Thr33 Days Dead: The Sort Of Fishing Trip That Includes Running From Zombies

Thr33 Days Dead is a zombie horror film directed by John M. Ware. The plot follows a group of friends who head down to the lake for a spot of fishing, however their trip is ruined when they find out that their town has been overrun by zombies.

I enjoyed this film it resorted my faith in a tired sub-genre. Very much like found footage, zombie horror has been done to death, but this film proved to me there is still more life within the genre. I thought the film treated its zombies with a great deal of care, giving homage to past classics while trying for something new.

I thought the film had a few good scares that I didn’t see coming, so I will give it props for that. The more comedic elements were hit and miss for me, sometimes it made me laugh when I don’t think I was supposed to, and other times funny moments left me cold.

The acting is all solid, the actors seem to care about the film and are trying; that is evident in their performance. I thought Bryan Boylen was particularly good, and his performance made the film for me.

Overall, a nice unique zombie film that restores my faith in the subgenre even if the tone sometimes goes in the wrong direction.

Pros.

Restoring the sub-genre

Handling zombies with care

Good performances

Some good scares

Cons.

The more lighthearted moments and a lot of unintentional laughs

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Shaun The Sheep The Movie: A Return To The Silent Era

Shaun The Sheep The Movie is a British animated film directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak; the film serves as a continuation of the animated series Shaun The Sheep. The plot follows Shaun (Justin Fletcher), as he and his fellow sheep head to the big city after their owner (John Sparkes), goes missing.

My big issue with this film is the fact that none of the characters talk, they make strange noises, mumble, but they don’t talk. Now, I want to preface this point and this review by saying that I have not seen the series before, maybe the odd five minutes here and there. So, with that said when I put this film on, I was expecting the characters to talk just like in Aardman’s other features and of course they didn’t. This bothered me as I often didn’t really understand what was happening and a lot of the time it felt like one random scene after another.

This also becomes an issue with characterization, as I didn’t end up caring about Shaun and co so their journey and struggle had little effect on me and I lose interest quickly.

Overall, I would say this is probably the least accessible of Aardman’s catalogue and if you aren’t either a little kid or a previous fan of the show you probably won’t like this.

Pros.

Some interesting scenes and moments

It is watchable

Cons.

You don’t care about the characters

The lack of talking serves to hurt the film

It has pacing issues that result in you losing interest

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Love And Monster: Love In The Time Of Monsters

Love And Monsters is a post-apocalyptic adventure film directed by Michael Matthews. The plot follows Joel (Dylan O’ Brien), a survivor who doesn’t seem to be very good at surviving as he leaves his bunker hideaway in pursuit of his lost love Aimee (Jessica Henwick), after they reconnect over the radio.

So, if you had any doubt about Dylan O’ Brien’s career as a Hollywood leading man this film come as a comfort. Not only is O’ Brien a terrific leading man here, he is also perfectly cast and suited to the part. He has the physicality to pull off the action scenes, but also the awkwardness to not see like the standard action hero ‘type’.

I think the world and the tongue in cheek tone is a strength to the film. The mythology is present, but is not overly explored which allows there to be a degree of your own imagination set to the proceedings. The humour of the film resonated with me and often made me laugh.

I think the supporting cast all do great jobs with their limited screen time; they help the world to feel lived in and set up perfectly crafted emotional moments that will hit you. Henwick struggles somewhat in a leading role, but does have a few strong moments. I enjoyed that she was the inverse of Joel in almost every way and that their romance often subverted my expectations.

Overall, a gem of 2020 that you can’t afford to sleep on

Pros.

Dylan O’ Brien

The romance

The world

The supporting characters

The tone and the humour

Cons.

Jessica Henwick is a weak link, but has redeeming moments

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Eastern Promise: Viggo In The Russian Mob

Eastern Promise is a gangster film directed by David Cronenberg. The plot tells the story of an abandoned baby from a 14-year-old drug addict. Anna (Naomi Watts), delves into the Russian underworld to try and trace the roots of this now dead junkie, so that her baby can have a chance at a future.

I loved the world of the Russian mob that this film dives into, it is so deep and layered, there is so much to it and all is explored in great detail. Furthermore, this film teaches us the audience a great deal that we might not know in this regard, such as the importance of tattoos within the mob.

Watts is fine, serviceable but not much more, however the real star here is Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen). Mortensen gives a very strong performance that feels nuanced and well delivered, he is so much more than the thug character type he has so much more personality than that. The twist with his character, that I won’t spoil here, is quite obvious but it still works well.

The ending of the film does set it up for a sequel, which I think could be great if it continues to dive further into this world; however according to Cronenberg himself it is dead.

Overall, a bit more thinky than most Gangster films, the plot and the themes are just as important as the violence.

Pros.

A deep world

An intriguing story

Viggo Mortensen

The twist works

Cons.

Naomi Watts is very eh

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Wedding Ringer: Hire Your Best Man Today!

The Wedding Ringer is a buddy romantic comedy film directed by Jeremey Garelick. The plot sees friendless Doug (Josh Gad), lie to his fiancé Gretchen (Kaley Cuoco) and say he has a best man arranged for the wedding, this leads him to seek the services of Jimmy Callahan (Kevin Hart), a best man for hire.

Once again I find myself finding Kevin Hart hilarious, he threw me off with those terrible Ride Along movies, but I am now fully back on the Hart train. He made me laugh several times during this film and he brought a hell of a lot of heart, pardon the pun, to the role. I think the film would be a lot worse without him in it.

The buddy relationship between Hart and Gad works well, both nail the emotional beats and make for a very convincing on-screen friendship. Despite being a romantic comedy film for the most part of the film I was rooting for their friendship over the central romance of the narrative.

In regard to said romance, I think this film sorely underused Cuoco’s proven comedic talents and instead relegates her to playing the gold-digging finance that the film goes out of its way to encourage you to hate, which feels like a huge waste. She is given no good moments of her own to shine.

Overall, a solid buddy film, not really a romantic comedy at all. Strong chemistry between Gad and Hart, but Cuoco gets snubbed at every turn. Mixed to positive.

Pros.

Hart

The buddy dynamic

It is quite funny

Cons.

It is not a romantic comedy

Cuoco is wasted

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Hellraiser: The Devil Is An S&M Freak

Hellraiser is a British supernatural horror film directed by Clive Barker. Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman), opens a portal to hell when he unlocks the secrets of an ancient puzzle box, he is then seemingly killed. However, he returns from the beyond and convinces his brother’s wife Julia (Claire Higgins), to bring him men to kill so he can consume then and gain a new body. Also for some reason Frank’s family, his brother, the brother’s wife, and their daughter, have moved into the house where he ‘died’.

So, in cult circles this might be one of the most important, most beloved slasher films ever made. I had watched this once before when I was young, and I didn’t like it, but watching it again now with fresh eyes I have realised that everyone was right this film is great.

Firstly, it has a very distinct visual flair which is both very 80s and very S and M inspired. I enjoyed the look of this film to a great extent, I thought it screamed of a dark sense of creativity and I loved when the film showed us glimpses of its version of hell.

I thought the makeup and costumes for this film might be some of the best I have ever seen. Though they look a little dated by today’s standards they really achieve a very grisly, very real look that I think is impressive. Frank’s skinless body looks frighteningly real and I will give the film props for that. Like wise the look of Pin Head (Doug Bradley), and his fellow cenobites will make you stand up and take notice.

Overall, this may be one of the best slasher films I have ever seen.

Pros

The makeup/ costumes

The visual aesthetic

Pin Head and his fellow Cenobites

The world and the lore

The creepy sense of threat that never goes away and makes your skin crawl

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Cat O’ Nine Tails: Argento’s Least Favourite

The Cat O’ Nine Tails is an Italian Giallo film directed by Dario Argento. The plot follows a blind man (Karl Malden), as he works with the police to solve a series of murders.

Of the Giallo films I have seen thus far this is by far the worst.

This film has awful pacing, some of the most egregious I have seen in recent memory. It goes on and on and you lose interest quickly. It has a large amount of bloat and a lot of the film feels like it is trying to kill time until the next reveal which it meanders then eventually gets to.

Unlike other Argento films, you don’t care about the mystery here. The plot feels very average and generic, there is no style to it there is nothing to set it apart from any number of other films. The killer, and the reveal feels very underwhelming especially when compared to Argento’s earlier film, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage.

Finally, the lead is dull and uninteresting. You don’t care about them and they feel very hard to root for. Clearly the film was going for the buddy cop dynamic, or what would later become that, of later noir films as they team the blind man with a generic police officer partner, but they just serve as another character not to care about.

Overall, a weak follow up in the Animal Trilogy and it is fairly obvious why this is Argento’s least favourite of his own films.

Pros.

I enjoyed the soundtrack

Cons.

It is hard to watch

You lose interest quickly

You don’t care about the characters

It lacks but style and substance and the killer feels bland

1/5

Vampires Vs. The Bronx: The Conspiracy Theorists Were Right, Gentrification Is The Work Of Vampires

Vampires Vs. The Bronx is a comedy horror film directed by Oz Rodriguez. The plot sees a group of gentrified vampires try to buy up and take over the Bronx, killing residents as they go, it is down to a group of young kids to defeat the hordes of the undead.

This film was one of the best horror comedy films I have seen in a while, it did both in spades. The jokes made me laugh, or at the very least smile, and the chills were quite effective when used; the bodega scene speaks for itself.

I enjoyed the gentrified twist of Vampires and I think that it worked well as a more meta comment on societal change and keeping one’s identity. I liked the Vivian (Sarah Gadon) twist, I thought though it was quite obvious, I was glad that they developed her character rather than just have her as a plucky helper character for the main group. I also enjoyed it when Vivian became the evil vampire general, I thought Gadon played the character well with just the right amount of menace.

I also thought it was an inspired choice to go a bit more old school and out there with the vampire characters, like at one-point Vivian is flying after the boys, I just think it adds extra whimsey to the film and is a nice difference addition.

Overall, a fun film that is far deeper than it might first seem. Very much worth a watch.

Pros.

The vampires, and going old school

The comedy and the horror

Developing Vivian

The surprisingly emotional turn with Tony (Joel ‘The Kid Mero’ Martinez)

Cons.

Slightly familiar

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Anonymous Killers: A Smart Gorefest

Anonymous Killer is a crime horror film directed by A.R Hilton. The plot sees a group of killers, from various walks of life, get captured and tortured and forced to judge one another by a mysterious man who seems to know them all deeply.

I enjoyed this film, I would say it is a thinking person’s Saw and I mean no disrespect to any with that, as I enjoy Saw as well, but this just feels better from a character point of view. The characters in this film have strong focus, we explore their pasts and their drives to get to know them on an almost intimate level; this might be some of the finest character development I have seen in a film all year.

I thought the threat and menace was there and done well, the gore didn’t overpower the film either. That is a common complaint of a lot of people with the Saw films, but I have to say the gore here is done tastefully well, but is still grisly at times.

I enjoyed the building mystery; it genuinely surprised me and went in a direction I wasn’t expecting it to go. No spoilers here though.

Overall, a well-acted, well written crime thriller that keeps you guessing and always on edge. It has just enough gore to appeal to gore fans, without too much that might put off more casual horror viewers. Don’t sleep on this film, make it your Halloween watch.

Pros.

Well written characters that feel fully developed and real

A nice amount of gore used tastefully

The mystery is compelling

The threat and the menace

Strong acting

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Casper: Addams Family Shared Universe?

Casper is a fantasy family comedy film directed by Brad Silberling, based on the Harvey Comics character of the same name. The plot sees single father James Harvey (Bill Pullman), and his daughter Kat (Christina Ricci), move into an old mansion only to find that it is full on ghosts, some more friendly than others.

This film feels like a good accompaniment to Ricci’s Addams Family films, a natural triple bill if ever you were so inclined. Stylistically, again quite similar.

I enjoyed the friendship between Casper (Malachi Pearson), and Kat I found it to be sweet and deeply endearing, likewise when they shared that dance together at the end of the film, I found that to be a cheer worthy moment. I think the biggest asset of this film is its hopeful tone, it really makes it a joy to watch.

As far as child actors go, I think Ricci gives a good performance, you buy her as the sad little girl. Bill Pullman is very believable as the failing single father who is in mourning but is trying to keep things together for his daughter’s sake, I enjoyed his arc and thought his reunion with his dead wife was a sweet moment.

Overall, if you don’t mind the dated effects, which to me added to the charm, this is quite a sweet endearing seasonal watch.

Pros.

Pullman

The emotional character works

The friendship between Casper and Kat

Cons.

It has some pacing issues

The non-Casper ghosts are overplayed

3/5

Reviewed by Luke