Mortal Kombat II

Some of you may not know about this, but around the beginning of 1989 i started training Judo in my hometown Uddevalla. It was around late 1990 when i was 13 years old i did my final year training Judo and i had a yellow Judo belt at that time. I was supposed to go for the orange belt, that was the plan at least. But that´s when i decided go fully invested into my local tennis club instead, who i stayed with quite many years. So i never took the orange belt and dropped out of Judo completely. I did meet my Judo trainer sometimes dowtown, who tried to convince me to come back. But at that time i felt more interested training tennis, and nothing would change my mind honestly. During the 90´s i toured across Sweden with our local tennis team, and even if we won a few matches we did loose some big matches as well. I am forever grateful though for the short period of time i did train Judo, and i still have some good memories from that time period. During the 90´s i did watch my good school friend Björn in karate matches, since they would allow a smaller amount of people as an audience. This was actually quite fun because karate is different from Judo, physically and mentally different. In 1995 both me and Björn were really excited because a film adaptation of the extremely popular video game Mortal Kombat was released in cinemas. Of course we were at the premiere weekend, where Björn actually dressed up in his karate clothes to the cinema. I still love this film still today, Mortal Kombat from 1995 is a really fun martial arts film with great performances, some really cool fighting sequences and a good sense of humour. Let´s not even talk about Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. After a lot of successfull Mortal Kombat games over the years we did get a new updated film adaptation of Mortal Kombat in 2021. A film i did enjoy and i can still recommend. So here we are with the official sequel to the 2021 film, where we see both actors from the previous film plus Karl Urban joining the cast as Johnny Cage. Is this latest Mortal Kombat film the best martial art film of this year or should they stop making sequels completely?

Emperor Shao Kahn ( Martyn Ford ) kills King Jerrod ( Desmond Chiam ) in Mortal Kombat, taking over Edenia in the name of Outworld as well as Queen Sindel ( Ana Thu Nguyen ) and young Princess Kitana ( Sophia Xu ) as his consort and daughter, respectively. Twenty years later, a nre Mortal Kombat tournament is on the horizon. Back in Earthrealm, Lord Raiden ( Tadanobu Asano ) and Sonya Blade ( Jessica McNamee ) visit Hollywood action star Johnny Cage ( Karl Urban ), who seems to be struggling with his past. He tries to stay relevant in a modern world without any bigger success. This visit however from Lord Raiden and Sonya give him an oppurtunity to take his dignity back, by fighting in the Mortal Kombat tournament. At first he is having doubts taking them seriously, until he accept the offer and get a chance to proof his skills.

I have a feeling this latest Mortal Kombat sequel will divide fans of the classic video games, including fans of the more modern Mortal Kombat games as well. One of the issues that some fans had since the 2021 film adaptation was that there was no tournament there. In this film we get an actual torunament, just like we did in the 1995 live adapation film of Mortal Kombat. And i have to say, i actually think this sequel manage to capture the look, and a pretty good character development of several of the iconic fighters of the video game. Let´s talk about the look of this torunament for a while, we see different fights at different locations and in some fights it really looks similar to the fighting locations. I think details such as this is very important to take notice of, when you know that fans of the video games remember a lot of important details. For example when Shao Khan ( Martyn Ford ) fight down in the most demonic sewer i have seen, it looks pretty similar to how it looked like in the video games. Speaking of characters, actor Karl Urban as Johnny Cage was a great casting choice. He is a bitter, former action star of the 90´s and Karl Urban manage to capture that personality in Johnny Cage. Best performance comes from he real funny character known as Kano, played by actor Josh Lawson ( who fans of TV series House Of Lies will recognize ) deliver some really funny dialogue in this film. His scenes together with Karl Urban was actually more entertaining than i expected. I like the character of Baraka ( CJ Blomfield ) and especially his fight scene against Johnny Cage. The fighting scenes in general looks alright, some scenes are more effective than others and i appreciate the gory violence. I do think this film capture the fighting skills of several well known fighters as well as their physical look. The fact that they play the theme song from the original film towards the end, this was something i really appreciated. You get a nostalgic feeling while it also feels like they pay tribute to the 90´s. Any flaws with this film? It is very difficult defeating the original film from 1995 and Mortal Kombat II is not as good as that specific film. I will say though i found myself having a good time with this sequel, director Simon McQuid return with another Mortal Kombat film that is pure popcorn entertainment, that will surely please martial arts film fans, and fans of the video games as well. I feel like having a fight right now down in the demonic sewer, anyone up for the challenge?

Rating: DDD

Immortal Combat

Martial art action films used to be a must watch for me in the 90´s. I saw so many VHS films of different martial arts inspired films, some were pretty much action movies while other ones were more focused on fighting. There are so many classic films i could easily mention that would never be done today ( the world have changed, we can´t have macho male action scenes too often because someone might be offended ). You see back in the 90´s you could see big muscular men fighting saying terrible dialogue that would be seen vulgar in today´s society, especially talking about issues that matters to men. Im glad though i can still watch these wonderful martial arts films and just have a good time. Plot? Acting? Who needs that if you have big muscles and round kicks. There are several 90´s classics i can mention so lets just bring up one of the films you should check out. You should watch the 1992 martial arts action film American Samurai from 1992, directed by legendary director Sam Firstenberg that stars action legends David Bradley and Mark Dacascos. What made this film especially fun to watch was the so called illegal gladiator fighting matches underground, taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. The best part of this film is the underground fights themselves between different fighters. My favourite match is between the characters Haing Yi ( Dion Lam ), and Phan-Xu ( Antony Szeto ). I also love the fight between Phan-Xu and Mark Dacascos character Kenjiro Sanga. David Bradley proved himself once more why he was such a great maretial arts action actor as his character Andrew "Drew" Collins. The director Sam Firstenberg wasn´t happy with the theatrical version, so he finally released his Director´s Cut on his official Youtube channel, you can watch the film on the following link:

C26 AWO Pixel10Pro OLV Bumper 6s 16x9 260623

I personally prefer the director´s cut since a couple of scenes were emoved that did not need to be there, and he added some other scenes instead where the plot is more focused on the arena fights. Definetely worth a watch if you enjoy martial art films from the 90´s. Fun fact, this was one of the final films produced by the legendary distribution company Cannon Pictures before they stopped releasing films. Speaking about martial arts. legendary low budget distribution company The Asylum had to get along the train of the Mortal Kombat II release, so they made a low budget film called Immortal Combat. Of course i had to watch this film, not just becuase i enjoy some of the films that The Asylum release, simply because i want to see them make a martial arts inspired film. Is this a must watch this summer or will Immortal Combat be one of the films that will quickly be forgotten, once you have watched it?

In a distant future, a group of historical warriors from history books such as Joan of Arc ( Eva Fournier ), Boudica ( Mila Orion ), Ghengis Khan ( Charlit Dae ), Cleopatra ( Roxanne G.C. Brooks ), Atilla The Hun ( Sasha Di Capri and many other warriors, havet travelled through a portal of time. They have been chosen to fight in a tournament gladiator game known as Crinsom Havoc, where only one can survive the whole tournament.

Let me begin by saying i like the concept of this film. Historical legendary personalities being sent into the future to fight each other, i do think this is a fun idea itself if you can make it work. So there are details i appreciate about the concept of Immortal Combat, but we have some real big issues here as well. First of all, why do they use several big scenes with so much AI? The Asylum used to make fun terrible CGI effects that may have looked terrible, but at least i had a good time with several films. I rather have terrible CGI effects instead of flat, dull AI scenes that doesn´t add any qualities to the film. If you are making a tournament battle/ fighting film, why not focus on the fight battle scenes using real people, even if you have to add certain CGI moments. For me personally the charm is lost when AI effects are brought in, it doesn´t leave the same impact if im being completely honest. Truthfully i will say that low budget CGI effects looks better than any AI effects, and that is my personal opinion. Some of the so called fight scenes are not well choeographed. They look pretty lame to me, as if they did not put much effort into the fighting scenes. This is supposed to be a fighting tournament, shouldn´t you try at least making the fighting scenes look cool at least, to please the martial arts action audience? So to the positive for a short while, i do think the costume design is pretty cool on certain characters. I know this film have a very limited budget so they have to use whatever they can, and i can accept that you have to be creative with what you have. The acting is not always as terrible as you might think, for being a film produced by The Asylum. Actress Dominique Swain ( who i reviewed in her TV film Seclusion, you can find the review in this blog ) as the character Aria is actually a charming character in this film. With attitude and a bitchy approach, and it matches the character personality quite well. Actor Samuel Selman does a wonderful over the top acting performance as warrior Shaka Zulu, which doesn´t mean he acts good, yet he is the most entertaining character of Immortal Combat . I have a feeling Immortal Combat will not be on the list of memorable The Asylum films, there are some fun parts but too many flaws can be found. Director Monroe Robertson ( director of Planetquake, a terrible yet fun watch if you like bad movies ) have a good idea behind Immortal Combat, but should have made this film more focused on the combat scenes instead of using AI effects. Not a film most people will remember, i suggest watch the director´s cut of American Samurai instead.

Rating: DD

The Yeti

If you ever talk to some American people ( i have met some during my travelling years around Europe ), there is a possibility you will hear that some of them believe that Bigfoot really exists. For example on one of my journeys to The Netherlands, Amsterdam i met an American couple from Idaho who was there backpacking together. They told me that they have been out at Kaniksu National Forest, they were looking around there because apparently some people have seen Bigfoot there including themselves. When i hear something like that im not really convinced, and i told them i was skeptical about their claims that Bigfoot was actually seen there. Both of them were sure that they thought they might have seen Bigfoot from a long distance. Now, i was still respectful and listened to what they had to say, because i still wanted to listen to their story. I didn´t see them more than that day, but i will say that they were nice to talk to. Regarding Bigfoot ( or in some folklore stories also known as Yeti ), we have a lot of different horror films that brings up the subject of Bigfoot, or in some cases the Yeti. I have seen several films over the years and i remembered an interesting title called The Sighting from directors Adam Pitman and David Blair. The film starts off like a foud footage horror film, but later becomes a psychological horror film instead. And there is also a story that seems connected to Bigfoot, while there might be a different twist in there. I think what makes The Sighting worth a watch is the special twist, when you might think this is just a traditional Bigfoot film and it´s actually not. Lead actors Adam Pitman and Nathaniel Peterson both give surprisngly good performances, considering this is a low budget film. I do recommend you checking The Sighting out if you want to see a different kind of Bigfoot film, and if you live in Europe you can get the German DVD or blu ray release cheap these days. Speaking of the Yeti that i mentioned earlier, i had seen a trailer of a horror film called The Yeti. The trailer did caught my attention because this really looked like a horror story, inspired by similar films like classics such as Indiana Jones.  With a combination like this i just had to give this film a chance. is this a must watch this summer, or should you pick up a physical copy of the 2016 horror film The Sighting instead?

When two people named Merrel Sunday Sr. ( Corbin Bensen ) and Hollis Bannister ( William Sadler ) vanished in Alaska,  Merrel Jr ( Eric Nielsen ) and Ellie Banister ( Brittany Allen ) set up an expidition team, to seach for the missing men. But during this expedition they come across a beast, like no other creature they have ever seen before.

While the film The Sighting was a different kind of Sasquatch inspired film, The Yeti definetely feels more like a throwack to old school monster movies of the 1950´s. The fact that this expidition looks like something out of an Indiana Jones film, while looking for The Yeti is a great idea for a film. Because we don´t see these kind of old school expiditions on the big screen these days, at least not like we used to in the 1980´s. I also like the fact that this film tries to capture the feeling of an expidition team, where each character have knowlegde in different areas such as chemicals, science, medicine or happen to be good at handling weapons. Because we don´t want too many people to look similar, each character is supposed to bring something different to the table. Since there are quite a lot of characters in this expidition, let me mention a few of my personal favourites. Lead character Ellie Bannister ( played by actress Brittany Allen, who you might recognize from TV series Dexter: Original Sin ), she feels like a family member of Indiana Jones. She may not have the whip but she is clearly passionate about history, and folklore stories as well. Actor Linc Hand ( who you might recognize from the TV series Revenge ), plays the half masked character Leander Coates. This was the right kind of character for an expidition like this, with confidence in himself and always locked in on survival mode. I do think the half mask adds something different to his personality as well. Legendary actor Corbin Bensen as the character Merrel Sunday Sr. was nice to see here, i wish he had a bigger role though. Lets´dig into other positive details, we do get some brutal practical make up effects which looks pretty good. I enjoy the mystery sourrounding the Yeti, where you hear the beast more than physically see it. I think this works pretty good, makes the atmosphere feel a little bit more creepy when you barely see the creature, until the end of the film when we see the actual beast. I like the creature design, which reminds me of old school monster films. I guess if i have to mention something negative, that is probably that some of the characters in this expidition don´t feel that interesting. They do a little bit of screen time and don´t have much else to offer. Overall, as an old school creature feature horror film i still had a good time with The Yeti. Directors Gene Gallerano and William Piscotta deliver a horror film that´s actually a good choice this summer, if you want to experience something similar to VHS horror of the 80´s.

Rating: DDD

Karen: The Beauty Queen Butcher

AI is apparently something we will have to live with in the future. And as long as it´s used for a good purpose i can imagine there are some positive ideas where AI might be useful. For example from what i understand there are especially in some areas where AI might be helpful in health care, for example help discovering rare diseases that we usually might not discover that quickly. This is something that Harvard Medical School have confirmed as they have looked into using AI in health care treatments. If we can find ways to discover rare diseases, of course i think we should use these tools. This could save human lives before the disease might have spread too far. When it comes to using AI in movies i am a bit more skeptical, and i have ever since i watched the 2024 drama film known as Here. Directed by legendary director Robert Zemeckis ( director of classics such as Romancing The Stone, Back To The Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Forest Gump among other titles ), this film tell the story about different generations of families, through different time periods in human history. Now, i have been a big fan of Robert Zemeckis films of the past ( especially the Back To The Future franchise and his classic Forrest Gump of course ), but the amount of AI effects he uses in the film Here is just too much for me personally. I was actually looking forward seeing him work together with Tom Hanks again, but truthfully the AI version of Tom Hanks does not look good. And how they used AI in other details as well, i honestly don´t understand why when they could have used a real set instead of using AI. I get it, they want to try using a different method in making a film, so why not use old school CGI instead? Either way, i can´t say Home is a completely terrible film, but i cant´recommend it compared to other films of director Robert Zemeckis. Speaking of AI, i was given an opportunity to watch a screener of the independent film Karen: The Beauty Queen Butcher. I only read a little bit about this film before watching it, just to get a picture of what kind of film this could be. Is this a must watch this summer, or is Karen: The Beauty Queen Butcher a film that will most likely dust on a DVD shelf?

Karen Mangione ( Jasmine Flores ) is unhappily married to her husband Ted ( Scott Bulger ). To try and find some kind of happiness, Karen joins different beauty pageant competitions hoping to win the title. But when things are not going the way she was hoping for, she have no other option but to kill other women who is standing in her way. Only she deserves to win the title.

I completely understand if you as a independent film maker want to use different methods to make your movie, while it may help you to save some money as well ( practical make up effects do cost money, depending on how gory the scenes are that needs to be included ). I understand if you want to experiment with the technology of AI in a film, just to see if it really works. My biggest issue though with this film Karen: The Beauty Queen Butcher, is that they use a lot of AI effects in this film. Anyone who knows me personally they know im a huge fan of independent horror films, and i really love old school practical make up effects. I can accept a smaller amount of CGI as long as it looks ok. I just have to ask myself;. Why use this much AI effects in this film? Did they think it would look just as cool as practical make up effects? Or perhaps the director loves AI technology and if he does that´s perfectly fine, i have no issues with that. For me personally this affect how i look at this film. What could have been a fun slasher horror film becomes too over the top with AI killer scenes, when practical killing effects would have been more effective. The AI scenes may be very brutal, but if they would have been done with practical make up effects, that would have left a stronger impact. Even the photographers running scenes are AI generated, why? The best part of this film is actually the police investigation by Detective Harry ( Philip Green ), and Detective Louis ( John Fiduccia ). Their dialogue scenes are actually a pleasant surprise, i like their chemistry on the big screen. Lead actress Jasmin Flores as Karen Mangione have some entertaining dialogue scenes, where she actually give her character a unique personality. With her bitchy attitude she does become like a true Karen. This film tries to capture the world of beauty pageant competitions, while trying to be a serial killer film as well. I like the idea behind this combination, i just feel like it could have been a stronger presentation than what we are presented with. Detective Harry and Detective Lou definetely made parts of this film work, and im grateful for these gentlemen bringing some delightful scenes. Overall, i would say this film is ok but not much more. Director Zachary Snygg ( the director of the hillarious B movie Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottenhell ) had a good idea for a slasher film, but with all the AI effects i think this film lost some of it´s charm along the way.

Rating: DD

They Will Kill You

I never liked censorship at all, especially when it comes to feature films. I remember clearly back in the late 80´s, early 90´s how much they censored a lot of VHS releases here in Sweden. It got to a point where they censored films so much that they destroyed the film completely. A perfect example of this was director Albert Pyun´s classic sci fi action film Cyborg from 1989. If i remember correctly ( which im quite sure that i do ), the Swedish VHS version of Cyborg was cut at least around 10 minutes becuase of censorship. And you have to remember, this film is around 87 minutes long, so if you cut out 10 minutes from 87 minutes, you are left with 77 minutes of playtime. I did see the censored version and it was so bad. Nothing made any sense, the storyline was messed up, cutting right before the violence made everything confusing. You could not learn about the characters either because so much was cut out. Thankfully, a school friend of mine known as Robert managed to get a uncut VHS copy of Cyborg from the UK. It was like watching a completely different film, the violence was wonderful, some of the characters were fun, and to see action star Jean-Claude Van Damme do his round kicks was just beautiful. So when VHS censorship finally ended around early 1993 in Sweden i was extremely happy. No more censoring films, give me lots of violence, gore, blood and nudity ( hopefully ). Since then i have experienced so many wonderful violent films. And when ever i see a really violent film with extreme violence of course i need to see it. Doesn´t matter if it´s not realistic at all, i just want people´s heads blown to pieces from a shotgun, body parts cut off. One perfect example of this is the 2020 satirical action horror film The Hunt, directed by Craig Zobel ( who also directed the crime drama TV series Mare of Easttown, worth a watch on MAX ). Some of you may not remember this but The Hunt became a bit of a controversial film because of the subject of guns. And yes, this film does lift up the right to arm yourself, but in the context of the film´s plot it actually makes sense. This film is basically a man hunt film where rich people hunt humans for fun, and the ones that are hunted have to survive somehow. A really funny satirical action film where especially female actors, Betty Gilpin and Hillary Swank did really good acting performances. The Hunt is extremely violent, and yet really entertaining of how society could funtion among rich people using others for pleasure ( which is already happening worldwide ). If you have not seen this film, check it out on streaming. Early this year i was hearing some really positive reviews about a film called They Will Kill You. A film that was described as:- Extremely violent and over the top action combined. When ever i read something like that of course i will be on board. You can not have too much violence in a film ( accrding to me ), because if you really want to shock the audience you might as well go over the top. I sat down watching They Will Kill You on streaming serivie MAX. Is this a must watch this summer or is this noot as good as it could have been?

A woman named Asia Reaves ( Zazie Beetz ) takes a job as a cleaning lady inside a very exclusive building, where the hostess Lily Woodhouse ( Patricia Arquette ) show her around. This building is quite strange, with very strict rules to follow. What most people in this building don´t know is that Asia is not really here for the job, she is here to help her little sister out in freedom after being locked up inside this building.

Imagine if you took some slices of Quentin Taramtino´s Kill Bill, added some of the satirical moments of the 2019 American horror comedy Ready Or Not, and felt inspired by the 2020 film The Hunt and mixed all of this together. This is basically some of the combinations that They Will Kill You  tried to go for. They Will Kill You have so many ideas mixed into each other, that you might think this is not possible that it could work in this combination. But i am here to tell you that this film actually works. There are so many details about this film you should be happy about. All the gory killing scenes deliver really funny slaughter moments, the action scenes in general a very well choreographed, you have really strong acting performances from certain actors plus the dialogue is much smoother than what i expected. Let´s talk about lead actress Zazie Beetz ( who made a very positive impact on me with her performance in the 2019 film Joker ), as the character Asia Reaves. My first reaction seeing her kicking ass all over this Satanic building, was that she felt like a similar charatcer to Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo ( played by actres Uma Thurman ), in the two Kill Bill films by legenndary director Quentin Tarantino. It´s the same type of over the top violence, almost like a tribute to Kung Fu movies of the late 1960´s and the 1970´s as well. Zazie Beetz does an amazing job with her character, especially during the fight scenes considering how violent they really are. I also appreciate Zazie showing a different side of her character, when she left her sister 10 years ago and regret this every single day. You also have great performances from female actors Heather Graham and Patricia Arquette ( who i had a crush on as a 16 year old in the 1993 classic film True Romance ). The building where satanists have been given eternal life is a cool concept to use and add martial art scenes into the mix, it actually works much more effective than i ever would have imagined. The story itself may not be anything special, but it´s the violent tone of the film, combined with strong acting performances that makes this film uniqie within this specific genre. And the comedy tone works great as well, it´s not easy making a funny action horror film combined, and yet They Will Kill You prove that it´s possible. If you are a big fan of Kill Bill or other violent action films, this is definetely something for you. Director Kirill Sokolov, who directed the funny Russian action thriller film Why Don´t You Just Die!, ( definetely pick up a physical copy from Arrow Video ), have made a gorgeous film that´s both a throwback to VHS video violence, and also a satirical viiew on Satanism in general. They Will Kill You will without a doubt end up on my list for best films of 2026, and i am definetely getting myself a physical copy.

Rating: DDDD

Apex

I love being out in nature, especially during some hot days during spring and summer and visit a beautiful lake. Usually i bring some hot dogs with me or different sausages, easy to barbecue and some potato salad on the side. Easy, simple and still a great dinner while enjoying being out in nature. I usually go look for dead wood lying around, since it´s dry enough to use for a fire. Oh and i almost forgot, i always bring brewed coffee on a thermos as well. In my childhood i did try camping in some forest areas, while we fished to get dinner out on a lake we were familiar with called Bysjön in Värmland. Back in the late 80´s and in the early 90´s, i remember we could catch quite a lot of fish. I try and go to different lakes and sometimes to the coast line here in Sweden, there are many great locations to stop with your car along the ocean to barbecue and just enjoy the scenery. But what if you are just out on vacation, just heading towards a beautful location to camp and end up in a deadly situation? That is exactly what happened in the 2016 survival psychological horror film Killing Ground, directed by Damien Power ( who also directed the 2022 great psychological thriller No Exit, worth a watch on Hulu or Disney + ). The film takes place out in the beautful Australian wilderness, where a couple Sam ( Harriet Dyer ) and Ian ( Ian Meadows ) are going to camp at a lake where Ian used to go as a child. But after a while something seems seriously wrong, they are not alone out here. Killing Ground is a well made psychological survival thriller with great acting, and beautful shots from the Australian wilderness helps the atmosphere of this film feel more effective. Definetely worth a watch on VOD or physical media. Speaking of survival thrillers i did see the trailer for the Netflix film Apex earlier this year, and since i am a fan of actress Charlize Theron ( especially after her incredible acting performance in the 2003 film Monster ), of course i was curious to watch this film. Is this a must watch on Netflix this summer or should you watch the 2016 film Killing Ground instead?

Sasha ( Charlize Theron ) lost her husband Tommy ( Eric Bana ) in Norway, during a rough storm while rock climbing. After several months she decides to travel by herself to Australia to do a kayak adventure, to try and get herself focusing on something else. While visiting a local store she meets two rude Australian local men, who she just tries to ignore. In this store she meets a man named Ben ( Taron Egerton ), who helps her locate the place she should go on her kayak journey. This may look like a beautiful journey, but there is a dark secret hidden within these mountain.

Apex starts off almost like a different version of the 1993 classic Cliffhanger with Sylvester Stallone, and then turns into a something similar to the 1994 survial thriller The River Wild with actress Meryl Streep. Obviously, these films does not have any similar plot as Apex, but you get a sense of similar survival films might have influenced the film Apex. The fact that this film later turns into a serial killer / cannibal influenced film is quite a surprise for me. This was not something i expected to see in a film such as Apex but i actually think this give this film a more interesting approach. If we look outside of these many different influences from different films, the plot is not that complicated after all. And i am completely fine with that, since this is meant to bea more violent entertaining version of The River Wild - The Cannibal Version. Actress Charlize Theron is no stranger to being good in an action film, i mean she proved herself several times in films such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde and in the Netflix film The Old Guard ( including the sequel ). And she proves herself as a lead actress again as the character Sasha, she is one woman who don´t take shit from anyone. I also like the fact that she is able to use her acting skills not only doing physical action scenes, her dialogue scenes lands pretty good. You can call Apex a psychological thriller as well, since we find out about actor Taron Egerton´s distured character Ben and his hunger for human meat. Taron does his Australian accent a bit over the top, but i enjoy his psychotic performance playing a serial killer. The action scenes in the jungle looks good, the brutal violent scenes feels effective when they finally kick in and the climbing scenes looks beautful. Is there something missing in this film? Honestly, i don´t care about any flaws. I just want to be entertained by a survical action thriller and that´s exactly what Apex manage to do. Apex may not deliver anything fresh or original we have not seen before, but as a survival thriller i would say this film is worth a watch. Director Baltasar Kormákur have worked on survival films in the past with solid films such as Everest and Adrift, and with Apex he manage to show the world he knows how to make interesting survival films.

Rating: DDD

Dracula In Space

Dracula

One of the most iconic horror characters of all time, what a ride this have been in cinema history. Obviously the most iconic actor playing Dracula ( in my opinion ) is of course Christopher Lee who played Dracula in several horror film from legendary Hammer Films. Even though these are classic films there have been a lot of different Dracula movies made over so many years. While some of them are ok, there are some really terrible ones that not many people might have heard of. For example, how many of you have seen the 1998 film Die Hard Dracula? 

Wait a minute....... every single one of you have a physical DVD copy of Die Hard Dracula?

Wow, there must be a big fan base for the film Die Hard Dracula. I guess you all love this film more than i did. Seriously though, i don´t know if i have ever seen a worse Dracula film ever before. I mean, the 2004 horror film Dracula 3000 is really terrible for a number of reasons. But compared to Die Hard Dracula i can actually watch Dracula 3000 just to have some good laughs. Because after all who doesn´t want to see 90´s hiphop artist Coolio as a vampire and Casper Van Dien as Dracula? Yes, i know, it´s just as horrible as it sounds. If you wonder yes i actually have a DVD copy of both of these terrible films, so it´s not hard to undersstand my taste in movies. If you for some reason have never seen the 1998 Dracula film i highly recommend you check out Jason Brant´s review of this film in the following YouTube link:

The worst Dracula movie ever made | Die Hard Dracula

I will give Die Hard Dracula one extra point for one reason, i have never seen any Dracula film where they use 3 different actors playing the same role, where especially one of the Dracula actors is so big he barely can get out of the coffin. Now, you have to give the film team credit for this, that is definetely something you don´t see everyday. So should you buy a physical DVD copy of Die Hard Dracula to a beloved family member? Yes, you seriously should. I don´t need to explain why, this is just something that has to happen. Let´s move forward to more modern days and last year i heard about a low budget film coming out called Dracula In Space. My first reaction was:- Is this an official sequel to Dracula 3000 since that film is in space as well? It´s not, this is actually a completely different story of Dracula and different characters. So, knowing that Dracula is going back to space since Draculs 3000, without being connected to this film, i just had to see Dracula In Space just in case i would love this film, Is this one of the best films i have seen this year, or is Dracula In Space even worse than Die Hard Dracula?

Space vessel Orpheus finds an ancient derelict ship near a black hole. After bringing a mysterious sacrophagus aboard, crew members begin vanishing. They´ve unkowingly awakend Dracula ( Marcus Massey ), trapped in space centuries ago.

I already knew this film would have a very limited budget and im perfectly fine with that. You see i can enjoy really terrible films as long as i am entertained. They can have the worse acting, the worst editing i have seen in years, even terrible music scores and i can still love that film no matter what. So the question is, does Dracula In Space have any qualities at all or is this just a pile of pure dogshit? Let´s talk about the positive first. Compared to Dracula 3000 i will say the space effects are clearly better here in this film. CGI effects have improved in low budget films between the years 2004 - 2025. Dracula himself does look like ( some kind of ? ) Dracula at least, except this Dracula version looks more like the cocaine version from one of Elton John´s 1970´s party night guests. The Dracula make up effects are not too bad for this kind of budget. Actor Marcus Massey as Dracula is without a doubt the best acting performance in this film. The costume design is very simple, but at least it looks like some kind of space outfit compared to the ones we saw in Dracula 3000. Ok, so let´s get to the negative and oh boy.....they do a lot of dialogue in this film. It comes to a point to where i am asking myself:- Why are they talking so much? I thought this was Dracula In Space? Last time i checked it wasn´t Dracula In Office Day. I wanted laser battles between Dracula and space staff, i want to see someone shooting Dracula with a special designed wooden stake weapon. In my world this would be how you make the perfect Dracula movie set in space, maybe one day that might happen. The horror scenes ( if we can even call them horror scenes ) are pretty silly. At the end of the day i can´t recommend Dracula In Space, because they could have made such a fun film with the concept of this film. Too much dialogue and no fun action scenes in space, it seems that director Gregory William Randolph, Jr just wanted to cash in on the Dracula formula. A little bit more fiun than Deadly Little Mermaid i reviewed this month, but still a terrible film.

Rating: D