FORTY-FOUR YEARS AGO, SOME OF you might not have been born yet; for me, I was still in school and living in the same home I had been born in. Despite my schoolwork and working part time, I still found time to get together with my friends from time to time. A few of them had already finished their schooling and were living on their own. I was comfortable still being at home because it, especially throughout my earlier years, had always been my safe haven. There was a comfort and peacefulness that was nurturing compared to the issues I had had with the bullying and abuse that took place in the schools during my younger years. However, there was a moment in time where the comfort of my home took on a sinister bent. It happened after me and a couple of friends went to see a new horror suspense film at the neighborhood movie theater. I did not know anything about it except that the lead actress was the daughter of a famous Hollywood movie star. Even to this day, I still remember we went to a Saturday matinee to see this picture. We normally would have gone out to dinner afterwards; but after this movie ended, none of us had an appetite and just wanted to go home.      WHEN I GOT HOME, I WALKED over to the closet to hang-up my jacket; but this time, I hesitated at the closet door. Normally, I would just swing the door open and hang my jacket on the clothes hook that was close to the front, past the light switch. This time, I opened the door just enough to slide my hand in and turn on the light switch first before pushing the door further away. There had been a scene in the horror film that involved a closet and it had freaked me out. I knew inside it was foolish to think someone was in my closet, but I was not 100% convinced suddenly. Later in the evening I was talking to one of the friends who was at the movie earlier and they told me when they had walked over to their car in the theater’s parking lot, they first glanced through the window into the back seat to make sure no one was hiding there. Now, you might be thinking my friends and I were crazy to have been acting in such a way; but I am telling you, this picture was truly frightening. And back then I would have never guessed forty-four years later I would still be seeing another installment in what became an exceptionally long movie franchise from that first film.      MAKING CHANGES TO HER LIFE AND taking care of her granddaughter, the time was right for Laurie, played by Jamie Lee Curtis (Knives Out, Spare Parts), to stop being afraid of the past. However, her future might not go as planned when her granddaughter becomes interested in a local boy. With Andi Matichak (Foxfire, Miles) as Allyson, Rohan Campbell (The Valley Below, The Hardy Boys-TV) as Corey, Will Patton (Sweet Thing, The Devil Below) as Frank and Jesse C. Boyd (The Walking Dead-TV, One of These Days) as Officer Mulaney; this thriller went in a different direction than the past films in this franchise. The same eerie music associated with this movie was there which brought back memories from my viewings of the past films; I always enjoy watching Jamie Lee Curtis and she did not disappoint in this sequel. However, what did disappoint me was the script. The first half of the story had interesting ideas; but were not well executed, leading me to boredom. What one expects from this movie franchise did not really take place until the last half and by that point the bloody violent scenes seemed excessive. Also, it was easy to figure out who would not last until the end of the story. Based on this sequel, I hope this will be the last movie in the film franchise. As Jamie Lee’s character was trying to do, it is time to leave the past behind.                    

2 stars