Abigail (2024)

A group of criminals who do not know each other are hired to kidnap the daughter of a tycoon without knowing important sinister secrets.

"Abigail" is a heist, action and horror movie. Its twist has already been revealed from the trailer or other media sources, but the film manages to still be satisfying and well made, with a good measure of action combined with cheap but effective plot points, resulting in a film that maintains one's attention and satisfies the need for good entertainment.

Director:  Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett   

With: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Durand, Matthew Goode

Rating: 8/10

The Rental (2020)

Two couples rent a vacation home, but hidden truths come out unexpectedly.

'The Rental' is an interesting thriller. With few characters, the intimate and constrained environment of the rented house, the film quickly moves from the ideal vacation atmosphere, to eyebrow raising  choices of activities and unexpected reactions, then to an alert and fast pace due to the snowball effect style of revelations.

Director:  Dave Franco      

With: Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, Sheila Vand, Jeremy Allen White, Toby Huss

Rating: 7/10

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022– )

Guillermo del Toro introduces each episode from an anthology series for which he gathered stories and talents to bring them to life.

"Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities" is an anthology series where each episode is unique and independent. The quality varies but the overall effect is wonderful.

E1: Lot 36: The horror elements only appear towards the end, but the fascination of the occult and the three-dimensional characters keep the interest going.

Director:  Guillermo Navarro 

With: Tim Blake Nelson, Sebastian Roché, Elpidia Carrillo, Demetrius Grosse

Rating: 9/10

E2: Graveyard Rats: The historical period in which the story is set becomes an attraction in itself and the attention to detail is admirable. The gothic humor is part of the charm.

Director:  Vincenzo Natali 

With: David Hewlett, Alexander Eling, Ish Morris, Cory Bertrand

Rating: 9/10

E3: The Autopsy: A mystery to be solved, draped in palpable suspense and curiosity and a dialogue between characters worthy of a sinister film noir.

Director:  David Prior 

With: F. Murray Abraham, Glynn Turman, Luke Roberts, Dan Beirne

Rating: 10/10

E4: The Outside: It reminds one of The Society in terms of style and background, but it mainly stands out due of the courage of the main actress to embody the character.

Director:  Ana Lily Amirpour 

With: Kate Micucci, Martin Starr, Dan Stevens, Kylee Evans

Rating: 6/10

E5: Pickman's Model: An interesting gothic air and menacing art. Imagination becomes reality and the shock of the ending is that reality was always frightening but we just choose to be ignorant.

Director:  Keith Thomas 

With: Ben Barnes, Crispin Glover, Oriana Leman, Seamus Patterson

Rating: 8/10

E6: Dreams in the Witch House: Characters and entities from the imagination of HP Lovecraft come to life in this embelished adaptation. A similar adaptation has been done in Volume 1 of Masters of Horror, but the newer version is clearly superior, especially through the access to modern effects and a rich budget.

Director:  Catherine Hardwicke

With: Rupert Grint, Ismael Cruz Cordova, DJ Qualls, Nia Vardalos

Rating: 7/10

E7: The Viewing: The echo of the 80s is present at every moment, visually but also, and especially in the audio. Even in the choice of the subject and the mystery revealed at the end. Well made, but it loses its audience due to arrogance, the main cause of the dragged-out story.

Director:  Panos Cosmatos  

With: Peter Weller, Steve Agee, Eric André, Sofia Boutella

Rating: 6/10

E8: The Murmuring: A dramatic story that hits all the right spots, with a nice gothic horror athmosphere and melodramatic ghosts.

Director:  Jennifer Kent 

With: Essie Davis, Andrew Lincoln, Greg Ellwand, Daxton William Lund

Rating: 8/10

Director:  Various   (see above)

Production:  Netflix   

Creator:  Guillermo del Toro   

Duration:  1 season of 8 episodes (1 hour each)  

With: Various   (see above)

Rating: 9/10

Legion (2017-2019)

David is diagnosed with schizophrenia but gradually discovers that he has supernatural powers, which changes his world completely.

An extremely original series, although it is based on the X-Men (Marvel) comic book series starring Legion. Fantastic both literally and figuratively, the series mixes genres, styles, Sci-Fi, slasher horror, comedy and musical, in an intelligent and very effective mix that maintains a stylistic and narrative balance quite difficult to obtain. The magnetism of the characters is undeniable and the evolution of the story is attractive until the end, despite a subtle quality decline due to the obsession with style over substance that results in a couple of filler episodes.

Directors:  John Cameron and many more   

Production:  FX   

Creator:  Noah Hawley   

Duration:  3 seasons of 8/11 episodes (50 minutes each)   

With: Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart

Rating: 9/10 (s1-10, s2-9, s3-8)

Apostle (2018)

Un tanar calatoreste pe insula unei secte pentru a-si recupera sora rapita.

Un amestec pestrit de supranatural si orori pur umane, Apostle e numai pe jumatate reusit. Castiga puncte la jocul actorilor, diversitate si decorul bogat. Partea supranaturala nu este exploatata de ajuns sau satisfacator iar componenta umana este intensa dar incomplet explicata si intensificata pana la refuz exact unde nu trebuie.

Regia: Gareth Evans 

Cu: Dan Stevens, Michael Sheen, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis Jones,  Sharon Morgan

Rating: 7/10

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