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[REVIEW] ‘Nosferatu’ (2024) Yes, You Should Willingly Succumb to Darkness

This is mesmerizing filmmaking across the board. Eggers loves to take it slow, which I normally don’t love, but to keep it a buck, I was entirely too enchanted to care about a 132 minute runtime. Even if gothic romance ain’t your bag, you won’t be able to lie on the amount of beauty and care. Happy holidays, and fear the Count.

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Eggers just brought the century-old vampiric property to life again. So far, we’ve all fallen in love… or could that be traces of lust? I can’t say I saw that bit coming.

Legacy reboots, remakes, and re-hashes make us all a little nervous, I get it. Besides choosing the perfect theater seat, viewers have nothing to worry about. Just blink twice and you’ll find yourself lost in Wisborg, Germany, an ultra-romantic fictional city that houses a tale as old as all hell, now sporting a vintage fur-lined coat from the archive.

The closest I can confidently identify this, is a “complimentary retelling” of its source material in the most respectful manner possible. I’m lucky enough to have Murnau’s 1922 original fresh on my mind, and it’s clear that this story is one that Eggers and his team respect deeply. It honors its predecessors, and never vows to “elevate” or mess with that essence.

I’m not an Eggers ride-or-die, but after The VVitch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman, we know to expect complete sensory immersion. It’s hard to explain, but this film smells like last week’s forest fire after three days of rain. The layers on top should hip you to what I’m sayin’. Gothic romance is a tricky one that leans heavily on creative tone, performance, and visuals, the pillars of aesthetic. The assignment is thoroughly understood. The goths are already outside, stunting their new personality.

The first thing you might notice is color, and the lack thereof. Color grading switch-ups often reinforce the story, much like a complimentary score should. In tandem with musical queues and mint dialogue delivery, bouncing from black and grey, to warm sepia, and back again gives the audience an additional outlet to connect to the stress levels of the film’s ensemble. Everything is more intense in black and grey, right? Let the drainage of color help you get that heart rate going.

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“Polished” is a good word to describe the gothic romance subgenre. Between cinematography, costume, and set design, Nosferatu is without cinematic blemishes. If you could pause it at any random timestamp, you’ll get a perfect frame or portrait. I can’t imagine that any visual aspect of the film was presented unintentionally. The shadow plays are gorgeous and haunting, and definitely say more than the average viewer can digest in just one screening.

I’m trying to be mindful of how often I use “perfect”, but that ensemble, though! I know y’all didn’t come here to read me trash talk Willem Dafoe, Nicholas Hoult, Ralph Ineson, or Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Lily Rose on the other hand… I’ve seen some of you praying for her downfall. Shame on y’all- you cinephile nerds are wrong! Miss Depp brings the beauty and the pain like yin-yang. She’s soft and desirable one moment, and the next she’s sucking the oxygen out of the air, grasping for whatever else the cruel atmosphere has left to offer. The horror fandom can’t forget how important body acting is, especially in the world of the occult. Mastering the art of wiggin’ out earns her a spot in the scream queen directory. No shade, but praise Dracula for Anya Taylor Joy’s recast.

Lust and repressed sexual desire bleeds all over this tale, man. Why is Orlok caressing the back of my brain like this?! Skarsgard’s direction is slow and uncomfortable, but kind of nice. It’s like needles against the skin in your first acupuncture session. Not hard enough to draw blood, but just enough to make you wonder how much more it would take. His character against Hoult’s slightly manic, slightly pathetic Thomas Hutter helps the viewer understand how much of a jacked-up love triangle Nosferatu’s story really is. Kinky, but there, I said it. I meant it too.

This is mesmerizing filmmaking across the board. Eggers loves to take it slow, which I normally don’t love, but to keep it a buck, I was entirely too enchanted to care about a 132 minute runtime. Even if gothic romance ain’t your bag, you won’t be able to lie on the amount of beauty and care. Happy holidays, and fear the Count.

Nosferatu releases on December 25, 2024.

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Xero Gravity is a media personality and genre journalist with a focus on diversity and inclusion in horror, sci-fi and dark fantasy. She curates and hosts nerdy fundraisers, events, screenings and dance parties as "New York City’s spookiest emcee". When she’s not on her feet or behind the mic, you can find her online for killer movie reviews, podcasts, livestreams and commentary.

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[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.

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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.

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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.

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[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.

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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.

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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.

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