Come True (2021)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Living as a runaway, and supported by her friend, Zoe (Tedra Rogers), Sarah Dunne (Julia Sarah Stone) volunteers for an experimental sleep study. Led by Dr. Meyer (Christopher Heatherington), Sarah is closely monitored by Jeremy (Landon Liboiron) and Anita (Carlee Ryski). Sarah hopes to find the answers behind her sleeping problems, and a bizarre series of dreams and nightmares, but Sarah’s search for the truth leads her down a dark and troubling path. 

My Thoughts- Julia Sarah Stone really holds her own well in the leading role. You can take one look at Sarah, and you’ll quickly notice she’s a young woman, who’s fighting a lot of demons. She’s exhausted, constantly dealing with conflicting emotions, and naturally, she’s hesitant to trust the scientists, who are supposedly trying to help her. 

Stone effortlessly captures everything Sarah is going through, including the paranoia, the anger, and the frustration surrounding Sarah’s unusual dilemma. A good showing in the leading role, and Stone easily delivers the best performance here.

Landon Liboiron’s Jeremy (or Riff) is clearly obsessed and fascinated by Sarah. She’s the ideal test subject, but Jeremy also deeply cares about Sarah. Liboiron plays the geeky scientist, who’s willing to take risks to protect Sarah, a timid and nervous guy, but he steps up, when it’s necessary. A solid performance from Liboiron, especially towards the end, when the bond strengthens between Jeremy and Sarah. 

Sarah receives a text message in her dreams, informing her that she’s been in a coma for almost twenty years? Eh, okay. Well, I guess you could say that’s a unique choice for how to close out the movie. 

It’s an ending that raises a lot of questions, and there’s no definitive answers for what’s going to happen to Sarah, but it’s a good emotional roller-coaster for the home stretch. The chase at night in the dark woods, the glowing eyes of the monsters in the dark, and Sarah, complete with fangs and covered in Jeremy’s blood, laughing to herself after reading the text message, is an eerie and freaky visual. 

Plus, when Sarah “wakes up” on top of Jeremy to reveal she’s been aggressively gouging out his eyes? Wow. Truly a shocking moment. A fast transition to that scene after what happened in the woods, and the set up for the weird fiasco does a good job of delivering a morbid surprise. Sarah’s running through the woods, the monsters attack Anita and Jeremy, Sarah stops, and bam! She’s killing Jeremy after the two of them had sex. 

Pay attention to everything that’s going on, especially the surroundings outside, and in the parking garage, after Jeremy takes Sarah to the hospital. No cars in the parking garage, a HOSPITAL parking garage of all places? No traffic, or any moving cars on the streets? No one else walking around? I know it’s late at night, but Sarah was obviously stuck in her nightmares, or the dreamworld, because everything is just too quiet, and there’s no kind of movement, or activities going on around Sarah, Anita, and Jeremy.

The big clincher? The ending confirms nothing is real. Sarah is stuck in her nightmares and her dreams. Also, Sarah conveniently finds a flyer, offering twelve dollars an hour to participate in a study for people with sleeping disorders? There’s a place within walking distance that has futuristic technology to conduct the experiments? It’s all too convenient.

The bleeding from Sarah’s eye socket is something to think about. Maybe it’s a sign Jeremy, Anita, and the others were pushing too hard with the experiments? Or, is it possible that Sarah was about to wake up in the real world? Coming out of a coma after almost two decades is no easy task. There’s a good chance Sarah suffers before she opens her eyes, more wounds and more scars, hence the bloody eye socket.

Why is Sarah avoiding her mother, a mother, who’s seemingly concerned about her? You get the feeling Sarah’s exile from home is self-imposed, and there’s a pattern for people, who are close to Sarah, whether its loved ones, or people she forms connections with. Two people (Zoe, and another volunteer for the study named Emily) completely disappear from Sarah’s life, without any real explanations. Jeremy and Anita tried to help and protect Sarah, but let’s just say they ran into some big problems.

Maybe that’s why Sarah is staying away from her mother? It’s a strange way of protecting her, but if that’s the case, then why is she so close to Zoe, knowing what could possibly happen to her? People disappearing from Sarah’s life, or worse, suffering from brutal attacks, is a sign that her worst nightmares are coming true: Sarah is stuck in the dreamworld, and she can’t wake up.

Come True uses a methodical style of pacing. It works, because you’ll see a few spikes for some jarring moments and scenes every now and then, when it’s necessary. Sarah’s story is slowly unfolding piece by piece, so everything feels more torturous for her, the experiences, the dilemmas, the doubts, all of it. She’s stuck with sinking and lingering emotions. Sarah doesn’t have any time to try and figure out the previous problems, and it’s only a matter of time before another problem smashes into her, like a speeding eighteen-wheeler.

Most of the answers to the big questions are not clear-cut or straightforward. I have mixed feelings for the ending. Yes, it’s a shocker, but the big reveal during the ending raises more questions. How did this happen, and how did Sarah get here? 

Come True playing around with what’s real, and what’s not real, or what’s bleeding into the real world, if it exists? Well, the ending answers those questions. Taking a few steps backwards, it’s kind of easy to sort out what’s going on, if you pay attention to the clues. One too many convenient occurrences, including  finding the neighborhood research center that’s oddly tailored to Sarah’s specific condition. The monsters? They’re popping up, because Sarah is clearly struggling to fight off bad thoughts. When the dam breaks, the monsters attack anyone, who’s close to, or trying to protect her. 

Overall, Come True is a good horror/sci-fi film. The visuals and the cinematography are undeniably fantastic. The nightmare sequences are genuinely creepy and eerie, and the scene deep in the dark woods at night towards the end, is a good nail-biter. 

Come True also turns into a darker film, as the story progresses, mirroring the deep dive into Sarah’s dreams and her nightmares. It’s a risky journey through Sarah’s mind to find the answers she’s looking for, and there’s no happy ending here. There’s A LOT to unpack, when the credits start rolling. The ending sparks a domino effect for more questions, but Come True still checks off a good amount of boxes for a horror film about dreams, nightmares, loneliness, and how isolation can ruin so many areas in your life. 

Rating- 8/10

Come True (2021)(Minor Spoilers)

 

**This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Living as a runaway, and supported by her friend, Zoe (Tedra Rogers), Sarah Dunne (Julia Sarah Stone) volunteers for an experimental sleep study. Led by Dr. Meyer (Christopher Heatherington), Sarah is closely monitored by Jeremy (Landon Liboiron) and Anita (Carlee Ryski). Sarah hopes to find the answers behind her sleeping problems, and a bizarre series of dreams and nightmares, but Sarah’s search for the truth leads her down a dark and troubling path. 

My Thoughts- Julia Sarah Stone really holds her own well in the leading role. You can take one look at Sarah, and you’ll quickly notice she’s a young woman, who’s fighting a lot of demons. She’s exhausted, constantly dealing with conflicting emotions, and naturally, she’s hesitant to trust the scientists, who are supposedly trying to help her. 

Stone effortlessly captures everything Sarah is going through, including the paranoia, the anger, and the frustration surrounding Sarah’s unusual dilemma. A good showing in the leading role, and Stone easily delivers the best performance here.

Landon Liboiron’s Jeremy (or Riff) is clearly obsessed and fascinated by Sarah. She’s the ideal test subject, but Jeremy also deeply cares about Sarah. Liboiron plays the geeky scientist, who’s willing to take risks to protect Sarah, a timid and nervous guy, but he steps up, when it’s necessary. A solid performance from Liboiron, especially towards the end, when the bond strengthens between Jeremy and Sarah. 

Why is Sarah avoiding her mother, a mother, who’s seemingly concerned about her? You get the feeling Sarah’s exile from home is self-imposed, and there’s a pattern for people, who are close to Sarah, whether its loved ones, or people she forms connections with. Two people completely disappear from Sarah’s life, without any real explanations. Jeremy and Anita tried to help and protect Sarah, but let’s just say they ran into some big problems.

Maybe that’s why Sarah is staying away from her mother? It’s a strange way of protecting her, but if that’s the case, then why is she so close to Zoe, knowing what could possibly happen to her? People disappearing from Sarah’s life, or worse, suffering from brutal attacks, is a sign that her worst nightmares are coming true: Sarah is stuck in the dreamworld, and she can’t wake up.

Come True uses a methodical style of pacing. It works, because you’ll see a few spikes for some jarring moments and scenes every now and then, when it’s necessary. Sarah’s story is slowly unfolding piece by piece, so everything feels more torturous for her, the experiences, the dilemmas, the doubts, all of it. She’s stuck with sinking and lingering emotions. Sarah doesn’t have any time to try and figure out the previous problems, and it’s only a matter of time before another problem smashes into her, like a speeding eighteen-wheeler.

Most of the answers to the big questions are not clear-cut or straightforward. I have mixed feelings for the ending. Yes, it’s a shocker, but the big reveal during the ending raises more questions. How did this happen, and how did Sarah get here?

Come True playing around with what’s real, and what’s not real, or what’s bleeding into the real world, if it exists? Well, the ending answers those questions. Taking a few steps backwards, it’s kind of easy to sort out what’s going on, if you pay attention to the clues. One too many convenient occurrences, including  finding the neighborhood research center that’s oddly tailored to Sarah’s specific condition. The monsters? They’re popping up, because Sarah is clearly struggling to fight off bad thoughts. When the dam breaks, the monsters attack anyone, who’s close to, or trying to protect her. 

Overall, Come True is a good horror/sci-fi film. The visuals and the cinematography are undeniably fantastic. The nightmare sequences are genuinely creepy and eerie, and the scene deep in the dark woods at night towards the end, is a good nail-biter. 

Come True also turns into a darker film, as the story progresses, mirroring the deep dive into Sarah’s dreams and her nightmares. It’s a risky journey through Sarah’s mind to find the answers she’s looking for, and there’s no happy ending here. There’s A LOT to unpack, when the credits start rolling. The ending sparks a domino effect for more questions, but Come True still checks off a good amount of boxes for a horror film about dreams, nightmares, loneliness, and how isolation can ruin so many areas in your life. 

Rating- 8/10

Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin (2021)(Minor Spoilers Review)

 

**This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Sarah mysteriously disappears after abandoning her infant daughter, Margot at a hospital. Years later, in 2021, Margot (Emily Bader) sets out to make a documentary about her mother’s strange disappearance with Chris (Roland Buck III) and Dale (Dan Lippert). Margot connects with her blood relative, Samuel (Henry Ayres-Brown), who agrees to take the trio to the Amish community, where Sarah lived to film the documentary. 

At the farm, Margot meets Sarah’s father and her grandfather, Jacob Belier (Tom Nowicki). Jacob is the patriarch, and Margot enjoys the early stages of her visit. 

A series of eerie and disturbing incidents disrupts Margot’s documentary, and it’s clear sinister forces are at work. Margot learns about the dark secrets from her mother’s past, Jacob’s true intentions, and her connection to the demon Asmodeus.

My Thoughts- Emily Bader delivers a solid performance, playing a simple character. Margot is a good-hearted person, who just wants closure and a chance to bond with her family, but she’s unknowingly walking into a living nightmare. 

Dan Lippert is hilarious, filling the role of the quirky comedy character in a Paranormal Activity film. Lippert is good for a handful of laughs, and Roland Buck III’s Chris is a bit more serious, but there’s also a comedic side to his character. One “well, he’s the only black guy here” joke about picking a lock, but outside of that, it’s clear Chris is someone, who will do anything to protect and save Margot.

Next Of Kin switches between different POVs, including using a drone and GoPro cameras. In certain parts throughout the movie, Next Of Kin completely abandons the found-footage POV. Slow motion? Yep. Next Of Kin uses slow motion (a feature introduced by Chris) in three scenes. It’s definitely something different for a PA film, and I’m glad they took a restrained approach to using slow motion. One scene, where Chris shows the kids how it works. Another scene for a character’s death, and one scene with Asmodeus. Make it feel like something important that only needs to be seen when it matters. That’s enough.

The documentary parts worked. You really get the feeling you’re watching a behind the scenes set up for Margot making her documentary, and the sit down interview with Jacob was a nice touch. 

Music and theme music! Music makes a debut for the first time in the Paranormal Activity series. Hearing music in a PA film caught me off guard, but it’s not an annoying distraction. 

Next Of Kin is the first Paranormal Activity film without Tobi, Katie, Kristi, Hunter, The Midwives, and there’s no imaginary friend relationships here. To take it a step further, they’re not referenced or mentioned at all for the seventh film in the series. On top of that, if we’re talking about visuals and the overall look and presentation of the movie, Next Of Kin is noticeably more clean and polished.

There’s an obvious attempt at a hard reset for Paranormal Activity, but does it work? On one hand, you could say it was time to move on from Tobi, Katie, Kristi, The Midwives, and Hunter. The storylines were dragging. Too much teasing, going in circles, and constantly sticking to a formula of a setting things up with streaky cliffhangers. And Next Of Kin is a Paranormal Activity film, where the human evildoers FINALLY get their comeuppance. 

Next Of Kin takes place during the Covid pandemic. There’s only the one scene at the airport, where everyone is masked up. They talk about Covid a little bit, but it’s an afterthought, once the group makes it to the farm.

Being stuck on a farm that’s out in the middle of nowhere, without easy access to modern technology, adds to the desperation and terror for Margot and the others. The nighttime scenes are pretty good. Imagine having to navigate your way through pitch black darkness, trees, and vast stretches of land, while a speedy demon chases after you. 

The scenes with the red lanterns shining through the darkness really works for a fantastic aesthetic. A few bloody scenes and gruesome freaky moments. The old lady scraping off the skin on her hand with a potato peeler, while she has this far gone look on her face definitely sticks out. And I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting the double-headed baby goat! 

Next Of Kin ends with an intriguing cliffhanger. We’re not dealing with Tobi being the main threatening force for once, so it’s not so easy to predict how things will play out for the future. The lore behind Asmodeus and everything involving The White Witch feels refreshing, but Next Of Kin is weirdly missing a spark for a film that’s supposed take the series on a different path. 

The jump scares and the fake-out jump scares are harmless, but Next Of Kin has too many long stretches of boredom. It’s almost impossible to shake the feeling of the movie mostly going through the motions. And what’s the deal with Eli (Colin Keane)? I wondered if they were teasing something with him randomly popping up for jump scares in two scenes, but they didn’t do anything meaningful with Eli, as the story progressed.

The Marked Ones is proof that it’s possible to make a good Paranormal film, while introducing new characters, and you can still make references to the previous films, without dwelling on the past too much. A solid cast all around, featuring two notable performances from Tom Nowicki and Henry Ayres-Brown. The problem is, with or without Paranormal Activity attached to the title, Next Of Kin is just an ordinary found-footage horror film. Next Of Kin is not horrible, or unwatchable. It’s just okay at best.

We’re seven films into the series, so coming up with new ideas or different methods to reinvent or rejuvenate the franchise was always going to be a tricky task. Asmedous is a formidable foe, but there’s always a chance they’ll hit the reset button again, so who knows if we’ll ever get to see what’s next for him. 

Rating- 5/10

Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin (2021)(Spoiler Review)

 

**This review contains spoilers**

The Story- Sarah mysteriously disappears after abandoning her infant daughter, Margot at a hospital. Years later, in 2021, Margot (Emily Bader) sets out to make a documentary about her mother’s strange disappearance with Chris (Roland Buck III) and Dale (Dan Lippert). Margot connects with her blood relative, Samuel (Henry Ayres-Brown), who agrees to take the trio to the Amish community, where Sarah lived to film the documentary. 

At the farm, Margot meets Sarah’s father and her grandfather, Jacob Belier (Tom Nowicki). Jacob is the patriarch, and Margot enjoys the early stages of her visit. 

A series of eerie and disturbing incidents disrupts Margot’s documentary, and it’s clear sinister forces are at work. Margot learns about the dark secrets from her mother’s past, Jacob’s true intentions, and her connection to the demon Asmodeus.

My Thoughts- Emily Bader delivers a solid performance, playing a simple character. Margot is a good-hearted person, who just wants closure and a chance to bond with her family, but she’s unknowingly walking into a living nightmare. 

Dan Lippert is hilarious, filling the role of the quirky comedy character in a Paranormal Activity film. Lippert is good for a handful of laughs, and Roland Buck III’s Chris is a bit more serious, but there’s also a comedic side to his character. One “well, he’s the only black guy here” joke about picking a lock, but outside of that, it’s clear Chris is someone, who will do anything to protect and save Margot.

Next Of Kin switches between different POVs, including using a drone and GoPro cameras. In certain parts throughout the movie, Next Of Kin completely abandons the found-footage POV. Slow motion? Yep. Next Of Kin uses slow motion (a feature introduced by Chris) in three scenes. It’s definitely something different for a PA film, and I’m glad they took a restrained approach to using slow motion. One scene, where Chris shows the kids how it works. Another scene for a character’s death, and one scene with Asmodeus. Make it feel like something important that only needs to be seen when it matters. That’s enough.

The documentary parts worked. You really get the feeling you’re watching a behind the scenes set up for Margot making her documentary, and the sit down interview with Jacob was a nice touch. 

Music and theme music! Music makes a debut for the first time in the Paranormal Activity series. Hearing music in a PA film caught me off guard, but it’s not an annoying distraction. 

Margot, Chris, and Dale eventually learn the truth about Jacob, Samuel, and the others. The Beliers are not Amish. Instead, they’re satanists, or as Dale eloquently put it, “cultish mother*******.” The opportunity to meet her family was a ruse orchestrated by Samuel and Jacob. 

Asmodeus’ current vessel? It’s Sarah. Sticking to a strict pact, a woman must contain Asmodeus through the bloodline from mother to daughter, and unfortunately, Margot is up next. IF Asmodeus is not contained by a woman from the community, the demon will jump to different bodies, spreading chaos throughout the farm and the world.

A nice surprising twist. From the moment Margot, Chris, and Dale arrived at the farm, you could tell something was off. Samuel’s explanation for why Margot needs to go through with the ritual is haunting and really creepy. It’s ironic and hypocritical how Samuel is basically praising women for being strong, and the only beings on earth capable of birthing life into the world. But he also supports a ritual, where a woman is deceived and forced against her will to be a vessel for a demon. 

Henry Ayres-Brown does a good job with the scene, where he’s standing in the dark and facing the wall, while telling Chris why the ritual for Margot needs to happen. I also wondered, if Samuel was conflicted about luring Margot into the trap. He’s noticeably nervous and kind of jittery throughout the movie, especially when he meets Margot at Denny’s. Maybe his conscience almost got the best of him?

The finale delivers a few solid thrills, chaos, and some believable close calls. Asmodeus’ lair in the caves is appropriately spooky, and Asmodeus/Sarah’s grotesque demonic form looks phenomenal. Brief glimpses of Asmodeus, but Asmodeus’ nasty form combined with lighting speed easily makes the demon a menacing threat. 

Margot confronting Asmodeus, and temporarily disarming the demon by saying her mother’s name works as an emotional scene, followed by Margot killing Sarah, after Margot kicks her onto the bed of sharp, spiky tools. It’s something that’s teased early on in the movie, when Margot almost accidentally fell through a hole in the barn that’s right on top of the sharp tools. As soon as you see that bed of spikes, you just know something bad is going to happen in that spot at some point.

Dale is killed by Asmodeus, but Margot and Chris manage to escape from the madness of the village turning on and killing each other under Asmodeus’ influence. What about Samuel? Well, he’s possessed by Asmodeus, who uses his powers to force two police officers to commit suicide. Sam, possessed by Asmodeus, drives away from the farm to end the movie.

A possessed Samuel, using a baby’s crying voice before switching to a strained yell to get the police officer to lower his guard was truly a bizarre scene. For a brief, moment you could actually believe there was a chance Samuel survived the massacre without any problems. 

It’s a strange cliffhanger that leaves some unanswered questions. Where is Asmodeus going? Is he going to find Sarah to complete the ritual? The idea of Asmodeus wreaking havoc in the real world, jumping from one body to the next has some potential.

One thing I’ll say about the ending is, at least Samuel and Jacob got what they deserved. Jacob falls to his death after a struggle with Chris, and Jacob’s mangled and folded corpse is a GRUESOME sight. And Samuel is basically just a meat sack for Asmodeus, until he decides to jump to another body. 

Next Of Kin is the first Paranormal Activity film without Tobi, Katie, Kristi, Hunter, The Midwives, and there’s no imaginary friend relationships here. To take it a step further, they’re not referenced or mentioned at all for the seventh film in the series. On top of that, if we’re talking about visuals and the overall look and presentation of the movie, Next Of Kin is noticeably more clean and polished.

There’s an obvious attempt at a hard reset for Paranormal Activity, but does it work? On one hand, you could say it was time to move on from Tobi, Katie, Kristi, The Midwives, and Hunter. The storylines were dragging. Too much teasing, going in circles, and constantly sticking to a formula of a setting things up with streaky cliffhangers. And Next Of Kin is a Paranormal Activity film, where the human evildoers FINALLY get their comeuppance. 

Next Of Kin takes place during the Covid pandemic. There’s only the one scene at the airport, where everyone is masked up. They talk about Covid a little bit, but it’s an afterthought, once the group makes it to the farm.

Being stuck on a farm that’s out in the middle of nowhere, without easy access to modern technology, adds to the desperation and terror for Margot and the others. The nighttime scenes are pretty good. Imagine having to navigate your way through pitch black darkness, trees, and vast stretches of land, while a speedy demon chases after you. 

The scenes with the red lanterns shining through the darkness really works for a fantastic aesthetic. A few bloody scenes and gruesome freaky moments. The old lady scraping off the skin on her hand with a potato peeler, while she has this far gone look on her face definitely sticks out. And I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting the double-headed baby goat! 

Next Of Kin ends with an intriguing cliffhanger. We’re not dealing with Tobi being the main threatening force for once, so it’s not so easy to predict how things will play out for the future. The lore behind Asmodeus and everything involving The White Witch feels refreshing, but Next Of Kin is weirdly missing a spark for a film that’s supposed take the series on a different path. 

The jump scares and the fake-out jump scares are harmless, but Next Of Kin has too many long stretches of boredom. It’s almost impossible to shake the feeling of the movie mostly going through the motions. And what’s the deal with Eli (Colin Keane)? I wondered if they were teasing something with him randomly popping up for jump scares in two scenes, but they didn’t do anything meaningful with Eli, as the story progressed.

The Marked Ones is proof that it’s possible to make a good Paranormal film, while introducing new characters, and you can still make references to the previous films, without dwelling on the past too much. A solid cast all around, featuring two notable performances from Tom Nowicki and Henry Ayres-Brown. The problem is, with or without Paranormal Activity attached to the title, Next Of Kin is just an ordinary found-footage horror film. Next Of Kin is not horrible, or unwatchable. It’s just okay at best.

We’re seven films into the series, so coming up with new ideas or different methods to reinvent or rejuvenate the franchise was always going to be a tricky task. Asmedous is a formidable foe, but there’s always a chance they’ll hit the reset button again, so who knows if we’ll ever get to see what’s next for him. 

Rating- 5/10

Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions (2021)

 

**This post contains spoilers, including thoughts on the alternate opening and ending **

The Story- Continuing their pursuit to expose Minos, Zoey (Taylor Russell) and Ben (Logan Miller) travel to New York to find more evidence. But things take an unexpected turn, when a homeless man lures Zoey and Ben into another one of Minos’ games by stealing Zoey’s necklace.

Zoey and Ben are forced to survive another series of escape rooms with former winners including, Theo (Carlito Olivero), Brianna (Indya Moore), Rachel (Holland Rode), and Nathan (Thomas Cocquerel). The players are put to the test and pushed to their limits, and a surprising return forces Zoey to make a difficult decision.

My Thoughts- Tournament Of Champions knocks it out of the park again with a different set of more grandiose escape rooms. Each escape room is uniquely different and has its own brand of chaotic life or death danger, especially the bank and vault escape room. The subway train, the bank and vault, the beach, and the outdoor New York City escape rooms all had genuine awe-inspiring atmospheres, but the smaller and more modest escape rooms also worked here. The water cage and the sauna escape rooms fit within the story to play up the claustrophobia and anxiety more, so you still get that strong sense of panic and dread, just on a smaller scale.

Escape Room 2019 took the clever approach to use the participant’s personal tragedies and traumas as tie-ins for the escape rooms and the clues within the rooms to add an emotional layer, but that’s not the case in the sequel. They were clearly going with a bigger razzle-dazzle style for the escape rooms here and more complex problem solving. It’s a noticeably different approach that still works. The strong sense of urgency is intact, and there’s a few believable tense moments, with a lot of good close calls in the NYC acid rain and the bank escape rooms. Including two exits during the beach escape room delivered more hysteria, because when you consider everything she’s been through, it’s easy to buy into Zoey’s desperation to finally escape the game.

The teamwork in Tournament Of Champions is more cohesive and fluid, and you won’t see any selfish characters resembling Jason from the original. Everyone in the sequel is a former champion. They know how dangerous the games are, and they know Minos means business. You can say the stunt he pulled in the bank escape room was stupid, but Nathan solely risked his life twice to help the group.

We already know about Zoey and Ben’s stories and their motivations, and I was hoping for more character depth for the rest of the contestants. Brianna is a social media influencer and a travel blogger, and that’s it? Rachel has a high tolerance for pain, but they never go into any details about her being a “pain freak.” Nathan is traumatized. He’s an alcoholic, and something about his life as a priest is clearly bothering him.

The original did a good job of exploring the traumas behind each contestant, and working their traumatic experiences into the escape rooms. With the exception of Nathan and to a lesser extent, Theo (he loves his wife and doesn’t want to be late to her birthday party), there’s no real attempts to explore the backstories behind the contestants. So if we’re talking about performances, the cast is basically limited to frantic shouting and panicky reactions.

Amanda is alive! That’s the big surprise towards the end. But it’s not a happy reunion with Zoey and Ben, because it’s revealed Amanda has been working with Minos to design escape rooms. We know for sure the beach escape room was Amanda’s brainchild, and she’s only working as an escape room builder, because Minos kidnapped her daughter. Of course, Amanda comes to her senses and helps Zoey and Ben escape, after Zoey refuses Minos offer to work for them.

So they’re in the clear and Minos is done for, right? Well, Zoey and Ben are stuck in another escape room on a plane to end the movie. Zoey realizes something is wrong, when she sees her therapist (Lucy Newman-Williams) on the flight, who’s revealed to be a plant from Minos. It’s the plane crash escape room that was teased at the end of the first movie, and it plays into Zoey’s fears of flying.

But wait there’s more! In the alternate opening and ending, we learn more about the Puzzle Maker, Henry (James Frain) his daughter, Claire (Isabelle Fuhrman), and his wife, Sonya (Tanya Van Graan). There’s a twist, where it’s revealed Claire is the true Puzzle Maker and architect behind the escape rooms, and Henry’s been stealing her ideas and passing them off his own for years. All the escape rooms were inspired by events during Claire’s childhood, and as a child, Claire is the one who killed her mother with the sauna escape room.

So which ending is better? I have to go with the ending in the alternate version. It’s a definitive ending with more closure. Claire helps Ben and Zoey escape. There’s no cliffhanger for their ending, and Amanda and her storyline are completely cut out of this version. There’s also a slight crack in the door to continue the story. Claire presumably kills Henry, and she promises to fulfill her true potential after she escapes from her prison. 

Fuhrman and Frain delivered a pair of solid performances, and their characters added a good emotional layer to the movie, with the unusual and dysfunctional family dynamic. The extended cut also shows more footage, with Zoey struggling to get on a plane again. The scene where Zoey envisions her mother warmly encouraging her to join her on the flight did a good job of  showing why Zoey is still paranoid, and you can understand why it’s not so easy for her to move on.

I don’t hate the theatrical ending, but it’s too wide open. All of the struggles Zoey and Ben went through are meaningless. On the plane, Zoey mentioned the escape rooms were “too easy” this time around, and Amanda revealed the reason for that earlier. It was all one big recruitment scheme to get Zoey to work for Minos. Going back to the NYC acid rain room, it’s easy to see how things were set up for Zoey to be the winner. Rachel and Brianna never had a chance to get inside the taxi. 

So if we’re going by the theatrical ending, everything was a ruse to get Zoey to lower her guard and finally get on a plane. Zoey and Ben didn’t really accomplish anything, and Amanda’s shocking return is wasted.

I never believed Zoey and Ben were in any real danger, but Tournament Of Champions is still a satisfying sequel. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, Tournament Of Champions delivers consistent thrills and suspense with a speedy pace. The sequel is also loaded with amazing set pieces and good eye candy. Logan Miller and Taylor Russell share believable chemistry as best friends, and there’s slight teases for a possible romance. Zoey and Ben developed a tight bond, and they’re genuinely willing to risk their lives to keep each other safe. 

The theatrical ending and the extended ending are completely different with two separate paths. The big difference is, and I’ve said this before, but the extended version’s ending gives you the impression a sequel could happen. The theatrical version’s ending will leave you with the impression that a sequel NEEDS to happen. The theatrical ending shows the start of an escape room game, and Henry’s identity is never revealed. 

 I know it’ll probably never happen, but personally, I was holding out hope for an Escape Room 3. There’s untapped potential with mainstream game horror movies. Escape Room could’ve been a nice alternative to Saw, if you’re not into the more extreme gory stuff. Zoey and Ben worked as a duo, and it’s easy to fit them into future films, as two players who managed to survive Minos.

Rating- 7/10

Night Teeth (2021)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Benny (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) eagerly fills in for his brother, Jay (Raul Castillo) as a chauffeur for an all night job. Benny is tasked with taking Blaire (Debby Ryan) and Zoe (Lucy Fry) to various parties throughout Los Angeles. But a seemingly simple job turns into a fight for survival, when it’s revealed Zoe and Blaire are vampires.

Following orders from their leader, Victor (Alfie Allen), Zoe and Blaire kill Victor’s marked targets, while Benny is forced to be the driver. Secrets about Jay’s double life are exposed, while Benny is caught in the middle of the disastrous fallout from a long-standing truce between humans and vampires.

My Thoughts- There’s not enough I can say about Lucy Fry. She’s simply superb in Night Teeth. Zoe has a delightfully evil persona. She’s an unhinged rebel, and Zoe genuinely loves her lifestyle as a villain. She embodies the power, the superiority, and the untouchable status that comes with being a vampire. Lucy Fry’s vibrant presence and charisma are undeniable, a true show stealing performance without any dull moments.

Jorge Lendeborg Jr. plays his role well as Benny. He’s the nerdy and shy guy, who looks up to and wants to prove himself to Jay, the big brother he clearly admires and has a ton of respect for.

I kind of wish Alexander Ludwig’s Rocko had more screen time. Rocko is one of the more eccentric and nutty vampire leaders, and there’s no denying Ludwig’s character had a lot of potential. Alfie Allen is a suitable main villain. Victor is pompous and power hungry. He’s a true narcissist, so it’s easy to see why he has a strong bond with Zoe.

The friendship dynamic between Zoe and Blaire adds a good emotional layer to Night Teeth. Zoe is hot-headed and a loose cannon, but Blaire is easily the more level headed person in the duo. Remember, it was Blaire’s idea to keep Benny alive after they found out he wasn’t Jay. Zoe wanted to kill him immediately, but Blaire came up with the plan to use him as a bargaining chip. Debby Ryan and Lucy Fry shared good chemistry together, and their friendship is one the bigger highlights here.

I’m a sucker for fine details and lore. Night Teeth’s story for the history behind the truce and the war between humans and vampires is simple, airtight, and effective. Strict rules are set in place, hotels are used as feeding grounds for vampires, but the participants must give their consent. Ruby jewels are used as a sort of access card to gain entry into vampire activities, and a cop is clearly on Victor’s payroll as an enforcer. Night Teeth really makes you believe in the tense relationship between humans and vampires. There’s a violent underworld that’s one stupid mistake away from falling apart, and causing irreversible chaos in everyone’s day to day lives.

Vampires are forbidden from entering Boyle Heights. It’s one of the big rules, and of course Victor breaks one of the big three to start all the trouble. Jay’s character is the perfect representative for Boyle Heights. He’s the stoic tough guy, with a fighting spirit, and you know he’ll walk through fire to put a stop to Victor’s madness.

Victor is clearly a strong adversary, surviving a point blank gunshot to the head from Jay. Once you get to know Victor, his reasons for killing off his fellow vampires shouldn’t surprise you. Eva (Sydney Sweeney) and Grace (Megan Fox) are his superiors in the vampire world. They want answers for his actions. Victor’s response? He’s tired of playing things safe with the humans, when vampires should be their absolute masters. And you might’ve already guessed this, but of course Victor wants more power, and to put himself in a position, where he won’t have to answer to anyone. The scene where Victor explains everything to Zoe and Grace shows how arrogant and foolish Victor truly is. He was willing to throw away a harmonious truce to feed his own ego.

Blaire eventually turning on Victor and Zoe wasn’t a big surprise. Benny had googly eyes for Blaire during their first interaction. The seeds were planted early on, and you could see it coming, as Blaire forms a stronger bond with Benny throughout the movie. They tried, but I couldn’t buy into the shock of the swerve, because it was clear Blaire was going to choose Benny over Zoe and Victor at some point.

It’s obvious what’s going to happen and how things are going to play out during the finale. Still, it’s a satisfying final act with no real wrinkles and everything makes sense. Fry did a wonderful job of selling Zoe’s heartbroken reaction, when she finally realizes Blaire is firmly on Benny’s side. Benny comes up with a clever plan that kills Zoe, and Jay gets revenge for Victor killing his girlfriend, Maria (Ash Santos) by tackling Jay into the sunlight. The true villains got what they deserved, Jay gets his revenge, and Blaire and Benny move on to the next chapter of their lives.

Night Teeth is a spirited and sleek vampire horror film. The blood and gore throughout the movie is not over the top or too intense. Sometimes the blood bath approach can be used to build up the severity of a vampiric threat, but it’s not always necessary. 

The door is wide open for a sequel, with Benny and Blaire together as vampires (Victor bit and turned Benny during the final fight). There’s a lot to build on with Benny and Blaire, and Benny fighting with Jay in the upcoming war, but I wouldn’t be upset if a sequel never happens. They tied up enough loose ends here. The cliffhanger at the end is the kind of cliffhanger that’ll give you the impression that a sequel COULD happen, but at the same time, the story doesn’t necessarily need to continue.

Rating- 6/10

Dashcam (2021)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a popular live streamer named Annie (Annie Hardy) visits London to reconnect with her friend and old band mate Stretch (Amar Chadha-Patel). Stretch’s girlfriend, Gemma (Jemma Moore) quickly grows tired of Annie’s abrasive personality, so Annie steals Stretch’s car to go off on her own.

Annie hijacks Stretch’s job as a food delivery driver to pick up an order at a restaurant, and the owner of the restaurant offers to pay Annie for an odd side job. She wants Annie to drive her elderly friend Angela (Angela Enahoro) to a location, and she’s willing to pay more for Annie to do the job. Annie agrees, but Annie quickly finds out that she unknowingly stumbled into a dangerous task.

My Thoughts- Well, one thing’s for sure, you’ll either be annoyed by Annie or you’ll just flat out hate her. She’s definitely a polarizing main character. Early on in the movie, you can clearly see Annie is a defiant and stubborn conservative. She’s a proud Donald Trump fan, and Dashcam is set during the social distancing and strict mask mandates period of the pandemic. So as soon as Annie encounters a situation where face masks are required, you just knew she was going to unload on the cafe owner about tyranny and human rights. Just think about any of the viral videos you might’ve seen three or four years ago, when someone didn’t want to wear a mask and said person went on a tirade. It’s the usual material about defying mask mandates, and you’ll quickly get a good idea about the foundation of Annie’s character.

The direction of Annie’s character is a strange one. Hardy lays it on so thick as Annie it’s to the point, where she’s basically a parody of a hardcore conservative and Trump supporter. Annie is loud, rude, vulgar, confrontational, and of course she has a Make America Great Again hat. Were they trying to mock Trump supporters? I lean in that direction, because Hardy is so over the top with her rants, and the way she constantly belittles and mocks Gemma about her Covid protocols and liberal beliefs is just too on the nose. And to top things off, a Donald Trump bobble head doll makes an appearance at the end. 

If you take away all the conservative and Trump flag waving stuff from Annie’s character, there’s still no denying she’s just not a nice person. Annie is someone who truly has no off switch. She’s kind of selfish, she steals Stretch’s car, and she inadvertently drags him into a life threatening situation.

Dashcam is shown through a live stream POV. It’s an attempted spin on the found-footage sub genre of horror, and it works most of the time. They stayed true to the live stream POV, with emojis popping up on the screen and Annie’s followers monitoring the chaos and posting comments. Annie hosts a stream named BandCar, where her followers comment one word and she finds a way to fit each word into a freestyle. The humor and the punchlines during the freestyles are hit and miss, and of course the shaky cam stuff gets tiresome after a while. Still, at least they stayed true to the POV for the realistic feel, and you do get the impression that you’re actually watching an unprecedented and chaotic live stream.

So there’s obviously something wrong with Angela. She’s got supernatural abilities, and Angela’s mother reveals another shocking secret about her. Angela’s actually a teenager, and well, that would explain why an elderly woman has an Ariana Grande tattoo. 

We never get a full and clear cut explanation behind Angela’s powers and her rapid aging, but there are some clues to sort of put the pieces of the puzzle in place. Angela is obviously an important part of some weird and creepy satanic cult. And it’s clear her body was used a vessel to birth a grotesque creature. Depending on how it’s done, I do prefer the mysterious approach to certain reveals. Angela’s story makes you think about how all these horrible things could’ve happened to her. In the one photo Angela’s mother shows Annie and Stretch, Angela clearly looks happy as a kid. Who could’ve done this to her? Why was she chosen for this horrible ritual?

Dashcam dishes out its fair share of blood and over the top gore. There’s the grisly and graphic scene, where Annie uses a steering wheel to break the mother’s arm, and Angela ripping off her mom’s head, ending with a fountain of blood shooting out of her neck. Stretch’s death scene, where Angela rips his throat out was truly nasty, and it’s a bummer for Stretch. He was a good and honest hard working guy, who stumbled into a bad situation.

Dashcam kicks into high gear during the home stretch to deliver a satisfying final act. The finale is tense and a real nail biter, as Annie fights off and kills the creature that grew out of Angela. Everything leading up to the final fight feels genuinely suspenseful, with Annie realizing she’s at the address where she was supposed to drop Angela off, to seeing the cult members commit a mass suicide together.

With all that said, the comedy in Dashcam is a bit too much at times. It undercuts some of the more serious moments, and I got the feeling I was watching a horror comedy and not a full on horror film. I loved the sequence in the dark forest, when Annie and Stretch were trying to escape and hide from Angela and her mother. Still, a lot of the jump scares are predictable, and you’ll still see some of the found footage cliches here. The shaky cam stuff is annoying, and it’s way too easy to see the jump scares coming, with the usual back and forth movements of the camera. You just know something or someone is going to pop up in the background when it happens.

Annie is a character with no real middle ground, and it’s kind of hard to root for her. She dragged Stretch into this mess, and he was killed by Angela. And I can’t forget about the two newlyweds who died in that firey car crash, when Annie and Stretch were trying to escape.

I’m still not sure why they felt the need to do the hardcore conservative and Trump supporter stuff with Annie’s character. It’s not like they were trying to make her a truly evil person. But Annie’s CONSTANT rants against liberals just keep going and going throughout the movie. It reaches a point where you’ll say, okay we get it? I just got the feeling they wanted to take a strange approach to make Annie as annoying as they possibly could to piss off the audience. But why would you do that to the protagonist/final girl? Yeah, Annie survived and went through absolute hell to do so, but in the end, Annie only has herself to blame for her selfish and unbelievably bad decisions.

Rating-5/10