Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)

  

Detective Togusa (Kōichi Yamadera) is assigned to work with cybernetically-enhanced Batou (Akio Ōtsuka) to investigate a series of murders.  Female sex-bots are killing their owners and then self-destructing.  The cops trace the bots back to a company called Locus Solus which may have ties to organized crime.

This continues the what-is-a-soul-and-who-gets-to-have-one philosophizing from the first movie.  I found it a little hard to follow, but that could be because I was expecting more plot.  I kept waiting for it to be something more, but it's pretty straightforward as a crime story because it would rather ask questions about morals and ethics when dealing with consciousness.  That's fine.  It's a choice.  Batou is a less interesting character than Major Kusanagi was and the movie suffers a little from her absence, if only because he clearly hasn't moved on.  

Also, and this is purely personal, I hate the term "gynoid."  I understand that it is technically correct, since the robots are female and the andro in android means male but I don't like it.  Probably because it's too close to a dumber version used by incels.  It just set my teeth on edge every time they said it in the movie.

This is streaming in its entirety on YouTube but I could only find the dubbed version, not the original Japanese audio.  

The Thursday Murder Club (2025)

  I thought this was a series.  Even when I saw the runtime was an hour and a half long, all I thought was "oh, a British series."  Nope.  It's a movie.  

Joyce (Celia Imrie) is very enthused about moving into the Coopers Chase retirement community.  Even more so when she gets invited to be a provisional member of the Thursday Murder Club, a group of retirees of varying backgrounds who solve cold cases.  As a former nurse, Joyce brings a wealth of medical knowledge to the team, which includes Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley), a psychiatrist; Ron (Pierce Brosnan), a union organizer and general blue-collar guy; and Elizabeth (Helen Mirren) who did shady Cold War shit that she can't talk about.  The group finds itself sidetracked by a much more recent murder, however, when one of the owners of Coopers Chase winds up dead while the surviving partner (David Tennant) plans to sell the property and kick all the old folks out.  Now they have to solve the case before they lose their home.

This is ridiculously cute.  Everyone involved is phenomenal and it is a breezy, cozy murder romp.  If the Great British Baking Show hunted Paul Hollywood for sport, this is what it would look like.  Cannot recommend enough.  It's streaming on Netflix.

Horro Watch 2025 - Day 31- The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

  Holy shit, we made it to Halloween!  Honestly did not think it was going to happen this year.  Content warning:  blood, gore, medical horror/autopsy, organ removal, animal death (cat)

A father (Brian Cox) and son (Emile Hirsch) coroner team try to determine the cause of death of an unidentified young woman (Olwen Kelly) found half-buried in the basement of a crime scene.  The more they discover, the less they know as they come face-to-shotgun-blown-off-face with evil.

This was so fucking cathartic, I can't even begin to tell you.  Initially, I was really hoping it would turn out to be about vampires (side note:  did not get a single vampire or werewolf movie this month.  Disappointing.) but this was honestly just as good.  Hirsch and Cox are seasoned pros, great actors, but Olwen Kelly lay naked and motionless on a table for an hour and a half and commanded the entire screen.  Incredible work.  You know the gif of Louise Belcher laughing maniacally in front of flames?  That was me in the last 20 minutes of this movie.  Even though she killed Stanley the cat.  RIP, Stanley.  I love you, Jane Doe, you cold-hearted bad bitch.  An inspiration to us all.

Happy Halloween to all the bad bitches, good witches, and everybody else in the back of the Dragula!  The Autopsy of Jane Doe is streaming on Shudder, Kanopy, Tubi, and weirdly, The CW.

Horror Watch 2025 - Day 30 - Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)

  I was really worried that I was going to go the entire month without a single Asian horror.  Content warning:  blood

A Korean YouTube crew called Horror Times decides to livestream their investigation into an abandoned psychiatric facility with a very sordid past.  Gonjiam was once a beacon of mental health but closed under mysterious circumstances in the late '70s after a bunch of patients died.  Since then, intrepid ghost hunters have tried to solve the mystery of Room 402, the only locked room in the building.  Horror Times is hoping to get one million views by sending six crew members armed with GoPros inside.  Half the crew knows the real secret:  they're faking the haunting to boost view numbers.  But as they progress further up the levels, they realize it may be real after all.

Ah, solid supernatural horror!  You just can't beat it.  And despite the fact that nearly all the camera work is handheld, there's not nearly as much shaky-cam as you'd expect.  The end gets a little silly, almost over-the-top, but that is a very minor complaint.  Great performances, especially from Moon Ye-won, who played Charlotte.  This is an excellent ghost movie.  It's streaming on AMC+, which I get through Amazon.

Horror Watch 2025 - Day 29 - The Rule of Jenny Pen (2024)

  Ah, a new sub-genre:  Old People Horror, where the horror is you're old and disabled.  We'll consider this an off-shoot of Women's Horror.  Content warning:  urine, abuse, sexual assault, small amount of blood

Judge Stefan Mortensen (Geoffrey Rush) is recovering from a stroke in a nursing home when he runs afoul of the resident psychopath (John Lithgow) and his puppet, Jenny Pen.  Trapped in a failing body, Mortensen rails against the petty tyrant, but soon discovers that it is nearly impossible to succeed when no one likes you.

This is like the third (fourth?) movie I've seen this month that involves someone pouring urine on someone else as an act of psychological warfare.  Very odd.

Lithgow I get, he's done horror before, but I was absolutely stunned to see Rush.  He does a great job, though.  It is basically One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but in an old folk's home, so it's solid material to work with.  Made me wish we took horror seriously as a genre.  Lithgow is completely unhinged here.  You love to see it.  The New Zealand accent probably could have used some more work but I can forgive.  

No supernatural element, no jump scares, no gore; if psychological thrillers are more your bag, this is an excellent entry.  There is a cat that can sense death (nothing happens to it), but I feel like most animals can do that.  I was not bored or annoyed at any point.  Really well done, all around.  It's streaming on Hulu.

Horror Watch 2025 - Day 28 - The Old Dark House (1932)

  Shout out to Gabe from Movie Club for the suggestion!  

Five strangers are stranded in a terrible storm at the only house for miles.  They are a fairly jolly bunch but their hosts, the Fremm siblings, are morose, weirdly fanatic, and dour, while their creepy butler (Boris Karloff) is handsy when drunk.  As the night progresses, romance blooms and the dark secrets of the house are revealed.

This movie is great!  I'm a huge fan of Golden Age Universal horror and this is by the same director as Frankenstein.  I can't believe I'd never heard of it before.  The cast is stacked.  Melvyn Douglas in particular is a scene-stealer.  Karloff is silent once more and not nearly as tall as I had thought he was.  He does have really beautiful hands, though.  Definitely wins the month for most romantic horror movie.  It's streaming on Kanopy.  Highly recommend, especially if you like '30s horror.

Horror Watch 2025 - Day 27 - The Invitation (2015)

  I thought this was going to be about werewolves.  It was not.  Content warning:  dead child (off-screen), suicide attempt, dead animal (coyote, very much on screen and making the sad dog noises)

Will (Logan Marshall-Green) is bringing his new girlfriend, Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi), to a dinner party at his ex-wife Eden's (Tammy Blanchard) house.  It is hideously awkward because Eden re-married and disappeared to Mexico for two years and this is the first time anyone in their friend group has seen either her or Will.  Worse, she and her new husband, David (Michiel Huisman), brought some of their weird new "spiritual retreat" friends to pitch The Invitation, a grief counseling/wellness/cult-type thing.  

This is a movie about weaponized social contracts.  Even though everyone is uncomfortable, no one tries to leave until it's way too late.  As an autistic person, that made no fucking sense to me.  So I was already annoyed by these people.  And the dialogue is weirdly stiff and stage-y.  Also, no werewolves!  

Admittedly, I am judging it a little harshly because of my own expectations.  Don't do that and you'll likely enjoy it more than I did.  It's streaming on Kanopy.