Saw

A House Is Not a Host

MOVIE REVIEW
Insidious (2011)

Insidious-lin-shaye-leigh-whannell-saw-patrick-wilson-rose-byrne
FilmDistrict

With “Saw,” Australian director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell created arguably the most successful horror franchise of the last decade. Although the two brilliantly plotted all the twists and turns in that film, they evidently made a huge miscalculation by distancing themselves from five out of its six sequels. Instead of being branded as one-trick ponies, they now run the risk of being known as one-hit wonders.

Four years after the embarrassing double whammy of “Dead Silence” and “Death Sentence” (the latter Mr. Whannell did not pen and only starred in), the two finally redeem themselves with the respectable “Insidious.” And they have done so in spite of many obstacles, not the least of which is that the film’s first major twist is now an open secret. “It’s not the house that is haunted,” the trailers and posters explain. Thanks a lot, marketing geniuses.

Continue reading “A House Is Not a Host” »

Music of the Night

MOVIE REVIEW
Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

04_300dpi
Steve Wilkie/Lionsgate

“Repo! The Genetic Opera”
essentially consists of bad, campy torture porn interspersed within an incessant
string of overwrought musical numbers. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that
the burden of filming the stage play by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich
should fall on Darren Lynn Bousman, heretofore best known for directing the
middle three “Saw” installments. “Repo!” deserves credit for its go-for-broke
ambition but offers little more than 98 minutes of pure cacophonic excess. In
many respects, it is as brutal an experience as the low-grade horror fare it
apes.

Continue reading “Music of the Night” »

© 2008-2026 Critic's Notebook and its respective authors. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Subscribe to Critic's Notebook
Follow Us on Bluesky | Contact Us | Write for Us | Reprints and Permissions
Powered by WordPress