prequel

[7] Writer/director Ti West (Sacrament, The Innkeepers) and actor Mia Goth reteam for this prequel spin-off of the year’s earlier X, expanding on the backstory of X‘s aged villain (Goth) by showing us how she became such a broken and dangerous person long, long ago. Where X was more of an outright slasher/horror piece, Pearl is very much a character study and a showcase for …

[6] Part two in the Amityville franchise is actually a prequel exploring the grisly deaths of the previous family who lived in the cursed home. The first half of the movie builds to a pretty shocking climax, where the oldest son (Jack Magner) shoots his parents and three siblings to death. The second half is an attempt to immitate The Exorcist, with the family priest …

[8] I’m honestly pretty sick of superhero movies, but I still have a soft spot for the X-Men. Director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, Layer Cake) reinvigorates things with First Class after a couple of less-than-stellar entries in franchise. The plot moves at a ridiculous pace and the connections between points A, B, and C can be a little convenient, but Vaughn succeeds in giving the movie …

[4] While it’s technically a prequel, this new Thing is a lot like the old Thing, but pales by comparison in every conceivable way. The characters are less engaging, the atmosphere is less palpable, the tension is lacking, and the ground-breaking practical effects of the 1982 version are replaced with some pretty cheezy-looking CGI. The film also eschews the all-male ensemble for the hackneyed ‘lone …