Marshmallow

Summer Camp, some of you might have experienced it in your childhood while some of you didn´t ( it´s ok if you never experienced it ). I did go to one summer camp at the age of 12 in 1989 in my hometown Uddevalla. This summer camp took place at a cabin camp location outside of Unda ( the name of the sea area ). The cabin camp was inside a forest area so if we wanted to go to the ocean for water activities we had to walk by foot. I remember we tried going out in a canoe each in the ocean while we didn´t have any big waves, it went pretty good. I also remember one day the summer camp arranged so we could go out on a large fishing boat, just to see how the fisherman worked and they let us try fishing. This summer camp back in the summer of 1989 was actually pretty fun, plus it was here i fell in love for the very first time in a girl named Linda ( also 12 years old at that time ). We were friends during summer camp but i never told her how i felt. I was really shy at this age so i was terrible at communicating with girls. Anyway, i had a good time at this summer camp and i hope many children worldwide enjoy their summer camp visit as well. Speaking of summer camp there are a lot of movies that takes place at a summer camp. For example you have classic comedy films such as Ernest Goes To Camp and Meatballs ( with a young Bill Murray ). Of course you have a lot of slasher horror films taking place at a summer camp. One classic slasher horror film i reccomend is the 1981 horror film The Burning from director Tony Maylam ( who also directed the 1992 classic Split Second with Rutger Hauer ). The Burning is a very traditional 80´s slasher horror film with fun practical make up effects and i like that the murder weapon is a garden shears. If you want to watch The Burning i highly recommend the Arrow Video blu ray release of this film. Early this year i read online about a summer camp horror film called Marshmallow that had a cool movie poster design. I am always open to check out horror films that looks inspired by the 80´s. Is this a must watch this autumn or will Marshmallow most likely be forgetten?

Morgan ( Kue Lawrence ) is travelling to his very first summer camp known as Camp Almar. Morgan get a rough start by the bully CJ ( Sutton Johnston ) while trying to fit in with other children. But as the days go by, Morgan is about to discover a secret in one of the cabins at night that will change everything.

I think it is fair to say that this film Marshmallow is clearly inspired by Netfllx TV series Stranger  Things, you can tell by the style of this film and especially the 80´s influenced music score. The cabin summer camp location is perfect for a horror film in this genre.  It is old school summer camp where children and teenagers are meant to be activated. Swim in the lake, play different sport activities or even read books. There is no TV set or any computers, mobile phones are locked inside by the summer camp leaders. At first this seems to be a pretty normal standard teen horror film ( that´s still good thankfully ), but the biggest surprise is where the film takes us towards the end. I did not predict that ending so im happy they decideed to do something different than i expected. The children cast gives solid performances in this film, especially lead actor Kue Lawrence playing the charactor Morgan. I think a lot of children can relate to this character being a bully victim, and there is especially one scene by the lake where it´s difficult not feeling sorry for him. Thankfully he get along really well with a kid known as Dirk ( played by actor Max Malas ). Of the adult actors i enjoyed the performance of actors Giorgia Whigham, Pierson Fode and Paul Soter ( yes the actor who played the character Foster in both films of Super Troopers, worth a watch if you love comedy films ). The strength of Marshmallow really comes towards the final 45 minutes of this film, when the horror elements finally finds it´s rightful place. I mentioned Stranger Things earlier and i really appreciate that director Daniel DelPurgatorio tries to keep the spirit of 80s horror alive in a modern film. The plot is told in a very simple way, just like a lot films from the 80´s. To be completely honest i don´t see any point mentioning any flaws with this movie. Marshmallow gives a nice nostalgic throwback to my childhood and i would recommend  this film, especially for old school horror fans.

Rating: DDD

Home Sweet Home: Rebirth

Back in the late 90´s i used to play a lot of PlayStation games. On certain weekends i would visit my gaming school friend Anders who owned a lot of video games with his brother Dennis on Super Nintendo, Sega Megadrive and especially PlayStation 1. This is the same Anders i mentioned in reviews in the past who ordered uncut VHS films from the UK. Anyway, since Anders bought a lot of video games on PlayStation i could just borrow some titles from him instead of buying new releases. I did buy about 20 PlayStation games, but compared to Anders i didn´t have a library of titles. I would guess he probably owned about 300 PlayStation games so i did enjoy trying a lot of titles. Of the games that i personally owned i especially had 4 favourite games and those titles are Tenchu - Stealth Assassins, Medal Of Honor, MediEvil and Syphon Filter. Let´s talk about Syphon Filter for a moment and why this was a cool game in the year of 1999. This is a third-person shooter video game where you play as special agent Gabriel. He is on a mission to apprehend a German international terrorist. What made this video game enjoyable was how effective the gameplay was while you were taking down criminals at different locations, and i have to mention how smooth it was to reload your weapons in gun battles. The game graphics of Syphon Filter may look old today compared to modern games but i still think this is a cool nostalgic video game. Speaking of video games there are a lot of video games turned into live action adaptations in Hollywood. We have several Mortal Kombat films ( the latest Mortal Kombat film is coming out this year on October 24 ) and you have classics such as the 1994 martial art action film Street Fighter, wich was legendary actor Raul Julia´s final acting performance. One film adaptation based on a video game i recently discovered is a horror film called Home Sweet Home: Rebirth. Based on the 2017 Thai video game ( a game i have not tried so far ) i was curious to see if this might be something i may appreciate. Is this a good choice to watch this autumn during a rainy day or is Home Sweet Home: Rebirth not worth your precious time at all?

Jake ( William Moseley ), a dedicated police officer, travel to Bangkok, Thailand, to enjoy a vacation with his wife, Prang ( Urassaya Sperbund ), and their young daughter, Loo ( Akeira Hadden ). Jake have a hard time letting go off work which his wife doesn´t appreciate. While visiting a shopping mall this trip takes a horrifying turn when a mass shooting erupts at this shopping mall. Jake confronts the shooter, Mek ( Michele Morrone ), who cryptically refers Jake as "The Keeper" before triggering an explosion that kills them both. Jake awakens in "The Hinderance", a purgatorial realm between life and death. Here, he encounters Chan ( Alexander Lee, a novice monk who reveals that Jake´s death was a part of a ritual to open the Gates of Hell. Chan explains that Jake is the prophesied "Keeper" destined to prevent the Apocalypse.

Since i never played the video game this film is based on i will give you my personal opinion about this film from my own perspective. The first thing that came to my mind while watching Home Sweet Home: Rebirth is that i could feel influences from the classic video game franchise known as Resident Evil. Obviously this is not a similar story or have any characters that are the same as in Resident Evil, but there are some horrror scenes where you get a sense that they may have been inspired by the classic horror video game franchise. For example in some scenes with actor William Moseley´s character Jake he tries to kill a possessed looking woman who still attacks no matter how many times his bullets enter her body, and we have seen something similar in Resident Evil games. Im ok with this since i feel a lot of horror films are inspired by many classic horror films or comic books as well. As a horror film in general i did find myself enjoying this film, especially for the apocalyptic approach with plenty of action scenes in general. If you remember the 2015 action thriller No Escape with Owen Wilson protecting his family in Thailand, Home Sweet Home: Rebirth have a similar plot with supernatural horror influences instead. One detail i really appreciate with this film is how they tell a part of the story in  "The Hindrance", the spiritual world of the dead. This is where we see demons, monsters and understand how this other side of the world works. I do like the chemistry between actors William Moseley and Alexander Lee in the spiritual world. Anything negative to say? There are some terrible acting performances from certain characters and some CGI effects are a bit cheesy, but if you can accept these things and just enjoy this film as simple apocalyptic horror film, you might actually enjoy this one. Directors Steffen Hacker and Alexander Kiesl have made a film that clearly feels like a throwback to demonic horror action films of the 90´s and i appreciate their effort. I welcome this genre with open arms, sometimes it´s nice seeing a film that don´t care about what´s trending on social media.

Rating: DDD

Final Destination: Bloodlines

No one can escape death. At some point in our lives our physical body will shut down and we have to accept death. I am personally not afraid to die, perhaps because i have seen dead people in health care jobs since the summer of 1999. No matter how you feel regarding death, try to look back at the best moments in your life and appreciate those moments. But what if you found out by sudden premonitions that you are warned about future major disasters, where you may be chosen by an unseen force described as Death itself, where you may be chosen to die? That is a small piece of the premise of the beloved horror franchise known as Final Destination. Back in the year of 2000 when the first film came out in the spring, i remember i had doubts if it would be any good. Why you might ask? The poster looked like another college horror film and for that reason my expectations were pretty low. Then i saw the trailer in cinema of Final Destination before i was about to see The Green Mile on the big screen. The trailer did make me curious in this film, the premise seemed different than most horror films at that time. I decided to watch this film in cinema after all and i was pleasantly surprised. The idea that a teenager can have a premonition of catastrophic plane explosion, that gives the plot some interesting twists and turns. I would say this is still a solid horror film today from director James Wong ( who directed the Dragonball Evolution live adaptation film as well ). And i have to say most of the young cast did solid performances. Of all of the sequels that followed i enjoyed Final Destination 2 most of them all. The other ones are enjoyable but to me the fourth one is my least favourite. After many years away from the Final Destination franchise it was announced a sequel was coming out in 2025. So here we are with the next chapter in this film series simply called Final Destination: Bloodlines. Is this one of the better sequels in this franchise or is this not a worthy sequel that fans were hoping for?

In 1969, Iris Campbell ( Brec Bassinger ) and her boyfriend Paul ( Max Lloyd-Jones attend the grand opening of the Sky View, a high-rise restaurant tower. Iris has a premonition of a chain of events that causes the tower to collapse, killing everyone inside. Iris warns the tower´s attendees and prevents the collapse, but in doing so disrupt Death´s design. Fifty-five years later, Iris and Paul´s maternal granddaughter, college student Stefani Reyes ( Kaitlyn Santa Juana ) is plagued by recurring nightmares of the averted accident at Sky View. She decides to locate her grandmother Iris ( Gabrielle Rose ) to get answers to her recurrring dreams. She manage to locate her and finds out that the whole family is cursed.

Wow!!!!

Talk about the biggest comeback in a horror franchise in a long time. Final Destination: Bloodlines does not only find the perfect tone how to make a worthy sequel to this specific franchise, this film also manage to find a way to connect the past in a very clever way with the timeline of the previous films. As most of horror fans know making a really solid sequel is very rare these days, we saw what happened with The Conjuring spin off films known as Anabelle ( where i felt Anabelle Comes Home was the weakest film, so far ). Thankfully you can tell that Final Destination: Bloodlines really worked hard to please not only the old school fans of the franchise while trying to seduce a younger horror fan generation as well. I will get to some things i really appreciated with this film, but let´s talk about some of the characters for a while. Lead actress Kaitlyn Santa Juana ( this was the first time i have seen her acting ) really put in a lot of effort into her character Stefani Reyes. To be honest i was impressed how good she did this performance considering this is her first big lead role. Actor Richard Harmon ( who i enjoyed watching in the post-apocalyptic science fiction TV series The 100 ) is definetely the most charming character in this film playing the wacky character Erik. Actress Rya Kihlstedt ( who is great in the 2015 horror film The Atticus Institute, worth a watch ) deliver a solid performance as struggling character Darlene. Of course in Final Destination: Bloodlines you see the final acting performance by legendary actor Tony Todd and give us one of his strongest acting performance ever, and it is very difficult not to get emotional. His character William Bludworth have been a part of this franchise from the very beginning. One very important detail in this sequel is how gory a lot of the killing scenes are, and i feel it wouldn´t have worked if they cut down on the violence. And i am so grateful seeing bodies being torn apart, heads exploding, all of this is beautiful to witness. The puzzle that lead character Stefani tries to learn to figure out who will die  next works really well with the main plot. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein deliver one of the best horror films of this year and finally give new life to the Final Destination franchise. Definetely a must watch if you are a true horror fan.

Rating: DDDD

The Painted

Something not that many people know in my private life is that my mother Lena painted several beautiful paintings, especially in the early 70´s. Even though i have not seen all of her paintings over the years i remember one specifically. It was a painting of Swedish nature around the city known as Skövde. She really captured a realistic look of nature surrounding this city and i have visited this city in the past, so i can remember where this painting was supposed to be located. The majestic trees and even a small details such as leaves was very well crafted in this painting. So in 1992 at the age of 15 i decided to try art class at my school. At first i struggled finding what  painting style would fit me, but then i noticed the art of The Netherlands painter Vincent Van Gogh in several art books and i was especially interested in his sunflower paintings. Before summer break of 1993 i finished a painting inspired by Van Gogh´s sunflowers and my art teacher was suprised how well i managed to capture the style on Van Gogh. My painting with other students at art class was included in a art school exhibition and it was a wonderful experience seeing your own painting beeing shown to visiting guests. I don´t know if you knew this but there are several horror films that includes the subject of art. It could be paintings, sculptures or even wood used to create art. One film i personally recommend is the 2015 psychological horror thriller Deep Dark from director Michael Medaglia. Deep Dark tells the story of non sucessfull art creator Hermann ( Sean McGrath ) who still lives in his mother´s home. He is informed he needs to leave since she will be renting his room out. Hermann manage to rent an apartment that his uncle owns. It is in this apartment where Hermann manage to create his most impressive art work yet, but his dark personal lifestyle will affect him. Deep Dark is a bit of a different film experience and should be appreciated by some people who loves art related stories, give this film a chance on VOD. One of the horror films this year i have been looking forward to see is the art inspired film The Painted, it´s not often we see horror films influenced by art. Is this a film that turned out to be better than i expected or is this a film you should skip at all cost?

Mother Evelyn Elster ( Aleksa Palladino ) is informed that her estranged cousin passed away and Evelyn inherits her fortune and her house as well. Evelyn move here with her husband Adam Elster ( Sean Bridgers ) and their two children. What this family doesn´t know is that in this house there is a unique painting that is cursed.

It might sound difficult to make a horror film that´s inspired by art combined with supernatural horror influences and make this combination work. Thankfully this film manage to find the right balance and especially make the art influences a very important detail connected to the plot. I will get into the art a little bit more later but i have to mention something i appreciate about this film. The fact that the story takes place in the late 1960´s and they actually capture the time period in a realistic way with family life during this time period as well as costume design and 1960´s home design. This is important to me personally that you make an effort to capture the time period in history, that you are trying to tell a story set in the past. The cast of this film does in general a good job with the acting, and i especially appreciate the chemistry between actors Aleksa Palladino ( perhaps mostly known for TV series Boardwalk Empire ) and Sean Bridgers ( you should check him out in the 2011 horror film The Woman, especially the Arrow Video blu ray release ) as the married couple Evelyn and Adam. I feel that these characters capture a realistic portrait of how marriage can be after many years while raising children. Speaking of the children i really appreciate the performance of actress Jessica Ruth Bell. Seeing this young woman break down by fear from the entity works pretty effective. The paintings coming to life is a very cool detail and especially the main painting transforming through the evil entity. The background story to the cursed main painting matches well with the plot. As a horror film i feel that The Painted manage to tell a classic paranormal story while making a positive impact with the art influences. Perhaps some of the horror scenes could have been more scary, but in general it works. Director Sasha Sibley proves that you can still make paranormal horror films with a different approach. The Painted will most likely be appreciated if you watch this film with  an open mindset.

Rating: DDD

Gunslingers

With such a modern world that we are living in it´s easy to forget about what really matters. Some might say that having many cars is the true joy in life or what set of golf clubs you own ( even though they were expensive as hell ). The way i view things is different because none of what i mentioned matters to me. I feel it is more important to appreciate the smaller things, such as Sunday dinner with family or having a drink in a pub with a good friend. Sure, i do have a big movie collection that i have gathered for many years, but at the end of the day my family and friends matter far more to me than any physical things. Sometimes when i look back in history and read about how life used to be, i can see why families spent more time together. Just look at the late 1800´s in America around the Gilded Age that started around the year of 1870. This was a time where some families got to experience immense wealth through big business, while other families had to struggle to survive through extremely hard work and rough working conditions. One imporant detail though during this time was the importance of having a solid family ground, spending time together even if times were rough and find ways to survive. I really enjoy watching western films in general that tries to portrait how life was in America during the late 1800´s. One film i feel should be mentioned more often when we discuss the genre of western is the 2015 film known as Diablo. Directed by Lawrence Roeck this film is actually a little bit different than other western films that turns into a psychological thriller. This film have a great cast with Scott Eastwood ( son of Clint Eastwood ) and especially a great performance by actor Waltor Goggins ( mostly known from TV series The Wire ). Diablo is beautiful filmed western and the twist towards the end is a nice surprise, worth a rent on VOD. I always look forward to check out western films and one movie poster of Gunslingers caught my attention. A good cast and a cool title for this genre? I decided to rent this film on VOD and give it chance. Is this the perfect western film to end this summer or is this far more terrible than i expected?

In a town named Redemption, reformed gunslinger Thomas Keller ( Stephen Dorff ) and mad genius Ben ( Nicolas Cage ) are guided by spiritual leader Jericho ( Costas Mandylor ) towards vindication. While confronting their violent histories, their newfound peace is challenged by violence and revenge.

Oh boy, i have to talk about something for a moment that´s definetely the worst part of Gunslingers and that is the performance of Nicolas Cage as the Bible loving character Ben. The voice of this character sounds hillarious on so many levels, and the acting? Let´s just say that this is worse than his performance in the horror film The Wicker Man. I have seen Nicolas Cage do classic performances in films such as Wild At Heart and Leaving Las Vegas ( i even enjoyed his performance in the 2011 medieval horror film Season Of The Witch ), so to see him do a performance as bad as in Gunslingers is just sad. You might ask yourself does this western have any redeeming qualities at all? I would say that the best part of this film is the actual gun battle scenes and let me tell you, they shoot down a lot of people in Gunslingers. That is something we don´t see often in more modern western films so that was a positive surprise. When it comes to acting in general i would say only a few characters stand out. The main character Thomas Keller ( played by actor Stephen Dorff, yes the vampire leader Deacon Frost in the 1998 classic action horror film Blade ) reminded me of classic western characters, doesn´t say too much and is focused finding his kidnapped wife. Stephen have a certain charm in this genre and even if i have seen him do better acting, i do feel he helps this film get back on track for a bit. Actress Heather Graham have some enjoyable scenes, but she should have had more screen time honestly. One big issue with Gunslingers is that the character development is not good. We don´t find out much at all about any character really, and in a western film you expect at least some kind of character development. Gunslingers could have been a fun experience, unfortunately we are left with a forgettable western film. Director Brian Skiba once directed the awful action film Pursuit with John Cusack and Gunslingers is definetely a better film than Pursuit, but that´s not enough to make this a good western film.

Rating: DD

Vacation Ends, Back To Writing New Reviews

Greetings everyone!

I hope you all enjoy summer so far and had some fun moments. The reason why i have not published anything lately is because i had 3 weeks of vacation and decided not to write anything during these weeks to just enjoy summer in general. So this month there will be reviews published but not as many as you may be used to see me write. I have not exactly decided how many i should publish this month but there will be a couple at least. 

I have decided one thing though and that is that i will only write only movie reviews of horror films in the entire month of October, considering that Halloween is during that month. So if you are a big horror fan then the month of October will be something to look forward to, where i will review horror films in several different genres. Thank you all for reading my reviews worldwide, this blog exist thanks to my readers and i appreciate you all. See you soon with some fresh reviews and enjoy the remaining time of this summer. 

Cheers from Daniel 

Finding Nicole

Women all over the world have a lot of struggles to go through. We have female politicians who constantly get attacked just because they are women and ( according to some men ) should not be allowed to be politicians. We also have women who are constantly seen as nothing more than sexual objects, that their voices doesn´t matter while they are hard working women trying to do the right thing to make a positive society. We also have a lot of women who unfortunately are victims of different kinds of abuse, where men have no respect at all for any women and basically use them for their own pleasures. It´s a sick world we are living in where women have to fear for their lives, when they should be able to live a normal life without being worried or not knowing if they will survive. If we for example look at statitics for domestic abuse in the UK we have facts that says that 26% of women aged 16-59 report having experienced some kind of domestic abuse as adults. 15% of men report the same. When you read these numbers of statitics for domestic abuse you realise how bad it really is. Speaking of this subject, perhaps some of you remember the 1991 psychological thriller drama Sleeping With The Enemy from director Joseph Ruben ( director of the 1987 classic thriller The Stepfather with brilliant actor Terry O´Quinn ). Sleeping With The Enemy tell the story of librarian Sara ( Julia Roberts ) who fakes her own death from a sailing boat to escape from her abusive husband Martin ( Patrick Bergen ). At first Martin tries to accept that she is dead, until he finds proof that she escaped to the town Cedar Falls, Ohio. Martin travel there to bring back his wife to him, no matter what she feels. Sleeping With The Enemy is a solid thriller that shows domestic violence in a marriage and i have to say Patrick Bergen is really good as the abusive husband. A film worth watching on streaming. Recently i had an oppurtunity to watch director Harley Wallen´s latest film Finding Nicole, a film based on the true story of domestic abuse victim Nicole Beverly. Director Harley Wallen have directed several quality films in the past. Is this one of the better drama films this year or is Finding Nicole not as good as i was hoping it would be?

Nicole Beverly ( Kaiti Wallen ) thought she would have a good life with her two children and her husband Warren Beverly ( Mari. G ). But everything is falling apart thanks to her abusive husband who even threaten to kill her and their children. Nicole have no option, she has to fight for her rights, her life and the safety of her children.

It becomes very clear that Finding Nicole is a very emotional film that captures a realistic view of how a woman can suffer in a domestic abusive relationship. All the punches the main character Nicole have to recieve, death threats on both her and her children as well, where she also is forced to have sex, all of this is very difficult to witness as a viewer. Knowing that this is something that happens every single day to women all over the world, where some of these women will never be heard ( some of them might end up dead ). I have not read the book about Nicole Beverly that this film is based on, so i don´t know how much of this book is told within the film. When it comes to acting i have to say this film is filled with powerful performances. Actress Kaiti Wallen who plays the main character Nicole Beverly, she really digs deep into her portrait of Nicole Beverly. You can feel her pain through her facial expressions and the sadness through her own words. To be honest this is the strongest acting performance i have seen actress Kaiti Wallen deliver in her career so far. Actor Mari G. who plays Nicole´s abusive husband Warren Beverly reminded me of legendary actor Patrick Bergen´s abusive character Martin in the 90´s classic Sleeping With The Enemy. Both of these men have deeply disturbing behavior towards women and are addicted to control their partners. Mari G. manage to capture the personality of domestic abuser in a realistic way. Actress Shawntay Dalon who play Nicole´s attourney Shonda Wright, Esq have some court scenes that are especially really powerful together with actor Sean Whalen. Wonderful actress Debra Lamb have no problem delivering a solid performance as Nicole´s mother Susan. Finding Nicole does not only tell the story of Nicole Beverly, this film will make female victims worldwide feel a connection and a chance to finally be taken seriously after many years of abuse. Director Harley proves once more what an excellent director he really is with beautiful camera angles and knows how to tell stories that will affect you. Finding Nicole will touch your heart, a film everyone needs to see to fully understand victims of domestic abuse.

Rating: DDDD                           

Clown In A Cornfield

There are some memories we may remember from our childhood that we will never forget, no matter how many years have gone by. I can still remember when i was 6 years old back in 1983 when my mother took me to a circus show in my hometown. This was a true old fashioned circus with elephants, acrobats, a magician, a jongleur and other circus performers. One of the things i will never forget at this circus show was two clowns doing their number. It wasn´t the performance itself it was more about their creepy clown make up that made me feel uncomfortable. At that time i didn´t tell my mother why these clowns creeped me out, they just had this clown face that looked completely different than the usual clown face. After this circus visit i didn´t return to another circus show, i put my focus on watching The Incredible Hulk, Thundercats, G.I. Joe and other VHS cartoon tapes at our local VHS rental store. Let´s move forward to the year of 1991 when i bought my copy of the TV mini series of Stephen King´s IT on VHS. When this TV mini series hit VHS shelves everyone was talking about Pennywise The Clown ( played by actor Tim Curry ) and was one of the biggest horror selllers on VHS that year. Based on the novel by horror author Stephen King, IT begin in the American town Derry, located in Maine. The year is 1960 and George Denbrough ( Tony Dakota ) playing on a street with a paper sailboat during a heavy rainstorm. The paper sailboat goes down a storm drain, where George meet Pennywise The Dancing Clown ( Tim Curry ) in the drain opening. Pennywise trick George to reach for his boat while killing him. George older stuttering brother, Bill Denbrough ( Jonathan Brandis ) had no chance to save his little brother and is filled with anger and guilt. Bill and his astmatic friend Eddie Kasprack ( Adam Faraizl  ) put together a club of children who feel like outcasts, calling themselves The Losers Club, where they together face Pennywise The Dancing Clown. Stephen King´s IT from 1990 is a true TV mini series classic and Tim Curry as Pennywise is absolutely brilliant. You should see this 3 hour film on streaming or physical media. Speaking of clowns early this year i watched the trailer for the slasher horror film Clown In A Cornfield. This film looked like fun, who does not want to meet a clown with a chainsaw out in a cornfield? Based on the book ( with the same title as this film ) by author Adam Cesare, is this a must watch this summer or is Clown In A Cornfield a big disappointment?

Student Quinn Maybrook ( Katie Douglas ) relocates to the small town of Kettle Springs, where her father Dr. Glenn Maybrook ( Aaron Abrams ) has taken a new job as the town´s new doctor. The Maybrook´s relationship is strained following the death of her mother, Samantha. As the town of Kettle Springs begin to celebrate 100th Founders Day Festival, they are about to face the local legend Frendo The Clown.

This might shock some horror fans what i am about to say but this is my personal opinion. Clown In A Cornfield is a better slasher horror film than the entire Scream franchise. I have never been a true Scream fan at all and i never really liked the mask design of Ghostface. Don´t get me wrong i love some of legendary horror director Wes Craven´s classic films such as The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare On Elm Street, The Serpent And The Rainbow and Wes Craven´s New Nightmare, but  i couldn´t feel connected to the characters in the Scream franchise or the main killer Ghostface. I am really surprised how good the young cast is in Clown In A Cornfield and this is something you don´t see very often in this specific horror genre. In the 80´s and the 90´s we were used to see dumb young people mostly making stupid desicions in slasher horror films. We have a couple of young dumb people as well in Clown In A Cornfield, but surprisingly the lead female character Quinn ( played really good by actress Katie Douglas, also worth watching in the 2024 thriller Lazareth ) is way cooler than i expected her to be. She have such a likeable personality and screen presence that this is exactly what this film needed to be more entertaining. The majority of the cast does a great acting performance in this film, and for once im so happy to see a slasher horror film with good characters that matches the plot. We have to talk about the clown of known as Frendo The Clown and i had a really good time watching Frendo killing people with different weapons. The clown mask looks alright and there are some really brutal kills in Clown In A Cornfield . Thankfully this film have a good sense of humor and i love the fact that this all takes place in a small ordinary American town. The plot is nothing out of the ordinary but works well thanks to the characters. I might be saying this too early this year but in the category slasher horror i will say this is my favourite film in this category, for this year so far. Director Eli Craig ( director of the horror comedy classic Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil ) deliver one a hell of a good time with Clown In A Cornfield, a film that looks really good considering the low budget and gives slasher horror fans exactly what we need. I really hope we get a sequel, i get the feeling Frendo The Clown have not stopped to party...yet.

Rating: DDDD

Havoc

Whenever i am in a discussion with a movie fan about martial art action films i always recommend a couple of films that you need to see. Films that may not hit cinemas worldwide but become popular on physical media instead. For example you have to see the film Ninja - Shadow Of A Tear with action star Scott Adkins, the sequel to his 2009 action classic Ninja ( also worth watching ). What made Ninja - Shadow Of A Tear such a worthy pick is because of the fighting scenes, they are not only really well made but you can almost feel the kicks and the punches. In my opinion this is one of the best Scott Adkins film so far. I would also recommend the 2019 martial arts action film Triple Threat with an incredible cast such as Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Michael Bisping and Celina Jade. There are plenty of cool fighting scenes in this film and action scenes looks good as well. Since i mentioned Iko Uwais recently he have done two of the best martial art action films in the last 20 years with the Indonesian films The Raid and The Raid 2. Luckily both of The Raid films did get a cinema release and i can happily say these are two of my personal favourite martial art action films in many years. I can promise you that you will not find many martial arts action films more violent than The Raid and The Raid 2, they are on a completely different level than most martial art action films with some extremely hard hitting scenes. If you have not seen these films buy them on digital or physical media ( unless you rent them on VOD ), they are definetely worth being a part of your movie collection if you love physical media. The director of The Raid movies Gareth Evans ( who also directed the very well made Netflix gothic horror film Apostle, a must see ) have been working on an action film called Havoc with actor Tom Hardy. The film was finished back in October of 2021, but the studio decided that the film needed reshoots, which were delayed until July 2024 due to scheduling conflicts and the SAG-AFTRA strike. Considering that i am a fan of director Gareth Evans and actor Tom Hardy is it possible that Havoc is better than i expected or is this film a disaster from start to finish?

A gang of thieves, consisting Charlie ( Justin Cornwell ), Mia ( Quelin Sepulveda ) and two other members, steal a batch of washing machines that contains a hidden shipment of cocaine. They are pursued by a group of narcotics squad detectives, where one of them Cortez ( Serhat Metin  ) is badly wounded during the chase and hospitalized. Later that night, Charlie and Mia take the stolen cocaine to Tsui ( Jeremy Ang Jones ), the head of the local Triad. While they are still there, a gang of masked people storm inside and kill everyone they can including Tsui, while Charlie and Mia manage to escape. Homocide Detective Patrick Walker ( Tom Hardy ) finds out that Charlie and Mia are witnesses to the shootout and need their testimony. But things are about to become even more complicated when Tsui´s Mother ( Yeo Yann Yann ) demands revenge on her son´s death.

The easiest way to describe a film such as Havoc is to say that this is like the police version of the 2020 Netflix action film Extraction with Chris Hemsworth. Plenty of action scenes and of course slim looking gun shooting battles. This is a very basic film that knows exactly what audience it was made for and does not take many chances at all. The plot is very simple, the characters we have seen in plenty of police action films in the past and the acting is not anything out of the ordinary. What makes this film work is that it´s effective as a throwback to the 80´s films ( i was reminded of the 1989 classic Black Rain with Michael Douglas ) thanks to really violent and good looking action scenes from director Gareth Evans. For example the city night scenes looks beautiful with bright colors while we get to experience a very violent street life, it all matches well considering the underground world of drug dealers. Main actor Tom Hardy is known for delivering good performances in the past, while he may not be as effective in the Venom films. I think he finds his place here in Havoc as the character Walker, a man who have experienced a rough life and know how to deal with criminals. I would´t go as far and say his acting performance is solid, i would say it works for his character since it´s not a complicated one. Legendary actor Forest Whitaker have no problem delivering dialogue in his own unique way while actress Yeo Yann Yaan´s character "Mother" is the most fascinating character of Havoc. I think it´s fair to say that Havoc doesn´t care about what is trending on TikTok, this is a film that wants to stay old school to the generation of VHS videostore violence. Anything negative about Havoc? If you are expecting something similar to the martial arts The Raid franchise then this may not be what you are looking for. If you just want guns, violence and appreciate a simple plot then Havoc will propably save your Netlix movie night. Havoc proves that the action genre is still alive and doing well.

Rating: DDD

The Windigo

In many different cultures around the world you have folklore creatures that people believe still exist or may have existed in real life. For example in Portugal you have the mythical monster called El Cucuy ( also known as Coco ) and this monster that is also mentioned in Mexican folklore as well. El Cucuy is described as a shapeshifter, also described as a hairy monster that hides in closets or under beds who eats children that misbehave when they are told to go to bed. The very first time i heard about this monster was back in the early 2000´s when i was reading a book about different folklore creatures. I still remember the picture of El Cucuy in this book and it definetely looked creepy. I can´t remember the book title but im sure there are several books that tell you about the folklore of El Cucuy, if you want to know more about this specific creature and others as well. In the year of 2018 ( not that long ago ) there was a SyFy TV horror film released called Cucuy - The Boogeyman from director Peter Sullivan ( who have directed a lot of TV films and the Netflix thriller Fatal Affair ). This film tried to combine the folklore story El Cucuy while being a pretty basic American horror film. Best part of this this film is without a doubt the Cucuy monster and the design of this creature. As a horror film it´s ok but nothing you will remember after you have seen it. If you just want to watch a simple horror film then Cucuy - The Boogeyman might be something you may apprecite. Speaking of folklore creatures how many of have heard of the Windigo ( also spelled Wendigo or Wiindigoo )? If you have not heard about the Windigo it is acccording to Algonquinan-speaking people in North America described as a folklore cannibalistic monster, associated with starvation, greed, and the dangers of selfishness and isolation. During spring this year i noticed a horror film called The Windigo, a film that would include the indigenous folklore creature. Since i am a big fan of horror films in general and appreciate folklore stories by different cultures this sounded like something i might enjoy. Is this a film you should add to your watch list or is The Windigo not as good as i was hopened it would be?

Brother Ry ( Marco Fuller ) and his sister Bree ( Fivel Stewart ) are attacked out in the wilderness by hillbillies where they physically harm Ry. Being a shy young man with a lot of personal issues he finds away to revenge these hillbillies by bringing the creature The Windigo back to life.

Since im not a part of the indigenous people i can only speak about the film itself and share my opinon. The Windigo is a mixture of a revenge horror and folklore horror that reminded me of horror films such as the 2019 Indonesian film Impetigore. These films may have completely different plots from each other, but what they do have is a strong connetion to folklore history and the importance of family traditions. The main story is very simple, a family travel to visit their Grandmother ( played by Native American actress Casey Camp-Horinek who you might recognize from the Netflix TV series The Last Airbender ) to check up on her living by herself in the forest. Where this film becomes interesting is when we see the Windigo creature be summoned back to life and i have to say the creature design is pretty cool indeed.  You can sense that this creature is very feared by the indigenous people while they also have a lot of respect for the creature itself. I feel that this film manage to bring up the important subject of revenge while delivering some brutal attack practical make up effect scenes ( i really appreciate they decided to use practical effects ). If you revenge on those who hurt you physically do you dare to cross over the line, or would you lose control and cause even more damage than before? The bullied character Ry ( played by Native American actor Marco Fuller ) is someone im sure a lot of people can relate to, a nice guy who is easy to attack because hes a shy young man carrying a lot of anger. Marco manage to portrait a young man with all of these emotions while losing control, becoming an easy target for The Windigo to use his physical body. Indigenous actress Tonantzin Carmelo and Native American actress Fivel Stress both deliver solid performances. The Windigo is a creature feature horror film that respect the history of the indigenous people while giving us a chance to learn about indigenous folklore. This is a good looking horror film from director Gabe Torres that will be appreciated if you enjoy monster films in general. It is nice to see that folklore horror films are alive and tell stories from different cultures, The Windigo will hopefully make people interested learning about indiegnous history.

Rating: DDD

825 Forest Road

A lot of couples worldwide dream about getting a house, where they can have family gatherings, enjoy summer days in the backyard and arrange barbecue days with friends. Another good reason to own a house is you can arrange a traditional family Christmas celebration with lots of food, and bake lots of Christmas cookies as well. My father built his own house in the late 90´s on the west coast of Sweden so if i want to sit on the porch with an ocean view having breakfast i can just sleep over at his house. I am more an apartment guy since i don´t like cutting grass ( im alllergic to pollen ) plus i don´t enjoy trimming bushes, unless a woman ask if i trim her bush, which i don´t mind doing at all. So i rather rent a cabin on vacation and just enjoy my holiday week without cutting any grass. Speaking of houses there are some really good horror films connected with a house. For example you have the 1979 supernatural horror film The Amityville Horror with actors Josh Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger ( based on the 1974 mass murder case of Ronald DeFeo Jr ). My advice is that you should get the 4KUHD release of The Amityville Horror from distribution company Vinegar Syndrome, a wonderful release with lots of special features as well. Another film i highly recommend within horror films connected with houses is the 2007 Spanish supernatural horror film The Orphanage from director J.A. Bayona ( who directed the brilliat Netflix drama Society Of The Snow, a must watch ). The Orphanage tells the story of Laura Garcia Rodriguez ( Belén Rueda ) moves into a closed orphanage where she used to live as a little girl 30 years ago. She moves in here with her husband, Carlos Sanchez Rivera ( Fernando Cayo ), and their seven-year-old-son, Simón ( Roger Princep ). Simón claims to befriended a boy named Tomás ( Óscar Casas ), and draw pictures of him as a child wearing a sack mask. At first this seems like a child´s imagination until Laura see that Tómas actually does exist. The Orphanage is a very effective horror film with some very creepy scenes and definetely worth checking out. Late spring this year i noticed a house horror film that was released call 825 Forest Road. The trailer looked interesting so i decided to give this film a chance. Is this a solid horror film to enjoy in a summer evening or is this not as good as i hoped it would be?

After a family tragedy, Chuck Wilson ( Joe Falcone ) hopes to start a new life in Ashland Falls with his wife Maria ( Elizabeth Vermilyea ), and his little sister Isabelle ( Kathryn Miller ) moving  in to an old house. Chuck and Elizabeth´s mother died in a car acccident, and Elizabeth is struggling with depression and mental health issues. As they try to adjust into their new home they notice that strange things are happening. Objects move mysteriously when no one touched anything. Chuck finds out that this town have a dark past and is connected to a woman named Helen Foster ( Diomira Keane ).

In one way you could say that this is a traditional supernatural horror film, but what makes 825 Forest Road different from other films in this category is that this film is divided into different chapters, where we see the story being told from different characters and how they handle different situations. I really appreciate that they decided to go in this direction because not only does it make the storytelling more interesting, we also get to know the characters a little bit better this way. There are some other details that i appreciate as well with this film such as the creepy mannequin named Martha. I swear if i saw a mannequin doll in a house such as Martha i would burn her down immediately. The fact that this evil entity have damaged the whole town to the point where they have to have secret meetings to talk about everything, that they are all afraid the entity will find out. This is a interesting detail that makes the mystery of Helen Foster more fascinating, Some of the most scary scenes is where we only get to see different details of the evil entity such as the face. The acting in general is alright and i especially appreciate the performances from actors Elizabeth Vermilyea ( who you can see in Hell House LLC: Lineage as well ) and Kathryn Miller. It may be good to know that this is not a horror film where a lot happens, you have to have patience and let the chapters wrap up to the final conclusion. On the negative side i feel that they found Helen Foster´s home too easy. This was supposed to be a house no one could find and suddenly they figure out where it is. Director Stephen Cognetti ( director of the Hell House LLC franchise ) may not have made the most scary horror film but i appreciate the time he takes to build up tensions, as well as telling the story from different angles of the characters. Worth a watch for sure this summer, 825 Forest Road have enough quality to deliver if you enter this film with an open mind.

Rating: DDD

Day Of Reckoning

There are days when i just want to unplug my brain cells and i just want to be entertained, where i don´t need a complicated plot and feel like im back in the 80´s or 90´s with similar films made by Cannon Films or PM Entertainment Group Films. What do i mean by this? These were two very famous distribution film companies that focused on violent action films. Who cared about logic answers when you could just kick down some FBI agents and blow up some trucks next to a diner? I know, that´s the best logical answer we sometimes need to feel happy in our lives. I can not tell you how much i love the classic PM Entertainment Group film classic known as Rage from 1995 with action star Gary Daniels. Especially the shopping mall scenes they are iconic. You have well dressed men shooting down people and stores everywhere with Uzi guns and other weapons. Stores are getting completlely drenched in bullets and bodies are flying everywhere. This is some of the best shopping mall scenes ever made in cinema history and that´s exactly how a Saturday should look like at a family reunion. Action films comes out every year and we do get some good releases, even if they are usually no classics such as films from the 80´s and 90´s. I still appreciate that they are still making old school action films because we need them. For example one film you should rent on VOD or pick up a physical copy of is the 2023 action film known as Shrapnel. This film tells the story of former Marine Sean Beckwith ( played by The Lost Boys actor Jason Patric ) who finds out his daughter have been kidnapped by the Mexican cartel, while she was sneaking over to the Mexican border to party with a good friend. Sean get help from his good friend Max Vohden ( Cam Gigandet ) to locate Sean´s daughter in Mexico, knowing they could all end up dead. Shrapnel is a good looking action film with good characters and solid action scenes. If you want a simple but effective action film this summer at home, you should give Shrapnel a chance. Speaking of action films i try to check out many different titles every year in this genre, while some of them are good there are a few bad ones as well. One title i have been wanting to see for a while is the film known as Day Of Reckoning. One of the reasons is because actor Billy Zane is included in the cast. I rented this film on VOD to see if it is any good in this genre. Is this the perfect film to enjoy after a summer barbecue or should Day Of Recknoning be completely forgotten about?

Small town Sheriff John Dorsey ( Zach Roering ) gets a visit from U.S. Marshal Butch Hayden ( Billy Zane ) who needs assistance from Sheriff John. Marshal Butch is on the lookout for criminal bank robber Kyle Musk ( Scott Adkins ) and Kyle´s wife Emily Rusk ( Cara Jade Myers ) is located in a farm. Butch want to try and make Kyle to come to the farm, set up a trap while they keep his wife a hostage. Sheriff John does not like this plan at all saying they are not allowed to work this way, it is against all protocals. Marshal Butch doesn´t care at all and he begins to plan his next move to make sure Kyle will be captured.

If you grew up watching straight to VHS action films with Gary Daniels in the 90´s such as the 1998 action film Recoil , you may appreciate the action film Day Of Reckoning. Even though the plot of these films are completely different from each other they both have one thing in common. These films have some heavy gun action scenes between police officers and criminals. Day Of Reckoning is basically a very traditional action film that includes corruption within the police force, bank robbery and family issues as well. Now, when you read this you might be thinking;- This doesn´t sound like a film that will give me anything with so many basic ingredients? I can tell you right now that the biggest reason why you should watch this film ( if you appreciate this genre ) is because of iconic actor Billy Zane ( yes the man who played The Phantom and who was in the original 1993 film Sniper with legendary Tom Berenger ) as Marshal Butch Hayden. The way Billy Zane portrait his character Marshal Butch makes him the most interesting character of this film. This is a man who clearly have health issues while he have no respect for any laws. I also appreciate actor Zach Roerig ( who i used to watch in the TV series The Vampire Diaries ) playing the character Sheriff John Dorsey. These men have very different opinions about how you should work within the police department, where Sheriff John believe in following laws as much as possible. Action actor Scott Adkins is in this film as well and i can say he deliver doing physical violence. Some of the action scenes look alright while some scenes look pretty generic. One of my biggest issues with this film is the length. 101 minutes long in a story that could have been 91 minutes instead and still work, there are some long unnecessary dialogue scenes that doesn´t help the main plot. I would still say this is a solid enough action film is you just want a easy plot that´s not complicated and feels like a throwback to VHS video violence. Director Shaun Silva ( who have directed a lot of music videos for artists and bands over many years ) gives us a film that is most likely loved by old school action lovers, growing up in the VHS rental stores era. Day Of Recknoning is good enough to make your summer evening a cozy popcorn moment, with a cold beer included.

Rating: DDD

It Feeds

There are people all over the world who believe that evil spirits, also known as an entity can attach itself to a human and want to physically and mentally hurt the person it is attached to. Of course there are different evil entities in different religious beliefs, for example in Christianity they belive in demons, fallen angels while in Hinduism they believe in Pishacas ( demonic spirits ) associated with death and decay. If you want to know more about evil entities in different religions there are plenty of web pages giving you information on what they look like and what they are known for. I personally don´t necessarily believe in everything regarding evil entities, i have a hard time believing in something i can not physically see. But i do respect people with faith if they really believe that these entities does exist. In the cinema world we have seen a lot of films about evil entities and how they may affect different people, especially in the horror genre. Since there are a lot of horror films i could easily mention that includes the subject of evil entity, let´s just go with one film that i can highly recommend on Netflix. My personal pick is the 2017 Netflix horror film known as The Ritual from director David Bruckner ( the director who worked on the 2012 anthology horror film V/H/S, highly recommended ). A group of male friends travel to the North of Sweden to go hiking and to honor their friend Rob ( Paul Reid ) who suggested this hiking trip but was brutally murdered by criminals in a store being robbed. During their hiking trip to Kungsleden they decide to take another path than the marked trail, going through the forest instead. They locate a very old house there with strange symbols and on the second floor of the house an effigy of a decapitated human torso made of twigs, with hantlers for hands. In this old cabin they all feel a evil presence surrounding them. The Ritual is a great looking horror film with  great acting, some creepy atmospheric moments and i do like the design of this evil entity . Definetely one of director David Bruckner´s best films so far. Speaking of evil entity i have been planning to watch a horror film called It Feeds for a while and finally got to rent this film on VOD. Is this a much watch this summer or is the horror film It Feeds not as good as i was hoping it would be?

Cynthia Winstone ( Ashley Greene ) is a therapist and psychic trying to get people the help they need. Her daughter Jordan Winstone ( Ellie O´Brien ) is her assistant who makes sure each client feels welcome. One day completely unexpected a young woman named Riley Harris ( Shayelin Martin ) knock on their door in panic, begs Jordan that she really needs to see her mother. Cynthia accept the meeting and she soon realise that Riley have been cursed by a very evil entity.

It Feeds is a horror film that raises several questions after you have watched this film. Even if you may be able to help a lot of people, should you follow certain rules or should you help anyone even if you might push yourself too far? How far are you willing to go if your own child is chosen by this entity, would you risk your own life? This film reminded me of the 2010 horror film Insidious in several ways, there are some differences of course but the character Cynthia can both see and communicate with entities as the character Elise in the film Insidious. One big difference with Cynthia is that shes a therapist who works extra as a psychic, wich means she have helped clients  in different ways than paranormal investigator Elise Rainier ( played by actress Lin Shaye ) seen in Insidious. I feel that actress Ashley Greene ( worth watching in the Scott Adkins action film Accident Man ) gives a great performance as therapist Cynthia Winstone) and i appreciate that this film tries to go deep how difficult it can be working as a psychic. Actress Ellie O´Brien ( who fans of the TV series Murdoch Mysteries might recognize ) plays Cynthia´s daughter Jordan and i do feel it helped the plot of this film by making Jordan an important part of this story, where you can clearly see she wants to be a psychic like her mother helping people. I should mention actor  Shawn Ashmore ( who plays the character Bobby Drake in the X-Men franchise ) who gives a solid performance in It Feeds as the character Randall. The horror elements in It Feeds are for the most part effective and especially the evil entity, i do like the design of this evil creature as well as how clear this entity is to torture souls. While some scenes reminded me of Insidious there are still some nice surprising horror scenes to be found here. Director Chad Archibald have a good past of directing horror films such as Bite, The Heretics and I´ll Take Your Dead and he proves with It Feeds he still knows how to make good quality horror films. Definetely worth a watch this summer if you want a creepy entity horror film, It Feeds knows it´s rightful place in the horror community.

Rating: DDD

Bone Face

Let us go back to the summer of 1996 for a moment. It was the month of June and i was hanging out with Pierre who worked at the rental video store known as Videomix. Pierre knew i always wanted to check out new horror releases on VHS so he would show me lists of what films are coming out on rental. I especially remember one specific day in June of 1996 because it was the Swedish VHS premiere week of the slasher horror film Children Of The Corn III - Urban Harvest. I remember as he packed up the VHS copies of this film he also had a poster of this film that he put up on the wall. I had already booked my rental copy of this film since i was a huge fan of the previous films, especially the first film. I actually owned both of the Children Of The Corn movies on VHS so clearly this was my kind of franchise. I remember watching this third film i was feeling that the level of quality had change. There were some fun killing scenes to be found in Children Of The Corn III but compared to the original film i did feel disappointed. Just a couple of years ago i rewatched Children Of The Corn trilogy on the Arrow Video blu ray box just to look at this trilogy again to see if my feelings had changed. I will say i appreciate that they tried a different approach on the third film taking place in Chicago city, that definetely brought something fresh into this genre while keeping some classic ingredients. And the fact that this film also have a adoption story included into the plot is also a nice detail. At the end of the day i can still recommend Children Of The Corn III if you want to watch a descent 90´s slasher, as long as you don´t expect it to be as good as the original film. I try to watch slasher horror films released every year in case i find some interesting titles. One of the horror slasher film posters that caught my attention this year was the poster of the independent horror film Bone Face. It looked like something in my taste and the film title sounded lovely indeed. I decided to rent this film on VOD and give it a chance. Is this the slasher horror film to watch this summer or is Bone Face a lazy attempt to cash in on slasher horror fans?

A masked killer known as Boneface slaughters several campers in a small town. At a local diner Sheriff Cronin ( Jeremy London ) and Deputy McCully ( Elena Sanchez ) enter the diner tellling all the guests that no one is leaving since everyone could be a suspect. As they begin to go through ech suspect over night, it becomes both a challenge and frustrating when some of the diner guests are not always helpful or friendly.

At first i thought this would be a very traditional slasher film but let me tell you, this is not what you might expect. This is actually more a murder mystery thriller a few slasher horror elements in certain scenes. This film feels more like a different version of the Agatha Christy novel Murder On The Orient Express, expect all suspects are kept inside an old diner. I have to say this is actually a nice surprise to see a completely different take in the slasher horror genre, making a different film that goes in a different path. And i have to say i do feel the murder mystery works pretty good as Sheriff Cronin ( played by actor Jeremy London who i remember from the 2009 film Wolvesbayne ) and Deputy McCully ( played by actress Elena Sanchez ) question all the guests at the diner. Since this film have a lot of characters in this diner you might think that we don´t get to know their personalities that good. But i have to say considering the amount of characters we actually get to know some of them. For example actor Artrial Clark ( who you should see in the 2016 war drama Free States Of Jones ) plays the character Ray, a theatre projectionist who loves horror B movies and even read a horror novel at this diner. It was very easy to enjoy Artrial´s performance as Ray because he seems like a good man, plus he loves horror films with a clear passion for low budget films. I do enjoy the performance from actor Jeremy London as Sheriff Cronin, the kind of sheriff you would want in a situation like this. The acting in general is pretty good and i do think this film looks good from a technical perspective. Since this is a PG13 horror film there is not a lot of violence or blood but that´s ok, i still think the film works anyway. Bone Face may not be appreciated by some slasher horror fans for being different in this genre. I appreciate the effort of this film and i do feel we need more films in this genre doing something different like Bone Face does. Director Michael Donovan Horn´s directorial debut full feature film is a fresh breath of air in a genre that was in need of someting different. Bone Face is without a doubt worth renting on VOD this summer.

Rating: DDD

Control Freak

There are several different categories within the genre known as horror. You have categories such as found footage, paranormal, slasher, grindhouse, psychological, zombies, creature feature and much more. That is the beauty of the genre of horror that there is something for everyone to enjoy, no matter what specific category you enjoy within horror films. And then we have a category that may not be mentioned very often but do have some quality classics. I am especially thinking about the category known as body horror. Within this category you find many different kind of body horror classics such as John Carpenter´s The Thing, David Cronenberg´s The Fly, Hellraiser, Re- Animator, Society and many more. Let us talk for a moment about a horror film that belongs within the catgory of boddy horror. And that is the 2021 Taiwanese horror film known as The Sadness from director Rob Jabbaz. Now, if you love lots of gory scenes with bodies being ripped apart, this is the film you have always wanted to see. The Sadness have some extremely brutal scenes so if you are a sensitive person, i would tell you to stay away from this film. The story takes place in Taipei where we meet young couple Jim ( Berant Zhu ) and Kat ( Regina Lei ) when Jim is about to drop off Kat at the trainstation driving their moped. They pass a bloody crime scene but don´t really think much more about it. Jim goes to a café where he witness a blood-soaked old woman assaults other cafe customers, spitting thick mucus on one of them. The man she spat on suddenly turn into a insane killer murdering his own brother. It seems a virus have spread turning humans into brutal killers. The Sadness may be a very gory film but i have to say i do think the story is really effective. The acting is really good from the whole cast and the film looks brilliant on a technical level. I would suggest that you pick up a blu ray copy of The Sadness from distribution company Vinegar Syndrome and you will find some very interesting special features as well inluded. Speaking of body horror there was a horror film released on Hulu and Disney + this spring in this category known as Control Freak. What i especially noticed by the trailer of Control Freak is actress Kelly Marie Tran who plays the character Rose Tico in the Star Wars franchise. Since i am a fan of body horror in general of course i had to see this film on Disney +. Is this a must watch for horror fans this summer or should you skip this one and watch The Sadness on blu ray from Vinegar Syndrome instead?

Valerie "Val" Nguyen ( Kelly Marie Tran ) is a successfull motivational speaker who inspire people worldwide, and she really loves to help people of all ages. But lately she have been acting strange scratching the back of her head more and more for each day. At first it may not look very strange, but as she begin to scratch deeper and deeper into her head, it becomes very clear that Valerie is struggling of a very serious compulsive urge. Her boyfriend Robbie ( Miles Robbins ) who wants to have a family with her is getting worried, while he is also mad that shes trying to hide her behavior from him. While Valerie is struggling more and more she makes contact with her father Sang Nguyen ( Toan Le ), a former drug addicted soldier who lives as a monk. Her father seems to know what is really causing her compulsive urge.

One of the most interesting details about a film such as Contol Freak is that you have to figure out if the main character known as Valerie is suffering from a mental illness, or is she chosen by a parasitic ghost that feeds on human hosts? As we see her scratching her head until she injure yourself, it becomes very clear she can not control her behavior. Actress Kelly Marie Tran as the main character Valerie gives a strong acting performance, and what i especially notice is that she capture the personality struggling with compulsive behavior. I think Valerie show a realistic side of a person who tries to lie about her behavior, as if this is not any problem. The scenes where she really show the problems reveal itself is where Kelly manage to show this behavior with body activities and facial expressions. If i compare this performance with Kelly´s character in Star Wars then i would say her acting performance feels stronger in Control Freak. Actor Miles Robbins ( who is the son of legendary actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon ) also gives a solid performance as Valerie´s boyfriend Robbie. I feel he gives this character a realistic approach, how do you handle the situation where your partner is struggling mentally and deal with everything?  Another interesting detail about this film is that Valerie is a famous motivational speaker. It becomes very clear that this inspiational speaker image slowly destroy itself with Valerie´s behavior, and this film manage to balance this very well with effective body horror scenes. The parasitic ghost scenes feel quite effective in the scenes where it seems Valerie conronts this evil spirit. I do appreciate the religious tone of Buddhism is conncted to the story, it matches well with the connection to the ghost. Im actually pleasantly surprised how good this film is in the body horror category, not a future classic in any way but director Shal Ngo ( director of quite a lot short films in the past ) have made a very stylish, well made psychological horror film with Control Freak. Definetely worth a watch on Hulu or Disney+ if you are a horror fan in general.

Rating: DDD

Ash

There is something special about films that combine the genres known as horror and science fiction. We have seen some great examples of that in cinema when certain director´s combined these genres such as Ridley Scott´s 1979 sci fi horror film Alien, John Carpernter´s The Thing, Predator, Fire In The Sky ( a film not that many talk about unfortunately ), John Carpenter´s They Live and several more titles. I could easily talk about all of the titles that i mentioned for a number of reasons. Some of these films have some really good character development, they also have great looking practical make up effects as well as simple and effective story telling. Then we have the sci fi horror films that were huge box office bombs at the time they were running in cinemas worldwide but turned out to be worth a watch on physical media or VOD. A perfect example of this is the 2009 sci fi horror film Pandorum from director Christian Alvart. If you have seen James Cameron´s classic 1986 sci fi horror film Aliens then you will most likely see that this film have influences similar to Aliens. Since humans have overpopulated Earth and used most of the planet´s resources, humanity builds an interstellar ark, the Elysium. It carries 60.000 people on a 123-year trip to colonize Tanis, an Earth-like planet. The passengers are placed in hypersleep, and some of the crew are awake at certain moments to maintain the ship. Several years later, two members of the flight crew, Corporal Bower ( Ben Foster ) and Lieutenant Payton ( Dennis Quaid ), awaken. They are about to find out that they have a different lifeform on board the Elysium. What makes the film Pandorum enjoyable is the combination of a sci fi action film and the humanoid creatures attacking the crew. In a way it feels like a B movie but the budget is clearly bigger than most B movies. I personally believe Pandorum might be a cult film in the future and you should check it out, especially on physical media. Earlier this year i saw a sci fi horror film going around film festivals called Ash from director Flying Lotus, this seemed to have some kind of alien theme and this is definetely my kind of genre within the horror community. I decided to check this film out on Amazon Prime hoping it would surprise me. Is this the sci fi horror film you need this summer or should you choose the 2009 film Pandorum instead?

Riya ( Eiza González ) wakes up in a space research station on the planet known as Ash. There seems to have been a battle across the space station, where she finds dead bodies lying in different rooms as she seems to get flashback memories, not entirely sure if she is involved somehow. As she look around for clues to get a bigger picture what caused all of this, the truth will change the full image completely.

One thing you should know before watching Ash is that this is not a film where you have a lot of things happening. The film takes it´s time to try and explain a certain timeline that includes the main character Ryia ( played by actress Eiza González who i recognized from the TV series From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series ) because she have trouble remembering everything. In a way you could probably call this a slow burn film since it doesn´t rush into anything and tries to actually tell a story instead of just using CGI effects. What i appreciate about this is that you get a different depth in a sci fi horror film, it´s not all about facing a dangerous lifeform, this film also tries to go on a deeper level and focus on the story instead. If you would rather have a more violent driven sci fi film then this might not be for you. But hang on for a moment, there are some violent scenes in this film so you just got to be patient. Let´s get into some of the details i appreciate about Ash and i have to say i love the colorful look of the planet. It almost looks like a painting that moves the colors around the amtmosphere. I also appreciate the story part of the main character Ryia trying to remember what happened, who killed all the people she woke up discovering? Actress Eiza González does a good performance as Ryia and almost feels like a younger version of Ripley from Alien in certain scenes, where you feel the empowerment of strong women. Aaron Paul ( who is brilliant as the character Jesse Pinkman in classic TV series Breaking Bad ) gives a solid performance in this film as the character Brion. The Medbot robot who can fix your body from injuries and wounds is clearly the future of health care we need. The alien parasite looks pretty cool from a design perspective. Of course there is something i need to mention that is negative, there are a couple of scenes where we get a bit too much dialogue that didn´t feel necessary. Director Flying Lotus ( who directed the odd but wonderful 2017 film Kuso ) is from a technical standpoint a good film maker. Ash is clearly a love letter to those who grew up watching 80´s sci fi horror and in general this film manage to capture that magical VHS feeling of the past. Definetely worth a watch on Amazon Prime this summer.

Rating: DDD 

Revenge Of The Boogeyman

Independent movies are incredibly important in today´s society. Without independent films we would not have the same level of creativity and passionate film makers as we unfortunately don´t have within the big studios of Hollywood. This is why i support independent film makers to be able to create films on limited budget who actually care about their project. One independent film distribution company who is well known on the independent scene is known as Breaking Glass Pictures. Over many years i have tried to see several of their releases both on VOD and in some cases on DVD as well. There are several titles that i feel worth checking out released by Breaking Glass Pictures such as The Special, Halloween Party, Butchers and The Mad Hatter. These are just some good recommendations that are worth a watch but let´s talk about one specific film that Breaking Glass Pictures released during the pandemic on DVD. And that is the 2019 horror film Exit O from director E.B. Hughes. I actually bought this film during the pandemic since i ordered basically everything online during this time. This film tells the story of a young couple Billy ( Gabe Fazio ) and Lisa ( Augie Duke ) who are spending a weekend in an old hotel that Billy have stayed at in his childhood. This weekend will not only turn out completely different than Billy and Lisa expected, where especially Billy is in for a shocking truth. As a supernatural horror film with some surprising twists i feel that Exit O does a great job telling a solid story, and i do appreciate the acting performances in general. Worth checking out if you are a fan of independent horror. Last year i reviewed an anthology horror film called Beware The Boogeyman telling 4 different stories, in my opinion the best film that Breaking Glass Pictures have released so far. So here we have a sequel called Revenge Of The Boogeyman and i was of course excited to check it out. Is this just as good as the first film or does this film fail to reach the same level of quality the first film have?

Calvin ( Calvin Morie McCarthy ) is a struggling addict who decides to go on a cabin weekend with his friends Tim ( Tim Coyle ) and Jax ( Jax Callington ). What may have started as an ordinary weekend is about to turn into a nightmare.

One of the things i noticed right away with Revenge Of The Boogeyman is that this is not an anthology horror film like Beware The Boogeyman. I do appreciate that they tried a different approach with this sequel instead of just making a similar film as the firs one. However, there is a big problem with this sequel that damage the film in some ways and that is the comedy tone in certain scenes. They attempt to act funny and to be completely honest that doesn´t work at all. I do think horror and comedy can work well if you combine these genres in an effective such as the Evil Dead franchise. In this film though it just don´t match well with the story of the Boogeyman. There are three positive details at least and first i have to say i appreciate the look of the Boogeyman. He kind of looks like Carrot Top combined with the cave troll from The Lord Of The Rings after using extremely high doses of botox. I do think the acting from Calvie Morie McCarthyy ( who you might recognize from the independent horror film Exocism in Utero ) is pretty good considering this is a low budget horror film. The practical make up killing scenes have some gory moments. That´s pretty much it when it comes to the positive. The rest of the film is a mixed bag of so called funny scenes mixed with the Boogeyman killing at a few moments. This film could have been a worthy sequel if they skipped so many of the comedy scenes and focused on the story of the Boogeyman. And why is the Boogeyman so little in this film? Director Erik Skybak ( who also directed the independent horror film Exorcism in Utero ) tries too hard making a funny horror film that failed to entertain me as much as i was hoping for. Watch this one only if you enjoy the first film but i can´t recommend this one. Not completely terrible but could have been much better. Revenge Of The Boogeyman proves that sequels does not always succeed.

Rating: DD

G20

Over my 47 years i have seen several American presidents take office at the White House in Washington DC. The earliest memory i have of my first moment of seeing the American president was on Swedish TV back in 1981 and that was Ronald Reagan. He was elected President on November 4, 1980 but i was too young to remember that ( i was 3 years old at that time ). So why do i remember seeing President Reagan just a year later? My grandfather Ingvar watched a lot of news coverage regarding the assassination attempt of President Reagan in 1981 and he wanted to know the latest details. Obviously i was too young to understand at that time what have happened so when i was a litte bit older in 1986 ( i was 9 years old at this time ) i read about this assassination attempt in a history magazine at our local library. That´s when i had flashbacks from the TV news coverage of President Reagan in 1981 but i only remembered a few images. Since the 80´s a lot of things happened with different Presidents and who can forget the President Bill Clinton scandal in 1998 where he had sex with White House intern Monica Lewinsky? A classic American historical moment that sold a lot of gossip magazines and news papers worldwide. Did you know that Monica moved to London in 2005 and studied social psychology at the London School of Economincs? Since then she have done a lot of different things and of course will always be marked over this 1998 scandal. Speaking of Presidents in the year 1997 director Wolfgang Petersen ( director of the 1984 children movie classic The NeverEnding Story ) released his action film Air Force Down with legendary actor Harrison Ford as U.S. President James Marshall. This is definetely one of the best action films with a President kicking terrorist ass and Harrison Ford did a great performance. Legendary actor Gary Oldman as the Russian terrorist leader Egor also gives a wonderful acting performance. Air Force One is one of those 90´s action movies that came at a perfect time when action movies were very entertaining and you should definetely check it out on streaming or physical media. I woud also recommend the 2013 action film Olympus Has Fallen with Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart ( where Aaaron plays President Benjamin ). This spring a new action film was released on Amazon Prime where female President Danielle Sutton ( played by actress Viola Davis who i always remember from the 2009 vigilante action thriller Law Abiding Citizen ) kicks terrorist ass in the action film G20. I thought it would be interesting to see a female President showing her combat skills so i decided to give this film a chance. Is this the action film to watch this summer or is G20 as predictable as Smokie´s full discography ( where all the albums sounds the same ) ?.

President Sutton ( Viola Davis ) travel to South Africa with her husband Derek Sutton ( Anthony Anderson ) and their two children Serena Sutton ( Marsai Martin ) and Demetrius Sutton (Christopher Farrar ). Sutton have to attend the G20 summit meeting leaders from all over the world. But this G20 summit is suddenly stopped as a group of terrorists lead by their leader Rutledge ( Anthony Starr ). He have specific demands and want to capture President Sutton to be able to complete his mission. What Rutledge doesn´t know is that Sutton knows how to deal with terrorists, especially if she needs to use more violent tactics.

If you were hoping that G20 was going to be an action film that reminds us of action films such as Die Hard and Air Force Down then this is the film for you. It is not a classic such as the films i mentioned, but what G20 does that is a bit different is bringing out a female President who does not only hold speeches, she actually fight and handle different guns as well. Other than that there are no big surprises in this film. That does not mean this is a terribe film, i think i should be honest though and let you know this is a very basic action film. So let us get into the positive about G20 and i have to say it is a good idea to hold this terrorist attack at a political event for world leaders. If you want to make an impact and put fear into highly respected people then the G20 meeting in South Africa is definetely the right location. The characters of this film is a bit of a mixed bag, a couple of the characters function while others are pretty forgettable. I do think the strength of this film comes from the performance of actress Viola Davis as President Sutton. Not only is she rough and not afraid to face fear, she is also willing to protect innocent lives that crosses her path. Viola have no problem doing a physical action performance and you can tell she must have had fun making this film. I do appreciate actor Anthony Starr ( who you recognize from the very popular TV series The Boys ) as the main villain Rutledge. Some of the action scenes look alright and to see Viola Davis fight against big men is quite charming. To the negative i have to say the crypto money part of the story didn´t interest me at all. I would have prefered a different approach by these terrorists, because not all of us care about crypto money or crypto currency. I would still say that G20 is an action film that manage to entertain me for trying to go old school with physical fights and gun battles. Director Patricia Riggen ( who directed the interesting film The 33, based on the true story of a copper mine in Chile collapsing with workers stuck inside ) may not deliver an action film that may be remembered for bringing anything new, but she still manage to bring back old school action that VHS fans may appreciate. If you just want to be entertained with violence this summer, give G20 a chance on Amazon Prime.

Rating: DDD

Final Recovery

Addiction can destroy humans lives, no matter if you are addicted to drugs or alcohol. I have witnessed this myself when i lost a childhood friend of mine called Marcus who i went to school with for many years. He had a well paid job at Volvo Trucks, a nice apartment and a lovely girlfriend who i met several times. But just before Swedish Midsummer weekend in the year of 2010 i got a phone call from my mother. She was completely devastated telling me that Marcus was found dead in his apartment from a drug overdose. I remember i completely froze all of me, i could not believe a word she said. My childhood friend gone just 32 years old. I knew Marcus had tried drugs in his early 20´s but i didn´t know he got deeply addicted. You see he was good at hiding it in public, at least the moments we were seeing each other in our youth. But i still remember all the good times we had and i do miss him, he was my friend. Sometimes i wish i could have done something to help him from his problems but he never showed any signs of addiction. He must have learned how to hide the addiction like Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, 2 different personalities. Addiction is not always easy to see and some people learn how to try and hide it. There is a perfect example of this in the 2012 film called Flight with Denzel Washington playing air pilot and Captain William "Whip" Whitaker. He uses both cocaine and drinks alcohol in his private life. While he is supposed to fly a SouthJet Air flight, co-pilot Ken Evans ( Brian Geraghty ) takes over while Captain William discreetly mixes vodka in his orange juice and takes a nap. William wakes up as the airplane is crashing because a mechanical fault and he still manage to land the plane in a field. As he wake up in a hospital he finds out 96 passangers survived out of 102 aboard the plane. An investigation begins on the crash and they find out his alcohol level during the flight. This is a very well made film about addiction, but also the damage addiction can cause not only to yourself but also to people who care about you. A must see from legendary director Robert Zemeckis. Speeking of director´s who keep making quality films we have to talk about director Harley Wallen. I have seen so many of his quality films over the years such as Eternal Code, Ash And Bone, The Devil´s Left Hand, Beneath Us All and of course one of my personal favourite TV series known as Tale Of Tails. He have a new film out called Final Recovery that seems to be connected to the subject of addiction as well as rehabilitation for addicts. A very interesting plot indeed. Is this another quality film from Harley Wallen or did i have too high expectations for Final Recovery?

Drug addict Rodney ( Jasper Cole ) have a long history filled with bad decisions. He checks into the secluded Sage Treatment Center, hoping for a second chance. After a while he sees something isn´t right. Patients vanish without explanation and the facility´s matron Louise "Nanny Lou" Stamey does not want to answer any questions. Rodney begin to dig deeper into the truth what is really happening at this facility.

If you think that this film is only about the subject of addiction this film actually have a diffrent twist included into the plot. We do have people struggling with addiction which is a very important part of this film, but the surprising twist actually have to do with how the people working as this rehabilitation clinic if they really are helping the patients or perhaps damage them instead. This is the most interesting part of Final Recovery where you see that these addicts are not in a safe place, while this is supposed to be a place where they should be getting the right treatment. The medical treatments is clearly something that doesn´t look serious in this facility. There are several interesting characters in this film i feel that i should mention so let´s start with the addict known as Rodney ( played by actor Jasper Cole ). You can tell that Rodney have been a drug addict for many years, where his only hope is to get high and everything else doesn´t really matter. I feel that this is a strong acting performance from Jasper Cole who manage to portrait an addict with facial expressions, body language and sounds like an addict. The facial wounds also capture the rough life of an addict, where you can tell he´s gone through some really rough moments. Actress Cherish Lee as the wild and loud character Tonya is another great performance that captures the personality of an addict. Cherish especially capture that personality through her wild body movement. The most powerful acting performance comes from actress Charlene Tilton ( legendary actress from iconic TV series DALLAS ) playing the disturbing character Nanny Lou. This is clearly a woman who should not treat any patients and the performance definetely capture her evil personality. Actress Kaiti Wallen just keep getting better and better for each film i see her acting in, and i really appreciate her realistic performance as the character Cindy. Harley Wallen have a role as well and of course he deliver as officer Jacob Cramer ( Harley always look cool on the big screen ). Final Recovery is a cleverly put together medical thriller that tries to show the dark side of addiction but also the dark side of medical treatments as well, how easy it is to use humans who are already struggling with their lives. Who cares if some addicts dies, who would miss them? Harley Wallen proves once more that he is a talented film maker who knows how to tell realistic stories and captures the dark side of humanity. If you are going to see a good thriller this summer i can tell you right now Final Recovery is a great choice. Addiction is a subject that needs to be talked about and this film might help people to see different angles of addiction.

Rating: DDD

High Rollers

Even though i appreciate seeing brand new young actors on the big screen there is something special about iconic Hollywood actors. There are so many legendary actors we could mention and all of their classic films so let´s talk about some of them for a moment. Michael Douglas as an example who have not seen classics such as Romancing The Stone, Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Black Rain, Falling Down ( one of my personal favouite films with Michael Douglas ), The American President, Wonder Boys and so many other titles. Let us focus for one moment on one of his films that i feel everyone should see at some point and that is the 1997 psychological thriller The Game from director David Fincher. I can not tell you how many times i have watched this film over and over again ever since i watched this film in cinema back in the 90´s, i have watched this film in different formats such as VHS, DVD and on blu ray. This film tells the story of investment banker Nicholas Van Orton ( Michael Douglas ). A very rich man but is living unhappy and lonely, no matter how pretty his house is and have a home maid. He is still struggling with the suicide of his father who killed himself on his 48th birthday jumping of the roof of the family mansion. So Nicholas is not looking forward to his own birthday. However, on his birthday his younger brother Conrad ( Sean Penn ) suprise him with a special gift, a voucher for a "game" offered by a company called Consumer Recreation Services ( CRS ). Doubtful at first he decides to visit the CRS office. This is a very clever twisted psychological thriller with really good acting performances that should be seen on physical media. Another big Hollywood star who have been in so many classics is of course John Travolta. Who have not seen him in classics such as Carrie, Saturday Night Fever, Blow Out, Pulp Fiction, Face/Off, The Thin Red Line and of course the 2009 remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123. Last year he was in a heist action film called Cash Out and i have seen this film. It wasn´t anything special in this genre and i almost forgot about it, until i noticed that a sequel to this film have been released. I didn´t review Cash Out last year but i decided to review the sequel High Rollers anyway since i have not reviewed many heist films. Is this a perfect movie to enjoy this summer or is High Rollers even more forgettable than the first film Cash Out?

While Mason Goodad ( John Travolta ) and his partner Amelia Decker ( Gina Gershon ) and their friends attend the beach wedding ceremony of Link ( Natali Yura ), a boat suddenly explode out in the ocean. 2 helicopters with armed soldiers drop them off to take Amelia as a hostage. The kidnappers demand that Mason and his team pull off a casino heist owned by Zane Black ( Demián Castro ). Mason have no other option than to accept this mission.

If you have seen the 2001 heist comedy Ocean´s Eleven from director Steven Soderbergh you know this is one of the best heist films ever made. The casting of this film is brilliant with actors such as George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould and many others. What made Ocean´s Eleven work so well as a heist comedy was the characters of the heist and the heist itself was told in a very effective way. The other films in the Oceans Eleven franchise are enjoyable but the first film is definetely the best. High Rollers tries a similar path as Ocean´s Eleven since this film is also taking place in Las Vegas, where the gang from the first film Cash Out is told to do a heist in a famous casino. This could be a fun idea for a film if you know to make an effective heist action film. Unfortunately i have to say this is quite a boring heist film to be honest. The action scenes ( when they finally happen ) are not very exciting. This is pretty much a very basic heist film you find in High Rollers with no surpises at all. It would be one thing if this film had some charming moments during the heist operation and we could enjoy ourselves that way. This film does not have that either for the most part. To the positive i will say i enjoy the heist gang at least in certain scenes played by actors John Travolta, Lukas Haas, Quava, Natali Yura, Noel Gugliemi and Swen Temmel. In a way it is nice to see them all return in another film, too bad they could not get a much more fun mission to do. John Travolta does a very standard performance with no surprises. Nice at least to see actress Gina Gershon ( especially good in the 1999 drama The Insider with Al Pacino ) in a role as former FBI agent Amelia Decker. At the end of the day this is a very predictable heist film that is actually worse than Cash Out. Not the worst film in John Travolta´s career ( that would easily be Battlefield Earth ) but still a very forgettable heist film. Director Randall Emmet is making a third film with the same gang, i hope it will be much better than this one.

Rating: DD

Silent Zone

In different cultures we show respect to the ones who have passed away. In Sweden for example we have a very traditional funeral since Christianity is our main religion. Did you know that the Malagasy people of Magadascar open the tomb of their loved ones every few years and rewrap them in fresh burial clothes? This may sound odd to some people but this is a way for the Malagasy people to both show respect to the dead plus speed up decomposition and push the spirit towards the afterlife. This ceremony includes dancing and music which is a part of this burial ceremony. I don´t know if i would want to watch someone i love have their coffin opened like this every year but i respect the burial tradition of the Malagasy people of course. I personally don´t fear death ( at least not at this moment ) because this is a part of life that no one can escape. But what if people suddenly woke up from the dead and how would we deal with that? This is something we have seen happened in a lot of horror films that brings up the subject of the undead, also known as zombies. I have seen so many zombie films over the years that i sometimes forget certain titles because there are so many similar releases. When it comes to zombie films you have a very big variety in this genre. You have the traditional zombie films that´s clearly inspired by legendary director George A. Romero and then you have zombie horror films that tries a different path such as the British horror film The Girl With All The Gifts. Let´s talk about another title instead that im sure not everyone have seen and that is the 2010 horror film known as The Dead. A well made British horror film from directors Howard J. Ford and Jon Ford. This film almost feels inspired by legendary director Lucio Fulci´s classic Zombie Flesh Eaters except this film takes place out on the wilderness of Africa. I like the practical make up effects, and i also enjoy the characters of this film. I suggest you pick up a DVD copy of The Dead if you want to watch a good zombie film during this summer. During spring time i heard that there was a German DVD and blu ray release of a zombie horror film calld Silent Zone. Since i am a big fan of this genre i was of course curious to check this film out just in case it would be something in my taste. Is this the best zombie pick of this summer or should they have skipped production of Silent Zone and made a completely different film?

In a zombie-ravaged world, a resourceful teen Abigail ( Luca Papp ) and her protector Cassius ( Matt Devere ) fight for survival, facing relentless dangers and testing the limits of hope and loyalty.

It would be very easy to say that Silent Zone looks very similar to a lot of low budget zombie films, and in some ways that is just the case. Even of there are films i could mention that reminded me of similar films there are some positive details about Silent Zone that makes this a solid film in this specific genre. For a zombie film that stretches almost 2 hours in playtime i have to say they have managed to make it work both when it comes to the plot, characters and of course zombie attack scenes as well. What especially makes Silent Zone stand out is the main two characters known as Cassius ( played by actor Matt Devere, who you might recognice in the 2018 film version of Robin Hood as the character Gerald the Crossman ) and Abigail ( played by actress Luca Papp who can be seen in MAX Tv series Dune: Prophecy as the character Acolyte ). Even if they are not father and daughter in this film they have a very close relationship on their journey through this fallen world. They argue like father and daughter, they deal with pain and sorrow together while at certain moments they manage to find smaller moments of joy. I think their screen chemistry matches the story and i would imagine especially fathers and daughters might recognize themselves. The plot itself of Silent Zone is very simple and not complicated at all. And that´s ok because you don´t need to make it complicated as long as the plot matches the characters. The zombie attack scenes are for the most part fast and effectfull, with plenty of shootings and violence. The zombie make up effects look ok i would say, nothing to complain about. One detail i noticed is that these zombies dies no matter where the bullet hit them. so they are far more easier to kill than the ones who only dies from head shots. We also get to know some other characters along the way who add some interesting scenes about survival. So to the negative i would have to say there isn´t anything special to be found here and no surprises. Perhaps they could have added a surprise twist into these 2 hours of playtime but instead they play cards a bit too safe. Still i feel that Silent Zone have enough qualities for fans of this specific genre who willl most likely appreciate this film. Director Peter Deak have made a full feature directorial debut film that looks good, included a good amount of effective action scenes and knows how to make zombie attacks scenes look good on the big screen. If you are a fan of this genre i see no reason not to pick up a physical copy of Silent Zone. This is a B movie old school throwback that reminds us of good times at the local VHS store.

Rating: DDD