Mayhem

When it comes to French movies i have a bit of mixed feelings regdarding French cinema releases. There are some French films that are really good that caught my attention from start to finish such as the 2016 brillant drama film It´s Only The End Of The World from director Xavier Dolan, while there are some French films that are just ok but look too much similar to other French drama films. I have seen quite a lot of French drama films regarding the countryside, wine gardens, different cheese flavors and of course all the romance that comes along with this combination. But the one genre where i feel that France have done really well is actually in the horror genre and especially during the late 2000´s. For a couple of years straight there we had some really good horror releases such as the 2008 French horror film Martyrs or the 2007 disturbing French horror Inside. Both of these French horror films are a must see, even if you are not a big fan of foreign films you might actually enjoy at least one of them. But it was in the year of 2007 when director Xavier Gens released his directorial full feature debut film known as Frontiére(s). A quite interesting and different horror film from the ordinary releases where it takes place during a violent aftermath of a political election. A gang of Muslim Arab youths are split up while trying to pull of robbery. What they don´t know is the family that welcome them into their family-run inn are not as friendly as them may seem. Frontiére(s) may have some problems on a technical level with some shaky camera moves but the film does look good otherwise and the horror scenes are actually well made. A film worth picking up if you are interested in foreign horror films. Speaking of director Xavier Gens i saw the trailer of his latest film Mayhem late last year, The trailer looked great and it seemed to be a film in my taste. Is the film Mayhem a action feast for us who loves a lot of violence or is it just as bad as Ronan Keating´s third solo album Turn It On released in 2003?

After being released from prison and is able to start a new life, Sam ( Nassim Lyes ) moves to Thailand where he starts a family with his girlfriend Mia ( Loryn Nounay ). Mia dreams of having their own restaurant on a beach area and they hope to settle a deal for the land where they want the restaurant to be. Their request is denied because it would cost much more than they can afford, and Sam have no other option than try to get the money they need. Only one way to get money quickly and that is through drug smuggling. When the operation goes wrong the criminals kidnap his daughter and kill his girlfriend. Sam manage to survive with only one thing on his mind, he will get his daughter back.

Imagine if you combined the Liam Neesan classic Taken and combined it with the martial arts action classic The Raid while having the plot moved to Thailand, you pretty much have Mayhem served on a plate. There are of course big differences between these films but i think you might understand what kind of film Mayhem is and what kind of audience would appreciate it best. Let me put it this way, this is the kind of action film that doesn´t care about what´s trending on social media or how a film should look like in 2024. This is pure old school martial arts action just like we used to get in the 80´s and 90´s with some extremely violent martial arts scenes. Not as violent as The Raid but still violent enough to please fans of this genre. There is even a dramatic story bound into the plot and guess what, it´s actually not that bad at all. I think the dramatic tone is done well in Mayhem without being too melodramatic. I also think the story surrounding the main character Sam played by actor Nassim Lyes is a man a lot of fathers worldwide can recognize themselves in, especially if their daughter is a victim of a crime. What would you do if your daughter were kidnapped by human trafficking criminals and how far are you willing to go to bring her back? Not only do we find a classic revenge story in Mayhem but we also see the tragedy of human trafficking that´s happening everyday in Bangkok. Even if you only see certain scenes of young girls being sold it is still a horrible reminder of how girls are being sexually molested everyday. The biggest strength of Mayhem is without a doubt the action scenes, especially when the martial art scenes kicks in with extreme brutality. Lead actor Nassim Lyes is incredibly good physical shape and he knows how to fight, and that comes off well on the big screen. Anything negative that comes to my mind? Perhaps that some of the thai actors were not that good when it comes to delivering dramatic dialogue. Other than that i can´t say anything bad regarding Mayhem because this is a great martial arts action film that will especially be appreciated by fans of The Raid films. Director Xavier Gans does not only deliver his best looking film so far but he clearly shows that he knows how to make effective action films. What are you waiting for? Pick up a physical copy of Mayhem today and i promise you are going to have a good time.

Rating: DDD

The Curse Of The Clown Motel

Whenever i think about a motel i immediately think about a highway motel standing out in the middle of nowhere. No shopping malls around or any restaurants near by, just a dusty highway with an old man running the motel. Of course i am sure there are other images of motels that many other people have but this is my own image of what a motel could look like. I have said in the past that if i ever visit America i should try staying at a motel outside a larger city, just to try it out and see the surroundings of nature. Some positive details may be you get a simple room with everything that you need, just an old fashioned bed with a basic bathroom. Most important of all is you have to have a TV of course so you can at least enjoy some American TV channels. If they have a water boiler in there as well it´s even better, so you can make a cup of instant coffee. Speaking of motels there are a lot of films in Hollywood who brought up the subject of motels. Of course most people would think instantly about Alfred Hitchcock´s classic Psycho, but there are films that i feel we don´t hear much about that are actually worth a watch. How many of you might have seen a film called Vacancy from director Nimród Antal ( director of the great 2010 action horror film Predators ) ?. It is a 2007 horror thriller released back in 2007 that actually takes place at a motel where a married couple played by actors Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale discover that their room have hidden video cameras. At first they don´t understand why anyone would do this to their staying guests until the truth finally comes out. Vacancy may not have been original in any way but i do appreciate that this film focused on making almost an old school horror film without CGI and using a basic story that actually worked. And the motel itself have a very important part of the story, and i do feel the location is used well to capture the atmosphere of a deserted road while turning into a home invasion film. Vacancy is definetely worth a watch on streaming or physical media if you enjoy simple but effective horror films. Speaking of motels i heard last year about a horror film coming out called The Curse Of The Clown Motel, not knowing much about the plot i just saw the film have horror actor Tobin Bell ( the well known actor from the Saw franchise ) and 90´s action star Richard Grieco from the classic 90´s film If Looks Could Kill starring in this film. Is this a indepenent horror highlight that should be seen or is The Curse Of The Clown Hotel a dull horror experience from start to finish?

Native American Alma ( Juliana Destefano ) travel back home to help her family get their Native American heritage recognized, all she finds is the World-Famous Clown Motel run by Mr. Wilson ( Tobin Bell ) that has been erected on their land.

The first thing that comes to my mind regarding the film The Curse Of The Clown Motel is that this is actually a great title for a horror film. The title of this film may sound a bit silly but still manage to say enough to make you interested in the film itself. I was actually curious to see what kind of horror film this would be since this was supposed to be a film connected to a motel with clowns. Unfortunately i have to say i am disappointed. With such a great premise for a horror film with a motel full of clowns in all sizes this could have been a great slasher film with murdering clowns, or perhaps a demonic clown on a rampage killing motel visitors. Instead we get a very slow horror film that takes itself way too seriously, and have way too many dialogue scenes that feels more like a way to fill in scenes just to get the playtime of the film to get closer to 90 minutes. If you are going to make a horror film especially focused on a motel you could have made an attempt to make the location interesting like they did in Vacancy that i mentioned earlier. In that film they knew how to build up tensions by using different locations inside the motel with effective horror scenes. We do get different locations in the Clown Motel as well but most of those scenes are neither interesting or feels necessary. One of the most positive surprises of this film is actually actor Richard Grieco ( Attack Of The Unknown ) as the character Stewart. Even if he doesn´t have a lot of screen time he comes across as one of the most interesting characters of The Curse Of The Clown Hotel. Actress Juliana Destefano as Alma do have some good scenes to be pleased about. Of course actor Tobin Bell knows how to put on a performance that only he can do, but i wish he could have done more with his character. At the end of the day The Curse Of The Clown Motel have some interesting ideas but choose to do nothing interesting with the plot of the motel. Directors Asif Akbar and Lance Kawas seems to have chosen a simple path with this film, not even trying to make this film scary at all. The Curse Of The Clown Motel will most likely dust on the 1 dollar store shelves in the future.

Rating: DD

The Beekeeper

When my grandfather was alive i used to spend a lot of summers out in his summer cabin, he had a neighbor not far away who would sell home made honey. This was honey that his neighbor produced through his own honeycromb. So instead of buying honey from a super market my grandfather used to get fresh honey locally produced. I remember we tried some great ice cream topping it with the honey while having fresh brewed coffee on his porch. Those were good days and i still remember the glass jars that he used to keep the honey in, just in case he would need the honey for other things than just topping ice cream. From what i understand a lot of people are worried about the decline of living bees worldwide. As most of us know bees are a very important part of the eco system who help wild trees and wild flowers so we need to make sure bees survive. Luckily there are great non-profit organizations such as Save The Bees USA who work hard to make sure that all bee species will be able to survive into the future. They also educate children to learn about bees and why they are so important. If you want to find out more just google Save The Bees USA and you will see their official homepage with all information on what they do and how you can help them. Speaking of bees there is especially one classic horror film that i especially remember from the 70´s that i used to watch many times on VHS. And that is the 1978 horror film The Swarm from director Irwin Allen ( director of the 1961 sci fi disaster classic Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea ). The Swarm tells the story of scientist Dr. Bradford Crane ( Michael Caine ) who discover that African killer bees are the cause of chaos that broke out in Texas, at a United States Air Force ICBM commander bunker. After this horrible attack Dr. Crane is worried that these African killer bees will attack civilians as well and warn everyone. The Swarm is a classic natural horror film in true 70´s horror style where actors such as Michael Caine ( Get Carter ), Katherine Ross ( from the 1975 classic The Stepford Wives ), Richard Widmark ( from the 1974 classic Murder On The Orient Express ) and many more legenday actors are included in this film. I highly recommend you pick up The Swarm on DVD or blu ray if you enjoy 70´s horror films. Speaking of bees in film i was suprised lat year when i heard action star Jason Statham was coming out with a new film in 2024 where he plays a beekeeper. You might think this is a drama film about bees but it seemed to be an action film in true classic Statham style. Directed by David Ayes who gave us the 2016 superhero action film Suicide Squad ( which i enjoyed but had issues with Jared Leto´s performance as The Joker ). I did watch The Beekeeper in cinema and the question is, does Statham still manage to do solid action films or is he running out of good ideas with his latest attempt to please his audience?

Retired schoolteacher Eloise Parker ( Phylicia Rashad ) lives by herself in a house out in Massachusetts, but she has a tenant in her barn, Adam Clay ( Jason Staham ), who is living a quiet life as a beekeeper. Eloise falls for a phishing scam and is robbed of over 2 Million U.S. dollars, the majority which belongs to a charity organization she manages. Devestated over all that happened, Eloise decides to take her own life. Adam find her inside the house and is seen by Eloise daughter FBI agent Veronika Parker ( Emmy Raver-Lampman ) as she arrest him. Veronika find out that Adam have no traces of gun powder on him and have nothing to do with Eloise´s suicide. However, Adam is not only a beekeeper but belong to a secret group known as the Beekeepers. He sets out to find everyone responsible and make sure they regret it.

To be honest i did not have really high expectations about The Beekeeper just in case i would be disappointed being a true Jason Statham fan. But this is honestly one of his better action films in recent years and i am so happy to see that he is able to deliver solid action films. The Beekeeper may sound like a pretty boring idea on paper, but don´t judge this film by the movie poster it is more entertaining than you might expect. To see Jason Statham do a different kind of character is actually a great idea, since he seems to be able to try more dramatic roles as well. Does this mean The Beekeeper have dramatic scenes? At least in the early beginning where we see his character Adam Clay living as a tenant in a barn where he works hard to produce honey. After the more dramatic opening scenes the film switches over to true classic Statham action and we are right back to where he belongs. The violence is of course really over the top with lots of fighting, the sound effects are really good during these fights and the quick dialogue works well even if some of dialogue scenes are a bit cheesy. I think in an action film like this you can´t take everything too seriously and just have a good time instead. Statham is known for looking a bit stiff with his facial expressions but it is when he actually goes into his character where the magic begins. Even if he knows how to punch people he knows how to act as well when some scenes need to be more dramatic. We have to talk about actress Emmy-Raver Lampman ( from the Netflix TV series The Umbrella Academy ) as the character Agent Verona Parker and i know some people are very divided about her character. I personally enjoyed her tough attitude and i feel she fit in well with the story. So any issues i have with The Beekeeper? Honestly not really since i actually had a good time with this film. Is it a bit over the top in some fighting scenes? Sure, but i honestly don´t care i just want to be entertained while watching a Statham film. Director David Ayes knows how to make fun action scenes and he proves that clearly in The Beekeeper by letting Statham go all in with extreme violence. The Beekeeper may not win a new audience unless they like Statham as an actor but if you are a fan i guarantee you will enjoy yourself. Who knew kicking ass and helping bees would be a great combination? The Beekeeper proves that this combination actually works.

Rating: DDD

Night Swim

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

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

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

Rating: DD

Gods Of The Deep

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

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

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

Rating: DDD

Pig Killer

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

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

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

Rating: DDD

20 Years Anniversary Review Of AVP: Alien Vs. Predator

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

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

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

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

Rating: DDD