Night Swim

Swimming pools, is there anything more beautilful than a swimming pool in the summer? Of course i don´t mind seeing women in swimsuits or in bikinis, but there is just something special about swimming inside a swimming pool, hugging the ladder afterwards thanking the swimming pool because i love it there. I would like to hug the whole swimming pool if possible, unfortunately that is not possible so at least hugging the ladder works for now. I remember the very first time i tried a very excotic swimming pool in Gran Canaria, Las Palmas back in 1990. I was 12 years old and experienced the Las Palmas heat wave so the exotic swimming pool we went to was my absolute favourite place. Since then i have tried several swimming pools in Spain, Turkey, Greece, Thailand and in other countries. I do visit public swimming pools here in Sweden as well especially during summer but i prefer the ocean on a very white beach. Either way, it´s nice to at least experience exotic swimming pools in different countries. Unfortunately not everyone staying at the pool don´t want to hear my Slovakian saxophone folk rock music. Either they must have terrible taste in music or i have excellent taste in music, i believe the answer is the last option that i mentioned. Let´s change the subject and talk about somthething completely different. Let´s talk about short films for a while and i personally believe that short films can be really good. Some might be ok while others turn out to be better than expected. One short film that have actually been talked about for a number of years is a short film called Night Swim released in 2014. Directed by Bryan McGuire the short film tells the story of a young woman swimming in a swimming pool and dives, as she sees a strange figure standing on the side of the swimming pool. She swims to the surface and see no one. She goes underneath the water again and see a strange figure again. Who is this person? An interesting idea for a short film and i did enjoy it. I did not expect to see this short film made into a full feature film but here we are with the same director of the short film returning to this film as well. Is this a surprisingly good horror film or is Night Swim just as exciting as going on a bird watching trip to Bristol, England on a rainy day?

Former baseball pro Ray Waller ( Ryatt Russell ) moves in to a new house with his wife Izzy Waller ( Amelié Hoeferle ) and their 2 children. Ray is trying to get back to living a normal life since his body is still struggling through an illness. The house is included with a swimming pool and this could be a perfect moment for Ray to get back into better shape. What the family doesn´t know is that this swimming pool is carrying a dark secret from the past.

When you make a full feature film based on a short film there are so many things you have to think about. First of all you are supposed to capture the right tone of the short film that people appreciated, and you should also be creative and still make it work as a full feature film. I also feel that you have to have a clear vision of what you want the full feature film to deliver to the audience. In the case of Night Swim i can sense that they at least tried to do something similar to the 2014 short film. Just because they tried to make a full feature film doesn´t mean they managed to pull this off completely. Before i start giving you my personal opinion regarding this film let me mention at least something positive. Since i feel horror films have a hard times these days finding a different kind of story you could say that Night Swim is not a typical horror release when it comes to the plot. We have not seen a full feature horror film in recent years that´s especially connected to a swimming pool so i do appreciate someone trying a different path. Does it make this film original? I suppose not but at least it´s different in the typical horror genre release so that is positive. I do like the side story regarding the father being a professional baseball player trying to get back through rehabilitation, especially when he´s really weak and you can sense he is struggling. It makes the character feel realistic and it could happen to anyone. Ok so let´s get to my negative thoughts. Being a horror film you would think that Night Swim would use the swimming pool effective to scare the audience. Unfortunately it feels like they didn´t really use this idea in a effective way. In the short film it worked because the mystery surrounding an unknown person showing up out of nowhere near the pool, it made you question what is going on. In the full feature film Night Swim they try and do something similar but it is difficult to feel scared when it just doesn´t feel that effective. The acting is for the most part not that good and this film would have been better with stronger characters. The ugly silly looking dead person in the pool is hillariously bad, this was supposed to be scary? Director Bryce McGuire made a good short film with Night Swim, unfortunately he can´t make it work as good when he makes a full feature film. It is like he just put in too many scenes without making any bigger effort. Night Swim might please some horror fans, but if you want to be scared don´t expect much of this film. Not a terrible film but a film i will most likely not remember.

Rating: DD

Gods Of The Deep

Even though i have not travelled around England ( as i hopefully will some day in the future ) i have been several times to London. Everytime i have been there i have done something that is very traditional in England and that is to have a real British Breakfast. So for those of you who don´t know what a traditional English breakfast looks like it should include back bacon, eggs, British sausage, baked beans, bubble and squeak, fried tomato, fried mushrooms, black pudding, with fried and toasted bread on the side. Of course i would imagine that not att British people enjoy this traditional Breakfast meny but i actually do. Just to sit down and enjoy all this lovely food in the early hours of the morning is lovely indeed. I remember one of the visits in London i even had a glass of whiskey as well in the morning at a pub, just to start my day off in a pleasant way in London city. I have been a really big fan of British movies and TV series ever since the late 80´s and i have almost lost count of how many British crime series i have seen. I would say in the last 15 years i have been looking into several British independent films as well since they clearly make some interesting horror films. Let´s especially talk about one specific director who i discovered in the 2018 independent horor film known as Winterskin. The director i am thinking about is known as Charlie Steeds who have been very productive in the British independent cinema making several films. I have basically seen almost all of his films except for one, i have not seen the 2016 film known as Deadman Apocalypse. I will check it out at some point but i actually bought several of his films on DVD. I own Winterskin, The Barge People, A Werewolf In England, Escape From Cannibal Farm, Death Ranch, Werewolf Castle, The Haunting Of The Tower Of London and An English Haunting on physical DVD release. So i can assure you i am a big fan of director Charlie Steeds which is why i have really been looking forward to see his latest film Gods Of The Deep on VOD. A film that seems inspired by a Lovecraftian style, and i am a big fan of the Lovecraftian film Dagon from 2001. Is it possible Gods Of The Deep is one of director Charlie Steeds better films or is this not as good as i was hoping it would be?

A deep sea submarine team is sent on a mission to explore a strange structure in an oceanic trench of Antarctica. What they don´t know is that beneath this structure lies a very old secret that the modern world have never seen before.

Already from the beginning you can tell that director Charlie Steeds steer us on the right path to where we want to be. We get a film that reminds me dearly of classics such as the 1989 horror sci fi film Leviathan, the classic with Robocop actor Peter Weller. Even if these two films are very different in many ways i feel that Gods Of The Deep tries to go into a similar path, except this film is of course not as violent as Leviathan. That is completely fine since i feel the story surrounding Gods Of The Deep is being told more seriously, while Leviathan for example didn´t really have a deep story but just focused being a fun sci fi action horror monster film. There are some details i noticed in this film that are quite different from the previous films of director Charlie Steeds, and that is especially the set up of the story taking place underneath the sea. This is something we have not seen Charlie Steeds do in the past, even though the film Freeze did have fish creatures from the ocean but not any underwater attacks like in Gods Of The Deep. Just the fact that director Charlie Steeds took on this project shows that he was prepared to go in a different direction, and i actually feel he managed to do this well. The cinematography from Charlie Steeds looks great, the Lovecraftian monster design looks cool and the crew sent out on this mission turns out to be a great match for the characters. Speaking of characters there are several of returning actors from some of director Charlie Steeds previous films. You find actors such as Tim Cartwright, Rory Wilton and actress Rowena Bentley and i have to say i am delighted to see them in the cast. Some of the other actors do ok in their roles, but these three actors really make an impact. I have to mention actress Makenna Guyler, she surprised me in a positive way. Anyhthing missing in Gods Of The Deep? Perhaps some more bloody scenes and to see the Lovecraftian creature more in certain scenes. Otherwise i had a good time with Gods Of The Deep since i am a fan of underwater sci fi horror. Director Charlie Steeds proves once more why he gives hope to independent horror films with Gods Of The Deep. If you are a fan of Lovecraftian films you might actually enjoy this, it´s another delightful release from Charlie Steeds.

Rating: DDD

Pig Killer

If you ask any religuous person how they look at the meaning of evil they will all have their own view on what true evil means. It may be connected to what some say is known as Satan, while others are especially thinking about demons. Then you have those with faith who believe that true evil comes from spirits who are filled with hate. I personally believe more in different diagnoses and while some people are very mentally unstable they usually have a medical reason for that. I have heard for so many years especially from American evangelical christians some of the most bizarre ideas, such as you become evil if you masturbate and welcome demons inside you. They also say that My Little Pony horses with rainbows can also demon possess your daughter if she plays with the rainbow horses. I have even heard that if you buy a coffee rainbow mug at 7 Eleven and hold that mug in your hand you can also become demon possessed. Now please be honest, does anything that i just told you what some American evagelical christians have said sound realistic at all? No? That´s exactly what i was thinking. When it comes to evil people we are usually talking about people who are very mentally disturbed with several diagnoses. They feel no remorse at all, they don´t care if they took another life because they just do what they believe is right. In some cases there are mentally unstable people who will tell you a voice ( or several voices ) told you to kill another person. There are many murderers worldwide who are considered to be extremely disturbed and a classic criminal case that shows a perfect example of that is the serial killer known as Robert William Pickton. He was arrested in 2002 and convicted in 2007 of second-degree murder of 6 women and suspected of killing many more victims. I remember following this case on CNN back in 2002 since this was a big story at that time. I have also seen an interesting documentary regarding serial killer Pickton. Last year the distribution company Vinegar Syndrome released a film inspired on the serial killer Robert Pickton who is played by actor Jake Busey ( son of actor Gary Busey ) in the film Pig Killer on blu ray. I just had to pick this film up since i am a big fan of films based on real serial killers. Is this a film you should pick up from Vinegar Syndrome or is it even worse than you expected?

Robert Pickton ( Jake Busey ) may seem like another ordinary farmer, especially running a pig farm. But there is another truth hiding withing this farm where Robert is a brutal serial killer, picking up hookers and dismember their bodies at his farm. Police Detective Oppal ( Michael Paré ) and his collegue Detective Schneer ( Robert Rhine ) are on the cases of the missing women and see a connection to Robert´s farm.

I have seen quite a lot of serial killer over the years and there are several titles that are inspired by different serial killers. Pig Killer is what you would call a pretty ordinary serial killer story that we have seen several times before. However, the biggest difference is that this film is quite brutal in some scenes and you actually see Robert Pickton butcher women´s bodies. I can honestly say that a bigger film company would never have done a film like this since some details are very gory, and i have to say i really appreciate that this film really tried to portait how disturbed Robert Pickton really is where he loves cutting women into body pieces. There are some issues i have with this film but let me talk about what i especially enjoy other than the gory scenes. The lead role played by actor Jake Busey actually took me by surprise. I have seen Jake Busey in several films in the past and i can´t say i have been a big fan of some of his film. But in the film of Pig Killer he really show that if he get the right part he does know how to act good. The performance as serial killer Robert Pickton is stronger than i have ever seen Jake Busey do in any of his other films, so he really proved that he was a great choice for this role. I especially feel his performance is best when he loses control completely mentally and can´t control himself. I also enjoy the acting from actor Lew Temple ( who played the character Axel in the TV series The Walking Dead ) as the character David. The chemistry between actors Michael Paré and Robert Rhine both playing detectives investigating the missing women also pull of a good performance. I have to mention actress Kate Patel who also deliver with her performance as the unstable beauty Wendy. Ok so there are especially two things i feel this film does wrong and let us begin with the happy playing music in some scenes. The music doesn´t really fit in well with the story and doesn´t help the serial killer tone of the film. The second issue is that this film is 2 hours long. I understand that there is a lot to tell regarding the crimes of Robert Pickton but in this playtime we don´t really find out that much regarding his victims. I would still say i do enjoy Pig Killer as a serial killer film because this is a interesting story and Jake Busey really pulled of a great performance. Director Chad Ferrin proves with Pig Killer you can make a brutal serial killer film on a limited budget, and make it look good as well. If you are a fan of this specific genre then you will most likely enjoy Pig Killer as well. Get your physical copy of this film at Vinegar Syndrome and support quality indepenent films.

Rating: DDD

20 Years Anniversary Review Of AVP: Alien Vs. Predator

In space no one can hear you scream.....

That has to be one of the most classic words written on any movie poster and that is of course written on the movie poster of the fantastic science fiction horror film Alien from 1979. Directed by legendary director Ridley Scott this is one of the most beloved science fiction films in movie history. A very well made horror film for it´s time and powerful acting performances from the whole cast where especially actress Sigourney Weaver became a female icon action hero as the character Ellen Ripley. Not only is Alien a true classic but the film also proved that on a budget of 11 million US dollars they managed to make a sci fi horror film that looked far more modern than anything we have seen before. I can not tell you how many times i have seen this film but i never get tired of it. Alien is without a doubt one of those films that you simply have to see especially if you can watch it on a 4K player with really good sound and lovely picture quality. The 1986 sequel Aliens is one of my personal favourite sci fi horror films of all time and i can watch this film over and over again. The Alien sequels that followed turned out to be of very different levels of qualities, where especially one of the films failed pretty big to capture the spirit of Alien. All of you who grew up in the 80´s might remember the 1987 action classic Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the best action films of the 80´s. I really enjoy Predator 2 with Danny Glover as well even though it´s a very different film than the original in many ways. The franchise of the Predator got more sequels as well and they also turned out to be less good. In the year of 2004 director Paul W.S. Anderson ( director of the classic martial art film Mortal Kombat in 1995 ) released his film AVP: Alien Vs. Predator where he combined both of these aliens in the same film. At the time this film came out a lot of fans of both franchises had their doubts, would it even be possible to match these aliens together on the big screen? I watched this film in cinema back in 2004 and i also bought the double DVD back in the day it was released. I decided to revisit the film now in 2024 since this film turn 20 years old. Is this still an entertaining action horror film or have AVP aged just as much as American televangelist Kenneth Copeland´s own video sermons?

A Predator ship arrives on Earth and use a heating device to melt a hole in Antarctic ice. Meanwhile, a satellite detects the heat bloom beneath Bouvetoya, and island about 1,600 km of the coast of Antarctica. Wealthy industrialist Charles Weynland ( Lance Henriksen ) discovers through thermal imaging that there is a pyramid buried 2,000 feet beneath the ice. He assembles a team of experts on a mission to investigate this pyramid underneath the surface.

When this film came out 20 years ago i already knew it wasn´t going to be as good as Alien, Aliens, Predator or Predator 2. I knew that this would be a completely different approach on these aliens battling each other and i knew i shouldn´t take this film too seriously. Perhaps that is why i enjoyed this film back in 2004 because im a big fan of both franchises and just wanted a fun sci fi horror action film. Looking at this film now after 20 years a lot has happened, especially when it comes to CGI effects and you can tell this film looks very 2000´s in the style of how this film was made. And i am completely fine with that, because honestly there are plenty of monster movies out there that are far more worse than AVP if we are being honest. You can probably say that AVP is a perfect example of how a popcorn movie night should look like, if you just want to unplug your brain cells and just be entertained for a moment. I do have some issues with this film but let´s talk about what i enjoy about AVP. I feel that having this film take place in Antarctica is a really good idea, it is almost as if director Paul W.S. Anderson felt influenced by John Carpenter classic The Thing where an alien monster attacks human beings. This is pretty much the same in AVP except here we have 2 different alien spieces attacking each other while humans are sacrificed as well. While the film The Thing is much better as a horror film than AVP on many different levels i do feel that if they were going to make this concept work between alien species they choosed a perfect location for this battle. Regarding the monster design you can tell especially that the Predator aliens looks different from the Predator films. I can still accept that though since they still function well as alien hunters. The classic Alien design is still there with some changes made as well, i don´t have a problem with that either since i enjoy the battle scenes. Lead actress Sanaa Lathan as the character Alexa turns out to be pretty tough on the big screen, which fits well with this film. Ok so one of my biggest issues in this film is Italian actor Raoul Bravo as the character Professor Sebastian. He does a terrible performance in this film and you can not connect with this character at all. I would like to know if he even wanted to be in this film at all because he doesn´t seem engaged into his character. You can tell that the plot have several diffent issues that could have been fixed, especially when they can´t even explain the pyramid maze properly. If we look outside of these issues i do still feel that AVP is still a horror action made for fans of sci fi horror. Director Paul W.S. Anderson give us a film that knows what audience it was made for and that alone shows that he have passion for this project. AVP: Alien Vs. Predator is a film that may not change movie history in any way, but for a popcorn movie night this is definetely a great choice. Let the alien battle begin and sit back and enjoy this silly but entertaining monster film.

Rating: DDD

40 Years Anniversary Review Of The Terminator

We might thing we know what the future will look like but we never really know the truth. We can speculate and believe we know, but the truth of the matter is we will only have to see what the future really looks like. Does it matter if we have flying cars, or if we have more advanced robots serving our lunches? To be honest im not worried about any of that, i would be more concerned if we will actually get a World War III with nuclear weapons across the planet. If it would happen we may never see humanity return as it once was, or at least it may take a very long time until humans can move on with their lives after all of their loved ones lost their lives and all the destroyed homes that is just a pile of dust. I want to believe we can make a better future and we really should do the best we can for the next generation. This is why it is so important that world leaders have to work together to prevent a World War III from happening, that we can not let some crazy dictator play with human lives just to please himself. There are so many films that have portrayed what the future might look like in classics such as Back To The Future Part 2, Blade Runner, The Running Man, Demolition Man, Total Recall and many others. We could probably dig deeper into the list of titles if we wanted to but i would like to talk about one film that changed movie history in the combination of sci fi action films. And that is the 1984 film known as The Terminator from director James Cameron. I first saw this film in 1987 when i was 10 years old on VHS after i borrowed it from my class mate Nicklas. And i still remember the iconic VHS cover of Arnold Schwarzenegger on the front of The Terminator how a movie poster should look like. At that time i fell in love with this film because it was really good. Since then i have seen this film a lot of times both on TV channels, on DVD and on blu ray as well over the years. I realised this year that in 2024 it will be 40 years since The Terminator came out in cinemas so i thought the timimg would be perfect to make a 40 years anniversary review. Is this still one of the true great action films of the 80´s or have The Terminator aged much more than i expected while i revisited the film?

Los Angeles, 1984. A cyborg known as a Terminator ( Arnold Schwarzenegger ) have been sent back in time originally coming from the year of 2029. He is on a mission to kill waitress Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton ) who is the mother of her son John Connor, the leader of the Resistance fighters in the future. Also sent from the future is the Resistance fighter Kyle Reese ( Michael Biehn ) who will do everything to stop the Terminator to make sure Sarah Connor must survive and also save mankind from extinction by Skynet.

When the action scenes of a film made in 1984 looks better than most Marvel superhero films released last year says a lot of lack of quality that modern films have compared to The Terminator. Not only is this a very professional made film considering the budget, this is also a action film with really strong characters, with a very cool futuristic design of how machines have taken over. In some ways you could say that The Terminator is more original than most 80´s action films since this film have a complete different depth than sci fi action films had at that time. There is a serious tone in the story regarding Reese protecting Sarah Connor from the deadly cyborg. There are so many details to be pleased about when it comes to The Terminator. For example the action scenes in the future on the battlefield with the machines attacking humans. The machines looks far more advanced than any spaceship scenes in the Marvel film The Marvels and the Terminator itself looks really cool when we finally see what these cyborgs really looks like. The acting performance from Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator fits him perfectly with no facial expressions, no emotions, just like a robot. To be honest he was the perfect choice for this role and he have proved this in several films in this franchise as well. Speaking of the cast i have to mention Michael Biehn as Resistance fighter Kyle Reese is one of those iconic 80´s action characters that matches so well with the story. Of course we also have a strong female performance here from actress Linda Hamilton as the hunter Sarah O´Connor. I personally feel that The Terminator is one of those films that manage to combine science fiction and action in a very effective way than most films in this genre. The action scenes are hard hitting, violent and on a technical level this film does everything you could wish for. Director James Cameron did not only give us an iconic film with The Terminator he also proved that you don´t need a complicated story to make futuristic action films look cool. There is no doubt in my mind, The Terminator is a must have on physical media in every film collection and still kicks ass after 40 years.

Rating: DDDD

Lift

In the spring of 1993 when i was 15 years old i was about to take on the biggest school project i have ever done at that time, I was going to paint a painting that was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh´s sunflower paintings in art class. Now, i was in no way a professional painter at this age, i still decided to pick this project myself since i really liked the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. I remember my art teacher told me that it is not easy to capture the same style as Van Gogh but she did like my choice. So i started working on this painting and i also stayed longer at the art class painting studio after school, because i really wanted to pull this off as good as i possibly could. When the painting was finally made and we had an exhibition for all art class students, my art teacher was suprised how well i have done my painting. It may not have looked exactly like a Van Gogh sunflower painting but i did manage to capture his style. I was pretty pleased with the result and kept the painting. The painting was one year later given to a friend of mine as a gift, since he really loved my painting. I could have kept it i suppose but this male friend of mine was an even bigger Vincent Van Gogh fan than me, so i felt that the painting would be in good hands. I didn´t really continue any art class after those years simply because i got interested in several other subjects but im happy i tried it and i did learn some interesting styles of art at that time. Since then i have seen paintings in Europe while i travelled to cities such as Amsterdam and London. A lot of films have been inspired by art of many different kinds, where especially heist films have been popular over the years in films such as Entrapment and The Thomas Crown Affair ( 1999 version ). I would also recommend you to check out art inspired Netflix horror thriller Velvet Buzzsaw that is clearly inspied by the art scene of Los Angeles. Speaking of Netflix we did get a new heist film this year released in early 2023 called Lift with comedian actor Kevin Hart. I didn´t really know much about this film at all so i decided to skip any trailers and check it out on Netflix anyway. Is this a surprisingly fun heist film or is Lift just as horrible as Mark Polonia´s B horror film Noah´s Shark that i unfortunately have seen?

Cyrus ( Kevin Hart), a renowned international theif, leads a heist crew that consists of Denton ( Vincent D´Onofrio ), pilot Camilla ( Úrsula Corberó ), hacker Mi-Sun ( Yun Jee Kim ), safecracker Magnus ( Billy Magnussen ), and engineer Luke ( Viveik Kalra ). They undertake two simultaneous thefts, stealing a Van Gogh painting in London while staging the fake kidnapping of renowed NFT artist N8 ( Jacob Batalon ). Cyrus points out that famous paintings rapidly increase in value after being stolen. His team sell the Van Gogh painting on the black markert for 20 milliom dollars to buy N8 NFTs. It turns out that the value of the stolen art raise in value to 89 million U.S. dollars. After being "kidnapped", N8´s NFT balooned in value to 89 million dollars. N8 decides to celebrate with the team after being promised a cut of the money. Interpol agent Abby Gladwell ( Gugu Mbatha-Raw ), a former fling of Cyrus, uncover evidence implicating Denton, in the theft and arrests him. Rather than proceed with charges against the crew, Abby´s superior, Commander Huxley ( Sam Worthington ) have an offer for the team. If they help Interpol with a heist, they will avoid prison and actually do a heist for a good reason. Interpol want to arrest billionare Lars Jorgeson ( Jean Reno ), who intends to take more money by working with the hacking group Leviathan to stage a massive flood in Europe. Cyrus and his team agree to work with Interpol to trick Lars by taking his shipment of gold that´s being taken from his vault in London and flown to Leviathan´s bank in Zurich.

I have to say that usually im not the biggest fan of every heist film released, simply because so many of them looks almost the same or doesn´t really bring anything interesting. One of the better ones is definetely Ocean´s Eleven from director Steven Soderbergh that was very charming thanks to the amazing cast of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck and many more. It is definetely one of those heist films i would highly recommend. When it comes to the Netflix heist comedy Lift we also get a great cast here other than Kevin Hart. You have legendary actor Vincent D´Onofrio ( who i especially remember from the 2012 psychological horror film Chained ), Jean Reno, Sam Worthington, Gugu Mbatha-Raw ( you have to see her in the 2016 drama Free States Of Jones ) and many more. When you have a great cast like this you know at least that there are many talented actors involved. The question is do their characters match well in a heist comedy? I am not going to lie and say this film works just as well as the heist comedy classic Ocean´s Eleven, it´s not even close as good as that film. However, if you just take this film for what it is and don´t compare this film too much with other films in this genre there are details i enjoy about Lift. Let us begin with the heist plot itself and at first it may look like another heist, but there is a twist in this film where the heist is actually much more complicated than just another heist. I think this is the right way to go if you want to do something with this genre, since the plot would be far too predicatble. There is a lot of technology used in this film and Lift manage to stay modern while including classic ingredients as well. I also think that most of the cast does a great job, especially the chemistry between Kevin Hart and actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw. You are never bored with Lift since they keep the energy going on a steady line. Anything negative to say? Perhaps it would be that legendary actor Jean Reno should have had more screen time. I feel like his so called evil character Jorgenson have far too little screen time in this film. Director F. Gary Gray ( who directed one of my personal favourite Gerard Butler films Law Abiding Citizen ) deliver a heist film that´s entertaining for all ages of the family to enjoy. Lift may not do anything groundbreaking but knows what audience it was made for and that´s good enough for me to recommend this film. Oh and if anyone let me fly one of their private jets i would happily do so, i promise not to steal any art, i just want to make a fancy entrance at Starbucks.

Rating: DDD

The Jester

Everyday we run into so many people, no matter if we are heading to work, school, if we need to go grocery shopping or perhaps to the local bakery. We meet new faces along the way and even if we might recognize someone we don´t really think much more about it. Our faces does not only express how we may feel or if we are trying to hide anything personal, our faces may actually reveal something about our personalities. What if you meet someone wearing a mask where you can´t tell who that person is, and you can´t read their facial expressions either? Most of us probably wouldn´t care especially if it was a holiday weekend such as Halloween. Unless we recognize the mask and we instantly feel true fear knowing who is behind the mask. In the case of Halloween weekend there is especially one mask that really define the pure meaning of evil, and that is the mask serial killer Michael Myers is wearing in the Halloween franchise. Halloween is not only one of the most beloved slasher classics in the horror community, it also gave us the iconic horror character Michael Myers with his classic kitchen knife attacks. Ever since the first film came out in the 1978 film Halloween this has been a cult film for fans to watch during this holiday weekend. After the first film was released we have had plenty of sequels and i do appreciate some of them. One of my personal favourite sequels in this franchise is without a doubt Halloween 4 - The Return Of Michael Myers from director Dwight L. Little. What made this film a fun return of Michael Myers was the battle between him and Dr. Sam Loomis ( legendary actor Donald Pleasence ) on a different level that we have seen before. If you want to watch all the Halloween sequels please feel welcome to do so but i highly recommend Halloween 4. Speaking of masked killers i have heard about an independent horror film called The Jester released last year that looked interesting. I decided to pick up a blu ray copy from the UK to check it out. Is this a horror film for true fans of the slasher genre or is this a film that turned out to be much worse than i expected?

A man named John ( Matt Servitto ) is walking along a bridge at night time. He is full of regrets and tries to reach out to someone to talk to regarding his depression. At this bridge he meets a figure dressed with an orange suit and what seems to be some kind of clown mask. This figure is known as The Jester ( Michael Sheffield ) and he is no ordinary human. He makes John hang himself from the bridge by using one of his magic tricks. At the funeral service John´s daughter Emma ( Leila Symington ) appear just to say her last goodbye even though she hated her father. This is where she also see´s John´s other daughter Jocelyn ( Delaney White ) who he had with a new wife and created another family. Jocelyn reach out to Emma to try and talk, just to hang out and talk about their same father. The meeting doesn´t go well and Emma walks off. Outside in the street Emma meets The Jester, who shows up wherever she chooses to go. She have no idea what this figure wants or why it is following her, until she learns that there is a connection to her father.

Those who truly know me personally know that i have never been a big fan of the Scream franchise, i never really saw Ghostface as terrifying or the films of this franchise to be that scary. The first one is the best in the Scream franchise but i gave up on the franchise after 2 films. The good thing about finding a more interesting slasher is that you can actually appreciate a different approach of a serial killer and that´s exactly what i did with The Jester. The clown mask definetely looks more creepy than Ghostface does and i do enjoy that this masked killer in The Jester is doing different tricks while he shows himself in public, almost as if he came right out of a circus performance. And if i am being completely honest this so called clown masked demonic figure is the strength of this film. As he does magic tricks while taking out each victims, he also does some unexpected things like dancing next to a grave. The Jester played by actor Michael Sheffield shows that you can make a performance work even though the character doesn´t talk verbally. I also think the orange suit matches the mask very well, it is difficult not to appreciate the costume design of The Jester. So what about the other characters? My personal favoruite performance outside of The Jester is actress Leila Symington playing the depressed character Emma. You can feel the anger in her performance as she wishes her childhood would have been much happier. I also appreciate the performance from actress Delaney White who is also dealing with family issues just as Emma. The plot of The Jester is very simple and it´t not hard to get into this film, and the simplicity helps this film become more enjoyable even though the budget is limited. Some of the horror scenes works pretty good except for a scene where a head is decapitated, that scene could have been made much more effective. Otherwise i can´t really complain on anything, The Jester is a charming small horror film that´s made for an audience who loves the circus or an amusement park visit during the Halloween weekend. Director Colin Krawchuk uses simple methods and manage to put together a tasteful horror treat for us who appreciate independent horror films. The Jester is definetely worth picking up on a physical copy, you never know if The Jester might show up at your house to entertain your family.

Rating: DDD

Suitable Flesh

In my youth i was never really familiar with the work of writer H.P. Lovecraft. I remember seeing books at the local library where his name was mentioned but i never really sat down reading one of his stories, instead i would return to one of my favourite novels at that time which was Stephen King´s novel Misery. A really good book that was also turned into one of my Stephen King favourite films Misery with a brilliant performance by actress Kathy Bates. As i understand H.P. Lovecraft have a very large crowd of fans worldwide who love his stories and even if he passed away back in 1937 his work will definetely live on in many generations into the future. When it comes to the short stories of H.P. Lovecraft you can find several horror films inspired by some of these stories. One of the films i especially remember discovering that was clearly inspired by H.P. Lovecraft is the 2001 horror film known as Dagon. Even though it must have been over 20 years ago since i bought this film on DVD i still rewatch it now and then because it is a personal favourite of mine. Loosely based on his short story Dagon ( 1919 ) and his 1931 novella The Shadow Of Innsmouth, Dagon tells the story of Paul Marsh ( Ezra Godden ) is on vacation in Spain with his girlfriend Barbara ( Raquel Merono ), and their friends Vicki ( Birgit Bofarull ) and Howard ( Brendan Price ). A sudden storm blows their boat against some hidden rocks. Vicki is trapped below deck and Howard stays with her while Paul and Barbara head into land to try and get help. They are about to find out in this fishing village this is a place of pure evil. Dagon is a fun horror film that uses practical special effects and really capture the style of H.P. Lovecraft with the monster designs and the strange symbols found all over the village. If you have not seen this film from director Stuart Gordon i suggest you pick it up on DVD. Last year i was reading online about an upcoming horror film called Suitable Flesh inspired by a story called The Thing On The Doorstep from author H.P. Lovecraft. I was especially interested when i noticed that both actors Heather Graham and Barbrara Crampton was included in the cast. I picked up a physical copy of this film and the question is, does this film work inspired by H.P. Lovecraft or is it a total disaster from start to finish?

In a psychiatric hospital, Dr. Daniella Upton ( Barbara Crampton ) visits the morgue where the mortician is dissecting the body of an unseen figure, the victim of a brutal murder. Daniella visits the murderer, her friend Dr. Elizabeth Derby ( Heather Graham ), who begs Daniella to destroy the brain of the corpse and begins to recount her story to explain why she must do so.

Whenever you enter a film that is inspired by a story of author H.P. Lovecraft you know there is a chance that the film can be quite different from the usual horror release. And honestly i have to say that Suitable Flesh definetely stands out from other horror releases for a number of reasons. This is a so called body horror film where a different personality jumps into different bodies, so once you figure out who is inside a specific body you understand what is going on. I would also say that Suitable Flesh is very influenced by the Lovecraftian classic Re-Animator from 1985 as well as the cult film From Beyond, something we don´t see very often in modern films these days. I definetely feel that Suitable Flesh does make sure to present us with characters that we actually are interested in, instead of just focusing on a main character and forget about everyone else. Regarding the body horror events i do feel that this is one of the details where Suitable Flesh becomes interesting, where different individuals have some kind of seizure on a completely different level than we are used to see. For being a horror film that surrounds itself on therapy sessions i feel that the film does a great job switching the plot just at the right time, without forgetting what the main story tried to tell us. The acting in general is actually pretty good and i have to say actress Heather Graham as Dr. Elizabeth ( who can forget her in Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged Me ) does not only look fantastic i also feel that her performance matches her character really well. Legendary actress Barbara Crampton knows exactly how to make her scenes magical with her screen presence and she looks incredible as always. One preformancethat surprised me is actor Johnathon Schaech (who i especially remember from the 2011 war action film 5 Days Of War directed by Renny Harlin ) as Dr. Elizabeths husband Edward. His performance in this film is definetely a great match to the character. The horror influences surrounding Suitable Flesh works pretty good for the most part, the one thing i do feel they should have done is being more brutal than holding back the violence. Other than that i had a good time with Suitable Flesh and this is a great Lovecraftian film from director Joe Lynch ( director of Wrong Turn 2, my personal favourite film in the Wrong Turn franchise ). If you are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft you should definetely pick up Suitable Flesh on a physical copy. Suitable Flesh proves that there is still hope for quality horror films to see the lighht of day, let´shope we see Barbara Crampton return in a future Lovecraftian film.

Rating: DDD

The Marvels

I still have some very special memories from the local comic book store in my hometown back in the 80´s. Me and my school friends used to go on our bicycles down there to read comic books, buy some of them while talking to the owner about different superheroes. I especially remember that the owner loved to collect Spider-Man comic books and he had a lot of them. Some of the very early numbers could be found as well, unfortunately i can´t remember which his oldest comic book numbers was but i do remember seeing a couple comic books from the early 1970´s. The owner already knew i was a big fan of The Hulk at that time so he would tell me when he was getting new The Hulk comics coming out. This was usually where i bought my The Hulk comics and i would bring them with me to school to show my friends. Either way, hanging a local comic book shop like this in the 80´s was a great place to be as a kid. We stayed away from drugs and we also met smiliar people who liked comic books as well. He did even sell certain films on VHS if you were lucky but his store was basically focused on comic books. Sometimes we would talk about films made based on comic book characters and i especially remember in 1990 after we all have seen the 1989 action film Batman with Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger where we all were really hyped up over what we all have experienced. This was a really fun comic book adaptation of the classic superhero Batman from director Tim Burton and we all especially loved legendary actor Jack Nicholson as The Joker. I remember the owner did buy a poster of the film and put it on his wall above a comic book section where Batman comic books could be found. Speaking of superhero movies we have had a lot of films over the years especially from Marvel Studios with everything from Thor, The Avengers, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Guardians Of The Galaxy and many more. I actually really enjoyed the film Captain Marvel even though i know some people were divided on this film. Well, Captain Marvel is actually back in the film known as The Marvels with other comic book characters. A film that did really bad at the box office and proved that the audience wasn´t interested in superhero films anymore. I decided to give the film The Marvels a chance on Disney + to give you my own opinion. Is this actually better than i expected or should Marvel Studios stop making superhero movies in the future?

Carol Danvers ( Brie Larson ) destroys the Supreme Intelligence, the artificial intelligence thhat leads the Kree empire. This leads to a civil war on Planet Hala, the Kree home world, rendering the planet barren as losen its air, water, and sunlight over the next 30 years. The Kree´s new leader Dar-Benn ( Zawe Ashton ) discovers one of the two legendary Quantum Bands. She uses the Band to forcibly open a new jump point that connects to the network. Captain Monica Rambeau ( Teyonah Parris ) discovers that Kamala Khan ( Iman Vellani ) is the one who have the second Quantum Band. Nick Fury ( Samuel L Jackson ) and Rambeau visit Kamala on Earth. Rambeau surmises that their light-based powers are linked through quantum entanglement. With their combined powers they are forced to use them facing pure evil.

I have not seen every single Marvel Studios film so far simply because i felt that they have been making too many Marvel films in the last 10 years. I might watch some of them at some point but the biggest reason why i watched The Marvels was to see actress Brie Larson back as Captain Marvel to be honest. Ok, so i do have some issues with this film but let me be clear, i am all for strong female characters in films as long as they are done in a positive, inspiring way. I have no problem with female superheroes at all because there are some good ones out there ( i am especially thinking about actress Gal Galdot as Wonder Woman ) that works really good on screen. One of the biggest issues with The Marvels is that these so called female superheroes are not as cool as we would have liked them to be. With all their super powers and their attitudes you might think that the action scenes are quite enjoyable, but it all turns out to be way too predictable and don´t leave many surprises at all. In fact in some action scenes it just feels like they created those scenes just to fill in content but without any bigger reason. If you are going to make superheroes fight against evil at least make the story telling effective, and also make an effort to make the action scenes powerful. There are moments in The Marvels where i wonder if they really worked that hard on this film to make it look good, but instead it feels like we are left with an unfinished product that could have been enjoyable. Regarding the female actors i will say that actress Brie Larson is not all terrible, it´s just that she doesn´t do as good as she did in Captain Marvel where her performance was stronger. Even Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury have done stronger performances in the past as this character, and he is actually one of the few highlights in The Marvels so that clearly shows this film is struggling with several issues. So anything positive about to say about The Marvels? There might be a few scenes where i at least found some smaller enjoyable moments, but other than that i am not that impressed with this film. Oh, and the scenes that´s supposed to be funny falls flat to the ground. Director Nia DaCosta have proved in the past she is a good director with Little Woods and the Candyman remake ( a film i actually enjoyed ). Unfortunately it doesn´t feel like she put that much effort into The Marvels to make it a solid superhero film and i am honestly quite bored most of the time. Not as bad as director Albert Pyun´s 1990 version of Captain America, but i am not sure if many people will remember The Marvels in the future.

Rating: DD

It´s A Wonderful Slice

There are so many different kinds of horror fans all over the world. You have the ones who prefer horror films with monsters, or perhaps a simple slasher horror film while others enjoy watching a vampire horror film. I can pretty much watch all categories in horror since i appreciate all kinds of stories, but there is one category i actually appreciate especially when it comes to horror films and that is the genre known as anthology horror. A film told with different stories and different characters, where all stories are usually connected somehow. Not in all cases of course because it depends on what each director had in mind for their story. Either way i do feel that anthology horror is actually a fresh breath of air sometimes when we get a lot of horror releases that remind me of so many similar films. The anthology horror film can actually be more creative and try different paths compared to a traditional horror film. There are so many great anthology horror films out there that it´s difficult to know which ones you should check out. But if you are going to watch one that´s connected to the holiday weekend known as Halloween i would recommend that you pick up a physical copy of the 2020 anthology horror film Bad Candy directed by Scott B. Hansen and Desiree Connell. A film that tells different stories connected with each other where we find actors such as Zach Galligan ( Gremlins ), Kevin Wayne ( Last Seen In Ohio  ) and Corey Taylor ( lead singer of American metal band Slipknot ). What i liked about Bad Candy is that they managed to connect each story in a effective way regarding Halloween weekend by using simple ideas that matched both the characters and the stories. And i have to mention actor Corey Taylor as a radio host is definetely a highlight, you definetely feel that he fits right in there with his charming personality. So if you enjoy Halloween themed films and want to see a good one in the anthology horror category i think Bad Candy is a great choice. Not that long ago i was given an oppurtunity to watch a new anthology Christmas horror film called It´s A Wonderful Slice. To make it more exciting i didn´t watch any trailer or read about the film in general, just to go in knowing as little as possible. Is this a film that will please anthology horror fans or is it not as good as i was hoping it would be?

During the Christmas holiday, a collection of stories are told with different meanings of Santa, Krampus and even an elf. What seemed to be an ordinary Christmas is about to become a celebration on a whole new level.

If you enjoy watching different stories that´s connected to Christmas then this might be what you are looking for. It´s A Wonderful Slice is an anthology horror film that definetely tries to go in so many directions that you never really know what is going to happen. And i actually appreciate that since we don´t want a film to be too predictable and leave some surprises for the audience to enjoy. In some ways you could say that It´s A Wonderful Slice even throw in some Grindhouse vibes, especially where one segment seems to take place in the 70´s and i really enjoy the look of this film in that specific story. The beginning of this film is actually how i would like my Christmas weekend to be, a masked Santa Claus walking around with a machete carrying a cut off head while strolling on the streets to a joyful song. That´s the perfect way to start of an anthology horror film to make sure you capture the true meaning of Christmas, nothing fits the holidays better than carrying around a chopped off head. When it comes to the segments themselves one of my personal favourites is called A Slay To Remember. You get a sense that this segment is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock´s Psycho in some ways where a man known as Alex Waters rents out a house, and he turns out to be some psycho almost like Norman Bates. Of course it´s not on the same level of acting as legendary actor Anthony Perkins but i still find the segment of A Slay To Remember interesting from a psychological perspective. One of the stories that started off pretty good but ended pretty poorly is the segment called Here Wolfie Wolf. If they would have used a werewolf instead of a masked killer this segment could have been much more fun. The next segment helps this film come back on track with the fantastic title Santa´s Got An Axe To Grind where Alex returns from the segment A Slay To Remember. Basically a fun slasher moment with charming dialogue. Overall i would say this is an anthology horror film with enough of enjoyable stories that will most likely be appreciated if you are a fan of this genre. Director Michael Moutsatsos clearly had a good time making this film. You can sense that by the tone of this film, nothing is taken very seriously and he puts these stories together in a simple but effective way. It´s A Wonderful Slice is the film that all of you Meg Ryan fans of her film French Kiss have been waiting for, the only difference is that It´s A Wonerful Slice is far more romantic than you might have expected.

Rating: DDD