Candyman (2021 film)

Category: Supernatural horror/reboot of established IP with social commentary

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There's a fine balancing act that reboots/remakes and sequels need to walk - if they differ too much from established lore, then it's not really a sequel. But if the new story is too rooted in established lore, new audiences won't catch on because of stuff they never knew they needed to know about. And then you have the problem that if too much of the run-time is spent recapping or referencing established lore, this leaves less room to progress the actual story. Having said all that, I went in to this movie with absolutely no knowledge of the previous series - I didn't actually know this was a reboot until I read the IMDB page.

The premise behind Candyman plays on the urban legend that standing infront of a mirror and saying "Candyman" five times will make the Candyman himself appear and kill you, but now comes packaged with a sociopolitical twist. This isn't just a standard horror film - it's a commentary on racism by those nasty nasty wypipo and police brutality.

Saw X (2023 film)

Category: Torture/gore horror drama

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In the latest (but apparently not the last) instalment of this nearly 20-year old franchise, Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith team up again to help bad guys realise the errors of their ways via the inappropriate use of medical equipment in Saw X.

And while there is only so much wriggle room to come up with new material in a franchise with an already-established canon, I will say this entry is by no means the worst - and actually has some outstanding qualities.

The biggest plus is that Saw X is quite well written and paced - so much so that Saw X could well have been its own standalone film - there was a real refreshing feel about this movie. Or, conversely, if Saw X had been made before the other instalments (because why not make the 10th movie in the series and have it take place between the first two), it would at least have allowed for a better plot progression for the subsequent entries in the series. I wrote in my combined reviews for Saw 3 and Saw 5 that the only thing more convoluted than the traps was the plot, and that was because in those films we got this contrived back and forth between people with a mysterious connection, a corrupt FBI agent in a pool of stupid law enforcement officers, and a man attempting to extol the virtue of life while committing murder. Whereas here, the traps are convoluted, sure, but the plot is relatively straightforward and able to be understood.

Madame Web (2024 film)

Category: Superhero/Cinematic Universe movie

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I honestly went into this movie with an open a mind as possible. While I enjoyed The Critical Drinker's absolutely stinging barbs, as well as Nerdrotic's take, I made it a point to try enjoy this movie for what it was and as it was.

And I still couldn't.

This movie just doesn't work.

It's a mess. 

It's bad. 

It's not quite Ghostbusters 2016 bad - but it's still bad.

Before I get into my opinions and observations of the movie, I'll go into an outline of the plot:

In 1973, the heavily pregnant mother of Cassandra Webb (there's a name that foretells a story) is in the jungles of Peru looking for a species of spider that apparently has healing powers. But right after she finds an actual live specimen of this mysterious healing spider, her security man, Ezekiel, shoots everyone and steals said spider. Right after mother Webb is shot, she is taken into a cave by the mystic spider-people of the Peruvian jungle (who seemingly just watched the murders happen and have either no ability or desire to stop Ezekiel stealing their precious spider). In the cave, she gets bitten by a spider with healing powers…and then quickly dies.