Saw 4: Always Check A Corpse For Tape Recorders

Saw 4 is a horror film directed by Darren Lyn Bousman. The plot follows the fallout of Jigsaw’s (Tobin Bell) death, with two police detectives facing yet more games, set by Jigsaw from beyond the grave, and we find out that there is yet another apprentice out there.

So by this point in the series the cracks are starting to show. If you have read my Saw 3 review you will note that to me that is the worst out of the first 3 films, however, everything that doesn’t work about that film, everything that takes away from the series as a whole is turned up to 11 here.

Firstly, this film is by no means as smart as the other films, the twist at the end feels predictable, yet another apprentice. Clearly, the series is starting to run out of novel ideas here and is only being kept alive by the small amount of people who like to be grossed out by the series’ gore.

This applies to the traps and games as well as things are starting to mesh together and a becoming overly familiar. The gore here is likewise as boring, it did noting to shock me or to make me feel uncomfortable the closest it came was the ice cube death but even that reeked of desperation; the film is trying to hard to get the audience’s attention throughout.

My biggest issue with this film is the absences of Jigsaw himself, yes I understand the plot line, and this was an eventuality, but Bell brings so much to these films to have him barely be in it feels like an incredible missed opportunity.

Overall the series is in decline and this film proves it.

Pros.

It is still watchable

It further expands the lore

Cons.

It is no longer smart

It feels desperate to be shocking again

The characters are forgettable

There is hardly any Jigsaw in the whole film

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Arkansas: Vince Vaughn Is The Godfather

Arkansas is a neo-noir crime film directed by Clark Duke, based on the John Brandon novel of the same name. The plot sees two budding drug runners move up the ranks of the ‘Dixie Mafia’ after their boss dies, however without direction they find themselves trapped in a cycle of violence and expansion.

I enjoyed this film a lot more than I first thought I would, I thought when I first put this film on that it might be yet another generic crime film, but it is so much more than that.

Firstly, I like the chaptered approach and how the story jumps around in time. Moreover, it is a strength of the film that neither the Vince Vaughn storyline nor the Liam Hemsworth storyline is prioritised over the other as in the end it is all part of a much bigger cyclical tale.

I thought the worldbuilding was well done, and I would like to see another film set in this Southern world of organised crime; it feels to me like a really under tapped market that is begging to be explored in further depth.

On an acting front Vaughn is strong here, he plays the role completely straight and nails the dramatic moments and the emotion of the character. This film really does prove, if there was any doubt left, that Vaughn can do both drama and comedy well. Hemsworth on the other hand is not as strong, his performance is very one note with him not being able to conjure much up, other than his angsty anger.

Overall, a very strong crime film that could have benefited from a different lead.

Pros.

The worldbuilding

The focus on the ‘Dixie Mob’

Vaughn

The chapters and the flashbacks themselves

Cons.

Hemsworth is not a good actor

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Saw 3: The Most Off-Putting Scene In All Of Cinema

Saw 3 is a horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. The plot this time sees grieving father Jeff (Angus Macfayden) become the latest person to be ‘tested’ by everyone favourite gaming playing serial killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). Jigsaw wants to see if Jeff can forgive the person who murdered his son.

I remember watching this when I was a lot younger, and I remember this being my favourite Saw film; I enjoyed it even more than the original. However, watching it now years later, grown and having watch significantly more films I think it might be the worst of the first 3 Saw films. That is not to say it is bad, but the cracks are starting to show.

The more personal focus on Jeff and his family didn’t really work for me, as he was not a recurring character from a previous film his personality was going to be vital for us the audience to form a connection with him. Sadly, he is a very generic character with nothing special about him: therefore the focus on him and his family proves to be tiresome as you want to focus on someone who is interesting. On the flip side of that, I enjoyed seeing the Jigsaw/ Amanda (Shawnee Smith), relationship play out it was nice character work for both of them and gave the lore an added boost.

The ending, and the twist as all of these films have to have a twist, was not as strong as the previous films either. I understand the creatives originally were not going to include a twist, but they did, and it is not very good. It does not make a huge amount of sense within the narrative of the film and does not put forward anything truly shocking.

Pros.

The Jigsaw/Amanda relationship

The games themselves

Expanding the lore

Cons.

You don’t care about the central character

The gore does become a bit much in this one

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Fatman: Santa Claus Will Put A Bullet Right Between Your Eyes, Go On, Test Him

Fatman is a Christmas based action film directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms. The plot sees a budding young sociopath put a hit out on Santa Clause (Mel Gibson), after he receives a deserved lump of coal for Christmas. What follows is a battle to the death between not so jolly Old Saint Nick and hitman Johnathan Miller (Walton Goggins), who has his own axe to grind against ‘the fatman’.

Though I don’t like Mel Gibson, because he is a vile human being, I managed to separate my personal feelings from this film and ended up really enjoying it. I like the inherent silliness in the concept, a hit man trying to kill Santa Claus, I think the film deals with its absurdity well and plays it up to great effect.

The action scenes where nicely done as well and I enjoyed the final fight as well, the ending was unexpected, I thought that the fight was clearly going to end one way, it did not. I always enjoy it when a film deviates from where I think it is going especially so if they do it in a clever way. I thought the final scene, when Santa pays a visit to the kid that put a hit on him was the best scene of the entire film, not only was it incredibly tense, but it knew how to play off Gibson as an actor; the role really does feel tailor made for him.

Overall, though reviews have been mixed on this one, I personally really enjoyed it. I thought it was silly and fun but also a really well thought out action film that capitalised on its star.

Pros.

The role was tailor made for Gibson

The tone is just right

The action

The premise

Cons.

The elf cgi is not good

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Saw 2: The Price Of Being A Bad Listener

Saw 2 is a horror film directed by Darren Lyn Bousman. The plot continues the story of everyone’s favourite trap maker, as he tests a group of people to see whether they are worth the gift of life, amongst those people is Daniel (Erik Knudsen), son of famed dirty cop Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg). After the police seemingly capture Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), it is down to Matthews senior to get him to reveal the secrets of his games.

Once again my biggest praise for this film is the ending. I thought the twist, that I won’t reveal here in case you want to watch it, is very smart and despite having seen it before it still shocked me. There is also a twist including a recurring character from the first film and I thought that was equally smart, you don’t realise until the characters do and by then it is too late.

I found the gore to again be tasteful, but I have no issue with gore if you don’t like gore this will not be for you at all. The only scene that made me wince was the first death scene where one of the characters is basically burnt to death, I didn’t like that one.

I thought Tobin Bell was once again excellent, his Jigsaw is the reason I watch these films his ability to say one step ahead of everyone is always very engaging, it is nice to see his backstory get expanded more and we get to see the lore of the series beginning to develop. Wahlberg is fine, nothing special he is fine as a generic protagonist but adds nothing to the film as a whole.

Overall, I found myself slightly more engaged with this one as there was more going on, the first film while great was basically two people trapped in a room for a lot of the film, this had more working parts that flowed nicely together. My only issue with this film that puts it below the first for me is the lead and the performance given by Wahlberg.

Pros.

The expanded backstory and lore

The twists and reveals

The gore

The wider focus on more people

Cons.

Wahlberg

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Saw: I Want To Play A Game

Saw is a horror film directed by James Wan. The plot follows two men as they wake up in an underground room chained to radiators with hacksaws at their feet, then they hear a voice that tells them it wants to play a game; you all know what happens next.

Now that I am coming to the end of Elm Street I have decided to spend some time with another well know horror franchise, Saw. Unlike Elm street this isn’t about a dream demon, just a man who likes to creative ever more elaborate tests for those he deems unworthy.

I think Tobin Bell makes these films, there is no doubt in my mind that his iconic Jigsaw is one of the best horror antagonists. This is mainly due to the fact that he always seems to have something up his sleeve, contingencies on top of contingencies.

Moreover, the death games that the minds behind saw think up are always interesting to watch play out, rarely are they similar and the gore is done in a way that is appealing and nicely executed. In addition I appreciate how smart things are, the twist at the end of the film is clever and even when you know it is coming it is still impressive to see play out.

On a personal note, I always found the scene where there is a man in the little girls closest to be the most frightening of all, and I can confirm that that is still the case: it is very menacing.

Overall, a lovely smart horror film, as long as you don’t mind a bit of gore.

Pros.

The twist

Tobin Bell

The games themselves

The gore

Cons.

A little repetitive

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Nightmare On Elm Street 5, Dream Child: Daddy Freddy

A Nightmare On Elm Street 5 is a slasher horror film directed by Stephen Hopkins. The plot continues to follow new dream warrior Alice (Lisa Wilcox), as she once again has to fight Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), who has returned from the dead this time using Alice’s unborn babies dreams as a gateway back into our world.

This is by far the strangest nightmare yet, there is a lot of out there ideas that range from the goofy to the downright disturbed. Though Hopkins himself does not like this film, studio meddling once again, I think it has a place amongst the better trips to Elm street. I enjoyed the surreal feel to it and a lot of imagery was unsettling which I felt heightened the film.

Furthermore, the deeper dive into the origins of Freddy was interesting to see how it all began, the monster baby stuff not so much, but the rest of it was intriguing. That said, I found the focus on Alice’s baby, who is or isn’t Freddy’s son? Was bad, I did not care about this future character that is barley set up at all and just appears.

The deaths were a lot of fun, I thought the dinner party kill and the comic book esque kill were probably the best of the bunch, though they all have an entertaining campiness to them that makes them so fun to watch.

Overall, though some of the ideas were poorly thought out, baby Freddy springs to mind, I think because of the clear vison and style this film feels better than a lot of the other instalments.

Pros.

The Kills

The focus on Freddy’s origins

The campy fun

The visuals

Cons

Jacob as a character

Zombie baby Freddy

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Poltergeist: Don’t Trust Trees

Poltergeist is a horror film directed by Toby Hooper. The plot follows a family who become terrorised by otherworldly beings known as ‘the tv people’, eventually these entities end up kidnapping the daughter of the family Carol Anne (Heather O’ Rourke), and the family must do all they can to get her back.

This is an 80s icon of horror cinema for a reason, and that reason is a mixture of nostalgia and that Spielberg magic in its prime, though he did not direct it he was heavily involved. There is something almost family friendly about this film, though maybe that is me watching it with a desensitised 2020 outlook, but beneath that wholesome veneer is something much darker which captivated my interest.

I did not find the film scary as a whole, I only found the tree scene and the clown scene to be unsettling, however, I can see that a viewer watching it in a contemporary setting might have found it very scary; the effects that look dated and goofy now would have been good for the time. That said I enjoyed the over the top effects, like the scene where the man’s face comes off in the mirror, they made me laugh and I was certainly feeling the 80s charm of them.

I enjoyed what the film did with its bait and switch ending, making you think it was all over and that what you were watching was a happy ending monologue to show the family all safe, but then it subverts that and shows you that the danger is actually not over at all. I thought that was a very clever thing to do narrative wise, as it makes the actual ending feel very surprising.

Overall, maybe more tame by today’s standards there is still more than enough on show within the film to show why it deserves its iconic status within the horror genre.

Pros.

80s horror charm

A few scary scenes

A clever ending

Cons.

It is not very scary

It has pacing issues, especially in the second act

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Four Christmases: Just Tell Your Parents You Don’t Want To Go Home For Christmas, It Is Not Hard

Four Christmas is a Christmas comedy drama film directed by Seth Gordon. The plot sees a couple’s relationship be put to the test as they have to attend several different family Christmases.

Personally, I never viewed Vince Vaughn as a strong romantic lead. I think he is better suited to the arsehole anti hero roles, like Fred Claus, or the more action/drama orientated roles he has been getting recently, but for a while Hollywood really wanted him to be the next big romantic leading man.

Maybe I am reading this film with a 2020 viewpoint, but the romance narrative is deeply troubling here. Vaughn’s character is often a dick towards Witherspoon’s and yet he is never brought to task over it, she just passively allows him to treat her like dirt. Witherspoon’s character only moment of resistance is when she stands up to him because she wants kids and he seemingly doesn’t; the whole implication of this is deeply sexist. The message of the film is off.

Understanding that this film is supposed to be a comedy film makes it even worse, both in terms of the jokes and there implications, but also the fact of how deeply unfunny the film itself is. Usually Vaughn can make me laugh, but I didn’t laugh once here, moreover, I found the film to reliant on slapstick for its jokes which again didn’t land.

Overall, this is a failure as a comedy film and has a deeply troubling message underpinning the film that makes the ending feel bittersweet and ultimately leading to ruin.

Pros.

It is watchable

Cons.

Vaughn and Witherspoon have no chemistry

It rewards abusive behaviour

It has a deeply troublesome message

The ending is not deserved

It is not funny

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Joy: The Rather Obvious Decline Of Robert DeNiro

Joy is a biographical drama film directed by David O’ Russell, the plot is based on the real-life story of the Queen of QVC Joy Mangano and her rise from struggling poverty to take the business world by storm.

This film is a very engrossing watch, you become fascinated by Joy (Jennifer Lawrence), and her mop business and begin to form an emotional attachment over the course of the film: one that desperately makes you want to see her succeed.

Was Lawrence’s performance worthy of an Oscar nod, no it wasn’t. She was an affable lead and one that was easy to root for, but another actor could have been just as good in the part at no point did I think she made the part her own as a result of this she would be easily replaceable.

I think the best scenes in the film were between Lawrence and Bradley Cooper (who played the head of the QVC network), I think though they only had a few short scenes together over the course of the film their on-screen chemistry was so strong that it stole the show.

On a different note as much as I love Robert DeNiro, I almost found him to be a distraction her with his overly hammy performance often taking me out of the film.

Another issue I have with this film is that it is bloated and could have been better served by a tighter edit.

Overall, an engaging and interesting film, however also one that received more praise then it deserved.

Pros.

The engaging narrative

Cooper and Lawrence have great chemistry

The personal connection you develop for the character

Cons.

Lawrence is interchangeable

DeNiro is too over the top

It has pacing issues

3/5

Reviewed by Luke