The Exorcist: Believer (2023) - Movie Review

Even as someone who, when all is said and done, really liked the recent Halloween trilogy, I was still sceptical about David Gordon Green’s next choice for a horror franchise that needed a fresh start. While the Exorcist series hasn’t been through quite as much turbulence as the latter days of the Halloween franchise, it has developed some highly divisive features (both Exorcist II and III have garnered cult statuses over the years, in comparison to the still-universally beloved original), and as I’ve been making a habit of saying this past year, modern exorcism films are starting to back themselves into a corner. The Conjuring craze has led to some particularly unnecessary features, both in and out of its actual continuity, and 2023 marked the year when it felt like I had somewhat lost faith in this sub-genre.

Basically, not only is this going to have to be a saving throw for the larger franchise, it’s also gonna have to save its entire sector of horror cinema. No pressure or anything.

Bones And All (2022) - Movie Review

Luca Guadagnino has a habit of changing my entire fucking worldview with each new film of his I watch and review. Call Me By Your Name, in the years since I first looked at, has become a rather important moment in my personal history as a Queer person, and I genuinely think I wouldn’t be in my current relationship had I not watched it (just one of many experiences that make me love this job). Suspiria, along with being that rare remake that (in my opinion) eclipses the original, is a fascinating example of filmmaking as actual witchcraft, a perspective that I’ve since added to my frequently flowery ideas about the potential of cinema. Whatever he has lined up next has big shoes to fill, clearly, but he has once again delivered an absolute winner.

Halloween Ends (2022) - Movie Review

I went into this with what I’d consider a reasonable amount of cautious optimism. Halloween Kills from last year still left me hankering to see how this trilogy was going to wrap up, but with the rather glaring flaws that showed up there, I was admittedly worried that it was the sign that things were going to properly bottom out. This would be the trilogy that first blazed its way into cinemas and created a fresh, clean slate that swept away the myriad of messy follow-ups to the 1978 original… only to do its own restocking of similarly wasteful material. I don’t even hate Kills as much as a lot of others seem to, but it still left me with a rather worrying impression, despite how much I got into its meatier subtext.

Thankfully, though, I am happy to report that this properly returns to what made the 2018 film work as well as it did. Although you’d be forgiven for being completely thrown off by what this finale has to offer.

Halloween Kills (2021) - Movie Review

Something about this film’s mere existence is bothersome, without even getting into the content. After how cleanly the 2018 film dealt with the franchise’s continuity baggage, and how it managed to tell a story that felt just right when put next to the original, the sheer notion of continuing from there feels off. I don’t like the idea of this turning into the very clutter it trimmed out last time, and unfortunately, quite a bit of this feels like clutter. And yet, even with that in mind, I still can’t bring myself to hate, or do much of anything but be satisfied with what I got. Confused yet? Yeah, me too, so let’s try and sort this mess out together.