Andrew Desmond’s feature-length narrative debut The Sonata is a literate, methodically paced throwback gothic thriller that plays a little like a Hammer production from the mid-to-late 1960s that would have starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in the two primary male roles.

Underwater gets the job done. I liked it a lot. Heck, I’m likely to head to the theatre and see it again before January ends.

It is a pity that The Grudge goes so obnoxiously off the rails just as it’s building to a conclusion.

But this new Black Christmas is a heck of a lot more than a talented filmmaker beating a socially-conscious drum. Takal has manufactured a monstrously entertaining horror riff that intelligent audiences of all backgrounds, races and genders will hopefully find just as much fun to watch as I did, this merry little not-really-a-remake remake a gleefully malevolent horror gift I’m happy I took the time to unwrap.

This new Rabid definitely has bite, and while that it fails to draw any more blood than that produced by a pinprick is undeniably a problem, it’s not a big enough on that I can entirely dismiss what it is the filmmakers have done here.

“When the Jews return to Zion
And a comet rips the sky
And the Holy Roman Empire rises,
Then You and I must die.

From the eternal sea he rises,
Creating armies on either shore,
Turning man against his brother’Til man exists no more.”
– THE OMEN (1976)

While there’s the high probability that Paradise Hills will grow on me on re-watch, as magnificent as the visual elements are and as strong as the social commentary might be, that’s not near enough to overcome the places where this motion picture falls disappointingly flat.

The only clock I cared about while watching the movie was my internal one, Countdown wasting so much of my time I couldn’t wait for the counter to hit zero so I could exit the theatre and go do something else.

The Lighthouse is one of 2019’s most uniquely satisfying creative endeavors, and even if I’m still not sure what the point of it all is I just as assuredly cannot wait to head back to the theatre and weigh anchor on a second viewing as soon as possible.