EvilPhoEniX

Timo Tjahjanto is undoubtedly Indonesia's greatest butcher and talent, and this year he is on a rampage for the second time. May the Devil Take You is a solid mix of Evil Dead, Drag me to Hell and, most importantly, it feels like a throwback to Hong Kong in the 90s when similar madness was quite common, but nowadays is very rare. In the end, the film is surprisingly not the carnage I was hoping for. He probably won't surpass his debut Macabre, and he did more with gore in the recent actioner The Night Comes for Us, but there are still a few tasty bits, the highlights being the poking around in the entrails of a buried corpse, playing with Voodoo and a scene where the demon rips the skin off his face. That said, the film quite atmospherically creepy, intense with an intense soundtrack and excellent make-up effects (the demon is very unpleasant), and it's very well paced, so all in all I'm satisfied. The weaker actors and the mediocre story didn't bother me, but someone will complain. Next is the horror movie DreadOut, which we'll see either at the end of the year or in 2019. 75%.

After a string of dramas, Steve McQueen has made heist movie, a drama about widows who lost their husbands to criminals and now are left with huge debts and problems with people you don't want to associate with. Acting wise the film is top notch, but if you go to the cinema to see The Punisher or Liam Neeson you will probably be disappointed. But there is still a great Colin Farrell and a solid female cast with a tough Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez and a sexy Elizabeth Debicki, whom I liked the most. Apart from the actors, it is a realistic story full of complications and one very solid twist with a couple of minor twists, decent cinematography and a well paced heist finale that left me breathless at times. Unfortunately the film is over two hours long and apart from a good opening and finale, it doesn't offer that much interesting and I couldn't bear the deaf passages, unfortunately. Decent craftsmanship and acting quality, but it didn't really grow on me. 65%

An epic 88 day battle where the mighty Tang, leading an army of half a million that has never lost and has breached every castle across 1,000 kilometers, now has problems with the Ansi Fortress, which is defended by the brave and strategic Yang with his 5,000 soldiers. The director, unknown to me, did a decent job and made a very epic fatal battle that admittedly didn't avoid the green screen (after all, you don't get half a million extras for nothing), but I didn't mind it so much because it shows that even with the bare minimum you can compete against multiple odds. The protagonist is a nice guy and I enjoyed the strategies with his gadgets, and the confident leader on the other side as a bad guy is good as well. I also liked the introduction of the sacred bow by King Jumong, who was the only one in the world who knew how to use it. Good. 75%.

This is a very nice surprise that is more thriller than horror, but that doesn't matter here. The story revolves around the beautiful Lola, who earns her money through erotic webcam shows and tries to move up in the rankings. Unfortunately, someone steals her identity, taking almost everything from her and Lola doesn't like that. It's very original, colourful, quite smart, funny, decently acted, disturbing and mysterious at the same time, and above all it is exciting and sexy, something the gentlemen will enjoy, as there are plenty of butts and boobs. The finale is very nicely set up and the only thing that bothered me was that we don't get answers to certain questions. Netflix has been pedaling on the gas incredibly towards the end of the year and has improved significantly since January. Good job. 75%

The anticipated exploitation flick The Farm unfortunately failed to live up to expectations and the curse on my favorite subgenre continues. The story revolves around a couple who accidentally end up at a local farm where a group of uncommunicative people in masks keep tourists in cages and treat them like animals. The idea itself is perverse enough, and the women being artificially inseminated to supply milk to the local restaurant is quite powerful, but there’s no gore (apart from one shot), and the acting is appalling to the point of amateurishness. You have no connection to the characters, the music is quite wacky but doesn't build tension or momentum, it's quite slow and uninteresting in places, and the finale is unfortunately neither action-packed nor satisfying. It's a shame about the unused theme. The whole film builds on a perverse idea that could have benefited from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but nothing worthy of attention is delivered. For me, I don't recommend it. 40%.

The story focuses on a professional hitman who has to kill someone and deliver their body to a certain place, but the dragging corpse wrapped in plastic gets people on the streets excited and becomes the attraction of the evening. Tom Bateman plays the professional with enthusiasm and leaves no witness alive, but the murders didn't particularly interest me and at times it comes across as too silly. Fortunately, the series keeps a decent pace and doesn't get boring. The participation of Pablo from Ash vs Evil Dead is also a pleasure.

The Hungarians present the case of a brutal serial killer who murdered young women in 1960s socialist Hungary. It is a very nice surprise that captures the story, the atmosphere and the form of treatment, and the case itself is more than interesting. A sleazy killer is based around the Hungarian countryside, picking off random victims while an innocent guy is wrongly convicted and stuck in prison. The murders are pretty decently brutal and the killer even likes to strip his women, and I really enjoyed the young determined cop who tries to catch the killer while proving the innocence of the wrongly convicted man. A very decent piece of work from Hungary. 75%

The Poles are trying to follow the example of the French and the Spaniards, and they are definitely going in the right direction, but they still fall short of their quality. This film is a bit reminiscent of Wild Tales and maybe even draws a bit from it, but script-wise it's somewhat underdeveloped, although the finale is good, everything fits together nicely, but the typical shock effect doesn't come through. The humour works occasionally and boredom doesn't set in, but it could have been a lot better with a better director. Still, a cautious thumbs up for the Poles. 65%.

David Mackenzie is awesome and after Hell or High Water he serves up the best historical film of the decade with the excellent Chris Pine improving film by film. Absolutely everything works here, the accurate history, the spectacular production design, the impressive costumes and sets (gorgeous castles), the naked queen is not missing, the impressive milking of emotions throughout the film, and most importantly, the spectacular battles where blood and bodies are certainly not spared. The scene with the horses is an absolute highlight of the genre and will probably make horse lovers cry. High praise also goes to Douglas, who steals most of the scenes for himself and is horrifically brutal in them. A wonderful and near-perfect film and experience, where my only regret is that I couldn't see it on the big screen. One of the best films of the year. After a second viewing the enthusiasm has waned slightly, but still good. 80%

The ultimate guilty pleasure and the best war horror movie ever. Hereditary is the most essential horror film of the year, Ghostland the most intense, A Quiet Place the most original and Overlord is the most emotional and brutal. Overlord serves up a whirlwind of eye-candy attractions from the 5th minute that don’t let up and leave you gasping for breath until the closing credits. A technically perfect polished action spree with breathtaking cinematography, an atmosphere driven by a nostalgic “Wolfenstein”, a likeable bunch of soldiers whose fate you care about and spectacular action backed by juicy gore. The make-up artists are incredibly skilled and serve up some very nice shots. The film manages to build solid tension on several occasions, there is no shortage of shocking jump scares and killing Nazis has never been more effective and entertaining in a film than here. There are fewer zombies, but they are all the more unstoppable bastards. Story-wise, the film doesn't wow, but anyone expecting Oscar nominations from a WWII horror film is out of their mind. Here clearly form wins over content, which not everyone will buy, but those who agree to the rules of the film will literally gush with excitement and thrill. It's a pity that Overlord probably won't make it to local cinemas, it will lose its charm at home on TV. The last time I left the cinema this excited was Deadpool 2 this year.