Goldbeater

I have a bit of a soft spot for these Alien knockoffs, but it's rare that a film lives up to its expectations. Creature takes the cheap route of Inseminoid, which is to say that when there is no budget for a space monster to run rampant in the film, possessed crew members must run rampant instead (which is something that Ridley Scott, ironically, did in Prometheus, confirming that even he himself has no idea how to actually follow up, or at least successfully rip off, Alien). Making a solid Alien rip-off simply wasn't and isn't fun, so only DeepStar Six, Leviathan and Forbidden World remain on the imaginary podium.

I find it a bit sad and perhaps unfair that audiences in recent years have given more favorable to horror films that subvert, satirise and mock genre tropes, rather than to some of the attempted serious and atmospheric horror films of the traditional cut, which at best end up with a 58% rating, but at the same time it cannot be denied that Barbarian works well in its subversion and surprise.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a nice parody of musical biopics about a man who spent his career making musical parodies, but I'd probably be reluctant to recommend it to anyone who isn't at least partially familiar with Al's work. And for those familiar, it may not be as funny as many would expect in advance, but despite a few deaf spots it offers a good portion of entertainment and some very good cameo roles.

Steven Spielberg is back to what he does best: a sensitively told, character-driven family drama about the magic of discovering something magical, here personified by cinema itself. This two-and-a-half-hour film manages to be almost perfectly engrossing and absorbing, yet it has two creative decisions that leave me wondering. For one thing, I don't understand why the lead actor had to wear dark contact lenses for the entire film, it made his eyes look as dead as those of the shark in Jaws and I think it sabotaged an otherwise very eager performance by the young Gabriel LaBelle. And then the idea (spoiler) that a pompous anti-Semitic bullying asshole would, by the magic of the movie medium, go to his victim and not only apologise, but have an emotional breakdown over his own emptiness – the most naive and nauseating thing I've seen at the cinema this year. These two things are all the more infuriating because they could have been easily avoided. However, despite those reservations, I was satisfied, and especially in the short scenes, when veterans Judd Hirsch and David Lynch are given space and well-written roles, I had a contented smile on my face.

I can see why this particular story was intended to be the conclusion of the entire miniseries. Although the horror element is very stale and wouldn't have been enough on its own, the eighth installment works very well in the portrayal of normal, one-dimensional characters played by well-chosen actors. It's more of a dark relationship drama than a horror movie (and some of the users here can't stomach that – a couple of the reviews on this episode made me downright nauseous), but as an ending to an entire anthology, it's very thought-provoking, functional and with a very human message.

An audiovisual genre feast. If you know what to expect from the director of Mandy and Beyond the Black Rainbow, that's exactly what you'll get! Panos is simply awesome and I can't wait to see what he does next. A superbly cast, cinematographed, musically performed and overall hypnotically led episode, in short, the essence of what I would imagine to be the highlight of the entire anthology.

Another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation in quick succession, but this time it is unfortunately the weakest and also the most "horror-ish" episode of the whole anthology. Bland, outdated, unimaginative.

It has a slower pace, which is understandable for a short story set over a span of a few years, but once things get going towards the end, it's a classic Lovecraftian ride. And I loved the casting of both the sinister Glover and Ben Barnes, whose mustache and grey streak in his hair work perfectly as an age-makeup.

This is one of those rare cases where the predictability of the plot is assumed and it doesn't matter at all, on the contrary it underlines the overall point of the story. The cinematography and the behaviour of the characters are very weird.

The first story driven by a likeable character (played by the charismatic F. Murray Abraham), and the first downright satisfying episode that beautifully manages to capture the atmosphere of 1950s literary sci-fi/horror stories. Also, after The Autopsy of Jane Doe, another excellent procedural horror film from the autopsy room, and that doesn't happen until the second half. I must follow David Prior in the future.