spooky season 2021 #68

Hooptober requirement: 8 decades - 6/8 (2020s)

i was quaking and wanted to scream at my tv.

so going into this i kinda had the Big Reveal™ spoiled because i saw someone compare it to Brain Damage. having said that, what i wasn't prepared for was that action sequence/fight choreography. it felt like my tv had somehow switched to someone playing Bayonetta or something, i absolutely loved it.

this covers so many elements of nearly every other James Wan film almost as if it were a greatest hits release. there's bits of Saw, Dead Silence, The Conjuring/Insidious, and i'm sure even the ones i haven't seen yet too. with such a scattered set of things this draws from it benefits from not really falling into any of the weaknesses the source materials do.

i'd somewhat written James Wan off as a once in a blue moon film that works for me with somewhat more frequent good ideas or segments but this has thrown a big wrench into that. i enjoyed this in full more than anything else he's done and now i'm curious to both revisit what i'd already seen but also get to the ones i haven't yet.