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Book Review: We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

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  Alone in her new home, Eve opens the door one night to a man with his family, claiming that he grew up in this very house, asking to look around for old times sake. As a people pleaser, Eve obliges. But once the family enter, strange things start happening, and Eve starts to lose her grip on reality. I feel like every book-tuber mentioned this book last year, and as I'm trying to get more into horror books, it was definitely high on my list. I loved this book. It felt scary from 3 pages in. We get right into the story from the second we open the book, and it pulls us in so well that we become invested immediately. I really liked Eve as a main character. Particularly at the beginning, she's somewhat easy to relate to, and her reactions feel authentic. Not that most people would do what she did in the first place, but you can sympathise with her and root for her. The author makes things feel scary effortlessly. Things are teased out really well, and the overall unsettling atmos...
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Sisters (1972) | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  I'd never heard of this film before seeing it on the bucket list but the premise was really interesting. I liked this film. It took a while to get going, particularly knowing what the film is actually about. But it was great that this time was used to develop the characters and have the audience become really acquainted with them. Getting to know the characters really helps in terms of how interested and engaged the audience is, but even without knowing the main character that well this film is really engaging, particularly after about 30 minutes when we really get into it. There are some really interesting shots and techniques used here, particularly the split screen to show exactly how much time is passing. It allows the audience to build frustration and eagerness, which again adds to how engaging it is. I didn't expect the film to be so timely - it could be made today and be at least as relevant as it was at the time, if not moreso. The characters are great. Not only are t...
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Crime 101 | Film Review

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  A thief (Chris Hemsworth) and an insurance broker (Halle Berry) team up to pull off a huge heist, while being pursued by a detective (Mark Ruffalo). I was looking forward to this one. It took me a while to actually see it, but even though the premise seemed quite generic, the cast was interesting enough to generate excitement. I think the film was fine, nothing really special, but I definitely had fun with it, so it's worth a watch. At the start there was too much going on in quick succession. The audience doesn't get a chance to breathe, which is an interesting way to mirror the main characters' emotions, but it also makes your head spin. As mentioned, the cast is great. But I did feel about halfway through that it may have suffered from having too many power players fighting for the spotlight. I personally would have liked to have more depth from both Berry and Ruffalo's characters, I didn't get to know them as well as I would have liked. I found the first 40 mi...
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A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  I hadn't seen this film in years before this re-watch, but I had seen the remake more recently, so I was looking forward to watching this one again. I liked this movie. Before you even get into the film itself, the concept of the film is so unique and engaging. It's a simple idea that's expanded on to the point that it becomes truly scary. The idea of most of the horror taking place in dreams means that the filmmakers can take many creative liberties involving the design of Freddy. He can look as fantastical as possible. And the design is truly iconic. Freddy is one of the most visually recognisable horror villains and it's not hard to work out why. While all of the acting wasn't amazing, the actors were great! I particularly loved seeing Lin Shaye in such an early role (particularly as it's been announced that a new Insidious movie is coming out this year!). But Heather Langenkamp was also great as Nancy, and of course Robert Englund is iconic as Freddy. It...
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  I think everyone has probably heard of this movie before, but I'd never seen it so I was glad it was on the list. Despite being on the bucket list, the film wasn't really on my radar to watch until I saw a video recently where someone commented on how amazing the ending was. So after I saw that, I wanted to watch it as soon as I could. I loved this film. The premise is such an interesting one. The audience has an outsider's perspective, which makes things that much more intriguing because we have no idea who these characters were before the film started. We have to take everything at face value. It's so well written - a lot of the horror elements of the film come directly from the dialogue. The idea in itself is scary, but seeing and hearing the reactions of the characters makes it even scarier. The pacing is great - at 1/2 an hour in, so much has already happened. Things are teased out really slowly, and the situation escalates in a way that has you completely glued ...
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Ella McCay | Film Review

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  Ella McCay (Emma Mackey) struggles to balance her family relationships and marriage with her job as governor. I heard really bad things about this film when it came out, which felt weird for a film that seemed quite simple and inoffensive. But it definitely made me more intrigued to see it. In fact, I don't know that I would have seen it without hearing the negative reviews. I thought the film was fine. I didn't love it, but it definitely wasn't as bad as the reviews suggested. I was surprised by the cast, though - there were, oddly, some great people in the film, and I do wonder why they all said yes to it. It's not exactly original or ground-breaking. I found the time jumps at the start of the film too significant, considering that all of the actors looked exactly the same in all time periods. The biggest problem of the movie for me was that it was more a collection of scenes than an actual movie. Some of them didn't even feel connected to each other. The charac...
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Let The Right One In | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  This was a first-time watch. I'd heard of the film in passing, but not enough to know the general public consensus of it, or what it was actually about beyond the one major plot point. This was a weird one for me. I liked the film, but I also had a hard time engaging and connecting with it. It took a little while for the film to grab me. I was interested in what was happening but I felt like I was having to force myself to be interested, rather than this happening naturally. It also could be that I just wasn't in the right mood to watch it, which isn't something I experience that often. Because while I could enjoy what was happening, I struggled to stay engaged. The relationship between Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson) is the best part of the film. The actors play their parts amazingly well, especially because they were so young when they made the film. And it's the thing that makes the film stand out from other vampire movies - there's something ...
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