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Director Jaume Collet-Serra has been a director I’ve been following for some time now. For me he just consistently puts out films that are in my wheelhouse that I just know I’ll have fun with. His films just remind me of what it was like to watch the action films of the 90s, and I kind of feel he’s like the new Renny Harlin, and I say this with love. If you compare the two filmmakers’ resumes the similarities are pretty incredible. Both have a shark film, both have an adventure film involving a boat that sadly was a commercial failure despite being fun, both have an action film at an airport during Christmas, and now come to find out Collet-Serra is remaking Cliffhanger, which happens to be a Renny Harlin film. I mean, seriously, what are the odds of that happening? The moment I found out that Netflix released the new Jaume Collet-Serra film, I couldn’t be more excited to check this film out and take a break from the awards season films and just enjoy some popcorn-friendly cinema. Was it a hit, or did it crash and burn?

“There’s an ounce of truth in every myth.”

Why am I not surprised? It is true to form that the sixth and final film in the Sony Spiderman Universe (SSU) would be my favorite. I’m sure that will be a unpopular opinion, as Venom has the popular vote, and while I did enjoy Venom, it is tainted by the sequels, which in the end left me with the opinion that the franchise should have just been the a one-and-done like the other installments in the SSU are fated to become. Ironic, as Kraven The Hunter served as a very good origin story, and the story set up what could have been a very interesting future confrontation in a sequel. However, Sony’s decision to pivot away from the SSU essentially means that this Aaron Taylor-Johnson-led film will be the only film to follow the character. Pity, as Taylor-Johnson gave a great performance, and the story quality was well executed. As I said, I expect my opinion is an unpopular one as Kraven The Hunter falls victim of the fruit of the poisonous-tree stigma. Because of the disappointing execution of the films set in the same universe, Kraven The Hunter is fated to be painted with the same brush. So my advice to anyone interested in seeing this film is that you have to put the others out of your mind and see this as it was intended to be: a standalone film.

Paramount has been getting into the Halloween horror spirit each October. Last year they released a group of horror films on UHD/4K and called it Paramount Scares. I didn't get a chance to check out that set but they're back again with a Paramount Scares Vol. 2 and we got a look at it here at the Upcomingdiscs ranch. The set includes both a Blu-ray copy of each film along with the featured UHD Blu-ray in 4K. You get some nice gifts along the way. There are patches that represent each film. There's a glow in the dark Paramount Scares pin along with an issue of Fangoria Magazine that contains just articles on the films in the set. There's a big sticker and a mini-poster. It all comes in a rather stylish box covered in a ghoulish collage. The films have their own case in coordinated slip covers. The movies offered this year are Friday The 13th Part 2, Breakdown, World War Z and Orphan: first Kill. Pick it up and invite some friends over for a Paramount horror marathon.

Here are the films:

“I will not accept a life I do not deserve.”

In 2022 writer and director Ti West gave horror fans the gift of the one/two horror punch of the films X and Pearl. From those two films came the rise of Mia Goth, who has since become horror royalty, and since the rumors began to rumble about a third film in this horror series, it has been hard to not get excited. Ever since the announcement of MaXXXine and hearing the cast of the film, it’s been the horror film I’ve been most looking forward to. I’ve been a big fan of Ti West ever since 2009 when I saw The House of the Devil. I adore that film, to the point where I have a Mondo poster of it hanging in my living room, and then he did The Innkeepers, which for me cemented his awesomeness, and that he wasn’t simply a fluke. When you look at his filmography and you watch his films, you can see the man has talent, but for some reason he’s not a bigger name in the industry. But I feel like that’s going to change soon, and it seems like A24 knows that West can deliver the goods, especially when you consider that they are releasing the film over 4^th of July weekend, typically a spot meant for huge tentpole movies … or am I just being delusional?

The films of the 1960's and 1970's began an era of what have been called exploitation films. There are many examples of films that pushed the R to X boundaries and have been referred to as Sexploitation films. Today we might call them soft porn, and examples of those early films includes Daughter Of The Sun (1963) and The Twilight Girls (1961). There were also films that took advantage of a certain aspect of black culture in the 70's and made to appeal to the young, "hip" blacks of the decade but also became quite popular with the mainstream audiences. Films from that genre include iconic movies like the Shaft and Dolemite franchises. There's another of these kinds of films that hasn't gotten quite the attention and aren't as well remembered. That group of films from mainly the 60's were called Hicksploitation. These films provided heavy stereotyping like the Blacksploitation films did

"It's the things we love most, that destroy us."

It's actually a little hard to believe that it's been eight years since last we visited Suzanne Collins' future dystopian world of The Hunger Games. The last two films were shot and released as two parts of the final book in the saga, and I think most of us had laid the soul of Katniss Everdeen and her rebellion to rest. Of course, not without the franchise doing quite a bit of damage at the box office. Not counting home video releases, the franchise generated a total box office of about $1.4 billion. That's a lot of scratch, and if you understand the movie business at all, you know that finishing a franchise for good is like leaving money sitting on the table.

"What do you think evil is? I'll tell you what I think evil is..."

It's sequels/reboots made by filmmakers who haven't got one single clue what made the original such a classic. The Exorcist was a masterpiece of filmmaking and is truly one of the most compelling horror films even 50 years later. There are a lot of reasons for that. Unfortunately, David Gordon Green couldn't name a single one if you gave him a cheat sheet in one hand and William Friedkin's complete notes in the other. Blum House took a huge risk after they finished their Halloween trilogy. The films were hit and miss with some good moments. But most fans of the original never could completely bond with the films. So Blum House decided they liked this 3 film reboot/sequel idea and took a chance on committing $400 million for a trilogy of The Exorcist. Like the Halloween trilogy it would ignore all but the original film and take it's story directly from that moment onward.

“Most ghost stories have some basis in truth.”

Essentially an amalgamation of tropes from previous beloved horror films. Like if you took those films and put them into a blender. There are elements of Candyman; I don’t just mean because of Tony Todd’s involvement. Additionally, there were elements of Halloween, with an uncompromising killer wielding a shovel. Points for weapon originality. Of all the weapons that my mind could have conceived, a shovel wouldn’t have been at the top of my list. However, all things considered, it proved to be effective weapon. The film gets off to a bad start as it essentially drops us in the middle of situation with no understanding of what has supposedly occurred. Makes it quite difficult to become invested when things start off so disjointed. The Devilreaux is presented as a modern day boogeyman (another element of the film). However, prior to the mention of his name, we have no frame of reference of who or what he is. I suspect the goal was to build intrigue, but given that the killer strikes within the opening scenes, it would have been nice to have some context to the character.

"I remember when I was 17, my father asked me what I wanted to be. Would I like to be a barber like him? I laughed in his face. I wanted to be a successful gangster. In retrospect I asked myself if what I chose was worth 25 years of my life. The answer is no, not 25 seconds. I married this life, and after keeping my mouth shut for all these years, I'm gonna see if it married me back." 

Sylvester Stallone plays mob guy Dwight "The General" Manfredi. It's his first television role, and he couldn't have chosen better than to appear in a Taylor Sheridan show on Paramount +. Sheridan pretty much owns the streaming service, all of it except maybe the Star Trek shows. He knows how to create characters and to then put the right actor in that role. I've seen it happen a thousand times now, from Yellowstone to Mayor of Kingstown and a couple of Yellowstone spin-offs. The part appears made just for Sly, and he makes it worth everything he has, all the while making it look effortless.

Yeah, this film didn’t really do it for me. Of late I’ve been on the prowl for a quality horror or suspense movie. Something with a compelling story, and while I didn’t initially believe that Ghost of Monday would live up to that desire, I left the door open to be surprised. As it turns out, I could have left that door closed with the lock latched. The Ghost of Monday is a slow-burning tale that I never really connected with. For one, the premise is a bit anti-climatic and has been addressed with box office films such as The Invitation and Ready Or Not, which I found to be the best. In this instance, a television director (Mark Huberman, Vikings Vahalla) travels to a supposed haunted hotel for the purpose of making a television pilot. Eventually, he and his crew find themselves wrapped up in a supernatural conspiracy that could have life or death consequences for them. Did you catch my use of the word “eventually”? Stay tuned, I’ll explain that in a bit. The biggest intended draw for the film was probably the inclusion of Julian Sands of Warlock fame, but his role is secondary in relation to the overall film. All in all, I’m still on the lookout for a quality horror or suspense film.