"Style over substance," is perfect. They had such a good idea of a film and spent all their time making the image of it. The script and plot felt secondary
@@TravioliRavioli Nothing wrong with the style being the substance, I just found the screenplay to be at times convoluted and undercooked. I don't think that was the intention. It seemed as though the writers thought the script was smarter than it actually was. For me, it doesn't focus enough on just vibes to really pass for a "just a vibe" kind of movie because the screenplay has a too much ambition for that.
loved the visuals, but the story just didn't hit for me. Cage was so laughable that it took me out of what i was really enjoying and made it just seem ridicules.
I liked Cage, but that's what I mean about how I wasn't sure if it was at times poking fun at elevated horror cliches because although he was creepy, he was typical.
Thanks so much! I used to have another movie review channel but it got taken down by UA-cam last year so maybe you watched that? haha. I recently started from scratch with this channel and this is currently my only channel.
i feel exactly the same as you... I didn't hate it but also I felt ultimately disappointed driving home from the theater.. but have since been watching reviews and plot breakdowns for the last 3 weeks on it, so...? It does stick with you lol
@@odysseyfour1997 (spoiler) it wasn’t really clear in the movie the nick cage’s character ‘put the devil’ into the dolls… obviously you sort of piece together that’s happening, but I was unclear on it until I did some research 😅 Also for me, knowing nick cage was the villain unfortunately took me out of the movie :( he’s so over the top it just felt like I was watching nick cage acting crazy on screen, not watching an actual Psychopath… so ultimately I didn’t find the movie scary really :/
-- SPOILER COMMENT-- I could not disagree more with the part where you said "the film touches on supernatural elements but never fleshes them out" The main antagonist of this movie, is literally the devil. The film shows Satans follower using black magic to create dolls that corrupt minds and influence people to take out their families and themselves. Although i respect any differing opinions anyone may have on a movie, i truly dont understand how anyone can watch this movie and say "it touches on the supernatural"... it is crystal clear that the driving force of the movies plot is in fact supernatural. And i also kind of disagree on what you said about Harkers "psychic-like ability thats too subtle to claim if its supernatural"... mainly because there is no such thing as a realistic and natural psychic ability but also because, in my own interpretation, the young Lee doll that Longlegs made, with the black magic ball/brain inside it, was connected to Lee since she was nine. Which means the devil has been connected to Lee since she was nine. To me this LIKELY means the devil purposely lead Lee to that killers house at the start of the movie, and was the reason behind any display of "psychic like" ability she showed... by my interpretion, she is not actually "psychic"
I appreciate the tone of your comment and thank you for your points, you do make some good ones. I felt like the world building when it comes to the supernatural was thin, as the ball felt like the first true supernatural element and then it never gets explained much after its initial reveal. I suppose I should reword my statements about the psychic abilities to reflect that I thought it never made it clear enough whether she was psychic or just very good at solving these things. Due to all this, it felt like the first half of the movie was more of a straight up crime thriller and that the second half was too stark a contrast with all the supernatural stuff. I thought they should have been more clear about the supernatural early on.
@odysseyfour1997 Yeah that's fair. Well said. Personally I think the fact the devil is hidden in the background in multiple scenes displayed as a smokey shadow figure, and then when the silver balls are broken open you see black smoke come out, to me it was clear they are housing black magic connected to Satan. I personally didn't find the supernatural element all that subtle but I will agree act one and part of act two were crime thrillers slowly alluding to the supernatural. I also find Harkers "psychic" abilities abit easier to explain once it's revealed there was a doll made for her
"Style over substance," is perfect. They had such a good idea of a film and spent all their time making the image of it. The script and plot felt secondary
Very much agreed. I adore a crime thriller when done right (Silence of the Lambs, Gone Girl, Zodiac etc.), this could've been great.
That was the intention, why yall acting like a movie thats just a vibe is bad
@@TravioliRavioli Nothing wrong with the style being the substance, I just found the screenplay to be at times convoluted and undercooked. I don't think that was the intention. It seemed as though the writers thought the script was smarter than it actually was. For me, it doesn't focus enough on just vibes to really pass for a "just a vibe" kind of movie because the screenplay has a too much ambition for that.
This is BY FAR his best film and its not even close. Movie was great and I liked the supernatural Devil aspect of the entire thing.
His best film as in Oz Perkins?
@@odysseyfour1997 Yes
@@crashburn2166 I'm glad you enjoyed it
loved the visuals, but the story just didn't hit for me. Cage was so laughable that it took me out of what i was really enjoying and made it just seem ridicules.
I liked Cage, but that's what I mean about how I wasn't sure if it was at times poking fun at elevated horror cliches because although he was creepy, he was typical.
The Blackcoats Daughter and Gretel & Hansel were done by him and those are super good movies.
I will definitely have to check them out (straight onto the letterboxd watchlist which has like 2000 movies on it lol).
Great review. Your voice is super familiar, do you have another channel?
Thanks so much! I used to have another movie review channel but it got taken down by UA-cam last year so maybe you watched that? haha. I recently started from scratch with this channel and this is currently my only channel.
i feel exactly the same as you... I didn't hate it but also I felt ultimately disappointed driving home from the theater.. but have since been watching reviews and plot breakdowns for the last 3 weeks on it, so...? It does stick with you lol
Anything interesting you've picked up from those breakdowns that has changed your mind on any aspects of the film?
@@odysseyfour1997 (spoiler) it wasn’t really clear in the movie the nick cage’s character ‘put the devil’ into the dolls… obviously you sort of piece together that’s happening, but I was unclear on it until I did some research 😅
Also for me, knowing nick cage was the villain unfortunately took me out of the movie :( he’s so over the top it just felt like I was watching nick cage acting crazy on screen, not watching an actual
Psychopath… so ultimately I didn’t find the movie scary really :/
@@heyblondie28 Agreed, the movie wasn't scary at all and it was trying to be. It had a good atmosphere but that was about it.
-- SPOILER COMMENT--
I could not disagree more with the part where you said "the film touches on supernatural elements but never fleshes them out"
The main antagonist of this movie, is literally the devil. The film shows Satans follower using black magic to create dolls that corrupt minds and influence people to take out their families and themselves. Although i respect any differing opinions anyone may have on a movie, i truly dont understand how anyone can watch this movie and say "it touches on the supernatural"... it is crystal clear that the driving force of the movies plot is in fact supernatural.
And i also kind of disagree on what you said about Harkers "psychic-like ability thats too subtle to claim if its supernatural"... mainly because there is no such thing as a realistic and natural psychic ability but also because, in my own interpretation, the young Lee doll that Longlegs made, with the black magic ball/brain inside it, was connected to Lee since she was nine. Which means the devil has been connected to Lee since she was nine. To me this LIKELY means the devil purposely lead Lee to that killers house at the start of the movie, and was the reason behind any display of "psychic like" ability she showed... by my interpretion, she is not actually "psychic"
I appreciate the tone of your comment and thank you for your points, you do make some good ones. I felt like the world building when it comes to the supernatural was thin, as the ball felt like the first true supernatural element and then it never gets explained much after its initial reveal. I suppose I should reword my statements about the psychic abilities to reflect that I thought it never made it clear enough whether she was psychic or just very good at solving these things. Due to all this, it felt like the first half of the movie was more of a straight up crime thriller and that the second half was too stark a contrast with all the supernatural stuff. I thought they should have been more clear about the supernatural early on.
@odysseyfour1997 Yeah that's fair. Well said. Personally I think the fact the devil is hidden in the background in multiple scenes displayed as a smokey shadow figure, and then when the silver balls are broken open you see black smoke come out, to me it was clear they are housing black magic connected to Satan. I personally didn't find the supernatural element all that subtle but I will agree act one and part of act two were crime thrillers slowly alluding to the supernatural. I also find Harkers "psychic" abilities abit easier to explain once it's revealed there was a doll made for her
@@gdmav7775 I imagine it may play better for me on a rewatch so I'll definitely have to check it out again at some point.