blackmelo Reviews

The Fall Guy (2024)

excellent film

[10/10 · 18 May 2024]

Loved this film. One of Ryan Goslings best. Emily Blunt was a great choice too. Real good chemistry between the two and my favorite new stunt guy Francois absolutely smashed it. Hope to see Francois on screen again. Some of the lines were quite memorable, falling through a window hurts, getting set on fire hurts but not being with your hurt the most. None of those cheesy one liners you expect from Hollywood although it does have Jason Mamoa in it if anyone wants those too to finish it off which made for an even funnier ending. The stunts were actually really impressive, fair play to the stunt guys in this one. It's action packed with great pyrotechnics. A must watch for 2024. And did I mention Francois? Yeah I dare anyone not love Francois.

Creepypasta (2023)

budget horror

[4/10 · 28 December 2023]

Like the title says it is a low budget horror with not much going on. I don't even know what the story was. It was clearly an amateur filmmaker trying his luck and 99% of the film is just average film making and a waste of time watching but unlike really bad films this one does build up a little bit of atmosphere. And one scene that does live up to its name. There's a 5 minute clip that is well worth watching but like with any horror you can't just skip to the good bit. You do need to let the atmosphere build which this director does manage to do. I just wish there was a better coherent story and far more creepy pasta scenes! The one where the boogeyman comes out to play, great. Could compete with the film Sinister. Unfortunately far too little and no story leaves this not worth recommending and a measly score of 4 stars. Still, props to the director for making one very good horror scene. He has potential and I wish he'd made more use of that. Not many can made a horror that gives you the creeps. Like not even jeepers creepers did that. Still jeepers creepers was far more entertaining. So it's not all just about the one perfect creepy scene.

The Last Boy on Earth (2023)

cinematography was great

[8/10 · 20 November 2023]

So this film is very very confusing. It is essentially 100 trailers to 100 completely different sci-fi films to horror and all between. A story never unfolds, every clip lasts about 5 minutes. Some are ridiculously weird and overall it was a complete waste of time just like reading a kafka story for example. The serial killer robot was hilarious. Seriously, he was trying to be all serious explaining how a serial robot was accidentally created - haha that should be checked out by any sci-fi buff. Although only a 5 minute segment, that clip had potential to be the next chucky franchise. The rest, although a lot of money had been spent on the sets, costumes and special effects they are just a random mash of nonsense. Still I sat through it scratching my head through but I have to admit I was never bored or tempted to turn it off.

Hunt Club (2022)

low cost horror

[4/10 · 5 July 2023]

It's nothing spectacular, the story has been done many times like in "Ready or not" and "the hunt". Those two films are entertaining and well directed. This is just a low budget rip off of said films with terrible fight scenes where people are punched from a meter away and take the hit like we aren't meant to notice they have just punched thin air. So even though I have given it 4 stars for the poor acting and lack of original story it is watcheable and if you have watched the two I mentioned already and looking for something to pass the time then this passes the time but the story is as expected. Nothing happens that isn't already mentioned in the films plot description.

Pollen (II) (2023)

a film portraying a troubled soul

[4/10 · 9 June 2023]

This is the story of a woman going through her nightmare office job and the struggles she endures in a male dominated workplace where she lets herself get taken advantage of by her boss, leading to her seeking her own revenge. If you want to watch an office related show I would recommend the british tv show "the office" - not the american spin-off of said tv show. This was really boring in comparison to those however so don't expect great things from this film hence the low rating. There is a bit of blood but nothing too entertaining really happens. The opening scene is a woman having committed suicide and after witnessing the main character struggle with her depression and subsequent hallucinations I assumed it was her but it isn't so I don't know what the opening scene had to do with the film overall at all and was completely unrelated. I wouldn't even recommend this film if you were bored. Save yourself the trouble unless you are a fan of obscure hallucinations mimicking her descent into insanity. There was one funny scene where she has breakfast with her hallucination sitting next to her. That was the highlight of this film. I don't like how little the film made sense overall or how it tries to convey how men are sexual predators (I assume) considering her ultimate actions which just proves the opposite to be honest. Low budget and not memorable. At one point she believes getting out the lawnmower to mow the lawn is murdering the grass, it's a film you would expect the character phoebe from "Friends" to have brought out. Maybe for some feminist eco-warriors out there. Not my cup of tea.

Nefarious (2023)

worth a watch

[6/10 · 7 June 2023]

I wasn't sure whether to give this a 6 or a 7 but after reading some of the other reviews I decided to go with 6. It's a good film, worth a watch but some people seem to have become obsessed with this film like it's their next cult manifesto and so I downgraded it to a 6 because it's not that special. Just another exorcist film.

Also the acting wasn't that great as some claim in fact I had real difficulty watching the constant eye flinching of Edward which he could by the way control because at certain times he was unwavering yet most of the time he kept flinching his eyes like he had a bunch of ants up his backside. That is not good acting in my books, some would argue it was because he was possessed or its so dark in hell the guy couldn't cope with the bright prison lights but like said other times towards the end he had no problem keeping a straight face and even considering all that, it just made for awkward viewing which was highly annoying.

At times I thought the director did it on purpose to make the viewer feel uncomfortable, as if looking at a monster but again that in my books is not good acting. It was forced, annoying, and considering this was a good film, no need and just ruined it and deserves a point taken off for it. Anyway, the 3 murders, laughable. Others saying they have reconsidered the validity of the death sentence? He killed 7 people, even if supposedly against his will. Well that is a moral dilemma this film will provoke. I'd like to think he was exorcised and like one of his inmates says: "nobody would miss him".

Did the psychiatrist make the wrong decision or did he save Edward from a horrible possessed torture he was enduring? Like others have said there isn't much gruesomeness or horror, it's a psychological thriller and it's an R rated film because the psychiatrist smokes a cigarette in the film. That automatically makes a film R rated these days so that is why, otherwise it's on par with "Oh brother where art though" in terms of violence. I appreciated watching a film that wasn't censored like all other Hollywood productions these days even if that makes it an R movie. That is more of a moral mind twister for people to contemplate than the moral dilemma in this film that has brought all the religious fanatics out the woodwork to comment on this film in my opinion. The ending could have been more fun if you ask me, like the director could have come up with many different endings but instead it's what it is which is just wrapping the film up with a bow tie. Masterpiece? No but like said worth a watch, a nice thought provoking film that isn't boring so can recommend to people that generally like ghost story kind of films.

The Boogeyman (I) (2023)

slow and uneventful

[3/10 · 6 June 2023]

A film that seems to rely on jump scares more than anything else. The first half hour is a slow burn and nothing really happens. Guy sees a therapist and his first response is to call a hospital to unburden his patient on to them instead. His daughter tries to confide her feelings to him and he says "you have a therapist dr soandso right? You should tell her about it (instead of me although I am meant to be a therapist too and your dad). Ok so that's the first half hour of the film with a few vague jump noises and creepy music but you are wondering where is this leading to. Lots of references to a monster in a closet which might be scary to any 8 yr old watching this. If you are older than 8 yrs you might as well skip the first half hour. Considering that's already 1/3 of the film we aren't really off to a good start are we? The daughters therapist then has her session with the daughter claiming if we are scared of something the best thing to do is face it. How clichee and outdated. I am already bored to death and thinking what century was this directed in but ok at least it leads to a creepy atmosphere even though I completely disagree with that kind of approach to good therapy at least it should provide a good horror film. But does it? No idea, next 10 minutes are too dark to make out anything properly with us getting introduced to the dark thing next whatever that is since it is too dark to see it even if they showed it. Ok so half way through the film and still nothing has happened. The dark thing is identified as the boogeyman next. It needs to dark to stay hidden. That follows since this whole film has been complete darkness so far. I watched till 2/3 of the film then gave up. Complete waste of time. Maybe something meaningful happens in the last 30 minutes but I doubt it. To sum it up if you can sit through the whole film without falling asleep you deserve a medal. That would be the only reason to watch this atrocity.

Space Oddity (2022)

beautiful film

[10/10 · 9 May 2023]

I didn't expect this to be so good but this film is really down to earth. It's about a kid called alexander who takes us along on his decision to be the first person to travel to mars. Although you'd think it would be all about travelling to mars and it is that is more the backdrop and premise to this film introducing us to his decision, his life, what he'd be leaving behind and it all just resonated with me. Alexander is very critical of how finite life is due to a tragedy he has experienced which he is grieving and makes him have a very bleak view of life which I can relate to but this film is great in that it shows what life is all about. Family, friends, sports, hobbies and most importantly plants. Plants are a big part of life. Without plants there would be no life so alexander has to figure out how to get them to grow on mars too. It's all very philosophical and normally I'm not into those kind of films, being a sci-fi nerd myself but this film was beautiful, really well made. I loved every moment of it and the ending was excellent too. The moral of the story is to enjoy life and it is not easy to convince me but this film did a really good job at it. It is a story I thought was beautifully told. It was real, didn't feel fake, was emotional at times and I can recommend this film to anyone. My favorite film of the year hands down.

Ghosted (I) (2023)

annoying

[4/10 · 25 April 2023]

Seeing the bad reviews I kinda wanted to like this to prove them wrong but this film is really quite annoying. The first half an hour is a really fake awkward rom com. He lies to impress her. She brakes up with him after he texts her 11 times in 2 days. He stalks her calling it a romantic gesture. Is that supposed to teach us anything about dating? It teaches me that women's standards are weird, guys break up for valid reasons women will break up with men because they care to text them. Ok. The stalking was over the top though but it sets up the next chapter which is then action filled with him as a kid draggin her down again lying that he can shoot yet will not shoot people. Ok, half way funny. But more entertaining would be if he didn't act like a scared little kid. Other people say the lead role was a good choice. I disagree. She looks like a ballerina holding a gun most of the time. If they are a good match it's only because they are equally mismatched in their roles. If you like taxes this film might be for you as the rest of the film is all about locating the tax man haha, who by the way is not even a man. My next issue is that a device the size on a penny is introduced in this film that can supposedly produce 50,000 volts. Why so unrealistic? I mean what is the most powerful battery. Why make up a number like that? Doesn't even get used so I guess that is not relevant as most the things in this film. The fake accents of the american bad guys were the tip of the ice berg. It's just cliche after cliche in this film. Some reviewers say the script was what was wrong with this film, I disagree, I think it was the actors. I believe foreign less famous bad guys would have made a more convincing performance. The bad guys they used were just not scary, they were embarrassing. That will ruin any film. Why do the bond movies work? Because the threat feels real. Here the only threat was falling asleep. I will finish this review when I bother to finish the film but half way through I've had enough for now.

Warriors of Future (2022)

worst dialogue you could imagine

[4/10 · 15 December 2022]

New Netflix film and although I loved the recent new series Wednesday this is the usual Netflix garbage that gives it a bad name. The dialogue is absolutely appalling. We've all seen action flicks with cliche remarks but this just takes it to a new level. The cast gets shot at so they say "we are beeing shot at" and it just continues like that throughout the entire film. The story is really bad, although the story is lacking so much you can't even call it bad. The whole film you are wondering what is going on, where did those things come from, why are they doing what they are doing with very little explanation, they just keep explaining what is happening which we can see already, yes they are being shot at, no need to keep repeating it. The overall plot is fairly straightforward, an alien plant invades earth and some soldiers go to kill the plant. The only ironic thing is the plant can clean the air but it is very invasive so it needs to be stopped but they don't debate it or consider not killing it, they just say they will alter its DNA so it still cleans the air while it dies. It all makes little sense and there is one twist making it a film, otherwise it would just be a bunch of soldiers going to water a plant with some poison which would be a bit boring so the twist adds a bunch of action which is basically the whole film. Lots of CGI action. The action was half way entertaining but I really hope modern films don't become like this atrocity. Where are the good old days of Arnold Schwarzenegger with a big gun. This is just regurgitated rubbish in comparison but the action was entertaining, its just a shame the story was so poor. A film should make you feel like the story matters in some way but throughout this you just think they are doing what they are doing because it's one big action set - not because the world was actually at stake. So watch it if you are bored, it's not the very worst I have watched and I did watch it to the end but that is about all the praise I can give this.

Oculus (2013)

Entertaining but not very scary

[6/10 · 4 December 2022]

This film is about a haunted mirror that has been mysteriously killing people for centuries till it comes into the family home of the cast of this film. The mirror can possess, make people see things and after the mirror causes a traumatic accident with the parents, the two kids get taken away to a psychiatric facility to be released once they are adults. The son, Brenton Thwaites, who I do not rate as an actor very much plays a dumb kid who believes what the psychiatrists have been telling him to believe but the daughter remembers that it was in fact the mirror that was to blame for what happened to their parents so she finds and buys the mirror in order to prove her theory and documents her experiment to uncover the dark secret the mirror hides. Now the film was entertaining and I enjoyed watching it but it wasn't particularly spooky nor was it scary. This really surprised me. I think the director missed the mark here and could have done so much more with this. There wasn't a single jump scare in the whole film. It was meant to be a horror. There was a bit of blood but that's the scariest bit. The story was alright and there is a bit of a scary back story to the mirror but no suspense did disappoint. I know some films use it too much without having a good story, this had a good story but then completely lacked the scares. It's still a creepy film, might make you a little weary of antique mirrors but it could have been more and better with a few good boo moments.

Sinister 2 (2015)

could have been part of the scream franchise

[7/10 · 23 November 2022]

When writing this review this film has a rating of 5.3 which is not bad for a horror but it is much lower than the original which like many have pointed out was a classic and one of the most spine chilling horrors I have watched. The first was so creepy it left you scared to look over your shoulder after watching it, the director had a real skill to send chills down your spine and some reviews have pointed out that is lacking in this sequel which is true but it isn't not worth watching. I enjoyed it. Like my title says I enjoyed it like a scream sequel for example. A good story, a bit of fun, in a horror theme that I am into. The reason this film has such a low rating is because the first film was so incredibly good - any new director would have had a hard time topping that or even coming close to pulling it off again. People here giving it low scores were eager to get that same effect the first film provided like the saw franchise for example gives you that creeped out vibe. But getting a horror right is not easy. This director knew the plot, the bughuul goes and does his thing again and he introduces us to a new family, with the angry ex, deputy so and so which reminded me of dewey from scream. So if you like scream and do not go into this film with the expectation that it will be another creeper that won't make you sleep well after watching you will be disappointed like many reviewers were expecting just that. This director went for a different direction which arguably killed off the Sinister franchise instead of there being 6 sequels like saw for example. I don't think that's a bad thing, but that is for you to decide. But I was tempted not to even watch this one. It is a good film worth watching I thought, it didn't ruin the brilliance of the first, it was nowhere near as creepy but that just highlights how good the first was. It doesn't ruin anything watching this one so I would recommend it no matter what the disgruntled fans say expecting the worst nightmare of their lives. It was as good as any scream film I have watched so I can understand why the hardcore fans of the first were let down but I liked thinking that I knew a lot that deputy so and so didn't know from having watched the first. This film focusses on deputity so and so trying to save the family he meets. We already know the buguul well from the first film so this one is all about him trying to end the evil and figure out how. There is far less sinister vibes in this film than the first but I liked how the director didn't give in to making it the most sinister film ever but a fun sequel to watch. So I feel I had to write this review to clarify that for other horror fans out there that haven't watched this one yet.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

should have called with film Fishman

[6/10 · 18 November 2022]

We all know Marvel has lots of money to spend and considering this is a 2 1/2 hour film I was expecting a good show but I was a little disappointed. At the time of writing this, this film has a higher rating than black adam which I just cannot understand. Black adam was funny and entertaining. This film has no humor whatsoever which is a shame. So it loses points for that. For the money that was clearly spent on this film I was disappointed. The first half of the film is introducing us to army 1. We already know wakanda which is army 2. Both talk in alien languages throughout most of the film and it is hard to follow the story as a result. I feel it would have made more sense if this was played out on a completely foreign alien planet which I just pretended it was most of the film. A lot of gibberish and there is a bit of action but nothing as entertaining as black adam provided. Why does army 2 invade army 1? I don't know. Maybe this was mentioned in the gibberish that I could not understand through half the film but whatever the reason, it was just a fake reason over a fake element called.vibranium. Nothing I could really relate to. I should really give this film a lower score but there was a lot of good flying spaceships... Anyway the enemies leader called Fishman was just a complete joke, and not in a funny way. It's a flying fish man like spider man who has pigeon wings to make him fly. Like what? Check it out and you will see what I mean. He has pigeon wings to make him fly. It's hilariously stupid. So I cannot relate to why this film has such a high rating at the time of writing this review. I have liked wakanda films so far but this one was just a let down. Wakanda has been portrayed as pretty much invincible, in charge of vibranium and the most advanced technology on this planet so what could marvel do to enhance their story? Not much to be honest but this just felt like an embarrassment. So yes they create a new invading army that feels the need to invade wakanda for what reason, I still don't know. Half way through the film once the fighting actually starts I thought, ok this must be the reason for the high rating but after a 5 minute fight that leads to nothing much there is then a lot of gibberish talking again, a big outrage, a bit more talking, a bit more talking, followed by more talking. What happens to fish man? Who knows - the talking is more important at this point and fish man loses his screen time. We are now approaching the end of the film and there is still more drama, over what? Not really sure. If you are a fan of tv soap drama's this might be right up your alley but if you like action films avoid this travesty. There is 5 minutes of action at about the 90 minute mark of the film that fizzles out into nothing but drama. The wakanda council convenes to plot a plan. The final battle takes place resulting in a big water sports spectable. Nothing you would expect from a 21st century marvel fim. Maybe one of those low budget horror films where a bunch of tourists get attacked by a giant shark. You know the type of film I mean. Anyway that pretty much concludes the film and my less than impressed review. Clearly others have enjoyed this more than me. The ending actually gets worse than I have revealed in my review but I will not give away marvels glorious final twist too much. Lets's just say for a fake battle the ending was the most pathetic ending I have seen in a film in the past decade along the lines of peace is more important than war. I mean I agree with that message but this was meant to be an action film, not a lame drama.

The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022)

surprisingly funny

[8/10 · 24 October 2022]

Normally I find Netflix ruins every story they touch having to put every politically correct cliche into their films so it was a welcome change to not see any boys making out extensively in this one at least like in everything else Netflix touches. There were some elements that did ruin the atmosphere a little, like the racial jokes - at one point Marlon Wayans tells a 12 yr old trick or treater; "get your skinny white ass off my property". Based on some of his remarks he clearly wanted this to be an all black cast but you know Netflix, they need at least one white, one asian and one black kid. So yeah it had the diversity they needed but wayans as part directing this put his opinion into this film as the black man with quote "the smell of white priviledge" in the air of the new town he was moving in to. I'm frankly surprised Netflix allowed it. We get it - history was unfair to minorities in the past - still are today but no need to put those thoughts into a kid's film. The daughter was a little annoying, I did enjoy the scene where marlon makes fun of her and calls her stupid. That at least was spot on, although she does recognize the lantern being a turnip and marlon insisting till the end it's a pumpkin. Maybe not funny to some but for him being so obsessed about being scientific and needing to know everything, I thought that was funny. The graphics I thought were as good as the lord of the rings graphics so I don't know why other reviews say they were just good enough. Yeah it was clearly a fake spider but it was never meant to be real, it was a fake spider that came to life and it looked pretty scary to me. If I saw that thing in my house I'd crap my pants. The rest were just like wayans said some very good animatronics looking stuff. I really enjoyed this film overall despite it's flaws and give it a solid 8 stars. That's on par with some of my favorite films, mainly because I find good halloween films are seriously lacking. Wayans was funny, the whole film was entertaining and it was a great halloween themed film I enjoyed more than most horror films I have watched and I have watched hundreds. It might be too much for young kids but apart from the big spider, nothing too scary. I wasn't expecting it to be but it was entertaining throughout. I liked it and that is what matters the most to me, it also didn't feel too much like a kids film. The flaws were minor and I didn't take off any rating as every film has flaws. I loved the pumpkin car. Marlon screaming the loudest like a little girl also gave it some plus points, seriously he has some lungs on him and not even his daughter could play a scared little kid better than he did (well she was a bit dull and like a robot but that didn't ruin the film at least). I was very dubious watching this as I am an adult thinking this would be a lame kids film and being a Netflix I nearly didn't even bother but I would recommend this to any age group and actually really enjoyed it. The old people's home scene where they go see the old lady was hilarious and I cracked up laughing.

Painted in Blood (2022)

best low budget I have watched

[7/10 · 7 October 2022]

As the title says and another reviewer pointed out there is little budget to this film and there's plenty of those you just turn off straight away. I was tempted to do the same when I realized this going into the film but I'm glad I didn't. The story is good, the acting is good and I enjoyed the original concept. I hope more people realize there is something to this film - its worth a watch. Not quite as good as the latest Mr Harrigan's phone that I watched but certainly a film I also enjoyed. I don't know why this has received so many 1 stars. To receive a 1 star a film has to make less than sense, have wonky camera work and terrible acting. This had none of those and is 10 times better than something like the blair witch project for example. What rating has that tragedy got? This director has potential and I love watching a new original concept I haven't seen in a film before. For people that are looking for something new, I think it is worth a watch without switching off after the first 5 minutes and giving it a 1 star review. I suppose ghost stories are not appreciated as much as I enjoy them but if you like Mr Harrigan's phone then I think you will enjoy this one too.

Sissy (I) (2022)

something else

[7/10 · 29 September 2022]

I like Australian horrors but this one is something else. It's certainly a horror alright. Wow. Never seen one quite like it. It's not just a horror, it is really disturbing, left me with an uneasy feeling at the end. Not sure everyone will enjoy this one, it's a well made film and all but it's really disturbing. Like if I was the director I could not have gone through with producing this one and that's what makes it different to pretty much any other horror I have watched. It gets to you in a psychological way more than the gore does (since I am used to bloody horror films). Australian horrors usually produce horrors with a bit of humor to it. This is not your average low budget gore flick although there is plenty of that, the story is something else. Very sick. Not for the faint hearted and not sure what else to say about this one. Really not quite sure how to feel about it. Watch it and you will see what I mean. It left a bad taste in my mouth and the hairs standing up on my back. I couldn't believe what happened after watching it. The ending is just wrong, really wrong. Hardcore horror fans will like this one I think and even though I like horror films this one was a bit too much for me. Not the gore but just the way it ended. Like in most horror films you make a connection with the cast, there's the good guy, the bad guy. This one just throws the manual out the window and leaves you questioning all that is right and wrong. At least it is just a film and couldn't possibly ever happen in real life right? Does make you wonder though. But having watched a lot of horrors this is certainly something I had not seen before so top marks for originality.

In Isolation (2022)

Stupid thriller

[4/10 · 29 September 2022]

Warning, spoilers as I am a bit frustrated with this one. A woman out in the woods has some friends over and a bank robber who betrayed his accomplices and took all the loot is on the run looking for a place to hide. She soon discovers who he is, calls 911 but then hangs up before giving her address, takes a shovel and decides to deal with it herself. That's the basic plot which really annoyed me throughout the rest of the film. All her friends get killed including her neighbor but she does manage to kill him in the end. The end. It was mildly entertaining. This wasn't one of those really bad films that you want to walk out of, I did watch it to the end but it wasn't anything to recommend to anyone either. If you are bored and still want to watch it after I gave away the whole plot then it will pass 90 minutes without being too bored.

The Deal (IV) (2022)

Great film

[9/10 · 26 September 2022]

I really enjoyed it. At the time of writing this the majority of votes are 1 star. Just like this film shows how society is flawed in many ways so is the logic in people giving this 1 star. Sure it's a story of a depressing fictional reality but the emotional journey it takes you on really made me enjoy this film. So I do not understand why people voted this down. I give it a solid 9 stars and I rarely give out 9 stars. This is amongst my favorite films I have seen in a long time. The ending is a good ending which deserves more than 1 star alone. Often times I won't even bother with films below 5 stars - mostly having a flawed story or low budget. This film is far better than the Dual which I also quite enjoyed, the acting is good, the film doesn't feel like a low budget b-grade. I can't really say much more without giving away spoilers but I would recommend this film as a great dystopian sci-fi. Maybe not Mad Max action but certainly not a film worth missing. Who would have the brains the daughter has in one of the scenes with "the doctor". That's as much as I will say but I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. Reminded me a bit of the film "In Time"

Outer Range (2022– )

Not a single likeable character so far

[4/10 · 29 April 2022]

The season started off ok but as we delve into the episodes secrets are exposed about every character. The main cast are two families living next to each other, the one family with a house full of dead animals and the other family all a bunch of murdering thieves that cheat at poker, burn down houses, like mentioned murder (even their own family members). The mother also has her secrets turning a blind eye to the law breaking she knows about but I think her secrets are yet to come out fully. The cop is eager to pin things on people even if the evidence says otherwise (even though she happens to be right). The story is intriguing but why couldn't they just have a nice bunch of people. It's quite off-putting to find out that the family being bullied by the other family turns out to be the real rotten seed responsible for all the people disappearing in their town. Not my kind of drama really. I am curious to see what the further episodes will be like but these people - all of them so far - have just been portrayed as really selfish people not caring for anything but themselves.

Ambulance (2022)

a lot of action with not much story

[6/10 · 24 April 2022]

An ex soldier who is down on his luck is struggling to make a living and has a daughter that needs experimental surgery. He calls his insurance and gets frustrated with the lack of help he gets, when he says there is a life on the line and swears she hangs up on him. He goes out, shoots a police officer and steals some money. The police officer is minutes from dying and an ambulance is about to take him to hospital when he is surrounded my more police so highjacks the ambulance and the cop has to survive the 2 hour goose chase through LA or he will spend the rest of his life in prison as they keep saying. The cop survives. The end. Well a few more things happen like 10 million dollars worth of damage by police chasing him wrecking endless police cars in the process, about 20 more police officers get killed chasing him down when his maffia friends get involved too, in the end the ambulance gets turned into a green ambulance resembling a hulk mobile but that's about it. Nothing new or worthwhile writing about in this film. There is a lot of action, destruction and shooting. Not really that entertaining I thought. I give it a generous 6 as a lot of money was spent to keep the film interesting.

Room 203 (2022)

below average

[4/10 · 19 April 2022]

Acting was a bit amateur at times. The plot was ok, there were some chilling scenes - probably the best part about this film. I have watched horror films where the director couldn't even get the audience to feel any dread but there were a couple of times this film gave good scare effects but I turned off for the last 10 minutes, who knows if I missed the best part, it got so bad towards that point and the story was essentially over when I saw there was another 10 minutes left I just thought meh, director had to drag out the ending which was already a let down. The part that really really bothered me for some reason is the main character hanging up a mirror with a nail the size of a needle and then commanding it to stay! Only to turn around and the thing inevitably comes crashing down. It was a heavy expensive looking mirror and she knew it wasn't going to "stay" so that really annoyed me but the director had to annoy me further by making her then forget within 10 seconds that it had fallen and she walks all over the broken glass (not injuring herself in any way). I don't know why someone breaking an expensive looking mirror like that annoyed me. It added nothing to the film whatsoever, maybe breaking a mirror is bad luck? It's the one thing I took from this film and can't get it out of my head. If her friend had pointed out breaking a mirror was bad luck then it would have redeemed itself for me a little but her friend could barely act and might as well have been a brain dead zombie throughout the whole film instead of the sleep walking alcoholic she was portrayed as.

Dual (2022)

started off so well

[6/10 · 18 April 2022]

The first half of the movie I was thinking it was going to be one of the best films I had seen in a long time. Then suddenly it was the end and there were so many unanswered questions my rating dropped from a solid 10 to well not sure. I was very disappointed with the ending. Like the director thought ok originally I wanted a duel but lets just drop the duel and leave a million unanswered questions instead. Like what happened to the car? Clearly she didn't know how to drive any more which answers who she was in the end but the ending was so disappointing imo. Out of all the endings the director could have picked they decided ok now lets think of the worst way to end this film and lets go with that... It was the most cowardly way to end the film. Maybe that was the point? The coward wins? Ok I shouldn't give out any spoilers. It's worth watching for the first 1 hour and 30 minutes just be prepared to be utterly disappointed there isn't a further 30 minutes to wrap it up. I can also see how some people didn't like the emotionless acting. I really liked it. The whole time I was wondering whether she was autistic or not. I thought it was a great portrayal of someone who has autism so just like neurotypical people don't understand autistic people some people I can see might not understand or like how autistic people think. There are also some disturbing scenes akin to a horror movie. So if you are autistic and like horror I think you would really enjoy it but at the same time you will cringe at the ridiculous way the director chose to end it. It was a film, the director had no problem showing someone kill a dog but then decided a duel was too much? No, I did not like the ending one bit. I was really looking forward to the duel. I thought that was the point of the whole film but it just ended off on a bit of a sad depressing note. I did laugh quite a bit in the first hour, I loved the acting but the ending was too pathetic. She clearly had problems living with herself after what she did in the last 5 minutes which she already hinted she would but I am not surprised after what she did in the end which was the ultimate cowards way to end the duel.

3% (2016–2020)

3% of viewers will like this show

[3/10 · 30 November 2016]

This whole story feels forced. Like the writers were told come up with a good story or you're fired and it shows imo. The elite society the 97% want to join is portrayed as a posh, pretentious, non-caring society so as a viewer you just get to think what kind of world has Netflix come up with where 97% live in poverty and 3% have everything yet in order to join you have to prove you have no emotions and are willing to kill in order to succeed. Ironically the main story of the first series is the fact that a murder has occurred amongst the 3% A lot of candidates are eager to join without even knowing if the other side has trees. What didn't make any sense to me is that the elite 3% decide to castrate all their members. So only non elite people can join the elite yet the elite are genetically predisposed to be elite yet they cannot breed. No no, that wouldn't make for a very good story and the writers were going to get the sack for that so they had to add some nonsense to keep the viewers entertained. As a last resort to increase viewer numbers and popularity in the show the main character who cannot decide whether she is called Shelley or Michelle is shown naked which shows her nonexistent breasts and generally childlike body which would appeal to any paedophile, I am a guy like any other, maybe I am getting old, however michelley looks 17 in this and when she's naked she looks 15. Maybe there are 3% of paedophiles in the world and the writers wrote this especially for them. Netflix, I was expecting a lot better from this, yes I have plenty to write about this waste of time but not really in a good way. Worst TV show I have watched since "Lost"

The Darkness (I) (2016)

Fun Horror

[24 August 2016]

I nearly decided not to watch this horror due to its rating but I am really glad I did. The actors are all familiar faces to me with Kevin Bacon as the lead and David Mazouz (tv series Gotham) playing an autistic and quiet boy whose acting made the story convincing to me. To me there are different kinds of horror, there is gore, slasher, scary, psychological, haunted and violent. Unfortunately all get lumped together as the genre horror and a gore/violence fan will hate a haunted scary movie and vice versa. This is a haunted house film which is my favourite genre of horror and the effects are very convincing, not too fake, not too over the top, not too scary, just proper creepy like a good horror should be. Think house on haunted hill and poltergeist. Best horror of 2016 for me.