The Astronaut

There was a time in my childhood when i was interested reading about space. I was probably 9 years old in 1986 when i went to the local library reading about diferent planets and learning where they were located. I can´t remember the title of one specific book but it was really well written and had lots of pictures to show all the planets, explaining what each planet looked like on the surface and why humans can´t live there. I also started getting into science fiction films during this time period and i used to watch several titles that i borrowed by our neighbors The Ostwalds family. I remember that it was at their home i borrowed the 1985 science fiction film Back To The Future. At this time i didn´t know how big this film was, since i didn´t really go to cinemas often until the year of 1988. Back To The Future is one of the true 80´s classics from director Robert Zemeckis and this is a very charming film. Back To The Future tells the story of teenager Marty McFly ( Michael J. Fox ) who one night meets his eccentric  scientist friend, Emmet "Doc" Brown ( Christopher Lloyd ), in the Twin Pines parking lot. Doc unveils  a time machine, that he built  from a modified DeLorean., powered by plutonium he swindled from Libyan terrorists. Doc gets shot by Libyan terrorists at this parking lot and Marty escape in the time machine, sending him back to the year of 1955. The first film is truly a nagical 80´s film that i can rewatch over and over. The second film have it´s charm, but i think the third film released in 1990 was a charming final film taking place in the late 1800´s. None of these films may have much to do with space or planets, but time travelling definetely belong within the science fiction genre. Speaking of outer space how many of you have seen the 2017 sci fi horror film Life from director Daniel Espinosa? This is a well made horror film in space where astronauts are taking soil samples on Mars, where they accidently bring another life form inside their spaceship. If you enjoy sci fi horror films similar to the Alien franchise, you might enjoy this one. Last year i was curious about a sci fi horror film called The Astronaut from director Jess Varley. Being a fan of this genre and i did enjoy actress Kate Mara in the 2016 sci fi hororr film Morgan, i was curious to see Mara return with another sci fi horror film. Is this a solid choice to your watchlist or should you skip The Astronaut and watch the 2017 film Life instead?

Astronaut Capt. Sam Walker ( Kate Mara ) crash-lands back on Earth where her father Gen. William Harris ( Laurence Fishburne ) makes sure she is taken to quarantine at a rehabilitation house, where she is supposed to rest and get back to ordinary life. While staying at this beautiful location it seems she may not have been alone during her return trip to Earth.

However you feel about this specific genre, i can honestly say i have a soft spot for the combination of science fiction and horror combined. If the film have good characters, a interesting plot plus descent special effects im mostly positive for new releases. And i will say that from the beginning of this film there is a interesting story, how a astronaut is trying to heal herself after a difficult mission in space out in the middle of nowhere. What this film does right is using the location of the facility, where something seems to be following the main character Sam Walker. In certain scenes we see her searching for an answer to what is out there, and i have to say the set up is simple but effective. Since i can tell this film had a limited budget you can still make a science fiction film work well, and The Austrobaut manage to build up some mysterious tensions. Lead actress Kate Mara delivers a solid performance in this film and i do appreciate seeing her in this specific genre, since i felt she did a good performance in the 2016 film Morgan as well. I like the fact that they tried to give us an image how difficult it is being a mother away from your child, since you are in space for long periods of times, how this affect parenthood and actress Kate Mara manage to show these emotions. Actor Laurence Fishburne as Mara´s father General William is alright, not one of his best performances but still solid enough. Everything feels alright for the most part until we get closer to the end of this fillm, and im sorry to say this is where my biggest issue is with The Austronaut. The CGI effects of these so called "aliens" looks terrible for a film released in 2025. If this film was made in the year of 1998 i might have accepted that they had limited resources, but if this was their best design then im beginning to wonder how they thought these aliens would work when there is nothing wrong with the plot itself. If they could have improved the CGI effects and made the aliens look more interesting, it could have been a more effective ending of this film. Overall i do think this is a solid science fiction film even if The Austronaut have some flaws. Director Jess Varley proves with The Austronaut that even on a limited budget you can make interesting science fiction stories.

Rating: DDD

Seclusion

When i mention the distribution company known as The Asylum i know a lot of people have different opinions about their releases. We are of course talking about all of their low budget films that´s coming out every single year, and if you look at the list of how many The Asylum releases there are out there, i swear you have to be impressed. In fact, i can barely remember more than 15 titles and i have probably seen 40 at least over the years. The Asylum are experts at delivering cheesy B movie moments that we all love, everything from terrible CGI effects to over the top acting. For the most part i can accept most releases since i know they are meant to be terrible, but then we have really horrible ones such as the 2010 low budget action adventure film Almighty Thor ( yes a low budget version of Thor - God of thunder ). What really made this film awful are the special effects of the location known as Valhalla, for example awful looking castles and even terrible looking lava from a volcano. I don´t mind bad CGI effects as long as they are fun and actually work with the plot itself. But this film barely have any qualities at all. The monsters look.....ok i guess? But the sword fights and the bad CGI effects in general makes this film fall flat to the ground. However, just 2 years after this terrible film we did get a fun release from The Asylum known as the sci fi action film Nazis At The Center Of The Earth. The film begin in May 10, 1945, in a secret airport near Wurtzberg, Germany, Nazi scientist Dr. Josef Mengele ( Christopher Karl Johnson ), along with fellow doctors and soldiers, prepare to depart to an unknown location with a mysterious package in their possession. They are soon ambushed by Allied forces, but succesfull escape. We move into present day, where a group of reseachers are located in Antarctica, find a secret Nazi base in the center of the Earth where they are creating nazi soldiers for a new Fourth Reich. Does this film have bad special effects? Yes, but far better than the whole film Almighty Thor and i do think it´s a fun plot having nazis fighting in Antarctica. It was this film where i discovered actress Dominique Swain, who i later found out have been in the 1997 action classic Face/Off. Nazis At The Center Of The Earth is a fun watch if you appreciate B movies in general. Speaking of actress Dominique Swain i decided to check out a TV thriller she released last year called Seclusion. I had only seen the poster and didn´t know much about the plot at all. Is this a solid TV thriller or is this a film that will most likely be forgotten once you have seen it?

Dr. Madeleine Faye ( Nicky Whelan ), a successfull psychiatrist and best-selling author, seeks refuge in her waelthy father´s beach house while she works on her next book. She begin to suspect that a former patient is stalking her.

TV movies can be good if they at least have a descent plot, interesting characters or have something else to offer the viewer. I have seen a few American TV thrillers over the years that´s been alright ( especially thinking about the 2022 Lifetime thriller known as Safe Room ), and i actually think TV thrillers can be good entertainment if you can accept the limited budget. In the case of Seclusion the plot did seem interesting when i finally read about it. Perhaps because i have met a lot of mentally ill patients in my almost 27 years working in health care, and i wanted to see if this film would capture a realistic portait of a person struggling with mental health. But this is not a film that´s specifically focused on mental health only, you also have the main story of Dr. Madeleine. We find out how she is dealing with her personal life being single, trying to deal with personal issues with her sister while trying to be a professional psychiatrist. The parts where the film works best is the scenes between Dr. Madeleine trying to help her mentally struggling patient Heather ( played by actress Amy Wade ). Especially when her patients doesn´t seem to respect Dr. Madeleine´s privacy and this is where it gets a little bit more fun. The acting in general is quite typical when it comes to TV thrillers, it´s pretty basic and no bigger surprises. But i do think there is a good chemistry bewteen the sister characters of Madeleine ( played by actress Nicky Whelan who can be seen in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series ) and Kelly. Actor Fred Sullivan is quite charming as the father Mr. Faye. Ok, so let´s dig into one of the biggest issues with Seclusion. This is supposed to be a thriller and i can´t say it does a really good job capturing a psychological atmosphere surrounding a mentally ill patient and the rivalry bewteen two sisters. It´s not the actors fault, the writing by Amy Wade is simply too predictable and too much polished. There is a twist later in this film that´s supposed to be suspensful but becomes pretty dull to be honest. Is this a terrible TV thriller? No, there are parts of the film i enjoy but since this is supposed to be a thriller i think they could have done this story much more effective. Director Tom DeNucci have made a very basic TV film that have some good ideas but feels boring at times. Seclusion might be appreciated by fans of TV movies in general, just don´t have too high expectations if you decide to watch this film.

Rating: DD

Haunted House Of Pancakes

Waffles, the perfect way to start breakfast with your children. It´s also a very easy option if you want to make a easy lunch to enjoy. I used to eat waffles quite often as a child, especially at hotel restaurant breakfast buffé with my grandparents on vacation to Spain or Greece. They would serve home made waffles constantly for families, so you can imagine how many they made every single day. Nowdays i can make waffles at certain occasions, for example if i don´t feel like cooking something big and just want to be lazy. When it comes to food that´s included in B horror movies we have some true classics. Most of you might have heard of the 1978 B movie horror comedy Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes from director John DeBello. This is a parody film on B horror movies from the 1950´s basically but instead of attacking bugs we have tomatoes attacking instead. It is just as terrible as it sounds, and there are some charming scenes in this film that i can laugh about. Is it worth a watch? Only if you enjoy terrible films just like myself, however i actually prefer the 1988 sequel Return Of The Killer Tomatoes! with legendary actor John Astin ( who played Gomez Addams in the 1960´s TV series version of The Addams Family ) and a young George Clooney. This film is also directed by John DeBello and you can tell that he´s behind this film. This sequel pretty much follow the same pattern as the original film, with the same sense of terrible humour that´s still enjoyable if you are in the right mood. I have not seen the other sequels in this franchise so i can´t say if they are any good. I have heard they are doing a remake of the original film, so that could be something worth checking out when it´s released. YouTube movie reviewer Geek Legion Of Doom that i have followed for many years reviewed a B horror comedy called Haunted House Of Pancakes last year, a that title caught my attention. Anything that sounds terrible is definetely something i should be watching. So i finally got an oppurtunity to see this film and the question is, does this film entertain B movie lovers or is it even worse than i ever could have imagined?

Local resturant owner Frank DeFrank ( Chris De Christopher ) buy an old school waffle maker online which he hopes will get lots of customers to enjoy his food. Good hearted and hard working restaurant worker Jay ( Fabian Guerrero ) tries to help the customers as much as possible while he have a soft spot for female friend Sarah ( Jada Krueger ), who is working hard on her studies. When the old school waffle maker is finally ready to be used, the restaurant staff is about to find out this is no ordinary waffle maker.

Have you been looking for a B movie that doesn´t take itself seriously at all? Do you just want to have a good time with cheesy dialogue, bad acting, practical make up effects and demonic waffles looking like cheese balls on steroids? Then this is definetely the film you have been looking for. Haunted House Of Pancakes feels like a throwback to similar films such as Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes except now it´s waffles that is attacking humans instead. Well, not just waffles to be exact, you even have a toilet who comes to life and eat a woman. This is exactly the kind of film we all need to experience. A film that reminds us of the good days of B movies and why these kinds of films are important in today´s modern society. You see i actually respect a film such as this more than many of the big budget Hollywood releases, because the film team have made an effort without using CGI effects and does not include a big budget. I really appreciate when film makers working on low budget films care about their project and i can actually feel that there is passion in the making of this film. When it comes to the acting it is a very mixed bag, there are some terrible acting for sure ( as it´s supposed to be in a film such as this ), but i actually enjoy the screen chemistry between actor Fabian Guerrero ( who i recognized from the independent slasher horror film Final Summer ) and actress Jada Krueger. Their scenes that they have together actually are charming as you can feel they are attracted to each other. So what about the killer waffles? They actually look really silly but manage to work with the simple plot. Even the demonic iron waffle maker have some charming moments as well while other food like frensh fries comes to life. Haunted House Of Pancakes is a horror comedy made for B movie lovers like myself who grew up in VHS rental stores. It´s fun, it´s silly and it finds a good balance of horror and comedy to combine it well together. Director Nathan Dalton ( who was one of the writers of the B horror comedy Attack Of The Killer Donuts, worth a watch ) deliver a film that easily will make your day much better. Haunted House Of Pancakes should be on your watch list this year and proves why B movies are needed for a more positive future.

Rating: DDD

If you want to watch this film you can watch it for free on YouTube channel FilmIsNox Horror Movies, just click on the link to watch the film:

HAUNTED HOUSE OF PANCAKES | The Diner's Special Is Terror | Full Movie

Takeout

When im out travelling across different cities around Sweden on highways, i usually go for takeout food. Not every single time but if i have at least 10 hours of driving then this is a really good option. No matter what takeout food you enjoy, i find these restaurants very effective and they usually have a lot of great options. If they have coffee as well i usually throw that in my order as well. My absolute favourite takeout food while driving is without a doubt chinese food or thai food, you get plenty of food for your money plus i like spicy meals as well. At some occasions i can go for a burger meal just to make it simple, unless they have a Subway restaurant with takeout. Now, that is the perfect lunch right there, a big sandwich with lots of fresh vegetables and some jalapeno. Speaking of takeout food we do have certain films that bring up the subject of takeout food. For example some of you might have seen the 2014 drama comedy Chef from director Jon Favreau ( who plays the character Happy Hogan in the Iron Man franchise ). This is a charming film about a head chef Carl Casper ( Jon Favreau ) of a restaurant, who quits his job to pursue a completely different job by running his own food truck. Robert Downey Jr. is actually in this film as well who he worked with Jon Favreau on the Iron Man films. We have other great casting here as well such as legendary actor Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale and many others. The film looks great and manage to capture the passion for food trucks, good food and how food can unite people no matter where they come from. If you have not seen Chef you should check it out on streaming, VOD or even physical media if you prefer that. Speaking of takeout food i had seen a trailer last year of a Tubi thriller called Takeout that looked interesting. Especially when i noticed actor Darron Meyer is in this film from TV mini series Generation Kill. Since i love diners and i love takeout food, i thought this could be interesting to watch. Is this a solid thriller or is Takeout not as good as it may seem?

It´s night time out in a local diner The Big Dripper outside of the city, where customers just comes to relax and enjoy a good meal. Waitress Nova ( N´Kone Mametja ) is late to her shift and her collegue Harper ( Deoudoné Pretorious ) begin to argue with her. Thankfully Nova always get along well with chef Benny ( Darron Meyer ) so she can always rely talking to him. One very odd diner guest named Grady ( Damien Wantenaar ) behave very strange, especially towards waitress Nova. The coworkers begin to suspect there is something seriously wrong with this young man. They heard on the news about a serial killer known as The Doll Keeper, could this be the guy police are looking for or could they be wrong?

Takeout is not your typical serial killer film that you have seen a 100 times before. This film actually feels quite entertaining in certain scenes, almost as if this could be seen as a thriller comedy. You think for a moment that you know how everything is going to end, but then comes a surprise twist out of nowhere. I think this was a very good choice not to go for a basic plot and do something different, throw in some unexpected turns that makes you enjoy this film more than an ordinary standard thriller. Now, i have to say for a Tubi streaming film this is one of the better ones when it comes to acting. And i especially enjoy the chemistry between the diner coworkers Nova, Harper and Benny. You have the female arguments between Nova ( played well by actress N´Kone Mametja ) and Harper ( played by actress Deoudoné Pretorious ) inside the diner, and i have to say i can imagine some women out there will recognize themselves having similar arguents at work as these characters have. Then we have the cool chef Benny ( played by actor Darron Meyer ) who is probably the safe spot in this diner, who keeps it all together when the ladies are fighting. And i have to say Darron Meyer matches really well with his character. I do like the performance from actress Robyn Scott as sleazy middle aged diner owner Susan, who is horny about chef Benny. I have to mention actor Damien Wantenaar as Grady, talk about going into his character in a effective way. The serial killer story may not be original or very different from anything we have seen before, but when we finally find out who the real serial killer is inside this diner it´s a nice surprise. They even try to twist some details around the serial killer, so it doesn´t get too predictable or boring for the audience. What Takeout manage to do is deliver a thriller that´s not the typical serial killer film, and that´s why it works in my opinion not following a certain pattern in this genre. Director Jem Garrard ( who directed 3 episodes of Day Of The Dead TV series ) proves that you can still make a serial killer thriller without copying so many films in this genre and i would definetely recommend this one. Too bad we don´t have a physical release of Takeout, i would have picked up a copy for sure.

Rating: DDD

Sarah´s Oil

The oil industry have proved to be a very successful business for many different oil companies worldwide. Not only do we need oil for our cars, trucks, industrial machinery but we also need oil to make manifacturing tools to function properly. Even though times are changing and they develope new ways to construct cars without oil, we will still neeed it to function in society. It is possible in the future we may not need oil as much if they keep developing other products that´s better for the environment? I am all for a positive change if we can help the environment. If we look back in history though the oil industry have been very important helping a lot of families to survive. People were able to have jobs, have a paycheck they could survive on and were able to buy homes. The oil companies themselves were making a lot of money and the so called black gold industry was blooming during the early 1900´s. When it comes to movies that talk about the oil industry there are several titles to choose between. One of my personal favourite films regarding the oil industry was released back in the year of 2007 and is called Syriana. Directed by Stephen Gaghan this film takes place in the Persian Gulf kingdom, where a U.S. energy giant Connex Oil is losing control of key old fields, ruled by the Al-Subaai family. The Emirate´s foreign minister, Prince Nasir Al-Subaai ( Alexander Siddig ), has granted natural gas drilling rights to a Chinese company, greatly upsetting the U.S. oil industry and the U.S. government. Connex Oil have a plan though to fix this, by using a smaller oil company as help to guarantee a succesfull deal. The question is can they pull this off? Syriana is a very well made political thriller that really digs deep inside the oil buisness and how much money they are dealing with worldwide, while everyone may not follow all the rules as they are meant to be used. Fantastic casting with actors such as George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet and Christopher Plummer among others and i have to say the whole cast give really good acting performances. Worth a watch on streaming or even on physical media. Speaking of oil i read last year about a drama film coming out telling the story of a little black girl named Sarah Rector, who was the first black girl who was allotted 160 acres of land. I have not heard of this story before so i was definetely fascinated watching a biographical film telling her story as a very young woman. Not knowing much else about this story i decided to rent Sarah´s Oil on VOD. Is this a drama film you should see or should you go watch the 2007 film Syriana instead?

Sarah Rector ( Naya Desir- Johnson ), a descendant of the Creek Freedmen, who is granted 160 acres of land in Oklahoma through a federal allotment program.  Considered useles and unfit for farming, the land was expected to yield nothing. Guided by a deep personal conviction and her faith, Sarah insist there is oil underneath the ground. After her family leashes the land, an oil gusher produces over 2,000 barrels a day, making her incredibly wealthy over night. Some big names within the oil industry find out about this and is determined to take Sarah´s land, but she´s not going down without fighting for what is rightfully her acres.

When it comes to faith based drama films i have personally been struggling with some of the American faith based movies that have hit cinemas worldwide. For example the God´s Not Dead franchise, i would say that the first film is ok while the other films struggled with a lot of issues. Thankfully we did have a good one known as War Room from director Alex Kendrick that became very successfull on physical media, selling over 40 million DVD copies in America alone. So when i went into Sarah´s Oil knowing this was a faith based film based on a true story i did have my doubts. Would this film have at least descent acting and a interesting story compared to some of the God´s Not Dead films? And i will be honest and say this is one of the better faith based drama films i have seen so far. Not just because this is a very fascinating story regarding the first black girl who was granted 160 acres of land in Oklahoma, i think this film is interesting from a historical perspective as well in the oild industry during the early 1900´s. As we all know back in those days there was still a lot of racism across America, so for a girl like Sarah to be able to pull this through in difficult times is actually incredible. Sarah´s Oil manage to tell this story in a realistic way while giving us a chance to get to know Sarah better. She seemed very intelligent for her young age and clearly wanted to learn about the oil industry. The acting from young actress Naya Desir-Johnson as the main character Sarah Rector is really good. I have seen many young actors in a lot of films over the years and i have to say, considering her young age and acting this good already im positively surprised. I look forward to see her act in future releases. I also enjoy her screen chemistry with actor Zachary Levi ( who plays superhero Shazam in the DC comics inspired films ) as the character Bert Smith. It´s almost like Bert becomes not only a business partner to Sarah but also a father figure, making sure she´s not put in any danger because of her skin color This film manage to portait how greedy the oil industry can be, who don´t care about human life as much as making money. Even though this is a faith based film you don´t really feel like they are pushing faith on to you, that this is important for Sarah and her family but they treat everyone equal. I find the costume design matching with the early 1900´s and the same thing regarding different locations manage to capture the time period well. Sarah´s Oil could inspire many young women worldwide to follow their dreams, because if a black young girl in the early 1900´s could buy a property ( when racism was a big issue ), then other young women can follow their dreams in modern days as well. Sarah´s Oil is a beautiful looking film, with solid acting performances and should fit well with families of different ages. Director Cyrus Nowrasteh ( who directed the 2008 powerful drama film The Stoning Of Soraya M. ) proves once more why he is so good at telling dramatic stories and this is a worthy watch.

Rating: DDD

Coyotes

Sometimes you come across an actor that you remember from a certain film, where the actor or actress made a certain impact on you. It could the way that person acts infront of a camera or have a certain looks that matches well with the character. One actor that comes to my mind is the actor known as Justin Long who have made quite a lot of films over the years. However, when i think about Justin Long i have a personal favourite film simply because it is so bizarre and very entertaining. And that is the 2014 horror comedy known as Tusk from director Kevin Smith. This has to be one of the most bizarre cinema releases of the year of 2014, and let me be honest and say this is not a film for everyone. This is a really weird story about a podcaster named Wallace Bryton ( played by Justin Long ) who see a very bizarre advert and decide to visit the man who wrote it. The man is called Howard Howke ( played by legendary actor Michael Parks ) who seems to have lived a life full of adventures around the world. This will be a perfect story for Wallace to tell on the podcast as he prepare to interview this older gentleman. What he doesn´t know is that Howard have a completely different plan than just an ordinary interview. Tusk is one of those films that will divide people because it is so bizarre. I personally love bizzare horror comedies and this turned out to be a very positive surprise. I feel that this is one of the films i enjoyed actor Justin Long most in his filmography and his screen presence together with actor Michael Parks. If you love bizarre movies just like me you have to watch Tusk, no matter if you rent it on digital, buy a physical copy or watch it on streaming. If you do buy a physical copy of Tusk listen to the commentary track by director Kevin Smith. Over the years i noticed that Justin Long have been in several films i have not checked out yet, so last year his latest film called Coyotes was released at Fantastic Fest 2025 in Austin, Texas. I did not visit the festival ( i would like to at some point ) but i did rent Coyotes on digital instead. Since i am a fan of old school animal horror films is this worth or watch, or is Coyotes not a film that turned out to be that good?

Scott ( Justin Long ) with his wife Liv ( Kate Bosworth ) and their teenage daughter Chloe ( Mila Harris ) is living a good life in their Hollywood Hills home until a big storm breaks out, shuts down all elecrticity and a big tree fall over their car. That might seem like one big issue, but their biggest problem is that coyotes are spreading across Hollywood Hills looking for food.

I have seen a lot of animal horror films over 30 years in everything from animal horror comedies to more traditional horror films with animals included. I appreciate the effort using animals if the film itself have a fun plot or at least good characters. In the case of Coyotes i can say this film is a bit of a mixed bag for me, and there is especially one detail i feel doesn´t work at all. Let´s get to the positive first and i do feel that the characters of this film manage to work, especially the chemistry between the three main characters Scott, Liv and Chloe playes by actors Justin Long, Kate Bosworth and Mila Harris. Considering this is supposed to be a family i feel that the acting performances feel natural within a family portrait. Even if you know that this family doesn´t always get along i think this is good, not showing a fake image of the perfect American family. The coyotes themselves doesn´t look competely terrible considering they are CGI animals. Trust me, i have seen terrible CGI animals in the past ( anyone remember The Asylum animal horror film Battledogs ? ) and when it looks bad you lose interest in the film. So the fact that these coyotes doesn´t look too bad is actually positive. If you are going to make an animal horror film you have to make the animals look descent at least to work with the horror story. I do like the character of Julie playes by actress Brittany Allen ( who you might recognize from TV series Dexter: Original Sin ) and her wild personality. I have to mention actor Keir O´Donnell as the rat killer Devon, at least have some charming scenes. Ok, so we have to talk about one big issue with this film and that is the attempt of comedy scenes. This is not a funny horror comedy at all and i did not laugh much at all, which i feel is a failure if you planned to make a funny horror comedy. What actually works in Coyotes is the horror scenes, so on that part of the film i can´t really complain. At the end of the day this is actually what made me enjoy this film for being a simple but effective animal horror film. Does this film have flaws? Yes, but i can actually look past this and just enjoy this film for what it was trying to do bring back old school animal horror films. Director Colin Minihan ( director of the great sci fi horror film Extraterrestrial, worth checking out ) have made a simple yet effective horror film if you just want something easy to watch. If you love animals and if you love horror movies combined, Coyotes could be something you might appreciate.

Ratin: DDD

Frankenstein

It was early January of the year 1995 and i had just bought my ticket for the Swedish premiere weekend of Mary Shelley´s Frankenstein film, directed by Kenneth Branagh. I had been reading about this film in movie magazines in 1994, with very detailed interviews with director Kenneth Branagh himself and he explained why he was so passionate telling this classic story. I even remember a TV special by MTV At The Movies talking about this film. Based on the novel Frankenstein by British author Mary Shelley, the 1994 movie adaptation of the book is one version of the classic book but visually a bit different. The film tell the story of scientist Victor Frankenstein, who is obsessed by the idea that you can bring life into a dead body. While he is trying to figure out how he could possibly use a dead human and create a whole new life through his medical knowledge, he uses one man´s body while giving this body another person´s brain to be able to bring back this body to life. He experiement of bringing new life succeed and he have created a new beast, but things does not go as he have planned. The beast escapes and nothing will ever be the same again. I remember enjoying this film adaptation back in 1995 and what i especially enjoyed was the performance of legendary actor Robert De Niro as The Creature. Looking back at this film today i might feel differently about it, because i remember the last time i watched this film on DVD about 10 years ago i did feel that it has not aged well. There are parts of the film i remember enjoying, while there are some details i feel could have been improved. If you do want to watch this film in a special release, you should get the 4kUltraHD release of Mary Shelley´s Frankenstein from Arrow Video that includes some nice special features. Well known horror director Guillermo del Toro, who directed films such as Mimic, The Devil´s Backbone, Blade 2, Hellboy and others, had talked about making a film version or Mary Shelley´s Frankenstein all the way back in 2007. In 2023 he was finally able to get the project of Frankenstein revived by Netflix. So, late last year the Netflix film Frankenstein finally landed on the streaming service and being a huge fan of director Guillermo del Toro of course i had to see this film. Is this the best movie adaptation so far of the classic horror novel or did they fail not delivering what fans of the novel was hoping for?

In 1857, Horisont, a Royal Danish Navy ship sailing to the north pole, becomes trapped in ice. Alerted to an explosion in a distance, Captain Anderson ( Lars Mikkelsen ) and his men discover a gravely injured Victor Frankenstein ( Oscar Isaac ). Upon bringing him aboard, the crew is attacked by an uknown creature who demand to see Victor. Captain Andersson manage to get the creature sinking on the ice, but Victor warns that the creature will return. It is on board this ship that Victor tell the story of how he created this beast.

I had a feeling that this version of Frankenstein would be unique considering the previous brilliant work of director Guillermo del Toro, and that feeling turned out to be true. This is exactly what i was hoping a classic story should be told. This is a very majestic film with really beautiful cinematography by Danish cinematographer Dan Laustsen ( who also worked on films such as the 2006 horror film adaptation of Silent Hill ), amazing costume design by Kate Hawley ( who worked as a costume designer on two previous film of director Guillermo del Toro ) and the fact that this film uses practical make up effects is without a doubt one of the true highlights when we see the creature being created. If you are going to tell a classic story such as Frankenstein you have to do it with a lot of passion for the source material. And that is something i can tell that Guillermo really wanted to tell his vision of Frankenstein while keeping some classic ingredients. The acting is just as powerful as you might have expected and lead actor Oscar Isaac ( who you should see in the 2014 gangster crime drama film A Most Violent Year ) as the scientist Victor Frankenstein. The way that Oscar portrait this character is fascinating to see. Some might call him a complete maniac being so fascinated in death, but at the same time he is clearly very intelligent within medical knowledge. His relationship to The Creature really capture the essence of the classic story where actor Jacob Elordi portrait the creature really powerful. You may ask yourself should we experiment with death or accept the ways of nature? Actress Mia Goth does another really solid acting performance as Lady Elizabeth and have such a smooth screen presence. The creature design is really well constructed by practical make up effects and matches really well with the storyline. If you love classic horror stories but appreciate the previous work of Guillermo del Toro then you will definetely not be disappointed. He really knows how to tell such a classic tale in his own unique way adding his magical touches of film making. Frankenstein from director Guillermo del Toro is the best version i have seen so far of this classic horror story and will hopefully inspire film makers to work more with practical make up effects in the future. A must watch on Netflix.

Rating: DDDD