The Meaning of J

In a Violent Nature (2024)  Jean Pablo Deliz In a Violent Nature   is a glorious throwback to low-budget 80s slasher flicks with an art-house edge. Expect subpar acting and brutal kill scenes, as is typical for the tropes of the slasher genre. However, director Chris Nash opts for an intriguing path by emphasizing the chaos of its undead killer. It cares not about building well-rounded characters or a meaningful storyline. This movie is clear about what it wants to do and mostly succeeds, even if it trips up at the end.   Directed by Chris Nash in his directorial debut, Ry Barrett stars as Johnny, an undead killer unwittingly resurrected from his grave by a group of college kids. One kid steals a locket that keeps the killer sealed in his resting ground. Once resurrected, Johnny arms himself with a hatchet and chained hooks to wreak havoc on the hapless college kids. The film also stars Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Charlotte Creaghan, Liam Leone, Sam Roulston, and Reece...

Erase una vez en el Caribe (2023) Jean Pablo Deliz Dávila       Erase una vez en el Caribe (2023) is an ambitious film to behold whose efforts should not be ignored by the general public. It presents a glimpse into a bright future for Puerto Rican cinema, but unfortunately, it falls short. Erase una vez en el Caribe (2023) underwhelms with an overlong runtime, a dull protagonist, unengaging action sequences, and strict adherence to its genre influences. The film may have the best production design and look of any Puerto Rican film I've seen, and yet, it's not a great movie. It's neither good nor bad, instead falling into a middle ground between the two categories.   Érase una Vez en el Caribe (2023) is a samurai Western epic written and directed by Ray Figueroa and starring Héctor Aníbal as a machete-wielding warrior named Encarnación. He is a peasant in early 20th-century Puerto Rico, living in a modest home by the fields with his wife, Pura (Essined Apon...

The Exorcist: Believer (2023) Jean Pablo Deliz      Holy Jesus, this movie sucks. The Exorcist: Believer is a fright-free, zero-effort, lousily directed legacy sequel that barely rises above the level of being a subpar horror movie. Going from Talk To Me and Saw X to this movie was the equivalent of being kicked out of a five-star restaurant before finishing a three-course meal, only to be dumped into a McDonald's in a bad part of town to finish an underwhelming dessert. I shouldn't be shocked the movie was this bad, considering this movie was from the esteemed director of Your Highness (2011). I was more shocked that Universal Studios spent $400 million to secure the rights from Morgan Creek. This news development has led me to believe it was an elaborate money laundering scheme, but it's too soon to tell, given the film hasn't concluded its theatrical run. However, I won't hold my breath for a sequel, maybe it's for the best if the trilogy doesn't move ...

 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...