Just one film this week - The Strangers : Chapter 1 - A couple are celebrating their anniversary by taking a road trip, when their car breaks down as they grab some food at a ramshackle roadside diner in the tiny town of Venus.
It just so happens that they are eyeballed suspiciously by a couple of mechanics at the neighbourhood garage as they pull in, who step in and offer to replace their bust alternator. The part won't arrive until the next day though. This isn't Europarts. An overnight stay is therefore required. And not a Premier Inn in sight.
Instead, the couple check into a creepy Air B&B. Undeterred, they light a fire, put a Moody Blues record on...then the amorous mood is shattered by a hammering on the door. A shadowy girl asks if Tamara is there. She is not. They send her away.. A sequence of events unfolds, involving more bangs at the door, followed by Shining-style axe through door action. It turns out the girl is just one of a trio of masked strangers who pursue our loved-up couple with ruthless determination. We're never quite sure why.
It's nothing you've not seen before, but I thought it was a pretty enjoyable watch. A few good jump scares, and I liked particularly rated Madeleine Petsch as Maya.. Chapters 2 and 3 are due for release in the next year or so. Look, It's not going to win any awards, but if horror thriller films are your thing, you could do far worse.
Having seen over 45 films on the big screen so far this year, I still love the experience of watching stuff at the cinema. It seems audiences may not agree, according to a report in last weekend's Observer. The Fall Guy opened to modest numbers, with medium-sized crowds enjoying Ryan Gosling's remake of the largely forgotten 1980s TV series. Not disastrous, but not great.
Barbie and Oppenheimer made a combined $2.4 billion worldwide in 2023, but perhaps presented a false dawn, as recent Marvel releases have been met with a collective shrug by audiences. The Marvels was the worst performing film in their universe so far, whilst Madame Web didn't do particularly well either.
Maybe we've reached peak superhero? Or perhaps people just can't justify spending the little disposable income they have on a risky film that they might not enjoy, or that they know will turn up on streaming services in a matter of weeks. It's worrying for cinemas trying to keep the lights on, but hopefully some of the summer's big releases, including Despicable Me 4, Deadpool & Wolverine and Twisters might tempt people back.
I rarely see a busy screening, but in fairness I often go in the afternoon. It's not uncommon for me to be alone in the screen! Watching something on the sofa whilst scrolling through Twitter is no substitute in my book, but it remains to be seen if audience numbers will recover to Barbenheimer levels this summer. I remain hopeful.
Alex B Cann weekly film column
