Milk_Tray_Guy

Interesting continuation of the story from the first film (the beginning of this takes place six days afterwards and connects directly to it). This time the action shifts to the glamour-glitzy world of pop superstardom. Naomi Scott shines as pop princess Skye Riley, about to launch a comeback tour after going off the rails a year earlier (booze and drugs) following a car accident that killed her boyfriend and badly injured her. Unfortunately, she gets hit with the smile-demon curse whilst trying to illegally buy pain medication. What follows is a two hour ride of 'What's real? What's not?' as Skye becomes increasingly tormented by bizarre and grotesque visions. We get plenty of gore, some terrific imagery, and some very creepy scenes.

There's plenty to like (including a fantastic opening action sequence looks like it was done in one take. It wasn't, but you'll never spot the joins!), The downside is that the way it plays out with the big reveal undermines a lot of it. Plus, much of the last half-hour or so has a (very!) strong out-of-place black comedy feel. The climax also suffers from showing too much (why do so many otherwise skilfully made horror films make the mistake of doing that?). The cinematography is fantastic, and Naomi Scott gives an amazing performance as Skye unravels. The rest of the cast are solid too. Unfortunately, the minuses take it down to a 7/10.

US possession horror, starring Playboy-Bunny-turned-Scream-Queen Bobbie Bresee, and evangelist-preacher-turned-B-movie-block-of-wood Marjoe Gortner. On the day of her mother's funeral 10 year-old Susan becomes possessed by a demon. The demon lays dormant inside her until 20 years later - on the anniversary of her mother's death - when Susan (Bresee) begins to display abilities of fire-starting and telekinesis. She also becomes uncharacteristically sexually promiscuous and unfaithful to her new husband (Gortner). As Susan's behaviour-changes become more pronounced she starts to undergo increasingly grotesque physical transformations, until finally the demon within is loosed upon the world, and it's up to a local psychiatrist to battle the forces of evil for Susan's soul.

This plays out like an attempted cross between The Exorcist and Lucio Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy - but isn't anywhere near as good as either. That's not to say it isn't enjoyable; the effects are all practical in that unmistakeable 80s way, there's plenty of gore, and the kills are pretty effective. Bresee gives it a good go and seems to be enjoying herself (her recollections of the film now are entertaining), but Gortner displays an astonishing lack of charisma (you'd expect more from a former evangelist preacher) and the rest of the cast are pretty forgettable. The tone is uneven (although Michael Dugan is credited as director, apparently on any given day a different person would be calling the shots; this may be due to the claims by several people that the whole thing was just a money laundering scam by the mob - who weren't that bothered with how the film turned out). The movie's big selling point was that Bresee gets naked - a lot (her comments on this are very funny; she was never under any misapprehension as to why she was hired!). A lot of things about the movie don't make sense (not least a WTF 'twist' that screams 'afterthought'), but as purely dumb fun it gets a 6/10.

Audition is one of the most infamous of Japanese horror films. It centres around a lonely widower looking for a new wife, and a young woman who isn't exactly who or what she appears to be. I've seen it described as a romance - even melancholy romcom - right up to the point where it very definitely ISN'T. This is one of its strengths - and at the same time (for me) one of its weak points; the earlier scenes serve a useful purpose of lulling the unsuspecting first-time viewer into a false sense of security, but they do drag at times. They're okay if you're into romance movies, but if you're not they're hard work. Once we finally get to the point where things start to 'turn' it gets interesting - and increasingly bizarre - leading to a much talked about climax (which I won't spoil). The entire film is superbly directed and acted, and beautifully lit and photographed, and all the effects are very convincing. There's also one terrific jumpscare. But despite - or maybe even because of - my being a die-hard horror fan, the film didn't really engage me. It's really more 'horror-adjacent', a psychological thriller with (admittedly strong) gory moments. I can't pinpoint anything bad in the film's making, but as far as entertainment value goes I can't give it more than 6/10.