EvilPhoEniX

The Hong Kong comeback from the now sadly deceased director Benny Chan, who brought hits such as New Police Story, Invisible Target, Shaolin and The White Storm, and ends his career with the scorching Raging Fire, which could be described as the Hong-Kong version of Mann's Heat! RIP. For the first time in a while, a really cool action ride where you go for a traditional martial arts brawler with Donnie Yen and get a complex story packed with twists and emotions and a bad guy who is already iconic. Good cop vs bad cop, yeah! I enjoyed the whole two hours immensely. The movie captivates with an attractive story with one interesting twist, very good visuals, and an amazing soundtrack. Donnie Yen is traditionally excellent, and Nicholas Tse is a downright elegant villain, I loved character terribly. The action isn't as much as I would have liked, but when it comes to it, it's great. There are car chases, great shootouts, fights (though it's easy to see that Donnie is getting old, so he saved his fists for the finale), it's bloody, dark, and unpleasant. The finale is less than half an hour long (the shootout on the street with civilian casualties is awesome), and the final duel deserves a place on YouTube in the TOP 10 fights of All the Time. Nicholas Tse is a very fast machine and with his speed with knives he surpassed even the The Man from Nowhere – I didn't breathe, instant goosebumps for 10 minutes!!. Excellent film, which I'll gladly repeat, it was great and I'm glad I got to see a proper guy's movie. Story 4/5, Action 5/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 5/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 4/5. 9/10.

David Bruckner is a director I like a lot. With The Ritual he surprised everyone, and with Southbound he blew me away. I was looking forward to his upcoming horror film, but I didn't expect him to deliver it in such a Flanagan style! Rebecca Hall acts convincingly, but I wasn't really into her digging into the past and uncovering the truth. I was hoping for some kind of mindfuck with parallel worlds, a peek behind the curtain to the other side, and not an indirect rip-off of The Invisible Man, which is how it feels in places. It's pretty complicated and confusing and I'm not sure if it's quite fleshed-out. I didn't notice any jump-scares, and there’s certainly no gore, so it didn't work for me at all. I don't know how to rate this film, I didn't enjoy it enough to give it 3 stars, on the other hand 2 stars don't seem enough, and I like Bruckner so I'll stay on neutral ground. But I am not thrilled. Story 3/5, Action 1/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 4/5. 5/10.

One of the disappointments of the year? The film is a prequel to the cult series The Sopranos, which unfortunately I haven't seen, but I was hoping that the film could stand on its own, and since I like gangster movies, I was expecting a contender for gangster movie of the year (there wasn't much competition, but I'm not very satisfied with the final impression). Alan Taylor, has Thor and the last Terminator to his credit, so you would also expect a more action-packed film in the style of Gangster Squad, but he made something more in the style of The Irishman and that doesn't quite do it for me. The setting of New Jersey in the 1960s is great, the costumes, the fashion, the beautiful women, it all has a proper gangster look, but that's about it. One brief gunfight in the whole movie is not good, especially when the Punisher is available - he is woefully underused. There's no proper villain, no proper lust for power, no war in the streets, not enough dead bodies, the pacing is slower, it simply lacks drive and feels more like the opening episode to a series where big things are about to start happening. Those who have seen the series will complain even more or, on the contrary, will be satisfied. Despite the flaws, I wasn’t bored, it's the kind of stuff that can’t make me suffer, even if it's just a bunch of guys in hats drinking whiskey and smoking cigars, but it's definitely wasted potential. In terms of craftsmanship and performances (Ray Liotta) is decent, but easily forgettable. Michela De Rossi is, however, a fierce babe! Story 3/5, Action 1/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 4/5. 6/10.

This review may contain mild spoilers, but nothing that would do significant harm. Timo Tjahjanto stole the show again! I want to see a "Mortal Kombat" Special Mode with Tjahjanto with a chainsaw vs Flanagan with a bible and a cross! I'm satisfied. The first segment called Storm Drain will please fans of The Tunnel and The Blair Witch Project type of horror. It's about a reporter trying to do a story on a mysterious creature and goes to do some research into a really nasty and dark sewer, but nothing nice awaits her there. The cinematography is rubbish and the grainy image doesn't add much to it, but the atmosphere is very decent, there is one scare, the look of the monster is solid and there is an unexpected ritual with an interesting twist – 70%. The second segment called Empty Wake takes place in a funeral home, where nothing interesting happens for the first half, but then comes a decently atmospheric inferno. An open casket, a storm, a creepy setting and a dead man with half his head gone. Brr... 70%. The third segment is The Subject, a clear winner. Tjahjanto outdoes himself once again and made a sort of cross between “Bioshock”, Silent Hill, The Raid and Frankenstein, and it's a perfectly twisted gore Fest that's half an hour long and I wished it would never end. This is the only short story that also has good cinematography. It’s about a mad scientist who crosses people with mechanics in his basement and produces really scary creations. Of course, a SWAT team gets in there and they all have a wonderful fight, so much so that blood and limbs fly everywhere. Hell of a gore fest. Yes, this is what I've been waiting for all year. Thanks man. 100%. The fourth segment is Terror, a pretty boring and cheaply made story, but with a great finale. Good monster and decent gore. 60% The fifth segment is Holy Hell. It’s an odd short story as it always starts with a segment before another short story, so it's a bit inconsistent, but there was some nice gore here. 50%. Some people probably won't enjoy this, it's a bit unrewarding to watch because of the distracting camera, I had fun though and the Subject totally blew me away. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 5/5, Fun 4/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 2/5. 7.5/10.

An entertaining slasher flick from Netflix that comes up with an original idea in a sub-genre where nothing much new can be invented. It features a killer who wears the mask of his victims and at the same time wants to reveal their dark secrets, and I liked that. I'm glad the film isn't PG-13 in the end as I feared, and that there is thankfully some gore. The murders could have been more brutal and there could have been more of them, of course, but they're quite inventive and unadorned. The high school characters are likeable, no one really bothered me here, I missed a wisecracking character, and there are no boobs again, but otherwise I had a good time for the whole 90 minutes + I commend the solid soundtrack. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 3/5. 6/10.

A dark, unpredictable, at times shocking, raw, evil and uncompromising revenge-abduction thriller from New Zealand that has an atmosphere that is at times uncomfortably dense. A school teacher must confront the dark sins of his past when he and his family are ambushed and kidnapped by two vagrants and the ugly truth slowly begins to surface. The film may have a slower pace, but it managed to keep my attention. It manages to be suspenseful (the twist at the 15 minute mark is downright shocking), the villain is a proper sleazeball (even if his accent is downright awful), the craftsmanship is fine and even though there is no explicit violence (if there was, I would go even higher with the rating), the film still managed to feel realistic and uncomfortable. Solid. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 2/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 4/5. 7/10.

A potentially interesting premise that could have been a psychological variation on Funny Games, but instead we got a boring intimate film without a shred of invention or anything interesting or shocking. The film is only 80 minutes long, but since it takes place in one house with three characters and nothing much happens, it makes you feel like it's two hours long. The ordinary life of two siblings is disrupted by the arrival of their half-sister who demands a share of the inheritance from their recently deceased father. The siblings don't like this and start playing mischievous games. It sounded interesting and maybe if the Spaniards were behind it, they could make an engaging, suspenseful and gripping thriller, but in its from Argentina and it didn't grab me at all. Occasionally there was some interesting dialogue and the atmosphere was slightly claustrophobic, but I couldn't get into it. A fan of cheap conversational flicks might find a taste for this. Story 3/5, Action 1/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 2/5 Music 2/5, Visuals 2/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 2/5. 4/10.

No time to Breath! If I was an army general, I'd mobilize my entire army of fans and make a mandatory trip to the cinema with everyone. What an exquisite film. I'll freely admit that Bond films have never been my cup of tea, they never earned a star studded full house from me, I’ve always preferred tom Cruise with his Mission Impossible, but once Sam Mendes wass deposed and replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film took on a completely different dimension, and for me No Time to Die is the best Bond film ever, I can't imagine it could have been done better. Everything here works as perfectly as a Swiss watch and, after three hours in the cinema, I said to myself I want another hour because it's a hell of a ride. From the opening the film rushes from one action scene to the next; PG-13 action, admittedly, but this time I’ll turn a blind eye. Daniel Craig is literally diabolical (the guy deserves an Oscar), Rami Malek and Christoph Waltz are a double villain feature, Ana de Armas doesn’t have much space, but even for that moment she managed to fully grab my attention. The whole story raced incredibly forward, you could tell this was the finale and every single shot and moment was delivered with utter precision and excellence. I hadn’t held my breath for so long as I did here during the dialogue exchanges (maybe the last time was with The Dark Knight), and this is coming from someone who practically can't do without gore. Hans Zimmer’s score once again game me goosebumps. There’s an hour long action opening, an hour long action finale, I couldn't have asked for more. The ending of the film is downright heartbreaking though. The New Bond film put me on the edge of my seat at the end and kept pulling until the final credits. Tears were flowing and the packed cinema hall was blown into space as I was, otherwise I can't explain that three-hour long silence. Together with Suicide Squad 2 the film of the year for me. Story 5/5, Action 5/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 5/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Tension 5/5, Emotion 5/5, Actors 5/5. 10/10.

An interesting look at a modern war conflict of Russia vs Ukraine in the Lugansk region in 2014. It’s been much maligned abroad (I guess Ukrainians don't like the film), but warmly received here. It's quite a strange film. The topic itself doesn't interest me that much, the characters didn't grow on me, the plot lacks pace (2 hours and 15 minutes is just too much), and the film doesn't avoid the deaf spots. But when it came to the action, it's surprisingly a decently gritty and raw spectacle. The opening looks like something out of a gritty exploitation movie, with the Ukrainians acting like a bunch of pigs, and the first ten minutes reminded me of my favourite I Spit on Your Grave, thumbs up for that. The film doesn't really shy away from anything, and that includes rape, shooting a shotgun into a pregnant woman's belly (WTF), beating a toddler to death and bombing children at school. Now, that's pretty powerful. If it had a shorter running time and a slightly more engaging plot, I'd be satisfied. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 2/5. 6/10.

No One Gets Out Alive, not even those who came out of the Midnight Mass. A horror film that is disgustingly underrated here and needs a bit of a revival and a phoenix boost. Santiago Menghini has shown he has talent and what seemed like an ordinary ghost movie (atmospheric in a few sequences, there are definitely some functional scares for some) gradually morphs into light exploitation crossed with monster horror. Yeah, that's not on my menu every day. The monster looks stunning, and the final twenty minutes are pleasantly gritty and intense, as if Pascal Laughier had come running to the rescue to remind us of his Ghostland. Small, likeable, unpretentious, nicely shot and I'll gladly throw a star up for the awesome finale. A slight resemblance to The Ritual and sacrifice as well, reminiscent of Aztec civilization. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 3/5. 7/10.