2 REVIEWS! HERETIC & RED ONE

HERETIC

HERETIC

Written and Directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods

Everyone says this every year and now it's my turn...2024 has been a rather incredible year for thrills and chills, creepy and crawly, ooky and spooky. 

HERETIC is a tense edge of your seat psychological horror thriller based in religion. We follow two young ladies (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher), both Mormon missionaries as they visit a list of houses that expressed interest in learning more about the church. They meet Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant having an absolute ball), a charming reclusive Englishman at his lonely cliffside house. 

Clearly he is not who he seems and once the all too polite girls realize this they are already trapped and caught in a very deadly game. What does he want with them? One can see why Hugh Grant signed on for the role, he delivers many meaty monologues as he tries to intellectualize to the prisoners his many thoughts on religion as a whole. It's a chilling performance without him ever losing his cool. Quiet and meticulous hiding pure evil behind that british charm that made him the ultimate romcom movie star in the 90s and early 00s.

Same goes for the two leading ladies who absolutely hold their own against the Hollywood legend and had me on their side from the beginning. There's also excellent use of the very limited settings, it's all about the dialogue and performances. I had a lot of fun with this and enjoyed the religious debate, even though it doesn't pertain to me in the least bit. You'll never look at blueberry pie the same way. 

⭐⭐⭐1/2 out of 4

RED ONE

RED ONE

Directed by Jake Kasdan

Not quite the Death of Cinema like the previews seemed to be promising, this is yet *another* attempt at starting a new franchise from The Rock and his production company. A $250 million high concept Christmas action comedy starring The Rock, Chris Evans and a supremely wasted supporting cast consisting of Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt (where the hell has she been??) and Oscar winner JK Simmons as a buff skinny Santa ("Nick"). 

Santa is kidnapped by an evil witch (Kiernan Shipka doing her best c*nty Nicole Kidman) and it's up to his bodyguard and a "level 5 naughty lister" bounty hunter (Rock and Evans) to find him. The Rock gives his most non-performance ever, literally the same expression and tone from begining to end. And Chris Evans, once the Best Chris (Hello Pine!), slips further into Ryan Reynolds territory but damn he does look good. Lots of action and bad CGI and green screen work. There's some rather fun world building and from the bottom of my heart I appreciate the lack of a Kevin Hart type trying to make a joke every 5 seconds. Because of these choices the movie goes down smoother than you think and by the end you might just actually be ready for the holidays. 

⭐⭐ out of 4