This interesting topic came up in passing the last week of 2022 while friends were over, sipping vodkas and watching horror flicks with one person glancing at the countless Blu-rays and DVDs lining numerous bookcases, with curious questions, “You are always watching the countless classics over and over, do you ever go back and revisit a film of lesser standards again?” I was at first puzzled by the query needing more definition, since I have reviewed and watched Psycho [1960] several times, but it led to a fuller discussion what about films that aren’t on the radar countless years later. I honestly don’t know, but thinking about it, is it fair? I mean one’s viewing interest and knowledge can do change over time, therefore, since I always try to view films on their release date, and there are nearly 600 films I reviewed I am going to read the review, watch the movie and decide if the review still holds the same evaluation. There are cinema fans and sometimes youthful viewers that look down on silent movies and those that are black-and-white or contain off-color themes/topics that may view negative but if they go back 5, 10, 15 years later would the opinion remain unchanged it’s a curious concept. Hence, this new column, to possibly become a reoccurrence every month.
Summer of 84 [2018]
SUMMARY: After suspecting that their police officer neighbor is a serial killer, a group of teenage friends spend their summer spying on him and gathering evidence, but as they get closer to discovering the truth, things get dangerous.
WHEN I SAW IT DATE: 8/15/18
THE IMDB RATE AT TIME OF REV: 6.7 – it has not changed since then
MY RATE THEN: 7/10 – now lowered to 6.0 – read on to find out why…
HAS MY VIEW CHANGE: No, it is still an entertaining independent film, it’s not going to shake the entertainment world, but I should clarify it’s not really a horror movie, more leanings into the realms of suspense and thriller, there’s nothing wrong with that, but what little it offers in the form of the horror genre can’t automatically qualify for that grouping. The equivalence of that is to say Casper is a horror movie because it contains a ghost, obviously it isn’t. It does capture the nostalgia of the 1980s found clearly in small towns and makes not to lose that world throughout the film. One thing that some who watched the film with me mentioned is that story is directly center on young teens almost as in episode of Scooby-Doo meets The Monster Squad [1987], and has no concern parents, and while one parent perhaps should a glance on screen, it misses the point the era back then, parents weren’t ‘helicopter’ it was the attitude out the door be 10a back by dusk-ish, such was the life.
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The Devil’s Well (2018)
SUMMARY: Karla Marks mysteriously vanishes while conducting a paranormal investigation with her husband. A year after her disappearance, a group of paranormal investigators attempt to uncover the truth about her disappearance.
WHEN I SAW IT DATE: June 2018
THE IMDB RATE AT TIME OF REV: 6.7 – the number score has not changed
MY RATE THEN: 7/10. Since then, adjusted to 6.5/10
HAS MY VIEW CHANGE: As was previously stated I’m revisiting this film yet doing it others in the room, having their input and with myself watch it fresh before referring back to my review, and I see even more clear what I thought or perceived as either documentary (mockumentary) or a narrative storyline was just a ruse for a found footage switcharoo. One really believes they are seeing two movies, not like the wonderfully done One Cut of the Dead [2017], but there was no need to pull the trick, especially when it was working the entertainment factor. Hence, the opening gambit earns the higher rating, as it was fresh angle in the found footage subgenre, however when it moves location the acting falls flat and what should be skepticism with Bryan Marks (Bryan Manley Davis) accounting of the story feels disjointed as well as the limited scare factor, it doesn’t maintain or even ramp-up that quality that one saw in Hell House LLC [2015]. The first time I noted thew importance of location, and now five years later I still state even more emphatically allow a great location to speak for itself, capture its essence.
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A Plague So Pleasant (2013)
SUMMARY: A surreal take on the zombie genre.
WHEN I SAW IT DATE: Estimated November 2013
THE IMDB RATE AT TIME OF REV: 5.4 – with a slight uptick to 5.6
MY RATE THEN: 5.0 and now it’s 5.5
HAS MY VIEW CHANGE: Yes, which more based from the quality of the special effects and the realization of the almost nonexistent budget of $3,000, this actually because of learning more about the business/behind the scenes talent and costs. I saw this film originally in 2103 and then reviewed it in January 2016 for the website Rogue Cinema, and frankly while understood the genre very well, it was the lack of comprehension of all the input from the crew which really makes a film enjoyable. Therefore, I watch the special effects, because I have easily over 100 zombie flicks and written abut the subgenre as whole often, and included learning from Tom Savini through interviews. The important aspect skin tone and lightning, the aging of blood discoloration and how it translates to screen, there’s a skill set for acting zombified, using the limit funds to catapult the story, while making due with what resources that a cast has, all of it can affect the story; this is something I learn firsthand about when acting in Swamp Zombies 2 as a Zombie. In addition, while the tagline, “The Dead Are The Endangered Species.” of the film doesn’t work since first their numbers due grow and most would want few to none, hence it should be ‘Attention: Endangered Species,,, HUMANS!” it grabs for people to take a look, and makes sense to them. Once more a clear precise message to everyone. This is the big sticking point that still is problematic today.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed that trip down memory lane and join again when I revisit movies in February.