The Haunting of Hill House

Posted by cat2002116 on May 4, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Reviews, Television. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment


I watched The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix a few years ago, and since The Hauting of Hill House was made by the same people, and had a lot of the same actors, I figured I’d watch this as well…and managed to do so in about two days.

I really liked the shifting between the past and the present, as it gave me a deeper insight into the background of the characters and their family history. It allowed me to understand why Luke had turned to taking heroin, given the trauma he’d gone through as a child. It was very obvious that all of the Crain children were deeply traumatised by what had happened to them in Hill House, though Luke and Nell were clearly the ones most affected by it.

I really did like both Luke and Nell. They were probably my favourite characters in this series, as I found their bond to be portrayed really well. I did now, however, particularly like Steven. Well, I didn’t like him much as an adult, at least. I enjoyed his interactions with his younger siblings when they were all children.

It was good to see the flashbacks between the past and the present. However, I felt that the present day was a little rushed. A very short amount of time passed between them finding out Nell was dead, and returning to the house…at least, that’s what it felt like to me. I did feel that there was a lot that was glossed over by the time they all reached Hill House, so I felt like the finale was somewhat rushed…which was a shame, considering the whole buildup through the series.

I particularly liked the way each of the Crain children had an episode devoted to them, as it enabled me to get to know each of them on a more personal level. I would have liked a bit more exploration of the ‘sensitivity’ that was mentioned by Olivia about her daughters. It seemed like all of the Crain children were sensitive to some extent, given how they reacted when Nell ‘went into the red room’.

Episode six, Two Storms, was a particular emotional rollercoaster. The dual storms, one in the past and one in the present, were both quite harrowing, although in very different ways. And although it was obvious that child Nell would eventually be found, or at least make a reappearance, it was still hard to watch the whole family searching for her. And the ending of the episode, where Nell’s unseen ghost was standing next to her casket, while child Nell’s voice echoes about how none of them could see or hear her, was extremely emotional and haunting.

I really liked seeing Olivia’s gradual descent into madness, as Hill House took its toll on her sanity. I still think she should have been able to resist what was happening, given that she told Theo about her abilities. She seemed to fall prey to what was in the house very quickly, in comparison to the others.

I did find it interesting to learn bits and pieces about the history and previous occupants of the house, and I would have liked to learn a bit more about them. For instance, there’s the spirit of a clock repair man who randomly appears, and it’s not clear just why he’s stuck in the house, as there’s nothing indicating how and when he might have died there.

I found the concept of the red room to be a really intriguing one, especially with the idea of it changing to suit what each member of the Crain family wanted. I was a bit confused about why Shirley and Nell were trying to get into the red room in one of the early episodes, as there was then no further attempt to get inside and it was only mentioned later by Hugh. Once they all had their specific rooms, it seemed like the whole idea of getting into the room was discarded until the plot called for it again (when Hugh said it was the only place the water could be coming from).

The horror parts of this series were actually a bit more subtle, even though the series did have its fair share of cheap jump scares. But I did really appreciate that there was more of an understanding of ‘less is more’ than I usually see in horror movies.

On the whole, I did really enjoy watching this series. I liked the characters, at least for the most part, and I really enjoyed the contrasts between the present and the past. While the series did come to a good ending, I think it would be good to see more of the characters, even if the genre isn’t necessarily a horror or supernatural one.

And Then There Were None

Posted by cat2002116 on April 30, 2024
Posted in: Mystery, Plays, Reviews, Thriller. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I enjoy a lot of things based on Agatha Christie’s work, to be honest. There’s Poirot, with David Suchet (who is the only Poirot, because he just portrays the character so very well), but there are other films/TV series based on her books that I’ve enjoyed as well.

And Then There Were None was not a book I was familiar with, whether under its original name or one of the changed titles, so I had no real idea what to expect when I was going into the play. I think that was good, as I didn’t go into the play with any expectations of what I was about to see.

I have to say that the monologues at the beginning were a little bit boring. My attention unfortunately did wander a little bit as the characters introduced all of the reasons why they’d gone to Soldier Island…although that might have also been due to other factors, such as not realising the play started half an hour earlier than I’d assumed and trying to quietly eat food after giving myself insulin right before the house lights went down!

Anyway, once the play actually started in earnest, I found it really engaging. There was some mystery surrounding each of the characters as they interacted with each other and it became clear that none of them had actually met their host(s) in person…and then, when the phonograph recording was played, there was a rapid rise of tension. I’d originally thought that maybe all ten of the people had been responsible for the same murder(s), but the recording made it very clear that each person, or ‘soldier’, was responsible for a different crime.

The play felt very much like a slasher movie, with each of the characters being picked off by an unknown assailant in ways that matched the ten little soldier boys rhyme. It was interesting that there seemed to be a vaguely supernatural element to the play, as the spirits of some of the victims seemed to linger, staring at the spot where their body lay, There was also a really bizarre scene towards the end of the play where four of the characters start playing music and dancing. This gave such a different, weird vibe to the play as a whole, and I honestly thought that there was going to be an ending similar to that of Murder on the Orient Express.

On the whole, despite some slightly more weird moments in the play that made me think it was going for a subtly different genre, I did find this play to be engaging and filled with tension, despite the slow start. I’m definitely glad I got the chance to go and see this.

The First Omen

Posted by cat2002116 on April 20, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment


So, about two weeks before watching this movie…I watched Immaculate. And the friend I saw this film with turned round to me and said, ‘It feels like I just watched Immaculate again!’ and…I had to agree with that.

I saw something that mentioned this movie would be the scariest horror movie of 2024, but I have to say that I didn’t see that. During the initial opening scene, I did think this movie would have been better visually in 3D. There was a shot of falling glass in slow motion that looked like it was made purely for a 3D movie.

I did find it quite hard to connect with Margaret as a character in this movie. She didn’t really seem to want to be in Rome, but even though she looked like she didn’t really want to be there (based on her expressions after meeting Cardinal Lawrence), I couldn’t really figure out what she did want to do. There were hints that she’d had a bad childhood, which didn’t make much sense with what was revealed later, but I felt like she only had that to give her a reason to connect to Carlita.

Speaking of Carlita, I found her to be an interesting character, but I felt that her original appearance was at odds with how she acted later on. I thought she wasn’t able to speak when she initially appeared, but later on, she came across as less of the wild child it seemed the movie was going for. Having said that, I did like the interactions between Margaret and Carlita and the friendship that formed between them.

I mentioned that this movie was advertised as being the scariest movie of the year, but the elements of horror were really quite disappointing. Once again, there was a lack of subtlety or an understanding of ‘less is more’ that seems to be so prevalent in the current horror movies.

I guess this movie works as a good tie-in for the original Omen series. I haven’t actually seen any of the Omen movies, but I’m aware enough of them to connect the dots. However, the problem with making a prequel that is obviously left open for a second movie is that, inevitably, it’s either going to completely contradict the original movie(s), or can really end in one way, so a lot of the tension of not knowing what’s going to happen is removed. After all, there was no mystery in how the Star Wars prequel trilogy was going to end, or who the main bad guy was going to be.

On the whole, this movie was fairly typical for modern day horror movies. Another disappointment, really. I’m still searching for the good horror movies.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Posted by cat2002116 on April 14, 2024
Posted in: Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Movies, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I watched the previous movie in the new Ghostbusters franchise, and since I did enjoy it, I decided to go to the cinema to see the next one.

The initial opening scene, with a whole room of people frozen with apparently no obvious source, was a really good way of setting the tone of the rest of the movie and building tension.

I found Phoebe to be a really relatable character in the first movie, and that wasn’t any different in this movie. I can definitely relate to Phoebe needing the Ghostbusters in her life…and how frustrated and upset she was about having that taken away from her. Being told to just be a normal teenager, while the rest of the family continued to capture ghosts, was clearly really hard on her.

I will say that I was disappointed with how things were handled between Phoebe and Melody. If the characters had been a guy and a girl, there would have been a deeper exploration of their feelings and there would have been a Romeo and Juliet slant to the movie. For what it’s worth, I really don’t see Romeo and Juliet as some great love story. However, I know that comparison would have been drawn if the genders were different.

I did like the interactions between the whole family, including Gary, were really good. It was obvious that there were some tensions in the family with Gary dating Callie, including with Gary not really knowing if he could take an active part in dealing with Phoebe or not. I thought the tension between the family worked really well…although Phoebe snapping at her mother was a bit sad to see. On the other hand, I really didn’t like the fact that Callie told Trevor, ‘You’re an adult, aren’t you?’ when he asked her for help with the ghost in the attic. Like turning 18 magically means a parent shouldn’t help their child anymore? That made Callie drop a bit in my estimation, to be honest.

My favourite character in this movie, apart from Phoebe, had to be Nadeem. I always like the concept of a character who has abilities, but isn’t aware of them and then has to learn how to use those…and I really liked the way he was introduced. To be fair, the actor who plays him is one I’ve liked in a lot of things (like the Eternals).

On the whole, despite being disappointed in how Phoebe and Melody’s relationship was handled, I did enjoy this movie. It was a good sequel to Afterlife, and I particularly liked seeing the original surviving Ghostbusters appear in this movie. I will say that if you enjoyed the original Ghostbusters, I think this one and its predecessor are both worth watching.

Immaculate

Posted by cat2002116 on April 6, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

So, yep…another horror film, so another recent trip to the cinema.

I was kind of intrigued by the trailer of this movie, although I didn’t have high expectations of the movie going into it. I will say that the movie met my expectations, in that it was very similar to a lot of other horror movies I’ve soon…in particular in the way it lacked subtlety and ignored ‘less is more’.

I will say that the initial scene of the movie was quite good in how harrowing it was. The group of nuns with the red face coverings were particularly creepy…and I would have liked it if the movie had focused a bit more on them. By the end of the movie, I still didn’t understand what their purpose was…or where they were at the end, given Cecilia was fighting back.

I was a bit confused by the setting of this movie. When Cecilia is in the airport security office, there’s a very old-timey feel to her surroundings. However, the priest answers a call on his cell phone in the car later, so…I assume the movie is supposed to be set in modern times.

I will say that there were a couple of nice elements of foreshadowing in this movie, so that was something it did well at times. I was a bit disappointed in Cecilia’s actions, though. It felt like all she was doing was reacting to what was going on and not doing much about the situation she was in until much later in the film. For instance (spoiler alert), she watches a friend get mutilated and does absolutely nothing to try and stop it. I actually stopped caring so much about her as a character at that point.

It was also really hard to suspend my disbelief at times. I don’t mean about Cecilia getting pregnant without a man being involved. What I mean is her being able to run, really fast, with a huge pregnancy belly. I know adrenaline can do all sorts of things…but the fear that apparently fuelled her didn’t really come across that well. And considering that she started off the film as someone who had faith and felt a calling to be a nun…her actions after getting pregnant really didn’t feel like they fit with what had previously been established of her character.

I’m going to mention specific spoilers for the ending here, as I feel like the movie could have done things a lot better here. The appearance of the baby isn’t shown at all, but its breathing sounds like something inhuman. And I think that was a bad decision on the filmmakers’ part, because…well, it was clear that there was something wrong with the child. That whole scene could have been done so much better, just by having a normal baby’s cries and Cecilia’s horrified expression being the subtle clue that something was horribly wrong. But unfortunately, there just wasn’t that kind of subtlety in this movie.

Personally, I wasn’t very impressed with this movie. I think it could have been a lot better, and I couldn’t really connect with the main character after some of the choices she made. I won’t be watching this movie again, I have to say.

Imaginary

Posted by cat2002116 on March 22, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Obviously, I enjoy horror movies. Anyone who knows me is aware of that by now. Of course, it’s also been difficult to find horror movies that are actually good, as the majority of them don’t have really developed characters and just seem to care about the shock value rather than having storylines and characters it’s easy to care about. So with that thought in mind, my expectations going into this movie were quite low.

I have to say that this movie was better than I was expecting it to be. I did like Jessica as a character, although there wasn’t much revealed about her even by the end of the movie. I guess that did make sense, given that she didn’t have many memories of her childhood.

I will say that, although Jessica obviously cared deeply about her stepdaughters, she did make a couple of major mistakes. For instance, she took a work phone call when she was supposed to be playing hide and seek with Alice. Then, later, she deliberately embarrasses Taylor by telling a guy she might be interested in that Taylor isn’t 18 yet…and he should take her to the mall. Sorry, but despite Jessica trying to claim it was just a joke, it was one of the worst things to do if she really wanted to bond with her stepdaughters.

I will say that one of the things I felt this movie did well was to build up to the danger involving Chauncey. Using Alice’s voice for the bear was an interesting idea, as it sounded like she was talking to herself/doing the bear’s voice, at least until things took a more sinister turn.

The idea of the ‘scavenger hunt’ was an interesting idea, especially as it started out as a fairly innocent list before becoming much darker. In that respect, I guess it was very similar to the rest of the film: everything started out innocent enough, but then it became much darker as the movie progressed.

It wasn’t really a surprise that Jessica had a history with Chauncey, as that was obvious from the very start of the movie. And while the movie did have elements of psychological horror, along with the usual jump scares, I appreciated the fact that there was little in the way of gore and strong bloody violence, as those are far too overused in horror, to the point of becoming desensitised to it.

On the whole, I will say this movie was a fairly entertaining one. I wouldn’t say I’d get anything from watching it again, but if you like horror movies, I would say that it’s worth watching if you’re on the fence.

Lisa Frankenstein

Posted by cat2002116 on March 21, 2024
Posted in: Comedy, Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

So, when I first saw this movie advertised, I assumed that Lisa was going to turn out to be a descendent of Doctor Frankenstein. I was a little disappointed to find that wasn’t the case, as I think that could have been quite an interesting take on the movie.

I did find it a little hard to really connect with Lisa as a character. There were certain aspects to her that resonated with me, as she seemed to be a bit of a loner at school. And I liked the fact she was so taken with the fantasy of a man who’d died years before she’d ever been born. I did feel like she was made out to be too weird and quirky, which made me unable to really care about her as a character. Also, when Taffy was talking to her friends about what happened to Lisa’s mother, it seemed so over the top that I assumed she was lying about it.

Janet was definitely the epitome of evil stepmother, coming across more like a caricature than a character with any real depth. Really, that could describe most of the characters in the movie. It felt very over the top, even though there were some interesting aspects to the movie…such as the Creature’s body parts becoming usable after he’s electrocuted.

I did kind of enjoy the relationship between Lisa and Taffy, when it didn’t feel like Taffy was just being fake when she talked to Lisa. By the end of the movie, I figured that was just the way she was and that she didn’t mean any harm in the way she acted. Of course, I didn’t like her actions towards the end of the movie…not that that excused what happened.

I didn’t personally find this film very amusing. It was an easy watch that I didn’t have to pay a lot of attention to, but I can’t really say I cared about any of the characters. Lisa talked about the fact she used to suffer from selective mutism…but this was never actually shown in the movie.

I feel like this movie did have a lot of potential. In the trailer, it looked like it might be more of a love story between Lisa and the Creature. However, I felt the movie didn’t really live up to my expectations.

The film was easy to watch, but I can’t really say that it’s a movie I’d go out of my way to watch again. A little bit disappointing, to be honest.

Record of Ragnarok: Volume One

Posted by cat2002116 on March 20, 2024
Posted in: Books, Fantasy, Fighting, Manga, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

So, as indicated in the last review I posted, I really like books based on mythology and gods…so when I saw this one on my birthday, I was immediately interested in reading it.

I really like the whole concept of humanity having to fight in battles for its survival. Of course, the idea itself isn’t really all that unique – Mortal Kombat, anyone? But this book gave me a bit more of an insight into the gods who wanted to destroy humanity, so there’s that.

I was a bit surprised that none of the gods spoke up in defence of humanity. I know the vote was meant to be a unanimous one, but it was a surprise that none of the gods cared about humanity.

I really liked being able to see Brunhilde. She was an interesting character, and I would have liked a bit more detail about her time living among humans. I assume that none of the other Valkyries lived as humans, so I would have liked a bit more detail about why they all wanted to save humans, not just Brunhilde.

I thought it was really good to see the different gods, although a lot of them were more of a ‘blink and you miss them’ appearance. I did like the brief interaction between Zeus and Hermes…but I have to say that while Zeus appeared very similar to how I would picture him, Hermes didn’t really meet the mental image I had of him. And really, neither did Thor. Gorgeous artwork, but the gods from other pantheons were clearly coloured by the way characters are drawn in Japanese manga.

I didn’t know anything about Lu Bu’s character, but I really liked the fact that he and Thor were able to respect each other as warriors. And it was interesting to see how Lu Bu’s legend was different from the reality.

I did feel like there was a lot of tension in the battle between Lu Bu and Thor. It was really good that there was a way found to allow the weapon of a human to stand against that of a god. However, given that it seems it takes a sacrifice to make that weapon, it’s kind of sad that, presumably, each battle will require that same sacrifice to make a weapon.

This book ends on something like a cliffhanger, along with the list of gods and humans who will be fighting each other. I’m definitely interested in reading further books in this series in the future!

Godly Heathens

Posted by cat2002116 on March 17, 2024
Posted in: Books, Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Reviews, Young Adult. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

This was the first book I read of the five I bought for my birthday, and it was one of the two I have now finished.

The blurb of this book was immediately interesting, since it involved gods and reincarnation, two things that I always find very interesting. Plus, I was really happy to see that the main character was nonbinary, as it’s the first book I’ve seen with that representation (that’s quite important to me, as one of my family members is nonbinary).

So, I do have to say that I found this book really quick and easy to read. I finished it in two days. I would have managed to finish it in one day, my birthday, but since I had a really long day and was planning on a long day the next, I knew I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to finish it in one day.

I really liked Gem’s character in this book. I found them to be really relatable and easy to engage with. Plus, as the initial scene had them dreaming one of their memories, I was immediately intrigued by what was going on between them and their demon. And the scene with the other god captured and imprisoned was depicted really well. I didn’t really understand Gem’s motivations at that point, to be honest. There was a lot about how important the balance, or the scales, were, but as I learned more about what Gem had done in their first life, I found myself wondering where the balance came in.

One thing I really liked was the impression I got that none of the characters were truly bad…or truly good, for that matter. Even with Gem being the narrator of the book, it was really clear that even the ‘villains’ had a lot of depth to them. I found myself really liking Poppy, even after viewing her through Gem’s eyes. And there was a flashback scene that made it really easy to understand Marian and her motivations.

I will say that there were some really good moments of foreshadowing in this book, especially when it came to Zeke. I would have liked a bit more of that with certain other gods who’d been reincarnated, as I felt they were only introduced right when they became relevant to the plot, instead of in a seamless way like a handful of the others were introduced.

I am disappointed that this book ended on a cliffhanger, as I really wanted to find out what would happen next. And the second book isn’t out until April, so I can’t find out what’s going to happen until then.

Anyway. I definitely found this book engaging and easy to read. If you like this kind of genre, I would definitely recommend giving this book a try.

Houdini’s Escape Room Experience: Houdini’s Last Secret

Posted by cat2002116 on March 8, 2024
Posted in: Interactive Experience, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Since it was my birthday on the 1st of March, I was quite eager to do something a bit different. It took a little bit of trying to get there, but I was finally able to arrange going to an escape room with my sister, two of my niblings and a friend. I’d gone to Houdini’s Escape Rooms with my sister and Ry last year, so when we had the opportunity to go to the same company this year, I immediately went for it.

I will say that I found this escape room to be much harder than the one from last year. As I recall from the booking website, there was only a 20% chance of actually escaping the room we’d booked…but one of the key factors in booking this one was that my nephew, who’s ten, could join the game as well.

The escape room we ended up going to was Houdini’s Last Secret. We did end up making sure before entering that there would be no live actors who might jump out at us, but the room really was just puzzles we had to solve…and the only other person was the game master, who spoke to us from outside the room.

My nephew, Freddie, mentioned that, ‘We’re very good at the hard stuff, but really bad at the easy stuff!’ after we’d left the escape room…and I do have to say that he had a very good point about that. I think the biggest problem the five of us faced in the escape room was that we were massively overcomplicating the puzzles. After we’d been stuck on the first one for ten minutes, the game master very kindly offered us a hint.

I really did enjoy the look and feel of the room. I won’t go into any details, but visually, the room very much looked like it belonged to Houdini. We had a lot of opportunities to explore the puzzles that were around…and even though we had to have almost constant hints (I believe we used the maximum amount allowed), we were able to ultimately escape the room…but for our group, it was pretty tough.

I will say that I didn’t find the storyline quite as cohesive as the first game I played from Houdini’s Escape Rooms. I really liked how it was set up at the beginning, but I found how it ended a little bit confusing; which was likely due to the way it had been set up more than anything else.

I will say that there was obviously a lot of effort that went into the escape room. You probably do need someone a bit smaller for part of the escape room, though, otherwise parts of it might be tricky. If you’re considering going to this, I would definitely recommend giving it a try!