eVIL SUBLET (2023) hits VOD today

 

A couple finds the apartment of their dreams- the problem i it's haunted by an evil ghost.

This well made horror comedy not only is a well done horror film but a pointed look at life in New York City. Playing it largely close to real the film pulls us in. While the film can be occasionally silly, the film is largely the sort of funny that doesn't kill the chills.

That the film works thanks to the cast headed by Sally Struthers and Jennifer Leigh Houston who sell the madness.

To be honest, I had no plans to watch the film, but a slot opened up in festival coverage and I decided to give the film a shot... and I was surprised and after the Psycho opening, the film pulls it back and  we end up with a spot on look at life in NYC.  I was enchanted because I know people like them.

What I like about the scary stuff is that it doesn't follow the typical path. There is all this shading that we get that makes this not your daddy's haunting. 

I had a good time with this

Recommended.

Dahomey (2024) NYFF 2024

 

Mati Diop charts the return 26 of 7000 artifacts taken from the kingdom of Dahomey at the end of the 19th century. As one of tthe artifacts talks to us, we watch the artifacts boxed up, returned and put on display. At the same time we listen to a discussion about the meaning of the return by students and people visiting the exhibtion.

What is this doing on the main slate of the NYFF? This is not to say that the film is bad, it's not, rather it's simply similar to several other films about the the return of antiquities. I've seen this sort of thing before and Diop, outside of the spooky voiced  statue, doesn't do anything new. Franklyit's a minor film from the director and doesn't need to be in the main slate spotlight.

To be fair the real problem is that the film feels rushed in being put together. It's a document of the return mixed with a group discussion. However having seen similar films I know there is so much more that could have been explored (more context of the events and history of the kingdom of Dohomey). 

Worth a look, but you don't need to do a mad dash to the festival.