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Lovecraft Country (2020)
Started well, quickly turned bad
Looking at the first episode I would say that the characters are engaging and interesting, the episode is well paced, holding my attention throughout but I didn't like the ending, it was a little farcical. The interpretation of H. P. Lovecraft seemed far too tangible in this episode but certainly I will be watching more episodes because of the characters and the production quality whilst hoping that they get a little less tangible and a little more Lovecraft. Sadly getting into episode two is where I totally lose interest with watered down characters, some cheesy effects and it just feels totally lost in what it's trying to do. I can't bring myself to watch more episodes. The early promise was well and truly broken.
Uglies (2024)
Flawed
This is a world where pretty young people are called uglies who aspire to be pretty people but it pretty much gets forced onto them anyway when they turn sixteen. The premise is predictable and unimaginative. It sits in the teen genre that only really The Hunger Games (2012) has done well with. This film is as shallow as you'd expect. The morals are predictable but at least it's not totally one dimensional, it's more like two dimensional but certainly not three dimensional like the real world. Actually the real world probably is action fourth dimensional but now getting metaphysical. The special effects are okay, some look better than others. The pretty city does look beautiful. The characters are generic. The whole ageing and death thing is never fully explained. The acting is okay. The economics that make the world function makes no sense. I absolutely hated the ending and marked it down from average passing the time to below average frustration.
Castle Freak (1995)
Badly paced
This felt more like an eighties Italian horror movie than a nineties monster horror. It suffers from very little happening which makes it boring to watch. Jeffrey Combs tries to carry the film but even he can't make it entertaining. I blame the writing mostly, it lacks any depth or anything to make it engaging. There are a handful of memorable moments and excellent set-pieces but they are far too rare to save the tedium. It's like they built an entire film around four cool scenes they wanted to make. The makeup, gore and location are good and most of the acting. The climax is satisfying. It has a great title but is a disappointing film. It should have been 40 minutes shorter.
The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
Uneven
The film looked very nice most of the time but then there were these over-the-top sequences that felt so out-of-place and detracted from the seriousness of the movie. The sound design was amazing! It really did sound gorgeous. Great use of the surround sound and beautifully mixed. Possibly the best sound mix I have ever heard. The only other one that springs to mind was Eden Lake (2008) but that was less dynamic and creative than this film. It started off like a slasher movie but ended slightly differently. The problem was that the pacing was very uneven and the whole ending was a bit nonsensical - should have been more out there to make it more acceptable. It was an interesting fundamental idea though. This needed to be paced faster with more stuff regarding the ending back-story. It's a bit uneven.
Ju-on (2002)
Jumpy fun
This contains strong prolonged terror, fear, tension, scares, horror and so on. It is very similar to the American version but more confusing. I do prefer the American one. This is just as scary though and really builds up a petrifying punch. It is good having two versions of the same film as the timings and the like are slightly different, prolonging the longevity of the film as you can essentially watch it twice! This is highly recommended and will scare you. See both versions. The key selling point are the really well executed jump scares, probably the best jump scares in movies are within the grudge.
Zombi Holocaust (1980)
Terrible acting
Horrid, disgusting, gross. And that's just the script. The violence is pretty disgusting too. That is the only reason to watch this pretty bad film - for the violence. Even that isn't really worth watching it for. There is an attractive naked blonde woman. Really it just has terrible acting, no tension or atmosphere, bad dubbing, shockingly bad direction and the worst script on this planet. The bloody violent practical effects are good and nothing else. If you hadn't realised already, this is a bad film. Having violence in a film might briefly make it watchable but a film needs so much more to be worthwhile.
The Unnamable (1988)
Slasher, average film
This is better than your average slasher but worse than the good slashers so overall it sits probably very slightly below average for all films. The production quality is quite low but this is engaging because of the Lovecraft lore. The acting is average at best, mostly the acting is pretty poor. Personally I really like the cinematography but I could see how most people wouldn't like it and think the film looked horrible. The monster was really cool but I don't think that it is true to the Lovecraft mythology. I can see how something so intangible and impossible to see with normal eyes is so difficult to translate as originally written to film.
The Dunwich Horror (1970)
Slow brooding
Whilst this is flawed it is still worth watching even fifty years later. It is a slow brooding Lovecraft mystery. It feels very seventies in style and tone. The fight scene is absolutely terrible, the lack of music, the bad fight cinematography and bad fight choreography really destroy this scene and make it unwatchable. Other than that the film has no real major issues but some might argue it is a little dated. It is a pretty abstract interpretation of Lovecraft which is probably the most correct and it also feels accurate to the original lore. It's not the best but it is entertaining but dated.
White Zombie (1932)
Deserves a good remake
I know this is an old film but It has such poor definition it is really quite hard to watch. It looks totally soft the whole time. Contrast is poor with almost no mid-range. Some of the locations would have looked pretty cool if I could have seen them! Sorry but this is hard to look at, some films from this time look great so it could have looked good. The sound quality is also dreadful. Very hard to make out what they are saying. There is massive hiss all over everything. I really wanted to enjoy this film but the technical limitations make it so hard to enjoy. I think that it was quite a good idea to raise the dead to work in a mine. It seems like a good plan, you know, for efficient use of resources. This could do with a remake, the 2014 'remake' doesn't count as that looks dreadful.
Gezora, Ganime, Kameba: Kessen! Nankai no daikaijû (1970)
Not worth the effort
This is a pretty typical and forgettable seventies kaiju movie with very little to talk about. I only just watched it and I remember almost nothing of this! The kaiju action is too bright like most of the earlier colour Godzilla films and the style is quite comic rather than realistic. The human story is relatively interesting and the kaiju action is entertaining enough to get you to the end although it is probably not worth watching even for Godzilla completionists. They stay on the island so there isn't any city smashing. It's fine, just not worth the effort to find and watch. Shame but what can you do?
Lost Highway (1997)
Strange metaphors
Eraserhead (1977) - didn't understand, didn't expect to, never expect to. Dune (1984) - understood, don't want to again. Blue Velvet (1986) - understood, wanted to. Lost Highway (1997) - didn't understand, wanted to. This is a good film very much in the vein of David Lynch's other films that I have seen. It is strange and full of metaphors that aren't meant to be understood but sometimes are. This one is better than Dune but worse than Eraserhead and Blue Velvet. It is sadly let down by the story making no sense and not being as psychologically scary as the ones I prefer. Worth watching as the first hour is very creepy and good but after that it slowly falls down. Needs a lot of thought but probably won't help with any understanding. I should add that the story ultimately isn't that important as the atmosphere is excellent.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Not as good as expected
I didn't love this film but I didn't hate it. It looked more fake than Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), I realise that it had a lot of CGI but it actually all looked like it was meant to be there, in Furiosa it looked like they were in a studio most of the time. The film is a lot slower than the previous film focussing on story rather than action and the story isn't the most engaging but it's okay. Fury Road told more in the first 15 minutes than Furiosa did in the first hour. The problem with origin stories is that you know the outcome so the danger is less. Then at the hour marker there is an incredible sequence that looks better than anything from Fury Road, so you could feasibly skip the first hour and not miss much. Some elements of this film are better than Fury Road like the look but overall it's lacking in comparison. The fifth act was not needed and went on so long and drawn out without telling that much, so you can skip the last 30 minutes too. Realistically it's a 4 out of 10 if it wasn't for the excellent action in the middle. If I was going to put them in order it would be Fury Road, Mad Max (2015 video game), Mad Max 2 (1981), Mad Max (1979), Furiosa and finally Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).
Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira (1966)
Not aged well
I didn't like this film. It could be because I have watched way too many giant monster movies recently or it could be because this isn't very original or very good. There is absolutely no backstory or recap, they go into this assuming you know what is going on. There was a previous film but I haven't seen it because I didn't realise it existed until I had started this one. I don't think I'll bother with it. This film is pretty slow and very repetitive and unoriginal. It's just giant monsters against the army and then against each other with no real resolution. Maybe I've just seen too many Toho kaiju movies, they are losing their charm. The kaiju costumes looked especially bad in this film and why did they call them Frankensteins? At least the model cities that they smashed and the model tanks were pretty cool as always. Overall not worth watching even if I enjoyed seeing the Maser being used again.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
Better than expected
I was really surprised that I actually liked this film, well the first half anyway. The first half was actually about the titular hunger games and was really engaging. It lasted about 90 minutes of the movie and would have been a perfect place to finish it. That is because the last hour was a mess, it should have ended after the games. The first half was really engaging and well paced, possibly it could have been 80 minutes instead of 90 but whatever. The final hour was an hour too long. This is probably my favourite of the franchise excluding the original film. It has two very engaging lead characters which beats the engaging one character of the original series. Production quality was excellent all-round as you would expect and the design was less obnoxious than the original.
Irréversible (2002)
Hard to watch
This was an immensely difficult film to watch. It had a fantastic style to the direction and story. That was the easy part; the difficult part was the intensity of one scene. The scenes were long. There is a rape which is not as shocking as The Last House on the Left (1972) or as prolonged as I Spit on Your Grave (1978) and it did offer a happier ending but it still dragged an unnerving brutality. This does have the most brutal scene that I have ever seen. I was shaking afterwards. It is difficult to watch and contrary to the clever central theme, in this case time is a healer and does not destroy everything. Mainly because you forget. It's a good shocking drama, although only for the strong minded to get over the trauma. I will never watch it again.
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Fun and chaotic
This is not a "good" movie in the traditional sense of the word but oh my gosh this certainly is an entertaining movie. So if you are not pretentious then you gotta see this one! You don't even need to see any of the previous ones. It's a giant monster, actually no, it's lots of giant monsters. And aliens. You really can't get bored watching this. I didn't like the look of the film, like they tried to copy The Matrix (1999) but without any of the finesse. In fact, it takes a lot from other films, most notably The Matrix as already mentioned but also from the Star Wars films. Not that I mind as the series has done it's own takes on James Bond, Indiana Jones and The Terminator to name a few direct previous influences. There are so many kaiju in this film and there are aliens and lots of city smashing so this is certainly the best of this era of Godzilla but falls short of most of the previous era. The kaiju are all looking the best that they ever looked.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Slightly below average
This is a dull eighties movie that should never have been branded Halloween as it isn't. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it had been simply called Season of the Witch instead. The movie itself does not live up to the franchise heritage, neither the excellent ones before or even the weaker ones after this entry. It is better than the Blumhouse ones though. There are many better things to watch. This is not a true sequel either and should be regarded thusly. Having ranted about that I do admit that you can have fun, especially if you don't mind some of the most eighties cliches ever. There is some entertaining gore and if it had not been for the title it would be a less disappointing film, maybe even an average one!
Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989)
So eighties
The sound quality and picture quality were a little ugly but this could have been down to a bad quality transfer. The effects and design were ample for the purpose. Nothing special though. I liked the attempt at a modern take of a classic story. Shame that it is really tacky and unimaginative! Still tacky cheesy fun is contained within which is something. It was enjoyable seeing Pauly Shore looking fresh-faced and young but he hadn't fully become the weasel yet. Apart from one cool moment and some fun stunts it is average tacky cheese from the eighties. This deserves a remake, it could have been better!
Death Proof (2007)
Pretentious
Tarantino fails again to make a film that I enjoy. I liked the idea of a Grindhouse movie but when I saw this deliberately bad movie I lost a little of my life. It was bad. They tried hard to make it bad and that is why some people will like it but it is why I hated it. There are bad films out there that are good and they are made with much less fuss. The special effects took over in one place to ruin the b-movie feel. The dialogue was painfully uninteresting and the finale was so terrible. 'So bad it's good' turns out to be nothing but bad trying too hard to be good. Pretentious filmmaking that has not aged well. Stick to real Grindhouse b-movies, not these fake ones. If you can look past the fakeness this is mildly entertaining.
King Kong (1933)
Best of the franchise
This looks amazing considering when it was made. Like even today I enjoy looking at this film. Even the sound was good for the time. It was a bit hissy and obviously has issues but overall the sound is fine. The pace of this movie is so much better than the Peter Jackson remake. It is so much less boring. In fact this version is not boring at all, it is genuinely a good and entertaining movie. Most importantly though, Kong did not go ice skating! Not many films are timeless, often watching 'good' films many years after they are made they are no longer 'good' but this is one rare film that is probably still as 'good' as when it was made.
Cabin Fever (2002)
Memorable but not the best
I found this a very good horror comedy. You really grow to hate the main characters right from the beginning until the end. The gore is quite gross in places although nothing too strenuous except maybe the leg shaving scene. It is very fast paced so there is no room for getting bored or thinking about the characterisation. It is well worth watching and is very entertaining. It is funny as well as disgusting. It really is quite a memorable film. So it's not the best and re-watchability is lacking but it certainly is worth watching once, if only for a handful of excellent scenes and plenty of filler.
Daikaijû Baran (1958)
Doesn't hold up
This isn't a great film but there are some entertaining moments. It is very slow, but at least we see the kaiju fairly early on in the film. It suffers from being quite repetitive. They see the monster and it destroys a village, the army comes and fights it in the forest but it escapes, they fight it in the ocean but it escapes, they fight it near the city. Lots of missiles getting fired and the monster lumbers around. The human story is very forgettable as are the characters. The effects are pretty standard for the time which is enjoyable and makes the film what it is. Not quite as good as Godzilla (1954) but probably not as bad as Atragon (1963).
Baghead (2023)
Average
I wasn't expecting much at all but the start pleasantly surprised me with a very engaging opening. It reminded me of Talk to Me (2022) but this is infinitely better. The key cast Freya Allan and Peter Mullan were excellent but the rest of the cast felt like drama school students in their first film, the supporting cast really were below average and sadly brought down the excellent performances from the leads. The use of animations for the flashbacks was really disconnecting to the main story and felt out-of-place. It's not the most original film with stereotypes and fairly direct inspiration from other films like The Exorcist III: Legion (1990), Ju-on: The Grudge (2002) and even The Evil Dead (1981). Having said all that, I actually enjoyed the film even if I won't remember it next week. The pacing is excellent and I didn't get bored, the main cast are captivating and there are some good scares.
Sora no daikaijû Radon (1956)
Not aged well
This starts with quite good suspense and a surprising amount of gore for a kaiju movie. The first act very much reminded me of The Thing from Another World (1951). The middle section of the film is really dull and boring though. Even with the suspenseful opening it is still an incredibly slow first hour. When Rodan emerges around the hour marker it gets slightly more interesting but then quickly becomes boring again. So little actually happens in this film. What city smashing and kaiju action we have is a welcome break from the monotony but it's really not enough and all the tanks firing gets repetitive quickly. If this had been 20 minutes I think it would have been quite good but at 1 hour and 22 minutes it feels very long and doesn't hold your attention. The human story is boring and forgettable, the kaiju story is copied from Godzilla (1954), the ending is very disappointing and offers very little explanation. Some of the effects are laughable with the scale of the monsters changes between scenes. The day for night looks bad.
[Rec] (2007)
Found footage shakes
I am going to warn you that I didn't like this movie, to the point it annoyed me, mostly because the American remake, Quarantine (2008), fixes most of the issues that this film had. First thing that bothered me was that the movie looked horrible. It was so shaky that it looked terrible. It did kinda draw you in but I still hated it and it made me feel sick and I couldn't tell what was going on. The camera operator was deliberately bad, no professional is ever this bad. The sound design was fine, it actually sounded good which doesn't match the video but I actually don't mind the lack of "authenticity". The story was a bit lacking. It was slightly believable and thought provoking but too slow, basic and badly paced. The characters should have carried the movie but were forgettable. There are three exciting moments in the first half hour interspersed with lots of boredom. It does ramp up with ever-increasing fear but is completely destroyed due to the painful camerawork. Stick to the remake or avoid found-footage horror altogether.