The Crooked Man (2016 TV Movie)
9/10
Fun if slightly flawed effort
2 October 2016
After getting released from an asylum, a troubled woman attempting to get her life back in order becomes convinced the entity that framed her for murdering her friend is back finishing the job and races to find a way of stopping it to save her friends.

For the most part this one was quite the enjoyable effort. What really works well here is the fact that there's quite an enjoyable and engaging atmosphere present here that makes for quite a fun and engaging time here. That comes along mostly from the titular creature itself, which is quite the impressive and chilling entity that works really well in delivering a solid concept for a horror villain as the static-y look and disjointed appearance go hand-in- hand with the spectacular nursery rhyme that accompanies him as there's an incredibly strong mystery about him and his appearance here which makes for a rather imposing villain. As well as the strong visuals and the great villain, there's a lot to really like here in regards to how much action plays a part of this one as the encounters here are truly top-notch. The opening sleepover backstory that sets up the whole film is highly atmospheric and works with some fine nightmarish images in the blackout and the poem setting everything in motion before showing the actual killer getting in a nice shock, the scene with the creature appearing in the hospital is rather chilling and the rather frenzied and chilling attack in the singer's dressing room is a nice showstopper that spreads itself quite nicely with it's rather stylish setting and brutal actions. That carries along into the other attacks on the friends throughout here, with the friends all getting creepy attacks by the creature as well with their all being done in the darkness forcing along some really atmospheric times here, and that sets up the big scene at the end where he's confronted in the dilapidated house where the brawling makes for quite a fun time while the tactics employed against him is quite an enjoyable and impressive outing overall. Alongside the great kills which are quite brutal and intense throughout here, these manage to make this one fast-paced and enjoyable enough to really enjoy it over the few minor flaws. The main issue with the film here is the fact that it really doesn't make sense why the film's rampage is halted when she leaves the group, as it's given a minor gloss-over yet it doesn't have a definitive answer that really makes any sense. This is a rather big problem and isn't really explained at all which is a rather big issue to have here since that pretty much carries along throughout the movie as a whole. Likewise, the fact that her friends are so hostile following the revelation of the deaths to each other and her stories are given some semblance of reality, yet they still carry on without much change in attitude which really isn't that enjoyable coming off as yet another incarnation of the cliché. Other than these minor issues, this one was quite a bit of fun.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.
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