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Erin, on the side of caution

@calliopeanim.bsky.social
498 followers 96 following 2.9K posts

burn after reading

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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 5h
It's not a spoiler, I think, to say that the film literally opens with an unexplained shot of a bloody axe, so that's going to be a factor in your interpretation of whatever comes next. The ghost stuff is effectively creepy without reaching the heights of some of the Japanese horror classics.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 5h
This one was pretty good! After so many found footage movies, it's kind of refreshing to watch a movie with more conventional editing and camera angles. It does a good job of making the central characters sympathetic, which is important for what comes next. It's both very conventional and...not.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 5h
Interrupting the actual watch order because I saw this in a theater last night: 9: Never After Dark A medium/exorcist and the ghost of her sister travel to a creepy old hotel at the request of the new owners, attempting to rid the place of a persistent and horrifying-looking ghost.
Poster for “Never After Dark”. A knobby candle with a face depicted in its flame lights up the half-seen face of a man with the firelight reflected in his eyes.
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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 8h
I love that it's totally cool and legal to use social media to rile up an angry hateful mob and incite them to attack doctors and send in bomb threats to children's hospitals but texting Shrek dong to a politician gets you hauled into court
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Mitch Dyer @mitchyd.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
💜 Purple Magic 💜
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Adrienne @adrienneleigh.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
We ended up having to let her go. Her pneumonia was worsening, she could barely breathe even with oxygen, and antibiotics *might* have helped i decided not to let her suffer on a crapshoot. The vet didn't charge for new xrays but we did have to pay for euthanasia, so we could still really use help.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Oh god, I am so sorry.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I think people should listen to what the administration trying to bring back spectacle lynchings, race riots, and middle passage-esque deportation voyages are trying to tell you about themselves. bsky.app/profile/bren...
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Still, while a lot of that sounds pretty negative, I will say that it works more often than it doesn't, and ending aside, it's not bad. At the very least, it didn't irritate me the way a couple of these so far have.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I am fine with not explaining everything about your monster (going full Bughuul), but it should feel like there's some meaning that we're just not privy to. Here, that's not really the case. It feels arbitrary based on whatever any particular scene needs, and so the ending just fizzles out.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
There's some great bits, but the anthology structure breaks the normal pacing. Now, we get the violent climax at multiple points throughout the film as each segment ends, so the slow burn dread stuff goes out the window. The nature and goals of the entity are also nebulous (in a bad way).
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I'm normally a stickler, but I don't actually hate the different PoV gimmick, and each one more or less obeys the rules. There's also some solid bits scattered throughout The problem is that it's kind of muddled. It's trying to combine several things (folk horror, possession) in ways that don't gel
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
8: Stickman's Hollow A sort of connected found footage anthology, linking together several points of view around events centered on a lake in the middle of the woods and what might live in the woods nearby. The stories eventually intersect to paint a (more or less) full picture of events.
Poster for "The Stickman's Hollow", showing the silhouette of a humanoid figure covered in vines and brambles with its head cocked to one side at an unnerving angle.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
It also has some real gaps in its logic. The guy is so far gone he's entirely non verbal and is eating dead animals he finds in the park, but somehow the editing of the footage gets more sophisticated? I've known editors with some quirks, but that's a bit much.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I am not against brutal nihilism in horror - Martyrs is one of my favorite horror films - but there has to be SOME reason why I just watched two hours of this stuff. If all you've done is film a fake snuff film, congrats, I guess? But...why? Sure, you evoked revulsion and disgust, but...to what end?
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
But it's another that relies on a version of "oh, the character went CRAZY" that has basically no connection to real life mental illness, so it's basically just demonic possession or an evil curse. And because of that, it's all meaningless - guy does a bunch of horrible stuff, then the film ends.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
For all the buzz I've seen around this, I...kind of hated it! I will give it this: it is effectively upsetting, and the central performance is actually pretty good. The problem is that it's a bunch of horrible stuff that goes nowhere and happens with no real reason.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Next, one I've been hearing about for years 6: Sorgoi Prakov/Descent into Darkness Basically "Borat as a found footage horror movie" to start. A guy from a small Eastern European country goes to Paris to film a documentary about the "European Dream". Things spiral, badly.
Poster for Sorgoi Prakov/Descent into Darkness. In thhe center of the frame, a smiling man with a moustache wears a camera rig on his head. To the left, the Eiffel Tower stands against a stretch of blue. On the right, in contrasting red, a woman is blindfolded and tied to a chair while a man with a knife stands behind her, his back turned to us.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
If your ending is lackluster or nonsensical, it is extremely unlikely the movie as a whole is going to work. The entire structure of the exercise is ABOUT that conclusion, so if it falls apart, so does the movie. We've seen a million of these already; surprise us.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
It is generally not enough to end with "and then they all died in the way that has been clearly foreshadowed the entire movie". Yeah, we know. That's the premise. For it to really land, the ending should surprise us or recontextualize established elements from earlier in the film.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
And finally, the prestige, the twist on the trick that actually sells it. In most found footage films, this is the final shot or twist - Mike standing in the corner. Because we know they're going to die/disappear or it wouldn't be found footage; it would just be "footage". We need something more.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
As an aside, since we're now 5 found footage movies in: Found footage movies are kind of like a magic trick as presented in "The Prestige". You've got the pledge - here's what I am going to do. "A bunch of people go into the woods." The turn - I did what I promised. "Things have gone wrong!"
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Okay, a little better. While this one strains (and outright breaks) found footage logic sometimes and, once again, doesn't stick the landing, it has some effective moments, including a bit in the middle that's actually great. Runs out of steam in the third act and can't match those highs.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
5: What Happened to Dorothy Bell Back to the theme: a young woman embarks on a personal video project to explore the trauma around events that happened with her grandmother when the filmmaker was a child. (Using an alt poster here to not inflict creepy horror imagery on the unsuspecting)
A poster for "What Happened to Dorothy Bell?", showing an old book in focus in the foreground and a shadowy figure out of focus in the background.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
There are some occasional half-glimpsed figures ducking behind things or obscured by shadow or, as in the poster, seen in silhouette. But it's basically all buildup and virtually no payoff, with an ending that's basically an ad for the next installment.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The first one of these was a respectable low-budget lockdown-period effort that didn't quite stick the landing. There's been diminishing returns ever since, with a central mystery that accumulates lore much faster than it does meaning or tension. There's also just...not much to see.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
4: Horror in the High Desert 4: Majesty Fourth in the ongoing pseudo-documentary series about a collection of creepy events and disappearances in rural Montana, this one focuses on the historical events surrounding the Majesty Ranch.
Poster for "Horror in the High Desert 4: Majesty", showing a creepy silhouette through backlit curtains with a lot of purple.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Partly because of this tone issue (which is pervasive, not just that one guy), it's never even tense or unsettling. It has elements that, in isolation, I like, but it never really comes together.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The characters see a seemingly crazy guy babbling about weird theories suddenly disappear in a flash of light, in camera and in front of their eyes, before reappearing in a different spot moments later. And they're still like, "Man, that guy is crazy. Can you believe that nonsense he was saying?"
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
So, first, credit where it's due: This has some potentially interesting concepts, and it *more or less* sticks to the found footage/documentary rules. That said: The tone is kind of a mess. Are these characters deliberately arch and goofy or is that an artifact of the writing?
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Let's catch up. 3: Blue Hour - The Disappearance of Nick Brandreth Stop me if you've heard this one already: a woman who is now a filmmaker returns to her childhood home to investigate lingering family trauma (the unsolved disappearance of her father in 1997)
A poster for the movie "Blue Hour: The Disappearance of Nick Brandreth" showing multiple robed figures surrounding a mysterious door in the bottom half. The top half has two figures, a man and a woman, looking at the camera, while a face with glowing eyes
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Some of the big publishers are absolutely amoral behemoths, but it's harder for me to romanticize the indie scene these days given how brutal it is at the moment. Indie studios dying left and right, publishers exploiting the desperation, etc. And that's for the studios that aren't gross themselves.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
My problem with a lot of horror movies that rely on “oh, this character was actually CRAZY the whole time!” is that it’s usually so detached from the reality of mental illness that you might as well say “a witch made them do it”.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
For one, I think there’s a place for spectacle, and lower budget stuff can struggle with that for obvious reasons. For open world games, there is a virtual sightseeing element that is hard to replicate at smaller scale But most of this is inextricably tied to budget.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Underrated Ace Combat 8 musical moment: The use of “My Blue Sky Home” in mission 8, and especially how the soaring chorus cuts in right at one particular moment.
youtu.be
My Blue Sky Home (Lyrics Video) - Ace Combat 8 Wings of Theve Soundtrack
YouTube video by Zaptroxix
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Adrienne @adrienneleigh.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
She's got some kind of lung/airway infection which we are gonna hopefully clear out with antibiotics, and also a small kidney stone to be addressed later. There's going to be at least one more vet visit this month and they need to run urinalysis, so if you can help, please do.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
You have a sibling-like relationship with your wingman and an uneasy mentor/student, father/daughter dynamic with the oldest member of the squad. You are constantly chafing against the restrictions of the military, and you try to assert your personal ideology and will at every turn. Come on.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Ace Combat 8: Tasha: “I’m not some comic book character”. Lady, you are a teenage girl with pink hair who they somehow let fly fighter jets because she was a stunt pilot in the circus and, as a civilian, you were stuck aboard the carrier with other refugees. You are the MOST manga character.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
And this is AFTER the combat rebalance? That’s unfortunate.
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an appliance is making a weird noise that isn't on youtube @jesseltaylor.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
the best person to help your new entertainment megacorporation is the guy who pitched microtransactions to Jeffrey Epstein
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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 06/10/2026
This should be considered a 5-alarm democracy fire.
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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 06/10/2026
The Onion newspaper cover from October 22, 1929: 

Stock Market Invincible
'Buy, Buy, Buy!' Experts Advise
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Joe Wintergreen @joewintergreen.com · 06/10/2026
mae has released the demo of her furry spies vs mercs, BOLD: NETWORKED NEWT ACTION. i did a little work on it. it's splinter cell multiplayer but different. grab some friends and have a go
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Henry Gilbert (Beloved Podcast Personality) @talkinghenry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Skydance now owns Nick, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Comedy Central, and MTV, effectively ending US TV animation as we know it. Countless jobs will be lost, and fewer new shows will be created. An apocalyptic scenario for cartoons, yet it's maybe the 5th-worst thing about the Paramount-WB merger!
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
You could even say it’s a horror movie, of a sort.
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doctober @docseuss.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I'm really struggling here. Between glasses last month and insurance this month I am really really really really stressed. I wrote an article last month and I'm working on a new one for before insurance comes but I need about $900, which is about 45 people tipping $20 to paypal.me/stompsite
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just a reminder: Tillis persuaded the woman Hegseth allegedly raped to come forward with her story, and told her that if she did, it would sink the nomination. She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth. Because he’s a goddamned coward.
ms.now
Outgoing Sen. Tillis regrets pivotal vote for Hegseth: ‘He’s an actor. He’s not a manager’
Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis spoke to MS NOW about regretting his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth and his strained relationship with Trump.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This one succeeds at something a lot of found footage movies get wrong, which is that we should actually feel something for these characters. They shouldn't just be annoying clowns that we want to see die. We know how things are going to end up, but we should want them to escape that.
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Now two films deep into the "woman filmmaker travels to her childhood home to deal with family trauma/a buried threat" theme. This one is also pretty strong - better on execution than the last, I think. The reveal won't come as a huge surprise, but that's fine. Rot13: Naq abj, jr'er vagb I:gZ
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Erin, on the side of caution @calliopeanim.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Next up: 2: In Our Blood Filmmaker Emily Wyland travels to her childhood home and reunites with her estranged mother for a documentary. When her mother disappears, Emily and cinematographer Danny pursue clues to her whereabouts amidst traces of her past addictions.
Movie poster for "In Our Blood", showing a woman's face bifurcated by a line that leaves the right half of her face tinted deep red.
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