Reviews

Season One was a very roughly pieced together and poor imitation of several seasons of the original show. It was lackluster and sloppy.

While it is probably shocking to fans old and new that the beloved Book of Shadows is GONE by the end of the episode and showing no signs of returning, it creates a new and unique predicament for Charmed ones that fans have never seen their respective favorite trio(s) in before.

Season Two clearly seeks to fix that, focusing on original ideas that take the sisters and the story in a whole new and unpredictable direction. This episode sets the stage for one of my favorite seasons of any show.

If you've come here expecting the ABC Family / Freeform level mystery drama formula and are unwilling to accept something new, you'll hate this.

If you're a fan of the 70s-90s era slasher films, you'll feel right at home.

A is no longer a peer in the high school holding onto secrets and manipulating people. This A is large. Masked. Scary. ENRAGED.

Straight out the gate there's (2?) murders and it doesn't stop there. As bodies pile up in Millwood, the threat to these liars and their liar mothers elevates. The stakes have never been higher.

This show is probably better suited for fans of the Scream TV series than fans of the original PLL, but the texts and looming presence of a mysterious secret keeper still keep it within the realm of the PLL universe.

Let me start by saying that I went into this movie after being told by several people that "you are going to absolutely love it! It was amazing!" which made me nervous because anytime I've heard that, my expectations get too high and I'm let down.

The good news is that, while I may have desired more from this movie, I still was not let down. There are plenty of moments and allusions to old storylines and characters that made me smile, laugh, frown, and catch onto potential foreshadowing.

And the new cast, while I expected to hate them, proved to be enjoyable overall. When some of them started meeting their ends, I was sad in the same way we all mourned Tatum, Hallie, Randy, and Derek on our first viewings of the original trilogy.

Let me also add: This Ghostface is BRUTAL. Scream 4 introduced a stab happy pair of killers that made Billy and Stu look like softies, and this one kicks that up a notch or two further.

And while the focus is the new cast, the reintroduction of our legacy characters proved to be done just right. They're involved enough that fans of them are still satisfied, but it's not really their story anymore. If this truly was a "passing of the torch" movie and this is the last we see of them, I think it's a satisfying ending to the OG3 that we've cheered on for over two decades.

You'll laugh. You'll cry. And of course... You'll scream.

I was extremely critical and harsh of this remake from the beginning. I judged based on the trailer, and wrote it off after the first episode.

During quarantine, I burned through things to watch and decided to give it a second chance. The first season is rushed, often spoon/force feeding information that the original let get revealed slowly over time. If you can get through it, though...

Season Two was highly enjoyable for me. This is where it strays from trying to pack in ideas from the original and instead starts focusing on its own stories, new lore, and original demonic ideas. Each sister becomes more enjoyable as characters, and the changes that they make to the dark lighter / white lighter lore (which I won't spoil) was an interesting take. Plus there's the introduction of one of the better television anti-heroes in recent memory. When you meet her, you'll know exactly who I mean.

While it's hard to separate the two because of the name, if you're able to watch it as it's own thing and not a Charmed reboot / knockoff: then I think there are things here to be enjoyed.

I sat in the theater and listened to people boo through the last ten minutes and the credits. It won't win an Oscar, no duh. No horror movie will. The Paranormal Activity comparison is odd. One, Paranormal Activity was filmed as more of a "Mock-Home Video" than a "Mockumentary" like The Devil Inside. The ending of Paranormal was more exciting and puzzling because you knew there'd be a sequel. Why a sequel? Because the creators are going to keep taking people's money. This ended because that's the thing: it's The End. No "there goes the demon out the front door to do more carnage." The filming is more stable because, the plot going along with this, an actual cameraman is operating it. Outrageous, I know. Also, it followed along more closely with actual demonology as taught by the church among other beliefs, where as Paranormal Activity was far more fictional and created out of the writer's imagination. I would recommend watching it without high expectations, but don't avoid it just because a bunch of people who can't sit still for an hour and a half and enjoy a good story gave it a bad rating.