Craig

I feel guilty writing that I was disappointed with Insidious: The Last Key. Here I was hoping that it was the last movie in the follow up to the only good idea Insidious: Chapter 2 established: dead ghost hunter Lin Shaye finally conquering the Further!

The end of the year is typically reserved for a handful of films that’ll only ever reach a small audience lest they garner widespread attention. Reaching only 39 theaters in the U.S., Joachim Trier’s Thelma was never given the chance it deserved to play to broader audiences; nor did it score consideration on the Academy’s shortlist for a slot on the 2018 ballot in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It’s a tragic oversight for the film – a Norwegian update of Carrie in many respects, and a refreshingly positive look into female sexuality.  

The late Roger Ebert, perhaps, best describes Herk Harvey’s low-budget, surrealist nightmare, Carnival of Souls, as possessing “an intriguing power.” One can see, as Ebert did, how Carnival predated masterpieces from Lynch and Romero: its eerie mood and atmosphere coats an oblique and minimalist story, led by sterile (otherwise detached) characters who – like the audience – understand little of what happens to them.

Sometimes with a little scream you need some laughs. Blumhouse’s latest, Happy Death Day, commendably nods to slashers and satires like Scream and The Cabin in the Woods. Though not quite as groundbreaking as those titles, the film certainly delivers on chuckles by poking fun at well-established (and relatively dormant genre) slasher tropes. What makes it engaging, however, is its choice to zero-in on clever characters and precise plotting to deliver an exceedingly good time.