Bria Lou Reviews

  This is a rewatch that I was saving because I was really looking forward to it. I've maybe seen this film twice and loved it both times, so I was really glad to see it on the list. I love this movie. The first thing to mention is how great the performances are. All of the actors are great, especially the children who, in a sense, carry the movie. Kidman is phenomenal.  The relationships and dynamics between the characters are so interesting. Because of the way the story is set up, with one location, we're essentially living with these characters for the entire runtime.  We really get to know them, and despite the mysteries surrounding them, we still understand who they are. I love how much of a classic ghost story this is. It's not a completely new concept to have characters living in a haunted house, but the first 2/3 of the movie feel fresh and original. Plus there are moments that are genuinely scary, which is a major plus! The writing is great. Even though it feels ...

  This is a first-time watch, and the one of the last movies I need to watch for the bucket list. The reason I've left it so long is that, after looking it up, it's recommended to watch the TV show first. So I left it hoping that I'd finish the show and then come back. But unfortunately, and this is a very unpopular opinion, I couldn't get into the show at all. I tried but it just wasn't for me. If the movie wasn't on the bucket list I would have left the whole Twin Peaks world alone. So this review is coming from someone who has only seen a few episodes of the show, which made me sceptical about whether I'd like, or even get it. And as I expected, this one wasn't for me. That's not to say there weren't enjoyable moments, or that I don't appreciate what it was, but this was a movie for the fans of the show, which I'm not. I'm really glad that I at least saw the beginning of the show, because I had no idea that the movie would be so cl...

  I didn't know much about this film before putting it on, but it was listed as a psychological horror, which always excites me! I liked this film. Before watching, I saw that there's an American remake that I've already seen and absolutely love, so I thought the twist was spoiled from the very beginning. But in watching the film, it felt completely different, to the point that the twist in the remake didn't make sense here, which made me even more intrigued. Plus, the fact that I love the remake meant I already knew I loved the story. One of the best things about the film is the connection between the sisters. Their relationship feels extremely authentic, and they're the people you care the most about. Because I loved the remake so much, and watched it so long ago that it now feels like a nostalgic childhood movie, I couldn't help but compare the two. While I probably enjoyed the characters more in the remake, and felt better connected to both our main characte...

  I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. There have been two reboots and I've seen both, but for whatever reason I never saw the original, so it's been on my list for a while. I liked this movie a lot. This film is credited as one of a few that popularised the slasher genre. It's so interesting to see how the genre has changed from then to now. Some of the dialogue feels really shocking for a 70s movie, which just adds to how horrifying the movie was considered at the time. It also explores ideas that feel very current in today's society. The movie was really ahead of it's time, particularly for exploring these issues with a horror backdrop. The group of characters is great. It would have been good to get to know them all better, but they're all distinct and well written. You feel invested in their stories even if you don't know them that well. The pacing is great. We get time to sit with each kill before seeing the next one. This allows the impa...

  This is another one that I was wary about. Not only does the title feel like a werewolf movie (which I was very glad to find out it wasn't) but it's also one of the longest bucket list movies, so I went in apprehensive.  I didn't love this movie. It does a good job of creating the beast with words before we get to see it. It feels more like a legend than a real creature, and the audience is on edge waiting to see it. Which makes sense when you know that the movie is partly based on a French legend, and partly based on a true story. The reason why the film is so long is because there are many plotlines outside of the main 'beast' one. Unfortunately none are as interesting as the beast plot, so I found myself just wanting to go back to that. In all honesty, I didn't find the plot particularly interesting. Hearing about the beast and seeing the results of the attacks worked for a while, but this becomes a bit repetitive as most of the time is spent trying to catc...

  I've mentioned before that I'm wary of vampire horror movies, as it's not a sub-genre I love. All I knew about this film before watching it was that it was a vampire movie, so I wasn't particularly excited for it. I thought the film was fine. I didn't love it but didn't hate it either. It starts in a really grounded way. We really get to know the main character from his first moments on screen, and we're immediately invested in his story. It's set in a world that feels really authentic and real. So much so that you almost forget you're watching a vampire movie, or even a horror at points. What makes this film original is the categorisation of the vampire. She's so many things wrapped up into one. At times she's the villain, and then she becomes a saviour. We don't know whether we should be scared or her, intrigued by her, enamoured with her or all three. I didn't find the story as engaging the whole way through as it was at the begi...

  I'd heard of this film and seen the poster before it was on the bucket list, but I had no idea what it was about and had no desire to watch it. When I saw it on the list I assumed it was referring to the 1977 version, so I was really surprised that the modern one was considered a classic. I have mixed feelings about this film - there was more bad than good. The dance studio setting is really interesting. We get the chance to see the characters at different levels of intensity; it's an intimate, almost claustrophobic setting, and we feel like we're in the studio with the characters. It gives us the opportunity to really get to know them. Tension is created really well in the film. From the very beginning the audience is immediately on edge, and the tension doesn't let up for almost the whole runtime. The actors are really great in these roles. They all bring a different but complementary performance that hugely impacts the overall tone of the movie. Speaking of the ton...

  I hadn't heard of this movie before the bucket list, but after seeing what it was roughly about, I was a bit apprehensive. I find horror movies rooted in religion a bit hit or miss (and probably more miss than hit). Coupled with seeing that it had been banned when it came out for how controversial it was, I didn't really know what I was getting into! I didn't love this one. I found this film really hard to follow, especially at the beginning. Not only do you not really get the opportunity to connect with the characters, but the story itself was hard to get your head around. At least, it was for me. Either way, the story didn't grab me. And it got to a point in the film where I knew that it probably wouldn't. The actors are great, and do a great job with the characters. I can definitely see where the controversy comes in, particularly for an audience of the time. By today's standards I wouldn't describe it as controversial, but it is interesting to look at ...

  This was one of my most highly anticipated rewatches on the bucket list. I love this movie, and for me it's definitely one of Hitchcock's most underrated. And thankfully this rewatch was just as great as all the other times I've seen this movie, which is a lot! I really like that the film took the time to establish the characters before the horrors start. We really get to know our main character, Melanie, and it's so much fun to follow the story with her. The result of this, though, is that it can make the beginning of the movie feel a bit slow, but because you're interested in the characters, you're interested in the entire story. So when the horrors start, you're that much more invested. In particular, I really liked the development of the female characters, who make up the majority of the film. Not only is it female-led, but the women are the centre-piece and absolutely who we're watching the film for. It was very ahead of it's time in that way....

I hadn't heard of this one before the bucket list and had no idea what it was about before pressing play, so I went in completely blind.  I have mixed feelings about this movie. There were some great things, but also some things that I didn't love.  The opening scene is great. Not only does it set the tone for the rest of the movie well, but it also puts you on edge and holds you there for a lot of the film. The main reason the film works is because the actors are so great. Even when you don't really know what's going on, you buy into everything that happens because the actors performances are so convincing and feel authentic. Despite being a ghost story, something about it felt really grounded and real. Even though you know there are fantastical elements, the characters feel human.  It does a good job of creating scares, particularly because a lot of what's scary is the story itself rather than using jumps. You can feel the fear within the characters, which makes y...

  For a long time I thought I'd already seen this movie. It was only the night before watching it that I realised I've actually only seen the 2004 remake. While not a sequel, this is the second in a series of zombie movies by the director, the first of which being Night of the Living Dead. Despite liking both movies, I definitely preferred the former. It begins from a place of chaos, which is a great way to get the audience to understand the characters' states of mind. It took a while for the movie to grab me. The chaos of it all made it hard to follow, and hard to latch onto the characters.  The movie kind of takes Night of the Living Dead and expands it to a much larger scale. I actually preferred the smaller scale, as we got to intimately know the characters and we got time to understand their world. In comparison, this one definitely felt like being thrown in at the deep end.  As with all creature feature-type movies, I wanted to see more of the 'creatures'. Its...

  This was one of the re-watches that I was most looking forward to, and from what I can remember, one of the only movies on this bucket list that I actually got to see in the cinema. I love this movie, along with most of the population. It's so much easier to write about something you've never seen before, than to write about something that you already love! The very start of the movie sets a tone that carries all the way through. We're scared, we're unsettled and there's so much nerves and anticipation that you're glued to the screen for the entire runtime. The pacing is so great, something is happening every minute and it moves so quickly that by the time it's over it feels like it just started, in the best possible way. It's so interesting to see how many careers were made or bolstered as a result of this film. It seems that all of the actors involved got huge boosts from this movie and most have gone on to do really interesting things, possibly as a...

  (aka 'A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove', making the film virtually impossible to find!) This was the most elusive film on the bucket list for sure. I'd been looking for it all year and watched it as soon as I found it just to make sure it wouldn't disappear! I liked this film, though there were some aspects that I liked in theory more than in their execution.  It begins in a really uncomfortable way, and I'm really glad I didn't go in blind to this one. It makes sense for the story, as the initial incident is the catalyst for the rest of the film, but it was a shock for that to be the first thing we see.  Revenge films usually focus on men, with women often being the victims. I loved that with this one, even though the women are the victims, they are also the perpetrators of the revenge.  They're such strong characters, and it's really fun watching their acts play out.  If anything, I would have liked to see more of this revenge plot - it would have been ...

  This is another one that I'd never heard of before seeing it on the bucket list. I deliberately went in blind, so I had no idea what it was about. I didn't love this one. The first thing you notice is the way it's filmed. Despite being made in the late 70s, visually it looks older than a lot of earlier movies. Based on the locations and costumes, it's hard to work out anything about this film, from location to time period to how real its supposed to be and how seriously we're supposed to take it. It gets crazier than I initially expected. If you go in blind, it's the kind of movie where you really can't tell where it's going or what the message, if any, will be. It was great to actually get to know the two main characters somewhat. They could have been more developed but they're fun to follow. Its interesting looking at the variety of horror movies that focus on or become satanic. This one feels slightly more grounded than some of the others but de...

  This was a new watch for me. I have a lot of love for vampire media, but I've found that I typically prefer it as part of other genres, such as romance or drama. I have seen some vampire horror movies that I've loved, but I've also seen ones that I haven't, so I tried to go into this one as neutral as possible. There are some really good things about this film, but in general, it's not a story I love. The cast is so great, particularly looking at it from today's standards. Having all of these amazing powerhouse actors playing these iconic roles is so great to watch. One thing that immediately stands out is the set designs and architecture. It's clear that a lot of thought was put into the design of the castle and it really pays off because it adds so much to the tone and atmosphere. The castle is almost a character in itself, and it does a great job of helping the characters to look more real and authentic. And with this comes the costumes and designs of t...

  This is another one that I'd never heard of, but it had a really intriguing premise, so I was definitely interested in seeing it. I liked this movie. Even roughly knowing what the movie is about, it's still a shock to see what happens when we get into the main plot. But it's a fun shock that makes you more interested. The story surprised me. I didn't expect so much of it (or any of it) to be about an investigation. This aspect of it was great because it introduced us to interesting characters, but it wasn't the most entertaining route for the story to take. But the more the two areas intertwine, both get elevated. As two separate stories one is much more interesting than the other, but when the characters start interacting, both stories improve. I love that the film is set in New Orleans, and I would have loved for the setting to become more of a character. For most of the film, you can't tell where it's set, which is a shame because New Orleans is a reall...

  This was one of the more elusive films on the list. I hadn't heard of it before and I went in blind. This one wasn't for me. From the start of the film there isn't a lot of dialogue, which threw me. It took a long time to understand what was happening, who the characters were, or what situation we were being thrown into. It takes a while to really understand not only what we're watching, but why we're watching it. And even after seeing it and sitting with it I'm still questioning why. The whole film has a really weird overtone that definitely contributes to the horror. Even though nothing scary is happening, you're on edge just because of the way the characters look at each other or their lack of dialogue. The filmmakers have a way of making non scary things feel really unsettling. Another unsettling aspect is the music. In so many scenes it feels out of place and jarring, which just makes the atmosphere really uncomfortable.  It's not the most interes...

I'd never heard of this film, but it was one of the hardest to find on the list so that alone made me really intrigued about it.  I liked this movie.  The opening is very intriguing. We know nothing about the characters but we're immediately invested in the mystery. It does a good job of creating a character that we don't get to see. We feel like we know her based on the descriptions we hear. The story is well written and goes in a really interesting direction. Given the film is only short, it's great that it gets you invested from the very beginning. The actors all do a really great job with their characters. Their performances are authentic, which helps the audience become and stay intrigued about the outcome. This appears to be one of the only films on the bucket list that explores satanism, and the way it does this feel really original. We are forced to get to know the satanists as people before finding out who they really are and their connection to the mystery. Bu...

I'd never heard of this film, and the premise didn't give too much away, but knowing the director and main actor, and reading about the controversies when it was initially released, I knew it would probably be a weird one.  I didn't love this one.  From the very first scene it's definitely shocking in a variety of ways, from the way it's filmed, to what actually happens. It's really interesting to think about how often grief is used as the main theme for a horror movie. It evokes such complex, varied emotions, which can make it the perfect backdrop to pair with horror - it's a form of horror in itself. The actors have great chemistry and play a believable couple. It's not the easiest film to get into or connect with. We're kept at a distance from the characters because of the closeness of their relationship, and so much of what happens feels unreal to the point that it's hard to connect to. There's a lot of fantastical, surreal imagery, which...

I'd probably heard of this film before, but I had no idea it was based on 'The Haunting of Hill House' novel, so that was intriguing. I didn't love the Netflix adaptation but that didn't make me feel apprehensive about this one. I liked this film a lot.  The opening is great. It does a good job of showing the house's history in a way that's interesting and compelling to watch. It's nice that we get to spend a bit of time with the characters before we get into the main plot. Speaking of the characters, they're well written and fun to follow. Eleanor in particular is fascinating and gives 'Janet Leigh in Psycho' vibes.  The way the characters interact is really fun to watch. Their personalities are so distinct and interesting that at times you forget you're watching a horror movie. The characters are at least as interesting as the story, if not more so.  The film does a great job of creating the horrors. We're in the same position as th...