=== Movie Review - Insidious: The Last Key (2018) - Supernatural Horror - 6/10 ===

Today we take a look at Insidious: The Last Key. Carley and I are very much into watching horror movies on a regular basis. We're always looking for those great horror movies that actually get you a little terrified whether it's from something really creepy or from a good jump scare or two. This movie is a good continuation of the series; if there is anything which really gets to me it's definitely ghosts and things, but unfortunately I didn't find this one too scary.

This movie is the forth in the franchise (oddly enough I still haven't watch the first movie). In this movie we learn about Elise's past where her father didn't want her doing anything to do with spirits and supernatural things so he would try to abuse it out of her. With her mother being supportive of her, Elise would continue to refuse to listen to her father and eventually ended up locked in the basement where the demon of this movie was released.

Years later Elise is working with her assistants and receives a call which leads her back to her childhood home where this all happened. At first she refuses to help the man calling, but then she reconsiders and decides that it is her responsibility to fix what she started years ago.

The story is revealed in a great way where you learn about twists and turns in the story that you didn't expect. There were times in Elise's childhood where she thought she was seeing a ghost, but she was really seeing someone who was alive but had escaped from the basement of the house. Crazy, right?

Some of what I didn't enjoy so much in this movie was the girls who were supposed to be her estranged nieces. While I think it's great to meet them and get to know them a little bit and even have them join Elise in assisting her with the ghostly problem of the house... they just don't have very much character other than being good-looking on the screen and a source of "jokes" for the two assistants to make fools of themselves. I really would have preferred the movie keep more of a serious tone and build more character rather than make jokes.

This movie presents some serious topics such as the aforementioned child abuse and even touches a little bit on a sort of rape-ish theme in the way the demon treats his female victims. Considering the only-female victims and the way the girls are treated throughout the movie, there's an air of sexism which is a little uncomfortable to think about after the fact.

All things considered, this is a fun movie series to follow. I think the horror part was a bit lost in this one, and I think it could have done without the frantic jokes about the guys falling over themselves for the girls. I'm going to score this one at 6/10 for being pretty average, but not bad. I still recommend watching this one especially if you are an avid fan of the series.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Movie Review - Truth or Dare (2018) - Horror - 7/10 =9=

Truth or Dare? Oh, you don't want to play? That's too bad, you've been asked, so now you're in the game and if you don't take your turn and complete the dare, you'll be killed.

This fantastic movie is a Blumhouse production about a group of college students who go on a trip to Mexico where they party and drink. The main character Olivia gets bothered by another character named Ronnie whom nobody likes until a guy who called himself Carter steps in and convinces Olivia and her friends to go with him to the ruins of a nearby mansion where they start playing a game of Truth or Dare.

Carter reveals to Olivia that this isn't just a normal game of Truth or Dare, but it will follow them and they will have to follow the rules or they will die. Olivia returns to school and starts seeing Truth or Dare written around everywhere and hearing the words whispered, but thinks it's all a joke until she accidentally reveals her best friend's secret to a room full of people.

The movie continues with skeptical friends dying and the others trying to survive and find a way to end the game without themselves dying. Things are revealed about each of the characters which makes them more likable or not and in the end we didn't really care about them all too much because there just wasn't any time to get to know them and fall in love with them in the short time of the movie.

I really don't think this movie was quite as bad as the rest of the reviews that I've seen, but then again, I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to movies. I didn't think this was a super cheap movie and I enjoyed the story. Except for a jump-scare or two, this movie wasn't scary at all. I enjoyed it and would recommend watching it for a bit of fun, but not if you're looking for something to really scare the pants off of you.

Unfortunately there isn't too much for me to say about Truth or Dare. I didn't think the acting was too cheesy, the music and sound was good, and the story was reasonable. My personal score for this movie will be 7/10 and a recommended movie to watch for me as long as you aren't looking for anything super original as a new concept.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== When Dogs Go Wild ===

     So recently I find myself torn between my love for our dog, and my dislike for him getting into things; it makes me furious when dogs go wild. Our dog is a black shih tzu / cocker spaniel named Furgle; he's super cute and does the most adorable things when he's trying to get your attention, or when he's just TRYING to be cute. I absolutely LOVE him and he makes it so difficult to stay mad at him when he does something wrong.

     Just yesterday we came home after a day in Regina to a torn up pile of swim diapers and a couple other objects from around the house spread around the floor of the living room. That right there is a lot of valuable money that we don't want to have to spend again... but I also understand where he's coming from. Most other dogs don't have a problem with separation anxiety like he does though.

     When I say separation anxiety, I don't mean your average run-of-the-mill "Oh no, my family is gone so I'm going to be sad" sort of stuff... I mean "WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? HOOOWWWWWLLLLL!!!!!" Mix that with a little bit of puppy / cocker spaniel chewing on everything destruction and you've got our dear Furgle. I know I make it sound bad, but he's really not THAT bad. He's pretty calm when we're home most of the time and even when company comes over, he calms down pretty quickly as long as they actually let him sniff them... or jump all over them.

     Jumping isn't the only bad habit he has which we'd like to get him out of. I'm sure some of this he'll grow out of as he gets older and after he gets fixed, but he likes to bite SOOOO MUCH. Don't get me wrong, I love to do a little bit of rough-housing, but I HATE being bitten. So currently that's a never ending fight to get him to stop with that along with jumping (which is also pretty cute) and getting so frantic whenever there's a door between us and him. Currently I absolutely no idea if we'll ever get him out of that last habit... we might be stuck with a dog who doesn't want to be separated for the rest of his life. I think I would be alright with that; It's really not so bad having him always want to be around us.

     He's absolutely a sweetheart and the cutest dog in the world when he's not so busy biting us all the time. He's super athletic so we're thinking of getting him into some agility training at some point. There's actually a dog agility club here in Moose Jaw believe it or not. I think that would be good for both him and us. And of course, we'll get our dog to stop going wild with a little bit of help from a puppy-training class after we get him fixed.

~ Kyle Welykholowa