YOU MIGHT BE THE KILLER

YOU MIGHT BE THE KILLER (2018). Co-written and directed by Brett Simmons. 

Chuck (Alyson Hannigan), a clerk in a video store, gets a frantic call from her buddy, Sam (Fran Kranz), whose family owns a camp that is 25 miles from nowhere. According to Sam, someone has killed nearly all of the counselors in gruesome ways and is trying to burn him alive in his cabin. Chuck, a horror film fanatic, asks Sam if he ever considered that he could be the killer. Early on we learn that Sam is indeed the killer, but he's decimating the counselors because of a mask with demonic propensities. Chuck warns Sam that of the counselors who are still alive -- very few -- one of them is bound to be the pure "final girl" who puts paid to the maniac. Could it be the lady who dumped him, Imani (Brittany S. Hall), or sweet, virginal Jamie (Jenna Harvey)? It seems that Sam's fate might be sealed ... 

You Might Be the Killer, a very black comedy, benefits from some good acting from the cast, especially Kranz as the hero, and Hannigan as his blunt and unflappable buddy. There are some good sequences, and a couple of minor chills. Although some fans complained the film wasn't gory enough, we get severed arms, heads chopped in half, decapitations, and the

like, making this as gruesome as most slasher films if not quite as bad as some. The trouble with the film is that all the flashbacks make the film choppy -- no pun intended -- and eventually quite tiresome. Despite some energy and all the bloodletting, You Might Eventually Be the Killer runs out of gas early on and eventually becomes an effort to sit through. At one point Sam advises the counselors not to run off because they will get lost in the woods and there are snakes and so on, but surely they drove to the camp on a road and could take it back to civilization? But movies like this are hardly ever logical. 

Verdict: More or less professionally done, but slasher films -- be they black comedies or not -- should never be boring. **. 

A SIMPLE FAVOR/ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR

 A SIMPLE FAVOR (2018). Director: Paul Feig.

ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR (2025). Director: Paul Feig. 

In A Simple Favor widow Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) bonds with Emily (Blake Lively) because their little sons are buddies. Emily seems quite a bit edgier than Stephanie, but the latter has her own secrets, such as sleeping with a sexy guy even though she knew he was her half-brother. Emily asks Stephanie to watch her kid for a few days, but she never comes back. Then her body is found, drowned in a lake. But why does her little boy insist that he sees and even talks to his mother? Stephanie decides to investigate, and discovers a weird plot going on ... 

A Simple Favor is entertaining, although it employs over-familiar suspense elements and doesn't have the most original plot. The acting is good, but the light-hearted approach and almost campy style doesn't serve the story as well as a more serious approach might have. Brief girl-on-girl action is thrown in more for the usual titillation than for any other reason, which actually makes the film seem more hokey than edgy. The lead characters are not at all likable.   

In the sequel Another Simple Favor -- an Amazon Prime original movie -- the two ladies and actresses are back for another round, and things are somewhat more intriguing. Emily, now engaged to a handsome mafioso, has every reason to detest Stephanie, but instead of strangling her she demands that she be her maid-of-honor and fly with the wedding party to Capri. Afraid of being sued by Emily because of things she said in her book about her, Stephanie agrees to go but can't help worrying over what exactly the sociopathic female might be up to. Then there are a couple of murders, for which Stephanie is accused. Another Simple Favor, which is even more of an out and out black comedy than the first film, is unpredictable, but some of its developments are as irritating as they are unexpected. The contrivances quickly outweigh the logic and the kind of "girl power" finale, while interesting, doesn't necessarily work. 

Verdict: These movies may hold your attention, but they won't stay in your mind for long. A Simple Favor. **1/2. Another Simple Favor **1/2. 

MY TEACHER, MY OBSESSION

Rusty Joiner ignites his student's interest

MY TEACHER, MY OBSESSION (aka Dad Crush/2018 telefilm). Director: Damian Romay.  

Single dad and high school English teacher Chris (Rusty Joiner) moves with his daughter, Riley (Laura Bilgeri), to a new community where she meets a sullen classmate named Kyla (Lucy Loken). Kyla warns her new friend that mean girl Tricia (Alexandria DeBerry) has got a big crush on her father, and doesn't want her becoming friends with her. But Kyla has also noticed how "hot" the new teach is, and she is rather put out when he starts dating her mother (Jana Lee Hamblin). Kyla determines to change this appalling situation any way she can, and get her hooks into hunky Chris come Hell or high water. 

Chris confronts his daughter

Movies like My Teacher, My Obsession can be a lot of trashy fun, they can be handled with some adult sophistication, or they can be neither, which is the case with this bit of treacle. My Teacher is modestly absorbing but it never develops into anything that entertaining or trenchant. The performances are adequate, and even good at times, although some of the cast members could have shown more emotion at certain points given the circumstances. Kyla's homicidal psychosis seems to come out of nowhere, but characterization is not the telefilm's strong point. Rusty Joiner is a model who turned to acting with mixed results.  

Verdict: Good-looking cast helps put this over ... barely. **. 

FOREVER AND A DAY

FOREVER AND A DAY. A James Bond Novel. Anthony Horowitz. Harper; 2018. 

Horowitz' second 007 novel after Trigger Mortis is a prequel that takes place before the events of Ian Fleming's first Bond adventure, Casino Royale, post-WW2. The original 007 is killed while investigating Corsican mobsters who have for some reason seemed to have left behind the highly profitable heroin trade -- but what are they up to now, M wonders. James Bond is given the License to Kill and asks to take the 007 number as a homage to the late operative, and continues the dead man's investigation in Marseilles. There he encounters CIA agent Reade Griffith as well as a beautiful older lady, an adventuress, named Sixtine, whose back story is fascinating. Sixtine not only teams up with Bond, but in some retrograde continuity that some readers may choose to reject, she's in part responsible for his taste in martinis and his bedmanship abilities. 

There are two main villains in Forever and a Day: Jean-Paul Scipio and Irwin Wolfe. The former is a monstrously corpulent mobster who threatens Bond's face with an acid bath although he doesn't really want to wreck his good looks. (Bond is confused over this even though a report on Scipio suggests that he's homosexual, making 007 seem not only unsophisticated but a bit dumb). Irwin Wolfe is an American billionaire who makes film stock and is bitter over the deaths of his two sons in WW2. The two have cooked up a scheme on Wolfe's huge new ocean liner that threatens society. Against all odds, the captured Bond and Sixtine do their level best to sink the liner and its cargo. 

For most of its length Forever and a Day is suspenseful and entertaining, although your eyebrows may rise over certain actions and attitudes of Bond, especially during the post script. Making Scipio gay seems more regressive than anything else, and his plans for 007 -- to turn him into a heroin addict who will become compliant in everything Scipio wants so the agent can get his fix -- is in questionable taste. Despite some very good scenes, Forever and a Day is a step backward from Trigger Mortis. 

Verdict: Bond fans do not have to consider this adventure canon. **3/4. 

A DEADLY HABIT Simon Brett

A DEADLY HABIT. Simon Brett. Severn House; 2018. A Charles Paris Mystery. 

British author Simon Brett has written a whole slew of mystery novels, some of which were stand-alone books, and others belonged to different series. Most of these are light-hearted "cozies." I think the best of Brett's series is the Charles Paris novels. Paris is a likable fellow in many ways -- an alcoholic actor who has had modest success but is unemployed more often than not -- but some of his qualities are not so admirable. Although still married, he is separated from his wife, essentially neglects both her and their daughter, and seems much more interested in acting, drinking, and being an amateur sleuth than anything else. Brett has written over a dozen books in this series, and in this, the latest, Paris is trying to reconcile with his wife and move in with her but the stipulation is that he stop drinking, and he does make a serious effort. (One suspects he wants to be back with his wife because he feels he is a bit "past it" for his frequent marital indiscretions.) He has gotten a small role in a West End production of a weird play about monks -- the star is a famous movie actor that he worked with back in the day -- and naturally there is a murder. Paris not only gets no help from the police, he doesn't cooperate with them at all, and even holds back important information from them, making him rather irresponsible along with everything else. But the book is both amusing and suspenseful as he carries out his investigation (although one might wonder why he bothers) and eventually stumbles into a solution. One wants to root for Paris' sobriety, although frankly the character is more fun when he's drinking. But the ending of this hints that Paris' love for a "Large Bells" (whiskey) is not something so easily overcome. For my money the very best Charles Paris novel is Murder Unprompted, but this one is good. 

Verdict: Paris' swan song? ***. 

A QUIET PLACE

Emily Blunt

A QUIET PLACE (2018). Director: John Krasinski. 

In the near-future the world seems to have been virtually wiped out by strange, fast-moving creatures that are attracted by sound. Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt of Irresistible) and her family -- husband Lee (John Krasinksi, who also directed), daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and son Marcus (Noah Jupe) -- periodically leave their isolated home for food raids in the nearby town, but one afternoon their little boy (Cade Woodward) is snatched and never seen again. Evelyn is pregnant, and the family -- while remaining as quiet as possible -- must figure out a way to keep the screams of an infant from attracting the monsters when the baby  arrives ... 

In the grain bin

A Quiet Place has an interesting premise and other notable attributes. The film is well-cast with actors who not only have talent but great expressive faces, which along with the script help add a strong emotional component to the movie, something missing from most monster flicks. At times there's a Perils of Pauline quality to the movie, with one desperate incident piled on top of one another, and memorable scenes include the grisly sacrifice of one major character, a harrowing sequence set in a grain bin, the birth of the baby, among others. The film also boasts striking cinematography by Charlotte Bruus Christensen.

However, there's no getting around the fact that the film features contrived situations made to maximize the suspense and tension, so the moody film won't work for everyone, but in general it's a worthwhile thriller with several good sequences. I was hoping that the sequel would go in a different direction and offer some explanation for the creatures' existence, but instead I hear that this is simply a continuation of the first film. In other words, more of the same. 

Verdict: Sort of like a high-class Roger Corman movie. ***. 

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW A. J. Finn

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW. A J. Finn. William Morrow;2018.

Anna Fox suffers from agoraphobia and lives by herself in an East Harlem townhouse. Her husband left her and took their daughter with him, but Anna stays in communication with them. She spends her time -- in addition to heavy drinking and pill popping -- watching her neighbors, including a couple across the way who have a troubled teenage son, Ethan. One afternoon Anna is helped by, and gets to know, Ethan's mother, Jane, but some time later she appears to see Jane being stabbed through the window of the other building. However, the police think it is all an alcoholic, drug-influenced fantasy. Ethan's mother shows up -- and is a completely different woman from the one Anna met before. The Woman in the Window is well-written and it initially holds your attention, but the twists in the story -- and the identity of the true villain -- are so obvious that it pretty much ruins your enjoyment of the novel and you're just turning pages to get it over with. There are way too many recycled ideas in the book, but once it got bought for the movies (on Netflix, at least) it was destined for bestseller-hood. Serious fans of mystery and suspense books will find this a major disappointment. 

Verdict: Badly overhyped -- paging Agatha Christie. **1/4. 

SUICIDE SQUAD: HELL TO PAY

The members of the Suicide Squad

SUICIDE SQUAD: HELL TO PAY (2018 animated feature). Director: Sam Liu. 

Task Force X is a division of the Suicide Squad, a group of super-powered convicts who agree to work for one Amanda Waller in exchange for considerations. To keep the members from simply running off, Waller has bombs implanted in the members' necks that will literally blow their heads off if they try anything un-kosher. The normally obese Waller, now skinny due to cancer, wants the team to get a certain mystical object that will give the possessor a sort of "get out of Hell" free card, supposedly affecting their after-lives. But there are others who want this object, including the immortal Vandal Savage (who was once a caveman), the Banshee, and Professor Zoom, AKA the Reverse-Flash.

Once a caveman: Vandal Savage

The members of the Task Force include the psychotic Harlequin (who has for inexplicable reasons become prominent in the DC Comics universe), Killer Frost, the lovable Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Copperhead, and the less-malevolent-than-the-others Ben Turner, AKA the Bronze Tiger. Other characters include Vandal's daughter Scandal Savage, and her female lover, Knockout, not to mention a male stripper who turns out to have once been the magical Dr. Fate. 

male stripper attempts to channel Dr. Fate

Just as many comic books today are definitely not for children, the same goes for comic book movies. Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is full of often gruesome and sadistic violence, especially during the prologue when Waller sets the fifth-string villains Punch and Jewelee against gang leader Tobias Whale on a speeding train. Then there is the sexual content, although none of it could be described as pornographic. What really makes the movie cook is the fluid animation, many exciting sequences, and the suspense over which group or person will wind up winning the prize -- or losing their lives. The actors who do the voices for this feature include Christian Slater (Deadshot), Vanessa Williams (Amanda Waller), and C. Thomas Howell (Zoom).

Verdict: Not your grandpop's super-villains. ***. 

ELEVATION Stephen King

ELEVATION. Stephen King. Scribner; 2018.

In this interesting if unremarkable novella by King -- a homage to Richard Matheson (to whom the book is dedicated) in general and his novel The Shrinking Man in particular -- hero Scott Carey (the name of the hero of Matheson's novel) discovers something very strange is happening to him. According to his scale he is losing weight rapidly, but his appearance isn't changing at all. His doctor is utterly baffled, but Carey is afraid that sooner or later his complete lack of mass -- despite what he looks like, a pot-bellied middle-aged man -- will send him soaring into the heavens. Carey's neighbors are a lesbian couple who are trying to run a restaurant in King's fictional Castle Rock but encountering difficulties due to prejudice. It's not just that they're a gay couple but that they're married. Carey makes it his business to help them, even though one of the women comes off like a stereotypical man-hater with a chip on her shoulder. In this testament to how friendship can overcome all barriers, the two women eventually become concerned friends of Carey's.

While the gay aspects of the book, however well-meaning (especially after King's nasty depiction of a gay male couple in Needful Things), are a bit awkward, his heart seems to be in the right place. The book is as well-written as anything by King, but some readers might be a little put off by the ending, which is somewhat moving but also a little comical and inexplicable. It's a good, fast read, but by no means a King classic.

Verdict: Worth an hour of your time if you don't expect too much. **3/4. 

A SISTER'S SECRET

Dany Boaz and Margaret Anne Florence

A SISTER'S SECRET (2018). A Lifetime telefilm. Director: D. J. Viola. 

Twin sisters Elizabeth and Callie (Margaret Anne Florence) have different lives, with Callie married with two children, and Elizabeth with a successful career, but neither of them feels fulfilled. On a lark they decide upon the really stupid idea of changing places for a week, but when one of them is murdered the other keeps her mouth shut -- even more stupid -- and tries to solve the crime. But Detective Tucker (Paula Abdul!) is on the case.

Florence with Paula Abdul

A Sister's Secret is a flaccid suspense item that only touches upon some provocative subjects -- at one point one sister even goes so far as to sleep with her dead sister's husband! If the movie gets points for anything it's that the whole identical twin business is handled so seamlessly that I actually thought that they had cast twins in the role. Which makes their choice of lead actress even stranger, as Margaret Anne Florence has such annoying and unfortunate vocal tics and mannerisms that it almost ruins her otherwise credible performance. Danny Boaz is a bit more on the mark as Callie's husband, Grady, and Catherine Dyer -- whom I kept thinking was Bonnie Bedelia --- scores as the twins' practical Aunt Rose. I'm not at all certain what Paula Abdul is doing in this -- the former vocalist and American Idol judge is fairly competent as an actress but I don't see producers signing her up for major projects any time soon. 

Verdict: Two irritating characters for the price of one! **. 

AQUAMAN

Jason Momoa and Amber Heard

AQUAMAN (2018). Director: James Wan. 

Arthur Curry (James Momoa) is the son of a human father (Temeura Morrison) and an Atlantean mother (Nicole Kidman). Having heard that his mother was executed because of her relationship with his father, Arthur wants little to do with Atlantis. But when his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), also known as the Ocean Master, declares war on the surface world, Princess Mera (Amber Heard) importunes Arthur to fight to take the throne away from Orm. In the meantime Arthur, aka Aquaman, also has his hands full with a pirate who calls himself Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).

the city of Atlantis

Aquaman is based on a DC Comics character who has been around for decades. In the comic stories Orm was not a full-blooded Atlantean, but also a hybrid like Arthur -- they had the same father, not the same mother. The film uses the edgier, long-haired, full-bearded version of Aquaman, although I believe the character in the comics has gone back to his original appearance. (For more on Aquaman see The Silver Age of Comics and The Bronze Age of Comics Volume One.) Another change from comic to film is that Mera was not Atlantean but came from another dimension, although her ability to control water has not been altered. 

Patrick Wilson

There are a lot of things one could quibble about with Aquaman -- do we really need to see him sniffing his armpits when Mera suggests he smells bad? --  but the first thing one must say about it is that it is very visually compelling thanks to cinematographer Don Burgess and a host of special effects people. Atlantis is a striking kaleidoscope of color and energy. The fight sequences aboard a submarine in the prologue, a battle between Aquaman and Black Manta in Italy, and a struggle against nasty fanged and clawed monsters who emerge from an undersea trench to attack a boat, are all exciting and well-handled. The search for a trident that will help Aquaman in his battle against Orm takes place, oddly, not in the ocean, but in the Sahara, and his quest eventually takes him to an inner-earth prehistoric world that is borrowed from Edgar Rice Burrouighs' concept for Pellucidar. There are other interesting visual tidbits in the movie, such as Atlanteans who ride on trained sharks, and an octopus that uses its tentacles to beat on several drums at once. Charming!

Black Manta 

Jason Momoa makes an effective enough hero, although the guy should really work on his diction. Amber Heard is very pretty and competent as Mera. Dolph Lundgren and Willem Dafoe score as Atlanteans, Morrison makes a convincing Tom Curry, and Mateen and Michael Beach are fine as Manta and his father. (Manta blames Aquaman for his father's death in the prologue and will seek further revenge in the sequel.) But the show stopper in this is Patrick Wilson as Orm, who offers a fascinating portrait of a man who has understandable feelings of  jealousy and resentment, and the strength to carry out his negative schemes. Wilson makes more of an impression than the gargantuan sea serpent Karathan that shows up in all its glory at the climax. 

NOTE; Yes, I know this is not exactly a "B" movie, having cost about a zillion dollars to make, but this blog will also look at genre films of all kinds, decades, and budgets. 

Verdict: No masterpiece by any means, but good to look at, very colorful, and more entertaining than a lot of DC's movies. ***. 

VENOM (2018)

Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock

VENOM (2018). Director: Ruben Fleischer. 

Reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) winds up fired from his job when he goes up against billionaire scientist Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), who sends men into space to look for resources and finds some weird aliens called Symbiotes. Drake wants to merge the aliens with humans and uses homeless people, most of whom don't survive, for experimentation. Eddie's fiancee, Annie (Michelle Williams), loses her job, too, and cancels their engagement. 

Eddie confronted by Venom

Eddie eventually winds up bonded with one of these creatures himself. The alien talks to him, calls himself "Venom" and has to be talked out of biting people's head's off when he's hungry, which doesn't always work. Venom knows that a group of his kind plan to take over Earth, but he likes it here, and tries to help Eddie prevent Drake -- who has bonded with an alien known as "Riot" -- from taking off into space. 

Venom on thee rampage

Venom is actually a character that was introduced in the Spider-Man comic books. Peter Parker put on a black costume he found during the "Secret Wars" and only later discovered that it was alive. Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four helped him separate from the symbiote, which later merged with Eddie Brock (and later with the serial killer Cletus Kasady, as well as with Parker's friend, "Flash" Thompson.) Played by an appealingly grubby Tom Hardy, Brock is more of a sympathetic figure in this movie than he was in the comics. 

Riz Ahmed

Although Venom begins quite well -- and the FX work throughout is quite good -- the movie eventually becomes a mess, getting sillier and more ridiculous as it goes along. Venom might have worked as an outre horror film, but the PG rating works against it, and this doesn't really jell as a part-time black comedy. The movie has no real climax, because there has to be room for a sequel. There are a couple of exciting moments, but the battle between Venom and Riot kind of falls flat. 

Verdict: Not one of the better Marvel movies. **. 

HALLOWEEN (2018)

Michael

HALLOWEEN  (2018). Director: David Gordon Green. 

Forty years after his killing spree in Haddonfield, IL, Michael Myers is transferred to a different facility and, naturally, escapes. His sister, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), who has turned her home into a fortress in preparation for his return, sets out with her shotgun to kill him. Meanwhile, Michael murders several individuals. Will Laurie finally wipe out the brother who tried to kill her? 

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie

Who cares? I was never a particularly big fan of the original Halloween, only saw a couple of the mostly mediocre sequels, and found this one (which, I believe, ignores the events of the previous "sequels") to be distinctly unoriginal, and eventually, rather dull. The script is disjointed, the pacing is off, and there are only a couple of moments of suspense and very few thrills. Oddly, critics seemed to like the movie even more than the fans, some even finding it "terrifying" and "well-directed." I can only imagine they fell asleep and had a scary nightmare. 

Laurie's daughter and grand-daughter in the cellar

One critic liked the film because of its suggestion of female empowerment, since Laurie, her daughter, and her grand-daughter, all square off against Michael at the climax, but apparently this very young reviewer hasn't seen many slasher films and has no awareness of the whole "final girl" trope. There are a couple of likable kids in the movie: a young boy who tells his father that he likes spending time with him hunting, but would rather go to dance class that night (Billy Elliot?) -- too bad that he doesn't -- and little Julian (Jibrail Nanttambu), a black kid whose babysitter comes to a bad end. 

Verdict: The film doesn't have enough energy for its own good. *1/2. 

THE MEG

Jason Statham 

THE MEG (2018). Director: Jon Turteltaub.

About twenty years ago or so a novel called "Meg" by Steve Alten was published with a minor splash, primarily because the movie rights had been bought before publication by Disney. The film never materialized, although there were other films about giant prehistoric sharks (species: megalodon), as well as novels, at least one of which was published before Meg. I don't know why the book and film were in developmental hell for so long, but the movie adaptation has finally come out. I remember the novel as being fun but not that well-written. The film may be a slight improvement. 

Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) survived an attack by a gigantic creature and has given up diving, until he receives a call for help. A sub with people he knows on it has been disabled underwater and a rescue mission is required. Taylor manages to save most of the people, but discovers that a huge prehistoric shark has come up from a lower level of the ocean. Then it attacks the floating base ...

To be fair to The Meg it does have some thrilling scenes with Statham heroically taking on the gargantuan creature and saving the lives of his companions. But there are a few obnoxious characters (the cowardly black dates back to Stepin Fetchit and is pretty ridiculous in this day and age), and more than its share of cliches. Gore Geeks will be disappointed that the carnage of the film is tasteful, you don't have people being shredded in living color as in Piranha 3D, but that's okay with me. There is some tension and suspense, but somehow the movie ultimately just doesn't impress that much. The music by Harry Gregson-Williams provides needed atmosphere, the pace is fast, the FX ecellent, and Statham offers a charismatic lead performance, however.

Verdict: By no means a bad movie, but not something you'll necessarily want in your permanent DVD collection, either. **1/2.