I actually heard of this movie through it's controversy online, in which people are boycotting the film due to its usage of A.I. to create one of the still images that show up for a total of 3 seconds in the movie. I will admit that using A.I. for this reason is wrong since a graphics artist is not hard nor expensive to hire, however I don't think that means this movie shouldn't be boycotted since it was really good and really creative! The story is set in the 70s and follows a talk show host named Jack Delroy who's talk show ratings have plummeted recently due to controversy around his life. He has alleged rumors flying around that he is associated with a cult, his wife has died of cancer, and he hasn't been himself lately in public. In an attempt to boost ratings, during his Halloween episode of the show, he promises to bring out a world-renowned mind-reader, a child who claims she can talk to the devil, and a professional de-bunker of the paranormal and supernatural. As each act of the show progresses, things get more and more disturbing as things go wrong, and the end is truly horrifying and shocking! I will say there is a lot more to the story, but I cannot say anymore at risk of spoilers. The story itself was really good and entertaining, and while the first half of the movie was clearly the 'slow burn' portion, it was really unsettling and creepy to watch even though it was supposed to be the 'slow' part of the film. The movie does not rely on heavy gore and bloodshed until brief moments at the end, and this really made the movie much more suspenseful. The characters, especially Delroy, were developed perfectly so that the ending was much more impactful and intense, and I really loved the addition of the scientific de-bunker since his role was surprisingly prominent in making the movie more unsettling towards the last half of the film. There were some effects that stood out to me in making this movie scary, and although I can't name a few due to spoilers, the best one that I can name was a VHS 'face-reveal' effect. During a part of the movie with static that mimics a failed VHS tape, a face slowly starts to reveal itself through the static as the sound changes to more of a whisper than the static noise, and me and my friend were definitely shaking during that moment. To furthermore address the A.I. issue on this movie, I knew about it going into it, and my friend and I timed how long the graphic was on screen when the 'TV Show' cut to a commercial break and it was less than 3 seconds. Since I didn't find this to be that significant, I do think boycotting this movie is a terrible idea since you would be missing out on a truly exceptional suspense-flick. That being said, this movie wasn't really horror until the end, as most of it was 'small moments' that led to a build-up in suspense, so if you get scared easily then this might be a good starting film considering the lack of jump scares or excess gore (there is still some gore). Overall, this was an amazing movie that was done really well, and please do not boycott this film!
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