halloween


Crimson Peak (2015) [Movie Review] 10

Starring

Mia Wasikowska – Edith Cushing
Jessica Chastain – Lucille Sharpe
Tom Hiddleston – Thomas Sharpe
Charlie Hunnam – Dr. Alan McMichae

Summary

“In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds – and remembers.”

– From IMDB.com

Review

I originally saw this movie about two years ago but never really thought, or connected, it to the fact that it was a Halloween movie, so everyone was talking about it recently so of course, I had to get it again.

Visually stunning.
The colors in this movie are just gorgeous. It’s so atmospheric with some of the scenes, with the reds and the teals. And I mean the house, ugh, so photo worthy. I would move in, not caring about the ghosts, just wanting to take photos everywhere. It’s got this perfect old feel, that it has aged well, without it being too dilapidated – barring the massive hole in the roof. The colors were so beautiful and then you had the ghosts themselves, unlike any other one that I have seen before. Keep in mind that it was made by Guillermo del Toro, who is known for “dark, fantastical films such as Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy” (Architectural Digest).

The actors were good.
I did really quite like the actors who were chosen to portray the characters, although a few times I wanted to smack Edith for some of the things that she did. It was silly little mistakes and you wanted to shake her for being so naive, but sadly, it’s a movie and you can’t do that. Tom Hiddleston was perfect as this charming male who was supposed to woo all of these women for their money and their souls. He’s an attractive actor and that, coupled with the accent, was the perfect combination to be this kind of ‘bad guy’ who grew a conscience.

The story had a few holes.
There were a few holes in the story that did bother me, such as the machine they were building to extract the clay. It was a silly little reason for Thomas Sharpe to be traveling around, but it was an excuse for him to meet women around the world. For me, I think a better reason could have been chosen but it kind of worked, although it ultimately wasn’t talked about later in the movie.

Quite dark, but perfectly proportioned.
It was a dark movie, overall, with some of the themes. There was some violence and blood involved, so that’s the reason it was rated R. There is two sex scenes, probably the main reason it is R as it was quite…adulty. But, other than that the movie was pretty okay. The ghosts were definitely creepy but this wasn’t a jump-scare kind of movie. It was all about the deep message behind what it happening and the psychological issues this Sharpe family has.

Overall, I thought it was a fantastic movie. Sure, it had a few holes in it and I would have loved for them to have ironed it out, but the music was fantastic, the cinematography was beautiful and the story, overall, was really well done. It’s a perfect movie for spooky season and I definitely recommend!

I give it 4/5 teacups!

4 Teacups

Happy Watching!


Top 5 Spooky TV Shows on Netflix 10

Looking for something spooky for this Halloween season?

These 5 shows are sure to satiate your need!

I know for me, I already finished one and am currently working through Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and absolutely loving it! What are you watching during Spooky Season?

1. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

“As her 16th birthday nears, Sabrina must choose between the witch world of her family and the human world of her friends. Based on the Archie comic.”

2. The Haunting of Hill House

“Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.”

Check my review out of it here.

3. Haunted

“A chilling glimpse into the first-person accounts from people who have witnessed horrifying, peculiar, extraordinary supernatural events and other unexplained phenomenons that continue to haunt them.”

4. The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell

“Part cooking show, part sitcom in the vein of the Addams Family and the Muppet Show set inside the enchanted home of Christine McConnell, who has attracted hundreds of thousands of social media followers with her creepy edible creations.”

5. Apostle

“In 1905, a drifter on a dangerous mission to rescue his kidnapped sister tangles with a sinister religious cult on an isolated island.”

 


The Haunting of Hill House [Netflix – TV Show Review] 25

Starring

Carla Gugino – Olivia
Michiel Huisman – Steven Crain
Victoria Pedretti – Nell Crain
Henry Thomas – Young Hugh Crain
Oliver Jackson-Cohen – Luke Crain
Elizabeth Reaser – Shirley Crain
Kate Siegel – Theodora Crain

Summary

“Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.”

From IMDB.com

Review

I’m going to start with my overall opinion before I get into the nitty-gritty details, which I don’t normally do.

Overall, I really did enjoy the show. It was the perfect mixture of psychological horror, true horror and small jump scares and a deep back story. So, as a show I thoroughly did enjoy it. However, as a show by the title of The Haunting of Hill House, I really didn’t enjoy it as much.

Not like the book at all.
This show is supposed to be based, or loosely based, on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley JacksonTo me, besides some of the names, the name of the home and maybe a few of the small details, the show wasn’t the book whatsoever. In the beginning, I had this feeling that they were going to be connecting it somehow to the book or making it fit into the story. However, I was slightly disappointed when I found out that was not the case. There were some moments that harped back to the book but for the most part, it was just a horror story about a family in a haunted house.

Could have changed the name and it would have been just as good!
The name of the show could have been changed, so it wasn’t affiliated with the book, and it would have been so much better. To many people, the name won’t matter as they won’t have read the book and they most likely won’t have seen the original movie. They may have seen The Haunting with Liam Neeson, which was a little closer to the TV show, but even then, it was quite far off. If they had changed the names of some of the characters and maybe the name of the house, and kept the entire story, I think it would have been better. Maybe some people would have said ‘Oh, this reminds me of…’ versus, ‘I don’t see how this is connected to…’. But making the connection to the book helps to boost shows, even if it’s only loosely connected to it.

Visually it was stunning.
I think the visuals and the way that it was filmed was so good though. It was atmospheric and the lighting really kept you in the mood of this spooky situation. The weather was also used to add to the scare factor. The entire show was filmed in this grey/black/dark green-ish kind of color and many of the situations occurred during the night, or if it was day, it was a grey day.

Quite a few jump scares – good stuff!
The show overall wasn’t terrifying in the way that movies can be, but each episode had it’s own moment that made you jump a little. The music was the key to tell you that something was coming, but more than once it still made me jump. I really enjoyed that because, to me, TV shows sometimes give tension but not the scare. So I did like that touch, but if you don’t like those kind of things then this might not be the show for you. Although it’s perfect for Halloween-season.

Psychological issues or real ghosts?
You did have this constant question going on if the situation was all in the families head and that the family was nuts, or if there was actually something going on. There were references to the psychological situation where you make up a monster to compartmentalize and deal with a scary or traumatizing situation. What added to this was that one of the siblings never saw anything in the house. You knew that there was something going but you didn’t really know how much.

Please no season 2.
While I really did enjoy this season, I do hope that they just finish it and don’t make a second season. If they do, it had better play on the house but with a different story line. They really milked this story for all it is worth. Each episode was 1 hour long and sometimes it really did drag and I just wanted the episode to be over. Admittedly I was binging it, but I skipped through a few parts where it was just senseless conversation that didn’t add to the story at all.

In summation, I enjoyed the show as a show. But as a show related to the book, I felt like it was kind of a reach to connect it to that book, honestly. Do I recommend it? Yes, I do. I think the show is definitely worth a watch. But if you are a fan of the book and think that it will be like that, then prepare to be slightly disappointed.

I give this show 4 out of 5 teacups!

4 Teacups

Happy Watching!


The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson [Book Review] 19

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Summary

“First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

As it’s spooky season, I had to give some of the classics for this season a read. I’ve read all the basics like Dracula , Stephen King books, Clive Barker booksand many others. But this one, I hadn’t read. 

I recently started a small book club with my mum, so we read books together, and as we were going to be quite busy this month, this was the perfect book – it’s not too long and not exactly a difficult read.

Spooky without being scary.
As the book is quite old, their idea of scary is not our idea of scary, which was kind of nice. I wasn’t reading this book and absolutely terrified or questioning if I could read it at night. It was just a classic kind of scary read, like Dracula. So as an autumnal read, this one fits the bill perfect. I’d say 15 and older could give this one ago, if they can get around some of the strange writing styles.

A little slow but picked up suddenly.
Now, since it’s an older book, I have to be careful with this comment. Books now are written at a much faster pace to appease the reader. This one had a very slow beginning that had you questioning exactly when something was going to happen. You were nearly halfway through the book before you even made it to Hill House and 3/4 of the way through before the strange stuff started happening. It made the read a little slow in a sense, but you also wanted to get through it faster to find out what was going to happen and when.

Nothing like the modern movie The Haunting.
In early 2000’s, a movie with Liam Neeson and other famous actors came out called The Haunting which is based off of this book. I went into this book thinking it was going to be like the movie. This movie is a common one many have seen, so I’m going to say now that if you think it’ll be like the movie, then you’re wrong. It definitely had some parallels and the overall idea was similar, but it wasn’t the same for the most part. The ending especially.

Eleanor is a little odd, just naturally.
What adds to the book is the fact that the main character is quite…out there. She’s odd so even from the beginning you just seem to be thrown off from the way she speaks and thinks. It actually puts you off balance as a reader. The speaking patterns are all over the place, which seems to confuse you. While you were reading it can be a little confusing, as her thought processes is like a roller-coaster, but afterwards you realize that it adds to the whole story!

Kind of shocking the ending.
You had this idea of how it was going to end and it didn’t end that way at all. Don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil anything, but just be prepared to not be ready for what happens. You think you can figure it out and then boom.

Overall, I absolutely loved the book. Even though it was a little slower, it’s a classic and such a good read. It’s not needed around Halloween but it’s great for autumn in general. It’s bite sized, so no need to worry about it being a massive reading commitment.

I easily give this book a 5 our of 5 teacups!

5 teacups

Spooky Reading!


Book Review: The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker

Book Review: The Scarlet Gospels by Clive BarkerSummary

“The long-beleaguered detective Harry D’Amour, investigator of all supernatural, magical, and malevolent crimes, is back―and about to face off against his formidable and intensely evil rival, Pinhead, the priest of hell. Bloody, terrifying, and brilliantly complex, fans and newcomers alike will not be disappointed by Barker’s horror, which will make your worst nightmares seem like bedtime stories.

The Gospels are coming.

Are you ready?”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This book was a lot to read and took me much longer than it should have, not because of the length but because of how dark the book was. I mean it was REALLY dark to read. Within the first few chapters, abortions were talked of, people were degraded to animals, chains ripped people apart….like man. It was like a supernatural SAW movie. So getting past the first few chapters was difficult because it was pretty gruesome, but I kept wanting to know what was going to happen and refused to give up.

As the story progressed, it got more and more complex – and more and more out there. By the end of the book, these humans were literally wandering around hell and watching the Cenobite mess stuff up. Wasn’t expecting that at all.

As for the Cenobite, also known as Pinhead (you probably know him by that if you’re familiar with Hell Raiser or read The Hellbound Heart), I had mixed feelings about him. You’re supposed to hate him, and for most of the book I did, but there were moments that you felt bad for him. Like he was doing this all for a reason because he was ostracized and wanted to get back at his makers and leaders for what they did for him.  So of course you hated him and knew he was a bad guy, you just sometimes were able to understand why he did what did, or was able to slightly understand it instead of it being senseless violence (like…really violent violence).

This is the third book by Clive Barker that I have read and I love all of his work. He’s a master at writing these stories and making you question what you think you know. His books are terrifying and gruesome and make you want to keep reading. They’re absolutely perfect for this wonderful Halloween season. If you don’t mind a horror book, then this is perfect. I just highly recommend not reading this book before you go to bed because I honestly would have trouble sleeping after reading it too late at night. It messed with your head that much.

But it’s a fantastic book. It was scary and messed with you but that means that the author did an amazing job and I really do recommend reading it.

I give it a 4 out of 5 tea cups. I would have given it a 5 out of 5 but I felt that sometimes the violence was just a little too much and I’m not a massive violence book reader. I don’t  mind ass kicking and stuff like that..but this was torture and that’s not my cup of tea exactly.

rating four tea cups mlcwo

Happy Reading!