The other day, I did not have anything going on so I decided make a day at the movies. I saw three films: Disney’s Haunted Mansion, Talk To Me, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter.  Here are my initial thoughts.

NO SPOILERS AHEAD

Disney’s Haunted Mansion

Haunted Mansion was not as bad as I was expecting, and definitely not as bad as some made it out to be. I will say that it was about 15 minutes too long as there was a macguffin sequence which could have been rewritten. There are good themes of familial bonding among people of diverse backgrounds, the need for strong male role models, as well as the struggle of loss and grief after the death of a loved one that lingers and acceptance of that loss for realizing the possibilities of what stands before you. That being said these themes could have been written better, but I feel most people would be able to see them even as the thin veneer that they are. The acting is pretty good, especially of the main actor LaKeith Stanfield. Chase Dillon is not bad either as a child actor. However, most everyone else is just over the top to absurdity, almost caricatures more than actual characters. Another good thing I would say is that as diverse as the cast is they never beat you over the head with “THE MESSAGE,” and to my ears the only woke word that was used in passing was ally. And if you are fans of the ride, you will notice some elements of that in there too. Overall, I give this film a solid 3.5/5. I will do a more in-depth breakdown once it comes out on streaming around October. Maybe even a triple threat between this Haunted Mansion, the one with Eddie Murphy, and the Muppets.

Talk To Me

Talk To Me is an allegory about addiction presented as a story of the paranormal. The writing, acting, and cinematography are superb. The characters feel like real people, and they act and react like any sane person would in a given situation. There is profanity, talk of sex, and a bit of body horror, but it is believable. As a person who knows something of addiction, I can see it plain as day: the hesitance, the revulsion giving way to peer pressure, the initial rush followed by the craving for more even to the detriment of all else, and the final terminal phase of below rock bottom. You sympathize with the core group as they rebel against their parents living their lives as they see it while the parents, not quite resigned to failure, struggle to temper their teens’ youth. All the while our main protagonist is being led or misled by the spirits she has been talking to in an attempt to fix a situation she allowed to happen. This is a story about our inner demons and the power of addiction to manifest control over our lives. If you are a fan of horror and want to support an up-comer from YouTube watch this movie. My initial rating is an 4.5/5.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a period piece inspired by a chapter out of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The setting is on the ship Demeter as it carries private cargo from Carpathia to London. Along the way animals and people start dying of mysterious causes. The acting is fairly good as I could believe these people would exist. You have superstitious sailors, the stoic captain, the dutiful first mate, and the rational man of science. There are some plot holes which I will not get into here, but I feel that if they were fixed the movie would have ended sooner. The creature design is great and like the shark in jaws, Dracula the monster lurks menacingly in the shadows until the final showdown. Overall, it is a decent movie I feel most people will enjoy and my initial rating is 3/5. The cherry on top is at the end where Universal teases the relaunch of its dark universe.