Alam Nyo Ba?

PLOT: Follows models on a photo shoot who are stalked by a doll possessed by the spirit of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

REVIEW: After the first season of Ryan Murphy’s Monster, interest in serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer seemed to hit an all-time high. I’ve never quite understood it, as it feels like we’re making a horrible person into a celebrity. So I also find it a bit difficult to be on board with a film that uses a real-life person who actually killed innocent people and makes them into Chucky 2.0. I probably shouldn’t expect such standards from a film called Jeffrey Dollmer so I suppose that’s on me.

Jeffrey Dollmer takes the story of Jeffrey Dahmer and imagines if he had a doll that his spirit possesses, and ends up going on a rampage through a bunch of models at a photo shoot. Outside of the name recognition, there’s not much reason for the Dahmer connection, as it really could have just been a generic fake killer, and probably would have worked better because of it. Given the Dahmer aspect, most of the characters are LGBTQ, including the doll itself but that element mostly feels like window dressing.

With this being an independent film, the filmmakers opt for more for the Charles Band Puppet Master approach, where it’s often just a doll being moved around by a person off-camera. He doesn’t have any overly complicated movements like Chucky or what we see in other evil doll movies. It’s all practical and doesn’t extend past what you would see in a standard puppet show. The kills are mostly just the doll being shoved into people by a puppeteer off-camera. This kind of low-budget filmmaking can be charming because there’s still passion behind it. It’s when that lack of money results in laziness that it’s offensive to the eyes (and ears).

Jeffrey Dollmer is the kind of cheap where you can sometimes hear the shift in audio quality as it switches sources. Hell, there’s a moment where a passing car nearly drowns out the dialogue. It also sounds like they’re using the onboard camera microphone at times. And then the ADR is so obvious that they don’t even make an effort to hide the lip-sync issue or have the audio match in any way. The audio even blows out during some lines, and it can be distracting. In terms of visuals, wide-angle lenses are often misused and presented in ways that make the image really warped.

The makeup FX can be surprisingly good at times, with some really fun, over-the-top practical FX. This movie loves to have bright red blood flowing during its kills. But we finally have to address the element that brings this down to unwatchable: the apparent use of AI. The fun, practical FX are so often ruined by what look to be AI enhancements that I question why they even tried to do some things practically and then went the lazy route with others. Even stranger that they usually stick to using old school puppetry for Dollmer outside of a few clearly enhanced moments at the end.

In my opinion, cheap FX made by a human will always outdo AI, so while the filmmakers haven’t confirmed it, you can judge for yourself. But, it takes away from the work that they actually did put into this. I always feel weird about reviewing movies like Jeffrey Dollmer as the job is to critique the quality, and these aren’t exactly aiming to be good. For obvious reasons, this goes into the: “Avoid At All Costs” camp.

Jeffrey Dollmer is available digitally now.

The post Jeffrey Dollmer Review: Chucky Doesn’t Have to Worry About This New Killer Doll Flick appeared first on JoBlo.

Adam Green, the filmmaker behind Hatchet and Frozen, says his completed survival thriller Ascent will never be released. The director recently revealed that the film was shot in Malta, but the production was allegedly left in financial chaos after a producer took the money and disappeared.

Our friends at Bloody Disgusting brought this story to our attention, pointing out Green’s appearance on the YouTube channel FanZcene Vids. During the conversation, Green also cleared up some confusion surrounding the project: despite its original announcement as a shark thriller, Ascent was never actually a shark movie. It was a hot air balloon thriller.

Green said,

“It was never a shark movie. But we don’t need to worry about it, because it’s never coming out. You’ll never see it. … The producers… I don’t want to name names… his name was Ryan Hamilton, he stole all the money and just disappeared. So, we actually filmed the whole thing in Malta. That was actually the same producer who f*cked everything up… he’s the one who announced it as the shark movie. He should’ve read it. It’s actually a hot air balloon movie.”

Green went on to describe the production as an incredible experience before explaining why audiences are unlikely to ever see the finished film.

“It was the craziest shoot ever, it was amazing. And then we left, got back to LA, and nobody ever got paid. They did that to four productions in one year. So they’ve been on the run. And when you’re talking about people in another country, trying to get any sort of legal justice is painful. So. Yeah. That one will never come out.”

These are Green’s allegations about the production and its producer. Bloody Disgusting notes that Hamilton was part of Simple House Films alongside Addam Bramich and Volodymyr Artemenko. The company also had another horror project, Zipline, on its slate.

What Was Adam Green’s Ascent About?

The first announcement referred to the film as a shark thriller, providing the following synopsis: A group of friends arrive in Europe for a glamorous but daring destination wedding. The fun and games turn into a nightmare when they find themselves precariously suspended above shark infested waters and in a battle for survival. Later, we saw a different synopsis that removed the reference to sharks and instead focused on the fact that the characters are stuck on a hot air balloon: a group of friends attending a destination wedding in Europe find themselves stranded on a hot air balloon 3,000 feet above the ground.

The cast assembled for the survival thriller included Inanna Sarkis (Boo 2! A Madea Halloween), Gregg Sulkin (Runaways), Timothy Granaderos (13 Reasons Why), Paris Berelc (Hubie Halloween), and genre icon Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects).

Green was particularly excited about returning to the survival thriller genre after directing Frozen (2010), which trapped its characters on a ski lift with hungry wolves waiting below.

“I’m incredibly excited to be returning to the survival thriller genre,” Green said when the project was announced. “Ascent’s story about a recreational activity gone terribly wrong is going to play with people’s real life fears and be a total thrill ride for the audience.”

An Adam Green Survival Thriller We Won’t Get to See

It’s a frustrating outcome, especially for fans who have been waiting to see Green return to the kind of nerve-shredding survival filmmaking he delivered with Frozen. Unfortunately, based on Green’s account, Ascent is unlikely to join Frozen as another memorable entry in his filmography. The movie was filmed, the cast was assembled, and the story put its characters in an extremely precarious situation. But unless something changes, the finished film will remain unseen.

Were you looking forward to Adam Green’s Ascent? Let us know in the comments!

The post Adam Green says his survival thriller Ascent will never be released appeared first on JoBlo.

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil has officially made the jump from theatres to digital. The latest entry in the long-running horror franchise is now available to buy or rent through Fandango, giving fans the chance to bring its gruesome Raccoon City nightmare home.

On Fandango, Resident Evil (2026) is available to purchase for $24.99 or rent for $19.99. The film is also available through other digital retailers, including Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. And here’s an extra treat for fans of Cregger’s work: Fandango is offering a Zach Cregger 3-Film Collection, bundling Resident Evil with his previous films Weapons (2024) and Barbarian (2022) for $34.99.

Watch the First 10 Minutes of Resident Evil

Fandango has also debuted the first 10 minutes of Resident Evil, offering a preview of Cregger’s latest horror experience. You can watch that footage here, then head to Fandango to buy or rent the movie.

The film stars Austin Abrams as Bryan, a medical courier whose seemingly routine delivery to Raccoon City turns into a fight for survival when a horrifying biomedical outbreak erupts around him. Rather than build its story around familiar video game characters such as Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, or Jill Valentine, Cregger and co-writer Shay Hatten created an original story set within the world of the games.

The cast also includes Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Johnno Wilson. Cregger, the filmmaker behind Barbarian and Weapons, directs.

What Did We Think of Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil?

JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray gave Resident Evil a 9/10 review, praising Cregger’s decision to deliver a lean, experience-driven horror action movie rather than get bogged down in franchise mythology. Bumbray called it one of the most propulsive horror action films in recent memory, highlighting the escalating creature encounters, gruesome set pieces, and Austin Abrams’ performance as an ordinary guy forced to fight his way through an increasingly terrifying situation.

As Bumbray put it, the movie offers a fresh approach to the video game adaptation, with its resource-hoarding and dangerous encounters recreating the feeling of playing a survival horror game for the first time. You can read the full review here: Resident Evil Review: Zach Cregger Delivers a Lean, Gory Horror-Action Blast.

We also published a very different perspective from our editor Jay St G, a longtime fan of the games, who felt the movie strayed too far from what makes Resident Evil special. “This WAS NOT a Resident Evil Movie at all. Not even a hint of an expanded RE Universe. This was a Comedy Horror film with elements of Survival Horror Video Games, and some fun Resident Evil easter eggs sprinkled throughout the film, but not enough of anything that makes the franchise so great.  This movie was far too loaded with over-the-top humor, with NO ICONIC MONSTERS from the Resident Evil franchise with barely any Zombies in the film to fear, and it was an odd choice to go right into the “las plagas” from Resident Evil 4. (but not faithful to that either)” His rating: 5/10.

What Did You Think of Resident Evil?

Did Zach Cregger deliver the Resident Evil movie you wanted to see? Were you on Chris Bumbray’s side, or did you agree with the more critical response from a longtime fan of the games? Let us know in the comments!

The post Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is now available on Digital, with a special 3-film bundle appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: A few years after the apparent destruction of Godzilla, a new monster begins terrorizing Japan.

REVIEW: I’ll admit that Godzilla Minus One took me by complete surprise when I saw it a few years ago. I’m a very casual fan of the Godzilla movies. I’ve seen the American MonsterVerse ones, which were OK, and as a child I loved the Toho movies, but I haven’t kept up with the newer ones that are coming out. But when word got out about how good Minus One was, I checked it out and found it to be one of the better blockbuster monster movies in recent years—and it killed what they’re doing in the MonsterVerse.

Godzilla Minus Zero is another slam-bang blockbuster, done on a scale that puts many American movies to shame. The Oscar-winning effects from the last film were taken to another level, with the movie introducing another classic Toho monster—Ghidorah—with action sequences shot in IMAX that are dazzling.

The film picks up right where Minus One left off. Following the first film, Dr. Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) is now the head of a disaster response bureau, and in literally the first scene of the film, we see a village being decimated by Ghidorah, putting him back at work to try and deal with this new threat. While the Americans have offered weapons and planes, they are refusing to provide pilots, so Noda is forced to recruit Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), the heroic former kamikaze pilot who defeated Godzilla. He’s leading a quiet life with his now-wife, Noriko (Minami Hamabe), who is still suffering from being exposed to Godzilla’s radiation, and their adopted daughter, Akiko.

The action sequences in this are pretty stunning, with the highlight being a mid-film set piece where Shikishima leads an airplane assault on Ghidorah, with the VFX, editing and score by Naoki Satō putting pretty much any American blockbuster that’s come out this year to shame. And it’s only the beginning, with some full-on monster brawls happening in the second half because—wouldn’t you know it—the presumed-dead Godzilla is back.

While movies like this can’t help but be familiar, director Takashi Yamazaki, who also wrote the script, continues to find ways to ground them, with the second film—just like the last one—relating to the scars left behind by the Second World War. What’s particularly potent is when a new scientist, Murakami (Min Tanaka), is brought in who survived Hiroshima and harbours a twisted revenge scheme towards the Americans, whom he blames for the death of his family. Yet nothing really goes the way you think it will in Yamazaki’s movie, with all of the characters fleshed out and avoiding cartoonish stereotypes. They also grow, with Shikishima no longer as shell-shocked and brooding as he was in the last film, with him more of a contented family man and confident in his near-Maverick-level flying skills. I also liked the way Noriko is brought into the action in the second half, with the physical trauma she survived in the first movie central to her growth here.

While Godzilla Minus Zero probably does have a little too much melodrama at times, with perhaps too many moments where young Akiko is wailing in distress, that’s part and parcel of what the Godzilla movies are. To lose the melodrama would be to lose the franchise’s identity and be too much like the MonsterVerse films. Godzilla Minus Zero really is a total blast, and just about as good as the last movie. Yamazaki is a real talent as far as these movies go, with him giving them new life. I hope the franchise continues with him at the helm. The stuff he’s able to pull off with a budget a fraction of what the American MonsterVerse movies get is jaw-dropping.

The post Godzilla Minus Zero Review: Another Kaiju Masterpiece appeared first on JoBlo.

Halloween season may be over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still keep up with all things horror. Hell, for us genre fans, every month is October, so it really just shifts to “what horror do I want to watch now?” And what better than one of the best of the year, Obsession? This film has been a phenomenon like no other and is now in the midst of an Awards Season push. I always get so excited when any horror is able to break the barrier and earn awards recognition, and this film has managed it in a way that I can’t recall seeing before. I know that, after years of not caring about the Academy Awards themselves, I will definitely be paying attention when the nominations are finally announced.

I was lucky enough to speak to Bear himself, Michael Johnston, about the film. He gets into the surprise of some viewers sympathizing with Bear, and how he feels it’s a generational perspective. Michael also discusses the relief of finally having “The Mummy: Book of the Dead” announced as the title of the latest Mummy film, with there being one less secret he has to keep.  This was an awesome talk that I wish were longer, as Michael is a joy to talk to, and you can see the full conversation in the embedded video above.

Obsession plot:

After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price. The critically acclaimed breakout from Focus Features and rising horror auteur Curry Barker is an unsettling, nightmare-fueled psychological thriller unlike anything the genre has seen in years. With an A CinemaScore and Certified Fresh and Verified Hot Rotten Tomatoes scores anchored by standout performances from Michael Johnston (Slash, Endangered Species) and Inde Navarrette (“Superman & Lois,” Wander Darkly), OBSESSION has become a cultural phenomenon and is the must-watch horror event of the year. Take the Obsession further with an exclusive look behind-the-scenes and discover why some obsessions are impossible to escape.

Obsession is now available to own on Digital, DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD.

Related

Awesome Art’s 13th Annual Halloween Special with Alien, Carrie, Halloween, Jaws, Obsession, Psycho, The Ring, Terrifier, The Thing

The post Obsession Star Michael Johnston Tells Us What He Thinks About Viewers Empathizing with Bear appeared first on JoBlo.

The Exorcist remains my choice for the greatest horror movie ever made. Some may argue for Rosemary’s Baby, The Shining, or Night of the Living Dead, but as a good Catholic boy, nothing has ever gotten under my skin the way William Friedkin’s original did. Naturally, Hollywood tried to turn the film into a franchise, despite Friedkin having little interest in sequels. The result is one of horror’s strangest franchise legacies, filled with misguided sequels, troubled productions, and one genuinely excellent follow-up. Here are the Exorcist movies ranked from worst to best.

Rank	Movie	Year	Director	Verdict
6	Exorcist II: The Heretic	1977	John Boorman	Wildly entertaining disaster
5	The Exorcist: Believer	2023	David Gordon Green	Generic and disappointing legacy sequel
4	Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist	2005	Paul Schrader	Interesting but ultimately dull
3	The Exorcist: The Beginning	2004	Renny Harlin	Silly but entertaining action-horror prequel
2	The Exorcist III	1990	William Peter Blatty	The franchise’s only truly great sequel
1	The Exorcist	1973	William Friedkin	The greatest horror movie ever made

6. Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Director: John Boorman
Starring: Richard Burton, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, James Earl Jones
Release Year: 1977
Subgenre: Supernatural horror
Notable For: One of the most infamous horror sequels ever made

So, worst is a degree here rather than a black-and-white fact. All of the Exorcist sequels – with that one exception I’ll get to later – are terrible. Yet, of them all, none is quite as bad as the infamous Exorcist II: The Heretic. What’s crazy is that the movie comes from a pretty fantastic director, John Boorman. Still, he’s also a guy who, in between making masterpieces like Excalibur and Deliverance, also made the odd stinker, like Zardoz.

Exorcist II: The Heretic is like the overacting Olympics. Poor Richard Burton sweats booze as Father Lamont, who’s having a crisis of faith while investigating the death of Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow was lured back for a small role). He meets with Linda Blair’s Regan MacNeil, who’s now a teenager and seems well adjusted, all things considered. There’s a batch of hokum that includes ESP, James Earl Jones dressed as a Locust, a weird Italo-disco score by Ennio Morricone, not one but two tap dancing sequences for Linda Blair, and Burton doing all of his own sweating and looking like he needs a drink – badly.

This movie was so bad that Boorman had to physically cut film prints that were already playing theatrically in order to make the movie a little shorter. Yet, as bad as it is, it’s one of the most entertainingly awful movies ever made, and the cinematography by William A. Fraker is legitimately great. Also, no one says Pazuzu like Richard Burton.

5. The Exorcist: Believer (2023)

Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Leslie Odom Jr., Ellen Burstyn, Ann Dowd, Lidya Jewett
Release Year: 2023
Subgenre: Supernatural horror
Notable For: Ellen Burstyn’s return as Chris MacNeil

While not as poorly made as Exorcist: The Heretic, director David Gordon Green’s Believer is undoubtedly a more boring film (despite the jump scares) and about as lazy a horror movie as you’re likely to encounter. Judging by the toxic word of mouth, you can imagine Universal is kicking themselves by shelling out $400 million for the rights to the franchise, even though none of the sequels have ever been financially successful.

Fifty years after starring in the original film, Ellen Burstyn reprised the role of Chris MacNeil for this film, and of course the movie couldn’t even handle her character correctly.

4. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)

Director: Paul Schrader
Starring: Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann, Clara Bellar
Release Year: 2005
Subgenre: Psychological horror / religious drama
Notable For: The original prequel version rejected by the studio

Director Paul Schrader’s Exorcist prequel was considered such a disaster that the studio that made it, Morgan Creek, shelved and remade the entire film. While it’s hip to say Schrader’s movie is excellent, the truth is that despite some interesting moments, it’s very dull. It’s an interesting curiosity, and Schrader would eventually make a masterpiece about faith (First Reformed), but this isn’t it.

That said, I’m happy it eventually saw the light of day as I’m not in favor of shelving movies, no matter how bad they are.

3. The Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

Director: Renny Harlin
Starring: Stellan Skarsgård, Izabella Scorupco, James D’Arcy
Release Year: 2004
Subgenre: Action horror / supernatural horror
Notable For: The studio-mandated replacement for Dominion

Like The Heretic, this alternate Exorcist prequel by Renny Harlin is of the so bad it’s good variety. Harlin turned the franchise into an action film, with Stellan Skarsgård’s Father Merrin reimagined as a badass priest who even performs a holy head-butt at the film’s conclusion. It isn’t good, but it’s kind of fun.

Skarsgård really does his best, and its interesting to compare his Liam Neeson-like action star performance in this to his quiet turn in Dominion.

2. The Exorcist III (1990)

Director: William Peter Blatty
Starring: George C. Scott, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif
Release Year: 1990
Subgenre: Psychological horror / police thriller
Notable For: Adaptation of Blatty’s novel Legion

It’s literally the only good Exorcist sequel. William Peter Blatty initially set out to make a looser kind of sequel, with it being an adaptation of his novel Legion. But, after the movie was completed, Morgan Creek got uncomfortable with his police thriller version of the film, insisting he reshoot the ending to include Jason Miller’s Father Karras and a grand guignol, eighties-horror style Exorcism.

Despite being compromised (you can see the reconstituted director’s cut on the Blu-Ray), the movie is still quite good, with George C. Scott excellent as the recast Lt. Kinderman (the original actor – Lee J. Cobb – was dead by this point). Blatty also includes some weird touches, including a cameo by Fabio as an angel.

One might also consider Blatty’s The Ninth Configuration as a quasi-sequel given that a minor character from the first film is the star, but the genres are very different. If that one were counted it would place highly on our list of Exorcist Movies Ranked.

1. The Exorcist (1973)

Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller
Release Year: 1973
Subgenre: Religious horror
Notable For: Widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made

Simply put, the greatest horror movie ever made. If you’re making a list called Exorcist Movies Ranked, and the original film doesn’t land in first place, what are you even doing?

Friedkin was right never to try and make a sequel because it can’t possibly be beaten, or even equaled. That said, avoid 2000’s The Version You Never Saw, as that was Friedkin doing a favour for William Peter Blatty, who hated how vague the director had left the conclusion of his battle between good and evil. I much prefer the darker original. As for the Spider-Walk – who needs it?

If you want to see another quasi-horror film from Friedkin, check out the 1980 serial killer thriller Cruising, which is very disturbing and loosely based on a real killer’s exploits. The kicker – this killer was a radiologist who played himself in The Exorcist! It’s weird but true.

FAQ

What is the best Exorcist movie?

The original The Exorcist (1973) is widely considered the best film in the franchise and one of the greatest horror movies ever made.

Is The Exorcist III worth watching?

Yes. Many horror fans consider The Exorcist III the only genuinely strong sequel in the series.

Why are there two Exorcist prequels?

Morgan Creek rejected Paul Schrader’s original prequel, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, and replaced it with Renny Harlin’s Exorcist: The Beginning.

Is The Exorcist: Believer connected to the original movie?

Yes. The film serves as a legacy sequel and brings back Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil.

Was William Friedkin involved in the sequels?

No. Friedkin declined to direct sequels after the original 1973 film.

Despite decades of sequels, prequels, and reboots, The Exorcist remains one of the few horror films whose reputation has never faded. While the franchise itself has struggled to escape the shadow of Friedkin’s masterpiece, The Exorcist III proves there was at least one worthwhile continuation of William Peter Blatty’s world of faith, evil, and spiritual terror.

How would you rank the Exorcist movies? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and if you watched the TV series from 20th Century Fox Television, add that into the mix as well.

The post Exorcist Movies Ranked: From Worst to Best appeared first on JoBlo.

In the wake of Sir Patrick Stewart’s passing, filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier is taking a break from his SLAYGROUND editing bay to share some kind words about the legendary icon and his chilling role in 2015’s Green Room. During a surprise introduction at a 10th-anniversary screening of the film at the Alamo Drafthouse in LA, Saulnier planned to give an update on his upcoming project, SLAYGROUND, but instead focused on Stewart and his incredible contribution to the punk rock horror movie.

In Saulnier’s 2015 thriller, Stewart delivers a terrifying performance as Darcy Banker, the cold, soft-spoken, and calculating leader of a neo-Nazi group who ruthlessly orchestrates a lockdown against a punk band trapped in a remote venue.

“Patrick Stewart Saved The Day”

At the top of his introduction, Saulnier expressed his sadness over Stewart’s passing and asked the crowd to join him in remembering the late actor and his brilliant gifts to cinema. While teeing up Green Room, Saulnier revealed the film was on the verge of shutting down before Stewart “swooped in,” giving it the momentum it desperately needed to get the green light.

“Patrick Stewart is why I can still make movies,” Saulnier said, with a wistfulness in his voice. “He saved the day. Too good to be true, in fact. I was waiting for the hammer to drop. But this dude, his stature. Some people abuse that power. Sometimes it’s personality; sometimes it’s creative. But the personality part was no problem. He [Patrick Stewart] was a f***ing sweetheart—a true gentleman—a very kind leader to our whole cast.”

Permission Granted, Sir: A Hilarious On-Set Moment

Saulnier then shared a hilarious memory from set regarding Stewart’s approach to character input:

“Then, one day he comes up to me while we’re shooting, and he says, ‘Jeremy, I love the script. I want to add a little to the scene.’ I said, s**t, here we go! He wanted to inject into the text what he thought his character should say. That’s nightmarish for me. I said, what is it, Patrick? He says, ‘Well, during this scene, when the camera’s coming in from over there, I’d like to say f**k!’ And I was like, and? And Patrick says, f**k! I said, permission granted, sir!”

Saulnier closed out his introduction by asking the crowd to celebrate Stewart‘s contribution to the script as loudly as possible when that moment played on screen, while fondly reminding everyone that Stewart would definitely not want anyone rooting for the Nazis in the film.

The post “Patrick Stewart Saved The Day”: Jeremy Saulnier Remembers The Late Icon At Green Room 10th-Anniversary Screening appeared first on JoBlo.