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daniel-r-goh
Reviews
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)
Visual feast but the story lacks a little
Don't get me wrong, the visuals and absolute debauchery of violence is amazing! It levels up on the cyberpunk genre for sure. I liked the underdog character development of David, the ramshackle chaos of the crew, and the depiction of the evil menace of corporate greed. I did find it kind of grinds to a halt 2 episodes before the end. It's almost like the didn't know what to do with David's character and he just became a boring shell (which might have been the point). The final episode also seems very rushed and tapped on, almost like there was no build up to it. And wow talk about bleak. I still loved the show despite my criticisms. Visually stunning and I haven't seen something so striking in awhile.
De piraten van hiernaast (2020)
Terrible ADR
So caught this film on Tubi. It's obviously low budget and b-grade. Everything looks shiny and not lived it at all. Effects are pretty cheap looking. Despite that it's quite a passable film except for one thing. The ADR/dialogue looping is terrible. I'm guessing the entire film was audio replaced from scratch because I don't think there's an ounce of location sound. Every line is ADRed and not well. None of the dialogue is in sync with the video and not mixed very well either. It all sounds like it's still in the studio. Overall because of that the whole film comes across as unbelievable and incredibly overacted. Sorry I know everyone on the cast and crew tried but it's a hard watch.
The Strays (2023)
Confused message but overall not a bad flim
I have to say, I don't understand the deeply negative and hateful reviews. It's a very well made film with impeccable cinematography. The score is stunning as is the acting. The only confusing part for me was the message. At first I thought it was akin to Get Out with the allegorical angle. Then I thought it was going to be about mental illness. None of those things and so the final act was a little confusing. Overall, not a bad film and definitely thought provoking and at least trying for something a bit different. I'll keep an eye out for more films from the director in the future. The Strays is worth a watch.
Old People (2022)
Not amazing but pretty good
I have to say I'm surprised by the hate. Sure the ending was a bit flimsy and the movie pretty much came across as a zombie film but it was tense, gruesome and had a nice brooding tone. Some of the scenes were a little dark and a couple of "wholesome" scenes were a little cringey. I'm not sure why the start was shot with all these floaties in the air to give that fairytale look, came across a little cheesy. Horror film.-wise I was surprised who lived and died, it was not who I expected. All in all, not a bad film and if you like slashers and zombies, this one will be right up your alley. Also I always have a soft spot for German language films that aren't war movies!
2 Hearts (2020)
Religious agenda and forced emotion
No good. Characters out of a daytime TV movie, little to zero connection between the 2 relationships, really bad ageing makeup and questionable acting. The twist was the ultimate middle finger to the audience especially since the whole plot was based on a true story. You really had to watch it to believe someone would actually think the twist was a good idea. The religious preaching sprinkled in was the icing on the garbage pile cake of cringe. I don't know how anyone could write characters like this in 2020 and the dialogue and emotions were so forced it felt like the actors were dying on the inside. Don't watch this movie.
The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)
Worst script ever
The first movie was fine, not great but still entertaining. This sequel felt like it was written for children but with extreme gore. Every interaction felt forced, cringey or stupid. Was the script even edited? It felt like a rough draft. Characters were barely utilised before being swiftly killed off. The twists were downright idiotic. I mean even costume wise, what teenager would ever wear a corduroy jacket with a vest and tie to school??? The only viewer I think that would like this film is maybe a 12 year old who has never seen a horror film. This is tween birthday party material. A parody of the first film.
The Crazies (2010)
So much better than the original
A solid horror remake that takes a pretty good premise from the original and just does it way better. There's characters that you care about, establishing a township, investigating the cause of mania and most of all absolutely brutal horror scenes of the original sorely lacked. Bravo! And boy does it go from 1 to 11 quickly. You really see the absolute carnage of this town compared to the original. The two leads excel and the ending is stellar. My only criticism is Timothy Olyphant's character, David, is a little too smart in the first act and seemingly knowing far too much. These are the types of remakes that should be made. Don't remake classics, remake duds.
The Crazies (1973)
It had potential
Yes it was low budget and apparently Dawn of the Dead wouldn't have happened if The Crazies wasn't made. I would've liked it more if the characters weren't so idiotic. It was much more a procedural outbreak movie rather than a horror outbreak movie. Production wise, the sound was either loud and nonsensical with everyone shouting at once or there was a tonne of ADR that sounded like it was recorded in someone's bathroom. The premise was good, even the bleak ending was a nice change from the normal happy sunshine Hollywood ending. But at the end of the day I found most of the movie either laughable or annoying.
Strange Behavior (1981)
As a NZ it's pretty funny
As a Kiwi seeing tomato shaped sauce bottles and classic kiwi toilets, it made me laugh. Also every single interior building screamed 80s NZ shabby. Still pretty cool to see NZ in an "American" horror film. As a film it was pretty slow with many scenes running far longer than they needed to. Acting and plot was fine but the ending was a little confusing. So they were killing kids to take their body parts to replenish LeSange's dying body? Seemed a bit clumsy. Even the music felt unfinished and lacklustre, I mean it was Tangerine Dream! For the most part the movie at least is a step above most b grade horror. It's fine.
The Ward (2010)
Only good if you've never watched a horror film ever
Not a single original thought went into this film. The definition of cliche. However it's not a terrible film by any means. Even Amber Heard was ok. The twist was fine. Not amazing but fine. Hard to really review such a mediocre film. It's not Carpenter's worst.
Army of Thieves (2021)
Much better than Army of the Dead
Yeah this'll be a comparison review. Overall the movie was pretty good. I watched them back to back. At first I thought Army of the Dead was good but after watching Thieves, it's a much superior movie. Ok so it doesn't have exploding zombies and a million bullets and explosions. What Thieves has is more interesting characters, different languages, more interesting locations, a classic underdog story and a love story. All of that and not a single character dies. Sorry mild spoilers. Oh and the music is awesome.
Things Heard & Seen (2021)
The ending ruins the other 90%
I was captivated, intrigued and creeper out....until the last 10 minutes. It's like they tacked on the ending as an afterthought. Made little sense, was abrupt and kind of destroyed everything that had been built up before it. Why??? Had so much potential to be a great film. Amazing actors and characters, beautiful cinematography, amazing score. But that ending. Shesh.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Honestly not that bad
Mild spoilers. OK so they bring back Sally and she's useless. Leatherface is somehow healthy as a 20 year old bodybuilder. But hey it's a slasher. It's got what slashers need, dumb annoying people being killed. At least the victims weren't tropes, not sex crazed, boozy, stoner, teenagers but instead influencers. Way better. And the gore effects were pretty darn good. Watch this with some friends with a few beers. Turn off your brain. Some nice nods to other movies too: The Shining, Halloween, the original Chain Saw Massacre especially the ending shot. It's a watchable slasher that does what it's supposed to do.
Tokarev (2014)
One of the dumbest action movies ever
The plot was ultimately one giant misunderstanding and a whole lot of people got killed in the process. Action scenes were nauseating with the bounciest shaky cam ever and a million cuts per second. I was on the verge of turning it off at the car chase scene. However the drug house shootout is pretty cool and you get some classic over acted Nic Cage moments which are hilarious. But yeah for the most part this movie is dumb.
Session 9 (2001)
Amateur and ugly looking.
I don't get the other raving reviews and the high ratings. This movie screams amateur. The cinematography has an ugly digital camcorder look that completely kills the atmosphere, no depth of field at all. Very cheesy score with an ending that I guess was a decent twist but for the most part felt like a student film. The movie was fine, not terrible, but I just couldn't get over how ugly it looks and how cliche most of it was. At no point in the movie did I feel immersed. Am I missing something?
No One Gets Out Alive (2021)
Creepy af!
Gotta say the 5/10 average rating for this film is completely wrong. Yes so parts of this film were cheesy and tropey but boy did they retain the creepiness throughout. And the ending. Just wow. When the credits rolled I just had to say "fuck yeah". This was WAY better than the normal Netflix horror. 8/10 easily.
Byron Baes (2022)
Utterly horrendous
Wow. Just wow. Completely fake, staged, forced drama about absolutely nothing. The "actors'" Instagram accounts do not reflect their time on the show either. Runaway from this train wreck as fast as you can. I'm sorry for anyone that lives in Byron Bay.
Nanatsu no taizai (2014)
A great show but the last season (Dragon's Judgement) is strange
I thoroughly enjoyed this show. Sure there's some icky perverted humour sometimes (admittedly not great in these times) but the characters and universe is AMAZING. My only complaint is the last season, Dragon's Judgement. Could've easily have been maybe 12 episodes instead of 24. It pretty much seems to end 5 times! A lot of filler. And talk about cheesy!!! I was groaning through the last 4 episodes. Just horrible. But I had to finish it. IMHO the previous seasons were much better.
Crawlspace (2016)
Not bad at all!
OK OK it's pretty cliche and some parts don't quite make sense but boy was this a tense movie. The last 30 or so minutes were nail biting stuff. Definitely not original but I enjoyed the experience. Music was great, shot fairly well, decent sound design. Some of the acting was a little flimsy and it did feel very 2010s with the fashion and look. Still not a bad film. Would recommend.