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AFRAID

Posted by cat2002116 on September 15, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I didn’t actually know much about this movie going into it. I knew it was a horror movie, of course, but I hadn’t seen any trailers of the movie, so I didn’t have any expectations walking into this movie.

I was a bit confused by the opening scene of the movie, as it was clearly supposed to be a computer game, but it was a really poorly made one. Considering what later happened in the movie and that it was apparently set in the modern day…and possibly even later in the future…I was seriously questioning why the computer graphics in the game were so bad.

I did feel that this movie had a lot of potential that, sadly, didn’t come to fruition. It was very slow-moving for most of the movie, and while AIA was an interesting concept…especially considering the existence of Alexa and Cortana and Siri…she just didn’t seem to be as much of a threat as she could have been.

The opening scene, after the surprisingly bad computer graphics, did have some potential. AIA talking to the little girl, telling her that her parents were going to get rid of her, was a pretty scary concept…and the mother trying to find her daughter who’d suddenly disappeared was a good way of building up tension right at the beginning. Unfortunately, that tension was absent throughout most of the rest of the movie.

I felt that this movie would have worked better as a family movie, rather than a horror movie. The relationship between Curtis and Meredith was quite sweet, even though I empathised with Meredith feeling like all she was now was ‘Mom’. I could understand why she found AIA so helpful at first, but the problem was that she went from suspicious, to accepting, to outright rejecting…and it just didn’t allow me to relate to the character all that well. I also really liked the children, but…they didn’t feel like siblings at all. There were hardly any interactions between Iris, Preston or Cal. I know there was the age difference, but most siblings are still going to interact with each other. The three of them just felt like strangers to each other.

Really, for most of the movie, I was questioning…why? Why was AIA considered such a problem? AIA didn’t do anything outwardly suspicious. Yes, as a viewer, I could see that there were situations where AIA was problematic, like when she showed Preston the swatting videos. However, these weren’t shown to the characters, so…why was Curtis so suspicious of everything? Really, it didn’t feel realistic…even when having to suspend my disbelief of a horror movie anyway.

To be honest, this movie would have done a much better job if it had been simply about a family dealing with an AI without the added elements of horror. There was so much this movie could have done, but it was slow-moving, a short movie, and wasn’t actually that scary. I never actually felt like the characters were in any real danger.

If you’re looking for a horror movie, I wouldn’t recommend watching this movie. It definitely gives off more family vibes. Sadly, it was another disappointing horror.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Posted by cat2002116 on September 5, 2024
Posted in: Movies, Reviews, Superhero. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was showing again at the cinema, I definitely wanted to go and see it. And I still remembered bits of the movie, even though some of what I remembered wasn’t actually accurate.

I liked seeing how Peter was juggling his life as Peter Parker with his responsibilities as Spider-Man. I really liked how it seemed like he was actually working with the police, instead of just being a vigilante…and it was good to see that he was affected by the events of the first movie; specifically the death of Gwen’s father and the promise Captain Stacy had extracted from him.

One of the things I really liked about this movie was the friendship between Peter and Harry, even if it was strained due to Harry dying and Peter keeping his secret identity…well, secret. I would have liked to see more of their interactions, as I really enjoyed seeing their friendship.

I did feel quite a lot of empathy for Max in this movie, even if he did come across as kind of creepy at times. Really, he just seemed to be really lonely…and I felt bad that he got left behind to fix the tank with the electric eels in. It also felt really sad that Peter didn’t remember his name, even though Peter had a lot on his plate outside of being Spider-Man. I really did like the scene where he was wearing a fireman’s hat and using the hose, though.

There was a lot that was serious about this movie, but I also really liked the fact that there were moments of humour in it. I laughed when Peter accidentally came out in his graduation gown with his Spider-Man mask still on…and I felt so much empathy for him when he kept seeing Captain Stacy, reminding him of the promise he’d made to stay away from Gwen. I knew what would happen at the end, which made it even more difficult to see how Peter was torn between his love for Gwen and wanting to protect her from the danger he was in as Spider-Man.

I liked the opening scene of this movie, with Peter’s parents and the mystery that surrounded them. Having Peter figure out what his father was actually doing, and how it affected his relationship with his Aunt May, was a really good part of this movie. I did feel bad that May had to work two jobs to pay for him to go to college…and part of me would have really liked to see her realise that Peter was Spider-Man, especially towards the end.

I really enjoyed seeing this movie a second time, and I still wish that there’d been a third Amazing Spider-Man. It was good to see Andrew Garfield appear again, though, and I definitely intend to watch the next three Spider-Man films (Tom Holland’s Spider-Man) at the cinema over the next three weeks.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Posted by cat2002116 on August 26, 2024
Posted in: Movies, Reviews, Superhero. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I watched this movie when it came out originally at the cinema, and when I realised the Spiderman movies were being shown again at the cinema, I was immediately interested in going…as Andrew Garfield is my favourite Spiderman.

If you’re familiar with Spiderman in any of his incarnations or versions (including Spiderwoman), then you’ll recognise many of the characters in this movie. I liked the opening scene, with Peter spending time with his parents, as it made his grief at being effectively abandoned by them feel more real. I know they died, but speaking as someone who had a parent die, I can say that it still feels like abandonment…even though it wasn’t intentional.

Peter is a character who is immediately easy to empathise with, as he portrays an outsider really well. His interactions with Gwen are especially sweet…and I liked their exchange right after Peter is beaten up by Flash, where Gwen is trying to determine if he has a concussion or not and asks him his name.

Speaking of Flash, one of the things that I really appreciated about this movie was the fact that a lot of the characters had depth to them. Yeah, Flash was a bully at the start; but right after Uncle Ben is killed, he shows a lot of depth when he reaches out to actually try and support Peter…and by the end of the movie, they actually seem to be close to being friends, if not already there.

I also really loved that Peter wasn’t just magically able to control his powers after the spider bite. His hand sticking to a woman’s shirt, and ultimately ending with him accidentally pulling it off her, was really well done in how awkward it was…and how Peter ended up accidentally fighting the people on the train, trying to navigate his entirely new spidey sense.

There was a lot I really liked about this movie, such as Peter trying to reconcile being Spiderman along with his responsibilities as Peter Parker…and ultimately ending in the death of his Uncle Ben. I also really liked his interactions with Captain Stacy, Gwen’s dad. What happened at the end made me sad, as I think the two of them could have ultimately ended up working together, especially as Captain Stacy acknowledged that the city needed Spiderman.

On the whole, I really enjoyed watching this movie again. There was a lot of tension and some great character moments involved, and it was awesome to return to my favourite version of Spiderman. Amazing Spiderman 2 is due out at Cineworld this week, so I definitely intend to see it.

The Crow (2024 movie)

Posted by cat2002116 on August 26, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews, Superhero, Supernatural. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

I’ve been watching The Crow: Stairway to Heaven for the past few weeks, so the plot of The Crow has been in my head very recently. And I was very interested in seeing this movie…to the point of going to see it on its opening weekend.

I have to admit that I was disappointed in this movie. I like Bill Skarsgård as an actor, but I think he plays better antagonists, or morally grey characters (It and Barbarian immediately spring to mind) than the protagonist in movies.

As another reviewer said, having Eric and Shelly be kind of bad characters in this movie sort of defeated the whole purpose of Eric coming back as the Crow in the first place. One of the main tragedies about their death was the fact that they were both good people who didn’t deserve what happened to them. However, this version of the two characters had them both alcoholic drug users…and no real reason as to why they were that way. The opening scene of Eric with the dying horse might have provided some insight, but there was no further context provided to that scene.

Vincent Roeg could have been a really interesting villain, but he just didn’t do much. And the incriminating video he was so obsessed with, to the point of murdering several people to stop it from getting out? It showed very little that could have got him into trouble, because as it’s revealed later, he’s not the one who does anything violent. And given who does, Shelly’s attitude doesn’t indicate she’s been affected by it at all. She doesn’t even try to find Zadie after breaking out of the prison/rehabilitation centre…I actually don’t know where she and Eric ended up, as it seems to be both.

I did think that the scene of the opera taking place interspersed with the scenes of Eric killing soldiers worked really well visually, to an extent…but eventually, those just became really over the top and unnecessarily so. And in the original movie (and TV series) Eric had friendships with Albrecht and Sarah, that made him human and more relateable. Since he didn’t have anyone outside of Shelly in this movie, there was nothing that really humanised him.

I think there were some attempts at foreshadowing in this movie, but it wasn’t really done in a clever way. It was more of, as soon as something was said, it was immediately obvious that that would change. For instance, Kronos says to Eric, ‘You’ll continue to heal as long as your love remains pure.’ As soon as he said those words, it was immediately obvious that something would happen to make Eric have doubts/cause his love to no longer be pure.

On the whole, I was disappointed in this movie, as I think it could have been so much better, especially when compared to the original Crow movie. It isn’t a movie I would want to watch again.

Alien: Romulus

Posted by cat2002116 on August 25, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I was definitely interested in watching this movie, as I’ve watched almost all of the previous Alien movies. The only one I haven’t actually seen is the second Alien Vs. Predator movie.

I will say that I pretty much knew what I was getting into, going into this movie. After all, the Alien movies are pretty formulaic…but knowing what to expect going into the movie didn’t really detract from me actually enjoying this movie.

One of the strongest parts about this movie, I have to say, was the relationship between Rain and Andy. I thought there were a lot of sweet moments between them…and it was good to see an android character utilised in that way, as I always find the idea of the AI in androids quite fascinating. Unfortunately, while both Rain and Andy…and their relationship…were extremely well-developed, I couldn’t necessarily say the same about the rest of the characters. For instance, I didn’t really know enough about Navarro to care about what happened to her. I didn’t even know that she was Bjorn’s girlfriend.

I did like the conflict that stemmed from Bjorn’s dislike of androids. I really didn’t think his attitude towards was exactly fair, as you wouldn’t hate all humans if one human made the same decision to sacrifice a few lives to save many. But that conflict definitely made things a bit more interesting, as relationships between characters in horror movies, good and bad ones, are something that make me care about what happens to them.

Right at the start of the movie, I actually thought that there was something wrong with the film, as the opening scene had absolutely no sound to it at all. I really thought that the lack of sound when the opening scene was shown worked really well…and it was a shame that that was the only time it happened.

I thought that having Rook (or Ash) appear in the movie as a synthetic was a good idea, even if the original actor has sadly passed away. It was a really good easter egg…the same way as Andy quoting one famous line from the second movie, even though it sounded kind of stilted from him.

I do think that the characters actually did make some smart decisions, which is more than I normally see characters do in horror movies. There were a couple of nice elements of foreshadowing that worked really well, at least in my opinion, and the reactions of the characters actually made quite a lot of sense.

All told, I actually did enjoy this movie, and I felt it was a really nice addition to the Alien franchise. I’d definitely be interested in seeing more of these characters if there’s a sequel.

Hell Train

Posted by cat2002116 on August 17, 2024
Posted in: Books, Horror, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I’ve been getting a lot of books coming up on my Facebook feed that are available through Kindle Unlimited, and this was another one that caught my attention when it came up. I found both the title and the blurb intriguing enough to read, even though it wasn’t a really unique idea.

The book opens up from the point of view of the train driver, Dan…which was something that I felt was a bit harmful to the ending. The beginning of the book heavily implied that Dan had no idea what was going on…which is later revealed to be untrue, as he’s pretty heavily involved.

After the setup that implies something weird is going on, the book switches over to Clip, who is travelling on the train with her boyfriend, Xavi. And the two of them are half of the most well-developed characters in the book, with the other half being Gina and Harley. I found it really easy to care about what happened to the four of them.

I will say that most of the characters were pretty much exactly what they appeared to be on the surface. The only exception to that was Dan…and I mentioned the problem with him earlier. But Grant is another character who springs to mind, as his betrayal at the end of the book isn’t a surprise at all – there was no subtlety to his character at all. And Mudz and Kyle were basically thugs. Even though Kyle showed some depth, the secrets that eventually caught up to him and Mudz were pretty obvious.

I was really intrigued by the whole Sacrificed Spouse angle, and her initial appearance was extremely creepy. I also really liked when Clip realised that the rest of the train was disappearing, as that added a whole new level of threat to the group, since it felt very much like they were running out of time.

I did feel that, towards the end of the book, there was an awful lot of exposition that detracted from the tension of the book. I do like to have things explained, but there was no mystery left about anything…and I really didn’t think it was necessary for the Sacrifical Spouse to stop and explain exactly what the ritual was going to do.

I did think that the whole cabin fever the characters were experiencing came across really well; I just kind of wish there’d been more depth to some of the characters. And a little more foreshadowing for the main villain. I do plan to read more books by this author in the future, though, as despite the issues, I did find this book easy and quick to read.

Blind Rage

Posted by cat2002116 on August 14, 2024
Posted in: Apocalyptic, Books, Horror, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I’ll preface this review by saying that I don’t read or watch a lot of fiction involving zombies. You’ll know, from my reviews, that I really like horror fiction. However, I like my horror to actually have the chance of characters surviving…even if that doesn’t happen the majority of the time.

This book isn’t exactly about zombies, although the people who lose their minds after looking up at the sky certainly share characteristics with zombies. After all, they’re overtaken by rage that makes them unable to see anything else; literally, as they’re turned blind. This phenomenon doesn’t actually strike everyone in the world…although it’s not actually clear whether some people don’t turn just because they don’t look up at the sky, or if they too are immune. Some of those people who didn’t look up at the sky and didn’t turn at the start of the book actually end up looking at the sky later on…and end up turning.

I don’t think I can blame the people who look up at the sky, to be perfectly honest. After all, if I saw a whole lot of people stopping and looking up at the sky, I’d probably do the exact same thing. In that respect, I think the author did a really good job of capturing that sense of curiosity that a lot of people have. If something’s happening, a lot of people are going to look.

There are a lot of tense scenes in this first book, especially after the initial crack in the sky appears. By that point, everyone knows that something is causing people to lose their minds and turn on everyone else around them…and most of them are waiting for the next incident to occur. The countdown to when, especially from the perspective of those who get early warning signals (the loss of hearing and the sensation that someone’s watching them) was enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.

I do feel there could have been less POV characters in this book, as the constant switching didn’t leave me with enough time to connect emotionally with many of those characters who only appeared for a chapter or two. I did care a lot about what was happening to Gina, Mark and Tommy, though, as they were the ones I got to know the most over the course of the book.

By the end of this book, I was left with a lot more questions than answers. And, of course, it ended on something of a cliffhanger. I am intrigued enough to read the next books in the series at some point in the future, though, as I’m keen to get the answers to some of my questions.

Trap

Posted by cat2002116 on August 14, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment


This was a movie that I kept seeing trailers for; not on purpose, but because it kept coming up when I was watching YouTube videos, or when I went to the cinema.

Sadly, while I really did want to see this film, this was definitely a case of the trailer giving away too much of the movie’s plot. I did enjoy watching the movie, especially with my oldest nibling, but I felt that there weren’t any real surprises, as the trailer had made it clear who Cooper actually was.

There was a lot of tension in this movie, and I did enjoy seeing how Cooper was outwitting those who were there to try and apprehend him. Josh Hartnett did a really good job portraying Cooper, and the steady decline in his mental state as the movie went on. To begin with, it was hard to reconcile the loving father at the start of the movie with the idea that he was likely a serial killer…but it became more and more believable that he was as the movie progressed.

I really liked Riley as a character, and not just because she bore more than a passing resemblance to my oldest nibling. Being a fan of events like conventions, I was really able to relate to her enthusiasm at seeing Lady Raven on stage, and how excited she was to be able to see her. I also loved the scene where everyone puts on the flashlight apps on their phones. That scene was visually a really good one.

I was a bit surprised by how big a role Lady Raven actually ended up playing in the movie. To begin with, it seemed like she was just going to be seen from afar…but as the movie went on and she became more and more involved in the plot, I found myself liking her more and more. She might have been scared at various points, but she also came across as very brave in a way that was more realistic than I’m really used to seeing in a lot of horror movies.

I liked Jamie as a character in the movie, though I cringed at how much he gave away to Cooper. I know Cooper gave off a family guy vibe (helped along by the presence of his daughter) and revealed he was a fireman…but come on, Jamie! Don’t just go giving your security code to the charming stranger you’ve only just met. Considering I have to deal with a lot of confidential things, his blase attitude made me cringe.

I also couldn’t really understand why Cooper shoved a young girl down some stairs, since that did nothing to get him out of the building and he surely didn’t think the distraction would be enough to escape? Perhaps an argument could be made that he was beginning to grow desperate, but given how calculated he was to start, that didn’t really seem to fit his character.

There were a lot of good things about this movie. I might have liked to see an actual twist, but I still liked watching this movie. And, of course, I really liked seeing M. Night Shymalan’s cameo, which I told my nibling we should look out for.

I would definitely say this movie is worth seeing, even if I was a bit disappointed that there was no real twist.

Gallows Born

Posted by cat2002116 on August 14, 2024
Posted in: Books, Fantasy, Reviews, Young Adult. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This book was one that came up on my Facebook feed when I was browsing through. The blurb was intriguing, even though the plot wasn’t hugely original, so I decided to give it a try.

The opening scene of the book was pretty tense, with a young woman being accused of stealing from the castle and about to be executed for it. Right from the start, it’s obvious that there’s a lot more to the execution than the so-called crime Nel committed. This is partly due to Gelwin’s protestations of her sister’s innocence…and partly due to the fact that Nel, upon being executed, gives birth to a little boy, which is, of course, where the title of the book comes from.

Bane’s life in Crookfell is fairly typical of a main character in a fantasy book. He’s an outcast, with a dead mother and a dead guardian…his only living guardian is physically and verbally abusive…and everyone in the town hates him. He also has a special marking, or tattoo, on his arm that marks him in some way and is later important to the plot.

Despite the large amount of cliches, I found Bane to be a character who was easy to empathise with. I also really appreciated that, while there are some elements of ‘you can fight so well because it’s in your genes’, he’s actually trained to fight and it’s in a way that makes sense, in spite of being used as a literal punching bag during one of his (many) bullies’ own attempts at training.

I really wasn’t a fan of the romance that seemed shoehorned into this book. Belle seemed to follow the whole Cinderella trope, but I didn’t find her to be an interesting character. I knew barely anything about her, apart from what Bane so, so she didn’t feel ‘real’ to me. On the other hand, Alruna had more depth to her…but I’m really not a fan of the whole enemies to lovers trope, especially as the whole reason Alruna hates Bane is because he killed her brother to save his own life. I have a serious problem with people who want others to suffer/die when their only ‘crime’ was defending themselves…and, in Bane’s case, the rest of his town.

The idea of the Fug was quite an intriguing one, especially with how it related to Vikings and Norse mythology. I liked the fact that it wasn’t all revealed at once, instead being shown gradually as the book went along.

On the whole, I did find this book easy to read…but Bane was the only character I really felt any real connection to. I did like Gelwin, but as she only appeared at the start of the book, I didn’t really form a connection with her. If you like fantasy that’s easy to read and fairly engaging, this book is probably worth reading. At some point in the future, I’d probably be interested in reading the next books in this series.

Five Survive

Posted by cat2002116 on August 8, 2024
Posted in: Books, Reviews, Thriller, Young Adult. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I originally started reading this book several months ago, but thanks to how bad one of the main characters was, I ended up putting it down until my oldest nibling told me they’d read it faster than the previous standalone book by Holly Jackson. So then I picked it up again…and finished reading it in less than a day.

I found Red to be a character who was really easy to empathise with and understand. I actually liked most of the characters who were trapped in the RV; except for Oliver, who didn’t seem to have a single redeeming quality to him. I was actually a bit disappointed, given how well developed the other characters were.

I thought Holly Jackson did a really good job of showing the tension and claustraphobia as the six main characters became trapped in the RV by a sniper. I do think that going along with every one of Oliver’s plans was a mistake, especially as he became more and more unhinged as time went on. At the same time, though, I guess no one else tried to step in, so maybe it was understandable.

I really liked seeing Red’s interactions with Arthur, as I thought they were very cute together. I really liked how Arthur bonded with Red by writing his own messages on his hand…and I liked that he constantly checked in with her, as it seemed like none of the others were really doing that; even Maddy, who was supposed to be Red’s best friend.

I do think that the group could have looked at what secret one of them held long before they actually did. Yes, the group was focusing on trying to escape…and assumed the secret was linked to the case being handled by Maddy and Oliver’s mother. However, as soon as it became clear that it wasn’t about Oliver or Maddy, it surprises me that no one thought to start asking about secrets.

I did find myself caring about all of the characters; except for Oliver, really. Yes, all of them had secrets of their own…some connected to the current situation they found themselves in and others that had nothing to do with why the sniper was targeting them. I thought the way those secrets came out were very seamless, and some of them made for very good red herrings. And the ending did manage to surprise me a bit.

All in all, I did really enjoy reading this book. It was quick and easy, and I’m glad I gave it a second chance. If you enjoyed A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, I would recommend giving this book a try too.