Gretel And Hansel: The Most Polarising Film Of 2020

Gretel and Hansel is a dark fantasy horror film directed by Oz Perkins. It serves as a darker, more in line with the original tale, version of the Brother Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel. The version of the story that this film explores focuses more on a wider surrounding evil, as well as Gretel (Sophia Lillis), coming into her own both as a woman and a witch.

I have mixed feelings about this film, there are some things it does really well, but there are also a lot of things it does wrong. It seems to be proving divisive amongst people online, as such I find it hard to recommend this film, but I also wouldn’t say don’t watch it.

Firstly the good. The film has a beautifully unique visual style, which is both incredibly from a technical point of view and also horrifying and striking. All of the unsettlingly good aspects of this film come from this. Also, the oppressive atmosphere of the film leads it to have some great scares especially late in the game.

However, therein lies the problem with this film. Many criticise the likes of Aster and Eggers for having slow burning horror films, that some would describe as ‘boring’, if you’re one of those people don’t watch this! This film makes Midsommar look snappy and make the Witch look like a romp; I love both of those films by the way. This film is hard to get through, it is slow, and a lot of its scenes drag out, however, unlike other films that unintentionally do this because they are poorly written/paced this film seems to be doing it deliberately.

If you stick with it until the end, you’re given an ending that much like everything else in this film proves polarising. The ending sees Gretel send Hansel (Samuel Leakey), off so she can start her life as a witch, which makes you question her morals, but this idea of others, mainly men, standing in a young woman’s way and needing to be removed is a central tenant of the film.

Lillis’ performance here, much like it was in the recent IT films is passable, but in no way impressive. I found she didn’t bring much to the role and was often out acted, it makes me question why she got the role when there are lots of other arguably, more talented young actors out there.

Overall, this isn’t a good film, this isn’t a bad film, this isn’t an average film, it is simply an incredibly, incredibly niche film.

Pros.

The horror.

The visuals.

The Witch.

Cons.

It is very hard to watch; it seems to want you to give up.

It is not going to be to many people’s taste.

Sophia Lillis is bland.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Coach Carter: You Can Beat Your Circumstances!

Coach Carter is a biographical sport film, based on the real life of high school basketball coach Ken Carter, directed by Thomas Carter. The plot sees Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson), become the coach of the Richmond High basketball team, Carter sets about turning the team into winner, in multiple different ways, and has a huge impact on his student’s lives; caring after everyone else has given up.

This film is inspirational, there is no other word for it than that, these boys go from doomed youth, to promising young men that might actually have a chance to escape their awful circumstances. It promotes the value of hard work and perseverance even when it seems hopeless to do so, morals and values that never go out of fashion.

Jackson is as terrific as always, as an actor he has one of the best stage presences I have ever seen, and he captivates the audience’s attention from the moment he appears on screen. You really buy that he cares about these boys and wants what is best for them; the scenes where the community seems so against him break your heart because you know his intentions are good.

My one complaint would be that the two hour and fifteen-minute runtime feels indulgent, I would say that this film is too long, as such there is pacing issues; the second act has a hell of a lot of lulls that make you want to stop watching. I think it could easily have been chopped down by maybe half an hour and still worked just as well.

Overall, this film does what a lot of sports biopics want to do but can’t, and that is be truly motivational. It is an inspiration to watch and Samuel L. Jackson relishes every second he is on screen and gives maybe a career best performance?

Pros.

The emotional beats.

It manages to be uplifting and inspirational.

Samuel L. Jackson.

Interesting and engaging.

Cons.

Minor pacing issues, particularly bad in the second act.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

A Descent Into Horror And Madness: My Top 5 Shudder Recommendations

Shudder bills itself as the Netflix of horror films, they claim to have something for every kind of horror fan. Their library is made up of some old classics and some original content, there are gems to be found if you know where to look. Fear not dear reader, over the last month (ish), I have been on an odyssey going through Shudders entire back catalogue; only the stuff that interested me though mind. As such, I have written this post to give you some hand-picked recommendations; which hopefully will scratch your horror ich and maybe give you some new horror favourites. In the UK you can get Shudder as an extension to your Amazon account, it will come up as a video channel. I don’t know how you get it elsewhere.

Body At Brighton Rock

This goofy camp thriller soon takes a turn to the dark side. Set in an American national park, a ranger get lost and has to spend the night next to a corpse. There is a lot going on here and the twist at the end is genius. It is absolutely dripping in style and has such a unique voice. The horror with this one comes from the idea of being stranded in the woods alone over night; which in and of itself is a terrifying thought. She also fights a bear briefly so there is that!

Stitches

Stitches is a pitch-black horror comedy about a dead clown who has come back to get his revenge on the group of kids that killed him. This is a rare treat as it is a horror comedy that actually manages to be both scary and funny. Ross Nobel nails the jokes and there are several laugh out loud moments, he is also menacing as hell. Another two reasons this is great is because it creates a fantastically weird mythology for clowns and also because it has some of the best gore, I have ever seen in a horror film.

Dead Hooker In The Trunk

This is the debut film of the Soska Sisters that should be all you need to know. However for those of you who aren’t die hard fans, this film kicks ass because it is a low budget exploitation esque film and knows it. The look of the film is very early Robert Rodriguez, grindhousey and grainy, the sort of film that looks like it was shot on film but wasn’t. The Sisters are standout as the lead characters, but there are also plenty of other memorable characters and moments. It was this film that put them on Eli Roth’s radar.

The Hell House Trilogy

Found footage as a genre is played out, it is very, and I do mean very rare to get a good found footage film, yet the first Hell House LLC is just that. The series is about a hotel that is also a gateway to hell and as you can imagine a lot of ghostly goings on happen in the hotel and different groups of people fall prey to them over the course of the series. Though the second film is a dip in quality for sure, all three of these films are good found footage films and the ending of the third film may be the best ending to a series I have ever seen, no spoilers here though.

Monster Party/Killer Party

This dark comedy film is about a group of thieves that break into a house to find a meeting of recovering murders going on. It is worth a watch for that premise alone, however what follows is a tense well-acted masterclass in suspense. What’s more it has Lance Reddick in, and that man can do no wrong, he is great as a crazed cult leader. This film is manic and maddening in the best way.

Bonus Recommendations

Mayhem is a great film, with a terrific sense of angry energy and one hell of a performance by Samara Weaving, if you like The Babysitter and Ready Or Not you will love this.

Also The Midnight Swim is superb and one of the most unsettling films I have ever seen, to say more would ruin it.

I have full spoiler reviews of all of these films up on the site, so check them out to after you have watched them, or before if you’re not bothered about spoilers; either way.

I hope you enjoy these films as much as I did, happy viewing!

Written by Luke

Blair Witch 2: A Trip To The Woods

Blair Witch 2: Book Of Shadows is a horror fantasy film directed by Joe Berlinger. The film serves as sort of sequel to the original, but many view it as a standalone project. The plot sees a group of people go to the ‘real life’ filming locations of the first film and surprise, surprise things go wrong, and it turns out the Blair Witch is real.

This film is part found footage, part mockumentary. This film is often unfairly compared to the first film in a hugely unfavourably way. Sure, is it a bad sequel? Yes. It is even a sequel? Only in a lose sense. Was this film riddled with behind the scenes issues? Yes, hell the director of the sequel wanted nothing to do with it and said his vison of the film was not what was made. However is it a bad film? No.

There is some enjoyment to be had here. This is an early 2000’s film in every sense of the word, it opens with a Marilyn Manson song of course because what is more noughties horror than that. It is goofy and weird, and the CGI is bad, but that is part of the fun.

It depends on the sort of horror fan you’re, if you like a horror film to be scary and all of that then this sucks, it is not scary, there is no atmosphere, the scares are obvious and boring. However, if you’re the sort of horror fan that also enjoys bad horror films, I’m taking about things like Killer Clowns From Outer Space, then this is great; I found myself laughing far more than anything else.

Overall, as a horror film, divorcing it from the first film, this film is a failure, but it is also so bad it is good. There are a lot of unintentional laughs to be had here and some goofy hockie genre fun, so it depends what you want.

Pros.

It is hilarious.

Cons.

It is not scary.

It feels like a mishmash.

It doesn’t work as a sequel.

It makes no sense.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Bliss: The Trip Of A Lifetime

Bliss is a horror mystery film directed by Joe Begos. The plot follows struggling artist Dezzy (Dora Madison), who begins to slip into a world of horrors after sampling the drug Bliss. Dezzy has days of blackouts only awaking to find herself covered in blood, with more and more of her friends going missing, and her painting becoming more and more complete.

This is a hell of a film. It is one of the trippiest films I have ever seen, and I works so well because you’re never quite aware of what is going on, nothing is spelt out to you here, there are so many levels to this film and things to be considered. Even long after watching it and sitting down to write out my thoughts, I find new thoughts coming into my head, being like oh I wonder if this was this, or that meant that. The ambiguous ending of the film only adds to it.

I also love the slow burning intensity this film has, things don’t just go from 0 to 100 as they do in some other horror films, even the good ones, but rather the descent begins softly and then becomes more and more of a freefall as the film progresses. You feel the sense of confusion and peril Dezzy is in, as she doesn’t realise what is happening to her, it is palpable.

My one complaint would be with the amount of nudity in the film, I understand that the director was clearly going for a very primal feel, but Dezzy spends more of the film nude than dressed and it reaches a point where it feels gratuitous. A lot of the time I don’t understand the reason for it either, the same scene could be staged without her being in the shower, maybe it was done push boundaries, maybe to be pervy; we can only speculate.

Overall, this is a great film, truly unique and beautifully designed. A good watch, however there is too much nudity which can be a bit uncomfortable.

Pros.

Stunning visuals.

Ambiguous story telling.

Great building sense of tension.

Good performances.

Cons.

Gratuitous nudity.

4.5/5

A Long Way Down: An Anti-FeelGood Comedy

A Long Way Down is a comedy drama film directed by Pascal Chaumeil. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Nick Hornby. The plot follows four people who were all going to kill themselves on New Years Eve, but because of the arrival of the others didn’t. They then all agree to a life pact, an opposite suicide pact and agree to stay alive until Valentines Day. Through their shared pains and new-found friendships they learn to heal and find new reasons to live.

This is the sort of the film you would expect it to be, it is mushy and overly emotional, it ends with all of the characters happy and moved on from their respective issues and two of the character get together; incredibly predictably. That is my issue with this film, everything that you think will happen does. Anyone who has ever seen a similar film before could easily tell you exactly the twists and turns of this film before they even watch this. Formulaic is a word that easily describes this film.

Another thing that bothered me about this film is that considering it is a feel good, mushy film it is not all that happy. A lot of this film is the opposite of inspiring and uplifting, it is depressing. I get that the point is to show them as having nothing left to live for and then turn it around over the course of the film, but rather than do this the film feels bleak until the final 5 minutes and then you get a manic burst of happiness all at once.

Furthermore, Pierce Brosnan’s character is a peado, there is no way around it, the reason he wants to kill himself is because prior to the events of the film his character has an affair with a girl he thought was 25, but it turned out she was 15. We are told this from the off and are then expected to cheer for him and be glad he doesn’t kill himself, but you feel icky the whole time when you think about it. It feels like a needless inclusion for him to be a peado, he could have just had an affair that ruined his life, she didn’t need to be a child.

Overall, this is a feel-good film that isn’t particularly feel good, it wants you to cheer on a sex offender and it is incredibly predictable, so…….

Pros.

The cast is solid.

Cons.

It is depressing.

He is a peado.

It is predictable.

It is painfully average.

1/5

Pontypool: Ghosts Of The Radio

Pontypool is a Canadian horror film directed by Bruce McDonald. The plot follows a local radio crew in the midst of a language-based pandemic. Said virus effects English speakers making them slowly lose their minds and become transfixed on killing themselves and others, the pathogen seems to be triggered by repeat use of language and the perceived meaning of words.

I have to hand it to this film it is one of the most original zombie esque films I have ever seen, the premise which is based on the novel by Tony Burgess, Pontypool Changes Everything, is truly original and novel and for that I applaud them. I have never seen another film quite like this, the only other film that I can draw a slight if inaccurate comparison to is Arrival and that is souly because language is of huge importance in that film.

However, I think based on how the film executes its premise that it would be better suited to a short film: because though learning about what is going on and the virus is cool and interesting it just isn’t enough to sustain an hour and a half film. As such a lot of the other stuff such as the conflict between Grant (Stephen McHattie), and his producer in the beginning it all just feels like filler, it feels as though it has been written in to pad out the run time, because it adds nothing, the film doesn’t really get going until the virus stuff starts.

That I think is the key issue with this film, though it is novel and original, there just isn’t enough there to keep you entertained for an hour and a half. As the film was midway through, I was really starting to lose interest and yes, the break threw at the end and the bizarre post credits scene does something to pull me back, but it doesn’t really make you check back in.

Overall, though it is original and interesting it still falls down in the middle and becomes a slog that is hard to finish and honestly if I was reviewing it, I probably would have turned it off here, full of promise, but not fun to watch.

Pros.

The premise is cool.

It is truly unique.

Cons.

It is hard to get through.

There is not enough cool stuff to sustain the runtime.

After a point it becomes boring.

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Don’t Knock Twice: Knock Knock Knocking On Hell’s Door

Don’t Knock Twice is a British horror film directed by Caradog W. James. The plot sees Chloe (Lucy Boynton), become the target of an evil demonic witch, who is intent on taking her away. She seeks out her biological mother Jess (Katee Sackoff), to help her defeat the witch and the two of them go on a journey to find out the truth and save Chloe’s soul.

Before we get into this review can I just say it makes no sense to have a British film set in Britain with a British cast, and then have the lead be an American. It is never explained why she is in England, which would be so easy to do, it would take one line of dialogue.

That said.

I enjoyed the twists and turns this film took, I enjoyed when the film was getting us to question whether the witch was even real or whether it was one of the two leading ladies, facing perhaps a mental break. I also enjoyed the twist ending, when the woman who had advised Jess on how to defeat the witch turned out to be working for the witch, I never saw it coming.

I also enjoyed the atmosphere and tone of this film; I thought the scares in this film were effective because a lot of the time they were achieved through a build up of tension. There were two jump scares in this film and both of them worked because of the harsh oppressive atmosphere. A lot of horror films today think all they need to be scary is jump scares, but they aren’t effective if you don’t have the right atmosphere for them. I thought the decision to really get into the back story of the witch was interesting as it gave us quite a nice meaty mythology to sink our teeth into.

Furthermore, I thought the witch herself was quite impressive, I liked the physicality of the performance and that it wasn’t CGI. I think the CGI effects/creatures that are in this film are far less impressive by comparison.

Overall, though this film gets a bad rap, I think it is a surprisingly strong horror film, both of the leads are great, it is scary and most important of all, it is well written.

Pros.

A non-CGI creature.

Good scares/ underusing jump scares.

Good twists and turns.

Solid lead performances.

Cons.

Some of the CGI effects weren’t good and more of it should have been done practically.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Northern Soul: Keep On Dancing

Northern Soul is a drama music film directed by Elaine Constantine. The plot focuses on the underground northern soul movement in Britain in the 1970’s. Two friends John (Elliot James Langridge) and Matt (Josh Whitehouse), try to make it in the scene and become the most successful DJs in the north. What follows is a journey that tests their minds, friendships and of course their souls.

This film is an interesting watch, it sheds light on a time period and a type of music that is often not looked upon, it teaches you a lot of things you most likely wouldn’t have known otherwise.

The film itself can be hard to watch at times because even when things are going well there is a underlying sense of dread that something is just about to go bad, I suppose this is reflective of life, this film seems to want to be as realistic as possible; no happy endings here.

The most life affirming thing about this film is the friendship the two men share, even when everything goes wrong and all looks lost, the two men carry on and become friends again and it reminds you of the power of friendship. The final scene of the film when the two men walk off to go, and hangout is almost impossible not to make you smile.

The performances for the most part are great, in a heart-breaking sense. This film is just that heart breaking, in many different ways, however, there are moments of comedy that underscore it stopping it from being totally upsetting. Great comedic actors like Steve Coogan and Ricky Thomlinson are in this film, but sadly they only have very small parts.

Overall, this is a heart-breaking look into the Northern Soul scene of the 1970’s, as well as a sad look into the lives of Northerners.

Pros.

It is interesting.

It covers a time period that is rarely done in films.

The performance are great and that includes the cameos.

Cons.

It is a bummer.

It is hard to watch at times.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Hunt For The Wilderpeople:Gangsters For Life

Hunt For The Wilderpeople is a comedy drama directed by Taika Waititi. The plot follows Ricky (Julian Dennison), a young troubled boy, who is taken in by an older couple; when his new aunt dies he is left alone with his new uncle Hec (Sam Neil), and the two of them are pursed into the New Zealand bush by the police and by child protective services. Together they go on a journey.

Waititi films are always very special, they’re unique and anyone who has ever seen one will know what I am talking about, they’re quirky and have a distinct voice. This film is proof of that. On it’s surface this film is a coming of age story about a troubled young boy looking for somewhere to belong and a broken-down old man looking for a reason to carry on. However, underneath this there is so much more, it is a story about misfits finding each other about optimism and hope, about the human spirit and never giving up. As such it is easily incredibly uplifting.

The main duo are good, particularly Neil, he plays the bushmaster Hec with a degree of hardened pessimism as well as a misunderstood good heart. The relationship the two share is beautiful, they are so different and yet they come together, and the results are beautiful. The ending of the film when Ricky has a new family, but still wants Hec in his life is so touching and sweet you can’t help but cheer.

The best thing about this film is the cameos, from Waititi himself as well as his regular collaborator Rhys Derby. Waititi plays the priest that carries out Ricky’s adoptive aunt’s funeral and who lays out the philosophy of the film in a simple and funny way and Derby’s incredible performance highlights the film’s central theme, love for the outsider.

Overall, this is a very beautiful, touching film and everyone involved did a great job.

Pros.

The relationship between Hec and Ricky.

The performances of Neil and Dennison.

The humour.

The cameos.

The film’s sensibilities.

Cons.

None at all.

5/5

Reviewed by Luke