20 Years Anniversary Review Of The League Of Extrodinary Gentlemen

I have a lot of things to thank my grandfather for in my childhood but there is especially one thing i am very grateful that he did. He used to record the James Bond films with legendary actor Sean Connery on VHS from TV and it was with my grandfather i watched these films. Since he knew i had not seen any of the films at that time we started watching from the very beginning with the 1962 action film Dr. No, continued with From Russia With Love and of course we continued with ( in my opinion one of his best James Bond films ) Goldfinger. After this experience at my grandfathers home i started to watch more of the James Bond films with Roger Moore. I did enjoy his films as well but there was just something special about Sean Connery. He had a screen presence that you could not explain and i loved his Scottish accent. During the late 80´s i got into more of Sean Connery´s films and i remember buying the 1986 film Highlander on VHS. I feel in love with this film not only because of Christopher Lambert´s character Connor McLaeod but also thanks to the performance from Sean Connery as the character Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramirez. They were a really good match in their scenes together, and the film Highlander itself is a really good fantasy action adventure where director Russel Mulcahy managed to capture the Scottish landscape as well as Scottish historical time periods really good through these characters. A must see if you enjoy 80´s films and definetely worth buying on physical media. The sequel Highlander 2 - The Quickening is nowhere near as good as the first film, but i do recommend that you watch the Renegade Version just if you want to see a more futuristic version of Highlander. The sequels that followed after these films are not worth talking about honestly. In the early 2000´s it turned out that legendary actor Sean Connery was ready to retire from acting but would do one last lead role in the action adventure known as The League Of Extrodinary Gentlemen. At the time when this film came out critics were not all happy but fans of the comic book series of the same name were excited. I have seen this film several time since the film came out in 2003 and i notice that it has gone 20 years since this film came out. I thought it would be good timing to celebrate 20 years with this review. Is this film still enjoyable after all these years or have The League Of Extrodinary Gentlemen aged much more than i expected and lost the charm this film once had?

In 1899, a terrorist group led by The Fantom breaks into the Bank of England to steal Leonardo da Vinci´s blueprints of Venice´s foundations. They also kidnap several German scientists while blowing up a zeppeling factory. The British Empire sends Sanderson Reed ( Tom Goodman-Hill ) to Kenya Colony to recruit adventurer and hunter Alan Quatermain ( Sean Connery ), who had retired after the death of his son. However, after a group of assassins try to kill him in the colony, Quatermain changes his mind and decides to accept the mission and travel to London and meet M ( Richard Roxburgh ). M tells Quatermain about The Fantom and his plans to start a war by bombing a secret meeting of world leaders in Venice. To prevent this, M is forming the last generation of The League Of Extrodinary Gentlemen, consisting of Quatermain, Captain Nemo ( Naseeruddin Shah, vampire chemist Mina Harker ( Peta Wilson ), and invisible theif Rodney Skinner ( Tony Curran ). Together they must travel to recruit the rest of the team to stop The Fantom from starting a new war.

Since this film tried to bring in so many different characters into the same film you might think it is impossible to make this work. I actually think The League Of Extrodinary Gentlemen managed to introduce each character in a simple but effective way. Does this mean that each character is great? I would have to say no. But before we get into what characters does work and what characters should have been more effective, let us get into what i enjoy about this film. This really feels like an old school action adventure, even though some CGI scenes do look a bit cheesy after 20 years. I can accept that for the most part since i feel that some of the action scenes are entertaining and match well with the plot. The time period in the late 1800´s is captured well especially with costume design and the set designs. There are of course a lot of CGI scenes where you see some locations are just backgrounds but i still feel some of these scenes are still entertaining if you see this film for what it is, an old school cinematic adventurous experience. Ok so let´s get into some of the characters that work, and it comes to no surprise that legendary actor Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain is the best character in this film. Not only does Sean Connery deliver another solid performance but i also feel that he is a perfect match for this character. I do enjoy the performance from actor Naseerudin Shah as Captain Nemo and he seems to know what this character needed to work in this film. He is charming, have a natural way to deliver dialogue and also can look serious in certain scenes. There are a few more good characters but we need to talk abot the bad details as well. Actor Stuart Townsend as the character Dorian Gray is really boring to watch, he doesn´t really give anything into this group of criminals and heroes. Some of the CGI scenes look pretty cheap and you wonder if they could not have at least tried make it look cool for the fans of the comic books. I think the main villain The Fantom was used too little because he actually have a pretty cool look and it feels like he had potential to be an entertaining villain. Overall i still feel that The League Of Extrodinary Gentlemen is a fun action adventure that feels like a combination of Indiana Jones and Fantastic Four combined into the late 1800´s. Director Stephen Norrington doesn´t hold back on the action scenes and he actually manage to give us a film that definetely feels like a comic book coming to life. The League Of Extrodinary Gentlemen is one of those films that may actually remain a cult film in the future because it stands out from the usual comic book film adaptations, and Sean Connery´s last film also helps his legacy to live on. A film definetely worth owning on DVD or Blu Ray for the whole family to enjoy.

Rating: DDD

Santa Isn´t Real

Back in the 90´s i used to celebrate Christmas with the whole family, even if there were moments of chaos where people argues or just had to make drama situations out of nothing. But i especially remember one Christmas Eve in 1995 when i was 18 years old i was having drinks with my grandfather. Across the street a neighbor knocked on our door because he needed someone to be Santa Claus. He asked me if i could be their Santa this year and i told him:- I have been drinking maybe not the best idea. But he didn´t care he just needed a Santa right away. So he got me the Santa clothes and i dressed up carrying the presents in an old sack and i told myself to at least try to act as Santa. As i entered the door the children were really happy. I remember that one of the girls wanted to sit on my lap and tell me what she wished for this Christmas and then she said:- Santa you smell strange from your breath. I answered:- Ho ho ho, Santa had a different kind of coffee. I gave the children the presents and everything seemed alright. Until i got up and was about to go out since i was drunk. Another child asked:- Santa why are you walking strange? I answered:- Ho ho ho, Santa have been doing lots of exercise lately and is tired in my legs. As i walked out waving to the children, i slipped on some ice and hit my head. Now, remember i was drunk so it didn´t make things easier but i eventually got up and headed inside the Christmas party. My grandfather asked me how it went and i said:- It went good let´s have another drink. I could have said it went really bad but at least the kids seemed to be pleased. Horror films with Santa Claus is something i have always appreciated ever since i first saw the 1984 horror classic Silent Night, Deadly Night from director Charles E. Sellier Jr. It was this Christmas horror film that really made me feel like they captured Santa Claus as i would like him to be, taking out victims who doesn´t appreciate the magic of Christmas. Silent Night, Deadly Night is a fun slasher horror film especially for you who like the Christmas holidays. I have not seen all the sequels but i have a feeling i will try to watch them all at some point. This year we had some Christmas horror movies released and one of them i did decided to check out is called Santa Isn´t Real. A low budget horror film that looked like fun through the official trailer. Is this the Christmas horror film we all need to end this year of 2023 or should you avoid this one and watch Silent Night, Deadly Night instead?

On Christmas Eve while enjoying her holiday, Nikki ( Kaya Coleman ) is brutally attacked by a masked Santa Claus and pass out. She wakes up almost a year later out of a coma and decides to go with a group of friends to a remoted cabin. Even if she needs time to heal the group try and adjust to make this Christmas enjoyable. The further this weekend goes the more they will realise that everything is not what it seems to be.

In some ways you could say that Santa Isn´t Real does feel inspired by Christmas horror classics such as Silent Night, Deadly Night since you can sense that while watching this film. It is almost as if director Zac Locke ( who is actually one of the executive producers of the great serial killer film Bloodline with Sean William Scott, worth checking out ) have listened to what fans of this genre appreciate, seeing Santa killing victims the old school way. I do have some issues with this film but let´s talk about that later and bring up the positive regarding Santa Isn´t Real. I definetely enjoy the Santa mask and it really fits in with this killer Santa. The mask does look like it´s almost influenced by the Halloween weekend as if Santa didn´t want to wait until Christmas and he needs to do some more killing. I also feel that the Christmas spirit is captured in this film with Christmas decorations, Christmas music and a group of friends gathering to enjoy the holidays. Even though the plot have been done so many times before in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, i do feel that it works in this film considering that the main character Nikki ( played by wonderful actress Kaya Coleman ) have woken up from a coma and needs to be at a calm location. Speaking of Kaya i do feel that she is a great choice for her character Nikki and she feels natural in her role. So it´s time we talk about the problems with Santa Isn´t Real and i have to start with actor Trey Andersson as Nikki´s boyfriend Nathan. Considering he is supposed to be a boyfriend he acts like he doesn´t feel anything for her at all, and i just can´t buy that he is supposed to love her. I don´t know if Trey thought that this would be a good portrait but it doesn´t work. This film has far too little kills when it is supposed to be a slasher. The few times we do get some kills i enjoy them but we would have needed some more. If you leave some of the problems aside and just look at Santa Isn´t Real for what it is a low budget slasher film, this is the kind of film that fans of B movies would appreciate. Director Zac Locke may not have made a Christmas classic but deliver a low budget horror that´s charming enough to bring out the true joy of Christmas with Santa Isn´t Real. A film for you who especially love lots of snow and a cabin with no neighbors, how can anyone say no to that combination?

Rating: DDD

Elevator Game

Shopping malls, what would life be without them? You can find basically anything here no matter what you are looking for no matter if you need clothes, shoes, perfume, a new cell phone or perhaps just enjoy a fresh made dinner. I personally love the biggest shopping malls i can find. Why? The bigger it is the more stores you can look at and it doesn´t have to big too much customers lining up everywhere ( unless it is before Christmas weekend of course ). The biggest shopping mall i have been to so far was in Bangkok called Central World where the shopping mall have over 500 stores and over 100 restaurants. I also remember that they also had a huge cinema with 15 films showing each day on 15 huge screens. I actually found a DVD and blu ray store at this shopping mall so that´s where i invested in some nice releases. Shopping malls like Central World are needed because it is much more simple to go to a huge shopping mall like this than running to different stores downtown. Plus if you need to eat something you can basically find any food you want, no matter if you are a vegetarian or a meat lover. One of the things i like to do in shopping malls is go by elevator because i find it relaxing. Not many people use the elevator compared to using the escelator, so it´s nice just to go for a ride. But what if you are completely stuck inside an elevator trying to figure how to get out? That is exactly what happened in the 2010 horror film Devil from director Nelson McCormick ( director of the 2009 remake of The Stepfather ). 5 people are stuck inside an elevator in a skyskraper trying to wait for rescue workers. But inside this elevator something strange is going on when one of them suddenly dies. Devil is a simple but effective horror film where an elevator is a great location to use from a claustrophobic perspective. How do you handle a situtaion like that when you are not alone inside the elevator and unexpected things happen out of nowhere? I do like the surprise twist towards the end that explain why this happened to this group of people. Devil is definetely worth checking out on streaming or on physical media. Speaking of elevators i came across a horror film called Elevator Game on VOD and is supposed to be a horror film that have a connection to an elevator. I didn´t know much more about Elevator Game and decided to know as little as possible going into this film. Is this a horror film that´s better than i expected or is Elevator Game just as exciting as watching American Crossword Puzzle Tournament ?

A group of high school graduates run an online web series debunking urban legends. They welcome Ryan Keaton ( Gino Anania ) into the show to help them out. When one of the web series sponsors are ready to drop out unless they come up with a better idea for their next episode, Ryan suggest they should look into the new online phenomenon called Elevator Game. The group decides to do this hoping their sponsor will stay and continue to collaborate with them. Once they start playing the Elevator Game, they will find out that this is not only a game.

Those who know me personally know that im not a big fan of social media influencers, especially if you are trying to chase likes, impress people with how much money you have or if you met a celebrity and have to make yourself look cool. So i understand now that this Elevator Game is a game a lot of social media people have played just to see if it works. I have no idea if anyone would claim that it works but this film is clearly inspired by this game itself. In a way i find the idea behind Elevator Game interesting for a horror film because using an elevator is a great tool to build up horror tensions. It worked well in the 2010 horror film Devil so it might work with a completely different story set inside an elevator. Let´s start with the details that i enjoy about the Elevator Game and i have to say that this film looks good. Director Rebekah McKendry ( director of the 2022 horror film Glorious that i did enjoy ) clearly knows how to make a horror film capturing different effective angles inside ( and outside ) an elevator, and this actually helps the film become a bit more interesting. Since the elevator is such an important detail for this film it feels like Rebekah understood that this has to work. Ok, that was the positive about Elevator Game and i have several negative things to say about this film. First of all the social media show that we are supposed to believe is a real show looks really bad. If they would expect me to believe that young people would watch this show i can´t buy that. It looks incredibly cheap, no great host of the show and the ghost stories they bring to each episode doesn´t make you feel interested at all. The cast of this film is also another big problem, there really are no great characters in Elevator Game. This is nothing against the actors in general but they didn´t perform good or made any attempt to make their character interesting. What about the horror elements in Elevator Game? I wanted this to work because it is an interesting concept for a horror film, but i feel like they didn´t really try that hard. The horror scenes outside the elevator are very predictable, dull and honestly not effective at all. It´s a shame that the Elevator Game doesn´t really work as a horror film since there is a good idea behind the plot. If only director Rebekah McKendry could have fixed some very important details and this could actually have been a fun watch. As it stands now i doubt you will remember Elevator Game once you watched it.

Rating: DD

Mob Land

When i was a little kid i used to visit a small community called Bengtsfors here in Sweden. This was where my father Thomas grew up and his parents lived here all of their lives. Bengtsfors had like 2 clothing shops, one shoe shop, a bakery, 2 different super market stores, a cinema and a few restaurants. That´s about it, apart from a gas station and a alcohol store. I remember in the 80´s i used to go to the bakery in Bengtsfors because my grandparents wanted something sweet for their coffee, so we would pick up some fresh baked sweets. One thing my grandfather also did on a weekend was gambling on horses, so while he watched horse races on his old TV me and my grandmother would enjoy the baked sweets. Life was simple in the community of Bengtsfors and even if there wasn´t a lot to do in the central part of Bengtfors you could always find stuff to do along the lake. In winter time we used to go ice skating or skiing around Bengtsfors. I remember one time when my cousing Christian ( this was sometime around 1993 i believe in Bengtsfors ) had gotten a motorcross bike. I tried driving it and almost crashed into a wall, so i can understand why they didn´t want me to drive it again. I also remember in the 90´s that the cinema in Bengtsfors at least tried to improve with more screenings of films, even though you could tell they couldn´t afford too big changes. Smaller communities such as Bengtsfors may not have much but they have everything they need. What matters is that the people living there enjoyed their community. But what if your smaller community would suffer from crimes and how would you deal with that where you don´t have a lot of back up from police? This is one of the subjects that is brought up in a crime drama thriller called Mob Land from director Nicholas Maggio. When i first saw the trailer of Mob Land i thought it looked similar to many other American crime thrillers but the cast of John Travolta, Kevin Dillon and Stephen Dorff seemed very interesting in the same film. I just had to get myself a blu ray copy and see if this film would be any good. Is it possible Mob Land is one of the better crime thrillers this year or should you pick up and watch Officer Down with Stephen Dorff instead?

Shelby Connors ( Shiloh Fernandez ) is a hard working man in need of money. When his extra shifts suddenly vanish that he though he would get, he meet criminal Trey ( Kevin Dillon ) who is well known for causing troubles. Trey suggest they rob a chosen location that should be easy while Shelby doesn´t want to get into trouble being in a serious relationship with his wife Caroline Connors ( Ashley Benson ) and their daughter Mila Connors ( Tia DiMartino ). Shelby finally accept to go along and help out but the robbery doesn´t go as planned. Innocent people are killed and even if they did get the money plus drugs, this causes some bigger issues for the both of them.

You could try find anything original about Mob Land and i promise you will not find anything that will surprise you. This is as traditional as you can expect with a pretty basic story regarding a robbery gone wrong, and there is even some car chasing scenes that we have seen a million times before. Now, what makes Mob Land a solid crime drama is actually the acting especially from 3 actors and that is Stephen Dorff, Kevin Dillon and actually John Travolta as well. I am especially suprised over Travolta this time since he had a couple of films that were not that good, but here it seems he feels inspired to act more in Mob Land and he´s actually not bad. I would also say that lead actor Shiloh Fernandez is not bad either as the criminal Shelby. Thanks to these characters in a very predictable plot, this actually helps Mob Land become more interesting. Different people with different life situations and problems is exactly what this film needed to work. If this film would have focused just being another criminal action film i think Mob Land would have easily been forgotten quickly. The dramatic tone of this film helps the story along the way and i especially enjoy seeing main character Shelby struggling, when he knows that he is in a really bad situation. Mob Land uses the small town location very well and capture the local community in a realistic way that could have taken place anywhere. I have to mention the beautiful cinematography by Nick Matthews ( who also worked on the latest Saw film called Saw X ) who clearly knew what this film needed to make a small American town be captured well on screen. Ok so we do have some problems with Mob Land, i can not deny that. The car chase scenes didn´t give this film anything interesting and i do feel that some of the shooting scenes could have been done better. Overall i do still enjoy Mob Land more than i expected since director Nicholas Maggio manage to make this film work through the dramatic performances. If you love crime thrillers you could do a lot worse than Mob Land and i may actually watch this film again soon. Mob Land may not hit any homeruns but definetely found a place for fans of this genre.

Rating: DDD

The 3 Worst Movies Of 2023

2023 is coming to an end!

A whole year of films in many different categories, genres and styles as well. I personally feel that this year had a couple of really good films that came out, i am especially thinking about Oppenheimer and Martin Scorsese´s latest film Killers Of The Flower Moon ( a review will be published in January ). I also really enjoyed the German Netflix film Blood & Gold, a film i feel is not being mentioned this year since it came out in spring. A very well made war movie with clear influences of legendary director Sergio Leone. If you have not seen this film this year you should definetely give it a watch.

So here we are folks, we have to mention the 3 worst films i did watch in 2023 who were all released this year as well. These are three films that i had a very hard time to finish and tried to find something positive to say about. So let´s get into it shall we?

1. Skinamarink

I am always positive for creative films who dare to do something different and i actually appreciate films who doesn´t follow the same Hollywood pattern that we are used to. When i first saw the poster of Skinamarink seeing some critics praising this film, i was actually curious to see it. I can honestly say that no matter how creative they tried to be on this film, this is a really, really boring horror film. And when i mean boring i falled asleep 3 times trying to finish this film. Skinamarink feels like a student film project that was more a experiment than an actual film, where director Kyle Edward Ball thought it would be a brilliant idea to film a wall for a very long time in case something will happen here. I understand what the film is trying to do from the eyes of a child at night time, but Skinamarink have nothing interesting to offer for horror fans or for independent film fans. The best way to explain what Skinamarink really is you have to imagine the following. Imagine you are watching lake water barely moving with no big wind, no fishes are jumping and nothing is happening for 100 minutes. Skinamarink is a big nothing and i question why this film does exist. Do yourself a big favor and avoid this film, there are far better choices if you want to see something closer to an indepenent film.

2. A Royal Christmas Crush

When it comes to watching predictable movies you can´t go wrong with a Hallmark production. You don´t even have to read the plot or watch any trailer to any of their films because you know exactly what will happen. Every year they throw out at least around 30 new christmas produced films and try to get some legendary actors as well if possible. For a very few times i could at least accept a christmas film such as The Mistletoe Secret in 2019 with DALLAS actor Patrick Duffy saving that film. But then we have Hallmark christmas film that are so terrible that you are wondering what you are really watching. That is exactly how i felt after watching A Royal Christmas Crush from director Marita Grabiak. A Royal Christmas Crush is done so extremely soft and sparkling that it feels like watching a horrible soap commercial dubbed in German, except that they try to speak British in this film instead. And that´s just one of the problems with this film, we also have terrible characters, horrible acting from pretty much all actors, no dialogue with any emotions at all and the christmas vibe doesn´t really feel that jolly at all. A Royal Christmas Crush is like having a bad headache that never goes away, i guarantee you will feel that same feeling if you actually watch this film.

3. Left Behind - Rise Of The Antichrist

How many of you remember the Kirk Cameron film Left Behind from the year of 2000? I actually had some fun with that film, especially when there were action scenes that looked like they were insired by Rambo 3 with Sylvester Stallone. Unfortunately the action scenes ended too fast and we are left with a very dull faith based Christian drama. However, in 2014 it was about to get even worse with the 2014 film version of Left Behind with Nicolas Cage, Lea Thompson and.... a lot of other names i can´t remember. The 2014 film version of Left Behind is one of the worst faith based dramas i have ever seen and is filled with so many problems. So in early 2023 it was time for the next Left Behind chapter and this time it turned out to be Herculers actor Kevin Sorbo in the lead role in Left Behind - Rise Of The Antichrist ( he also is the director of this film ). I will begin to say that at least this film is better than the 2014 film, and i do enjoy actor Neil McDonough short performances. But that´s where the positive ends for this film and let´s tell you why this is a bad faith based drama. This film takes itself way too serious and tries to make us believe that end days are here. Kevin Sorbo acts exactly the same as he always does, not many facial expressions and the rest of the cast ( except for legendary actor Corbin Bernsen ) looks like they are just reading dialogue from a paper and give no human emotions at all. If you want to watch a good faith based film i suggest you watch Nefarious with Sean Patrick Flanery. The only thing Left Behind - Rise Of The Antichrist will be remembered for is how many times Kevin Sorbo looks confused on camera.

There you go all my movie review readers worldwide this was my pick for the 3 worst films of 2023. I hope you all enjoyed this list and i will be publishing the final reviews of this year before this year ends. Have a wonderful christmas and enjoy all the wonderful food i sure am looking forward to some brännvin ( Swedish moonshine ) as well. See you all soon with my final reviews of this year.

Cheer from Daniel

I Slay On Christmas

Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year!

And in some ways that is true because what other time of the year do you get to see family when everyone is busy with work, school or having seizures from the latest news of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? I personally enjoy Christmas dinner where i can enjoy lots of food, have some brännvin ( like moonshine, the Swedish version ) and end up in a snow wrestling fight with your annoying neighbors. That´s the kind of Christmas i want every year, no family drama just have some fun instead. We have plenty of stress all over the year anyway so we definetely need a break now and then. Speaking about Christmas i am not the biggest fan of romantic Christmas films at all. Most of them look exactly the same and the plot seems to be written in 3 minutes. This is why i prefer to turn towards Christmas horror movies instead because they actually show the true meaning of Christmas. This is where it is ok to split your Uncle´s head with an axe or chop off your Post office workers arm because he delivered your letters late. There are so many wonderful Christmas horror movies to choose between and it might be difficuly knowing what title to choose. I would personally recommend the Christmas horror anthology movie A Christmas Horror Movie from 2015. This film have different Christmas stories from 3 different director´s and manage to bring the stories together in a surprisingly charming way. I actually enjoy all of the stories in this film for different reasons, but to see Santa Clause ( George Buza ) fight against Krampus is definetely a highlight. We even have legendary Star Trek actor William Shatner in this film as radio host DJ Dan. If you love anthology horror films you should definetely pick up A Christmas Horror Story on DVD or Blu Ray. Recently i sat down to go through new Christmas horor movies that have been released this year so far and decided to watch a film called I Slay On Christmas. The title itself seemed to be exactly something in my taste, since that´s exactly what i do when we bring out the Christmas Turkey and cut it up with an electric saw. A Christmas anthology film with several stories, could this be the horror film to watch this holiday of is it possible I Slay On Christmas is just as bad as The Island Boys ( rap pop? ) singles?

Different Christmas stories where each pine cone found in the forest tells a story for each one you touch. It will be a Christmas like no other, that you will most likely never forget.

If you have been worried that we won´t have any new Christmas movie to enjoy this year i can tell you that you have nothing to fear. I Slay On Christmas is exactly what we need this time of the year, a cheesy splatter tribute to the VHS violence era with lots of kills and naked women as well. It is almost as if they made this film knowing that Extreme Radical Swedish Feminists would go insane that this film does exist and for that i am very thankful. In many ways you could say that I Slay On Christmas have certain elements of inspiration of the 1984 classic Silent Night, Deadly Night without Santa Claus as the main character. The axe as a murder weapon is here and the Christmas spirit is also here as well. When you combine those two details together you know it´s a perferct holiday season for the whole family. When it comes to acting in a low budget film such as this one you know that it will be on a limited quality level. Let us begin with the most fun character and the greatest acting performance in this film as well. And this is where we find actor Joel D. Wynkpoop as the crazy character known as Drudge. Imagine the following combination of Tourette Guy on YouTube and a more pissed off version of Homer Simpson and this would describe the character of Drudge pretty good. When he really goes insane that´s where this film becomes almost like a satire of a serial killer. I Slay On Christmas tries to tell different stories where some of the stories works pretty good, but we also have a pretty weak segment as well. I personally enjoy the segment known as " Christmas Revenge ". Santa Claus here in this segment played by actor A.J. Laird gives a matching performance, the kind of Santa you would want to visit before Christmas dinner. So any problems with this film? Of course this is a very limited budget film and all the practical effects may not be perfect. Some of the acting from some actors are terrible as well. But i can accept this since i know this is meant to be an entertaining Christmas anthology horror film that doesn´t take itself too seriously. There are 5 directors in this film and the one i recognize mostly is of course Phil Herman, director of the Horrortales 666 Part 2 & 3. I think director Derek Braasch did the best segment of this film called Christmas Revenge where the practical effects work better than in the previous segments. Overall i would say that I Slay On Christmas is a fun anthology horror film if you don´t have a problem with low budget horror. Need something to watch this Christmas that doesn´t include a sparkling Hallmark production impact? Then i have a feeling that I Slay On Christmas might be what you are looking for.

Rating: DDD

35 Years Anniversary Review Of Fright Night Part 2

There are some horror films that manage to be just as good as they wear when they were released in cinema, no matter how many years have gone by. It doesn´t matter if it´s a creature feature horror film, a psychological horror film, what matters is that the film have a very powerful message and very memorable characters. Just look at the 1982 horror classic The Thing from director John Carpenter that is now 41 years old in 2023, but is still better than a lot of new horror films coming out this year. I have probably seen this film 20 times since the first time i saw it on VHS in the 80´s and it is still a damn good film for a number of reasons. I highly recommend you buy the Arrow blu ray release of The Thing because it has some really nice special features, and the film looks really good on this release. Now, let us focus on one specific year for a moment and let us go back to the year of 1985. The same year that British pop duo Eurythmics released their 4th studio album Be Yourself Tonight. What was so unique about the year of 1985? It was the year when director Tom Holland released his directorial debut horror film Fright Night. When it comes to vampire horror films this is one of the most beloved horror classics of the 80´s if you talk to horror fans worldwide. Fright Night have always had a special place in the horror community for being a bit different from other classic vampire films. Fright Night tells the story of 17-year-old Charley Brewster ( William Ragsdale ) who becomes very suspicious of his new neighbor Jerry Dandrige ( Chris Sarandon ). Especially when he witness that he is actually a vampire and try to tell his girlfriend Amy Peterson ( Amanda Bearse ) as well as his friend Edward "Evil Ed" Thompson ( Stephen Geoffreys ). They can´t take him very seriously so Charley decides to contact horror actor Peter Vincent ( Roddy McDowall ) to help him prove that his neighbor is a vampire for real. Fright Night is a film full of very powerful characters, classic vampire scenes and a very erotic undertone in certain scenes. 3 years after the success of Fright Night we got ourselves a sequel Fright Night Part 2, where both Willam Ragsdale and Roddy McDowall returned in their roles from the first film. I enjoyed the film back in the early 90´s when i first saw this sequel but i felt that it would be a good time to revisit this film this year, since the film turne 35 years old. Does this sequel still hold up after 35 years or have Fright Night Part 2 lost some of it´s magic and faded away?

Three years have passed since 20-year-old Charley Brewster ( William Ragsdale ) is trying to get back into a normal life after fighting vampires with Peter Vincent ( Roddy McDowall ). However, he is going to psychiatric therapy where he is trying to learn that he never really faced any real vampires, that in fact Jerry Dandridge ( Chris Sarandon ) was nothing but a serial killer posing as a vampire. Charley is now going to college and have a new girlfriend, Alex Young ( Traci Lind ). They both go and visit Charley´s friend Peter Vincent ( Roddy McDowall ) to spend an evening together. Right outside Peter´s apartment he notices three large crates being offloades from a truck. It seems Peter Vincent will have a new neighbor moving into this house of apartments. But it´s not only one woman known as Regine ( Julie Carmen ) moving in, it seems to be several mysterious people as well.

Whenever you make a sequel to a true classic you have a lot of pressure from the fans of the original film. And i can not imagine how director Tommy Lee Wallace must have felt at the time knowing that he might be critizised for doing anything different with the sequel. Is this sequel different from the original film? Yes, there are some big differences if we compare both films, but i don´t feel that this damage this film too much. I think director Tommy Lee Wallace knew he could not make the sequel look exactly like the first film so he did something he felt could make this sequel fun. Keeping the characters of Charley and Peter Vincent is of course the highlight of this films seeing them work together. The chemistry between William Ragsdale and Roddy McDowall is very clearly working in this sequel as well. Is the acting performances from them both as good as the original film? I would say that perhaps the performances are stronger in the first film but i still enjoy their performances in this sequel. Let us talk about something that i especially appreciate with Fright Night Part 2 outside of the main characters, and that is the monster gang lead by seductive vampire queen Regine ( played by actress Julie Carmen ). Each of the character of this gang have different personalities and abilities to attack humans. There is no question that the character of Regine is the most interesting evil character, but i do enjoy the roller blades vampire character known as Belle, played by actor Russel Clark. We even have a werewolf here as well in the gang called Louie ( played by actor Jon Gries, mostly known as Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite ). Now we have to talk about some of the problems with this sequel. It becomes very clear that Fright Night Part 2 is nowhere near as good as the original film. The scares in this film are weaker and the horror elements that made the original film so good doesn´t work in this sequel. I also feel that director Tommy Lee Wallace could not capture the true atmosphere from the original film either as director Tom Holland did. With all of this said i can still appreciate this film for at least trying to tell a different story of Charley and Peter Vincent. Fright Night Part 2 does have some issues but thanks to the vampire queen Regine i can actually have some fun with this sequel. Director Tommy Lee Wallace made a sequel to Fright Night that will most likely entertain 80´s vampire fans and especially Fright Night addicts. If you can accept some flaws with this film and take it for what it is you might actually enjoy yourself. Fright Night Part 2 knows what audience it is aiming for and im definetely a part of that audience.

Rating: DDD

Fear The Night

I don´t know about you but there are some TV series that stick on my mind for a number of reasons. TV series that you enjoyed watching, epsecially because of the main actor of the whole show. That is exactly why i enjoyed watching the 2010 Tv series known as Nikita with actress Maggie Q ( yes the bad ass chick from Die Hard 4.0 ). Nikita was exactly the kind of TV series i could just turn on just to enjoy myself watching classic assassination action. It was in no way intelligent or ground breaking, it was just pure action entertainment. I should probably mention that Nikita TV series is based on the 1990 cult classic French action film Nikita from director Luc Besson. If you have not seen Nikita TV series with Maggie Q i would recommend that you check it out. Speaking of actress Maggie Q she have done quite a lot of films in her career so far. And it´s not only action films, she have tried other genres as well such as the 2020 comedy The Argument. She have also tried doing horror films as well and especially one of them that i enjoyed is called Death Of Me. Released in 2020 from director Darren Lynn Boseman, this film tells the story of a couple on vacation in Thailand who discover a very strange video of themselves killing each other. Did this really happen or is there another explanation to this video? Death Of Me is actually quite a different kind of horror film than i usually see. Is it original in any way? Perhaps not but i do think the plot of this film is interesting. I know some movie critics would disagree with me but i would actually recommmend you to check it out. Maggie Q released a new film this year called Fear The Night that seemed to be a home invasion thriller, and since i am a fan of this genre i was curious to see if this film would be any good. Is it possible Fear The Night is one of the better home invasion thrillers in recent years, or should you watch the excellent home invasion film You´re Next ( my favourite film in this specific genre ) instead?

A group of female friends gather to celebrate a bachelorette party in a cabin out in the desert. What they don´t know is that a grop of criminals are looking for something hidden in their cabin and they are willing to kill anyone who stands in their way.

If you for some reason were hoping for a surprising twist or anything original in Fear The Night, i can tell you right away you are not going to find it here. This is a quite a typical home invasion thriller that we have seen in the past, the only difference is that this is actually a bachelorette party that gets invaded by strangers. Not a bad idea itself since there are plenty of films taking on the subject of a bachelorette party. Since i know actress Maggie Q have done several action films and she have proved herself to be good at doing physical action roles, i will have to say that Fear The Night is actually a disappointment. The idea surrounding criminals attacking a house out in the middle of nowhere with crossbows to attack is actually a fun idea. Why use a gun if you can kill people with arrows and no one will hear you shooting someone? On a positive note this film starts off pretty good with the women gathering to go celebrate together. Even the bachelorette party also starts off promising. I especially enjoy the performance of actor Geoff Pierson ( who you might recognize from TV series Dexter ) as Sheriff Bullard, too bad he wasn´t in more scenes in this film. Ok so let´s get into the problems with this film and let us begin with the criminals. If you want to make the attack scenes more effective you have to have cool evil characters. These men in this film are not good at portraying dangerous criminals. You don´t really feel threatened by them that much at all, perhaps only their leader might be the only one that at least does some kind of effort to look unstable. What about the acting? I wouldn´t say all of the actors are completely terrible, it´s just that their characters are not very interesting. You don´t really connect with any of the girls really other than Maggie Q´s character Tess. Speaking of Maggie Q i feel that she´s holding too much back in this film. She should have been killing more, show her survival mode even more than what we get in Fear The Night. Is this a horrible survival thriller? No, it´s just a little too boring to be honest. If you want to make a home invasion thriller work you have to put in some effort into the attacking scenes. Director Neil LaBute ( who directed the great thriller Lakeview Terrace ) have some cool ideas surrounding Fear The Night. It´s a shame he didn´t work harder on them and we might actually have a cool home invasion thriller here. As it stands now i don´t think many people will remember Fear The Night once they have watched this film.

Rating: DD

No One Will Save You

I remember back in the 90´s when my father made a phone call to me. This was a couple of years after my parents divorced and he was living in a summer cabin that he turned into a new home. So to this phone call, i remember how surprised i was when he told me what he just had experienced. It was early morning when he called me and this apparently happened at night time. A red light have been covering the cabin and my father witnessed some kind of flying object over his cabin. The specific details regarding the red light seemed very important since it was quite strong what i could understand. I tried to see if my father could remember any details regarding the flying object but what i understand it was difficult to see precisely since the red light was so strong. Either way it was a story that fascinated several family members for many years to come. Did he actually see a flying object over his cabin or was it something else? I have no idea honestly, i wasn´t there so i can´t say what this was. If i remember correctly he also mentioned this in a 90´s magazine who interviewed him regarding his experiences with spirits. All i remember was that a neighbor called Stig living on my mother´s street showed us the magazine, and i had no idea he would be in it. My father have since then met other flying objects, especially in a wheat field like a glowing bowl of some kind. Is this an alien life form visiting us? I am sure UFO experts would believe this is true, and i can´t say it´s all a lie since i wasn´t there. I am though fascinated about life on another planet and i wouldn´t be surprised if there is some kind if life form somewhere in a galaxy. Speaking of aliens most of you know how much i love the 1993 sci fi abduction drama Fire In The Sky. But there is an alien film i feel doesn´t get mentioned very often called Extraterrestrial from director Colin Minihan. A film about a group of friends going to a cabin over a weekend to enjoy themselves and are suddenly attacked by an alien life form trying to take them. Extraterrestrial may not be the best alien abduction film but definetely one of the more fun ones to watch. It´s actually really good looking and i think the alien scenes are effective. I especially enjoy legendary actor Michael Ironside as the character Travis who seems to know about these visitors. If you love alien horror films you should pick this film up on DVD or Blu Ray. Speaking of aliens not that long ago this autumn a new alien film called No One Will Save You Was released on streaming. I heard some positive reviews on this film and was curious to see if it would be any good. Is this a film that most horror fans will appreciate or is No One Will Save You not worth your precious time at all ?

Brynn ( Kaitlyn Dever ) lives alone on the outskirts of town, finding solace from her loneliness thrugh crafts, penning letters, and picking up new hobbies. One night she wakes up hearing strange noices from outside. She soon finds out that shes not alone in this house, that someone else have entered. It becomes clear this is no human either which makes things far more complicated.

I think it was a very clever choice to have a main character in No One Will Save You that really stands out in a smaller town. The character of Brynn really loves living in the past with her old fashioned dress, making her own dresses and building a smaller miniature village. This really make her more interesting since she clearly doesn´t like new technolgy and prefer writing letters by hand and creating things the old school way. She does have a TV but clearly doesn´t like using it since she keeps herself busy being creative. Actress Kaitlyn Dever ( who i especially remember from the really good Netflix mini series Unbelievable ) gives a solid performance as this young woman who is forced to not only try to survive but deal with a lot of trauma after losing her best friend in the past. It could have been another ordinary alien film but No One Will Save You make a different approach where this film is a mix of a home invasion film combined with influences from classics such as Invaders Of The Body Snatchers. The alien design looks like something similar to grey aliens with some body changes, who are also able to communicate with each other without using telepathy. Ok, so we have talked about some of the positive details about this film so we might as well get into something negative. Some of the CGI alien attack scenes could have been done better, i wouldn´t say it looks terrible but there is especially one scene where Brynn is attacked by an alien and you can sense that they must have done a lot of editing to fix that specific scene. The humans who have their bodies invaded by this alien life form should have been used more effective, where i would have liked to see something similar to the 1998 classic The Faculty. Overall, i still find myself having some fun with No One Will Save You. It is definetely not the best alien films i have seen, or will become a future cult film for UFO fans but will most likely be appreciated if you enjoy sci fi. The best way to describe who this film is for is fans who loves stories regarding space and extraterrestrial beings. Director Brian Duffield is clearly interested in the possiblility of another life form in space. Even though No One Will Save You have some issues this is still a film that´s far more better than any Kevin Sorbo faith based films, and that alone tells you why you should give No One Will Save You a chance. 

Rating: DDD

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter

A lot of people worldwide still love to read physical books, while some prefer sound books or digital books. I personally prefer physical books because i can pick it up anytime i want and read it without using any technology. Usually i do not read a lot of books every year, simply because it takes a long time for me to just finish one book. I am not one of those people who can finish a book over a weekend, i like to take my time and read one peacefully. I used to read more in the early 2000´s when i visited the local library more often, and looking back it was actually quite nice going there to find interesting books. It was here i saw the cover of the classic book Dracula from author Bram Stoker. I have seen the film Bram Stoker´s Dracula that is based on this book back in 1992 with Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves in cinema back in those days but i didn´t read the book until later. So after looking at it at the library i decided to buy myself a copy. For those who have not read the book, Dracula is a book inspired by historical figures such as Wallachian prince Vlad The Impaler or the countess Elizabeth Báthory. The book tells the story of Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, visits Count Dracula at his castle in the Carpathian Mountains to help the Count purchase a house near London. When things go wrong with three vampire women at the Dracula castle Jonathan escapes and ends up delerious in a Budapest hospital while Dracula takes a ship called the Demeter for England with boxes of earth from his home. He have some big plans ahead of him. The story of Dracula is a very powerful story and very fascinating to read. Even though you know this is not based on any true story it is still to this day a really good book. Speaking of the book of Dracula, in August this year a film based on a portion of the Dracula book went up in cinemas called The Last Voyage Of The Demeter, specifically focusing on the Demeter journey with Dracula on board. I got myself a blu ray copy of this film curious to see if this is any good. Is it possible this is the perfect horror film to watch this Christmas, or should you throw this one in the sea and watch Bram Stoker´s Dracula instead?

On August 6, 1897, the merchant ship Demeter washes ashore in England. Among the wreckage found by the police is the log kept by her Captain Elliot ( Liam Cunningham ). One month earlier, the Demeter makes port in Varna, Bulgaria to pick up cargo for transportation to London. The shipment, consisting of multiple large wooden crates, is transported by locals from Romania. However, the locals refuse to load the cargo on the ship when they see a dragon sign on one of the boxes. That is a bad sign and the locals refuse to continue their work, and they insist that they must leave the area before sundown. Captian Elliot manage to get the men he needs and thier journey towards England begin. They have no idea what is waiting for the crew on board this ship.

This is the kind of horror film that is specifically enjoyable for fans of Dracula or for those who have read the book of Dracula. When you only use a specific piece of a story from a book you have to be able to make it work on the big screen. And honestly i do feel that The Last Voyage Of The Demeter manage to construct a whole film from just a piece of a story. Let´s get into some of the details i feel makes this film interesting. The time period surrounding 1897 is captured pretty good through costume design, and especially when we see the merchant ship Demeter that looks great. Details such as how men worked together on a big merchant ship is also captured well here. Draula himself have an interesting and actually pretty effective look when you think about how many films have been made telling a story about him. They could have done the Christopher Lee look just to make it look old school, instead we get to have some fun for a change and actually see Dracula attack in different ways. I enjoy the performance of legendary actor Liam Cunningham ( probably most known for playing Davos Seaworth in TV series Game Of Thrones ) as Captain Elliot. He really feel so natural in this character that it´s easy to enjoy his screen presence. I also feel that actress Aisling Franciosi ( who did a really good performance in the Australian psychological thriller The Nightingale, definetely worth checking out ) as the character Anna is one of the most interesting characters in this film. So what issues do i have with The Last Voyage Of Demeter? I personally feel that some of the characters on board this ship could have delivered stronger performances. You can almost sense that certain actors didn´t take their roles as serious as they should have and become pretty dull to watch some of their dialogue scenes. Thankfully this film is still good enough to at least be interesting because of the background story of the voyage with Dracula. Director André Overdal ( who directed one of my personal favourite horror film of 2016 called The Autopsy Of Jane Doe ) have made a beautiful horror film that´s actually effective at certain times, even though i would have liked this film to be a little more brutal. The Voyage Of The Demeter is no vampire classic in any way but is solid enough to entertain fans of this specific genre. I suggest you pick up a blu ray copy of this film as well, if you want a cozy Christmas in the company of pure evil. To me that does sound like my kind of Christmas celebration.

Rating: DDD

Soul Mates

Most people dream about finding that special partner who you feel is the one you want to spend your life with. Some people are very lucky finding someone while for some people it is much more difficult finding that special one. I have always believed that you should´t look too much but just see what happens. Let´s say if you go out dancing, don´t set up too high expectations and just enjoy the evening instead. If you do meet someone and you enjoy spending time with that person, just take it from there and see what happens. I remember during my single years in my early 20´s, i wasn´t even looking for relationships but ended up in one with a girl named Marie. She was obsessed in the James Cameron film Titanic and watched it every week, even played the sountrack CD constantly. After we broke up i promised myself that im not going into a relationship with a Titanic obssessed woman again, it was too much to handle hearing Titanic soundtrack on repeat. Speaking of relationships i enjoy watching short films now and then. I usually don´t watch a lot of them simply because i usually watch full feature films instead. You might think short films are easy to do but there is quite a lot of work behind a short film if you really want people to notice your film. It has to have a interesting story or have great characters included. One short film i remember from this year that i watched on the YouTube channel Omeleto is a short film called Vanilla. Directed by Chase Pearson this short films is about single man known as Clark ( Aaron Latta-Morissette ) who goes on a date with Helen ( Melanie Rains ). It turns out that Helen have a very strange request that Clark did not expect. Vanilla is a charming story about dating gone terribly wrong and if you enjoy short films you should check it out on YouTube channel Omeleto. I had an oppurtunity to see a short film called Soul Mates from director Michelle Tomlison. I have not seen any of her previous films so far, so i was curious to see what Soul Mates is all about. Is this one of the better short films this year so far or is it not as good as i was hoping it would be?

Sean ( Jim Sea ) arrives home from the hospital to tell his wife Abby ( Kristine Isom ) some bad news. He is ill and may not live very long, so they begin to plan vacations to enjoy their final moments together before Sean is ready to pass on. One day in bed Abby watches her husband fall asleep for good, which is breaking her apart. They have lived so many years together and now she has to adjust to a life on her own.

If you are not a fan of dramatic full feature films or short films in this category, this might not be what you are looking for. However, if you want to see a beautiful story being told about an older couple going through their last moment together i guarantee you will be emotionally affected. The scene where the character Sean ( Jim Sea ) tells his wife Abby ( Kristine Isom ) he doesn´t have much time left, you would have to be a very cold person if that scene doesn´t make you cry. I think what especially makes that scene strong is the performance by actors Jim Sea and Kristine Isom, they really try to capture this sad moment through their acting. I personally think this is the best part of the short film Soul Mates and i wish it would have lasted a few more minutes with the magical screen presence of Jim Sea and Kristine Isom, i really love their dialogue scenes. So when we get to the scene where the character Nigel ( Josh Horton ) meets Poppy ( Sydney Carvill ) it is a sweet story but it´s just not as powerful as the story of Sean and Abby. There is no doubt that Soul Mates is a beautiful short film that will definetely make you think about how important it is to live life filled with good memories, knowing that one day it will end. Director Michelle Tomlinson deliver a short film that does not only look really good but also have a very important message with Soul Mates that i believe a lot of people worldwide can relate to. If you love to see stories that are meant to make you feel the atmosphere and emotions from a powerful story, Soul Mates will definetely find it´s way into your heart.

Rating: DDD

A Royal Christmas Crush

A christmas without Hallmark Channel, is that even possible? I am afraid so since these films get millions of people watching every year. People love Hallmark christmas movies more than anything, and i mean love them i mean in every possible way. Even more than their own husbands, just ask any married woman and i can guarantee they will agree. No matter what you personally think about Hallmark Channel you can not deny they don´t know what they are doing. They produce these films knowing that this is for a certain audience who loves romantic stories and who dream of finding your lifetime partner. Over the last 20 years at least i have seen some Hallmark Channel christmas films on TV. While some have not been so good ther have been a few that you could at least watch without getting seizures. For example back in 2019 i reviewed the Hallmark christmas movie The Mistletoe Secret and didn´t give it a horrible rating, but that was because of Dallas actor Patrick Duffy and his charming character Mack Eubanks. In some ways you could say that Patrick Duffy saved the film The Mistletoe Secret from being another generic Hallmark film because of his screen presence. I might as well add that he did deliver the best dialogue scenes as well in this film. Every year i try to go through some titles from Hallmark Channel or Lifetime movies ( even though i personally prefer Lifetime thrillers ). Since i try to review some Christmas movie every year if possible, i decided to have a look aroun what Hallmark have released this year so far. After going through a whole list that never seemed to end, i decided to pick a film called A Royal Christmas Crush. I didn´t watch any trailer and only saw the poster for this film just to know as little as possible. Is this the greatest christmas movie of this year or should you run and hide underneath the avalanches, hoping you never see this film in daylight again?

Ava Jensen ( Katie Cassidy ) accepts the oppurtunity to work at the Royal Ice Hotel, where the Royal family of Friorland is coming to stay. While all the work is done and the Royal Ice Hotel is ready to welcome their guests, the Royal family arrives and Ava suddenly have eye contact with Prince Henry ( Stephen Huszar ). It might seem innocent at first but as they get to know each other on a personal level, something magical is about to happen.

Ok people, we need to talk.

I can accept bad acting and horrible dialogue if it´s done in a charming way. I can even accept a horrible story as long as the film is entertaining.

But come on, what the hell is this Hallmark Channel?

A Royal Christmas Crush is a 82 minutes long romantic christmas drama that may please housewife mothers, other than that i don´t believe you will find many more who will enjoy this film. This is one of the christmas Hallmark films that have such terrible acting that you will wonder who on earth thought this cast would be perfect for A Royal Christmas Crush? I got bored already after watching this film for 15 minutes and i knew i had to suffer at least 1 hour and 7 minutes more before the film ends. And when you feel like this after 15 minutes of play time i think that is a sign that this is a truly awful start. Let us begin talking about the character of Prince Henry ( i promise this is not a parody of Prince Harry ) played by actor Stephen Huszar. In this film it´s supposed to look like he is around 30 years old, when in fact in real life he is almost 40 years old. The problem with that is that you can tell he isn´t 30 years old and definetely looks much older. I realise that people may age differently so it´s not to judge someone´s personal look, but when it becomes obvious you are playing a character that doesn´t even seem to be younger than his own parents, it does look quite strange. The acting from Stephen Huszar is just as exciting as watching chestnuts roasting over an open fire. Actress Katie Cassidy ( who can be seen in the 2006 horror film Black Christmas as well ) is in this film and...not much else?. She looks lovely and i am sure she is a nice woman but her acting is not good. The other characters in this film don´t really bring anything special to their characters. What about the story? There is a story here but i promise you will not remember it after watching this film. Anything positive to say? The inside of the ice royal ice hotel does look nice and that´s about it. A Royal Christmas Crush will definetely go down in the year of 2023 as the most forgettable christmas movie of this year. Director Marita Grabiak directed 7 episodes of the classic TV series Angel between the years 2001 - 2003 and have directed quite a lot of christmas films since then. I would suggest that she should return to the Angel formula and give us a film similar to that TV series instead of films such as A Royal Christmas Crush. Whiskey anyone? If not i might need a lot of it after my experience with this film.

Rating: D

Sly

There are some actors who have a very magical screen presence, no matter what film category they choose to take on. To be able to have that something special you have to be able to play characters that people can relate to or feel a connection with. Just look at legendary actor Robert De Niro´s performance as Rubert Pupkin in Martin Scorsese´s classic The King Of Comedy. What can we relate with a character such as Rupert? I think if we especially know someone who is struggling with mental health, or had a difficult child hood not being like everyone else. The fact that Rupert is obsessed about becoming a star showed a realistic portrait of a man who is not in control, or know how to behave like a normal human being. Rupert is simply himself only, even though he should have gotten help a long time ago. If you have not seen this film on a physical copy or streaming you should check it out. Since i mentioned Robert De Niro we have to talk about a completely different legendary actor. One of those actors who have had an incredible career in Hollywood is of course legendary actor Sylvester Stallone. For most people he is of course mostly known for his iconic character Rocky Balboa, while some people think of Rambo of course. But there are so many other films Sylvester Stallone did in his career that it is easy to forget some of the classics you would find in the VHS rental stores. I personally like to think about the 1986 action film Cobra from director George P. Cosmatos ( who also directed Rambo - First Blood II ), where Stallone plays the cop character Marion Corbetti who protects witness Ingrid ( Birgitte Nielsen ) from a murderous cult. Cobra is filled with fun dialogue, plenty of action scenes and hits the right tone for a fun 80´s action film. Not that long ago we could see a documentary film on Netflix about action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, and now it is time for Sylvester Stallone to get his very own documentary film as well in the Netflix documentary film Sly. Is this one of the better documentary films this year or is Sly not as powerful as we were hoping it would be?

In these days you barely see any Hollywood icons anymore. But back in the 70´s it was a whole different era of actors who made a huge impact on the big screen such as Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman and many more. But one specific actor created 2 very big franchises that have been loved by many generations of movie fans worldwide. Sylvester Stallone created Rocky and gave us Rambo as well. In a new documentary film calle Sly he tells his story how it all started, and how he actually thought about leaving acting.

To fully enjoy a documentary film such a Sly i think it helps to be a fan of at least some of Sylvester Stallone´s films. He talks a lot about how much the character Rocky Balboa means to him personally, but he also tell us how important this character is for fans worldwide. I think the most interesting part of his Rocky conversations is when he gets to the film Rocky V from 1990. A film that actually didn´t do very well at the box office and the film critics did not enjoy the film. You can tell that Stallone was struggling during this time period, because he had some big issues in his personal life that affected a lot of choices they made during the making of Rocky V. I actually would have liked to hear the director of Rocky V known as John G. Avildsen ( director of the first Rocky film as well as Karate Kid 1 - 3 ) talk about the making of this film in a longer interview clip, since Stallone seems to have regrets how this film ended up being. Even though it is fun hearing stories surrounding the rest of the Rocky franchise i personally think it is more interesting where Stallone bring up films such as comedies as Oscar and of course Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. It becomes very clear that this was a time period where Sly was struggling finding projects that he really enjoyed working on. I have seen both of these films and honestly they are not that good. Of course he knew he had to go back making action films again so he made a very wise decision taking on Demolition Man. We also find out some interesting details as well from Stallone regarding his praised performance in Cop Land, where he in my opinion made one of his best acting performances. I do feel that he should have said something more regarding Cop Land since this is a very unique film in Stallone´s career. Sly is definetely an interesting documentary film and to hear Stallone talking openly all the struggles in life. Remember how i mentioned the character Rupert Pupkin in The King Of Comedy? Stallone may not had the same mental problems as that character, but it becomes clear he suffered as well in many different ways. Sly shows from both sides of his life, his Hollywood life and his personal life filled with struggles. If he only could have given more depth regadring making Cop Land i might have given this documentary film a higher rating but it definetely is worth checking out. Sly is a personal portrait of a true Hollywood legend and will definetely give you a a different perspective on him as a family man. Not sure what to watch this weekend? I suggest you head over to Netflix and give director Thom Zimny´s well made film Sly a watch.

Rating: DDD