EvilPhoEniX

Neil Marshall is a director who has contributed many times to the horror genre (The Descent, Dog Soldiers, Tales of Halloween, the post-apocalyptic Doomsday and the comic book adaptation Hellboy). His latest film may not push genre envelopes – and it is receiving quite a bashing from critics – but I enjoyed it. First and foremost, I appreciate the historical setting, the era of plagues and witch hunts, which is a not too common theme. The story is simple, the characters are also written in a simple way, but the film flows at a solid pace. It manages to surprise with a decent jump-scare, especially through a terrifying vision that even includes a well-made devil, and it also has some gore, although not as much as I would have liked, but there are a few standout scenes (like the horse-drawn carriage). The torture scenes could have been more intense, but the main thing is that they are there. I enjoyed it, I have a weakness for historical horror, so for me, it's fine. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence****, Entertainment****, Music***, Visual****, Atmosphere****, Tension***. 7/10.

This superhero action flick from Vietnam is quite ambitious, but unfortunately not very satisfying. The protagonist is terminally ill and undergoes a head transplant experiment, gaining new abilities in his new body, primarily strength. It could have endured the melodrama endure if there was a deserved payoff in the form of action, but unfortunately, it's not worth much. There are repulsive fast-paced scenes that make all the fights look unnatural and rehearsed, and they come off more funny than tough. Victor Vũ apparently wanted to point out that the protagonist is faster than other people, but he ruins the whole action with it and presents it in an unengaging way, and ultimately there isn't much of it either. Occasionally, there’s an interesting camera angle, and there is one shootout is straight out of The Raid. Those who haven't seen much may be satisfied. I didn't enjoy it much. Story**, Action***, Humor>No, Violence>No, Entertainment***, Music***, Visual***, Atmosphere***, Tension***. 5/10.

A gem from Denmark of biblical proportions. A CGI visual feast that made my jaw drop. Amazing music, dark atmosphere, an interesting ending, too bad there wasn’t any Boss Fight, I would have given it a full score without hesitation. Still very solid. At the beginning it had my doubting whether it was CGI or reality. 8/10.

A decent film about Arabs living in London. It focuses on a family where one member is homosexual and the other converts to Islamic extremism under the guidance of a nasty sheikh. The film progresses at a slower pace, but the characters are engaging and the finale is quite intense and properly thrilling. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence*, Entertainment***, Music***, Visuals***, Atmosphere***, Tension***. 6/10.

Yawn a MEH! I will have to go against the current, but The Night is atmospheric, but in layman's terms, tedious, boring, uninteresting, tiresome, and dull. Horror? More like a mystery drama. The film presents an Iranian couple having dinner with friends. They spend an unnecessary 20 minutes talking about nothing, with uninteresting dialogues and even less interesting characters. And if I thought that something would change when they move to the hotel, I was mistaken. For me, the atmosphere is in a cemetery, a castle, a monastery, a mortuary, caves, or underground dungeons, but I really don't know what is atmospheric about a cheap 2-star hotel with no one around and nothing interesting is happening. It is worth mentioning it lacks typical horror elements. There’s no gore, no jump scares, no tension, no chilling or goosebumps, no unease, and the apparitions are meaningless, with no danger to the characters. I liked the trend of scaring with old naked people, but scaring with a little boy and a relatively attractive woman, whom I imagined more in bed than being afraid of? That is absurd. The cinematography doesn't look cheap, but I don't intend to praise the visuals, as they don't intend to show anything interesting. The characters are unlikeable, the wife is especially annoying to the point of pain, and the final resolution is something I've seen in every other movie, so I can't give any points for that either. Not to mention that the film is almost two hours long and, with its sleep-inducing pace, doesn't bring any joy. And just to add insult to injury, towards the end, you have more questions than answers, which is again not praiseworthy. I really don't know what I was supposed to like here, as everything I seek in horror films is absent. Nowadays, a film where the lights are turned off is considered horror. Not as good as tea from Persia. Maybe I'm not intellectually evolved enough to enjoy such a film. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence>No, Enjoyment**, Music***, Visuals***, Atmosphere***, Tension*. 4/10.

A grand Russian blockbuster with breathtaking visuals, solid concept, and an interesting story, but it's disappointing that the action is minimal and the pace in the second half is not very captivating. The Coma has an interesting world where people are in a coma and try to survive, and there are interesting rules in place. The visuals of upside-down cities and landmarks is very beautiful, and at times, you feel like pausing the film and taking a screenshot. I enjoyed the shootout upside down on the bridge, but I was slightly bothered by the protagonist, who could have had more interesting abilities and greater charisma. Towards the end the film loses some momentum, and apart from the impressive effects, it doesn't offer much, which is a shame. The potential was higher. The Coma is still worth watching, though, nothing similar has been done before. Story****, Action***, Humor>No, Violence>No, Entertainment***, Music***, Visuals****, Atmosphere****, Tension***. 6.5/10.

For someone who doesn't watch tennis and barely understands it, Borg vs. McEnroe is very entertaining, brisk, engaging and pretty exciting in the end. Both Shia LaBeouf and Sverrir Gudnason are excellent, the retro vibe is great, and overall I had a lot of fun. Solid stuff. 8/10.

Solid variation on “Hitman” in 5 minutes, and it’s more faithful to the original than all previous Hitman movies. Decent action, I liked it. 7/10.

This is excellent!! It's a bit of a mix between Project X and Wild Tales, but with a much sharper and denser resolution. We are introduces us to two detectives who enter a house full of corpses, and we immediately follow the events that preceded it. It starts off as a very wild New Year's party, full of alcohol and sex (maybe in every room!), beautiful Polish women, a decent amount of humor (nymphomaniacs and a Mexican who loses faith in God top it off), a beautiful colorful scene, and then a series of crazy events, unwanted deaths, false accusations, everyone starts digging deeper, and it builds up to a 15-minute intense teen massacre, which pleasantly surprised me. You don't see someone ripping off silicone implants with a baseball bat every day. For me, it's a fun and wild time in Poland. Story***, Action***, Humor***, Violence****, Entertainment****, Music***, Visuals****, Atmosphere****, Tension****. 7.5/10.

Kim Ki-duk's great quirkiness for obscure audiences. It has cheap visuals, a strange story (a boat flying in the clouds – WTF), and even though there is a fair amount of corpses and rape (there is hardly a woman on that boat who doesn't end up raped), I didn't enjoy it at all. There is almost no gore, the murders seemed non-explicit to me, I didn't form any connection with the characters, and there was no one to root for. It's a shame, with better execution, it could have been great, it has almost everything I like, just executed in a very unengaging form. I take it as a critique of society and social classes, but as mayhem with exploitative elements, it didn't succeed with me. 5/10.