Prisoners: Brute Farce
Prisoners uses competent visuals and juggernaut acting to hide behind an impression of mysteriousness that its screenplay never fully justifies.
Thriller
Visions of a Vision in Knock at the Cabin
M. Night Shyamalan continues his winning streak with a well-acted high-concept thriller about the end-times. It’s more smoke than fire though.
Illusions of Relevance in The Invisible Man (2020)
Whannell drenches the action of his remake in expository relevance to cover for a lack of basic thriller rationale in the screenplay.
Misadapting Terror in The Pale Blue Eye
The Pale Blue Eye has the cast of a masterpiece and the script of a write-off. It’s inoffensive afternoon viewing, but Poe would have his name removed from it.
Exorcist II: The Heretic – Horror as Anti-Horror
Despite its meandering awkwardness, one of the most hated horror films of all time features a compelling creative vision and the visuals of an epic.
Zodiac: Memories of Murmur
The 15th anniversary of Zodiac is the perfect occasion to revisit David Fincher’s best film and see how the thriller epic holds up in 2022.
The Batman – Trailer Reaction
Another trailer for The Batman encouraged me to write down my thoughts, both my anticipation and misgivings, about Matt Reeves’ latest take on the Dark Knight.
Vertigo: Decoding Hitchcock’s Desires
Vertigo is as much about its director’s view of sex as a masterclass thriller. It decodes not only Master Hitchcock but an entire cinematic point-of-view.
Enemy: The Right Wrong Man
An analysis of Villeneuve’s dreamy thriller, Hitchcock accelerated to spiritual attack speed. Arachnophobes beware.
The Happening: Hitchcockian Plodder
The Happening was supposed to be Shyamalan’s take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The only thing that got snatched was more of his own appeal.
Primal Fear: Open-and-Open Case
Primal Fear reuses courtroom thriller tropes without revising them. But the cast makes them live again, at least as the ultimate TNT cable drama.