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Netflix Release: Clinical – Movie Review

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Every year there are new horror movies. Some in the cinemas, some released on iTunes and by now, many are released right through Netflix. This Friday the 13th they released their newest movie, Clinical. After their recent hits The Invitation and I am the pretty thing that lives in the house, the expectations were high. Let’s see if they succeeded.

About The Movie

Clinical is about a psychiatrist who, after a traumatic experience is on her way to get better again, taking patients again for the first time. She especially bonds with Alex, who got a face transplant after an accident. But her trauma is still haunting her.

The traumatic experience was a teenage girl, a patient of hers, attacking her and cutting her own throat. This is our first glimpse of the great visual effects that we’ll see all throughout the movie. There isn’t an overwhelming amount of blood every appearance is brutal and realistic.

The movie is set around Christmas time, so the score is mostly Christmas songs (even the credits are over Jingle Bells). But all the songs actually enhance the mood. When they are not playing, we get a haunting violin score, even more moody.

Behind the Scenes

clinical

The two main actors are Vinessa Shaw as Dr. Jane Mathis, the psychiatrist, and Kevin Rahm, the disfigured patient Alex. They have a great chemistry together and are both convincing. India Eisly plays Nora, the teenage patient she couldn’t help, and \she is very good in the scenes she is in. She is also very good at looking creepy. Throughout the movie she appears either in flashbacks or standing in the background, just being scary.

What I Thought

Let’s talk about this movies mood. There are no jump scares at all, which is always a big plus in my book. It still manages to scare you, especially in the first third of the movie. At times it feels like a ghost movie, the evil girl making appearances just out of sight, or just for a quick second, all to set the mood.  Also in quite a few scenes we get Jane in sleep paralysis, which is also well done.

During the middle third of the movie it sways away from the scary parts. It feels more like a serious drama about traumas. This is where we learn most about the characters and about the backstory. There are still some gruesome scenes (when Alex remembers back to the accident before he needed a new face), but it still feels more drama than horror.

clinical

The third and final act goes somewhere completely different. I won’t spoil it, but there is some more great gore in it. Sadly, however, it turns the movie around completely. We get a twist that left me slightly confused. So sadly the ending was a bit of a letdown.

Final Thoughts

Clinical is a good horror movie, keeping you interested and thinking. Maybe the 104 minute run time could have been shortened to 80 to 90 minutes, but it still didn’t feel too long. It was scary throughout, well acted and actually went deeper than just a “scary movie”. It didn’t overexpose with bloody and gory scenes, but the ones it had were just perfect. Only the ending was a letdown, I hoped for something different.

I’m rating Clinical 3 out of 5 stars, don’t expect too much, but give it a chance.

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Movies

‘Violent Night’ Director’s Next Project is a Shark Movie

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Sony Pictures is getting in the water with director Tommy Wirkola for his next project; a shark movie. Although no plot details have been revealed, Variety confirms that the movie will start filming in Australia this summer.

Also confirmed is that actress Phoebe Dynevor is circling the project and is in talks to star. She is probably best known for her role as Daphne in the popular Netflix soap Bridgerton.

Dead Snow (2009)

Duo Adam McKay and Kevin Messick (Don’t Look Up, Succession) will produce the new film.

Wirkola is from Norway and utilizes a lot of action in his horror films. One of his first films, Dead Snow (2009), about zombie Nazis, is a cult favorite, and his 2013 action-heavy Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is an entertaining distraction.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

But 2022’s Christmas blood fest Violent Night starring David Harbour made wider audiences familiar with Wirkola. Coupled with favorable reviews and a great CinemaScore, the film became a Yuletide hit.

Insneider first reported this new shark project.

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Editorial

Why You May NOT Want To Go In Blind Before Watching ‘The Coffee Table’

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You might want to prepare yourself for some things if you plan to watch The Coffee Table now rentable on Prime. We aren’t going to go into any spoilers, but research is your best friend if you are sensitive to intense subject matter.

If you don’t believe us, maybe horror writer Stephen King might convince you. In a tweet he published on May 10, the author says, “There’s a Spanish movie called THE COFFEE TABLE on Amazon Prime and Apple+. My guess is you have never, not once in your whole life, seen a movie as black as this one. It’s horrible and also horribly funny. Think the Coen Brothers’ darkest dream.”

It is hard to talk about the film without giving anything away. Let’s just say there are certain things in horror movies that are generally off the, ahem, table and this film crosses that line in a big way.

The Coffee Table

The very ambiguous synopsis says:

“Jesus (David Pareja) and Maria (Estefanía de los Santos) are a couple going through a difficult time in their relationship. Nevertheless, they have just become parents. To shape their new life, they decide to buy a new coffee table. A decision that will change their existence.”

But there is more to it than that, and the fact that this might be the darkest of all comedies is also a little unsettling. Although it is heavy on the dramatic side too, the core issue is very taboo and might leave certain people sick and disturbed.

What’s worse is that it is an excellent movie. The acting is phenomenal and the suspense, masterclass. Compounding that it’s a Spanish film with subtitles so you have to look at your screen; it’s just evil.

The good news is The Coffee Table isn’t really that gory. Yes, there is blood, but it’s used more as just a reference than a gratuitous opportunity. Still, the mere thought of what this family has to go through is unnerving and I can guess many people will turn it off within the first half-hour.

Director Caye Casas has made a great film that might go down in history as one of the most disturbing ever made. You have been warned.

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Trailer For Shudder’s Latest ‘The Demon Disorder’ Showcases SFX

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It’s always interesting when award-winning special effects artists become directors of horror films. That is the case with The Demon Disorder coming from Steven Boyle who has done work on The Matrix movies, The Hobbit trilogy, and King Kong (2005).

The Demon Disorder is the latest Shudder acquisition as it continues adding high-quality and interesting content to its catalog. The film is the directorial debut of Boyle and he says he is happy that it will become a part of the horror streamer’s library coming fall 2024.

“We are thrilled that The Demon Disorder has reached its final resting place with our friends at Shudder,” said Boyle.  “It’s a community and fanbase that we hold in the highest esteem and we couldn’t be happier to be on this journey with them!”

Shudder echoes Boyle’s thoughts about the film, emphasizing his skill.

“After years of a creating a range of elaborate visual experiences through his work as a special effects designer on iconic films, we’re thrilled to give Steven Boyle a platform for his feature length directorial debut with The Demon Disorder,” said Samuel Zimmerman, Head of Programming for Shudder.  “Full of impressive body horror that fans have come to expect from this master of effects, Boyle’s film is an engrossing story about breaking generational curses that viewers will find both unsettling and amusing.”

The movie is being described as an “Australian family drama” that centers on, “Graham, a man haunted by his past since the death of his father and the estrangement from his two brothers. Jake, the middle brother, contacts Graham claiming that something is horribly wrong: their youngest brother Phillip is possessed by their deceased father. Graham reluctantly agrees to go and see for himself. With the three brothers back together, they soon realize they are unprepared for the forces against them and learn that the sins of their past will not stay hidden. But how do you defeat a presence that knows you inside and out? An anger so powerful it refuses to stay dead?”

The movie stars, John Noble (The Lord of the Rings), Charles CottierChristian Willis, and Dirk Hunter.

Take a look at the trailer below and let us know what you think. The Demon Disorder will begin streaming on Shudder this fall.

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