Reviews
The Ritual (2017)
Poor quality
After the death of a mutual friend of theirs, four men without qualities live an adventure in the forests of northern Sweden thanks to a too simple and very unoriginal script. Poor filming, photography, acting, costume design and editing. Good special effects. The ending is interesting because it's not there, it has simply been forgotten.
There is a clear psychological interpretation, but it's so elementary and banal that it does not even deserve a mention.
Downward product that wants to adapt to the largest possible audience, made with not too much money and not too much effort. Once upon a time there were cinema and TV, distinct in terms of quality, production and distribution. Today we have a lot of these mixed films, half cinema and half TV. These are the contemporary feuilleton to spend a quiet evening after work and before going to sleep.
I would not recommend it.
Midsommar (2019)
Boring, pretentious, obvious
I think it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen. By comparison, the classic no-money and no-idea horror film is a masterpiece.
I saw "Hereditary" and I loved it: original, disturbing, well done. This thing is boring, completely predictable, zero creepy. There are a lot of absurd details and gimmicks. Full of logical errors and script holes. The only plus: the actors perform well. For the rest, after 5 minutes you understand that it will be a bad movie. After 40 minutes, you can guess the full plot. After 60 minutes, the ending is correctly predicted.
Two and a half hours of total boredom. It's not even a splatter movie: the corpses are made of plasticine and the blood is minimal. This film is the pretentious fruit of a screenwriter and director who does NOT work for the spectators.
Take my advice and watch something else, even a mediocre horror movie will be better than this junk.
Serenity (2005)
Forget everything that has made the TV series a true cult
I love the Firefly TV series, but this film doesn't deserve much consideration. The two hours of film passed quickly, because it's still a light and fun show, but it's ultimately a mediocre action film with good special effects. Forget everything that has made the TV series a true cult: the dialogues full of funny jokes; vulnerable characters with a strong past; the relationships between them, so human; the continuous sense of independence and freedom. It was necessary to give a conclusion to the TV series, but this film comes out of the usual atmosphere: a lot of main characters remain only figurines in the background, and the added explanations are quite superficial as the final fight and the moral before the end credits.
Il signor Diavolo (2019)
And what is it? A movie?
Superficial and discounted. Terrible acting, elementary history and meaning none. As a mysterious film there is no tension, as a horror film there is no terror. Alessandro Haber and Andrea Roncato make small cameos: Haber is fine but does not shine as usual; Roncato, compared to the protagonists, looks like an Oscar-winning actor. In a peasant context, in 1952, they still go around with oil lamps (ok), but they also have many vans and cars, even the father of the little protagonist. Completely unreal: they were very poor, at most they could afford a cart pulled by a mule. I am Italian and I know well the situation of the villages of those years, even a bicycle was considered expensive (see "Bicycle Thieves" by Vittorio De Sica, 1948). Luckily I didn't go to see it at the cinema: after 5 minutes I would have gone away cursing and asking for a refund. Garbage.
The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
A boring and superfluous product
This film isn't a horror but a mystery, because it can only scare children. The problem is that the resolution of the mystery is predictable from the first scenes. So it's a mysterious film in which, however, there's no mystery. So what kind of movie is it? Hypothesis 1: it's a documentary about a folk American legend; the most fake and reactionary documentary possible, because it represents like real bloodthirsty witches. Hypothesis 2: it's a nice style exercise, performed for authors and critics and not for the public; so anyone can see how good they are director, actors, director of photography, audio technician, costume designer, makeup artist, etc. (and they are really good), critics can praise the technique and cultural connections, and viewers can feel really disappointed.
The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Insubstantial
A trivial subject, a non-existent plot, mediocre actors. Instead of coming out scared or even worried, we go out yawning. Very bad.
A Quiet Place (2018)
A massive container of inconsistency
Excellent recitation and good direction. However, the screenplay is completely demential. How blind and subnormal monsters have managed to collapse human civilization remains an unsolved question throughout the film. But what really disturbs you is seeing the well-groomed and combed protagonists in a world where you can never make the slightest noise. As well as a straight nail that suddenly appears on a wooden ladder only because it's necessary for the story. Or a sound-absorbing mattress that is enough to hide the entrance to a cellar. Or the presence of electricity (!). Or a newborn just coming out of the mother's womb does not scream like a madman. Question: if monsters are attracted to any kind of high noise (human or artificial it makes no difference), for example why not exterminate them by attracting them all to the same point with fireworks and then blow them up with petrol cans? This is the one and scary mystery of this film, not a horror movie but a very superficial fantasy thriller.
Oculus (2013)
When the conclusion destroys all
The plot isn't innovative, it's a very classical idea, but sometimes the simple things are good. Recitation, montage and direction are OK. The actors are not the best, but their work is sufficient for the story. The web of frequently flashbacks is enjoyable and well made; photography too. But the final invalidates the whole movie: it's predictable from the first instant and it make the previous 90 minutes a useless and harmless exercise of style. Avoidable.