We watched Constantine on HBO Max and I realized that I had a bunch of unfounded ill-will toward this movie, which is pretty good.
@dgoebel00 on Instagram provided this amazing artwork. Follow him and check out his website.
https://youtu.be/DEa508Xmmio
Synopsis
Constantine is about John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), a DC character whose job is essentially to send demons back to hell. Or at least he made it his job when he realized that he was heading there.
He is approached by Angela (Rachel Weisz) and asked to help her prove that her twin sister didn’t commit suicide. As a devout Catholic, Angela realizes that if her sister did actually commit suicide she damned herself to hell.
With the help of his plucky sidekick, Chas (Shia LaBeouf) and some of his friends, John is on the case.
He finds himself in the middle of a war where the Devil’s son, Mammon, is trying to unleash himself into the world of the living.
Everyone gets more holy hand grenades than they bargained for.
Review
Constantine is a pretty impressive movie in a couple different ways.
Firstly, it had a large budget and was able to spend a lot of it on CGI monsters and backdrops, which wouldn’t normally be a plus. But this CGI from 2005 actually holds up quite well.
It also has enough action and interesting characters to keep you involved in the movie from beginning to end. In fact, the Angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) and Satan (Peter Stormare) are some of the best depictions of well-known Bible characters that I’ve ever seen on screen.
Constantine doesn’t dwell on the origin story, while still acknowledging it, which is a breath of fresh air in today’s hyper-cookie-cutter style comic book movie world.
By the end of Constantine, if you are bought in on the story the payoff will be pretty impressive. It’s not without fault, however. This movie came out two years after The Matrix trilogy concluded, and it feels like a direct port of that series in a lot of ways. From the stylized world to the monotone color pallet to starring Keanu as the savior of mankind – it’s uh, kind of obvious.
Also, it was originally touted as a horror movie and I can see where it threw in scary imagery and concepts to try and please the horror crowd. Make no mistake, this is not what I would call a “hard-horror movie”. This is an action-thriller that dealt with some of the scarier elements of religion, and the studio figured they could get a bigger audience if they could draw the horror crowd. This was my issue with the movie when I originally watched it on the bigscreen.
Overall, it’s a pretty fun movie that I would watch again after a few years. It was a much better Catholic horror movie than The Nun, so there’s that.
There's a particular kind of conversation that happens after the credits roll on a scary movie, when you're dissecting the jump scares and debating the monster's motives. Horror Movie Talk captures that exact feeling, serving up weekly discussions that are as much about the genuine love of the genre as they are about critique. Hosted by a team whose passion is palpable, this podcast delves into everything from the latest chilling release haunting theaters to those hidden gems-or notorious flops-you can find on streaming services. The analysis is sharp and deeply opinionated, but the chemistry between the hosts often leads the conversation into unexpectedly funny territory. It’s this blend of thoughtful review and spontaneous humor that defines the show. You'll hear passionate debates about cinematic technique, nods to classic influences, and honest reactions to whether a film truly delivers the scares. Tuning in each Wednesday feels like pulling up a chair with friends who’ve just seen the same movie, armed with strong opinions and a willingness to laugh at the absurdities that make horror so enduring. For anyone who lives for that post-viewing breakdown, this is a consistently engaging listen.
Author: Horror Movie Talk: Horror Movie Review
Language: English
Episodes: 464
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is available for rent at your local Blockbuster Video. What do you think of, when you think of the horror franchise Halloween? Ok, What do you think of when you think of witches? Well n…
Man, what a great show! On this episode we talk about what worked and didn’t work for us about Netflix’s, The Haunting of Bly Manor. THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (L to R) AMELIE SMITH as FLORA and TAHIRAH SHARIF as REBECCA…
In this final episode we see the fate of the inhabitants at Bly Manor, and have a lengthy Epilogue for those that survive the Lady in the Lake. (1:02) – Intro (2:16) – Synopsis (3:18) – Spoilers (41:29) – Outro THE HAUNT…
This is an episode where we get to learn a bit about Viola, AKA the lady of the lake. Almost the entire episode takes place in a time long lost to history, and frankly, this is my favorite episode in the series. It’s sad…
Episode 7 starts to weave all the story lines together as Rebecca and Peter are revealed to Dani, and the story of Rebecca’s death is told. We learn of Peter’s motivations in the afterlife and how it may have dire conseq…
In episode six we learn quite a bit of backstory about the family as a whole, but mostly about Henry. There’s a decent bit to learn about Flora in this episode as well, and she is kind of the B storyline here, which I fo…
This episode is the Hannah Episode. This episode keeps the audience off-balance by jumping back and forth through time and between memory and reality. As confusing as it can be, there are also a lot of revelations. We fi…
In this episode we get to learn a little more about Dani and her background with the man in the mirror. THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (L to R) VICTORIA PEDRETTI as DANI in THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX…
In this episode we are given the backstory of the previous au pair Rebecca Jessel played by Tahirah Sharif, and Uncle Henry’s assistant Peter Quint played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Peter and Miss Jessel have an affair, an…
We pick up the second episode of The Haunting of Bly Manor as if no time has passed between the last episode and now. Dani has just come out of the closet (wink, wink) and the kids are apologizing like they didn’t just v…
