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“Castle Rock” Got Pretty Wild This Week and We Should Talk About It

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When you’re expecting answers, “Castle Rock” instead asks new questions.

Last night’s “Castle Rock” was an interesting episode, to say the very least. Rather than finding out more about “The Kid,” as last week’s episode kinda-sorta suggested we would, ‘Filter’ instead focused primarily on Henry Deaver’s story, particularly his attempts to find out what actually happened to him (and his father) as a child. On that road to self discovery, we met Henry’s son, Wendell Deaver (played by IT star Chosen Jacobs), and Henry finally learned that it was actually a young Molly who killed his father; as she claims, Henry wanted him dead.

But the episode’s most crazy bananas revelation came towards the end of the episode, when Henry came upon two men in the woods he and his father used to prowl around. There he met Willie and Odin Branch, a young man and a deaf older man who together inform Henry that the crippling ringing he’s been having in his ear isn’t exactly tinnitus or, well, anything of this world.

As it turns out, Castle Rock is an even stranger place than we realized.

Odin, with Willie as his translator, explains to Henry that he knew Henry’s late father, and that his father believed “the voice of God” could be heard in Castle Rock.

Say what?!

Most people can’t hear it at all,” Odin tells Henry. “Some hear it once… and never again. A lucky few hear it constantly… practically deafened by it. There are geographic variations, naturally. Quiet in some places… much louder in others. The ancients called it ‘the music of the spheres.’ Of course, I have a more scientific view. The nature of the schisma, is the preferred nomenclature now. I have advanced degrees in bio, and psycho acoustics. Best I can tell, the schisma is actually nanoscale turbulences, caused by cochlear quantum totalities abrading in parallel. Other heres, other nows. All possible pasts, all possible presents. Schisma is the sound of the universe… trying to reconcile them.”

He continues, “To some listeners, the schisma sounds like a ringing in the ears. See, the sound may come and go, but the schisma is eternal. It’s eternal and everywhere, underlying all space-time. But it has been getting louder again, Henry. It hasn’t risen to these levels in decades. The problem is, no matter how strong the signal, the world is noise. Auditory distraction. So even those lucky enough to hear the schisma have to clarify, amplify. And of course, the most committed of us… do more.”

Odin goes on to tell Henry that his father had conceived a device before his death that he never got to build, but that Odin has. Essentially, it’s a padded room that shuts out *all* noise, allowing those with the ability to hear the schisma to hear it loud and clear. It’s called “The Filter,” and Henry’s father believed the schematics were delivered from God himself.

“What you hear now is just a rumor. What you’ll here in The Filter is… truth.”

As for Odin, he purposely made himself deaf so that he’d be able to receive messages from the schisma at all times, and his plan is to “correct” Willie for the same purpose.

Now that’s some hardcore J.J. Abrams meets Stephen King insanity to unpack, eh? The “schisma” isn’t actually present in any of King’s stories, so at this point it’s pretty impossible to know what the hell is actually going on in Castle Rock. Are different realities and times bleeding together, kind of like Abrams’ own Cloverfield Universe? Is “The Kid” some sort of inhuman being from another place and time, brought into Castle Rock by whatever strange shit is going on out there in the woods? Is it possible that’s he actually “IT,” as we theorized last week?

One thing is for certain, and it’s that “Castle Rock” loves to dangle wild ideas and questions in front of our faces and then make us wait for the answers. At this point, six episodes deep, we really still don’t have *any* answers, not even to questions posed in the very first episode. And with only four left to go, we can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever truly get them.

So what’s all this about schismas? Any theories? Are they about to go full Dark Tower?

Let’s talk!

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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