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Reviews
The Lawnmower Man (1992)
Not an Original Idea
Everyone seems to miss the obvious and blatant ripoff of "Flowers for Alergon" by Daniel Keyes. Sure, this movie is about VR, but the storyline is dumb man made smart by science, loses his humanity and destroys people that wronged him. The subplot is whether extreme intelligence will cause man to lose empathy with fellow man. The VR is a Hitchcock MacGuffin to distract you.
"Flowers for Alergon" explores the issue of whether people of less intelligence are happier than those of greater intelligence, while this movie falls back on cgi and gore to carry it.
For the time period, I think the special effects are adequate. This is at least the second movie where
Pierce Brosnan plays a slightly deranged scientist; the other movie is "Nomads". Jeff Fahey is good, but his hair color is distracting. Overall, it is watchable and touches on some interesting points, but fails to carry through.
The Bigfoot Trap (2023)
Surprising
This was not what I expected. Instead of a psycho horror/creature feature, it's more of an examination of a journalist's motives and a man's (Red) need to make a living. What people believe and whether to profit from their beliefs, no matter how crazy, leads to one bad decision after another, until three people are dead.
At the end, you are left wondering whether there ever was a. Bigfoot or was it all a hoax? Did Red really believe or is it a case of convincing yourself if you believe in something hard enough, it will come true.
Don't ignore this as a low budget creature movie and look beyond to the examination of hope, journalism and profitting off someone's beliefs. To paraphrase Red, you can't see God but believe in Him, so why can't Bigfoot exist?
Witch Hunt (2021)
Allegory
How people don't know this is an allegory is beyond me. It practically states it with the dictionary definition at the beginning. "Witchhunt" meaning hunting witches is barely shown. The screen lingers on the second definition about persecution. While I didn't really tie it to LGBT, the witch burned at the start is wearing blue, so it's clearly a political statement. Yes, it could be better, but most movies could. Be glad you still have the right to see movies like this. McCarthyism could return after the next election.
As another reviewer said, most horror movies have a statement. Anyone watching a Peele movie shows that. The message is often more important then the medium.