Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, CRIMSON PEAK (2015) is a throwback classic Gothic story updated around the edges with a modern sensibility. I liked it.

It’s 1901, and budding horror author Edith and her construction magnate father are visited by the charming Lord Sharpe, who is searching for funding for his digging machine invention, which he hopes will allow his estate’s mines to reopen and restore the family fortune. She falls in love with Sharpe, but he and his sister are not what they seem. Trapped in a crumbling mansion, she slowly learns the truth, a search inspired by the appearance of ghosts.

There’s a lot to like here, with its flaws easily forgivable as they’re largely inherent in the Gothic storytelling license, which you will either dig or you won’t. The acting (notably Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain) is great, the period sets and costumes are fantastic, and the ghosts are very well rendered. If you’ve ever had a taste for a classic Gothic story, look no further. CRIMSON PEAK has it all: dire prophecy, ghosts, crumbling mansion, wicked villains, saviors, imprisoned damsel, a dark family mystery, all the conventions are here, though again touched up with a modern sensibility such as giving the women, wicked and good alike, more agency.

On the downside, many Gothic conventions are so familiar as to be cliches, and some of the cliches are ridiculous with drama that pushes into melodrama and the usual good guys making bad decisions to draw out the conflict. On the blonde-haired heroic side, the characterization is unfortunately relatively weak to the raven-haired villain side. The ghosts are quite well done but there isn’t much going on that’s particularly scary. And the ending is fairly predictable. I’m not sure how I would have improved it, as I think it accomplishes what del Toro set out to do, but I think it might be a more compelling film if it either strengthened the protagonist or more cleverly played against convention so as to be surprising and fresh.

So take it for what you will. I enjoyed CRIMSON PEAK, though I had to remind myself to put aside my modern eyes a few times and run with it.

Based on the books by the great RL Stine, the FEAR STREET trilogy of movies weaves together three updates of classic slasher films and the Salem witch trials to create a whole that is fresh and utterly compelling. I loved it.

Teenager Deena lives in Shadyside, a town plagued by a long history of poverty, bad luck, and brutal slayings resulting from a serial killer that pops up seemingly with every generation. She’s angry with Samantha, her girlfriend, who moved to Sunnyvale, a bordering town that is prosperous and where people live charmed lives. After a murder spree at a mall, they discover the local legend about a witch may be true, and seek to end the curse on Shadyside. To accomplish this, they must survive supernatural killers and go back into the past to understand the curse.

The first two films borrow heavily from classic horror slasher films like SCREAM and FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH, and the last has a heavy Salem witch trial vibe. Despite the obvious creative homage, there’s a magic here where FEAR STREET’s identity stays solidly at the fore, accomplished by putting people we care about with meta stakes in a familiar situation. The whole comes together beautifully. Despite it being YA, there’s a considerable amount of gore, and every kill is far more painful than titillating. This isn’t STRANGER THINGS, where the meddling kids get off scot-free.

There were a few flaws for me, notably how some characters take horrible wounds but a few scenes later they’re perfectly okay. In typical YA fashion, several of the teenage protagonists are really annoying until they start to grow on you. There are a few minor plot holes. The central romance is fine but undeveloped to a point where I didn’t care about it.

But whatever. This is a solid horror story told with a lot of heart, great stakes, excellent lore, and a meta plot that all ties together beautifully. In short, I loved it.

In WILLY’S WONDERLAND, a mysterious loner (Nicolas Cage) battles life-sized animatronic characters in an abandoned family fun center. It’s ridiculous, but if you don’t take it remotely seriously, it’s a lot of fun.

The film begins with the loner driving through rural America, where his car ends up kaput. Lacking the money to pay for the repairs, he’s offered a deal: spend the night cleaning up Willy’s Wonderland, an abandoned family fun center, and he’ll earn the thousand dollars he needs and get back on the lonesome road. The catch is the center is haunted by evil spirits inhabiting the animatronic character mascots residing there. Meanwhile, a survivor of a previous sacrifice shows up with her friends to exact revenge. The loner, now the Janitor, resolves to clean the building as promised while fighting his way through animatronic monsters.

Okay, so the Janitor has zero character development other than he’s hooked on canned punch, the survivor’s friends are disposable cannon fodder making terrible decisions, the animatronic bad guys aren’t all that tough, and the whole thing is kinda cartoonish with a paint by numbers horror plot, but whatever. I knew going into this one not to take it at all seriously and that I’d get to see Nicolas Cage beat up animatronic mascots, a promise that is signed, sealed, and delivered. In short, I liked this one and thought it was good, clean fun.