Reviews
‘It Follows’ Review: For the love of G-d, take off your heels!

I was utterly underwhelmed by It Follows (2014), from the first scene to the last. The movie as a whole is inconsistent, and the premise, though intriguing, lacks the development to raise the film out of the “problematic” territory.
Let’s start with the opening. A young girl, Annie, is escaping some danger . . . in high heels. Although we don’t know what she sees, we can assume that it’s getting closer when Annie starts running . . . in her heels . . . on grass. I may have forgiven this illogical action and chalked it up to a director with limited, if any, experience walking in heels, had the following actions been better thought-out. Alas, it was not to be. Annie drives to the beach and calls her parents to tell them she loves them. Was she driving with the shoes on? Most heel-wearers, even teenagers, know that heels are not the best footwear for pressing the gas and braking. Maybe Annie took off the shoes in the car, right? Well, if that was the case, why the hell would she put them on again for the sand? Uneven surfaces are not conducive to walking in stilettos. Even walking barefoot on sand provides plenty of resistance, so I can only imagine the struggle of doing so in a state of high anxiety and a pair of heels. Plus, her feet were probably killing her faster than the unseen pursuer after all that time. At least we get one good shot the next morning. Unfortunately, that shot is also the highlight of the film.
Much of my confusion came from the lack of grounding. When does the movie take place? We see corded landline phones, one cell phone, several not-flat screen televisions playing cheesy, black and white sci-fi flicks, a movie theater seemingly screening only one movie (1963’s Charade), boxy car designs from decades past, contemporary fashion choices, and a bizarre clamshell e-reader. Does It Follows exist outside of our timeline? Is everyone in this suburban town reluctant to keep up with the technology of the time, whenever that may be?
Then we have a score reminiscent of the 1980s. I keenly felt the influence of ‘80s slashers, what with the teenagers having sex and being in danger and the lack of parents, not to mention the other odes to classic teen screams. The absence of parents led to more confusion on my part. First, Jeff’s real identity is found out to be a high school student, not a 21-year-old man, and most of the friends don’t look much older. Jeff apparently rented a crappy apartment in the city, but how could he have done so with a teenager’s budget? Perhaps he hacked his parents’ bank accounts or ransacked their wallets. But such actions aren’t even intimated. Second, our protagonist Jay says, “We slept together in high school,” which would indicate that at least she and Greg (the other member of the “we”) had graduated. I had a hard time believing Jay was a high schooler to start with, so this seemingly throwaway line didn’t help. The poorly calculated details reminded me once again of ‘80s flicks, in which the scares mattered more than the plot.
I also want to talk about the clamshell e-reader. Olivia Luccardi’s character Yara is connected to this weird e-reader like many people are to their smartphones. She is reading Dostoevsky’s The Idiot on it. There must be a reason why writer and director David Robert Mitchell chose that one, especially considering that Yara reads aloud from the text. However, I don’t quite know what that reason is. The Idiot centers on a good person caught in a web of deceit and corruption. Meanwhile, I didn’t find any characters to sympathize with in It Follows, and the web of deceit and corruption was mostly a string of sex-shaming evil. A T.S. Eliot poem is also narrated in the film. Don’t ask me why there are literary references. I just can’t parse them.
Lastly, let’s discuss the premise. A sexually-transmitted demon of sorts, or an STD, if you will, is killing people who don’t spread it. What I glean from this is: stay chaste and you’ll survive. Have sex once, and you’re doomed to a life of promiscuity. The concept obviously mandates sex scenes, which are fine in moderation, but which are also complicated by showing so much . . . grinding between potentially underage people. Keep in mind that they may very well be in high school. I know that none of the actors are actually teenagers, but adults acting as teenagers having sex is shady territory.
I expected more nuance, aesthetic, and plot from this well-acclaimed movie. In short, I expected more from It Follows. It’s possible, of course, that I’m looking into it too much, but there were just too many details I didn’t like for me to ignore. I can love bad movies, big- or low-budget. This one simply wasn’t for me.
Reviews
[REVIEW] ‘The Dead Thing’ Takes Ghosting To A Whole New Level
The Dead Thing follows Alex (Blu Hunt), a young woman who works late hours, lives by the rays of a sunlamp, and is looking for the one connection that will make life seem less cyclical. When Alex meets Kyle (Ben Smith-Peterson), it seems like things will finally be going in her favor. But all that glitters is not gold. As quickly as he came, he vanished. Hurt, confused, and pissed, Alex tries to get to the bottom of why Kyle disappeared from her life. Some stones are meant to be left unturned.

Elric Kane has been a prominent voice in the film and horror space for a long time. One of my fondest memories of Kane is his longtime hosting gig on the Shock Waves Podcast. The amount of film knowledge and obscure films I learned about from him and Dr. Rebekah McKendry singlehandedly fueled my interest in collecting physical media. Hearing how passionate and intense they were with their love of the genre is also what started me down the path of writing. While Dr. McKendry has previously dipped her toes in the feature filmmaking game, it’s now time for Elric Kane to do so.
Cut to: The Dead Thing.
The Dead Thing follows Alex (Blu Hunt), a young woman who works late hours, lives by the rays of a sunlamp, and is looking for the one connection that will make life seem less cyclical. When Alex meets Kyle (Ben Smith-Peterson), it seems like things will finally be going in her favor. But all that glitters is not gold. As quickly as he came, he vanished. Hurt, confused, and pissed, Alex tries to get to the bottom of why Kyle disappeared from her life. Some stones are meant to be left unturned.
Writer/director Elric Kane’s (and co-writer Webb Wilcoxen) singular debut feature film is a superbly crafted supernatural spectacle. The Dead Thing starts slow and deliberate; rather than rushing into an overwritten plot with underwritten characters, Kane and Wilcoxen allow the audience to sit with Alex in her neverending love life. One aspect of Alex that I, and hopefully many will, appreciate is how Alex is written. Rarely does Alex feel written from the perspective of the male gaze. Her life may not be going in the exact direction she wants, but the film never makes it out to be a her problem. At no point do they try and make Alex out to be a floozy or condemn her for the life she’s living, instead they make those who live the same kind of lifestyle feel seen. The film asks the audience if they ever feel like there’s no escape; too many of us can relate to that.
It doesn’t matter how a character is written if the acting doesn’t deliver, and Blu Hunt delivers. Set aside the fact that she has one of the most badass names I’ve ever heard, Hunt provides an astounding lead performance. Whether she’s walking alone down a Los Angeles street, or playing off of her longtime friend Cara (Katherine Hughes), coworker Chris (John Karna), or the mysterious[ly handsome] Kyle, Hunt gives it her all. It helps that Ben Smith-Peterson and the supporting cast all give overwhelmingly brilliant performances.
Supernatural stories aren’t usually my go-to. They can be too overwritten, too style over substance, too “elevated”, or just plain boring. The Dead Thing quickly finds its footing and lets the audience accept it or not. Kane and cinematographer Ioana Vasile (who was a still photographer for Pontypool!!!) wonderfully capture the sometimes-solitary, sometimes-overstimulating beautiful hellscape that is Los Angeles. It should also be noted that one of my favorite actors in the world, Matt Mercer is a producer on this film.
The Dead Thing hits the perfect blend of claustrophobic loneliness and endless yearning. Just like Dr. Rebekah McKendry, it’s clear that Elric Kane doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk. For his debut feature film, The Dead Thing doesn’t need resuscitation. I’d say run, don’t walk, to check this one out, but if you do…look left and right before crossing the street.
The Dead Thing hits Shudder on Friday, February 14! Watch it with your partner if you can, or watch it alone with a tub of ice cream and an overflowing glass of wine. I won’t judge.
Reviews
[REVIEW] ‘Bride of Chucky’ Takes The Franchise In A New Direction
Bride of Chucky follows two groups of people who inevitably meet up for a final climactic finale. Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly) procures Chucky’s (Brad Dourif) body following the events of Child’s Play 3. Her goal is to perform a voodoo ritual to put his soul back into a human’s body. Through a questionable series of events, Chucky kills Tiffany and puts her soul into the body of a doll. The side story follows Jade Kincaid (Katherine Heigl) and Jesse Miller (Nick Stabile) who elope, with a thousand dollars, from Jade’s overbearing police chief uncle Warren (John Ritter). After Chucky kills Warren, Jade and Jesse are fingered for the murder. That’s when hijinks ensue.

The Child’s Play franchise is all over the place. What started as a [fairly] serious slasher series surrounding a killer doll would morph into a Nightmare on Elm Street-like horror comedy before self-correcting to find a solid middle ground. I’ll be the first to admit that I have never really cared much for this franchise. Child’s Play frightened me when I was a kid, and it wouldn’t be until my college years that I decided to watch Bride and Seed–this altered my overall opinion of what the franchise stood for. Watching Child’s Play 2 and 3 back in college left me wondering how a franchise as culturally impactful as this one fluctuated in style and substance.
Bride of Chucky follows two groups of people who inevitably meet up for a final climactic finale. Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly) procures Chucky’s (Brad Dourif) body following the events of Child’s Play 3. Her goal is to perform a voodoo ritual to put his soul back into a human’s body. Through a questionable series of events, Chucky kills Tiffany and puts her soul into the body of a doll. The side story follows Jade Kincaid (Katherine Heigl) and Jesse Miller (Nick Stabile) who elope, with a thousand dollars, from Jade’s overbearing police chief uncle Warren (John Ritter). After Chucky kills Warren, Jade and Jesse are fingered for the murder. That’s when hijinks ensue.
Before the comments start, let’s return to the opening comment regarding Child’s Play turning into a horror comedy. Chucky was always one for quips. Like Freddy Krueger, Chucky would hit a one-liner shortly before or after his kill. These jokes worked to help cut through Chucky’s horror. It gave some momentary relief from the kills. Bride of Chucky is just one long gag, and for me, it’s frustrating. Like Nightmare, Bride of Chucky has lost the plot. Every scene seems to exist to facilitate a setup for the next bit or one-liner, rather than having moments of comedy flow naturally. The doll sex scene and swinger couple bits are just poorly thought-out filler.
I know this is going to anger some of you, but Bride of Chucky is a seriously awful movie.
There are a few moments that I do truly enjoy and work well in the overall Child’s Play universe. Tiffany kills the officer she buys Chucky’s body from with a nail file and then uses it to file her nails. The moment Tiffany stabs Chucky in the back at the cemetery is a great character moment, but it makes everything that led up to it pointless. With the exception of a few moments here and there, Bride of Chucky ends up being a chore to watch rather than entertainment. For a genre that has always been political, gay representation has been lacking for quite some time. The character of David Collins (Gordon Michael Woolvett) is a welcome addition to the story, but he feels underutilized in the grand scheme of it all.
While I may not care for the franchise much, I’ve done some research on it over the years. Bride of Chucky features many recycled bits from other Child’s Play scripts and you can really feel it. The kills are few and far between and feel overly forced. Child’s Play 4 was initially put on hold after the abysmal box office of Child’s Play 3 and maybe writer/director Don Mancini should have taken another year or so to really flesh out the canon of Chucky. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of Tiffany becoming a doll and becoming pregnant with Chucky’s baby. But I don’t think the ends justify the means.
Cult and Curse of Chucky, thankfully, take the series back to a more grounded and to-the-roots nature of what Child’s Play was, and I’m glad it took nearly a decade after Seed for it to come to fruition. Mancini is an excellent voice in horror, but time and constraints are necessary for his vision to be fully realized. Those who are Child’s Play die-hards will probably disagree with everything I’ve said, and that’s okay. As a casual Chucky fan, Bride of Chucky feels nothing more than a nu-metal, Hot Topic, try-hard entry into the franchise. The kills look solid, and Dourif gives an incredible vocal performance (as always) but there’s little to no substance to Bride of Chucky.
No wonder half of all marriages end in divorce.