Ink of Blood

I was immediately interested in seeing this movie when I saw the poster at my local cinema. The body swap plot isn’t an original one, but this is the first time I’ve seen it done with a serial killer swapping bodies with an intentioned victim.

The initial scene of this movie did do a good job of setting up the Butcher and the sense of dread that followed the murders committed at the beginning. And those were…well, particularly gruesome and gory. But there was very little character development for the group of teens at the beginning (even for the cannon fodder who die first in a horror movie), so I was watching this first scene with zero care or concern for the characters who were initially being picked off.

This feel of little character development did come through a lot during the movie, though I did like the acknowledgement of the tropes from one of Josh’s lines in the movie.

I did feel that some of the jokes were recycled from other movies that did them better, such as when Millie is using the toilet and commenting on the body parts she currently has. In my opinion, Jumanji handled a similar scene so much better.

There was zero depth to the Butcher as a character. I feel the movie would have done a much better job if it had only stayed with Millie, or had focused on her friends and family watching her strange behaviour from the outside.

I did think there were some good elements of foreshadowing and there were some good moments of humour that did make me laugh out loud.

I have to say, I thought that there was a lot more chemistry between Millie and Booker when Millie was in the body of the Butcher. Also, it was great to see that the Butcher was limited in what he wanted to do by being in a body that was vastly different to what he was used to.

This movie wasn’t one that had a lot of mystery or required a lot of concentration to be paid to it. There wasn’t much in the way of character development for any of them…and the entire scene at the end felt really unnecessary and just tacked on. I wouldn’t watch the movie again, at least any time soon, but it was an entertaining enough movie to watch the first time.

I was immediately interested in seeing this movie, as I always enjoyed R.L. Stine’s books when I was younger.

There were some creepy moments in this movie, but there wasn’t really much in the way of jump scares. A lot of it was very predictable.

I found Deena easy to relate to. I couldn’t say I was that happy about Sam, though. While I did only see their relationship from Deena’s point of view, Sam came across as a much weaker person.

The fact that Deena and Josh’s father didn’t appear was really telling. All that I knew about him came from what the other characters said.

The scene at the beginning did a good job of setting up the feel of the rest of the movie, even though it was a fairly normal start scene for a horror movie. However, there were a lot of questions raised for me with everything that was going on. Even by the end of the movie, I had very little idea of what was going on with the history. But the first movie did a good job, because it made me want to watch the next two movies in the trilogy.

I did notice that there was a very clear divide between the two towns right from the beginning and it came across as very much a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ vibe involving Deena and Sam and the conflicts between the two towns. Plus, the only character from Sunnyvale who actually seemed to have any real depth was the Sherriff. And I was definitely intrigued by what seemed to be his knowledge of what had happened before.

I did find it strange that so many of the town’s residents seemed to just accept that violence and murder was part of their lives. While Josh was talking to someone online who seemed to believe in the witch and clearly believed in her as well, it didn’t seem like there were that many people who were questioning just why so much evil was happening in one small town. The headlines at the beginning of the movie seemed to indicate murder was occurring extremely frequently.

I did feel like the world of this movie was very small. In a way, it was good, because it allowed for more focus on the main characters. On the other hand, it didn’t much feel like there was a wider world outside of Shadyside.

I can’t really say that this movie stood out much from the crowd, but it was entertaining to watch and I liked the fact there was representation. Plus, I am interested in watching the next two movies, even if I’m in no hurry to watch this one again.

I normally have an interest in movies based on the trailer/storyline. This might be one of the only movies where I actually noticed the actors who were in it first. In this instance, Casey Affleck and Morgan Freeman – both of whom I’ve seen and enjoyed in other movies.

The premise of this movie was one that resonates very deeply. The disappearance of a little girl and a family desperate to find her. Well, the aunt was desperate to find her. The mother was a pretty awful person who didn’t seem to care about Amanda even when she was missing. Helene did have a bit of an emotional breakthrough later on in the film, but it just came across as too little too late.

I thought that Angie and Patrick were both pretty interesting characters who had motivations that were easy to understand all the way through. I think their relationship added a bit more of a human element, especially considering the fact that there was so much action going on in the movie at the time.

I did think there were a lot of things happening that didn’t necessarily feel that connected for a lot of the movie. Patrick had a lot of connections with the ‘shadier’ parts of the neighbourhood, but he was still threatened and honestly didn’t seem to get much further than the police. Then again, maybe that was the point. Two different pairs of people who could only get so far on their own.

It was a bit disappointing not to see as much of Morgan Freeman’s character, Doyle, as I would have expected. Still, I felt the movie was even better when he did appear. He was a character who it was easy to see what drove him. And the desperation to find Amanda felt really vivid and real.

Helene’s friend, I think, was one of the weakest points of the movie. During the interview with the press, she sounds so flat and emotionless. Later on in the movie, that makes a lot more sense, but for a scene right at the beginning…I assumed I was going to be seeing a lot of the same kind of wooden acting. I did think she was meant to be Amanda’s mother at first.

There was some upsetting content in this movie and a lot that really stuck with me by the end. This wasn’t such a cut and dried good guys trying to stop the bad guys movie and I liked that. The characters felt real and three-dimensional, like they were real people. Making mistakes and decisions that weren’t the right ones. Nothing fell nice and easy into their lap. And the consequences felt real.

All in all, I found this movie very engaging with some really good acting and a plot that really stuck with me after watching. But I’m interested to know what any of you think about it!

I like horror. I don’t mind blood or gore in movies I don’t need to think too much about, though it is nice to see a movie that’s a bit more subtle. And that was definitely the case with this movie.

The first scene did a good job of setting the feel of the rest of the movie, even though it wasn’t clear how everything fit together at first. I found both Daniel and Peter interesting characters, even if it did follow the whole trope of gruff, reluctant mentor is forced to be partnered with a young, wet-behind-the-ears rookie.

I did like seeing the exchanges between the two of them and it was good to see that, although Daniel was gifted in his learning, he was still ignorant about the real workings of being an exorcist.

I thought there were some pretty good elements of foreshadowing in this movie. By the end, there was a lot that had come together and made sense. However, many of the scenes were pitch black and it was virtually impossible to see what was going on. There was one scene that took place in the prison/police precinct that I’m still left completely confused on exactly what had happened. Plus, I was watching with two of my friends who are blind…so at various points, I was saying, ‘I don’t have a clue what’s going on either.’

There were some good moments of action in this movie, but the jump scares were pretty basic and nothing I hadn’t seen before. Visually, by the end of the movie, I thought it was let down. The whole finale was extremely fast-moving and confusing in comparison to the rest.

I did like the relationship that was shown between Daniel and Charlie, but I would have liked more insight into Daniel’s motivations. Even when Peter asks him, Daniel doesn’t really go into much detail. Even by the end, I didn’t really get a good idea of Daniel’s strength of will/character.

I would have liked to see a bit more of the wider world of this movie. I think there was a lot more that could have been shown. And it was disappointing that the movie seemed to abandon some of the subtlety in favour of jump scares, especially towards the end of the movie.

I did find this movie intriguing to watch, even though I would have liked to see more motivations of the characters and more of the world outside. Plus, I didn’t feel that the end goal made a lot of sense. I think it would be good to see a sequel to this movie, where hopefully some more details are explored and the hints of, ‘You know what it’s like,’ are further explored with Daniel’s character.

This is the first time I’ve seen this movie and I did find it very entertaining. I did see a bit of the original movie beforehand, though, and couldn’t help but feel that Matthew Broderick wasn’t quite as good as Gene Wilder, at least at first. But I sort of appreciated the fact that there wasn’t quite as much shouting.

I did really enjoy the songs in the movie and the first one did a good job of showing the situation that Max’s character was in. And I couldn’t help but feel there was more than a hint of realism in the song where Leo’s at his office. Being unhappy in work and feeling like you’re doing the same thing over and over is, I think, something that a lot of people can empathise with. But I have to say, that final dancer really creeped me out. Especially right towards the end of the song, where Leo leaves his old boss behind.

I found the lengths they went to in order to get the flop they needed to be quite incredible, really. I couldn’t help but laugh in the scene involving Franz Liebkind. I particularly enjoyed Leo’s responses to the requests that were made; and Max’s responses to those. And the fact that they put their middle fingers up during the oath, but had to keep switching to their forefingers whenever Liebkind looked at them.

I did think the costumes and choreography worked really well in this movie. I especially liked Ulla’s outfits, both when she was in the office and when she was on the stage. I don’t think I found the romance between her and Leo all that engaging, though; I really wasn’t sure how much she understood and her character seemed to shift between very naive/innocent and very adult. And I really don’t know how she managed to interpret ‘tidy up’ as ‘paint the whole office white.’ Though I was amused when Leo and Max reacted very realistically – ‘Ooops, wrong office.’

I did feel there was a lot going on visually in the movie and that there was a lot of comedy, so I felt that developing the relationship between the characters fell rather by the wayside. By the end of the movie, I would have like to see more foreshadowing of the ending speech.

I also did feel that this movie dragged on a bit. There were about three different points that I thought the movie might end and where I thought it would be better ending at those points.

I felt this movie relied more on its humour and visuals rather than developing the relationships between the core characters. It was entertaining to watch and did have some good songs…plus, I did like the scenes that showed the play ‘Springtime For Hitler’. I enjoyed the movie for what it was.

So, I’ve got to admit, the Fast and Furious franchise really isn’t the best one for gritty realism. Or, if I’m honest, realistic at all. It kind of seems like each movie has to outdo itself with really stretching the viewers’ suspension of disbelief.

That being said, I do enjoy the Fast and Furious movies and I did find this one to be really entertaining. I liked the fact that I got to see more of Dom’s history and family life. I think it allowed for a better insight into Dom’s personality and why family is so important to him.

I really like the fact that Brian’s character is still an important part of the movie, despite the actor passing away. I’m glad that Mia made a return to the movie, because it made it clear that family is just as important to her throughout. And some of the actions she took made her stand out independently from the rest of the group.

I found it pretty interesting that there was some flirting with breaking of the fourth wall. I won’t go into details about what happened, but some of the unrealistic parts of what happens to and around the characters do end up addressed. And I really liked that.

There were some pretty good moments of humour in this movie. One particular scene had Ramsey driving a huge van and…well, let me just say that how she was driving was exactly how I would be driving if I ever managed to get behind the wheel of any kind of vehicle.

I have to admit, this movie series does have a bad case of characters not staying dead. As seen from the trailer, Han is very much alive. And there is an explanation provided. The explanation still doesn’t answer all of the questions I had, though.

There was a lot of great action scenes in this movie, but I really couldn’t help but wince at some of the damage that was caused to the general public during the course of some of these chases. It’s like…the good guys are causing huge amounts of damage and huge amount of injuries (and likely deaths) and…it’s not acknowledged? Pretty sure a lot of the cars that were damaged did in fact have people in them.

I loved the bickering/banter between Roman and Tej and it was honestly great to see Ramsey added to the mix. I loved that, although the main focus of the movie was on Dom and his estranged brother, there was still a lot involving the other characters, too. Though I did get a little confused when they split up and there was so much switching between different scenes.

All in all, the movie was good, if pretty repetitive considering it’s the ninth entry in the Fast and Furious franchise. And the younger actors seemed to fit their older roles particularly well. So if you enjoy the franchise, you will probably get some entertainment watching this. But I wouldn’t say it’ll be easy to follow as an introduction to Fast and Furious.

If you do go and see it – there is a mid-credits scene. And if you do go and see it, let me know what you think!