Patrick Wilson

  • Review: ‘Annabelle Comes Home’ is a practised source of dread (Includes first-hand account)

    While some people love and collect vintage porcelain-faced dolls, others rightfully find them incredibly creepy. They inherently seem to have a certain level of sadness or malice attached to them. Long before Chucky took to the screen, people were suspicious of children’s toys. The Annabelle doll had many homes, but it all started when a grieving family adopted her as their surrogate and opened the door to a malevolent demon who terrorized them and all future owners. Eventually paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, were able to contain the evil. In Annabelle Comes Home, a girl learns the meaning of the old adage, “Curiosity killed the cat.”

  • Review: ‘Aquaman’ is king of the DCEU (Includes first-hand account)

    DC has been trying to follow in Marvel’s cinematic footsteps for years, but they’ve been unable to find the same level of success. In spite of their television shows doing relatively well and gaining significant followings, their films have always been lacking. However, they may finally be moving in the right direction. Parts of Justice League were passable and Wonder Woman blew everything else they’d done out of the water. Now, after introducing several characters in the big screen team-up, it’s time for them to helm their standalone pictures. First up is the king of the sea, though that’s not his title when this movie starts — at first, he was just Aquaman.

  • Review: ‘The Founder’ exposes callous heart at beloved franchise’s centre (Includes first-hand account)

    It’s likely the majority of success stories are relatively boring: they came up with an idea, launched it, improved it, expanded it and – boom – they’re rolling in cash. But there are some stories far more interesting than anyone could have imagined. After all, franchising a restaurant and opening locations across the country seems like an exceptional but rather straightforward process. Only the success of McDonald’s, it turns out, is a pretty sordid affair with a lot of subterfuge and outright deceit. The Founder chronicles the creation of the largest food chain in the world and it ain’t pretty.

  • Review: ‘The Conjuring 2’ is a master class in horror filmmaking (Includes first-hand account)

    The supernatural has always been a rich source of inspiration for horror movies. Regardless of whether it’s based on real, recorded accounts or if audiences believe in its existence, there is an inescapable creep factor related to an unknown plane of existence that can interact with our own; even more disturbing is the idea that many of these entities mean to inflict harm. There are enough exorcism and haunting pictures to comprise their own subgenre, but the best demonstrate a particular talent for portraying evil. The Conjuring 2 is an example of such skill.