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Reviews
Prey (2022)
If you liked Predator, you'll love Prey
When our modern-day Hollywood predator first burst into existence it was 1987 and Arnold Schwarzenegger secured his status as the current box office champ of the action genre with "Predator". I sat and watched it in a theater and I was thrilled to view it on a big screen with a blaring sound system accompanied with a shared sense of communal audience enjoyment. After that of course came the sequels.
I never saw any of the sequels, however, in a theater. By 1990 home video and the popularity of the VCR meant some new movies no longer required a big screen treatment. As I watched Danny Glover perform urban combat with our foes in "Predator 2" I was viewing it in a full-frame (Fullscreen) format with stereo speakers from a tube TV. At least in time, as the other films unfolded, home video equipment has vastly improved. Unfortunately the sequels did not. Then, 45 years later, I saw "Prey" (2022).
From the very start I could tell "Prey" was not going to be your typical Predator storyline including it's setting which predates the United States as native and foreign explorers alike traverse the North American continent. A check into the cast list confirms real indigenous casting for its various roles and the scenery could not be more authentic, while the creature never looked more detailed, svelte, tall or deadly. The premise of survival-by-fear is swapped out with a strong determination to see that vengeance is properly served. I'm not much for revealing details that could detract from your viewing pleasure, but I will mention this: keep your eyes sharp and look for a direct link during the film to the only sequel I mentioned earlier.
Overall, I found this film to be thoroughly engrossing as the tension ratcheted up progressively, and the lead character, played by Amber Midthunder, to be scared, brave, determined, and bloodthirstily but coolly vicious all at the same time.
Lastly, I was not able to view "Prey" in a cinema along with fellow patrons who wanted also to be frightened and thrilled like me. Instead, my wife and I sat in our comfy chairs, cranked up HBO Max, adjusted the ATMOS sound system, and watched it on our 4K screen. It looked and sounded great, but I'll tell you, I really kind of wished I had seen it in a theater.
A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)
"I Triple-Dog Dare you"
Peter Billingsley reprises his role as Ralph "Ralphie" Parker, the blue-eyed daydreamer who, as a young boy in the Midwest during the 1940s, longed to possess a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Using Bob Clark's original 1983 holiday classic, "A Christmas Story", this film's producers have crafted a wonderfully updated and almost carbon-copied tale that at first glance felt a little light in creative writing until I realized just how important it was to structure the narrative so similarly to its original. It's a touching homage to what is now a yearly viewed ritual for millions of Christmas movie fanatics and a tribute to the original film's famed father figure, the Old Man, portrayed by the late Darrin McGavin.
It is now 33 years later and Ralph now has a family of his own consisting of his wife Sandy (Erinn Hayes), his son Mark (River Drosche), and daughter Julie (Julianna Layne), and Christmas is just around the corner when he receives notice of a family emergency from his mother (Julie Hagerty). A car ride later has the Parkers back in Ralphie's old haunts including his original childhood household. Yes, the neighborhood looks very much like it did so many years ago which adds to the warmth you get from your memories of the first movie. It also helps greatly when you get to also see quite a few of Ralph's neighborhood acquaintances that we've met and seen so many times before including Flick (Scott Schwartz), Schwartz (R. D. Robb) and even the green-eyed Scut Farkus (Zack Ward), all portrayed by their original actors. There are also enough flashbacks, soundbites, a few daydreams, and even a triple-dog-dare moment that add to the movie's charm with enough seventies updating to give you another chance to laugh once again at some scenes that closely mimic its predecessor.
Ralphie's snow-covered backyard makes an appearance as well as Higbee's Department Store fully decked out for the holidays along with a faithful recreation of Santa's meet-&-greet cotton-covered mountain. Yes, the slide is included. As the film went on it grew more sentimental by the minute and its conclusion I felt was just as delightful and emotional as the first movie. There have been other sequels produced in the past but this storyline ignores them all.
Will it become a yearly must-watch companion piece to compliment its popular original yuletide favorite? I don't see why it wouldn't but then again, only time will tell. Merry Christmas, everyone.
Sinphony: A Clubhouse Horror Anthology (2022)
Sinphony needs a slightly better conductor
Sinphony is a simplistically constructed collection of horror vignettes which generally deal with complex human weaknesses and fears. Of course the supernatural weaves its way into each tale as well which can lead to violent encounters and surprise endings. A lot of the storytelling felt a bit experimental and led to hit-or-miss conclusions but they were trying to produce something a little different then most while only slightly succeeding.
I am reminded of college and film school projects culminating in a huge anthology reel for all to admire, and, to be fair, a lot of the talent used in these shorts did a fine job in their roles. The gory special effects were low-budget but passable without being too excessive even though some of it looked a bit, I don't know, underbudgeted(?).
Being a horror buff for several decades now I guess the one glaring omission I experienced with this film was in hiring a narrator. A collection of horror and gore should have a fitting emcee to help guide its audience from one blood-fest to another, Creepshow and The Twilight Zone being prime examples. I get that money was tight but even a simple ghoulish voiceover could've helped to add to a tighter sense of tension and despair.
If you have an hour and a half to kill and you've seen pretty much everything else then go ahead and enjoy this brooding bit of low-key psychodrama and unnatural evil.