Insidious: The Last Key (2018) - Demon franchise lost in the shadows

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A creepy hand with keys for nails is the motif on this poster for Adam Robitel's Insidious: The Last Key

Demonic medium Elise gets called back to her haunted childhood home and must relive traumatic memories in order to understand the disturbance in the house.

 

Insidious: The Last Key is written by writer/co-producer/actor Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man (2020)) and directed by Adam Robitel (The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)). It is the 4th film in the Insidious franchise (2010; 2013; 2015).

Elise's bad memories never become truly lucid for us in this yawn-worthy entry in the horror series, which feels about ready to be put in its grave here. Lin Shaye (Darkness Falls (2020)) does her best, returning as Elise, but the material is preposterous and superficial. - And not terribly frightening.

 

Related posts:

Insidious franchise: Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) - Whannell debuts with solid creeper sequel

Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) - Whannell and Wan's deflated tormented family sequel

Insidious (2010) - Wan's thrilling, scary ghost horror

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 10 mil. $

Box office: 167.8 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 16.78 times its cost)

[Insidious: The Last Key was released 3 January (France) and runs 103 minutes. Shooting took place from August - September 2016 in California. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, to a 29.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 67.7 mil. $ (40.3 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Indonesia with 9 mil. $ (5.4 %) and Mexico with 8.5 mil. $ (5 %). The franchise returned with Insidious: The Red Door (2023). Robitel returned with Escape Room (2019). Shaye returned in Los Angeles Overnight (2018). Insidious: The Last Key is rotten at 28 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Insidious: The Last Key?

The Haunted Mansion (2003) - Haunted house ride adaptation an FX-driven slumber

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A cobweb-dressed mansion entrance lures prospective audiences on this poster for Rob Minkoff's The Haunted Mansion

Jim Evers is a realtor with a busy career, who has difficulty finding time to see his family, who therefore are forced to spend their family weekend visiting a large estate in Louisiana that 'the big man' intends to sell ...

 

The Haunted Mansion is written by David Berenbaum (Elf (2003)) and directed by Rob Minkoff (The Lion King (1994, co-director)). It is based on Disney's theme park ride of the same name.

Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)) is so lovable and funny that one is happy at the outset of The Haunted Mansion, which bodes well for this ride-inspired studio creation. The family vs. work conflict, however, vanishes as various more or less stupid and unimpressive 'horror' special effects are unleashed within the house. Here also Terence Stamp (Crow (2016)) delivers a laconic butler performance with an excessive British accent. 

The Haunted Mansion; (not really that) close - and definitely no cigar!

 

Related posts:

Rob Minkoff: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) - Vexing, over-stimulated time-travel adaptation

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 90 mil. $

Box office: 182.2 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.02 times its cost)

[The Haunted Mansion was released 26 November (North America) and runs 87 minutes. Shooting took place from December 2002 - April 2003 in New Orleans, Louisiana and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 34 mil. $ 5 day-long Thanksgiving opening weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#3), grossing 75.8 mil. $ (41.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 29.7 mil. $ (16.3 %) and the UK with 14.8 mil. $ (8.1 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. The film was remade by Disney as Haunted Mansion (2023) to a much steeper flop result. Minkoff returned with The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). Murphy returned with voice performances in Shrek 2 (2004) and 2 Shrek 2-related productions prior to his physical theatrical return in Dreamgirls (2006). The Haunted Mansion is rotten at 13 % with a 4.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Haunted Mansion?

The Haunting (1963) - Excellent Harris performance in haunted psyche chiller

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Something horrible and ghoulish is teased on this effective poster for Robert Wise's The Haunting

A professor wants to find evidence of a parallel world of spirits and therefore invites a pair of relevant women to join him and the owner at the allegedly haunted Hill House manor.

 

The Haunting is written by Nelson Gidding (Lisa (1962)), adapting The Haunting of Hill House (1959)) by Shirley Jackson (The Sundial (1958)), and directed by great Indianan filmmaker Robert Wise (The Curse of the Cat People (1944)).

Julie Harris (Hamlet (1964)) as our afflicted, independence-seeking protagonist is outstanding, and the film is as much a ghost story as a creepy journey into the mind of a person who is getting near to a psychosis.

The remarkable photography (by Davis Boulton (Children of the Damned (1964))) manipulates with perspectives, distances and more, and the set design is excellent. There's a spiral staircase scene that demonstrates how long a suspense scene can be held. And Lois Maxwell (Lost and Found (1979)) is good in the supporting part as Grace Markway, the investigating doctor's cynical wife.

The Haunting is a study in withheld and insinuated horror that piques the subconscious with its eeriness. 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1.05 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 1.02 mil. $ (North-American rentals in 1963 only) 

= Uncertain but most likely a flop

[The Haunting opened 21 August (USA) and runs 114 minutes. Shooting took place around October 1962 in England, including in London. Harris suffered from depression at the time of shooting, affecting her performance and interaction (and lack thereof) with the cast and crew. With only a 1963 North-American rental figure, (which is unimpressive), the film's theatrical status is impossible to ascertain, - but it seems likely that The Haunting was a flop. It was nominated for a Golden Globe. It was remade as The Haunting (1999), and has inspired Rose Red (2002, miniseries) and The Haunting of Hill House (2018, miniseries VOD). Wise returned with The Sound of Music (1965). Harris returned in Little Moon of Alban (1964, TV movie), Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964, TV-series) and theatrically in Hamlet (1964); Claire Bloom (The King's Speech (2010)) in Il Maestro di Vigevano (1963). The Haunting is certified fresh at 87 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Haunting?

The Orphanage/El Orfanato (2007) - Bayona arrives with memorable, haunting horror

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Star Belén Rueda stands in a dark corridor among what appears to be ghost children on this poster for J.A. Bayona's The Orphanage

A married couple with an adopted son want to reopen an old orphanage, which the woman Laura once lived in, but when their son Simón disappears, the place transforms from a place of promise into a sinful nightmare.

 

The Orphanage is written by Sergio G. Sánchez (7337 (2000, short)) and directed by great Spanish filmmaker, debuting J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls (2016)). The title is a literal translation of the original Spanish title.

SPOILER The house is haunted with masked children in The Orphanage, and there are shocks and a frightening medium scene, in which sound design is used to strike violently upon the gasping viewer. But the film's real brilliance may be the way it so finely balances warmly inviting the audience back to the innocent magic of childhood, - and gruesome, very adult offenses on the contrasting side.

SPOILER The ending is tragic, - but not devastating, - bringing to my mind H.C. Andersen's The Story of a Mother (1847). It perfectly fulfills this fairytale-reminiscent nightmare. Executive producer Guillermo Del Toro's preceding, more widely seen and hailed Pan's Labyrinth (2006) pales in comparison to The Orphanage, I find.

 

Related posts:

J.A. Bayona: 2018 in films - according to Film Excess

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) - Ideals blow up in Bayona's grand and timely dino spectacle 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
A Monster Calls (2016) - Bayona forgets the sugar in overly gloomy adaptation turkey

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess
Top 10: The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
The Impossible/Lo Imposible (2012) - The 2004 tsunami depicted in one of the strongest disaster films ever  

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 4 mil. $

Box office: 78.6 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 19.65 times its cost)

[The Orphanage premiered 20 May (Cannes Film Festival, Golden Camera section) and runs 97 minutes. The first draft was written in 1996. Sánchez gave Bayona his script in 2004. With Del Toro's support, the financing came together with 14 production companies and support bodies collaborating. Shooting took place from May - July 2006 in Spain. The film opened #27 to a 233k $ first weekend in 19 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #16 and in 707 theaters, grossing 7.1 mil. $ (9 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Its biggest and 2nd biggest were Spain with 37.7 mil. $ (48 %), - here it was the biggest opening of the year with an 8.3 mil. $ four-day launch, - and Mexico with 11.6 mil. $ (14.8 %). The film was nominated for 5 European Film awards and won 7/14 Goya awards, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. A much talked about US remake never came to fruition. Bayona returned with La Desgracia en 3D (2008, short), Nena Daconte: El Aleph (2009, music video) and theatrically with The Impossible/Lo Imposible (2012). Belén Rueda (The Sea Inside/Mar Adentro (2004)) returned in 8 Citas (2008). The Orphanage is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Orphanage?

House/ハウス (Hausu) (1977) - Ôbayashi's fantastical fantasy horror

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A highly detailed, evocative and dark manga-style poster for Nobuhiko Ôbayashi's House

A group of high school girls go on a vacation to the countryside in Japan, where they will stay at the house of an aunt of one of the girls. But at the house the girls start to disappear, and the aunt (and her cat and her house) behave ... unusually.

 

House is written and directed by Chiho Katsura (Haishi (1984)), based on a story by Chigumi Ôbayashi (Hitomi no naka no houmonsha (1977)), and directed by great Japanese filmmaker Nobuhiko Ôbayashi (Confession (1968)).

It is a very unusual and unconventional film: House is both a stylistically and technically ambitious work, which seems keen on using as large a wealth of effects and styles as possible. This will also make the experience too exhaustingly alien for some viewers' preferences, whereas us who also love Japanese film and culture in general have a field trip with the colorful, wild escapades.

The story is built on ideas from the director's pre-teen daughter. A small number of the many effects the film uses work less well, but House is still a gem that should be seen more than once. It is a rich and crazy film. - Hooray for Toho for financing this!

 

Watch a very short clip from the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 209k $ (2010 North American gross)

= Uncertain

[House was released 30 July (Japan) and runs 88 minutes. Toho had tasked Ôbayashi with making a script in the vein of Jaws (1975), looking to copy the film's massive success. Instead he got a lot of weird ideas from his preteen daughter, which he developed into a script. Reportedly no other director would make it, so Toho hired Ôbayashi again, betting that an incomprehensible film would possibly be lucrative, since they had recently flopped badly with many comprehensible films. Most of the actors were amateurs. Shooting took place in Toho's studio over the course of two months. The film reportedly got bad reviews in Japan but was a box office success. Regrettably numbers are not available to corroborate. The film is also listed as having had a US release in September 1977. It was re-released in 2010 in North America, grossing 209k $. Ôbayashi returned with Hitomi no naka no houmonsha (1977). House is fresh at 91 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of House?

House (1985) - Cunningham's unremarkable horror-comedy franchise opens

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A ghoulish severed hand catches the eye on this promising poster for Steve Miner's House

 

A writer with problems moves into the house, where his aunt hung herself, and his son disappeared with the plan of writing his Vietnam novel. - But monsters keep disturbing his writing peace!

 

House is written by Ethan Wiley (Bear (2010)), with Fred Dekker (If Looks Could Kill (1991)) contributing story elements, and directed by Steve Miner (Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)).

It is a neither scary nor funny horror comedy, - in fact is is just unserious and silly. And then it lacks the really good special effects that might overcome some of these deficiencies. (Best looking FX-wise is a scene, in which the house stands on a precipice, and the writer hangs with one hand over it.)

George Wendt (Opposite Day (2009)) of Cheers (1982-93) fame has the role as the good-natured neighbor, and he does well in the part. But House is not at all a good film.

 

Related posts:

 

House franchise: The Horror Show/House III: The Horror Show (1989) - Lousy horror product

Steve Miner: Halloween H20/Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) - Myers spreads fresh terror in Miner's fine sequel 

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - Miner debuts with solid if formulaic first sequel

Watch a short TV trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: 22.1 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 7.36 times its cost)

[House premiered 21 October (MIFED Film Festival, Italy) and runs 93 minutes. Shooting took place from April 1985 - ? in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Pretty in Pink, to a 5.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#2) and grossed 19.4 mil. $ (87.8 % of the total gross). The success inspired sequel House II: The Second Story (1987), with a new writer/director and cast. Miner returned with Soul Man (1986). William Katt (The Encore of Tony Duran (2011)) returned in 12 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in White Ghost (1988); Wendt in Gung Ho (1986). House is rotten at 57 % with a 5.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of House?

House on Haunted Hill (1959) - Castle and Price's spellbinding gimmickry

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A truly remarkable, sensational poster in riveting colors for William Castle's House on Haunted Hill

Eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren and wife Annabelle have invited five guests to a haunted house party: Whoever of the five guests survive the night will win 10,000 $.

 

House on Haunted Hill is written by Robb White (13 Ghosts (1960)) and directed by William Castle (The Chance of a Lifetime (1943)).

It is a very well-made horror that gets few characters together on a mysterious castle-like estate for a thunder-filled night, - something that's been seen countless times before. But this fresh foray has Vincent Price (Climax! (1955-57)) as the inimitable game master host, who casually drops lines with a catty tingle in his eye such as; "Hasn't every man thought about killing his wife?"

No one is who they appear in this Gothic, homicidal mystery, which is something very special. The rest of the cast are also fair, and the film has survived in beautiful condition. The classic, well-made score (by Von Dexter (Mr. Sardonicus (1961))) features organ and theremin, and the film's special effects include torn heads, an acid bath and walking skeletons!

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Estimated 0.2 mil. $

Box office: 2.5 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 12.5 times its cost)

[House on Haunted Hill premiered 14 January (San Francisco) and runs 75 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 1958 in Los Angeles, California. The film is famous for the 'Emergo' gimmick devised by Castle for its theatrical release, which involved especially accommodating theaters' installing a pulley system near the screen, which allowed a plastic skeleton to fly over the audience near the end of the film. The system has been re-installed in a few theaters for enthused re-releases of the film since. Alfred Hitchcock was reportedly inspired by the film's success to devise Psycho (1960). It has since fallen into public domain and can therefore be seen free and legally right here. The film was remade with the same title by William Malone in 1999. Castle returned with The Tingler (1959). Price returned in The Big Circus (1959). House on Haunted Hill is fresh at 88 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of House on Haunted Hill?

The Grudge (2004) - Some scares lurk in Shimizu's flawed J-horror remake

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A terrified eye stares out from a deathly pale face behind pitch black hair on the simple poster for Takashi Shimizu's The Grudge

A man jumps to his death. An old tragedy concerning a boy, who killed his mother, seems to be the underlying cause. Now they haunt a home with a passion.

The Grudge is written by Stephen Susco (Red (2008)) and directed by Takashi Shimizu (Ten Nights of Dreams/Yume jû-ya (2006, segment)) who remakes his own Ju-on: The Curse/Ju-on (2000, video), which he had already remade once in Japan as Ju-on: The Grudge/Ju-on (2002)
The film is entertaining, and it has its scary moments and effects, such as the staircase and bathroom scenes. 
But Sarah Michelle Gellar's (All My Children (1993-11)) character is regrettably blank throughout the film, making the blond actress herself look inauspiciously ignorant in The Grudge. And the many Americans who flock Tokyo in the film seem strange. Overall The Grudge is a mediocre horror.

Watch a 2-minute scene from the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 187.2 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 18.72 times its cost)
[The Grudge premiered 12 October (Los Angeles) and runs 91 minutes. The enormous success of J-horror remake The Ring (2002) led to the greenlighting of The Grudge. Shooting took place from January - July 2004 in Tokyo, Japan. The film opened #1 to a 39.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week at #1 and one more week in the top 5 (#3), grossing 110.7 mil. $ (59.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 14.4 mil. $ (7.7 %) and Italy with 6.2 mil. $ (3.3 %). It was the first horror film to top the Halloween box office since House on Haunted Hill (1999). It made 9.24 mil. $ on the North-American home video market in its first week of release alone. Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 3 notches lower than this one. Shimizu directed the first, much less successful sequel The Grudge 2 (2006), but not the next, The Grudge 3 (2009, video) or the moderately successful reboot The Grudge (2020). Shimizu returned with The Great Horror Family/Kaiki daikazoku (2004, TV-series) and theatrically with Reincarnation/Rinne (2005). Gellar returned in Southland Tales (2006). The Grudge is rotten at 39 % with a 5.11/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Grudge?

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) - Øvredal's ascent to big budget moviemaking gets by on weird horror sequences

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Harold the scarecrow looms ominously in the corn patch on this poster for André Øvredal's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

At Halloween in small town Mill Valley, Pennsylvania in 1968, a group of youths break into a supposedly haunted house, where a book belonging to its sinister past resident Sarah is stolen, - and all hell breaks loose!

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is written by Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman 
(The Lego Movie (2014, story), both) and Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak (2015)), with Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton (Feast (2005), both) contributing story elements, based on the 3-title 1981-91 Scary Stories novel series by Alvin Schwartz (Stories to Tell a Cat), and directed by great Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal (Trollhunter (2010)).
It is a 'fun' horror movie made especially for the younger crowd, which lives on its horror sequences, which are carried out with energy and a deft grip on suspense and special effects. SPOILER My favorite sequence is the early one involving a character turning into the scarecrow seen on the poster above, which culminates in some disturbing, powerful imagery. A later sequence that is memorable is weird in a similar, nightmarish way, as another character gets absorbed by a hugging, doughy creature with an unsettlingly broad smile in a hospital. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark gets its points for these weird, horrific scenes, which also include a limb-twisting and tearing 'Jangly Man' towards the end that recalls The Thing (1982).
The story otherwise is a Goosebumps and It-reminiscent meeting of teen characters that look and feel much like present day youngsters dropped in a 1968 environment. The actors are adequate at best, and none of them are likely to make break-outs out of their turns here. This inhibits the film, and especially protagonist Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti (Wildlife (2018))) seems like just a staple character with boring guilt issues and an individual drive, which seems a bit forced onto her or perhaps more motivated by the filmmakers hope that she will lead a sequel. Her budding romance with fresh-faced Michael Garza (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)) never takes flight. Austin Zajur (Fist Fight (2017)) can make some very large intense eyes, and that technique is about it as far as his acting goes as the idiotic Chuck-character here.
The film is handsomely produced, and the plot has similarities with Øvredal's much better, far scarier preceding film, The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), in which an innocent woman was also wrongly accused of horrific things in the past, sparking grave consequences for people in the present. Here the creepy creature designs and horror sequences are what keep Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark afloat.

Related posts:

André Øvredal: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - Unusual, surprising, gory, horrifying indie horror  
Trollhunter/Trolljegeren/Troll Hunter/The Troll Hunter (2010) - Øvredal's hilarious found footage kaiju horror comedy

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 28 mil. $
Box office: Unknown - releasing now
[Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was released 7 August (Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan) and runs 108 minutes. CBS Films acquired the rights to the books in 2013. Shooting took place in Ontario, including Toronto, from August - November 2018. The film is predicted to lead a packed group of new releases this weekend to come in #3 with a 15-19 mil. $ opening weekend. It will need to gross more than 70 mil. $ to become successful, and likely more than 100 mil. $ before sequel plans may begin to come together. Øvredal is in post production on his next effort, adventure action fantasy movie Mortal (2020) starring Nat Wolff. Colletti returned in City on a Hill (2019, TV-series) and theatrically in A Boy Called Christmas (2020); Garza does not have an announced next gig yet. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is fresh at 80 % with a 6.21/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?