Alien Storm

For a long time in Hollywood we especially had two legendary film producers that seemed to change the industry completely. The Cannon Group with film producers Menahem Golan and his cousin Yorum Globus was a truly magical combination, together they produced so many classics such as Missing In Action, American Ninja, Invasion U.S.A., Death Wish 3, King Solomon´s Mines ( from director J. Lee Thompson, the director of the 1962 original Cape Fear film ), Runaway Train,, Cobra ( the classic with Sylvester Stallone ), Masters Of The Universe, Bloodsport, Cyborg and many more. Let´s be perfectly honest, without The Cannon Group the 1980´s never would have been the same. They took some big risks making low budget films and they actually had some big cinema hits. Of course one of their biggest mistakes was making Superman IV - A Quest For Peace from 1987, simply because they didn´t have enough money to finish the film on the budget they wanted, so they had to cut the budget just to be able to finish the film that caused a lof of issues. They couldn´t do special effects the way they wanted while making the film, so they reused flying scenes of legendary actor Christopher Reeve, to be able to stay within a certain budget. I can still enjoy parts of Superman IV since i am a fan of Christopher Reeve´s classic Superman films, but i think it´s fair to say that this film did have some issues and is perhaps not as good as it could have been. I still love a lot of films produced by Menahem Golan and Yorum Globus and i still rewatch their movies. And for a while it seemed that we had two brothers in America who could be the next to take over the independent movie industry. I am of course talking about the brothers Sonny Mahal and Michael Mahal, and i was honored to review almost every single film that they produced, where they shared my reviews on each film´s IMDB page. Sonny Mahal and Michael Mahal proved that the independent movie industry was alive and doing well, they released several really popular films within different film genres with big Hollywood stars. They made some really great films such as Attack Of The Uknown, Night Of The Tommyknockers, Bloodthirst, Devil´s Knight and many more. Then i got the tragic news that Michael Mahal have passed away on May 19th, 2025. I was very shocked and i was immediately thinking about his brother Sonny. I did reach out to him personally to show my respect, both to him, his brother and their family as well. Even though Michael is no longer with us his legacy lives on in the films he produced with his brother Sonny, and i was given an oppurtunity to watch the film Alien Storm that they produced together. So this review will be a tribute to film producer Michael Mahal. Is the film Alien Storm a true classic throwback to alien films of classic B movies of the past, or is this not as good as i was hoping it would be?

All over the world a mysterious fog is spreading across several major cities. It seems that inside this fog there are creatures from outer space that landed on Earth. President Nolan ( Kevin Sorbo ) is informed very late about this invasion but refuse to just sit back, he will do everything he can to make sure everone will be safe and secure. While a well known business man is having a great party at his Las Vergas mansion, the aliens are entering their area. Luckily there is a bunker underneath the house. They must fight their way through to make sure as many as possible will survive this invasion.

How many of you remember the 2011 science fiction actior film World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles? In this film Earth was invaded by aliens that looked like robots. A very explosive, violent film that was both fun, well made and had a lot of good looking action scenes. Alien Storm may not look like Battle Los Angeles in the same sense, but this is an alien invasion film and if you are a fan of similar films such as World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles, then this could be exactly what you are looking for. Let´s get into some of the things a appreciate about this film, and let me start by saying i appreciate the set up for this film. It is pretty simple plot that feels like an old school science fiction alien film, a group of people stuck inside a mansion in the Las Vegas area where aliens are invading the city. And those who know my kind of movie taste, you know i love creature feature science fiction horror films. So we have several positive details to talk about in Alien Storm, so let´s start with the creature design of the aliens themselves. When i saw the design of these alien creatures i was reminded of another independent horror film called It Came From Below from director Dan Allen. There are some differences of course of the creatures in both of these films from a design perspective, but i appreciate the creature design in Alien Storu for trying to feel like a throwback to 1980´s creature feautre films. We have a huge cast here so i will just mention some of the performances that stood out to me. Hercules actor Kevin Sorbo actually surprised me how well he played the character President Nolan.. Legendary actor Tom Arnold does a fun performance as Mayor Walker, while actor Denny Nolan and actress Laura Mason as a married couple match well on the big screen, especially when they arm themselves against the aliens. Actor Johnny Huang as the party DJ Beetz, he knows how a party should look like. Actress Elley Ringo have some great scenes together with Tom Arnold, i wish we could have seen more. I do feel that Elley give one of the strongest acting performances. Alien Storm is a quite short film but i appreciate that, that helps the story run smooth without too much dialogue, I would say the acting in general are actually not bad from most of the actors, and when you have fun characters in an alien invasion story, it definetely helps this film become more fun to watch. If you miss creature feautre alien movies that we used to get in the 1980´s, then this will definetely please you. Alien Storm knows exactly what audience it was made for, and embrace this with a fun violent sci fi horror story. Director Adam Werth have directed several films in the past that i have enjoyed, and i feel the same way about Alien Storm. This is without a doubt a film i would recommend if you just want a fun throwback to the 1980´s, i will definetely be picking up a physical copy and so should you.

Rating: DDD

Seven Snipers

I have a tradition that i usually follow every year, no matter what season of the year we are talking about. I like to rewatch some classic films that i really appreciate for personal reasons, it could be because of nostalgic cinema memories during the 1990´s or because of VHS release that made a impact on me. One perfect example of this is the 1993 action military film Sniper, directed by Luis Llosa ( who also directed the Sylvester Stallone action film The Specialist, definetely worth a watch ). Why i enjoyed the 1993 film Sniper so much was mostly because of the chemistry between main characters Thomas Beckett ( played by actor Tom Berenger ), and his younger sniper partner Richard Miller ( played by actor Billy Zane ). To see these two men on a mission in the jungles of Panama is both exciting, charming and the film manage to capture the importance of working together as a team. If you make one mistake you could end up dead. I also think that this film looks good in the jungle scenes, it feels like we are actually there on location in Panama. Ever since i bought the Scandinavain DVD release of this film ( must have been over 20 years ago at least ), i try to rewatch this film every year. Because it takes me back to my cinema experience i had with Sniper and that was actually a wonderful experience. I have seen some of the sequels over the years and i can accept Sniper 2 and Sniper 3 basically, both of them with Tom Berenger in the lead role. These sequels are not as good as the original film, but enjoyable as pure action films. The other sequels are....not that good if im being perfectly honest. It felt like they were making too many sequels and they didn´t even bother to care about the characters or the stories. I haver no idea how many more movies they will make in the Sniper franchise, but im sure they will try and milk out money as long as the films do well on streaming or digital. Speaking of snipers, since this summer i was curious to check out an action film with actress Radha Mitchell ( who i especially remember from the 2006 film adaptation of Silent Hill, based on the extremely popular video game of the same name ) simply called Seven Snipers. This film looked like a throwback to 90´s action movies and how can i say no to that? I decided to rent this film on VOD and review it as well. Is this one of the better Radha Mitchell movies in recent years, or is Seven Snipers so bad, you would rather suffer through Mariah Carey´s awful 2001 film Glitter than no one seems to remember but me?

Retired military sniper Voodoo Child ( Radha Mitchell ) lives on a ranch in Australia with her daughter Anja ( Annabel Wolfe ), where she tries to raise her daugher in the best possible way, after being away alot during military service. One day a mysterious man shows up claiming a real estate company is interested in bying her land. Voodo Child don´t buy the man´s offer, and it turns out she was right. It seems that someone from her past wants revenge on her, so she calls in her old sniper team for backup on her ranch. It becomes more clear that another sniper named The Dragon ( Tim Roth ) is the one behind of all of this, who have a certain reason for making this so personal against Voodoo Child.

When i started watching Seven Snipers i was immediately reminded of the 1993 action drama film Nowhere To Run. In that film Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a prisoner who managed to escape from a convict transport, and is now drifting around the countryside. He gets to know a mother and her two children, where a real estate company want to buy the woman´s land. Of course she refuse any offer and the real estate company use force to scare her. There are some similarities between Nowhere To Run and Seven Snipers, at least when it comes to the real estate company who wants to buy main character Voodoo Child´s land. Then it turns out there is a completely different plot here after all, that there is a revenge story behind everything. So even if Seven Snipers started off quite simple, we suddenly move forward in a complete different direction. On the positive side for this film i would say that the sniper scenes are alright, not as effective as the 1993 classic Sniper but still good enough to enjoy. Lead actress Radha Mitchell as the former sniper soldier Voodoo Child does have a cool personality. She is confident, doesn´t take shit from anyone and is not afraid to go into battle. I am actually surprised to see Radha Mitchell do this kind of character considering she have not been in many action films, other than Man On Fire, Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen of course.  Legendary actor Tim Roth ( from Quentin Tarantino classics such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction ) plays the sniper character The Dragon. I would say he is alright, but have definetely seen him act better in older classics. I would have liked to see The Dragon character be even more cold, and brutal than we see him in this film. I like the brotherhood among the snipers who help their friend of Voodoo Child, where they really need to support each other during this shootout. On the negative i would probably say that there are a couple of dialogue scenes that felt drawn out, just to have the playtime getting closer to almost 90 minutes. Also, some of the decisions that certain snipers does seem kind of unprofessional in certain scenarios. As a pure and simple action film i still feel that Seven Snipers have enough entertainment value, especially for those who love military sniper films of the 90´s. Director Sandra Sciberras ( who directed the low budget Australian horror film The Dustwalker ) deliver a film that definetely feels like a tribute to old school military action movies at the VHS store, and i do appreciate the effort. Seven Snipers should definetely be a hit at the Elderly Home who are fed up with watching Jeopardy.

Rating: DDD

Blood Witch

Witches!

What would life be without them? You get a nice bowl of soup with eyeballs, mixed with some nice herbs and hopefully some other flesh included. I mean, you are not going to have much food just by eating eyeballs, so hopefully the witches have added some other flesh to make the soup more tasteful. What else are witches good for you might ask yourself? They do use a lot of things from nature durent different seasons of the year, making sure they keep themselves updated with Mother Nature. So if you need advices of what plants you can eat, or use in cooking then witches are the ones to ask. They are also aware of what plants they can use in health and wellness purposes. I would also argue that some witches know how to use different spells by doing a ritual, where candles and specific herbs are included. So if you are tired of your annoying neighbor, why not ask your local witch to put a spell on that old nagging hag? So you see, there are some good things about knowing a local witch. Speaking of witches in general we had a lot of horror films that includes witches, in many different stories connected to witchcraft. I could probably mention at least 10 films you should see if you love horror films with witches, so let´s just bring up one specific title. The 2018 independent horror film The Witch In The Window, how many of you have seen this film? I could imagine mostly big horror fans have come across this film at some point, but it wasn´t a big release back in 2018. I bought a physical copy of this film from the distribution company Njutafilms. The Witch In The Window tell the story of a father and a son who stays in a house for 6 weeks, to fix up an old farmhouse. It´s been abandoned for a long time and need some work, while this might help him reconnect with his son. As they begin the renovation, strange things begin to occur. The Witch In The Window is a very simple horror film, but the witch elements actually works in this film. This is a slow burn horror film that´s focused more on atmopshere than any physical violence, plus the relationship between a father and a son. I would also like to mention that the film looks good, even though this is clearly a low budget horror film. Worth picking up on physical media or if you rent it on VOD. How many of you have heard of the British independent distribution company Black Coppice Films? I have only seen a couple trailer of their releases and decided to check one of their films out, simply called Blood Witch. Since i enjoy films regarding witches, is this a must watch to prepare for this Halloween or will Blood Witch be quickly fogotten once you have seen this film?

Centuries after being killed for witchcraft, a mother and a daughter are resurrected. They seek revenge on descendantsof those responsible. As locals disappear, two journalists investigate the mysterious events.

I could be wrong but i get a sense that a film such as Blood Witch, tries to bring back the old school horror films that we used to see in the legendary British film distribution company Hammer Films. They were of course known all over the world for their British low budget horror films such as the Dracula franchise with legendary actor Christopher Lee, and Hammer Films honestly released some other true classics such as the 1976 horror film To The Devil A Daughter. However, to say that Blood Witch would be anywhere good as the classics from Hammer Films, that is simply not the case here. I do appreciate the effort trying to really do a traditional witch horror film, using practical make up effects and real locations instead of a film studio only.  Especially the scenes where there are some brutal practical make up effects, thisis exactly what a film such as this needed. One of the biggest issues i have with Blood Witch, as i have experienced with specifically British independent horror films in the past, is that they use too many dialogue scenes and scale down on the horror scenes. This is just a simple way to make the film last around 85 minutes, because you don´t have to use that many bloody scenes and save money basically. There are  characters i enjoyed in yhis film. Let´s start with Father Thomas Jackson ( played by actor Jon-Paul Gates, who i have seen in the independent horror film Doll Cemetary ). Hearing Father Thomas telling a man that helps him- Fucking idiot, in the middle of an exorcism scene, that was actually quite funny and one of the highlights of Blood Witch. I personally feel the character Father Thomas should have had much more sceen time in Blood Witch. The second actor Denny Nolan ( who i remember from the horror action film Bridge Of The Doomed ), plays the character Spencer Jones which have some charming dialogue. Oh, i should say the ending scene is really brutal and surprisngly fun. This is probably the only positive things i can say about Blood Witch, because i feel that this could have been a much more fun horror film if it was more violent, and more gory than doing so many doalogue scenes. Director Chris Shane Sanders have not made a horrible film, just a very boring one.

Rating: DD

Normal

Remember when a movie become a bigger success than you would have imagined? Usually some big ciname releases may either flop, or they might make enough money to make a little bit of profit. Then you have those films that made a hell of a lot of money, that no one probably saw coming. You never really know these days because the audience will always decide what they enjoy. Even if a film critic hate a film, the audience may not even bother what critics are sauing and still pay for tickets. For example, back in the year of 2017 i never would have imagined, that the psychological horror film Get Out would be a massive box office success. I remember that the movie critics praised the film, however, i never expected a horror film made on a limited budget of 4.5 million U.S. dollars, would end up getting over 259 million U.S. dollars in ticket sales. That is really impressive numbers of ticket sales, no matter if you like the film Get Out or if you dislike this film. I personally enjoyed this film for a number of reasons, both because of the acting, the storyline but especially how effective this film is as a psychological horror film. Worth a watch if you are looking for a solid horror film, no matter if you prefer to watch it on streaming or physical media. Another film that really surprised me is actually an action film, and that is the 2021 film known as Nobody from director Llya Naishuller. On a budget of 16 million U.S. dollars this film ended up making over 57 million U.S. dollats in ticket sales. Not bad at all, not a massive success perhaps but still making a descent profit considering that cinemas have been struggling since the pandemic, Plus this film did well on streaming and physical media as well. Nobody turned out to be a really violent action trip, where actor Bob Odenkirk ( perhaps mostly known from the Netflix TV series Better Call Saul ) really showed a very strong physical acting performance. I do appreciate the violence in this film, combined with a good sense of humour. I have not seen the sequel yet Nobody 2 but i definetely plan to watch it at some point. I did however see Bob Odenkirk´s film Normal which i decided to review. A film i have read positive reviews about, so considering im a big fan of the original Nobody film of course i was excited to watch Normal. Is this another great film with the highly respected Better Call Saul actor, or is this way worse than we ever would have expected?

Ulysses ( Bob Odenkirk ) begins serving as intern sheriff of the small town of Normal, Minnestota. At first it seems that most locals welcome the new sheriiff in town, as well as Mayor Kibner ( Henry Winkler ). But after he discover certain details about the bank of Normal, something doesn´t seem quite right about this town. The locals don´t like it when people dig into the past, and this may cause some big issues for the new Sheriff Ulysses.

What if you did a similar environment as in the 1996 classic film Fargo and combined some influences from films such as the 2023 film Americana? Then you pretty much have have the concept for what Normal looks like. Small town stories from Normal, where you get to see how the people of this town function in different scenarios. If you thought actor Bob Odenkirk would do a similar acting performance in Normal as he did in the 2021 action film Nobody, i can tell you that this is a completely different character. I would describe his character Ulysses as a typical small town sheriff, who tries to deal with local folks as good as he can. Bob Odenkirk deliver a solid performance and i like the fact that he tries to do a classic small town sheriff character, in the same sense that we experienced in the 1996 cult classic film Fargo. Different films of course, still you can feel some inspiration could have been used from Fargo while they were making the film Normal. I could of course be wrong, but if you compare these two films i feel some similarities. Legendary actor Henry Winkler does another great performance as the fun character Mayor Kibner. This film unfortunately turned out to be a box office bomb this year, and in one way i can understand why. It´s not because this film is bad, it´s actually a really good film. But i feel that this is a difficult film to make a wider audience want to see it, because not many films telling a story about a small town have been box office hits. Just look at the 2011 film Take Shelter, that was praised by critics and had a great cast. It didn´t help and barely crossed over the film´s budget around 5 million U.S. dollars. Not a big box office bomb, yet managed to find an audience on streaming and physical media instead. I just think Normal is a difficult film unless you enjoy small town stories, which i am a fan of. With that said i do think this film works both as an action film, thriller combined with drama. The violence is fun, the dialogue is actually effective as well and i do think director Ben Wheatley ( director of a personal favourite of mine called A Field In England, worth picking up on physical media ) proves himself again to be a talented director. That he can basically take on any genre in film, and still leave a positive impact as he have in his previous films. The biggest surprise of Normal is how this turns into a very violent showdown where even the Japanese Yakuza are involved. If you loved the 2021 film Nobody then this could be something for you. It´s the kind of old school action film we used to get in the 1980´s, where violence was the key to solve problems, instead of just talking. Normal have all the ingredients you need for a fun old school action popcorn night, and Bob Odenkirk proves that there is still hope for the action genre.

Rating: DDDD

God Of Frogs

It may not be often you hear about the genre known as creature feature films these days, but if we go back in cinema history you had plenty of cinema releases within this specific genre. One of the most iconic creature feature horror film classics, has to be the 1951 horror film The Thing From Another World. This film is of course a combination of science fiction and horror, which works really well combined. Considering the film was made back in the year of 1951, it did have some cool practical make up effects and was professionally made. I prefer the 1982 remake of course by legendary director John Carpenter, who really took the story of The Thing to a complete different level. Amazing practical effects in the 1982 film adaptation, but let´s talk about a completely different film within the creature feature category of movies. For example how many of you remember the 1978 horror film that´s now considered to be a cult classic known as Pirahna? Directed by legendary director Joe Dante ( the director of so many classic films such as The Howling, Gremlins, Explorers The Burbs, Gremlins 2, and many more wonderful films ), this 1978 low budget horror film Piranha was actually the film that opened up the door for director Joe Dante´s future. On a budget around 770.000 U.S. dollars it made around 16 million U.S. dollars in ticket sales worldwide, not bad for such a low budget film. The story is basically set in Lost River Lake, where skiptracer Maggie McKeown ( Heather Menzies ) is looking for missing teenagers, who seemed to have disappeared after a visit at this lake. She hires local drunk Paul Grogan ( Bradford Dillman ), to help her investigate what happened to the missing teenagers. They discover that the water is infested by an unusual species of piranha fishes. It is a silly, yet a fun creature feature horror film that actually have pretty good acting, is quite well made considering the low budget and i do like the storyline that´s simple but effective. The special effects of the piranha fishes may look cheesy, but that´s part of the charm with creature feature horror films. A film worth a watch, especially on physical media. Speaking of creature feature films, we still get some of them released especially within independent horror studios. I came across an anthology horror film called God Of Frogs which is a creature feature film as well, thanks to the review from British film critic Geek Legion Of Doom. Since i am a fan of both genres, anhology horror and creature feature films, this did sound like my cup of tea. Is this a film you should see this autumn or should you skip this one and go straight to the 1978 classic Piranha instead?

Deep in the heart of the jumgle exists an elemental creature with an eternal hunger. Once every quarter century it emerges to feed, and everytime its fate is entwined with the same human family.

I think it is fait to say that God Of Frogs start off pretty bizarre, when we found ourselves among hippies in the year of 1969 and a woman have sex with a frog creature. Now, when you read this you might be thinking:- Why would you want to do that? Well, i can´t really answer that. I suppose back in the late 1960´s anything was possible, so why not? Maybe this frog creature is a great lover, perhaps human men have a lot to learn from them. But that´s not the only time the frog monster have sex in this film, oh no. We got to have frog sex in the year of 1994 as well. I mean, you gotta have fun in the 90´s as well, right? I should clarify that these frog monster is kind of tricky, because at first they seem to look human during sex, but apparently then can transform just like that and the women think they are having sex with male humans, and yet continue when the monster transform into it´s real body. The real reason though why these frog creatures have sex is of course to have babies from female humans. This film is divided into four different chapters and they are all connected to the frog creature. I have to say that the practical make up effects of this creature is not bad at all, and the frog suit itself looks good for being a low budget film. Obviously they worked with the budget they had, and i think they pulled this off nicely. Actually, this film had help from special effects make up artist Jess Smith, who also did a great job on the 2024 horror film The Killgrin, worth checking out. The acting is a bit of a mixed bag, some acting performances don´t really make any bigger impact, but in the third chapter of this film i do think actors Corteon Moore and Christian Lloyd give us the most interesting characters. I do like the idea of each chapter taking place so far from each other, giving a different perspective of why this creature have a bigger purpose through history. Is every chapter good? I don´t think there are any bad ones, it´s just that the third chapter manage to capture my interest more than others. Overall i would say God Of Frogs is an interesting concept for a anthology horror film. It may not be a film for everyone, but if you specifically enjoy anthology horror stories this should be a fun watch. If you love old school practical make up effects with monsters included, then this is the film you have been waiting for.

Rating: DDD

If you want a physical DVD of this film you can pick up your physical copy on the following link from MVD Shop:

God Of Frogs DVD | Miracle Media

If you want to hear British film critic Geek Legion Of Doom giving his opinion on God Of Frogs, you can watch the review on the following YouTube link:

GOD OF FROGS ( 2026 Kate Vernon ) Creature Feature Frogman Horror Movie Review

Passenger

I have drived all across Sweden on many different highways over the years, all across different cities and even along the Swedish coast lines. This is a very beautiful country to drive through with lots of beautiful forest areas, there are many beautiful smaller cities and i have to say there are some great resting places along the highways for drivers to stop at, especially near different lakes. Usually nothing strange have ever happened while i was driving through Sweden, except for one moment that happened back in January of 2016. I was driving down towards Gothenburg and stopped at a gas station in the city known as Karslstad. It was a cold winter day so i needed a hot cup of coffee and a hot dog as well. While i was getting gas for my car, a drifter walked up to me asking if i could drive him to Stockholm because he needed to travel to his brother. I told him:- Im going to Gothenburgh so it´s the wrong direction but good luck finding help by someone else. He got really upset saying:- Can´t you just fucking help me? I could tell he might have some mental problems because him mood changed very quickly. I was respectful and said:- Im sorry i can´t help you. I paid for the gas and got in the car, while i could see him standing looking at me from a distance. The way he stared at me was creepy. I understand if you don´t have money you will ask for help, i have no problem with that part. I just feel that this man could not control his emotions, because he got in a really bad mood quickly. Either way, i will never forget this drifter outside of the city of Karlstad. Speaking of drifters one of the best psychological thrillers ever made, is the 1986 classic film The Hitcher from director Robert Harmon. The plot is really simple but very effective. A young man named Jim Halsey ( played by actor C. Thomas Howell ), he is delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego. On his way there he pick up a hitchhiker named John Ryder ( played by legendary actor Rutger Hauer ), who seems quite odd at first. But that´s not even close to the real truth, he is actually even worse than that. He is a mentally disturbed serial killer and he want´s to play some disturbing games with Jim along the highway. The Hitcher is one of those psychological thrillers you can rewatch, and never get bored of. Really well made thriller with excellent acting performances, and this is one of those films you should own on physical media or own a digital copy of. Speaking of hitchhiker´s i finally sat down to watch Norwegian director André Ovredal´s latest horror film Passenger, that looked interesting for a number of reasons. Since i am a fan of André´s previous films, is Passenger a film you should see or is this hiw worst feature film so far?

Couple Maddie Brecker ( Lou Llobell ) and Tyler Gennochio ( Jacob Scipio ), are travelling in a van across the country to live a simple life, enjoying sightseeing and exploring different locations for six weeks completely. One late night while Maddie is driving along a highway, a car speed very dramatic as if the passenger is warning them. Maddie slows down to let the driver pass them by. As they continue their journey they see the same car have been in an accident and alarm the accident. The passenger named Lucas ( Miles Fowler ) is suddenly killed by the crash protection car pillow. But something doesn´t seem quite right at the accident location, as if someone else is there out there in the darkness.

If you have seen some of the previous films from director André Ovredal, you know that he is clearly a very talented director of especially horror films. Passenger is of course also a horror film, but leaning more towards the supernatural horror genre. I know that director André Ovredal have worked with a limited budget in the past such as Trollhunter. Even if that film did cost a lot more than the general Norwegian cinema releases, it was still made on a limited budget if you compare to big Norwegian movie titles. Passenger only cost around 15 million U.S. dollars to make and i love to see films such as this being made on a limited budget. We don´t need to make horror films on a 100 million U.S. dollar budget, when you can make really good horror films on a much more limited budget. And since this film is spending a lot of time along a highway it feels like a throwback to similar films of the 1986 classic The Hitcher. That film was obviously a psychological thriller, still you can feel a similar tone in Passenger as i begin to wonder if director André Ovredal might have been inspired by similar films such as The Hitcher. Let´s get into what i feel works well with Passenger and i love how simple this film feels, the plot is very basic and yet it matches well with the horror elements. When you think about how the film is constructed it is either original or different than similar films, but what makes Passenger effective as a horror film is the atmosphere surrounding this journey on the highways. What if you meet someone out there that could destroy your life completely, when you are just trying to travel? One very important detail is the religious undertone of this film. There is a connection to why faith is very important to have, since this Passenger is like a demon from hell and you need faith to fight against it. The Passenger itself is very creepy looking, with long hair and dark demonic eyes, and it matches the storyline pretty good while keeping a dark atmopshere wherever it shows up. The acting especially from the main actors Jacob Scipio and Llobell both give solid performances, where especiallya ctor Joseph Lopez as the Passenger makes the strongest impact. In general i would say that Passenger is a good choice for a horror film, it´s well made, have some effective horror scenes and the plot is actually quite interesting. Definetely a good choice if you enjoyed the previous films from director André Ovredal and if you are interested in reliigion as well.

Rating: DDD

If you live in Europe and want a physical copy of Passenger on blu ray, you can get your UK copy on the following link:

Passenger [Blu-ray] [Region A]: Amazon.co.uk: Melissa Leo, Lou Llobell, Jacob Scipio, André Øvredal, Melissa Leo, Lou Llobell: DVD & Blu-ray

Capture

Some people don´t want to watch older horror movies, they would rather just watch new releases and don´t even bother to see what titles there are out there from the past. I feel that is a bit sad, because there are some really good horror films out there to choose between. They don´t have to be really old from the 1980´s or the 1990´s, they could be just about 15 years old and still be really good. Well, not all titles might be brilliant, but still worth a watch for a number of different reasons. I could easily pick at least 8 movies during this time period worth a watch, but let´s just focus on one specific title. For example if i mentioned a horror film title released in 2011 called Lovely Molly, how many of you would have said:- Oh i remember that film? This is one of those horror films you don´t hear much about in horror communities worldwide, and honestly i feel it deserves to be talk about. The plot is pretty simple, a newlywed woman named Molly ( played by actress Gretchen Lodge ) moves into her deceased father´s house in the countryside, together with her husband. At first it might seem like a wonderful idea, but the longer she stays there, the more painful it becomes as old memories start to haunt her. Lovely Molly is a mixture of found footage styled horror film, combined with a slow burn atmopshere. When you know this film is directed by Eduardo Sanchez, you know that name have a very special heart among horror fans. The director of the 1999 cult found footage horror film The Blair Witch Project, and he actually use some found footage scenes in Lovely Molly as well. Im not going to say that Lovely Molly is as good as The Blair Witch Project, it´s not. But i do think the film feels effective from a story telling perspective, considering how thin the plot is and yet works so well. Lead actress Gretchen Lodge is really good as Molly, and she is actually the biggest reason why this film feels more creepy as she begin to change mentally, physically, emotionally, the longer she stay inside this house. If you want a good horror film to watch to prepare for Halloween weekend, Lovely Molly on streaming or physical media is a great choice. One of the horror movies i did become curious about that came out earlier this year, is a horror film called Capture from director Bruce Wemble. I found out about this film from a review of British film critic Screen Stars, and the story sounded like something i might enjoy since i enjoyed Lovely Molly. also set inside a cabin. Is this a great choice for horror film this autumn, or is Capture not the film you should choose and pick Lovely Molly instead?

Abby ( Kaitlyn Lunardi ) is a young woman and causing a lot of trouble in her life. Her own sister is even fed up with her. When she is chosen by her parents to inherint their old house, she is shocked but this gives her a chance to start over with her life. What she doesn´t know is the dark past of her parents, and what happened in this house while her mother had sessions with patients she was supposed to help....

Something i remembered while watching Capture is that this film is directed by the same man who made the 2020 horror film The Retreat. This turned out to be a great horror film from director Bruce Wemble and is a well made creature feature horror film, considering the limited budget. His film Capture is quite different from The Retreat and feels more like a supernatural horror film. There is almost a sense that this film could have been inspired by the 2012 horror film Sinister, since the main character Abby find old VHS tapes that´s been recorded for patiemts of a psychiatrist. This is the part of the film that´s actually interesting, what secrets are hidden within the walls of this house? What will these VHS tapes reveal? This part also reminded me a bit of the great 2009 psychological horror film The Fourth Kind with actress Milla Jovovich. Another interesting detail is the main character Abby, played by actress Kaitlyn Lunardi ( who i recognized from the horror film The North Witch, worth checking out ), and why i think her character especially work in this plot is that she is struggling with her adult life. She doesn´t really have any goals in life, she have no idea what to do with herslef other than party, sleep around with guys. Having a young woman like her inside an old house is of course not the best combination, especially when strange things are happening around the house. Since she is already struggling with herself, how much can she take mentally if she have to face something evil within this house? The acting performance from actress Kaitlyn Lunardi is good, she capture the broken soul of the character Kaitlyn and make her look realistic. When it comes to the horror elements there are some creepy horror scenes in this film, where the sound effects help certain horror scenes become even more effective. I would definetely say that this is the best looking film from director Bruce Wemble, and his best horror film so far as well. It´s not a horror film without flaws, but i do think the story works better than i expected. If you are already planning what to watch during Halloween weekend, you should definetely rent or stream Capture on your list of Halloween films this year. A horror film that actually works, for such a simple yet effective premise. Let´s hope i never inherit a house, i might have doubts after my experience with Capture.

Rating: DDD