Horror movies are dominating the summer so far. I am admittedly not a huge horror guy. I respect all the classics but truth be told I scare pretty easily and if someone says a movie is actually terrifying I probably won’t see it. Movies like A QUIET PLACE or ALIENS aren’t a big deal to me or a classic slasher like HALLOWEEN or SCREAM. It is really just supernatural/Devil/religious/demon stuff that freaks me out.

That being said, I was pumped for A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE because I was a big fan of the first two movies. I was also excited for MAXXXINE because I mostly enjoyed the first two chapters of that trilogy. However, I was very nervous about LONGLEGS. A lot of the early reviews were “the best horror movie since THE EXORCIST but I also cried and the guy next to me puked and the guy next to him shit his pants.” However, as a huge Cage-head I had no choice but to give it a go…

THESE ARE ALL NON-SPOILER REVIEWS

LONGLEGS Review: 4/5 stars

Like I said, I was nervous going into that it would be too scary for me. However, the early reviews were grossly exaggerated. This movie is much more suspenseful and unsettling than it is “scary.” What this movie does best is it constantly has you think something terrifying is going to happen but there are only a couple of scenes that are actually real horror scenes.

The positive: Maika Monroe did an incredible job in the leading role (if you haven’t seen IT FOLLOWS please do so ASAP) and she is the new Queen of Horror until further notice. Nicolas Cage is also just having a blast and I love it for him. His last few projects (LONGLEGS, UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, DREAM SCENARIO, etc.) are such perfect Nicolas Cage roles. All of them have been vastly different but he always goes 150% and these are all roles that demand that effort.

I also kept thinking about this movie for days after seeing it which is always a great sign. I couldn’t stop hearing Nicolas Cage’s Longlegs voice in my head and I kept thinking about memorable scenes from the movie. Oz Perkins did a great job and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

The negative: I think the ending was quite predictable. It wasn’t a bad ending but I picked up on what the “twist” was quite early on. Maybe others won’t and it’ll be crazier but for me, it was relatively obvious early on. For how much the movie was built on suspense and mystery, I was hoping for a crazier ending.

MAXXXINE Review: 3.5/5 Stars

X and Pearl were both fun, unique slasher movies. The MAXXXINE trailer actually had me thinking this could take the trilogy to the next level. It didn’t quite the heights I was hoping it would but I still had a ton of fun seeing it in the theater.

I’ve had a couple of people ask me so I thought I would clarify here- you don’t need to see PEARL at all to get this movie. There are definitely references to X and I would recommend seeing it if you haven’t already. However, you could see this movie with no prior knowledge and still be able to enjoy it for what it is.

The positives- I thought basically every actor nailed their role. Mia Goth is fantastic in all of these movies and keeps it rolling here. Kevin Bacon and Giancarlo Esposito were both perfectly cast in their respective roles and both seemed to be having a great time. Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan were a very fun cop duo and Simon Prast was super creepy as Maxine’s dad.

The old Hollywood vibes were also very fun. Relating it to the actual period in Los Angeles with the Night Stalker and that era of Hollywood is a vibe that I always find entertaining. I also thought the ending was fun despite being very over the top.

The negatives- It’s hard to go too deep without giving spoilers but there were some things that just didn’t work for me. It felt a bit disjointed and all over the place at times. There were certain underlying storylines that just never came to fruition and certain characters that could have been fleshed out more. All of that being said, I put this in the middle of my X trilogy power rankings behind X but ahead of Pearl.

A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE Review: 3.5/5 Stars

This was a bit of a disappointment for me. I really liked the first two movies in the series and the idea of exploring the first day that the aliens arrived was a cool idea for the next movie rather than a third with the same characters. New York City also seemed to be the perfect setting for exploring this universe as it is probably the loudest city in the world.

I am also a huge Lupita fan and I think Joseph Quinn will be a huge star in the next few years. All of that being said, this ended up being my least favorite of the three Quiet Place movies. I also know some people who have it as their favorite, however, so it really comes down to personal preference.

The positives- The two leads were great. The connection between Lupita and Joseph Quinn was great and they gave a very human element to an alien disaster movie. Additionally, the scenes when the aliens first arrive in New York City were awesome. Watching New York City get absolutely wiped out in an apocalypse movie will always play for me.

The negatives- I wanted more aliens! I come to these movies for the incredibly suspenseful scenes with the aliens creeping around. I was also hoping to see them really go wild with all of the people available to them in Manhattan. However, the movie focused much more on the relationship between the two leads than it did on the aliens arriving on Earth. I know I listed as a positive because they were both great but I would have cut out a couple of scenes that were for character development and added a couple more disaster scenes.

Overall, all three of these movies were a blast to see in theaters. I’m afraid the downfall of cinema was grossly exaggerated and now that we got Marvel up out of there, movies are actually fun again! Go to the movie theater and see any of these and you won’t be disappointed!