Lima

A Giallo as sharp as the saw the killer uses on his victims. I rarely get tense with these films, because they strike at the first signal and I just don't enjoy that, together with the requisite nudity that the Italian flicks were full of, but here I was really tense. The last half hour is a top example of build-up, with no room for humour or lightness, just pure horror and a huffing killer with a saw. Beware, there are two versions circulating on the net, the English dubbed one for American audiences is censored.

Nicolas is falling deeper and deeper into career shit, but he's not afraid of it, he goes for it and tries (unlike Willis and co.) and I'm actually enjoying it. Sure, it's not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, but the premise is really original and I wonder what a smarter and more suitable filmmaker, like Robert Rodriguez, would have done with it. On a side note, I consider Cage's deliberate silence here to be a poor creative decision by the director, I missed his witty wisecracks and inimitable intonation – no one can get verbally angry as wittily as Cage. But it fulfilled its purpose, Nicolas made some easy money, got his hands on a cache to partially pay off his old debts and that's what it's all about :o)

Well, this was a weird film. So oddly straddling the line between Giallo, police drama and slapstick car chase comedy, I'm not sure Martino took the right approach. In any case, Claudio Cassinelli, with his messy haircut, is very likeable, and his investigative methods strongly recall the unorthodox methods of Belmondo's Stan Borowitz. I almost wouldn't be surprised if there was some later inspiration.

Yes, it's quite naive at times (a hallmark of early Giallo pieces), but great satisfaction otherwise. Martino cleverly plays with the viewer, the reveal of the bad guy was – at least for me – surprising, there are plenty of murders and they don't need to be spectacularly stylized, the early killing of one of the characters is unexpected just like in Psycho (which is a tribute) and the ending in the bay is also quite suspenseful. It's definitely better than anything from the overrated Argento of the time, whose stupid scripting twists gave me headaches. But I am gradually coming to like the early work of Sergio Martino.

As is customary here at FilmBooster, a film that goes against the grain, is idiosyncratic and goes against audience expectations is brutally underrated. Not that it surprises me, really. This is an atmospheric treat with Thomas Newman's uncharacteristic, congenial score that fits right in with the slow-paced story, whose screenplay is cleverer than it might initially seem thanks to the unraveling of the mystery of Joe Deacon's character and the ambivalent climax. And Jared Leto, who at other times is not one of my favourites with his mannerisms, is a class act here.

The first half is superb. There is no shortage of excitement in the gradual unveiling of the great find, the pre-war atmosphere is palpable and all it takes is a few shots of fortifying London and ominous plane flyovers. But with the arrival of Lily James, it slowly dilutes into a cheap melodrama with some philosophising about life and death, and all that is left for a worthwhile cinematic experience is the nice cinematography and the moving music. The director simply wanted to say a lot, even with a lot of insight, but he put too much on his shoulders and was unable to carry it in the second half.

While the Americans made endless variations of Friday the 13th during the 1980s, the Spanish geeks went about it differently. A film within a film, masterfully intertwining and linking two timelines makes this one of the most original slashers ever made. It would seem that the premise of the hypnotic mother and her repetitive speech to her killer son would be exhausted after half an hour into the film at the latest, but you'd be wrong – Bigas Luna has many surprises up his sleeve, and in the second half it all builds up in a masterly and bloody way. And the way the film also tingles on the human subconscious makes it a beautifully unsettling experience.

The worst comic book movie from both DC and Marvel. The previous episode was very good, but this… this is even more annoying than the tiny green Alzák, Babiš, the communists and Marek Ztracený's songs all put together :o)

Penn's take on Bonnie and Clyde is looked down on, but otherwise it's a quality noir that would make hirnlego very happy, because the woman is the origin of all evil: o) What sets this likeable low-budget piece apart from the work of the time are the innovative elements used – in particular, the camera view from the backseat of a car, capturing the bank robberies live, absolutely blew me away, a previously unused idea that will do your taste buds good.

The saddest part of this whole affair is the realization that the only good thing here is Nicky Cage, who has been riding his own guilty-pleasure category for 10 years now, and is the only one who brings any kind of insight, and the only funny moment in the entire movie (the paper hat). Otherwise, it's tedious, monotonous with completely bland music (on a side note, the techno bangers from the first Mortal Kombat would fit in nicely), and next to the absolutely uncharismatic devil with facial paralysis in the lead role (Alain Moussi), even Jaroslav Sypal would look like a Shakespearean actor. But still, for Nicolas this must be a dream job. He takes a look at Cyprus (or Romania, Bulgaria, etc.), doesn't get too worked up, chats with his colleagues and eats the catering. And what little he gets will partially pay his debts. Nick, I get you, man :)