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A prequel to the longstanding The Conjuring horror series, The Nun follows a young Sister Irene, an old Father Burke, and a village Casanova named French on a survival adventure through a haunted Abbey. If you thought The Conjuring already had a prequel or two, you’d be right about that — both 2014’s Annabelle and 2017’s Annabelle: Creation explains demonic life pre-Conjuring. The Nun fits in specifically as an origin story to Valak, the demon you may remember from The Conjuring 2. If the history confuses you (or disinterests you altogether), rest assured that The Nun doesn’t rely on series knowledge in its exposition, so there’s no entertainment lost in coming in cold. The downside? There’s little entertainment to be found at all. The Nun is a sequence of jump scares that starts strong, but whose horrors rapidly dwindle with each passing encounter.
Set in Romania, a young traveler finds a dead nun hanging by a noose outside a largely abandoned abbey. The audience knows how she got that way — it was the opening scene and the scariest of the film — but the hanging nun is mysterious to the Catholic church who launches an investigation into the nun’s death. A brief leap to the Vatican introduces us to Father Burke (Demián Bichir). He is the priest put in charge of the investigation, and he travels to Romania to uncover the paranormal activity rumored in Romania. He has to bring a partner to help investigate the nuns at the abbey, and that partner is Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga). Dark, gothic horror scenes spanning European cities bears a Van Helsing-esque feel during the first act of the film before settling in Romania for good with a cast of 3 characters: Father Burke, Sister Irene, and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) as the young traveler who initially found the hanging nun on the doorstop of the church.
The movie is anchored by jump scares based on rotating cameras as our 3-person cast are inevitably separated and walk through the church and its grounds outside. The jump scare will get you, and there’s a real sense of terror through the end of the first act and leading into the second. Where The Nun goes astray is the convoluted story they try to tell within the long, meandering scenes in between the terror, a mystery that is poorly told if not downright boring in its essence, only to have it more quickly and easily explained later on: an evil was buried during the Crusades, which was later released when bombs were dropped during the war, and now that evil is slowly gaining strength to take over the abbey and eventually leave it. Our heroes’ quest is to use the blood of Jesus (literally) to re-seal the evil before it grows strong enough to leave. Meanwhile, Father Burke is also being haunted by the memory of a past exorcism gone wrong, adding a fleeting layer of character depth that adds more convolution than its addition is worth.
There’s a real head-scratching unclarity between the physical realm and the demonic which undercuts the film as it goes on. Part of what makes spiritualistic horror so terrifying is your physical helplessness against your assailants, but Father Burke is able to struggle against demons and Frenchie, in perhaps the most ridiculous choice of the movie, is able to protect himself with a gun, turning it less from a demonic-possession horror into your garden variety zombie movie, only the zombies wear habits. Rules are poorly defined and rarely followed, as Father Burke can be mystically buried alive through the power of Valak, but physically rescued shortly thereafter and Valak, having the power to bury someone alive at will, has quite the difficulty killing anyone from there. Actually, I’ve never seen a less effective demon at killing, period. By the end, you almost expect it to come down to a fist fight between Valak and our survivors, and the horror is gone. You fear less a demon you can square up against, one that is vulnerable to your gun and their go-to move is an air burst.
If you’re wanting to be scared, rest assured, The Nun will offer you moments of that, including eerie sound effects of bone-cracking and which-direction-will-it-come-from jump scares. If you’re a fan of religious horror, demon possessions, or jump scares, The Nun might be the movie you need to get you ready for the fall. It will hardly keep you up at night though: nothing from The Nun will resonate to terrify you in your bed after the credits roll. The most novel aspect of horror The Nun has to offer is the depiction of a demonic nun itself, a visual that is eerily and inexplicably horrifying in its eyes. That, and the weightiest horror that comes with it, can be found in the opening scene. After that, enjoy playing the game of guessing the jump scares, as that’s the best enjoyment you’re going to find.
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The post Jump Scares Will Get You in ‘The Nun’ Unless the Boredom Gets You First appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
A prequel to the longstanding The Conjuring horror series, The Nun follows a young Sister Irene, an old Father Burke, and a village Casanova named French on a survival adventure through a haunted Abbey. If you thought The Conjuring already had a prequel or two, you’d be right about that — both 2014’s Annabelle and 2017’s Annabelle: Creation explains demonic life pre-Conjuring. The Nun fits in specifically as an origin story to Valak, the demon you may remember from The Conjuring 2. If the history confuses you (or disinterests you altogether), rest assured that The Nun doesn’t rely on series knowledge in its exposition, so there’s no entertainment lost in coming in cold. The downside? There’s little entertainment to be found at all. The Nun is a sequence of jump scares that starts strong, but whose horrors rapidly dwindle with each passing encounter.
Set in Romania, a young traveler finds a dead nun hanging by a noose outside a largely abandoned abbey. The audience knows how she got that way — it was the opening scene and the scariest of the film — but the hanging nun is mysterious to the Catholic church who launches an investigation into the nun’s death. A brief leap to the Vatican introduces us to Father Burke (Demián Bichir). He is the priest put in charge of the investigation, and he travels to Romania to uncover the paranormal activity rumored in Romania. He has to bring a partner to help investigate the nuns at the abbey, and that partner is Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga). Dark, gothic horror scenes spanning European cities bears a Van Helsing-esque feel during the first act of the film before settling in Romania for good with a cast of 3 characters: Father Burke, Sister Irene, and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) as the young traveler who initially found the hanging nun on the doorstop of the church.
The movie is anchored by jump scares based on rotating cameras as our 3-person cast are inevitably separated and walk through the church and its grounds outside. The jump scare will get you, and there’s a real sense of terror through the end of the first act and leading into the second. Where The Nun goes astray is the convoluted story they try to tell within the long, meandering scenes in between the terror, a mystery that is poorly told if not downright boring in its essence, only to have it more quickly and easily explained later on: an evil was buried during the Crusades, which was later released when bombs were dropped during the war, and now that evil is slowly gaining strength to take over the abbey and eventually leave it. Our heroes’ quest is to use the blood of Jesus (literally) to re-seal the evil before it grows strong enough to leave. Meanwhile, Father Burke is also being haunted by the memory of a past exorcism gone wrong, adding a fleeting layer of character depth that adds more convolution than its addition is worth.
There’s a real head-scratching unclarity between the physical realm and the demonic which undercuts the film as it goes on. Part of what makes spiritualistic horror so terrifying is your physical helplessness against your assailants, but Father Burke is able to struggle against demons and Frenchie, in perhaps the most ridiculous choice of the movie, is able to protect himself with a gun, turning it less from a demonic-possession horror into your garden variety zombie movie, only the zombies wear habits. Rules are poorly defined and rarely followed, as Father Burke can be mystically buried alive through the power of Valak, but physically rescued shortly thereafter and Valak, having the power to bury someone alive at will, has quite the difficulty killing anyone from there. Actually, I’ve never seen a less effective demon at killing, period. By the end, you almost expect it to come down to a fist fight between Valak and our survivors, and the horror is gone. You fear less a demon you can square up against, one that is vulnerable to your gun and their go-to move is an air burst.
If you’re wanting to be scared, rest assured, The Nun will offer you moments of that, including eerie sound effects of bone-cracking and which-direction-will-it-come-from jump scares. If you’re a fan of religious horror, demon possessions, or jump scares, The Nun might be the movie you need to get you ready for the fall. It will hardly keep you up at night though: nothing from The Nun will resonate to terrify you in your bed after the credits roll. The most novel aspect of horror The Nun has to offer is the depiction of a demonic nun itself, a visual that is eerily and inexplicably horrifying in its eyes. That, and the weightiest horror that comes with it, can be found in the opening scene. After that, enjoy playing the game of guessing the jump scares, as that’s the best enjoyment you’re going to find.
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The post Jump Scares Will Get You in ‘The Nun’ Unless the Boredom Gets You First appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Somewhere between a fox and a squirrel but with more tails, the Pokemon known as Vulpix seems engineered for cuteness (to be fair, a whole lot of them do). Literally heartwarming, they contain flames inside their bodies that never go out…except for the bright white Vulpixes that live in Alola (and the game Pokemon Sun). It’s not just their color that’s reminiscent of winter; these evolutionary offshoots are Ice Pokemon rather than Fire, and can really bring the temperature down in a room.
But now you’re going to want to snuggle with one, as Build-A-Bear brings the Alolan Vulpix into stores with all of the cuteness and none of the chill. As we heard via Comicbook.com, these snow-loving creatures will become available this Thursday, Sept. 13th, a lucky date for those of you who choose to catch ’em.
Assuming you like to dress your stuffed pets in widdle clothes, as Build-A-Bear rightly does, you have some options. The Alolan Vulpix in the buff, with an exclusive Pokemon card, is $28. For $12.50, you get to add the hooded cape. For $60, in an online exclusive bundle, you get all that plus a sound effects chip and these extra-adorable PJs:
Even if you are as cool as an Alolan Vulpix, that’s gotta melt you inside just a bit. Check out this link come Thursday, and see if you can resist those big eyes. Like Lillie, you probably won’t be hiding this one away inside a PokeBall.
Is the Alolan Vulpix going to say “Aloha” to the rest of your collection? Let us know in comments.
Images: Build-A-Bear
At the end of The First Purge (2018), the fourth entry in the now-franchise that began with 2013’s The Purge, audiences who stayed through the credits were treated to a teaser trailer for the upcoming TV series (also titled The Purge) on the USA Network. It was a nice surprise announcement for fans; it even surprised actors from the latest film installment.
“We didn’t know about it,” said Lex Scott Davis, who stars as Nya in the film. “We were like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome!’ because we’re all fans of the franchise.”
The Purge TV series is a joint effort between USA and the SyFy Channel, the latter of which will simulcast the premiere and season finale episodes, and stars Fiona Dourif, Amanda Warren, and Gabriel Chavarria, all of whom were present, along with Davis and producer Brad Fuller, at roundtable interviews at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2018 to promote the show, which begins September 4th at 10 p.m./9 p.m. Central. The show also stars William Baldwin and Reed Diamond. There will be 10 episodes covering one Purge night, which takes place 10 years after the events depicted in The First Purge.
Fuller and Davis sat down together for an interview at SDCC to discuss the Purge franchise as a whole, as well as the new series. Fuller is a prolific producer whose credits include all of the Purge films and this year’s horror hit, A Quiet Place, as well as TV series The Last Ship (2014-18), Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018), and Black Sails (2014-17). Davis’ previous roles include Georgia in SuperFly (2018), Toni Braxton in the TV movie Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart (2016), and Alyse Craig in the TV version of Training Day (2017).
The Nerd Element asked whether Davis felt the energy of the political commentary while she was filming The First Purge.
“It’s right there in your face,” she said. “There’s images depicted, there are costumes and masks that are worn that say a lot without saying anything at all,” she continued. “You could definitely feel it. It came to life when we were there filming it.”
The Nerd Element also asked if Davis would be in the TV show, to which Fuller responded, “She was unavailable to do the show. She was filming the movie.” Davis laughed.
“It’s 10 years later and I believe some of the characters have family members who died during my Purge,” Davis said, to which Fuller noted, “That’s true.” Davis added, “I don’t think we’ll see the same actors again just because of the time depicted and just like the rest of the franchise, you see new faces.”
When The Nerd Element asked about the new series, comparisons to the movies inevitable came up.
“Honestly, the show is different from the movie,” Fuller said. “There’s a much longer time to get to know these characters that allows us the ability to see how the Purge affects their life before the Purge happens, and how it affects your life going into the Purge, and the questions they ask themselves. [I]f they want to participate in the Purge is kind of a key component to the television show.”
“Whereas in the movie,” Fuller noted, “it feels like Lex’s character’s thrust into this horrible, horrible situation where she’s trying to do the right thing, and all around her there’s hell” Fuller added that Nya is “the moral fiber of the movie to maintain some optimism in a very negative world.”
“For the television show,” Fuller noted, “we don’t know if anyone’s going to tune in or not. I’m hopeful, I’m really hopeful that they do.” Fuller said that the show depicts more of the effect on the character’s lives, adding that “it’s not as violent as the movies are. And there is a part of that violence that people respond to, and as a company that predominantly makes horror movies, we love that part of moviemaking and making those types of films, so we’ll see where it goes.”
Fuller also took a deeper look into the movies versus what audiences can expect from the show, saying that the “stories that we tell in the television show—I’m not sure they work in a movie.” Fuller said the show “feels different” from the films; whereas the movies are more quickly paced to deliver action, in the show, “the pacing is a little bit slower and a little bit more methodical. I think James [DeMonaco, producer and creator of The Purge films and show] just had stories in his head that he wasn’t able to fit into the movie,” he said.
The Nerd Element asked if the series would show more of what life is like on non-Purge nights because the movies don’t really have time to expand on that. Fuller said that “the show predominantly takes place on Purge night, but in order to understand the situations that all of our characters are in, you have to see what their life was before that. [T]hat’s what you get with the show—you have the time to show that, to get to feel what these people are.”
One thing the show will have less of than the films is the level of gore audiences have grown to expect from a Purge entry. Fuller began that the show is “not as grisly as the movies,” and that scenes of violence are shot differently, including “a scene where someone is getting hacked to death [that’s] done in a, dare I say, artistic way because there’s not meat flying everywhere. It’s in silhouette.” Fuller noted that he didn’t know “if that would work in a movie, but it certainly works in the TV show.”
Fuller responded to another question about the pacing of the show that it would not be a 24-style real-time telling of a Purge night. He said that he didn’t “want to say that it’s soapy because that would be the wrong way to characterize it,” adding that “it’s a group of characters who have nothing to do with each other who all have an agenda on that night; you learn where that agenda came from and you wonder whether or not they’re going to execute what they want to execute.”
“It’s not all of them wanting to kill someone,” he noted. “Some of them want to keep someone from getting killed.” But for those who do want to kill someone for the first time, the TV series will delve into the toll it takes “on your soul and your conscience,” Fuller said.
Will the television version be the fifth installment of the franchise or not?
“My answer might be different from my other partners, [Jason] Blum [one of the Purge producers and the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions] and DeMonaco,” Fuller stated, “but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t want to keep them separate. I would want to keep the movies going. I think the two lead characters in the most recent Purge are incredibly likable, and as a viewer and a fan of the franchise, I would want to see what happened to them after this Purge happened, so I would definitely want to do another. I’d want to do a fifth Purge and see where that goes.”
The post The Purge Film Franchise Expands to Television – SDCC 2018 appeared first on The Nerd Element.