EvilPhoEniX

Evil is not dying Tonight. I'm not as pissed off as others, but I definitely expected more. The Halloween from 2018 was a level above in almost every way. When Michael Myers is on set the film is an effective horror slasher with cool kills and decent gore, a 4 star flick, but when he's not on set, which unfortunately is most of the time, it's pretty boring for and 2-star worthy. There are lots of uninteresting and weird characters dealing with some kind of urban trauma which I was absolutely not interested in, I'd rather watch young teenagers going house to house and Myers killing them one by one than watching this bunch of grown ups dealing with boring adult stuff, oh yeah drama is already here too! We've known for 40 years that, Myers comes back to life and it's a wonder anyone is surprised about it today, it's like walking into a strip club and being surprised there are strippers. Also illogical character behaviour has always been a part of slashers. The original movie from 1978 wasn't some deep story mindfuck with philosophical overtones and abstract thinking either, after all there's a woman screaming before Michael even pulls a knife out of his pocket, so Jokes on you Bitches! I, on the other hand, will complain about the lack of murders and Myers, who spends maybe 30 minutes on his rampage, and the downright unsatisfying finale that lacks atmosphere and suspense. I can still remember the atmospheric finale in the house. Ironically the best gore scene of the film is from a dude who jumps out the window by himself, and the firemen had bigger balls in the trailer. So Malignant is unthreatened so far this year, maybe Antlers or Last Night in Soho? Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 2/5. 6/10.

Venom 2 is such a disappointment that I feel like giving it 2 stars, but that would be biased, so a neutral 3 with a bitter taste in my mouth and an exclamation point for next time. Venom was a pleasant surprise, maybe because Ruben Fleischer was in charge of it, and he was able to handle the humour (Zombieland) and the action (Gangster Squad). Unfortunately, the sequel is directed by Andy Serkis (who has only done Mowgli) and suddenly the humour and action stops working. Tom Hardy is surprisingly unlikeable in this film and I didn’t enjoy his role at all, he's not funny or interesting, he doesn't show anything in action, in short a useless, uninteresting and boring character, and Woody Harrelson, whom I generally like, also didn't show much of anything – their dialogue exchanges are uninteresting and I didn't enjoy listening to them at all, I silently remembered the dialogue from Bond, yes, a strange comparison, but when they give dialogue clashes between two great actors, let me feel the intense darkness in the air, not these childish exchanges. Humour could have been a strong point, but I only laughed once in the whole film and that was with Venom at the disco, the rest is infantile and you don’t even smile. Nobody laughed at all in the cinema, so it's not just me. The Gore is missing of course, but I counted on it. The visuals and the effects are inoffensive, but definitely not breathtaking. Shortening the film to 90 minutes hurts the the film because it practically has no story and everything is rushed. On the other hand, if ti was two hours long, I probably wouldn’t last, because Venom 2 is not very entertaining. And now about the action. There are two short action scenes that end before they even start and then a half hour finale that I won't tell you anything about because I was asleep with boredom, so I'll have to recap that sometime. Anyway, going into Venom thinking it was a comic book action flick and leaving as bored and frazzled as a two-hour Drama, I didn't expect that in the slightest. Ironically, the post-credit scene is better than the movie itself. Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 3/5. 5/10.

We already know that Tommy Wirkola is talented and even though this time he chose a more intimate film than his previous works, it works well, even if I have minor complaints. It's a bit of a variation on the Russian film Why Don't You Just Die!, but more in tone, style and brutality than in concept. A married couple go to a cabin with the intention of killing each other, and this is complicated by an unexpected visit from three idiots. The pacing is slower and the humour works about halfway. It's a kind of adult humour where serious topics are discussed with a light and black-humored tone so it depends on taste, I would have liked something a little different and would definitely have cut the film by about 30 minutes. When it came to the violence, however, Wirkola is nicely brutal, spares no great ideas and makes great use of all the tools around him (though there are a couple of sequences that are just a tease, like the one with the shotgun and the one with the lawnmower). Overall, decent and entertaining, but I was slightly hoping to be a bit more satisfied. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 3/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 3/5. 7/10.

Western of the year and quite possibly the indie surprise of the year. I ignored the film at first and I admit I wasn't too keen on it, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Yes it's no Godless, but I can't think of a more impressive western since Hostiles and The Salvation. Although it lacks the classic Western tropes, it is very adequate but for a minimalist effort. The first half is an intimate western drama with good craftsmanship, an Eastwood touch, a tense atmosphere and very good actors (Tim Blake Nelson is terrific as the farmer and Stephen Dorff's bad guy rips the spotlight on himself whenever he appears). The finale, however, breaks into a wonderfully action-packed and brutal western ride, with the main character going up against everyone alone in assassin mode, using shotgun, Colts, knives and axes to make a mess of things, and there two solid twists on top of that. I don't think anyone expected this from such an unassuming project. Nothing groundbreaking, but engaging enough to entertain on a dull guy's night out. Go for it and enjoy it! Story 4/5, Action 4/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 5/5. 8/10.

An excellent abduction thriller from South Korea with my favourite actor Hwang Jung-min. For a debut, it's a really great work. The film has an offbeat story where Hwang Jung-min plays himself and is abducted by three aggressive kidnappers. He soon learns the difference between film and reality firsthand. The film picks up an incredible pace from the opening minutes, it's very engaging, Hwang's acting is excellent. The whole thing has a very realistic feel to it, you get the feeling that this really happened in Korea a week ago. I was worried that the film would feel monotonous, but it's full of interesting surprises, it goes in a very unexpected direction at times and has a lot of suspenseful scenes. The whole thing builds up to an intense finale like a pressurised hydrant and thanks to the very powerful music, I found myself gasping for breath. The trio of sleazy nutters the villain roles are also great. A great one man show and a thriller with all the ingredients that belong to the genre. Story 4/5, Action 3/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 3/5, Entertainment 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5.

Now that's what I call a pre-finale. Dethronement, and inspiring queen's speech and home invasion and assassination with a horror atmosphere. I don't think I'll survive the finale.

A black and white depressing nightmare from Hong Kong! Director Cheang Pou-soi already has quite a rich career and after the excellent actioner Kill Zone 2 with Tony Jaa, he tries a dark crime drama with the essence of Fincher's Se7en that over into exploitation, and it's a depressing film for the strong-minded. For me, anyway! A veteran and a newcomer join forces to catch a maniacal serial killer who is brutally murdering young women on the streets of Hong Kong with a hand-cutting fetish. A woman who caused the death of the veteran's wife shows up and offers to help, but not everything goes as planned. The black and white format surprisingly is not a problem at all, it has a bit of an artsy feel, but the tone is darker and definitely more shocking. It's a two hour show of violence, humiliation against women, dead bodies and filth that makes Hong Kong a downright Sin City. There is one downright brutal knife action sequence that gave me a boner, and the film doesn't let the viewer breathe, throwing one raw scene after another. The killer himself is disgustingly sleazy and his lair is a downright disgusting place that reeked of death all the way to my living room. The atmosphere is awesome and the denouement is also interesting. This is what I call proper, gritty, raw, bleak and cold crime drama that wipes its ass with everything I've had the pleasure of seeing in the genre in recent years. Story 4/5, Action 3/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 4/5. 8/10.

The Hong Kong comeback from the now sadly deceased director Benny Chan, who brought hits such as New Police Story, Invisible Target, Shaolin and The White Storm, and ends his career with the scorching Raging Fire, which could be described as the Hong-Kong version of Mann's Heat! RIP. For the first time in a while, a really cool action ride where you go for a traditional martial arts brawler with Donnie Yen and get a complex story packed with twists and emotions and a bad guy who is already iconic. Good cop vs bad cop, yeah! I enjoyed the whole two hours immensely. The movie captivates with an attractive story with one interesting twist, very good visuals, and an amazing soundtrack. Donnie Yen is traditionally excellent, and Nicholas Tse is a downright elegant villain, I loved character terribly. The action isn't as much as I would have liked, but when it comes to it, it's great. There are car chases, great shootouts, fights (though it's easy to see that Donnie is getting old, so he saved his fists for the finale), it's bloody, dark, and unpleasant. The finale is less than half an hour long (the shootout on the street with civilian casualties is awesome), and the final duel deserves a place on YouTube in the TOP 10 fights of All the Time. Nicholas Tse is a very fast machine and with his speed with knives he surpassed even the The Man from Nowhere – I didn't breathe, instant goosebumps for 10 minutes!!. Excellent film, which I'll gladly repeat, it was great and I'm glad I got to see a proper guy's movie. Story 4/5, Action 5/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 5/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 4/5. 9/10.

David Bruckner is a director I like a lot. With The Ritual he surprised everyone, and with Southbound he blew me away. I was looking forward to his upcoming horror film, but I didn't expect him to deliver it in such a Flanagan style! Rebecca Hall acts convincingly, but I wasn't really into her digging into the past and uncovering the truth. I was hoping for some kind of mindfuck with parallel worlds, a peek behind the curtain to the other side, and not an indirect rip-off of The Invisible Man, which is how it feels in places. It's pretty complicated and confusing and I'm not sure if it's quite fleshed-out. I didn't notice any jump-scares, and there’s certainly no gore, so it didn't work for me at all. I don't know how to rate this film, I didn't enjoy it enough to give it 3 stars, on the other hand 2 stars don't seem enough, and I like Bruckner so I'll stay on neutral ground. But I am not thrilled. Story 3/5, Action 1/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 4/5. 5/10.

One of the disappointments of the year? The film is a prequel to the cult series The Sopranos, which unfortunately I haven't seen, but I was hoping that the film could stand on its own, and since I like gangster movies, I was expecting a contender for gangster movie of the year (there wasn't much competition, but I'm not very satisfied with the final impression). Alan Taylor, has Thor and the last Terminator to his credit, so you would also expect a more action-packed film in the style of Gangster Squad, but he made something more in the style of The Irishman and that doesn't quite do it for me. The setting of New Jersey in the 1960s is great, the costumes, the fashion, the beautiful women, it all has a proper gangster look, but that's about it. One brief gunfight in the whole movie is not good, especially when the Punisher is available - he is woefully underused. There's no proper villain, no proper lust for power, no war in the streets, not enough dead bodies, the pacing is slower, it simply lacks drive and feels more like the opening episode to a series where big things are about to start happening. Those who have seen the series will complain even more or, on the contrary, will be satisfied. Despite the flaws, I wasn’t bored, it's the kind of stuff that can’t make me suffer, even if it's just a bunch of guys in hats drinking whiskey and smoking cigars, but it's definitely wasted potential. In terms of craftsmanship and performances (Ray Liotta) is decent, but easily forgettable. Michela De Rossi is, however, a fierce babe! Story 3/5, Action 1/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 4/5. 6/10.