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V/H/S/94 Capsule Review — What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

I jinxed it. Or I went in with sky high expectations.

Or, it just wasn’t very good.

V/H/S/94 just came out on Shudder and it’s the fourth entry in the series. My reviews of the first two are on the site, and I won’t be reviewing V/H/S Viral.

Hell, I won’t even be reviewing this movie too much due to the mediocre final product of it all. And that’s really disappointing. From the wrap around story to each individual short, the whole production seems either rushed or severely hindered by COVID-19 restrictions or budget. I’m leaning on the former, as the prior films weren’t exactly big budget spectacles.

The first and second stories in the anthology, “Storm Drain” and “The Empty Wake” respectively, are the two that seemed to keep me energized and enthusiastic.

“Storm Drain” shows uncut footage from a broadcast journalist and her cameraman attempting to create a package for air. The journalist wants the piece to be about the disenfranchised living within the storm drain, rather than the proposed story of the notorious “Rat Man.” The journalist character was well intentioned but headache inducingly stupid. The short is filled with choking atmosphere and ends in an extremely entertaining way.

“The Empty Wake” sees Simon Barrett returning to the franchise. It had a questionable introduction, showing a new employee at a funeral home tasked with being the sole employee in charge of a night wake (at least it seemed like it was at night? Which doesn’t really happen, at least not one that runs all night…). The atmosphere really shines in this one, as the scares are from the things that go bump in the night, or should I say the casket.

It’s decently well paced but some of the motivations for staying in the funeral home are hackneyed and forced. The end makes up for any of the qualms, and the effects actually looked quite good.

Otherwise, Timo Tjahjanto’s short was overly reliant on CG effects (and a point) and the final short just seemed to meander in no real direction.

The V/H/S series is still fun, and it’s absolutely nothing to be taken seriously. Whether due to the obvious problems with putting together consistent quality short films into a greater whole during a pandemic, or budgetary constraints, V/H/S/94 never seems to land every attempt they make.

Shudder, Jakob’s Wife, and Anything for Jackson—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

It’s October, meaning I really need to utilize my Shudder account for more than just Joe Bob’s Last Drive In, and the Creepshow series. However, like with most of the fledgling streaming services formed in the past several years, original (or exclusive) content can be extremely hit or miss. Remember, Shudder released Glenn Danzig’s Verotika. That should be very telling.

But I can’t claim that all of Shudder’s original productions are crap, just a decent amount that I’ve personally seen. Take, for instance, the bland and uninspired The Shed about an amoral kid that utilizes a vampire in a shed to kill people he doesn’t like; or The Furies, which was alright if you’re new to the genre and enjoy blunt social commentary; or The Dark and the Wicked, which follows the recent trend of depression horror that’s so dead on arrival it begins to fester by the second act.

A through line can be found between these films. They’re all low budget (not inherently a bad thing), and they rarely introduce original ideas. My issue is in the way these films manage to look pretty good yet retain the depth of a blow up pool. Sometimes a shallow experience can be entertaining, but I feel like I’d accept anything more from these particular movies.

Now, before I get too far off track, I’d like to make a case for Shudder as a service. Despite the sometimes limp productions that inundate the home page, Shudder at least tries to create content for their niche audience. Horror is my favorite genre so it would be stupid of me to complain about a service that dotes to my interests. Their “live” function is a fun way to just toss something on, and the way shows like Joe Bob’s Last Drive In or even the recent Elvira marathon utilized the live function makes it feel like it’s a communal event with other horror fans. Shudder also boasts an impressive back catalogue of older international horror and more well known fare from America.

For every fault I have with some of their newer releases, Shudder still manages to provide a service that fills a need. And every so often, I find myself stumbling upon some diamonds in the rough.

Jakob’s Wife is a film I had intended to watch back when it premiered on Shudder. It seemed a perfect fit, in terms of tone, actors, and content. Vampire stuff can be a blast when not taken too seriously, and Barbara Crampton is one of my favorite horror actresses (her minor part in Puppet Master is the one reason I don’t feel like I wasted my time). It’s an entertaining and surprisingly fleshed out story about a relationship and how to attain autonomy.

Crampton plays Anne Fedder, an underappreciated and doting wife to a minister played by the always entertaining Larry Fessenden. If you can’t tell from the title alone, Jakob’s Wife is about being talked over, made unimportant, and simply just being “the wife” in a relationship.

While the film plays with humor and horror in equal measure, it’s important to note the peripheral themes of self respect and autonomy in a relationship. It’s made engaging via the central performances, both making great use of the horror, comedy, and drama that pervades the script. It’s a fun blend of coming-of-age and fish-out-of-water scenarios. It also showers the audience with gore at barely a moment’s notice. When it gets bloody, you’ll need an umbrella.

The end becomes a bit too reliant on meta vampire lore, but the vampires weren’t really the most important element of the movie. It’s how and why the main characters evolve throughout the story that takes precedent. And then there’s that final shot, which has a high probability of polarizing the audience; I personally dug it.

Jakob’s Wife wears the best elements of Shudder programming, with it’s attractive photography and familiar genre material. It’s the extra effort put towards the characters and story that catapult it from mediocre to good and ultimately entertaining.

Another wild film, utterly original in concept and fiendishly tempered in tone, Anything for Jackson, finds Shudder going dark. The plot is enough to scoff and grimace at in humored fear.

After losing their only grandson Jackson in an accident, Satan-worshiping grandparents abduct a pregnant woman with the intention to perform a “reverse-exorcism” and ultimately get their grandson back. With a plot that grim, how is it that it’s tonally pitch perfect and never unwieldy?

It was actually due to the bare plot synopsis that I avoided this one. Sure, it’s a bizarro idea, but it was an actual idea and it would certainly make me feel some type of way. Thankfully, it’s as nuts as I expected yet manages to find a semblance of class within its presentation. It’s a damn fine acted, shot, and scripted movie.

From the very first scene, you’re thrown in the deep end and need to decide if you’re staying on the journey. From there, the morals and motivations are expanded on and the real fun begins. Thankfully it isn’t remotely as straight forward as the basic premise may seem. The tension comes from somewhere other than the fear you have for the pregnant woman and her unborn child.

Whether due to my own preconceptions of the story or how I figured it would unravel, I was pleasantly surprised by a few ghoulish entities and their appearance. I was definitely not ready for ghosts, or whatever the hell those things were.

This movie’s a little more lax with the big ethical questions. Everything is fairly cut and dry, from the whole morality stand-point, and the real enjoyment comes from watching the characters deal with errant problems with their purportedly well laid plans. It also carries an undeniably eerie atmosphere.

These kinds of movies, much like Mandy or Revenge which also premiered for home streaming on Shudder, give me a lot of hope for the future of the service. They also help to eliminate the dreaded hyperbolic response to an entity like Shudder, when it should be viewed as a service of many parts as opposed to an all encompassing single thing.

But I digress.

Check out these movies if you’re looking for a fun and engaging double feature on Shudder.

In The Heights Capsule Review—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

I’ll preface this by admitting I’m not a huge fan of musicals, for no reason other than I haven’t seen too many and don’t have much of an inclination to watch many more. Why watch In The Heights then? Well, it was on HBO Max for “free” and being able to shut something off that you’re not into is always an option. But I didn’t need to shut it off. In The Heights is worth a watch if you’re in the mood for a movie with a heart beat and fun music.

I haven’t been following much movie news recently, and thus didn’t see any marketing for this movie at all. I went in entirely blind, not even knowing that Lin-Manuel Miranda was behind the music (I really enjoyed Hamilton when it came out on Disney+), or what the story was about. It follows the inhabitants of the incredibly vibrant New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights as they parse their individual meanings in the world. The songs feel reminiscent in style and rhythm to the aforementioned Hamilton, and the choreography is paired well with a sweeping photographic lens of vibrant colors and fantastical deviations from reality. But again, I’m not huge on musicals so my take is lacking context in the grander scheme of cinematic musicals.

One thing that’s been sticking out in certain musicals that I have seen is the conflict between tone and style. Musicals inherently carry a fantastical element, as real world people rarely break out into extremely choreographed dance numbers amongst flash mobs in the streets, and that’s a great thing. Musicals are capable of transporting audiences into a world of music and dance while also telling real stories that can touch upon conflict and pain. I believe it’s in this deft marriage of two extremes that make musicals difficult to digest for me. But it’s also something that I can still appreciate in it’s own right, no matter how I subjectively view them. Sometimes it’s jarring to see a wonderful dance number juxtaposed with a harrowing emotional sequence. It’s not exactly tonally inconsistent, but it’s something that I’m not a personal fan of.

That being said, In The Heights is a crowd pleaser, despite the extended run time. It’s a story for everyone from the perspective of the Latin-x community — something rarely seen in Hollywood’s extremely white stories. Here’s to more diversity in storytelling.

My Bloody Valentine (1981)—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Over the past year I’ve become infatuated with 80’s slashers. The good, the bad, and everything bizarre in between. Something that I’ve always wanted to watch, and only recently got the chance, is the original My Bloody Valentine. I intentionally kept the films details in the dark, bar the gas masked killer wielding a pickaxe. Everything else, though, was fresh.

My Bloody Valentine is certainly an 80’s slasher, and has some weird delightful moments throughout, but it’s definitely still an early slasher, if that’s fair to say. Nothing is nearly as campy as some of the films in the years following Valentine, and the kills are mostly offscreen. Does that mean it’s not good? Hell no. It’s still a bloody good time with many instances of earned horror throughout. And, it’s available on Hulu (and Amazon Prime).

Apparently there are two cuts of the film. Given the near lack of blood, I’m led to believe I saw the theatrical release, but it was still a good time. I think that can be ascribed to the fact that there is an interesting town as a backdrop, a pseudo-mystery regarding the killer, and a fairly unique central conflict for the protagonist.

Valentine’s Day is on the way in small mining town Valentine’s Bluffs, and the townsfolk are going all out on festivities. Only they shouldn’t be having any dances or parties, as twenty years earlier a devastating mining accident trapped and killed a slew of miners while the rest of the town went on and partied. Sole survivor Harry Warden made it out of the mine by eating his fellow workers. He would then go on a murder spree during the next years Valentine’s Party, leading the police to send him away to a mental hospital, and the rest of the town to stay away from any festivities on February 14th lest he return for further revenge.

It’s a super straightforward background for the film and town, and it works in setting up a budding anxiety as to whether or not the killer is actually back or if it’s a copycat. The drama is furthered when the mayor’s son T.J. returns home after an unsuccessful forray out west, and he has to deal with his ex-girlfriend dating his old friend. As you can imagine, this was mined for motivation later in the third act.

I think my favorite parts of the movie were when the town was the focal point. It lent to some fun character interactions, and a decent establishment of history that we don’t really get to see, but certainly feel. The final act takes place in the mine, and while I loved the initial dive into the dark, it floundered a bit in it’s finale. Some of the kills were kind of tragic, with loved ones looking on and acting utterly gutted and disturbed. I personally don’t watch slashers to feel bad about the victims, and I’m sure that sounds psychotic, but the slashers I’ve been fond of haven’t taken the deaths very seriously and they were delivered with a bit of levity. That’s not a detriment to the film itself, but more of a personal thing for myself.

My Bloody Valentine is a good holiday themed slasher with an interesting climax that I’m sure many people loved more than me. Overall though, it’s worth a watch for horror fans. But if you’re a horror fan, you’ve probably already checked it out. If not, it’s on Hulu and Amazon.

Rocketman—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Rocketman is a good movie. It operates as a fairly by-the-numbers biopic about a larger-than-life person, while also successfully employing the music of Elton John to inform the drama and sensationalize the fantastical elements. It’s an enjoyable movie with a defining lead performance from Taron Egerton, and some delightfully exciting musical numbers.

I wanted to offer my basic feelings on the movie, on its own, before explaining some context as to why Rocketman is a success, especially in the shadow of other recent music biopics. Rocketman is available on Amazon Prime and Hulu, so go check it out. Now, let me bring up a bad movie.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a bad movie. It’s a tired and insulting attempt to shoehorn a fascinating and, even more importantly for the medium, entertaining man’s life into a few hours. Not only that, but it’s done with some egregiously poor editing (like, embarrassing levels of shit editing) and a visual style that— no, sorry, there is no real style. It’s flat and bland, and yet still looks fake. It’s one of my more detested films. Here, watch a scene! It’s only a minute or so long but it’s tough to get through considering the whiplash you receive from the miasma of edits.

And if you want to cringe some more, watch the Academy Award winning editor of Bohemian Rhapsody make excuses and tout his award as if the Oscars aren’t a joke in the first place.

Why am I bringing up a shitty movie during the review of a good movie? Because it’s fun. But also because there’s a lot of things to point out regarding the differences of each film.

Biopics are always difficult to breathe fresh life into. That’s not really a criticism of the genre, as you wouldn’t complain about an excess of blood in a slasher, or funny jokes in a comedy. Two hours just isn’t enough time to tell an entire (“true”) story, without falling into the same old structure that has beleaguered biopics of the past. For that reason, I try to see past the inevitabilities. So long as the performances are honest and the story can offer what feels like a realistic human story, I’m interested. But if it has elements that prop it up even higher, in terms of creative filmmaking, then I’m on board.

Rocketman does so well what I wish Bohemian Rhapsody could have even attempted. And hell, if they did attempt to create an entertaining movie, it definitely fooled me. First of all, Rocketman doesn’t use Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s music to remind people of something they’re familiar with. And now, that sentence may wrinkle your brow. Why wouldn’t a movie about a famous band use the music that said band created? That’s not the issue. It’s how the music is implemented. Rhapsody goes for the easy and boring road: the songs are there because Queen wrote them. Rocketman takes the songs and uses them to stand in for important life events. He didn’t really perform “The Bitch is Back” when he was five years old. But the song itself contains some clear character and informs the story. God, it’s so simple, and it’s not even done amazingly well (from a story perspective, the choreography and photography is all great), but it’s enjoyable and fun and they actually tried.

Further, I’ll point out the sequence from Rocketman with “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting),” if only to point out that this four minute scene has more energy and life than the entirety of Bohemian Rhapsody. Okay, now I’m getting petty. But at the same time, and I used this word earlier, it’s insulting to the memory of Freddie Mercury that his movie (award winning, though not exactly acclaimed) is so lame and squeaky clean. It tries to prop him up as something other than what he was: a human.

Elton John is portrayed as a human in Rocketman, and it’s still able to be fantastical and have fun with itself. And while I’m sure a bunch of stuff in Rocketman is equally as fictional as the stuff in Bohemian Rhapsody (bar several major fuck ups, including changing when Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS? What the hell is that about?) it at least goes the extra mile to tell a story, rather than vomit a bunch of biographical stuff at you. Rocketman is about a musician who has to find himself, no matter how difficult that may be. And at the end, you’re genuinely happy for him. Because he did it. He accomplished his goal. You watched him come up from a young man to a wildly successful musician (and I feel like I can say that as a non-spoiler if you remember that Elton John is still thriving as much as ever) and it’s all in purpose of examining the themes. You don’t see a random rehash of a dude’s life in a fairly straightforward manner, where everything is expected and nothing is exciting and the whole experience makes you annoyed by how great it could have been. Sorry, I think I was just describing the entirety of Bohemian Rhapsody there, only if you invert it. Freudian slip.

I can’t tell if my approval of Rocketman is heightened by my hatred of Bohemian Rhapsody, or if it’s just a super fun time that explores it’s full potential in the shadow of other worse films. No wait, it doesn’t matter. Bohemian Rhapsody sucks and Rocketman is sweet. The good one is available on Amazon Prime and Hulu.

The Witcher (Eps. 1-4)—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

I forgot how exciting TV shows can be. I’ve been watching either movies, or shows with no through-line or serialization. I forgot how refreshing it can be to watch something without the standard film structure. While The Witcher may not be perfectly paced, the episodes all manage to blend storytelling in really interesting and surprisingly complex ways. One of the episodes I watched even managed to have me openly questioning what I was watching and where it all fell into place in the series, until an out-of-sync timeline revealed itself. The pacing falters where certain scenes overstay their welcome, or seem to have little to do with the plot at large. Overall, though, the series manages to be a fun, exciting action fantasy series with a high budget and clear care for the material in front of and behind the camera. It’s a Netflix original series.

The Witcher is a fantastical monster hunting and magic wielding warrior out for coin and blood. He’s good at one thing, and he regularly employs his skills. The world of The Witcher is one of harsh high fantasy. Heads roll and blood spills in this gritty medieval world of magic and war. It’s one of those shows that point a finger at humanity for being the real monsters, only this one is well made and a fun watch.

Background: I haven’t really played the games, which is fine for this series as it has nothing to do with the games; I also haven’t read the books, which the series is directly based on. So, I was mostly in the dark to who Geralt of Rivia was, or why he would go on to grunt so often. But now I really really enjoy his character. I can chalk that up to a few things, I think. Henry Cavill’s performance as the lead is so contagiously fun. He’s clearly having the time of his life, and he has the utmost respect for the role. Also, Geralt seems to be the perfect cipher through which a story set in this world can be told. Geralt is a grey middle of morality. He understands that the monsters he kills are sometimes simply violent thanks to hunger or territoriality, or whatever, yet if a sentient creature is deemed a threat he seems to ask questions first, and strike only if needed. It’s because he’s as much an outsider as the “monsters” he gets paid to fight. He’s still a pariah, except with the added brusqueness of a fantasy mercenary with powers and sweet sword skills. Geralt is just a really cool, refreshingly simple character.

For a fantasy series, The Witcher looks absolutely top notch. Normally, when green screen is prioritized for backgrounds, and the central creatures of your story are computer generated, the movie or show can look a bit antiquated—or God forbid for a fantasy series, cheap. But here, the effects are seamless, and the often-used practical effects are both appreciated and amazingly well rendered and tactile. Fantasy needs to have a great sense of worldbuilding so you can just fall into the story and enjoy all of the crazy things that take you further away from Earth. The Witcher succeeds at delivering a unique fantasy world with great creature effects and thankfully not spoon-fed lore regarding the magic and people of the world. For the most part, it seemed like the exposition was earned and integrated into the plot as well as it could be. There was one eye-roll inducing bit of dialogue that openly mocked a character delivering exposition, but that was once thankfully. And not cute, regrettably.

Imperative to mention are the ample and incredibly skillful action sequences seen throughout the show. A complaint of mine, as an action-junky, is that more of the show isn’t as well paced and exciting as the fights. The dialogue heavy scenes are far from bad, but when held next to the brilliant and awe-inspiring climactic sword-fight seen in the first episode, the slower scenes leave a lot to desire. I was seriously left with my mouth agape during that shit. It was amazing.

Some of the pacing is iffy, but the action and characters are engaging enough to warrant a watch of this action series. It’s nice to get lost in a fantasy world, even if it’s a bit bleak at times. And it’s also nice to see Henry Cavill giving a shit about the character he’s playing, because the dude is a good actor when given the right roles.

You can check it out on Netflix.

Dolls—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

To be honest, Dolls is not the movie I intended to review today. It’s something I recently found out about, thanks in part to its director Stuart Gordon. Basically, I was planning on checking out Annihilation, the Natalie Portman starring/Alex Garland directed sci-fi movie from a couple years ago, but my scheduling leaves a lot to be desired and it expired from Amazon Prime. It’s on Hulu still so I may review it at a later date. Anywho! Dolls!

Dolls was silly. It was silly, blunt, and short, and didn’t have much to say other than maybe “have an imagination” and “don’t be a shitty person.” A douche father and his obnoxious rich girlfriend take young Judy out for a trip, but get sidetracked by a freak storm. Their car gets stuck in the mud, because of course it did, and they have to find shelter before something happens… I don’t know whether they think the car will flood or whatever, but going to a random house out in the middle of nowhere is their final decision.

The large estate, drenched in rain and lit by lightning, is owned by an elderly couple with a love of toys. The toys are everywhere. Or, maybe dolls is the apt term for the creepy little things littering the house, hence the title. Either way, little Judy takes a liking to them, while the adults are obviously happy to ignore them all. Before long, two hitchhikers with bizarre cockney accents and a hapless schlub that decided to pick them up arrive equally disheveled by the rain. His car also got stuck in the mud. So, eventually, we meet all of our small yet fleeting group of characters. And then they get to meet the eponymous dolls.

Stuart Gordon is a name horror fans will know. He did Re-Animator and From Beyond, dammit. He kicked ass so hard, and his recent death is a genuine loss to the horror community. His work with equally great Brian Yuzna deserves respect. But Dolls? Eh.

See, Dolls is disposable fun. Everything that happens, minus a single line delivered by the matriarch of the house in which she directly infers shes a witch, is seen coming from a distance. You know the shitty dad and the terrible girlfriend will get what’s coming to them, that the two hitchhikers that plan on ransacking the place will get killed, and that the child-at-heart driver and child herself will get out of the ordeal safely. It’s a movie of few surprises, but it still maintains a heart, which is nice to see. I really liked the outsider guy who picked up the hitchhikers. He has a sweet and simple backstory where his nurturing father unfortunately passed away when he was young, and he has since had very nice memories of his toys. It’s nothing substantial, but hey, it’s something to latch onto. And the girl, well, she just has an imagination.

Dolls is a movie that runs just barely feature length, and contains some decent stop-motion animation to bring the dolls to life, but otherwise it’s nothing amazing. It’s on Amazon Prime, and doesn’t take too long to watch. Hopefully it’s still on there during October, because this could be a fun Halloween watch.

High Flying Bird—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

I’m going to open this up with the fact that I hated director Steven Soderbergh’s previous film Unsane. It was famously shot on iPhone, which I viewed as a gimmick rather than a storytelling component, and it looked like shit. Mind you, they released it theatrically and I saw it on a large screen and the picture was grainy and ugly. Whether or not that informed my initial viewing of his most recent film High Flying Bird is unclear. I really hated Unsane. But I’ve liked his other works (even Kafka, which I’ve never heard a single soul talk about) so I gave it a shot. It’s a Netflix original.

Like Unsane, it’s shot on iPhone, as opposed to some big expensive professional movie camera. Unlike Unsane, it actually looks good (and has an engaging script).

High Flying Bird is about an ambitious talent agent in the midst of an NBA lockout looking for a new star. Even though Soderbergh didn’t write it, it must be said that it is very much a Soderbergh movie, so the short summary doesn’t explain everything that goes on. In fact, it was written by Moonlight story writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, which explains why all of the dialogue is so punchy and interesting. I have no interest in sports really. Yet, this movie about the nitty gritty of contracts and legality that underlies the sport itself is a compelling human story about ambition. It also seems like the kind of script that offers extra care to it’s central sport in many subtle (or possibly unsubtle, again I know little) quips.

The quips include a offhand joke about Wilt Chamberlain’s famously high body count—when it comes to casual sex—that even I was able to get. I can’t imagine how many casual things an actual fan would be able to chew on. At the same time, the witty dialogue is perfectly tailored to the delightfully scene stealing André Holland. The dude is amazing in every single project he’s a part of. He was a standout in the Soderbergh directed Cinemax series The Knick, and delivered a perfectly melancholy conclusion to the previously mentioned Moonlight. If Soderbergh and McCraney are important pieces to the puzzle, Holland stands out as the glue putting the whole thing together.

Another rather important element of the film that shouldn’t be avoided is the racial background to the story. There is a lot of discussion on personhood, blackness, and the way the NBA has seemingly cashed in on and exploited the players in their organization. I know little about the NBA, as I stated, but this extra level of the story added a nice layer of conflict and personal intrigue to an already personal story.

This and Soderbergh’s previous movie shot on iPhone have an interesting relationship with the technology that creates the images. There are certain plot beats that rely on interpersonal technology, specifically through the use of phones and social media, that speak volumes. In Unsane, a possible stalking via technology angle could’ve brought forth a compelling and underlying fear to the story that shows it’s cards way too soon. But here, there’s a bit more extrapolation. Twitter is used to stoke a fire under someone’s ass and stir attention. Netflix itself is mentioned as a way of earning someone a pedestal for public consumption. It’s clear to me that there’s a connection with the way fame is earned now and the way the film was shot, even if it may not seem as blunt as that. In fact that entire angle isn’t necessary to make this film work, though it really does. It looks great, with some nice classic Peter Andrews shot composition (Peter Andrews is Soderbergh’s alias when shooting his own films and I’m not sure why). The only times the shooting falters is when there isn’t enough lighting in barely three or four indoor shots and the dark colors get muddled in the background. Otherwise, even with the camera used at the top of my mind, I barely noticed.

High Flying Bird is a movie that won me over through sheer ambition and clear storytelling. I couldn’t tell you a single thing about the players in the NBA, or how their organization is run, but this movie made all of that decidedly interesting. I may not watch basketball, but the way the business behind the sport is portrayed was unlike traditional sports stories. I cared about the characters and couldn’t wait to see what was next. It’s a Netflix original, meaning it’s streaming there now.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Do all lovers feel they’re inventing something?

Cinematic romance and intimacy is something that requires precision. Done well, it can invoke experiences and emotions for a place you’ve never been with people you’ve never met. Done poorly, it’s either laughable or cringe-worthy. Portrait of a Lady on Fire from French film maker Céline Sciamma is a passionate look at same-sex love built beautifully and fully through meaningful dialogue, subtle performances, and lush photography. It’s streaming on Hulu.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire manages to say a lot with few words. It’s also primarily focused on the characters, as opposed to being plot heavy. The movie is about a painter, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), commissioned to paint a portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). The catch though, which incites the intimacy between the leads, is that Héloïse can’t know that Marianne is there to paint a portrait. So, Marianne must get to know her subject by taking walks with her and talking. The set up is perfectly simple and the way the characters grow into each other is felt through the nuanced performances. A glance here, eye-contact there, and suddenly it’s love. It’s obviously not as easy as that sounds, but the movie portrays it in a human way that’s universal.

I love that there’s no score, and any music heard is played or sung in scene by characters. It lets the performances truly speak for themselves, without any sappy music informing your emotions. The same can be said of the photography, which is clean and rarely moving or shifting from the women. The sequences of portrait painting are mesmerizing and informative of the characters emotional journey.

Basically, this movie is really really really great, and simple writing about it doesn’t do it justice. It’s delicate and provocative and a video essay would really suit this film better than a slew of adjectives listed in no particular order. In no way is this review’s brevity a knock on the film, rather it shows that I’m not really able to correctly articulate how good it is. It’s the kind of thing you need to just see to believe the chemistry and raw emotion. It’s amazing, and it’s on Hulu.

The Farewell—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

My favorite thing to do is go into a movie blind. With The Farewell, I was blind to the plot, but not blind to the near universal acclaim. I had no clue it was a true story, nor that it would be as ultimately intimate as it turned out to be. So, before starting the movie, I had high expectations, and when the credits started to roll, I was both smiling and crying. Man, The Farewell is an amazingly well made movie with some amazingly subtle and moving performances, and a really complex human center. It’s on Amazon Prime right now. It’s a good one.

The Farewell follows a Chinese family living in America, led by a truly amazing Awkwafina as daughter Billi, who have to return to China after Billi’s grandmother develops a terminal illness. The catch, though, is that they don’t tell her grandmother about her diagnosis. It’s a complex and entirely human dilemma, brought to vibrant life by Awkwafina (like seriously, her performance is so real and personal), and it’s made even more real by the cultural differences at hand. In China, the characters say it’s a point of emotional and personal pride to allow the ill family member to live out their days in the best way possible while their family members hold the burden of death. It’s strange to me as an American, but they go so far as to explain that via the Chinese-American immigrated family.

With such a defined and realized set of characters, it’s surprising that the movie also finds time to be as entirely entertaining and interesting as it is. We spend three days in China leading up to the wedding and each step is as fun and character informing as the last. In the end the complex moral center of the movie blends evenly between cultures and everything turns out okay. For such a seemingly sad story, The Farewell blends tragicomedy in the nicest way possible. You put together different elements of cultural differences until you fall into Billi’s shoes. This is basically a coming of age story for a family.

Coming of age stories are cool for showing a really intimate view of a passing of time and a transformation at the same time. The Farewell nails this in both a limited and wider sense. Billi comes to terms with living life as much as she can, and the family tries to push aside their cultural differences to stay close. It’s impressive how much writer/director Lulu Wang is able to pack into this story. Each character is so fully formed, with extra thanks to the performances of course, and without much dialogue you can get a fairly fleshed out profile of each of these people.

The Farewell is a movie that makes you feel all kinds of emotions, but never in a manipulative way. It’s earnest and sweet and sad and exceptionally well done. It’s available on Amazon Prime, so you should check it out.

Sólo con Tu Pareja—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Sólo con Tu Pareja operates as a sex comedy, finding humor in the many escapades of protagonist Tomás, but rounds itself out with a nice message. Surprisingly this is also a movie about sexual degeneracy, a false AIDS diagnosis, and suicide, so go figure.

Alfonso Cuarón’s feature debut is definitely something to see, and thanks to Netflix it’s now easier than when it was released in 1991. The movie was basically banned in it’s native Mexico, with the government refusing to distribute it to theaters and audiences. It earned awards and international recognition after being shown at festivals before Mexico finally decided to distribute the movie in 1993. From there, it was a success at the box-office.

Now, this is a movie that’s a successful comedy while dealing with some severely unfunny issues, and yet it works and audiences liked it. I can’t imagine any American studio producing something like this, though. And if something similar to that had happened, this movie would’ve fallen flat on its face. It may be cultural differences or something but these generally taboo topics make for some great cringe-worthy moments of self-reflection. It’s not everyday I laugh at a character contemplating suicide.

It’s also a really creative sex comedy, in that there’s a butt-ton of sex, but it’s all in service of the characters and to a lesser part, the story. Tomás is a sex addict, like Michael Fassbender in Shame, though it’s never really something that is portrayed as tragic. It’s partially how he gets himself into the main conflict, but it doesn’t really carry any weight. No one, other then the women he uses, really judge him for his acts. It isn’t until the end that he begins to question his choices, and that’s thanks to an AIDS diagnosis. If it wasn’t for the aforementioned comedy, or the pleasing cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki, this movie could’ve been unwieldy and uneven. In the end the clashing tones actually mingle and the whole thing is a delight.

Alfonso Cuarón is a great director, and it seems like he always has been. Sólo con Tu Pareja is a mature and confident debut that does the impossible in making me laugh at sexual screwball comedy. It’s also cool to see how far Cuarón has come and where his career has taken him in hindsight. It’s definitely fun to see that the best Harry Potter film was directed by the guy who made a bunch of sex movies.

If you’re in the mood for a wild comedy that’s around 90 minutes long, look no further. Sólo con Tu Pareja is streaming on Netflix.

Yi Yi—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

When you’re in a populated area, do you ever look out the window and watch people meander around or stand and chat or slump down in defeat? Do you ever put stories to the people you see? Or do you empathize and liken yourself to them, despite never having seen them in your life? Watching Edward Yang’s masterpiece Yi Yi is a little like that. You can watch the movie and think of your own life, or simply just take it in as a matter of fact and continue on. Yi Yi is a veritable slice of life, one that traverses a particularly difficult time in a simple family’s life and one that makes you feel like a voyeur with how deceptively intimately it’s shot. Yi Yi is available on the Criterion Channel.

I described this film as a “three hour long Taiwanese movie” to my dad and he asked what it was about, as well as it’s genre. What it’s about is fairly simple. What its genre is, on the other hand… It opens with a wedding, with broad strokes informing the central characters. In fact, as the film continues, the veneer of a standard movie slowly slips away. We’re shown scenes of people talking, but often from a distance and with a static shot. Almost as if you were standing on the other side of the street or looking through a window and watching people. I wouldn’t say it’s intrusive, but the way we’re shown this family is so honest and real that it seems like we shouldn’t be there. Most of the film is shot this way, with really interesting results.

To an outsider who hasn’t seen this movie, any vague descriptions of the family within are basically pointless. The story is told efficiently through its actors. Describing the father, NJ (Nein-Jen Wu), as a good man going through a midlife crisis doesn’t do the actual presentation of the character any justice. It is truly something to behold, and that’s true of all the characters, no matter how “good” or even “bad” they can be. While I don’t feel equipped to properly analyze this epic after one watch, I do believe that it’s an incredible feat to present something so sterile and give it life almost entirely through the script and acting.

This may be, at least to me, the nearest scripted depiction of documentary cinema there can be. Everything is so real. Real is, regrettably, a loaded term when talking about movies. Everything can look as real as reality, but when I say Yi Yi is real, I mean it feels real. It feels like I’m watching a family go through their day to day lives, and despite the mundanity, it’s never boring. That’s what’s so interesting about it, in a sense. It’s almost hypocritical to say that a movie about a regular family’s life is fascinating, because no one would say that about themselves. Yet, when presented as a movie with a central theme, it’s incredible.

Yi Yi was Edward Yang’s final film, as he died in 2007 at the depressingly young age of 59. I have yet to see his other works, but they’re all must see now. Yi Yi isn’t a movie for everyone. Many will find it boring for the reasons I personally find it engaging and compelling. The fact that it doesn’t follow a traditional structure or narrative will certainly turn some people off. Further, it’s almost three hour long runtime and subtitles will make it a hard sell for anyone wanting to “shut off their brains” for a minute, but that doesn’t matter. It’s brilliant, and it should be seen. I’m from America, just south of Boston, and I could understand what the family in Yi Yi goes through. I could empathize with the kids and the adults alike. It’s a universal story and it’s wonderfully told.

Yi Yi is available on the Criterion Channel, and was spine #339 in the Criterion Collection. Watch this movie.

The Sisters Brothers—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Westerns, like noirs, are rarely seen anymore. Maybe it’s the cultural climate of the post 70’s, or the fact that superhero movies are what westerns were back in the 50’s and 60’s. Either way, Neo-westerns are more than okay with me, especially after the super stylish Slow West and the basically perfect remake of True Grit from the Coen Brothers. The Sisters Brothers is a Neo-western in the style of both of the previously mentioned films, in that it offers plenty of what was great about the old westerns while also being its own thing entirely. It’s surprising, refreshing, and an absolutely great time from start to finish. The Sisters Brothers is available on Hulu.

Simply told, The Sisters Brothers is a western about two brothers with the last name Sisters, Eli and Charlie (John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix respectively), who chase a would-be prospector with a secret to strike it rich. The story is straightforward, but the movie delivers it in quick scenes that build the characters into fully fleshed out humans.

What’s so surprisingly refreshing about this film is how much you care about the machismo men that traditionally inhabit these kinds of movies. The character of Eli Sister, played masterfully by John C. Reilly, is probably the most empathetic character throughout the story. You see him give a shit about his brother and frankly about anything that happens to them. Normally in a western, the grunting men in the foreground, whether Eastwood or Wayne, don’t traditionally show signs of weakness. But in The Sisters Brothers, which is clearly grounded in the realistic setting of the barbarous old West, the characters act like real people who can get hurt and show emotion.

Along the way, the Sisters try to seek out John Morris (an obviously great Jake Gyllenhaal) and the peculiarly named Hermann Kermit Warm (an equally great Riz Ahmed) to bring back to the mysterious Commodore, who oversees most of their operations. The addition of these two tremendous actors, last seen working together in the brilliant Nightcrawler, add yet another level of chemistry to the already accessible movie. In fact, the way the two duo’s scenes are spliced together must explain why the movie is paced so well. Sitting at a decent two hours long, The Sisters Brothers never feels like a slog. The story goes right along, never staying anywhere too long, and regularly upping the ante in terms of both comedy and drama.

The little scenes sprinkled throughout the movie that drive the plot in such nonconformist ways are truly an enhancement, thanks to the deft direction by Jacques Audiard. While watching, you wouldn’t expect a scene in which a spider climbs into the sleeping mouth of a character to be engaging and story driven, but then it’s just that.

It’s a movie of subtle surprises, and all of them are welcome in how they enhance the story. The acting is great, but that’s really no surprise given the talent involved, and the scenes are shot with a focus on nature which ends up being utterly beautiful. It’s fun and surprising and endearing. It’s also one of the best westerns I’ve seen come out in the past few years. It’s available on Hulu, so I’d seriously recommend it.

Crawl—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Great monster movies thrive in simplicity. I said that when reviewing Tremors last week, and it’s still true now that I’ve seen Crawl. Coming in at a swift 87 minutes, Crawl never overstays it’s welcome, and offers some pretty cool sequences of suspense in the scariest place on Earth: Florida. It’s also streaming on Amazon Prime and Hulu, so if you’re in the mood for a quick and simple creature feature, look no further.

A hurricane barrels towards Florida’s coast, and college student Haley (Kaya Scodelario) risks driving out of the way to find her father (Barry Pepper). When she gets to his house however, she’s met with rain, wind, and alligators.

The movie works during its many exciting sequences, but somewhat flounders when touching on any character stuff. Thankfully there is much more of the former, and the latter isn’t ever bad, just much less interesting. The obviously CGI alligators look pretty good and do a lot to push you to the edge of your seat. They’re also really damned angry and hungry, and never hesitate to bite the characters whenever possible. The wounds look pretty gnarly, though I wish they were even more gruesome. I want to see a lot of blood in a ravenous alligator movie, damn it! Though, this may be a good movie for people that aren’t gore hounds. There is some, of course, but not nearly as much as you’d expect.

Overall, the movie is a quick fun time. It regularly makes you react, whether by holding your breath during the underwater scenes, or loudly exclaiming “what the fuck” like I did when gators come from the depths and scare the hell out of you. Sometimes, all you need is a nice short alligator movie. It’s definitely worth a watch if you like animal or monster movies.

But if you want to watch a better movie about hurricanes (and also heists), watch The Hurricane Heist. You’ll thank me later.

Burning—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Lee Chang-dong’s 2018 film adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning” is an uneasy meditation on relationships. At least, that’s what I took from it on my initial viewing. For a two-and-a-half hour long movie, Burning defies expectations both in terms of pace and satisfaction. The film slowly but surely allows itself to unravel in your psyche, offering new bizarre pieces to an ever expanding puzzle of compelling human drama. If you’re in the mood for a sweepingly gorgeous genre-bender, Burning is available now on Netflix.

The movie is best viewed when in complete ignorance of the plot and genres. So, SPOILERS, though light they may be. All I can say is that Burning is about a simple guy back home from college to look after his dad’s house. He happens to reconnect with an old friend from his childhood and agrees to watch her cat while she’s away on a trip to Africa. She returns with a friend, only it’s tough to really make out his motivations.

I’m not familiar with Lee Chang-dong’s filmography, as this is the first of his films that I’ve seen. But if this is what he can do with an adaptation, I’d love to see more of his work. One of the coolest things about Burning, other than the stellar acting, is how supremely cinematic it all is. “Show don’t tell,” is one of the central doctrines of film, and Chang-dong allows the camera to take in as many nuanced reactions he can from the talented trio at the forefront without needing much dialogue. A lot can be understood and inferred from the faces of the performers.

Rather than have a character explain some kind of hard truth about their father, the scene cuts to a courthouse where the father is being arraigned. It’s this kind of sparse storytelling that makes the movie feel so real. You, as an audience member, learn about the characters based on what they do and it’s very physical. No character is perfect, and they’re all shown as flawed humans. That adds to the intrigue and really keeps you on your toes and engaged.

Basically, Burning is a very worthwhile two-and-a-half hours and it’s something that’s better when knowing nothing about it. The cinematography is always beautiful and a nice storytelling device at points. The tone and music is strange in a compelling way. The acting is top notch. Give it a go if you’re willing to let down your guard for a bit. I hope it’s worth it in the end, because I definitely thought it was.

Lady Snowblood—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Closing out this first week of What’s Streaming? is Lady Snowblood, though initially I had planned to watch Death Race 2000. In my excitement to schedule the July movies, I missed the part where Death Race was leaving the Criterion Channel on the last day of June… three days before this review would be published. Funnily enough, I found this out after watching the movie (and rather disliking it). So, I went back in and found something else. And I’m glad that I did, as Lady Snowblood is a bad-ass revenge story, tastefully told and drenched in blood. Lady Snowblood is streaming now on the Criterion Channel.

My understanding of the samurai genre of Japanese films comes almost entirely from Criterion, whether through their release of Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Sanjuro, as well as the Lone Wolf and Cub and Zatoichi series currently streaming on the channel. I definitely love the regrettably few samurai movies I’ve seen, but Snowblood may take the cake. It manages to be focused yet employ flashback storytelling, beautifully shot and blocked during its many action sequences, and as previously mentioned, it’s all told tastefully without the t&a found in the more Grindhousey Lone Wolf and Cub.

Like most revenge tales, the story of Snowblood is quite straightforward. Though here, the revenge is more generational. See, she was born with the single task of seeking vengeance for the death of her father and brother, and the rape of her mother by a group of four criminals. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to the titular character, otherwise called Yuki, and she eventually went on to train with a monk. This backstory is interspersed throughout the chapters of the film while we learn who she tracks down.

The films simple story is amplified by the great direction and stylistic choices carried out by Toshiya Fujita. Rather than use the subject matter as an expression of exploitation film making, Fujita delivers the story with tact and taste. It’s also bloody as all hell. Every sword swipe creates powerful spurts of bright red gore in a cathartic offering of beautiful sensationalized violence. It’s a genuine treat to behold, no matter how grim the acts may be.

Lady Snowblood is a great representation of a simple story told right. If you’ve never seen it, my words clearly don’t do it justice so you might as well check it out. It’s on the Criterion Channel, and if you’ve never heard of that, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Parasite—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Parasite won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, as well as Best International Feature Film. But everyone knows that. And most have seen it already. But I hadn’t! Thankfully it’s streaming on Hulu!

Parasite is one of those movies that got hyped up beyond any reasonable measure leading up to its release, thanks to its Palme d’Or win at Cannes. Then it was nominated for a boat load of Oscars, and the rest is history. Despite such a lofty reputation, I managed to stay away from spoilers and even a general plot overview. I had no clue what I was getting into, other than it having to be a super duper great movie and that it may have whiffs of class consciousness.

Having now watched it, I can safely say it’s a great movie! Congratulations Bong Joon Ho, The Film Tent dug your art! The extra fun thing is that I think I can offer a decent run down of the reasons it’s a great movie without giving up any plot information.

Parasite works in a way that any Rian Johnson movie wishes it could, and I say that as a fan of Johnson’s work. Throughout the story, there are many places where a twist or a realization could be made about either of the central families (one rich, the other poor; the Park’s and the Kim’s respectively). In vague terms, you think something has to happen, because that’s what other movies would do! And then, a twist does occur, but it’s from left field and in a way that operates on the same level as the commentary and characters. The twist doesn’t happen only because it would be an engaging addition, but also because it informs the situation that these people are stuck in. For context, it’s the scene where the Kim family gets drunk in the living room. In many ways, this is the pivotal scene in the movie. In addition, this is a beautiful microcosm of the entire film.

Woo-sik Chow, So-dam Park, Kang-ho Song, and Jeong-eun Lee in “Parasite.” / (NEON)

Spoilers from here on out.

Up until the rich Park family embarks on their ill-fated camping trip, the movie had been driving at a ludicrously entertaining pace. Again, I knew nothing about the movie before watching it, so I was super interested to see what could happen in the remaining hour. First, the old maid shows up at the door. ‘Don’t let her in,’ I thought to myself. Nothing good could come from that. And then, of course, they let her in. She told them she needed to get down to the basement, where we get a hilarious yet alarming shot of the maid parallel to the ground pushing a heavy cabinet with her feet planted on the wall.

After the cabinet moves, a door is discovered. Then, the movie takes on a creepy tone, replete with shrill music and anxiety inducing photography as the camera delves deep into the shelter hidden away under the house. It turns out the old maid had been hiding her own family in the house, in the form of her deeply indebted husband, and had been doing so for years. Thus arises the first really neat twist of the film. The “parasitic” family moving in on the Parks sees a similarly poor family, and they think to call the police so they can have the Park family to themselves. It’s sad and stressful and understandable all at the same time. Each character is so human that while they all do really bad things, you still can’t help but to root for them.

By the end of the sequence, which felt like it lasted an hour but that can’t be right, the family ties up the maid and husband and has to hide from the Parks as they arrive much sooner than expected thanks to a freak storm. The storm is really the turning point in the movie. It ends the Parks trip, destroys the Kim family’s home by flooding it, and introduces the basement bunker and the other family. It also pushes the film toward it’s bombastic conclusion, which is rife with blunt commentary on class division.

Parasite is a moving and engagingly entertaining film that I’m shocked was able to win at the Oscars. The film is, after all, a major indictment on the rich and the only way to really make waves at the Oscars is to throw as much money at the Academy as possible. And that seems antithetic to the message and meaning of the movie. Either way, I’m glad it’s been popular and successful. More movies should be this thrilling.

Some Like It Hot—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Ready for some really sad insight into me as a person? When watching Some Like It Hot for the first time, I couldn’t stop thinking of the Waynes Brothers classic White Chicks. Now that that bombshell has dropped, I can safely say that I not only enjoyed Some Like It Hot, but I actually laughed during it (unlike with White Chicks, womp womp).

Some Like It Hot WAS streaming on Amazon Prime Video until June 30. (This was written before it was said to be leaving the service. That’s some great luck on my part, having it release the day it goes off of Amazon. Apologies for the annoyance.) If you’re the kind of person to stick your nose up at older movies, I implore you to watch this one. Not only is it full of hysterical moments, it’s age is barely even noticeable. On top of that, it’s bonkers.

Before even getting into the main plot, I think it’s imperative to mention that the opening of the movie is a short prohibition gangster flick. A hearse drives through central Chicago with a police tail. Suddenly, the cops open fire, hanging out of their old fashioned cars with dangerous intent. The hearse, filled with a motley crew of visually comical mobsters, unleash a flurry of bullets in response. The scene is fast, kinetic, and confusing as hell for anyone that clicked the thumbnail expecting a comedy in which two men dress up as women. But I’ll get to that later. The hearse shakes the cops, retaining minor injuries to the bullet hole ridden casket and liquor bottles within. The hearse delivers the alcohol to an illegal gathering set in a funeral parlor, where we finally meet the main characters. Two schlubby musicians playing in the parlor band see a police raid coming and manage to leave the scene. Then, in a great motivational kick in the plots ass, the two musicians stumble upon the St. Valentines Day Massacre of 1929, thus forcing them to get the hell out of town. They masquerade as women in an all female band headed to Florida.

Tony Curtis (far left), Jack Lemmon (next to Curtis), and Marilyn Monroe (front and center)/(Getty Images)

Christ, that was a lot. But in the movie, it’s so simple and engaging. And that’s the coolest thing about the main set up and conceit. It isn’t simply the lazy story of people doing something because the situation would be funny. It’s grounded in an actual event with real stakes, and it’s the driving force for the more farcical moments. But it all works. Even when it’s dabbling in crime drama, with the tremendously cartoonish Spats Colombo (George Raft) chewing scenery, it works. It’s not necessarily a genre-bender or anything, but the forays outside of comedy are terrific.

The movie also manages to say more about sex than most modern comedies. During their first day in Florida, the men complain about the extra attention they receive as women, with Jack Lemmon’s “Daphne” getting pinched on the behind by an overtly flirtatious Floridian millionaire. Tony Curtis’s “Josephine” then notes how it’s very different to be on the receiving end, in a clearly bad way. Further, Curtis’s male character “Joe” pretends to be a millionaire to woo the wily free spirited Sugar Kane, played with some genuine depth and humor by Marilyn Monroe. On one hand, the film comments on the often disgusting way men treat women. On the other, it shows how men feel the need to lie to be accepted.

Even though I’ve heard plenty about Billy Wilder and his filmography, this was my first time watching one of his films. It’s also the first time I’ve seen Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe in anything. So in many ways this was a perfect storm for me. From the opening action scene to the gut busting final line, this movie was a true delight. It’s run time is a little over two hours, slightly long for a comedy in my opinion, but it wears it fairly well. The gags come at such a rate that time slips by and the ride is almost always enjoyable.

As previously stated, this review was written before the film was slated to leave Amazon Prime. Had I known prior, I would’ve just chose another film to cover but didn’t have the time. Hey, the movie still rocks and is still worth watching. Just, if you don’t want to spend extra cash, head to the local library or something. They may even have the *Criterion* edition. So fancy!

Tremors—What’s Streaming?

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By Casey Campbell

Kicking off What’s Streaming? is a personal favorite, and one that I’m sure many have already seen. Tremors is the kind of movie that is arguably perfect for what it is and yet, like many genre movies, a glut of sequels works toward blighting the series as a whole. Forget Tremors 2-6. I certainly try to and I haven’t even seen them. Maybe one day. But until then, the first Tremors is an absolute delight and a standout in both 90’s movies and monster movies in general. That being said, Tremors is currently available on Netflix US, and you should either check it out for the first time, or revisit it if it’s been a while.

I was introduced to Tremors as a kid and probably caught it on Sci-Fi (now SYFY for some reason) and the elements that stuck with me were the dry and dusty setting, Kevin Bacon (because I guess even as a child I could recognize him by name), and the super gross worm things that ate people. These elements still stick out, because obviously, but with fresh eyes the movie has taken on new significance for me.

Take, for instance, the impeccable script by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock. And that’s not even hyperbole. The script is basically perfect. We’re introduced to the incredibly charismatic team of Val and Earl, played by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward respectively, where we learn they’re handymen for the tiny secluded town of Perfection, Nevada, but that they have dreams of leaving and finally doing something with their lives. Along the way, they meet graduate student Rhonda (Finn Carter) who is studying the seismological phenomena of the area.

While I personally, even as a kid, thought of Kevin Bacon being the star of this movie, it’s clearer now that it’s a group effort. Every supporting character is fleshed out and given motivations, which is only helped by engaging performances across the board. Hell, one of the townspeople went on to star in every successive sequel (it’s gun nut Burt Gummer, played by Michael Gross, by the way – spoilers I guess).

Fun things to note are the little character details that later come into play. It’s simply Chekhov’s Gun, which goes towards making this a lean script with barely any fat. But again, this is a simple monster movie, so the script being so well written and carefully constructed adds so much to the overall film.

By the time the main threat of the movie rears it’s ugly eyeless head, we’ve already been given reason to care about the survival of Perfection and it’s very imperfect inhabitants. Now, this worked wonders for Jaws with the Brody family, as well as it’s famously ominous score, so that when the shark only shows up for a few minutes (thanks to a hellish amount of technical difficulties with the mechanical beast) it’s still entertaining and threatening. Thankfully for all involved with Tremors, the script and characters are bolstered by some still incredible special effects.

Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. did the monster effects in Tremors—they’re basically the team that makes things that you either thought were computer generated monsters, or live animals. Check out this short video for more info on them, because they’re insanely bad ass.

With such tangible monsters and human characters, Tremors is a monster movie that goes the extra step of being a genuinely great film. As for the sequels, I may just have to check them out to see what good ol’ Burt is up to. I’m known for ingesting some foul film, so I can’t imagine they’ll be too bad.