Tag: horror

Hell of a Summer “Review”

Release date: April 4, 2025 (USA)

Directors: Billy Bryk, Finn Wolfhard

Distributed by: Neon

Box office: $1.8 million

Production companies: 30West; Aggregate Films

We’re back movie goers with a fun one – A trip to memory lane of older slasher movies in this campy fun Hell of a Summer.

Thoroughly enjoyed the pacing of this title. No stretching moments or story plots out. Sets title up. Shows you type of action and then goes into the introduction of our characters.

Great cast across the board here. From our camp lead Jason played by Fred Hechinger. Plays the old guy in the group quite awkward but charming qualities. Then our several counselors of Camp Pineway.

(Honestly there’s a lot of great younger actors here so let’s include them all. Skip this part if not interested.) From Finn Wolfhand playing Chris. His friend Bobby played by Billy Bryk. The popular ones Demi & Mike played by Pardis Saremi & D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai. Supporting (Love?) interest – Claire & Shannon played by Abby Quinn & Krista Nazaire. Then our supporting characters with their own personal charms and personalities – Miley (Julia Doyle) – Ezra (Matthew Finlan) – Ari (Daniel Gravelle) – Noelle (Julia Lalonde).

What more can I say for this title honestly. It was a fun one. Half way in things start to heat up and then all the slasher fun begins. Loved all the surprises left out of the trailer. Was refreshing to see for a change.

Grab some popcorn and enjoy a solid 7/10 good experience packed with campy jokes and more camp like humor. Would love to hear yours thoughts on this one. Seems mixed online from 55% on RT, 6 on IMBD & Letterboxd. 98% of google users like the movie also which I’m curious how that’s calculated.

Anything I may have missed before we dive deeper into April that should be checked out? The Friend? Comes to mind but let me know if there’s others. Possibly Wednesday morning I’ll release a Popped Date while waiting in the queue for Comic Con Hotels Raffle :D.

See you all then and catch you Friday night with The Amateur “Review”. Big Nintendo Day that day for me 😀

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Screamboat “Review”

Release date: April 2025 (USA)

Director: Steven LaMorte

Producers: Steven LaMorte, Amy Schumacher, Michael Leavy, Steven Della Salla, Martine Melloul

Distributed by: Iconic Events

Based on: Steamboat Willie; by: Walt Disney; Ub Iwerks

Music by: Yael Benamour; Charles-Henri Avelange

Shall we rapid fire today’s “review” batch.

Maybe more inline for those into Terrifier? (I never really sat down to watch the series) but Screamboat had a lot of promise for a B rated horror movie. Sadly it outstayed its welcome going on 30minutes to long and tried to wrap the feature up for a sequel / series.

Honestly I hoped it was so bad it’s good but it’s just bad. With some enjoyment for the first hour then walk out honestly. (Unless you’re digging it). Once the addition of the whore birthday party of Disney Princess’s left center stage this movie was between Willie and some random human characters that bored the poopdeck outta me.

Why was Pete a human and not recreated like Willie was? Is his public domain on a separate timeline? Honestly New York vs Willie Mouse wasn’t what I signed up for.

Honestly, enjoy the first hour. If you’re not committed then walk out and catch it on streaming. It’s lower than streamer and lower than so bad it’s good. Popped Score of 2.5/10.

I’ll update the bottom 5 list tomorrow. It’s been a long day with the Switch 2 Direct and then staying up for this batch but hey. That’s showbiz baby 😀 Gotta keep on keeping on to hit 100 :D. Honestly I after this evenings batch I may take the weekend off….. yea get ready for the next one.

Watching this to tempt me into Terrifier franchise wasn’t the smartest move but hey, go watch it with a group. Maybe get drunk before or get ready to cheese over this. Enjoy the classic tunes and whistles. Mixed with Joker laugh. Maybe you’ll have an okay time.

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Death of a Unicorn “Review”

Release date: March 28, 2025 (USA)

Director: Alex Scharfman

Producers: Jenna Ortega, Alex Scharfman, Jacob Epstein · See more

Distributed by: A24

Edited by: Ron Dulin

Music by: Dan Romer; Giosuè Greco

Finally our last “Review” this evening with our triple decker “Review” coming to a close. Wish this wasn’t so but brace yourselves for this one.

From the studio and creators that brought us the greatest movie of 2023. My favorite title that year. Brings us Death of a Unicorn. Maybe it’s the lack of connection for the family daddy daughter intro. Maybe the fact they showed us the ending scene in the poster which feels oddly familiar…Cap4? Or the fact I had so many actors in this title that I usually enjoy. Just not hitting with me. Or simple the fact it was a 40minute tale drawn out for almost 2 hours when I’d rather watch a better executed title on Max called Common Side Effects that tells this story vastly superior.

After hitting a Unicorn while on a business trip Jenna Ortega’s character Ridley is a deep connection with it when touching it’s horn before her father Elliot played by Paul Rudd smashes its head in ending it.

Not sure where the Wednesday Ortega was or the Ant Man 1 Rudd was but their performances this time round were rather weak. Best character and actor in this title for me personally was Griff played by Anthony Carrigan.

I could go on about this feature but from the trailer you can piece together this film. Unicorn Revenge with some family drama. Maybe you can stretch it to a deeper meaning with why I connect it with Common Side Effects but just checkout that series over this film. Then watch this and tell me what you think.

My worst movie of 2025 thus far. I enjoyed Snow White more than this. Ash had a solid last 40minutes compared to anything in here. Cap 4 at least had a good story device within the marketing spoils. So with that going joint 3/10 with Cap 4. Death of a Unicorn is going in at my streaming “Review” score. Not worthy of the big screen over other recent films like Last Breath, Magazine Dreams, and the plethora of solid good 7 tier range films that have released the past month.

Looking at other platforms it’s pretty across the board mid 55%-57%.

With that, wraps our third title “Review” for this evening.

Appreciate you coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” and love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Was I wildly off compared to your experience? Did you have an answer for our horror studio? I’m personally placing Neon & Blum House fighting it out. A24 is so hit and miss with massive misses recently that 3rd place has yet to hit the wells flooring.

That wraps up March for movies and leads us to the first title in April – Minecraft. Expect some Popped Dates soon with community discussions on various topics. Also Anime “Reviews” to come soon also as we wind down March.

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The Woman in the Yard “Review”

Release date: March 28, 2025 (USA)

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Language: English

Producers: Jason Blum, Stephanie Allain

Written by: Sam Stefanak

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Welcome to the first of a triple batch “Review” this evening. First up, another contender for the Blum House Universe – Woman in the Yard.

Ramona (Played by Danielle Deadwyler) is struggling with grief after loosing her husband. Tay her son (Played by Peyton Jackson) is doing his best to be the man of the house in his fathers absence & Annie (Played by Estelle Kahiha) Tay’s little sister is still rather young but has story for growth within her character throughout her story.

As the setting of this family is laid out within the opening scenes. Tay is requested to put the family dog out into the yard before the events take a turn. “Mum, there’s a woman in the yard” – From here the story takes a turn. Without getting into spoilers I’ll be vague but establish levels of interest / areas that worked into my scoring.

Paranormal vs Psychological horror – What are you expecting from this feature? I’ll leave this here and let you experience. A story of grieving told through the studio Blum House.

The use of music, sound, camera work and visual cinematography is what established a feature that created tension and put me on edge when seeing this title. It didn’t need to use jump scares or cheesy visuals. Those scenes were present but worked due to the settings laid out and built upon in this tale. Plenty to experience with this and to enjoy. At least I across the board I feel most will find this title good. Looks like online critics aren’t fairing as well but we’ll get to that later on.

Example of great tension for those into Doctor Who – Weeping Angels mechanics are in play 😉 – Don’t look away now. Dogs warning barking is the first sign of trouble….. when did it get so quite? This and plenty more is to be explored, experienced and elaborated upon going into this one hour 25minute feature.

Stay tuned for my Blum House Universe proposal lists 😀 I’m curious your thoughts on it also.

Popped score of 7.5/10 – Solid Good Film throughout with elements of greatness but just shy for myself. With an RT score from critics of 40% & IMBd currently at 6.7/10 I’m definitely the higher end of the spectrum with this one.

Speaking of laying the ground work with settings. What Horror Studio are you most into consistently? – Blum House | Neon | A24 – Love to hear your thoughts by the third title of our batch of features this week.

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Ash “Review”

Release date: March 21, 2025 (USA)

Director: Flying Lotus

Producers: Matthew Metcalfe, Nathaniel Bolotin

Distributed by: Amazon.com

Production company: XYZ Films

Looking like the Returnal video game and starring Aaron Paul. I took a dive into the space of Ash…. let’s discuss. (Really! I’d love to discuss. But not about this movie….directly..?) Confused? Let’s work backwards to understand…. get it ;p.

Shudder, the horror streaming platform has once again got a movie into theatres. Going by the RT scores. Good for them! I’d like to discuss this in a new segment I’ll be making, possibly every week or 2. We need a bigger discussion directly rather than throughout “review” postings.

Riya, played by Eiza Gonzalez wakes up after some visual imagery with a head wound and unsure what is going on. It’s now up to Riya to explore this space to not only piece together what’s going on but also to survive and something has destroyed the station and even killed her crewmates ! :O! The movie starts you off later in the timeline to piece together throughout.

If you’re interested then stick with the next hour and 20 ish minutes. If not. Good luck! You’ll be waiting awhile to get a recap then “enjoy?” the last 40minutes as you get to go forward past that point to wrap the 2 hour film up.

Maybe it’s not for me but it’s definitely hitting for some with reviews from 5.8 to 76% scores on media platforms. Sadly this film for me personally was intended for the Shudder streaming platform to enjoy that last 40minutes. But that’s where the bigger discussion comes from.

This movie does save some cool music and sound effects for the later half. Intriguing story / development. For some, some visual horror and jump scares even if they failed for me personally. It’s a cheap movie, but hey, it’s a movie after all. Enjoy your popcorn and relax. Or you could go watch the Alien franchise :S.

It’s a straight up streaming movie for me personally. 3.5/10 – Others are enjoying it so maybe worth checking out. At least to see that final 40 minutes. You know me and those last 40 minutes 😉 (Nod to Ne Zha 2 :D).

Bigger conversation – I’ll probably type up a Popped Date 😉 about streaming services and their movies going onto the big screen. I love it! Keep it coming. But maybe get your better movies on the big screen rather than your mid B tier. It’s a reason why we call movies a streaming movie.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see a “Streaming Movie” actually being praised and on the big screen winning awards. That after seeing it on the big screen get to go home and in a few months get to experience it again! Disney + and other platforms have issues with their sound mixing. Sometimes headphones are better than speakers. But the theatre has the immersion.

No worries about picture, sound or comfort as it offers the ultimate experience. So why not bring your ultimate features? A small piece of the bigger convo I’d like to discuss.

Sound interesting? Then keep an eye on that Popped Date and maybe a Youtube video will be created from that discussion?

Thank you for taking the time to come by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. I started this journey last year and despite the second year attempting to elevate this space with a podcast. The execution was poor and not worth yours or my time. That being said, I’d like to elevate and expand this space. Make it a platform / community where we enjoy movies and share our experiences and discuss.

I have have a ton of time to watch the movies. But editing YT Videos or content isn’t the best either for myself. So I’ll continue to cook and through the Popped Dates will create a space to plant those seeds and see what blooms. I’d like to get that down in the second year of Popped and possibly move in that overall goal by or into the third year. What comes after the third year ? Good question! But by 2026 I’d like to have found those answers and look forward to having you along with me on this ride.

Once more, greatly appreciated. I’ll see you next batch!

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Locked “Review”

Release date: March 21, 2025 (USA)

Director: David Yarovesky

Producers: Sam Raimi, Zainab Azizi, Ara Keshishian, Petr Jákl, Sean Patrick O

Based on: 4×4; by: Mariano Cohn; Gastón Duprat

Production companies: ZQ Entertainment; Raimi Productions

Had no idea about this movie prior to going in. The actors / Producer caught my eye and …. was locked in on this one ;).

This “Review” will be short due to a fairly simple setup but a whole lot of depth once locked in.

Bill Skarsgard plays Eddie Barrish, a down on his luck / deadbeat dad. Take your pick. Having to turn to crime in order to get by and acquire money to repair his vehicle in order to pickup his daughter. Eddie finds himself within the vehicle that will lock him in for a ride he wasn’t prepared for.

Anthony Hopkins plays William, a character played through the car to interact with Eddie in this horrific yet enlightening? Experience to come for them both.

I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy all the projects that Bill Skarsgard signs up with. Locked is yet another title on his belt which is a solid good experience. He mostly carries this movie as the majority is played out within the car itself. Great camera work and story telling.

Again I wont go into details or plot points for those curious on this one so I’ll slap this with a straight up 7. Good ride on this one and glad I checked it out.

Have you checked out Boy Kills World? If so you’ll enjoy this one. Tomorrow I’ll be checking out The Alto Knights so check back later on tonight for a slightly different movie.

Thank you for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” and I’ll see you, next time.

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Black Bag & Opus “Reviews” – Double Batch

Release date: March 14, 2025 (USA)

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Budget: $50 million

Distributed by: Universal Pictures, Focus Features

Cinematography: Peter Andrews

Produced by: Casey Silver; Gregory Jacobs

Double batch coming your way a little late due to busy / lack of interest in this mid range batch… no offence.

Seeing the current review scores, I’m glad it’s doing well. Love the cast but the pacing is so incredibly slow. Lack of action and only picked up in last 20minutes. I compare this movie to being in a 50MPH zone stuck behind someone going 30. I want to get to my destination but it’s taking forever.

Slow rides don’t put you off? Then have fun. 6/10 Popped Score

Distributed by: A24

Budget: $10 million

Music by: Danny Bensi (score); Saunder Jurriaans (score); Nile Rodgers (music); The-Dream (music)

The weirdness that intrigued me, maybe the thing that puts you off.

Think a lower budget Indie A24 version of Blink Twice. Popstar from the 90’s is returning to release a new album. Inviting several guests to his groups little “Resort?” we get introduced to our main lead POV Ariel Ecton being played by Ayo Edebiri.

Ariel is a journalist doing a report on this popstar / album but finds herself mixed into a twisted plan with….. cultists…. :O.

It’s a weird movie but personally a much more enticing one than Black Bag giving this a fine rating of 6.5/10. Again the weirdness will put off many. But for some, it maybe the thing that gets you to like it.

Rapid fire batch this week. Expect Snow White, Ash & Alto Knights to come for the next up-coming batch :D. Followed by to end the month, Death of a Unicorn, Women in the Yard & Working Man.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” and I’ll see you next time 😀

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Night of the Zoopocalypse “Review”

Release date: March 7, 2025 (USA)

Directors: Ricardo Curtis, Rodrigo Perez-Castro

Music by: Dan Levy

Distributed by: Elevation Pictures, Apollo Films

Based on: ZOOmbies; by Clive Barker

Had no expectations going in. Was either caught off guard or on moon rocks but this was a fun experience at the theatre. (Not for everyone….you’ll see soon :D)

What I’m calling, an intro to zombie movies for kids (But not all kids) – Night of the Zoopocalypse starts us off with a chase between our main wolf lead and a scary identity. This is her pack running drills to keep their survival instincts fresh and ready to protect the pack. The scope opens up to reveal their an exhibit of this zoo and we see a new face brought into the zoo during the pack lead’s teachings.

Showing that scope of the zoo, the animals, layout and environment playground for the film to have fun within later was a blast within just a few minutes. The characters were fun, good sound track and despite playing on all the movie troupes, played right into a bow tie of movie for big kids and little ones interested in a movie that’s a great entry point for zombies.

Sometimes this did get dark and scary. Other times let up and was bright and fun. The zombie gummy animals were a treat and seeing the combinations and designs was so much fun. Using the cutest of critters to be the zombies was great as you get to explore the horde navigating this space in addition to our “living” group leads.

As said from the top this was a blast and I had a lot of fun. Maybe having the theatre to myself released my inner kid but honestly I’d watch it again. Just be mindful of space rocks that come down within the zoo because you never know what the outbreak will be.

A potential sequel was teased at the end but I wouldn’t stick around for it. An audible queue and a lot of title screens. I’m not sure on the production house but I’ll be keeping an eye on these guys going forth.(L’Atelier Animation – Found out it’s a Canadian Animation Studio founded in 2014 and owned by Cinesite since 2022). Definitely got my interest and thus breaking the 7.5 pattern of late and scoring a popped score of 8/10. Great movie.

Another animated title I’m keeping my eye on is from the writers of Paddington in Peru with a title called Critterz. Have an inkling to check this title out? Waiting for streaming and catch the sequel in theatres next time? Let us know in the comments, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.

I’m back and forth on my next couple of films but I plan to “Review” Mickey 17 either tomorrow or Tuesday night. Depends if I watch it twice or not. In the lost lands should be today’s movie. With possibly Mickey 17 or Rule Breakers tomorrow. Taking a break Monday 😛 then back in it with Mickey 17 Tuesday, Looney Tunes Wednesday & Black Bag Thursday.

Going to be a big week for movies as I catch up / ramp up throughout March before the big titles hit for summer next month / May.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” and I’ll see you, next time!

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The Monkey “Review”

Release date: February 21, 2025 (USA)

Director: Oz Perkins

Adapted from: The Monkey

Distributed by: Neon

Budget: $10–11 million

Cinematography: Nico Aguilar

Getting a little behind after my surgery so let’s speed run this and get caught up with the Oscars shall we :D.

From the opening scene with Adam Scott (My wife and I just started watching Severance during my recovery which was cool seeing him in the intro of The Monkey), to the intro when our twin brothers are in their youth and seeing Tatiana Maslany playing their mother.

I was rather entertained and digging this feature. Placing it easily at an 8/10 for it’s greatness. Capturing the fun energy of gory kills that Hearts Eyes didn’t quite capture for me personally but did for so many others.

Tatiana Maslany smashes the roll out the park channeling the performance to her Orphan Black era which is one of my all time favorite shows of all time. (Fingers crossed she can continue from here and course correct the awful writing/script she was delt with She-Hulk).

The Monkey is centered around two twin brothers whom inherit a “toy” (Don’t call it a toy) wind-up monkey which results in the death of individuals throughout the movie. Splitting the movie between their childhood and then 25 years later in their adult years. This movie certainly takes a decline as certain threads and plot points collide in an awkward mess ruining the greatness that was setup earlier.

It’s a good watch maybe even very good but sadly ends shy of being great due to those last act weakness’s. Did you get a chance to check out The Monkey? Love to hear your thoughts and with that, let’s jump over to the Oscars and get caught up shall we :D.

Popped “Review” score of 7.5/10 – Not to shabby on a 10-11 Million $ Budget to make some box office $. Still insane to hear Ne Zha 2 which has hit over 2Billion Dollars was made on a 80Million budget. Insane!

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Heart Eyes “Review”

Release date: February 7, 2025 (USA)

Director: Josh Ruben

Producers: Christopher Landon, Adam Hendricks, Greg Gilreath

Distributed by: Screen Gems, Republic Pictures

Budget: $18 million

Music by: Jay Wadley

Character design and trailer were intriguing. Well butt in seat, lets check this title out shall we..

If you read my previous “Review” you have a gage in where this is going.

From the opening scene I was worried. The campy B horror movie was showing and I buckled in for a bumpy ride hoping for a decent movie at best. A glimmer of light came after this intro segment that unlocked a new category shortly after….. It’s so bad it’s good?

Before we get ahead let’s go into the movie shall we. Think Scary Movie where the killer (Heart Eyes) is going around killing couples. It felt like the movie was having fun on itself having parodies and following tropes overly used in other scary movies. Sadly for myself this teetered on the It’s so bad it’s good…..for some people? But not for myself.

It walked the tight rope but fell in the bad camp for myself. Or at least it’s almost so bad its good for some people tier. Slightly missing the mark of being good. Was it the execution? The overly used tropes. The fact that metal straws wont save the day? Or the fact that the coffee shop scene was the highlight for myself on the discussion of metal straws vs plastic cups… yea it’s not for me but it’s for someone. Which is clearly shown in the mid reviews on several platforms.

Check it out have fun? Or save yourself some time and wait for the hopeful better horror movie “The Monkey”? Either way this will be joining Love Hurts in my bottom 5 list for 2025 with a popped score of 3.5/10.

Going to attempt to have Captain America 4 review up by Sunday. All depending when I have chance to check the title out. Paddington 3 should go live Thursday morning. If possible I’ll try squeeze in “I’m Still Here” this week also before my surgery a week from today.

Thanks for coming by Popped.blog for your movie “Reviews” and excited / hopeful for the movies coming ahead of us in February 2025… January started off pretty good so dips are sure to occur.

See you next batch 😀

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