Brooklyn 45

Brooklyn 45 (2023) is a recent addition to Shudder that I watched yesterday. The storyline follows a group of friends who were in the military and partook in various sins during their time in the World War. Now that they are together and initiate a seance, the sins from their past will be brought to the light for either judgement or their demise. Will any of the friends survive?

This movie is written and directed by Ted Geoghegan (We are Still Here) and stars Anne Ramsay (A League of their Own), Ron E. Rains (Teachers), Jeremy Holm (The Ranger), Larry Fessenden (The House of the Devil) and Kristina Klebe (Halloween).

This had a unique storyline and premise and somehow felt like the movie "Clue" in some ways to me. The characters were interesting as was the depiction of the era. The horror elements were hit or miss and relied more on CGI than I would have liked. The seance scene was just okay but the dead guy on the floor was fantastic. The last 13-15 minutes were great due to that character alone. Some of the monologue and conversations dragged and were boring. This film needed more scenes like the last 15 minutes and less back and forth/finger pointing between friends.

Overall, this had some unique concepts and worthwhile elements, but falls short of what it could have been. I would score this a 5-5.5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Brooklyn 45 evokes contradictory feelings. Well, it's impossible to take this movie seriously. The movie is a download, then they try to give you a chamber thriller, then they go to a teenage pseudo-horror with mysticism. Everything looks so bad and is filmed that it's even good. And when the level of absurdity reaches the highest degree, mysticism appears. But it looks so bad that it only causes cringe. Brooklyn 45 is a rare example when you wanted to shoot everything at once, but there is no money, and the cast is not surprising. Of course, this is a passing film, but it's not as bad as critics talk about it. This film is worth watching for those who are tired of films shot strictly within their genre, from Brooklyn 45 you do not know what to expect in 5-10 minutes of timing.

It's a B-Movie, but to be honest for a Shudder Original B-Movie it's actually pretty good. It gets off to a slow start, but when things warm up. They get pretty heated, and a lot of secrets come out. I had fun watching it.

The acting is good, the special effects are decent. Although for the most part it takes place in one room, and it is very character driven. Them finding out things they didn't know about each other is what pushes the plot forward. It's a little different to what you'd normally expect from a film that uses a Oujda board as a plot device.

Although some of the secrets come from their dead friends. So I'd say it both drama and horror.

This movie works, but the experience can be lifted: first of all, the weather can help a great deal, a rainy night, or like in the set, snow outside, and a few glasses of whiskey.

Now, Brooklyn 45 is a slow paced production, that lures you in and keeps your interest, but you have to be used to such movies, because if this is your first, there is a good chance you'll wonder what are you watching and why are you continuing to do so.

Thus, I can only recommend it to people who know what to expect, who can see horror in different shapes and sizes, and are able to find it in this very small indie film and appreciate it for what it is and what it has to offer. As I said, it works late at night, with a glass full of hard liquor, and if you're lucky, a cigar.

All in all, I liked it, thus I will recommend it and hope you'll enjoy it.

Cheers! (J&B like in The Thing)

One room play created for film, and an ode to WWI through supernatural ethics. A group of people who were friends in WWII gather to support one whose wife has died. But these friends were on the higher echelon in the war, and they often took extreme measures in sake of the war regardless of the costs.

As any good play does, characters have secrets, whether of action or character, that are uncovered and discovered through the fright and terror imposed by the supernatural element. A morality play so to speak and questioning the ethics of war and personal action.

Acting is of good quality, and the plotting is simple as expected of this type of drama. The supernatural element adds to the tension and breaks some of the characters. Slightly trite and a bit characteristic, overall this was a worthy film to watch, just small in actual scope.