The Jack In The Box Rises

Those of you who grew up in the 80´s might remember a children´s TV show called Jack In The Box on The Children´s Channel, i always thought that clown popping up from the box was creepy and my little sister watched this show back in the day. On this children´s show a hostess would present different cartoons while looking at pictures that children sent from all over the world, also giving best birthday wishes if one of the children had a birthday. I can´t remember all the cartoon shows that were shown on Jack In The Box but i do remember they used to play Nellie The Elephant and Paddington ( this is definetely a British classic cartoon show ) as well Postman Pat ( we even had the video game Postman Pat on our Amiga 500 computer that my sisted played ). The Children´s Channel continued on air up until 1998 and by that time i was too old to be interested in this TV channel. The only animated films i was interested watching during this time was MANGA movies and similar violent animated TV series. I did see the Pixar animated film A Bug´s Life in cinema back in 1998 with my youngest cousin at that time, he was 15 years old and he loved animated films from Pixar and Disney as well. The memory though of the bouncing clown from the TV show Jack In The Box from the 80´s did stay in my mind and would follow me for many years. Let´s move forward many years to the year of 2020 and the clown in a box would get a whole new meaning thanks to one specific film. A British independent horror film called The Jack In The Box would tell the story of a demon clown that comes out of a very unique box. Directed by Lawrence Fowler this turned out to be one of the bigger surprises for me during that year and i especially loved the make up effects of the demonic clown. The Jack In The Box told a simple story regarding a museum and how people suddenly disappeared as they found out that this box contain something very evil who is behind all of these killings, the demonin clown basically took the bodies into his box. A sequel called The Jack In The Box: Awakening was released in 2022 and i enjoyed it. Directot Lawrence Fowler tried to add certain details to this sequel compared to the first film while it was easy to recognize the style of the first film. So here we are in 2024 with the third film which makes this a franchise by now. I just had to pick up a DVD copy of The Jack In The Box Rises from the UK and give the film a chance. Is this a great sequel to The Jack In The Box or have director Lawrence Fowler lost the magic that the first film and the previous sequel had?

Raven ( Isabella Colby Browne ) is sent to England to find a very old unique Jack-In-The-Box since criminal Harvey ( Derek Nelson ) is keeping Raven´s father captive until she can get the box from England that he is looking for. She have no other option but to travel there to all-girls boarding school pretending to be a student. It turns out that this will not be as easy as it might seem.

Let´s be honest right from the start and say if you are looking for a completely different kind of independent horror film with a unique twist, you will not find that here with The Jack In The Box Rises. However, if you are a fan of the previous films and appreciate the work of director Lawrence Fowler i have a feeling this is a film that might please you. I feel that this film captures the right atmosphere of The Jack In The Box franchise where once again the demonic clown is clearly the strongest part of this film as well. While some other indepenent horror films struggle to have interesting characters you can clearly see that director Lawrence Howler want to keep this evil creature the main course of the evening, especially since he is the one enjoying ripping apart human flesh and feast on it. Speaking about the demonic clown he have become more brutal, and i like this progress indeed. This time however the demonic clown Jack is played by a different actor Nicholas Anscombe ( who played Doctor Clarke in The Jack In The Box: Awakening ). I would say he does a solid performance considering the costume and makeup effects. One actress who surprised me for doing her first full feature film is Lisa Antrobus playing the character of Principal Hinch. Considering this being her first motion picture i would really like to see her acting in future films, something tells me could be good as other characters as well. Actress Isabella Colby Browne have acted in short films mostly but definetely show shes on the right path if she continue doing natural characters like Raven in this film. Ok so anything negative to say? Maybe not as effective from a horror perspective as i felt the first film to be. Im not saying this film fails with the horror elements in any way, i just would have liked it to be even more creepy. Since this is now a franchise i would still say that this third films manage to deliver enough horror entertainment for us who appreciate independent horror films. Director Lawrence Fowler proves once more he knows how to construct horror films without being too silly. If you love demonic clowns and blood then you have come to the right place. The Jack In The Box Rises is exactly the kind of side dish you have been waiting for, crispy and tasteful enough to enjoy a pleasant evening.

Rating: DDD

Daniel´s B Movie Summer Madness: Realm Of The Unknown ( 2022 )

A summer in Sweden, is there anything more greater than that? You get as many mosquitos as you want, you get drunk older people wandering around with ice cream not knowing where they are ( after they had their traditional Swedish Midsummer party ) and we spend several days picking blueberrys in the forest even if we can´t find any. All of this is a part of how a Swedish summer should be like since here in Sweden we like to keep our traditions. And one very important detail is that in almost every Swedish home you have a framed picture of actor Johannes Brost, because no one is more legendary here than his character Torbjörn " Joker" Jonasson from the TV series Rederiet. In fact if you meet a swede in another country, all you have to do is say the name Johannes Brost and i guarantee they will most likely be so impressed that they will never leave you alone. All of this is definetely a sign how summer is here in Sweden and i should know, in my 46 years i have seen it all here in this beautiful country. A detail that´s important for me personally is that every summer i like to pick out B movies and watch films i have not seen so far. When i mention the title B movies i am specifically talking about independent films in different categories, mostly low budget horror films that you can find a lot of titles of. I try to pick films i have never heard of and just give the films a chance, just in case i might actually enjoy some of them. For example one of the films i did enjoy is the 2019 low budget horror film Door In The Woods from director Billy Chase Goforth that tells the story of a family who goes out into the forest and find a door standing out in nowhere with chains. Since they need a new door in their house they bring the door home to fix it up and make sure it fits. What they don´t know is that once you open this door you let something evil out. Pretty interesting idea for a horror film and i think Door In The Woods managed to bring something different than we are used to see when it comes to entity horror releases. Even if you can tell the budget is limited i still feel they managed to make a solid horror film with the resources that they had. Worth checking if you are into entity horror films. Speaking of summer B movies i felt that it was time to pick a new choice for this summer as well, and i decided to pick an anthology horror film called Realm Of The Unknown that can be found on the YouTube channel Watch Movies Now! ( i will leave a link later to the film ). Is this a good anthology horror film or is it just about as exciting as Kenny G´s latest album Innocence that sounds exactly the same as all of his previous albums ?

6 stories told by different directors where each story bring up personal stories from different people, in many differnet scenarios and environment.

Since i have seen a lot of anthology horror movies over the years it is easy to remember the ones that are actually good, while the ones that are not very interesting becomes very easy to forget. When it comes to Realm Of The Unknown this is sort of a mixed bag for me and there is especially one big problem that can be found in several stories, and that is the odd sound mixing that for some reason seems to be included even though it doesn´t come of as natural. What do i mean? Well in several scenes there is a strange background sound that just keeps floating along for no reason and it sounds strange when the actors deliver their dialogue. I don´t know of this was meant to be this way to make the film stand out for trying a different approach with mixing sound for the film, but i have to say it doesn´t really help the film in any way. Since this is supposed to be a horror film i think most horror fans would agree that great sound effects for a horror film is very important. You want to capture the right atmosphere and the scary moments in the film to make the story feel more effective. And this is where the film is damaged a bit thanks to the odd sound mixing because it definetely doesn´t give each story the same impact it might have given the audience if the sound mixing was well crafted. Let´s get to the best stories in this anthology horror and let us begin with Laughing Out Loud from director Daniel Clements. Actress Peri Greig actually does a fun performance as the very annoying cell phone woman. The irony of this short story is that her loud mouth gets what she deserves towards the end ( without revealing anything ). The colorful and bizarre segment called Teeth And Pills from director Andrea Vinciguerra is definetely a very different story than we are used to see. The less good short stories for me personally is Thrill Kill and the story Dolly. I do think there is an interesting idea regarding the story Dolly i just feel it ended too predictable. In general this is an anthology horror film that have some interesting stories but with such horrible sound mixing as we get in Realm Of The Unknown i feel this makes me loose interest in this film. Not a terrible film but the sound mixing should have been fixed properly before the film was released. A lesson learned film makers, do not repeat the same mistake as Realm Of The Unknown.

Rating: DD

You can watch the film on the YouTube channel Watch Movies Now!, just copy the following link and paste it to your web searcher:

https://youtu.be/Tn7sPDKmM9U?si=BDupSe21xwOuYuDM

Baghead

Sometimes i feel that we don´t talk about certain director´s very often and remember what they did for the horror genre. Films that they made that were not only loved by fans but also managed to keep a legacy for many generations ahead. One of those director´s that i have in my mind at this moment is the director known as Stuart Gordon. If you don´t recognize the name for some reason i can tell you some of the classics that he directed. Let us begin with the 1985 American comedy horror film Re-Animator based on the 1922 H.P. Lovecraft serial novelette "Herbert-West-Re-Animator", one of the best Lovecraft inspired movie adaptations ever made so far. I highly recommend you buy Re-Animator on blu ray or double DVD release and check out the wonderful special features. Let us continue with the 1986 sci fi body horror film From Beyond was also inspired by a story of H.P. Lovecraft. Just one year later he released his horror film Dolls, a film that´s worth checking out if you love doll horror films. It was in 1995 when he directed the horror film Castle Freak when he moved in a completely different direction than in his previous films. Castle Freak have clear influences from H.P. Lovecraft but also some influences from The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, i would say Frankenstein as well. A family moves into a castle in Italy where they discover that in the cellar a deformed human being have been locked up for a very long time. I actually enjoy Castle Freak for being an old school monster kind of horror film, the deformed human design is cool and i do like the background story surrounding why this creature was locked up. Also nice to see legendary horror actor Jeffrey Combs and actress Barbara Crampon in this film. I suggest you pick this film up on DVD or Blu Ray, it is definetely worth having in your physical film collection. A remake was made in 2020 and i have not seen it yet but i plan to at some point. Speaking of locked inside the cellar a horror film called Baghead came out earlier this year that sounded like a similar idea as Castle Freak with some differences. I decided to pick up a physical copy from the UK and give it a chance. Is this a horror film you should pick up as well or is Baghead a film that doesn´t have much to offer at all?

Iris ( Freya Allan ) is homeless and penniless. When her estranged father Owen Lark ( Peter Mullan ) dies, he leaves her with his shut down bar that´s been struggling for a long time. At least Iris have a home for now and she signs the papers to take over the pub. Once she signed the contract it also includes a secret downstairs that she is now forced to deal with, that is a part of the history of this old building.

Since a lot of horror movies lacks of interesting plots i have to say Baghead manage to do something different than most ordinary horror releases. I wouldn´t call this a rip off Castle Freak since there are some big differences, but i can understand if they were inspired by such a film while making Baghead. One of the most interesting details is the fact that the lady that stays locked inside the basement is controlled by the owner of the pub. Once the main character Iris ( played by actress Freya Allan who gives a performance that matches her character ) signed the contract taking over the pub she also got control over this creature as well. The scenes where you clearly see the creature only listen to Iris almost makes you think of how this is almost like the 2016 film Colossal where actress Anne Hathaway´s character Gloria is able to control a monster, although Colossal is not a horror film so there are some differences here as well. Let´s get into some of the details i appreciate about Baghead. I would say that the Baghead creature itself is quite interesting, it can shapeshift and channel between the dead which makes some interesting scenarios. For example a scene where the creature swallow a ring and transform into another woman who killed herself 20 years ago. This gives Baghead another depth connecting with the past while you can see that this entity also use the situation to use people who can´t control it. The horror scenes in general are ok for the most part, perhaps not as scary as i would have liked this film to be considering i like the idea of controlling the creature. I have to say the performance of actress Anne Muller as Baghead is the highlight of this film, she really did a good job with body movement and body expressions while wearing the bag mask. Ok, so let´s get into one of the problems with this film. You don´t really connect with some of the characters in this film, it just feels like they didn´t really put much effort making certain characters interesting at all. After i watched this film i could barely remember any other characters other than the creature and the main character. I also feel that this film could have been even more darker, especially where the entity should have used the human mind even more for it´s own advantage. In the end i would say that Baghead is still enjoyable enough if you do enjoy films such as Castle Freak. Director Alberto Corredor ( who also directed the shortfilm Baghead ) have made a film that actually makes an effort to do something interesting in the horror genre, telling a story that at least tries to be different. If you are a true fan of the horror genre pick up a physical copy as well, Baghead proves there is still hope for this genre.

Rating: DDD

Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 2

As a child your imagination is endless. We can imagine seeing another world where anything seems possible and there might be things there that could never exist in an ordinary world. I believe it is a good thing that childen use their imagination no matter if they get it from books, children comics or children movies. Back in the 80´s i used to dream myself away to the children movie The NeverEnding Story and pretend i was the child warrior character Atreyu ( played by actor Noah Hathaway ) after rewatching the film constantly on VHS. I used to run in the forest with 2 of my best friends as we played different characters from The NeverEnding Story and i remember i had the official movie poster as well in my room as well. The NeverEnding Story really showed how you can make a film filled with fantasy almost told as a fairytale straight from a book ( and there is a book that this film is based on, The NeverEnding Story by author Michael Ende ). I actually rewatched this film earlier this year and even if you can tell this film was made in the 80´s i still think it´s a great entertaining family film and have some really enjoyable characters. Speaking of characters from a book there are some classic children books that still lives on today such as Winnie-the-Pooh from English author A.A. Milne. I remember that around early 1983 at the age of 6 years old i would look into Winnie-the-Pooh books at our local library while i visited there with my mother. These books would not last very long since i discovered The Incredible Hulk instead in comic books, as well as the wonderful 70´s TV series with legendary actor Lou Ferringo as The Hulk on TV. Anyway, since the license for Winnie-the-Pooh became public they decided to make a slasher horror film called Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey last year. It turned out to be a massive success. On a budget of 100.000 dollars it made over 5 million dollars at the box office. So of course we shouldn´t be surprised that we have a sequel here. The first film wasn´t good, i just enjoyed some smaller details but in general this film had many issues. So of course i had to watch this latest sequel to see if it actually is better than the first film. Is this a sequel everone should see this summer or does Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 2 deserve to burn in a fire for all eternity?

Deep withing the 100-Acre-Wood, a destructive rage grows as Winnie-the-Pooh ( Ryan Oliva ), Piglet ( Eddie MacKnzie ), Owl ( Marcus Massey ) and Tigger ( Lewis Santer ) find their home and their lives endangered after Christopher Robin ( Scott Chambers ) revealed their existence. Not wanting to live in the shadows any longer, the group decides to take the fight to the town of Ashdown, home of Christopher Robin, leaving a bloody trail of death and mayhem in their wake,

I can honestly say that this sequel have done several things right compared to the first film. You have much better looking costume designs on these creatures, you have even more practical effects on the killings in this film and you also have a more fun slasher tone this time around. This is the kind of slasher B movie you already know will include terrible acting and a plot that doesn´t need to be too deep. Since i am a well known B movie lover by most people by now this is the kind of film for me. I know that there are people out there who hate films such as this and that´s ok, everyone can´t have a good film taste just like myself. So let´s talk about the positive first regarding Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 2. I feel that the make up effects on this film is much more effective than the first film. Not only does Winnie look more creepy, but i especially enjoy the design of his creature friend Owl who looks like a bird version of Anjelica Huston´s character The Grand High Witch in the 1990 film The Witches. I wouldn´t say the practical make up effects are anywhere near as good as in the film The Witches, but i wonder if they might have been inspired by this film while making the character Owl. Actress Nicola Wright ( who i love in the independent horror film The Curse Of Humpty Dumpty ) deliver another lovely performance in this film as her character Daphne. I actually would have liked her character to be a bigger part of this film since i feel that Nicola have such a natural screen presence. I do enjoy the performance of actress Tallulah Evans as the character Lexy, she is just so charming and feels like a great match for her character. Lovely to see legendary actor Simon Callow in this film, who i am pretty sure you all remember from the 90´s hit film Four Weddings And A Funeral. The gore effects are much more fun in this film and it becomes quite brutal in some scenes. So what´s the negative? Even if the film does work better than the first film i feel that the main character Christopher Robin played by actor Scott Chambers is not as effective as he should be. After all the whole film surrounds itself around him and his story and Scott doesn´t do enough to make his main character interesting. Hes not bad it just feels like he would have needed to give his character more energy. Other than that i just take Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 2 for what this film is, a slasher film that wasn´t meant to win any awards but entertain B movie lovers just like myself. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield have clearly become a better director with this sequel and have actually made an effort to make a better looking horror film. There are flaws of course but i still feel he proved that if you actually try harder making improvements you will get a more positive result. If you just want a simple slasher film with brutal kills and pratical effects, you will probably enjoy this film for your Afternoon Tea. Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 2 may not change the world in any way but it does bring lots of blood and body parts, that´s good enough for me.

Rating: DDD

35 Years Anniversary Review Of Pet Sematary

When i was a child i used to have a hamster named Akira ( i named him after the Manga animated cyber punk action film Akira that i watched in early 1990 ). My hamster Akira was fearless, my sister had a rabbit named Mimmi and even if she was really big compared to him and he would run towards her, she was very afraid of him. He tried to climb inside her cage several times, he was going to see her no matter how much he had to climb. When i took him outside in the grass he would eat snails that looked too big to swallow. No problem for Akira he would just swallow them whole. I had Akira for at least 3 years until he passed away and i still remember the morning i found him lifeless in his hamster house inside his cage. I made a wooden coffin for him out of wooden planks we had lying outside my mother´s home and buried him in a chosen location in the forest. Pets are wonderful to have no matter if you love cats, dogs, rabbits, birds no matter what you prefer and in many ways pets can help us go through rough times in life. They cheer us up and also make us remember special moments. Not only that i think we sometimes can learn from our pets, like when we see a happy dog playing outside. To me that´s a simple way saying appreciate the small things in life, everything doesnt need to be big or majestic to be appreciated. Unfortunately we all know we have to face the loss of our beloved pets, even how hard it can be there is no other way out. Speaking of burying your dead pet, what if you buried your animal in a pet sematary in a place where they could come back to life? That´s exactly what happened in the Stephen King novel known as Pet Sematary released in 1983. Back in the 80´s i did not read this novel, not until i saw the film adaptation in 1990 on VHS. I remember before borrowing the film from our neighbors The Ostwald and i went to our local library to borrow the novel as well. So while i watched the film i actually read parts of the novel ( i could have just read the whole novel i know ) just to compare it to the film. I remember really enjoying the film adaptation from director Mary Lambert ( who directed the classic Madonna music videos of Like A Virgin, La Isla Bonita and Like A Prayer ). I noticed recently that this year it is 35 years ago since Pet Sematary hit cinemas worldwide so i decided to rewatch it on blu ray to see how i feel about it today. Is this still a horror classic from the 80´s or have Pet Sematary aged a lot and lost some power along the way?

Dr. Louis Creed ( Dale Midkiff ) and his wife Rachel Creed ( Denise Crosby ) move to a house in the countryside with their 2 children Ellie Creed ( Blaze Berdahl ) and Gage Creed ( Miko Hughes ). While Rachel and the children are visiting relatives in another city, their neighbor Jud Crandall ( Fred Gwynne ) discover the Creed´s family cat Church dead outside his house. Louis plans to bury Church but knows hos sad his daughter will especially be if she finds out that hes dead. Jud suggest that they should bury Church close to a Pet Semetary, where the outside location if known for being ancient burial ground. It turns out that Church comes back to life after being burried, but doesn´t seem to be the same. At a tragic moment their youngest son Gage runs out on the highway and hit by a truck. Struggling with the loss of his son, Louis decides to bury his son on the same ground as Church to bring back his son back to life.

While some horror films talks about death i feel that Pet Sematary does it in a different way than most ordinary horror releases. In fact, in this film we do get to go through several parts of the impact of death and how it can affect us emotionally and also in a psychological way. Especially when we are talking about the death of a child, is there anything worse than that in this world? I can´t even imagine the pain a parent would feel ( i am no father myself so i can never understand the pain of this ). Another interesting detail regarding this film is if you would be able to bring your child back from death would you really go that far? As a parent i would imagine most parents would want to see their child again, but the question would remain would it be the same child that you knew before the child passed away? Pet Sematary have some very interesting views on death and this is a very dark horror film in many ways. I also feel that this film does a really good job on looking at the challenges of a marriage and how you deal with it after losing your child. How do you go on in life and is there way to go on even though you are suffering within your heart and soul? At the same time this film also deals with the loss of your pet as well so it is definetely a very heavy film to digest. The background story regarding the pet sematary is also interesting knowing this is an ancient burial ground once used by the Mi´kmaq. The film looks really good from cinematographer Peter Stein ( who is the director of photography on the classic horror film Friday The 13th Part 2 ) and i especially love the dark sad scenes that capture the right look for this film. The cast does a wonderful job on their characters and im especially impressed by child actor Miko Hughes playing the character of Gage. To be able to be this good as a small child on screen is really impressive. Legndary actor Fred Gwynne ( who plays Herman Munster in the classic TV series The Munsters in the 1960´s ) gives one of in my opinion one of his best acting performances as the character Jud Crandall. Pet Sematary is a horror film that is not only really effective from a horror perspective but i also feel that this film have a much deeper meaning than most horror films. Director Mary Lambert did not only make her best film with Pet Semetary but she also proved that you can talk about death by using a very broad view on this subject, where she clearly wanted the audience to feel the impact of this heavy story. Pet Semetary may not be my favourite Stephen King film adaptation but it is definetely a worthy 80´s classic that everyone should see, especially if you are a big horror fan. I suggest you also pick up your physical copy and experience a time period when horror films were actually powerful and unique.

Rating: DDDD

The Last Kumite

I still remember back in 1990 when my school friend Björn invited me home to check out the VHS release of the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Kickboxer that he bought in a store. I already knew at that time he was a big fan of the martial arts film Bloodsport, so i was curious about this latest film from Van Damme. It turned out we had a great time watching Kickboxer and we especially loved the evil character known as Tong Po played by actor Michel Qissi. There were so many fun fight scenes in Kickboxer and especially the final fight. At that time Björn was actually practising doing Van Damme kicks in his parents garage where they got him a kicking bag. He did go to karate class and i remember he would tell his teacher how much he loved Jean-Claude Van Damme. The reason why i watched him train was because i used to go to Judo class in the same building where they teached karate. I didn´t last very long in Judo but Björn actually continued training karate for a longer time. Eventually he dropped out as well to focus on a career in snowboarding instead where he travelled to Canada to compete. Our love for Jean-Claude Van Damme movies continued over the years and when Björn came home from Canada we would rent Van Damme films and watch in his parents living room. Not only did we watch Van Damme movies but we also rented a lot of other VHS martial art films with action stars such as Billy Blanks, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Lorenzo Lamas, Steven Seagal, Daniel Bernhardt, Jeff Speakman, Matthias Hues, Cyntha Rothrock and many more. I remember one of my personal favourite films at that time was TC 2000 with Billy Blanks, Matthias Hues and legendary actor Bolo Yeung. When the 90´s ended it seemed that the martial arts action films were no longer a priority for film studios, times have changed. But that actually changed in recent years with very popular martial arts TV series Cobra Kai and it seemed to bring back martial arts for a new generation. Not only that we were also seeing martial arts film getting a second chance, just look at this film called The Last Kumite. A film that brings back 80´s martial arts with legendary action actors. I bought my physical copy of The Last Kumite from the UK because i just had to check this film out. Is this a true throwback to martial arts action films of the 80´s or is The Last Kumite a film that will most likely dust on a DVD shelf?

Michael Rivers ( Mathis Landwehr ), a skilled martial artist, is forced to fight in an illegal fighting tournament in order to save his daughter. Along his dangerous journey, he discovers that other martial artists have been forced to fight to saved their loved ones.

The fact that the team behind The Last Kumite actually managed to make this film become reality is very impressive. You have some of the most classic 80´s and 90´s martial art action stars gathered into the same film and this is something you don´t see everyday. So does this film bring out more than just nostalgia and actually deliver something more than that? I would say if you go into this film with the right mentality knowing this is a film made for fans of 80´s martial arts you are definetely going to have a good time. This film have the kind of martial art fights that we remember from the VHS rental stores where it didn´t matter that the plot is easy and the acting is not perfect. I would definetely say the best part of The Last Kumite is the fighting scenes and especially when the Kumite tournament is going in full force. Some of the martial art scenes look better than i expected and i think every fighter bring some nostalgic 80´s and 90´s feelings with the fight coreography. One man who definetely surprised me on screen is the actor and martial artist David Kurzhal ( known on YouTube as Viking Samurai ) where he definetely proves in this film that he can be a future martial art movie star if he keep working in action films such as The Last Kumite. I have to say i really enjoy the performance of 90´s legend Matthias Hues as the evil character Ron Hall. Not only does he deliver some of the best dialogue in this film but i also feel that he also deliver his charming screen presence that he always had over 30 years on the big screen. Actress Monia Moula is really cool as the character Lea Martin, always ready to kick ass and not afraid to take on anyone. The evil character Dracko played by actor Mike Derudder turns out to be a great villain. I will say that lead actor Mathis Ladwehr is in physical great shape but could have given a stronger lead performance. The kumite competition itself feels like a throwback to the Van Damme classic Bloodsport without copying the film and just tries to be respectful towards the martial art community and i love seeing several martial art action legends in this film as well. The Last Kumite feels like a love letter that you would want to be read by Fabio while hearing a saxophone playing in the background, except here they use special kicks instead. The title song of this film called No Surrender is a perfect match from artist Stand Bush. A film made for martial art fans that´s a fun throwback to the good days and i appreciate the effort director Ross W. Clarksson put into making this film. Everyone should be getting a physical copy of The Last Kumite this summer, so we can get a sequel in the future and continue the legacy of martial art films for a new genration.

Rating: DDD

The Legacy Of Roger Corman - Carnosaur ( 1993 )

Sometimes i feel that we forget the importance of B movies in the movie industry in general. We wouldn´t have classic films such as Jurassic Park or Waterworld without B movies from the past. Even though these two films have a big budget you can tell they are inspired by B movies that we grew up watching on VHS. Some might say that B movies are not that important and i disagree with that, because let´s be honest and say it like it is. Without B movies you wouldn´t have a lot of classic films made that clearly borrowed ideas from low budget films and just put more money into the projects with bigger Hollywood stars. I will always defend B movies as long as i live because we need them in our lives, they keep the legacy going of fun cheesy entertainment that i grew up watching through my local VHS rental stores back in the 80´s and 90´s. I used to rent a lot of fun B movies back in those days and i did see some really terrible films. However, i did see some unique ones as well that i could easily recommend for delivering something special. For example how many of you remember The Cannon Group classic known as American Cyborg: Steel Warrior from director Boaz Davidson ( who is actually executive producer on The Expendables 4 or as the cinema title is Expend4bles ). You could say that American Cyborg: Steel Warrior is almost like the 1989 classic Cyborg with Jean-Claude Van Damme mixed with influences from the 1984 classic The Terminator. Interesting fact is that this film is the final movie that legendary movie production duo Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus released through The Cannon Group in cinemas. I bought the uncut German DVD release years ago and i still watch it now and then. Speaking of B movies one legend who directed several B movie classics and also produced several great films is the man known as Roger Corman. I remember his film The Tomb Of Ligeia that i watched on VHS back in the 80´s and i especially remember the sequel Watchers II from 1990 that he produced with Marc Singer in the lead role. Unfortunately Roger Corman passed away this year and i wanted to show my respect by doing a review of one of the films he was an executive producer on and considered to be a B movie classic. We are of course talking about the 1993 B movie Carnosaur from director Adam Simon. I first saw this film back in 1994 on VHS rental at the VHS rental store Videomix and have not seen it since then. 31 years later is the film Carnosaur still a classic or has this film aged a lot and lost some of it´s charm along the way?

Dr. Jane Tiptree ( Diane Ladd ) work with genetically modified chickens in her laboratory. When a chicken transport is out on the highway one of her chickens hatches a reptilian creature, which kills the driver and escapes. People in the small town of Climax, Nevada begin suffering from a mysterious illness with flu-like symptons. That´s not their biggest problem though, the reptile creature is looking for more flesh.

I learned that producer Roger Corman knew author Michael Crichton who wrote the novel Jurassic Park. His book was released for the first time back in 1990 and i wouldn´t be surprised if Roger Corman was inspired by this novel when he decided to work on Carnosaur. The film Carnosaur is actually inspired by the novel Carnosaur by Australian author Josh Broshnan, but if you dig into this novel you can see that there are some big differences from the novel and Carnosaur. Without going into too many details let´s talk about the film adaptation of Carnosaur. It becomes very clear that this is a love letter to the monster movies of the 50´s and 60´s. You see the puppet dinosaurs walking around just like old school monster films and we even get some very gory scenes that you might not expect. We even get some fun characters as well that for some reason match very well in a film like this. The most odd part of this film is to see a woman giving birth to a dinosaur when an dinosaur egg pops out of her, we find out this is a part of Dr. Jane ( played by legendary actress Diane Ladd ) attempt to exterminate the human race through her laboratory where she create dinosaurs. The plot is very simple and you don´t really need a lot of details explained. This film works best is the fun dinosaur attack scenes and crazy characters such as "Slim" Friar played by legendary actor Clint Howard ( who i remember from the Charlie Sheen classic The Wraith ) and Sheriff Howler played legendary by actor Harrison Page. The shoot out scene between Sheriff Howler and the dinosaur is one of my favourite scenes in this film. Of course you can tell this is a low budget film and it may not be perfect, i still feel that Carnosaur is fun for just trying to be a simple cheesy monster film. If you just want to have a simple B movie that will most likely entertain you i believe Carnosaur is a good choice for your popcorn night. Director Adam Simon deliver a film that doesn´t take itself serious at all and knows what audience this was made for. Carnosaur is sweet like a slice of apple pie, once you taste it you just want more.

Rating: DDD

Realm Of Shadows

In most films you have one story to tell, the basic plot that will go through all the way to the end. When it comes to anthology films it is a complete different story since you are trying to tell different stories within the same film. To be able to do this and make it work you have to try and make each story interesting and feel connected to the film itself. I have seen a lot of anthology films and especially in the horror category and there are several films i could easily recommend. Let us dig into two of the horror anthology films i feel you should pick up on DVD if you are able to and that is the 2015 films known as Southbound and the other one is called Tales Of Halloween. Both films are directed by several talented directors and both films tell very different stories. The most interesting film of these titles is in my opinion the film Southbound. This film takes place mostly along dusty highways and a smaller town, where each story have a connection to the main plot. There is some great looking practical effects done in one of these segments, i am not going to tell you which one just to make you more curious about the film. Interesting fact is that the segment The Accident is directed by David Bruckner who i am pretty sure a lot of horror fans recognize. He is the director of the Netlfix horror film The Ritual and the Hellraiser remake from 2022 ( a film that i actually enjoyed and wrote a positive review in this blog ). You might also recognize the name Roxanne Bennjamin who directed the segment called Siren, she also directed the great horror film There´s Something Wrong With The Children ( another film i wrote a positive review on this blog ). I would suggest you check out both Southbound and Tales Of Halloween wherever you can find a physical copy. Speaking of anthology horror i got an oppurtunity to sit down and watch a film called Realm Of Shadows, an anthology horror film i knew nothing about. I do enjoy to go in without knowing as little as possible, it makes the experience a bit different and exciting. Is it possible that Realm of Shadows is one of the more interesting anthology horror films in recent years or is it not as good as i was hoping it would be?

A group of stories that are connected to each other, where each story show the true meaning of how evil can affect humans and make us do horrible things, where we also can learn how to fight against evil.

Anthology films can be quite tricky to pull off unless you have some interesting stories to tell. In the case of Realm Of Shadows it´s actually the stories that´s the most interesting part of this film. Each of them have something different to offer and there is also a connection to the main plot of the film. Is every story just as interesting as other ones? I would probably say that the only segment i didn´t feel just as much connected with is a story called Hike. Thankfully we have great segments such as The Intiation of Professor Kimmer which is a very interesting story regarding a college student trying to seduce a married college professor ( played well by actor Jimmy Drain ). Since we have read in newspapers of relationships happening between teachers and students, this segment shows what could happen except in this segment the student Starr ( played by actress Luca Bocian ) is trying to blackmail her college professor. The segment Meet Michael is another segment i fin interesting trying to tell a story where it seems to be an evil present in a family´s home. I also really enjoy seeing legendary actor Mel Novak as Bishop Lucian and i wish he could have had more scenes. You also have legendary actor Tony Todd in this film ( the original Candyman ), legendary actor Vernon Wells ( from the best Mad Max film in my opinion The Road Warrior ) and even actor Richard Tyson ( mostly known from the 90´s classic Kindergarten Cop ). Realm Of Shadows clearly have witchcraft as a big connection to each story and once we find out how it´s all connected we get some of the answers that may not have been clear from the beginning. Director Jimmy Drain ( who is seen in several segments in this film ) take some chances by telling unpredictable stories and add some surprises as well. Realm Of Shadows have a clear message of we must be careful against the fight against evil in all shapes and stay away from witchcraft. If you are a fan of anthology horror films this might actually be something you would enjoy. One thing is clear i will not be attending any witchcraft evenings, not after i have experienced Realm Of Shadows.

Rating: DDD

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver

I still remember the summer of 2004 for a very good reason. All of spring of 2004 i have been reading in movie magazines about director Zack Snyder´s remake of Dawn Of The Dead and i have always been a big fan of the 1978 original film from legendary director George A. Romero. I remember seeing big promotion posters all across the city of Gothenburgh and i talked to the owners of the movie shop Movieline ( the biggest Scandinavian movie shop that was located in Gothenburgh) about this film. The owners were curious about the remake but were still feeling some doubts, how do you remake such a classic and pull it off without being disrespectful? I was actually at the premiere weekend in Gothenburgh and wanted to experience the film on their biggest cinema screen with 2 male friends. I rememeber there were fans dressed up as zombies standing in line and i was really impressed with their make up. It turned out to be one of the best remakes we have seen of a horror film and director Zack Snyder proved that it is possible to do a remake of a classic. Not only is this one of my personal favourite zombie films but i also feel that this film have a lot of great characters, plenty of great action scenes and this film also have a good sense of humour in certain scenes. The 2004 remake of Dawn Of The Dead is one of those films i think all horror fans should at least watch at some point, no matter if you watch the film on streaming or on a physical copy. Speaking of director Zack Snyder i have followed his career for quite some time and pretty much seen all of the films that he have directed so far ( i have also seen his Rod Stewart music video Leave Virginia Alone, even though it's not a great video ). We could probably discuss what films that he directed are good or not but let´s talk about Rebel Moon for a while. Last year he released his film Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child Of Fire on Netflix that felt like a mixture of Star Wars and Blade Runner ( in certain scenes ) where the main character Kora ( Sofia Boutella) felt like a great character for a sci fi action film. I enjoyed Rebel Moon - Part One even if i felt a couple of things could have been fixed. So here we are with Rebel Moon - Part Two also out on Netflix. I was curious to see what this next chapter would bring to the story. Is this next chapter even better than the first film or is this one of the worst films i have seen from director Zach Snyder so far?

Kora ( Sofia Boutella ) and the surviving warriors return to Veldt, believing that Kora had killed Admiral Noble ( Ed Skrein ) in hand-to-hand combat and prevented the forthcoming assault on the planet to claim it´s food supplies. Admiral Noble was ressurected and is again causing chaos wherever he and his army goes, while the farm community finds out that the dreadnought ship will return to their home in 5 days. The farm community have no other option than harvest the entire grain supply in three days, so the flour can be used as leverage to prevent Motherworld  forces from simply bombing the village from orbit. Titus ( Djimon Hounsou ) intends to train the villagers to fight to make sure as many as possible will survive.

Since this film pick up right after the first chapter you should see the first film to understand what is going on. One of the things that this film does differently is bring out the importance of a society where everyone is being treated with respect, being able to do hard work and live a good life through farming. We did get a glimpse of this in the beginning of the first film but they take it even further in this chapter. I also feel that this film also bring up the subject of how important it is to maintain hope no matter how rough life seems to be. Especially everything the main character Kora is going through, it´s not hard to understand why it must be very difficult dealing with a lot of pain from her past. Another detail this film also does is give us more background stories on other characters in this universe where i feel the female character Nemesis ( played by actress Bae Donna ) give us the most interesting background story regarding herself. Speaking of the charactes i would pretty much say the same as i did in the first Rebel Moon chapter. Some actors does an ok performance while others don´t feel very motivated to act. What saves this film specifically when some of the acting feels very blend is the action scenes towards the end. We get plenty of shoot out scenes and other violence as well. Lead actress Sofia Boutella is even more tough in this film and does a lot more physical action scenes in this next chapter. Anything else positive to say? I do like the underground tunnels they make in this film at their farm community, it reminded me of Sylverster Stallone in Rambo - Last Blood when he fights the Mexican drug cartel from the undeground, they do something similar here as well. On the negative side i would probably say that the story itself isn´t that interesting or anything that you will remember. Overall i will still say that this is a film i enjoyed for what it is, a simple sci fi action film that may not be original or bring out anything fresh but knows what audience it was made for. Director Zack Snyder may not have made a future classic with Rebel Moon - Part Two but he sure knows how to entertain the audience who just want to have some fun. Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver is a film that will most likely be appreciated if you love science fiction in general and can accept a thin story. If you did enjoy the first chapter i would suggest you head over to Netflix and give this film a chance. Who doesn´t love laser swords and ass kicking farmers? I know i do.

Rating: DDD

The First Omen

In different cultures you hear religious speaking about the devil. There are plenty of different names for the devil and one of them that i remember reading in history class in the early 90´s was the Latin word for devil known as diabolus. Our history teacher at that time was a Christian lady who clearly didn´t like talking about the devil, and i remember a class mate of mine called Nicklas who had questions about the devil. She would rather talk about the history surrounding Jesus instead but since this was supposed to be a history class i think she should have at least answered some of Nicklas questions. After all if a student is interested in a subject you should encourage your students to learn more, isnt that one of the reasons why we go to school? Anyway, during the early 90´s i used to watch a lot of horror from the 1970´s that i had not seen during the 80´s. One of the franchises that i actually had not seen at that time was The Omen. The original film released in 1976 from director Richard Donner is a supernatural horror film that turned out to be a really positive surprise for me. The Omen tells the story of American diplomat Robert Thorn ( Gregory Peck ) and his wife Katherine Thorn ( Lee Remick ) who are living in Rome, Italy. Katherine gives birth to a baby boy but unfortunately Robert is told the baby could not survive. Hospital chaplain father Spiletto ( Martin Benson ) persuades Robert to secretely adopt another baby whose mother just died in childbirth. Robert does not tell Katherine the child is not their own. They name him Damien. The Omen is a very effective horror film where the idea is that the child Damien is the prophesised Antichrist. The first film is really good, the sequel Damien - Omen II is alright and the 1981 horror film The Final Conflict shows Damien from a very different perspective as an adult played by Sam Neil. There is a 4th film called Omen IV: The Awakening but this is more a TV movie. Of all of these films i rented back in the 90´s i still feel the first film still holds up very well today. The 4th one is the worst of these films, it just wasn´t a good sequel. In 2006 we got ourselves a remake of The Omen from director John Moore ( director of Behind Enemy Lines, great action film ). I would say it´s ok but not much else. So here we are in 2024 with a prequel to the original The Omen film called The First Omen. Is this the prequel we all have been waiting for or is The First Omen a film that doesn´t need to exist at all?

In Rome, 1970, amid left-wing protests, American novititate Margaret Daino ( Nell Tiger Free ) arrives at the Vizzardeli Orphanage. As she helps out with the children she is especially curious about a young orphan girl named Carlita ( Nicole Sorace ). As she digs into the past of Carlita and why no one seems to tell her the truth behind her childhood, Margaret is about the discover that the truth is far more deep than she ever could have imagened.

It becomes very clear that they really tried to capture the time period of Italy in the 1970´s in The First Omen with the right 70´s colorful look, the right costume design and even capture the disco era of that time. Most of the film takes place at the Vizzardel Oprhanage but we also get some glimpses of the city life of Rome. I think it was a very good choice to really try and capture the time period in a realistic way. If you are making a prequel you have to actually put in effort to make it work, knowing that the original film have so many fans worldwide in the horror community. This film looks really good and i have to mention the cinematography from Aaron Morton ( who did the cinematography for critically acclaimed TV series Orhan Black ). He clearly knew what this prequel needed to stand out from the ordinary horror releases. Let´s talk about the cast for a bit and of course we should begin with lead actress Nell Tiger Free ( who fans of the TV series Servant will recognize ). Nell´s performance as Margaret matches very well with her character and you can sense that she is a very good hearted woman, who especially want to make sure that children are taken care off and no child is left outside. Legendary actress Sonia Braga ( who can forget her charming performance in the Clint Eastwood classic The Rookie ) deliver one of the most interesting characters in The First Omen as Sister Silva. She seems mysterious and fascinating at the same time, and you don´t really know if you can trust her. I think you should know that this film is not the typical American jump scare horror film, instead this film turns out to be more of an old school horror film where everything is not CGI but clearly inspired by horror films of the 70´s. The horror scenes in general have some positive surprises but there are also some horror scenes that feels blend and predictable. I would have liked this film to be more powerful and go all in for the true inspiration of The Omen, that is something we unfortunately don´t get in this film. Overall i do feel that this prequel is good enough to stand on it´s own even though there are details i would have liked to be fixed. Director Arkasha Stevenson have created a great looking horror film with an interesting plot, and if he keeps working harder on his next film i have a feeling we will see his full potential that we only get glimpses of in The First Omen. A film for true fans of The Omen franchise and surprisngly not bad for being a prequel.

Rating: DDD

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Back in early 1999 i used to buy movie magazines every single month from the UK ( and Swedish movie magazines as well, even though there were only a few of them ) and read about new movies or upcoming films. I had a favourite newspaper and magazine store in Gothenburgh i would always visit to get the latest number. During this time i used to go to the cinema quite often and watched up to 3 movies in the cinema at the same weekend ( ticket prices were not that high which made it worth watching several films in a cinema ). Actually i even watched 3 films on the same day if i saw that there were 3 films that looked interesting. This would of course take a lot of hours from one day but if i had a day off work it was worth it. I loved sitting in a cinema a whole day with my popcorn and soda, just having a great time with cinema magic. Between the film screenings i would pick up the latest cinema magazine i could find and sit at a café just enjoying a coffee and some treats while reading. I especially remember reading about Wesley Snipes latest film Blade that had Swedish cinema premiere in February of 1999 and there were some great interviews in movie magazines regarding that film. I did see the film in cinema twice and fell in love with the film. During the spring of 1999 i heard that director Guy Ritchie´s film Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels was going to be released in cinemas across Sweden. British movie magazines had already praised this film so i did have high expectations going into the cinema at the premiere week. It turned out to be a really entertaining film and was actually one of my favourite British films of that year. Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels is a very loud gangster action comedy with a fantastic cast and the right kind of British tone for a film like this. Director Guy Ritchie became a big name worldwide and he continued to make an impact with films such as Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla and of course the updated version of Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. He did direct the 2002 film Swept Away with Madonna, a film i did rent on DVD back in the day but i never really felt that this was a film for me. I am sure though there are fans of Guy Ritchie who appreciate this film. Speaking of director Guy Ritchie he have done quite a lot of great films in recent years and one of the film i have been really excited to see is a film called The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare taking place during World War II. With a really amazing cast and a very talented director is this another quality film from director Guy Ritchie or is this not as good as i was hoping it would be?

In late 1941, during World War II the United Kingdom is struggling to halt Nazi Germany´s attempts to take over Europe, with Lonon regulary suffering bombing runs at the hands of the Luftwaffe. With their supply and aid ships constantly sunk by German submarines, Brigadier Collins Gubbins ( Cary Elwes ), with the indirect backing of Prime Minister Winston Churchill ( Rory Kinnear ), prepares to initiate Opertaion Postmaster, an off the books black-ops sabotage mission intended to stop nazis from causing more damage.

There is one thing i have noticed when it comes to director Guy Ritchie and that is his amazing way to capture hillarious moments in serious subjects. In this case it is a story surrounding World War II and you might think you can´t really joke about that when in fact it is a perfect moment to bring in some light humour into a war. Director Quentin Tarantino also joked about war in his remake of Inglorious Basterds, the difference with The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare is that this is actually made to be entertaining in a different way with so many wonderful characters. Speaking of characters i was pleasantly surprised over actor Henry Cavill´s performance as the character Gus-March Phillips. I enjoy Henry in several of his films in the past, but i feel that it is in this film where we get to see him shine in a different way than before. I will admit that i really enjoyed his performance in The Witcher but i feel that this film give him an oppurtnity to show a different side of his acting skills. We have to mention actor Cary Elwes ( who i hope everyone have seen in his cult classic The Princess Bride and of course in Stranger Things ) as the character Brigadier Gubbins "M". I have always felt that Cary can take on any character and just magically transform each character into something spectacular and he proves that again in this film. Actress Eiza González ( who i especially remember from Alita: Battle Angel ) bring the strong female character named Marjorie, perfect for this team. There are other really good characters in this film but let´s talk about something that i feel makes this film so charming. There is a simple tone used through the whole film where you combine classic war ingredients with a secret mission, you might think you would get bored but it´s actually much more entertaining than you might expect. Thanks to the charming mentality of the main characters. the smooth story telling from director Guy Ritchie and some lovely violent scenes, this combination makes this film so easy to digest and you are left with an exquisite taste of many wonderful flavors. The action scenes are entertaining, the dialogue is delivered on top notch and the costume design works really well with the time period. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is perhaps one of the most entertaining films i have seen taking place during World War II and one of the better films from director Guy Ritchie in recent years. I will be getting myself a copy of this film into my collection of Guy Ritchie films and i hope you will as well, this is a top class film for all ages.

Rating: DDDD