Horror Movies

[Nasty_Magician]

I'll be honest, Rob Zombie the director sucks. When I see his name attached to something my immediate thought is "it's probably going to be bad". I loved The Munsters as a kid and thought it's a perfect reboot candidate, then heard he was involved and my enthusiasm plummeted.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Prey (2022)


I may be biased due to my fandom of the Predator lore, but I really liked this movie. This movie's plot returned to the Predator lore's roots. It was exactly what this franchise needed. I would stack it up against the 2nd - 4th range in the franchise after the original. 1 & 2 are my favorites, but this movie can rival Predators (2010) IMO, and may even end up besting it depending on personal preference. I think it easily trumps the likes of AvP (2004), AvP:R (2007) & The Predator (2018). I may even end up rating it higher down the road.

Talked about this with @Sharkonabicycle a few months ago in this thread before about wanting to see the Predator use more of its blades (wristblades, combistick, laser-guided darts etc) to hunt rather than its plasma tech as a means to recapture the true hunter glory, and this movie did just that. There was zero plasma tech, unless you consider the mini arm band droids that ended up bein some sort of pulse bombs. Luckily that was just a 1 time affair, and actually points towards the Predator's tactics being more sound. In the Predator lore, they hunt on the same basic level as what they are hunting otherwise there's no sport or honor in it. You see this throughout the movie as the Predator hunts its way up the food chain relying primarily on its gauntlet knives (featuring a badass fight scene with a bear). Previous movies that got carried away with the plasma tech lost sight of that (only forgivable as a means to close the gap when hunting xenomorphs, but that's a subject for another day). I'll be honest, there were a few moments where I was thinking they got a little carried away with making the Predator appear invincible because of how much damage he was taking and still able to fight with very little limitations. Minor gripe, but the primitive helmet still possessing the thermal imaging capability was a little inconceivable. It basically looked like he was using a skull as a helmet, but yet it still had advanced tech. The gore was fantastic though, and it didn't go overboard. Loved the blood splatter from the blade kills.

The plot was fluid & held a decent amount of suspense. The movie starts slow by crafting the character arcs & setting the stage for the Predator. I liked the reoccurring motifs about the relationship between predators & prey. I also love the concept of setting these Predator movies in completely different periods in history. I hope they continue this, but I doubt they will. Filming this movie was far more simple in terms of using the natural landscapes to their advantage. Going forward in history means higher budget with set & costume designs. The hand to hand combat scenes were pretty cool. Some say it adds to the implausibility, but I say it could point to the Predator either being a novice in general, or maybe his primitive armor means his race of hunters is sort of in its infancy. Takes a little more stretch of the imagination but both are plausible. The protagonist didn't get into as much of a brute force contest (thankfully) like Dutch did in the original. Rather she relies on her whits to outsmart the creature using tactics she witnesses. Pretty cool story arc for her character. Some of the CGI looked a little tacky at times, which doesn't bode well for this movie 10 years down the road. Not to mention more often than not the use of CGI would have been far more effective with practical effects.

The performances were pretty good. Not a whole lot of depth to be found, but thats just fine for this sort of action-oriented film. Plus, the devoted most of their time to the protagonist's arc. I think there were certain moments of disconnect with the Native American culture, where the protagonist felt a little too modernized. We'll chalk that up to the writers attempting to connect to younger audiences.

Overall this was a well-crafted film that progresses fluidly and does a great job capturing the rugged landscape to give you a more wild & natural feel to the predator vs prey relationship. I am going against the empowerment grain here, but I honestly believe this movie would have benefitted from a different ending where the protagonist met her demise. I'm not going political, nor am I feeling conditioned by any sort of agenda here, but I'm basing this on the franchise. Having this commanche warrior, regardless of gender, end up besting the Predator makes me question the abilities of Dutch & his war-ready troops. Didn't care for that to be honest. The empowerment agenda was easily digestible though, and I didn't feel like there was much wokeness to it. I'd highly recommend this to any fans of the franchise.

Well-crafted film that takes the franchise back to its roots... 7.5/10

 

[returnofjakedog]

Hasn’t he had a few post-production flops? He should be thankful for streaming & VOD these days that know they can take the risk.

Yeah. I looked up his boxoffice numbers awhile back.
House of a 1000 Corpses (03)- budget: $7 million, boxoffice: $16.8 million.
The Devil's Rejects (05)- $7 million, $20.9 million
Halloween (07)- $15 million, $80.4 million
Halloween 2 (09)- $15 million, $39.4 million
The Haunted World of El Super Beasto (09)- $10 million budget, no boxoffice listed (yeah, it kinda sucked. Cool enough low-fi animation, but not funny)
Lords of Salem (12)- both budget and boxoffice are: $1.5 million. (A shame because I feel it might be his best film, but rewatches would be necessary, and I haven't seen the next 3)
31 (16)- $1.5 million, $850,419
3 From Hell (19)- $3 million, $2.2 million
The Munsters (22)- ??*
*In regards to The Munsters, the numbers being thrown around are $30 to $40 million budget.......
........but Rob claims:
"How the hell did everyone get the idea that The Munsters cost 40 millions dollars? Fuck, I wish I had that kind of budget.
To put a little perspective on it all if you add up the budgets of Halloween 2, The Lords of Salem, 31, 3 From Hell and The Munsters all together it wouldn't even add up to 30 million.
Also the movie was never going to theaters or Peacock or Paramount. It was always being made for Netflix which is fine since it is the largest of the streaming services."

So according to the math, Rob is claiming a $9 million or less budget for The Munsters, and that it was always a straight-to-Netflix dump.

Now, I can buy the $9 million budget claim (I've seen the trailer and am shocked it cost that much!)

.....but I ain't buying that it was always pegged for Netflix. I would guess that since the announcement of going straight to Netflix came only AFTER the release of the trailer (which looks weirdly unfinished) that there were other plans but the studio saw the public reaction and bailed on it.

Anyways, he hasn't had a boxoffice success in his last 4 movies, and even Halloween 2 was considered a financial disappointment.

I think that going forward no one is going to giving him much more than the $1.5 to $3 million range that his 3 most recent releases each had.

 

[returnofjakedog]

I'll be honest, Rob Zombie the director sucks. When I see his name attached to something my immediate thought is "it's probably going to be bad". I loved The Munsters as a kid and thought it's a perfect reboot candidate, then heard he was involved and my enthusiasm plummeted.

I can't really disagree with that. House of a 1000 Corpses, and The Devil's Rejects were well received in some circles, and good for what they were but I am not really a big fan of either. The Halloween and Halloween 2 "remakes" (or reboots? Whatever.) just pissed me off. The Haunted World of El Super Beasto was trash, and I admitably haven't seen 31 or 3 From Hell. I kinda liked Lords of Salem though and thought that Sherri Moon Z was actually decent in it (the only time I've said that!).

Rob needs to regroup White Zombie. That was his peak, and it has been mediocre output in whatever aspect of art he has done since then.........and I'm not even a big White Zombie fan (though they did put on a helluva live show when I saw them on a bill with Pantera back in the day).

 

[MilkSpiller22]

I'll be honest, Rob Zombie the director sucks. When I see his name attached to something my immediate thought is "it's probably going to be bad". I loved The Munsters as a kid and thought it's a perfect reboot candidate, then heard he was involved and my enthusiasm plummeted.

thats not when it plummeted for me.. i lost interest when i saw prequel, and no eddie nor Marilyn

 

[returnofjakedog]

Prey (2022)


I may be biased due to my fandom of the Predator lore, but I really liked this movie. This movie's plot returned to the Predator lore's roots. It was exactly what this franchise needed. I would stack it up against the 2nd - 4th range in the franchise after the original. 1 & 2 are my favorites, but this movie can rival Predators (2010) IMO, and may even end up besting it depending on personal preference. I think it easily trumps the likes of AvP (2004), AvP:R (2007) & The Predator (2018). I may even end up rating it higher down the road.

Talked about this with @Sharkonabicycle a few months ago in this thread before about wanting to see the Predator use more of its blades (wristblades, combistick, laser-guided darts etc) to hunt rather than its plasma tech as a means to recapture the true hunter glory, and this movie did just that. There was zero plasma tech, unless you consider the mini arm band droids that ended up bein some sort of pulse bombs. Luckily that was just a 1 time affair, and actually points towards the Predator's tactics being more sound. In the Predator lore, they hunt on the same basic level as what they are hunting otherwise there's no sport or honor in it. You see this throughout the movie as the Predator hunts its way up the food chain relying primarily on its gauntlet knives (featuring a badass fight scene with a bear). Previous movies that got carried away with the plasma tech lost sight of that (only forgivable as a means to close the gap when hunting xenomorphs, but that's a subject for another day). I'll be honest, there were a few moments where I was thinking they got a little carried away with making the Predator appear invincible because of how much damage he was taking and still able to fight with very little limitations. Minor gripe, but the primitive helmet still possessing the thermal imaging capability was a little inconceivable. It basically looked like he was using a skull as a helmet, but yet it still had advanced tech. The gore was fantastic though, and it didn't go overboard. Loved the blood splatter from the blade kills.

The plot was fluid & held a decent amount of suspense. The movie starts slow by crafting the character arcs & setting the stage for the Predator. I liked the reoccurring motifs about the relationship between predators & prey. I also love the concept of setting these Predator movies in completely different periods in history. I hope they continue this, but I doubt they will. Filming this movie was far more simple in terms of using the natural landscapes to their advantage. Going forward in history means higher budget with set & costume designs. The hand to hand combat scenes were pretty cool. Some say it adds to the implausibility, but I say it could point to the Predator either being a novice in general, or maybe his primitive armor means his race of hunters is sort of in its infancy. Takes a little more stretch of the imagination but both are plausible. The protagonist didn't get into as much of a brute force contest (thankfully) like Dutch did in the original. Rather she relies on her whits to outsmart the creature using tactics she witnesses. Pretty cool story arc for her character. Some of the CGI looked a little tacky at times, which doesn't bode well for this movie 10 years down the road. Not to mention more often than not the use of CGI would have been far more effective with practical effects.

The performances were pretty good. Not a whole lot of depth to be found, but thats just fine for this sort of action-oriented film. Plus, the devoted most of their time to the protagonist's arc. I think there were certain moments of disconnect with the Native American culture, where the protagonist felt a little too modernized. We'll chalk that up to the writers attempting to connect to younger audiences.

Overall this was a well-crafted film that progresses fluidly and does a great job capturing the rugged landscape to give you a more wild & natural feel to the predator vs prey relationship. I am going against the empowerment grain here, but I honestly believe this movie would have benefitted from a different ending where the protagonist met her demise. I'm not going political, nor am I feeling conditioned by any sort of agenda here, but I'm basing this on the franchise. Having this commanche warrior, regardless of gender, end up besting the Predator makes me question the abilities of Dutch & his war-ready troops. Didn't care for that to be honest. The empowerment agenda was easily digestible though, and I didn't feel like there was much wokeness to it. I'd highly recommend this to any fans of the franchise.

Well-crafted film that takes the franchise back to its roots... 7.5/10

Nice review Face!

I'll check out Prey in the next few days.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Nice review Face!

I'll check out Prey in the next few days.

Glad to be slowly getting back into the review game... Baby steps

I know you liked Predators better than P2 so I'm curious what you'll think of it.

 

[BeaReylo]

 

[UVA_Guy81]

I can't really disagree with that. House of a 1000 Corpses, and The Devil's Rejects were well received in some circles, and good for what they were but I am not really a big fan of either. The Halloween and Halloween 2 "remakes" (or reboots? Whatever.) just pissed me off. The Haunted World of El Super Beasto was trash, and I admitably haven't seen 31 or 3 From Hell. I kinda liked Lords of Salem though and thought that Sherri Moon Z was actually decent in it (the only time I've said that!).

Rob needs to regroup White Zombie. That was his peak, and it has been mediocre output in whatever aspect of art he has done since then.........and I'm not even a big White Zombie fan (though they did put on a helluva live show when I saw them on a bill with Pantera back in the day).

The first Halloween remake I thought was fine for what it was. Nowhere near the original of course. But that second one was really, really bad.
There was a movie that he was going to do that was based off a true story that got scrapped. Something to do with the Philadelphia Flyers I believe. Even though I’m not a big hockey fan, I was a bit interested in seeing him take on something serious and how he would’ve done.

 

[DJ Fieri]

 

[returnofjakedog]

View attachment 304669

I was just watching a movie last night (Mortuary) where a guy is embalming a lady's corpse and you see her eyelash twitching open and closed.

Director: Close enough! Lets move to the next shot........

 

[returnofjakedog]

The first Halloween remake I thought was fine for what it was. Nowhere near the original of course. But that second one was really, really bad.
There was a movie that he was going to do that was based off a true story that got scrapped. Something to do with the Philadelphia Flyers I believe. Even though I’m not a big hockey fan, I was a bit interested in seeing him take on something serious and how he would’ve done.

Of course it is all a matter of opinion, but RZ's first Halloween had all of the backstory with the white trash family that I felt was completely unnecessary and annoying. I couldn't care less about any of the protagonists as they were all shitty people (an RZ standard troupe), and the teenage victims had no defining characteristics so they all blurred together.
I am not a fan! Lol!

At least he got Loomis right in the first movie, but then he even turned the Doc into a horrible asshole in part 2.

 

[returnofjakedog]

A few average ones:

Riding the Bullet (2004)-

An Stephen King novella adaptation, directed by Mick Garris. Mick makes some strange choices, going with a more comedic tone, which in my opinion, hurts the film. The whole thing is filled with flashbacks, and also the protagonist appearing as a seperate entity (or entities) that talks to himself. He also has slightly "off" visions of characters, portraying them in alternate fictional scenerios, or as evil-ish entities.
The casting doesn't really help as David Arquette chews up scenery as one of the main antagonists. Usually I'm up for some good scene chewing but the comedic tone doesn't work here.
There are some good fxs, and the scene where he is contemplating suicide is squirmy and well done, but there is also bad cgi blended in.
Mick Garris has been a spearhead for horror, as he push through production on the likes of the very good Masters of Horror series, but his direction history is spotty at best with the likes of Critters 2: The Main Course, Desperation, the '97 remake of The Shining, and the batshit insane Sleepwalkers under his belt. But the biggest problem with Riding the Bullet is that it just isn't scary. The potential is there but lame comedy takes precedence.
4.5 to 5 outta 10. Could use a fear focused remake.

Mortuary (1983)-

So another one where I saw the cover in the video stores for years but never pulled the trigger on watching it. The cover is great, and implies a zombie-cemetary flick but this one is actually part of the insane slasher genre.
Anyways, a kinda annoying chick and her kinda annoying boyfriend get embroiled in a mystery where a killer in a shrouded robe goes around killing folks with the long metal tube that they use to embalm people. Things kinda mosey along, and people don't seem to take the disappearances seriously enough. The main chick has nightmares, and screams and runs around in her robe a lot. Eventually things come to a head, and there is a kinda weird and fun finale. But even that is usurped by a Pieces-level final shot that makes no sense whatsoever.
I was excited to see that Bill Paxton was in it, but he is unfortunately not used well and/or suited for the part.
The fxs are generally minimal. There is a cult angle that just disappears with no explanation. The very ending is stupid.

5 outta 10 range from me. Only better than Riding the Bullet because it didn't piss me off with the wasted potential since there wasn't much to begin with!

Subspecies (1991)-

We meet again Charles Band! As one of the main purveyors of low budget schlock, Band's Full Moon Pictures has brought us the likes of The Puppetmaster series, Gingerdead Man, Trancers, Evil Bong, The Pit and the Pendulum, and Castle Freak (the last two were both recently reviewed here), and the Subspecies series which somehow has 7 movies in it.

Anyways, a fairly typical vampire myth with some twists thrown in. The semi-feral (kinda half Nosferatu) vampire son kills his father and attacks his brother in an attempt to claim his legacy. His brother is more of the sexy vamp type and works to save the hot young chick from being turned by the crazed brother (but screw her 2 friends! Who cares if they die).

The hook is the "subspecies" which are these little demon creature that do the bidding of the bad guy. They formed from the cut off fingers of said bad brother, which is cool, but they also have some fxs limitations that can look pretty cheap. Think a kinda lesser version of the little demon creatures from the cult classic The Gate. They do have some fun moments though.

The antagonist overacting as the feral baddie mostly works, and he puts out a helluva effort but most of the rest of the cast is average to kinda bad. They do some good stuff with some cool cinematography using shadows, snd some fxs are solid. But a lot doesn't make sense.

It is what it is. Another 4.5 to 5 outta 10 range. Not as good as Full Moon's Castle Freak or even The Pit and the Pendulum.

I do have a couple of decent ones in the holster though.

 

[DJ Fieri]

 

[DJ Fieri]

 

[UVA_Guy81]

Of course it is all a matter of opinion, but RZ's first Halloween had all of the backstory with the white trash family that I felt was completely unnecessary and annoying. I couldn't care less about any of the protagonists as they were all shitty people (an RZ standard troupe), and the teenage victims had no defining characteristics so they all blurred together.
I am not a fan! Lol!

At least he got Loomis right in the first movie, but then he even turned the Doc into a horrible asshole in part 2.

Fully agree about Loomis. That was a waste of Malcolm McDowell in the second one.
I think I didn’t mind the first one as much was that it provided a bit more backstory of how he became how he was. Do agree that the white trash people trope that he loves to use goes a bit over the top.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Prey (2022)


I may be biased due to my fandom of the Predator lore, but I really liked this movie. This movie's plot returned to the Predator lore's roots. It was exactly what this franchise needed. I would stack it up against the 2nd - 4th range in the franchise after the original. 1 & 2 are my favorites, but this movie can rival Predators (2010) IMO, and may even end up besting it depending on personal preference. I think it easily trumps the likes of AvP (2004), AvP:R (2007) & The Predator (2018). I may even end up rating it higher down the road.

Talked about this with @Sharkonabicycle a few months ago in this thread before about wanting to see the Predator use more of its blades (wristblades, combistick, laser-guided darts etc) to hunt rather than its plasma tech as a means to recapture the true hunter glory, and this movie did just that. There was zero plasma tech, unless you consider the mini arm band droids that ended up bein some sort of pulse bombs. Luckily that was just a 1 time affair, and actually points towards the Predator's tactics being more sound. In the Predator lore, they hunt on the same basic level as what they are hunting otherwise there's no sport or honor in it. You see this throughout the movie as the Predator hunts its way up the food chain relying primarily on its gauntlet knives (featuring a badass fight scene with a bear). Previous movies that got carried away with the plasma tech lost sight of that (only forgivable as a means to close the gap when hunting xenomorphs, but that's a subject for another day). I'll be honest, there were a few moments where I was thinking they got a little carried away with making the Predator appear invincible because of how much damage he was taking and still able to fight with very little limitations. Minor gripe, but the primitive helmet still possessing the thermal imaging capability was a little inconceivable. It basically looked like he was using a skull as a helmet, but yet it still had advanced tech. The gore was fantastic though, and it didn't go overboard. Loved the blood splatter from the blade kills.

The plot was fluid & held a decent amount of suspense. The movie starts slow by crafting the character arcs & setting the stage for the Predator. I liked the reoccurring motifs about the relationship between predators & prey. I also love the concept of setting these Predator movies in completely different periods in history. I hope they continue this, but I doubt they will. Filming this movie was far more simple in terms of using the natural landscapes to their advantage. Going forward in history means higher budget with set & costume designs. The hand to hand combat scenes were pretty cool. Some say it adds to the implausibility, but I say it could point to the Predator either being a novice in general, or maybe his primitive armor means his race of hunters is sort of in its infancy. Takes a little more stretch of the imagination but both are plausible. The protagonist didn't get into as much of a brute force contest (thankfully) like Dutch did in the original. Rather she relies on her whits to outsmart the creature using tactics she witnesses. Pretty cool story arc for her character. Some of the CGI looked a little tacky at times, which doesn't bode well for this movie 10 years down the road. Not to mention more often than not the use of CGI would have been far more effective with practical effects.

The performances were pretty good. Not a whole lot of depth to be found, but thats just fine for this sort of action-oriented film. Plus, the devoted most of their time to the protagonist's arc. I think there were certain moments of disconnect with the Native American culture, where the protagonist felt a little too modernized. We'll chalk that up to the writers attempting to connect to younger audiences.

Overall this was a well-crafted film that progresses fluidly and does a great job capturing the rugged landscape to give you a more wild & natural feel to the predator vs prey relationship. I am going against the empowerment grain here, but I honestly believe this movie would have benefitted from a different ending where the protagonist met her demise. I'm not going political, nor am I feeling conditioned by any sort of agenda here, but I'm basing this on the franchise. Having this commanche warrior, regardless of gender, end up besting the Predator makes me question the abilities of Dutch & his war-ready troops. Didn't care for that to be honest. The empowerment agenda was easily digestible though, and I didn't feel like there was much wokeness to it. I'd highly recommend this to any fans of the franchise.

Well-crafted film that takes the franchise back to its roots... 7.5/10

Watched Prey. I can't disagree with anything you've written. A fine movie as a stand alone feature regardless of genres.

A few additional notes:
*Excellent cinematography. Long, lingering shots of the landscape. Great night shots that are just dark enough for atmosphere but lit well enough to clearly see the characters. Well done action shots.
Director Dan Trachtenberg did his first feature a few years back, the excellent 10 Cloverfield Lane, and has been doing the likes of Black Mirror and The Boys episodes, but I wasn't expecting near Denis Villeneuve level shots.

*The musical score is great! Perfect fit with the film.

*A small negative: When she ate the flowers and it lowered her body temperature to the point where the Predator can't see her with his infra-heat vision is ridiculous. Since she didn't register at all, that would mean she was the same temperature as her surroundings, which looked somewhere in the 70f range. It made no sense!

*As noted, some cgi wasn't perfect but what bugged me more was the cgi animal behavior. The wolf, the cougar, and the bear all just automatically go into attack mode in situations that didn't call for it.

*A good job with the action. It was solid John Wick style and quality. It did get a bit over the top at times, but not nearly as much as many other movies out there.

Overall, I'd say #2 in the franchise. Easily the best made movie of all the Predator stuff, but doesn't have the charismatic machismo of the original.

Re-watched Predators (2017) immediately after finishing Prey, and while it does hold up as a good sci-fi action horror it isn't as solid of a movie as Prey. Still, Adrian Brody surprises as an action star, and the rest of the cast is pretty good. Some good fxs, and nasty kills. I still rank it above Predator 2, which I also feel is underrated. But both of them are essentially retellings of the original while Prey is more imaginative.

Still, now 4 out of 7 movies in the franchise are good which is a much better ratio than most.

 

[Podunkparte]

Anyone checked out Coherence on HBO Max yet? 2013 scifi thriller, so maybe not quite horror, but it gets good reviews and looks like one of those where you shouldn't know too much going in. I plan on it when I have a few hours to sit down.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Anyone checked out Coherence on HBO Max yet? 2013 scifi thriller, so maybe not quite horror, but it gets good reviews and looks like one of those where you shouldn't know too much going in. I plan on it when I have a few hours to sit down.

My review: Coherence (2013)

Don't necessarily remember it too well, but judging from my review I thought it was pretty cool. I was really into psychological thrillers at the time.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Watched Prey. I can't disagree with anything you've written. A fine movie as a stand alone feature regardless of genres.

A few additional notes:
*Excellent cinematography. Long, lingering shots of the landscape. Great night shots that are just dark enough for atmosphere but lit well enough to clearly see the characters. Well done action shots.
Director Dan Trachtenberg did his first feature a few years back, the excellent 10 Cloverfield Lane, and has been doing the likes of Black Mirror and The Boys episodes, but I wasn't expecting near Denis Villeneuve level shots.

*The musical score is great! Perfect fit with the film.

*A small negative: When she ate the flowers and it lowered her body temperature to the point where the Predator can't see her with his infra-heat vision is ridiculous. Since she didn't register at all, that would mean she was the same temperature as her surroundings, which looked somewhere in the 70f range. It made no sense!

*As noted, some cgi wasn't perfect but what bugged me more was the cgi animal behavior. The wolf, the cougar, and the bear all just automatically go into attack mode in situations that didn't call for it.

*A good job with the action. It was solid John Wick style and quality. It did get a bit over the top at times, but not nearly as much as many other movies out there.

Overall, I'd say #2 in the franchise. Easily the best made movie of all the Predator stuff, but doesn't have the charismatic machismo of the original.

Re-watched Predators (2017) immediately after finishing Prey, and while it does hold up as a good sci-fi action horror it isn't as solid of a movie as Prey. Still, Adrian Brody surprises as an action star, and the rest of the cast is pretty good. Some good fxs, and nasty kills. I still rank it above Predator 2, which I also feel is underrated. But both of them are essentially retellings of the original while Prey is more imaginative.

Still, now 4 out of 7 movies in the franchise are good which is a much better ratio than most.

YAS GIRL YASSSS!!! lol

Agreed with everything!

The score & cinematography were superb! Being relatively outdoorsy myself, I can eat up all that B-roll without hesitation! I can watch those outdoor drone videos for hours just soakin in the landscapes.

The flower concept was a tad difficult to comprehend. It made more sense when the 1-legged Frenchmen was laying there trying to act dead but the infrared vision still showed some heat signatures makin the Predator 2nd guess him. He wasn't completely blended into the ground/surroundings. And if I'm not mistaken, he had more time to digest the flower medicine... That chick swallowed it like 10s before the predator came strollin into her campfire site. And everyone else got chill tremors but her. Guessing because they were already wounded & in shock?

Animal behavior... Yea it was over the top. They were definitely trying to really emphasize predator behaviors to make it seem like all predators think they're the alpha on the food chain. Like I said, the predator-prey motif was a clear agenda and they wanted it to be very clear who was who. The griz was the only real believable one. They attack without provocation most times, especially if they're starving. If the cougar scene was near a den then I could sorta see it, but not really. They wanted that cougar to behave like Shere Khan or somethin.

Wow! I honestly wasn't sure you'd think it was better than Predators (2017). But I'm glad you rewatched it immediately after Prey (2022) to get a fair shake of it. I thought about doin the same, and probably will this weekend.

Pretty sure I've already said this a few times, but I'll reiterate my stance on P2... It's mainly nostalgia driven for me. I know its a flawed movie but it's so damn memorable for me.. Like the first time I saw the scene where the Predator walked away carrying the voodoo king's screaming head. Something about the pure terror in that scene was straight up engrained in my mind forever lol. And can't forget the meatlocker scene where poor Gary Busey is divided in 2 using the Yautja disk! I just have too good of recall on so many memorable scenes in that movie. And the dude on the tribal drums doing the score was workin double time bruh!

Agree on the franchise ratio being better than most. It was sad to see the direction they took that franchise. Predators (2017) was a lone gem in the past couple decades lol. Now we have at least have a break in the tie between the distinctive tiers in the franchise.

Upper tier: P1, P2, Predators, Prey
Bottom tier: AvP, AvPR, tP