Dakota99
Bio: I look at things from a critical standpoint (most of the time)
*Known Fast & Furious shill*
Recent Ratings
Check out Dakota99's...
| 7 76% | Speak No Evil (2024) - Rated 18 Nov 2024
"As a standalone adaption of it’s foreign counterpart, Speak No Evil is light on terror, but it’s impressive performance from McAvoy creates a good amount of tension & suspensions sequences while maintaining a mostly smart screenplay. It checks off a lot of the essentials when it comes to its slightly predictable setup, and that in itself is impressive with the over-saturation of the thriller genre itself. Aside from pacing inconsistencies, this is quite solid."
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| 7 76% | Haunt (2019) - Rated 17 Nov 2024
"Haunt is low budget horror done right. It’s play on it’s realistic terror is quite effective even within it’s simplicity. The slow burn approach is interesting and the whole “things are not what they seem” cliche is prevalent, but even in that aspect, not all the characters are relegated to just dumb teenage fodder. The kills are solid given its limitations and easily made up by the ambiguous lore to the antagonists. This is a good Halloween movie that deserves to be watched in season."
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| 2 8% | Night Swim (2024) - Rated 17 Nov 2024
"Night Swim is exactly what Blumhouse has slowly devolved into over time these last few years. Its premise is lackluster, even in the most schlocky & shittiest adaptations of the B-rate subgenre. It’s void of much suspense or genuine terror, as it plays into the typical wheelhouse of other generic horror cliches. Its characters are unremarkable even when they try to inject some characterization. Quite honestly, the only notable aspect of this film is Wyatt Russell himself."
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| 8 87% | Barbarian (2022) - Rated 17 Nov 2024
"To Barbarian’s credit, it wears its themes & parallels so heavily on its sleeve. It has a definite message that does resonate with much real societal concern and its ability to do so without being tacky in any significant way is very commendable. Its premise is dark & in some aspects, equally as bleak, and while that might be too much for certain audiences, it defines itself in a very unique space in horror as a whole. Definitely one of the better additions to horror these last few years."
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| 5 42% | Freaky (2020) - Rated 17 Nov 2024
"Freaky is as generic & schlocky as they come when it comes to the horror/comedy sub-genre. It’s as by the books as it comes in structure & story beats, leaving no room to really perform outside its restrictive box. Its sole backbone is the elevation of the Vaughn/Newton duo, and to their credit, they are quite solid, if not slightly unspectacular however. Freaky is a fine way to pass time as it does just enough in most aspects, but it’s not very memorable on any level."
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| 6 60% | Snatchers (2019) - Rated 27 Aug 2024
"Snatchers is low grade, B-movie schlock cranked to the max. Its whole screenplay consists of crude self aware teenage humor that is extremely inconsistent in its execution. It’s attempt at layered depth is commendable in some right, but it’s tackiness is so aggressive it drowns out any ability to convey it. The concept itself is its strongest attribute, as it balances between its weird & goofy tonal shifts well enough to sustain an adequate level of cohesion, despite its rushed conclusion."
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| 10 99% | Strange Darling (2023) - Rated 26 Aug 2024
"Strange Darling’s story construction and perspective manipulation is a refreshing and one of the most effective ways to correctly pace a film. Thematically, it doesn’t do much beyond its surface level, but it does leave interesting trails & flares of demoniacal undertones. Fitzgerald/Gallner are absolutely the driving engines of this and this is the best both have ever been. Seemingly, Strange Darling feels artsy in the best ways, without feeling pretentious in a crowded sub-genre of cinema."
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| 7 76% | Blink Twice (2024) - Rated 24 Aug 2024
"Blink Twice’s layers are quite interesting. On a metaphorical level, it’s practically slapping its audience across the face repeatedly with how heavy it conveys itself, almost pandering to a point. However, it’s more dark & unveiling nature is very interesting on a deeper level and does explore more unfortunate and realistic themes of the human experience, and there is where it shows a much stronger sense of itself. It’s just somewhat muddled by its messy screenplay and dull characters."
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| 3 16% | The Crow (2024) - Rated 24 Aug 2024
"The Crow (2024) deviates much from its original predecessor’s flare and roots. Its attempt at a more modern and more accessible audience can be welcoming in theory, but its decision to bite into the Young Adult sub-genre so aggressively leaves it hollow and bland. Whether it’s between the confusing tonal shifts and uneven pacing, this version of the IP fails to establish any sort of identity within its construct, and in turn, kind of just floats lifelessly."
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| 5 42% | Alien: Covenant (2017) - Rated 20 Aug 2024
"Covenant finds itself stuck in the middle of two separate ideas. Its inability to hone in on Promethus and its high concepts due to its inclusion of the Xenomorphs makes for rush exposition & conclusions, ultimately wasting a sizable amount of Prometheus and its potential. It seemingly skips many steps to appease to wider audiences and unfortunately, the Xenomorphs themselves aren’t utilized nearly enough either to make an affective impression either. A great case of a messy storyboard."
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