EvilPhoEniX

An excellent indie film with great actors, a great idea, and a powerful and touching story that could have easily happened. From the start, the film takes a look into the life of a molecular biologist and his work, and I found it both refreshing and engaging. The interesting scientific facts and intelligent dialogue kept me on my toes. Once the protagonist falls in love, the romantic level works, which then turns into an instant shock and a maddeningly uncompromising twist, which was properly shocking considering the genre. I still found the following events very unexpected, with one unpleasant situation after another, and luckily the finale comes with a strong emotional dose that swayed me decently. I never thought about my eyes like I did after watching this film. Clever and with a drive. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it in the end. 8/10.

The worst "Resident Evil" adaptation, the worst Netflix series and the worst series of the year, an absolute joke, in which Netflix unfortunately failed. I'm not a fan of the game, so the fact that it's not a proper adaptation doesn't bother me, but I can understand the annoyed fans who love the game series and then get this kick in the balls. I, however, just wanted a fun and brutal zombie slaughter with monsters where limbs will fly to my living room like in the much-maligned and beloved Army of the Dead, but no, that doesn't happen here either and with that the developers have signed their verdict. The creators made a teen post-apocalyptic story with two sisters in two timelines and 80% of the show is flashbacks, their relationship with each other, teen problems, well in short stuff that nobody cares about. The zombies themselves are on the scene for about 30 minutes total out of the 7 hour runtime, and that's pathetic. The whole series has uninteresting, dysfunctional and badly acted characters, it has a cheap look (the crocodile at the end was already quite bordering on Asylum), it's all artificial, uninteresting with all the modern trends (The Boys had that too, but they went for it in a smart and bold way), the story is about nothing and the action is at least average, but there is so little of it that it's not even worth mentioning. The spiders in the 3rd episode and the motorbike games in the 4th episode were passable. Maybe if they'd upped the budget, swapped the two central girls for two likeable marines who would make a lot of noise and cut to the chase, I might even be relatively satisfied despite the aforementioned negatives, but as it is, it's a teen soap opera with zombies in the background and with an Resident Evil label. Some people have written that if it wasn't called Resindent Evil, it would be a blast. I disagree, I don't think it matters what the show is called, it’d still be the same shit. I miss Racoon City! 3.5/10.

The Unreal Engine is definitely a game changer in the entertainment industry that will gradually turn indie creators into the mainstream. This is the future of film and it's a blast. Get Netflix to order an entire movie and series immediately. Again, a short that could be classified as sci-fi with a touch of Alien. Great atmosphere and visuals, nice monster.

Beautiful CGI visuals. An episode that could easily belong to Love, Death & Robots. Dystopian Sci-Fi packed with action, a stunning planet and an original central monster. Delicious.

This short is awesome! Amazing CGI visuals of a polluted underwater world where mutated creatures eat each other. The shark is again a bad ass villain. Great, suspenseful, dark, brutal, breathtaking. I want a feature film immediately and in horror!

Solid retro psychological-detective-supernatural kidnap thriller. The Black Phone was talked about as one of the potential horror films of the year, unfortunately that didn't happen, but it's still a solid film and one of the better ones. Scott Derrickson is well-versed in the horror genre and is one of the better filmmakers of the last decade, but I found his previous horror release Deliver Us from Devil to be sharper. From the start, The Black Phone impresses with its chilling 1970s visuals that add to the sultry atmosphere of gloomy Denver, where there is a man who kidnaps local children and kills them known as the Grabber. It has that feel of an proper crime drama, too bad we don’t get to really enjoy the investigation itself. The film is not officially based on real events, but it’s inspired by them. The main characters include sibling duo Gwen and Finney, both impress with strong child acting. Gwen in particular steals all the scenes for herself in the beginning of the film – the conversation with her father is downright uncomfortable and emotionally powerful to the point of being Oscar-worthy. Finney is the boy who is kidnapped and even though he comes across as a pushover at first, he shows skill and talent as the story progresses. The film flows at a slower pace, there are purely only two horror scenes, and they are two decently executed scares. Ethan Hawke is solid as the bad guy but I agree he could have had more space and the mythology around him could have been explained to the viewer in more detail. I enjoyed the concept where Finney has the ability to communicate through a black phone with previous Grabber victims. Pulling it up to above average for me was the nicely paced finale, where there was a bit of violence in a well put together duel. All in all, the film builds more on atmosphere, acting performances and confident direction, but those expecting first-rate horror may be slightly disappointed. Story 4/5. Action 2/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 7/10.

An Average Korean gangster movie. The lack of any names both in front of and behind the camera makes it clear that this is more of a cheaper film. Although the Korean visuals are again on a decent level, it just doesn't have the necessary style and flair. The story doesn't have the necessary build-up and I didn't find it very interesting. The material itself has been done several times before and much better. The main character has been working for a mob boss for 20 years, but wants to get independent and start something of his own, yet a guy comes to town who is a murder suspect and starts causing mischief around town. There's not much action, occasionally someone gets disemboweled with a knife, which looks pleasantly gritty, and there's some pretty good music in one sequence, but that's not enough for me. What to do with a film where there's little action and the story isn’t very engaging? A watchable average. 5/10.

It's more of a romantic drama than a comedy, which is a bit of a bummer because the idea and the dialogue make a decent relationship drama where two different people get dumped at the same time, meet by chance and agree to help each other out and get their old partners back – I could really see myself in some of the situations. It's intelligent and the characters behave mostly rationally. In the end it does turn out exactly as the viewer wants and hopes, but I don't mind. Add a funnier element and it would have been 4 stars. The threesome scene the funniest. 65%.

The second part of the excellent action comedy The Fable is a slight disappointment for me, but it is still a decent genre average by Japanese standards. The first part is a big hit for me, it has amazing action, a nice R-rating, a comic touch, effective humour, good visuals and awesome pacing, but the second lacks most of that. The sequel rule definitely doesn't apply here, it neither bigger norm action packed. It's a shame that the main character keeps his promise of not wanting to kill anyone, because he is an awesome Hitman, an unrivalled, fast, an unstoppable machine in close combat, and he's good with weapons too, but they pretty much kill his potential. The sequel focuses much more on the story, adding a romantic element, the humor didn't work for me at all and there are only two action scenes, one in the opening with a car and awesome choreography and cinematography, and the other in the middle, again well shot, but because of his promise the protagonist shoots blanks, so there’s no blood. The finale, on the other hand, is presented in a more intimate way, and that's where the film lost me, because it's really pitiful to squeeze 15 minutes of action scenes out of 130 minutes of running time, especially when they are shot so well. The film itself also works as a drama and it will find its fans, but I wanted an action flick in the style of the first, and that doesn't happen. Story 4/5. Action 3/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 2/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 3/5. 5.5/10

A clever little horror thriller from the director of Disturbia. Shut In is a surprisingly solid thriller that obviously didn’t cost much, but works well as both a survival drama and a thriller, and surprised me quite a few times. The film is set in a house with a mother with two young children who accidentally lock themselves in their pantry and can't get out. A pretty scary situation for both the main character herself and the small children behind the door, where practically anything can happen. Her drug-addicted ex hangs around with his friend who is known for abusing children and the problems start. Rainey Qualley is both likeable and gutsy, and for a film that takes place mostly in a pantry, there are a surprising number of tense situations (the hand under the door scene definitely leads the way). Of course there are a few illogical situations and the film itself doesn't have much ambition to deliver anything more than a suspenseful genre piece, but if you don't mind that, Shut In can reliably entertain on a dull evening. Story 2/5. Action 2/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 3/5. 6/10.