Flesh Of The Unforgiven

There are those who believe there is no heaven up there, that when we die we end up on the other side where we will face something else than God. Some believe we may face demons, while some believe that we will face something even more sinister such as evil spirits full of so much hate. I personally want to believe that we who are good people will end up in heaven, at least that´s what im hoping to do. But what if you could open a portal to another dimension into a world that we believe is known as Hell, would you do it? That is exactly what happened in the 1987 British cult horror classic movie known as Hellraiser from director Clive Barker, a film that is still today considered to be one of the best British horror films of all time. The original film begins in Marocco, where a hedonist named Frank Cotton ( Sean Chapman ), buys a puzzle box said to open the door to a realm of outerworldly pleasures. At home in his bare attic, Frank solves the puzzle and hooked chains emerge, tearing him apart. Frank´s brother Larry Cotton ( Andrew Robinson ) moves into the same house hoping to rebuild his relationship with his second wife Julia Cotton ( Clare Higgins ). Larry is unaware that Julia had an affair with her brother Frank before her marriage to him. When Larry accidently cuts his hand moving furniture, his blood drips on the attic floor and ressurect Frank in a ghoulish form. To fully become himself again Frank needs fresh human bodies to drain them. Hellraiser really is a very unique film and it´s mostly because of the character Pinhead ( brilliant played by Doug Bradley ). I love the design of the Cenobites that lives in Hell and feed of human souls and the puzzle box looks really cool as well from a design perspective. I do enjoy some of the Hellraiser films in this franchise, for example the 2018 horror film Hellraiser: Judgement turned out to be a positive surprise. Considering the low budget of this film they did a good job capturing the look of the Hellraiser universe. I highly reccomend you pick up a physical copy of Hellraiser: Judgement and see if you agree with me. During later summer this year i heard about an independent horror film called Flesh Of The Unforgiven, that clearly seemed inspired by films such as Clive Barker´s Hellraiser. I have not seen the work of director Joe Hollow before so i thought this would be a interesting first introduction to hiw work as a director by watching Flesh Of The Unforgiven. Is this a horror film that may actually find an audience outside of the Hellraiser fan community or is this film not what i expected at all?

Jack Russo ( Joe Hollow ) is working desperately to find inspiration to a brand new novel and he only have a couple of days to finish it or his publisher will drop him completely. His marriage to his wife Sienna Russo ( Debbie Ruchon ) is clearly struggling and especially after she cheated with one of her husband´s friends. While trying to find ideas to write a new story, Jack recieve a strange VHS tape that will open a whole new world for Jack that he never expected to visit.....

While i was watching Flesh Of The Unforgiven i was reminded of another film than just Hellraiser and that film is called Secret Window by director David Koepp. In the film Secret Window we follow a struggling writer named Mort Rainey ( played well by actor Johnny Depp ) who is trying to write his latest book alone in a cabin after finding out his wife had an affair with a friend. There are some big differences between Secret Window and Flesh Of The Unforgiven, but you can get a feeling that the author character Jack Russo ( played by actor Joe Hollow ) could be inspired by similar characters such as Mort Rainey, I do feel that it´s interesting seeing the progress of writing once Mort find inspiration to write, especially when things begin to fall out of control completely and Mort find himself in a completely different mental state. The best part of this film is when we finally get to see the most gory disturbing scenes done with practical make up effects, where you get a sense of the inspiration from the Hellraiser franchise. The more disturbing it gets the more i feel fascinated in the storyline. The struggling writer Mort is of course the center of this story and actor Joe Hollow tries to capture a character in his most vulnerable situation. I like the chemistry between actor Joe Hollow and actress Debbie Rochon ( playing his wife Sienna Russo ) as you can clearly see they are struggling through marriage. How do you move on in life when you lost that spark that you used to have together? The character Death Dealer ( Joe Hollow ) clearly have inspiration from Hellraiser characters such as Cenobites without being grotesque. Flesh Of The Unforgiven is a horror film that tries to show how demonic powers can transform individuals, while also bring out dark thoughts that they never would have imagined seeing within themselves. Especially when it comes to sexual fantasies and the pleasures of torture combined, there is something very deeply disturbing and yet fascinating about this combination where you can tell the BDSM influences are very clear in this film. Director Joe Hollow deliver a fascinating horror film that´s not for the sensitive audience that will be appreciated if you enjoy the Hellraiser franchise, with a little bit of influences from A Nightmare On Elm Street as well. A film for those who love disturbing twists and dark sexual fantasies, if this sounds fascinating then by all means give this film a chance.

Rating: DDD

The Bunker

I know that some people don´t like the idea of living inside a bunker underneath the earth, i actually wouldn´t mind living that way. As long as i have electricity, clean water, some kind of kitchen, canned food, rice, pasta, books, magazines, if possible a TV and a DVD player, enough clothes to make it through seasons when i have to go outside and a bathroom, i don´t think i would need much else. Well ok, i might put up my signed Dolph Lundgren poster from The Expendables 3 just to make it feel like home, other than that i should be just fine. It would be nice to be able to plant something down there, but most plants need sun so that would be a problem. If it was war outside the bunker i would have to rely on canned food instead. Bunkers have been a subject in many different kinds of films over the years no matter if we are talking about traditonal war movies, horror movies or perhaps drama movies as well. One good example of a solid film that takes place inside a bunker is the 2013 post-apocalyptic sci fi action film The Colony from director Jeff Renfroe ( director of 6 episodes of the crime TV series Cardinal, worth a watch ). The year is 2045, the whole world have turned into a new ice age. The only way to survive the extreme cold weather is to live underground in bunkers, where the remaining civilization tries to build an ordinary lifestyle. Inside the bunker known as Colony 7 there are two soldier leaders, Briggs ( Laurence Fishburne ) and Mason ( Bill Paxton ). After receiving a distress call from another bunker called Colony 5, Biggs decides to go there to see what happened with two other men Sam ( Kevin Zegers ) and Graydon ( Atticus Mitchell ). As they enter Colony 5 they realize that something is terribly wrong. The Colony is a well made post-apocalyptic sci fi film with descent acting with effective action scenes, and i have to say for the most part the film looks good ( except a few CGI scenes ). I do like the argument scenes especially between Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton, not getting along at all. Worth a watch on streaming or rent on VOD. I was recommended a film called The Bunker, a sci fi horror film that stars two horror icons legendary actors Tony Todd and Tobin Bell. Clearly with a cast such as this i was excited to check this film out. Is this a must watch this autumn or is The Bunker unfortunately not as good as i was hoping it would be?

Mysterious alien spaceships are floating in several cities across the world. No one knows what they want or why they have decided to visit Earth. To be prepared in case the aliens are not here for a friendly cause, Dr, Michelle Riley ( Chelsey Edmundson ) and a group of scientists are drafted in by the U.S. military to create a bio-weapon to use on the aliens. Each scientist is placed in their own bunker to communicate through video calls. While working on the bio-weapon, Michelle begin to experience strange events in her bunker as well as seeing her scientist working colleagues hurting themselves.

I think you should know that The Bunker is not a typical alien invasion sci fi film that you have seen so many times before. This is a sci fi film that tries to tell an actual story instead of just focusing on violence and special effects. If you do like science fiction films that focus more on characters then this film should please you. We follow a team of scientiests with very different personalities, and i like the idea of each of them being inside their own bunker while staying in contact online as a working team. How do you adjust life living on your own for the most part? Does that affect you mentally in some ways not being able to see your loved ones or not living an ordinary life? The main plot is simple and yet matches well with the characters, it´s not difficult to understand what the company require their workers to achieve- The most interesting part of the film is when suddenly team members begin to struggle mentally. Are they being used as an experiment? Is someone controlling their minds? The best acting performance comes from legendary horror icon Tony Todd as the character Major Frank Lawrence, it is actually nice to see him do a character such as this that feels different from films in his past. I will say lead actress Chelsea Edmundson ( who i recognized from the great wrestling drama The Iron Claw ) as the character Dr. Michelle Riley gives a solid performance as a female scientist whos having a really rough time in her bunker. Horror icon Tobin Bell have no problem delivering his dialogue in his own unique way that only he can do. The violent scenes looks good and i appreciate the gore effects that´s actually more bloody than i expected. To the negative i would probably say that a few dialogue scenes feel a bit drawn out. In general though i would say im pleasantly surprised over how well The Bunker works as a sci fi mystery film. Director Brian Hanson clearly know how to make good looking films in this specific genre, as well as telling a story that´s fascinating. The Bunker should be appreciated by true fans of science fiction films.

Rating: DDD

28 Years Later

We all would like to live in a world where we help each other, support each other and make a better society together. Unfortunately this is something that is very difficult to do as long as we have political violence, wars and racial hate across this beautiful world. Thankfully in my almost 26 years working in health care i have met people from all over the world who are trying to make a difference. Especially in war zones such as the Russia-Ukraine war where i personally know both nurses and doctors who travelled to Ukraine to help hospitals with patients who have been seriously hurt during the war. People like these are incredbly important to give families hope, a chance to heal and come back to ordinary life. But what if you woke up one day and find yourself one of the few remaining human beings in society, whiley you find out that the rest of the people are infected by a aggresive contagious virus? This is exactly what happened in the now known cult British horror film known as 28 Days Later from legendary director Danny Boyle. I remember the Swedish premiere week of this film in cinemas because there were massive posters everywhere, really promoting this film to be the next big cinema release. This was in February in 2003 and i even remember the cardboard popcorn buckets had 28 Days Later markers on them. I have read about this film for several months in movie magazines right before the release so i was very excited to see this film. It turned out to be better than i expected and it was without a doubt one of my personal favourite films of 2003. What made this film work so well was how this film was filmed almost to look like a documentary, which in my personal opinion made the horror scenes very effective. Really good acting performances from Cillan Murphy, Naome Harris and Brandon Gleeson. The infected people were really effective in their attack scenes and the atmosphere of the dead big cities worked really well and made a powerful impact. In 2007 we had a sequel released called 28 Weeks Later this time directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Not as effective as the original film but i enjoyed this film for what it was, a fast thrilling zombie horror film with a solid acting performances from actors Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Renner and Idris Elba. After many years of waiting it was announced that director Danny Boyle would return with a brand new film in the 20 Years franchise and here we are with the latest chapter 28 Years Later. Is this a worthy sequel to this franchise or is this not as good as fans was hoping it would be?

28 years have passed since the outbreak happened. There are no more ordinary cities or ordinary society that we used to have in the past. On the British Isles of Lindisfarne, the people are protected naturally by the path being flooded by the tide. Only at certain hours of the day they can cross to the main land until the tide comes back again. In this society lives scavenger James ( Aaron Taylor-Johnson ), his son Spike ( Alfie Williams ) and his very sick wife Isla ( Jodie Corner ). Since there are no doctors in this community Spike wants to find one for his mother on main land, where he heard of one known as doctor Ian Kelson ( Ralph Fiennes ) to help her become healthy again. With the infected controlling the main land, this will make things more complicated with a seiously ill citizen.

I personally believe it is best to see the previous films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later to understand the premise of this latest film in the 28 Days franchise. It has been a while since we saw a Danny Boyle zombie film and i can happily say that he still proves that he knows how to tell effective horror stories. What makes this film different from the previous films is that we finally get to see how society have changed trying to adjust itself against the infected. The community that lives on the island of Lindisfarne is an attempt to rebuild a society again where everyone helps, and i love the fact that the population is very supportive of each other. Considering society have changed so much since 28 Weeks Later i think this was a good idea to approach how humanity have moved on to adjust itself during these dark times. What else can you do? You have to be able to feel some kind of meaning in life, nothing will ever be the same again so having a community that works is clearly very important. The two main characters Jamie ( well played by Kraven The Hunter actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Spike ( Alfie Williams ) have a great father and son chemistry on screen and it is interesting to see their family arguments over Spike´s ill mother Isla ( played really well by actress Jodie Corner ( who i recognized from the 2021 historical drama The Last Duel ). There are some emotional scenes between mother Isla and her son Spike, where you see how vulnerable seriously ill people are when there is no hopital to get help. The most interesting part of 28 Years Later comes later in the film when we get to meet the odd doctor Ian Kelson ( played really good by actor Ralph Fiennes ). He have managed to surivie out in the mainlands in a very unique way. The impressive skeleton head monumental where Dr Ian lives is quite unique and gives a deeper meaning to what he was trying to achieve with this location. I think this skeleton monumental gives a deeper meaning to this film how we honor the dead ones that are no longer with us. I would say he is the most fascinating character of this film. The horror scenes in general works well with the infected but is this as strong as the original film 28 Days Later? Unfortunately not, but i still feel this is a well made horror film and tell a fascinating story about survival and how to honor your family. Director Danny Boyle still knows how to make quality cinema films and 28 Years Later is definetly worth a watch. Already looking forward to the sequel coming in January next year.

Rating: DDD

Jurassic World Rebirth

Everyone have nostalgic memories from their youth, no matter if it is a certain movie that you loved or perhaps a favourite cinema that you used to visit. In my case there are a lot of nostalgic movie moments since i have been going to cinemas since the late 80´s. But the biggest nostalgia memories are actually from the 90´s if im being completely honest, mostly during the summers since there were so many wonderful box office blockbusters. Let us go back to the year of 1993 for a moment and let me tell you about my experience in cinema. It was the Swedish premiere of legendary director Steven Spielberg´s latest film Jurassic Park ( based on the novel by the same name from author Michael Crichton ). I had seen dinosaur B movies in the past on VHS but this film would prove to be something completely different from what we have seen before. The concept of Jurassic Park felt like it was inspired by B monster movies of the 1950´s and the 1960´s, but with a much higher budget and a really good cast included with actors such as Sam Neil, Richard Attenborough, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Samuel L. Jackson. The dinosaur effects look incredble for a film being made in the early 90´s and i remember having a blast in the cinema at the age of 16. I can still watch this film today and enjoy it just as much as i did back in 1993. The sequels that followed all had something to offer, i don´t have a problem either with the 1997 sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park ( hearing Swedish actor Peter Stormare swearing in Swedish was a highlight ) because it had some enjoyable action scenes and actress Julianne Moore included in the cast. The more modern sequels Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World Dominion all became huge box office hits and did really well on physical media as well. I only reviewed Jurassic World back in 2015 ( a review im not very happy about today, could have been a lot better ) and i enjoyed that film. During this summer we had a new Jurassic World film released in cinemas called Jurassic World Rebirth. My plan was to actually see this film in cinema and plans changed for some reason. So i decided to rent it on VOD instead to see if this would be something i might appreciate. Is this the best Jurassic World film in many years or is this just a desperate cash grab to make money and give fans nothing in return?

In 2008, InGen is operating a dinosaur genetics laboratory on Ile Saint-Hubert in the Atlantic Ocean, housing transgenic and mutated dinosaurs that deemed ghastly by their owner. One of these creations, a deformed six-limbed Tyrannosaurus dubbed  "Distortus rex" escapes containment. It kills an employee who carelessly responsible and wreaks havroc, forcing the personnel to abandon the island. In 2025, most of Earth´s climate has become inhospitable to sustain the de-extinct dinosaurs. The remaining animals survive in locations around the equator, which resemble Mesozoic climate, making them no-go areas. Martin Krebs ( Rupert Friend ), an executive at pharmaceutical company ParkerGenix, recruits Zora Bennet ( Scarlett Johansson ), an ex-military covert operative, to collaborate with Dr. Henry Loomis ( Jonathan Bailey ) on a top-secret misson. Their goal is to retrieve biomaterial samples for the three colossus specimens, which hold the key to a new cardiovascular disease tretment. With the right team chosen for this mission they travel towards Ile Saint-Hubert.

I think it is fair to say that if you are walking into a film such as Jurassic World Rebirth you can pretty much guess what you are going to get. This is dinosaur action that reminds me of the 2017 action horror film Kong: Skull Island but without the Vietnam war and with a completely different plot instead. If this doesn´t excite you then you might as well stop reading here. If you happen to enjoy Kong: Skull Island and similar films then you might atually have a good time with thís one. By now we can pretty much say that both the Jurassic Park films and the Jurassic World films have used the formula of the original film pretty much to the highest degree. How do you make anything different from the past and still keep the influences of the original film for the fans of this franchise? What this film Jurassic World Rebirth manage to do is use especially more water scenes than in the previous films, especially in the first 40 minutes of this film. That´s actually not a bad idea since we usually see dinosaurs on land for the most part, and it´s nice to see that they tried to approach this story by using a different location than we are used to see. Sure, they do travel to an island eventually but adding action scenes on the ocean was a positive change. When it comes to the characters in this film there is a mixed bag, where some of them work while others are just....there. I personally enjoy actress Scarlett Johansson as the character Zora Bennet, she has a good heart but shes also a strong woman who is not afraid to take on any challenges. It´s nice to see actor Mahersala Ali ( especially brilliant performance in the 2018 comedy-drama Green Book, a must watch ) as the character Duncan Kaid. The CGI scenes of the dinosaurs look good and there are some good looking action scenes as well. My biggest issue with this film is that there isn´t anything special about this sequel that makes it stand out compared to the previous films. I enjoy this film for what it is, a basic dinosaur action film but other than that i can´t really find anything that makes this film unique in this franchise. Director Garet Edwards ( who did direct the great looking British sci-fi horror film Monsters ) clearly know how to make monster movies and he proves that with Jurassic World Rebirth. I just wonder how will they manage to move on from here and dare to do something original? If they do decide to make another one, i hope they take a completely different approach. Worth a watch if you are a fan of this franchise, just don´t keep your expectations too high.

Rating: DDD

Ballerina

One of the greatest time periods for action franchises definetely started in the 80´s. You had Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam war veteran soldier John Rambo in the Rambo franchise, and then you had Mel Gibson and Danny Glover kicking ass in the Lethal Weapon franchise. Obviously i have to mention the Die Hard franchise as well with Bruce Willis as bad ass cop John McClane with several sequels included. All of the films in these classic action franchises are definetely worth a watch, especially if you love lots of guns, explosions and 80´s hair. Since i grew up in the VHS era i have seen so many classic action films from this time period. Who didn´t fall in love with other 80´s classics such as The Terminator, Commando, Cobra, Tango & Cash and many more wonderful titles? If we move into more modern days we do have some action franchises that have been able to survive, at least for a while. A perfect example of that is of course Sylverster Stallone´s love letter project as a tribute to action movies of the 80´s known as The Expendables. 4 films were made completely with a incredible cast in each film ( especially in The Expendables 2 ). I would highly recommend you buying all four films on physical media, these are the kind of action films you can rewatch and enjoy every single time. Let´s focus especially on one specific year for a moment and that is the year of 2014. It was this year a brand new action franchise started known as John Wick with actor Keanu Reeves taking on the role as the hitman John Wick. At the time when the first film came out it really gave actor Keanu Reeves a brand new audience worldwide, especially after making smaller low budget films for a while. The first film was a box office success, but the sequels that followed in the John Wick franchise would become ever bigger ticket sellers worldwide. I enjoy all of the John Wick films for different reasons and you should definetely watch them all. I remember a over a year ago i heard there is a spin-off film from the John Wick franchise called Ballerina. I was lucky to watch the film in cinema at the last week it was running in cinema here in Sweden, and just about a week ago got my physical copy to prepare for this review. Is this a film worthy the John Wick franchise or is this an action film that no one asked for?

Eve Macarro ( Victoria Comte ) is the daughter of assassins Javier ( David Castaneda ) of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate and his Cultist wife. As a child, Eve was taken away from the Cult by Javier, which led to the death of her mother- To retrieve Eve, the Cult and their leader Chancellor ( Gabriel Byrne ) raid their home, Javier dies as he helps Eve escape. New York Continental manager Winston Scott ( Ian McShane ) brings Eve to the Ruska Roma, an assassins society under the cover of performance dancers, where she meets The Director ( Anjelica Huston ) and agrees to enlist. Over the next 12 years, Eve ( Ana de Armas ) trains as a ballerina, assassin and bodyguard. Eve seeks revenge of the murderer of her father, but The Director says she is not allowed to do this. To honor her father she will go on with her mission.

In recent years i have been struggling finding some really good action films that reminds me of classic films of the past. I can happily say that Ballerina manage to land in the John Wick franchise in a respectful way while exploring some different sides of the John Wick universe. If fans of this beloved franchise was worried that this film wouldn´t be anywhere as good as the previous Keanu Reeves films i will be honest and say im actually quite surprised. Not that this film is ground breaking in any way or deliver a lot of new things to action films in general, but what this film does right is to keep the essence of the John Wick franchise while making some interesting changes along the way. I think it was very good that they tried to tell the story of Ballerina in a completely different way through the main character Eve Macarro ( played really well by actress Ana de Armas, who i personally remember from director Denis Villeneuve´s 2017 sci fi action film Blade Runner 2049, definetely worth owning on physical media ), who is a very brutal and effective assassin. Now, you might think that just because she is an assassin we only see her kill and we don´t find out anything about her personality. There are a couple of scenes where we get to understand why Eve became the woman she is today, and all the struggles she had to go through. Ana de Armas does a really good job portraying a female assassin and i am especially impressed by her physical performance in certain action scenes. We also get to see characters from the previous John Wich films such as Winston Scott ( Ian McShane ), The Director ( Anjelica Huston ) and the final acting performance by actor Lance Reddick as the character Charon. The action scenes are very well made, i also appreciate the very beautiful cinematography by Romain Lacourbas that matches the most colorful scenes. One of the highligts is without a doubt the flame thrower scenes that looks gorgeous and is quite effective. The main villain Chancellor played by legendary actor Gabriel Byrne deliver some really fun moments and Keanu Reeves does show up for a short while as John Wick. Director Len Wiseman ( who directed the first two Underworld films ) proves once again why he is a really talented film maker in this specifc genre. The action scenes are far better than most films in this genre and i had a really good time with Ballerina. Maybe not as good as all of the John Wick films but definetely pretty close, Ballerina deserves to be owned on physical media or on digital release.

Rating: DDDD

30 Years Anniversary Review Of Desperado

Even if summer is my favourite period of the year i can appreciate beautiful autumn days, walking along a forest with yellow leaves falling down. If it´s raining outside i do enjoy cozy evening with a low budget horror film. I could easily mention at least 10 b horror movies that should be seen during autumn season, but let´s just talk about one title for a moment. One specific recommendation i have for you is the 2018 independent horror film Inner Ghosts from director Paul Leite. It reminds me in some ways of the Insidious franchise, especially the character Elise Rainie played by actress Lin Shaye. In the film Inner Ghosts you have a character called Helen ( Celia Williams ), she is a brain researcher who used to be a medium until the death of her daughter. At the university Helen works at her supervisor do not appreciate Helen´s methods combining science with the supernatural. Even though she recieves a warning Helen decides to train her own daughter, Elsa Williamson ( Elizabeth Bochmann ) and another young woman Rachel ( Iris Cayette ) to become psychics. Inner Ghosts may not be a original low budget horror film but have an interesting plot of training psychics and facing a demon. I have to mention the practical make up effects on the demonic creature looks good. A film worth a watch, especially if you are a fan of the Insidious franchise. Let´s go back in time to the autumn of the year 1995, it was the Swedish cinema premiere of Kevin Costner´s dystopian sci fi action film Waterwold. This turned out to be the movie so many magazines talked about, everything from the incredible high budget of this film and how difficult it was making the film with several issues during production. Waterworld turned out to flop at the box office, but there was a completely different film that actually got praised by critics and the audience as well. And that is the 1995 action film Desperado by director Robert Rodriguez, a remake of his full feature debut film El Mariachi from 1992. I did see Desperado in cinema back in the day and i realised this film turned 30 years in 2025. So i decided to do a 30 years anniversary of this film to see how i feel about it today. Is this film just as good today as it was in 1995 or have this film aged more than Donald Trumps hair piece?

El Mariachi ( Antonio Banderas ) arrives to a smaller Mexican town as rumors start to spread that El Mariachi is a guitar player who have a guitar case filled with guns. El Mariachi is looking for drug lord "Bucho" ( Joaquim de Almeida ) who runs this whole town, demanding money to protect stores. El Mariachi gets help during a shoot out in town by book store owner Carolina ( Salma Hayek ), she patches him up and go with him on his journey to face Bucho and his thugs.

It´s been quite a long time ago since i watched Desperado so i was actually looking forward to watching it again. I have to say that even though this film have turned 30 years old it looks damn good still today. No CGI effects, no AI, everything is done with practical make up effects and the action stunts are done by professional stunt men. This is something i wish we had more of in modern cinema, i want to see people punch each other and fly through the air in a old school way. We have to talk about the camera work of director Robert Rodriguez and how he capture so many beautiful scenes on camera. He finds the perfect locations for certain scenes, captures the atmosphere of chosen areas and he is really talented shooting powerful action scenes. It is really over the top in certain scenes where it feels like you are watching a comic book coming to life but that´s the whole point, this film feels like it is inspired by director Sam Raimi. If you remember how over the top the action scenes are in Sam Raimi´s classic film Darkman, i can tell you that they are even wilder scenes in Desperado to the point where it becomes hillarious. Actors Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek are the perfect cinema couple as the crazy characters El Mariachi and Carolina, and their action scenes together are very well choreographed. There are some really fun cameos in this film from actors Cheech Marin, Steve Buscemi and especially the urine scene with Quentin Tarantino. Actor Danny Trejo is really cool as the Mexican assassin Navajas, using some really cool designed throwing knifes. Actor Joaquim de Almeida gives a fun performance as the main villain character Bucho. The plot of Desperado may not be anything unique or interesting, but it is the action scenes that really makes this film come to life. The more violent the film becomes it feels like watching the best Mexican opera concert ever. Director Robert Rodriquez really understood what the audience wanted when he created this film. It´s really wild, really violent and at times really funny as well. Desperado will live on into the future as one of the true 90´s classic, this is definetely a must watch for the whole family to enjoy.

Rating: DDDD

Diablo

Every Thursday my mother Lena watch the Swedish TV morning show Nyhetsmorgon on TV4 to listen to Swedish film critics talk about the cinema premiere´s of the week. After the TV morning show she always send me a text message about what films that were reviewed plus the ratings of each film. This tradition my mother started several years ago and she continues to do this. Why you might ask? Since her son is a independent film critic plus i read a lot of movie reviews, she became interested in all of this as well. So we will continue this tradition for many years ahead, while i give movie recommendations to her as well. One thing i have noticed when it comes to British film critics is how positive most of them are while they review films of action star Scott Adkins. For example if you listen to British film critic Screen Stars review of the 2018 action film The Debt Collector, you will clearly hear how much he enjoyed this film in his YouTube review. If you want to read a very positive American review of The Debt Collector i highly recommend visiting The Action Elite´s web review of this film. Have i personally seen this title? Yes i have, i actually bought a physical copy of this film from Great Britain. The plot of this film is basically focused on two characters French ( Scott Adkins ) and Sue ( Louis Mandyor ) as debt collectors travelling across America to get paid back money that people borrowed. This is actually a charming film, especially because of how good chemistry Scott Adkins and Louis Mandyor have on screen and the action scenes deliver a good time as well. Director Jesse V. Johnson ( who have directed several of Scott Adkins films in the past ) manage to combine both action and comedy in a way that reminds me of films in this genre from the 90´s. Definetely worth a watch if you just want to be entertained for a moment. Speaking of Scott Adkins one of the films he released this year called Diablo ( directed by Ernesto Diaz Espinoza, the director of the 2014 action film Redeemer ) is out on VOD on different platforms, so i just had to rent this film since i am a fan of his work. Is this an action film that proves once more that Scott Adkins is the future of action films, or is Diablo not as good as you might have hoped for?

Kris Chaney ( Scott Adkins ), a recently released ex-convict embarks on a perilous mission. He kidnaps Elsa ( Alanna De La Rossa ), daughter of Vicente ( Lucho Velasco ), a very powerful gangster leader in Colombia. This also causes more problems when Vicente´s hitman El Corvo ( Marko Zaror ) goes looking for them both. 

How many of you remember the 1973 action film Live And Let Die, the very first time legendary actor Roger Moore played British spy James Bond? All of you? I must admit i am impressed. In this classic film you have a Bond villain known as Tee Hee Johnson ( played by legendary actor Juius Harris from the 1972 blaxploitation crime drama film Super Fly ). This villain have a pincer-tipped prosphetic arm that has a claw instead of a hand. In the film Diablo you have an assassin known as El Corvo ( played by actor Marko Zaror who i recognized from the Scott Adkins film Undisputed III: Redemption ), who have a prosphetic arm with a knife, covered with a fake hand that he can remove. This character is one of the highlights of this film. He have no sympathy for anyone and communicate in brutal ways to deal with anyone standing in his way. Scott Adkins does exactly what you would expect him to do, delivering cool martial arts scenes mixed with classic VHS video violence from the past. Scott´s character Kris Chaney reminded me of John Rambo in the 5th Rambo film known as Rambo: Last Blood. In that film John travels to Mexico to rescue his daugher from trafficking, while in this film Diablo we find out hes the faher of a young woman named Elisa ( Alanna De La Rossa ) living in Colombia, trying to save her from a future filled with criminal activities. The chemistry between father and daughter characters works well and when they argue it feels natural. There are a couple of dialogue scenes between them that i enoyed as well, being a little bit more serious. Diablo is not original perhaps but if you want a really violent action movie, filled with really good looking fight scenes then you will definetely have a good time with this one. This is the kind of film that knows exactly what audience it was made for and i honestly had a good time watching Diablo. Bring out some snacks, have some cold beer ( whiskey is welcome as well ) and rent Diablo on VOD. I promise you will not be disappointed if you do.

Rating: DDD