pedroquintaoo

My expectations were low when they announced this requel of I Know What You Did Last Summer. The trailer was full of clichés, and the group of characters looked so annoying that I thought I'd be rooting for the killer instead of the victims, like what's been happening in a lot of recent slashers (like Until Dawn). To make things worse, post-production was rushed and wrapped up in just three months, which made me expect a complete mess.

But to my surprise, I actually enjoyed this requel quite a bit. The direction is solid, the cast does a good job, and the main group turns out to be way more interesting than expected. It's easy to connect with them, and even the characters that felt annoying at first end up either winning us over or making us laugh, something rare in today's slashers.

There aren't any big twists or reinventions, but I think that works in its favour. It doesn't try too hard to be different or reinvent the genre. Instead, it sticks to the formula and delivers a fun slasher with a higher body count and a killer who's more present throughout, even if there's not one truly graphic or unforgettable death.

The mystery behind the killer's identity is predictable. You can figure it out pretty early just by paying attention to the dialogue and how the story unfolds. And just like the original, the backstory is still a bit of a stretch, it feels like the writers had to twist things around to make their ideas work.

The opening accident, which should've kicked off the story with impact, falls flat and doesn't even make much sense. It really lacks the punch of the iconic one from the 1997 film. And I also felt the ending dragged on a bit, cutting about 15 minutes would've helped a lot.

Overall, it's a requel that plays it safe but manages to be entertaining from start to finish. If you're into slashers, I think you'll have a good time.

My relationship with A24 is anything but peaceful. I either love or hate their films, and I rarely land anywhere in between. Talk To Me was one of the few that really got me, so I gave Bring Her Back a shot, even though I went in with low expectations. And maybe that helped, because this new horror from Danny and Michael Philippou pulled me in way more than I expected.

The story follows two half-brothers who are temporarily taken in by a very strange woman. It starts off quietly, but becomes more and more disturbing as small details start falling into place. It's a supernatural horror film, but nothing like The Conjuring or Insidious. There are no easy jump scares or monsters made with CGI. What we get instead is discomfort. Real tension. A heavy atmosphere and a few scenes that are honestly quite disturbing. I felt like there was always something being hidden, like I was being pulled deeper into the story even when nothing "visually scary" was happening. The horror came from the situation, the characters' behaviour, the ambiguity and that constant thought: "what would I do if I were in their shoes?"

There were three scenes in particular that really shocked me. No spoilers, but all three went far beyond the kind of discomfort I felt during that infamous worm scene in The Ugly Stepsister. That alone says a lot. I'll just say this: I'll never look at a melon knife the same way again.

The performances are another highlight, especially from Sally Hawkins, who plays the villain. She's disturbing, manipulative and absolutely despicable in a way that made me want to reach into the screen and give her what she deserves.

This is exactly the kind of film I love: bold, weird, unforgettable. But it doesn't spend two hours trying to rub your face in how "different" it is, like The Witch, Midsommar or even Hereditary (and while I like that last one, I've never fully bought into the hype).

I get that this won't be for everyone. It's not "easy" horror, and the film has this strange, dirty tone that's bound to frustrate some people. But for me, cinema is about creating feelings, it should hit you, annoy you, scare you, make you fall in love or feel disgusted. Bring Her Back did all of that. It dragged me into a twisted nightmare I won't forget anytime soon.

And yes! That, to me, is what cinema is all about.