30 Years Anniversary Review Of Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead

One thing i really appreciate about looking back into movie history, is that you suddenly remember films that you loved for several reasons but have not seen in quite a while. For example just about 3 weeks ago i was going through films that was released 38 years ago in 1987 and i came across the title known as The Untouchables by legendary director Brian De Palma. I used to watch this film so many times back in the early 90´s on VHS and was one of my favourite films with legendary actor Kevin Costner. This is a very good criminal drama thriller with a brilliant cast such as Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Patricia Clarksson. Brad Sullivan and many others. The story is set in Chicago in the 1930´s where it is illegal to buy alcohol or sell alcohol where Bureau of Prohibiton agent Elliot Ness ( Kevin Costner ) who put together a team known as The Untouchables to take down the notorious gangster Al Capone ( Robert De Niro ) and his underground alcohol business. The whole cast does a brilliant job in this film and the film really manage to capture the time period during the 1930´s in a realistic way through costume design and set design. It was this film that legendary actor Sean Conner won an Academy award for and i can see why, he is absolutely fantastic as the character Officer Jimmy Malone. One of the reasons why i remember this film is that this was actually the very first role i saw actor Andy Garcia do. He was young at this time but still proved himself to be a great actor. If you have not seen The Untouchables you really should see it. Speaking of Andy Garcia i noticed that this year it is 30 years ago since his 1995 film Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead was released in theatres. Since i have nostalgic memories over this film i decided to watch it again and make a 30 years anniversary review as well. Is this film just as nostalgic as i remember it to be or have this film aged much more than i expected and lost some magic along the way?

Ex-ganster Jimmy "The Saint" Tosnia ( Andy Garcia ) is trying to live a normal life, leaving his criminal past behind by running his company Afterlife Advice in Denver, where dying people videotape messages for their loved ones.  His business isn´t doing well and his former boss, a crime lord known as "The Man With The Plan" ( Christopher Walken ), has bought up his debt in order to command a favor involving the crime lord´s son, Bernard ( Michael Nicolosi ), who has been arrested for child molestation. The Man With The Plan, who was left a quadriplegic after an attempt on his life, wants Jimmy to pursuade Bernard´s ex-girlfriend Meg to come back to him; The Man With The Plan believe this will cure Bernard of his pedophilia. Jimmy have no other option but to recruit a group of criminal friends from the past, not knowing that there is an assassin out there ready to wipe out each of Jimmy´s friends.

Ever since i saw Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead in theatre here in Sweden i have always had a special place in my heart for this film. This is one of those magical 90´s movies that had so much to offer, especially if you loved really good casting, excellent performances and a very smooth story that followed with the plot. The thing is that this film may not look very unique when you read about it, it doesn´t sound very original. What makes this film so unique is the chemistry of this cast, and let me tell you this is a dream cast you don´t see very often. Andy Garcia, Christopher Lloyd, Christopher Walken, Treat Williams, William Forsythe, Bill Nunn, Jack Warden, Steve Buscemi, i could go on and on telling you the whole list. And how they were able to make so many great characters in one single film is incredible to be honest. And that is one of the biggest reason this film is so good, each character have magical screen time while especially some of them shine brighter. For example i have never been a huge fan of Andy Garcia but his character known as Jimmy "The Saint" is without a doubt one of the best characters i have ever seen Andy Garcia do. He is a perfect match for this character and so charming, who doesn´t want to hang out with Jimmy "The Saint"? The absolute best acting performance comes without a doubt from actor Treat Williams as the absolutely insane character "Critical" Bill. I could go on talking about the characters but let´s talk about the plot itself. There is a dark sense of humour mixed into the plot and you also get a sense that this film have a similar style of Quentin Tarantino when it comes to telling this story of a gang of criminals. You could say this film have a influences from the 1992 classic Tarantino full feature directorial debut film Reservoir Dogs, except this is not a heist film in that sense. This gang that Jimmy "The Saint" put together is a perfect match just like Tarantino did in Reservoir Dogs so i promise you will have a good time while they work together. The film looks great and the story is told very smoothly like an old school gangster film with some more modern touches. One difference compared to Reservoir Dogs is that this film is not that violent, only in a few scenes. Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead is one of my personal favourite 90´s films for a very good reason, this film have so many details that work so well making this a unique film experience. Director Gary Fleder proved with his directorial debut film that you can make a really good looking mob story with the right characters and the right sense of humour. This may have been a box office bomb in 1995 but i will always love this film, i strongly recommend Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead on the Imprint blu ray release if you can get it or if you get the DVD. This is a true classic that belongs in your movie collection.

Rating: DDDD

30 Years Anniversary Review Of GoldenEye

I remember the very first time i visited London back in the year of 2002 it was right during Christmas weekend. The streets were filled with Christmas lights and Christmas decorations, much more than i was used to see in the capital city of Stockholm here in Sweden. I was only staying in London for a short while to hang out with my Scottish female friend Sharron, because we were going to celebrate New Years Eve in Edinburgh. One specific thing i remember in London that was quite big during this time of year was that the latest James Bond film Die Another Day was still running in cinemas with Pierce Brosnan. You could see double decker buses with Die Another Day posters and cinemas was still making sure James Bond fans could enter any cinema to enjoy the latest Bond chapter. The idea was that i was going to watch the film here in London while i stayed here. That plan changed because Sharron wanted a night out in bars instead and i ended up really drunk, and on the flight to Edinburgh i wasn´t feeling well at all. I did not watch Die Another Day in cinema in Scotland either, not until i returned to Sweden in January 2003 and i finally watched the film in cinema. Not one of the better James Bond films but at least not as terrible as Moonraker with Roger Moore so i suppose that´s good. Always been a James Bond fan since childhood and that´s thanks to my grandfather Ingvar who used to watch the James Bond movies all the time. He introuduced me to the very first Sean Connery films and we continued with the next James Bond known as Roger Moore. Back in those days we used to rent James Bond films on VHS when he lived in the city known as Kungälv. I have basically seen all the James Bond films since the 90´s in cinema except for No Time To Die, probably because of the pandemic and i didn´t visit the cinema until 2022. Either way i noticed that this year it is 30 years ago Pierce Brosnan´s first Bond movie GoldenEye turns 30 years old this year. I did see this film in cinema back in the 90´s and at the time i did enjoy this film with the brand new James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan. Since then i bought the VHS tape of the film and i still own a double DVD version of this film. I decided to revisit this film to see if my opinion have changed anything after 30 years. Is this still a solid James Bond film in this legendary franchise or have GoldenEye aged a lot over the years and lost some of it´s Bond magic?

MI6 agents James Bond ( Pierce Brosnan ) and Alec Trevelyan ( Sean Bean ) infilitrate a clandestine Soviet chemical weapons lab in Arkhangelsk. After witnessing Trevelyan seemingly executed by the facility´s commanding officer, Colonel Arkady Ourumov ( Gottfried John ), Bond destroys the site and escape in a stolen aircraft. Nine years later, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Bond attempts to prevent Xenia Onatopp ( Famke Janssen ), a member of the Janus crime syndicate, from stealing a Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter during a military demonstration in Monte Carlo, but is unsuccessful. Returning to MI6 headquarters In London, Bond joins MI6 staff monitoring an incident in Severnaya, Siberia, after the stolen helicopter turns up at the radar site there. An electromagnetic pulse blast suddenly hits the site, destroying it and several Russian fighter aircraft, while knocking out some satellite systems in orbit. The newly appointed M ( Judi Dench ) assigns Bond to investigate, after it is determined that the blast came from a Soviet-era sattelite armed with a nuclear electromagnetic pulse space-based weapon, codenamed "GoldenEye", 

One of the things i noticed while watching this film again was that this really feels like a 90´s action film. The music feels very 90´s, the editing feels like a 90´s action film and of course some of the characters also feel very 90´s. But i am totally fine with all of this because this was supposed to be the first film to bring James Bond in a more updated version since License To Kill back in 1989. If you loved the previous James Bond actor known as Timothy Dalton, you might think differently of Pierce Brosnan playing this legendary character. I personally feel that he was the perfect choice to continue the legacy of James Bond. Pierce Brosnan have always been an actor who knows how to be both charming and very serious as well, and he clearly knew how to combine this in GoldenEye showing the best out of Bond´s personality. What becomes very clear with GoldenEye is how effective many of the action scenes are in this film. I would probably say that this is one of the James Bond films where there are more action scenes compared to several of Roger Moore´s 80´s Bond movies such as Octopussy or A View To A Kill. GoldenEye manage to find a great balance of action scenes and a good sense of humour without loosing some of the charming qualities of a Bond movie that we are familiar with. I really enjoy the character Natalya Simonova ( played by Swedish actress Izabella Scorupco ) in the sense that she´s not the typical Bond girl. She is much tougher, doesn´t follow the typical Bond girl model we are familiar from the 70´s or 80´s. The evil character Xenia Onatopp ( played by actress Famke Janssen ) is perhaps one of the coolest evil women in this franchise, absolutely insane. Legendary actress Judi Dench as M is of course one of the true highlights in this film, this is the perfect casting choice for this character. The story surrounding the space based weapon GoldenEye works well and actually bring some intensive action scenes towards the end. Director Martin Campbell who i have seen several films from in the past, i would say this is definetely one of his better films. Not as good as Casino Royale with Daniel Craig but still proved he knew exactly what this franchise needed into the 90´s. GoldenEye is without a dout the best James Bond film with Pierce Brosnan and im still a big fan of this film. If you are a fan of this franchise in general i think you should revisit GoldenEye and have a really good time.

Rating: DDDD

The Toxic Avenger

There are several summers i can remember from my youth for a number of reasons. I had my first crush in a girl in the late 80´s in a summer camp, i went to see my very first double concert in an arena seeing Rod Stewart and Brtitish rock band Status Quo the same night ( the tickets was a gift so why not ? ), all the Swedish Midsummer celebrations with my grandfather Ingvar getting drunk. So let´s move forward to the summer of 1993 when i was going to a summer film school project for young people. This was a summer school project for teenagers who had no summer jobs and just wanted to do something during summer. The idea was to learn how to use a camera to film from different angles, learn camera technique, practise shooting different scenes to prepare doing a fake news show where my friend André was supposed to be the news anchor. We did 4 episodes all together and made up news stories, the best news report was about disabled people doing a swimming contest. We had 2 teenagers act disabled in the swimming pool and they were hillarious. I know you are not supposed to laugh at certain things when it comes to being disabled, but this was done in a classy was and not offensive. Almost like old school British comedy i would say. Anyway, at the last week of summer film school we were allowed to watch movies at film school. We had completed the news show and were just chilling watching B movies on VHS. This was the first time i came across the Troma film cult classic known as The Toxic Avenger. I have never heard of this film before so this became a personal favourite for many years. The story of mopping boy Melvin Ferd ( Mitch Cohen ) who cleans the local gym in Tromaville, New Jersey. Everyone hates the ugly looking nerd Melvin and especially by health guru Bozo ( Gary Schneider ) and his girlfriend Julie ( Cindy Manion ). One day they do a prank on him and chase him through the gym, it ends with Melvin jumping out the window and lands in a drum of toxic waste. This is where he turns into The Toxic Avenger, the new hero of Tromaville. This is truly one of the greatest 80´s cult movies of all time, hillarious, crazy, and violent all at the same time from directors Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman. The sequels was not as good as the first film so when i heard a remake was going to be made i was skeptical. Can you really succeed doing a remake on such a classic film? I bought a digital copy of this remake to simply find out if this was going to be better than i expected. Is this new adaptation of The Toxic Avenger worthy a movie night or is this a disaster from start to finish?

Janitor Winston ( Peter Dinklage ) is a hard working single father trying to do the best for his son Wade ( Jacob Tremblay ). When he finds out he have a very serious disease and may not survive more than 6 months, he tries to get help from his CEO known as Bob Gardinger ( Kevin Bacon ), but he basically mock his employee. In Tromaville there is a criminal gang known as The Killer Nutz, who one night attack Winston out in the streets and dump him inside a vat of chemicals. Winston turn into a creature known as The Toxic Avenger ( Lisa Guerreiro ) who will soon become the hero of Tromaville, fighting criminals with his toxic mop. He will clean up the streets of Tromaville and make sure Bob Gardinger no longer will be in control of this city.

If you are familiar with Troma films in general and know their kind of sense of humour you know they make pure B movies with bad dialogue and use lots of practical effects. In some cases they use a lot of gory violence that´s made to be a tribute to the worst B movies you can remember. In the case of this latest remake of The Toxic Avenger this is pretty much what you might expect. At least if you know the style of Troma films then this should be a film that might please you. There are some changes in this film compared to the 1984 original film of The Toxic Avenger and i actually think they did the right thing. Why try to copy the first film? Just do a completely different updated version, throw in completely different characters and try telling a story that´s not similar to the past. This updated version give us a complete different view of The Toxic Avenger than we are familiar with in the past. The original film is very goofy, almost like a terrible yet brilliant Jackie Chan rip off with high entertainment value for all the crazy characters and all the violence. This latest version do have crazy characters included as well and i have to say legendary actor Kevin Bacon as the evil Bob Gardinger is one of the best performances in this whole film. Kevin have always been able to take on all kinds of characters and i love seeing him play this insane individual. Actor Elijah Wood also give a solid performance as the odd character Fritz Garbinger who looks like some relative from The Addams Family. Even though Game Of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage is good as the main character Winston i got to say actress Luisa Guerreiro ( who you should watch in the Netflix TV series The Witcher ) as full costume Toxie is the highlight of this film. I personally enjoy the costume design of Toxie while still keeping a touch of the legendary look from 1984. Even if you hear Dinklage´s voice it is Luisa doing the physical performance as Toxie and the voice over matches well. Very violent scenes in several moments in this film and i love seeing Toxie ripping bodies apart. There are some funny moments as well where you feel that the Troma influences becomes very clear. Director Macon Blair ( who i really love in the 2013 independent drama thriller Blue Ruin, a must watch ) have not only managed to do a great remake of a B movie classic, but he also have given this legendary character a different approach that actually works. If you just want lots of blood, bad dialogue and just have a good time then what are you waiting for? Watch this Toxic Avenger remake and your pizza night at home will without a doubt be successfull.

Rating: DDD

The Mannequin

Fashion trends, i can honestly say im not the guy to ask what to wear at specific occations. I could give you some advice, but don´t expect it to be a great success. I do like clothes though and i have always been a big lover of designed tshirts in different colors. I try to mix it up and even wear a long sleeved shirt now and then. I even wear suits sometimes when there is a big celebration like a wedding, or a very unique birthday party. Even though i enjoy going into clothing shops around Europe i prefer simple clothes. Speaking of fashion and clothes there are several movies that brings up the subject of fashion. For example you have the critically acclaimed drama comedy The Devil Wears Prada from 2006 where legendary actress Meryl Streep really steal the show as the wild fashion character Miranda Priestly, and this is definetely worth a watch if you enjoy charming movies. One advice, listen to the commentary track of this film and find out some fun details. You also have more horror inspired films with a fashion theme such as the 2021 psychological horror film Last Night In Soho from director Edgar Wright ( director of the now well known cult classic horror comedy Shaun Of The Dead ). Last Night In Soho takes place in London where fashion student Eloise ( Thomasin McKenzie  ) is trying to become a fasion designer at London College of Fashion. While she is trying to fit into the class, she is seen as quite an odd personality and have a hard time making friends. Eloise love the music and fasion style of the Swinging Sixties and have vivid dreams about a confident young woman, Sandie ( Anya Taylor-Joy ), an aspiring singer in 1960´s London ). This is where she begin to have other horrific visions as well. Last Night In Soho is a very well made horror film with beautiful camera work, really good acting and quite effective horror scenes. Definetely worth a watch on 4KUltraHD especially or blu ray. Speaking of fashion and horror films i came across a interesting film this autumn among horror releases called The Mannequin. A horror film that seemed to have fashion influences sewn into the plot of this film. Is this a film you should check out this Christmas or is The Mannequin not worth your precious time at all?

Best friends and sisters Sophia Rojas ( Gabriella Riviera ) and Liana Rojas ( Isabella Gomez ) are very excited when Sophia have bought a very famous historic LA building, that used to be used many years ago as a photo studio as well as by fashion designers as well. Sophia and Liana plan to make this a brand new start in their lives and make their fashion dreams come to life, designing clothes and live life in the best possible way. But that dream slowly fade away when Sophia find her sister dead inside the building the next day, that looked like suicide. But did Sophia really kill herself or is there another explanation?

The Mannequin have a really solid start taking place during the 1950´s. I like the set up and how the story evolve with the mystery that reveal itself. When we get to modern day i would say this is still a solid story, but what especially makes this part of the film work is the mysterious mannequin doll. Not that it ever become alive or do anything physically towards these young women, but it is the spirits within this mannequin from dead women from the past that actually makes this fashion object interesting. Instead of just making a horror film about a mannequin doll coming to life, this film is more focused on being a psychological horror film. Are they really seeing dead people within these walls in this building? When you figure out what really happened towards the end, you get a clearer picture of how it was possible for so many women falling victims within this area. Where this film works best is when we see the evil spirit take control over the young women and control their bodies. There are a couple of creepy moments that i appreciate. Main actress Isabella Gomez ( who i recognized from the Netflix TV comedy series One Day At A Time ) as the character Liana is quite interesting, especially after she lost her very own belover sister Sophia ( Gabriella Rivera ). The way she chooses to grief her dead sister, it really shows that we all grief differently and there is no right or wrong. I also appreciate seeing Liana struggling with alcohol addiction, not because it´s positive at all but gives the character a realistic portrait of how we deal with life sometimes. I would say she does a good performance. Ok, so one of the issues i have with this film is the character Peter ( played by actor Maxwell Hamilton ) is a YouTuber. I would rather see a priest dealing with this evil than a YouTuber to be honest, and to see him fight against evil instead of a holy man? Other than this specific detail i did enjoy The Mannequin for being a simple but still effective horror film. Director John Berardo ( who directed the slasher horror film Initation, worth a watch ) have made a horror film that really feels like a throwback to possessed evil spirt horror films of the 80´s, and it works as well. The Mannequin could be a good choice on VOD or streaming after Christmas dinner this year.

Rating: DDD

The Hem

Anyone who believe you can´t make a solid horror film on a extremely low budget just look at the 1999 found footage horror classic The Blair Witch Project. Made on a budget of less than 700.000 U.S. dollars it made over 240 million U.S. dollars at the box office worldwide. I remember clearly how hyped up this film was all over the news and on MTV. I even remember that they had a special program on Swedish channel Kanal 5 about the making of this film and that did not happen often on this specific TV channel. The Blair Witch Project proved that you can make a scary movie while only being able to use a limited budget. It all depends on how creative you are telling a effective story as well as capturing the atmosphere of a found footage horror film.  What made this film especially so scary was how they managed to build up tensions, and finding the right locations to match with the story. I will say that the acting is good as well from the cast, even though this film doesn´t have a lot of characters. If you have not seen The Blair Witch Project so far i recommend to check it out on digital or streaming. There are plenty of great found footage horror films to choose between and over the years i have seen plenty. One of the films i think you should check it because it was both well made and had a good story, is the 2011 found footage horror film known as Grave Encounters from directors The Vicious Brothers. This film was made on a extreme low budget of 120.000 U.S. dollars and made over 5 million U.S. dollars at the box office. If you do the numbers then you can clearly see this was a big box office hit. The story of Grave Encounters is basically surrounding a paranormal TV reality show called Grave Encounters, that only aired 5 episodes because of the whole crew mysteriously disappeared. The footage that we get to see actually have some really creepy moments inside the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, where strange things begin to happen and we witness something extremely evil. Grave Encounters may not be one of the big classics in the genre of found footage horror films but i enjoyed this one because how well it is made considering the budget. The acting is pretty good as well and the haunting scenes works better than you might expect. Check this film out on streaming, VOD or physical media. I try to check out found footage horror releases every year, just to see if i may come across some title that might look interesting. That´s exactly what happened when i saw the poster of the horror film The Hem that i rented on VOD. Not knowing much more about this film i decided to give this film a chance. Is this one of the better found footage horror films this year or is The Hem unfortunately not a good option in this specific genre?

Dosumentary film maker Ann ( Savannah Rae Collins ) is working on a new documentary film with her crew to interview people about the abandoned old church known as Southside Church. It is said that it was in this church where a mysterious woman named Isabella Rose, who worked inside the church in the 1930's is still seen wearing one of her wedding dresses.

There is an interesting story to be told in The Hem regarding a very old church and in the last 16 minutes of the film there are some good horror scenes. But, even if this is just a 1 hour and 18 minutes long film there are a lot of scenes of the main characters that feel very drawn out. While they are investigating this old chuch there is not much happening. You hear noises, you see a wedding dressed woman sometimes, and this is all supposed to be scary. And that is one of my biggest issues with The Hem how much it misses the point with why found footage horror films can be good. They have not made a real effort to make this story scary or used this wedding dressed mysterious woman more effectively. Im not going to say that the cast is all terrible because i do think the female character Ann ( played by actress Savannah Rae Collins ) have a charming personality. The best acting performance though in this film comes from actor Judd Lormand ( who fans of TV series SEAL Team will recognize ) playing the police character Cameron. His scenes together with his partner Momty ( Georg Hardy from the legendary cult film Troll 2, a film you have to see ) towards the last 16 minutes of this film, their scenes going into the church armed is the most exciting part of the whole film. I understand that when you have a limited budget you can only do certain things, but that should also help you become more creative using whatever you have to build the film up more effectively. I do like the background story of the ghostly bride of Isabella, but you don´t see much of her at all until towards the end. If you are going to tell a story regarding a haunted location and base it around a specific individual, make it creepy, make it feel like an actual ghost story. The Hem could have been a great horror film if they would have made some changes and focused on the police insvestigation instead. Director Tyler Russel ( who both directed the independent full feature film Texas Cotton, and the short film by the same name ) clearly had some interesting ideas regarding The Hem. Too bad he could not find the right balance to make this film more effective. If you are a fan of this genre you might enjoy it, my recommendation would be check out Grave Encounters instead of this one.

Rating: DD

Weapons

Every parent want their child to live a good childhood, where they enjoy their lives, meet other children, get to learn new things in life. Parents also want to be able to give children a safe home, where no child could ever be harmed or could be put into any kind of danger. But what if your child completely disappear and you have no idea what happened? This has to be every parents worst nightmare and we all hope no family should go through this. Unfortunately, this is what happened in the 2013 American thriller Prisoners from director Denis Villeneuve ( director of the recent Dune movie adaptations ). A very well made thriller that tell the story of 2 families known as The Dover Family and The Birch Family celebrating Thanksgiving weekend. Both families have a daughter who suddenly disappear. Family father Kelly Dover ( Hugh Jackman ) decides to find out the truth not trusting the police and do his own investigation. This causes a lot of problems for Detective Loki ( Jake Gyllenhall ) who works on this case. What Prisoners manage to do is show you how frustrating this story is from parents who have to go through such a nightmare, but you also get a very well told part of this film from the work perspective of law enforcement. The acting from the whole cast is really good and especially Hugh Jackman, this may be one of his strongest acting performances in his career so far. Prisoners is a very powerful film on a psychological level. What if you go too far and take justice in your own hands? Can you live with that the rest of your life? If you have not seen Prisoners check it out on streaming or rent it on VOD. Movies about missing children is always a difficult subject and we have seen several really good stories be told regarding this subject. This year a horror film known as Weapons from director Zach Cregger ( the director of the 2022 horror film Barbarian with Bill Skarsgård ) became a big box office success and crtitically acclaimed. I especially remember British film critic Mark Kermode giving the film a high rating. Since i did enjoy Barbarian i was curious to see if Weapons would be another quality film from director Zach Cregger. Is this one of the best horror films of this year or do i have a completely different opinion about Weapons?

In the town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, a group of childen unexpectedly ran out of their homes at 2:17 and disappeared. It turns out that almost an entire elementary class disappeared, except for one student named Alex Lilly ( Cary Christopher ). This class that Alex goes to have a teacher named Justine Gandy ( Julia Garner ), and the parents of the children of this class see her as the main suspect. Even thoough Justine knows she had nothing to do with the disappearance of her students. One of the children´s father´s named Archer Graff ( Josh Brolin ) seems to spend all his days to find answers. Where did all the children go and why does no one seem to have any answers?

Weapons is without a doubt one of the more fascinating horror movies of this year. It doesn´t follow a traditional plot but actually tell the story from different individuals, how they experience different time periods since the children went missing from one specific class room. I think it´s important to know that this film does not only focus on the main story, there is a deep meaning to all the different chapters that we are presented with and why they are divided. We also ask ourselves questions such as :- Why did only most of the children in one class suddenly disappear? The mystery surrounding the children that are missing is told in a very mysterious but effective way. I especially enjoy the chapter with the character Justine ( played by actress Julia Garner, who you should watch in the horror film Wolf Man ), the teacher of the class of missing children. How do you handle your private life when children´s parents constantly hate you? How do you function as a human being when no one seems to believe that you have done nothing wrong? I can´t even imagine how extremely difficult this situation must be and i think actress Julia Garner capture these emotions through her performance. I also enjoy legendary actor James Brolin´s character Archer, being one of the parents of the lost children who is desperately searching for answers. The most unique acting performance in this film comes from actress Amy Madigan ( who you should see in the satirical horror action film The Hunt ) as the bizarre character Gladys. Let´s just say she is the last guest you would want during the holidays. I have to mention the beautiful cinematography by Larkin Seiple ( who also did the cinematography on the 2018 sci fi film Kin )  Weapons try to bring a lot of different subjects to the surface, especially how we as humans beings deal with trauma and difficult situations in life, how human behavior can change in a crisis. Director Zach Gregger manage to tell this story very effective with some simple threads that are all connected. I wouldn´t be susprised if Weapons wins some awards next year, this is truly one of the better horror films of 2025.

Rating: DDDD

Eddington

There are certain moments in film history when we get a unique film experience of a specific film, no matter what category we are talking about. For example i remember back in the 80´s i experienced my very first film from legendary director David Lynch and that was the body horror film Rabid. It was the year 1989 and it was the very first moment i got to watch David Lynch film Rabid on VHS. I borrowed the film from our neighbor family The Ostwalds ( they always got VHS films to their home since they knew one of the video rental store owner´s in our hometown ). Rabid turned out to be a very unique film esperience that basically tells the story of a young woman named Rose Miller ( played by actress Marilyn Chambers ) who crashes in a terrible motorcycle accident. She survives but is forced to go through surgery. What she doesn´t know is that this surgery have mutated her, feeding on other humans blood. A well made body horror film worth checking out. It was in the early 90´s i also got to experience another David Cronenberg classic known as Videorome. This was not my first movie to see actor James Wood, i had actually seen him in Oliver Stone´s drama thriller Salvador before i watched Videorome. It is a completely different film experience from Rabid but very well made and a fascinating. I especially love the fact that director David Cronenberg tried to explore media, how insane television can be having no limits between reality and fantasy.  Excellent performance by James Woods and i highly recommend the Arrow blu ray release of Videorome. Speaking of unique films perhaps you have heard of director Ari Aster? He really got a lot of respect for his 2018 horror film Hereditary ( a film i still really enjoy today )  and the film´s cast won a lot of awards at the 2019 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. His next film Midsommar also turneed out to be really good, showing a completely different view into Swedish traditional summer festival Midsommar celebration. I did not see his next film Beau Is Afraid, perhaps because i heard many people had very mixed opinions about this film. I did decide to check out Ari Aster´s latest film  called Eddington, a film i was planning to see in cinema but that plan failed. So i picked up a physical blu ray instead to review this film. Is this another high quality film from director Ari Aster or is Eddington his worst film as a director so far?

In the small town of Eddington people are going through the pandemic of the year 2020. Sheriff Joe Cross ( Joaquin Phoenix ) does not like wearing masks and he does not like all the rules that people are supposed to follow during the pandemic. He is not a fan of running mayor Ted Garcia ( Pedro Pascal ) so he decides to run for mayor as well. At first that might seem like a good idea, until things takes a very different turn.

I think we should clarify that Eddington is not a horror film, so if you are expecting anything similar to Hereditary or Midsommar then you will be disappointed. If you do want to see director Ari Aster do a completely different film then you have definetely entered the right place. This is basically a film that tries to capture how people experienced the pandemic during 2020. You might think to yourself:- Why make a movie about this that happened just 5 years ago? I could buy that argument if we are thinking that this could have been made into a film let´s say 10 years later, so we could get a different perspective. Either way, the film is here anyway so we might as well talk about it. I will begin saying i do think it was a good idea telling a story during the pandemic from a very small town out in the middle of nowhere. This would be a great location if you wanted to avoid meeting lots of people, especially if you don´t want to get infected by Covid 19. The most interesting part of this film is actually the mayor campaign going on in the city of Eddington. You have the local sheriff Joe Cross ( played well by actor Joaquin Phoenix ) and Ted Garcia ( another great performance from actor Pedro Pascal ), running against each other who clearly have different opinions regarding Covid 19 lockdown. To see these men argue against each other and run their own mayor campaigns, is actually quite charming in certain scenes. I also like to see the private life of sheriff Joe where he seems to have issues with his wife and her mother, as they argue over Joe´s choice to run for mayor. This film actually manage to capture the mentality of a smaller town, where you feel that people don´t really like big changes. I will say that Eddington is nowhere near as good as either Hereditary or Midsommar, this is basically a very generic film if you compare to director Ari Aster´s previous films. The length of this film is a problem landing at over 140 minutes long, and for a story that´s very simple you feel that they stretched this out a little bit too long. Otherwise i can still recommend Eddington is you want to see director Ari Aster doing a completely different film than we have seen him work on before. It´s a good looking film and i do feel it gives a realistic view into the world of politics. It may never find a big audience, but if you enjoy more independent driven stories then Eddington could possibly find it´s way to your heart.

Rating: DDD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Black Creek

During the early 90s i watched a lot of martial arts action movies at my local VHS rental store Videomix. It didn't matter if it was Jean-Claude Van Damme, Brandon Lee, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan or other action stars such as Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Billy Blanks, Jet Li, as long as I got to see lots of kicks and gun battles i was pleased. Who cared about the plot of each film? It was the action scenes that really mattered where the fighting scenes made the biggest impact. Martial arts action movies during this period of the 90s was very popular on VHS. If we were lucky you would get to see at least 6 different new martial arts movies coming out in one single month, where most of them were low budget martial art films from Cannon Group, PM Entertainment or at some occasions a bigger studio like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would finance the film such as Death Warrant with Jean-Claude Van Damme. During the 90´s i bought VHS movies from England and one of the films i remember buying was the 1992 martial arts action film Rage And Honor. Directed by Terence H. Winkelness ( director of the 1987 classic boddy horror film The Nest ), this was my first introduction to martial arts action star Cyntha Rothrock. I had seen her name before on VHS covers but i was not familiar with her work. She turned out to be really cool as she does her own fighting scenes. She is not the lead actor of this film, that is martial art action star Richard Norton as the character Preston. Either way i just remember enjoying this film for being a pretty traditional cop action film. One advice, see the funny performance by actor Stephen Davies as the homeless Baby. He is completely hyped up and talks constantly. I did see some other films with Cynthia on VHS such as China O´Brien, Tiger Claws and Lady Dragon. Cynthia Rothrock never stopped making films and not that long ago she released her film Black Creek, that she was able to make thanks to fans of martial arts cinema through an Indiegogo campaign. You can still get a physical copy of this film on this page, if you would like to show your support. I got myself a physical copy to review this film and being a fan of martial art films in general. Is the western film Black Creek a must watch or is this unfortunately not as good as we were hoping it would be?

Rose Jennings ( Cynthia Rothrock ) return to her brother´s home where she finds out he have been brutally killed by the evil leader Damien Sinclair ( Richard Norton ) running a gang of outlaws. In the town of Black Creek it becomes clear that they don´t like Rose visiting, she is too nosy on what Damien and his men are doing across town. She swear to revenge her brother´s death as she gets help from her new friend Xiyang ( Don "The Dragon" Wilson ).

Ever since the idea of Black Creek came out on social media i was looking forward to this film. Seeing several martial arts action stars united together in a western action film did look good on paper. So, does this film manage to pull this concept through? For the most part i would say yes, i have some smaller issues with Black Creek but let´s get into the good. Actress Cynthia Rothrock knows exactly how to deliver martial arts entertainment, even if shes over 60 years old she can still punch and kick ass, i wouldn´t mess with her in a desert bar. Cynthia deliver a solid performance as her character Rose and i like the fact that she does not try and make her character too rough. There is a good side within Rose and you get a sense of that. I also like the cotume design on Rose, it seems that they knew exactly what clothes she could use to do her martial arts scenes and still keep the western influences look authentic. Now, there are especially two other characters in this film that definetely deserve to be talked about so let´s begin with the character Damien ( played by legendary martia arts actor Richard Norton ). Damien is the perfect evil leader of a film such as this and Richard Norton really prove himself that he knows how to potrait this character. The next character i have to mention is the character known as Xiyan ( played by legendary martial arts champion, and actor Don "The Dragon" Wilson ). This could perhaps be the best acting performance i have ever seen from Don Wilson, he should really do more western films in the future. His scenes with Cynthia Rothrock are the best acting scenes in this entire film, they have a very special screen presence together. The fighting scenes in general look as good as i was hoping for, they are well made and you can tell they don't cut down on the violence. The negative note on this film is the length, there are some very long dialogue scenes and they are not terrible, they just go on a little bit too long. Otherwise i think this is a good looking western film and the combination of martial arts match well with the story. To see legendary martial arts actor Richard Norton in a final fighting scene together with Cynthia before he passed away is beautiful, and Black Creek becomes a tribute to both martial arts and the western genre. Directors Shannon Lanier and Mike Möller have made one of the better martial art films this year, you should definetely check out Black Creek this upcoming Christmas.

Rating: DDD

Red Sonja

During the 80´s it seemed to be a time period where you would make films with sorcery, swords and fantasty combined. It was like stepping inside a world you would only read about in books or comic books, where monsters and mythical creatures existed and brave men and women would fight against evil. No matter if they armed themselves with swords, an axe or knives, every lethal weapon could make a difference. It was during the 80´s some of the best sword and fantasty films were made such as the 1981 film Conan The Barbarian ( the very first big film role for Arnold Schwarzenegger ), the 1981 film Excalibur, the 1982 film The Sword And The Sorcerer as well as the 1982 classic The Beastmaster, where V The TV series actor Marc Singer played the iconic character Dar who can communicate with animals.  Since i mentioned Conan The Barbarian we actually had two more sword fantasy films during the 80´s with Schwarzenegger. The first one was Conan The Destroyer released in 1984, the official sequel to the 1981 original Conan The Barbarian film. This is a film that divide fans of Schwarzenegger, i would say it´s not as good as the original Conan film but still entertaining enough to be worth a watch. Then just one year later came a film adaptaton on the comic book character Red Sonja where actress Brigitte Nielsen played the main character. In this film you see Arnold Schwarzenegger play the character Lord Kalidor, he kind of reminds you of Conan in some ways but have a different personaliy. Red Sonja as a film is quite a mess but im actually a fan of this film. Does it have bad acting? Yes, and im perfectly fine with that. Birgitte Nielsen is actually quite fun as Red Sonja and the dialouge is terrible as well. It´s just a cheesy fun sword fantasy film if you are in the right mood from director Richard Fleischer ( who also directed Conan The Destroyer ). For many years there was talking about doing a Red Sonja remake and for a moment it seemed impossible to get this movie made. But here we are in 2025 with a brand new remake with actress Matilda Lutz takes over the role as Red Sonja. Is this even better than the 1985 film or is this remake a piece of trash that never should have been made?

A young Red Sonja´s ( Sofia Weldon ) homeland, Hyrkania, is invaded by barbarians, slaughtering most of her people and forcing her to flee into the woods nearby. Seperated from her tribe, she searches for other Hyrkanian´s while worshipping the forest goddess Ashera. Many years have passed and Sonja ( Matilda Lutz ) is a survivor taking down mercenaries, hunting animals for horns. She tracks their location down where the mercenaries collect exotic creatures for gladiator games honoring Emperor Dragan ( Robert Sheehan ). Sonja is caught killing mercenaries and captured by the men of the Emperor. They decide to use her to the gladiator games, especially to entertain their visitors who expect to see bloody fights. The only way to get out into the real world is winning the game, or your life ends inside the arena.

Since i am a fan of sword, sorcery and fantasy films in general i knew this might be something in my taste. The question is do we really need a Red Sonja remake in modern days? I think it is a good idea considering so many films just repeat themselves, while with a fantasty sword film you can bring out different ideas and have some fun with this genre without taking it too seriously. So compared to the 1985 film does this remake bring anything different to the table? I would say yes, this is a completely different version of Red Sonja that we saw in the original film. I think this was a good desiscion not trying to repeat yourself and do a different approach on this character. There are two very negative details regarding this film that i will mention so let´s get to the positive first. Actress Matilda Lutz ( who i recognized from the 2023 Netflix thriller Reptile ) as Red Sonja is definetely very different from actress Birgitte Nielsen´s version and i appreciate the changes. I don´t think it would have worked making her look similar in modern days, and i feel that Matilda Lutz manage to portrait this character good enough to make myself pleased with the result. I especially appreciate seeing her doing physical battle scenes, where you get to see her try to live into the life of her character. There are some scenes where you can tell she´s not the one doing all the stunts and that´s ok, as long as the action scenes are entertaining im all up for this. The female character Annisia played by actress Wallis Day ( who you might recognize from the TV series Batwoman as the character Kate Kane ) have a charming evil personality and i especially like her conflicts between her and Red Sonja. One of the biggest issues with this Red Sonja remake is the terrible CGI effects in certain scenes, they feel like they came from a low budget fantasy film from the  early 2000´s. If you don´t have the budget to make good CGI effects perhaps practical effects would have looked better. The main villain Draygan feels a little bit weak against a strong warrior like Red Sonja. Compared to the original film i will say that this is a better sword fantasy adventure than the 1985 film. The battle scenes are more well made, Red Sonja herself is more developed as a character and the plot feels more structured than the 1985 film. If you don´t like these kinds of films you will not like this film either. This is a film purely for fans of Conan The Barbarian and similar films and i appreciate the effort they made making this film. Director MJ Bassett may not have made a film that will find a bigger audience, but if you you just want a simple adventure there are far more worse films than this one. Thumbs up to Red Sonja from me, i guess im easy to entertain.

Rating: DDD

Bambi: The Reckoning

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

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

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

Rating: DDD

Jacker 3 - Road To Hell

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

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

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

Rating: DDD

War Of The Worlds

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

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

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

Rating: DD

The Ritual

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

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

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

Rating: DD

River Of Blood

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

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

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

Rating: DDD

Two Graves

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

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

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

Rating: DDD

Osiris

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

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

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

Rating: DDD

Guns Up

The year of 2022 became a little bit special for me for personal reasons. You might wonder what on Earth could it be that year that made me happy? Well, there are a couple of reasons such as Wales rock band Stereophonics released their 12th studio album Ouchya! ( that may not be their best studio album but still better than their 6th and 7th album ). This was also the year when action director Roland Emmerich released his box office disaster Moonfall, a film i actually enjoy just for being a disaster film with lots of CGI effects and had a good cast with actors Patrick Wilson ( The Conjuring franchise ), John Bradley ( who played the character Samwell Tarly in the TV series Game Of Thrones ) and Hale Berry ( the James Bond chick Jinx in Die Another Day ). Oh, we do get to see legendary actor Donald Sutherland as well for a short while. The bigger reason why the year 2022 felt special was that legendary action icon Bruce Willis was in a trilogy of action films called Detective Knight: Rogue, Detective Knight: Redemption and Detective Knight: Independence. Now, i know at the time these films were released we found out he have an illness known as the cognitive disorder afasia. And even if you can tell at certain moments he is not as he used to be, i do enjoy these tree films for being simple action movies. I actually ordered all three films on physical media from the UK. The first film Detective Knight: Rogue tells the story of Detective Knight ( Bruce Willis ), a very dedicated cop on the streets of Los Angeles, who will make sure justice is prevailed. As the city prepares to celebrate Halloween, mask-wearing armed robbers critically wounds Knight´s partner in a shootout following a heist. With Detective Knight in hot pursuit, the criminals behind the heist flee from L.A. to New York as they are hoping to succeed their mission. To say that Detective Knight: Rogue have anything different to offer than any other police action films would be wrong. What this film does manage to do is just deliver simple action entertainement if you just want a streaming evening with popcorn and sodas, especially if you grew up watching Bruce Willis on VHS back in the day. All of these three film is directed by Edward Drake and i found out this summer he released a new action comedy called Guns Up with comedian / actor Kevin James and actress Christina Ricci. Since i used to enjoy action comedies in the 80´s and 90´s, would this film be a positive surprise or is Guns Up just as forgettable as Los Del Rio´s dreadful 1996 Christmas single Macarena Christmas?

Mob henchman Ray Hayes ( Kevin James ) is fed up with his job working for criminals. He wants to start an ordinary life with his wife Alice Hayes ( Christina Ricci ) and their two children Sihobán Hayes ( Keana Marie ) and Henry Hayes ( Leo Easton Kelly ). Their plan is to run their own family diner to actually pursue their dreams. But as it turns out, leaving the mob is not the easiest way to go.

One of the issues i had with the Detective Knight trilogy was that some of the action scenes were not always that fun to watch. It was like director Edward Drake didn´t go all in to make certain scenes more effective. Thankfully in the action comedy Guns Up he seems to have made a decision to make much more memorable action scenes than in the Detective Knight franchise. I do have some issues with this film but let´s talk about the positive first. Actor Kevin James ( who i used to watch a lot in episodes of his comedy TV series The King Of Queens ) as the character Ray is quite different from some of his movies in the past. Much more tougher while he also seems to be a respectful man in his profession plus being a good family man. I like the combination of this character that he´s not only stone cold and can kill, there is a different side of his personality. Actress Christina Ricci as Ray´s wife Alice is in my opinion one of the better acting performances in this film. Always been a fan of Christina and love her ability to take on any kind of character. The strength of Guns Up is the most fun action scenes and when the action scenes becomes a bit over the top. On a technical level i think this is director Edward Drake´s best looking film, where he especially manage to capture some really nice action sequences. Now, we have to talk about what doesn´t really work. This is supposed to be an action comedy and they do attempt to try and be funny in certain scenes. If you are making a combination such as this you need to have comedy material that matches the action scenes and this is something that Guns Up unfortunately doesn´t have. It is basically some of the characters and the action scenes that makes this film work, where it misses out on certain important details. To be completely honest this is not a film that many people will remember because of the plot, you will be entertained for the moment and that´s good enough if you just want something not too complicated to watch. If you want shootouts, fighting and 90´s styled action film then Guns Up should fall into your taste. Director Edward Drake clearly knows how to make violent action films so im actually hoping for a sequel. What can i say im easy to entertain.

Rating: DDD