Shameless Self Expression

Two families go away together on vacation, and soon the kids have become obsessively drawn to a huge pit in an abandoned building. Parents Amanda Crew and Carlos Santos aren’t in a good place in their marriage so the other couple (Alisha Wainwright, Zach Gilford) agree to watch the kids for the night so they can re-connect. Unfortunately, the next morning the kids have vanished. Gilford goes back to the pit and finds the kids there only to watch them jump to their apparent deaths at the bottom of the pit. However, when he goes back to tell of the horrific news, the kids are there and seemingly alive and well. What. The. F. Directed by Roxanne Benjamin (who has directed a few TV episodes here and there), this 2023 Blumhouse horror film has some things going for it, but far too many problems to recommend. The roving camerawork is nice, and Yaron Levy (who lensed 10 episodes of “The Purge” TV series) gives us some colourful cinematography. It looks great, it’s quite atmospheric. I just d...

American ambassador Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) is in Rome for the birth of his first child with wife Katharine (Lee Remick, perfect casting) when he is told that the child has not survived the birth. It’s 6am on the 6 th day of the 6 th month. Thorn is told that they can be given a replacement, as a woman has just died giving birth, and her baby is now orphaned. In order to save his wife the trauma and grief, Thorn reluctantly takes the offer and they name the child Damien. Several years later and now Thorn is posted to England, where some odd and violent things start happening around the now adolescent Damien (Harvey Stephens). A nanny (Holly Palance) makes a public spectacle of committing suicide at Damien’s fifth birthday party, exclaiming ‘It’s all for you!’. A trip to the zoo sees a pack of baboons violently shake the family car. And just why does Damien so badly freak out when taken to church? Even Katharine starts to have her suspicions/fears about Damien. A ranting priest (P...