Magic (1978)

Released November 8th in the US.

Filmed in California and New York.

The story: Corky wants to be a famous magician and has been learning from a long , retired famous magician.

In two years' time, he finds himself at the top with a unique act that includes magic and ventriloquism.

Corky's manager has faith in him, even though Corky will not sign a contract.

When his manager brings in a big wig from NBC to see the show, he wants to do a TV special with him and his dummy.

There is one catch though.

Corky's manager wants him to get a medical evaluation...

Afraid of what will become apparent, Corky takes off so no one can find him.

He heads for the town he grew up in, looking for his high school crush, who he is still in love with.

Corky finds what he is looking for and unexpectedly hits it off with his old crush.

Unfortunately, she is married, although unhappily.

This all gives Corky hope but first, he must get rid of the obstacles that are in his way and he will not do it without the constant persuasion of his boisterous sidekick dummy.

Stars EJ Andre, Anthony Hopkins, Joe Lowry, Beverly Sanders, Lillian Randolph, Burgess Meredith, David Ogden Stiers, Mary Munday, Scott Garrett, Jerry Houser, Ann Margret, Ed Lauter 

Directed by Richard Attenborough

Rated R
MYSTERY/THRILLER/HORROR

"Us was you."

Creepshow : Twenty Minutes with Cassandra/Smile (2023)

Made for Shudder, airing October 13th in the US.

Season 4. Episode 1.

Story 1: Journalist Lorna Snell has just arrived home after a busy work day.

She orders a pizza, pours a glass of wine, has a seat, and tends to her phone.

Then, there is some relentless banging at the front door.

Lorna opens the door to find a frantic woman begging for Lorna to let her inside.

Lorna is hesitant but the woman makes her way inside anyway.

The woman explains that there is a monster outside and in twenty minutes, it will be inside the house and it will kill Lorna.

Of course, Lorna does not believe the woman's story one bit, that is until a delivery man is killed on her front doorstep right before her eyes.

Story 2:  Mr. James Harris is a celebrated photographer.

He has just won the Photo Journalism Association Humanitarian Award for a photo he is not exactly proud of.

After the ceremony, he is greeted by some fans. One asks to take a photo with him, but Mr. Harris will not allow it.

He and his wife proceed to a restaurant for a celebratory dinner.

There, a stranger snaps a photo of the couple without warning and hands it to them.

Mr. Harris is confused because the photo indicates that its photographer was a lot further away from them than he actually was.

Not much more thought is put into that until the couple leaves the restaurant.
They then begin finding more photos of the two of them as if someone is watching them from afar.

That is when Mr. Harris' guilt over the photo that he won the award for really begins to get the better of him.

Stars Samantha Sloyan, Ruth Codd, Frankie Francois, Carey Jones, Nick Heffelfinger, Matthew James Dowden, Lucie Guest, Max Archibald, Roberto Lanzas, Daniel Ian Joeck, Claire Friesen, Aleksandra Cross, Matteo Deuma

Directed by Greg Nicotero & John Harrison

Rated TVMA

ANIMATION/MYSTERY/THRILLER/HORROR/DARK COMEDY/SERIES/TV

The Exorcist : Believer (2023)

Released October 6th in the US.

Filmed in Georgia and the Dominican Republic.

The story: 13-year-old Angela lives a happy life with her widow, photographer father.

But she misses her mother, whom she never knew.

One day before school, Angela asks her dad if she can go to her friends' house after school, to do homework.

Her dad reluctantly agrees.

But when it's way past the time Angela should have been home and is not, her dad learns that Angela went with a friend he didn't know and, instead of going to that friend's home to do homework, the two took off into the woods near the school...

When Angela and the friend she went with Katherine are finally found, their families are overjoyed to have them back.

At first, things seem pretty normal but very quickly Angela and Katherine begin acting like someone none of their family knows...which turns their reality into a complete nightmare.

Stars Leslie Odom Jr, Tracey Graves, Lidya Jewett, Ann Dowd, Olivia ONeill, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Celeste Oliva, Ben Bladon, Danny McCarthy, Raphael Sbarge, Antoni Corone, Okwui Okpokwasili, Chloe Traicos, Ellen Burstyn, Lize Johnston, Linda Blair

Directed by (& story partly written) David Gordon Green

Rated R
MYSTERY/HORROR