Seeing this movie advertised, I thought it was going to be more of a claustrophobic horror…and when I went to see it, I wasn’t disappointed.
For a lot of the movie, I was questioning what was real and what might only be in the characters’ heads. Apart from the forms the Evil took, the only characters I got to spend any time with were Momma, Nolan and Samuel. Because of that, I felt that the family relationship in this movie was one of the strongest parts of it. I really liked the fact that Nolan and Samuel were so different, with Samuel fully believing and trusting everything their mother told them, and Nolan beginning to question things, especially as neither he or Samuel were able to see the Evil.
Despite not being sure of what was real or not, I felt that Halle Berry did a really good job of showing Momma’s state of mind through the movie. Even if I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t, I could tell that she really cared about and loved her sons. Maybe she was wrong in what she believed…but considering what she thought had happened to the rest of the world, it seemed like she was doing what she believed was the best for her children. On the other hand, it was quite obvious that Nolan and Samuel’s growth had been stunted, and that they were malnourished. Some of what they were eating seemed like it shouldn’t have been edible at all.
I really liked the relationship between Samuel and Nolan, and how Nolan was trying to take care of Samuel all through the movie. I felt that the conflicts between them added a lot more depth to the movie; especially towards the end, as the movie became more like an actual horror, rather than a survival story (which is what it came across as at first).
I did feel that the ending of the movie dragged on. I would have liked the movie a bit more if it had ended before Nolan and Samuel had been rescued, as that scene made it clear that their mother had been lying about the state of the rest of the world. Honestly, I felt this movie would have been a lot stronger if the ending had been left a bit more ambiguous.
On the whole, I did enjoy this movie. I especially enjoyed the conflicts between the three main characters, and the way Nolan and Samuel responded differently to their mother’s beliefs. While some parts of the movie were a little predicatable, and I think it could have ended a bit earlier, I did really enjoy watching it, and can recommend it as a good horror movie to watch.
I watched a YouTube video about the computer game, so I was quite interested in watching the movie version of the game. I’ve also found that Japanese horror tends to be more engaging and less about the gory violence than a lot of Western horror movies. However, I will say that this movie did not stint on the gore at all. I sort of knew what I was getting into, based on the clips of the game, but I was still a little surprised.
I did feel that there were too many characters all introduced at once. For instance, the first person who was killed (the teacher) didn’t really do much at the beginning of the movie. I didn’t know why she was still at the school, and I didn’t know why she was included in the friendship chant. To be honest, I was confused about why Yuka was included in it as well. There was nothing to indicate that either Yuka (the younger sister of one of the students) or the teacher had close relationships with Mayu, who was supposed to be leaving, so why were they included in it?
I mentioned that this movie doesn’t hold back on the gore, and the very first death (the teacher) makes that very clear. However, I did get taken out of the movie briefly by the death scene. The teacher’s appearance after being struck in the head looked like a Barbie doll’s head had been caved in, rather than a person dying. The special effects did get better, at least marginally so, but some of them still seemed a little cartoonish.
Naomi was one of the characters who was very well-developed, and I would have liked to see more of her friendship with Seiko, especially as it seemed Seiko had feelings for Naomi she wasn’t comfortable admitting to. Despite their history together not really being that developed, I did think they had a really sweet scene between them towards the end of the movie.
I also really liked Satoshi as a character. His goal was clearly to find his sister, but he came across as wanting to save the others, given that he protected Naomi and also asked Yoshiki to take care of her and Ayumi while he tried to find Yuka again. I really didn’t like Ayumi – her motivations didn’t seem to make much sense, and just made her come across as a pretty awful person.
There were a lot of really great tense scenes in this movie, even though it was really gory in places. Yes, a lot of the minor characters weren’t really well-developed, but by the end of the movie, I did really care about most of the surviving characters. Except for Ayumi, if I’m completely honest.
On the whole, I did find this movie interesting and engaging, although it was quite similar when compared to other Japanese horror. I did like how things ended with Sachiko, though.
If you’re a fan of Japanese horror, I would say that, personally, I feel this movie is worth watching.
Dead Boy Detectives was one of the series that came up while I had the Netflix home screen on. I didn’t realise at that point that it was set in the same universe as The Sandman, but I was definitely intrigued by the initial clip that I saw.
I definitely enjoyed the interactions between Charles and Edwin throughout this series. Right from the start, it was obvious they were close friends; and I particularly enjoyed the whole concept of two dead teenagers solving cases involving spirits and curses and the like.
The first episode was particularly engaging, with Edwin and Charles having taken on a case involving a ghost attached to a gas mask. I thought the episode worked really well as an introduction to the main characters and their abilities. I also got to see Death appear in the same incarnation as The Sandman…which was awesome, because I really like that version of Death.
This episode also worked as a good introduction to Crystal Palace, who quickly becomes an integral part of the Dead Boy Detective Agency. I was a little confused by the ghost of the little girl who claimed to be such good friends with Crystal…but disappeared for the rest of the series. I would have liked a bit more information about who she was and what her connection to Crystal was.
I really liked learning more about Charles’ past, even though it was traumatising and made me sad to learn how he’d ultimately died. I really thought that the interactions between him and Edwin in the past, before he actually died, were really moving and sad.
I loved Ruth Connell’s role as the Night Nurse in this series. She came across as a fairly typical antagonist, but after she was trapped inside the anglerfish, I felt she went through quite a bit of character development. However, I still didn’t like the whole purpose of her job. Effectively, she said that she needed to make sure dead children stayed where they were. Considering Edwin was dragged to Hell (and tortured) on a technicality, I thought that forcing the spirits to stay where they’d been placed was actually pretty cruel. But it meant that their insistence on staying together and not being separated made a lot of sense, given their afterlifes would probably be different.
I thought that the Dandelion Sprites who were possessing/attacking Niko were a pretty nice touch, although given that they were immortal beings, their choice of language was kind of…well, they were definitely foul-mouthed little immortal beings. But they were a lot of fun.
I also really liked Jenny as a character, though I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She was cleary trying to be a good landlord, but ended up getting pulled into the whole supernatural…and unlike Niko, I really thought that her reaction towards the end of season one, where she finds out everything, was actually pretty realistic. Of course, Niko came across as being more open-minded in general, given her very calm reaction to Crystal telling her about her friends (Charles and Edwin). I did really like that Niko developed the ability to see them, but it did seem like an awful lot of people in the series had that ability.
Okay, so let’s talk about the cats. Anyone who knows me knows that I love cats. They’re pretty much my favourite animals (although dogs are a very close second). I loved that cats played a big part in the series…though I have to admit, I wasn’t that keen on the Cat King as a character at first. He gave off very trickster-like vibes, and I thought he was going to be a more evil character than he actually was. I definitely would have liked to see more interactions between the Cat King and Edwin.
Esther was an interesting antaganist, although she came across a little over the top. I found it a bit hard to take her seriously at times and while there was a bit more of her background explored in the final episode, it wasn’t really enough to make her one of the ‘good’ vilains (i.e., someone I can identify with/understand).
Another crossover character with the Sandman was Despair, who appeared briefly with her sibling, Desire, in the Sandman. I liked being able to see her in Hell…or at least a dimension that allowed her to see into Hell. I was intrigued by her interaction with Edwin, and would like to see a bit more of the two of them interacting with each other in the next season.
All told, I really did enjoy watching this series. I binge-watched it over a weekend and was completely drawn in. I loved Edwin and Charles as characters and I really liked most of the supporting characters. The mystery about Crystal’s missing memories was engaging, and I really liked the fact that her abilities didn’t just mean that the cases were easy to solve. They all still had to work on it…especially with the case involving the groundhog day style murders. That was traumatising to see as a viewer, let alone to actively be there watching it.
If you watched and enjoyed the Sandman, then I think you’ll enjoy watching this. And if you haven’t seen the Sandman, then you don’t really need to have in order to enjoy this series. I highly recommend it!
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.
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.
Ink of Blood 