The Meaning of J

 Sputnik (2020)   Horror movies are such a derivative medium nowadays. We get a truckload of horror films each year that offer little to no originality whatsoever. These movies try to grab a familiar premise and add a few things to distinguish themselves but come off as derivative, predictable, and just downright unoriginal. However, along comes a film that takes a familiar concept and elements to rework them into a different movie. This film succeeds at putting its spin and turns out to be surprisingly good, with enough differences to avoid falling into the pitfalls of clichés, and stands out on its own to be its own thing.     Sputnik is one of the best horror films I have seen this year, perhaps the best one I've seen since Leigh Whannell's excellent reimagining of The Invisible Man . I give such a bold statement because I believe the horror season of 2020 so far has been an embarrassment. The offerings I've seen so far have been downright insulting, ranging ...

 Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)      Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)  is the worst movie I have ever seen in my 19 years as a film fanatic; it's $27.93 I will never get back. This movie has successfully dethroned  The Grudge  (2020) as the worst horror movie I have ever seen in my life.  John Boorman created an absolute mess of a movie that didn't need a sequel. It mixes an incomprehensible plot with insane visuals, laughably bad "special" effects, and phoned-in acting performances. It's a gigantic middle finger to the original film in every way imaginable. It fails to find a reason to justify its existence.        Before I continue giving this film the critical beatdown it needs, let us rewind and learn how this baffling sequel came into existence. It was 1973, and a little-known film called  The Exorcist  has released in American theaters to the unsuspecting public. The story of a girl possessed by a demonic spirit...