This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. John's chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Content Warning: *Spoilers ahead*
This time around, I decided to dip my foot in horror/thriller movie reviews. In this article, I will be giving my opinion on two new releases from the end of 2024- “Woman of the Hour”(on Netflix) and “Smile 2.”
- “Woman of the Hour”- 9.5/10. Fun fact about me is about four years ago, when I used to be in debate about the criminal justice system, I became very fascinated in serial killer cases, more specifically how long they go undetected. One case stuck out to me the most: the case of Rodney Alcala. I became very knowledgeable in the details of this case at a young age. So, when four years later, Netflix released a movie about this case, it really became a full circle moment for me. In her directing debut, Anna Kendrick (who also stars in the movie) wonderfully executed the horrors of an evil man being able to commit the crimes he does. For decades, he was able to kill up to 130 women (predicted by police, was only convicted for 8 murders, according to the Washington Post, and revealed at the end of this film) without prosecution, despite numerous reports of him to the police. The perspective of this movie doesn’t glorify the killer like a lot of dramatizations of true crime do, but rather shows the point of view of the woman in the scenario. I believe all women feel this sense of danger and eeriness when alone, and this film encapsulated that feeling and how it is so much heightened when you truly are in danger. Even though I knew this case way more than most people would, there were a good amount of scenes that still left me with my jaw on the floor and completely devastated. If you can handle true crime, I would highly recommend this movie. This case is among many, and mass killers still exist and the voices of the victims deserve to be heard and accurately portrayed.
- “Smile 2”- 8.6/10. Unlike many, I was actually a huge fan of the first Smile movie. I thought it brought a new take on horror, and produced a new storyline that I hadn’t seen before. But sequels have a really bad rap for typically being worse than the original, so I went in apprehensively. However, I thought that “Smile 2” was amazingly produced and well done. I felt like although the plot of “Smile” was better carried out, I thought the element of surprise and the intensity of the plot twists were so much better elevated in “Smile 2.” However, I do think that the ending was a bit predictable (I literally predicted how it would end before I watched the movie) and wasn’t as satisfying as I’d like because of that. Also, I feel like the original Smile movie was built up to make fans root for the character, Joel, so when he was quickly killed off in the opening scene, it kind of left a sour feeling (although, it did provide for a reasonable transition from the plot of the first movie to the sequel). However, I think it would’ve been nice to see him come out as the hero and successfully this time around. But, with the ending we got, it does leave a lot of potential if there is to be a third movie. I think it was a good horror movie, had a decent amount of gore and thrill, but the amount revealed in the trailers made the ending too predictable for my liking.
Overall, I didn’t think these films were bad at all. I actually really enjoyed both. I may not be the most well-versed horror fan, but as the years go on, I find myself more and more inclined to watch them and build my opinion on the genre. I think these films are good options to watch for people getting into the world of horror because they’re not too gory or too complex to the point it will have you feel eerie after the film.