Tiny Reviews Department: "Evil Dead Rise", "Smile", "Scream VI", "Knock at the Cabin"

I've been on a horror marathon these days, considering the box-office (and critical) success of the latest horror movies that have been released in theaters. But it's Cannes time right now and there are some reviews I wanted to share with you before entering the first phase of the Oscars 2024 season - the post-Cannes Film Festival phase. 

So have a look at some scary and bloody film features' reviews:

• EVIL DEAD RISE

There's something quite cruel about this movie, but it never cross the "too much" line. Evil Dead Rise is quite tense and quite graphic bloody horror film that they don't get made anymore. Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland lead an ensemble that give life to empathetic characters, but the others can't quite match the acting bar set by the two actresses. They are put in a very claustrophobic set in a a nail-biting situation. It's thrilling, it's engaging and it's scary and God-damned bloody. There are some great scenes (the elevator ones and the garage one will live rent-free in my horror filmmaking dimension) and director Lee Cronin makes great use of color with a huge help from Dave Garbett. Alyssa Sutherland is the clear best in show. A must-see for horror lovers.

RATING: 6,5 / 10

• SMILE

It starts as a slow-burner psychological thriller before reaching a paranormal horror identity. The main character is first presented in a very empathetic way, which allows the audience to bound with Dr. Rose Cotter before she experiences the traumatic event of an acute patient who kills herself in front of her - it's one of the most bizarre and creepy scenes in the whole movie with little to almost none use of visual effects. Sosie Bacon makes for an engaging lead, delivering a magnetic performance as a woman who tries to overcome her past and present trauma while dealing with her own stages of paranoia. The thing is... Smile is never truly scary, it never fully delivers the chills and screams of its early promise, but it manages to be always engaging at the same time. It explores the impact of trauma, but it never traumatizes. Even when it starts exploring the paranormal side of its narrative and the audience reaches the final confrontation between Rose and her "trauma", Smile never truly catches fire (those who have watched it already will know my reference). Still, I liked the movie's ending. It's a decent watch, but it fails its horror purpose!

RATING: 5,5 / 10

• SCREAM VI

The characters are empathetic, the plot itself is a worthy tribute to the previous films of the franchise and there are some tense scenes, but there's something missing. Jenna Ortega and (specially) Melissa Barrera shine in this "scary" whodunit, delivering some of the best performances of the whole franchise. But Scream VI is not scary! You root for the characters and you start guessing who Ghostface killer is... but as a slasher, it fails. There are the very welcome Hayden Panettiere and Courteney Cox reprising their signature roles in the franchise and there are some funny jokes here and there, but Scream VI misses the campiness that made the franchise famous. Not scary enough and it can not be saved by campy moments (because it's not campy at all). Still, you should have a watch for Barrera & Ortega duo!

RATING: 5 / 10

• KNOCK AT THE CABIN

M. Night Shyamalan's career has been a series of hits and huges misses and Knock at the Cabin starts with a promising premise and what I consider to be a great concept, which makes the first act great, actually, but then the movie loses itselft somehow. Ben Aldridge, Jonathan Groff and Dave Bautista deliver great acting here, but they can't save the movie from a bad execution from Shyamalan - the movie gets too slow and going circles around the same subject without actually exploring it to its core, losing its pace and losing the audiences' interest. It tries to be a satire or a parabole, but it fails. Bad visual effects didn't help either.

RATING: 3,5 / 10