redbirthdayletters Reviews

The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

This show changed my life

[10/10 · 24 December 2018]

Indeed, it changed my life. Before watching it I had a certain anxiety around dead people since I never attended a funeral as a child (I wasn't allowed to)-which is something that affects a person in a negative way. But after watching Shirley doing her work as a mortician for the second time, the dead don't scare me as much. I never came across a show that put the dead in such a positive light and I am grateful for this.

About the story and the characters: everyone in the show does an amazing job at emphasizing how difficult it is to cope with trauma as an adult. Having been through traumatic experiences myself, I can empathise with the characters. It is indeed true that if you don't confront your painful past, you're stuck in it forever.

I really want this show to win an award or something because it truly deserves some recognition.

The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)

A poem with elements of horror

[9/10 · 9 February 2018]

I find this movie very poetic. The nature is beautiful. The forest and the river near the family home add to the romantic feeling of the movie. I love the small moments of suspense throughout the movie that make the viewer think who is behind the crimes. It took a long time for me to accept the supernatural aspect of the story but, as it turns our, fits perfectly in it. The ending is one of the best I've seen in any horror movie.

Get Out (I) (2017)

A movie with no tension puts you to sleep

[5/10 · 9 February 2018]

I expected more from this movie but, in the end it was a big disappointment. My main concern about it was the lack of tension. Any great story needs tension otherwise, why am I watching it? I already knew what's going to happen in the movie right after Rosy's mom hypnotized her boyfriend. That's why it felt predictable in any way. The story also reminds me of The Stepford Wives, and this reminder adds to the feeling of 'having seen this type of movie before'. Anyway. I don't recommend this flick to anyone looking for a horror movie to watch on a Saturday night. It's not even a thriller, much less horror.

Dark Blood (2012)

A piece of art

[9/10 · 16 October 2016]

This movie was the last one River Phoenix did. It is unfinished, yet hauntingly beautiful.

Phoenix did a great job playing Boy, a young widower living in the desert on a nuclear testing site. The guy rescues a Hollywood couple whose car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Little did the couple knew that Boy wasn't as willing to help them as he sounded. The movie set was so beautiful and surreal, it was the perfect background for the conflict between the characters.

I also found that the desert scenes painted the inner landscape of Boy's whose traumas were still eating at him.

His inner world was reflected in the outside environment he built for himself, in his actions and his awkward thinking. I cried in the end because everything felt so real and believable.

This movie can be watched by anyone who appreciates art and all the hard work that is put into bringing it on the screen.