Not a whole lot of physical media heading our way right now and understandably so, but this week sees more than recent weeks so maybe we’re going back to normal. I’ll start with probably the biggest name, Brahms: The Boy II. I thought The Boy was fine, it had some creepy moments because toys can be a good horror device, but was surprised to find a sequel head my way. This new film sees Katie Holmes and Owain Yeoman as the mother and father of a young boy who becomes mute after his mother is attacked in their home. They head out and live in an old mansion thinking being away from the city might help their son. He finds Brahms, the porcelain doll, buried in the yard and of course the mix of a doll and mute boy did have some nice creepiness to it. The film is far from great, but I did find it watchable, at least for one viewing. My issue is, this just isn’t my type of horror. I prefer slasher and gore based horror over supernatural or paranormal activity type horror. This uses a lot of jumpscares with tons of camera movement to show things just off camera or moving away from the actor’s eyesight. With the score and style of the movie, you can see everything coming. Jumpscares don’t get me. Things moving on their own, in this case a doll, don’t scare me. I thought the young actor playing the mute son was pretty good though. He’s sort of odd and starts dressing like Brahms and everyone around him is disturbed by him. If you haven’t seen the first film you won’t be too lost watching this one. It explains a bit about the mansion and Holmes’ character does some online research that explains even more to the audience. With not a ton of newer films out there, it is decent enough for one watching if you liked the first movie and like horror you’d see in The Conjuring universe.
Next we have Zombi Child which sounds like a horror movie, but isn’t. It’s sort of about zombies, but it’s more voodoo than anything else. It starts out in Haiti in 1962 with a man brought back to life and forced to work in the fields. Then it jumps to modern day France with a Haitian girl going to a prestigious boarding school. All the white Parisian girls are intrigued by her and ask her to join their little group. She talks about voodoo and her family secrets. The one girl gets really into it and pays the aunt to learn voodoo and then it started to lose me with that angle. Ultimately the Haitian girl being in Paris helps her family member and I don’t know if I really got it. It’s well made and well acted, but some of it seemed to go over my head. I have a garbage attention span right now so maybe I missed something.
Third we have Land of Little Rivers, a documentary on fly fishing. I grew up fishing, but I’ve never actually been fly fishing. It seems like way more work than regular fishing. This documentary is just gorgeous to look at. The cinematography and backdrop are stunning and really makes you want to get out in nature. The film is filled with different personalities. There’s the old pro, the queen of fly fishing, the wild guy, the locals, the Veteran who fishes to help his mental stability, the youngsters and all kinds of others. But it’s nature that steals the show. Being stuck indoors right now and watching this is tough. I love water. I now miss water and nature even more. Seeing these men and women in boats or waist deep in streams made me so jealous! Even if you aren’t into fly fishing or have no idea what it is besides seeing A River Runs Through It, it’s a very well made film that will have you craving to get back outside!
Last we have The Brokenwood Mysteries Series 6. This New Zealand show is an easy binge with 4 episodes over 2 discs. The first episode is about a steampunk festival which was cool seeing all the steampunk costuming and how murder can be much more complicated when people aren’t who they seem. Episode 2 involves the death of an author who died in a similar way to someone in his book. Episode 3 finds an animal activist killed on the first day of duck hunting season. Episode 4 sees a suicide at the women’s prison filled with female convicts they put there. It’s a fun little show that I don’t mind watching because the seasons aren’t super long so you get through it quickly. If you are a fan check out Series 6, if you aren’t familiar with it but like shows like Midsomer Murders, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and the like then check it out.
The Nerds Templar 