HorrorFilmHellion

Without a doubt, this was rushed/chopped/abbreviated which has the unfortunate side effect of not being able to live up to its potential. Since it was only released on a streaming platform anyway, why not flesh it out and turn it into an 8-10 episode burn? (ala Flannigan) Anyway, it's a solid movie on its own, with crisp shots, good ambiance, great vampire looks, and a decent set of actors. It mostly follows the source material, at a high level, and features a handful of signature King'isms and easter eggs. (A brief snap of Christine in the shop was a nice touch). Other than being so rushed, my biggest gripe is the missed opportunity on exploiting the haunted house effect of the Marsten house. The outside view of the house was great, but it seemed like the one place the movie could have outperformed the source material on. What we got was pretty good, yet it was too limited. All things considered, this was still magnitudes better than The Stand reboot travesty, and a solid King adaptation on its own compared to many others.

Well, I don't miss a mermaid movie, especially if it's wrapped into a horror or thriller plot, but I would probably not recommend this one for anyone seeking a veteran effort. Interestingly, shot on location in Brookings OR, it has some localized charm in its small budget offering. The pacing is a bit tedious; don't expect a lot of thrills, or really any scares. Stick with it and eventually an appearance of what I would describe more as a reptile than a mermaid will make an appearance. With that said, the heart of this one is in the surrounding story, with the protagonist as an unlikable, abrasive marine biologist, called in by the local sheriff to solve the mystery and work through sketchy encounters with the locals. Hardly any people in this location with empty beaches, empty bars and empty hospitals. It's not terrible, and some of the acting is decent enough to get by but it's low budget stuff, so beware. Sounds like there is going to be a part II, and now I am obligated to see it through.

Jumped into this mainly because of Sasha being listed as lead in something with an R rating, along with a great support cast; Mira and Nestor (the non-eyeliner guy). Never heard of the book, but I do get a kick out of the seedy twins genre in general, so I kind of knew the plot without knowing it. It did kind of seem like a hammy parody of itself at first, but the more I watched, the more I couldn't really look away from Sasha (especially as Zoe), so I stayed with it. Yes, the plot is familiar, and the major plot twist is easy to spot in the first 15-20 min, but I have to say, Sasha is back on her game here from what I would call a void since playing edgy Ali in PLL. She looked fantastic and had charismatic confidence in her screen presence. All the main characters were beautiful people here (something I miss these days), and those elements combined with the absence of tiring identity, social political, and environmental messaging ended up making this an unexpectedly pleasant watch for me.