We're All Going to the World's Fair

 "We're All Going to the World's Fair" (2021, Jane Schoenbrun, Love In Winter LLC, Dweck Productions, Flies Collective) is a found footage/online footage, coming-of-age film.

Casey (Anna Cobb) is an awkward, lonely teenager who decides to complete an online viral creepypasta style challenge called "The World's Fair" on her video streaming channel. She carries out the ritual-like instructions and then continues to film her experiences to see what happens. Over the course of the film, a mysterious man going by the name JLB (Michael J. Rogers) contacts her apparently concerned for her well-being. We also see flashes of other streamers' experiences after doing the challenge. Primarily, we only really see the online content of the characters, which is clearly intentional as part of the narrative. We never truly meet 'Casey' or 'JLB' outside of their virtual worlds so our opinions of them are based on very limited information.

Full disclosure; I'm not overly fond of found footage films in general. Occasionally, one will really stand out for me and grab my attention (see "Hell House LLC", 2015 or "Death of a Vlogger", 2020), but they're not "my thing" as a rule. I think if you are a big fan of that genre, or even enjoyed the more art-house off-key surrealist tone of films like "The lighthouse" (2019) you might get more out of this film than I did.

Overall, I found the disjointed storytelling style to be distracting and dull. The film is more of a drama than a horror (which certainly isn't a bad thing), although there are a couple of small nods to a possible body-horror story being in there somewhere. I personally find watching the awkward footage of Casey dancing and the girl with the fingernails mumbling "sshhh, sleep" to be uncomfortable to watch and overly long, and not in a way that would make the film interesting or cerebral. I just feel like I stumbled onto that part of TikTok where I'm too old to really get it and too young to be blissfully unaware of it. And, considering I've been on the internet since my early teens (circa 2003), I don't think that's actually the case here. 

But, that's more my problem than the film's and a more contemporary audience might find this style strikes a chord for them. The biggest issue I have with it is that I was bored and by the time we reached the 'twist' I'd already lost interest and was just feeling grateful that the run time was a nice, old fashioned 86 minutes. 

That being said, as a genre fan, it's delightful to see a film of this kind getting so much attention. There's certainly a hype around this film right now, and I truly hope it delivers for others where it failed for me. I can appreciate a likely candidate for future cult classic when I see one.

There's a message in there about not believing everything you see online, about cultivating your own online reality, the temporary nature of many internet relationships and about being careful online etc... but I found it be a bit garbled on first viewing and this isn't a film I'd choose to revisit. 

Definitely worth checking out but likely to be a 'marmite' viewing experience.

[Image: Love in Winter LLC, et al]

Hani

V/H/S/94

 "V/H/S/94" (2021, Jennifer Reeder, Chloe Okuno, Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Ryan Prows, Steven Kostanski, Radio Silence Productions, Bloody Disgusting Films, Shudder Original Films) is a found footage horror anthology and the fourth installment in the V/H/S franchise. 

It's 1994 and a SWAT team enter an abandoned building and discover a series of VHS cassettes which we then watch in order. 

"Storm Drain" is an entertaining story of a reporter (Anna Hopkins) and cameraman (Christian Potenza) who are investigating the sighting of local urban legend "Ratman" and enter the storm sewers to uncover the truth. Upon finding a group of people living in there, they decide it's an opportunity to do a more serious human interest story but, unfortunately for them, the local legend may be more real than they thought! 

A pretty good segment with good pacing and some fun effects. 

"The Empty Wake" is by far my favourite segment of the film. Hayley (Kyal Legend) is a young woman working at a funeral home. She's been asked to hold the wake of a man named Andrew alone at night. After a while with no visitors, she begins to try and find out more about the death of Andrew when suddenly she hears what sounds like knocking coming from the coffin...

A pretty decent jump-fest. The segment builds up slowly before unleashing the actual scares, but, once there it's pretty fast paced. Some fun effects and, even if you feel like you knew where it was going, it's a really strong execution. 

"The Subject" is a story of a mad scientist (Budi Ross) engaging in human-machine vivisection and a team of army personnel on his trail to try and rescue some of his unwilling test subjects. 

We see most of the story in first-person style through the 'eyes' of one of his creations (Shania). The segment boasts some creative camera-work and pretty impressive 'off-screen' acting from our determined 'creature'. However, the action is pretty videogame-like and did feel like it overstayed its welcome a little (and I say this as someone who likes playing videogames). But the action is truly gory and pretty satisfying to watch.

"Terror" is about a group of insurrectionists in America who are planning to attack a federal building. This segment was the weakest in my opinion and didn't hold my interest extremely well. The humour felt somewhat misplaced in comparison to the other segments, although it maintained the same level of gore. 

The wraparound "Holy Hell" is functional but not a standout part of the film, although I did enjoy the 90s advert for "The Veggie Masher". Very entertaining. 

All in all, this is the first time I've really enjoyed a V/H/S installment since the original film, and it felt pretty innovative. The pacing is still an issue, but this is part and parcel with horror anthologies as a whole. 

Available to stream on Shudder.

[Image: Shudder, et al]

Hani

Nightbooks

 "Nightbooks" (2021, David Yarovesky, Ghost House Pictures, MXN Entertainment, Catchlight Studios, Netflix) is a fun horror for kids based on the book by J.A. White.

Alex (Winslow Fegley) is a young horror fan who likes to write his own scary stories. After a disappointing horror themed birthday party, he swears never to write a scary story again and takes his notebooks down to the building's basement with the intention of burning them in the furnace. However, en route he discovers a mysterious floor of the building and enters a strange apartment, which turns out to be owned by a witch called Natacha (Krysten Ritter), who holds him prisoner and tells him he must tell her a scary story each night or else! 

While the witch sleeps, Alex and his fellow captive, Yazmin (Lidya Jewett), who has been stuck in the witch's apartment acting as her housemaid for several years, attempt to find a way to escape and unlock some interesting secrets along the way.

A fun horror aimed at kids, "Nightbooks" delivers some festive scares and action as well as some important messages about wandering into stranger's apartments. Yazmin and Alex learn to work together through the film to try and outwit the evil witch.

Sporting some great effects and a rather terrifying magic cat, "Nightbooks" is sure to appeal to young horror fans in the making and is a fun adventure for adults, too. A welcome entry to the annual Halloween countdown and somewhat reminiscent of other great kids' horrors such as "The Monster Squad" (1987).

[Image: Ghost House Pictures, et al]

Hani

No One Gets Out Alive

"No One Gets Out Alive" (2021, Santiago Menghini, The Imaginarium, Netflix).

Ambar (Cristina Rodlo) moves to Cleveland after her mother dies. As an undocumented immigrant, she finds herself at the mercy of some devious and exploitative characters, including Red (Marc Menchaca), the owner of an old boarding house who demands rent in cash up-front in exchange for not asking Ambar any questions. The boarding house is large, run-down and apparently, only accepts female tenants. Ambar experiences some odd things in the house, but chalks it up to other tenants' behaviour. Besides, she has bigger concerns like finding a job. 

After a co-worker scams her out of most of her savings and the spooky happenings in the house become more intense, Ambar seeks help from a distant cousin, Beto (David Barrera), but when he is unable to help her, she is forced to ask Red instead and this plays right into his and his brother Becker's (David Figlioli) grim plans...

A fairly serviceable haunted house story with a cast of interesting characters and exploration of some very real life horrors. The effects are good and Rodlo cuts a sympathetic protagonist who is also very resourceful. 

The film doesn't go into much detail of the history behind the spookiness and it feels a little unexplored which robs the ending of a bit of oomph. An impressive creature is present, but we don't get too much time with them and it feels less like a 'less is more' approach and more of an 'out of the blue' approach as a viewer. 

Currently available on Netflix.

[Image: The Imaginarium, et al]

Hani

Freaky

 "Freaky" (2020, Christopher Landon, Blumhouse Productions, Divide/Conquer, Universal Pictures) is a horror comedy.

Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) is a typical movie high school teenaged girl... she's also the school team's mascot. After getting within stabbing distance of murderer and local urban legend, The Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn), she wakes to discover that she has traded bodies with the madman and is now faced with navigating life as a middle aged, wanted man while said man's consciousness is cavorting around town in her body! 

A hilarious and well-crafted horror comedy from Landon, who also brought us the amazing "Happy Death Day" franchise. The film takes the well-known concept of "Freaky Friday" and adapts it for a slasher film experience with such wonderful ease and tongue-in-cheek hilarity. 

Vince Vaughn excels as Millie, bringing humour and heart in equal measure and then is equally terrifying as The Butcher. Similarly, Kathryn Newton, gives an excellently disturbing performance as The Butcher, countered by her time on screen as Millie.

A fun premise that delivers exactly what you want from it and in a way that is completely rewatchable. I love a good horror comedy and this is a good horror comedy.

[Image: Universal Pictures]

Hani

The Changeling

 "The Changeling" (1980, Peter Medak, Chessman Park Productions, Pan-Canadian Film Distributors).

John Russell (George C. Scott) is a composer who moves to a large rented mansion from the city after the tragic death of his wife and young daughter in a road accident. After experiencing some supernatural phenomena in the house, John begins to hope that he may have found a way to communicate with his daughter's spirit. However, the house has a dark past and John's digging instead leads him to uncover the truth behind a prominent family's history. 

A haunted house classic. The film delivers an unsettling atmosphere and a beautiful, haunting setting. The child ghost's voice still gives me the shivers and the scenes with the ball rolling around are eerie. Not a slow film, we are treated to a possessed wheelchair chase scene down a large, ornate staircase and some disturbing scenes of the murder taking place in the house as well as an eventful and satisfying finale.

George C. Scott gives a fantastic and sympathetic performance as our protagonist, John Russell. He is grief-stricken and lonely. We see him break down and we see him working to get himself back together. It's such an honest and heartfelt portrayal of a bereaved husband and father that doesn't shy away from emotion but still maintains the determined and capable characterisation of the time. John is sad and determined to sort out this haunted house business. Even if he looks completely unhinged doing it. 

Supposedly based on actual events, the unravelling of the mystery is punctuated by the reaction of the spirit in the house who is tragic but also still a petulant and demanding child. John is manipulated by the spirit, but later takes the spirit's plight on-board as his own way of dealing with his own loss. 

A genuinely beautiful and entertaining haunted house film that should be a must-see for any horror fan. 

[Image: Pan-Canadian Film Distributors, et al]

Hani

Malignant

 "Maligant" (2021, James Wan, Atomic Monster, Boom Entertainment, Boom! Studios) 

Madi (Annabelle Wallis) experiences a traumatic event. Left reeling from this and convinced that either an intruder or an intrusive force, has gained access to her home, Madi's sister, Sydney (Maddie Hasson), offers to move in and help Madi recover. However, as time goes on, Madi begins to see things - things that she could not possibly know about. Horrible things that are happening in real time, putting her under the suspicion of Officers Shaw (George Young) and Moss (Michole Briana White).

A new style for Wan, the film kicks off feeling like a much older, campier film, before jumping into more familiar territory with spooky shenanigans in a large house. But this film delivers so much more than the above. With a winding, interesting plot that hops from the bizarre to the outrageous and a gifted cast purposefully hamming it up for effect - but not too much. 

The visuals are excellently used and really appeal to me as a fan of 70s and 80s horror films, J-horror films and practical effects.  "Malignant" pays homage to Henenlotter's "Basket Case" in the best possible way. 

There's so much more to this film, but I don't want to give away too much. My advice is to go in knowing as little as possible.

[Image: Boom Entertainment, et al]

Hani