Tag Archives: reviews

Mar 6 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Perewangan

Perewangan (2024)
Davina Karamoy, Beby Evelyn, Ully Triani, Shanty, Septian Dwi Cahyo, Syifa Aulia, Randy Nidji
Directed by: Awi Suryadi

I watched this off my Shudder watchlist last night. I enjoy demon-y type movies, so I figured I’d give this little Indonesian film a chance. And it was… fine.

After a woman is seemingly possessed, the shock sends her husband to a psychiatric hospital. But the real terror waits for her children after the father comes home.

I’m not even sure I have enough to say about this for a full blog post, but I’ll try. It was an altogether average film. The acting was fine. The story was fine, if a little uninspired. The camerawork was fine, although it did get a little annoying with the weird angles sometimes. The demon looked ok, but again, uninspired. One thing I really didn’t like, though, was their over-reliance of cgi. There were hardly any makeup effects, it was all cg. It takes away from a film, I find, if over-used. The one big makeup they had was some shots of the demon itself, and honestly, it looked a little silly. The film was also over-long, clocking in at 1 hour 49 minutes. 20 minutes could have easily been shaved off this thing.

I didn’t know anything about this demon, the Perewangan, because it’s from Javanese folklore. The word means “helper” and is basically a demon you summon to grant you what you want, but it must be fed. And if you don’t, you’re cursed and possessed. It’s multigenerational as well, so even if you kill yourself or something, that won’t stop it. It’s a pretty common myth, they have something like that from many cultures around the world, but they could have done something more interesting with the concept, I’m sure. And the ending is, in a word, typical.

So do I recommend it? Meh, not really. There’s not much to recommend. It gets a fine 5/10 from me.

M.

This is currently streaming on Shudder.

Feb 15 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Witchboard

Witchboard (1986)
Todd Allen, Tawny Kitaen, Stephen Nichols, Kathleen Wilhoite, Burke Byrnes, James W Quinn, JP Luebsen
Directed by: Kevin Tenney

I was in the mood for a fun, cheesy horror movie last night, and noticed this was on Shudder, so I put it on. And while it lacked a bit of that 80’s charm, it was still pretty good.

When a woman becomes terrorized by a spirit after using a Ouija board by herself, her fiancé and her ex, who used to be his best friend, must join forces to find out how to save her.

This is one of the few “bigger” horror B movies from the 80’s that I hadn’t seen yet. After hearing about it from Daniel over at The Cobwebs Channel, I decided to take the plunge. It was lacking a bit on the fun and even the cheese. It takes itself pretty seriously (except maybe with the character of Zarabeth) and therefor lacked a bit. But what I did get was a pretty good haunting/possession film (not good enough to edge out any of the top 15 I did, hehe). Tawny Kitaen, otherwise known as a “Video Vixen“, was surprisingly good in the role of the terrorized woman, and although she’s drop dead gorgeous, her hair… oh my god. It’s SOO fried, like too much bleach and teasing fried. I know it was the 80’s, but damn! Use some conditioner! Her fiancé was played well by Todd Allen. The character is aloof and a bit of an asshole but still you’re rooting for him. And the ex best friend, whoa those eyeballs! So green! There weren’t a lot of effects, just one decapitation that looks a little funny. And what little makeup effects we got were done well. All in all, it’s a good time.

Do I recommend it? Sure, if you enjoy 80’s films. If you don’t, I’d advise against it. I give it a good 7.5/10.

M.

This film is currently streaming on Shudder.

Feb 1 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Weapons

Weapons (2025)
Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Cary Christopher, Austin Abrams, Scarlett Sher (v.o.)
Directed by: Zach Cregger

This film was on a lot of people’s Best Of lists for 2025. And I gotta say, I don’t understand the hype.

When all the children save one in a teacher’s classrom leave their houses in the middle of the night and vanishes, a small town is thrust into a mystery where anyone and every one are suspects.

So this is a film by Zach Cregger. Had I known that going in, maybe my expectations would have been more tempered. I didn’t hate Barbarian, but I didn’t love it either. I have to say, I enjoyed the first act. The mystery, the suspense, it was all great. The characters are imperfect, just like real life. But then the second act, where we find out what’s actually going on (which I won’t spoil in case anyone still has yet to see it and wants to), I was left very cold. I was like “Oh, It’s (redacted). Is that it?” And then the third act, holy shit. It was so silly, so over the top. People in the cinema with me were laughing out loud, and so was I, but not in a good way. Had it have been comedic all the way through, then maybe it wouldn’t have been so jarring.

But, I have to give credit where credit is due. The film looked beautiful. There were a few creepy moments. And all the acting was superb, and I’m not mad that Amy Madigan got an Oscar nod. Actually, horror is doing well at the Oscars this year, and I’m here for it. Now to see if they actually win any… But I digress. I just feel like Cregger picked the low hanging fruit as his reveal. I’m not saying I could have written it better, but he should have.

Now for the hard part. Do I recommend it? No… and yes. Knowing how many people adored this thing, I would say “I didn’t care for it, but so many others loved it, so give it a shot.” As for me, I give this a 5/10.

M.

Dec 18 2025

Mel’s 5 Second Review: The Conjuring – Last Rites

The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)
Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Steve Coulter, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Beau Gadsdon, and Kíla Lord Cassidy
Directed by: Michael Chaves

The 4th and supposed final film in the wildly popular Conjuring franchise, I had high hopes for this film, seeing how much I loved the others. And while it’s not a bad movie by any means, it is the least good of the bunch.

Ed and Lorraine find themselves this time facing an entity that hits a little too close to home when it reaches out to attack their daughter, Judy.

I was so excited for this film that I did something I never do: I bought the film as soon as it was available on YouTube for either 25 or 30 bucks. I’m not exactly swimming in the dough, so I generally wait til it’s at least down to 15. And while I’m not entirely mad for spending the money, it really could have waited. Ah well.

First the good. It had a banger of an opening. Very atmospheric, very creepy. I was all in at that point. After that, however, things just got a little… formulaic I guess you could say. I can picture the producers sitting around the table smoking cigarettes and saying “just do what the others did and, oh, add tons of jumpscares and creepy smiles. People like those, right?” I really don’t know why every single entity has to smile these days. Sure, once can be creepy, if it’s done right. But all of them? All the time? Nah. The Conjuring had zero creepy smiles and was so much creepier. But I digress.

Everything in the film looked good. Most of the effects and makeup were very well done, as usual. It’s a little gorier than the previous entries, but it was done well. I even had to look away once (I’m not a huge fan of gore, it tends to make me cringe and look away). The acting was all good, but it has been consistently good for these films, so I wasn’t too surprised there. There were a few good, creepy set pieces, but unfortunately most of them ended with a “graaaahhhh!” jumpscare (cue over-dramatic musical sting here).

So do I recommend it? Yes? I guess? If you loved the series as I do, you’ll likely have a good time with it. It’s definitely not bad, just a little underwhelming as a final curtain film. I give it a decent 7/10.

M.

This film is currently for rent or purchase on YouTube and Prime.

Dec 13 2025

Mel’s 5 Second Review: A Dark Song

A Dark Song (2016)
Catherine Walker and Steve Oram
Directed by: Liam Gavin

I didn’t know what to expect with this one. All I’d really heard about it is that it was slow and amazing to some people, and awful to others. I’m glad I went in blind though, if I’d heard anything, it’d have ruined the experience. So I’ll try not say too much about it, in case someone else wants to see it.

A young woman who has recently lost her son to ritual murder enlists the help of an occultist to undergo a gruelling year-long ritual that will grant her deepest wish.

I always try to not formulate an opinion about a film before I see it, which is very hard in a day where trailers and people who say their own feelings about the film/movie/book exists. Luckily I’d never seen a trailer for this film. All I knew about it is that it was very polarizing. Some people loved it, other found it dull. Me? I’m in the former category. I kinda loved this thing.

First the good. It looked beautiful. The cinematography is on point. It feels very claustrophobic, even when there’s light streaming in through the windows. The writer/director Liam Gavin builds the tension wonderfully, so that even when it seems like not much is happening, you can feel the dread permeate the atmosphere. While there weren’t that many visual and makeup effects, the bit that we did get (mostly in the third act) were surprisingly great for such a small film. The budget, depending on the source, is said to have been between $25,000 and $50,000, which is crazy to me. It looked so good that I would expect it to be much higher. The acting was incredible from both leads. You might think a film with basically just two people in a house would be boring, but I was never bored. And it all culminates in an ending that I’m not afraid to say was poignant and oddly heartwarming, almost like it belonged in a different film. But it works, all of it. And the bad? Nothing really, this film was wonderful.

So do I recommend it? Absolutely, IF you enjoy slow burn films. If you need constant action, then maybe skip this one. I give it an 8.5/10.

M.

This film is currently streaming on Shudder.

Nov 21 2025

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Abraham’s Boys

Abraham’s Boys (2025)
Titus Welliver, Brady Hepner, Judah Mackey, Jocelin Donahue, Aurora Perrineau, and Jonathan Howard
Directed by: Natasha Kermani

This one popped up on Shudder the other day, and being the vampire fanatic that I am, I was excited and put it on as soon as I had time. And… oh boy.

Years after defeating Dracula, Abraham Van Helsing and his wife Mina are raising their 2 sons on a seculded ranch. After finding a woman locked up under the house, the boys are told that the evil has followed them, and the monsters must be erradicated. But who’s the real monster?

SPOILERS INCOMING

Now listen. The concept is amazing. 10/10. It’s based on a story written by Joe Hill, so I’m not overly surprised. But the execution… eh. I’ll start with the acting, which ranged from mediocre to laughably bad. I don’t like to harp on child actors, cause it’s a tough gig, but man. There are good child actors out there. The movie looked decent. They got a suitably creepy old house to film in (not sure if it’s “new old” or “old old”), and the dusty, desolate landscape just adds to the ambiance they were going for.

The idea that Van Helsing is simply a murderer that tricked people into thinking there were real vampires is actually really solid. I guessed it from the beginning of the film, but that’s because I’ve seen movies before. I know how they work (most of the time. I still get surprised every so often.) I tried to track down the source material, but could not find it for the life of me. Should anybody read this and knows where to find it, please let me know. The pacing was all over the place, sometimes so slow that you wonder if anything is happening at all, and other times almost frenetic with its movements. I’m not sure what they were going for, but whatever it was, they failed.

So do I recommend it? Eh. Not really. Unless you’re a diehard fan of vampires. But then again, there were no vampires in this vampire movie. Vampire adjacent? Yeah, that’s it. 5/10

M.

This film is currently on Shudder.

Nov 16 2025

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Nosferatu

Nosferatu (2024)
Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, and Emma Corrin
Directed by: Robert Eggers

So, I’ve been meaning to write about this one since I saw it in the cinema when it came out. But I’ve been really bad at blogging these days, so I never got around to it. I’m trying to break the cycle now, so here it is.

Newly-wed Ellen is haunted by an evil vampire who is infatuated with her. When her husband goes to the vampire’s castle to settle the agreement of buying a new house in Germany, he becomes a prisoner while the vampire is free to pursue Ellen.

I went into this very hesitantly. Nosferatu (1922) is, of course, a classic, and I absolutely adore Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). I didn’t think that this movie would show me anything new while remaining faithful to the source material. I also am not a huge fan of Robert Eggers as a director. Well, I was very wrong. I absolutely adored this film. At 2 hours and 12 minutes, it’s quite long for a horror film, but it didn’t feel long to me. I found the pacing, while, yes, a little slow, perfect, and I was never bored. Didn’t look at my watch once!

I know that Eggers is a stickler for detail, and wants everything in a period piece to be perfect. So I was not surprised at how beautiful the film is. The costuming, the sets, the setting, everything was on point. The one tiny nit-pick I have is why do the characters all have British accents when this film takes place in Germany. I was quite surprised at that. But otherwise this film is near perfect. Bill Skarsgård already proved that he was able to portray a monster in It, and he does it again here. He absolutely oozes evil from every pore. And I was rather surprised at Lily-Rose Depp. I honestly didn’t think much of her besides the fact that she’s Johnny’s daughter (nepo-baby!!). But she embraced this role whole-heartedly and really gave it her all. She was wonderful. The rest of the main cast I already knew were going to be great.

So do I recommend it? Absolutely, with a caveat. If you’re (very) easily bored, or are not a fan of horror, then no. I tried to show this to my mom and she made it only a quarter of the way through, saying it’s boring. But me? 9.5/10. Very nearly perfect!

M.

This film is currently streaming on Prime.

May 26 2025

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Wolf Man

Wolf Man (2025)
Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger, Zac Chandler, and Benedict Hardie
Directed by: Leigh Whannell


So I’ve been wanting to see this since it came out, but due to all the negative reviews I’d seen about it, I was apprehensive about spending any money on it. But it’s now streaming on Prime, so I decided to jump in. And you know, I wouldn’t have been mad about spending a few bucks on it.

A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, and as the night stretches on, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable.

I really don’t understand all the hate this film got. No, it’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s a good time. It has a few good, tense moments, and I actually quite enjoyed the POV shots changing between the family and the infected Blake. It’s a good idea that I don’t remember seeing before. The make-up effects were well done, even if the wolf design was slightly underwhelming. Christopher Abbott does a great job conveying a man who’s desperately trying to hold on to his humanity even as he feels it slipping away. Everyone was great, actually, except maybe Matilda Firth as daughter Ginger. She wasn’t as horrible as I’ve seen others accuse her of, but she wasn’t great. I don’t like being too hard on child actors, though. It’s a tough gig. The cinematography was stunning, as were the locales, but that happens when you film in New Zealand. I do wish they’d gone for a different ending, though. It felt very predictable and safe.

So if you’ve been on the fence about this one because of the reviews, I’d suggest just seeing it for yourself. You never can tell what you’re going to like based on what other people have thought. I know I definitely can’t. I often end up liking things others hated, or hating things others loved. This one gets a 7.5/10 from me.

M.

This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Jun 25 2024

Mel’s 5 Second First Impressions: Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)
Tim Blake Nelson, David Hewlett, Ben Barnes, Rupert Grint, Lize Johnston, Kevin Keppy, Essie Davis, Peter Weller, F Murray Abraham, Kate Micucci, Crispin Glover, Andrew Lincoln, Martin Starr, Sebastian Roché, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Dan Stevens, DJ Qualls, and Nia Vardalos

Cabinet of Curiosities

So I’ve been meaning to watch this since it came out. I was immediately intrigued by the Netflix blurb, and the fact that there’s so many actors that I know and like in it. I put it in my to-watch list… and immediately forgot about it, as I do. I finally got around to watching the first 2 episodes the other night, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

It’s an 8 episode anthology show, that seems to be all horror from what I’ve seen. In the first episode, a cranky old man who owes money to a shady individual buys a storage locker to sell its contents and gets a whole lot more than he bargained for. In the second episode, a graverobber thinks he’s going to have a great haul after a wealthy man passes away, only to find that the “graveyard rats” already have a plan for him.

First the good, and there’s quite a bit of it. It looks really good. The cinematography, production, and atmosphere are all on point. The acting in the first 2 episodes was great, although I can’t say if it stays good all the way through, since I haven’t seen the rest. It’s definitely movie-quality. The bad: I can’t say I loved it. The first episode did a good job at building tension and while the payoff was good, the episode just kind of ended with so many questions left unanswered. The second episode ended better, and had a more complete story, and while it wasn’t bad, it was just kind of “meh”. I’m not sure it gripped me enough to get me to watch the rest of the episodes. There are actors I’m looking forward to seeing (Ben Barnes *cough*), so maybe that’ll be enough to get me to sit down to it again. As it is right now, though, it only gets a 6.5/10.

M.

This is currently streaming on Netflix.

Mar 9 2024

Mel’s 10 Things About… Dune part 2

Dune part 2 (2024)
Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, and Charlotte Rampling
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Dune2

  1. There is a ridiculous amount of eye candy in this film, just to get that out of the way. Even Austin Butler, under all that Harkonnen makeup, is still beautiful.
  2. The film looks beautiful. The cinematography is insane. The makeup, the costumes, the visuals, all breathtaking.
  3. The acting is all great, as expected after seeing the first film. Zendaya does a surprisingly good job, and Austin Butler is great as the psychotic Feyd-Rautha.
  4. The fight choreographies are insane. I’m not sure how much the actors did themselves, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
  5. I heard from someone who’s read the books that there are some key things that are different, but as someone who has not read the whole book (I’ve only read about a fifth of it, then I pooped out), the story felt fluid and complete.
  6. The score was, to use an epic word, bombastic. Less so than the first film, but I think that’s a good thing. The score was a little overpowering in part 1 (but that’s literally the only thing that I have to say bad about it).
  7. The film ended a bit abruptly. Things were a bit long in the tooth (not in a bad way) for most of the film, then all of a sudden, it was over. The film is 2 hours and 46 minutes long, already a good chunk of time, but I really could have used a little extra time to flesh it out some more.
  8. Slight spoiler: I think I saw a small mistake near the end of the film. Paul gets stabbed in what I see as his side, but then he pulls the blade from his shoulder. Did I see it wrong, or was that an actual mistake?
  9. I liked Jessica’s character a lot less in this film, but I’m thinking that that’s how you’re supposed to feel.
  10. All in all, I did really love this film. It was a wonderful film. I saw it in a cinema with a screen that wrapped three quarters around the room, and I’d never experienced that before. It was great. Do I reccomend it? If you liked the first one, then definitely. If the first one left you cold, then you probably won’t like this one either.

This film is currently still only in cinemas, but I’m sure it’ll come to streaming soon. Enjoy! I certainly did!

M.