Bambi: The Reckoning

About 7 months ago i was invited to a female friend´s children´s birthday party. There were 8 children there with adults and the children seemed to have a great time. They played some games and then of course the birthday boy blew out the candles of the cake. After this they all sat down to watch the cartoon Disney movie Dumbo on Disney +. I had not seen this film and my female friend ( who have basically seen all Disney animated movies ) was suprised and said:- You have not seen Dumbo in all these years? It was alright i guess, the thing about me is that i have never been a huge fan on animated Disney films in general so there are a lot of titles i have not seen. For example i have not seen Oliver & Company, The Great Mouse Detective, Pocahontas ( i don´t know the animation in this one always looked bad to me ), Dinosaur, Home Of The Range and many more titles. So, the good thing about this is that if i ever wanted to do a Disney movie marathon i would have lots of titles to choose between. Will probably never happen but you never know what the future holds. One film i do remember though is the 1942 animated Disney film Bambi. A charming simple story regarding a white-tailed male fawn named Bambi, who learn to walk and talk by his rabbit friend Thumper, where he also meet the skunk Flower and the female fawn called Faline. Bambi is about to face reality as he one day sees the Great Prince. Bambi is a pretty harmless animated children´s movie, but considering how old this film is i have to say the animation is really well made. Is it one of my favourite Disney films? No, that would probably be 1997 animated Disney film Hercules that i actually saw in cinema at that time. You may have seen low budget horror films using classic animated characters such as Winnie The Pooh, Peter Pan and Popeye. Well it´s time for Bambi to get a different version as well in the horror film Bambi: The Reckoning from director Dan Allen ( who directed the low budget horror film It Came From Below ). I did like the trailer for Bambi: The Reckoning so i was curious about checking this film out. Is this a must see for true fans of Bambi or is this just a low budget horror film to cash in from using the title of a classic animated Disney film?

Being disappointed in her ex-husband not caring about their son, mother Xaxa ( Rosanne McKee ) travel with her son Benji ( Tom Mulheron ) to the family home of Benjo's beloved grandmother Mary ( Nicola Wright ) in a van. It is during this journey they encounter the savage beast Bambi, who have a taste for human flesh. 

Since i have seen several films made from Winnie The Pooh Blood And Honey similar films i knew that Bambi: The Reckoning would probably remind me of similar films. With a limited budget you have to be as creative as you possibly can. I will say this, compared to films like Piglet and Popeye´s Revenge i would say that Bambi: The Reckoning looks better on a technical film making level, have better acting included and the story does feel more interesting than both of the films i mentioned earlier. The CGI effects of Bambi is actually better than i expected considering the budget of this film and i do enjoy when he attack a whole family inside a house. The creature design of Bambi is actually pretty cool and the fact that they designed this version of Bambi being so creepy, i really appreciate the effort. There are a few brutal death scenes and especially one scene surprised me, where a whole body gets split into half. That´s exactly what a film like this needed to feel more entertaining. There are some very traditional horror scenes in here we have seen before, what makes this film work other than Bambi itself is some of the characters of this film. I like the chemistry between son Benji and mother Xaxa, played by actors Tom Mulheron and Roxanne McKee. The scenes that they have together matches well with the plot, having a family driven story included into the horror elements can be effective if it´s done well. Actress Nicola Wright ( who i especially love in the British horror film The Curse Of Humpty Dumpty ) does another great performance as grandmother Mary. I do like the performance from actress Samira Mighty, too bad she didn´t have more scenes in this film. As a horror film in general i would say that Bambi: The Reckoning is effective considering there is no unique story here. Everything is very old school, it almost feels like an 80´s horror movie in a more updated version. Director Dan Allen bring back animal horror with this film like we used to see in the 1970´s except here they use CGI effects instead. If you just want a simple but effective B horror movie then this film should do the trick. Bambi: The Reckoning proves that animal horror still is an important part of horror society, make sure to get your digital copy or physical release to support independent horror. 

Rating: DDD

Jacker 3 - Road To Hell

There are a number of different reasons why i prefer independent films over big budget Hollywood films. Two of the biggest reasons is that independent films usually have more interesting stories to tell and these films have more interesting characters than big budget films usually deliver. I will also say this, sometimes i feel that independent movie posters are also more appealing than bigger film studio posters. So when ever i get an oppurtunity to dive into independent films i have never heard of, i will happily check them out. Since there are many independent films made worldwide ( especially made in America ) i like to look at other countries as well, to see what they have to offer. For example not that long ago i sat down and watched the 2016 British independent crime thriller drama film called Retribution, directed by Danny Albury and David Bispham. What caught my attention for this film was the trailer from the start, it seemed to be a film in my taste. Retribution tells the story of debt-collector Dan ( Dan Richardson ) who goes on a 24-hours rampage through London in an attempt to avenge the brutal attack on his teenage daughter. This film is around 76 minutes long and within that playtime it manage to deliver solid action scenes, pretty solid acting from the cast and even if the story is very simple it matches well with the plot. Lead actor Dan Richardson have no problem bringing old school action entertainment as the debt-collector who will do anything to revenge those who hurt his daughter. Does this film deliver anything unusual or original? No, but im completely fine with that since i feel that this film was made for an audience who appreciate revenge films from the 70´s. If you want to watch the film you can watch it on Tubi, or watch this film on the YouTube channel FilmIsNow Action Movies channel where they have plenty of independent films to choose between. If you are a fan of independent films you might recognize the name of Phil Herman. He have produced and acted in a lot of independent films over the years and he have also directed some as well. Over the years i have reviewed a couple of the films he worked on such as Horrortales.666 Part 3, I Slay On Christmas and Phil Herman´s Unearthed. I was asked if i could review a film called Jacker 3 - Road To Hell and of course i was excited to see what this could be. I have not seen the previous Jacker films so i went into this film not knowing anything of the previous films. Is this one of the best films that Phil Herman have been working on or is this not as good as i was hoping it would be? 

Serial killer Jacker ( Phil Herman) have returned to finish the job he once started, and this time no one will stand in his way. 

While Retribution is a straight old school revenge action movie you could say that Jacker 3 - Road To Hell is a mixture of different genres. In a way this film also have old school action roots filled in with the main plot. but i would also say that this film also have horror elements as well. This is basically a film about the main character Jacker and we follow him through his journey to kill anyone who gets in his way. A serial killer with no empathy and i have to say actor Phil Herman as the Jacker is the highlight of this film. He delivers fun dialogue, do some fun slasher scenes and im surprised how he is able to attack so many and manage to get away ťrom everyone. Apparently the Jacker is that kind of serial killer character of who is able to slip away from law enforcement. We also see other characters  from the previous Jacker films such as Gloria ( played by actress Debbie D ). Shes exactly the right kind of character to a film such as this, a bit goofy, sensual and doesnt take herself seriously at all. One thing Jacker 3 definitely seems to be influenced by is 1970's action horror films. During certain scenes you can see that this specific time era is shining through. If i have to mention one smaller detail that i felt could have been improved is the length of this film. It's not too long thankfully, around 1 hour and 46 minutes. But certain dialogue scenes feel a bit drawn out to the point it gets a little bit boring. If you love serial killer films with horror influences then Jacker 3 - Road To Hell could be what you are hoping to see. A simple, yet easily entertaining film that will most likely be appreciated by independent movie fans who also enjoy practical make up effects. Director James Panetta brings back old school VHS violence while having some fun with the characters. Lesson learn kids, never let the Jacker crash your birthday party celebration, you might end up with more trouble than you wished for. 

Rating: DDD

War Of The Worlds

Recently i was sitting down going through a list of how many great films came out 20 years ago in the year of 2005. When you think about it this was a very unique year for films with cinema releases such as Batman Begins, The Descent, Sin City, Brokeback Mountain, A History Of Violence, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Devil´s Rejects, Cinderella Man, Capote ( one of actor Philip Seymor Hoffman´s best acting performances ), Syriana, Flightplan, Saw II ( i really enjoy this sequel, a must see if you have not seen it ) and many more titles. What is so nice about going back in movie history is that you sometimes forget about certain titles that you have not seen for a long time and you might want to watch them again. That´s exactly what i did when i heard a new War Of The Worlds movie have come out on Amazon Prime and i thought about Steven Spielberg´s film version of War Of The Worlds released in 2005. I remember i saw this film in cinema back in the day, especially because i used to be a big fan of the 1988 sci fi horror TV series War Of The Worlds that used to run every week on Swedish TV channel Kanal 5. The 2005 film is based on the 1898 cult classic science fiction novel War Of The Worlds by author H.G. Wells, a book i have not read yet but i know i should at some point. The film tells the story of hard working single father Ray Ferrier ( Tom Cruise ) who is getting ready to have his children Robbie ( Justin Chatwin ) and daughter Rachel ( Dakota Fanning ) staying at his house. He have a good relationship with his daughter Rachel but things are clearly not good between Ray and Robbie as they struggle to get along. While waking up after sleeping to prepare for another night shift, Ray finds out from Elizabeth that Robbie took his car and drove off. Enourmous thunderstorms begin to happen outside across the streets as Robbie return safe, but the weather lightning becomes worse. Turns out this is aliens travelling underneath the ground to rise up in enormous machines, ready to wipe out humanity. Of all the War Of The Worlds versions i have seen i think director Steven Spielberg´s version is the best one so far. The film is well made, great acting performances and most of all great CGI effects. We have had other versions of War Of The Worlds from 2005 come out over the years, i did enjoy the BBC TV mini series The War Of The Worlds from 2019 ( i can recommend this one ). So here we are with a new version of War Of The Worlds this time with Ice Cube taking on this classic story withing the sci fi genre. Is this just as good as previous versions or is this the worst film adapation so far based on H.G. Wells classic book?

Threat analyst William Radford ( Ice Cube ) is one of the best at making sure America is safe, he can locate any threat withing the digital world and trace criminal activities. When he is informed that something strange is happening worldwide with drastic weather changes, he begin to see enourmous machines appearing across the world as if this is an alien life form attacking human beings. William does everything in his power to make sure his children Faith Radford ( Iman Benson ) and David Radford ( Henry Hunter Hall ) is in safety. What do these visitors want? Why are they attacking human civilization?

I know this film have had a lot of negative reviews ever since War Of The Worlds came out on Amazon Prime. So i decided not to look at all the reviews and just go into this film with an open mind instead. Who knows, i might disagree with what most of the films critics are saying regarding this film. After seeing this new updated version of H.G. Wells story there are some things we need to discuss. Let me start with the positive and i do think legendary hip hop artist, actor Ice Cube as the lead character William Radford have a couple of charming dialogue scenes. Even though we basically see him sitting infront of a computer in the whole film he does have that Ice Cube vibe that we are familiar with. The soundtrack of this film does include some good stuff, especially the song Keep Your Head Up with jazz, blues and funk artist Wolfgang Valbrun. Ok, so that was the positive and now we have to talk about the negative as well. I do like that director Rich Lee tried to make a different story of War Of The Worlds with a more modern version. The problem is that it doesn´t really work since he did not make the story match well with the bad CGI effects. If he could have spent more time fixing the flaws that the CGI effects have in this film ( and trust me there are plenty of bad CGI scenes ), this could have been an interesting update on this classic story. Another detail i feel become pretty clear is that the other actors who is seen on their mobile phones, trying to act into their characters feel very forgettable. Once you have seen this film i bet there isn´t one single character you will remember other than Ice Cube´s character William. The editing of this film is all over the place with a lot of references to the company Amazon, as if they want to promote the company heavily into this film. This is supposed to be a sci fi action film, not a commercial for Amazon services. We have to talk about the action scenes as well and as you may now by now, i am a huge fan of action films in general. I tried to find at least one action scene that is pretty cool and i had problems even remembering one specific scene that at least looks ok. Director Rich Lee is perhaps mostly known for being a music video director and i do remember his music video for the band Evanescence and the single Good Enough. Nice song, and the video matches the lyrics. Considering that director Rich Lee worked with visual effects on the 2002 sci fi action classic Minority Report with legendary director Steven Spielberg you would think he would be a good pick for making an updated version of War Of The Worlds. He clearly wasn´t the best choice, he doesn´t seem to have passion for this project because this is a very forgettable film. Ice Cube saves this film from falling completely but i can not recommend this film for Amazon Prime watchers. Watch the 2005 version again instead and at least you will have a good time.

Rating: DD

The Ritual

All over the world in different time periods of history you can find many well known cases of exorcism. There are people who believe a demon can take over the body of a human and control you or an evil spirit who intend to harm you. No matter what you believe in or if you believe in exorcism at all, i find it fascinating reading about classics cases of documented exorcisms that according to witnesses actually happened. Over the years i have read about some cases that happened in the past and i especially remember a couple of exorcism cases. Let´s bring one of these cases up in here and i choose to talk about the exorcism case of Michael Taylor in 1974. This took place in October in the small village of Ossett in Yorkshire County, England. It is said that Michael Taylor was possessed by at least 40 demons as the exorcism took place during October 5 - 6 at St. Thomas Church in Gawber. The exorcism was headed by Vincent, the Angelican priest of St. Thomas, and was aided by a Methodist clergyman, the Rev. Raymond Smith. As the exorcism finally ended they believed they managed to remove all 40 demons. But as they allowed Michael to go home, they had a feeling that something didn´t feel right, as if at least 3 demons--insanity, murder and violence--were still left in him. While Michael returned home, he brutally murdered his wife Christine. He attacked her with his bare hands, tearing her eyes and tounge out and almost tearing her face off, then strangling their poodle. He was found by a policeman, naked in the street, covered in blood. At his trial in March, Michael was acquitted on the grounds of insanity. He was sent to Broadmoor Hospital for two years, then spent another two years in a secure ward in Bradford before being released. Since we usually don´t hear a lot about exorcism cases in England i feel that this case is fascinating. They actually mention the case of Michael Taylor in the 2021 horror film The Conjuring - The Devil Made Me Do It from director Michael Chaves, even though this film is based on another exorcism case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson that took place in 1981. A good film by the way, not as powerful as the previous The Conjuring films but still worth a watch. Speaking of exorcism films i have been curious to see the exorcist horror film The Ritual since this summer from director David Midell ( who directed the critically acclaimed 2019 drama thriller The Killing Of Kenneth Chamberlain ). I was especially curious about seeing legendary actor Al Pacino as an exorcist priest. Is this a solid horror film in general or should you watch the 2005 horror film The Exorcism Of Emily Rose instead?

In 1928, in the quiet farming town of Earling, Iowa, a young woman named Emma Schmidt ( Abigail Cowen ) begins to suffer from terrifying and inexplicable supernatural phenomena. She is tormented by night terrors, violent outbursts, speaking in languages she doesn´t know, and an unnatural hatred towards anything sacred. Her family, devout Catholic Christians, believes she is possessed and seek help from the Church. Their desperate plea reaches Father Theophilus Risesinger ( Al Pacino ), a seasoned priest of the Capuchin religious order known for conducting exorcisms. Riseinger travels to Iowa with a reluctant companion, Father Joseph Steiger ( Dan Stevens ). Steiger is skeptical of demonic possession but promise Riseinger to help him during his exorcism sessions.

One detail that i really appreciate especially in horror films is if the film is shot on a professional level, where you can tell that the director made an effort to make the horror scenes effective. If you know how to film a horror film and make an impact on the audience, that alone can help the film work well with some other ingredients included. In the case of The Ritual there is especially one big problem with this horror film and that is how director David Midell decided to make this film. He moves the camera around a lot, in every scene basically. No focused shots that we usually see in quality horror films, it´s like he´s walking around with the camera as if this could be a found footage horror film but it´s not. This is a very traditional excorcist horror film and i would probably have viewed this film differently if this was supposed to be a found footage horror film. This is also another problem with The Ritual that this is a very basic exorcism film. If you compared this film with others within this specific genre there is not much that stands out. Even the exorcism scenes ( for the most part ) don´t really add much to make this film interesting. And to be honest i have to say actor Al Pacino as the exorcist priest Theophilus is actually a pretty weak performance from such a legendary actor. I can mention at least 10 films where i would recommend his performances and The Ritual is nowhere near on that list. I will say that Stranger Things actress Abigail Cowen as the possessed young girl Emma is one of the few highlights of this film. At least you can sense that she tried to make an effort into making her character feel like she is possessed. Of course you also have actor Dan Stevens ( who i really enjoyed in the gothic horror Netflix film Apostle, worth checking out if you have not seen it ) as the character Father Jospeh. Hes not horrible like Pacino but i would have liked some more steady balls from his character, he is a bit too soft. The Ritual is not the worst exorcism film i have seen and i have seen a lot of them, ( one of the worst is definetely the 2020 exorcism film The Last Exorcist ), but overall i can´t really find much positive to say regarding this film. Director David Midell tries to tell a traditional exorcism film but doesn´t have an interesting story to tell. I swear once you read my review of The Ritual you have already forgotten about this film, it is a film that will most likely dust on DVD shelves.

Rating: DD

River Of Blood

If there is one very controversial subject it is the very disturbing name known as cannibalism. Eating another life form as food is something that happens every day in the animal kingdom worldwide. In most cases it´s about survival and the need to feed of fresh meat. But then we also have human cannibalism that is also well documented through history, both in ancient and recent times. The idea of another human being eating another human may sound impossible, but in some cases that have been the only way to survive. Some of you might remember the horrific case of the 1972 accident Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, the plane that crashed up in the Andes mountains in Argentina on October 13. The remaining survivors were all dealing with very serious weather conditions and health problems, and no big food supplies on the crashed plane which meant they had to find a solution to find other food sources. They had no other options but to eat dead people, just to be able to survive. A very disturbing story but what were they supposed to do to be able to go on? I especially digged into this case when in the year 1993 they made a Hollywood film version of this story called Alive. I prefer the Spanish Netflix film version of the same story known as Society Of The Snow which i feel capture the story even more powerful than the 1993 version. But if you really want to see more disturbing footage of cannibalism we have classics such as the 1980 horror film Cannibal Holocaust from director Ruggero Deodata. A true Italian horror cult film that´s well known for very brutal cannibal scenes and almost have a documentary film style in certain scenes. Lots of nudity, sexual rape scenes and body parts being ripped apart so this is definetely nothing for you if you are sensitive. I own a blu ray copy of this film with some very interesting special features, i believe i should have an older DVD copy as well lying somewhere in my movie collection. Cannibal horror films is something we don´t see often in the horror community. Not because people don´t want to watch these kinds of films, i think the director´s who dare to do films in this category know that this will be a challenge. Since there are many fans of films such as Cannibal Holocaust they know the fan base have certain expectations. So here we are with a cannibal horror film known as River Of Blood who i discovered thanks to movie review YouTube channel Geek Legion Of Doom. Being a fan of this genre of course i had to give this one a try. Is this horror film a must watch before Christmas arrives or is River Of Blood unfortunately a disappointment?

Four kayakers take a river adventure on vacation in Thailand with their own personal tour guide Nick ( Joseph Millson ) showing them the way. While they travel through the jungle they are warned about a local tribe that feed on human flesh, who have lived in this jungle for centuries.

If you for some reason were expecting something similar to Cannibal Holocaust i can tell you right away this is nothing like that film. I would probably call River Of Blood more like a traditional slasher film with 90´s vibes with cannibal influences included. It´s a very simple plot like the slasher horror films of the 90´s used to have, the biggest difference is that we do get to see some very gory scenes compared to ordinary slasher movies. There is especially one negative detail i kept thinking while watching River Of Blood but let´s get into the positive first. The cannibal tribe when we finally get to see them, it is actually fun seeing them attack visitors knowing they want to injure their prey to make them vulnerable and easier to kill. The practical effects regarding the flesh wounds looks alright for the most part and there are some brutal gory scenes. I have to say this film is shot beautiful on location in Thailand and you really get a feeling they used the jungle in a way that matches the story. When it comes to the characters we do have a little bit of a mixed bag here, but the most interesting character ( who we find out most details about ) is the jealous, selfish character Ajay, played by actor Louis James ( who i recognized from the vampire horror film Bogieville, worth checking out ). He is not really the kind of character you like because of his personality, but it becomes clear he have a survivor instinct and that is definetely needed in a jungle like this. I also like the performance of tour guide character Nick, played by actor Joseph Millson ( who fans of the Gerard Butler action film Angel Has Fallen might recognize ). Now, there is one detail i feel could have been done much better with this film. Considering this is supposed to be a cannibal horror film i feel that they should have been much more brutal in certain scenes. I don´t mean they have to show all details such as in Cannibal Holocaust, but if you are promoting this film to be a part of the human cannibal genre you probably should have used even more gory scenes. I think that could have helped this film to stand out from other jungle horror movies. Overall i will say though i did enjoy this film as a slasher horror film, just don´t have too high expectations regarding the cannibal scenes. Director Howard J. Ford directed the 2010 zombie film The Dead that i am a big fan of. I wouldn´t say River Of Blood is as good as that film but still entertaining enough if you feel like a throwback film to the 90´. Fresh meat anyone? Don´t mind if i do, let´s just hope it´s not someone i know boiling on the fire.

Rating: DDD

Two Graves

Every year we get new criminal drama TV series or mini series released on streaming. You have so many really well made crime TV series from Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Germany, and Denmark as well. It doesn´t really matter if it´s about murder cases, sexual molestation cases or any other very serious crime i always find it fascinating seeing how police detective´s investigate each case. I am a fan of criminal TV series in general and i do have a personal favourite on Netflix and that is the 2017 psychological crime thriller TV series known as Mindhunter. One of the reasons why this series is so damn good is because of director´s such as David Fincher ( director of classic thrillers such as Seven and The Game ) and Tobias Lindholm ( who directed the powerful Danish 2015 war drama film A War, definetely worth renting on VOD or pick up a physical copy ). Each director add something unique to each episode that they directed and they clearly understood the importance of capturing the time period to look realistic. The biggest reason why Mindhunter is such a well crafted TV series is the main plot. We follow FBI Agents Holden Ford ( Jonathan Groff ) and Bill Tench ( Holt McCallany ), along with psychologist Wendy Carr ( Anna Torv ). Together they launch a research project to interview imprisoned serial killers to understand their psychology with the hope of applying this knowledge to solve ongoing cases. Knowing that this criminal TV series is based on retired FBI agent John E. Douglas interviews with well known serial killers makes this TV series even more interesting. It must have been incredibly rough hearing these serial killers describe details about their disgusting crimes, and even if we don´t hear too much details in each interview we get a wider picture of each crime. The three main actors Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv all deliver strong performances. Definetely worth watching both seasons of Mindhunter on Netflix. Let´s stay within the Netflix community for a while. I sat down and watched a Spanish criminal TV mini series called Two Graves that looked like something i might appreciate. I am a huge fan of Spanish films in general but have not seen that many Spanish TV series yet. Is this a must watch before Christmas arrives or should you watch something completely different on Netflix?

During a night out on town 16-year-old Veronica ( Nadia Vilaplana ) and her friend Mandy disappear. While police begin an investigation trying to track down where the girls were last seen, Veronica´s grandmother Isabelle ( Kiti Mánver ) is completely devastated. Not knowing if her granddaughter is alive or not, she decides to dig deeper into the truth doing her own investigation since police doesn´t seem to find many answers. The more details she finds about the real truth, this also put her in a very serious situation were certain criminal people don´t like nosy people.

One of the things i feel is very important when you are telling a story of a criminal case is that you make the case interesting. Im not talking about you have to show any dead body, but you have to be able to build suspension regarding the investigation. This helps the mystery of the case become more interesting for the viewer. In the case of this Netflix mini series Two Graves i will say that i think they did a pretty good job telling the story regarding a mystery of two teenage girls. At first you may think you know what exactly happened, but as we get to dig deeper into the investigation we see the real truth finally coming out to the surface. Even though the story is well told there is especially one detail that really makes this TV mini series work and that is the acting performance from Spanish actress Kiti Mánver ( who i especially remember from the 2003 Spanish domestic abuse drama film Take My Eyes  ) as the grandmother Isabel. Ever since her grandchild is gone missing she constantly looks for her, at any hours of the day and i personally feel that actress Kiti Mányer manage to capture the tortured soul of a grandmother who want nothing more than her granddaughter to be home back safe. I can´t even imagine the pain you would feel going through something like this, so this performance feels both realistic and powerful. Another really good performance comes from Spanish actor Álvaro Morte playing the criminal character Rafael. This is the kind of character a TV mini series like this needs, especially showing a character that have no sympathy and just want to get the job done. The young female actors also does a good performance so in general i can´t really say anything negative about the acting. It´s a well made TV series that capture the colors of Spain as well as the atmosphere of the rich Spanish family culture. The only detail i do feel could have been more interesting is if we got to see some more intensive police interrogation, there are a few scenes but for some reason i was hoping for a little bit more with some more edge put into the police interrigations. Overall i would say this is a solid TV mini series if you enjoy criminal cases and especially if you enjoy Spanish quality acting. Director Kike Maillo clearly know how to tell a story of a criminal case and proves this by delivering a quality TV mini series on Netflix. Worth a watch if you are looking for something in this category of TV series.

Rating: DDD

Osiris

One of the genres in cinema history that clearly have been struggling at the box office is science fiction. Not every science fiction film is a flop, there are a couple of exceptions of course. But if you take a look at a lot of sci fi films in general there are not many box office hits, while some films only get a very limited screen time or even might head into streaming instead ( because the studio knows they won´t get tickets sold ). I am still a fan of this genre though and even to this day i still appreciate sci fi box office bombs such as the 2008 sci fi action horror films Outlander and The Mutant Chronicles ( which you can see Hellboy actor Ron Perlman in both of these films ). I personally feel that both of these films are worth watching on digital or physical media for different reasons, but if i were to choose one of them just for the fun of it i would go with Outlander. This is almost like a viking version of the 1987 sci fi action classic Predator with some differences of course. To see actor Jim Caviezel as a spaceman who lands of Earth in 709 AD fighting against an alien among viking villages, you got to admit this is a cool concept for a film. What this film does right is to combine viking combats ( to a certain degree ) with modern technology. I will admit the CGI effects on the alien creature may not look as good today, but if you can let that go and just enjoy the film for what it is then you might actually enjoy this one. This is actually the last full feature film that director Howard McCain have done so far, he only directed the short film A Boy´s Life in 2014 after this project. I am hoping to see him return someday, if it is possible. Speaking of science fiction action most movie lovers have seen The Terminator and of course Terminator 2 - Judgement Day by now. One of the most iconic characters in both of these films ( except for Arnold of course ) is Sarah O´Connor played by actress Linda Hamilton. It was especially in the second Terminator film we got to see actress Linda Hamilton become a true action female icon. She did return to the franchise Terminator - Dark Fate which unfortunately became a big box office flop, still worth a watch if you enjoyed previous films in this franchise. Linda decided to do another science fiction action film called Osiris, a film that looked like something similar to Aliens and was released this year. I got myself a physical copy to see if this would be any good. Is this the perfect film for Halloween weekend this year or should Osiris be dumbed in the nearest trash can?

Special Forces commandos are on a mission in the middle east fighting against terrorists, when suddenly the night sky lights up and a space ship abduct the whole Special Forces team. They wake up on board the space ship not knowing where they are or why they are abducted. Who are these visitors and what do they really want?

I might as well warn you if you are not a fan of sci fi action films such as Aliens, Pandorum, Event Horizon or The Last Days Of Mars ( a film that seems to be forgotten in movie discussion forums, which is unfortunate ), then you are definetely not going to enjoy Osiris. This is a sci fi action horror film that is clearly made for fans of Aliens and similar films, and considering how Hollywood is obsessed with making sequels, prequels and remakes i definetely feel that this is the right time for a film like this to get some respect. Let´s just do a classic throwback to the sci fi action films of the 80´s without taking everything seriously, where we throw in big guns, cool looking characters and some cheesy fun dialogue to spice things up. I just have to talk for a moment about the beginning of this film and how the beginning surprised me. It starts of like this is Ridley Scott´s film Black Hawk down where American soldiers take down Islamic terrorists in the middle east and these action scenes are actually quite intensive. Lots of shooting and physical violence, a great way to open a film like this that you think would start inside a spaceship. We do get to the spaceship right after this gun battle and let me tell you i am impressed. The interior design of this spaceship looks cool but most of all the practical make up effects on the aliens looks way better than i expected from make up effects designer Todd Masters ( who worked on the 2008 remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still ). What we do get eventually is almost like a Doom inspired movie ( you remember the popular Doom games from the 90´s and early 2000´s ? ) with battles between army soldiers and aliens. The acting is perhaps not top class all the time from the military force but i think it works considering films like these usually have some characters with terrible acting. I especially enjoy the performance by actor Max Martini ( who played the cool character Herc Hansen in the sci fi action film Pacific Rim ). Actress Brianna Hilderbrand ( from the popular TV series Lucifer ) is the bad ass character Ravi who takes shit from no one. Of course actress Linda Hamilton deliver as always, even though i wish she had more screen time. Osiris is a pure love letter to sci fi horror fans who love the 80´s and if you feel a connection with these words then you are guaranteed to have a good time. Director William Kaufman did a really good job with this film and i would love to see what he works on next. Osiris could be on my list of favourite sci fi films of 2025, not completely without flaws but i had a great time with this film. Old school sci fi action is always the best way to go.

Rating: DDD