Film Reviews - Allelujah & Scream VI

 

I think my face may be scarier than the mask!

Hello and welcome to my first film reviews of 2023. I figured that seeming as I was trying to see at least one film a week this year, I should start writing some reviews!

So to start off, here are my reviews from two films I saw at my local Cineworld this week, Allelujah and Scream VI.

Something sinister is lurking in this poster!

Upon watching it's trailer a few months ago, I saw a film that looked very relatable. See, I work with the elderly and some of the humour I saw in the trailer is something I experience on an almost daily basis. A film that's relatable is always a good thing, right?

So upon seeing the film finally yesterday, I left very shocked, much to my own surprise. 

This film does indeed showcase a light-hearted look at working in the health profession but my God does it take a dark twist towards the end.

Now I'm not one that hates twists in the movies. I especially love a good twist ending. However, when an ending totally changes the tone of a film into almost a polar opposite, then I'm not so game.

Now if I had previously seen the 2018 Alan Bennett play it is adapted from, then I'm sure it wouldn't have surprised me, like I'm sure it will for most people who see it. 

Saying that, the film does have some good performances from a very stellar cast, including the likes of Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Jennifer Saunders. A personal favourite actor of mine, Russell Tovey, also stars in the film. 

I'd like to say on a personal note, it was quite fun to see a character in the film that does the exact same job as me. If you happen to see the film in question, then I'm talking about the guy who encourages the elderly to sing. That is literally me on a daily basis!

So to sum it up, Allelujah is a film that could have been really relatable but is totally undone by a very out-of-the-blue twist ending. What a shame. A real shame. 

Rating - 2/5

An old school horror movie poster. Yeah, I dig it!

Scream VI was a film I had pre-watch reservations about. Why? Well, the previous entry was quite forgettable for me. I watched it on the plane to Florida last year and honestly couldn't remember anything about it, other than one of the original characters being killed off.

Still, I was raring to give it a go. After all, I do love the world of horror cinema and the Scream series has been a steady franchise for the most part. 

How did the latest installment fare? Quite well actually! 

In recent times, so many horror movies have relied on jump-scares or flat-out gore to 'entertain' audiences. While this film does indeed have elements of that, none of it is done over-the-top and it does feature what I like about a good horror film, and that is tension. The Scream films have always relied on tension. Mostly the idea of who might be on the other end of the phone or who the killer might be. It's a pretty decent formula that still works for this series. 

The cast of mostly young actors is pretty strong, including a return for Jenna Ortega of the recent Wednesday series fame. Also returning is Courtney Cox, an absolute legend of the Scream series and she is always such a joy to watch on the screen. Original Scream veteran Neve Campbell doesn't return for this one. Apparently, there was issues with her money demands to appear in this one. Maybe it's for the best, as to be quite honest, her character wasn't needed for the story, it was barely needed for the previous film either. 

To end, this wasn't the best entry in the Scream series, however, it was a pretty fun horror movie flick and that's just what I wanted. 

Rating - 3/5