By Teah Henry

‘Bill and Ted Face the Music’ is a movie that came out the summer of this year. It’s the third Bill and Ted film to come out, nearly thirty years after the previous two: ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ and ‘Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey’ came out in 1989 and ‘91, respectively. 

The films feature two California Valley boys, played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, who are told their music will unite the world and create peace. Bill and Ted don’t seem to have a problem with this destiny in the first two movies, however, the third one shows a middle-aged Bill and Ted who haven’t written the song that will create world peace yet, and time and space is collapsing because of it. 

‘Face the Music’ is one of the best movies to come out to in 2020, even if it doesn’t have much competition due to the coronavirus. It’s a solid comedy and manages to capture the heart of the original movies, despite coming out decades later, something that a lot of later released sequels struggle with.

The Bill and Ted movies appeal to any age group, and ‘Face the Music’ appeals to older and newer fans. Part of that is due to their daughters, Billie and Thea (yes they named their kids after each other), played by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving, who serve as a younger generation Bill and Ted while also being their own unique characters. 

The movie also features some LGBT+ representation. Billie’s actor, Brigette Lundy-Paine, is non-binary, and has said they played their character as such. Alex Winter has also been vocal in his support of his character, Bill, being interpreted as a trans man. Non-binary and transgender representation is fairly sparse in media, so it’s always nice to see. 

Not only is ‘Face the Music’ just an excellent movie, but it’s also a very positive experience to watch, and that’s what we all really need in 2020. This year has just been bad news after bad news, so it can be nice to lose yourself in a fun film with good vibes. 

The first two films are available on Starz, while the third one is only available to rent or buy. If you’re able to, it’s totally worth the money to buy, or rent, all three. 

By: Hayden Fitzsimons

‘I Saw the Devil’ is a Korean film which was released in 2010, and was directed by Kim Jee-woon. In my previous reviews, I’ve often gone into detail on the director, cast, release, and plot in general. However, I find myself wanting to avoid describing this film as much as possible. This does pose some problems as a review is, well, a review.

‘I Saw the Devil’s’ plot is something I will try to avoid spoiling or detailing as much as possible, however, the central point is hard to not talk about. The film revolves around the gruesome murder of Kim Soo-hyeon’s fiancé. Kim Soo-hyeon, a heavily trained secret agent, makes it his duty to track down the killer and avenge his fiancé. However, the vengeance isn’t as simple as one may assume. In films like ‘John Wick’, the plot is simple; a character important to the protagonist is killed, and so the protagonist tracks down and kills or catches the antagonist. ‘I Saw the Devil’ takes a different route.

It does not take Soo-hyeon long at all to catch the killer, and whilst brutally assaulting this man, Soo-hyeon decides to let him live. He places a tracker into Kyung-chul, the killer, and repeatedly attacks him for the rest of the film. Another monster has been created by a monster.

But, this film is not as simple as following the creation of a monster thanks to revenge. No, the film chronicles nearly constant violence. When I say that this film is not for the faint of heart, I mean it. Many films pose as such and yet barely reach an R-rating. However, ‘I Saw the Devil’ more than earns its R-rating. This film is one of the most brutal and disturbing films I’ve seen, and yet it somehow manages to not be in poor taste, and not go over the top into absurdity.

Once again, I must stress the disgusting and deeply disturbing events that continually happen practically one after another with very little down time. There is constantly blood and violence, however, this is barely the tip of the iceberg. Depictions of cannibalism, severed bodies, decapitation, attempted rape, mutilation, and torture are all on-screen multiple times throughout the film. This is why I find myself unable to recommend this film, despite the fact it is an incredible film with an enthralling and action-packed story.

However, if you believe you can handle the violence, or even get a kick out of it, then I’d advise caution, but would urge you to see the film. ‘I Saw the Devil’ somehow manages to use its continual gruesome violence to teach a valuable lesson on the dangers of revenge, and the horrid lengths humans will attempt to reach just to inflict pain on another.

By: Nora Doyle and Liv Miller

We’ve all heard of the ‘Annabelle’ and the ‘Conjuring’ movies, right? And we know the little clip in the very beginnings saying “Based on the true events” that may give viewers a shiver down their spine. Well we are going to be covering these true events and tell the real story of the Conjuring house.

The family that these stories are based off of is the Perron family. They moved into this house in Harrisville, Rhode Island in January of 1971. They had a pretty large family, consisting of the mother, Carolyn, and the father, Roger, and their five daughters.

As soon as they moved in, according to ‘All That’s Interesting,’ small things started to happen that caught their attention. The first thing was the broom. Carolyn would notice that the broom would go missing, or move from place to place without anyone touching it. Next, she would hear the sound of something scraping against the tea kettle when no one was in the kitchen. She would find small piles of dirt in the middle of a freshly-cleaned floor. Little things like this were the beginnings of a much bigger problem.

Soon enough, Carolyn and Roger’s daughters began to feel the presence of spirits as well. At first they described these spirits as harmless. There were a few, however, that were angry.

Andrea, the oldest daughter, said that the family experienced other kinds of spirits as well. Ones that smelled like rotting flesh. These spirits wild cause beds to rise off the floor, and sometimes even the children. She claims that her father would enter the basement and feel a “cold, stinking presence behind him.” They tried their best to stay out of the dirt-floored cellar, but heating equipment would fail mysteriously, causing Roger to venture down.

One thing that stayed completely true in the ‘Conjuring’ movies was paranormal detectives Ed and Loraine Warren. Ed Warren said he got into demonology (the study of demons or demonic belief) because he grew up in a haunted house. Loraine Warren was a light trance medium she claimed to experience peoples auras and connection with the deceased as early age 7 or 8 years old. The couple met when Loraine was only 16, and got married in 1945. Together they have investigated over 10,000 cases, and were known as the world’s best paranormal investigators.

In the ten years that the Perron family lived in that house, the Warrens had made a few visits to investigate just what might be going on. During one of the trips, Loraine decided to conduct a seance to get in contact with any spirits that may have been possessing their family. During the seance, Carolyn Perron had become what looked to be possessed, speaking in tongues and even rising from the ground in her chair. Andrea, her daughter has even claimed that she secretly witnessed this event saying “My mother began to speak a language not of this world in a voice not her own. Her chair levitated and she was thrown across the room.”

While doing research on the home, Carolyn discovered that all it’s past owners had been in the family for eight generations and that many of them had died mysteriously or under horrible circumstances. Several of the children in these families drowned in a nearby creek, one was murdered, and a few of them hung themselves in the attic.

They discovered that the angry spirit had perceived themselves as the mistress of the house and she resented the competition of a new mother living in the house. Her name was Bathsheba Sherman and she had lived in the house in the mid-1800s. The Perron family believes this is the spirit that was tormenting them.

So, when you see that text at the beginning of a movie, ”Based on the true events,” don’t think that it is 100% real. Because sometimes it’s not as scary as the movie makes it seem. But sometimes it’s worse…

For more information, please visit:

• https://allthatsinteresting.com/true-story-of-the-conjuring-perron-family-enfield-haunting

By: Hayden Fitzsimons

George Romero is likely a name that goes over the heads of many, however his affect on film and pop culture is immeasurable.

George Romero is one of the main reasons zombies have become as popular as they are today. Prior to Romero, very few pieces of media involving zombies existed. There were enough to inspire Romero, films such as ‘The White Zombie’ were a main influence to the creation of Romero’s first film ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ which was released in 1968. His film was unlike any other film before it, as his film contained extreme gore and a focus on the living dead, believe it or not.

17 years later, George Romero releases another zombie film, the staple of his filmmaking career. This film is ‘Day of the Dead,’ one of his lesser known and lesser appreciated films. Even so, many of Romero’s fans claim ‘Day of the Dead’ as their favorite Romero film. Personally, ‘Day of the Dead’ is the only film I’ve seen of his, however I’m greatly looking forward to seeing more as this film is quite entertaining.

‘Day of the Dead’ is, to put it simply, an entertaining yet extremely corny movie. This is a common thread in Romero’s films, as they are all low budget and kitschy films. Even despite the film’s corniness it remains a very entertaining film.

Yet, the first act of the film is a major issue in my opinion. I found the first 20 to 30 minutes extremely boring and borderline irritating. This issue is one that plagues many older films, but that doesn’t excuse ‘Day of the Dead.’

But, if you make it through the first act, which I highly recommend that you do, the film quickly picks up. The story which takes place is that of Dr. Sarah Bowman and a whole cast of characters ranging from soldiers to nearly insane scientists, trapped in an underground facility. They’ve been assigned the task of learning about the zombies which have ravaged America, but the soldiers are quickly becoming irritated with losing their men and resources to protect a collection of nerds who seem to be making very little progress. 

The issues and strengths of ‘Day of the Dead’ both derive from the characters. In the beginning of the film, many of the characters are nearly perfect cliches. The characters start as extremely one dimensional, irritating, and poorly acted. This makes the film become somewhat of a slog, a painful crawl until the film very quickly improves.

Once an actual threat and conflict arises, the characters who were once cliches have become endearing to the viewer and are now a set of fun characters who the viewer is rooting wholeheartedly for. After the film overcomes their initially poorly written characters, it becomes an action packed thrill ride that is non-stop entertainment.