Dir - Adam MacDonald
Overall: GOOD
For his second time behind the lens, actor-turned-director Adam MacDonald explores a troubled mother/daughter dynamic through some black magic tampering with Pyewacket. The title refers to one of the unwholesome spirit familiars that infamous witch hunter Matthew Hopkins alleged to have dealt with in England during the 17th century, here discovered in an occult manual by a high school girl who suffers from a significantly dysfunctional relationship with her widowed mother. Wisely, MacDonald's screenplay paints both parties in said relationship with a nuanced brush. We can relate to Nicole Muñoz being drawn to, (and then resorting to in desperation), witchcraft after losing her father, just as much as we can sympathize with the bitter, heartbroken bouts of frustration from her emotionally ravaged mother, played by genre regular Laurie Holden. Muñoz is particularly good here, basking in very few moments of happiness as her traumatic situation reigns diabolical misfortune upon her. While some of the plotting comes off as rushed and/or predictable in the third act, the dread building is persistent throughout and even with a couple of B-movie tropes in tow, (like Gothy "loser" kids and a video call session with a demonologist expert to explain the rules), MacDonald treats the important aspects of his story with enough intelligence and respect to make the supernatural elements that much more unsettling.
Dir - Christopher Landon
Overall: MEH
Depending on how one feels about premise borrowing, Happy Death Day may either delight or annoy the multitudes of people with admiration for Groundhog's Day. This includes the filmmaker's themselves who throw in a meta reference to the said Bill Murray classic which this serves as the comedic slasher variation of. Originally slated to be produced by Michael Bay in 2007 under the title Half to Death, the script floated around and eventually got rewritten as a Blumhouse production with genre enthusiast Christopher Landon behind the lens. Sadly, the resulting film is front-to-back formulaic. It does more than just take the bare bones time loop framework from Groundhog's, it also focuses on the unlikable protagonist who has to go through a repeated series of the same thing to realize that she is unlikable and ergo must change her ways to break the cycle. While nothing surprising happens, (even when something "surprising" happens during the last act), it suffices as mere popcorn fodder and Jessica Rothe is enjoyable as a bitch turned humbled victim turned badass final girl-ish. There is no rule breaking going on here by design, but it is harmless, makes fun of itself, and is at least more amusing than most movies with obnoxious sorority stereotypes and killers in stupid masks.
Dir - Paul Urkijo Alijo
Overall: GOOD
Frequently hilarious as a dark, bombastic, fire and brimstone fantasy, Errementari, (The Blacksmith and the Devil), is the full-length debut from Spanish filmmaker Paul Urkijo Alijo and an impressive one at that. A rare genre work in the Basque language as well as an adaptation of the Indo-European folk story "The Smith and the Devil", it adheres to the type of arbitrary rules and regulations frequented in fairy tales from centuries past. It is all played up for diabolical fun here, involving things like devils with pitchforks who scream in agony over the ringing of blessed bells and are compelled against their will to count spilled chickpeas. The main focus involves a blacksmith who is so cruel and evil that "even the Devil is afraid of him", a blacksmith who has captured a lesser hell-spawn that he sold his soul to, all in purpose of delaying his unavoidable eternity in the abyss. While the stakes are firmly established and the plot thickens deliciously enough as things go on, the movie is mostly a triumph for its fantastical, humorous tone and wonderful effects work, most of which are practical besides the CGI, fire-bathed gates of hell finale. Each demon makeup that is utilized has a unique, over the top look and the rest of the period setting is appropriately bathed in dark, natural lighting and plenty of bleak grime. The fact that the finished result even manages to add a little heart to the proceedings is also in keeping to the popcorn-munching agenda.
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