Scary

The Babysitter: Killer Queen – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2020 film The Babysitter: Killer Queen.

Story

I’m impressed with the continuity of feel from the first one. The story is fairly linear and is more of a chase situation, but everything is well set up and a little surreal like the first.

Score: 1

Characters

I love that my complaints from the first one were dealt with in this one. If it was set up the whole time I’m impressed and if not, I’m more impressed because they must have taken audience feedback.

I found the main guy a little whiny and annoying until he took things into his own hands. The new girl felt very much like a tough on the outside girl with a hard past. She played it well and was surprisingly charismatic.

I’m so glad they brought back the old group of killers. They were so entertaining and Robbie Amell was wonderful again. The younger killers were pretty forgettable and didn’t have the charisma or interest of the others.

The dads were just annoying and I could have done without them.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Lots of surreal cheesyness but nothing particularly great. Again Amell had the best lines.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The location shooting was great. The desert is always a great place to highten the weird. As a person who’s grown up around lakes and rivers, seeing a river in a desert was unerving.

I liked that continuity of using Queen for the babysitter and the music was well done overall.

Score: 1

Fun

The movie was fun. Once they got to the first twist it was a lot of fun. I think I like it better than the first. The sex scene was weird. I’m glad I wasn’t watching it with anyone who I’d have to explain that it was a metaphor for sex.

Score: 1

Overall

This was an excellent slasher but an even better sequel. The gore is higher, the twists more twisted, and the surreal action more entertaining. If you liked the first one, this is great.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Haunted Mansion (2023) – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Haunted Mansion.

Story

The story leans heavily into the feel of the ride and it’s expansive lore, but grounds it in a powerful story about grief and loss. It’s well constructed and everything is wrapped up nicely. There are no unwanted surprises, but lots of good ones.

Score: 1

Characters

It’s hard to give a large cast proper character development, but the movie makes sure to give each of them those little moments of depth. The cast is superb and has amazing comedic timing that balances the scary bits really well.

I really like the parallels between the characters growth and how it revolves around grief. It’s easy to forget what makes the idea of real ghosts sad and scary is dealing with our own loss.

Score: 1

Dialogue

They only used the word “Quantum” once in the movie and I’m glad for that.

Beyond that, the dialogue is a wonderful mix of silly, weird, and deeply moving. Each of the characters have their own style and tone, so much so that they could be from different times or movies, but somehow it works.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The movie is completely saturated with references to the ride and expanded lore. It’s both glorious and at times makes you spend more effort looking at the backgrounds in fear of missing something. Which might not be an issue for casual viewers. That being said, it’s a beautifully shot movie with great visuals.

The music is a great mixture of New Orleans jazz, creepy music, remixes from the ride, and originals that fall into all three.

Score: 1

Fun

The movie is fun, but we’re all big Haunted Mansion fans in our house. Everyone loved it, despite a few screams. I’m going to want this movie and its soundtrack.

Score: 1

Overall

A must watch for anyone who loves the Haunted Mansion ride or creepy family friendly scares. The movie has heart and depth that is surprising and touching.

Final Score: 5 Stars out of 5*

*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.

Prey – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Prey.

Story

The story is fairly simple and predictable but extremely satisfying. Everything is set up and everything pays off perfectly.

There are some excellent emotional moments and I am impressed with how tight the script was.

Score: 1

Characters

The main character is awesome. She is the perfect underdog in this sort of story and she kicks a lot of ass. I loved her brother. Their individual arcs and their sibling arc were wonderful.

I was impressed with how accurate the French was for the time period.

I’m a little sad I didn’t know there was a full Comanchi version before I watched.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue was well done. In the version I watched, they transitioned from Comanchi to English and it worked well. I liked the nods to previous Predator movies.

The main character’s body language helped with the intensity of the movie. She reacts realistically and viscerally to the horror.

Score: 1 

Visuals and Music

The great plains are a great backdrop for something so epic. The wild is just so big and the predator is so much more terrifying in comparison to the bears and mountain lions. They are also beautiful.

The camera work is clean and lets us see the impressive fighting.

The music was understated but effective.

Score: 1

Fun

The movie didn’t grab my attention right away and could have used a little more action right at the beginning but I think that’s because I was expecting an action movie not a horror.

Overall it was a lot of fun though.

Score: 1

Overall

An intense action horror with enough references to make Predator fans happy but not so much as to make it unwatchable on it’s own.

The action is amazing, the acting is fantastic, and I want a whole series of kick ass woman throughout history fighting off predators.

Final Score: 5 Stars out of 5*

*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.

Fear Street 1666 – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Fear Street 1666.

Story 

This one stands on its own the least. It’s more like a mini movie with a tenuous connection to the conclusion. That being said, both halves were excellent. 

Score: 0.5

Characters

Reusing actors was clever, both for cost and to make us feel like we were connected to them from the first 2 movies. They all did a great job, despite the mishmash of accents.

Score: 1 

Dialogue

This was a mess. Too modern and too archaic all at the same time. The second half was a little better, but leaned too heavily into hammy dialogue.

Score: 0

Visuals and Music

The first half was grey and a little boring (Pilgrim life?) the second half went perfectly with 1994. The sets were great, but it was all a little blah.

The music tied in well with the other two, but didn’t add anything interesting.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This was interesting and I was really happy to finally get the answers, but it felt like two short stories. I think actually splitting it into two movies might have made it feel less rushed.

Score: 0.5

Overall

The last part of the series suffers from needing to tie up story points while struggling to tell its own stories. This one really should have been split into two.

Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5

Fear Street 1978 – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Fear Street 1978.

Story 

This is my favourite of the three. It feels like a good old-fashioned slasher with an added supernatural twist. The framing narrative of the other movies doesn’t intrude as much.

Score: 1

Characters

The younger versions of the characters from the first movie were perfectly cast. The surreal feeling of the trilogy shines here.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Definitely felt off, but not as bad as 1994. I found despite the supernatural elements, the dialogue was delivered pretty well.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

This felt oddly undersaturated compared to the other two. I liked the predominance of red in the caverns though.

The music was a lot of fun and felt like a nod to Supernatural.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I liked this one a lot. It was exciting and fun. I enjoyed the camp hijinks and the off-kilter world.

Score: 1

Overall

The strongest of the trilogy, it could stand on its own. The characters are fun and I love the mixture of lore, supernatural, and good old-fashioned slasher.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Fear Street 1994 – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Fear Street 1994.

Story 

This feels like a Fear Street book but with a little more gore. The end sequence of the movie in the grocery store felt like a way of killing off some characters, since they had an ambulance and could have driven around. It’s also not a complete movie.

Score: 0.5

Characters

I really liked the main three characters and even some of the secondary ones. They were all a little nylistic but that made sense with the setting. The actors were great.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Everything sounded a little too modern for my liking. It didn’t sound like the right time period. Beyond that the dialogue was a little awkward and tried to hard.

Score: 0

Visuals and Music

Dark and aesthetically perfect for Fear Street and 1994. I like the background details that were nods to the books and other horror movies.

The music did its job well.

Score: 1 

Fun

This was a lot of fun to start with, but I got frustrated at the characters quite often. The fact that they didn’t use the ambulance instead of the store annoyed me.

Score: 0.5

Overall

A fun throwback to the books, but the characters do some really dumb things. I enjoyed it, but it feels unfinished without the rest of the series.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

Tomb Raider (2018) – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2018 film Tomb Raider.

Story

I haven’t played the games, but I assume there are some common elements from the stills and trailers I’ve seen. The story isn’t what I expected; I expected a puzzle archaeology movie and got an action movie.

All that being said, the story was pretty good. I wish they’d spent less time with the island action scenes and more with the tomb or puzzles.

My major issues is that it started action / intrigue and the tone switched to horror action once it reached the island. That would work for a book or TV show, but for a movie it felt disjointed.

Score: 0.5

Characters

I have to give credit to the actress because we learn almost nothing about Lara the entire movie other than she’s smart, gets back up, and is very curious. Any urge by the audience to care about the character is due to the charisma the actress brings to it.

The bad guy was perfectly cartoonish and the dad was okay. I liked the captain.

The CEO of of Croft Corp reminded me of Nina Sharp in Fringe played by Blair Brown.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Not super quippy, but very well paced. There’s a lot of mythology and they space it out really well. I also liked that the few puzzles that Lara solves are thought out in dialogue.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

Everything in this movie was stunning. Filming was amazing, lighting spectacular, and action just wonderful.

The music was intense and well composed. There were a few times that it was a little early for the scene, which didn’t work for me.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I loved every moment of it, but I regret watching it with the kids. It was a little scarier and more violent than they should be watching. However, that’s on me.

My wife liked it, but found it a little exhausting.

Score: 1

Overall

A roller coaster from start to finish. The tone goes from action to horror, but the cinematography is spectacular. A fun action movie with lots of thrills.

Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Judged by the people you surround yourself with

by

Hi World,

I saw this video and it made me think about the people we surround ourselves with.

My mother, now gone 14 years, always told me that no matter how innocent I was, I’d be judged by the friends I have. I think she was worried about me getting involved with a gang or something. As the poor kid in a town with no minorities I was the most likely to become the scapegoat.

I’ve tried to make sure I was friends with good people and to avoid situations where I would be associated with bigots, racists, etc.

I miss my mom, but with her health for her last decade, I am sort of relieved she didn’t have to live through Covid. I’m also happy that she hasn’t seen the people her family and friends have associated themselves with.

I’ve given the Freedom Convoy more attention than I should, but it’s directly affecting many of my friends and my city.

Antihate canada is a non-profit organization that studies hate groups and they have some interesting things to say about the organizers of the convoy: Tamara Lich, Benjamin “BJ” Dichter, and Ben King. THE ‘FREEDOM CONVOY’ IS NOTHING BUT A VEHICLE FOR THE FAR RIGHT

The movement is also supported by several American celebrities and prominent anti-vaxx advocates and hate mongers. The Citizen wrote an article about this support: ‘The Canadian revolution’: How foreign anti-mandate sympathizers are framing the trucker convoy.

Now I can hear all the deniers saying how they don’t trust the MSM… so how about straight from the source:

or how about this:

There have been reports of fires, looting, blocking emergency vehicles, and many other reprehensible things.

I’ve seen a lot of people sharing an image that says, “Proud Member of a Small Fringe Minority with Unacceptable Views.” Do they share the views of the organizers? Or how about the supporters?

It’s sad to see so many people who are willing to disregard the founding and actions of this protest just because they dislike the prime minister or agree with one or two parts of the protests ideas.

At this point I only see two ends to this; violence or the protesters going home unhappy.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Girl Vs. Monster – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2012 film Girl Vs. Monster.

Story

This is a fairly simple story about facing your fears. It’s surprisingly well thought out with lots of fun throughout. It has aged much better than I expected.

Score: 1

Charaters

When I first watched it I really liked the assistant and the main character. Watching it now, the best friend is seriously the most awesome character. The parents are annoying but understandable and most of the characters are good but a little shallow. The movie could have done with less secondary charters.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is often a little bit too much on point and is interestingly already dated. It has some nice layers but its mostly just okay.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The movie uses its sets, cinematography, and special effects very well. The special effects are cheesy, but the sets are well done and I was impressed with the camera work.

The music was good. It was obvious that they had 2 songs and a small score, but it worked and helped move the plot forward instead of just taking time.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I liked this movie the first time I saw it and still liked it this time. I had both kids snuggling into me during the scary parts and both really liked it. They both got really excited at the big music scene. It also kept both of them interested the whole time without snacks. The day after, the 2 year old asked, “Watch Scary Movie?” which is super cute.

Score: 1

Overall

A good intro to horror adventure movies for kids, few scares but no trauma. With it’s strong message and wonderful soundtrack it’s a great cheesy Disney scary movie.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Canadian publishing… WTF?

by

Hello My Imaginary friends,

Last Thursday I got an email from our wonderful publisher checking in to make sure everyone was okay after, “a tumultuous week for Canadian speculative fiction writers”.

I’m on parental leave and not as involved online as normal, also I’m kinda isolated from the larger writing community outside of events. I had no idea what was going on.

Holy Expletive did I wish I didn’t know after I read up on it. It made me sick and more than a little angry. Here’s a quick clean description from S. M. Carrière:

It began with accusations of non-payment and verbal attacks levelled against ChiZine Publishing by author Ed Kurtz.

Then things exploded.  Stories by others associated with the press, either having “worked” for (I put worked in quotation marks, because payment was not something they often did) or volunteered with them, and other authors expression concerns about behaviour and non-payment.  Some of it was truly sickening; verbal and emotional abuse that I found extraordinarily triggering. […]

Thoughts on a Bloody Mess – S. M. Carrière

If you really want to learn more you can check out this blog post by High Fever Books. It’s comprehensive and is still updating with information.

I’ve had very little dealings with ChiZine… Mostly the reading series that was run in Ottawa. The reading series in Ottawa was run by some fantastic people and I’m extremely happy that they don’t seem implicated in the terribleness.

When I first met the publishers, I thought they were the rockstars of publishing. They had edgy cool books, snarky attitudes, and a slight punk vibe. I pitched my first novel to them and was shocked that they liked the pitch.

Over the next two years, I periodically emailed about my submission, always getting emails about how busy they were. It was a stark contrast from Renaissance Press that actually published the novel. They apologized for taking too long (less then 3 months) and even walked me through what I should do to improve the novel.

I asked Sandra about the submission in person at the next years’ Can-Con and she replied curtly that, they’d get to it when they had a chance. From that moment on, she and Brett pretty much ignored me. I was on a panel at Limestone Expo and Sandra spent most of the time talking over me and interrupting the other panelists. I mostly tried to avoid them after that. I assumed it was me. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and can rub some the wrong way.

I don’t know all the details, but there are a lot of people speaking out about WAY worse things that ChiZine has been involved. It’s seriously disturbing how bad some of the stuff being discussed is.

In case it’s not clear. I believe and support those speaking out.

In times like these, I truly appreciate my publisher. Renaissance isn’t the biggest, nor is it the fastest growing, but damn do they take care of their authors. They have a careful, people-oriented approach to publishing that I greatly appreciate.

I have nothing new to add to the conversation, but I do want to repeat two important messages:

  1. Don’t punish the writers for their publisher.
  2. Don’t assume that everyone involved with ChiZine knew what happened or were involved. There are some genuinely lovely people who were involved with the company that might not have been involved in the horrible behaviour.

Be kind, my friends,

Éric