Today I have 3 new horror-ish movies to review for you! I will be reviewing "The Invisible Man", "Brahms: The Boy 2", and "Fantasy Island." Before I get started, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Free Gamer's Alliance YouTube channel. Their videos cover everything from walkthroughs, glitches, easter eggs, and various amusing video game related content, all of which is delivered with some colorful commentary while they have buckets of fun doing it. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC03E6K3QHRMp7Vs0S6wHm6Q
Lets start with "Brahms: The Boy 2." Here is the trailer:
- There are the odd moments in the movie that are funny (even if it isn't what is intended)
- The pacing of this movie is quite brutal. It feels a lot longer than it actually is.
- This movie seems to ignore certain continuity from the first one which is a bit jarring.
- The characters in this movie are so hard to root for. They are pretty well all super unlikeable.
- There is some CGI in this movie that is painfully bad.
- This movie relies on a lot of cheap and predictable jump scares.
- Finally the ending of this movie really does buckle under the weight of it's own stupidity. I found myself rolling my eyes hard through the last act of this movie.
"Brahms: The Boy 2" is a sequel to a bad movie that nobody asked for and it really shows. Almost nothing about it is executed well and it manages to not even clear the very low bar of being better than it's predecessor. Definitely skip this one.
It is time to move on to "Fantasy Island." Here is the trailer:
- n/a
- There is a lot of really cringeworthy dialogue throughout the movie that I couldn't help but roll my eyes at.
- With the exception of Michael Pena (who's performance was fine at best), the acting from this cast was really bad. People delivered lines in really bizarre ways and really couldn't reign it in. This is especially the case with Lucy Hale and there is a certain point in the movie where her acting really falls off a cliff.
- The pacing sucks as the movie feels way longer than it actually is.
- There is not a whole lot of CGI in this movie but what is there looks hilariously cheap.
- Finally, there is a twist at the end that ultimately does not do the movie any favors and actually feels kind of gross. By gross, I don't mean in a gory way but I say that due to the way they decided to portray someone who has experienced a specific type of trauma.
"Fantasy Island" takes a very promising concept and completely ruins it by falling on it's face in every possible way. This movie is a tremendous waste of time that I cannot recommend to anyone.
Lastly, let us talk about "The Invisible Man." Here is the trailer:
- The cast of this movie is incredible. This is especially the case for Elizabeth Moss who gives a performance that I would argue could potentially be considered for some major awards.
- There are not a lot of jump scares in this movie but the ones that are there are well timed and feel earned.
- This movie is incredibly suspenseful. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
- The movie has a very well written script. The dialogue feels natural and the movie deals with very timely themes of domestic abuse/violence/everything else that comes with it and it has a lot to say.
- There are several moments that I would call "oh snap" moments that are really exciting to watch.
- While this movie isn't scary in the traditional sense, I did find it to be quite horrifying in ways that most horror/suspense movies are not.
- As with the last couple movies I have reviewed, there is some use of CGI that looks pretty cheap.
I don't usually do this but as I mentioned earlier in the review, this movie does deal very directly with domestic abuse/violence/everything else that comes with it throughout. While I felt that the movie deals with the subject very well, I could see this movie being potentially triggering for people who have experienced this in their lives so I would advise viewer discretion with this one.
The Verdict:
"The Invisible Man" is a surprisingly tense, smart, and well acted thriller that subverts a lot of cliches of the genre and deals with important themes. This movie was chilling in ways that a lot of movies in this genre just aren't anymore.I absolutely recommend seeing this movie for any horror/thriller fans but please do consider the content advisory above.
Thanks for reading everyone! As usual please feel free to leave a comment as I enjoy reading them!