Dahmer-Monster, The Jeffery Dahmer Story: Netflix Should Be Ashamed And The Victims Families Should Sue

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A dramatic retelling of the life and crimes of Jeffery Dahmer, played by Evan Peters.

I think this series would have been a lot better if Ryan Murphy hadn’t been involved in it. Murphy brings his trademark soft core porn feel to this series and we have a lot of scenes of Jeff touching himself or of him and his victims, sometimes during and sometimes after death. To say this show fetishizes the crimes committed by Dahmer for cheap thrills would be an understatement. There was no need for half of the intimate scenes we got, in the context of the show and considering as well that Dahmer’s victims families are in some cases still alive it felt to be the height of bad taste.

I think Evan Peters fit well in the role, he brought the right level of detachment and coldness to it. However, in many other ways his performance was quite limited and felt very reminiscent of Peters’ performances elsewhere. I think very much like Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson and Michael Cain Peters is a one note actor.

Overall, a good and at times very compelling series, however, after watching it you will feel like you need a shower and be angry at Netflix for sexualising a series of brutal murders.

Pros.

It is compelling

Peters

It is watchable

Cons.

It fetishizes events

Peters hits his limits

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Old Man: Stephen Lang Has A Bad Day

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An old man, played by Stephen Lang, who lives alone in the woods is surprised to receive a guest.

I think this film is entirely dependant on Stephen Lang to break even. By that I mean if you judge this film by the sum of its parts then you get a very pretentious, but not a very deep film. Add in that a lot of the thematic beats have been hit before and you have a recipe for a bad film, however, Lang’s masterful performance which is able to be compelling, sinister and also strangely warm all at the same time really raises this film up and out of the dirt. Truly this film does not deserve Lang.

I saw some listings that had this film as a horror, I would say that is untrue. It is far more of a claustrophobic thriller, and in this area the film does have some success as there are a number of tense moments between the two men and the whole film keeps you on edge.

Overall, a fine film made better by Stephen Lang without him this film would fall apart.

Pros.

Lang

A number of tense moments

It is watchable

Cons.

It is predictable

It is overly familiar theme wise

It has pacing issues

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Emily The Criminal: April From Parks And Rec Breaks Bad

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Emily, played by Aubrey Plaza, turns to crime after not getting anywhere in life.

I was very excited for this film before I had seen it, and after watching it I am decidedly more mixed on it. The one thing I can tell you up front is that without Plaza in it the film would have been a lot worse.

I think this film clearly highlights Plaza’s skills as a performer, but more specifically her dark side and dramatic sensibilities. Mainly before this role I have seen Plaza in a lot of dark and or quirky comedies and I think outside of the God awful remake of Child’s Play this was the first time I had seen her tackle something more or less straight with no jokes and I think she nailed it.

My main issue with the film as a whole was that it was a fairly generic breaking bad premise. Person turns to a life of crime, person makes money and doesn’t want to stop, and then they encounter negative consequences and either die or get arrested. For the most part this film was fairly generic only lifted above average by Plaza, however, I did appreciate that the ending didn’t skew the way I was expecting it to with Plaza’s character escaping and for the most part winning.

Overall, the film is been there and done that, but it does have a good ending and it also highlights Plaza’s skills as a performer.

Pros.

The ending

Plaza

It is very watchable

Cons.

It is generic

A lot of the plot is very predictable

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Lou: Netflix Needs To Learn That Having The Most Bad Action Films Isn’t A Good Thing

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Because it is still so fresh and novel, sarcasm, an old person has surprising skills and helps prevent a kidnapping.

So when I saw the trailer for this action thriller film starring Alison Janney I was intrigued, I wanted to see how this film would be different from the hundreds of other films in the genre that share the same premise, and the honest answer is that it isn’t.

This film was a slog to get through because the more it went on the more obvious it became just how generic it is. Nothing happens that you don’t already know is going to happen, in that regard it is certainly one of the most predictable action thrillers I have ever seen. This fact is not even made up for by the action, which is pretty bog standard again.

The performances across the board are instantly forgettable and the film does not use its talented cast in anyway to bring out their skill.

Overall, yet another boring Netflix action film.

Pros.

It has mildly appealing premise

It is sometimes quite unintentionally funny

Cons.

It is boring and bland and so is the action

It wastes a fairly talented cast

It is predictable

It has pacing issues

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The Birds: Why Is Hitchcock A Cinematic Icon? I Don’t Get It

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A woman with too much time on her hands, played by Tipi Hedren, starts getting attacked by birds.

I am going to say something that within some film circles is the highest form of blasphemy so get ready. I don’t really like the films of Alfred Hitchcock, I think they are often slow and badly paced, and more often then not seem to think they are smarter than they actually are. His films have a certain smugness to them, the only one I actually like is Psycho.

Anyway, I did not think this was the worst film I have ever seen but I did think it was boring. Scene after scene of Hedren’s characters personal drama as she obsesses over a man she met in a pet shop, played by Rod Taylor. Honestly it is quite a ways into the film where the titular birds start to turn bad until that point you would be forgiven for thinking you are watching some old fashioned drama/romance film. The pace during this early section is so bad that it almost made me turn it off.

I enjoyed the cinematography and the shot choice and would even go so far as to say a few of the shots were quite inspired, but this didn’t make up for the wider short comings of the film. Chief amongst these I would say were the performances that frequently felt quite wooden.

Overall, painfully slow.

Pros.

A few strong shot choices

Visually a beautiful film

Cons.

It is badly paced

The birds don’t turn bad until way into the film

The performances are fairly wooden

It is boring

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Andor: Aldhani

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Andor, played by Diego Luna, embarks on a heist and the embers of the rebellion begin to form.

I think this was a very good episode and way better than a lot of the other Disney + Star Wars shows we have had so far, however, I would say that it is a step back from what we got last week. This is very much a talking set up episode, which by no means is a bad thing as we will get to, but it does mean that the episode suffers with pacing issues. I think the worst thing about pacing in this episode is where it leaves off on, as the ending of the episode just feels like a random cut to black in the middle of a scene.

I enjoyed the scenes with Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen, it is nice to see that he is a man of many faces. I have no idea where his story is going but I am excited to find out. Moreover, I thought his scenes with Mon Mothma, played by Genevieve O’ Riley, were really strong, and I thought that O’ Riley was really starting to shine in the role.

I also thought the heist planning scene was a lot of fun later in the episode, I liked the fact they built a model diagram and that yet again it seems like Cassian will be doing a suicide mission. I thought the two stand outs of the Cassian scenes were Faye Marsay as Vel and Alex Lawther as Nemick, both instantly created memorable and likeable characters who I want to see more off.

Overall, a slower episode but still one that is a lot of fun.

Pros.

Seeing more of Luthen

O’ Riley’s Mothma

The heist planning scene was a lot of fun

Seems like there is a lot to be excited for later in the season

Cons.

Pacing issues, mainly where they choose to end the episode

Not a lot happens

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End Of The Road: A Sorry Endeavor For All Involved

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A family on a cross country road trip get on the wrong side of a sketchy group of dudes, and a cat and mouse game begins.

This film sucked hard. The social commentary of this film is so on the nose that it feels like it reaches over and hits you in the face. Nothing new is being said here and it is once again the narrative of white people are bad and are inherently out to get POC, honestly this narrative really annoys me as it is both lazy and such a broad generalisation that it kills any kind of nuanced conversation dead. I don’t doubt that there are evil groups of white people such as the ones this film present, I am sure there are many all over the world, but the way this film goes about tackling this issue never gets out of a place of race-baiting.

The performances are fairly weak across the board, I don’t think anyone in the film thinks this is going to be the film they get an Oscar for. No one hugely stood out though I would say Queen Latifah comes closest, it is nice to see her back as a headline billing, however, she can do far better than this schlock.

Overall, a thriller that goes far too hard on the racial aspect of its narrative and that doesn’t actually deliver many thrills.

Pros.

A few unintentionally funny moments

Cons.

The performances are weak

The race-baiting

The pacing is awful

It is schlock without any charm

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Beast: Man Vs Nature

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Idris Elba fights a lion.

So the survival thriller subgenre or more aptly for this the man vs beast category of the survival thriller subgenre is like I often say overstuffed. I feel like somewhere with the annuls of the films featuring in this area there must have been a man vs lion film before, however, if there was I can’t remember it or haven’t seen it as such this was a fairly new gimmick to me.

The plot is rather uninspired and very predictable, the lion terrorises the family and kills a dear family friend, played by the ever excellent Sharlto Copley, and then finally the father kills it in a hectic showdown. So much so cliched. However, despite all of this the film still feels compelling there is still enough about it to get you to care for the characters and want to see them make it out the otherside.

I thought both Idris Elba and Sharlto Copley brought a lot to the film, and both of their characters were both complex and surprisingly nuanced, whereas the kids were both incredibly whiny and irritating. I won’t spend much time ragging on child actors as they are low hanging fruit, but suffice it to say that the two we meet here are not very talented.

Overall, despite being quite generic there is more than enough to keep you entertained here.

Pros.

It is compelling

It felt fresh to me, but if you have seen other man vs lion films then it might be less so to you

Elba

Copley

Cons.

The child actors are really bad and quite distracting

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Fall: Life Lessons For Trying Times

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two young free climbers, played by Grace Caroline Curry and Virginia Gardner, decide to get back into it after suffering a loss that has effected them both. During this attempt the two young women find themselves trapped at the top of an abandoned tower in the middle of nowhere with no way down.

I have seen and reviewed a lot of these sort of films, the survival thriller genre seems to have a new film out every week and for the most part they are all bad. However, this one really struck a chord with me and impressed me, whether it was the fact I have a fear of heights so I felt the threat a lot more or whether it was something I hadn’t seen readily before this film certainly kept me engaged.

The performances are a mixed bag, Curry is a fairly weak lead outperformed by both Gardner and also Jeffery Dean Morgan who plays her dad and has a collective 5 minutes of screentime in the whole picture. I think the film would have been better if Gardner had the top billing and Curry was the co-star.

My two main small issues with this film were the frankly shockingly bad CGI during the first tragic climb and also the twist towards the end of the film that one of the girls had actually been dead for some time as I thought it felt lazy and done for shock value. However, in my mind both of these things are fairly minor and don’t really stop you enjoying the film.

Overall, an interesting and genuinely distressing survival film.

Pros.

The threat

The tension

The cinematography

Gardner and Morgan

Cons.

The CGI is a little patchy in places

The twist didn’t work for me

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Orphan First Kill: Grey And Lifeless

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Ester’s origins are explored with the help of a simply awful lighting and colour gradient combo.

Really this film shouldn’t have been made. They add in some new twists and turns here, but for the most part it can’t hope to compete with the twist from the first film that Ester, played by Isabelle Fuhrman, who everyone thought was a child was in fact a grown adult. Once you know that twist a lot of the places this prequel goes to are not very exciting.

Moreover, as I said in the above summary there is some really quite poor lighting and colouring choices in this film that makes vast parts of it hard to see or tell what is going on, furthermore this is only worsen by a grey hue that seems to stick to the film throughout giving it a dull and lifeless air.

However, it is not all terrible as the film for the most part is very watchable. In addition a surprisingly out of left field evil turn from Jessica Stiles makes for captivating watching, the film would be a lot wore without Stiles in it that’s for sure.

Overall, a very average film that didn’t really need to be made.

Pros.

Stiles

It is watchable

The ending

Cons.

Once you know the twist from the first film it takes a lot away from this prequel

The lighting and colour work is awful

The pace is aggressively bad

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