EvilPhoEniX

A weaker moment for David Fincher. The trailer touted an attractive thriller about a hitman, which seemed to be his strongest point, but the result is not very satisfying. The first half hour is excellent, as we watch Michael Fassbender in an apartment preparing to shoot someone with a sniper rifle. I liked the attention to detail, his preparation and the excellent monologues, which consisted of various statistics and philosophising, I that enjoyed a lot (too bad the whole film wasn't in this style), but then it takes a bit of a turn and starts to fall rather flat. The second half in particular is already quite contrived. I was kind of hoping that Fincher would focus on the hitman style, that we'd be watching a professional assassin going from target to target and various forms of defusing with high attention to detail, but this another personal revenge that doesn't stand out from the competition in anything interesting, and Fincher's signature isn't very recognizable. Fassbender's acting is good, likewise of course with the craftsmanship, but plot-wise it doesn't have any balls, there's not much action either, no satisfying twist (at least the fight in the apartment had balls, it was pleasantly gritty, with great cinematography and interestingly shot, it was very palpable, it was the highlight of the film for me), the ending is completely devoid of zest. Shame, the potential here was definitely higher. 6/10.

An Italian slasher/exploitation flick with a kick! It is a bit of a throwback to ten years ago when these genre flicks were made on a treadmill and the cravings for gore were satisfied very often, but today it is a rarity and I am happy that at least the Italians have come up with a flick from my favorite subgenre. Plot-wise, the film could be described in two sentences, it's very simple. A bunch of female students go to an anti-nuke bunker for the night to get ideas for their bachelor thesis, only to find a cannibalistic mutant who likes fresh meat lurking there. Pleasingly, the director took the trouble to choose pretty Italian girls who are nice to look at. The direction of the film is surprisingly up to par, the craftsmanship is decent (yes the acting and dialogue are not great, but the technical side is very decent, including the make-up effects and the gore). The mutant also looks good and is a decent nutter, plus he gets the show moving very quickly, so the viewer doesn't have to wait 50 minutes for a introduction, in the first minute dinner is served in the form of a toddler. The gore is good and there's plenty of it (a decent body-count too). The scalping and skinning can be decently uncomfortable and the eating of guts and brains is always a pleasure. Occasionally the camera does wander, but I don't think it was the budget, rather the filmmakers were afraid to cross the line where they thought this would be too much. The film is objectively at 3 stars, but since this my favorite sub-genre where all the main attributes are adhered to and the film moves along briskly, I'm happy to rate it higher. 7/10.

I stupidly gave it a chance again and it didn't work out, for the third time. Hercule Poirot for me is probably the most boring and least interesting detective of them all (for example comparing him to Sherlock it's 100 and 1). Again it is filmed and presented in a way that could have entertained my grandmother and grandfather, but for me, and I believe the younger generation. the film is hard to digest. This time the cast wasn't worth much either, which reflects the actors lack of interest in acting in this one. The whole film is very slow with no hint of suspense or atmosphere (no, I didn't see any horror elements here), the fact that it lacks momentum and drive is one thing, but the fact that I didn't enjoy the dialogues, story and characters is another. I didn’t guess the killer, but the final denouement did nothing for me, the final explanation is supposed to deliver a proper build-up (like in Saw), but it never happens. I really don't enjoy this style of detective stories without murders, where the whole movie is spent listening to people bored by Branagh. Delete, forget, honor. 4/10.

Though a big success in cinemas, for me this is quite possibly the most useless mainstream horror film of the year. It is based on a famous game I've never played, but given the premise, I can't really imagine what it's about (I wonder if the game is as uninteresting as the film). Anyway, horror-wise, the film offers nothing appealing and I couldn't find anything to sympathize with. It's PG-13, so the gore, the only thing that could have livened it up a bit, is missing. Ironically, the jump-scares are also missing and there's no dark atmosphere either. The animatronics simply don't look scary or creepy, they look awkward, and this combination just can't work for me. Add to that uninteresting characters, a weak story and an unengaging pace, where I was really bored out of my mind. Really bad, (Cage's Wonderland at least had a great Cage and didn't lack gore). This is a horror movie for the kids (like budding future horror fans, OK), for horror veterans who have seen a thing or two it’s an ordeal 3/10.

Joe Lynch with an adaptation of a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. It's a bit of a made-for-TV horror thriller that seems to have fallen out of the 90s and will be off-putting for some, but I have no problem with it. There's sex, there's blood and there's dark humor and that's plenty enough for 3 stars for me. It's proper B-grade retro trash, but anyone who doesn't have a problem with that can enjoy it. A psychiatrist becomes obsessed with one of her patients, who seems to have multiple personalities, but the whole thing goes a bit awry. I enjoyed Heather Graham a lot, especially in the final act, which has great lines and is kind of racy and creepy, quite fitting. Whether the film can be recommended I don't know, it obviously didn't sit well with many people, but if you likes offbeat oddities, you might give it a try. 5.5/10.

I like these films, but it lacked more drive, a fiercer pace and better situational humour. Wall Street and Dumb Money are maybe a level or two up, but Pain Hustlers still has its bright moments. It terms of plot it follows a familiar template and goes sadly without surprises. Emily Blunt gets lucky with an interesting job and starts making some decent money, but a person can only on top for a while and classically things start to fall apart again and you kind of wait for it to end. There are a few deaf spots, unfortunately, but the insight into the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry was good. The trial turned out interesting and surprising to me and Emily Blunt stole it nicely for herself. 65%.

I went for a full meal and got a full meal. INSANE!! Demian Rugna has already managed to shine once with the awesome creepy Terrified, and this film clearly makes him a strong player in the horror field with unprecedented talent (Flanagan could learn). This is some really thick horror fodder, properly off the rails that was right down my alley. But it's a very evil film, unpleasant, dark, it crosses genre boundaries, the director knows how to shock and there's some very nasty things happening to everyone, including children and animals, so weaker characters watch out! This is rural demonic horror from Argentina set in a village where two brothers find an infected man (possessed by a demon). The demon possession spreads like a plague and the man rots alive! I have to say that the premise is not only original but also quite realistic, if there ever was a demonic possession I believe it could have manifested itself in these symptoms. I really liked that the movie gives seven rules to avoid the evil. From the very beginning, the director throws an uncompromising atmosphere, from which you can feel the hopelessness, despair, helplessness against an unknown evil. It has a very fierce pace, which I appreciate, excellent music that perfectly complements the tension and the atmosphere. The characters are well acted, the direction is of course top notch, and now we come to the most important thing: the horror scenes themselves. They are so good that every single one would be a highlight in another film. On the one hand there are scenes that I have never seen in my life, but then they shock in such a way that they are hard to breathe (the dog scene is really something crazy!). The obese Uriel, rotten to the bone will probably haunt my dreams, and eating the brains out of his child like popcorn is also a pretty good freakout and it definitely doesn't stop there. For me, an absolute horror beauty that scores on all fronts. It has an original theme, great gore, great make-up effects, good pacing, great visuals, it’s shocking, it's uncomfortable, it has a sultry atmosphere, it breaks down cinematic boundaries. I don't know what more to ask for, this is what a Horror movie with a all the trimmings should look like. In short, the demons have taken over the horror fair this year. Oh and by he way, complaining about characters behaving illogically when the town is being eaten by plague, rot and demons is really logical. It's like some introvert accidentally strayed from drama to horror. My only regret is that the film wasn’t half an hour longer. 9/10.

A great Korean debut! The protagonist turns into a villain! An unknown director has taken the popular Korean theme of serial killers and cleverly devised an original story, exactly with what the viewer expects from a similarly themed film. It's been a while since a grittier crime thriller came out of Korea, but this one is definitely worth your attention. The story follows a determined detective who has lost his brother and is on the hunt for a ring of serial killers who are cutting people to pieces. When he finally comes face to face with one of them, it ends in an accident and upon waking up in the hospital he discovers that their bodies have been switched! An awesome spin to the Serial Killer theme (we've had it in comedy and horror, but not in gritty thriller) and it works great. The film makes the most of the plot and I was a bit worried how they would explain this at all (without being Sci-Fi), so hats off to the Koreans for once again going at it very intelligently and the twist is definitely a blast. The traditionally good visuals are a given, both leads give great performances (one is from the recent Project Wolf Hunting and the other from Deliver us from Devil), the is appropriate (I could have definitely gone a little harder, but it didn't bother me that much), the film moves along quickly, and the shocking finale is also interesting and definitely unexpected. The Koreans are good in this kind of films and I enjoyed it. 8/10

An enjoyable little drama/thriller with Australian rednecks. Two girlfriends take a job offer far from their home, somewhere in Australia, to go and help out in a pub to earn some extra cash, only to be confronted by rude locals, and the whole situation soon spirals out of control. Jessica Henwick and Julia Garner both play very well and Hugo Weaving as the pub landlord is also a delight, he is not a good example of a boss. Much of the film takes place in one pub where we watch the two protagonists' demanding shift and some sexual innuendo from the locals (Dolly was probably the best, he appeared the most psychopathic), but for my taste the film is kept too much in check, it is too light, it could have gone to much greater extremes. It doesn't really start to feel like a thriller until the final 15 minutes, where the atmosphere thickens slightly (but again the film could have easily gone into hixploitation with the rednecks). I have worked in a pub so I didn't find it that out of the ordinary, but the film passes quickly, not significantly boring. As a one off it's ok but with a better director wilder things could have happened. 6/10

God, I am so pissed!! The worst cinema experience of this year. I accidentally stepped in shit when I preferred this to DiCaprio, as I love courtroom movies (what could possibly go wrong?), but to get my Anatomy and Dissection without anesthetics! I really didn't expect it. Anatomy of a Fall is one of those movies that when it ends, half the theater screams with joy FINALLY!!! and goes to buy champagne and get really drunk that this shit is finally over, because I couldn’t believe it anymore! (I thought it was funny to look around the hall half way through the film and realise that half the people were actually asleep). It terms of craftsmanship, it's a cheap film that looks like it was made by a law student (terrible cinematography, ugly visuals, no film look), it has a crazy 150 miinute running time with a painfully slow pace (I've really never seen a worse courtroom film in my life). Moreover, the whole film evoked for me the Michael Peterson case (The Staircase), but that was a level above in every way. The execution for me is almost repulsive and the trial is absolutely bland (the best performance here is by a dog!), and the biggest kick in the balls comes at the very end where you get no explanation. A murder mystery without revelation, that's what I call a bold move, which makes me wonder for what purpose such a film was made in the first place? I want to turn back time, I want to turn back money, I want to turn back the mood. I'm going to go and watch the French film Guilty immediately to fix my mood (which coincidentally has an identical 85%, but the qualities are completely different). This really sounds like a bad April Fool's joke. I was going crazy with boredom in the cinema like I haven't in a long time. For my part, this is the prototypical boring arthouse drama that I heartily hate. Had I played the movie at home, I would have thrown the TV out the window in a huff! Terrible. 2/10.