#89 - Rome 2033: The Fighter Centurions (1984)

"Belonging to those classic post mad max cash ins where the entire film's premise is seemingly spun through how many terrible car chases or fights there can be and everything else was merely an exhausting afterthought, this one could have been so good (directed by the legendary Fulci) but shuffles along so slowly with pointless meandering and padding that when we finally get to anything of interest its a challenge to consider it worth getting there - not to say exploding bikes in extended fight scenes aren't shamefully enjoyable"


- 3/10

#88 - Strange Beasts [short] (2018)

"A short that is very reminiscent of a Black Mirror build up and pay off scaled down to only five minutes. The premise of technology indulging all we yearn for is one well tread, but there is a clever trade off here, an original build up of innocent gaming before crashing into the final staggering 30 seconds of realisation of just how far it has gone. Like all good sci-fi it's a challenge on how far we will go in technology for our own needs to be fulfilled"


- 7/10

#87 - Arctic Blast (2010)

"Creaks its way through your typical disaster fare albeit on a lower budget. The premise is simple but engaging enough, although the lack of money leads to some seriously questionable shots of the extreme cold (read: bad cgi) and the tension is never really that strong as the main characters drive away from an almost sentient ice fog with relative ease. Far from bland, but bogged down by everything reaching levels of mediocrity at best, it simmers through the runtime - one for only the diehard disaster fans"

- 4.5/10

#86 - April Fool's Day (1986)

"Runs through the motions you expect from a mid eighties slasher with all the pieces to form that perfectly cliched horror  puzzle. It's a tame affair for the most part, although making the characters likable is a step up from the rest of this saturated genre - time is actually spent making us care about those we know are being led to slaughter. Despite this, the ending caught me completely and utterly off-guard, a wonderful twist elevating this from standard farce - although that doesn't make it good"


-5.5/10

#85 - Mute (2018)

"A tombola of sci-fi idioms spun madly and without rhyme or reason most of the time. There's lots to admire in the world we see, but it's nothing without a story behind it we want to engage with. Mute's a story that never seems to really deserve the setting it tells itself in. You keep waiting for the pace to quicken, but it continues in an uneven shuffle to its eventual, cathartic finale that makes you wonder if the intriguing mess beforehand was worth it"


- 5/10

#84 - Pay the Ghost (2015)

"Surprisingly there's almost a good idea buried beneath the numerous layers of uninspiring mediocrity on display here, however it's hard to develop when enveloped in a shell of cliched horror tropes that engulf the screen for the majority of the runtime. The exposition flows at the most inopportune moments, at one point hamstrung in only 15 minutes from the end! The horror itself is oldhat but there are a couple of shots which keep boredom from completely taking over - most of these unintentional humour"

- 3/10

  

#83 - Strange Blood (2015)

"Low budget body horror done well, this is an intriguing and unorthodox slant on vampire mythology, a grotesque blend of loosely based scientific reasoning for transformation - the trope of destruction via ones own hubris - that pulls you in and hits straight for the jugular. Despite obvious budget issues, the film  maintains its dread with vivid and effective practical effects, and the lead performance is exemplary - the downfall is believable, the malice that builds both physically and mentally nothing other than utterly convincing"


- 7/10

#82 - Given [documentary] (2016)

"Passes by in a haze of beautiful shots and myriad of cultures and people, this tells a story of an alternative way of existing without feeling preachy or judgmental of the average. At its heart, through the narration being from the child, is a tale of finding your own self and what it means to do and be. Whilst rather enjoyable, the pessimist in me can't help but think most would love to try such a thing but could never afford to"

- 7/10  

#81 - Temple (2017)

"Utterly vapid and devoid of anything even resembling a cohesive or interesting story, this is an apt reminder to all writers and directors that having a potentially interesting idea for one location doesn't always mean you can flesh out an entire film around it. So long is spent building up characters that are stale and boring to watch, their actions perplexing and tedious. When something finally happens you're praying for the credits to start rolling rather than survival of the characters"


- 2/10

#80 - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

"Charming and endearing, after the quintessential heroes journey story told through Harry Potter, it is refreshing to see none of this here. Instead, Newt is driven not by prophecy or 'chosen one' syndrome, but instead his own, deep compassion for the beasts he nurtures and wishes to understand. It's telling that set not long after a horrific war, this film deals with themes of peace and knowledge triumphing over raw aggression and automatic violence in the face of the unknown"


- 8/10

#79 - The Human Equation [short] (2018)

"Whilst decent framing and interesting cinematography is enough to peak an interest, there always needs to be some thing underneath that it builds and complete - a story worth watching. The problem here is nothing is developed. Ambiguity can be good, but this borders the line between cryptic and laziness, with every new element not building on the last - a scattershot of elements that grab the eye but not much more. The potential's there, but only simmering underneath the surface"


- 4/10 

note: this is the 20/03 film, review posted early hours of 21/03

#78 - The Funhouse Massacre (2015)

"Straight from the mind of a 14 year old who's watched too much Rob Zombie, funhouse massacre is apologetically trashy in a deliberate manner of 'too cool for you', however there's a definite degree of gory fun to be found here. Despite the cliches and the bad acting at time, the hokey sets and eyebrow raising excuse for a 'story', it is  hard not to rinse a sense of schlocky satisfaction from this evidently very self aware horror"


- 5/10

#77 - The Device [short] (2012)

"A simple premise about a man finding a strange device that can teleport him wherever he wants if he is thinking of that place, which takes him from his car to the train station to a beach in a picture. We know this is probably leading to a sinister conclusion and it doesn't disappoint - the protagonist sitting on the device whilst reading an article about a black hole, instantly transported and leaving us with the horrific implication"


- 6/10

#76 - The Black Hole [short] (2008)

"A thoroughly enjoyable short that frames its morals about greed with an absorbing premise. We watch as a tired office worker prints a black hole on a page that allows him to pass through walls and  objects, the first thought to test before moving straight to stealing, first food then money. The end is fantastic and an excellent examination on how greed literally consumes, traps, and ultimately destroys those who are encompassed and entranced with it"


- 8/10

#75 - Identity (2003)

"The set up is richly mystifying; quick cuts between characters alluding to a slick, slasher whodunnit - all a framework for the real story that bubbles gloriously underneath. As the confusion grows both for the characters and the audience, the truth slowly dawns as the hints become more relentless. This is a deeply enjoyable thriller that earns its tension, which is rich and thick, before churning towards the grueling but disappointingly cliche ridden conclusive final moments"


- 7.5/10 

#74 - Dust [short] (2018)

"A refreshingly different approach to telling a message of self belief. Through the wonderfully alien creature we follow its attempt for contact of any kind. The scrawled messages of negativity do not deter, nor the pigeons that fly away as perhaps a metaphor of how we can't always fit in with the 'normal' crowd. But, in the end,creativity breeds others literally like-minded: this feels a tale of being true to yourself no matter what"


- 7/10

#73 - Pin (1988)

"An engagingly unique horror hook, this is a slow burner focused more on psychological and tension fulled dread than any hack and slash gore fest. Shades of Psycho run through the membrane of this film, especially as we follow the main characters mental status decline more and more, each crumbling stage wielding more and more sinister results. As the anticipation builds the worry finally breaks in an absorbing and satisfying final twenty minutes"


- 7/10

Note - this was 14/03 film, the review posted early hours of the next day. 

#72 - Annihilation (2018)

Both visceral and mindful, a trance-like experience of non-linear storytelling that rides that fine balance between tension, exposition, and pay off. Garland excels at releasing snippets of information from both the human and inhuman ends of the story, coaxing us to theorise and daring us to guess. Ultimately, it's a reflection on humanity, of self destruction and, more poignantly, why do we self destruct on all ends of a scale


- 8.5/10   

#71 - Lady Bird (2017)

"Captures that wonderful moment in time of a life coming of age and trying to understand their own contradictions, intricacies and realisations. Like a polaroid that shows the essence of a moment this film grabs an image and develops  it, each flick of the picture giving scene by scene more detail and minutia, building on the skeleton of what we start with: a story of a person trying to understand themselves"


- 8/10 

#70 - Look Who's Talking (1989)

"Surprisingly charming, this has all the makings of an off the conveyor belt exercise in saccharine romcom, but instead flickers between the expected and the surreal, from unironic montage to a darkly comical dream sequence. This clash works in its favour, for outside the earnest performances and unique narrative of the baby, the strangely enjoyable moments are only peppered over a stale story that we have all seen lots before"


- 6/10

#69 - Jago: A Life Underwater [documentary] (2015)

"Sails between dramatic re-enactment, interview, and beautifully tranquil shots of the ocean and islands around Indonesia. This snippet of a life that sounds straight from another age is almost hypnotising in its fluidity and slowly snares like a tide moving in, you eye unable to look away from the striking colours of a crystal sea all painted against the story of a simple hunter and his intriguing story"


- 8/10

#68 - Still [short] (2017)

"Simple but effective shots are genuinely ominous, especially the first 'fright' as it feels real and punctures the primal need for safety. A great POV shot as our protagonist lurches through the house to the back door imparts a rushing sense of urgency. A concoction of dark humour splices the straight up horror but it works, almost a stab at unreliable narration before the slightly disappointing predictable finale"


- 7/10 

#67 - Resurrection of Evil (2016)

"What could have been an intriguing premise with potential for surreal shots/tension is unfortunately abandoned for your cookie-cutter jump scares and standard horror fare. Our protagonist's motivations are weak, and it is hard to believe she would go to the lengths she does in the beginning; the mental gymnastics undergone to arrive at the conclusions the script needs her to leaves only a simmering boredom"


- 4/10

#66 - Polaroid [short] (2017)

"A simple enough horror short effectively done. We all know what is coming once the first photo is taken, but the film is still effective in building up tension and making us question 'will they do a jump scare or won't they?' Even for a three  minute short there is good use of close shots and space to make the most of the slowly building fear"


- 6.5/10 

#65 - The Vault (2017)

"A mish-mash of genre so wildly different it's as if the writer was so happy to have thought of it they forgot that it would actually need a satisfying crescendo and conclusion. The horror elements are tired and nothing new and the characters slowly become irrationally written and acting however the plot needs them to, which is a shame after a genuinely good first act"


- 4/10

#64 - Red Sparrow (2018)

"Through a cynical lens this spy thriller goes through a woefully boring traction - a painfully unoriginal attempt of a protagonist. The biggest insult is the abundance of talent on show from numerous directions, but it is filtered into an asinine yawn fest of a story where to try and even attempt to care is more of an effort than the script ever hoped for"




- 4/10

#63 - Night Train (2009)

"Echoes of twilight zone and tales from the crypt resonate across this surprisingly captivating low budget thriller. Our three main protagonists are solid as the tension and dread cranks up, especially through Glover's tired and troubled character who serves as the audience's mouthpiece. The second half devolves into an almost surrealist nightmare, and it's a shame the finale is a rushed, muddled derailing"


- 6/10

#62 - Ravenous (2017)

"In a genre as saturated as the zombie survival horror one, it's refreshing to see a clear artistic vision framed on screen. This brooding and reflecting piece seems to place more focus on the regret of a life not fully lived  rather than looking forward to surviving the future. It yields mixed results, a clash of fantastic and frustrating scenes sewn together"


- 6/10

#61 - Trapped [short] (2016)

How much can you convey in just sixty seconds? Apparently quite a bit. This enjoyable, little short takes a banal situation such as trapping yourself in a room and manages to display fear, panic, worry, humour, embarrassment, joy, and finally relief all in a minute with the obvious larger message being 'think differently = you can do anything,' which works just fine


- 7/10 

#60 - Jiro Dreams of Sushi [documentary] (2011)

"A serene daydream of a documentary. Jiro's art of perfection teeters from inspiring to insanity, the methodical execution of even the smallest and minutest of tasks in his restaurant well practiced and drilled over decades to only the highest standards. This devotion to his craft is commendable, but perfection like this leads to both strains and sacrifices for everything else"


- 7.5/10