Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) - Movie Review

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a film being made with a very specific audience in mind. In this case, it’s for fans of the 1993 cult classic Hocus Pocus, one of the odder parts of Disney’s storied history. I only got around to watching it fairly recently (on insistence from my significant other), and while I don’t entirely get the hype for it, it’s still quite fun. Looking at it through a modern lens, it’s quite easy to see why the Sanderson sisters would become so iconic, since they are the perfect intersection between Drag theatricality, Gothic subversiveness, and just plain hammy performances. I mean, yeah, the amount of time the narrative fixates on the virginity of teenagers is… a bit much, but it has its place in pop culture. A place that Disney has now seen fit to add on to with a decades-removed sequel.

Hellbender (2022) - Movie Review

 

Now this is a family picture right here!

I mean, yeah, it’s a story about the relationship between a mother and daughter, but this is one of the more holistically family-oriented films I think I’ve ever looked on here. Pretty much every aspect of the production here (directing, writing, producing, acting, camera work, editing, soundtrack) is shared among the four members of the Adams family: Father John, mother Toby Poser, and daughters Zelda and Lulu. I’ve said a few times before that I think women who love horror are awesome people, but it’s another level when an entire family bonds over that kind of subversive material.

The Witch Of Kings Cross (2021) - Movie Review

Time for a bit of local colour. This is an Aussie documentary by Sonia Bible about Rosaleen Norton, an artist and provocateur whom the media had dubbed ‘The Witch Of Kings Cross’. Kings Cross itself is quite an infamous stretch of the Sydney landscape, so it really says something when Norton’s exploits were enough for that kind of honorific. And as someone who knew sweet F.A. about her going into this, I found myself fascinated by what this doco had to offer.

Earwig And The Witch (2021) - Movie Review

As a result of not getting around to as many films this year, I in turn haven’t had as many chances to go out of my way to see films that have gotten… mixed reactions, let’s say. And with this one in particular, it seems a little too easy to see the problem with it, even before I started watching it. This is the first feature to come out of the fabled Studio Ghibli since When Marnie Was There six years ago, and it’s also their first attempt at 3D animation. Part of me is tempted to just chalk up the whole thing to a bad experiment or, more pointed, maybe it’s just a result of critics being unwelcome to Ghibli trying something new. However, the problems with this go much deeper than the surface. Well, as deep under the surface as there is room to get with something like this.

Fear Street Parts One, Two & Three (2021) - Movie Trilogy Review

The line separating television productions and cinematic productions is thinner now than it has ever been. There are several reasons for this: Increased production values for television, streaming services making both equally accessible, cinematic universes that operate under the same shared continuity as a TV series; the list goes on. Hell, it’s gotten to a point where I’d likely have more relevant material to work with if I reviewed more series on here rather than just sticking to films, but honestly, I tend to watch recent films but only get around to TV shows until well after they’ve ended so I can binge-watch in peace without having to deal with the hype train while it’s still on the tracks.

But then there are productions that blur the lines even further, like the subject of today’s review. A Netflix trilogy of films, all made by the same film crew back-to-back, and released within a week of each other; this is more miniseries than three contained films. As such, this review is going to be a bit different from my usual one-at-a-time methodology, as I’m going to look at all three in one go, highlight what separates them and, more importantly, what links them together.

Gretel & Hansel (2020) - Movie Review

Following up on last year’s Judy & Punch, we have another retelling of a famous piece of folklore that announces its intentions right with the title: The woman comes first. However, more so than the uneven feminist rhetoric of Judy, this film is a lot closer to The VVitch, both because it involves one, but also in how it turns nature (both human and environmental) into its bedrock for horror.