I don't disagree with anything you said re Smile. My take is that it's entirely derivative, just extremely effective in its execution. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I still struggle with what you say about It Follows though... while you praise it for the adolescent camaraderie, for me that gave it a sense of coziness that I found out of place or inconsistent with its other ambitions. Each to their own I guess. However the dilapidated urbanism, current generations being weighed down (followed) by the previous, that's all horror trope too (Candyman to name but one).
My memory is that it fell apart in the final act.
(it's been so long since I've seen Candyman, and I haven't seen the remake yet).
It's so fucking tone deaf.
Is that Friday the 13th reboot from 2009 any good?
My erection is larger than Larry's forehead right now.Fessenden explains, “My approach was to blend a naturalistic docu-style with the mythological tropes of the werewolf story, an ongoing interest to blend realism with stylization, and to fuse themes of contemporary society with classic monster movie clichés.”
Makeup and special effects were handled by long-time Glass Eye Pix collaborators Brian Spears and Peter Gerner, who previously created the Frankenstein monster for Fessenden’s 2019 film Depraved. Comments Fessenden, “Yes, I’m competing with Marvel and Blumhouse to create my own Monsterverse, but at a very different price-point.”
Should I even bother watching it? I saw it's on Netflix lol, any decent kills or effects at least?Decent....doesn't come close to the original(s)...but decent.
This was hugely disappointing. Not that I regard the Palme D'Or as necessarily the stamp of excellence, but this movie feels more like Oscar bait than Cannes material. Calling it satire is too generous, because these rich people are such ridiculous stereotypes that it's more slapstick cringe than anything trenchant. It's an entirely safe movie sticking the boot into the safest of targets, complete with a climactic vomit scene that is straight out ripped off numerous other movies. The movie eventually takes a third act turn - reminiscent of Parasite but without the creativity. Whatever this movie has to say, it certainly didn't require 147 mins to say it.