MK_Ultra_

Biding my time at home on the couch with the flu screwed up my routine and included a deep dive into Netflix (which was only reactivated for the NFL games).

A rewatch of Rebel Ridge provided the needed kick in the arse to start a playlist, because it holds up. Hadn't entertained The Platform, so dig in there as well. Both provided some quality.

Then I went out of my personal comfort zone with a "Netflix highly rated" listicle pick; Carry-On.

Justin Bateman, meh, PG13, a touch of more meh, familar style of delivery, as the trailer autoplayed, as I hovered over the "#1 selection"

And once again, these sorts of promotion let me down yet again. It's starts, very reminiscent of most of these types of action suspense films, just setting the table for mundane and predictability.

Just a vanilla approach to the 80's/90s style of subgenre filmmaking, which in itself shouldn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. It's just the 80s/90s films were doing it right for the most part, and this one was a paint by numbers story arch and heading into the home stretch, only had me heading to the other room to get water and plug in phone without even pausing the film. It's flimsy in its delivery and just felt what you might expect with the components mentioned in earlier on, Bateman, PG-13, etc. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen the film. Take that for what it is.

If you cannot find anything else on, sure, give it a go, for some reason, it carries an adoring audience, which means little to me, but was keeping it simple that night, and it delivered on that one deal; simple.

4.5/10.

Pure Lovecraftian perfection.

You'll hear many rightly criticizing HPL's adaptations to film in most cases. Why? They just don't encapsulate the thematic effect of what Lovecraft's stories purvey; mysticism amid lurid, fantastical creatures that exist on in the authors "world"

Some come across wonky and removed just enough from this world because the screenwriters adapt to fit their own verus the source materials meanings and atmospheres.

This has to be one of my favorite adaptations, and its not close. Richard Stanley kept the source material close to the vest here. Wildly fantastical world opens up like a "pop up book" as the storyline, acting and practical effects being you into a surreal state that is begging you to enter. You can believe in this story and the practical effects, which can one of two ways, makes this film special for me. What you're getting is pure homage and respect to the story on a level that would make Lovecraft proud while remaining reminiscent of Tobe Hooper/John Carperters master strokes in practical effects and a glow that sticks with you well past the credits rolling.

Near perfect adaptation.

Sorry, was intrigued by what I read early on about this one---but It doesn't deliver the goods, but instead just takes on a dark kink aura with a propensity to showcase some (perceived), and also displayed graphic violence towards a female android/robot.

Got brutal enough and graphic enough for me to barely finish but slogged through as it's thankfully a short enough run time. It's not thought provoking or interesting but has that uneasy "uneven dynamic" at times that you may have seen in some early exploitation horror films (ISOYG), say, from the 80s...that are just replacing the final girl/rape victim with a artifical intelligence. Seeing some of these positive reviews gives me little hope for fans of this sort of garbage. Even with the female lead actress, being a real person, it wasn't selling what it was offering to me, that's for sure. File next to "rape-y/beaten woman movie if the week"

Sad that warped enough people exist to recommend this in a public forum. Trash gets trash.