Ma, NOS4R2 and Greta

My Top Three This Week

Greetings to all my semi constant readers! This going to be a great summer and a lot of favorites are returning and there is going to be some highly anticipated horror as well with IT and Midsommar. But until then i have a few of my new favs to share.

1) A crazy Octavia Spencer ! I am there! A crazy Octavia Spencer out for revenge - I am there with a bucket of popcorn! Ma out in theaters now has all the ingredients of a fast paced unpredictable thriller. The backstory can be a bit murky but I never minded one bit. A group of high school kids looking to buy liquor connect with a kindred spirit Sue Ann (Spencer) who not only supplies them with booze but offers her basement as party central. And they even call her Ma.The only big restriction is they must never go upstairs. Sounds too good to be true? It is. The terror builds as Ma starts stalking the kids and their parents for reasons that are slowly revealed. Great casting includes Allison Janney , Juliette Lewis and Missi Pyle. Jump scares and some true hand over the eyes moments make this the most satisfying film.

2) NOS4R2 a weekly series on AMC is already creeping me out and it has just started.Based on the fantastic book  of horror by Joe Hill ( who just happens to be Stephen King's son). The story begins with a young Vic McQueen ( Ashleigh Cummings) is struggling with her embattled parents. Her only way to deal is to hop on her motorbike and ride. During her rides she discovers a mysterious covered bridge. As she enters it she comes out in a different place each time and and in one instance,  she tries to find her dad's lost watch the bridge shows her where it is. A sort of interdimensional shortcut. Each outing leaves her weak and disturbed by her new powers. In this same time zone children are disappearing in many different towns and their parents are being murdered. Zachary Quinto is the elderly evil Charlie Manx who lures the missing children into his 1933 Rolls-Royce Wraith filled with Christmas presents and like our young Vic he crosses the shortcuts into other dimensions into place he stores the children called Christmasland where the children turn into  frightening creatures an Charlie Manx gets younger and younger looking with each kidnapped child.  He somehow senses that there is another traveler inhabiting his strange byways and that is how our story really takes off as young Vic and Charlie begin the battle. There is

nothing more frightening than turning the most sacred children's holiday into a horror story.

3) Greta yet another evil being is available for rent A young woman Frances ( Chloe Grace Moretz ) finds a purse on the subway train and delivers it to its owner- a lonely widow ( Greta) played perfectly by Isabelle Huppert. The two seem to form a mother daughter bond much to the chagrin of France's flatmate. She starts spending all her time with Greta , cooking and watching movies and as she becomes closer she starts to feel uneasy and discovers a cabinet full of identical purses to the one she found. She tries to sever ties with Greta. But SHE WILL NOT BE IGNORED ( sound like another famous stalker?)  The suspense builds as Greta quickly unravels . Such a taut thriller with a satisfying ending.