MG_84 Reviews

Sexy Beast (2024– )

Feels like a poorly-made parody

[1/10 · 30 January 2024]

Sexy Beast is the latest in the "people are sick of film remakes/reboots/requels, let's just make every film into a tv series" uninspired money-spinning ideas of production companies.

The film stands on its own as a classic British gangster-flick, with excellent actors and excellent performances.

So this "prequel" series always had a lot to live up to.

Unfortunately, it feels like someone is making a parody or low-budget fan film. The actors try their best to imitate both Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley but fail miserably to provide anything other than laughable imitations.

Ben Kingsley created an incredibly menacing character in Don Logan, but his counterpart in the series is so comically bad that it's impossible to find him at all threatening. It's difficult to do anything but cringe at Emun Elliott's impersonation.

The same goes for Glaswegian James McArdle, who while attempting to imitate Ray Winstone's performance, comes across as a slow-talking mockney with a brain injury due to his sleepy performance.

Eventually I had to turn it off, because the performances were so laughable and nauseating that I eventually couldn't take it seriously nor focus on the story.

Stick with the film, and leave it there, this failed money-spinning experiment is not worth your time.

Night of the Hunted (2023)

If you can survive the 95 mins, you won't want her to

[3/10 · 18 November 2023]

What is it these days with making characters so unlikable, and so pathetically entitled, particularly in horror/thrillers where you are supposed to want them to survive!?

It fails in the basic task of creating a 'good' character you root for against a 'bad' character that you want to see fail and/or die.

The 'good' character here is actually written as a unpleasant, rude, obnoxious, man-hating woman who we discover is cheating on her supportive (apparently 'too nice') husband, who wants kids and thinks she's seeing a fertility doctor, with a co-worker who she appears to hold in equal contempt. She mentions on multiple occasions her disdain for men, and that is apparently her reason for not wanting kids, but lying to her husband that she does while cheating on him with another man - makes sense huh? She has no redeeming characteristics despite attempts to give her some redeeming situations, and at no point did I actually want her to survive.

Their idea for the 'bad' character was a feeling-hard-done-by right-wing anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist who decides to kill innocent people and reinforce the stereotypes he apparently despises. It's almost comical how little effort was made, even if you find those kind of people ridiculous and dislikable. He isn't at all threatening or scary, just a childish idiot who got off Twitter and decided to kill people in a gas station in the middle of the night.

Some failed attempts are made to try to link the antagonist to the protagonist with her working for a pharmaceutical company and him hating "big pharma" companies and their employees, but it's all rather nonsensical.

Despite this, after switching off my brain, I weirdly found myself enjoying the overall premise of the film, and it could have been much better with more imaginative script-writers, but I don't think you'll find it particularly suspenseful or engaging so unless you can enjoy a film even when it's ridiculous you'll probably be more likely to dislike this as much as you do the characters within it.

The Exorcist: Believer (2023)

A dull and gimmicky dragged-out drama

[4/10 · 26 October 2023]

Ultimately it's not a horror, but a light-on-story missing-person drama with a dull 20 minute exorcism tagged on the end. Even the exorcism failed to build up any tension or horror. The key characters - the two girls that get possessed - feel like an afterthought with more emphasis on the bickering self-righteous parents and waffling religious leaders. There's no atmosphere and virtually zero character and story development.

I can certainly see why Ellen Burstyn wasn't keen on starring in this (only eventually agreeing in order to use her salary to fund courses for upcoming actors). With lazy scriptwriting, zero growth of tension, no suspense or horror and no audience investment in the paper-thin characters, of which I personally felt there were too many; when the credits roll you're likely to feel completely underwhelmed.

The beauty of the original was how it built up the tension with the demon becoming increasingly more vicious and Regan becoming increasingly more evil as the possession took hold; the four central characters each had depth and were written to make the audience invested in their stories and outcomes, with their flaws and difficulties in life making them more relatable. You were invested in the characters and you were engrossed in the atmosphere, tension and suspense.

The Exorcist: Believer has none of these traits.

There is a complete absence of emotion, suspense, terror or horror with just a few desperate attempts at jump scares and silly gimmicks of lines repeated from the original. It feels like an incredibly lazy script. The film runs at almost 2 hours long, which should have provided more than enough time to create all of those things, but it feels like they wrote about 30 minutes of story and stretched it out to 111 minutes because they knew "The Exorcist" name and cameos would ensure a big pay day at the box office no matter how bad the final film was, and they weren't wrong looking at the current worldwide gross.

The characters have no substance at all, and there's nothing to make the audience feel connected with any of them or their stories. There are two obnoxious overbearing fathers, a mother who constantly asks what she should be doing the whole time, and two daughters who disappear, one of which we know lost her mother but the other we know nothing about except that she gets possessed with her friend after doing a ritual which landed them in hell for three days...not that we really get any detail about that; there's also a nurse that was going to be a nun but lost a baby and decided not to and is apparently an expert on this situation because she read a book. You won't get much more development beyond that outline it's incredibly thin on substance.

When it comes to exorcism of the demon they, for some reason, decided to include three different types of exorcist, all three parents and a bunch of gimmicky lines. I think they were trying to be innovative and clever with the exorcism when it would have worked much better if they had stuck with the basics, instead of overcomplicating things.

I also, personally, found it a little bit pretentious. It gave me the feeling that they felt they were presenting us with a masterpiece, when it's ultimately forgettable.

The Last Thanksgiving (2020)

I've watched my fair share of cheesy, low-budget, badly-acted horrors...

[1/10 · 24 October 2023]

....but this is something else.

You could say the terrible acting and cheesy delivery is trying to recapture 80s low-budget horror, but this isn't just badly acted, it's almost deliberately acted in a way that feels too forced, rather than simply being bad actors. The falseness of the acting was hard for me personally to overcome.

When it comes to the characters, they're predominantly annoying, unlikeable and insufferable, so even if you could get past the bad acting, story, direction, production values and horrific script you're probably going to hate the film because of the obnoxious people in it.

It felt a bit like a student film project, which had somehow managed to get picked up and released, but how the director/writer/editor Erick Lorinc and producers managed to sit through the entire film and still think "yeah, we've got a good film here", I'll have no idea. I can't say I'm surprised that he's done nothing in the few years since as this feels like a failed experiment.

Even if you love badly-acted cheesy low-budget horrors, I think you're more likely to dislike this than enjoy it.

The Nun II (2023)

Entertaining latest instalment from the horror version of the MCU

[6/10 · 9 October 2023]

With half stars, it would be a 5.5

Much like the MCU this latest instalment of the universe is entertaining enough, and provides what you expect from the series, but it's feeling more like a cookie cutter money making franchise filler than a solid high-quality horror movie. Considering what the three writers have produced before, it's seems like it could have been better. Possibly a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

Although it was entertaining and had plenty of jump scares, the lack of story development or character development was the biggest issue for me. It seemed like there was more of a focus on getting as many characters and jump scares in as possible at the expense of any depth.

There was no real expansion on the story of the demon Valak, or the nun character that it inhabits, and despite the tiniest of suggestions of a link between Sister Irene and Lorraine Warren, there was zero development of this spin-off's central characters.

For me, Jonas Bloquet as Maurice steals the show and this feels a bit more like his film than Farmiga's Sister Irene who, until the final act, is kind of just a long for the ride. He puts in a solid performance and out of all of the characters, he's probably the one who gets to shine most.

I like Storm Reid, she's a good actress and puts in a good performance as always, but her character is a bit pointless and I wonder if it was written in just to keep the social media mobs from kicking up a fuss. It's a shame because she's a very talented actress, but I don't see much point to her character unless they are planning to expand upon it in yet another spinoff, or in the next Conjuring instalment which will feature the Sister Irene character. The film wouldn't have been any different or worse without her being Sister Irene's sidekick.

There are several other characters that are in there but don't really feel fleshed out enough too, and it feels like they were trying to do too much with the separate stories of Maurice and Sister Irene, that only come together in the end. I feel It might have worked better focusing solely on Maurice's story and fleshing that out more.

It's a slow starter, and a little bit dull to begin with, only really hitting its potential in the last act when the film suddenly feels a bit more engrossing as it comes together. I think most horror fans will find enjoyment in it, but it's certainly not up to the standard of the first and second conjuring films and, much like the MCU, it's possibly time that they started winding down the universe to focus on fresh ideas instead of releasing as many films as possible and stretching it out so thin that they never quite get beyond average. But money talks and the $250m this has grossed so far is probably going into ensure the producers squeeze a few more films out of it before that happens.

Influencer (II) (2022)

Looking for a predictable film full of unlikeable unhappy narcissists? Look no further.

[4/10 · 23 June 2023]

As the unimaginative title suggests, this is the latest foray into the influencer "horror/thriller" film genre that seems to be "trending" right now, and much like the others this could easily be mistaken for a Lifetime movie. The plot and acting are straight out of the Lifetime playbook, it's laughably ridiculous at times and ironically, like the thousands of influencers out there, seems to think it's better than its peers. It's not.

Madison is an influencer who travels the world promoting products and places for money and freebies. Unsurprisingly she's unhappy and unfulfilled with her hollow and materialistic life. After a "chance" meeting with the seemingly friendly fellow solo-traveller CW they begin to explore Thailand together. However, it's not long before CW shows her true motives for befriending Madison.

When Madison's obnoxious unlikeable boyfriend turns up out of the blue to surprise her and make up for an argument they had, CW's plans start to unravel, putting in motion a series of increasingly ridiculous escalations as CW desperately tries to hide the things she's done.

The finale was so predictable that I already knew 25 minutes into the film how it was going to play out. Don't expect any surprises, you're likely to know what's going to happen minutes before it does.

It's all rather dull and formulaic with an extremely basic plot. It feels like it was made for daytime tv, but I've also seen worse in the Gen-Z horror field.

If you can get past the ridiculousness of it all, the sub-par acting, the fact that none of the characters are likeable enough to care about, and you can sit through an entire Lifetime film without cringing, then this may be for you; otherwise you might be better off saving 92 minutes of your life.

As others have said the audio mixing is also terrible. I watched this on Shudder, which I'm not sure makes the best use of audio mixing as I've noticed similar issues with other Shudder films, so it could be the film's audio team, or Shudder, but vocals are often drowned out by the overly-loud musical score and there are often extremely loud short pieces of music that I assume were supposed to build tension, but just seem out of place.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

A self-important Lifetime movie

[4/10 · 19 June 2023]

Bodies Bodies Bodies is intended to be a satirical social-commentary on the pitfalls of Gen-Z and their addiction to technology, social media and a desperate need for the attention and approval of their peers.

Unfortunately, it misses the mark.

Ultimately this felt like a film that could have been on the Lifetime network. Some of the dialogue and areas of the acting are absolutely dreadful and its intended social commentary is overwhelmed by a cast full of unlikeable and annoying self-important characters. LIke Lifetime films it's as predictable as it is over-dramatic.

What you're ultimately left with is a dull Gen-Z melodrama about a bunch of selfish entitled friends who do stupid things when overreacting to ridiculous situations.

There's nothing new or interesting here, and it's not as clever or thought-provoking as it thinks it is; it's just as pretentious as the characters that drive it.

Centigrade (2020)

When you spend the duration hoping they won't survive...

[3/10 · 1 December 2022]

I'll try to save you some time...It's well acted, with high production values, but it's been done before better and you're likely to become annoyed by the characters.

Essentially it comes down to a couple that get trapped in their car after a snow storm. The woman refuses to listen to her other half, even when the advice is good, and ends up doing what she wants anyway ultimately messing everything up and causing more trouble.

Neither the man or the woman are likeable characters, and you have no vested interest in wanting to see either them survive.

There are many similar themed films to this which do everything better, so unless you like a film where you'll dislike the characters, give this one a miss.

Halloween Ends (2022)

Not really a Halloween movie

[6/10 · 22 October 2022]

As a massive fan of the series, I can see why so many others would feel disappointed by this latest outing in the series.

For much of the film, there is no Michael Myers; the scriptwriters instead have decided to focus on a wider story of Good vs Evil and how good people can be driven to do bad things, which has always been lingering under the surface of the series.

I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail, in order to avoid spoilers, but the film is much more of a drama-thriller about how circumstances (and the treatment at the hands of some horrible human beings) can drive a good person to become pure evil, the embodiment of what Michael Myers has always been; and how that can overshadow and 'infect' a population, in this case Haddonfield and its residents.

There's a little bit of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode that will please fans, but they no longer felt like the centre of the story, and there's nowhere near enough of it to satiate fans, nor enough to make it feel like a true Halloween film.

I gave it a 6 as I kinda liked what they were trying to do, and enjoyed seeing the story unfold, but it could have easily been half that due to my disappointment at expecting a true Halloween film, with a great ending to the Laurie-Michael saga but being left with very little that represented that leaving a feeling of unfulfillment at the end.

Not likely to impress fans of the series, but probably worth a watch to most horror fans.

Hellraiser (2022)

A Rare Reboot That Is Actually Worth Your Time

[6/10 · 10 October 2022]

These days it's hard to find original films, the studios are far too lazy for that and instead opt for remaking/rebooting/requeling successful franchises and films.

When I heard another classic films was being rebooted, one which had already been directed by the person who wrote the novel it was based on and therefore was done in his vision, I was immediately dubious; especially since there have been so many poor attempts at other classics (along with being a bit more of the unoriginality).

However, I was pleasantly surprised here, and it comes from the fact that they didn't rehash the story of the original and came up with a new story, and new set of characters. That meant that the original can still remain intact, original and incomparable to this new outing.

The new story and acting is solid, the main characters carry the film well, and they've made good use of the advancements in technology to enhance the body horror aspects give the Cenobites a slight makeover while keeping them familiar to the original and is a much stronger addition to the series than many of the weak sequels attempted in the past.

If you liked the original, this reboot won't ruin it in any way and you shouldn't hate it as it's not a rehash; you'll probably enjoy it enough to judge it on its own terms. You probably won't like it as much as the original, if only for nostalgic reasons, but you should enjoy it.

A pleasantly surprising reboot offering new take on the original story. Certainly worth a watch.

Sissy (I) (2022)

More of a gory teen drama than a horror or comedy-horror

[2/10 · 29 September 2022]

The basic premise of the film sounded interesting, and being an Aussie horror, you usually know to expect something a little bit crazy. They don't do things by halves down under, so you can expect the usual eye watering violence here and there.

Unfortunately, if you're expecting something in the vein of The Loved Ones., Wolf Creek or 100 Bloody Acres, you're going to be disappointed. While it's not terrible, it doesn't quite reach its potential and ends up pretty forgetful and one you're unlikely to want to see again.

Firstly, there isn't a single character with any redeeming quality, they're all pretty contemptible human beings and what sympathy you might initially have for the leading lady soon wears off. They're pretty much all contemptible nasty pieces of work in one way or another.

Unfortunately it also suffers from the usual modern "cool to include" plot and character points, seemingly just to tick all of the boxes - "being an influencer is the height of life/success", a lesbian couple, a gay guy, a comment on white privilege, mental health, talking about "cancelling" someone, females who are just interested in love island "reality" tv etc.

If the themes are not important to the story, they just feel trite. While they're key parts of modern society, it feels like they've all been forcefully thrown in for the sake of including them, or because it's "cool" to do so, not to actually benefit the film. They don't add anything to the story or the characters.

I have no issue with real-life themes and character elements being represented in the things I watch if they feel natural and are key to the character/story, but when they are predictably all chucked in like they were here, it seems like forced, pointless box ticking.

By the end of the film it felt like the writer was more interested in including those aspects rather than creating an engrossing story.

There's no real suspense, the events are extremely predictable and the characters are lacking in depth. If you're looking for a horror, then you'll probably be disappointed as it felt like more of a drama with a few deaths tacked on.

If you're looking for a horror, give it a miss. If you're looking for comedy, even dark, there's none to be found. If you're looking for a teen-themed drama with social commentary then you might enjoy it.

2 stars for decent overall performance from the lead actress and a decent production value.

Revealer (2022)

A dull Stranger Things inspired bore-fest

[1/10 · 23 June 2022]

The basis for the film is fairly straightforward. A condescending religious protester and the arrogant peep show performer she dislikes have to work together to escape an apocalyptic invasion by alien creatures.

Neither of the characters are particularly likeable, nor are their characters developed particularly well. The amble their way through the peep show store in an attempt to escape the demonic mega creature that wants to kill them.

Ultimately, nothing interesting happens, the dialog is uninspired and the film as a whole feels incredibly dull. It was clearly trying to ride the Stranger Things wave, with its 80s setting, music, and creatures, but it creates none of the likeable characters and character interactions, you see in the latter, and its horror elements are no match.

Throw in an unnecessary "religious girl who is secretly a lesbian" character arc (because that ticks one of the "popular things to add" boxes), but adds nothing to the overall film; along with a deliberately phallic looking attack on the peep show dancer, and that's about as much excitement as you'll get out of this one.

Not one I'd recommend watching, and certainly not one that will get a rewatch.

A Day to Die (2022)

You know what you're getting with modern Willis films

[2/10 · 7 March 2022]

I've seen a couple of Bruce Willis' more recent terrible films, but as I was looking for a popcorn flick while I worked, and this was a rare Willis film with a rating above 4 (at the time of writing), I figured I'd give this a go.

Unfortunately, it's further proof that you shouldn't go on IMDb ratings as this film is poorly written, poorly acted, has terrible CGI (at times blood looks more like cola), some beyond cringeworthy dialogue and too many hollow characters that add nothing to the story. It doesn't even work as purely half-baked entertainment.

A film doesn't have to be realistic or believable, but when you combine those with poor acting, laughable dialogue, unconvincing characters and a jumbled mess of a story, it's never going to end well.

Bruce Willis doesn't even have that much of a role, and only a few lines of dialogue, so even his die hard fans (no pun intended) won't have much to enjoy.

I'm not sure why Frank Grillo is going down the same road as Bruce Willis recently; He might not be Oscar-level, but he's a decent enough actor that he can do better than this garbage. He's the one person that seems to act well in this shocker, although that's not much of an accomplishment.

I can enjoy even the worst of films when I'm looking for a popcorn flick that doesn't require any brain power, but I cannot recommend watching this even if you're working for the Razzies.

Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)

Unnecessary, unintelligent and unfunny

[1/10 · 15 November 2021]

I knew it wouldn't be as good as the original, it is after all a remake of a classic film which is still as popular and enjoyable today as it was upon release, but even I expected a tiny bit more.

In an attempt to differentiate itself from the original, the main child character is a bratty kid that steals a valuable antique doll, and two adults try to get it back. Immediately that makes it lack the same appeal as the original, which was a kid fighting back against robbers trying to steal his family's possessions.

Everything about it feels forced. Whereas the original was a "normal" family film with genuinely funny and charming characters and moments, this one feels like it's desperately trying to be funny, and it just doesn't work.

There wasn't a single bit of genuinely funny, nor fun, moments. I guess some children might enjoy the fart jokes and silliness, but that isn't what makes the original Home Alone so enjoyable; it didn't have to rely on cheap gimmicks or jokes. While the original was silly in places, it was on a solid base of a strong story and characters, and it wasn't trying to force laughs.

As Chris Columbus, the director of the original, said so accurately "it's a waste of time as far as I'm concerned. What's the point? I'm a firm believer that you don't remake films that have had the longevity of Home Alone. You're not going to create lightning in a bottle again. It's just not going to happen. So why do it? It's like doing a paint-by-numbers version of a Disney animated film - a live-action version of that. What's the point? It's been done. Do your own thing. Even if you fail miserably, at least you have come up with something original."

Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021)

A director that specialises in exploiting real life tragedies for monetary gain, with terrible movies

[1/10 · 4 September 2021]

First let's not ignore the movie itself. If you are looking for a film to explore the real Ted Bundy, you are far better off watching the 2002 or 2019 films based on him, which are far closer to the truth, and far less glorifying of the killer. They're also actually decent movies in their own right. This is the polar opposite.

This film is almost pure fiction, poorly cast and at times poorly acted. Chad Michael Murray may act okay, but he doesn't act anything like Ted Bundy; he lacks any of the charm and charisma that Bundy was known for, in fact, the character is Ted Bundy in name only as the actual character doesn't represent Bundy whatsoever. There are so many liberties taken with the real facts, people and and events for "entertainment" that they don't fit with reality.

It's ultimately a dull, unremarkable movie that does nothing to explore the real Ted Bundy, his crimes, or his victims, but instead uses the Ted Bundy name in a desperate attempt to get money through a work of fiction that uses his name for marketing.

If this had been a thriller that didn't try to cheaply cash in on the name of a real-life serial killer, it still wouldn't be great, but it might have received another star or two. However, Mr. Farrands knows exactly what he's doing.

This isn't the writer/director's first exploitation of fictional films about real life tragedies for his personal gain. He has now produced 5 films based on real-life crimes, with one more in post-production. Many of those still have living persons, either related or victims themselves of those tragedies, that this man is exploiting for a cheap buck and absolutely no regard for the truth or the people involved who suffered, and continue to suffer. He merely uses notorious people, crimes and tragedies to create his own fictional stories. It's even worse in the fact that they're not even good films in their own right.

Uncle Peckerhead (2020)

I tried to hold out, but it had to go after 40 mins

[2/10 · 2 November 2020]

From 5 minutes in I had a bad feeling about this one, but I tried to stick it out. I wanted to give it a chance to get better but after 40 minutes of terrible comedy and acting, I had to switch off.

The premise of the film had potential but the delivery fails to live up to it. If you're looking for comedy then you're going to be disappointed, if you're looking for horror then you're more likely to find it in the acting than the film itself.

It does get an extra star for having some plot and following a storyline, but I couldn't find any reasons to bump it up to three stars.

If you want an undead comedy horror, watch Shaun of the Dead. If you want that with a bit of metal (music) then watch Deathgasm or, for a more serios one, The Devil's Candy.

Give this one a miss.

Offensive (2016)

A bit too farcicle to be considered good

[4/10 · 6 May 2020]

Offensive tells the story of two passive well-mannered retirees from the United States who emigrate to the French countryside and become vicious guilt-free (and expert) serial killers of a gang of anti-social murderous teenagers and co-conspiring cops.

Does that sound a bit far fetched, even for a horror film? Wait until you see some of the finer plot points.

I'll admit, the film does an excellent job of making us dislike the gang of youths and want the adults being terrorised to unleash a bit karma upon them. It even gives us a little bit of satisfaction when the revenge does finally start, so it's not a bad revenge horror/thriller in that sense; and while it's gory it's not over the top in the way that we've seen in many "torture porn" films over the years.

The problem is, it's all a bit too ridiculous even if our belief is suspended to the maximum amount. There are just too many absurd events and explanations within a short space of time, intersected with some extreme murders, for it to eventually become a bit of a chore and thereby preventing it from being as good as the likes of Ils (aka Them).

Perhaps it suffers from the fact that, unlike most horror films, this story has a greater sense of reality since most people have been in a situation where they've felt or been intimidated and harrassed by a group of people, such as those seen in the film, making it more difficult to forgive the unrealistic elements like we can with films containing immortal masked killers.

If you like revenge films then you'll probably enjoy this to some degree, but you may find it difficult to love due to how farcical some of it is.

The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019)

An unremarkable horror film exploiting a real-life tragedy

[1/10 · 6 May 2019]

Daniel Farrands' latest film tells the tragedy of Sharon Tate, one of 5 deaths in an infamous real-life mass murder committed by the members of Charles Manson's cult. The release comes close to the 50th anniversary of those events.

I entered hoping for a fact-based biopic of Sharon Tate and what happened that night, giving life to the people that were killed and showing us who those people were during their short lives and final days. What we actually get is a rather dull sensationalistic take on the facts, used purely to create a horror film off the back of the tragedy. Had I seen his previous film based on Amityville murderer Ronald DeFeo (which I watched after this and is better executed while feeling narrowly less exploitive), I would've know what to expect - a mostly fictional horror story based on real victims of a real tragedy.

While it uses the real life events as an influence on the characters and story, there's clearly a lot of artistic license used and the result is a sub-par horror film that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth due to its exploitation of the real tragedy that took place. There was an opportunity to pay respect to the people that lost their lives, but unfortunately we get a forgettable home-invasion horror film with a particularly odd plot point, which feels absurd for a film which wants to give the impression that it's a fact-based biopic.

I can appreciate why Sharon Tate's sister was so against the film.

There's nothing particularly interesting about this film and it doesn't do justice to the innocent victims, nor reveal much of anything that we didn't already know. It invents more than it enlightens. Without revealing spoilers, Farrands could have easily made this horror film as a fictional story, with fictional characters, and the result would probably have earned slightly better ratings. But at its core it's a by-the-numbers horror with attempted jumps, moments of suspense, and cat-and-mouse chases, but it definitely does not give the impression (to me at least) that it wants to pay homage to the victims, nor deglorify Manson.

The acting is okay, but it's hardly top class, and Duff seems to fade in and out of using an odd accent in her portrayal of Tate. Some of the script feels unnatural, the characters are underdeveloped and some of the acting and dialogue is wooden. The story moves along at a decent pace, but it doesn't really offer enough to hold interest or build suspense, possibly because we know what's coming.

Farrands seems to have found himself a new niche, making films about real life tragedies, the next of which will be the murder of OJ Simpson's wife. Unfortunately, the tragedy of Farrands' new-found inspiration for his films is that they're exploiting these horrific real-life events for entertainment and profit.

I give it 1/10 due to the combination of it being an unoriginal and dull horror film, as well as an insensitive exploitation of the tragedy. Had it been presented as a fictional story, with fictional characters, it may have earned closer to 3 or 4 out of ten, but it still wouldn't have been anything special.

Untogether (2018)

Not as bad as the one star reviews would try to make you believe

[5/10 · 24 February 2019]

I sat through this film with an open mind, despite seeing some of the one star reviews trashing it as the worst film ever; It's true that it's not the best film in the world, but it's certainly not the worst.

I came out of it feeling that it did a pretty good job of telling the story of several purposefully flawed characters and the relationships between them. Characters that are human, that have errors in judgement and make mistakes, that lie, and that use each other for their own gain, while ultimately being people that are seeking redemption for their indiscretions and insecurities.

My main issue with the film was that it didn't explore the characters to their full potential. We get glimpses of their back stories, glimpses of why they're in the positions they're in, and glimpses of their real-world flaws; but there are so many characters and stories that there's not enough time to explore it all. The first half of the film plods along with too much filler that doesn't add much value to the story or characters, while the second half is much improved but leaves little time to patch up the holes.

It would have been nice to flesh out the characters. Particularly Nick (Jamie Dornan) and David (Billy Crystal, who feels especially underused), and there's not much to explain why Tara (Lola Kirke) is in the crisis she is. Similarly we learn from early in the film that lead character Andrea (Jemima Kirke) is recovering from addiction and suffering from writers block, but like her on-screen and real-life sister, we never really find out what happened at that time, or how she got to where she is.

Ultimately, it's a fairly decent film that's as flawed as its characters. With a little more flesh on the bones of the story and characters, this could have been great drama. Unfortunately, everything feels underdeveloped and rushed.

Worth a watch if you like slower-paced character driven pieces, but don't expect it to be perfect.

Dead Shack (2017)

Not terrible, but tries a bit too hard to be funny

[5/10 · 11 November 2018]

Dead Shack is a film which, in some regards, is attempting to piggyback on the success of Stranger Things by offering up a vehicle for three young actors to take the lead in an action-horror, with comedic twists.

To their credit, the kids act well for the most part and do a good job of leading the film through its story. It helps bring a fresh twist to a genre which is littered with the same 20+ "college kid" characters that you would typically find in a horror with this much gore.

The main issue I had with this film was that it felt like the writer-director was trying too hard to emulate the subtle comedy that the young actors of Stranger Things and IT brought; but unlike the latter two, the comedy feels a little forced and unnatural in Dead Shack.

Story-wise, it was also a little lacking. We get a good start, middle and resolution to the story, and one or two surprise moments along the way, but ultimately there's not much flesh on the bones of this Zombie-themed flick. WIth a bit more depth and tension, we might have had a solid and fun horror film.

Worth a watch if you're just looking for some simple (and fairly average) entertainment, but it's no IT or Stranger Things and it's unlikely to live long in the memory.

He's Out There (2018)

Run of the mill, uninteresting and ultimately unfulfilling

[3/10 · 5 October 2018]

The premise is fairly simple, a mother takes her two daughters to the family vacation home, and they settle in waiting for dad to arrive. In the meantime, the girls go into the woods and find that someone has set up a tea party.

What unfolds is a fairly standard stalker-slasher film which doesn't display any real uniqueness or innovation. We get a cat-and-mouse game between the psychotic killer and the family inside and outside of the house, with predictable set-pieces and outcomes.

It could easily be 1 of 100 movies that are already available, and it doesn't stand out as superior in any way, in fact it has a real feeling of a made-for-daytime-tv feel which makes it easy to see why this was dropped as a cinematic/theatrical release.

In the end, you are felt even more disappointed by a real lack of explanation or resolution. While you learn some (very minor) things about the villain, there's no great attempt to explain his motives or why he picked that night to carry out the events.

Overall a rather boring, by-the-numbers, stalker-slasher film with predictable events, some below-par acting and some lazy script-writing, especially the extremely predictable ending just before the credits roll. Personally I'd suggest giving this one a miss.

Mom and Dad (2017)

A fun but ultimately flawed film

[6/10 · 1 February 2018]

The film is a fun concept turning the baseless mumblings of frustrated parents who want to "kill their kids" into a dark horror comedy thriller that brings that often off-the-cuff thought into a warped reality.

That concept, which no doubt all parents can associate with feeling, albeit without any true meaning or intent, blends itself with the ideas of zombie films. and films such as The Crazies, then adds a little bit of the high paced insanity that you will know about if you've seen Brian Taylor's previous work.

The main characters are well written and setup so that you start to have a dislike for some of the teenagers, and grow an affinity with the adults and the frustrations of their adult lives. It's acted well for the most part, and Nic Cage brings his usual own flavour of insanity to the proceedings.

It certainly won't be to everyone's tastes, as other reviews here show, and some people won't be able to get past the unrealistic nature, and the way it's portrayed, but ultimately, it's a fun film, with an interesting concept.

Unfortunately, despite the story, pace and events building up nicely, and keeping you involved, the film is flawed in its lack of explanation or reasoning for this sudden event of mass parent-vs-child violence, along with a rather disappointing lack of conclusion leaving an overall feeling of disappointment at what had the potential to be a good original film; something that is difficult to come by in this age of reboots, remakes and sequels.

Flight of Fury (2007 Video)

Don't waste 98 minutes of your life!

[1/10 · 10 August 2009]

Steven Seagal movies have never been Oscar material but with each passing release they get worse and worse.

This one starts with Seagal getting picked up by the FBI because he killed a few people 'in self defence' he's active military so is saved from jail to rescue a stolen Stealth plane that will be used by the cliché 'evil English villain' that Hollywood is so obsessed with including these days.

Suffice to say the film has terrible dialog that is almost always delivered with a hefty topping of cheese and lack of acting talent. The story isn't interesting and there are segments of it which make absolutely no sense and do not add anything to the story, characters of movie as a whole such as the 'lesbian' interaction between the two main females in the cast which is there purely for titilation to get viewers and yet isn't even titilating just confusing as it makes no sense as to why it happened when it didn't need to.

In short a terrible script with bad dialog, delivered by sub-par actors, boring and at times badly choreographed action scenes, and non-relevant parts that only serve to achieve the near-impossible and make the movie even worse.

Save 98 minutes of your life and give this miss, even if you are Seagal's most ardent fan.

As If (2002)

Yet Another Example Of A Bad US remake.

[19 April 2004]

When "As if..." was originally conceived and made by the UK's Channel 4 in 2001 it made a big change to the usual p.o.s programs relating to late teens/early twenties life. I then had the displeasure of seeing the US's attempt at imitating the series in 2002 and boy oh boy was it a failure (which ultimately resulted in it's cancellation ironically).

The Americans have a knack for remaking other countries TV and Movies and generally making them worse we've seen it with movies such as The Ring, The Italian Job and Abre Los Ojos and with UK television series such as Coupling, Trigger Happy TV, Banzai, As if... and undoubtedly this will also be the case with the American attempt at the comic genius that is the office, I just wonder when the TV networks will get the picture that they can't translate British humour to American shores successfully, keep it on BBC World in it's original British format - that's where it's at it's best.