Watch With Me: Talk To Me

   

Movie: Talk To Me

Genre: Horror

Rating: R

Length: 1 Hr 35 Mins

Release Date: January 21st, 2023

Director: Danny Philippou

Stars: Ari McCarthy, Hamish Phillips, Kit Erhart-Bruce

What it's about: 

When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

What I thought:

When I first saw the preview for this movie, I was like oof that is giving me such an icky feeling. But when we were able to watch it for free, I thought well why not, we can always turn it off.

It wasn't at all what I expected it to be, which is great. It's just ghosts. No biggie. It's definitely creepy, very creepy in fact. I had a few peepers moments. It's a quick watch and it leaves you with that perfect feeling of dread when it's over. 

Overall:

If you liked this movie then watch...

Fun facts:

Six hands were made for the movie should any of them happen to get damaged or broken. Director Danny Philippou kept one of the hands.

Except for a couple of grip rig shots, the entire second possession scene montage was shot in less than one hour.

The second highest grossing film in A24's history, as of 2023.

Debut theatrical feature film of directing brothers Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou.

Riley's possession scene was an emotionally draining one, to the point that Joe Bird would need time both before and after, away from the cast and crew, to collect himself. It was also physically draining, for obvious reasons.

The beat with Daniel sloppy kissing the dog was done using a puppet head (for the dog) and then comped it together with a shot of the dog licking a snack.

Mia and Riley sing along to Sia's "Chandelier", a song widely perceived as being about suicide, which is something the spirits will attempt to their hosts if they stay in possession for too long.

Book Review: Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

Title: Horror Hotel

Author: Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

Publisher: Underlined

Publishing Date: February 1st, 2022
Read: February 15th, 2022

Pages: 224

Audio Length: 6 Hours 24 Mins

Genre: YA Horror

TW: Attempted murder, graphic body horror, sexual assault, parental neglect, vomiting 

Series: Standalone

Source: Physical copy

What it's about:

This addictive YA horror about a group of teen ghost hunters who spend the night in a haunted LA hotel is The Blair Witch Project for the TikTok generation.

When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers—and ultimately harmless.

But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads.

Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our help—and the living we should fear.

What I thought:

I went into this book thinking it's going to be a teeny bob b-list horror book. And guess what? It was. But in the best possible way. I knew it wasn't going to be anything serious, so I went in not expecting much. And because of that, I really really enjoyed it 

Cover:

I loooove the colors of this cover. I love the art style and how it looks like a skull. I think it matches fairly well. 

Story:

This is the problem about writing reviews months after reading it. I'm trying really hard to remember what happens.

I love how "modern" this book is, because now everything is about TikTok views, subscribers on Youtube, likes on Instagram. And I feel like it will help teens (Wow, am I old?) want to read and relate to this book. It definitely makes sense that people wanting views and subscribers would go somewhere creepy to get those views. I like how it's part ghost story, part serial killer, and part teen drama. 

Pace: 

I think the pace was done really well, it kept me wanting to read more and find out what was happening. I wasn't bored at all. 

Writing: 

The writing is well done, I was able to picture everything that was going on without it being overly described.

Characters: 

I don't remember much about the characters, but I do remember I didn't dislike any of them. I do remember that you don't really get to care for any of the characters, there wasn't much character development and they didn't have much personality for me to remember who was who.

World building: 

Like I said above I was easily able to picture where and what was happening, so the author did a great job in describing what was around

Ending: 

I feel like the ending wrapped up the book well. I was satisfied with the ending and I didn't feel like it was all a massive waste of time.

Overall:

This is one of my favorite reads of the year, it's so very b-list, but still kinda scary at parts. 

A little Snippet:

“Sometime they like to show me how they died. I don't know why, maybe it makes them feel less alone, less isolated. Maybe they just want someone to know, to witness it, so it gives their short life a meaning. Usually they show me and then vanish.”

“I don't want to escape. I want to face him.
And then, one by one, the girls he killed begin to show me their faces.”
― Victoria Fulton, Horror Hotel

Possible books of likeness:

Author's info:

Teen & Young Adult | Romance. Together with her bestie Faith McClaren, VICTORIA FULTON is the co-author of the young adult psychological thriller HORROR HOTEL. Victoria and Faith also co-authored the international Wattpad phenomenon and 2018 Watty award-winning rom-com ELLIE IS COOL NOW.