Director James Wan is a master of horror who has been turning a penny budget into fees in the hundreds of millions for 19 years. So it was with Saw, Astral and The Conjuring: the movies cost a couple of million, but they made 100 times as much.
After initial successes, Wang shifted the franchises into other hands, but the focus remained the same. Minimum investment and maximum production even with weak reviews. For example, the fourth “Astral” was scolded not only for the lazy, but the fees still exceeded the budget by 16 times.
On July 7 it premieredAstral 5: Red Gate“. Critics crushed the novelty, and reviews from the audience were restrained – at the same time, in the first weekend, the film made the creators rich and made blockbusters like Indiana Jones.
The video is available on Meloman Afisha’s YouTube channel. Video rights belong to Sony.
Where to see a movie in Russia
“Astral: The Red Door” is not being shown in Russia, and with the film distributor leaving Hollywood, there are no guarantees that the film will be shown in theaters. We are waiting for the online premiere.
The movie is taking too long…
The third and fourth “Astrals” were prequels, and the new film continues the main plot, stuck in the second part. Nine years have passed since Josh and Dalton erased their demonic memories. It turned out that the repressed past has a negative effect on life: John fell into depression and broke up with his wife, and his son completely closed himself off.
However, it will soon become clear: longing and suffering are better than meeting monsters. Dalton gets to study with an artist who likes to delve into the inner world, and John goes to the doctor and for some reason trains his memory. All this ends with the return of memories and new trips to the other world.
It all starts with a funeral.
Photo: Sony
The problem of the new Astral is in a strange plot. The movie is 107 minutes long, but for the first hour the characters battle amnesia. This could be interesting if the viewer didn’t know anything about the characters. But only in the past parts we have come a long way with them and we know all the answers. It turns out that for most of the movie, the screenwriter is faced with a mystery that is obvious to everyone.
Also, too much time was spent on the relationship of the characters. Emotional experiences are a big part of the franchise, but they fell in love with it because of the horror. Unfortunately, in the first 30 minutes, Astral 5 pretends to be a melodrama, where there is no screaming, no tension, just fights from scratch and a sea of chatter.
Most likely, the matter is in Patrick Wilson, who not only plays the main role, but also makes his directorial debut. He clearly did not find the moment when the viewer gets tired of the suspense and longs for outright horror.
The heroes will get tough
Photo: Sony
…but wonderfully terrifying
The first two “Astral” are considered excellent horror films. They were frightening with a red-faced demon that devastated the astral world and insane screams that were inserted at the most unexpected moments. Of course, Patrick Wilson lacks the ability to catch up to Wang’s level, but he tries and produces the scariest movie after the first few parts.
Take, for example, the episode where John is locked in a confined space. There is complete darkness around, it is difficult to move, no one comes to help, and something terrible is nearby. First, the viewer sees white eyes glowing somewhere in the distance. But as time goes by, something scary is coming and the tension builds and leads to a cool scene.
There are plenty of moments like this in the movie, so if you sit down for a slice of horror, you’ll get your own. I would only like even more horror, because it was he who made the name Astral.
Behind the Demon: An outdated but still working cheat
Photo: Sony
All is well with money.
Due to the poor balance between family drama and horror, Astral 5 came off as a bystander. In terms of tension and highlights, it clearly loses to “Rise of the Evil Dead”, where the villain was remembered and the reprisals were surprising. However, the novelty is already profitable! After the opening weekend, the fees were over $64 million, and this is on a budget of $16 million.
And now remember the recent blockbusters. “Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Fate” made $252 million in two weeks on a budget of $450 million, it takes at least $800-900 million to pay off. The expensive Flash and Transformers have similar problems. And after all, In terms of quality, these movies weren’t terrible, a passing max.
But the days of bloated budgets are over. Audiences will only flock to the most prominent movies like “Web of Universes” and “Avatar 2.” But the expensive middle peasants are doomed to fail. But films like the fifth “Astral” can still afford to be long and have a weak script; due to a couple of good ideas, they will still make a profit.
Something spooky ahead
Photo: Sony
Worth seeing?
If you have gone through all the horror movies and crave for new experiences, please rate Astral 5. Still, the movie is very scary and keeps you on your toes. But viewers who aren’t fans of the genre can skip the novelty and not miss anything.
Appreciated
The movie has a good horror story, the legendary demons are back.
I dont like him
The plot is terribly long, too much attention was paid to the relationship of the characters.
