A nun prepares to perform an exorcism and comes face to face with a demonic force with mysterious ties to her past. (source: IMDB)
When was the last time that an horror movie really got you scared or, at least, uneasy? You know that feeling, when the movie is over and you turn on all the lights on your way to your bedroom…
It’s getting harder and harder to scare us. You might think that it’s because we’re getting older and we’ve seen it all. Let’s be real here, we’re not older, we still have the maturity of 12 years old kids. Maybe it’s the new wave of horror movies that ranges from slasher to gore and doesn’t even try to be creepy.
However, exorcisms and possessions still do the trick with us. From Paranormal Activity (which remains our favourite horror franchise) to The Exorcist, we still feel something when we watch movies that involve demonic possessions as seen by the Catholic Church. Probably because we’ve been raised that way, being taught the Holy Bible (one of the creepiest story ever written by man).
So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that we enjoyed this movie. We didn’t get scared to the point of taking the flashlight to the WCs, but it gets close to having us uneasy.
Now, about the movie… It was a pretty good. The cast was excellent, especially Jacqueline Byers and Christian Navarro and there even was a plot twist that I didn’t see coming, which is pretty rare in an exorcism movie. All in all, if you’re into that kind of stuff, you should definitely watch Prey for the Devil.
When the Campbell family moves to Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner’s clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. (source: IMDB)
The movie is really well made, the writing is powerful and the acting is excellent. So why only 3 stars? All the ingredients are there to make me love it, yet I just manage to like it.
Maybe haunted mansion stories didn’t manage to scare me anymore? But it’s not the case, since The Enfield Poltergeist (The Conjuring 2) is one of my favourite horror movies. However, by comparing these two movies that I finally found out what’s wrong with The Haunting in Connecticut: it doesn’t manage to build a feeling of terror, while The Conjuring 2 does it perfectly.
When an horror movie is supposed to be creepy, it has to create a deep sense of threat, the malevolent entity has to inspire a sense of terror. The Haunting in Connecticut, while dark doesn’t do any of that. I guess that the story of the sick kid and the unnecessary drunk father overshadows the occult part of the movie.
Anyway, it’s not a bad horror movie but, with such a potential, it’s sad that it doesn’t manage to hit its mark.
By the way, Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are known for involvement in The Enfield Poltergeist case, were also investigators for this case.
This years’ Halloween headliner was The Conjuring 3. I don’t know if it’s because they start the movie with “based on a true story” and the fact that The Warrens are real, but The Conjuring series are damn frightening! Every time I’ve watched one of these movies, I’m terrified at night, afraid to go to the bathroom and stumble upon something horrific. Of course that never happens, but the movie leaves you with that feeling and that’s exactly why it deserves a 5 star rating.
The duo Patrick Wilson (Ed Warren) and Vera Farmiga (Lorraine Warren) is amazing, they have this chemistry going on that make them the perfect casting. The real Lorraine Warren was a head consultant on all of the Conjuring projects and was an avid follower of the series, she died a natural death a few years ago (age 92).
During the closing credits, you can hear a news interview with the real Ed & Lorraine Warren from during the trial, along with photos of scenes from the movie and dialog from an audio recording of David Glatzel’s exorcism. This made it even more eerie, and makes me wonder what parts of the movie really happened or is it entirely fiction?
Also, an honourable mention to the Master Satanist, Eugenie Bondurant, her creepy performance is the highlight of the film. I’m surprised that we don’t see her more often in the horror industry.
I know that I keep repeating it a lot, but The Conjuring 3 was scary as hell, perfect for our 2021 Halloween Night. Let’s hope that there are many more to come so our Halloween Eves keep being perfectly frightening as it should be.
Another serie we love to rewatch every year during the hot summetimes. Paranormal Activity still remains, in my opinion, one of the most unsettling horror series ever made. No matter how many times I’ve watched these movies, they still make me feel ill at ease at night. Evil witches, and possession always do the trick for me.
One thing is for sure, I’ll never set up a camera in my place at night. Whatever happens at night, will stay in the night, like they say: “ignorance is bliss”. I prefer it that way.
Every time we’re watching Paranormal Activity, Sardoken and I can’t stop talking about how gorgeous the houses are in these movies (with exception of the Marked Ones). Even though, I prefer my normal little apartment over a haunted place anytime. I wanted to add some stills to this post, but they were too dark and didn’t do any justice so, instead I’m adding a picture of the the livingroom in The Ghost Dimension:
On the right you see a fraction of what is the biggest and most glorious Christmas tree I’ve ever seen in a house. It’s beginning September, and I’m already in full Christmas spirit… thank you Ghost Dimension.
This is by far my favourite horror series ever created. I remember how terrified I was after watching the first movie, I could barely sleep at night. Meanwhile, years have passed, and I’m still as terrified as the first time.
One thing I’ve learned is that no matter what weird stuff you may think is happening, NEVER set up a camera to capture these events. Especially not in your bedroom while you are sleeping. This is one subject that I find utterly disturbing. Add some haunted-, possession-like elements and you got my skin crawling.
Extra kudos for the beautiful houses in all the movies and the Christmas theme in the Ghost Dimension.
Sardoken
Paranormal Activity is my favourite serie of horror movies.
We recently re-watched them all, one movie each Saturday evening. While I remembered that we always had a good time watching them, I forgot how powerful they were.
Horror is very subjective to people, what frightens a person, may not scare another… On my wife and me, found footages are very effective. I think that they are only second to exorcism and posession movies. So, when those two themes are mixed together, in a nice californian setting, all the ingredients are there to make our perfect fright cocktail.
The movie is loosely based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, a German girl who died of malnutrition and dehydration after undergoing multiple exorcism rituals. The film is actually more of a court room drama. However, there is no sparing of pure psychological terror.
The casting was excellent, Jennifer Carpenter portrayed a bone chilling Emily Rose. Eventhough, the film wasn’t the most creepy one I’ve ever seen, the scenes of the exorcism itself and Emily’s possessed episodes, were quite haunting.
I know that there are debates whether Emily / Anneliese was really possessed or whether she was just a very sick young girl. They claim that she suffered from epilepsy and psychosis, which would seem like a logical and scientific explanation. I still wonder what really happened to her? My science brain tells me she was ill, yet another part of me wonders whether there was more to it after all. Anyway, I guess we’ll never know…
It was the second time I’ve watched this movie and it was totally worth it. Definitely can recommend it!
Creepy side note: In real life, actress Laura Linney’s (the lawyer) TV turned itself on a few times in the middle of the night during production. I don’t know if this is true, but it’s the kind of thing that scares the living hell out of me.
Rings is a pretty scary movie. Not for it’s effects, nor for the creepy apparition, but for that feeling of impending doom. You know that once you’ve watched the video, you’re going to die and there’s no way to run or hide from it. Something that scares me like hell.
I know that the movie received a lot of negative critisism saying that the story deviated too much from its’ original version. Me, on the other hand, found it refreshing to watch another version which left room for some elements of surprise and a nice plottwist at the end.
Another surprise was to watch Johnny Galecki playing another role than the famous Leonard Hofstadter in the Big Bang Theory. Unlike “Sheldon” (Jim Parsons), he managed to play a completely different character. All in all, the casting was excellent.
If you like movies like “It follows”, you most likely will like this one as well.
This is the second best horror movie we’ve watched during this years’ Easter holidays.
I don’t want to spoil anything so, in short, the movie is about an exorcism gone wrong. Despite its extremely bad rating, I kind of enjoyed it. Granted, it may not be the best of its genre, but if you like exorcism, it’s worth the watch. Thumbs up for the not so happy ending cause this is where The Vatican Tapes stands out from others. The conclusion has an open end, maybe with the intention of a sequel. But in general, the movie is satisfactory with an appropriate use of handycam and surveillance video.
Maybe not the most scary of all exorcism movies out there but, like I’ve mentioned before, I’ve enjoyed it nevertheless.
The movie’s about two students that must face a mysterious evil force when they get left behind at their boarding school over winter break.
Regardless of the amazing reviews I’ve read about The Blackcoat’s Daughter, I though it was just “meh”. It has something that made me continue watching it but, other than that, I have nothing interesting to say about this one. Granted, the casting may be excellent, but it doens’t change the fact that the story is too slow and underdeveloped.
Towards the end, things tend to get a little bit more violent, but it’s done in such a cheap slasher way that it contradicts the kind of ambiance they’re trying to build. It’s a very bleak and fairly uninteresting movie that isn’t scary at all.
A mother desperate to reconnect with her troubled daughter becomes embroiled in the urban legend of a demonic witch. – IMDb
Alright, this is where our “Easter holiday horror movie list” goes from bad to worse. Don’t Knock Twice is so bad that we fell asleep before we got to the middle of the story. I may not have seen the end, but I doubt that it would have been able to change my bad opinion.
I thought that the trailer looked good but, don’t let it fool you! Even Katee Sackhoff can’t make up for the annoying story and bad acting.
My opinion? Don’t watch once, and certainly don’t watch twice! It really isn’t worth it!
