Yeah, if you go in with low expectations for Exorcist 2, you might enjoy it a little. LOL There were some interesting effects in it, as I remember, and the actors are all good. I just felt that the need to explain why Regan specifically was chosen felt a little too "chosen one" feeling or something like that. Like. Generally the point of possession isn't that the demons have a grudge - it's that it could happen to literally anyone, and that's supposed to be what makes it scary. (Kind of like the explanation in Poltergeist 2 as to why Carol Ann specifically was chosen, despite the already explanation of her being young and still close to that veil between life and death/afterlife that had been a good one. Though to be fair, P2 was scary just because that old man was fucking scary.) But Exorcist 3 really is good. It's very spiritually philosophical because Detective Kinderman is Jewish, but his two best friends are/were two Catholic priests, and being Jewish and a cop, he's constantly plagued with the idea of evil and "God" and why "God" allows so much evil in the world. It's really interesting. Not to mention that there's some really hilarious banter between Kinderman and Father Kevin Dyer (the priest who'd been Damian's and Chris McNeil's friend in OG Exorcist), and there's this wild dream sequence that you need to pay close attention to because it's got a few well-known faces in there - including Sam Jackson, but you have to pay attention because it goes by kind of fast, not to mention that in a way, the dream sort of gives some interesting perspective on the things that are being dealt with.
Yeah, I think Devil was by him, and it was really good. Weird and a little disjointed the first watch through, but with re-watches, more things make sense.
I don't know what to really think about the Warrens. I don't know that they were entirely without talent for handling the hauntings, but I think that they had such a heavy-handed Catholic view (without enough respect for the Catholic church to follow their rules before they leapt in to handle the hauntings themselves) that it opened the door to them being less than ethical. It's one of those things that since I didn't know them personally or have any dealings with them, I don't want to say for sure that they were just con artists, but yeah, I could probably agree that they didn't handle things well and probably put those families in danger because they didn't conduct the matter of the hauntings in a safe or ethical way. I believe in ghosts and hauntings and the like (I probably believe a little in possession but not as a demonic/Catholic thing - but I also think that when you're dealing with the non-Christian side of things - think of the pagan notion of "being ridden" by the gods - how violent or dangerous is a possession when you have actually welcomed the gods in? But also how scary would that be to some poor Catholic priest who sees a happy pagan who's being 'horse' for Odin. The Catholics would definitely lose their shit over that - so maybe that's part of where their "experience" with exorcism comes from - and they turned a simple pagan cultural occurrence, which is also very popular in cultures that the Catholics force-converted like the African tribal cultures, into demonic possession), but because I legitimately believe in that stuff, I also legitimately believe that there are people out there ready to exploit other people who believe in it. I just don't know exactly how far over the line the Warrens went to do that because of course, there are going to be accounts that they did, accounts that they didn't, or accounts that they sort of did. The whole cursed objects "museum" makes me curious, and of course, there's that huge part of me that's like...okay now that they're both dead, what's happening to all those cursed objects? Sure, their daughter and SIL have essentially taken over the care and keeping of it, but what you see in the Conjuring movies, where it looks neat and semi-organized, is absolute bullshit when you see actual footage or photos of it and how disorganized it looked.
See The Enfield Haunting if you can find it. I have it downloaded, and I'm not sure if it's on streaming anywhere now. It's slow. The haunting patterns aren't flashy like Hollywood stuff - like in Conjuring 2, but it's really good, I think.
I'll have to look for that documentary. It sounds like it could be interesting. I recently watched a documentary that had one of the Lutzs' sons in it - the oldest son who was the most angry at George Lutz.
Part of why I like the first Ouija movie is the main actress. LOL I thought she was a cutie in Bates Motel, so when I saw her in that, I had to watch it. But as someone who's worked with Ouija boards, there was definitely some bullshit in it. Yes, using a Ouija can be dangerous or harmful but not in the way movies have really captured. LOL But then again, Witchboard was a new movie when I was in junior high, and right after that movie came out, the sales of Ouija boards went through the roof. My childhood BFF got one for Christmas or a birthday, and another friend got one for her birthday, and it was interesting working it with the two different friends because the second one was more in belief, and my BFF was totally skeptical (until we were working it the night before my dad died, and that kind of freaked her out but it didn't freak me out LOL).
I saw Scott Derrickson's movie list, and he's really good. He was originally supposed to do Doctor Strange 2, I think, but then something happened where it went to Sam Raimi, which was good, but I have certain anti-Wanda opinions about it and about a few other things that tend to make my opinions not very popular. LOL The Black Phone is REALLY good and so *different*. The fact that the bad guy in it and the actor who played his brother were both in the first Sinister movie is a lot of fun. Sinister absolutely scared the fuck out of me and still does - my *favorite* scary af scene is when Hawke's moving through the hallway and the ghost children are following him and of course, he doesn't see them but we do. That's what I meant by elegant and poetry. That fucking scene wrecked me so hard but also elevated me and awed me. I love that there's no way to actually defeat the...entity, whatever he is. No real way to defeat him - no easy way to defeat him. If you fall into his radar, you're pretty much just fucked. I can't watch either of those movies if I'm in any way shape or form a bad mood or an off mood (like with Event Horizon) because the movie will leave me unsettled and almost in a self-dangerous mind-space for the rest of the night and maybe the next day. Exorcism of Emily Rose can do that to me sometimes but not as much as it used to. Still creeps me out, and I couldn't tell you *why* but it succeeds in fucking with me.
I really like Insidious 1, 2, and the very last one with grown-up Ty Simpkins the best, but even the prequel one was interesting. I think there was only one that I was a little meh about, but it wasn't so horrible that I didn't go ahead and download it to have them all in order.
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Yeah, I think Devil was by him, and it was really good. Weird and a little disjointed the first watch through, but with re-watches, more things make sense.
I don't know what to really think about the Warrens. I don't know that they were entirely without talent for handling the hauntings, but I think that they had such a heavy-handed Catholic view (without enough respect for the Catholic church to follow their rules before they leapt in to handle the hauntings themselves) that it opened the door to them being less than ethical. It's one of those things that since I didn't know them personally or have any dealings with them, I don't want to say for sure that they were just con artists, but yeah, I could probably agree that they didn't handle things well and probably put those families in danger because they didn't conduct the matter of the hauntings in a safe or ethical way. I believe in ghosts and hauntings and the like (I probably believe a little in possession but not as a demonic/Catholic thing - but I also think that when you're dealing with the non-Christian side of things - think of the pagan notion of "being ridden" by the gods - how violent or dangerous is a possession when you have actually welcomed the gods in? But also how scary would that be to some poor Catholic priest who sees a happy pagan who's being 'horse' for Odin. The Catholics would definitely lose their shit over that - so maybe that's part of where their "experience" with exorcism comes from - and they turned a simple pagan cultural occurrence, which is also very popular in cultures that the Catholics force-converted like the African tribal cultures, into demonic possession), but because I legitimately believe in that stuff, I also legitimately believe that there are people out there ready to exploit other people who believe in it. I just don't know exactly how far over the line the Warrens went to do that because of course, there are going to be accounts that they did, accounts that they didn't, or accounts that they sort of did. The whole cursed objects "museum" makes me curious, and of course, there's that huge part of me that's like...okay now that they're both dead, what's happening to all those cursed objects? Sure, their daughter and SIL have essentially taken over the care and keeping of it, but what you see in the Conjuring movies, where it looks neat and semi-organized, is absolute bullshit when you see actual footage or photos of it and how disorganized it looked.
See The Enfield Haunting if you can find it. I have it downloaded, and I'm not sure if it's on streaming anywhere now. It's slow. The haunting patterns aren't flashy like Hollywood stuff - like in Conjuring 2, but it's really good, I think.
I'll have to look for that documentary. It sounds like it could be interesting. I recently watched a documentary that had one of the Lutzs' sons in it - the oldest son who was the most angry at George Lutz.
Part of why I like the first Ouija movie is the main actress. LOL I thought she was a cutie in Bates Motel, so when I saw her in that, I had to watch it. But as someone who's worked with Ouija boards, there was definitely some bullshit in it. Yes, using a Ouija can be dangerous or harmful but not in the way movies have really captured. LOL But then again, Witchboard was a new movie when I was in junior high, and right after that movie came out, the sales of Ouija boards went through the roof. My childhood BFF got one for Christmas or a birthday, and another friend got one for her birthday, and it was interesting working it with the two different friends because the second one was more in belief, and my BFF was totally skeptical (until we were working it the night before my dad died, and that kind of freaked her out but it didn't freak me out LOL).
I saw Scott Derrickson's movie list, and he's really good. He was originally supposed to do Doctor Strange 2, I think, but then something happened where it went to Sam Raimi, which was good, but I have certain anti-Wanda opinions about it and about a few other things that tend to make my opinions not very popular. LOL The Black Phone is REALLY good and so *different*. The fact that the bad guy in it and the actor who played his brother were both in the first Sinister movie is a lot of fun. Sinister absolutely scared the fuck out of me and still does - my *favorite* scary af scene is when Hawke's moving through the hallway and the ghost children are following him and of course, he doesn't see them but we do. That's what I meant by elegant and poetry. That fucking scene wrecked me so hard but also elevated me and awed me. I love that there's no way to actually defeat the...entity, whatever he is. No real way to defeat him - no easy way to defeat him. If you fall into his radar, you're pretty much just fucked. I can't watch either of those movies if I'm in any way shape or form a bad mood or an off mood (like with Event Horizon) because the movie will leave me unsettled and almost in a self-dangerous mind-space for the rest of the night and maybe the next day. Exorcism of Emily Rose can do that to me sometimes but not as much as it used to. Still creeps me out, and I couldn't tell you *why* but it succeeds in fucking with me.
I really like Insidious 1, 2, and the very last one with grown-up Ty Simpkins the best, but even the prequel one was interesting. I think there was only one that I was a little meh about, but it wasn't so horrible that I didn't go ahead and download it to have them all in order.
Also random, but if you haven't seen this movie yet, I recommend it. I think I saw it on Netflix or it could've been Tubi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunter_(film)