to be a continuation or another piece in a franchise, but while it might offer some scares, it doesn’t offer much of an interest for the audience and last doesn’t feel like it really needs to be made if anything more feels like fan service that comes out of nowhere as I doubt anyone was thinking there was much more to the story to be made, but we’re glad to come back and be reunited with the characters. It’s not a horrible movie and maybe it’s just me and fans of the first film we love this or at least like this film, but while it offers a different type of horror and scare, it just doesn’t feel like it was ever needed.

Come back and watch it if you must as it doesn’t lessen the strength or power of the first film, but this while it doesn’t come across as a get rich, quick scheme idea it does make one question what was the intention in ideas behind this sequel otherwise?

Grade: C

FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES (2025)

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Directed By: Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein

Written By: Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor 

Story By: Jon Watts, Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor 

Cinematography: Christian Sebeldt

Editor: Sabrina Pitre

Cast: Brec Bassinger, Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Ryan Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Alex Zahara, April Amber Jack, Teo Briones, Tony Todd 

Plagued by a recurring violent nightmare, a college student returns home to find the one person who can break the cycle and save her family from the horrific fate that inevitably awaits them.

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This film franchise makes a welcome return in a rebooted film that tries to add to the lore, as well as give fans what they have come to expect an unexpected gory death

As this film, obviously knows it’s audience and was made by people who grew up, loving the films, and you can tell and how much energy, passion and power they put into the film that while following the basic necessities of the franchise manages to stand out and feels a little bit, not only better made but also The quality comes across as better

One of the problems some might have with these films is that their generally made for audiences to cheer for the death, which feels kind of a, but the films usually try to keep the audience on their toes by not always going with the most obvious way of death, but try to spring either a surprise or try to make it a little bit comedic and bad taste by having us focus one way when really the violence is coming from another place, we weren’t even looking

Another reason this film is more memorable is that it is the last role in appearance for the late Tony Todd, who has always in someway been a part of this franchise as well as being an all-around character actor with over 100 credits. This is his final appearance and you can tell Watching this film by the looks of him that he was definitely sick when making this film and the film is dedicated to and it is a good role to go out on even despite the material.

The film gives the audience what it wants, and while doing that, it tries to fit in an original story, whereas instead of a randomly seeming to kill off survivors of a big accident, this film has death going after the bloodlines of characters who avoided death, even though we still get to see the goriness of what was originally supposed to happen or the massacre is more The word definition

Throughout this film, we see the decimation of one particular family, even as they try to escape death as luckily one member of the family gets the premonitions or visions of death or clues to a death before they happen. So that the film is still staying true to the rules of the earlier canon final destination movies, but allowing itself a little originality and a side step from them.

This film is more for the fans of the series, though it’s not a bad place to start if you haven’t seen any of the previous films, but will warn you. It’s more for the go fanatics who are looking for inventive death scenes, and a lot of jump scares. Which seems to be this film is Brad and butter.

Although the film makers also manage to create a lot of tension even when you know what is going to happen so that you anticipated and you want the characters to survive as they are likable, but you know that’s not possible but you want it also at times to get it over with as it’s just growing and growing But the other half of you is kind of hoping that they survive either way you just want that tension to be released and when it finally is, they managed to make it in the most splatter way that shocks but then also can’t amaze at times. 

Sure, one could easily get into the characters and story more of this film, but let’s face it. That’s not why most people are going to watch this film as truly the film could offer anything. People are here more for what they know about the film. as we are barely introduced to the characters before they start to perish. Sonthat we only know little details about them to really define their character or at least their traits.

The only disappointing aspect of this franchise is that knowing that all of the characters are doomed, and there’s a somewhat cynical air that floats above the film that will ultimately always end in tragedy. Though once you get past that. Especially as this film is on its sixth film. You just get used to the pattern if you’re going to continue to watch these films.

 it offers more than the usual though it has fun playing with the confines of itself

Grade: B –

HAPPY GILMORE 2 (2025)

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Directed By: Kyle Newacheck

Written By: Adam Sandler And Tim Herlihy 

Cinematography: Zak Mulligan

Editor: Tom Costain, Brian Robinson and J.J. Titone 

Cast: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Benny Safdie, Ben Stiller, Sadie Sandler, Bad Bunny, Julie Bowen, Haley Joel Osmet, Lavell Crawford, Dennis Dugan

Nearly thirty years have passed since Happy Gilmore famously won the 1996 Tour Championship. For nearly twenty years after that victory his career flourished. That ended when his wife was tragically killed on a golf course. Distraught he gave up golf and turned to looking after his five kids. Over time, however, he has become an alcoholic and is working in a supermarket. Now his daughter has the opportunity to attend a prestigious dance school and the cost sees him contemplate taking up golf again.

this is why personally I don’t really watch Adam Sandler movies. when he is majorly behind the scenes in the writing and producing of his comedies anymore. I don’t mind when he’s working on the film, strictly as an actor because then you get films like UNCUT GEMS or his other two more dramatic Netflix movies where not perfect but the films were at least decent in someway.

this is a sequel to one of my favorite of his early comedies. As now he seems to be like Woody Allen, where if you were going to know his work, he would more praise his early funny films whereas now his comedies that he writes are kind of like Tyler Perry movies where it seems like he’s writing for himself or jokes that he finds funny, but he doesn’t seem to really care about the audience , which is a shame as Adam Sandler can be a likable screen presence at times at least back when he was making films that made audiences laugh

though now his films feel like they are parties or a reason for his friends to get Work and also for him to get to hang out with them. As it seems like they’re having much more fun hanging together than worrying about the actual script, character direction or making anybody laugh. as with each new film, it also seems like Sandler‘s entourage grows now not only does. He usually cast his friends, but now his family his wife and daughters are added into the mix of most of his films which he has a right to do, but I don’t think the audience was clamoring for it

This film seems to bring back every character from the first film in some sort of way even the minor ones who might’ve just been there for one scene and just in case you forgot the film seems to want to provide flashbacks for you to remember. The film also has a ridiculous number of cameos throughout the film even for no reason I don’t know if it was they wanted to be in the sequel or if he asked them it was fans or if this was all him trying to appeal to a younger audience as he has the usual commentators sports commentator celebrities but he also has influencers podcast Eminem for some reason throughout

not only is the storyline, stupid and ridiculous, but it also makes no real sense. As they play extreme golf and that must be played but worse of all it’s not funny at all so you are constantly wondering who is this for because it kind of insults, the originals audience and this film doesn’t seem like it’s going to influence the next generation to wanna watch it either. 

I really had hope that this would at least be decent, but if anything it just seems to Barry the remembrance of the original where you wish that it had been a one and done. If anything it also might just remind you of how good or decent the first one was and how fall this film has fallen from it’s legacy.

Grade: F 

28 YEARS LATER (2025)

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Directed By: Danny Boyle

Written By: Alex Garland 

Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle 

Editor: Jon Harris 

Cast: Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams, Edvin Ryding, Jack O’Connell, Chi Lewis Parry, Amy Cameron, Christopher Fulford

It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.

This is a  Long waited, sequel from the filmmakers who made the first and original 28 days later. Come back to offer another original slice for the franchise even after sitting out the previous sequel 28 WEEKS LATER.

Well, with this film, they up the ante, actually filming it with an iPhone, but not in the way you think not an actual cell phone but the same technology and rigged up. 

while it does tell its own tale that is connected to the franchise, that might be part of the problem with the film as the film works like a Marvel movie where it should be a standalone that offers the promise of sequels or expanding the world of the 28 later franchise by the end of the film after it tells its tail it just feels like a part one of a way bigger saga so that it comes across is more episodic than a standalone which can work, but it drags the quality of the film down as everything that you’ve seen before you know is going to lead to something else but it’s not quite its own tale or its own film.

It also doesn’t help that the film isn’t really a horror film in the traditional sense. It’s more a post apocalyptic tale and family drama more than anything else. 

As it seems like the two sequels after this will be handled by different directors so it’s almost like a tag team effort like this is director Danny Boyle coming back to start it off, and then he passes the baton to the next person who then continues the story from what we’ve previously seen and tells it in their own way, and then finally the next film is held by somebody different. Who then will tell the 28 later tales in their own way, but give it an ending for now as far as we know

Though let’s focus on what this film does again it sets up the rules of this world and it’s been 28 years since it has been out there. How people have survived what the culture has been and certain territories and what it seems like the rest of the world is doing or handling the situation.

From the opening scene, this film shows that it has no sacred cows and it’s slaughter and violence so that not even children or holy people are safe. Everyone is treated the same.

The film focuses on a young boy and his family him, and his father are hunters who go to the mainland to hunt and look for any kind of supplies to hopefully bring back . Though when the young boy whose mother is suffering from a disease as there are no doctors here that there might be a doctor out there in the wild is willing to take the risk to escape with his mother to the infected lands to try and find this doctor, so hopefully diagnose and care of her so that the rest of the film is pretty much an Odyssey.

It’s also a family tale so that at times it’s its own demented fairytale that has a very demented backstory, but could be folklore also

You’re enjoyment of this film will really retested by how much you can stand this child whether you think he is making the worse and stupidest decisions or you will be able to have empathy and understand why he would risk all of this for his mother 

The film is not going, please everyone and seems to have divided audiences who either seem to have wanted more of the same of the previous films or wanted something a little better structured story wise as the visuals and direction are definitely tight but the story for some might be a little too light or feels like it’s filling the blanks

though in these days and times it’s harder and harder to make an original zombie tale when there’s already so many zombie films out there plus you have The Walking Dead television show telling tales of zombies, even if this is the franchise that helped start the trend of fast or normal speed, running zombies.

The film also has things or seems that you never would have expected on screen such as a pregnant zombie giving birth, which one hadn’t really seen since the remake of day of the dead. The film does depict the zombies with full frontal, nudity, male and female.

The actors are all good in their roles, even if not given too much to do or more playing a bit more cliche roles. As Jody Comer is the costar of the film, and even though she’s in more than half of the movie, I still wish they had given her more to do or she had more to play refines as always steals his scene in his supporting role, as well as Aaron Taylor, Johnson showing his compassion as a father, but also showing that he can do action fiercely.

The film works, as it is a tail that is set in a larger universe that has been built slowly, but surely the story might not be as strong as some people would’ve liked nor as action oriented or violent as maybe some had hoped, but I will give the film credit for trying something unexpected whether it succeeded or not is up to the individual audience member, but I enjoyed myself watching the film

The soundtrack is very good by the group young fathers who I am also a fan of him was surprised to find out they did the soundtrack for which is excellent.

it’s an adequate attempt and a good return to the franchise for Danny Boyle and Ryder Alex Garland one just wishes the film felt a little bit stronger and into more of the hints that it feels like will be revealed in further films but are introduced here that keep your imagination open but doesn’t do this to any favors of adding anything to itself.

This is like seeing the sketch before you see the finish painting that is how I would compare this film.

Grade: B 

BAD SANTA 2 (2016)

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Directed By: Mark Waters

Written By: Johnny Rosenthal And Shauna Cross 

Based on characters Created by: Glen Ficarra & John Requa 

Cinematography: Theo Van De Sande 

Editor: Travis Sittard

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Kathy Bates, Christina Hendricks, Ryan Hansen, Brett Kelly, Jenny Zigrino, Octavia Spencer, Mike Starr

Fueled by cheap whiskey, greed, and hatred, Willie teams up once again with his angry little sidekick, Marcus, to knock off a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve.

The worst part of this film is that it’s an unnecessary sequel. I don’t know if it was the studio’s idea or something that was pitched, but the first one could’ve stayed a classic as this film ends up being bad not as bad as you might think but pretty much, disappointing

Luckily, it’s not a straight-to-streaming or direct video by having some other person star in the film or be some kind of distant relative or only getting the supporting players back while not being able to get the star Billy Bob Thornton, who seems pretty much auto-pilot. As he has played this type of role many times before it’s hard to differentiate them sometimes other than the other antiheroes are jerks that he has played in comedies have some pride, and are usually trying to hide the other part of themselves or here what you see is what you get.

The only surprise in the film is that Kathy Bates agreed to play a supporting role in it as it just seems like more of the same from the first film, though it seems here it tries to be meaner and more over the top and its nastiness and humor is definitely more sexual 

It’s pretty much the same story new city, where the plan seems to basically be the same only shifting loyalties, even though no one trusts each other in the first place. 

It also seems to be darker and more low-budgeted again makes you wonder who was really demanding this or deemed it necessary. It looks dirtier. 

Even Christina Hendricks seems cast more to capitalize on her bombshell looks and does play a character in the film who is Ingal to the plot, but doesn’t really have much to do except be a sex object for an actress of her caliber you would have more to do or at least be better written. She also seems here to give Billy Bob Thornton’s character the closest thing to a kind of love interest that he’s going to get. She is the most likable character in the film.

There are some scenes that can be funny. There’s not enough to truly make a necessary feature. One would warn fans of the first film. You can skip this as it’s the same movie only cheaper and you know the characters more so you know what to expect if anything it kind of darkens, the first film offers a cheap knockoff that’s familiar and almost similar to the first film only with not as big names think the hangover sequels.

It feels like a movie, a studio mandated more than they’re actually being a need or reason by the filmmakers or cast to return even though it’s shocking considering the material was so controversial and risky when the first film came out. Though it might be watered down in many ways, the jokes pack a little more mean-hearted venom

Grade: C- 

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM (2023)

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Directed By: James Wan

Written By: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

Story By: James Wan, Jason Momoa, and Thomas Pa’a Sibbert

Based on the character AQUAMAN created By: Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger 

Cinematography: Don Burgess

Editor: Kirk Morris

Cast: Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Amber Heard, Randall Park, Nicole Kidman, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren, Martin Short, Indya Moore, John Rhys-Davies, Jani Zhao, Pilou Asbaek 

Black Manta seeks revenge on Aquaman for his father’s death. Wielding the Black Trident’s power, he becomes a formidable foe. To defend Atlantis, Aquaman forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother. They must protect the kingdom.

Luckily, this film isn’t as bad as it had been predicted or advertised. So what does work in its favor is that it feels kind of a bit like a retread of the first film as it has pretty much the same cast of characters who survived the first film, and essentially the same villain only this time who has managed to acquire more strength and power Through supernatural means partially being possessed, but still determined to take down Aquaman and Atlantis if he can.

Amber Heard who plays Aquaman’s wife in this film her role is either severely cut down from before or meant to just be a placeholder as a love interest. As she is barely in the film and is in an action or two, but really, given nothing to do and not too much importance.

The film plays more like a buddy comedy with Aquaman teaming up with his half-brother, who has been in prison and they learning and going through their differences to trust one another, and to join together, to save Atlantis, thus allowing his brother to get his honor back throughout.

This sequel like the first film has quite a bit of comedy. However in this film, the special effects are a little more distracting as they are not as impressive in fact, while watching the film, it feels like you’re watching a video game demo almost rather than a film. This is good when it comes to the action sequences when it tries to do the dialogue scenes it doesn’t quite fit as well.

If the film had maybe tried to give Aquaman a different villain, this film might have been worthwhile, but with it feeling like a retread, it kind of limits itself.

I am impressed that they managed to make Aquaman so dynamic on the big screen as before he had been either a minor character or more of a laughing stock at with his limited abilities and costumes in the past. 

This is a film where you can see the budget on screen, but somehow it limits itself which is a shame because there seem to be so many possibilities as you’re watching the film instead of what you get, which is ultimately disappointing.

This is a shame, as I was one of those who enjoyed the original way more than I expected to, but like the sequel to Shazam this film just feels like what you thought the first film was going to be it doesn’t improve, and in fact, it’s worse.

This is a shame, considering the impressive cast and Jason Momoa just looks like a badass superhero either way. 

Grade: C-