Dir - Tsutomu Hanabusa
Overall: MEH
Released a year after the embarrassing schlock-fest that was Sadako 3D, the apply named Sadako 3D 2 comparatively channels a more atmospheric and dialed-back tone, yet the results are still largely dismal and still unintentionally moronic. At this point, the cursed video tape gimmick is rendered inconsequential and there are fewer references to Koji Suzuki's source material than ever. Instead, we have a typical, blue-tinted, "creepy kid with supernatural powers" agenda that is underwritten enough to be incoherent, making up the rules as it goes along which are flimsy enough to begin with in addition to the screenwriters not bothering to follow any of them. The second act drags as an uninteresting mystery is trying to get solved by bland characters, but there are a couple of tonally askew set pieces thrown into liven/confuse things up. Boatloads of jump scares rear their predictable heads, but moments like a room inexplicably turning into a whirlpool of blood, a woman stabbing herself in the eye, CGI monster-faced attacks, and the ole gag of a bathtub inexplicably housing a bottomless ocean are silly enough to laugh at against the somber mood that returning director Tsutomu Hanabusa otherwise maintains. Ill-conceived, messy, and dumb instead of even remotely scary, it at least falls down the stairs more gracefully than its predecessor.
Dir - Brian Netto
Overall: MEH
The debut from co-writer/director Brian Netto, Delivery: The Beast Within tackles all too familiar horror concepts within an all too familiar found footage framework, merely ending up as one of a plethora of such movies that fails to convincingly pull off its subject matter. Another fully edited and musically scored mockumentary that presents us with a series of concerning events that hardly maintain verisimilitude in such a context, the film is off to a troubled start right from the onset. Concerning an upper class married couple that is expecting their first child after years of trying, they agree to have a documentary crew follow their ordeal for a reality TV show whose apparent only gimmick is that normal people would want to watch other normal people have a normal pregnancy. Of course the results are anything but normal and production shuts down, yet Netto and producer/fellow screenwriter Adam Schindler manage to find ways to keep the cameras rolling as the pregnant woman continues to act irrationally and a slew of demonic baby possession cliches are hurled at the audience. Performance wise, everyone does solid work and the movie excels better as a fly on the wall examination of first time parental anxiety and the effects that mental instability can have on already stressed-out individuals. As far as an unholy bit of horror cinema though, it is as forgettable as they get.
Dir - Alex van Warmerdam
Overall: GOOD
Unnerving due to its dry tone and perplexing subject matter, Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam's Borgman is a difficult pill to swallow, yet a refreshingly aloof one. No concrete details are given as to how the hobo title character, (played with disturbed detachment by Jan Bijvoet), plus his band of no nonsense cohorts manage to take over a wealthy couple, their children, and nanny. The already puzzling chain of events is punctuated by numerous concerning outbursts, all of which are played with the same air of coldness that permeates the entire film. Some of these bizarre moments are presented so matter-of-factly that they are comedic, but this humor is arid enough to be undetectable to some viewers, if not entirely intentional on the part of Warmerdam and his cast. A supernatural element is touched upon only in the vaguest of senses, with Bijvoet crouching like a sleep paralysis demon on Hadewych Minis's sleeping form, Jeroen Perceval getting branded with a spontaneous tattoo on his shoulder, and Sara Hjort Ditlevsen falling under complete devotion after spending mere unseen moments with Tom Dewispelaere's gardening helper. On surface level at least, it falls more into the bewitching thriller mold than anything otherworldly, but its spell is a singular one worth appreciating.
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