Tag: maika monroe

DVD & Digital

Film review: Longlegs

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 As the son of the Anthony Perkins who played the iconic Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho, you could argue that writer and director Osgood Perkins has horror films in his DNA. His latest picture is serial killer thriller Longlegs which follows rookie FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as she investigates a series of homicide-suicides where families are massacred in their homes and cryptic notes are left behind. Following the clues, she finds that she has a strange flair for clairvoyance and soon suspects that she might have an eerie personal connection to the man behind the murders.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Watcher

Garry ArnotLeave a comment

Maika Monroe attracted the attention of cinema audiences in 2014 with a double whammy of excellent turns in creepy horror It Follows and neon-synth flick The Guest. Since then, she’s largely been relegated to supporting parts, but returns to centre stage for Watcher, the feature debut of writer and director Chloe Okuno. The psychological thriller follows Julia (Monroe) who moves to Bucharest with her husband Francis (Karl Glusman) when he lands a new job. He speaks the language thanks to his Romanian family roots, but she begins to feel isolated, and is unnerved when she spots a man in the building opposite who appears to be looking into their apartment.

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DVD & Digital

Film review: Flashback

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Back in 2014, actress Maika Monroe emerged as the ‘next big thing’ after brilliant performances in back-to-back indie hits It Follows and The Guest. Strangely, aside from the odd supporting role here and there, she has all but vanished into cinematic anonymity. We witness art imitating life to some degree in the latest feature from writer and director Christopher MacBride. Previously titled The Education of Fredrick Fitzell, the plot sees Fred (Dylan O’Brien) revisits his youth to explore the disappearance of Cindy (Monroe), whom he remembers as the coolest girl at school. With the help of old pals Sebastian (Emory Cohen) and Andre (Keir Gilchrist), he must unravel the mystery of his past.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: It Follows

Garry Arnot2 Comments
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One of the many challenges in modern filmmaking is to achieve originality, perhaps even more so in the horror genre which has its own array of cliché and trademarks. ‘It Follows’, written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, is an indie chiller that plays up to expectations and subverts them, carrying on the recent up shift in modern suspense films. The plot centres around a sexually transmitted curse which is passed on to lead character Jay (Maika Monroe) in the backseat of her new boyfriend’s car. Faced with the terror of being stalked by creepy entities who take form in all shapes and sizes, she is told to quickly sleep with someone else to ‘pass it on’. Will this rid her of the horrific plague or will she be followed forever, always looking over her shoulder? This intriguing premise plays out with style, creative flair and a thrilling synth-heavy soundtrack, bringing eighties-like scares into the present day.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: The Guest

Garry Arnot3 Comments
guest

After making a name from himself in the horror film genre, film director Adam Wingard is treading into uncharted territory with psychological thriller ‘The Guest’. While the filmmaker breaks free from the creepy, the starring actor Dan Stevens breaks free from the Crawley as he leaves behind his Downton reputation to become a slick-haired dangerous man of mystery. When soldier David Collins (Stevens) turns up at the door of the grieving Peterson family, struggling after the death of their son Caleb, he isn’t initially met with a warm welcome by all. Agreeing to stay for a couple of days, he extends a helping hand, sorting out their problems one-by-one. But why? While mother, father and son warm to David’s charms, Anna (Maika Monroe), the teenager daughter of the clan, has her suspicions over the true identity of their new houseguest and his seemingly selfless actions, but by the time she discovers his motives, will it be too late?

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