Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult At Sarah Lawrence

Every human believe in something, no matter if it is a religion or believe in something spiritual. I have been asked many times over the years what i personally believe in and my answer is very simple. I believe in Universal Soldier with Jean-Clade Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. This is where i find all the answers to life that i personally have been looking for, especially when Dolph Lundgren´s character Sergeant Andrew Scott prepare to throw a grenade and says:- Are we having fun yet? I don´t think i could get any closer to spirituality than that. I have no problem with people in general who have faith in any specific religion, we should all believe in what we want to. When i think of religion i like to think that most religions are created to be nice towards humans and respect people in general. Unfortunately that is not the case, especially if we are talking about religious cults. There are a lot of very strange religious cults out there who do a lot of crazy things. You have UFO cults who believe Jesus is inside a UFO, and you also have people who believe they are the son of God and you have to have sex with him, to get to God of course. The list is long and we could probably go on forever about what each religious cult believe in. But there is one really good documentary film you should see about one specific religious cult, and that is the documentary film known as Holy Hell from director Will Allen. This is a very fascinating story behind the religious cult known as Buddhafield. The idea behind Buddhafield may have been positive at first, but the real reason of what it was all about was revealed when their male leader Michel used members for his own pleasure, especially having sex with male members while members were not allowed to have sex with each other, only men were allowed to give pleasure to Michel. It is a really insane story from start to finish, so to really understand what happened these years you have to see this film. You can watch Holy Hell on YouTube on the link below: 

https://youtu.be/WGL0SguaYOU

Now and then i try and take a look at documentary films or TV mini series about religious cults, to learn more on how some of them work in society. I recently came across a TV mini series called Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult Of Sarah Lawrence that tells the story of a religious cult at a university that i have never heard about before. Is this a must watch for everyone, or is Stolen Youth not as interesting as i was hoping it would be?

A new group of students begin at Sarah Lawerence College and are looking forward to develope themselves, have fun and discover who they are. But all of that is about to change when the adult man Larry Ray move into the campus to be with his daughter. What happens from here will change everyone´s lives forever.

I have honestly not heard about the case of cult leader Larry Ray ( real name Lawrence Ray ) and how he was able to control so many university students at Saraj Lawrence. When you first hear about him he seems to be a respected man who have done service for the military, but as time goes by you can see that this is a very sick individual. There is no belief any any God or any other religious figure, so Larry is their chosen one as if he was some kind of holy savior. The abuse and humiliation that Larry uses have been seen before in religious cult leaders before, but it is without a doubt sickening to see how he mentally broke all of these young people. We get to hear interviews with the people who lived with Larry and how it all started. The interviews gives a very deep look inside this cult and you understand how it was possible for Larry to contol everyone. It is a very strange behavior by an adult man to move into a university campus to live with students, but he clearly wanted to use them to his own advantage. The fact that the building where these students lived was quite far away from other student room buildings may have helped Larry to plan everything, knowing he wouldn´t be disturbed by other students. There are a few scenes that are horrific to see where you see how Larry abused the young women badly, because he wants them to know how much he cares for them. He also had sex with the women because they needed him, and he knew how to manipulate them. Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult Of Sarah Lawrence is really difficult to watch when you see how one disturbed man destroyed the minds of young people. Director Zack Heinzerling deliver a really powerful TV mini series in 3 episodes that clearly shows the danger of religious cults when sick induviduals take control over people´s minds. If you are very interested in criminal cases and especially very disturbing personalites you should see this TV mini series. Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult At Sara Lawrence will definetely affect you, more than you could imagine.

Rating: DDDD

30 Years Anniversay Review Of Fire In The Sky

We have always had questions about space and what is really out there. Are we alone as a living species or are there other species out there that we don´t know about? Are there planets that actually have water and perhaps living organisms in the water that we have never heard about? In the future there might be some questions answered if we are able to travel longer distances in the universe, so until then we can only do research and see if we can learn something new. But there are people out there who believe we have been visited by visitors or should we say extra terrestrials, who have travelled to Earth to learn about humans. Some even say they have been here for a very long time, and have more knowledge about us than we know. Do i personally believe in all of this? No, i think most things can be explained by science. Do i believe we are alone in the universe? I honestly don´t believe we are completely alone, since there are probably many planets we don´t know about that needs to be investigated. There might be some kind of lifeform out there and i hope that before i pass away i get to see a discovery that they make, no matter what planet it is. Some of you might have read about alien abductions or seen documentaries about it on TV. One of the most famous cases when it comes to alien abductions has to be the story of American forestry worker Travis Walton, who on November 7, 1975, was abducted by aliens in the Apache-Sitegraves National Forests. Travis was missing for 5 days and 6 hours until reappeared by the side of the road near Heber, Arizona. Do i believe Travis was abducted for real? Personally i don´t believe this happened in real life, but it is an interesting case and i have listened to several inteviews with Travis Walton. Of course i can´t say that he lied because i can´t prove that, so i know i could be wrong. I am planning to read his book The Walton Experience at some point, just to dig into his story a bit deeper. In 1993 a film based on the case of Travis Walton was released in cinemas worldwide called Fire In The Sky from director Robert Lieberman. I remember when i saw this film 30 years ago and was hooked up by the fascinating story. This year Fire In The Sky turned 30 years old so i decided to revisit the film and see how i feel about Fire In The Sky after so many years. Is this film a sci fi classic or have Fire In The Sky aged a lot more than i expected over these years?

November 7, 1975 in Snowflake, Arizona, logger Travis Walton ( D.B. Sweeney ) and his co workers - Mike Rodgers ( Robert Patrick ), Allan Dallis ( Craig Sheffer ), David Whitlock ( Peter Berg ), Greg Hayes ( Henry Thomas ) and Bobby Coggdill ( Bradley Gregg ) - head to work in the White Mountains. Driving home to work, the workers notice a big red light spreading over the forest wondering if there might be a forest fire. Travis really want to see what is going on so they get closer to the location where the red light is seen. It turns out that there is no forest fire, but an unindentified flying object in the sky causing this light. Travis gets out to look closer while the other ones stay in the car, telling him to get back into the car. Suddenly a bright light hits Travis and throw him away in the air, landing on another location and seems dead. The work team panic and drive off. Mike decides to drop the men off on the road and go back and look for Travis, but can not be found. They head to the local pub where Mike calls the police to report on what happened that night, and Lt. Frank Watters ( James Garner ) takes on the case of the disappearance of Travis Walton. At first they believe that the work team might have murdered him, but as the investigation goes on, Lt. Frank Watters begin to believe that they actually might be telling the truth.

Alien abductions have always been a difficult subject to bring into a feature film, simply because there are so many witnesses and so many cases to choose between. Some cases are not as interesting as others, so to be able to make a film about one case it has to be an interesting one. In the case of Fire In The Sky i have to say that they have done a really god job making this film look good, and most of all the cast in this film is perfectly chosen. It is not often you see so many characters on screen that feel so natural in their performances for their characters, and this is one of the reasons why this film is quite different from most sci fi films. But before we dig into the characters let us talk about what i really appreciate about Fire In The Sky. First of all they took this case very seriously when they made this film, and that actually makes the film even more interesting surrounding the mystery of Travis Walton. We find out details about him as a person, and especially why he had such a strong relationship between him and his brother Mike. The cinematography by Bill Pope ( who also did the cinematography for the Sam Raimi cult classic film Army Of Darkness ) looks really good and i feel that he knew how this film needed to look to capture the right tone of the film. One of the most effective scenes in this film has to be when Travis is lying inside what seems to be some kind of examination room. The aliens in the examination scenes are not only creepy, but will make you doubt ever going to surgery again. The characters and the chemistry that they have in Fire In The Sky, clearly makes a big impact on the story. You have especially a really good performance from Robert Patrick ( who most of you know from Terminator 2 - Judgement Day ) as Mike Rodgers. There is one specific scene where Robert perhaps give his best acting performance ever, when he confronts the small town in church as he and his men have lied about Travis disappeared. Craig Sheffer as bad boy Allan Dallis is another strong performance and you really dislike this asshole, but i have to say im impressed how well Craig did his character development. D.B. Sweeney who plays the main character Travis Walton feels like a great match and you feel really sorry for him, after everything he had to go through. Director Robert Lieberman doesn´t focus too much about the abduction itself but actually tries to tell a very seriously dramatic story as well. I think that was the best choice he could have done, since this gives the film a completely different depth. Fire In The Sky is still to this day one of the best alien abduction films ever made, and i highly recommend you pick it up on Blu Ray from Shout! Factory or the distribution company Imprint. A film definetely worth owning in your physical film collection.

Rating: DDDD

Plane

Some people complain a lot about travelling, and trust me i have heard all kinds of reasons both on buses, trains and airplanes. It could be something simple as they didn´t get the window seat they were hoping for, or they have to sit close to a family with small children ( because the children may cry ). Some might even complain that the coffee wasn´t warm enough, even though i tasted the same coffee and found nothing wrong with it. Whenever i hear people complain about travelling i try to focus on one of the most important things in this world, and that is to think about actor Gerard Butler. Whenever i think about him i feel warm inside, it´s like he heals my soul. Gerard Butler can make you feel things you never thought were possible, and believe me i have discovered that myself. I know some people say that Yoga is good for you, but i believe more in The Gerard Butler Philosophy. Where can i find this, in a book store? No, all you need to do is go online and buy a copy of a film called Olympus Has Fallen. This is the Gerard Butler film that has all the answers you have been looking for in life. How to communicate with humans in a harmonic way, how to become a more positive soul and of course how to deal with life in general. Gerard Butler will show you all of this in Olympus Has Fallen. So what´s this film all about? Former U.S. Army Ranger, Mike Banning ( Gerard Butler ), is a Secret Service Agent and detail leader in the Presidential Protection Division. His orders are to make sure that President Benjamin Asher ( Aaron Eckhart ), First Lady Margaret Asher ( Asley Judd ) and their son Connor Asher ( Finley Jacobsen ). On a snowy Christmas drive, the car that the Presidential Family is sitting in spins out of control on an icy bridge. President Benjamin and his son Connor survive, while Margaret tragically fall to her death. Eighteen months later, Banning works at the Treasury Department, having been removed from the Presidential detail. During President Asher´s meeting South Korean Prime Minister Lee Tae-Woo ( Keong Sim ) at the White House, the KUF, a North Korean terrorist group led by Kang Yeonsak ( Rik Yune ) attack the White House with their armed forces and take over the building. What they don´t know is that Mike Banning manage to get inside the building. Olympus Has Fallen is a really fun powerful action film from start to finish, and Gerard Butler as Mike Banning is perhaps one of his best characters so far in his career. You should definetely see this film if you love hard hitting action, and check out the sequels London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen as well. In the beginning of Januray of this year the latest Gerard Butler film Plane was released in cinemas worldwide and have actually been doing quite good so far. I managed to see the film before it ended showing in cinema and the question is, does this Gerard Butler film deliver all that we hoped for, or have he lost his cinema screen magic a long time ago?

Commercial pilot Brodie Torrance ( Gerard Butler ), a former RAF pilot from Scotland flies Trailblazer Airlines Flight 119 with 14 passangers and three cabin crew members from Singapore to Honolulu. Among the passengers is figitive homicide suspect Louis Gaspare ( Mike Colter ), who is accompanied by an RCMP officer en route to Canada. While Captain Brodie takes a shortcut across the South China Sea, the plane turns out to be heavily damaged from a storm. The plane is forced to do an emergency landing at the Jojo island in the Philippines. What the passengers don´t know, is that this island is heavily armed with criminal rebels.

Have you been missing the action films of the 90´s lately in more recent film releases? Do you miss the good days of violence, guns and simple dialogue? I can tell you right away that Plane should be exactly what you are looking for. This is definetely a throwback to the 90´s that doesn´t care about what´t trending on social media. Plane is a film filled with men fighting for survival and trying to figure out how to solve different problems on a tropical island. And perhaps the biggest throwback to the 90´s is when we see that military soldiers discover that the plane have crashed. This is where the real violence begins and it feels like we are back to military action films of the past where you don´t give a shit about anything else than surviving. For that reason alone i feel that we need this genre to stay alive because we can´t make movies just to be social media hits. We need real men kicking ass and killing bad people, just like we did in the 90´s. So what about the characters in this film? There are 2 characters that definetely stands out from the crowd and let us begin with Gerard Butler´s character Brodie. Not only is he the Captain of the plane but he also knows how to do combat, a combination that works really good together in this scenario. Gerard knows how to make action films work and i really hope he continue to do more films in this genre. Actor Mike Coltor ( who was really good in the Netflix TV series Luke Cage, worth checking out ) plays the character Louis, a former GCP French Foreign Legion soldier. Mike makes his character rough but at the same time he doesn´t have a cold heart, and i like the fact that he actually think through survival tactics. The plot of Plane may be thin but i can definetely accept that, since you don´t need a complicated story in a film like this. You just want to enjoy the action and not think about what is politically correct or not. Director Jean-Francois Richet ( who directed the great Mel Gibson action film Blood Father, worth checking out ) deliver a solid action film from start to finish, and you can tell that he wanted to bring back this genre back on feet, not using too much CGI effects but old school combat scenes. If you don´t like violence or manly movies this is definetely not for you. But for the rest of us we get to have a great time in the company of Plane, it is just so nice to see that there is still hope for this genre. Plane is like a fun roller coaster ride, you never really want it to end.

Rating: DDD

12 Desperate Hours

There are certain films that will be remembered for being controversial and not afraid to hold back on anything. During the 90´s there were quite a few films that really tried to explore different subjects and were meant to stir up emotions. One of my dearest cinema exeriences from my youth would of course be from the 1994 film Natural Born Killers from legendary director Oliver Stone. To see such an odd and crazy film like this in cinema back in the day still brings back beautiful memories. Since we mentioned the year of 1994 i also have to mention why there were terrible movies this specific year as well. Films that didnt even get a theatrical release and one of the films ( that i wish i could forget but can´t because it is so bad ) is the 1994 comedy known as Revenge Of The Nerds IV: Nerds In Love from director Steve Zacharias ( director of the previous Revenge Of The Nerds films as well ). By the time they decided to make a 4th film in this franchise they have already run out of ideas, even if some of the characters from the original film returned. Unless you plan to watch all films in this franchise you should definetely stay away from this sequel. Since i mentioned earlier about controversial films of the 90´s we have to talk about one specific film that was released in 1995, and that is the cult classic known as Showgirls from legendary director Paul Verhoeven. When this film came out it caused a lot of chaos, especially among movie critics worldwide. I remember some of the movie reviews here in Sweden and they were not pleased. I did see the film on VHS in 1996, because they decided not to release this film in cinemas here. I enjoyed Showgirls for what it was, a crazy story about female dancer Nomi Malone ( played by actress Elizabeth Berkley ) who is working really hard to become one of the top dancers of the Vegas showgirls. In this film you also found actress Gina Gershon as the character Cristal Connors, and since Showgirls Gina have been working a lot in both TV series such as Riverdale and movies as well. I happened to discover that she actually directed a recent Lifetime thriller called 12 Desperate Hours and that caught my attention. Is this a TV thriller that is surprisingly good or is 12 Desperate Hours a film you will most likely forget that it even existed after you watched it?

It´s an ordinary morning at Val Jane´s ( Samantha Mathis ) home with her two sons. Everything is about to change when an unknown man carrying a shotgun, force himself inside her house. His name is Denny Tuohmy ( Harrison Thomas ) and he doesn´t really know himself what he is doing. All he wants is to see his girlfriend Cherie ( Tali Rabinowitz ) but don´t know how. He needs Val to go with him and figure something out, as he locks her children inside a bedroom. Val offers herself to drive Denny around, knowing it could be risky to try and escape. All she wants is to be back to her children, no matter what she has to do.

One of the facts that makes this TV thriller interesting is that it is actually based on a real case that author Ann Rule wrote about in her 2003 true crime anthology Last Dance, Last Chance. I have not read about the real case that this film is based on so i can not say if this film manage to portrait the story in a realistic way to what actually happened. Since i am a fan of films based on criminal cases i can tell you right away that this is actually not bad for being a Lifetime movie. First of all the acting is way better than i expected, especially from three characters. It is like some of the actors actually tried to make a serious attempt into their characters, and that is something we are not used to see in a TV thriller like this. Let us begin with actress Tina Alexis Allen ( who some of you might recognize from the great TV series known as Outsiders ) as the character Mel Jane. This character reminds me of a typical welfare woman who spends her day watching TV shows, and i have to say that Tina manage to make her character feel like a realistic douchebag. The best acting performance comes without a doubt from actor Harrison Thomas ( who fans of the Netflix show Better Call Saul might recognize ) as the character Denny Tuohmy. It becomes very clear that Denny have mental problems and he is really struggling with himself and his life in general. I think that Harrison Thomas really show us how it can be for a person who is really struggling with his personal demons, and this is definetely the most interesting character in 12 Desperate Hours. Actress Samantha Harris ( who have been in 90´s classics such as Super Mario Bros ( yes the one with Bob Hoskins ) and Broken Arrow with John Travolta and Christian Slater ) give us a realistic portrait of a household mother Val Jane. How do you handle someone like Denny who can´t take care of himself ? Since most Lifetime movies are pretty soft and polished, i have to say 12 Desperate Hours at least tries to be a bit tougher with an attitude among the charatcers. There is nothing original about this film but that is ok, since this is based on a real criminal case. Director Gina Gershon give us a film that is actually more well made than what i would expect from a Lifetime movie and that is something i really appreciate. This might actually be one of the better TV thrillers i have seen in recent years, so that alone tells you that 12 Desperate Hours may be worth checking out.

Rating: DDD

Litvinenko

Russia!

A country known for loving vodka, dancing to Kalinka and corruption as well. I remember in the late 90´s when my grandfather Ingvar and i talked about if we should travel to Moscow just to experience the city together since we travelled to different countries. We talked about it into the early 2000´s and around 2006 we were actually looking into some sightseeing sites online. But all of that changed when Russian journalist, writer and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaja was murdered in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow on October 7 2006. My grandfather was saddened by these news because he thought she have done so much to tell the truth about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian secret service FSB. So after this horrible tragedy happened, that was pretty much the nail in the coffin for our Russia trip. I can understand why my grandfather changed his mind, considering that he himself had a lot of things to say about Vladimir Putin. We did talk about this case and we were both interested in the media coverage surrounding the murder and if Putin was the only one behind it. Just the fact that she was shot on Vladimir Putin´s birthday October 7 was indeed a sign. Demonstrators all across Europe were not silent for the tragedy of Anna Politkovskaja, screaming out on the streets that Vladimir Putin is a murderer. The investigation and the different suspects took a long time, and it seemed that someone in the Russian government was protecting the killers who were suspects which made things more complicated. At the end of May 2011, Rustam Makhmudov was arrested in Chechnya who was believed by authorities to have fired the fatal shot. If you have not read about this case i think you should, there are a lot of interesting details to learn in the case of Anna Politkovskaja. Another very big criminal case took place in 2006 where former officer Alexander Litvinenko of the Russian Federal Security Service ( FSB ) suddenly became very ill in his home in London, and were sent to hospital. It turns out he have been poisoned with polonium-210 and he passed away on November 23. The investigation showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the murder of Alexander and Russia tried to deny any involvment. I followed this case in media and have listened to several people who have looked into this case. We now have a TV mini series simply called Litvinenko out on streaming and i just had to watch these episodes, since i have been interested in this specific case. Is this a must watch for everyone, or is Litvinenko not as good as it should have been?

November 1 2006, now a British citizen Alexander Litvinenko ( David Tennant ) with his wife Marina Litvinenko ( Margarita Levieva ) at home suddenly becomes very ill. He is rushed to hospital where he claims that he have been posioned and will die. DI Brent Hyatt ( Neil Maskell ) and his collegue begin to investigate Alexander´s case and, where they find out from Alexander himself that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the one who is behind this. For each day that goes by Alexander is getting worse. If Alexander is speaking the truth he will soon be murdered, which makes this case even more complicated.

If you are interested in political scandals and crime stories, i would say that the TV mini series Litvinenko manage to tell the story of what happened Aleksander Litvinenko in a realistic and not too complicated way. Of course all details in this case may not be exactly how it happened in this TV mini series, but if you have read about this case in newspaper articles or in books, you definetely get a big picture here of some of the most important details. So how is this TV mini series in general? If you love British criminal TV series i have a feeling you will appreciate this 4 episodes TV mini series. Once you get into everything how it all started and why Vladimir Putin would approve such a horiffic crime such as this, it really shows that he have no remorse about anyone or anything. I can not imagine how difficult this must have been especially for Aleksander´s wife Marina and how strong she was refusing to be silent. Let´s get into the actors and let us begin with actress Margarita Levieva ( who have done a lot of great acting performances, especially in the HBO TV series The Deuce, a must watch ) playing the role of Marina Litvinenko. Since this is a difficult role to play knowing how much suffering Marina went through to get justice for her beloved husband, i feel that Margarita give a performance that feels emotional and realistic how a mother and wife would react in such a horrible tragedy. British actor Neil Maskell ( who you should see in the 2011 future cult classic film Kill List, worth picking up on DVD ) as DI Brent Hyatt is definetely a interesting character while we follow the investigation. He clearly care about solving this case and showing respect for Aleksandr´s family and loved ones. There is especially one really good performance from actor Mark Bonnar ( who is really good in the TV series Shetland ) in the role as DSU Clive Timmons. I only wish he would have had more scenes and dialogue because he absolutely knocks most actors out with his strong performance. Scottish actor David Tennant ( who have done so many good acting perfomances over they year, especially in TV series Broadchurch ) plays the victim Aleksander Letvinenko. He is only in this mini series a short period of time but i really appreciate his performance. Litvinenko could have been at least one more episode, since i feel that the final episode is rushed too quickly ending the court scenes. But this is still a good TV mini series if you appreciate British crime drama and director Jim Field Smith does a great job capturing both the events and tragedies surrounding this case. If you are looking for something to watch and appreciate British productions, i suggest that you give Litvinenko a chance.

Rating: DDD

35 Years Anniversay Review Of Friday The 13th Part VII - The New Blood

I can honestly say that sometimes i miss the VHS era for a number of reasons. There was something special about 80´s horror films on VHS that had some of the coolest covers you could see. They were so creative in making movie posters compared to present day and i actually miss that. Back in the 80´s the slasher genre was really popular and it was easy to find many titles in this genre. Some of them were fun to watch while others were pretty terrible. Of course the Swedish horror releases at that time were censored a lot ( they cut out basically anything brutal ) so some releases were impossible to watch. Like when i watched the rental VHS of the horror film Vamp with Grace Jones. A film that isn´t too bloody but still had to be censored. If you have seen the film you might remember that there are far more violent 80´s horror films than this, so it´s a bit silly to censor a film like Vamp. Luckily i could get my hands on uncensored films from one special guy i knew called Jonas, who was a student as the same school as myself. I remember he used to get VHS films from England such as Evil Dead 2, The Return Of The Living Dead, The Hidden, Critters and many others. I especially remember one film that i borrowed from him and that was the 1986 slasher horror film Friday The 13th Part 6 - Jason Lives. This was actually my very first Friday The 13th film that i watched on VHS so i had no idea what the other films were about. But i fell in love with Jason Voorhees and his brutality, and this VHS tape from England was actually more uncut than the Swedish release. Most of you may know the story surrounding Camp Crystal Lake where a young boy Jason Voorhees drowned in the lake back in 1957. In the first film Friday The 13:th from 1980 it was Jason´s mother Mrs. Pamela Voorhees ( Betsy Palmer ) who killed teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake as a revenge for her son´s death. As i mentioned earlier the 6th film was the first film i saw, but i eventually watched all of the films of the franchise and i actually enjoy them all ( if we are talking about the original franchise of Friday The 13th, not Jason X ). So this year i noticed that Friday The 13th Part 7 - The New Blood turns 35 years old, a sequel that was quite different from the previous ones. I decided it was time to revisit the film and do a 35 years anniversary review to see if my opinions about the film have changed over the years. Is this sequel better now than what it was in the late 80´s, or is Friday The 13th Part 7 a sequel that have aged more than i expected and don´t have much to offer?

After young Tina Shephard ( Jennifer Banko ) witnessing her alcoholic father physically abusing her mother, Tina attempts to escape the chaos and run towards Crystal Lake and heads out in a boat. When her father attempts to stop her, Tina uses her dormant telekinetic abilities, where she accidently destroy the dock as her father fall into the lake and drown. Years later, teenager Tina ( Lar Park Lincoln ) is still struggling  with remorse surrounding her father´s death. Her mother, Amanda ( Susan Blu ), takes her to the same lake residence as part of her treatment from her psychiatrist Dr. Crews ( Terry Kiser ). He begins a series of experiments where he is only trying to exploit her psychic powers. After a particulary upsetting session with Dr. Crews, Tina runs from the house to the dock thinking about her father´s death. While thinking about him, she wishes he would come back. Instead of bringing back her father to life, she awaken mass murdered Jason Voorhees ( Kane Hodder ), who was chained at the bottom of Crystal Lake years ago, who breaks free to go on a killing spree.

I remember the first time i saw this sequel right before Christmas in 1989 and how cool i thought this film was for trying something different. We have never seen a Friday The 13th film where they brought in the idea of a woman who have telekinetic abilities. This gave this film a complete different look and meaning for the franchise, and as i watched the film again i do have some things to say. We might as well get into the positive first and let us begin with the legendary horror actor Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees. Kane knew exactly how to portrait Jason Voorhees using his body language and anger to express himself. There is no doubt that Kane have always been my favourite actor to play this iconic horror character, and i always felt that he really understood who Jason was. Some of the scenes where Jason attack really brutal is where we get to see Kane Hodder really show why he was so perfect for this role. We have to talk about actress Lar Park Lincoln ( who you might remember from the classic House II - The Second Coming ) as the character Tina Shepard. It is so cool to see her fight against Jason with her telekinetic powers, and i actually don´t have a problem if this breaks the traditional formula with the franchise. By this time they needed to do something different to keep the franchise alive, and i think it was a smart move to do it in this direction. Lar Park deliver a performance that matches her character Tina and i like how natural she feel for a woman in her age, she doesn´t come off as a diva. The scenes between her and Jason is definetely the most fun to watch and i actually would have liked to see them fight a little bit longer. Best acting performance comes from legendary actor Terry Kiser ( who have been in several movies and TV series such as The Fall Guy with Lee Majors ) as Dr. Crews. The brutality in this film deliver some tasteful moments, so if you like seeing Jason Voorhees kill people there are some fun scenes to be found here. Anything negative to say about this sequel? Well, perhaps there are a few actors who don´t really do any acting at all, but what else could we expect from a film like this? Director John Carl Buechler ( director of the classic 1986 horror comedy Troll, worth checking out ) proved with this 7th film in the Friday The 13:th franchise that you can do something different and still show respect to the original film. This may not be one of the better sequels in the franchise but i still enjoy Friday The 13:th Part VII for a number of reasons. If you love slashers and Jason, this is still a film that will continue to entertain audiences worldwide for many generations ahead.

Rating: DDD

The Devil Beneath

Somedays after i come home from work and i just want to relax infront of the TV, i know just the thing that might get me feeling chilled out. I turn on the reality TV series known as Aussie Gold Hunters where we follow different people out in the Australian wildlife looking for gold nuggets. To see these hard workers trying to dig out nuggets in the massive hot Australian heat wave, shows that there still are old school hard workers out there. They get dirty, they sweat and they might even harm themselves but they just keep on working. I hope a younger generation who can be lazy these days watch a show like this and see what working can look like. Everything is not meant to be easy and comfortable. I have to mention that i really appreciate the Australian Whishy known as Bakery Hill that i tried at a Whisky and Beer Festival in Stockholm. It was very tasteful, easy to drink with some nice beer sausages and i might actually buy myself a bottle and try it again. Speaking of Australia there are a numbers of great horror films that has been released from this beautuful country. You have the classics slasher like the 2005 horror film known as Wolf Creek, and then you have one of my personal favourite Australian horror films known as Rogue from 2007. But let´s not talk about these films but mention a film that wasn´t released than many years ago, and let us go back to the year of 2019. This was the year when the Australian horror film The Furries. Directed by Tony D´Aquino, this film tells the story of a woman named Kayla ( Airlie Dodds ) who wakes up inside a box out in the wilderness, having no idea why she is there or who put her there. She finds out that she is chosen to be in a game, where a group of masked people are supposed to kill her out in the wilderness. To survive she must be able to do things she never would have imagined herself doing. The Furies is a fun slasher horror film that reminded me of the 2020 film The Hunt in many ways, except that The Furies is perhaps filled with more gore than The Hunt. If you want to see a great Australian slasher film i suggest you pick of The Furies on DVD or Blu Ray, unless you can see it on Shudder. It is not often these days i come across horror releases from Australia so i was pleasantly surprised to see that a film called The Devil Beneath have come out this year. I noticed that this film is directed by Luke Sparke, who directed the Australian sci fi films Occupation and Occupation: Rainfall, both worth checking out ) and was curious to see what he have done with a horror film. Is this a future classic in Australian horror, or is Devil Beneath not as fun as we were hoping it would be?

Nick ( Dan Ewing ) travel to see his brother Tristan ( Tim Pocock ) who lives at their grandfather´s farm. Tristan show him a letter from their grandfather where he explain that he wants farm´s land to be returned to the local Aboriginals. During Nick´s visit he finds out that Tristan have invited some friends out to the farm to have a good time. What might start off in a positive way, is about to turn into a nightmare.

Devil Beneath starts off pretty interesting and then lands somwhere out in the Australian wilderness from an episode of the classic Australian TV series Neighbors. We get relationship dicsussions and issues between friends, and i get it they wanted to build up some kind of character development. And honestly i don´t feel that interested in all of that, even though i know it might have been needed to make the plot work. But once this film finally starts taking off into the monster theme, this is where The Devil Beneath gets me hooked up. You could probably say that this film reminded me of monster movies of the 80´s such as Watchers with Corey Haim. The difference was of course that in Watchers it was a mutated monster from a classified research laboratory, while inThe Devil Beneath we have a monster that is known from local Aboriginals. The fact that this monster have been known about for a very long time in history makes the story surrounding this beast interesting. So what about the acting and the characters in this film? The acting isn´t top class from all the characters, and i can accept that in an independent film. As long as there are some kind of character that i feel works. Of the characters we find in The Devil Beneath i do enjoy actor Dan Ewing ( who can be seen in both of the sci fi films Occupation ) as the character Nick. The thing i like about the character Nick is that he seems to be the most confident character in this house, especially once all the guests arrives and all the drama begins. I also enjoy the chemistry between Nick and his brother Tristan played by actor Tim Pocock ( who you might recognize from X-Men Origins: Wolverine ). The monster effects may not be the best i have ever seen but i still enjoy the design, and especially the scenes where the monster attacks all the hunters. The final battle is really fun old school monster ingredients inside some kind of underground cave. Director Luke Sparke must have been inspired by old school monster films while he worked on this film, because you can really feel the passion for this genre in some battle scenes. The Devil Beneath will most likely be enjoyed by people who loved action monster movies of the 80´s, and if you happen to be one of these people i think you might appreciate what this film had to offer. I had a good time with The Devil Beneath and i have a feeling you will as well.

Rating: DDD

Skinamarink

I can not tell you how much i hope every year that some director will bring us something original in a horror film. I have no problem with someone using classic horror ingredients in a horror film, as long as they make a good film out of it. The problem is that far too often we get films that will not be remembered after they are released because they clearly don´t have a lot to offer the horror fan base. A film maker who clearly believe in the film they are making will not be afraid to take chances and try something different, instead of making a film just to cash in on ticket sales. There are actually horror films that does go in a different direction, and it is especially these films that i am personally interested in. Let´s just dig into one film that i am pretty sure all of you have not heard of because it is a French-Belgian film called Raw. Originally released at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and directed by Julia Ducournau ( director of the controversial psychological body horror drama film Titane, a must watch ), Raw tells the story of vegetarian Justine ( really well played by actress Garance Marillier ) who begins her first semester at veterinary school. On her first night in her students room, she meets her roommate Adrien ( Rabah Nait Outfella ), and they are forced to partake in a week-long welcome ritual, welcoming the new students. They are brought to a party, where Alexia ( Ella Rumpf ) shows Justine old class photos of students bathed in blood, including one with their parents. The next morning, the class is spalttered with and is forced to eat raw rabbit kidneys. Justine refuses because she is a vegetarian, but Alexia forces her to eat one. It is after this incident Justine begins to notice that she feels the need to eat raw meat, which makes her personality change completely. Raw is a very interesting and fascinating portrait of a woman who begin her journey into cannibalism. This is the kind of horror film that you don´t see very often, that has both really strong characters and especially a very interesting story. Be patient though, because once this film kicks in and becomes bizarre is when Raw works best. If you have not seen Raw i highly recommend you pick it up on DVD or Blu Ray, and try to get the UK Blu Ray from Second Sight Films that is filled with lots of special features. Since last year i have heard a lot of talking about a very different horror film called Skinamarink. What i understand this film only cost 15.000 U.S. Dollars and took in over 2 million U.S. dollars at the box office so you can not deny that they made a profit there. Since i am curious to see something different in the world of horror, is Skinamarink the most original horror release in recent years, or is the buzz surrounding this film way out of proportion ?

It is the year of 1995, four-year-old Kevin ( Lucas Paul ) injures himself in what his six-year-old sister Kaylee ( Dali Rose Tetreault ) says is a sleepwalking incident. Kevin is taken to the hospital and brought back home. The Father ( Ross Paul ) calls someone and tells them that the hospital didn´t need to give Kevin stitches and he only hit his head. Some time later, the two siblings wake up in the middle of the night to find that their father has seemingly disappeared and that the windows, doors and other objects in their house are gradually vanishing as well.

I think it is best that we are honest right from the start, and it´s completely fine if you don´t agree with me in my review of Skinamarink. Just because a film is supposed to be different and tries to be original does not mean it has to be good. You can try making a film to be different but you also have to make the film interesting. This is one of the issues i have with Skinamarink, because if they would have done this film differently with some clever ideas we might have something interesting here. What we are left with instead is a horror film that tries to come across as ground breaking but i get a feeling that somewhere along the way the message of the film was lost. The biggest issue that i definetely have with Skinamarink is how boring this film is for being a horror film. 100 minutes of runtime and barely anything happens, and if you need that long playtime to make your film you might want to try and tell an interesting story. I understand that this film tries to show how you as a child might experience a nightmare scenario, and i don´t think the idea itself is bad. The problem is that the film itself does not feel that scary while you try and keep yourself awake, not from falling asleep. How about the characters in this film? Honestly you don´t really care much about them the very few moments you hear any of them say anything. And i don´t really understand why there are scenes with whispering, is this supposed to keep us awake or fall asleep? I am at the age of 46 this summer and i can honestly say that Skinamarink might be the most boring horror film i have seen in my entire life so far. Director Kyle Edward Ball did try and make a different horror film than we are used to see, too bad he didn´t make this film any interesting. When you have nothing more to say about a film in a review you know it is a bad sign, and perhaps that is the case for Skinamarink. All i know is that horror fans might as well skip this one and choose something more interesting. Do yourself a favor and check out Raw that i mentioned earlier and you know you will get a quality horror film. Anyone have problems sleeping? You won´t need sleeping pills, Skinamarink will help you sleep better than ever.

Rating: D

Ghosts Of Hiroshima

Whenever someone brings up the subject of found footage horror films most people think about the 1999 classic The Blair Witch Project. I remember how big this film was back in 1999 when people were actually scared in the cinema from this low budget horror film. I wasn´t personally scared of The Blair Witch Project but maybe that was because i have seen so many horror films that very few actually scared me. Did i enjoy the film? I would say i thought it was alright, and they did a good job on the budget that the film was made on. The Blair Witch Project proved that you don´t need a big budget to make a horror film work, you have to have a story that people will be interested in as well. If you enjoy the genre of found footage horror films and have not seen The Blair Witch Project yet i think you should give it a chance. Since we are speaking about found footage horror, i have a personal favourite of mine that actually turned 12 years now in 2023. And that is the 2011 horror film known as Grave Encounters from directors The Vicious Brothers. I did not see this film in cinema here in Sweden ( simply because it wasn´t shown in cinemas unfortunately ) so i ordered the Blu Ray copy from the UK instead. Grave Encounters tells the story of reality TV show host Jerry Hatfield ( Ben Wilkinson ) who does a paranormal television show called Grave Encounters, together with ghost hunter Lance Preston ( Sean Rogerson ). Hatfield explain why the show was cancelled after five episodes following the disappearance of its crew, and presents raw scenes from recovered footage of the last sixth and final episode. A team were sent to investigate the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, where strange unexplained phenomena have been reported for years. For being a found footage horror film i have to say that Grave Encounters manage to do especially two things right. First of all the film manage to make certain scenes creepy, especially when you see a strange figure appear out of nowhere. The location of this psychiatric hospital works well with the creepy environment. Directors The Vicious Brothers may not deliver anything groundbreaking with Grave Encounters, because we have seen many similar films before. But what makes this film stand out from similar films in this genre is that it actually feels like a horror film, instead of just someone pretending to make a haunted TV show. Worth checking out if you enjoy horror films in this genre. If i mention the name of Hiroshima you might connect it to the historical events that took place during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagaski in Japan in 1945 during World War II. The bombings took place during August 6 to August 9 and took the lifes between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom was civilians. A horrible tragedy in history that will never be forgotten, and especially all the innocent victims who lost their lives. What if you make a found footage horror film and connect it with the events of Hiroshima? That is exactly what the film Ghosts Of Hiroshima does and i have been curious to see this film since i heard about it. I am very interested in World War II connected stories so the question is, does this found footage horror film manage to deliver something interesting, or is it just another release in this genre that will most likely be forgotten?

Eric ( Robert Palmer Watkins ) inherits a property in Japan and begin to film his journey to Hiroshima with his latest camera equipment. After the atomic bombings in World War II there was a lot of radiation, but the radiation levels in present day is not dangerous around Hiroshima. As Eric stay in his new house he begins to find photos, letters and a some other information that may affect Eric more than he imagined.

There is definetely an interesting idea behind Ghosts Of Hiroshima that the film is supposed to take place outside the city of Hiroshima, to capture the history of Japan. The idea is that spirits who were victims during the bombings of Hiroshima are still around and trying to communicate, is actually kind of creepy. We also find out that the main character find an old taped interview with a man who witnessed the bombings and what happened to his family members. You can clearly see that this film is inspired by Japanese horror films in several scenes, and i actually think this is where the film works best as a found footage horror film. The young child wearing a creepy looking Japanese mask is a very simple but effective detail to make you interested in the story. Anything specific that i appreciate with Ghosts Of Hiroshima? I would probably say that i appreciate the effort that they put into this film to try and make it like a documentary ( that´s wasn´t the plan either ) as the information discovered in letters turns out to based on a true story. The characters in this film are of course not based on real people, but the film manage to trick you believing that the people from the past actually was real. Some of you may not believe so and that is completely ok. I just found it interesting that they actually made an effort to make it seem like we were told a story that could have been true ( before any ghosts were included ). What doesn´t work with Ghosts Of Hiroshima? I personally feel like this film could have been a lot more creepy than what it is, and especially with the masked child that could have been used even more effective. On the positive note i do feel that lead actor Robert Palmer Walker ( who fans of TV series General Hospital will definetely recognize ) is good as the character Eric. I like that he only seems to be testing his new camera on his Japan journey and his filming becomes a completely different meaning as the film goes on. Ghosts Of Hiroshima tries to do something different in the found footage horror by including influences from World War II in Japan. Director Brandon Walker gives us a found footage horror film that will most likely please fans of this genre. It looks good and it does have an interesting story. If you enjoy horror films thats connected with historical events give Ghosts Of Hiroshima a chance, you might actually be surprised.

Rating: DDD

Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey

Every child have a favourite children show character, no matter if it was Doctor Snuggles, Paddington, Postman Pat or many others. Back in 1982 when i was 5 years old i discovered one specific character in the very popular TV show known as The Muppet Show, and that character was the crazy drummer known as Animal. My mother bought me a children drum set and i went insane, drumming just as Animal in The Muppet Show and actually broke the drums playing too hard. Whenever they were showing The Muppet Show on Swedish TV i would be prepared for Animal to start drumming and i honestly did not care about Kermit The Frog or many other characters. I was going to play the drums just as insane as Animal did. As i started first class in school in 1984 i dropped Animal completely because i loved a completely different TV show known as The Incredible Hulk with legendary actors Bill Bixby and Lou Ferringo. The Incredible Hulk tells the story of Dr. David Banner ( Bill Bixby ), a scientist and physician who travels across America who is presumed dead, but use other names to hide his identity. Following an accident that altered his cells, in times of extreme anger or stress, he transforms into a huge, savage, incredible strong green-skinned humanoid, who has been named "The Hulk" ( Lou Ferringo ). This TV series is a real classic and it is so much fun watching Lou Ferringo into this green beast. I definetely think you should pick up the DVD collection. One of the children characters that has been loved worldwide for many years is the character known as Winnie The Pooh. Created in 1926 by English author A.A. Milne and English illustrator E.H. Shepard. Winnie The Pooh continued to be loved both bu children and adults as the character as in 1961, Walt Disney Productions licensed certain film and other Winnie The Pooh stories and started making films based on the character. The first film called Winnie The Pooh And The Honey Tree was released in 1966, an animated film that tells the story of Winnie The Pooh, the honey loving bear who spends time with his best friend Christopher Robin. Walt Disney continued to make several more films with this character and that also include films with other characters from the Winnie The Pooh universe. About a year ago i heard about a low budget horror film was going to come out that was a slasher film where a masked man with a Winnie The Pooh mask was going to kill people. When i heard that i thought it sounded like a fun idea. Did i have any expectations on this film? Not at all, i thought i might as well check it out no matter if i like it or not. So here we are, i finally got a chance to see Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey in cinema. Is this the best slasher film of 2023 or is this just as bad as Sex Pistols singer John Lydon´s solo album Psycho´s Path from 1997, one of the worst albums ever made?

Christopher Robin ( Nikolai Leon ) had a great childhood with his friend Winnie The Pooh ( Craig David Dowsett ) out in the forest. One day Christopher have to leave to start college, leaving Winnie The Pooh and Piglet alone. Winnie and Piglet begin to turn against humanity after Christopher leaves, and no matter who crosses their path may become their next victim.

I have heard of director Rhys Frake-Waterfield before since i know he was the producer of the low budget horror film known as Wrath Of Van Helsing ( a film i did review earlier this year ). This is actually the first time i see him direct a film and there is a slight difference being a producer than a director. I do have some things to say about this film, but i will say this. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield have found a vey succesfull concept by using a very beloved character from children books. This film have so far made over 3 million U.S. dollars at the box office on a budget of 100.000 U.S. dollars. That is not bad at al for such a low budget film so i can not deny they found a way to sell tickets. Now, if we leave that part out with the beloved character, how is this film as a slasher film? I would say pretty generic and doesn´t bring anything new into the genre. We might as well continue with the negative because there are some things this film really struggle with. First of all the plot of this film is not interesting at all. Sure there is a connection to Christopher Robin and how he left Winnie The Pooh, but other than that there isn´t much else here to talk about. The female cast are probably wonderful people in real life, but the acting from most of these women are not very good. There isn´t really any character that you feel you can connect with as if they are just in the film to be a part of the cast. So what about the masked killers? Winnie The Pooh looks kind of strange honestly as well as his friends. There is one positive thing i will say and there are some brutal scenes in this film. Not all of them are great but acceptable at least. The honey pot that can be found in the forest is at least a fun detail that matches with the classic character of Winnie The Pooh. There isn´t really much else to say about Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey, this is a pretty basic slasher film that doesn´t really add anything interesting to the big screen. If you want to see a fun slasher film i suggest you check out the 2018 slasher film Hell Fest from director Gregory Plotkin. Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey will probably only please a young audience who have not seen a lot of slashers. The rest of us who knows this genre can easily find classics that are much better than this film.

Rating: DD