Bingo Hell

Bingo Hell did a few things really well, but most things weren't great, and it was disappointing. Despite the 4/10, I am glad I watched it. I can't recommend it, but I think it might be worth the watch as long as you keep your expectations low and want to enjoy the visuals and a few great scenes.

What went right?

Basically every scene with Richard Brake (Mr. Big) was insane, and great to watch! His smile, his laughter, the lighting, and camera work were all fantastic. It was a spectacle worth watching and literally the only reason I liked the movie. Unfortunately you don't get a ton of him on screen.

The production quality was fantastic: everything was clearly lit even in dark scenes, all the sound was balanced and I never needed to adjust it. The camera work was a little *too* ambitious, sometimes dizzying, but they accomplished some really awesome shots so it was worth it. I hope to see some similar stuff, just reigned in a bit. They do a lot of lighting effects that I thought worked pretty well, which is an easy thing to mess up.

What went wrong?

Story-wise, they had an ok idea, but just didn't make it interesting enough or put the pieces together clearly. I thought I'd love the tough old-lady main character from the trailer, but she just felt awkward to me the whole movie. I didn't like most of her dialogue either, but luckily some of the other characters were pretty entertaining when they got screen time.

They didn't do enough with the actual horror elements, but when they used them they were quite good. They had some really crazy death scenes, but didn't do enough of them. The logic for the demon didn't really hold up in some regards, and there was almost no build up. It seemed like they couldn't decide exactly what the demon should be and it made it clunky.

It escalated too quickly and it was a ton of wasted opportunity since they didn't spend time on the most interesting parts. They had some mysterious details (like slime) that they set up and never used again. A big chunk of the movie started to get old as it drifted into mediocre-drama territory for too long.

A heartfelt horror/comedy with a great balance of gruesomeness and character connection. The residents of a small, impoverished, American town are struggling to remember who they once were in a community who has forgotten its true identity. Seduced by a nefarious newcomer, this Faustian story will test the moral fibre of this tribe presenting them with a fight for the very soul of their town.

This struck a note of sincerity based on the authenticity of the well developed characters and the exploration of the every day problems of the real people in America. This has all the ingredients to be a cult horror B-grade classic. A simple yet effectively executed message about people being tested and self-discovery in a light hearted comedy/horror context. Fun yet significant.

But it just never got here. It caught my interest from the start. The opening was bouncy, with intrigue. Then it opened up too many paths to follow. Then it got soapy and peachy.

Nothing worked after that.

Nearly as bad as actually going to the bingo. Plays off as a poor attempt at Needful Things/Wishmaster type horror and fails miserably, it's just not as clever or fun as those other horrors. Hopefully the other Welcome To Blumhouse movies are a lot better than this.

But an all around good movie. Some parts were slow, like when she was putting on lipstick. But what really made this movie was their acting, I still have women like this in my life. The acting was GENUINE! So you could picture a granny being in a situation just like this. Lupita reminded me of my ex mother in law, I still drive her to bingo anytime she wants to go. I love a good horror movie and this was a bad one. It was just not great, I would say it was more of a 6/10. But I could not get over how the two leads reminded me of someone in my life currently.