Month: November 2020

Hello lovely free-thinking listeners and readers: I am against a new wave of horror films that take little into account except race. I want creepiness, above all else, in my horror. This film has some. I await the day when all colors are presented in movies without preference or prejudice. The goal is the scare! This one is not bad!

Let me establish here at the get go I am enamored of black culture. I am in no way prejudiced against anyone for the color of their skin or even their socio-economic condition. I teach college freshman English and I encourage all my students, whatever their skin color or ethnicity, to work and succeed in life through getting a college education. I just thought I’d give you a little background on me before anyone starts falsely accusing me of being racist. Ok enough of that fine print, let’s do the review!

What’s in this 2020 film called “Black Box?” More importantly, is it worth a 2020 horror fan’s time? Blumhouse financed it but as fans know, their movies have been hit and miss in the past few years with a sample miss being “Happy Death Day II” and absolute hits being the “Creep” franchise and the inimitable “Hush.” So, with respect and eager anticipation, horror fans want to know, “What’s next in the box?” For me, this one stops just short of being great. It succeeds in looking like a “Get Out” (is there any latent horror value in mandating a mostly black cast? Please sound off in the comments) but it loses points in scares and writing. In some social ways, this was a hard review for me. I don’t want to offend people. Please don’t be offended. Sound off in the comments, I would love to hear your response to this film.

Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. is our first time director. “Black Box,” in a similar vein of “Total Recall,” concerns the erasure/redemption of memory, and one man’s sad loss of his. Glenn Kenny (NYT) says:

In “Black Box,” it’s bad enough for Nolan (Mamoudou Athie) that, half a year after losing his wife in an automobile accident that also put him into a temporary coma, he’s still suffering from amnesia. But what’s worse are his dreams, which are increasingly becoming nightmares. 

The trouble is, we’ve see this before done far better: e.g. Vertigo, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Memento, The Tree of Life …

Mamoudou Athie portrays Nolan, a mysterious dad with no past he can recollect and thus has a very strange relationship with his daughter. He forgets to pick her up from school numerous times and thus is threatened by her teacher that next time she will have to call social services. Enter clinical and controversial memory scientist Lillian (Phylicia Rashad) who claims she can bring back his memory through a sort of guided meditation which smacks of “Insidious,” and other familiar horror tropes. She’s a beloved actress but fails to get this plot off life support. It takes a long time for anything scary to happen and Rashad is … well she’s 72. It feels like they are trying to attract black viewers primarily instead of all colors of fans. I’ve wondered since the release of “Get Out” why they need that. I get reparations and equity etc. I love black culture butI’mnt sure Jordan Peele is a horror director to emulate. I know I’m in the minority on that. Feel differently? Let’s chat about it in the comments. I respect all views on horror. It’s not all black and white.

Progress is steadily made with the protagonist’s memory. These scenes are creepy, I liked them. If anything, these dreamlike memory sequences make it worth your time. The writing in between is often pathetic though. I feel more effort should have gone into developing believable characters, textbook black or not. The righteous anger over prejudice will likely produc…

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This interesting director’s name is Jim Cummings (“Thunder Road”). He’s a new director with a lot of energy. Unfortunately I hated his portrayal of the Sheriff. He’s slight and seems to lash out uncontrollably for no reason. I attribute that to a writer/actor/director taking on too much. But that doesn’t stop the cult praise. I see big scores for this film all over, even on Letterboxd which impresses me since so many of respectable amateur film critics (and pro too) live there. I think the first real werewolf movie I saw was “Silver Bullet” written by Stephen King. That movie will always rock in my memory. Gary Busey was the goofy uncle and the werewolf is one of the scariest anyone could have assembled in a film.

People in their teens and twenties might find it hard to believe that there were werewolf movies prior to “Twilight.” Probably the most outlandish of which is “An American Werewolf in London.”

If you’re a horror fan who hasn’t seen it yet, you should. Let me take a birdwalk here for a few words about Silver Bullet. It’s comedic irony in a horror film like no other film. “Silver Bullet” is another werewolf film that has been lost on a new generation. I was 10 in 1980 and watched whatever I could of Stephen king movies all through the decade. “Silver Bullet” is horror with an Americana feel to it. King created a solid story here that has stood the test of time for me. Watching it 30 years later, I still hid my eyes a few times, remember terrified sleepovers of my youth in front of the tv.

The plot is fairly simple but that works well for the film. A werewolf brings terror down on a smalltown American city. The protagonist is Marty, a paralyzed boy confined to a wheelchair. The other two main characters beside Marty are his sister and uncle. They don’t believe what he is telling them about the horror he sees. Along the way you get smalltown diners, 80’s decorated homes, picnics, and scary legends coming to life before your eyes. All people around my age must remember the motorcycle wheelchair. Yes, that was something to behold! Most all of King’s movies have somewhat of a sing song vibe to them, “The Shining” being an exception. I remember reading “The Stand” and “Firestarter” in high school and there were pages devoted to oldies tunes. King has a talent for making singsong wholesome images terrifying. Silver Bullet follows right along in that style of his.

A character worth noting is Marty’s uncle, played by the indefatigable Gary Busey. He is pure fun to watch on screen. When I see him in movies like this or “the Buddy Holly Story” I can’t help but wonder if the character was written just for him. He has an attitude in real life that shows through in most of his characters. When facing a werewolf, you definitely want Busey with you. In the interest of preventing spoilers I won’t go into too much plot detail. Suffice it to say, “Silver Bullet” is a well-crafted movie adapted from an amazing story by an established and world famous horror writer. It reminds me of the 80’s in its purity and innocence. Even though it is a bit singsong at times with its focus on an American town, it pulls no punches for being a frightening movie including clever effects. Every time I watch it I see something more. The werewolf movie genre may have evolved since the 80’s but we can always travel back and get a glimpse of what it was with “Silver Bullet.”

But this is no “Silver Bullet,” to be fair, it doesn’t try to be your typical werewolf film. It struggles to keep verisimilitude which is a necessary element for scares. I yelled at the TV “There is a wolf or what?” Let me just say I was disappointed with the films response. I think there is a cult favorite rising here for multiple reasons, all complimentary to Cummings. Still, the editing is piss poor, the choices for cuts and scene setups is horrendous. While I liked the sharp canines,

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