Tag: Horror

The Conjuring 2 Movie Review

The stars of The Conjuring 2 are not found in the names of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who return here as real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. It’s not found in the name of its director, James Wan, who has proven himself repeatedly as someone who knows how to craft a suspenseful sequence.

No, the stars of The Conjuring 2 can be found by going over to IMDB and looking up the various names that make up its sound department. The biggest hair rising moments in the 2013 original and this sequel are due to them. Every creak of the steps. Each movement of an empty rocking chair. The turns of a creepy zoetrope. One difference this time around – the first Conjuring simply felt a little fresher upon its release.

After a prologue that touches on the Amityville case and the Warren’s involvement, our sequel takes place six years after the events in that Rhode Island farmhouse. That brings us to 1977 and across the pond to England. We have another family – a poor single mom (Frances O’Connor) and her four children being terrorized by their house dwelling demon. One in particular, 11 year old Janet (Madison Wolfe), gets the brunt of the possession.

Enter the Warrens, who have their doubts regarding the case’s authenticity. They eventually figure out that this lower class family doesn’t have a 2016 level sound effects department at their disposal. There’s a creepy nun that doesn’t quite match the heebie jeebie level of Annabelle in the original, but comes close from time to time. Speaking of, the nun is getting her own spin-off feature just like Annabelle did. Let’s hope the sister’s act is more worthwhile than the doll’s.

Nothing here really equals what made part 1 such an unexpected treat. A team as talented as this will make us jump up in our seats at least a few times and that occurs here. And the added benefit that this is all real (allegedly) doesn’t hurt. True story or not, despite it being directed better than most other genre entries and that aforementioned ace sound team – The Conjuring 2 can’t help but occasionally suffer from a been there, heard that scary sound effect before feeling.

**1/2 (out of four)

The Purge: Election Year Box Office Prediction

For the third time in four summers, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions are hoping that moviegoers will be purging as The Purge: Election Year debuts over the Independence Day weekend.

The third entry in the franchise sees James DeMonaco, director of the first two, returning with a cast that includes Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Mykelti Williamson. Horror films generally begin to lose a bit of steam from pic to pic. The original Purge in 2013 shocked prognosticators with a $34 million opening and a $64 million domestic take. 2014’s sequel Anarchy made $29 million out of the gate and its overall haul was slightly higher with $71 million. As you can see, much of the franchise’s grosses are earned in the first weekend.

Having the Election Year angle in 2016 could help a bit and the series is likely still strong enough to post pleasing results the third time around (especially with a reported budget of only $10 million). I’ll predict it’ll do slightly less than what’s come before it, but not by too much.

The Purge: Election Year opening weekend prediction: $21.7 million (Friday to Sunday), $25.5 million (Friday to Monday)

For my The BFG prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/06/22/the-bfg-box-office-prediction/

For my The Legend of Tarzan prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/06/22/the-legend-of-tarzan-box-office-prediction/

The Shallows Box Office Prediction

It’s Woman vs. Shark as The Shallows swims its way into theaters next weekend. Providing a considerably different aquatic experience than Finding Dory, the horror thriller pits bikini clad Blake Lively in the fight of her life against a big ol’ great white.

Jaume Collet-Serra directs and this is his first time in four films that he’s not working with Liam Neeson (he made Unknown, Non-Stop, and Run All Night). Columbia Pictures is hoping its simple premise and effective trailers will get horror buffs and Shark Week supporters to turn out.

Yet I don’t expect this will take a significant bite out of the box office. All shark movies are measured against Jaws (the original summer blockbuster). Those are big fins to fill and my prediction actually has this just outdoing 2010’s Piranha remake.

The Shallows opening weekend prediction: $10.4 million

For my Independence Day: Resurgence prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/06/15/independence-day-resurgence-box-office-prediction/

For my Free State of Jones prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/06/15/free-state-of-jones-box-office-prediction/

The Conjuring 2 Box Office Prediction

Three summers ago, The Conjuring became one of the most highly regarded horror titles in recent years with critics and audiences alike. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and this inevitable sequel focuses on one of their most famous cases circa London in the late 1970s. James Wan, who directed the original as well as the first two Insidious flicks and last year’s Furious 7, is back behind the camera. His history with horror sequels is pretty great. Insidious made $13 million in its premiere. The sequel made $40 million.

The first entry conjured up a fantastic $41 million opening and topped out at $137M domestically. Warner Bros. would love a repeat performance and they may well get one. Even the critically derided Conjuring spin-off Annabelle took in a robust $37 million for its start. One potential stumbling block: competition is a little more fierce this time around with Now You See Me 2 (another sequel to a sleeper summer 2013 blockbuster) and Warcraft (which will be going for many of the same moviegoers) opening directly against it.

That said, I believe the goodwill left over from the first will get this in the same range of its predecessor for a frighteningly solid start.

The Conjuring 2 opening weekend prediction: $42.6 million

For my Now You See Me 2 prediction, click here:

Now You See Me 2 Box Office Prediction

For my Warcraft prediction, click here:

Warcraft Box Office Prediction

The Darkness Box Office Prediction

Blumhouse Productions specializes in low-budget horror flicks and they’ve got once teed up for early summer with The Darkness, out next weekend. Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell star in a tale of a Grand Canyon vacation bringing back a supernatural being. David Mazouz, Matt Walsh, and Jennifer Morrison costar. Greg McLean, who directed Wolf Creek, is behind the camera.

The studio has seen their share of genre successes, including the Paranormal Activity, Sinister, Insidious, and Purge franchises. There’s also been some relative disappointments, such as Dark Skies, Oculus, The Gallows, and The Green Inferno. 

The Darkness doesn’t seem to have much buzz going for it and appears unlikely to light up the box office. I’ll predict this doesn’t reach double digits.

The Darkness opening weekend prediction: $5.6 million

For my Money Monster prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/05/04/money-monster-box-office-prediction/

 

The Other Side of the Door Box Office Prediction

**Blogger’s note (Friday, February 26) – due to announced screen count of only about 500, I’m revising my original prediction of $4.1 million to just $2.1 million

British supernatural horror flick The Other Side of the Door opens next weekend and will try to bring in genre fans. Other may find that door closed, as this low budget entry from director Johannes Roberts (who’s helmed a number of scare pics you’ve likely never heard of) seems to be gaining little traction stateside. Sarah Wayne Callies from TV’s “The Walking Dead” and Jeremy Sisto star.

Early reviews have been weak and this probably will be lucky to gross half of what January’s The Boy accomplished with $10.7 million. I’ll say it doesn’t and this should be streaming on VOD quite soon.

The Other Side of the Door opening weekend prediction: $2.1 million

For my Zootopia prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/02/25/zootopia-box-office-prediction/

For my London Has Fallen prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/02/25/london-has-fallen-box-office-prediction/

For my Whiskey Tango Foxtrot prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/02/25/whiskey-tango-foxtrot-box-office-prediction/

The Witch Box Office Prediction

When it premiered last year at the Sundance Film Festival, horror pic The Witch received mostly raves (it sits at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes… frighteningly good for that genre). We’ll see how that translates to box office dollars when it opens wide next weekend.

The 17th Century set tale of witchcraft features a cast of relative unknowns and comes from first time director Robert Eggers, who also wrote this critically acclaimed effort. The film has received a rather modest marketing push and anything above double digits would be quite an accomplishment.

Considering its tiny reported $1 million budget, however, A24 Films is poised to see a tidy return on their investment. The Witch should earn anywhere from $4-8 million and I’ll go in the middle range of that spectrum.

The Witch opening weekend prediction: $6.7 million

For my Risen prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/02/11/risen-box-office-prediction/

For my Race prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/02/11/race-box-office-prediction/

The Boy Box Office Prediction

The British set supernatural horror pic The Boy debuts next weekend, attempting to scare up some business for STX Entertainment. Directed by The Devil Inside maker William Brent Bell, this focuses on a creepy doll wreaking havoc on the nanny tasked to care for it (Lauren Cohan). Rupert Evans costars.

Trailers and TV spots for The Boy are a little bit creepy, but I’m not sure how much that will translate to box office dollars. Just last weekend, another horror title The Forest debuted to a respectable $13 million and it seems to me that this could premiere to around that number.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this flops and gets under double digits, but I’ll estimate that The Boy is able to reach close to those Forest grosses.

The Boy opening weekend prediction: $12.1 million

For my Dirty Grandpa prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/01/14/dirty-grandpa-box-office-prediction/

For my The 5th Wave prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/01/14/the-5th-wave-box-office-prediction/

Goodnight Mommy Movie Review

The Austrian horror pic Goodnight Mommy gained some fairly significant attention stateside due to its hauntingly effective and hair raising trailer. The trailer is a work of art. The film itself? Well, it’s not without its merits for genre lovers. And it isn’t without its flaws.

Mommy takes place almost entirely at a remote lake house in Austria where the “Mommy” (Susanne Wuest) has just returned back after cosmetic surgery to her face. This leaves her with heavy bandages around her dome that are quite creepy. She is mother to twin 10 year old boys (real life twins Elias and Lukas Schwarz). Upon her return from her mysterious operation, they immediately notice that something seems off with her. She’s more temperamental. It gets to the point where the boys become convinced that Mommy is not Mommy at all and this sets a course from some disturbing set pieces and seriously questionable parenting.

Horror aficionados will likely eat up the sequences involving giant roaches and gut churning uses for Super Glue. However, this just applies to the art house crowd. Goodnight Mommy is by no means mainstream and I suspect many a casual genre fan will be let down. For starters, this is not to be judged by its considerably better trailer. Second, while the arty crowd may not mind the “twist” involved that can perhaps purposely be seen from a mile away, it hindered the process for me.

It’s a nice touch having real life twins play the scared youngsters here and the Schwarz brothers work well together. Wuest capably balances her complex role which alternates between being terrifying and being terrified. The production design with its off kilter and dispassionate home setting is first rate.

All in all, a jaw dropping moment here and there in Goodnight Mommy can’t really overcome the general obviousness of it all. I’ll give directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala credit for showing some promise to build on, but this movie will be remembered best for its magnificent preview watched by millions on YouTube and not the final product.

**1/2 (out of four)

Krampus Box Office Prediction

A whole different kind of Christmas comedy hits theaters next weekend when Krampus debuts. This ain’t Love the Coopers, folks. Michael Dougherty, known best for his screenplays for superhero pics X2 and Superman Returns, is behind the camera. This isn’t his first holiday themed horror comedy though. He made the Halloween centric cult favorite Trick r Treat years ago.

Krampus focuses on what may be a very bad Santa with a cast featuring Adam Scott, Toni Collette, and David Koechner. The trailers do inspire some hope. Having said that, the first week of December is not fertile ground for new releases as audiences are mostly preoccupied with Thanksgiving leftovers. Additionally, while movie geeks may be looking forward to this, general audiences will probably stay away.

I believe Krampus will be lucky to reach double digits and will predict that it won’t.

Krampus opening weekend prediction: $7.1 million