154) NEW HORROR RELEASES - The Menu (2022)

"Chefs - they play with the raw materials of life itself, and death itself."

Director

Mark Mylod

Cast

Ralph Fiennes - Chef Slowik
Anya Taylor-Joy - Margot

Nicholas Hoult - Tyler
Hong Chau - Elsa

Paul Adelstein - Ted
Janet McTeer - Lillian
John Leguizamo - The movie star
Aimee Carrero - Felicity
Reed Birney - Richard
Judith Light - Anne
Rob Yang - Bryce
Arturo Castro - Soren
Mark St. Cyr - Dave
Rebecca Koon - Linda

First, the rant...

I know this is a very broad and general critique, but I'm going to say it anyways. Foodies can be some of the most pretentious people on the planet. 

By "foodie" I'm referring to folks out there who have a passionate or "refined" love for food. So much so that it makes me wonder if they forgot the purpose of eating in the first place.

They eat as hobby. Many of them broadcast themselves as "food experts" and they somehow obtain a celebrity status because of it. They're so prestigious thanks to their knowledge of grub that they appear as judges on baking shows, and such. They know...oh, how they do know...what a randomly concocted cake, baked right on the spot, sometimes with randomly required ingredients, is "supposed" to taste like. If you don't believe me, just tune into the Food Network and watch shows like "Halloween Baking Championship," "Cupcake Wars," or "Worst Bakers in America" and watch them talk cakes. I can go a lengthy tirade around the show "Worst Bakers in America." What a tool that show is to fuel the already over-inflated egos of the judging "baking experts." I can't imagine an easier way for an expert chef to make themselves and their talents look more awesome and amazing than by comparing or contrasting themselves with people who have no idea what they're doing. Slow clap for the experts!

These food experts make themselves notables to be respected and revered because of their food knowledge and cooking abilities. I appreciate talent and expertise. Don't get me wrong. 

Some don't quite make it to such lofty televised levels but still manage to build overblown personas to some degree or another. Not all of them. But too many.

Some of these foodies have a knack for making their food just as showy and often ostentatious as they are. Why would anyone want to go to a restaurant and order something like a "deconstructed hamburger" or "deconstructed egg rolls?" And obviously other food snobs order such "distinguished" dishes so they can partake in the distinguishment of these distinguished distinguishables. Broken menu items! Now that's sophistication! 

And what's more hilarious to me is the cultish behavior around celebrity chefs on television. They demand up-and-coming pawns below them to respect them like holy figures or drill sergeants. 

"Yes, chef!" the peons will shout on command the moment the celebrity master chef commands them to "cook for me."

These sweaty and nervous cooks will prepare some "sumptuous" plate that may include ingredients like lemon foam or some such nonsense, along with an "essence" of some other nonsense no one else would eat even on a dare. They may garnish their plate with something like an oyster leaf (whatever the hell that is). And when they present their dish to their master chef, they'll toss out words or phrases like "roulade," "artisanal," "Provençal," "from Moldova" or "foraged" as descriptors in a final effort to appease and impress their master. Then this master of theirs will swiftly nit-pick each and every flaw in their dish before calling them an "idiot sandwich" and tossing out their meal. Newspaper editors do kind of the same thing, but that's another rant for another day.

By the way, my favorite food-term description I once heard is "mouthfeel." Mouthfeel! It sounds like some dirty porno term. Does that mean flavor? I want tasty food when I go to a restaurant, not an intellectual exercise. By the way, if anyone reading this ever has the "pleasure" of dining out with me, and I start moaning in ecstasy as I eat my food while describing the "mouthfeel," please don't hesitate to take me outside and hose me down.

When it comes to food, fancy words somehow enhance the draw of food. Obviously. And I understand presentation is key, especially when people are paying exorbitant prices for lunch or dinner. Hardly anyone outside of the Crème de la Crème of affluent foodies know what the hell a lot of these intricate food terms mean, anyways. But who cares? Fancy means better. 

The highfalutin foodies know all too well that fancy words justify "fancy" (ahem...higher) prices. Who can really justify paying $40 for a "deconstructed" burger, which is an inventive way of saying a hamburger that the cook couldn't bother to properly assemble, when they can pay less for an actual assembled burger made with the same ingredients? 

I once saw a video online, posted by a particular, normally vulgar, celebrity chef demonstrating the "right way" to scramble an egg. Give me a break! I'll take scrambled eggs and bacon cooked at a truck stop diner over scrambled eggs and bacon served in some gaudy way, say like on a popsicle stick or with eggs laid by...I don't know... Moldovan pygmy chickens.

Pretentious persons like these are the reason why the whoopee cushion and silly string were invented. 

Even with all that said, I love a well-prepared meal, especially when it comes to Italian food. Quality and originality are always appealing and appetizing. Still, listening to garish cooks is grima. That means it's like listening to nails on a chalkboard for those not as garrulous and verbose as I and don't know what "grima" means. I had to Google it myself to figure it out.

Anyways, this gripe of mine is primarily the reason why I love the 2022 comedic horror movie "The Menu." 

And now, the plot...

Ralph Fiennes stars as Chef Julian Slowik in "The Menu."

The film starts with a foodie of course. Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) and his date, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy)
catch a ferry to a high-end restaurant called Hawthorn. It's located on a private island and owned by celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). 

The dinner they're attending is by invitation only. The other guests include well-known and respected food critic Lillian Bloom (Janet McTeer) and her editor (Paul Adelstein), Hollywood actor George Diaz (John Leguizamo) and his personal assistant (Aimee Carrero), a trio of business partners named Bryce (Rob Yang), Soren (Arturo Castro) and Dave (Mark St. Cyr), Hawthorn regulars Richard and Anne Leibrandt (Reed Birney and Judith Light), and Slowik's drunk mom Linda (Rebecca Koon). 

Tyler is gung-ho about meeting Slowik whom he idolizes. He's desperate to be noticed by Slowik, and make a lasting impression.
When all the guests arrive at the island, they're given a tour of the facilities by the maître d'hôtel, Elsa (Hong Chau) who explains how regimented life is on the island. The chefs that cook at Hawthorn live on the premises.

She shows them the smokehouse in which meats are prepared "in the Nordic tradition" as well as Slowik's personal cabin where no one on the island is ever permitted in - not even staff closest to him. 

Elsa notices that Margot is not Tyler's original and intended companion invited to the dinner. 

However, when dinner begins, and each course is introduced, Slowik gives a sort of oration to introduce each dish and the purpose behind each one. 

His explanations become more and more personal and disturbing either for Slowik or for the guests as each course is introduced. 

Soon, he reveals to his guests that each of them was invited simply because they either killed his passion for cooking, or they greedily profited by exploiting the art and craft of gourmet cooking one way or another. 

Finally, my thoughts...

Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy star in "The Menu."

I love satire, and this is definitely satire at its exquisite formal best. The comedy fits in perfectly with the ambiance and atmosphere of the story. 

Since all of these guests have something to do with Slowik's demise, they're not getting out alive at the end of the meal. 

While the acting is superb, the gleaming gem of the movie is the presentation. Both the restaurant staff and their patrons are just as pompous and odd ball as the dishes they're presented, and which they fawn over high on the fumes of their own sophistication. So much so, they have no idea how foolish they are. When the characters having their supper aren't tripping over themselves to appreciate the food more than anyone else eating the same thing, they're dumbfounded like a deer in the headlights of a big rig truck clueless about what to do.

One dish Slowik presents is a bread plate without bread. The only thing on this breadless bread plate are dipping sauces. He presents this dish stating that bread is the food of the common man, and those dining are not common. 
"And so tonight... you get no bread."

Of course, these foodies eat it all up, though there's nothing to actually eat. It's clear that Slowik knows serving food without any food is completely stupid, and the patrons who drool over it are simply fakes. He can see it, but they can't. 

The final act is one of the best moments I've ever seen in a movie's final act. It's the pièce de résistance that earns the chef's kiss. 

Still, Slowik fails in one regard. Despair.

"We strive for perfection, which of course does not exist, and that is a hard truth for me to accept," Slowik says later in the film. 

In this temporal world, sure. We can strive for perfection. We're called to perfection. It does exist. We'll never achieve it, but we can still try. In this regard, he's just as foolish as his dinner guests. As far as food goes, as long as food judges judge, yes....there is no perfect dish.

But the cherry on top of this wonderful film is Judith Light who plays Angela Bower on the sitcom "Who's the Boss." I haven't seen her a while. It's cool to see her again.

Director Mark Mylod's name can be seen in a lot of television shows such as the pilot episode for "Once Upon a Time," as well as "Game of Thrones." He created a fantastic movie here. 

The satirical comedy is dainty and exquisite, and the horror is seen in the trepidation that slowly creeps in as the movie progresses. Mwah!

143) NEW HORROR RELEASES - Wednesday (2022)

"Wednesday's child is full of woe."

Directors

Tim Burton, Gandja Monteiro, and James Marshall

Cast

Jenna Ortega - Wednesday Addams, Goody Addams

Gwendoline Christie - Larissa Weems

Emma Myers - Enid Sinclair

Percy Hynes White - Xavier Thorpe

Riki Lindhome - Dr. Valerie Kinbott

Hunter Doohan - Tyler Galpin
Jamie McShane - Sheriff Galpin

Christina Ricci - Marilyn Thornhill

Isaac Ordonez - Pugsley Addams

Luis Guzmán - Gomez Addams

Catherine Zeta-Jones - Morticia Addams

Fred Armisen - Fester Addams

George Burcea - Lurch

Victor Dorobantu - Thing

The new dark mystery series, "Wednesday," available on the streaming service Netflix, is more creepy, mysterious, and a bit spooky than it is ooky or cooky. Honestly, I don't know what "ooky" means, so if this series is actually that, I completely missed it. Still, I think it's safe to assume that the show is completely void of ookiness, which is fine with me. 

Directed by Tim Burton, the series, based on Charles Addams' cartoon "The Addams Family," premiered Nov. 23. 

The humor behind the Addams is the contrast between the strange and macabre family set against the rest of the relatively normal world, which the audience sees when they interact. The Addams think they're the normal ones, and the rest of the world is strange and unusual. 

"Wednesday" takes a more dramatic tone though maintains its comedic roots, unlike the T.V. sitcom "The Addams Family" that ran from 1964 to 1966. The sitcom is goofy and played for chuckles as is the nature of sitcoms. The same is somewhat true for the 1992 movie "The Addams Family" and its 1993 sequel, "Addams Family Values" both of which I enjoy. The movies have a darker, updated tone though still keep the same style of humor the cartoon is known for. 

As the title suggests, the new series centers around Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) - the eldest child of Gomez (Luis Guzmán) and Morticia Addams (Catherine-Zeta Jones). Although, for anyone who follows the canon of the sitcom, Wednesday is the youngest Addams child.
The series starts with Wednesday getting expelled from Nancy Reagan High School. After she finds her brother, Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) stuffed in his locker, Wednesday has a psychic vision of the bullies who did this to him. So, she retaliates against Pugsley's bullies by letting piranhas loose in the school swimming pool while they're in the middle of water polo practice.

Gomez and Morticia decide to enroll Wednesday into a school where they think she'll fit in - Nevermore Academy.

The Academy, located in Jericho, Vt., has a student body of unusual outcasts, some with unusual powers. It's also the school where her parents first met. 

Wednesday, who has a cold and emotionless demeanor as she intellectually carries herself above everyone else, is bitter at her parents for placing her in Nevermore and swears she'll escape. 

Her cynical and emotionless personality also puts her at odds with the school principal, Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie). 

The state has ordered that Wednesday see a counseler, which she does. She reluctantly visits a therapist in town named Dr. Valerie Kinbott (Riki Lindhome) who seems to know a lot about her, to Wednesday's surprise. Dr. Kimbott doesn't react to Wednesday's attempts to intimidate. 

Before heading back home, Gomez and Morticia leave their sentient pet hand, Thing (Victor Dorobantu), at the school to keep a tab on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, murders have been taking place around Jericho. Wednesday uses her newly found psychic ability to try to solve these mysterious killings. Early in the series, she witnesses a monster attack one of the students whom she followed into the woods. 

As Wednesday's visions become more and more vivid, her drive to solve the murders and find the monster grows more and more acute. 

Luis Guzmán, Jenna Ortega, and Catherina Zeta-Jones star as the Addams in "Wednesday."

She also learns that her father was accused of murder while he was a student at Nevermore back in 1990. The local sheriff (Jamie McShane) thinks Gomez is guilty despite not being convicted. So, he holds a long-time grudge.

Though Gomez was not convicted of the charge, his past comes back to haunt him when the family visits Wednesday in the middle of the school year. Wednesday thinks her father's murder accusation may have something to do with the murders the town is currently dealing with.  

Netflix posted on the platform's Facebook page that "Wednesday" now holds the record for most viewed hours (341.2 million hours) in one week for an English language program on their streaming platform. Netflix claims "Wednesday" is number one in 83 countries, tying the record with the fourth season of their other series "Stranger Things." 

Rather than create a new Addams series contrasting the entire macabre family against a relatively normal society, and then let the hilarity ensue, "Wednesday" puts the oldest Addams child in a boarding school with other outcast students just as strange and unusual (to some degree or another) as she is and turn the premise into a murder mystery. It turns Wednesday into a more relatable character on top of maintaining her dark and death obsessed nature, and razor-sharp personality.

We see Wednesday develop through the series as those who consider her a friend are soon left with telling her what they think of her. For instance, her bubbly werewolf dormmate Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) tells her just what kind of person she is to her face after Wednesday puts her in a life-or-death situation without any remorse.

One of Wednesday's admirers, Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes White), a student who has the ability to give his artwork life (literally), puts Wednesday in her place after he catches her in a shed he uses as a private art space. He caught her outside the shed before, after she asked him to a school dance called the Rav'n only to cover her tracks in her investigations. Once he catches on to how she used him, he gets irate and says, "You are unbelievable."

"It's nothing personal," she nonchalantly replies.

"No, it never is with you, is it," he shouts. "I mean, do you even care about anyone or anything at all, Wednesday?" 

She finds herself speechless as a glisten of a tear looks like it's welling up in her eye.

"Get out," he barks at her. 

Though she tries to hide it, Wednesday can't help feeling the sting of truth that she's observed and critiqued just as much as she observes and critiques others. In other words, Wednesday learns that being an ass is a terrible thing. For someone who revels in pain and turmoil, this kind of pain doesn't feel too great. 

While the show is a mystery series, the "creepy and cooky" Addams style chimes in from time to time. Episode five, "You Reap What You Woe" is where the true Addams form really comes out. This is the episode where Wednesday's family comes to visit Nevermore for the school's yearly "parent's weekend." 

In episode seven, "If You Don't Woe Me by Now," Wednesday's Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) shows up to visit his niece and brings with him the Addam's family style and feel. 

Of course, like most everything else coming out of Hollywood, the series goes out of its way to mark off all the current ideology checkmarks. 

Then again, such modern ideology fits in a show about someone as dark, strange and void of personality like Wednesday Addams.

In one scene, she accuses a male student of "mansplaining" which made me cringe. Watching Wednesday explain everything to everyone, only to criticize someone - a male student - for explaining something to her doesn't make much sense. And it's even funnier that Wednesday would subject herself to a nonsense word like "mansplain." 

But, for Hollywood, all that matters is stuffing in as many tenets of the modern political credo repeated over and over again like a religious mantra into as much content as possible is all that matters for Hollywood. By this point in time, it just induces eyeroll after eyeroll.  

Outside of that nitpick, the series nicely depicts two sides of Wednesday. There's the Wednesday who's driven. Then there's the familiar Wednesday who welcomes all things sinister and haunting. 

"If you hear me screaming bloody murder, there's a good chance I'm just enjoying myself," she says during one of her investigations. 
Instead of playing to the comically grim side of the character as seen in the comics, sitcom, and the movies, Wednesday is portrayed as a coming-of-age teenager taking a harsh grudge towards her parents, especially her mother, while learning how she's seen by others whether she likes it or not.
No matter how much she holds herself up above her peers and her parents, and no matter how strange and unusual she presents herself, her problems and inner struggles are just like others her own age.
Part of that experience is Wednesday seeing things through the eyes of her parents. Like most teenagers, even Wednesday goes through a rebellion, even towards her mother whom she looks up to in other Addams Family depictions. 
The 2021 animated film "The Addams Family 2" also focuses on Wednesday's (voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz) relationship with her family. In that movie, she tries to distance herself from them after discovering that she may not be their biological daughter despite being similar in personality. So, Wednesday focuses on the differences between herself and the rest of them while on a family road trip.

With this new series, we see a side of the character not necessarily depicted before - bitterness towards those close to her. After her parents drop her off at the Academy, Wednesday threatens to escape and never see her mother again.
"You're a brilliant girl, Wednesday, but sometimes you get in your own way," Morticia says before they leave their daughter at school.
She gives Wednesday a necklace with an obsidian emblem bearing a "W" on one side which turns to an "M" on the other side when flipped, as a symbol of their connection. But Wednesday mocks the gesture, calling the necklace a "toe-curling chotchkie."
"I'm not you, mother," she says. "I will never fall in love, or be a housewife, or have a family." This is the kind of turmoil even the Addams won't relish.

Ortega's performance is full of well-played detail, right down to long periods without blinking. Her furled gaze through her black eyebrows makes her the next best Wednesday since Christina Ricci, who plays the character in the 1992 movie and its sequel. By the way, Ricci has a supporting role as Botany Professor Marilyn Thornhill. 

Wednesday is bright for a dark child. Ortega's inflections and mannerisms are perfect in this role. 

Burton hand-picked the cast, and I can see why he saw Wednesday in Ortega. Her Wednesday puts her intelligence to good use, making her fit to be the detective she is. For the rest of the cast, they resemble the characters from the cartoon better than any other Addams Family movie or series.

Ortega is certainly no stranger to horror as the 20-year old actress previously starred in such movies as "Insidious: Chapter 2" (2013), "The Babysitter: Killer Queen" (2020), "Scream" (2022) "Studio 666" (2022), "X" (2022) and is scheduled to appear in the sixth installment of the "Scream" series.
The atmosphere at Nevermore Academy is certainly a Harry Potter-esque style with its paranormal nature, and odd student body mixed with Tim Burton's macabre gray tone protruding through. I wouldn't call it a stunning style. It's what's to be expected, especially regarding Burton's version of the macabre. 

It's heavier on the eerie and ghastly than on the surreal and nightmarish. I can see Burton's style in the look of the monster, referred to as a "hyde." It would easily fit within his 1988 movie "Beetlejuice." And the truck driver in the beginning of the first episode ever-so-slightly resembles "Large Marge" from his movie "Pee Wee's Big Adventure."

There's a scene in which Wednesday plays her cello in the town square during an unveiling while the statue of the town's founder, Joseph Crackstone, is lit on fire and burns while ceremony attendees run around in a panic. It is truly a heavy scene that sums up Wednesday Addams perfectly.  

Each episode left me eager to watch the next. I appreciate the series doing something different with the Addams rather than just creating an updated live-action series with the humor and style we've already seen before. Using Wednesday's knowledge and brilliance to create a mystery series is enticing. Overall, I can see why this new series became successful so quickly.

141) NEW HORROR RELEASES - Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)

"Cops, and everything. Teachers. It's like everybody's had it out for me forever." 

Creators

Ryan Murphy

Ian Brennan

Cast

Evan Peters - Jeffrey Dahmer

Richard Jenkins - Lionel Dahmer

Molly Ringwald - Shari Dahmer

Niecy Nash - Glenda Cleveland

Penelope Ann Miller - Joyce Dahmer

Khetphet Phagnasay - Southone Sinthasomphone

Rodney Burford - Tony Hughes

It feels like it's taking me days and days to write my thoughts on the current Netflix series "Dahmer."

The 10-episode series, created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, premiered on the streaming service on Sept. 21. I finished watching it in mid-October. 

It centers primarily on the life of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (Evan Peters), one of the worst murderers and sex offenders in American history. It's thought that this guy killed 17 victims starting in 1978. Dahmer terrorized the city of Milwaukee for several years before finally getting caught by police in 1991. 

I think it's a safe assumption to say that my initial reaction upon hearing about this series matches those of so many others in the audience. How many series on this guy do we need?

And by the end of the last episode, my mind still pondered why was this made?

Though "Dahmer - Monster" is a biographical true crime drama series, I include it on my horror blog simply because Jeffrey Dahmer was a horrific person. And this series was released just in time for the Halloween season. Was that intentional? I'll assume it is. So, I'm putting it here.

A documentary is one thing. There's a lot of them about this one psychopath. I couldn't find how many movies and documentaries there are about Dahmer. I found one website, bustle.com, that lists nine movies, documentaries and T.V. shows about him "to watch ASAP."  That makes an entire 10-episode tv series seem even more unnecessary. 

MSN posted an article headlined, "10 Jeffrey Dahmer Documentaries, Movies, and Series to Watch After ‘DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’."

Both articles pretty much list the same titles - "The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer" (1993), "Jeffrey Dahmer: Mind of a Monster" (2020), "Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes" (2007), "My Friend Dahmer" (2010), "Dahmer" (2002), "The Jeffrey Dahmer Files" (2012). Or you can just watch the trial itself which is currently available on YouTube. 

This series depicts moments from Dahmer's childhood, including his relationship with his mother Joyce (Savannah Brown as young Joyce, and Penelope Ann Miller as the older version), his father, Lionel (Richard Jenkins) and also his grandmother, Lionel's mother, Catherine (Michael Learned). 

It also covers specific moments during the period his killing spree terrorized the people of Milwaukee. 

The series does include episodes that focus on other people such as his victim, Tony Hughes (Rodney Burford), his suspicious neighbor, and his father. 

The final two episodes depict Dahmer's trial, his time in prison, the fan mail he received, and his final days. 

With the large number of films and such about Dahmer already out there, I don't see this as any different from them aside from details surrounding the events of Dahmer's life and murders. While I haven't watched any of these other productions, though I have seen various episodes of true crime TV shows about Dahmer, I fail to see what sort of new insight this new series covers. In fact, I fail to see why audiences need new insight into the life and crimes this psychopath. 

Audiences certainly have a fascination with the serial killers that have terrorized societies through the decades. And the more demoralized and debased they are, the greater is audience fascination.

While Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan boast that this series strives to put the stories of Dahmer's victims and their families at the heart of the production, it primarily feels like just another Jeffrey Dahmer story... approximately 10-hours long. 

Evan Peters as serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer.

As of Oct. 27, Murphy responded to the backlash from the angry families who voiced their displeasure at the idea of producing this show. 

During an event for his series at the DGA Theater somewhere in Los Angeles, The Hollywood Reporter quotes Murphy as saying, “And we — over the course of the three, three and a half years when we were really writing it, working on it — we reached out to 20, around 20, of the victims’ families and friends trying to get input, trying to talk to people. And not a single person responded to us in that process. So, we relied very, very heavily on our incredible group of researchers who … I don’t even know how they found a lot of this stuff. But it was just like a night and day effort to us trying to uncover the truth of these people.”

There are more episodes about Dahmer than episodes about victims, their families, and Dahmer's family. Afterall, the show is called "Dahmer." 

Episode six, "Silenced," is where the series really begins to veer attention off of Dahmer. 

It's about Tony Hughes (played by Rodney Burford), a young gay black man who's aspiring to be a model and happens to be deaf. 

He meets Dahmer at the night club the murderer would frequent to pick up young men, and the two start what could have been a solid relationship. But the demons inside Dahmer take over. The episode portrays how close Tony is to his mother and family, and his friends in the gay community.

Episode seven, "Cassandra," centers on Dahmer's neighbor, Glenda Cleveland (Niecy Nash), who's a combination of multiple people personified in Glenda. Nash portrays the character's frustration and anger as she calls police multiple times to report screams and rancid smells that intrude from Dahmer's apartment into her own. The Milwaukee Police ignore calls and concern from Glenda and others in the black community about Dahmer. Glenda is later visited by Rev. Jesse Jackson (Nigel Gibbs) who inserts himself into the situation primarily because Dahmer's victims have mostly been members of the black community.

Nash plays the role incredibly well. Her story is the one I was most invested in. 

The eighth episode, "Lionel" centers on his father and the demons he faces as the crimes of his son are exposed for all the world to see. 

While the series as a whole isn't as exploitative as something like "Dahmer vs. Gacy" (2010) - yeah, that's a thing - it still offers barely anything new on this particular topic. It's another showcase of Dahmer's abhorrent crimes and sick ways that go beyond perverse.  

It could certainly be much more focused on victims and family, but then again, that's not nearly as interesting. 

This series, while well-acted, especially on the part of Even Peters, is just the same sad, horrific true story about a loathsome and maniacal individual told once again. 

A documentary is one (informative) thing. Again, how many documentaries do we need on one murderer? 

Normally a drama series with however many episodes it includes is simply a TV show that's made to entertain. "Dahmer-Monster" is no different. Each episode leaves with a cliff hanger of sorts, making it "necessary" for viewers to quickly get to the next episode to see what happens. Why use the Dahmer murders as the basis of such a show? 

Having content in a series format based on actual people and events seems to be the current growing trend. Shows like "The Crown" and "Unorthodox," inspired by Deborah Feldman's autobiography in which she recounts her escape from a Hasidic Jewish community, come to mind. 

So does the Netflix true crime documentary series "Tiger King" which centers on big cat conservationists and collectors in the U.S. and specifically Joseph Maldonado-Passage, commercially known as Joe "Exotic." 

With that docu-series, underneath the eccentricities is a self-absorbed, greedy, selfish and sick man. Yet, people still love Joe Exotic thanks to all the notoriety he's received. The series ended up with a second season. 

I'm uncertain as to what "Dahmer-Monster" wants me to take from it. Does it want me to see Dahmer's life and crimes like a museum piece? Am I supposed to see him as a sympathetic character? I sure hope not. 

Or does it want me to see Dahmer as the monster that he is and will always be known as? I picked up on elements of each.

Niecy Nash as Glenda Cleveland.

There is a tone of sympathy that is sometimes subtle, and other times perfectly clear towards Dahmer. We see all the drama that he experienced in his life, starting with his parents' tumultuous divorce when he was a child. His mother also took a variety of antidepressants and sleep-aids when she carried him. He had an extensive drinking problem that got him discharged from the military. 

In one scene while in prison, Dahmer suggests to his father how much better he feels since he can't drink in prison. Otherwise, he just carries around this looming sense of failure, topped with more disapproval from his father, throughout the series. 

There's also an incident where during high school, Dahmer sneaks into a group photo of the honor society. However, when the yearbook committee spots him in the photo, he's darkened out of all the copies. When Dahmer sees his blacked-out image in the yearbook, a sense of sadness and dejectedness permeates from his character. 

At one point in the program it's suggested that if Dahmer just received the psychological help he needed, he may not have committed at least some of the crimes that he did. But circumstances prevented him receiving the necessary help. So, someone else is to blame?

Early in the series, Dahmer tells another character, "Cops, and everything. Teachers. It's like everybody's had it out for me forever. They just decide you're a bad guy, and there's nothing you can do about it. They get their mind made up." 

The most demonizing moment for Dahmer comes in episode six about Tony Hughes who is believed to be Dahmer's 17th victim. He was 31 at the time.

In an Oct. 10, 2022 article of "The Guardian" Hughes' mother, Shirley Hughes, stated that the events portrayed in this particular episode, "didn't happen like that" though she admitted she hadn't seen the entire series.

"I don't see how they can do that," she said. "I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there.”

Rita Isbell, the sister of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, who famously shouted at Dahmer and referred to him as "Satan" during his trail (also depicted in the series, with DaShawn Barnes as Isbell) wrote that this series is "harsh and careless."

The aspect of a "new angle" on such content seems like the only big selling point for such programs, unless some major celebrities are starring in the lead roles, like Charlize Theron playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos in "Monster," or Jared Leto as John Lennon's murderer, Mark David Chapman, in the 2007 movie "Chapter 27." 

In this case, we have Evan Peters, Richard Jenkins, Molly Ringwald, and Penelope Ann Miller.

With the claim that such content makes people and societies "aware" of serial killers, with "insight" as to what might make them commit such actions, I fail to see why a society needs to be so "aware" of each and every detail about a serial killer's horrific past and the murders they've committed, even when new information comes to light.

And the show goes out of its way to criticize the Milwaukee Police Department rather than let the carelessness and incompetence of the police department then speak for itself. 

The show portrays the officers who brought Dahmer's victim, Konerak Sinthasomphone (Kieran Tamondong), who was 14-years old, back to his apartment after he was found naked, bleeding and under the influence outside of Dahmer's apartment. Dahmer convinced the cops, John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish, that Konerak was his lover and was simply drunk. 

After the police left Konerak alone again with Dahmer, he was gruesomely murdered. Cleveland tried to persuade the cops to investigate the situation, as Sinthasomphone was clearly a child. But she was brushed off with the claim "Ma'am, we got this." 

Molly Ringwald and Richard Jenkins in "Dahmer - Monster."

Later in the show, Sinthasomphone's father, Southone Sinthasomphone, receives continuous threatening and racist phone calls about his involvement in Dahmer's trial. 

According to a Sept. 23 article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the family did receive such threatening phone calls. However, the series depicts police officers as the culprits of those calls. I couldn't find any information claiming cops actually made those phone calls. 

The same Sentinel article states the calls stopped once the family placed a tracker on the phone. That whole premise seems odd and unnecessary. The facts speak for themselves. 

"Dahmer - Monster" feels completely unnecessary.

Perhaps there is something for some people to learn by Dahmer's actions. What that would be, I don't know. But this series in particular, like other such programs and documentaries of the past, attempt to put this monster into a human perspective. No wonder the families of victims found it contemptable. Despite the terrific acting and the effort to keep the facts straight, the entire thing is pointless.

106) NEW HORROR RELEASES - Shut In (2022)

"If the apples have turned, don't throw them away out unless they're completely rotten. Otherwise, cut out the bad spots and keep the good parts."

Director

D.J. Caruso

Cast

Rainey Qualley - Jessica Nash

Luciana VanDette - Lainey Nash

Jake Horowitz - Rob

Vincent Gallo - Sammy

I've sat through probably too much of the mindless, tasteless drivel the horror genre has produced over the decades. But I've also watched, and re-watched, some of the most sublime and magnificent horror films made. "Frankenstein" (1931) remains one of my favorite movies in the genre.

On February 10, the conservative news site, The Daily Wire, released its first original horror movie "Shut In." I was taken in by the fact a relatively new news agency is producing its own horror film. I had to see what this would be like. So, I managed to catch the premier.

Often horror movies elevate the monster into a hero of sorts. Torture and murder become the homeruns audiences cheer for. Often do horror fans prefer to see the monster slaughter the innocent young girls. The more kills, the better. That's where schlock comes from. Sure, a lot of it is freaky and frightening.   Freaky and frightening is what attracts audiences and horror fans. But with such schlocky horror movies, that's all there is to take away at the end.
In an episode of "Siskel and Ebert at the Movies," film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert narrowed in on this aspect of horror films which they claimed is often mixed with misogyny.
In that episode, Ebert says, "I think a lot of people have the wrong idea. They identify these films with earlier thrillers like 'Psycho' or even a more recent film like 'Halloween', which we both liked. These films aren’t in the same category. These films hate women, and, unfortunately, the audiences that go to them don’t seem to like women much either. To sit there [in a theater] surrounded by people who are identifying, not with the victim but with the attacker, the killer – cheering these killers on, it’s a very scary experience.” 

"Shut In" offers a relatable, frightening tale about a woman. Jessica Nash (Rainey Qualley) is a former meth addict who's now focused on keeping her life clean as she raises two young children. 

She lives in an inherited old farm house that belonged to her grandmother. Her plan is to sell the house, which is surrounded by apple trees, so she can move to a new location and start a fresh life.

While packing up belongings, Jessica accidentally gets locked in the kitchen pantry. While she's in there, her drug addicted violent ex-husband Rob (Jake Horowitz) shows up to the house with his drug addict buddy, Sammy (Vincent Gallo). Jessica is weary of Sammy as he's been previously accused of pedophilia. 

Rob lets her out of the pantry. As the two guys are clearly high and looking for cash, Rob locks Jessica back in the pantry in a fit of anger. He nails it shut as a form of "punishment" stemming from his own jealousy towards her undergoing drug rehabilitation. He also intentionally kicks a small bag of cocaine under the pantry door so she can fall back into her old habit. Rob insists she's not better than he is.

The two guys leave. Jessica now has to make sure her daughter, Lainey, is able to help take care of her son, Mason, while she's lock in the pantry. Mason is still a toddler, and Lainey is about four-years old. Sammy returns to the house alone several hours later. Jessica quickly has to find a way to stop him from harming her children. 

And she must quickly find a way to get out of the pantry. 

Amidst all her worries and fears, Jessica's period of darkness in the pantry forces her to face her urges to fall back into her cocaine habit, think about her relationship with God, and come to terms about being a mother despite feelings of inadequacy to be a good mom.

How will she come out of this darkness? 

Qualley's performance is magnificent as she so easily conveys Jessica's emotions and turmoil through simple inflections and body language. It's almost flawless. 

Rainey Qualley as Jessica Nash in "Shut In."

For a thriller, Shut In focuses a lot more on the moral of the story rather than the trepidation and sense of danger within the scenario. 

Initially, I anticipated the movie would focus more on the kids being in a place of danger while their mother is locked in the pantry and wicked men take advantage of the situation. 

As the film progresses, this isn't quite the case.

While some moments build up tension, they're quickly relieved. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad film. It simply wasn't as thrilling as I anticipated after watching the trailers. 

Monsters looming over us in dark places don't necessarily have to be evil demons, or machete yielding killers in hockey masks. They can simply be those small things we fight every day that bring us down, such as a small bag of cocaine, our own sense of failure, or bad company. Those worst case scenarios can be truly frightening to watch. 

Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing endorses this film as an artistic one.  

In his "Letter to Artists" Pope John Paul II writes, "Even when they explore the darkest depths of the soul or the most unsettling aspects of evil, artists give voice in a way to the universal desire for redemption." 

Suffering, inner-turmoil, and the desire to be rescued are themes running throughout the movie. "Shut In" accomplishes what it sets out to do without being preachy or hammering its themes over the heads of the audiences. 

The audience can easily put themselves in the main characters place. And not only are they in the pantry with her, they can reflect on their own struggles while she struggles with her own situation. They can realize the same truths as she does. There's always a way out. We just have to be willing to get a few scrapes and scars in the process.

I've always been of the opinion that horror should act as a sort of "how to" guide when it comes to facing our fears. Horror movies like this one can encourage us to overcome, rather than succumb. 

Though a bit underwhelming in its thrills, "Shut In" is truly one of the best thriller films I have seen in a while. The horror is certainly more psychological than bloody.

The simple, relatable, yet frightening scenario reminds me of something Stephen King would produce where the protagonist finds themselves stuck in some agonizing situation that could happen to anyone. Donna Trenton finds herself stuck in her Ford Pinto with her son Tad, fighting against the threat of dehydration and heat stroke as the ravenous St. Bernard dog, Cujo, waits to attack them outside their car. 

The only way out will require some sort of sacrifice, perhaps for the better. The protagonist will find their freedom. That much is certainly obvious. The cost of freedom isn't so obvious. 

Their exit from the darkness will leave a scar. And that scar will always be there. For Jessica, the freedom and the life waiting for her on the other end of the darkness within the pantry is much more sweeter. She's a mother, and that's worth any sacrifice.  

In his book "Danse Macabre", King says, "Horror movies do not love death, as some have suggested; they love life. They do not celebrate deformity, but by dwelling on deformity they sing of health and energy. By showing us the miseries of the damned they help us rediscover the smaller joys of our own lives. They are the barber’s leeches of the psyche, drawing not bad blood but anxiety … for a little while anyway." 

It's certainly not a ground-breaking film in the horror genre. It's a story similar to films such as "Panic Room" (2002) and "Don't Breath" (2016) but with a bit more emphasis on its themes. Still, I'm glad I saw it.