Crawl (2019)

Director: Alexandre Aja

Notable cast: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark

This may not be news to anyone, but Crawl is not a movie that exists in any kind of objective reality. It’s definitely within the director’s heightened sensibilities. Alexandre Aja exploded onto the scene in 2003 with the much, much-lauded High Tension, one of the movies that kicked off the French New Extreme Cinema movement, the same one that eventually brought us Inside, Martyrs, Frontier(s) and more. He has both helmed and produced a fair number of genre gems, if not a lot of classics (The Hills Have Eyes {2006}, Piranha 3D, Mirrors) and much in that same vein, we have Crawl, a serviceable, fun but ultimately forgettable creature feature.

Dark Phoenix (2019)

Director: Simon Kinberg

Notable cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Jessica Chastain, Sophie Turner

As a lifelong comic book nerd, and Marvel zombie specifically, I cannot understate the importance of the Dark Phoenix Saga to the landscape of my youth, especially the animated series’ take. Now, that doesn’t necessarily color my review the way you might think, as I’m also a deep believer in adaptation and some of the hidden beauty that can be drawn out of it. Say what you will about Constantine, for example, as a translation? Not even a little bit close. I mean… damn. They cast Keanu as a Brit. Again. At least he didn’t even try the accent this time, instead, they adapted it. And for my money, one of the finer action films of the aughts. So, what about Dark Phoenix, the deeply delayed swan song for Fox’s X-Men franchise? In a strange way, it serves as a great backdrop for a general post-mortem on the series as a whole. It’s extremely shaky with high highs, and low lows, and is better at the time than you remember it, albeit not necessarily good. There are less absolutely bad films in the franchise than you remember (X3, Origins: Wolverine, and Apocalypse being the only actually irredeemable ones).

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

Director: Jon Watts

Notable cast: Tom Holland, Samuel L Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei

In a way, Spider-Man has always been the perfect superhero. He’s relatable in a lot of ways. Granted, most of us couldn’t have invented web fluid and shooters in high school… but we’ve all been a day late and a dollar short in our real lives, and that’s the thing that’s made him so endearing. He’s kind of a sad sack. For every success, something must go terribly wrong. As our third “Spider-Man 2” in twenty years, this accidentally proves true for the franchise. Again.

Getting out of the way immediately that Spider-Man: Far From Home is not actually a bad movie, especially in comparison to either of the “Amazing Spider-Man” movies, it is lacking a certain something. And I believe that ‘something’ is a fundamental misunderstanding of the character’s strength.

Darlin' (2019)

Director: Pollyanna McIntosh

Notable Cast: Lauryn Canny, Pollyanna McIntosh, Nora-Jane Noone, Cooper Andrews, Bryan Batt

Darlin’ was one of the films that I was most excited to see in 2019. Not necessarily because it was going to be the best film of the year, but the concept of the film as a follow up the incredibly dynamic and provocative The Woman was enticing. Add to the fact that the actress from the predecessor, Pollyanna McIntosh was both writing and directing the film made it even more fascinating. Although McIntosh does not quite have the steady hand and directorial skills that Ketchum and McKee brought to the table to make The Woman such a vicious film, Darlin’ is, indeed, a bold follow up that extends some of the themes of the original into new territory while still delivering the same kind of abrasive material expected. It’s also a film that struggles with some of its structure and getting over its budgetary restraints, but it makes some big swings and that’s worthy of praise.

Double Face (1969)

Director: Riccardo Freda

Notable Cast: Klaus Kinski, Christiane Kruger, Gunther Stoll, Annabella Incontrera, Sydney Chaplin, Barbara Nelli, Margaret Lee

When Arrow Video announced that they would be releasing Double Face, I really had no reaction. There is a sense of trust from the cult cinema community concerning what Arrow aims to accomplish with their releases and I share in that trust, but Double Face was a film I had never come across previously. Thus, I had no expectations for it prior to watching the film. I saw the cover, but I even refrained from reading the synopsis to go in with as fresh eyes and mind as possible. Not everyone will be able to see the film that way, but it made for a very different experience for me. Double Face is a strange and stylish spin on the usual murder mystery film. The narrative tends to get muddled underneath what it feels is a relatively clever premise, but the style is effective and a couple of key performances make it an interesting film even if its foundations start to crack under the weight.

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Director: Robert Wise

Notable Cast: Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, Ramon Bieri, Kermit Murdock, Richard O’Brien, Peter Hobbs

The Andromeda Strain has always held a special place for me as a film. Growing up I was obsessed with the author Michael Crichton. After seeing Jurassic Park and I went back and read all of his books. His ability to be completely scientific within the realms of fiction writing was a style of writing and thoughtfulness I had never experienced before. The Andromeda Strain was one of my favorite novels. It was intense and detailed. Even though the book was well over 30 years old at the time I read it, it shook me with its realistic approach to apocalyptic procedures and space contagions. When I first saw the film, I couldn’t finish it. I wanted to, but ten-year-old me just wasn’t able to do so because I would fall asleep every time. I wanted to love the film, but the translation from the book to the silver screen was not necessarily the most exciting thing in the world.

Now it’s 2019 and Arrow Video has decided to tackle the infamous 1970s science fiction “thriller” with the usual gusto that they approach all of their titles with. It was a prime moment for me to revisit the film that defied me so long ago and see if, as an adult, I could at least finish it in one sitting.

I did but 10-year-old me wasn’t too off the mark on this one.

Starfish (2019)

Director: A.T. White

Notable Cast: Virginia Gardner, Christina Masterson, Eric Beecroft, Natalie Mitchell

 A random "best of the year in horror" list on social media from an acquaintance of mine is the reason Starfish ended up in my review queue. The author listed Starfish as his #2 slot. This is how I came to watch this film. If I had heard of the film in my previous excursions around the genre internet, it never made an impact on me to remember to keep an eye out for it. Even though it recently dropped on VOD, Starfish had almost no marketing and hype to it in my world. Partner that with the rather intriguing, but bland poster and I'm not sure I would have watched this film. Shame, really. Starfish is fantastic and it deserves so much more hype and discussion that I’m seeing it receive.

Red Peony Gambler 3: The Flower Cards Game (1969)

Director: Tai Kato

Notable Cast: Junko Fuji, Ken Takakura, Kanjuro Arashi, Teruo Ishiyama, Tomisaburo Wakayama

Although this was briefly discussed in my franchise reviews for both the incredible Zatoichi and fan favorite Sleepy Eyes of Death series, but the manner that the Japanese film industry would shotgun the release of entries into a popular series is something to be admired. The admiration extends to, but particularly includes, when it comes to maintaining a sense of quality while entries are both within the formula and giving each one its own identity. For the topic of this review, the next installment in the requested franchise coverage of the Red Peony Gambler called The Flower Cards Game is the third film of the series released within six months. Let that sink in for a second. Three films. Six months. Impressive? What’s even more impressive is the relatively minimal drop in quality over these three films. Although The Flower Cards Game is perhaps the weakest of the three, the film has its own unique tone that sets it aside from the previous two and still manages to maintain a strong narrative and solid execution.

Midsommar (2019)

Director: Ari Aster

Notable Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe

When the first film someone makes is one that comes down with a massive splash for both the genre and the cultural mainstream, the follow-up film needs to be something special. This is the situation that Ari Aster found himself in after the release of Hereditary. While his previous film tended to divide more casual audiences, it’s instant resonating impact with the horror community and critics could not be ignored. It’s not often that a director and writer is thrown into the category as a genre genius with one film, but that’s what happened. The instant success of that film allows Aster even more leeway in his second feature and distributor A24 is game to back it. This is where Aster’s sophomore effort, Midsommar, comes into play. The film might be bigger and brighter, but is that always better in horror? That’s the challenge that Midsommar attempts to hit straight on. Despite some of the brilliance that is being displayed here in the film, Midsommar also feels like a film that is trying to be that next step for the director and doesn’t quite hit its mark in the same amazing ways that Hereditary does (and still does). It’s bold and epic for what constitutes a relatively intimate horror film. There are things that Aster brings to the game that continues to impress in its execution and concept. However, the lacking balance to the art, horror, and set up/pay off makes Midsommar ambitiously flawed too.  

Ghost of the Golden Groves (2019)

Directors: Aniket Dutta & Roshni Sen (Harun-Al-Rashid)

Notable Cast: Joyraj Bhattacharjee, Soumyajit Majumdar

Admittedly my knowledge of Indian cinema as a whole is almost non-existent in the grand scheme of things. I cannot speak to the overall state of Indian movies as a whole, however, I can say out the couple of handfuls that I have watched, both mainstream and more independent in nature, I have never quite seen a work like Ghost of the Golden Grove surface from the region. It's not just refreshing as a film confined within the scope of its own native cinema but a fresh new stroke of paint on the pallet of film, as a whole, making for one of 2019's greatest artistic offerings.

Directors Aniket Dutta and Roshni Sen have paired up to make their directorial debut collectively under the moniker Harun-Al-Rashid, a unified and singular voice that really does reflect their vision as a whole onscreen. A truly accomplished blend of artistic ideals that makes for not only one of the most thought-provoking works of the year but one of the most entertaining too. I don't wish to delve too much into the plot here, as going in blind is very beneficial in the end, but the film follows two separate characters, one during the first half and the other in the remaining time.