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The Land of Blue Lakes (2021)
Absolute garbage.
This is a 70 mins movie 62 mins consists of 5 friends video documenting their kayak trip through some lakes...i mean literally just them paddling around laughing. Eating plays a big part as well, plenty of shots of them eating food. Then for no real reason they get killed off by some pagans during the last 8 mins or so. No storyline, no building of tension, no atmosphere and no scares. I'm not even sure why anyone bothered making it. Watching paint dry would provide more entertainment, It only gets 2 because of the scenery was nice.
The Seance (2021)
Please just stop...
Gravitas Ventures make bargain bin movies. They use bargain bin actors, bargain bin writers, bargain bin producers.
And so it's no real surprise they continue to belch out rubbish like this. The lack of a scary atmosphere, the terrible acting, the awful storyline. Whatever point this company is trying to make I'm not sure? Maybe that they can make the worse horror movies in Hollywood ? Point taken, Now please just stop.
Camp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis (2021)
Interesting if short animated documentary
POBOX1142 was a secret prison camp located near Washington that housed Nazi prisoners during World War 2 with an express view to extract information regarding Hitler v2 rocket program. Many of the guards and interrogators were Jewish refugees from Europe serving in the US Army and it's from interviews with these men this story is told. Post WW2 the dynamics of these guards and prisoners change as the Americans illegally bring in more of these Nazi scientists to work on their own programmes and suddenly the Jewish guard's relationship is to keep the Nazi's happy and serve their needs serving them drinks, taking them to the cinema and night clubs, arranging gifts for their families in Germany etc. This leads to the uncomfortable moral question of how these prisoners many of which were war criminals should have been dealt with especially by men who lost their families and homes in the holocaust. Interesting and engaging and a novel take with the use of animations. It probably deserved a longer running time and more in-depth look. 7/10.
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021)
This franchise is dead.
The first couple of movies in this franchise were among the better in the found footage genre. They were interconnected and built on the previous movie's lore. Sadly with the utter rubbish that was ''Ghost dimension'' that ended and so this movie which adds nothing to the now abandoned original story and concept arrives. A bad script, poor acting, very few scares and a decidedly mediocre storyline best describe this movie. I'm sure they will flog the dead horse and vomit out a few more poorly made movies under the 'Paranormal activity' banner but in reality, this franchise is dead. 4/10.
Wildfire (2020)
A poignant and heartfelt movie about grief and trauma.
Two amazing performances from the female leads are the standout in this sombre often jarring movie. The first character is Lauren, who lives on the Northern Irish border with her husband living a seemingly quiet uneventful life and her traumatised sister Kelly who returns home after being missing for a year. Their troubled, strained reunion brings back the painful memories of their mother who killed herself following her husband's death in a terrorist bomb. Kelly's homecoming and increasingly erratic behaviour cause huge upheaval in Laurens life firstly with her husband, and the men responsible for her father's death to the point that the Wildfire the movie is named for starts to take them over. A poignant and heartfelt movie about grief and trauma and those who struggle to deal with it. 7/10.
Later Days (2021)
Yawn
Do you remember all those high school, teen comedy's that flooded the movie scene in the late 90's/early 00's ? Well this director decided to take that concept but make it a high school reunion middle aged comedy and try and tap into that market. Sadly this falls flat, the story is pretty simplistic and the characters cardboard, the gags are poorly written and nothing original happens. There is the odd decent 80's song on the soundtrack but very little else worth recommended here, especially if you want some laughs. 4/10.
De Oost (2020)
An exploration of brutality, betrayal and vengeance
The concept of this movie the brutality of war which in this case see's a young Dutch soldier tasked with putting down freedom fighters in Indonesia isn't new. It's a complex story of how war and power can turn men into savages and where the moral line is for someone and what the consequences are if they cross it or if they don't.
Betrayal and revenge and perhaps redemption are explored and the reasons the characters have for needing these actions. The movie fails to maintain its momentum in its second act but overall it is alternatively a visceral story about the horror of war and imperialism and the effects this has on the people directly involved. It's worth mentioning how beautifully this is shot with some wonderful views of the Indonesian jungle which exist in contrast to the brutality around them. A worthwhile movie about a lesser known conflict. 7/10.
The Deep House (2021)
A new twist on the haunted house genre
The general haunted house movie is a little jaded so this movie breathes some new life into it by putting it under the water. The movie starts off well with two experienced urban explorers diving to a sunken house under a lake to get footage for their channel. The pacing is good as the story ramps up from the initial thrill of the dive and the spooky looking house into a gradually more terrifying ordeal room by room as the couple move through the house and start to realize something is very wrong there. It's achieved by a growing sense of dread and the occasional well placed jump scare that are complemented by the claustrophobic otherworldly underwater setting . The final act seems a little rushed and weak considering the fine build up but still this is a solid little horror that offers something a little different. 6.5/10.
Events Transpiring Before, During, and After a High School Basketball Game (2020)
Utterly Pointless
This is billed as a comedy, not sure why. It's not funny. It's not anything. There's real story told, no humor, there's no drama. There's no character development no pacing. The basketball game is just a vehicle to bring these non entity's; namely the bored coach, his over enthusiastic assistant (who can't fully engage with the embarrassing part he's playing) and the uninterested team together in a single setting. The cringy dialogue and cardboard cut out characters could just peter out as a mercy and die here but no it gets worse as the director drags more pointless strawmen into this dull lifeless bore.
The subplots involving the drama group and the referees dog are likewise boring, bring nothing to the story and are there for the sake of them. The running 'joke' in the movie is the continual discussion of 'The Matrix' movie. You'd be better off watching that than this pointless waste of time. The only reason it gets a 3/10 from me is the thankfully short running time.
Small Engine Repair (2021)
Awful
I seen this was categorized as a comedy and that it most certainly is not. Unless one of the characters who's overly sensitive nature about his heritage or sexuality is supposed to gain laughs. Or the pointless flashback to his friend and group studs one-night-stand which again isn't funny or in any way helpful to the story nor is referring to the small guy with Irish heritage as a leprechaun who should eat his lucky charms, but that is the level the bar is set humor wise in this movie (along with pretty much every other aspect) very low.
Everything in it is just cliches from somewhere else the spoiled rich kid whose daddy is a lawyer, the macho man out of prison trying to avoid trouble but determined to protect his family, the ladykiller friend who has no other personality trait, the weak nerdy friend who's smarter than the rest but who they bully. The ''twist'' and the whole reason for the movie is telegraphed a mile away and there is certainly no tension built as you already can guess the outcome. It leaves you with a comedy that's not funny and a drama that's.....well not dramatic. Maybe it worked as a stage play but it's an awful movie. 4/10.
Rearview (2017)
Awful
Hilariously claims to be based on a true story but the events are so utterly ridiculous thats highly unlikely unless this girl was set upon by the most incompetent criminals since Home Alones Marv and Hary and the most incompetent police since Hightower and Mahoney were at police academy, Lacks a believable story, a decent script, or direction. The lead actress isn't bad but hard to shine with in this garbage. Avoid like the plague.