The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)

One of the lasting emotions I held following the series finale was a sense of literal bewilderment, confused by the decisions Chris Carter made and wondering why he would end his own series the way he did. Presumably he was intending to follow up those lingering questions in a movie, a movie-sized budget making the anarchic spectacle of that 2012 alien invasion even more vivid. I originally watched I Want to Believe in theaters, having not seen the last couple of X-Files years and unaware of how it left the characters, and believed it was pretty underwhelming but generally fine. But what I didn't experience was a sense of confusion. Watching it again, now with knowledge of where the characters ended up in the series itself, I'm very much bewildered by it.

Film reviews: The X-Files (1998)

Was the X-Files movie more than a little unprecedented? A movie based on a TV show which is still on the air, set after a season which was filmed after the movie had wrapped. Ordinarily big-screen updates of classic TV shows are shot long after the series folds, or 'updated' decades later a la Charlie's Angels or Dukes of Hazzard. But I guess what makes the X-Files movie even weirder is the fact that moving to a bigger screen and working on a bigger budget doesn't actually inspire a whole lot of 'new'. What we have here is essentially a two-part X-Files conspiracy episode, which would likely be unappreciated by new audiences, and underwhelming for long-term fans. While there are obviously a lot of fun moments, the one reaction that stems from the movie is a resounding 'blah'.

Film reviews: Scream 4 (2011)

There's a fun moment in Scream 4 where a young, ambitious publicist encounters the once-powerful media juggernaut Gale Weathers, embarrassingly fawning over her and granting her the back-handed compliment of "You were my '90s". It's a feeling I'm familiar with, since the Scream franchise was truly the first series of movies I was ever really obsessed with. I don't know if it was the attractive stars, the iconic imagery of the Ghostface killer, or the wonderful blend of horror and comedy, but the Scream movies captivated me like nothing had before. The first two Screams are insanely badass; with loveable characters, cringe-inducing violence and shock reveals, creating a bench-mark for modern horror. Scream 3 was a clusterfuck of junk. The idea of Scream 4 was just as exciting as it was terrifying. A strong reboot of a once unparalleled franchise, or a tacky attempt to wring some more cash out of a dead series of movies? Luckily, my fears were pretty much unfounded.

Film reviews: The House of the Devil (2009)

As much a masterclass in sustained tension and unrelenting suspense as it is a pastiche on all things 1980's, The House of the Devil has deservedly been treated as somewhat of a modern classic. From the effortlessly cool freeze-frame opening titles to the hefty walkman our protagonist carries around throughout the film, the era of those reliably low-budget '80s slasher flicks is masterfully sent up, while at the same time director Ti West produces a film that undoubtedly improves on the trashy horrors that inspired it.